Moscow, Russia, October 7, 2010

[gilly-rjd]

No flights or hotels yet......stressful, or not?
Gilly

Don't forget the Visas!

Wendy

Thanks Wendy! a busy Sunday; tickets confirmed, flights booked, hotel booked - just the Visas and my polka dot blouse to sort out now!
Gilly

[ladydi]

and my polka dot blouse to sort out now!
Gilly

Oh-oh, look out Moscow, here she comes!

[gilly-rjd]

Well, I can but try......mind you, it was -23 degrees in Moscow today, so that polka dot blouse will have to be covered with layers of woolly jumpers!!

[Nicko]

Hi, everebody!

I'am Russian ad i live in Moscow. Now I hope ad pray for Cohen will sing in Kremlin palace because I just got e-mail from the oficcial pre-seller (the site most of you have already visited), that the concert could be delayed or even canceled! They wrote, on 1st February it will become clear, I shall call them.
As concerning the prices of tickets - promoters and managers as a sharks feels the smell of money better than a average man - its a status event, and all top business leaders, seators and politics will be there. They don't check the bills, you kow. I booked 4 tickets for 150 USD per ticket (30 row in parter) - never payed this much for live music.

Hope to see all of you in Moscow. If need any help - please don't hesitate to turn to me, I will be happy to provide you with an advice or help.

Nick

[mirka]

....its a status event, and all top business leaders, seators and politics will be there. They don't check the bills, you kow.

Hi Nicko, this was also my interpretation of the ridiculously high prices.
I used to live in a similar country for a long time, black market price for '85 concert in Warsaw was equivalent of an average monthly salary of a young IT worker at that time (mine, for example).
I hope you have other areas of life that compensate for this ridiculous social structure.

I will be waiting for any reports from the Moscow concert !

mirka

[casterbridgecohen]

Hi Mirka

I sat next to you at San Jose !

Of course many outsiders like me would argue that you still live in a country with a ridiculous social structure - gun control, healthcare et al.

Maybe Poland in the 21st century is the best option!

Hope all is well

Take Care

Michael

[mirka]

Hi Michael, nice to hear from you.
Of course all is a matter of personal preferences, for now I think I live in one of best places -- until a paradise on earth is created somewhere. Yes healthcare is broken, and I don't agree with gun proliferation, but so far I can live with it, comparing with what my friends in Poland are going through now.

Poland in 21st century ? maybe in 20 years, when the communist era mentality (and people) vanish.
For now the country's politics and economy is controlled/exploited mostly by former secret services people, not the outcome anybody would imagine in 1990. Rather sad ending to a great common effort of many Polish people in '80.

take care, too
mirka
--

[Nicko]

Hi, Mirka!

It was interesting to get you vision of what is going on now in Poland. Of cource for everything behind the border is going through comparison with what is happening in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus etc. Most people here just see the opp-ties wich the people have in EU.
You are right when supposing we are taking the strength from cultural involment - nevermind the crisis new bright films continue to be made, music in all post soviet countries after the death of so called "russkiy rock" becomes apparent. But if talking about conceptual changes - we should hope for those who is 12-14 now. As for me - I do try to hope for the best.

Sincerely yours,
Nicko

[casterbridgecohen]

Paradise on earth?

Well French Polynesia, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Thailand have always been near the top of my list and all those places still have problems of one sort or the other.

We all want what we cannot have - so whilst I have an office and 25 staff in the States but no one could pay me enough to live there my elder daughter is keen to relocate to Virginia!

It is very easy to make a superficial judgement based on a visit of a few days but a couple of years ago when visiting Polland my wife commented - Why are so many Poles coming to the UK when the standard of living and life in general appears better here!

I think many Poles in the UK have come to the same conclusion as there are not so many friendly Poles in the UK now as there was afew years ago.

[heidalet]

To Mirka:

Well, the situation with concerts in Poland seems better now, at least better than in Russia.. I've been studying there for several months and I went to the concert of my favourite band which was more than 3 times cheaper than if I went to the same concert in Moscow (which they had visited before). It's ridicolous. Sorry for the off-topic.

As for Cohen's concert, I probably won't go there as all the cheapest places are VERY far (I've never been to the Kremlin Palace but the concert hall seems to be huge) and I don't want to buy more expensive tickets because it's just crazy... i'd have to spend like 4 scholarships on it

I also think that the prices are so high because all the business leaders and our "stars" will go there -- I doubt they actually care about Leonard Cohen, but showing off is such a nice thing, isn't it?

[mirka]

to Michael (totally off-topic, maybe this discussion should be moved to 'Other stuff' ?):

all is matter of personal preferences and needs, French Polynesia, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Thailand as a paradise ? maybe if I were a milioner looking for a vacation paradise..... but then there are many parts of the world that would suit me, Costa Rica being my last discovery.
As so far I'm not a milioner, I'm looking for the mixture of nature, climate, technology, culture and everyday convenience right for my life style (working from home and traveling a lot), so far San Francisco Bay area is closest to my ideal.
I've been couple of times to Australia (great country with a bright future IMHO), my husband was recently to New Zealand (spectacular nature, quite boring in the long run), never been to French Polynesia, Fiji or Thailand, have friends who were there on vacation or business -- none of this location however IMHO offers so many choices and convenience of living as California.

Judging a country after taking a vacation there can be misleading, as you don't have opportunity to look behind the facade, and understand their internal structure, plus being on vacation distorts perspective.
I'm sure the number of Poles in England has decreased, as Polish zloty is getting stronger against other currencies (it remains to be seen if this is a long term trend). There is enough young educated Polish people however moving permanently to other countries withing EU right now to worry about the future of the country.
I keep in touch with family and friends in Poland, watch Polish TV, and I'm not sorry I'm not there.
Maybe in another 10-20 years things get better....

mirka

[mirka]

Nicko and Heidalet, communism was a terrible disease,and it will take at least one generation to shake off its scars from national mentality.
I hope eventually things get better in your country as well - maybe when all the aparatchiks retire ? after all they didn't move to Mars, they still live, work, very often rule. It's happening in Poland, and I'm sure its even more visible in Russia.

mirka

[gilly-rjd]

I now live in Moscow. I
18/ If you need any advice then let me know...

I need some advice please!
Neither of the ticket sellers seem to have altered the date for the Moscow concert to October 7th, and neither seem to be still selling tickets under the March 18th date. I can't seem to contact anyone at their office. No-one has contacted me to say my ticket can be used in October. Do you know anything?

[SecretLife]

It looks like the whole leg of the tour has been postponed, with the Moscow gig moved for October 7. In terms of ticket validity, I'll know more tomorrow. But I imagine it should be OK.

[gilly-rjd]

SecretLife"]It looks like the whole leg of the tour has been postponed, with the Moscow gig moved for October 7. In terms of ticket validity, I'll know more tomorrow. But I imagine it should be OK
But you can't enter either site at all; no ticket sales for 18th March or 7th October. I've tried to e-mail them but my e-mails get returned to me! I've got 2 good-ish seats, but have to decide whether or not to go ahead; British Airways are trying to charge me £200 to change the dates of my flights.............
Gilly