A journey into the past: what awaited us last New Year.
The year when the mafia was what it needed!
Gambling addiction https://www.site/ https://www.site/
Warning: All games were selected by internal editorial voting. If your favorite project is not on the list, this does not mean that we forgot about it - it simply did not have enough votes.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
A dark man with the voice of Ray Liotta and a chainsaw at the ready is chasing a frightened fat man in a Hawaiian shirt down the street. Girls in bikinis and on roller skates, as well as dudes dressed like Elvis, shy away from them in fear. And a couple of blocks away the ocean splashes, and the sky above it is filled with a life-affirming tropical sunset. And everything that happens is just a tiny piece of the game, which reliably conveys the spirit of not only gangster films, but also the era of the 1980s itself. After the gloomy Grand Theft Auto 3 sunny Vice City knocked me off my feet with the brightness of the colors, the diversity of urban areas and the (relative) adequacy of the townspeople. And only one thing was sorely lacking for the main character: the ability to swim.
Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven
City of Lost Paradise showed America and the mafia of the 1920s and 30s as we saw them in Hollywood movies: romantic, beautiful and dramatically attractive. Virtual Chicago captivated with its detail, music and traffic. It was one of the few games where driving according to the rules was the key to success, and cars had to be refueled. But in addition to the driver’s skills, it was necessary to have the ability to survive in the harsh world of mafia intrigue and deceit. A world in which you want to believe and where you want to return again and again.
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
It's hard to believe now that Bethesda was once on the verge of bankruptcy. And, in fact, it was Morrowind that turned out to be the turning point project, after which the games in the series became cult, and the company entered the list of “the very best”. Even in 2017, Morrowind can surprise you with its magical atmosphere, a world full of unusual creatures and giant plants, as well as some incredible level of freedom. Make a mistake and, while having fun, kill a key character for the plot? Easily, the game will continue anyway! Wrong door and stumble upon something important ahead of time? That's possible too. Now developers rarely allow us such tricks. It's a pity!
"Space Rangers"
"Space Rangers" does not fit into the usual boundaries of genres. Role play with open world, arcade shootout, turn-based strategy - “Rangers” became everything at once. The galaxy is changing every year, goods on the planets are becoming more expensive, a merchant in the asteroid belt throws away cargo at gunpoint from two pirates, and the neighboring system is having difficulty fighting off the Klissans. The universe of the game did not expect specific actions from the gamer and allowed you to choose your own way of playing. A small studio from Vladivostok has created a world in which you want to live.
Gothic II
At the end of 2002, the world of fans role playing games split into two factions. Crazy German studio Piranha Bytes released a sequel to their successful game Gothic just a year after its release - and just a week after the release of the great and terrible Morrowind.
Oddly enough, such proximity did not at all prevent the second “Gothic” from gaining a huge fan base, and the add-on “Night of the Raven”, released a year later, only consolidated its success. Then no one knew that the second part would become an unattainable ideal for Piranha, which they are still trying to get closer to. And at the end of 2002, it was simply an excellent game with an incredible number of possibilities and a small, but much richer world than in Morrowind. And no one had reached such detail in the gaming universe for a long time - until the appearance of one white-haired monster hunter.
Syberia
By by and large Syberia didn't need a sequel. Kate Walker's jump onto the clockwork train was the perfect culmination of the journey of a humble law firm employee through the beautiful, fantastic and at the same time real down to the last cog world of the dying genius Hans Voralberg. Masterfully constructed events unexpected meetings, careful restraint in relation to the items placed in the inventory and the logic of the riddles, and on top of that there are magnificent backgrounds that easily make you forget about their two-dimensionality. A decade and a half later, Syberia doesn’t look outdated, let alone its game process and it can even be used as an example for novice game designers of quests.
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
If you want a revolution, go to Blizzard for it. And the RTS genre in those years was in desperate need of a revolution. The third part of Warcraft was simply obliged to be a qualitative breakthrough compared to StarCraft - and it was done in two directions at once.
Firstly, players received full 3D. Not to say that it looked breathtaking, but it did not require top-end hardware. Secondly, heroes with their own skills were brought to the fore - and this not only determined the development of the RTS genre, but also laid the foundation for MOBAs.
We also have more parties to the conflict, and, as expected, each has its own specifics. The pace of the game, compared to the second part, also increased significantly, and in terms of presentation of the story, “Military Craft” was ahead of “Starcraft” for many years. It was in Warcraft III that we first saw Azeroth in the blaze of greatness - which later allowed us to make the main MMO of all time: World of Warcraft.
But that's a completely different story.
Star Wars Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast
Unfortunately, the story of Kyle Katarn, the main character of the series Star games Wars: Jedi Knight is no longer canon. It was very organically woven into the main narrative, telling the story of an outcast from the order, who at some point was forced to relearn old skills and, as one of the few remaining Jedi, help Luke Skywalker restore balance in the Universe.
The first part of the series was a rather ordinary action movie, but the second captured the hearts and minds of not only fans “ Star Wars", but also ordinary players. We started it as a regular shooter with shootouts, then gradually mastered the techniques of the Force, returned our lightsaber and then used it mainly, only occasionally helping ourselves with a blaster. We experienced this gradual development together with the hero, and he himself turned out to be damn charming.
In the next part - Jedi Academy - we immediately played as a trained Jedi, an academy graduate with a ready-made set of skills and even one of three types swords to choose from (two-handed, two one-handed or a staff a la Darth Maul), and it was certainly cool. But Jedi Outcast was cooler precisely because we ourselves went through the path of becoming a Jedi, and did not receive everything at once. And this feeling was worth a lot.
Worth mentioning
Battlefield 1942
The game that started the most popular series of multiplayer military shooters to date. Battlefield 1942 was the first to use two simple mechanics - capturing points and class division of fighters - which changed the genre forever.
No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M.'s Way
The continuation of the magnificent parody action film about super-spy Kate Archer turned out to be a little weaker than the original, but this is no wonder - the first part was too good. Nevertheless, in 2002 we named NOLF 2 the best action game.
Medieval: Total War
XI. O.I. Betin recommended to his neighbor, Ryazan Governor Vyacheslav Nikolaevich Lyubimov, to invite the next “Golden Knight” to Ryazan and he invited us. Arriving at the negotiations at the Ryazan administration, I enthusiastically told them that the last Tambov Film Forum was the best of all, and the work of their Tambov colleagues was at the highest professional level. The residents of Ryazan, having listened to me with a smile, said with confidence: “We will have no worse!”
Realizing that it is necessary to expand the activities of “Golden Knight” not only in Russia, but also beyond its borders, I submitted an application to the First Deputy Minister of Culture A.A. Golutva for the implementation of a joint international activities, proposing to hold the Days of Russian Cinema, “Echoes of the Golden Knight” in 11 countries of the world. Alexander Alekseevich Golutva supported my proposal. Our third partner was RoszarubezhCenter, which readily provided its Russian Centers science and culture in the target countries.
The first was Yugoslavia, more precisely Kosovo and Metohija, which we traveled in a curtained military bus, guarded by two soldiers and 23 Italian soldiers. Then came Bulgaria, Poland, China, Finland. On these trips we showed the 35 best Russian films: 15 fiction and 20 documentary. About 150,000,000 television viewers saw us. Russian Cinema Clubs of the “Golden Knight” were opened in Kosovska Mitrovica, Pleven, Krakow, Beijing, Helsinki, Brno and Prague, Athens, and a dozen videotapes were donated everywhere to start the work of the Cinema Club. Our programs, entitled “The Revival of Russian Cinema,” amazed viewers with their diversity, high artistic level and moral purity, and aroused interest and trust in Russia.
Not last role It also played a role that the audience knew my name well from the films of Andrei Tarkovsky, revered as the No. 1 director in the world... But suddenly, when the next trips to the Czech Republic were being prepared and South America, the new Deputy Minister of Culture K.V. Molchanov, of his own free will, stopped support for this program. I did not have the honor of knowing the new deputy minister, I decided to meet him personally, to look into the eyes of an official who so calmly refuses an international cinematic program that enhances the image of Russia abroad. He refused to accept me. I made inquiries about him. It turned out that this is a very young man appointed to this post from the Presidential Administration. The aesthetic preferences of the new deputy minister also became apparent: having prohibited support for the international program of the Golden Knight, he resolutely supported American program showman Stas Namin.
However, this made my life easier: having traveled to more than 50 countries, wandering around the world and altruistically raising the cinematic prestige of Russia is quite tiring, I’m not 20, but 56! If the Ministry of Culture does without my work and my name, I will even survive. I have my fill of things to do in Russia too.
At the beginning of 2002, His Holiness the Patriarch satisfied my representation of nineteen employees of the Fatherland film studio who had made a special contribution to the creation of Russian Orthodox documentary cinema and honored them highest awards Russian Orthodox Church. The presentation took place in the majestic refectory hall of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Once again, as before, the most difficult stage of our life and preparation for the “Golden Knight” began immediately after the end of the Tambov “Vityaz” and lasted until April 2002, when, as usual, only a month before the opening of the Film Forum, budget funds began to arrive facilities. It was not so difficult even during the years of the “Yeltsin regime”: for 8 months both I and all my employees lived without wages, breaking previous survival records.
The first who came to our aid was the Chairman of the television and radio broadcasting organization of the Union of Belarus and Russia, Valentin Valentinovich Lazutkin. A lot of kind words I heard about him from my old friend Savely Yamshchikov, who recommended that I contact this man. We met Valentin Valentinovich for the first time and talked with him for a long time, like old friends. Support came immediately. Thanks to this support, the Golden Knight Organizing Committee, although very late, began preparing the next Film Forum and completed everything on time.
Once again, 200 competition films were collected. And about 300 people from 28 countries came to Ryazan. And they released a beautiful, although more modest, two-color catalog. Just before I was sent to the printing house, I came across words from my diary dear Andrey Tarkovsky, which I so expected to hear from him. Words about God, about faith, words from a Christian, a servant of God, Andrey. Celebrating the memory and 70th anniversary of my teacher and friend, I managed to place these words, similar to a prayer, in our catalog:
“An image is an impression of the Truth, which the Lord allowed us to look at with His blind eyes.
God! I feel Your approach, I feel Your hand on the back of my head, because I want to see Your world - the way You created it, and Your people, the way You are trying to make them.
I love You, Lord, and I want nothing more from You.
I accept all of Yours, and only the weight of my malice, my sins, the darkness of my base soul does not allow me to be a worthy servant of Yours, Lord!
Help, Lord, and forgive! February 10, 1979."
This is the real Andrei Tarkovsky, this is what he lived with, sinned, made mistakes, created... This is precisely the key to understanding the essence of his passionate soul and his great films.
My dear Savva Yamshchikov, to whom I owe my participation in “Andrei Rublev” as a bell foundry, Boriska, also wrote wonderfully about his friend Andrei. It was Savva, the film’s consultant, who persuaded Andrey to try me and approve me for this role. Today, with this outstanding art critic, restorer and devotee of ancient Russian painting, who introduced Tarkovsky, and me, and many of our friends and all of Moscow to it forty years ago..., today a miracle happened to Savely: after a ten-year illness and seclusion at home, he was reborn, burst out like a genie from a bottle active life. He came for one day, to the Opening of the “Golden Knight” in Ryazan, managed to make several brilliant speeches in the square, at a press conference, on television, gave a dozen interviews and rushed off like a meteorite to Moscow, promising to come to the Closing, and - he arrived...
The true hero of the XI Golden Knight IFF was the outstanding Georgian film director, permanent director of the legendary Georgia-Film film studio, Revaz Davidovich Chkheidze. It was he, the creator of the great film “The Soldier’s Father,” who was this year’s Chairman of the Jury feature films, he was awarded the S. F. Bondarchuk gold medal “For outstanding contribution to cinema.” In addition, this year it was he who was awarded our “Golden Knight” for “Best Screenplay”.
By unanimous decision of the heads of all five international juries, the Grand Prix was awarded to our laureate last year, Sergei Rozhentsev, a student of S.F. Bondarchuk, for the television film “Peacemakers,” a tragic fresco about the Chechen war.
And again, like last year in the Tambov region, our meetings in Ryazan and the Ryazan region were attended by about 100,000 spectators. But I learned the most important results of our Ryazan “Vityaz” half a year after the end of this Film Forum. Taking part in the program of the Russian TV channel “The Price of Success”, which was not dedicated to the “Golden Knight”, one of the guests of the program, a doctor from Ryazan, addressed me with the words that thanks to the “Golden Knight” Film Forum in Ryazan, crime, drug addiction, and suicides have sharply decreased.
More highly appreciated We don’t need the Golden Knight mission.
Eight years after my first appeal to the Mayor of Moscow Yu.M. Luzhkov, with a request for the provision of a cinema to create on its basis the National Cinema Center “Golden Knight”, the Department of Culture of the capital invited me to become director of the Elbrus cinema. Making this offer to me, the official said that I might not wait for a second such case. Without hesitation, I agreed and took up the position of director of the Elbrus cinema on April 1, 2002.
True, this city provided me with a cinema without a movie screen, film projectors, without sound, without light... and in addition - with large debts and a frozen account, and with a tenant who occupied the foyer for a period of 9 years and immediately declared war on me.
On June 28, 2002, I organized the first event in support of the creation of the Zolotoy Vityaz National Film Center. June, Friday, hot evening... I expected that of the 1200 seats in the auditorium, barely one third would be filled. The hall was full. At the entrance, the audience was greeted by the Navy orchestra, whose festive music could be heard several blocks away; the wonderful orchestra of A.I. Poletaev was on stage the whole evening. The auditorium more than once burst into applause, welcoming the performances of E.S. Matveev, I.K. Skobtseva, A.Ya. Mikhailov, S.K. Shakurov, V.S. Zolotukhin, I.M. Liepa, Biser Kirov. The blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy was brought to us and read out by His Eminence Metropolitan Sergius of Solnechnogorsk.
Frankly, this evening was not inferior in its creative level and spiritual uplift to the solemn ceremonies of the “Golden Knight”.
Following this, I spent evenings dedicated to Kosovo and the Chechen problem, and showed documentaries about Kosovo and Chechnya. On the day of the death of M.Yu. Lermontov, the evening “The Mystery of the Death of the Prophet of Russia” was held with a screening of the film “Lermontov”. We already have regular spectators who come to all our events not only from different parts of Moscow, but also from the region. And yet, I was forced to temporarily stop the process of showing films, since for each viewing I had to rent video and sound equipment, and there was not enough money to pay for the equipment. The city authorities did not promise help, advising them to save themselves. In addition, on the very first evening of the “Return to the Homeland” series, held in our cinema by the outstanding Russian singer Lina Mkrtchyan, the tax inspector came and seized all our proceeds “to pay off the debts of the previous management of the cinema.” I informed the audience about this, which caused righteous indignation from the Orthodox community gathered in the hall. Lina Mkrtchan addressed the audience with an offer to donate to the revival of the Orthodox Cinema Center “Golden Knight” and, it seems, the entire audience rushed to the stage, bearing their donations. In my life, this was the first sacrificial expression of the will of the audience to help the Golden Knight, since I had never addressed people with such a request. I stood on the stage, looked at the people, overcome with a sincere desire to help the “Golden Knight” survive in its hard struggle for existence: tears came to my throat from an excess of a grateful heart and a joyful realization that not everything is lost in Russia if there are such moments.
And then offers poured in from different cities of Russia with a request to hold the Echo of the “Golden Knight” in them. We visited Magadan, Irkusk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Alexandrov and other cities in the Moscow region. The mayor of Irkutsk V.V. Yakubovsky confirmed his intention to give one of the cinemas of Irkutsk to the Screen of the Golden Knight program, the heads of film distribution in the Irkutsk region reported that they were ready to use all 370 remaining film installations at their disposal for the cinema stream of the Golden Knight. Considering the similar intentions of the Tambov and Ryazan region, as well as the intention of the Minister of Culture of Belarus to provide one of the best cinemas in Minsk for our program, it became obvious that the time had come for “Golden Knight” to engage in professional distribution activities, to try to create an alternative film distribution in Russia that would bring audiences moral ideals and the elevation of their souls. We established the rental organization “Golden Knight”. On September 14, I spoke to Russian film distributors for the first time. He said that for me cinema and the market are two incompatible things, that visiting various cities of Russia in the last “perestroika” years and seeing the dominance of low-quality stuff on cinema screens everywhere American cinema I asked the directors of these cinemas: “Why are you showing all this disgrace? Don't you have children? After all, you are crippling their souls.” And everywhere I received the same answer: “We have children and we must feed them. That's why we have to show it." I gave the audience as an example the words, the cry of the 18-year-old girl Olya, whose letter I read in one of the Moscow newspapers. This is the second year a girl has been dying of AIDS. She throws words of curse at us adults: fathers and mothers, grandparents... everyone who, at the very least, lived their lives, but allowed all this demonism, ugliness, dirt, pathology onto our screens and into our lives. I brought the Gospel warning to those gathered: “It is impossible not to come into the world with temptations. They must come. But woe to the man through whom temptation comes.”
I repeated this at the board of the Ministry of Culture, where I was invited for the first time in my entire cinematic life, as the issue of the festival movement in Russia was being considered. Addressing Shvydkoy, I said: “Don’t force cinema into corporatization and privatization. True, it’s too late: the decree has already been signed by the President of Russia - the process has begun. Not everything can be given into private hands. Atomic bomb- you can’t, you can’t use energy, you can’t use a screen either. Because it is a spiritual and strategic weapon of the state that raises generations.”
I don’t know how the “voice crying in the wilderness” sounded... And what can I do alone, when everyone around is either silent or supports the minister’s course towards the privatization of the Russian film industry.
On August 12, I was received by Deputy Prime Minister of Moscow L.I. Shvetsova. I brought her two letters about the joint holding of the XII Zolotoy Vityaz International Film Festival in Moscow and about the reconstruction of the Elbrus cinema and its transformation into the Zolotoy Vityaz National Film Center. Lyudmila Ivanovna was kind, showed the interiors of the City Hall, and promised to try to help. At the end of November, a letter came from the City Hall with a refusal to finance the upcoming Film Forum. On those same days, for the first time in my life, I went to the hospital with renal colic. The kidneys, according to psychologists, are controlled by emotions of fear for the cause. No wonder when 16 recent years, you have to fight and, of course, worry, either for the disgraced “Lermontov” or for the rebellious “Vityaz”. However, thank God, on the seventh day the stone disappeared safely. And again into battle!..
We spent a whole year preparing the Echo of the “Golden Knight” in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, where, at the invitation of the Governor and Bishop of Petropavlovsk and Kamchatka Ignatius, I arrived together with my friends, People’s Artists of Russia Nikolai Olyalin, Aristarkh Livanov, Dmitry Zolotukhin and Tatyana Petrova. The purpose of our visit is to support construction in Petropavlovsk Cathedral. We brought with us five artistic and ten documentaries and showed them in three surviving cinemas in Kamchatka. Besides
All the artists performed in a two-day television and radio marathon, which was broadcast on two television channels. For two days I was the host of this marathon for five hours on each channel, I witnessed the miracle happening before our eyes. The organizers were afraid that viewers calling the live broadcast would complain about unheated houses, about delayed salaries... Of the several dozen calls we received on air, people not only did not touch on these problems, but about 15 people did not hide their tears of excitement and thanked them, that for two days they do not look away from the telethon, listen to performances by artists, Bishop Ignatius, ordinary people, watch films that “Golden Knight” brought and do not want to switch to other channels where vulgarity and dirt reign. According to incomplete estimates, more than two million rubles were transferred for the construction of the Temple within a few days. These days, the distant, abandoned eastern border of our Motherland has set an example of spiritual television, after which you will not want to watch the “blue” television of Americanophiles, vulgar satirists, the antics of “Broshkina” and Moiseev...
December 22 Governor Kaluga region A.D. Artamonov decided to hold the XII IFF “Golden Knight”...
Forecast for 2002 for all zodiac signs.
According to the Eastern calendar, 2002 is the year Black or Water Horse, as well as the year Jupiter in the sign Cancer. Before giving a detailed forecast for each sign Zodiac, it should be noted that the first “trends” of the year Horses, for everyone without exception, began already in the middle of summer 2001, from the moment Jupiter crossed the border of the sign CANCER.
And the main culmination of all current annual forecasts will come in June-July 2002, the greatest influence during this period will be exerted by Jupiter and the Sun. It is by this time that you will feel how much the stars influence us.
A very active year is coming, so all properties Horses will manifest themselves with particular force: efficiency, independence, ingenuity, but at the same time selfishness, adventurism and unceremoniousness. In short, you won’t have to relax.
The luckiest and happiest next year will be for water signs - Cancers, Pisces and Scorpios. For them, a real holiday begins, with all the ensuing consequences. In addition to water signs, Virgo and Taurus will receive a lot of support and good luck. Serious, cardinal changes in fate, in addition to Cancer, are coming for the signs - Libra, Capricorn, Aries, and some Gemini. Gemini, in addition to everything, will have a great chance to improve their financial situation. Fate has prepared some difficulties and trials for the signs of Sagittarius, Leo and Aquarius.
How to meet?
Cheerful optimist Horse loves open spaces, crowded gatherings, and entertainment. But for all that, she is very attached to her family, home, hearth, which she knows how to create and preserve like no one else. So don’t rush to throw your family and your loved ones into New Year's Eve or, at least, don’t forget to call your family and congratulate them. Better yet, raise a toast to your family. The main thing on this night is not quantity, but quality: it is important that you are surrounded only by people you like (even on the TV screen). It’s even better if there are animals in the house during the New Year, they definitely need to say a few heartfelt words. Even on the upcoming holiday, it would be good not to overeat.
Of course, oats are a favorite food Horses- not the best dish for the New Year's table, but a vegetarian salad or cereal cookies will be just right. The same applies to chicken, good fish, and game. On this night, it is recommended to serve cheese and fruit for dessert: this sophistication will certainly be appreciated. Horses taste. And if you want to enlist the support of the wayward mistress of the year one hundred percent, place a piece of fragrant black bread with salt under the Christmas tree.
What to wear?
Sign Horses- provides a wide range of options for choosing an outfit for a festive night. The native element of all horses according to the same eastern calendar is fire and color, respectively, red. But the coming year is dominated by the element of water, which in China is symbolized by the colors black and blue. So choose according to your taste. Some expressive details are enough: a decorative hairpin, pendant, shoes. But black is especially recommended in jewelry: earrings, pendant or necklace made of jet, obsidian, black onyx or shimmering dark opal. You can choose any of the other “horse” stones: ruby, garnet, amethyst, topaz, hyacinth. remember, that Horse- a dandy, and that means, wherever and however you meet New Year- with a book on the sofa or in the forest under the Christmas tree, you need to comply.
Job
U Horses there is a sense of justice. But one should not think that she is generous and condescending to everyone indiscriminately. She works to earn the right to rest. So all workers in 2002 have the right to expect a well-deserved reward, but here are the idlers and deceivers Horse can't stand it. However, workaholics should not count on her patronage and favor either - Horse loves only those who know how to harmoniously combine work and leisure.
When is the year of the horse?
Year Horses- year of Jupiter in the sign of Cancer. According to the eastern calendar, 2002 will pass under the sign Black Horse, and it will begin on February 12, 2002, 10 hours 42 minutes, at the time of the first new moon in the sign of Aquarius. Let us recall that the powerful Jupiter, the patron of happiness and good luck, is the main character of the Eastern Zodiac, on whose cycles the entire chinese calendar. Therefore, Cancers, and especially Cancers born in the year Horses, one of the happiest and most unforgettable years of your life awaits!
Western astrology
Chinese year Horses, in Western astrology corresponds to the sign Libra. And in the ancient Zoroastrian calendar, the sign Libra corresponds to the month Horses. And this is no coincidence, because it is Horse is the sacred animal of Mithra, a deity who was assigned the role of cosmic judge in the Zoroastrian pantheon of gods. And in the Middle Ages of the first millennium AD, the cult of Mithras competed with Christianity. The people who preached Mithraism were pure and honest. For them, the spoken word and the vow meant a law that could not be broken under any circumstances. Exactly, per year Horses will receive support from those people who honor and fulfill the laws (earthly and heavenly) and do not abandon empty words to the wind.
Year Horses, will open up huge chances and great prospects, to everyone who actively realizes and develops in themselves the qualities and functions of the Moon, the main ruler of the sign of Cancer. Cancer symbolizes movement in depth, and opens access not only to the depths of the Earth, but also to the depths of our subconscious. In astrology, the Moon symbolizes inner world human, our feminine principle, and is responsible for our instincts, emotions and desires. In addition, the Moon determines the most fundamental problems person, and is responsible for such concepts as home, family, parents, traditions, rituals, personal life, fertility, motherhood, nutrition, our secret fears, manias, phobias, and dreams. In addition, the Moon is the main character in karmic astrology, since it is she who carries the main information about the secrets of our soul, subconscious experience, and the genetic inheritance that we inherited from our ancestors. First of all, the Moon patronizes everyone involved in housekeeping work - home, family and garden. All mothers and grandmothers can count on long-awaited luck and the mercy of heaven. Plus, you can congratulate all catering workers, real estate agents, agricultural workers, chemical, alcohol, pharmaceutical, service industries, nursing homes, drilling, and even restless treasure hunters. Here we should also add all the workers involved in the fields of history, archeology, antiques, anthropology, psychology, astrology, genetics, theosophy, various types of fortune telling, specialists in the field of subconscious research and the study of dreams. Workers of all the above professions and areas can safely count on long-awaited success, rapid growth and progress. New opportunities and broad prospects will open up before you. Fate will force you to reach new milestones and begin a qualitatively new cycle in your development, be it the birth of a child, a wedding, a breakup, a move, or a new place and working conditions.
New and full moons for 2002
Tarot cards
16th Arcana of the Tarot. In order for everyone to understand what the 16th Arcana of the TAROT - the Tower - is, I suggest first looking at some traditional versions of this card.
It should be noted that many of those who are familiar with Tarot cards are terribly afraid of this Arcanum, since in traditional interpretations it means the overthrow of proud rulers into the abyss, the collapse of hopes and the most ambitious earthly projects, as well as breaks in relationships based on naked calculation . In addition, the 16th lasso reminds us that it is time to devote time to our personal life and internal problems- relatives, elders, cultural traditions, home, family. In a word, you will have to pay attention to the foundation on which all relationships and achievements were built both in personal life and in public activities.
Countries
From countries under the sign
When celebrating the New Year, it is customary to look back, take stock, and remember what was significant over the past 12 months. In this review, we decided to bring together the main events, facts and trends of 2002, which MEMBRANA wrote about.
Needless to say, the tragic and terrible events? They usually become the “events of the year.”
Despite the fact that our review, of course, is intended to note the most important thing that happened in a specific area of interest for a popular science publication, we cannot help but mention in the first lines what excited everyone in 2002.
First of all, this is the hostage taking in the theater center on Dubrovka. Despite the fact that we, like many publications similar in topic to Membrane, did not try to earn dividends on the “hot”, readers discussed the terrorist attack on our pages - How to save hostages?
Moreover, among other proposals there was an option that the liberators took advantage of. We observed something similar after the Washington sniper shocked the United States - the topic of discussion became anti-shooter technologies.
Well, enough about the sad stuff - let's move on to the thematic review.
Panagiotis Zavos: “2002 is the year of the clone, mark my words” (photo from enquirer.com).
Cloning. Was Dr. Panayiotis Zavos right when he called 2002 “the year of the clone”? The hype around human cloning began at the end of 2001, when the Americans from Advanced Cell Technology loudly announced the creation of a human embryo through cloning.
But with cloning, the situation was aggravated not even by the impossibility of creating a human clone as such, but by its inevitability and immorality in light of the fact that animal clones turned out to be not adapted to life. Ethical problems are on a par with technological ones.
Bishop Boisselier asks you to take her word for the fact that a clone was born (AP photo).
While scientists advocated for the possibility of therapeutic cloning with the authorities of their countries, several disgraced and daring research teams joined the race to make Zavos's words about the "year of the clone" a reality.
The sweeping ellipsis was set on December 27, 2002, when Clonaid, without presenting any evidence, announced the creation of a genetic copy of a 31-year-old American woman - the birth of a clone girl named Eve.
Thus, we can conclude that human cloning was one of the main topics of 2002, and the birth of a clone was perhaps the main event, if it really happened. On the other hand, the “year of the clone” will most likely be 2003, and perhaps the entire first decade of the 21st century will pass under this “sign”.
Space exploration. The year 2002 was extremely rich in all sorts of “cosmic” events. We talk about a lot in our article The end of 2002 and the main mysteries of space, but there we are talking more about the unsolved mysteries of the Universe, of which, however, 2002 threw up a lot.
Several asteroids have been discovered, one of which has attracted undeservedly a lot of attention due to the fact that it is quite large in size, and, in addition, there is a very small (almost zero) probability of this “cobblestone” colliding with the Earth.
Mars. Will the next research vehicles find life on the Red Planet, or will it all end the same way?
For journalists, the existence of the opportunity turned out to be more important than its insignificance, and the 2002 NT7 became the hero of the day for a while. And then he flew off again into the depths of space.
In addition, the amino acid glycine was discovered in outer space.
Since amino acids are the basis of all organic life, then even the most primitive of them attracted a lot of attention and caused a lot of talk about the existence of extraterrestrial life.
An open bet between the famous scientist Freeman Dyson and Ecsponent founder Peter Spark caused a lot of noise: Dyson is convinced that the first extraterrestrial living organisms will live not on any planet, but on asteroids, in clusters of comets or dust clouds in sufficient proximity to a suitable star.
Bet - $2000, unlimited bet. If life is discovered on Mars or even Venus, or on Jupiter's moon Europa, then Dyson will be considered a loser.
As for Mars, then spacecraft Mars Odyssey discovered quite a lot there a large number of water ice. When this happened in early 2002, there was quite a major surge in interest in the Red Planet. Moreover, some scientists have stated that the climate of Mars was once very warm and humid. Explanations for why the planet suddenly became icy desert However, no one gave it until the end of the year.
Professor Freeman Dyson.
And in early December 2002, employees of the University of Colorado stated that there had never been any oceans or a warm and humid climate on Mars.
University of Colorado researchers believe that liquid water appeared on the surface of Mars only sporadically, as a result of collisions with large meteorites.
Moreover, according to scientists, these meteorites, firstly, themselves contained a very large amount of water, and secondly, the heat released when the asteroids collided with the surface melted the ice located under the surface of the planet.
As a result, in the Martian deserts on short periods Over time, water appeared, which led to the formation of those very notorious canals and vast valleys, which many take for the beds of dried up rivers and the bottom of disappeared seas.
In fact, according to the University of Colorado, there have never been any permanent oceans on Mars.
Their conclusions are based on the results of studying photographs of the surface of Mars and computer simulations carried out by scientists.
According to Dr. Owen B. Toon, who led the research team, at least 25 Martian craters were created by impacts with meteorites ranging from 60 to 150 miles in diameter (that is, from 96 to 240 kilometers).
Collisions with such massive objects led to the release of millions of tons of evaporated particles into the Martian atmosphere. rocks, water and water vapor.
The mysteries of the Universe remain to be unraveled for a long time.
The initial temperature of the blast wave reached 4000 o C, and as a result of these collisions, the entire planet was covered with a layer of hot rocks several tens or even hundreds of meters thick.
This also led to the melting of underground ice and the widespread formation of rivers. Then, for several decades following the disaster, it rained on Mars.
But then the water froze again, and Mars turned back into a frozen desert. Professor Thun believes that the periods when the climate of Mars became warm and humid were too short for any life to arise there...
However, this does not mean yet that the possibility of the existence of life on Mars should be given up. In addition, the results of computer simulations conducted on the basis of data known to scientists should not be considered infallible.
Among other “space” events, it is worth highlighting the 25th anniversary of the Voyager mission. The mission was planned to end in 1981, but the devices continue to operate and send signals to Earth.
There were some cosmic troubles too. This should include, firstly, problems on the ISS, where the astronauts could not cope with the damaged Canadian manipulator Canadarm2.
Computer model of an asteroid falling to Earth (from NASA website).
Secondly, in all American ships reusable (shuttle) there were breakdowns and cracks, which caused delays in scheduled expeditions.
But already in the coming 2003, we are promised the first commercial expedition to the Moon - an American one, of course.
The year 2002 also made some adjustments to our knowledge about space. Moreover big role played here and amateur astronomers, armed with the simplest tools.
For example, as Denis Denisenko said in an interview with Membrane, on September 17, 2002, amateur astronomers managed to record the profile of the Tercidina asteroid with an unprecedented resolution - about 2 km or about 1-2 thousandths of an arcsecond (1 millisecond).
This, according to Denis Denisenko, is tens of times better than the resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Hubble, with its 2.5-meter miracle eye, was barely able to determine the size of the largest asteroid Quaoar - 1250+/-300 km at the limit of angular resolution of 0.04+/-0.01 arcseconds, and modest amateurs in Europe measured the diameter not the largest Tertsidina with an error of 2%,” Denisenko said.
And most recently, on December 15, 2002, at a private amateur observatory near Vitebsk in Belarus, observations were made of the occultation of a 9th magnitude star in the constellation Taurus by Saturn’s satellite Tethys.
Voyager 1 spacecraft.
As Denis Denisenko writes, this heavenly body more than three times smaller than our Moon and about five times smaller than Titan. According to reference books, the size of Tethys is 1060 km (more precisely, it has the shape of an ellipsoid with axes 1072, 1056 and 1052 km).
It would seem that nothing new can be learned from Earth where the American interplanetary stations Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 flew in 1979-1981. However, the observations carried out by Vitaly Nevsky with a 30-centimeter telescope will most likely force textbooks and reference books to be rewritten in the section “Satellites of the Planets.”
According to calculations, the maximum duration of coverage (based on the size of Tethys at 1060 km) should have been 39.5 seconds. The results of the observations unexpectedly gave higher value— 40.4 sec. This can be explained by the fact that the diameter of Tethys is actually larger than previously assumed and is 1085+/-5 km.
Nevsky's observations aroused great interest among astronomers around the world. The conditions for recording the phenomenon were very favorable: the coverage band passed through Japan, almost throughout Russia and further through Europe all the way to Portugal.
Of course, the weather made its own adjustments, and only 9 people in the world were able to see the disappearance of the star - seven Japanese, one Pole and Vitaly Nevsky.
At the same time, Vitebsk found itself in the very center of the eclipse band, and this is what made it possible to measure the maximum size of the satellite.
Over the course of a week, professional astronomers from the Bureau of Longitudes in Paris analyzed the data of all observers and came to the conclusion that Tethys is indeed larger than previously thought.
These results can be refined in the near future, when the Cassini spacecraft begins its mission in the Saturn system in 2004.
But this will still only happen.
Alternative modes of transport. Considering the transport theme of the year, “vehicle 2002” will still be called the invention of Dean Kamen (Dean Kamen) Segway Human Transporter.
Kamen has already received a lot of awards for his Segway and has been repeatedly recognized as Inventor of the Year (photo from orlandosentinel.com).
2002 was a year of presentations and all kinds of tests for this electric scooter. The first accident happened.
For Kamen’s company, the past years were also a year of struggle with supporters of an active lifestyle, who believe that the Segway would undermine the health of the nation, and pedestrians who did not want to let the “scooter” onto the sidewalks.
The Segway went on sale twice: the first time at the Amazon.com auction they even paid $160,100 for it, but now any American can buy the “scooter” for $5,000. It can be assumed that for some, 2003 may become the “year of the Segway.”
By the way, the operating principles of Kamen’s “trolley” have been implemented in other projects. Let's just remember the intuitive Hermes machine.
Among other transport innovations, in fairness, it is worth noting the hydrogen car, which was not only talked about a lot in 2002, but was also released on US roads.
General Motors calls its revolutionary AUTOnomy concept the reinvention of the automobile (illustration from edmunds.com).
And in April the General Motors (GM) corporation announced to the world that it had reinvented the car: all the car’s “internals” were placed in the four-wheeled AUTOnomy platform, on which any body can be placed. No gasoline - only hydrogen and electricity.
Guy Negre also showed his worth, whose cars, using air instead of fuel, not only did not sink into oblivion, but also tried to get closer to mass production.
ABOUT aircraft a separate conversation - we will talk about them below, but we will recall another event - one of the main ones in 2002: World Champion Vladimir Kramnik defended the honor of humanity in a duel with the computer super program Deep Fritz.
Chess battle between a human and a computer. The eight-game “fight” was called “the last chance of the human mind.”
The first game was a draw. In the second, Kramnik forced the computer to give up after 57 moves. In the third game, Kramnik also dealt with his electronic opponent, and in the fourth game a similar outcome was quite likely. However, everything changed in the fifth and sixth games: both times Kramnik lost.
Kramnik played a draw with the computer. And thank God.
Deep Fritz played the seventh game poorly and only revived on move 24, which prevented the world champion from winning. A draw was declared on move 28. At the beginning last game it seemed that the victory should go to Vladimir Kramnik, but the grandmaster made several mistakes, which led to a draw.
Some publications have already begun to note, however, that interest in LiveJournal.com has begun to wane. Whether this is true or not will obviously show next year, but it is worth noting the appearance of LiveJournal “clones” on the World Wide Web and even on the RuNet.
At the same time, there are practically no blogs on the RuNet - or rather, they exist, but in a small (strangely small) number. There is currently a boom in blogging on the World Wide Web. Whether it will reach us is unknown.
The end of the year, however, was marked by a rather unpleasant situation: the rupture of an agreement on free traffic exchange between a number of the largest Russian providers - in particular, Rostelecom (RTKomm.ru), MTU-Intel and Golden Telecom. Accordingly, all their partners are also “withdrawn” from the peering agreement
This means, firstly, that access to Russian sites by other providers is now only possible through America: for example, the signal from MTU to Zenon N.S.P. now goes through New York.
Consequently, costs rise. And this, in turn, means rising prices in the Internet access market.
There are different traditions. And they develop differently.
In the Sofrinskaya brigade operational purpose It is no coincidence that April 7 became the Day of Remembrance of fallen soldiers of the Russian Internal Troops. This tradition developed not so long ago, and became a tribute to our merciless and unfair time.
On this tragic day, April 7, 1991, in Nagorno-Karabakh, near the village of Yukhari-Dzhibikli, covering the retreat of his subordinates, Lieutenant Oleg Babak died. This was the first loss of the brigade. Subsequently, Oleg was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Four years later, on April 7, 1995, from the battle for the village of Samashki in Chechen Republic 11 brigade soldiers did not return. This is how the date was determined. Then there were many more battles, losses, and victories. New generations of soldiers came and went after serving, the officer corps changed over the years, and only the soldiers who fell on the battlefields remained in the brigade forever.
On a sunny day on April 7, 2002, on a windswept parade ground, young brigades, just drafted into the ranks Internal troops, soldiers hold portraits of the dead. The roll call begins. The leader's voice calls them all by name, and then the second responds:
Died the death of the brave...
Among the wives, mothers, children and fathers of the dead children who have gathered from different parts of the country, the words are heard every now and then through tears:
- And ours, has it already left? Here, here, now!
And again tears. What's left for them? Why does this hopelessly tired woman from Arzamas or Novosibirsk need these damned Samashki? While carrying and nursing her boy, she had never heard of any Nozhai-Yurt or these three hundred times cursed Old Trades.
Denis Khrulev’s mother, Sofya Mikhailovna, comes to the brigade for the third time. Her twenty-year-old son, along with hundreds of boys like him, died at the end of December 1999, in the Staropromyslovsky district of the city of Grozny.
I thought that my son would serve and go to work and it would become easier.
She raised three children alone. It’s hard, oh, how hard they’ve lived all these years.
Sofya Mikhailovna hasn’t even been on vacation for more than 15 years. She worked even despite her disability. And all her hopes for a better future were connected with Denis, the only one. Now my son is gone, my health is completely gone, the house is falling apart, the pipes are leaking, the radiators are not heating, and the administration of the city of Lukoyanov, Nizhny Novgorod region, is refusing help, for every little thing, demanding money. What can Sofya Mikhailovna give? For the son of the murdered man, the state gave her a pension of 400 rubles!
And the list has no end in sight.
– Andrey Tsurkan!
- Fell the Death of the Brave!
Andryusha died there, in Grozny, at the end of December 1999, when the brigade was thrown into battle without reconnaissance, without artillery preparation... Then what happened was what should have happened: the army column came under heavy fire... It was not for nothing, apparently, that the commanders of other formations refused to lead their soldiers... But there was an order. Someone made this decision. Someone set a task... Today he is not standing on the parade ground next to the mothers of the dead children...
Andrey’s mother arrived today with her daughter-in-law and granddaughter from Arzamas. Will they be able to come here again?
Hardly! Already today, every step of Andrei’s mother is difficult. I put five people on their feet. But does that make the pain any less? And time doesn’t heal at all...
One after another, the fighters come out and stand along the entire parade ground. And here are the latest losses: in Grozny, while clearing a land mine, already in mid-March 2002, Fidan Akchurin, called up from the distant Bashkir village of Urgin, Zianchurinsky district, died.
Junior Sergeant Fidan Akchurin became 105 in this mournful series.
Oh, how I want to believe those gathered that Fidan will remain the last on this terrible list. But Fidan’s six brothers and sisters are unlikely to ever be able to come to the brigade. Far. Yes and expensive.
But there are no strangers here. All brothers. And those who came have enough tears for everyone...
Nationality has nothing to do with it. Everything here is OURS.
It's cold on the parade ground. The wind drives torn clouds,
Life goes on. The command of military unit 3641 is trying with all its might to make the life of orphaned parents easier. Having learned about the refusal to help Denis Khrulev’s mother, the deputy brigade commander, Vladimir Kuznetsov, gives instructions to understand what happened. If necessary, he will turn to the command of the Internal Troops and involve the deputies. Debts must be paid. For Colonel Kuznetsov, the issue is not discussed. Last year, the brigade command provided financial assistance and food packages to all mothers who came for Memorial Day.
A trifle. Nothing compared to loss. But the mothers and widows of dead soldiers are not spoiled by the attention of the Motherland, and therefore, even such a little becomes a balm for the mother’s heart. This year, sponsors, as usual, set funeral tables in the brigade and bought flowers. But with individual assistance to the families of the victims, something did not work out, although the sponsors promised to provide money.
“We will transfer everything to your accounts,” the colonel seems to be justifying himself.
He knows how difficult it is for the parents of his soldiers to come to the brigade.
The brigade went through all the hot spots, taking the first blow. It seems like the war is on the decline.
What will be the fate of those who replaced them? What roads await them? What awaits their mothers? Will they someday have to stand here on the parade ground in black, next to today's widows and mothers?
And who generally decides the fate of the soldiers of our army today?
Our destiny. During the period of two Chechen campaigns, more than 1,200 Sofrintsy were awarded military orders and medals. 105 posthumously.