Happy New Year!!

Civil Georgia reports that Tbilisi Municipality will host the largest-ever feast in Georgia with huge traditional New Year dishes in downtown Tbilisi on December 31.


A 1.5-ton cooking pot full of Satsivi, turkeys in walnut sauce; 25 square meters big Gozinaki, nuts candied in honey and a 10 square meters big Khachapuri will be displayed on Rike in downtown Tbilisi.

Hold on! I am coming!!!

Uh oh...STARQUALITY!

Sopho Khalvashi from Batumi is the Georgian contribution to the Eurovision Songcontest in Helsinki, Finland in May 2007. I saw and heard her on TV this summer in Georgia, and WOW this girl is a talent! She has a tremendous voice, and performs with confidence, personality, and style. It is fair to say that she has got what the Americans call "star quality". As much as I don't watch the Euroivision Songcontest, I think I will make an exception next year. So should you!

(Picture..ripped off a Swedish site..sorry :-)

Case 4675 Attempted assasination of Khrushchov

On 13 December 1960 Chairman of Georgian Security Committee Alex Inaur signed a remarkable document requesting immediate arrest of an illegal group operating in Tbilisi. The order clearly stated the date and the name of the person against whom the act of terrorism was planned. It was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchov. Why the terrorists were plotting to assassinate Nikita Khrushchov? What were the roots of their hatred? The documentary displays this secret conspiracy. Previously secreted unique video, photo material and unpublished documents provided by Security Committee are used in the film ( Rustavi 2)

Astonishing documentary series by Chageishvili

Toma Chageishvili began working on the documentary program "Georgia - Modern History" in January 2001 in Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company. 24 documentaries have been shot since then. Director of the documentaries - Demna Japaridze, journalist - Zaza Jgharkava.

View the documentaries on the PC

This series of documentaries are mildly put "a must see" for everybody with the faintest interest in Soviet - Georgian history. Never before seen (at least not by many in the west) old movie clips of Stalin, Khrushchov and other notabilities from the cold war. Together this series tells the story about Georgia during the 70 years incorporated in the Soviet Union. Unfortunately the clips are only in Georgian, so you need an interpreter. But the stories are well told through pictures, so have a go at it!

Dear Rustavi 2

This documentaries are of such high quality, and have so much to offer also for westerners not speaking Georgian: Can you PLEASE add english subtitles? Please...Please?

View the documentaries

Merry X-mas!

I would like to wish you all a merry x-mas and a happy new year. (Ok. I know Georgians are celebrating in January, but still). I will now pay special attention to traditional Norwegian food, exessive lazyness, and hopefully some family-disputes for the next few days.

Here's to you and your families!

The Break-Away Triade

Parliamentarians from the breakaway regions of Abkhazia, Transdnestria and South Ossetia called on the international community to recognize their independence and build equal relations with the three breakaway regions, the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee reported on December 18”(Civil.ge)

"Tell me who your friends are, and I 'll tell you who you are"
Transdnestria is a hard-core dictatorship founded on nepotism and brutalism run by former Russian FSB/KGB-officers backed by Russia. As shown on a French documentary, a BBC reporter was offered to buy “dirty bombs” from officials in the so called republic of Transdnestria. The biggest asset this “republic” posesses, is a formidable arsenal of weapons left there after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Illegal sales of weapons is one of the “republics” main income sources.

Exactly what you look for in a friend….?

Social Science in Caucasus

I found this great blog which contains a lot of exiting research about people living in the Caucasus region. It is easy accessible and written as pretext with links to the in-depth material. Visit their homepage for more information. Most of it is written in English.

An Escalating Peace

Aleksi Aleksishvili, Georgian Minister of Finance estimates a total loss of 250 million dollars due to the Russian Embargo. That equals 2.05% of Georgias GNP.

At the same time President Putin said in an interview with the Mexican publisher Mario Vasquez Rana that [..] there is no conflict between Russia and Georgia. The Georgian government, without Russia understanding anything of it, does everything to destroy the relationship between the two counties. During the last years Georgian politics has been extremely anti-Russian”, Putin says. In his opinion the Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian Ossetian conflict heads towards armed conflict.

Fortunately we can depend on the Russian Peacekeepers
As there is no conflict between Russia and Georgia, we are witnessing an escalating peace, I guess. It is then a great comfort to us all that the Russian Duma emphasizes freedom of will, peace, human rights and stability in dealing with South Ossetia.

So: What's it going to be, Vladimir? Peace or armed peace?

Source: http://gazeta.ru/

Russian concern about human rights??

"Concerned" Russians

- A statement from the Russian Duma which concerns South Ossetia, says that the November 12 independence referendum in the region has manifested “evident aspiration” of its population towards independence and it “should be fully taken into consideration by the international community in order to ensure human rights, peace and stability.”

- “The State Duma believes that the Russian Federation should build its policy based on the expression of free will by the people of South Ossetia, which was expressed during the recent referendum held in full compliance to the international legal norms and procedures, as well as based on the laws of the Russian Federation,” statement reads.

Unbelievable
The Russians giving advice to the international community regarding human rights, free will, peace and stability? Excuse me! Did the Russian Duma sleep the last six years? I think further comments are unnecessary. Someone must stop serving those people vodka.

Source: Civil Georgia

The Georgian Mothers

Mothers are important in Georgia. To be fair I hadn’t done much thinking about mothers before a particular incident at a Tbilisi restaurant brought the subject to my attention.

"Generally you find three kinds of Mothers in Georgia. One traditional with capitol M and the second, more modern and younger version with small m, focused on creating a career for themselves outside the family still parallel with the traditions. The third mother is the more abstract and provoking kind, watching over the country (as seen on the picture). This kind of “mothers” with swords and strenghty attitude gives many Georgian men high blood pressure and force them into panic, at least in the columns of the Tbilisi newspapers, debating the shere presence of Mother Georgia standing on the hills above Tbilisi. She has, as a sign of contempt?, her back turned to the american “refugeecamp” of rich Americans wives living in their protected luxury quarters high above Tbilisi, shielded from the Georgian “plebeians”. It could be frustrating to have such a dualistic female statue stiring at you every day, watching your steps….

The complete article is found on my website.