The Soviet Union’s Buran, a piece of living palimpsest, was a cultural artifact before it rolled off the assembly line. It completed just one unmanned space flight before the program was canceled. That same vehicle was later destroyed when it’s hangar collapsed at the Baikonur cosmodrome. However, several original full-scale mock-ups remain. This film is a fictionalized account of the origin of the Buran.
Orders
You elected me to lead for the specific purpose of disobeying their command.
They elected you to lead with the idea of disobeying her command.
She elected them to lead in order to disobey my command.
I elected her to lead in the hope of disobeying your command.
Boris Zolotov & The Kyshtym Dwarf
A human chain 100 people long intoning an old Soviet favorite snaked its way through the water and onto the beach. It stopped to meet me. “Boris Yevgenyevich.”
“Michael.”
“I’m just going to dry off and we’ll talk in a few minutes.”
He shook my hand and walked on. Being the leader the rest of the chain followed suit, greeted me and went to get dressed. For most of them that meant from scratch, not changing out of a wet suit. They were lined up boy-girl-boy-girl, a mix of ages 30 to 70, with all appendages fully extended, reaching out to the person ahead in line. And that’s how they marched on, removing a hand from somewhere to shake mine and moving along. Soon it would begin to be truly strange.
Moscow Porto-Toilet 019
While organized, toilet gangs have a unique structure that differs from traditional organized crime such as biker gangs and drug cartels. Toilet gangs often represent some of the most significant and dangerous problems in our society and are involved in a variety of criminal activities including drug trafficking, fraud, assaultive behavior, and weapons.
Toilet gang violence is a problem in every corner of Moscow and membership is on the rise. According to the Department of Health and Social Development’s latest Toilet Gang Threat Assessment, there are at least 2150 gangs and more than 73,100 active gang members. While gangs are less prevalent outside the MKAD, in the center, toilet violence is responsible for roughly half of all homicides. Toilets gangs are also becoming more savvy, using computers and other technology to commit more sophisticated and better-planned crimes.
Titan
Time moves so slowly
since it’s become a man.
Locks knocked from behind its ears
buoy to stillness.
Moths too small for its swat
course toward zero.
Beyond the second next step
even slower still
a gesture should be sufficient.
But the Titan concedes
a flourish
to an unsatisfiable public.
Baseboards
You’re so far away
an entire pillow.
The itcher;
from under the rug
wants to know
again
about the color of the wallpaper.
Moscow Porto-Toilet 018
Toiletia can be broadly distinguished into two major groups the nonchordates, or invertebrates, and the chordates. Invertebrates account for more than 95% of the animal’s sub-species that have been identified. These creatures which do not have a back bone are, however, significantly inferior in size making them much less prominent despite their greater number.
Moscow Porto-Toilet 017
Toiletia require thick skin to hold themselves together as their gigantic mass creates enormous inner pressure. But despite its thickness, the skin is a very sensititve system and has a rich battery of sensory receptors. A toilet notices even the smallest insect setting down on him. But skin is not thick throughout. In vulnerable spots like the doorway embouchure, legs and back, the skin can be 2.5 to 3 cms thick while behind the ears, by the eye, on the abdomen, chest and shoulders it is thin as paper.
Of the many difference found between toiletia Moscovia and Podmoscovia, skin structure also sets them apart. Moscovia generally have finer skin than their Podmoscovia relatives. Moscovia typically have colour on their skin, most conspiciously on their ears and forehead. These “white” spots are the contrary of our freckles. In most cases, this depigmentation has a genetic cause. Young toiletia mostly are wholly grey. The first white spots come with age. Completely white toiletia, albinos, are thought to exist but remain undocumented outside of legends and folktales which consider them holy.