Russia Report

This morning at 10.30am will see the long overdue publication of the Russia Report. The fact that Johnson and Cummings are in it up to their scrawny little necks is a given; we don't need a 50,000 word dossier to tell us we have one of the most corrupt governments in modern history. Or maybe we do. My faith in due political process is being pushed to new limits every day. Each day brings with it a cavalcade of fresh horrors that are quickly relegated to tomorrow's chip wrappers when yet more dead cats are thrown into proceedings. But this isn't the time or place* to throw shit around; like a lot of people I may have become more politically attuned since 2016 (everything was broken by the Brexit referendum), but save for the odd outburst I try to park my political views; which is not always easy.

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Moving on, here's a link to a rather tasty Soviet mix from the Number One Son: three shin-kicking tunes that, remarkably, all carry the line  'Discussions with Russians'. Very timely, James! The song that opens proceedings is the first single ever released on the Stiff record label from the self proclaimed Jesus of Cool. 

Nick Lowe - So it Goes (1976)

I'm afraid tracks 2 and 3 that make up the playlist - great though they are - are both acts I know precious little about. Maybe James can shed some light on them...  

Beat Happening - I Love You (1985)

Young Presidents - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (2013)

* Twitter's the place for that sort of thing.

That's easy for you to say

It will come as no surprise to you that I speak neither fluent Chinese or Russian. Notwithstanding these two obvious handicaps, I've knocked up a couple of Beatles related pictures that, I pray, won't offend any visitors hailing from these easterly sectors*. I really hope I've nailed it and that I'm not calling my best friend's mother a whore or any other such translational f*ck-up. I was originally going for All You Need is Love, but it was way too many characters for the size of canvas. So, here are 我爱她 and И я люблю ее. I think.



* Amazing as it may seem, Russians account for 10% of my regular readership

Why don't we do it in the road?

If this photograph isn't a hoax then it purports to be over a hundred years old - taken at the turn of the century on Chernomorskaya Road in the Russian city of Yeysk.