About

I'm an expat Californian who is obsessed with traveling to strange and exotic destinations in the former Communist Bloc. I also like tacos, beer, surfing, trapshooting, and the geopolitics of oil. I currently live in Arlington, Virginia and work in Washington, DC. Read more about me here, check out my photo album, or send me an e-mail.

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    Don’t bother trying, you’ll never ever find a surer friend than Gazprom

    Definitely the greatest corporate anthem I have ever heard. Go Gazprom!

    Don’t bother trying, you’ll never ever find
    A surer friend than Gazprom
    We’re giving people warmth and light
    For office and for home
    We should always keep in mind
    From dawn till sun down,
    That our work is always needed
    Working day or holiday
    Ref.:
    Let’s drink to you, let’s drink to us,
    Let’s [...]

    Такого как Путин!

    Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s latest vacation photos are now online. Sure beats going to Martha’s Vineyard…

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    Ура!!!!!!!

    In an effort to improve my Russian (aka no longer sound like an illiterate peasant) I have signed up for yet another Russian class. The last time I took a formal Russian class was in 2005 while at the LSE. Since then, I have basically forgotten everything, except how to order borscht and [...]

    Stuff I want to do: Cruising around Antarctica on a Russian icebreaker

    I have never been on a cruise and I have absolutely no desire to go on one. I imagine a huge boat filled with drunk people gorging themselves on boring food, playing slot machines, laying by a pool, and occasionally getting off the boat to visit random bars in some port city. Aside [...]

    Fly Aeroflot!

    One of their pilots is drunk and the passengers demand that he be removed before the plane leaves Moscow for New York. Aeroflot’s response?
    At the same time, an Aeroflot representative sought to assure them that “it’s not such a big deal if the pilot is drunk.”
    “Really, all he has to do is press a [...]

    Once we feed gas to entry point of Ukrainian gas transmission system, it is to appear at exit point!

    I really wish Gazprom would post videos of their press conferences, because it would be rather hilarious to see Sergey Kupriyanov and Alexey Miller shouting their statements to reporters:

    As of January 7, when Gazprom was forced to cease gas supplies, the transit pipelines in Ukraine were filled with Russian gas. Therefore, the pipeline pressure is [...]

    I love Gazprom’s press releases

    Especially when they use exclamation marks!

    Providing gas for technological needs is the sole responsibility of transiting party!

    Indeed!

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    CPC Pipeline capacity to double

    I never thought this day would come. The CPC Consortium has finally agreed to expand the pipeline’s capacity, which will carry some 1.4 million bpd of Kazakh crude by 2013.

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    Russia and OPEC

    No promises from Russia on production cuts, but I thought this was interesting:
    In a speech to the assembled OPEC ministers, Mr. Sechin said that Russia’s beleaguered oil producers had already pruned production in November, and could cut still more if market conditions warranted. But he gave no promises.
    Instead, he put forward a list of changes [...]

    Bears playing hockey

    Russian bears, of course. And some of them skate better than I do. Moscow Circus, 1970s.

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