The World On a Day Before Yesterday: A Global Image of 14th March 2012

Guardian, India; Parivartan Sharma/REUTERS

Once I prepared a workshop for young people on the theme of stereotypes and I used visual data of online media [to be precise - I used photo galleries posted on different news sites under the name "Photos of the Day" as a data set], as a source that represents different countries and influences different reading audiences on their opinions about the world here and now. It's undoubtedly a free space for stereotyping and identifying global players in the global politics, but from other perspectives such a gallery of the day reveals a lot more information about what is important for different nations - individualism versus collective consciousness, traditions, culture, the life quality and life priorities, the importance of time and status, money and wealth, and if you're just a reader of a particular media, such visual interpretations even unconsciously influence your view about the world, as according to S.Sontag or any non-expert in photography - "we tend to trust that the image is showing the truth as  in the reality we don't have enough time to travel and check it "... so therefore I wanted to check: How the world looks like on 14th March 2012?

The Oxygen.

Starting with the rhythm of hip-hop and a skin-head guy rapping on the radio microphone. Talking hard. The composition number one says the title: 'The Oxygen'.

The Oxygen - the dance of lungs. And the story goes on... about a girl from the big city and the boy from the provinces both called Sasha. Their love starts as usual sentimentally and suddenly noticing that lungs are dancing, the oxygen comes in bigger doses. Love in this case is compared to Oxygen - at least somebody made an alternative phrase of describing 'Butterflies in Stomach'. And butterflies appear either in a few significant moments of the movie. 

But the plot is more complicated than just love among two youngsters likely smoking weed in front of big monuments. The problem goes deeper, and for comparison the lack or either loads of 'Oxygen' can cause all the biggest mistakes made by mankind. And examples are given in the next compositions of the movie. Full track contains 10 of them, covered in simple and easy discussion on present day topics skillfully using the elements that create the modern culture of the youth. Talking about Islamic countries, 11th September 2001, which was all made in name of big 'love' (shown in videos of war and named as 'LOVE PARADE'), and youth dependent on drugs, suffering either from big love or lack of it. The next composition called 'Amnesia' tries to provide a solution - 'Organize your brain clinical amnesia. Organize - I don't remember anything, anything, anything...'.

Movie is precisely describing the youth of the world, portraying the life of Russian example. The mixture of scenes similar to ideology and performance presented in  'Pump Up the Volume', 'Trainspotting' and 'Run Lola Run' appear in the flow of pictures, taking the best part of it. Outstanding thinking, hippies running naked in the field of weed, rebels and all those who are in search for understanding in this world. Ironic, containing delicious comparisons, excellent game of words, which touch, take over and settle down in memory. The above mentioned 'Dance of Lungs', 'Provincial Fur and Fleas of Big City', 'Heart in a Shape of a Big Double-Bed' and many others made by this hard talk of storytellers, alternating with visualization containing scenes of decelerated reality and as well impressive surrealism [e.g., girl walking on the moon in black gumboots decorated with colorful flowers, break-dance mixing with sound of broken glass]. The movie speaks to you and your conscience.

Organize your brain Amnesia and add some Oxygen!

Forever Young. Forever Drunk. [Вечно молодой, вечно пьяный]

© Alexander Drozdov/AFP/Getty Images

While I'm checking the daily dose of emails confirming or rejecting the hostel bookings on an ordinary working day and hoping to proceed with fighting my BA thesis when a spare moment arrives, two backpackers come in to check-in their pre-booked hostel beds. 

Olga and Irina. They came to celebrate. It's yet another year and another birthday. This is a special one despite the fact that Riga greets them with snow, so white and so unbearable.

They say they never buy a return ticket, just in case if the city's charm gets them too far and the desire to enjoy the beauty of the place is so vigorous that there's no chance to resist it.

They come from the city of lions and bridges. The city that is all covered up in historical fairy-tales and beauty, having both features in a great amount. [St. Petersbourg]

They speak about the famous white nights and the bridges that tend to split and merge back time to time. That's all about the weirdly astounded bridge thing, as they say. If you stay on the wrong side of the bridge after a great party it just means that you had a great party. Indeed! Now you need to use your creativity to figure out where you're going to spend the rest of the night. The tourists even if just innocently watching this phenomenal bridge splitting activity might get themselves into a trouble for the same reason for being on the wrong side of the bridge.

The economic tendencies are uniquely precise and appropriately portraying the global stability crash, also in Russia. The workforce is experiencing massive dismissals from full-time and part-time positions. Same goes for pubs that are decreasing in space and numbers, as they say.

They consider themselves workaholics. For already 3 years they're earning money by writing BA and Master thesis and reports for lazy students. They work together and they succeed. One of them states that if the spring season was very productive by doing this stuff, they can afford a pretty easy living afterwards that includes expanding of horizons away from home city walls, like now. Seems like it's worth it. However, the present economic tendencies have also influenced their unique method of earning income, since the nation's financial capacity has become less impressive than it used to be.

They passionately approach the subject of existing subcultures in their city, when I ask, excited to describe the curious features of subcultures that they are also part of. The Roofers is one of them. Roofers are those living on the roofs or at least enjoying some late night beers there once in a while. However, even roofers are experiencing hard times, since the owners of houses that apparently have roofs have started to close more and more doors to those numerous Roofers' paradises. That's a shame! Maybe those house owners want to keep the king-size happiness of being on the roof for themselves? Nevertheless, there are still some unlocked roofs left and if needed you can always get directions how to get there.

Meanwhile they continue to celebrate. To celebrate their silent moments of happiness of being in a big city, drinking beer hidden in gloves, smiling and telling jokes, inviting to come for a visit, to visit the city of lions, pretty bridges and just great people. I'm smiling along [for those... forever young and forever drunk].