We dropped everything after we saw the yurt and went running to join in the Bashkir Uprising in San Francisco until we noticed it was an "Earth-Day Chai House" and not a Bashkir Uprising after all. We tried not to express how disappointed we were.
Here is the latest addition to the Peremech Lounge library collection:
A Russian Gentleman by Sergei Aksakov 1943 The Readers Club, New York
excerpt:
"At this time an event happend at Ufa which caused a great sensation there and was especially interesting to the young Bagroffs, because the hero of the story was an intimate friend of theirs, and if I am not mistaken, distantly related to Alexyei Stepanitch. Sofya Nikolayevna, as one would expect from her character, took a lively interest in such a romantic affair. A young man, named Timasheff , one of the most prominent and richest nobles of the district, fell in love with a Tartar girl, the daughter of a rich Tartar landowner. Her family, just like the Alkins, had altered their way of living to a certain extent in conformity with European customs, and they spoke Russian well, but they strictly observed the Moslem faith in all its purity. The beautiful Salme returned the love of the handsome Russian officer, who was a captain in the regiment stationed near Ufa. As she could not be married to a Russian without changing her religion, it was perfectly certain that her parents and grown-up brothers would never give their consent to such a union."
My other Grandmother, Zuhre usually steps forward into the spotlight, with her oratory and singing and teaching and all. This Grandmother above, Halime Ebe, born in Chita - Siberia, was more famed for her sweetness in heart and in kitchen. During her life, she ran a boarding house in Tokyo, lived in Kobe, Japan and eventually retired to Sunny California.
We like this picture and it reminds us of a friend saying "Why did that JERK have to forever ruin a very cool style of moustache?"
Among Halime Ebe's archives are many more military photos. Turkey, as a member of NATO, sent troops to the Korean War under the supervision of the United States. She has many photos of her son Hayrullah's experience as a career tank commander in the Turkish military; many photos of soldiers standing next to piles of cannons and stuff that tank people would get all juiced up about.
I never met either Grandfather. This is my father's father, Arif Sadri pulling a rickshaw in Japan.
He's not actually employed pulling rickshaw. He's playing with a friend.
He was born in Kazan, Tatarstan and passed away in Kobe, Japan.
He is buried outside of Kobe.
The documentary focuses on the perspective of sailors of the Kronshtadt naval base, the forerunner of the revolution, who eventually faced the wrath of the Bolsheviks they helped.
Salih Saidash is a forefather of the Tatar professional musical creativity. He was born in Kazan and received an education in the Kazan Musical College. During the civil war he served in the Red Army and proved to be a remarkable organizer of amateur music activities among the soldiers. S. Saidashev began his activity as a music composer in 1922. He was the first Tatar composer, who used the forms of orchestra and choir as well as instrumental ensemble in his music specifically enriching the pentatonic scale with individual features and bringing forms of the Russian and the West-European music to the Tatar folklore. Saidashev studied at the Moscow conservatoire in 1934-1938. Having returned to Kazan he composed music for new performances of the Tatar Academic Theatre and wrote lyrical songs. He also performed as a conductor. Salikh Saidashev proved by his works the possibility of using symphonic and other musical forms in the Tatar music. These innovations, which enriched the Tatar national art, were enthusiastically accepted by the audience. In 1928-1954 S. Saidashev used to live in the outbuilding at 13, Gorky Street. There is a memorial inscription on the building now.
Салих Замалетдинович Сайдашев (1900—1954 гг)
основоположник татарской профессиональной музыки, организатор первого татарского симфонического оркестра, создатель (в содружестве с драматургами — К.Тинчурин, Ф.Бурнаш, Т.Гиззат и др.) нового жанра для татарской сцены — музыкальной драмы, где музыкальные номера (оркестровое вступление, увертюра, песни, арий, дуэты, хоровые ансамбли, танцы, танцевальные сюиты) выполняют функцию раскрытия драматургии спектакля. Многие из этих высокопрофессиональных произведений потеряны, некоторые же воспринимаются как народное творчество. В итоге С.Сайдашев стал личностью, сформировавшей характерные черты музыкального сознания татар. Он горячо любим народом. Его творческое наследие — сокровище национальной культуры.
