1. The Moscow Anthem. Those 3x6-meter billboard structures with tiny print saying that everyone is supposed to learn the Moscow anthem. And then they print the lyrics of the anthem. In the same dense tiny type. Apparently the idea is that motorists stuck in traffic will entertain themselves by memorizing it. Of course, drivers in traffic jams do think about Moscow, the mayor, and the authorities in general, but I doubt they’re singing the anthem. And the text itself is just an old Soviet song by some composer whose name I can’t remember. It’s actually a very decent song, by the way. "My golden capital, my dear Moscow." I practically know it by heart already. And when it gets to the line "in our hearts will live your twenty-eight most faithful fighters," I still have a hard time holding back patriotic tears. So what the hell are these billboards for? There are two very simple and very effective ways to make sure everyone knows the words: - make Moscow schoolchildren sing it in music class. They sing things like "Winged Swings" (a famous Soviet children’s song). They can sing this too. It’s a good song. - record a "trendy youth version." Let someone like Timati and Yulia Volkova sing it. That wouldn’t even cost any money. You could easily get their producers on board by promising them a discount on some concert hall owned by the mayor’s office. I don’t really believe anyone is profiting_laundering_kickbacking off this particular piece of public-service advertising. The scale just isn’t there. It’s just the usual stupidity of people with the mindset of Komsomol district committee officials (the Soviet Communist youth organization).