20 May 2013. Sergei Yolkin’s World. A Monument “Not Made by Hands”

A Monument “Not Made by Hands”

Sergei Yolkin

2013

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The Russian title includes the word нерукотворному (nerukotvornomu: literally, “not made by hands”), which would bring to mind for any educated Russian (of whatever religious background) the word нерукотворные (nerukotvornye), which is the title of a famous Russian Orthodox icon type. The word “Chebarkul” on the base is the name of the locality where the meteorite fell. By the way, Governor Yurevich is the head of Makfa, a food processing company known mainly for pasta (Russian pasta? I shit you not… their website has some dynamite recipes).

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Online voting to determine the five best ideas for a memorial to commemorate the fall of a meteorite in the Urals began on the official website of Chelyabinsk Oblast Governor Mikhail Yurevich. Sergei Yolkin takes a sardonic look at it all.

20 May 2013

Sergei Yolkin

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/caricature/20130520/938366062.html

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6 May 2013. Sergei Yolkin’s World. Right After the Permian Extinction

Right After the Permian Extinction

Sergei Yolkin

2013

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This is a typical Yolkin play on words and current events. Perm, of course, is a city in the Urals. The Permian Extinction was caused by a massive meteor strike, and there was a meteorite strike in Chelyabinsk (which is relatively-close to Perm) earlier this year. Put together the meteor events and the fact that “Perm” and “Permian” are close homonyms, along with Yolkin’s irrepressible sense of irony and humour, and, voilà, you get the above caricature. Another “score” for Yolkin, I say…

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Scientists believe that the four-legged reptile that became the ancestor of dinosaurs, birds, and crocodiles began to populate the earth after the great Permian extinction. Here’s how it all seemed to Sergei Yolkin.

30 April 2013

Sergei Yolkin

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/caricature/20130430/935349525.html

Orthodox Church to Thank God for No Meteorite Blast Deaths

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On Tuesday, the MP Diocese of Chelyabinsk said it’d organise a mass prayer {do they mean a Molieben of Thanksgiving in every parish and monastery?: editor} on Thursday evening to thank God that no deaths occurred during the recent meteorite blast. On 15 February, as the meteorite streaked through the sky over Chelyabinsk Oblast, the shockwave from the meteorite’s explosion in the atmosphere shattered windows and damaged walls in thousands of residential buildings. There were over 1,500 injuries, mostly from flying glass shards. The Diocese of Chelyabinsk posted on its website, “God saved Chelyabinsk and other cities and towns in the Urals from a terrible disaster. The meteorite blast claimed no human lives. Therefore, believers will gather on Thursday in Chelyabinsk churches to thank the Creator for preventing a possible catastrophe”. The prayers will begin at 18.30 local time (16.30 MSK. 12.30 UTC. 07.30 EST. 04.30 PST. 23.30 AEST).

26 February 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130226/179699626/Orthodox-Church-to-Thank-God-for-No-Meteorite-Blast-Deaths.html

Editor’s Note:

If one were to synchronise prayers with the mass prayer in Chelyabinsk, the above time zone equivalency should help you. In England, it’d be at the beginning of the afternoon, during lunch break… it’d be breakfast time in New York, right before work… it’d be half past dark in San Francisco (even the owls are still baggin’ Zs there)… in Sydney, it’d be the end of a long hot summer day (it’s the equivalent of a Northern Hemisphere August), half an hour before midnight. I think that it’d be a good idea… but that’s only me, mind you. Just sayin’…

BMD

19 February 2013. Sergei Yolkin’s World. I Christen Thee Chebarkul!

I Christen Thee Chebarkul!

Sergei Yolkin

2013

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Of course, a literal translation was impossible here. A “чемодан” is a suitcase and a “чебурек” is a traditional Tatar food (click here for a description). Therefore, I chose “carry-on” and “chipolata” as substitutes (they begin with “C” and they’re of the same sorts as the Russian words (one is luggage and the other’s food). That is, the spirit of Yolkin is catered to; I’ve put my pinch of incense on the altar, which means that this is a righteous translation.

The crocodile is the famous character Gena the Crocodile from the Cheburashka series of multifilms, and the meteorite fragment is in the shape of the much-loved Cheburashka. Any Russian would see this in a flash! It’s like putting up Popeye or Taz… it’s that much a part of Russian “visual culture”. Below is a vid of Gena singing his “birthday song” (his most famous number) in a full-length Cheburashka multifilm (it’s at the beginning).

BMD

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The Ural meteorite received the name “Chebarkul” after the nearest settlement to the place of its fall.

18 February 2013

Sergei Yolkin

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/caricature/20130218/923510666.html