The Moscow Metro is really beautiful

The London Underground isn't so pretty - genuine sign I found at Bank station

You may have heard about how pretty the Moscow Metro system is, you may have seen a couple of photographs, but I finally managed to find a decent set that really shows what it's like.

The streets are safe in Moscow

As we've seen recently, Russia's in a bit of a mess and Putin seems set to be in charge for life. Without any apparent sense of irony, he said in a speech the other day: "I promise you that all democratic gains of our people will without any doubt be upheld and guaranteed. We shall strengthen civil society and do everything to uphold media freedom."

Mmm, what a delight. Presumably all those riot police we've seen beating protesters are doing so to safeguard democracy.

Recently, one chap decided to test out the authorities and the very notion of safety on the streets of Moscow. He did it in a very simple way: by taking his AK47 for a walk. Despite walking past police, militia and soldiers in the centre of the city, no one stopped him or took any interest in what he was doing.

Yes indeed, whilst walking the streets with a protest sign will get you a trip to a hospital and/or a police station, strolling around with an assault rifle won't even arouse a second glance.

More photos of Comrade Ballsy can be seen on the excellent English Russia site:
http://englishrussia.com/2012/05/10/are-you-safe-in-moscow-streets/

1 incredibly skilful tiny knife

There seems to be a bit of a fashion in Russia for making tiny models or replicas. I wrote before about tiny weapons (hence the clumsy title this time round) and this time we're going to look at the process of making a miniature version of a kitchen knife. I'm really impressed by the level of finishing and accuracy.

It's not just knives. Dno, or whatever his name is (I don't read Russian) has a whole host of tiny models.
http://dno.livejournal.com/

10 incredibly skilful tiny weapons

I was browsing through some Russian sites the other day and came across one dedicated to crafting miniature edged weapons. There's not much to say - just enjoy the incredible skill that has gone into making these tiny replicas. The crasftmen say that it takes more time and effort to making the smaller version than the real thing.

Shamelessly stolen from http://vkarms.ru/