Zakon.kz cites the administrator of Khan Shatyr as saying that the beaches will open in 2 weeks, maybe a month. It appears that the decision on the prices of going to the beach is the major obstacle to it being open to the public. However, it seems like the prices I was given are more or less in the ballpark: around 7,000 tenge on weekdays and 9,000 tenge on weekends. Meaning probably more than your average citizen of Kazakhstan will want or be able to pay. So why is this making such big news?

So what happened? Apparently the blame lies on Paul who steered betters clear of making bad bets. Whether the octopus will be sued in the International Criminal Court for intention to defraud bookmakers and harm the economy of Kazakhstan has yet to be decided.

By the way, not sure what passion for sushi the Telegraph article is talking about here.

Interesting that they provide an English-language translation of his feed, suggesting that either the feed is more for foreigners or that he wishes to appear hip and cool by speaking English. Also interesting since not long ago, an opposition candidate for the Russian Presidency was berated by Putin for making statements English, proving that he worked for Western forces. (I note that the Russian feed is updated faster).

Some commentators are saying that Medvedev’s willingness to write in Kazakh provides a sort of reassurance that Russia recognizes Kazakhstan as an independent country and an independent people, not as an ex-Soviet state that got away. And others say this will provide a good example for those who want Kazakhstani to speak Kazakh. If Medvedev can do it, anyone can!

In Russian there is an expression, “like white people” which means to do something like normal people, in the proper way. Before a night of drinking several years ago, a Kazakh friend of mine once surveyed the table full of snacks like anchovies, pickles, sausage, croutons, ham and pig fat and said, “Now we are sitting down like white people.” I laughed because of course white Americans don’t eat any of these things when drinking, but he explained that in this case “white” had no racial undertones. When I see ads like this one, I wonder how much that is true. Do Kazakhs really feel whiter skin is more beautiful or is this a big mistake?

Of course in light of this study by CNN, I can’t condemn internalized racism on the part of Kazakhs too much.

27% said Baikonour space station
17% said me (not me of course)
13% said Timur Bekmambetov (which would have been my answer out of the choices given here)
10% said the Golden Man
10% said Beshbarmak (not a bad choice either)
8% said A Studio (which I can’t agree with–more pop music in the world is not a gift)
8% said beautiful mulattoes (which is the weirdest answer here and leads me to believe that many people who answered this quiz were not from Kazakhstan. Who thinks, “My people are beautiful. But only when mixed with another race).
7% said the tradition of bride prices (Again, seriously? Obviously this 7% was men or mothers who are about to marry off their daughters and are behind on their rent payments)

So there you have it. What do you think, dear readers, what is the best thing Kazakhstan has given the world. Like I said, from the choice above I’d say Timur Bekmambetov who really is a unique and interesting director. But overall I’d say the yurt: keeps cool in the summer and warm in the winter and very low tech. How cool is that?

According to this YouTube Video:

His name is Ernar Kaldynov, was born in Karoi, small village in Western Kazakhstan.

in 2007 he took part as singer with dombra(Kazakh National Instrument) in SuperStar.KZ show (Kazakh version of American Idol), but did not progressed (sic) to the final stage. However he became popular after the video of his performance was posted on YouTube and millions of users became his fans.

He currently performs as a sole(sic) artist of an orchestra in a small town Kalbatau.

Ernar is married and is going to be a father of his first son in May 2010.

This video was recorded by local journalist from regional newspaper in Kazakhstan

And this entry on Youtube with the same video adds some details and gives a link to the interview:

Having done with a casting on teleproject “superstar” (Pop Idol in Kazakhstan) he returned back to his city Oskemen.. Later on when his videos began to roll wave on the youtube domestic producers became interested in him. He was found through local forum of his city where was written about him. Now he sings to reporters of this resource.

Ernar Kaldynov originally from village Karoy of Tarbagatay District, a graduate of the regional boarding school named after Zhambyl. Married in 2009, has a child and works in the district House of Culture as a soloist of Kazakh instruments.

They also link to an interview with him from the local Ust-Kammengorsk paper: http://yk.kz/news/show/6737

In any case here it is, Freestailo 2010:

So he is still alive, still making music, aware of his fame, and he is going to be a father soon. Congratulations Ernar and please make a techno-dombro album soon! Although if the interview is any indication, he seems content working for the local orchestra and doesn’t have any plans for a more ambitious career. Which is too bad. As one commenter on YouTube said, “I’ll gladly trade Lady Gaga for Ernar.”

My Kazakhmobile in front of Sports Center Kazakhstan

I defamed the creators of Astana Racer. After Chris Merriman, who knows a lot more about computers than I ever will, commented about video drivers, I decided that I better double check even though Windows said there was no new driver. As it turns out, ATI video card drivers don’t get updated by ATI for some complicated reasons. In short, if you have an ATI card with a driver that’s a few years old, check out this mod tool. Worked great for me and I haven’t seen any junk installed yet (except a link to a World of Warcraft free trial easily deleted).

Astana Racer now works very well. And a lot of features that I said were missing are not in fact missing at all. When you go to modify your car, it does indicate which engine parts you already have as well as how the parts will affect your car’s performance. I think the interface could be a little more user-friendly, but you can figure it out. In the tuning section, an open box means you have that part. If the box is red, you don’t have enough money to buy it. The parts are still numbered rather than named, and at least on my monitor, I can’t see how much something costs I have to buy it first, then see how much money was subtracted.

I would also say that the pricing system needs some improvement. When you start you have 10 000 dollars (I assume, actually another issue is that money doesn’t have any units in the game so I’m not sure if it’s dollars or gold or points or Euros, a small detail but wouldn’t have been hard to add in). You can buy a Shelby for 5000 or a BMW for 10 000. You can’t see any cars that you can’t afford so you don’t know how many other cars are out there or what they cost. So far in addition, I’ve had access to a Subaru Impreza at 15 000 and a Toyota Camry at 20 000. Can’t wait to see what happens at 25 000. Considering each race wins you either 3000 or 1000 (if it’s a drag race), it doesn’t take long to be able to afford a new car.

The parts seem to be quite cheap. I was able to trick out my Shelby and buy a BMW and Subaru after winning about 12 races–including doing over the shorter ones several times. I don’t know if parts for more advanced cars cost more or what, but I hope so. Otherwise, I’ll fill my garage in no time.

One nice feature of the game is that there are different kinds of races. The first race is a pretty straightforward 3 laps around the Left Bank. Race two however is a short and sweet drag race, so you have to master shifting (This is also a good way to pick up extra money–you only get 1000 for each win, but you can play 10 times in a row and get a chunk of change). Another race features sharp turns and you have to get fairly aggressive about ramming the other cars to have a chance of winning. It might be nice to have other challenges such as a straight on crash fest, or a timed lap or something, but I’m not bored. There is no prize for second place however, so you have to win to get any cash. And yes, if you win a race in career mode, it is then unlocked in Quick Race mode so you aren’t stuck doing the first race over and over again.

Another nice touch is that it is fairly hard to crash your car in such a way that it will not drive anymore. There’s only one point, on the bridge, where I was stuck up on a barrier so my wheels weren’t touching the ground and I had to start the race over. But other than that, if you crash, you can keep on racing.

One new problem I have now is that it appears that there are random barriers occasionally in the middle of the road. Sometimes I am driving and notice that the car screeches and everything slows down a bit, as if I have crashed. But there’s nothing there. It’s possible that that’s my slower processor and the game is reacting to something I did earlier, but it does seem as if they have accidentally put an invisible barrier in the road.

There’s some diversity to the race courses too, though not much. The first 4 or 5 of races takes place near Kazakhstan Sports Complex and the Ministry of the Interior and two of them are basically the same course with one hairpin turn taken out. The next set of races moves you to the train station, and again two of the races have very similar courses. The third set takes you to Samal (by far the most beautiful course with almost every building recreated faithfully) and all the races are basically the same course with some turns included or excluded (and sometimes you have to go in the opposite direction i.e. up Bararyeva instead of down it. Still, I’d like to have seen some more diversity in courses. Even if it meant a sacrifice in faithfully reproduction of each building on the course to save memory.

One other issue is that in some races, you can be driving around and suddenly it shows you in last place. If it the completion meter showed you had covered 67% of the race, suddenly it drops to 19%. This is extremely frustrating, especially as the cure seems to be following another driver and not getting too far ahead or behind. Makes it a bit harder to win. Still overall the game is fun to play, the graphics are great and I do sometimes just drive around looking at the different monuments. It’s kind of fun guessing where you can go off-road and where you can’t. I would definitely recommend Astana Racer. Even if you do just download it illegally.

Still no new information but we do have some pictures, including pictures that seem to come from official news agencies.

Does anyone have any follow ups on these objects that fell in Zelenosk last year? It’s been exactly one year, I believe.

Read the article if you want a laugh. Basically it’s all about how Kazakhstan is awash in “Lost Symbols” like Bayterek and the pyramid and how Nazarbayev is clearly the Anti-Christ as described in the Book of Revelations. Notice the vagueness of the language in a lot of it and the number of things that would apply to any world leader: “Kazakhstan is a member of almost every international group in the world.” Well, so is the US, Russia, China, Japan and the UK.

Reminded me a bit of Dana Carvey’s church lady from SNL:
“Now, Mr. President, who decided that there should be a pyramid in Astana? Who was it? Who gave Mr. Foster that idea? I wonder. Could it have been….SATAN?”