2013
To cook a dish with coconut milk, it isn’t necessary to buy that expensive canned Thai stuff. To learn how to “milk” a coconut properly, look at this caricature by Sergei Yolkin.
24 April 2013
RIA-Novosti
2013
The RIA translator wins yet another Big Green Weenie Award. The title isn’t Dreams of Space… if it were, Yolkin would’ve used мечты, not планы. Again, the translator trashes Yolkin’s play on words (it has overtones of “Comic Aspirations”). He showed the daftness of some teen dreams by using a pompous title juxtaposed with a faintly-ridiculous caricature. On top of that, it’s best to keep the boy’s exclamation to a single word, as is it in the original… doing one’s best to keep the somewhat-sardonic comparison between the grandiose remark with the prosaic reality… you CAN do it. Is Yolkin commenting on his own youthful dreams?
After Yuri Gagarin made the first manned space flight on 12 April 1961, millions of Soviet girls and boys dreamed of going up into space. For some of them, the dream came true. Sergei Yolkin comments on the UN General Assembly’s proclamation of 12 April as International Cosmonautics Day.
17 April 2013
RIA-Novosti
http://ria.ru/caricature/20130412/932270348.html
http://en.rian.ru/cartoons/20130412/180606789/Dreams-of-Space.html
2013
In the UK, there’s Facebook for Animals. Sergei Yolkin jokes on how our pets see us.
17 April 2013
RIA-Novosti
Perhaps, April Fool’s Day is one of the few holidays, although it’s never received official recognition, which is widely-celebrated all over the world. Over many years, each country developed its own unique April Fool’s practical jokes and traditions. You can read more about them in the Infographic.
Historians argue over the exact origin of the holiday. One version attributes the origin of this festival to Ancient Rome, where, in mid-February (not at the beginning of April), they held a Fool’s Carnival. Lucius Apuleius thought that ancient Romans associated “April Fool’s” hoaxing with a holiday called the Hilaria, in honour of Cybele the Great Mother goddess {only part of the holiday was a farce, there were serious aspects, too: editor}. Others argue that this holiday originated in ancient India, where they celebrated a Foolish Holiday on 31 March. On the other hand, in the ancient world, some speculate that only the Ancient Irish had a Fool’s Festival on 1 April, in honour of the New Year. Icelandic sagas relate that the custom of hoaxing on 1 April started in memory of the ásynja Skaði , daughter of the jötunn Þjazi .
Another version claims that the Fool’s Festival on 1 April in Ancient India and Rome originated as part of the celebration of the vernal equinox. People celebrated with jokes, pranks, and clowning around on New Year’s Day (it occurred in the spring in those days). People tried to appease the whims of spring weather with jokes and spoofing. Yet another variation insists that April Fool’s Day is associated with the transition to the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII Boncompagni in 1582. In the Middle Ages, people celebrated the New Year in late March… the New Year’s Festival began on 25 March and ended on 1 April. In the middle of the 16th century, King Charles IX reformed the calendar in France, moving the New Year to 1 January, but many continued to celebrate on 1 April. The people who kept the old holiday and gave each other gifts became known as “April Fools”. Yet, everyone wanted in on the fun. It became “April Fool’s Day”, and went on from there.
1 April 2013
RIA-Novosti
http://ria.ru/infografika/20130401/930032689.html
http://en.ria.ru/infographics/20130401/180379926/How-the-World-Celebrates-April-Fools-Day.html
In an attempt to turn New Zealand into a sanctuary for flightless kiwi birds and other endangered local wildlife, the island nation’s parliament is considering a measure to expel all cats from the country, bringing a disdainful hiss from all feline lovers. The issue has divided New Zealanders for years, with wildlife activists claiming that the domesticated balls of fluff are still “natural-born killers”, genetically-coded to dispatch a kiwi with a single paw swipe. Only some 5 percent of kiwi chicks manage to survive to adulthood, whilst struggling against an onslaught of invasive purry predators. Prof Phil Kummer {this may be an insider’s joke, профиль кума in Russian is “the godfather’s profile”… a “godfather” being the chekist in charge of internal security at a GULag camp: editor}, leading expert at the Organisation for Helping Ground Animals with Defence (OHGAWD), said, “If we’re serious about kiwi conservation, we must give up our cat addiction. Cute and fluffy as they come, our felines are birds’ natural enemies. We must stop kiwi killings by cats once and for all, to secure a future for New Zealand’s national symbol”. One proposal is to load all cats onto a barge, then, to ship them off to a more suitable place, one ready to give this mewing cargo a new home. This Noah’s puss ark could drop anchor in Australia, amongst other destinations, where they could set up a shelter to let the exiled tabbies frolic around and bask in the sunlight without wreaking havoc on defenceless kiwis.
1 April 2013
Voice of Russia World Service
http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_04_01/Cat-threat-New-Zealand-to-give-puss-the-boot-504/
Editor’s Note:
Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’? Look at the date… my, my, my… Barnum WAS right, wasn’t he? Give a round (of applause and drinks, both) to the VOR gang… this was top-shelf tongue-in-cheek ironic comedy… from people whose native tongue isn’t English. This restores my faith in humanity… and in its enduring good-sense…
BMD
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2 April 2013. Sergei Yolkin’s World. Joked about Garlic, eh, Gosduma?
Tags: April Fool, April Fools Day, cartoons, Duma, editorial cartoons, Garlic, humour, political commentary, politics, Pranks, RF Gosduma, satire, Sergei Yolkin, State Duma
Joked about Garlic, Eh, Gosduma?
Sergei Yolkin
2013
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Hmm… it’s odd… an anti-garlic bill disappeared from the electronic database of the RF Gosduma. Now, that’s got Sergei Yolkin stumped.
1 April 2013
Sergei Yolkin
RIA-Novosti
http://ria.ru/caricature/20130401/930438864.html
Editor’s Note:
This was either an April Fools’ goof on the part of a Gosduma deputy, or, it’s a prank on the part of Yolkin. Taking Yolkin’s known puckishness and satirical bent into account, it could very well be his doing, but he could simply be recording someone else’s “funny”. You pays your money and you takes your choice…
BMD