Apparently, though yurts are also mingling with the upper crust, the occupyees, the 1%, as it were. This year a $75,000 designer yurt made its way into the Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog. Now lest you think this is puer consumerist greed, $5,000 of that price tag is a donation made to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, apparently in keeping with a theme of making wishes come true.

But overall, it’s pretty luxurious since the Neiman Marcus yurt appears to be designed as a kind of novelty, hang-out spot, an upscale gazebo or party tent.

From the catalog:

Ever wish you could cross your arms, bat your eyes, and escape to a serene place all your own? Well, your wish is our command. Our “Dream Folly” is inspired by the classic 1960s TV show I Dream of Jeannie.
…The structure consists of a mixed-grain interior lattice system, a Sunbrella® exterior lining, and a plexiglass door and dome. The roof is made from vinyl-coated polyester with an acrylic top coat for extra durability. But it’s the interior that goes beyond your wildest, most decadent dreams. Let’s start with the pièces de résistance: a bevy of one-of-a-kind, down-filled pillows from renowned designer Rebecca Vizard.
…In addition to the pillows, Vizard designed every detail of this space and selected colors to evoke the bubbles of a warm, soothing bath. The room’s other noteworthy embellishments include linen wall coverings by Coleman Taylor Handpainted Textiles in Montgomery, Alabama, and a custom, handcrafted crystal chandelier from New Orleans-based Julie Neill Designs.
…Simply ask for this dream getaway, and we’ll have it installed on your estate grounds in the blink of an eye. For every retreat sold, Neiman Marcus will donate $5,000 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The “Dream Folly” stands 12’5″ tall with an 18′ diameter.

Well I’ll certainly think about where to install it on my estate! Now, maybe Kazakhstani will stop feeling ashamed about yurts and open a tourist company where I can go sleep in one!

Plus, the tourists you would attract would be up for eating pretty much anything!

So the question is, are any Australians planning on watching this? And can you post clips on YouTube? Or KazTube perhaps.

the most concentrated and popular form of marijuana is so-called “plastilin” (plasticine), and the way it is harvested and produced has not changed for centuries.

It begins with a freshly showered person riding naked for hours on a clean, washed horse inside a two-meter-high “forest” of marijuana.

Afterwards, the human body and that of the horse are covered with a thick layer of resin mixed with sweat.

It only takes a few tiny pieces of “plastilin” to get high.
This produces a substance that is usually dark brown in color, which is then thoroughly scraped off the human and horse’s bodies.

The mixture is subsequently pressed, molded into bars, and dried.

The “plastilin” that results from this process effectively comprises very concentrated marijuana bars.

A couple of small, pinhead-sized pieces from one of these bars added to a regular cigarette is enough to make the smoker happy.

from RFE/RL

One citizen of Kazakhstan, Arman Turdaliyev, left a comment on Karim Massimov’s blog recently, saying that the only way to stop China from taking over Kazakhstan slowly was by preventing all foreign marriages.

Dear Karim Kazhimkanovich!
As a patriot of my country, I am concerned about her safety.
Citizens of other countries seek to enter Kazakhstan and become citizens by all means possible. The most popular method is to marry to a citizen of Kazakhstan. Many Kazakh women from Almaty (for financial reasons) do this almost automatically. In Almaty, thousands of Chinese have thus been granted citizenship like this
I propose to make the following law:
“If a citizen enters Kazakhstan married to a citizen of another country, he (the citizen of Kazakhstan) automatically loses their citizenship. Moreover, a citizen of another country, in this case, will not receive the citizenship of Kazakhstan.”
After the adoption of this law, China “quiet” expansion into Kazakhstan will be stopped as well as other disadvantaged countries (South-East Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Caucasus).
Only in ways we can survive in the neighborhood with such monsters.
Sincerely,
Arman

As Eurasianet points out, it’s hard to square such extremist views with Kazakhstan’s image as a country of tolerance and inter-ethnic peace. And as Express-K points out, Arman’s paranoia is quite unfounded as China is in 14th place by popularity of marriage (Kazakhstani most commonly marry Russian citizens, the only country that HAS attacked or invaded Kazakhstan in recent history. And the only country that ever conquered and ruled Kazakhstan). Only 5.7% of all marriages in Kazakhstan in 2010 were to a foreign citizen anyway. One also wonders if this law would work to prevent international marriages, or if it would simply lead to more Kazakhs giving up their citizenship.

But everyone has a right to their opinions, I suppose. And paranoid racist cranks appear everywhere. What is interesting is that Massimov did not respond to Arman by saying that such a law would violate human rights or be unenforceable or that it wouldn’t affect relations with China. Instead he sent it to the Ministry of the Interior for consideration. I can’t find it on Massimov’s blog, but here it is on the Min Interior’s blog:

Note that the Ministry of the Interior deals with law enforcement and policing matters. As opposed to the Ministry of Justice which deals with legal matters such as marriages and business registrations. So it’s a pretty serious step to send it to him.

Now, I have complete faith that nothing will come of this, but it is interesting that the PM couldn’t reject it outright and it went so far as to be noted in the Western, English-speaking press.

First of all, it’s certainly one of the best pieces of work I’ve seen done in Kazakhstan. The CGI, the quality, the directing and camera angles are extremely professional. And I’m all for the message not to waste your life partying and drinking. But the image of Almaty under attack is a bit disturbing, and I’m not sure what the author thought these young adults were supposed to do, if they weren’t having a snowball fight. Maybe I’m being too harsh.

Hope this doesn’t offends anyone. I thought it was kind of amusing, and it does illustrate the sacrifice that is celebrating Ramadan.

The book is not a history of Kazakhstan or a biography or memoir, as her husband’s books have been. Instead Philosophy of Love presents her methods of self-awareness and recognition. No one seems to be reporting on the details of what her philosophy of love is or what she means by self-awareness. However, for 7 years Pavoldar State Pedagological Institute, where the book was presented, has taught “Self-Awareness”, a course designed by Nazarbayeva “aimed at spiritual and moral development of man, self-improvement and harmonious development of personality.” And as of last year, Self-Awareness has become a regular school subject.

According to the Ministry of Education website:

The moral and religious education and upbringing of the younger generation in Kazakhstan society focused on the harmonious synthesis of human, national, ethnic, cultural and personal values, they pozvolyut person to fully realize ourselves in service to society, to realize their role and purpose in life.
Self, increasing value-meaning education, reveals and develops the individual’s ability to love unselfishly, to believe in themselves and in their strength, to do good, to learn more and improve itself, to achieve harmony in the physical, mental, spiritual, social and creative development.

The official site of Nazarbayeva’s center, Bobek, has a Self-Knowledge Section with some sample lessons. It sounds very touchy-feely and pretty harmless. However, some of the aspects, like the teacher chanting Zen-like poetry while students stand in a circle, sounds suspiciously like the kinds of things that make the government nervous when they happen in Protestant churches. And much of it seems aimed less at having students explore issues of self, love, nature, and the soul and more at teaching them the “correct” view.

Has anyone gone through this program? What do you think about it?

Babushkas a documentary by a Rice student about Russian grandmothers living in Kazakhstan.

The movie tells the stories of five elderly women, barely able to pay their food, utility and medical bills….
Early in the process, Chennisi and Hook thought they were making a movie about health care and food distribution. But everything changed when they interviewed the babushkas last summer. That’s when the two young women realized that the stories about love, loss and the fight to survive are universal, and that the documentary wasn’t about differences between older women in Kazakhstan and the United States but the similarities.
“The things the babushkas talked about — love, he asked me to the movies, fear of dying, fear of being alone — that’s what every human goes through,” Chennisi says. “The women wanted to tell their stories. They wanted to be heard.”

There’s also what looks like a pretty good recipe for lamb and pumpkin manty, my favorite. Never had horse manty and I don’t agree with using lean meat. Manty should have a bit of fat in them to be truly Kazakh, and truly good.

It is nice to hear people standing up for Kazakh food, although Kazakhstan is a multi-ethnic country that therefore has a multi-ethnic kitchen. Genuine authentic Kazakh food is meat. Just meat. And dairy products. The ancient Kazakhs were nomads after all.

Kazakhstany food is quite good and most of it is not as exotic as you might think. Plov is rice pilaf, and much like stir-fry. Manty is steamed dumplings. Beshbarmak is meat and noodles. Kurdak is compared to haggis for its contents, but it’s much like a stew (except without a lot of broth).

There’s an old Soviet joke about Khrushchev talking about the Great Socialist future that touches on this a bit. He says that in 5 years, every Soviet citizen will have a huge apartment. In 10 years, every Soviet citizen will have a car. In 20 years every citizen will have a dacha. He is asked when they will have all the food they can eat. “Well,” Khrushchev answers, “in 50 years, they will be able to take their flying cars to the Ukraine and buy as much as they want!”