спасибо!

Hey, Mother Russia: um, well, this might be a little awkward as you try to elbow your way across another border... but I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks, that is, for a variety of things. For Evgeni Malkin, whose three goals the other night pushed the Penguins into the next round. For granting all of us the right to wear sweatsuits in international air terminals, so that we can wait in comfort and in plush, pastel pinstripes, entirely ready to break into a sprint at any given moment. Thanks for your great novelists, of course, and for Kandinsky, and for Andrei Vlasenko's reaper-thresher, and for the early experiments in electrically-powered locomotives at a rail spur near Sestroretsk, and - well, let's be honest. What I really wanted to thank you for was the 1,194 page views that you've granted this blog over its lifetime. We don't know who you are or why you visit, dear Russian reader - but we did want you to know that you're appreciated.

And I can prove it, by means of a transcript of a conversation that took place, well, not a minute ago:

'Hey, Cleo!'
What?
'Can you name a Russian composer?'
Bach.
'No, Bach was German. Wanna try again?
Tchaikovsky.
'Yes! And what do you know about Russia?'
It's the biggest state in America.

So, you see? We love you and respect you. And whenever we happen to do some petrol cracking or some anthropometric cosmetology, we'll remember that we have you to thank.