PUBLISHERS’ FOREWORD

Page 3

Honestly speaking, at the height of summer one does not feel like turning pages of any magazine, even if this magazine is your favourite. Not to mention setting out on a journey to later on entrust one’s thoughts and impressions to paper. That was the way we were reflecting while making ourselves comfortable in a countryside garden on Unopiu armchairs and taking a nap, with bumblebees buzzing at the background. A bottle of an excellent Super Tuscan and a book by Irish poet Seamus Heaney were a perfect match for this lazy summer scene.
This idyllic serenity was shattered in an instant: as it often happens, some unexpected circumstances required us to provide assistance to a good friend of ours — he needed to confirm the authenticity of a diamond jewellery set that he recently bought and ensure that all the accompanying documents were genuine. Having found a contact at GIA for our prudent friend we realized it was high time we told our readers in a more detail about such useful organizations as this one, as well as shared our ideas on what to make ourselves busy with in summer, apart from countryside leisure or a week of dolce far niente on Tahiti, which everyone must experience at least once in a lifetime. So, we would recommend you pack your Tumi suitcases and book tickets (if still available) for the first voyage of the Queen Victoria ocean liner, a unique vessel, as much as 11 meters longer than the famous Queen Mary II, which offers a whole range of innovations for ultimately comfortable onboard experience. If for no other reasons, the remote Kowloon peninsula is worth visiting to stay a while at the Peninsula Hong Kong Hotel — you’ll see it yourself. But please leave some space for new impressions and plan well in advance a journey to Jerusalem for early autumn, at that time the weather will favour you and the ‘city of gold’ will stand before you in its splendid beauty. Last but not least, check the world tour schedule of the Canadian Cirque du Soleil — there is nothing that this show could be compared with, therefore it is just «a must see».

JERUSALEM OF GOLD

By Nata Stasiuk, page

This city is placed in the centre of many ancient maps of the world. The Christian «omphalus» or «the navel of the world» lies in one of its churches. Believers of all faiths come to Jerusalem to worship at its sacred sites. And the city lives on under blue skies, and for two thousand years now it has been receiving within its walls all those who believe or wish to believe.
The dwellers of Jerusalem are fond of telling tourists the legend of their city. While creating the world God gave it ten measures of beauty: Jerusalem took nine, and the rest of the world one. Ever since, people from all over the world have been coming here to see the beauty of the earth at its fullest.


HONOURABLE HISTORY OF BBQ

By Nata Stasiuk, page

Prometheus is honoured for stealing fire from Zeus and giving it to mortals for them to stay warm and cook meat. Ever since, the history of world progress has seemed to get frozen still and return to its roots every time the father of the family heads to his backyard, fires up the grill and invites neighbours to his signature barbecue.
Hired soldiers and ruined aristocrats, forgiven criminals and monk missionaries, as well as reckless adventurers united by the Spanish Crown under the flags of conquistadors, were slowly advancing deep into the conquered territories. Day by day their leaders — the ultimate desperados — were maintaining the morale of their troops by telling wonderful stories of hills of gold and jewels hidden in the depths of the New World, of the magical land of El Dorado, of the tree of life and the source of eternal youth. However, on their way they encountered only the tribes of remarkable people with smooth hair and red-hot copper coloured skin, and to consolidate their rule and proclaim this land theirs once and for all, the Spaniards were merciless in shedding the blood of the strangers. In his letters to the Emperor, Charles V, Fernando Cortes, one of the cruelest conquistadors (Conquista is a colonization expedition of Spaniards to the New World) tells of the horror that the civilization of the Aztecs inspired his people with, abundant with human sacrifice and rites of bloodshed. The irony of destiny is that, having crumbled the cultural heritage of the great Maya and Aztecs into dust, the Spaniards studied the habits and rites of the New World’s barbaric tribes much more thoroughly. On an island in the West Indies, the white-skinned newcomers noticed that the local Arawak Indians, before setting out on an expedition, would dry meat in the sun, while the insects attracted by the scent were kept away by small smoky fires. The meat prepared this way was called «barbacoa». According to another legend, the name referred to a wooden grid placed over smoldering fire to slowly cook meat.


REVOLUTIONARY REDS

By Alexey Dmitriev, page

The Italian region of Tuscany has always been famous for its vineyards and olive groves, while the great winemakers of Tuscany have become a brilliant example to be followed by today’s generation. Revolutionary approaches, innovative policy, strong will and faith have all contributed to the success of non-ordinary wines of the present day, the so called «Super Tuscan wines».
It is an interesting thing: all you have to do is add the word «super» to any noun, and the result is there. Even without going deep into detail or reflecting much on the subject, you will still believe this must be something superior, attractive, and extraordinary. So why did these wines deserve such a prefix and what was the reason to call ordinary Tuscan wines such a big name? Let’s find it out.
The regions of Florence and Siena are responsible for what is probably the most famous red wine of Tuscany, Chianti, which, until quite recently, was nothing more than a cheap ordinary wine in a straw basket. However, thirty years of the Tuscans’ hard work have seen them ruin their long lasting tradition of «the mass-production of red wines», as it was Tuscany and its Chianti that have launched the phenomenon later known as «Italian revolution in winemaking». This revolution started in the region of Chianti and soon spread throughout Tuscany and across the whole of Italy. In the late 1970s, Barone Ricasoli sold his vineyards to the multinational spirit giant Seagram, and in the course of just a decade the legendary Castello di Brolio and Casalferro turned into exceedingly popular drinks to be sold in supermarkets. Meanwhile, Ricasoli’s son, Francesco, fired all the American managers and spent 20 million dollars on re-planting the vineyards. The results were prompt: the 2000 vintage of Casalferro was named «The Wine of the Year in Europe» at the international blind wine-tasting in London, despite the fact that, according to the current classification, this wine has a very modest label «Toscana IGT» — Indicazione Geografica Tipica, i.e. that of a simple, «table» wine.


SWEET BEAUTIFUL HELEN

By Natalia Kosovets, page

France of the 19th century sparkled with outstanding names and events and made the world aware of the writings of Charles Baudelaire and Mme de Stael, Gustave Flaubert and George Sand, the aesthetic poetry of the Parnas group and anticipation of decadence. The 19th century presented the world with the majestic Arc de Triomphe, Colonne de Vendome, and the terrific stylistic challenge of Grand Opera that annoyed architects to the degree that they called it «eclectic». And there is much more to it…
France was rapidly advancing both culturally and gastronomically. Magnificent gastronomic masterpieces were revealed to the world, with the triumphant «Peach Melba» and «Belle Helene» taking the top places. Till today, Paris’ confectionery shops and restaurants have had on offer gourmets’ favourite desserts: peaches and pears. And although the list of classic French desserts is extremely rich, «Belle Helene» has always been equally popular as celebrated French pastry, creme-caramel, crepes, molten chocolate cake (proclaimed divine by de Gaulle), chocolate mousse, and even morning hot chocolate with cinnamon.
The delicacy owes its birth to an unknown but, no doubt, very talented cook, passionate about music. He worshipped theatre, which was brought out in the late 19th century when Jacques Offenbach staged an operetta that featured Beautiful Helen, one of the most beloved heroines of ancient art. The culinary expert was inspired by the operetta so much that the next day after the premiere he invented the dessert «Belle Helene».
While the music was acclaimed as «brilliant», and the staging «sparkling and jovial like champagne», the gourmets of Paris along with English aristocrats enjoyed the newly invented dessert, washing it down with the exquisite Puligny Montrachet, the most feminine among the white wines of Burgundy, a little spicy, with a hint of honey and a delicate quince aftertaste.

STORM IN A WINE GLASS

By Vladislav Sikalov, page

This man is said to have produced a real «red Californian revolution». Certainly, no blood involved; and certainly, in the wine business. One could even say «in a wine glass». However, it is easier to conduct a revolution than to keep the achieved results. What is surprising, therefore, is that three decades after the «coup» in the Californian winemaking, its author, Joseph Phelps, has still been dictating wine fashion in the well known and rapidly developing Napa Valley. Today, Joseph Phelps annually supplies up to 100 thousand cases of wine all over the world. Phelps plans to build a huge state-of-the-art winery to be located on the outskirts of his vineyards. «It is done this way to make sure the plant won’t spoil the view when I feel like enjoying the sight of my vineyards», says Joseph smiling. Moreover, there is such a feel of secrecy about Phelps' grounds that — even taken together with the neighbourhood — they definitely have nothing in common with a tourist pilgrimage site. A tough measure is also planned: the consumption of groundwater by the locals will be restricted. As for the waste water, it will be recycled: Mr Phelps closely monitors that all the ecological regulations are strictly followed. And yet, despite certain large-scale planning, you would hardly call the estate of Joseph Phelps «an empire» — it is rather a respectable traditional patriarchal mansion, where one owner is responsible for the business solutions and the direction of the wind which will blow on the mill of strategic planning. In the same way, the revolution he conducted could be called «a storm in a wine glass», were it not for the significant positive consequences for the whole of the US wine business.

LIFE INSIDE GOOGLE

By Vladislav Sikalov, page

A legend has it that the name «Google» was invented by one of the company’s founders whose little daughter babbled something similar. In fact, it has nothing to do with reality, if for no other reason than because no founding father of Google has children yet.
It turns out that the name Google is merely a different form of the word «googol», a term coined by Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner. A googol is a huge number represented by the digit 1 followed by one hundred zeros. The Universe has no single thing that could be measured in googols, neither stars, nor dust particles, nor atoms exist in such quantities. From this point of view, it becomes clear why Google used this term for its name, as the mission statement of the company includes organizing the huge volume of global internet information to make it universally accessible and useful all over the world.
The founders of Google Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who launched the most popular internet search engine in September 1998, are recognized as the most influential people on the web in 2006 according to a poll conducted by PC World magazine. Since then, Google’s staff has exceeded four thousand employees, scattered and constantly «googling» all over the world.
…They have much in common. Both come from a technical background, their fathers are scientists, both were born in 1973, one in the USA, the other in the USSR. They even look alike as if they were cousins. We know very little about the private life of Larry Page. As for Sergey Brin, it seems he behaves most discreetly. In his numerous interviews, Sergey's father eagerly tells the story of Sergey's renting a modest two-bedroom apartment, quite unimpressive for a billionaire; and instead of driving a Mercedes which would better suit his status, he prefers an environmentally friendly Toyota Prius, with a half-electric powered engine. Sergey is fond of gymnastics; like many other directors of Google he often comes to the office on roller skates, and during his lunch breaks he plays roller hockey in the company parking lot.


CELTIC WIZARD SEAMUS HEANEY

By Vladislav Sikalov, page

Nobel prize winning author Seamus Heaney has a well-established reputation as «the greatest Irish poet since Yeats». However, this does not mean Heaney is doomed to forever remain number two, this is rather a matter of continuity. Heaney’s poetry is incredibly multi-layered, his palette is extremely rich, which is even more impressive if we think of the master’s background: he was born near Castledawson, County Derry, Northern Ireland, his father was a farmer, his mother worked at a bakery. This might explain why the Irishman’s poems are marked by a finest symbiosis of the present day and his instinctive feel of the old times, their taste and flavour.
Seamus Heaney is fond of quoting some British official: «There are two opportunities in life: if you cannot be an artist you’d better be a revolutionary, if you cannot be a revolutionary, be an artist». Heaney is a typical artist, an «antirevolutionary» carefully preserving the artistic experience accumulated for centuries. Yet, no critique managed to find in his poems the rebellious — truly revolutionary — fury, and the deep disillusionment that were characteristic of the latest works by Yeats. In his poetic tissue, Seamus rather reflects, philosophizes, debates with contemporary poets and masters of the past: Auden, Rilke, Cavafy, Milosz (a circle of his interlocutors also included Joseph Brodsky who does not need any extra introductions).
Heaney remains loyal to poetic tradition but at the same time is well aware of today's world: in one of his poems, antique fears correlate with the horror of the present day, and allusions from Horace give place to the events of 9/11. If one reads all the books of his collected poems, one will see that Heaney tried to solve the «cursed» national and humane problems to be relieved from their burden by turning to the essence of poetry, and to the language as a medicine, as deliverance. As early as in 1969, the poet felt challenged to find a «field of force» in which «it would be possible to encompass the perspectives of a humane reason and at the same time to grant the religious intensity of the violence its deplorable authenticity and complexity».