Soviet THE SOVIET QUIZ - 2012

[JimZ]

Dear all,

The 2012 quiz forum will have some new rules which have been discussed between Christophe, Hauptmann, Harvey and myself to fine tune the game for 2012. Of course, no set of rules can ever cover the various exceptions which are nevertheless bourd to crop up. However, I am posting these in advance so that all members who want to join us in 2012 can familiarise themselves with the game.

The game will start in the first couple of days of January as soon as we wrap up the 2011 quiz. Your individual participation in this game has helped keep things moving. Without you all, there would be no Soviet Quiz!!!

Without further ado, here are the new rules. If there are any last minute suggestions pls PM them to me and if they will improve the game, I'll discuss the suggestions with the others so that we can formalise them and incorporate them into the rules. This thread is temporarily locked for you to read and review, but will be unlocked in January as soon as the 2012 quiz is launched.

So please, watch this space.

...and remember, its not so much about winning as it is about playing and learning!!!

Regards,

Jim

2012 Rules

All Forum members are eligible to participate, but there needs to be a few ground (and "classical") rules so there is no confusion among Forum members.

1. Discuss only one trivia item at a time so as not to confuse what is being discussed with other Forum members.

2. Once a Forum member guesses the correct trivia question, that member has up to 48 hours to post the next question. If the individual will be away for a period of time or is otherwise unable to provide a new question, they should indicate this and pass the posing of the next question to one of the hosts or any other Forum member - thus ensuring that the quiz may proceed. However, when a member passes up posing a new question, they will have to sit the next one out.

3. To ensure we keep this thread friendly, there should be no heckling, bantering, quarrelling or arguing with another person when he or she does not correctly answer the trivia question. Never forget we are amongst Gentlemen (or -women).

4. The trivia question must have a connection to the Soviet Union & former Eastern Block Countries, as it is the purpose of this Forum. The trivia could involve history, people, awards, badges or items. The trivia question can take any form. There must however be a main question which must have a clear answer - a date, an event, a story. Multipart questions of the sort that require more information about a person or event must have a main question that will score the point with the other information requested being bonus information. Additional background to the answer should always be encouraged

If a multi-part question asks to identify three people or five medals etc this should specifically indicate that all parts need to be answered in full to score the point.

Quiz hosts may request a member to narrow down the scope of the question if too much information is requested.

5. The questions should not be too obscure and should be readily researchable without too much difficulty – remember that most members may not read Cyrillic or speak Eastern European languages so we should stick to English as the main language for articles on which questions are based. As names are generally in Cyrillic, transliterations may differ. We should do our best to adhere to the English spelling of Cyrillic words for transliteration purposes.

6. Questions should not be misleading. However, a bit of “poetic licence” is allowed. Remember that hints are meant to narrow, rather than widen the scope of the hint. Also remember that not all participants are native English speakers and we must allow for some give and take when questions are being asked or replied to.

7. When the question is answered, the original poster should give background about the fact, the person, the item in question when confirming the reply as correct.

8. The original reply posted to a question should not be edited. The reply is time stamped and if any corrections need to be made, an additional posting should be made.

9. No posting items to just show you have one unless its adds to the post that is being discussed or shown.

10. Finally, please remember that we are here to have fun. There are no prizes and the idea is to challenge each other whilst learning new things. Whereas some of us may feel competitive, which is a good thing, let’s not lose site of the fun aspect. Your participation is encouraged, and the success of the quiz is an entirely collective effort."

[JimZ]

AND HERE GOES..... Happy New Year to all!!!

QUESTION 1

To score the point, correct answers to "a" and "b" would suffice - however do reply to "c" and "d" too as part of the reply.

a) What does this image represent? (give the full name in Russian and as translated into English)

b) Who are the characters depicted in this image? (names of characters and real people)

c) What tradition is attached to what this image depicts?

d) What are the underlying political critsisms that it makes?

As a bonus can you tell the story.

Good luck.

Jim :cheers:

[ub6365]

The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! (Russian: Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!; Ironiya sudby, ili S lyogkim parom!) is a Soviet comedy-drama directed by Eldar Ryazanov as a made-for-TV movie. The screenplay was written by Emil Braginsky and Ryazanov, loosely based on Ryazanov's 1971 play Once on New Year's Eve(Russian: Однажды в новогоднюю ночь). For distribution outside of the Soviet Union, the film was titled Happy New Year. The movie was filmed in 1975 at Mosfilm. Simultaneously a screwball comedy and a love story tinged with sadness, the film is traditionally broadcast in Russia and the former Soviet republics and satellite states every New Year's Day.^[1] It is viewed as fondly every year as is the American film It’s a Wonderful Life during the Christmas holidays.

The key to the plot is the relative uniformity of Brezhnev era public architecture. This is made explicit in a humorousanimated prologue, in which architects are overruled by politicians and red tape. This results in the entire planet being polluted with identical, unimaginative multistory apartment buildings - of the sort that can, in fact, be found in the suburbs of every city and town across the former Soviet Union. These buildings are uniform right down to the door key of each apartment. The rest of the film is live-action.

Following their annual tradition, a group of friends meet at a banya (a traditional public bath) in Moscow to celebrateNew Year's Eve (Новогодняя Ночь, Novogodnyaya Noch). The friends all get very drunk toasting the upcoming marriage of the central male character, Zhenya Lukashin (Andrei Myagkov) to Galya (Olga Naumenko). After the bath, one of the friends, Pavlik (Aleksandr Shirvindt), has to catch a plane to Leningrad; Zhenya, on the other hand, is supposed to go home to celebrate New Year's Eve with his fiancée. Both Zhenya and Pavlik pass out. The others cannot remember which of their unconscious friends is supposed to be catching the plane; eventually they mistakenly decide that it is Zhenya and put him on a plane instead of Pavlik. On the plane, he collapses onto the shoulder of his annoyed seatmate, played by the director himself (Ryazanov) in a brief comedic cameo appearance. The seatmate helps Zhenya get off the plane in Leningrad. He wakes up in Leningrad airport, believing he is still in Moscow. He stumbles into a taxi and, still quite drunk, gives the driver his address. It turns out that in Leningrad there is a street with the same name (3rd Builders' street), with a building at his address which looks exactly like Zhenya's. The key fits in the door of the apartment with the same number (as alluded to in the introductory narration, "...building standard apartments with standard locks"). Inside, even the furniture and layout of the apartment is nearly identical to that of Zhenya's apartment. Zhenya is too drunk to notice the differences, and goes to sleep.

Later, the real tenant, Nadya Shevelyova (Barbara Brylska), arrives home to find a strange man sleeping in her bed. To make matters worse, Nadya's fiancé, Ippolit (Yuri Yakovlev), arrives before Nadya can convince Zhenya to get up and leave. Ippolit becomes furious, refuses to believe Zhenya and Nadya's explanations, and storms out. Zhenya desperately tries to get back to Moscow, and Nadya herself wants to get rid of him as soon as possible, but unfortunately there are no flights to Moscow until the next morning. Thus the two are compelled to spend New Year's Eve together. At first they continue to treat each other with animosity, but gradually their behavior softens and the two fall in love. Comedic moments punctuated by unexpected guests, the repeated returns of the jealous Ippolit, the buzzing of the doorbell, and the ringing of the phone are interwoven with the slowly developing love story. In the morning, they feel that everything that has happened to them was a delusion, and they make the difficult decision to part. With a heavy heart, Zhenya returns to Moscow. Meanwhile Nadya reconsiders everything and, deciding that she might have let her chance at happiness slip away, takes a plane to Moscow following Zhenya, easily finding him in Moscow, since their addresses are the same.

[edit]Cast

• Andrey Myagkov as Zhenya
  
• Barbara Brylska as Nadya
  
• Yuri Yakovlev as Ippolit
  
• Aleksandr Shirvindt as Pavel, Zhenya's friend
  
• Georgi Burkov as Misha, Zhenya's friend
  
• Liya Akhedzhakova as Tanya, Nadya's friend
  
• Aleksandr Belyavskiy as Sasha, Zhenya's friend
  
• Lyubov Dobrzhanskaya as Zhenya's mother
  
• Olga Naumenko as Galya
  
• Gotlib Roninson as Zhenya's neighbour at the airport
  
• Eldar Ryazanov as Zhenya's neighbour in the plane
  
• Lyubov Sokolova as Nadya's mother
  
• Valentina Talyzina as Valya, Nadya's friend; Nadya's voice
  

[JimZ]

HI UB6365,

You score the first point for the year. Please, when answering if questions are A, B, C and D, these need to be replied to as A, B, C and D. However, as all the points have been covered this first point can be awarded.

Reply should have take format of:

A) The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! / Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!; Ironiya sudby, ili S lyogkim parom!)

B) Charactheras are Nadya (Barbara Brylska) and Zhenya (Andrei Myagkov)

C) This is the main movie to watch on New Year's Eve or New Year's day in Russia

D) Critisises USSR in terms of the lack of real market freedom that is not available in the USSR. Not only street names, but even apartments, the furniture and decoration, up to the very keys of the same apartments were the same across Russia......

Jim :cheers:

[JimZ]

Score update:

1 point - UB6365

Question 2 is next and goes to UB6365

Jim

[ub6365]

What you can say about this picture? (location etc...)

[Christophe]

This is the Veliky Novgorod (Novgorod to make it short) Academic Drama Theatre named after F. Dostoevsky (1987).

Ch.

[ub6365]

Good...

From Book of

Frédéric Chaubin. Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed

[JimZ]

Was that a question?

Should a point be awarded?

Please state clearly what the question is

Jim :cheers:

[ub6365]

Sorry Jimz,

Of course point is going to Christophe...

[JimZ]

SCORE UPDATE:

1 point - UB6365

1 point - Christophe

Question 3 goes to Christophe.

Jim

[Christophe]

Good...

From Book of

    Frédéric Chaubin. Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed

Thanks UB. A fantastic book at Tashen Publishing House. I love (and have) it )Ch.

[Christophe]

Question #3

In the former GDR, and in East-Berlin in particular, there were many representations of Lenin : statues, busts...

With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of the GDR with the former FRG, all these representations have been progressively dismantled, removed, suppressed...

Nevertheless, in Berlin there is one representation of Lenin still today in its original place.

Question : What is and where is this representation of Lenin ?

Good hunt and good luck !!

Ch.

[Hauptmann]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_statues_of_Lenin

East Germany: Berlin (1970) by Nikolai Tomskigranite, 19m, Leninplatz, removed in 1992 and buried outside Berlin (there are plans to re-erect it); a bust of Lenin can still be seen on the wall of the former swimming pool of the Russian Embassy on Behrenstrasse and there is a stained glass window of Lenin in the Old Library on Bebelplatz. One statue of Lenin (approximately 2:1) is still standing in Brommystrasse (corner Köpenickerstrasse) in the yard of a removal company.

Dan

Edited January 3, 2012 by Hauptmann

[Hauptmann]

Seems there are a few more in the former DDR including Berlin:

http://www.kunst-am-wege.de/index.php?title=Kategorie:Lenin_(Thema)&rcid=2718

E

• Eric Enge - mural on a school, Struth
  

H

• Hans gravel - Lenin monument, Strausberg
  

L

• Lenin memorial plaque on Bebel Platz, Berlin
  

L (cont.)

• Lenin memorial plaque at the Deutsches Theater, Berlin
  
• Lenin memorial in Frankfurter Allee, Berlin
  
• Lenin relief in the Behr, Berlin
  

M

• Model builder and the former pumping station hall - Lenin monument
  

R

• Wall relief in the Philipp-Müller-Strasse, Strausberg
  

S

• Stepanour - Lenin monument, Neuruppin
  

W

• Werner Laux - Lenin Memorial, Berlin
  

Dan :cheers:

[Christophe]

http://en.wikipedia....tatues_of_Lenin

East Germany: Berlin (1970) by Nikolai Tomskigranite, 19m, Leninplatz, removed in 1992 and buried outside Berlin (there are plans to re-erect it); a bust of Lenin can still be seen on the wall of the former swimming pool of the Russian Embassy on Behrenstrasse and there is a stained glass window of Lenin in the Old Library on Bebelplatz. One statue of Lenin (approximately 2:1) is still standing in Brommystrasse (corner Köpenickerstrasse) in the yard of a removal company.

Dan

Dan, which one of these is the sole representation of Lenin still today in its original place ?

Ch.

[Christophe]

Seems there are a few more in the former DDR including Berlin:

http://www.kunst-am-...hema)&rcid=2718

E

• Eric Enge - mural on a school, Struth
  

H

• Hans gravel - Lenin monument, Strausberg
  

L

• Lenin memorial plaque on Bebel Platz, Berlin
  

L (cont.)

• Lenin memorial plaque at the Deutsches Theater, Berlin
  
• Lenin memorial in Frankfurter Allee, Berlin
  
• Lenin relief in the Behr, Berlin
  

M

• Model builder and the former pumping station hall - Lenin monument
  

R

• Wall relief in the Philipp-Müller-Strasse, Strausberg
  

S

• Stepanour - Lenin monument, Neuruppin
  

W

• Werner Laux - Lenin Memorial, Berlin
  

Dan

All are not located in Berlin, and I think some sources are quite "old"... This list is not anymore accurate nowadays...

Ch.

[Hauptmann]

I'm going to go with: Bust of Lenin wall of the former swimming pool of the Russian Embassy on Behrenstrasse.

Dan :cheers:

[Christophe]

No, this one has been dismantled in 2011...

Your second chance ?

Ch.

Edited January 3, 2012 by Christophe

[Hauptmann]

Okay, stained glass window of Lenin in the Old Library on Bebelplatz.

:cheers:Dan

[Christophe]

Congrats Dan !! :jumping:

You are the winner !!!

Your turn, now...

Ch.

[JimZ]

SCORE UPDATE:

1 point - UB6365

1 point - Christophe

1 point - Hauptmann

Question 4 goes to Hauptmann.

Jim

[Hauptmann]

Question #4:

I was behind the most wicked practical joke ever played.

Who was I, what was the joke and how did it end up hurting me?

Dan :cheers:

[Christophe]

I was Stalin.

Being a very private man Stalin gave the order that no person should enter his bed chambers on pain of death.

Later, while in his chambers he decided to test whether his guards had listened to this instruction. Pretending to scream in pain he called for the guards stationed outside the door. Fearing that their leader was in trouble the guards burst into the room. Stalin had them executed for failing to follow his standing orders.

This little prank soon backfired, however, when Stalin suffered a seizure while alone in his bedroom. The guards were too afraid to enter, finding him hours later laid in a puddle of stale urine. He died three days later, in March 1953...

Ch.

[Hauptmann]

You nailed it! :jumping: Question #5 is all yours.

Dan :cheers: