English Russia goes inside the numbers station UVB-76.
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Numbers stations are a mysterious phenomenon possibly related to espionage. They are radio transmitters in Russia which broadcast seemingly random numbers or sounds. Recently one of them, UVB-76, changed from its normal buzzing to garbled messages. Theories abound about what they could possibly mean. If this was part of the prologue to a piece of spy fiction it would signal the activation of a sleeper agent or cell intent on killing key members of the British establishment (or US government if you must insist on not being parochial). They would have been called out of retirement by reactionary forces within the Russian government intent on taking the world back to the uncertain certainties of the Cold War or creating a neo-Soviet empire. Another real life event which sounds like the opening of a thriller is the gruesome and bizarre murder of Gareth Williams a specialist in codes who worked at GCHQ and had been seconded to MI6. The conspiracy theories are already being formulated on that one, and everyone’s calling him a spy when the label is almost certainly inappropriate, just to sex the story up. The Irwin series of stories (I have ideas for a few more after Tiger has finished serialising) feature a former MI6 analyst, so stories like this are of great interest to me. The reality will be much more mundane than the imagined reasons behind them, of course, but they fascinate for alittle while. Link to this post! Some photo reference from a Russian tank museum. Link to this post! Here’s some interesting finds on eBay. Soviet era Russian models, of British cars. The Bulgarian seller has listed three 1:18th scale car kits- a Vauxhall of some type, a Jaguar E Type and an Austin Morris. It seems odd that the Soviets would want to make models of Western vehicles, particularly such decadent items as an E Type. The models came with an electric motor, though not all three listed still have theirs. I must resist the temptation to bid and find out more. Link to this post! I go looking for abandoned industrial buildings and decay because they make for good photos. In fact I spent most of yesterday afternoon riding around east of Manchester on the lookout for ruins and old signs (photos to come soon). I’ve never got up the nerve to do much urban archaeology and actually poke around inside the buildings, as some do. On the other hand, given the money, I could see myself visiting Pripyat and Chernobyl. I don’t know if I could bring back such good photos as Tim Suess did from his recent visit. (I’ve got an idea for a film/comic script which would have a prologue in an abandoned Soviet science city. Picture sets such as this will make great photo reference.) Link to this post! There have beenpacks of stray dogs in Moscow at least since the 19th century and during that time the pressures of scavenging and surviving amongst humans has led to the evolution of a new breed, itself made up of smaller, more specialist packs. Most famous of the specialists are the metro dogs, which live near or in underground stations and have in some cases learnt how to use the trains to get around. Link to this post! English Russia is tracing the history of the Soviet motor industry. Part one covers the beginnings, which mostly consisted of copying others’ designs. Technorati tag: Scale Models Link to this post! Check out these pictures of one dedicated modelmaker’s project to copy a UAZ jeep. Technorati tag: Scale Models Link to this post! Chebureki could be described as Russian (or Georgian, depending upon the recipe) fried pasties. More Russian recipes at Ruscuisine.com A “modern famous Russian cook” makes Chebureki. Link to this post! Pictures from a tour around a Typhoon class submarine. It looks forlorn, like it’s waiting to be broken up, but still impressive. Technorati tag: Scale Models Link to this post! English Russia has a quick history of all the models of plane made by the MIG company. Technorati tag: Scale Models Link to this post! English Rusia has some very nice pictures of Russian trains and railways. I wonder if anyone’s built any Russia based layouts? Given the grand scale of the Russian network they’d probably have to be in one of the really small scales. Technorati tag: Scale Models Link to this post! What’s the Russian for “Ding Dong”? Link to this post! I’m not so sure about the excessive use of knee length socks, but otherwise just unwrap a few of these and send them to my room. “Make love with a cheerleader” is in my list of a hundred things to do, after all. Link to this post! It would be neat to do a story where the Cold War spawned some of the madder things predicted and use resurgent Communists as the enemy for a change rather than the good old Nazis. So these illustrations from Communist pulp magazines make for neat reference. Link to this post! |
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