Jun 21 2007

Cat + Window = Heart Attack

Category: Dasha&Kittens,Kazakhstan,Personal,Pictures,WeatherChrisM @ 3:07 am

The title pretty much says it all. A little background before the photo though, the temperature over here is now steadily rising. Today it was around 32 or 33 degrees (centigrade 😉 ) outside, and tomorrow’s forecast is for 38.
As we still do not have an air conditioning system here, the only option really is to have the windows and balcony doors open in the evening and over-night, when it is cooler, and then keep them shut in the daytime, to try and preserve the cooler air in the flat.
The main problem with this is our kittens. I can not help but imagine them trying to chase a fly right out the window, and as we live on the 4th floor (3rd to UK readers), that would not be at all healthy for the cats.
We can open the doors on the alternate hinges, so they open at the top, rather than the side, but this does not allow as much air in. So, we have recently had ‘supervised’ sessions with the kittens, where we sit on the balcony and try to ensure the cats do not do anything silly. Irina seems a lot more comfortable with this than me, I keep getting so nervous that my palms sweat. Ira does raise a good point though, if we do not have a stool near the window, the cats are liable to try and jump up on the narrow internal window ledge, which would not be good.
Anyway, enough of the talking, here is a photo from this evening, with Karra watching the traffic go by…

Cat Plus Window Equals Heart Attack

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Jun 19 2007

Muggers Beware

Category: Friends,Kazakhstan,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 1:03 pm

A friend came over this weekend, and showed us their new personal protection device.

The (small) mature section of my brain immediately thought the same thing as when I hear about people carrying knives or guns in an effort to protect themselves – there is always the possibility that someone will take your protection, and use it against you.

Although these devices are usually advertised as very effective “personal defense” weapons, many[attribution needed] security operators and martial arts experts genuinely doubt their effectiveness against determined and physically strong aggressors in a real melee combat situation and their value as a defense weapon in general.

They claim that electroshock weapons need much more continuous and uninterrupted contact time with one’s intended target than usually advertised, well above 5 seconds, to stop a determined assailant effectively, and that much time can be impossible to achieve against a physically superior or better trained opponent in close unarmed combat. They claim that in such an event, the likely outcome would probably be merely irritating the assailant and having the electroshock weapon broken, taken away, or used against oneself for retaliation, after giving its intended user a false sense of security and power.

Taken from the Wiki article on Electroshock Weapons

Then the rest of my brain kicked in and just said “cool”, it crackles, looks really cool, and has god knows how many kilovolts pulsing between its metal studs…

Bzzzzzzzzzz Taser

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Jun 19 2007

Pres Answers The Public

Category: In The Media,KazakhstanChrisM @ 3:11 am

And it is KZBlog to the rescue again 🙂

They have posted a small summary (and some relevant links to other related posts) of President Nazarbayev’s online press conference, where he answered questions electronically submitted by citizens. See What Would You Like To Ask Him? for a little background on the process that occurred leading to this conference.

He answered some of the questions people were asking re. Aliev (Aliyev?), which is definitely an improvement over what may possibly have occurred years ago, with a blanket ban on such matters being aired in public. Whilst this country, if directly compared to ‘matured’ democracies in the West, still has a long way to go in some respects, there does seem to be an acceptance that some discussion is unavoidable, and that it is better to deal with/manage a situation, rather than simply stick your head in the sand.

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Jun 17 2007

Another Kazakh-Based Blog

Category: KazakhstanChrisM @ 8:53 pm

I was checking how this blog was doing in the search engines, for terms such as Kazakhstan Blog , Astana Blog , and of course Chris Merriman, when I came across a site written by an American who lives in Almaty.
She is a Peace Corps volunteer, and has recently found out she is to stay in Kazakhstan a little longer than originally planned. For anyone who has not come across the Peace Corp before, they work in almost 140 countries, trying help out local people with global issues.

Anyway, enough of the intro, check out the Kazakhstani Extravaganza blog for another look at life over here in Kazakhstan.

This post is not sponsored, nor did she ask for the link, I just thought it might be of use to some people. Which reminds me, I need to add this site to the links page – check the menu at the top to get there.

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Jun 17 2007

Alex Is Here In 7.5 Days :)

Category: Friends,Kazakhstan,PersonalChrisM @ 8:11 pm

When I last spoke to her, she mentioned she had difficulty in finding the older Kazakhstan posts on this blog, that listed some of the things newcomes to Kazakhstan might notice, and a few tips for those who have not yet left home.

She came up with the idea of having a static page, with a brief introduction to each post, and then a link, so other people could access them more easily.

She could have just either clicked on the Kazakhstan category, and gone to the older posts, or to the July and August 2006 Archives, but I think her idea was good, so I’ll let her off 🙂

(Lets see if this gets another complaining comment 😉 )

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Jun 13 2007

news.google.com blocked?

Category: Aware Or Conspiracy Nut...,KazakhstanChrisM @ 2:35 am

If anyone else in Kazakhstan reads this, could you do me a favour? Try and visit news.google.com and let me know if it works for you. I can’t currently access Google’s main news server. I first noticed a week or so ago that the server appeared to be down. However, as it is still unavailable, and the news.google.co.uk domain works fine, I’m beginning to wonder if there is either a technical issue, or perhaps some draconian blocking going on…

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Jun 13 2007

Picnic In The Park

Category: Eating Out,Friends,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 1:48 am

We recently went to a restaurant in the park near us (named, with some unique inspiration, Astana Park) with Walton and Assel. The place is based around the theme of a famous Russian film set in the desert, hopefully Ira will be able to inform me of its name in the morning.
Ira and I had not been there before, so we didn’t know what to expect. The food was good, the vodka must have been OK, as I forgot I took the following picture 🙂

Walton Assel Cafe Astana Kazakhstan

When Alex gets over here in a week and a half, I’m hoping we can return the restaurant again. The service was a little slow, and it was yet another example of a place in Kazakhstan where ‘starters’ and ‘main courses’ arrive in a random pattern, but the waitress was pleasant in her attitude, when Ira and I went back there last week.

By the way, the post title is a reference to an annual event back in Cheltenham, where people went to Pitville park, with a picnic, and listened to some bands play…

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Jun 12 2007

Karra & Muska Go Exploring

Category: Dasha&Kittens,Friends,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 12:19 am

Having already ripped the ears of the toy cat in the spare room, smashed the beautiful picture frame from Alex, and torn down a lot of wall paper that was aggravating them, Muska and Karra decided to get to the top of the world, from their perspective at least…
On top of the cupboard, masters of all they survey….

Karra & Muska Go Exploring

This is the room Alex will be staying in soon, and where the kittens complain if they are not allowed access into.

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Jun 11 2007

First Anne Robinson Now Thomas Cook…

Category: Kazakhstan,PersonalChrisM @ 3:24 pm

The UK Travel Agent Thomas Cook has sent out a memo to staff in Bangor, dictating that any business related conversations should only be carried out in English. The Welsh Language Board have stated they are disappointed with the company, and the Commission for Racial Equality in Wales are investigating the situation, asking Thomas Cook to explain why this edict was issued. They warned that the policy may be in breach of the Race Relations Act.

The company told their staff that they must use only English for business conversations. In the North of Wales, Welsh is often the primary language used – in the same way that many Kazakh families only use Russian if someone who can’t speak Kazakh is present.

A Thomas Cook spokeswoman stated that their policy applied to all non-English languages. A company statement read “Thomas Cook requests that all staff speak English when discussing work-related matters in the work place.”

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Jun 09 2007

Tornado near the Caspian Sea 7th June 2007

Category: Kazakhstan,Pictures,WeatherChrisM @ 11:54 am

Irina sent me a few photos on Friday, of a tornado on the Caspian Sea, not sure where exactly.
I would happily give credit to the photographer, but we don’t know who took them. We are assuming it was a worker for some sort of oil-related company based over there.
The tornado is quite visually impressive, click the images below to see a larger version. If anyone is particularly interested in them, I have higer-res versions for the 2nd and 3rd shots – the online versions have been resized and compressed to save my server’s bandwidth.
Tornado near the Caspian Sea 07062007 1st Shot

Tornado near the Caspian Sea 07062007 2nd Shot

Tornado near the Caspian Sea 07062007 3rd Shot

In this picture, you can see a second tornado, so perhaps cyclic tornadogenesis has taken place – yes OK, I went and Wiki’ed tornadoes, as I didn’t want to appear too ignorant 🙂

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