შერეკილები (Crackpots)

One of the best Georgian movies!!! (with english subtitles)

Merry Christmas! but when and why?

Nugzar Papuashvili and George Nigharadze talk about celebrating Christmas in orthodox Christian countries such as Russia and Georgia. They argue why Christmas should be celebrated on 25-th of December and not on 7-th of January.

Who will be on the first georgian Playboy Magazine's cover?

As media.ge reports Georgia will become third country in the CIS where ,,Playboy" Magazine will be published. Monthly circulation will be 15 thousand and magazine will cost 5 GEL.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Photo Competition “Qolga” 2006

Tonight I was at the opening of ,,ქოლგა” Photo Competition at Karvasla Museum. Here are some Photos that I liked:



Photos: Ivan Makharadze

Photo: Mamuka Jaoshvili

Photo: Tato Kotetishvili

Photo: Mari Nakani

Weekend

Their was one stupid song: I can't wait for the Weekend to begin ....

This weekend promises to be one of the most interesting since my return from Germany. I have to write draft law about taxation of Georgian Supra!

I applied for a job at the Office Of The State Minister on Reforms and Coordination. The head of this Ministry is one of the most controversial man in Georgia: Millionaire, Libertarian Thinker - Kakha Bendukidze.

So the first étape of the concours contains three tasks: the most interesting and fun to do, I already mentioned above. Two others are also fun: 1) I have to write pros and cons of selling Georgian gas pipeline and 2) make kind of IQ Test to ascertain who is more clever employee when both have equal potentialities, to pay him higher salary.

I would appreciate your ideas, views, comments about these tasks.

CRRC - Social Sciense in the Caucasus

Wednesday I have met at Batonebi regional program director of CRRC(Caucasus Research Resource Center) Hans Gutbrod and development and outreach coordinator Aaron Erlich. We had very interesting conversation and spent practically rest of the day together attending interesting events. After that meeting I went to see Max Ernst exhibition taking place in Karvasla (tbilisi history museum) and documentary film about Max Ernst in Goethe Institute.

At 17:00 I was at Betsy's Hotel where CRRC-georgia held a presentation of "Preliminary findigs from CRRC DI Survay 2006", conducted by Kristina Vacharadze, CRRC-Georgia Program Manager and Mamuka Nadareishvili, Expert. You can download PDF version of this presentation from here.

After presentation socializing with different NGO representatives I got interesting book with similar surveys made by Institute for Policy Studies, online version of this book in english you can download from here.

At 8 o'clock, after drinking Beer at Paradise Lost, we saw at Kolga Cinema very interesting documentary film: "Power Trip", about American multi-national company AES Telasi trying to solve the electricity crisis in Tbilisi.

Georgia is 112 th with 176 thousand Internet Users

From every 100 Georgians - only 3,75 use internet. It's the last place between South Caucasus countries - 138 place.

In Armenia from 100 every 5,03 uses internet-124 place . In Azerbaijan every 18,4- 85 place!!!

The worse situation from former soviet countries is in Tajikistan- less than 1 internet user in 100 thousand!!!


Source: Media.ge

Orthodox Church vs Liberalism

I found interesting article about opening of a new educational center for Georgian youth under the patronage of Georgian orthodox Church at www.religion.ge

Yesterday, the presentation of “The youth center” and of their(the youth center) building was held in Sameba cathedral in Tbilisi. The Catholicon-patriarch of Georgia, Ilia II, together with the president Mikhail Saakashvili and the head of the parliament, Nino Burjanadze attended the presentation. Other officials also were presented at the presentation. As the worker of the press-center of the Patriarchate, Zurab Tskhovrebadze told http://www.religion.ge/- They celebrated the commemoration day of the king Vakhtang Gorgasali and also the day of entrance of Andrew the first called. As he said, Andrew the first called is the enlightener of Georgia and that it is very symbolic to open such center on this day.

The Patriarch, Ilia II, made the speech and stressed the contributions of the saint Andrew the first called towards Georgia. The president underlined the role of Georgian orthodox church in contemporary life and noted that the construction of Sameba cathedral started when everything was destroying in Georgia and he noted that this is really very important.
The bishop of Tsageri and Lentekhi, Stepane Kalaijashvili was appointed the head of “The youth center at the patriarchate”.

We offer you the extracts from the interviews of Stepane Kalaijashvili without comments.

The journal of Georgian patriarchate “krialosani” №3, April 2005.
Editor: Gela Lobjanidze.
Consultant: priest Giorgi Samsonidze.

Liberalism-False and the servitude of sins with the mask of freedom

The priests of this new state religion govern the processes from abroad and within the country they( the priests) have people like Bokeria, Gvakharia, Naira Gelashvili…these politicians teach us. They have the agitation brigades clapping everything and saying “enough” all the time and even more shaking their fists at us. They even broke into the schools inciting children against their parents.
Russians at their hang-over saying-“Iron logic”
As it was revealed liberalism is the product of Christian faith( you kept this in secret?!) We did not trust “ Liberty institute” and tried to get into the depth of this issue, but got totally different picture. It turned out that liberalism is the opposite to Christian principles and is soaked with heretic ideas of John Lock, Monteskie and others.

and this?

Georgian Song. Which?

Les cavaliers du CAUCASE

Beautiful Video!

Festival at Conservatoire

Griboedov str. 8

IX საერთაშორისო ფესტივალი



15 დეკემბერი ტიერი მეშლერი (ორგანი, საფრანგეთი)
პარასკევი პროგრამაშია: მარსელ დიუპრე, ტიერი მეშლერი
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17 დეკემბერი დანიილ ცვეტკოვი (ფორტეპიანო, რუსეთი)
კვირა პროგრამაშია: მოცარტი, შუმანი, ბარტოკი, ბრამსი
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19 დეკემბერი ფლორან ეო (კლარნეტი, საფრანგეთი)
სამშაბათი ჟერომ დიუკრო (ფორტეპიანო, საფრანგეთი)
პროგრამაშია: შუმანი, ვებერი, სენ-სანსი, დებიუსი, პულენკი
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21 დეკემბერი თბილისის კონსერვატორიის სტუდენტური ორკესტრი
ხუთშაბათი დირიჟორი – მიშა რახლევსკი (რუსეთი); სოლისტი - მიშელ პერი (ვალტორნა, აშშ)
პროგრამაშია: ლ. ქერუბინი, ლ. იანაჩეკი, ტ.შნაუბერი, ი.სუკი
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23 დეკემბერი BRAVA MAESTRA! - ლიანა ისაკაძის საიუბილეო საღამო
შაბათი დირიჟორი და სოლისტი – ლიანა ისაკაძე (ვიოლინო)
პროგრამაშია: შოსონი, მენდელსონი
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24 დეკემბერი თბილისის კონსერვატორიის სტუდენტთა ფოლკლორული ანსამბლი
კვირა ხელმძღვანელი ნატო ზუმბაძე
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25 დეკემბერი ბენჯამინ მარკიზ გილმორი (ვიოლინო, დიდი ბრიტანეთი)
ორშაბათი იუ ჰარიუკი (ფორტეპიანო, იაპონია)
პროგრამაშია: ბეთჰოვენი, ბარტოკი, ბრამსი, შილაკაძე
---------------------------------------------კონსერვატორიის მცირე დარბაზი

27 დეკემბერი Classic, Jazz, Rock, Fusion
ოთხშაბათი თემურ ყვითელაშვილი (გიტარა, საქართველო)
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28 დეკემბერი BRAVO MAESTRO! - ეძღვნება შალვა მოსიძის დაბადებიდან 70 წლისთავს
ხუთშაბათი მონაწილეობენ: გორის ქალთა კამერული გუნდი,
თბილისის კონსერვატორიის საგუნდო-სადირიჟორო კათედრის ბაკალავრიატისა და მაგისტრატურის გუნდები, `ბგერის თეატრი~ და შალვა მოსიძის მოწაფეები
პროგრამაშია: ქართველ და დასავლეთევროპელ კომპოზიტორთა საგუნდო ნაწარმოებები
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29 დეკემბერი საფორტეპიანო დუეტების საღამო - ეძღვნება მერი ჭავჭანიძის ხსოვნას
პარასკევი ეთერ ანჯაფარიძე (საქართველო/აშშ) მანანა დოიჯაშვილი(საქართველო)
პროგრამაშია: შუმანი, შუბერტი-პროკოფიევი, რახმანინოვი, პულენკი, მიიო
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კონცერტების დასაწყისი 19 საათზე

Tickets are available at V. Saradjishvili Tbilisi State Conservatoire Grand Hall Box-Office.
The Grand Hall provides privileges such as one lari (Gel) tickets for conservatoire students (30). on presentation of valid ID.

Check the Grand Hall plan and choose the seat.

Booking of tickets is available on concert days, or before the concert (personally, or by phone), which is cancelled on the day of concert.

Working hours:
The day before concert: from 11:00 AM—17:00 PM
Concert Day: from 12:00 - 19:00 p.m.
Break: 14:00 – 15:00

Contacts:
Tel: (+995 32) 934624
Fax: (+995 32) 920176
Address: 8 Griboedov Street, 0108 Tbilisi, Georgia

Conservatoire's Web Page

Once upon a time in Georgia

Sonja Zekri talks to Aka Morchiladze, author of "Santa Esperanza," one of the zaniest books of the season.


It's a deadly square. The president Zviad Gamsakhurdia has barricaded himself inside the parliament and lurking about the Intourist Hotel are the men of Tengiz Kitovani, the Bohemian turned warlord. A couple of gun-toters are squatting in the church tower and in the KGB prison opposite, Jaba Ioseliani, ex-criminal, writer and putsch instigator, waits for his hour to strike. At some point, the bullets start flying and the civil war gains new, appalling momentum.

This was fifteen years ago, but Aka Morchiladze can still point to the bullet holes in the church wall with his eyes closes. "The Rustaweli Boulevard was roped off, one at the top end, one at the bottom. And in the middle they shot each other dead: literati, artists, warriors," he says. "Shortly before, Sergio Leone's films had opened here: "Once Upon a Time in America." Later, a politician said to us, what a shame that Leone wasn't alive to see the influence he had on our little country in the Caucasus. Crazy huh? But that's Georgia for you."

That's Georgia. For Aka Morchiladze, this sentence carries the truth and the tragedy of his country. For the majority of people outside Georgia, the name won't mean much at first. In his home country, Morchiladze is a celebrity author, TV presenter, soap writer, sports columnist and so famous that he coined himself a pseudonym. His real name is Gio Akhvlediani. Outside the Caucasus he is a person with an unpronounceable name whose works are written in a language that looks like the secret code of a children's book. He has written 25 books. They've sold in huge numbers for Georgia. Not one of them has been translated. Until now. Now Munich's Pendo Verlag has published his book "Santa Esperanza", and it is, put nicely, the zaniest and most swashbuckling work of the season.

"Santa Esperanza" is not a book, but a collection of small rainbow-coloured booklets in a caramel coloured felt slipcase. "These endless covers, this binding, I wanted something different!" says Mordchiladze. He says it's not necessary to read the glorious saga of "The Isle of Hope" from start to finish or even right through. He nearly made the end of "Santa Esperanza" into a crossword puzzle. In this light, the little booklets seem almost conservative.


The book




"Santa Esperanza" is the fictitious chronicle of a fictitious archipelago in the Black Sea. But really, Morchiladze says, it's all about Georgia. Or more precisely, a utopian Georgia which was never annexed by Russia, never under the thumb of the Soviet Union. The three islands are inhabited by Georgians, Turks, Italians, Jews and Britons. Yes, Britons. In 1919, the Ottoman pasha Sari Beg leased the group of islands to the British Colonel Rollston. The archipelago is due to be given back 145 years later, and Morchiladze's story, which takes place in 2002, focuses on this event. "It's a Hong Kong story," he says. "But without a happy end."

Because just as Georgia sank into misery and civil war after independence - "We were the richest country in the Soviet Union and became the poorest country in the CIS overnight" - so did the Islands of Hope dissolve into desolate conflicts between clans and cliques: the hated bourgeois Wisramiani family, the courageous but barbarous Sungals and the Genoese merchant dynasty of the Da Costas. British spies want to install Agatia, the ageing great granddaughter of Sari Beg as queen. And the ghastly Wisramiani daughter Salome occupies entire parts of the island with her army – just as once upon a time Abchasia and South Ossetia exploited Georgia's weakness and declared their independence.

Many of the stories sound too awful to be true and yet they are. When the enemies open the lunatic asylums and prisons and the sick and criminal raid the Sungal's island, Morchiladze's own outrage comes into play. Similar things happened in Georgia, he says. Then he finds new, unforgettable images for a horror that's already been described a thousand times: the massive murder literally froze the blood in the Sungal's veins. Now they are stabbing themselves in the hands and stomachs to see if it still flows, if they are still alive.

A dwarf state in the hands of the major powers, the pre-modern notion of honour colliding with bourgeois cleverness – "Santa Esperanza" can be read as a great metaphor for Georgia. But it doesn't have to be. Morchiladze, who in the meantime has made himself at home in the cute cafe of a puppeteer friend and is pouring himself a home-brewed mulled wine, has developed such a playful, crazy, fast-paced world that this tiny multi-ethnic state earns a place in the United Nations.

It's a world unto itself, dominated by a card game called Inti, much like Bridge, which requires six players: four attack, two defend. "To win from the defensive, that's the basic situation in Georgia," says Morchiladze. The wailing women belong to the high culture; their songs are wordless like the ocean, they rob men of their reason which is why they are only allowed to perform in licensed clubs.

Morchiladze tells this very colourful epic not in the form of a disdainful novel but in letters and church chronicles, diaries and little dramas. He weaves in excerpts from the constitution, internet sites, a will. For the most part, the parts fit together perfectly; sometimes the most beautiful flowers bloom on dead rails. Morchiladze says he loves to imitate texts. But of course the simulation has to be recognisable right away. Just as Ingo Schulze's "33 Moments of Happiness" was a post-modern bow to the Russian classics, so does the Georgian pay tribute to Western literature, making its tone wonderfully familiar to the reader.

The Wisramiani women fight for power and influence – is this not the female version of Puzo's "The Godfather"? Who doesn't think of Shakespeare when Salomea is prevented from marrying her lover because Sandro da Costa belongs to the enemy family ("I would die for him but not thread a needle for you!") There are traces of Steinbeck and sediments of Melville to be found, the characters have names like Theveneau de Morande, after the traitor of the rococo impostor Cagliostro or Gines des Passamonte after Cervantes' "Don Quijote." Morchiladze went to an English school, he's been more influenced by Hollywood than by Eisenstein. At some point, Niko, Salomea's criminal husband, is found at the window of the cloister library with an arrow in his heart – a recollection of the Leone sequence on the Rustaweli boulevard: once upon a time in Georgia.

America. While Morchiladze was churning out the island saga in London in two and a half months, the Rose Revolution broke out in Georgia. Since then, Georgia's national doctrine has been orientation to the West. The relationship to Russia is shattered. It's about Abchasia and South Ossetia, which as Russian protectorates, contribute about as much to stability in the Caucasus as a few tonnes of TNT. Recently it was about a lone slab of rock, whose crazy rulers bore Sungalese traits, and a Russian prohibition of Georgian wine and mineral water imports. But really it was just about the fact that the Kremlin would like to prevent the encroachment of the revolutionary Atlantic bacillius. "In 1989, Russian demonstrators in Tiflis slayed with polished spades," says Morchiladze. "Since then, their time has passed. They just haven't grasped it yet."

In the fall, President Mikheil Saakashvili accused Russian officers of espionage, had them arrested and thrown out of the country by police women (!) It was a childish, dangerous, excessive humiliation. But what a scene! "Don't write this!" says Morchiladze, giggling. "But I enjoyed it. Mischa is like that. Symbols, gestures – that's his thing. When he's behind the staging, it's unforgettable."

The Russians certainly didn't forget and they threw hundreds of Georgians out of the country, set the tax authorities onto VIPs such as the crime author Boris Akunin and the monumental sculptor Surab Zereteli – at which point the latter reflected on his homeland and presented Tiflis with a sculpture of Saint George which, since a few days ago, has been looking down on the roundabout from atop a pillar in front of city call, where the Rose Revolution began.

"At least we have gas and electricity since the revolution;" says Morchiladze. "At any rate, more than before." When you see an old man sawing away at a tree on the the Metekhis Bridge for firewood, however, you suspect that this doesn't apply for all, especially since Russia doubled the price of gas. Or when three young tykes carry bottles full of golden liquid into a bar. "No, that's something else," Morchiladze reassures. "They are selling brandy. I would guess that they have gambling debts." Maybe Santa Esperanza is indeed a suburb of Tiflis. Maybe they really exist, these undiscovered places with dramas that have never been written down. "You know what?" he says happily. "I don't think the earth is round."

*

Sonja Zekri is a feuilleton editor of the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

This article originally appeared in the Süddeutsche Zeitung on December 8, 2006.


Source: signandsight.com

Free Hugs უფასო ჩახუტება

I wonder would it work in Georgia?

საინტერესოა ჩვენთან საქართველოში რა გამოვიდოდა ესეთი აქციიდან?

ეს იდეა პირველად ავსტრალიაში დაებადა ერთ სტუდენტს როცა დაბრუნდა თავის საკუთარ ქვეყანაში და არავინ დახვდა. YouTube - ზე განთავსების შემდეგ ეს იდეა ეგრევე აიტაცეს სხვადასხვა ქვეყნებში და ქალაქებში.