The show was Balenciaga ’s version of workplace clothes for the 21st century. And from the service personnel at the entrance, in sweaters slashed with a graphic line, to the I.T. department, in serviceable jumpsuits, the result was a faultless parade from a fantastic futurist.

The endless search for how to dress a modern woman is the subject of this winter 2012 Paris season. And although designers are umbilically linked to their own pasts, embracing the spirit of now is essential.

At the Balenciaga show, models came out in the high-in-the-sky penthouse area wearing wool coats with bright lapels over filmy dresses made decent by shorts, looking like bad girls who had just come into the office after a night of clubbing.

Yet they still seemed as purposeful as their deskbound sisters, who walked by in more of those sculpted coats, a sturdy leather bag on the shoulder or a folder (surely containing an iPad) in hand. Even the shoes looked fit for work: some laced-up as if morphed from a sneaker.

“My vision of an office — a mega-enterprise and how I imagine business dressing in my way,” the designer Nicolas Ghesquière said to explain his mission.

Backstage, François Pinault, accompanying his son François-Henri and daughter-in-law Salma Hayek, admired what he called the dominant ‘’Yves Klein blue.” (The younger Pinault replaced his father as chief executive of PPR, owner of Balenciaga.)

The clothes were so practical and effective (give or take a sci-fi print, as if from a retro video game), that it was easy to overlook the fact that each item, from A-line skirt to high-waist pants, had been refreshed. That meant a use of shiny fabric for the loose trousers or rounded jackets crafted in what looked like a bonded weave.

Mr. Ghesquière said that he had, in fact, divided the working woman categories into lawyer, banker and even spy for those sci-fi tops. That seemed a brave move in a world where such lofty professions are currently despised.

But perhaps the designer’s message was not just to send out stylish, vigorous and streamlined clothes that could genuinely be worn by females at the top — but to suggest that if women ruled the world, it might be a better place.

A Fabergé egg given by Richard Burton to Elizabeth Taylor triggered a Russia-women-love collection at Balmain . The designer Olivier Rousteing has such a succulent view of the 1980s, loving every bit of flash and sparkle, every wide shoulder and purposeful, booted stride in slim pants.

Not since Gianni Versace rocked the baroque has there been so much sex-charged glitter and grandeur under a the gilded curlicue of a hotel ballroom.

But on the runway, Mr. Rousteing has a fresher take on glamour than gilt to the max. His vision was seeded with pearls. They glimmered from wide-shoulder tunics that were worked in dense embroidery, perhaps inset, Russian-style, with a cross-stitch panel of a rose.

A more masculine vision had velvet pants and jackets embossed as if on leather. Those tight pants, brief hemlines and an Angelina Jolie-style split skirt meant that Balmain kept its body-conscious image, but moved it from club to palace.

Toughening up this view of imperial Russia and Hollywood royalty (a few of the Liz Taylor diamonds twinkled through as crystals) was a military theme, with gilt buttons on tailored outfits.

Mr. Rousteing, finishing his first year at the house, is making a good job of keeping up Balmain’s maximal look. And his subject should be a big hit with the oligarch wife clientele.

At Carven , the theme was medieval — yet it looked fresh and contemporary. To make modernity out of the Middle Ages sounds like a mission impossible. But the rich tapestries patterning simple outfits, the tracery of mullioned windows as laced velvet and Hieronymus Bosch paintings printed as casually as if on a T-shirt made a Carven collection that was light, graceful and intriguing.

The designer Guillaume Henry has a real feel for fresh French style, as worn by innocent-looking maidens with loosely waved hair. Perched on their platform shoes, they had an almost fairy tale quality that made even the transparent lace dresses seem innocent.

“The Middle Ages for now,” Mr. Henry said backstage. He might have added: but not for the middle-aged. This designer is bringing a youthful touch to an old, established brand and the meld of his Parisian spirit with Flemish painting and rich colors like burnt orange, violet and blue made a heady cocktail of modern youth.

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The Fallen Woman, and Why You Should See Her.

The Fallen Woman sounds like someone Rick Santorum would reference in a debate.

Careful, Rick, there are fallen women all over the place, and many of them vote.

This one, however, is one that really should be seen. She’s rich. She falls in love.

Her lover’s family denounces the relationship. She has tuberculosis. She dies in her lover’s arms. Sounds great already, right?

What are we talking about? Not soap opera, but real opera. In this case, La Traviata, composed by the famous 19th century Italian composer Giuseppi Verdi. The Italian word “traviata” means “fallen woman.” Even if you’ve never been to an opera, you’ll recognize at least one melody from this opera, if not more. Don’t rely only on recordings to enjoy opera — go see an opera. It’s much better if you are in the audience.

Many cities in the United States support opera companies, and in Columbia we have a group called Palmetto Opera that is determined to provide our culturally rich city with an opera season. We already have, of course, the fine Opera at USC, and Regal Sandhill Cinema 16 broadcasts a dozen or so live performances from the Metropolitan Opera every year. We have two fine orchestras, several fine choruses, ballet companies, an excellent art museum, three busy theaters and all the things that a university has to offer the local public. But we have no big, live operas on a regular basis.

The Palmetto Opera is a charitable organization with a strong group of volunteers working to establish a grand opera season for Columbia and the state of South Carolina. Its current chair is Kathy Newman and its artistic advisor is Walter Cuttino, associate professor of voice at the University of South Carolina.

This isn’t the first production Palmetto Opera has brought to the city. Last year, the organization presented a production of Madama Butterfly. Periodically over the last 10 years, the company has also presented evenings of opera at such local restaurants as Moe’s Grapevine, Villa Tronco, Mediterranean Café, Palmetto Club and the Capital City Club.

The opera Saturday is produced by the Teatro Lirico d’Europa, led by artistic director Georgio Lalov. That company has presented more than 4,000 performances worldwide since 1988. They bring sets, costumes, principal singers and part of an orchestra. Columbia’s Palmetto Opera then supplies a number of local chorus members, orchestra members and non-singing extras. This particular opera, in the first act, has a marvelous party in Violetta’s mansion (she’s the woman about to fall) and if you look closely, you’ll probably find a familiar character or two at the party. All that, plus the great singing of some of Verdi’s finest music.

The Violetta scheduled to sing is Olga Orlovskaya, a prize-winning soprano from Russia who has performed as a principal artist with Gelikon Opera and New Opera in Moscow and a guest artist throughout Europe. Her great-grandfather was Fedor Shalyapin, who was born into a peasant family in Kazan in 1873 and became one of the leading Russian opera singers of the 20th century. You can look Orlovskaya up on YouTube and get a taste of her great talent.

The evening on Saturday bodes to be a fine operatic experience. No, you don’t have to be in black tie, spatterdash or evening gown; a single strand of pearls is just fine. Relax and enjoy.

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Russian National Ballet Theatre to perform Swan Lake.

Most of us, if we think of ballet at all, think of certain musical cues, usually by one particular composer, and willowy young women dancing on their tip toes.

Even if we don’t know the name of the choreographer, or the ballet’s story, or that composer’s name – Peter Tchaikovsky – we can hum the melodies and we know beauty and virtuoso athleticism when it’s before us. Maybe “The Nutcracker” comes to mind, but you probably know some of “Swan Lake” as well.

When the Wilmington Concert Association decided to bring the Russian National Ballet Theatre’s “Swan Lake” to town – the ballet will be performed at UNCW’s Kenan Auditorium on Wednesday – they did more than just book a reliable classic with a familiar score. They said “yes” to a great tradition of ballet, that originated in the courts of Italy and France and dramatically evolved in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

Sergey Radchenko, who with his wife, Elena, provides artistic direction for the RNBT and the Moscow Festival Ballet, said by email that classical ballet was kept alive in Russia by such works as “Swan Lake.” He calls it one of the most important ballets in the classical repertoire and one that all ballet dancers learn in their training.

“Swan Lake” – featured prominently in the 2010 film “Black Swan,” for which Natalie Portman won a best actress Oscar for playing a damaged dancer – reaches into Russian folk traditions as well, taking its scenario from tales of a psychologically fragile prince, Siegfried, and his encounter with a swan that transforms into a beautiful woman. What better to further turn this story on its head than an evil magician, enchantment, seduction and self-sacrifice?

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Parade of ancient arts.

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Singer Adam Levine finds ‘Voice’ beyond Maroon 5.

From moving like Mick Jagger to dating Russian model Anne Vyalitsyna, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine hasn’t had problems attracting women in recent years.

In an interview, the 32-year-old said even though he was a “nerdy” musician in high school, he still always had luck with the ladies.

“I loved hanging out with girls. … It was never an issue, how about that? And, of course, it’s been magnified times 1,000 with this whole” fame “thing that’s happened, so it’s kind of crazy. I did OK. I did all right,” he said, laughing.

Besides his music career, Levine has found success as one of the celebrity coaches on NBC’s singing competition show “The Voice,” alongside Blake Shelton, Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green. One of Levine’s contestants, Javier Colon, won its first season. But not everyone thought it was a good idea for Levine to join the show.

“A musician’s life is constantly filled with people saying, ‘Why are you doing this?’ ” he said. “I’m a fan of people saying that because it must mean I’m doing something right. I’ve never been a fan of the cookie-cutter way of life. I liked that this was spiking something new into what I do.”

Despite Levine’s success so far on the show, he said he doesn’t really have a strategy when it comes to staying ahead of the other judges.

“I don’t really strategize as much as I want the right people to sing the right songs the right way and to have the right moment to hopefully increase their chances of moving forward because that’s my job on the show,” he said. “I’m there to help people be fully realized and have people see the best versions of who they are.”

When he’s not juggling his showbiz career, Levine is a huge basketball fan and roots for his hometown team, the Los Angeles Lakers. He also follows New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin, the team’s surprising breakout star.

“God bless him, man. He is an inspiring dude,” Levine said. “And I love to see New York fired up about basketball again. That makes me really happy.”

“The Voice” airs Mondays on NBC.

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Women to Watch: Russia to Open Beverly Hills

Russian Film Commission Office.

Russia’s Roskino / SEF – formerly known as Sovexportfilm – will set up business, and open a full time office, in the USA.  Recently, while attending the Berlinale European Film Market, the company announced, via Roskino / SEF CEO Catherine Mtsitouridze and US based Commissioner (and longtime film biz Senior Executive) Eleonora Granata, that the new Russian Film Commission will be looking to build relationships with US distributors for Russian films and to promote Russia as a filming location and a strong partner for US international co- productions.  Prominent LA based Russian journalist (and Board Member of ‘The Golden Globes’ Award Ceremony for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association) Sergei Rakhlin will be Director of the Russian Film Commission Office.

I recently spoke with Catherine Mtsitouridze in Berlin.  ‘We are creating a clean new organization to fit the new generation of young crossover filmmakers. Our LA based model is really like COLCOA’.

The new office will initiate screening programs, panel discussions, cultural exchanges, eventually a Russian Film Week, to present artistic and commercial achievements of Russian cinema.

Catherine Mtsitouridze goes on. ‘We are partly government financed to help in the export of Russian films worldwide.  We also expect private money to help our films and filmmakers get out into the world.  We’ll do this in LA by having weekly screenings, getting Russian films into film festivals in the US and elsewhere, get co production and co financing deals there and abroad for Russian productions.

She will also be the Editor of the newly announced Russian edition of Variety to begin this March.

She hails from Tblisi in Georgia and became interested early on in Russian films and US films of the ‘70’s.  She studied art history and became a film critic.  In 1994 she married and moved to Moscow.  There she worked for the Head of Moscow Film Fest as Assistant and also worked for TV on Channel 1 as an editor cinema. She travels frequently to film festivals and in 2008 served on the Cannes Film Fest Jury for Certain Regard section.  She has also worked professionally with Fox studios’ Jim Gianopoulos.

Catherine Mtsitouridze adds this about her new position.  ‘In its efforts to assist Russian filmmakers with their commercial film releases abroad, and support their integration into the international film community, Roskino / SEF will also promote Russian cinema at key international festivals, markets and on the awards circuit’.

Originally set up as Sovkino in 1924, Sovexportfilm was recently modernized and rebranded to become LA based Roskino / SEF this year.

LA based Roskino / SEF Commissioner Eleonora Granata is, in our opinion, a particularly good choice.  She hails from a prominent Milan Italy family and has lived in LA many years. She has worked for Turner and other big Hollywood companies as a senior acquisitions executive and also as production executive for a number of distinguished companies locally and internationally.

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Court hears how Russian women were ’sold off’

for prostitution- policeman among those involved.

A 37 year-old man from Luqa was jailed for 11 years and had his farmhouse confiscated on conviction today in a case where a court heard how Russian women were brought to Malta under false pretences and forced to prostitute themselves while they were kept locked in the farmhouse.

According to one of the witnesses, the women also used to be ’sold off’ and a policeman was involved in the transactions which the court said were a disgrace on the human race.

The case was taken to court after one of the women managed to phone her parents, who contacted the Russian police. Interpol and the Russian Embassy in Malta were also involved.

The court heard how the Malta police had been able to intercept two Russian women at the airport as they were about to be flown back to Russia.

The two women told the police that they came to Malta to work in restaurants but were forced to prostitute themselves in the farmhouse of the accused, Raymond Mifsud, in Luqa.

They said that as soon as they arrived in Malta in June 2004 that were taken to the farmhouse and immediately forced into prostitution with several men. When they objected, they were offered work as dancers in clubs, which they refused.

The two women said they were kept in the farmhouse and forced to prostitute themselves in order to be able to pay back their flight tickets and accommodation. When the accused was informed that they were refusing to work as prostitutes, he warned them them he would sell them to somebody else in order to settle their debts.

The women spoke how at one time they were bundled out of the back door of the farm during a search by the police. They were taken to a flat overnight, and then taken to the airport.

One of the women described how the accused had beaten her, grabbed a knife, handed it to a woman – Tatiana – who worked with him, and told her that she could kill her, if she wished.  The witness said that before coming to Malta she worked as a sales assistant in a clothes shop and as a topless dancer in Switzerland, but she was never a prostitute.

Another witness, a Ukrainian woman who had no prior connection with the two women, said she came to Malta to participate in the Miss Bikini International Contest  of 2004 and to work as a hostess for the contest.  She said she tried to escape from the farmhouse but she was caught by the accused and locked in a room at the back of the farmhouse. The room was bare, without sanitary facilities and without lighting. She was kept there overnight and the following morning. She was given some bread and water.

On the following day, Tatiana asked her whether she was prepared to work as a prostitute. When she refused, she was locked up again. However on the next  day the accused called for her and told her they had to leave because of problems with the police in Russia.

She was taken to the flat along with the other two women. But while the other two were then taken to the airport, she was kept in the flat and later taken to a yacht for the contest. When the other contestants were taken back to their hotel, she was taken to a security room in the hotel. The police found her there.

Tatiana Alkina testified that she had been previously convicted for profiting from prostitution and running a brothel.  She said she had lived with the accused for a while and when she returned to Russia, the accused asked her to send him some women to work at Steam Bar in Paceville. When she returned to Malta she brought a woman from Ukraine – who was not one of the three who gave evidence. This woman had previously worked in Malta as a prostitute. The accused used to take this woman to prostitute herself at his farmhouse or a tenement in Marsascala.After two weeks, the accused gave this woman to his friend Kevin and later, they ’sold’ her to Soleado Guesthouse for €600.

The witness said she also brought other women at the request of the accused. They worked as prostitutes in the farmhouse but one later found a boyfriend and left.

In all, the witness said she brought nine women from Russia but the accused had also ‘bought’ some other women from somebody else.

The witness explained how the accused used of get rid of the women if they were stubborn by selling them to third parties. She said that no one was free to leave the farmhouse, not even herself.

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Women’s MMA Report: Kheyfets,

Cummins stay perfect; Kunitskaya victorious in Russia.

Rising star Marianna “The Crushen Russian” Kheyfets kept her unblemished MMA record intact this past Friday at Xtreme Fighting Championships 16 in Knoxville, Tenn. Kheyfets scored the biggest victory of her career by stopping Heather “Hurricane” Clark at the conclusion of the first round.

Kheyfets (5-0 MMA, 4-0 XFC) looked to close the distance after early leg kicks and knees from Clark (4-2 MMA, 0-1 XFC), but Clark landed another knee and broke free of a clinch. Kheyfets walked down Clark with punching combinations, but Clark found a home for her counter-right cross and got the better of the striking exchanges.

Not to be deterred, Kheyfets began to mix up her strikes midway through the round and had much greater success with kicks to the body. She landed a kick-punch combo in close that prompted Clark to clinch. When Clark backed away after a quick flurry, Kheyfets again pressed forward with a head kick and a lunging one-two. She continued to throw combinations while Clark stuck to her game plan of counter right hands that landed time and time again.

Late in the closely contested round, Clark scored a takedown that would prove to be her undoing. Kheyfets landed a short elbow to Clark’s right eye just as she was being taken down. Clark threw punches to the body until the bell sounded, but she began bleeding from below her rapidly-swelling right eye during the rest period.

While Clark’s counterstriking and late takedown looked to have been enough to narrowly win the first round, she was denied the opportunity to fight on when the cageside physician deemed her unfit to continue due to the eye injury. The abrupt end to the competitive bout was unfortunate, but Kheyfets showed marked improvement in winning her toughest fight to date. The American Top Team fighter continues her rise up the 125-pound women’s ranks.

Cummins takes close win at “Caged Fury 16″ in West Virginia

Another top prospect, Ashley “Smashley” Cummins (2-0), also was able to maintain her perfect record with a recent victory. Cummins earned a razor-thin unanimous-decision win over Stephanie “Macaquinha” Frausto (2-4) in a highly competitive bout at “NAAFS: Caged Fury 16″ on Jan. 28.

Cummins and Frausto faced off in the first sanctioned professional women’s bout in West Virginia history.

Cummins took control of the fight early on with punches and a takedown, but Frausto showcased her improving jiu-jitsu skills with a series of armbar attempts. She stayed active on the bottom with elbow strikes as Cummins punched to the head and body. Frausto used an armbar to sweep into top position, but Cummins stood and scored a late takedown.

Between rounds, cageside officials realized that the first round had erroneously been contested over three minutes as opposed to the scheduled five. Rather than halt the bout and rule it a no-contest, the fight was allowed to continue on using the abbreviated round lengths.

The second round was all Cummins. She slammed Frausto down to the mat and punished her with hard punches and elbows from Frausto’s half-guard. Some of the strikes strayed to the back of Frausto’s head, and referee Dan Miragliotta brought the fighters back to their feet and deducted one point from Cummins for the foul. Cummins secured another takedown to close out the 9-9 round.

With the fight still seemingly up for grabs heading into the third and final round, Cummins had success with an early takedown and effective ground and pound. Frausto rolled to her side to defend against the strikes and eventually escaped to her feet. She locked on a guillotine choke as Cummins took her down in the final 30 seconds, but Cummins held on until the bell.

All three judges awarded the close first round to Cummins, who walked away with a hard-fought unanimous-decision victory with scores of 29-27 across the board. Cummins has won all 10 of her pro and amateur fights.

Kunitskaya earns quick victory, fights again on March 3

Russia’s Yana “Foxy” Kunitskaya (6-1) won for the fourth straight time on Saturday night at Verdict Fighting Championship 1 in Moscow. Kunitskaya needed just 65 seconds to dispatch of compatriot Ekaterina Saraykina (0-1), who made her pro debut in the fight.

At the start of the brief bout, Saraykina scored first with punches, but Kunitskaya responded by taking her down and quickly moved to side control. She landed punches and hammerfists that forced Saraykina to roll to her side. In the process, Kunitskaya inadvertently landed a series of strikes to the back of Saraykina’s head and was given a warning for the infraction.

The fighters were stood up, and Kunitskaya immediately caught a body kick and took Saraykina back down. She effortlessly passed to mount and rained down punches until the referee intervened. This time, he stopped the fight and gave Kunitskaya the TKO win at the 1:05 mark.

Kunitskaya won’t waste any time in returning to action. She is already booked to face a much larger opponent, Anna Melikhova, at “Lion’s Fights 1: The Beginning” on March 3. Kunitskaya, who typically campaigns between 145 and 155 pounds, will give up 50 pounds to Melikhova in the open-weight matchup. Five of Kunitskaya’s six wins have come via a form of knockout.

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If I was a woman in Russia, I would be a lesbian, as the men are very ugly —Karl Lagerfeld.

PONYTAILED creative director of Chanel, Fendi and his own label, Karl Lagerfeld is known for many things like; his signature sunglasses, legendary creative ability,

diligent work ethic, passion for gadgets, king bitch of the catwalk but being politically correct is not one of them and knowing when to keep his mouth shut is clearly not his forte.

Speaking to the Metro New York Newspaper, which he was guest-editing for the day, the 78 year-old German designer went on a slur spree in which he called Adele “too fat”, Russian men “ugly”, the royal family “unnecessary” and “disgusting habits” of Greeks and Italians.

Talking about the Britain’s royal family, he said they are “totally unnecessary, but pleasant” and was “good for the tourists”.

“It brings a lot of money in,” he said. “Why not have the monarchy? People can dream about it.”  On the Queen’s up coming Diamond Jubilee he said; “She looks a little bit like her grandmother – a more smiley version. In terms of what she wears, she’s come into herself a little bit more – whatever that is.”

Asked about the debt crisis in Greece, he said: “Greece needs to work on a cleaner image. It’s a big problem, as they have this reputation of being so corrupt. “You can’t be sure the money will go where it’s supposed to go. “Nobody wants Greece to disappear, but they have really disgusting habits. Italy as well.”

Commenting on Russia, Kaiser Karl said: “If I was a woman in Russia I would be a lesbian, as the men are very ugly.”

Giving his view on women pop stars, he said: “The thing at the moment is Adele. She is a little too fat, but she has a beautiful face and a divine voice”.

Adele Adkins, 23, is from south London and a global Pop star with hits on both sides of the Atlantic and has sold more than 23.5 million CD copies to date. She is a brilliant songwriter with a beautiful voice and charisma.  Lagerfeld’s  “fat” comment caused a surge of anger and angry fans took to Tweeter to express their annoyance even before Adele could retort.

American PR guru, Kelly Cutrone hit out at Lagerfeld, writing: “If you love Adele then boycott Chanel – Boo Karl”.

A fan tweeted: “A little too fat for what? Too fat to become a global phenomenon, or too fat to be a talentless clothes horse? This bloke seems like an idiot.

Another said: “Karl… Adele is fat… So are lots of other women… Now, get over yourself and go back to doing what you’re good at!”

Another added: “Who cares what Karl Lagerfeld says about Adele? When you’re as talented as her, wearing Chanel isn’t going to change anything!”

After being hit by a furious backlash, Lagerfeld issued an apology to Adele, insisting his comments were taken  “out of context” stating he is her biggest fan. Speaking to Metro New York, he said ‘I’d like to say to Adele that I am your biggest admirer.

‘Sometimes when you take a sentence out of the article it changes the meaning of the thought. Adele is my favorite singer and I am a great admirer of her.’

He also commended Adele for being so strong in the face of comments regarding her weight. Adding: ‘I lost over 30 kilos over 10 years ago and have kept it off. I know how it feels when the press is mean to you in regards to your appearance.

‘Adele is a beautiful girl. She is the best. And I can’t wait for her next CD.

Replying to Lagerfeld’s “Fat” comment, Adele told People Magazine;” I’ve never wanted to look like models on the cover of magazines. I represent the majority of women and I’m very proud of that.’  Adele also insisted she is not obsessed with her fuller figure or trying to lose weight.

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Russian Health Ministry Tightens Laws on Abortion

The Russian Health Ministry has cut the list of social grounds that allow women to have a free abortion, which leaves sexual assault as the only excuse for women to abort their pregnancy.

“A pregnancy which occurs after sexual assault, is a social reason for a woman to have an abortion,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Other social factors that would have qualified a woman for a free abortion were; if there was a court decision to relieve a woman of her parental rights, if a woman was in jail, or if a father became disabled or died during a woman’s pregnancy.

Among the medical factors that give Russian women the right for a free abortion are AIDS infection, oncology, an active form of tuberculosis, grave genetic diseases and other health problems threatening a woman’s life.

There are both state-run and commercial clinics that carry out abortions in Russia. The former offer free services in case a woman has social or medical factors that need to be taken into account, while the latter allow women to have an abortion even if they do not qualify for a free one.

According to the United Nations Population Division, abortions are legally allowed in 55 out of 194 countries.

More than 1 million Russian women have abortions every year, which makes the ongoing demographic crisis in the country even worse.

The 2010 census showed that Russia’s population dropped from 145 million in 2002 to under 143 million, with the death rate continuing to exceed the birth rate despite government efforts to encourage Russians to have more children.

The parliament may soon pass a new anti-abortion bill that could limit access to abortion services and toughen criminal punishment for doctors who carry out illegal abortions.

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Russians sprint to titles Yolaine Oddou grabs bronze medal for Canada.

A petite Russian led the way but Canada wasn’t without its own heroines at the International Biathlon Union Cup event at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

Russia’s Marina Korovina won both 7.5-kilometre sprint races, held Saturday and Sunday while the Canadian women got a bronze-medal performance from Yolaine Oddou in Sunday’s sprint.

“It’s a really hard course,” said Korovina. “I just want to do my best here. It is always my goal to win, so I am quite happy to get the results I have had this weekend.”

Oddou, from Val Belair, Quebec, was all smiles after her medal winning performance. It may well have been silver if not for one miss on the range her second time through as she finished just 1.3 seconds back of Maren Hammerschmidt of Germany, who shot clean.

“I shot good, so I am happy,” said Oddou, who had two misses in the first-day’s sprint and finished ninth. “I felt better on skis yesterday, but it was still good today.”

Canada’s head coach Matthias Ahrens was pleased to get a Canadian on the podium.

“I was really proud for the young Yolaine Oddou to be third, because she is only in the first year in the senior category,” said Ahrens.

“It was very promising in her ski speed … even though her shooting didn’t match (Saturday), but (Sunday) everything came together.”

Megan Heinicke, who at one time lived in Canmore but now resides in Germany, finished fourth on Sunday. Heinicke was 11th on Saturday.

Canmore’s Rosanna Crawford put together Canada’s best showing Saturday with an eighth place. She would finish ninth Sunday.

“It’s hard to ski faster one day to the next, so I can only really make it up in shooting,” said Crawford, who went clean on Saturday but had one miss on Sunday. That penalty loop, which runs close to 20 seconds, was the difference between ninth and probably a sixth-place finish.

Crawford is in the running for the one of two available spots for women’s squad for the world championships to be held in Rumpolding, Germany Feb. 29 to March 12.

Already selected are Canmorites Megan Imrie, who finished 14th on Saturday in her only start, and Zina Kocher, who chose to stay in Europe and compete in a World Cup meet in Konitiolahti, Finland. Kocher braved —30C temperatures to finish eighth in Saturday’s sprint race and ninth in Sunday’s 10K pursuit.

“We will select two women based on the results here,” said Ahrens, who admitted that Oddou fast-tracked herself for one of those spots with her bronze-medal peformance.

Also in the IBU Cup competition from Canmore were Melanie Schultz, who posted a 13th place time on Sunday and was 24th Saturday; Cynthia Clark was 34th Sunday and 33rd Saturday; Carly Shiell was 35th Sunday in her only start; Kathryn Stone was 37th on Sunday and 32nd Saturday as she struggled on the range; and Karen Messenger was all smiles in finishing 31st Sunday after having the distinction of placing 37th and last on Saturday when she missed all five targets in her first round of shooting and three more in second go-round.

“I don’t know what happened (Saturday), but I felt so good (Sunday),” said Messenger, who admitted that nervousness performing before family and friends may have taken its toll on that first day.

“This is my first international race but I know the course so well.”

Claude Godbout of Quebec City was 24th Sunday and 23rd Saturday.

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Russian immigrant to get new home in

Mount Olive Township from Habitat.

An iconic American company and a 39-year-old Russian immigrant are linked in construction of Mount Olive’s first home to be built by Morris Habitat for Humanity.

Yulia Savenkova, an employee in the food services department at Morristown Memorial Hospital, was picked in a lottery last Thursday to receive the new, three-bedroom, one a half bathroom home to be built at 4 Hatakawana Terrace.

Savenkova, who lives in Florham Park, will move to the new home with her mother, Yevzeniya, and her 9-year-old son, Igor.

“I’m very excited,” said Savenkova, who came to the U.S. in 2004. “I still can’t believe it. I just can’t wait.”

She said her son is just as thrilled at the prospect of living in their own home. Savenkova said the family visited Budd Lake on Saturday for the first time.

“My son has been going on the computer every day checking out the schools and the area,” she said.

It will be Morris Habitat for Humanity’s 63rd home. Construction on the foundation is slated to start in late March and occupancy is expected by December. The work will be funded by the Mary Kay Inc. cosmetic company after Morris Habitat for Humanity won a nationwide “Get Beautiful. Give Back” personal makeover contest.

A groundbreaking or “wall raising” is planned for April 20 with officials from Mary Kay corporate headquarters in Texas wearing their pink hard hats along with representatives of Habitat for Humanity international.

Morris Habitat for Humanity is planning to build a second home on land off Lozier Road.

Funding Deadline

In both cases and in similar situations around the state, the township  is being pressed to have affordable housing building commitments by July for the $1.3 million in the town’s affordable housing trust fund. If the fund are not committed, they will be returned to the state.

The need for subsidized homes is growing with more professionals turning to Morris Habitat for help, according to the agency’s executive director, Blair Bravo.

“These are people who earn $40,000 a year and have four children,” Bravo said. “They are what drives us to build more homes.”

The typical new homeowner is college-educated, with 40 percent married and 60 percent single, with one to two children.

The property on Hatakawana Terrace is an empty lot subdivided off by the prior owner. Morris Habitat for Humanity paid $80,000 for the land, offset by a $50,000 grant from the township, according to Bravo.

About 30 people had applied for ownership of the Hatakawana property with Savenkova picked out of four finalists. Under the program, Habitat for Humanity is the  builder, banker and helps transition to home ownership.  Habitat holds the zero percent interest on the mortgage for 30 years while the property can later be sold only to another  income-eligible household.

The homeowner is responsible for paying property taxes, mortgage, utilities and other traditional housing costs and is responsible for maintaining the exterior and interior of the property, Bravo said.

Housing is done with  energy star certification and new homeowners are educated on the use of energy efficient and sustainable materials.

The construction typically takes about 4,000 site visits by 500 workers, who are all volunteers except for the fulltime construction manager and a part time construction supervisor. The new homeowner also will be required to help in construction.

Volunteers are trained by so-called “Habitat Faithful,” a group of around 35 retired men and women who acts as backup supervisors and craftsmen.

Bravo said volunteers are often corporate groups who participate as team-building exercises. Businesses also contribute to Habitat for Humanity to help offset typical $600 monthly mortgages.

Bravo said Morris Habitat members did facials and makeovers at homes and businesses for about 300 women from April to June 2011, on the way to winning the national contest.

“We took the show on the road,” Bravo said. “It was a lot of fun.”

The second home will be built on vacant land at 24 Lozier Road that is owned by the township. Habitat for Humanity will pay $17,000 for the property while the township will pitch in with another $50,000 from its housing trust fund. Construction on the three-bedroom home expected to start in the late spring with occupancy by March or April 2013, Bravo said.

Maximum income limits for homeowner applicants are $39,517 to $50,932, based on family size. Minimum family size is three people; maximum is six people.

Habitat is considering buying yet a third property on Wallman Way in Flanders that also is now owned by the township. Development of the property is pending approval by the N.J. Highlands Council.

Morris Habitat for Humanity has 44 homes around the county in varying stages that will be built by 2015, Bravo said.

Morris Habit built its first home in 1986 and all of the original homeowners are still in the homes, except for two who moved due to retirement.

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The Prosecutor-General’s Office on February 16 opened a criminal case upon desecration of the flag of India by activists from the women’s movement FEMEN in this country’s embassy in Kyiv, reads a statement made by the press service of the Internal Affairs Ministry.

The police say that in January the female activists penetrated up onto the balcony of the Indian embassy building.

Several topless girls unfolded a banner and were chanting objectionable slogans.

Then, the police say, they took the Indian national flag off from the mast, lunged it at windows and doors of the diplomatic building several times and then threw it onto the ground.

Law-enforcers note, the female activists were detained for these actions, delivered to the Shevchenkivskyi district police department of the Internal Affairs Ministry in Kyiv, but were released later.

Then, following a check of materials of this incident a criminal case was filed under Article 296, Section 2 of the Penal Code (disorderly conduct).

Pre-trial investigation into the case is under way.

On February 16, the Prosecutor-General’s Office instituted criminal proceedings upon signs of crime qualified by Article 338, Section 2 of the Penal Code (public desecration of officially installed or run up foreign state’s flag or coat of arms).

Besides, an administrative protocol was drawn up against the FEMEN leader for violation of the order of organisation and conducting assemblies, rallies, street processions and demonstrations.

The police remark, the protocol was drawn up because the authorities had not been notified of this action.

On February 15, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv ruled the FEMEN leader guilty of the wrongdoing and took to responsibility in the form of imposition of fine.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, a Russian court on February 13 ordered to collect a RUB 1,000 fine from an activist of the women’s movement FEMEN.

The movement says that its activist, Oksana Shachko, raised Ukrainian flag on the roof of a checkpoint of Gazprom headquarters and was detained for that.

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Wilson frequently plies a meandering route between different sectors of the music market, which she attributes to her home patch. “I was born and reared in Mississippi. I spent 24 years there, so I am very much accustomed to different genres of music,” she notes.

Indeed, that part of the Deep South of the United States has proven to be a fertile breeding ground for many strains of American music in the 20th century. “I am used to incorporating those styles into my own personal style,” Wilson continues. “Mississippi is the foundation for popular music in America.”

That is self-evident from Wilson’s discography which, besides her own original scores, includes covers of material written by such diverse sources as legendary blues man Robert Johnson, preeminent jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, iconic singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, 1960s pop group The Monkees and country music star Hank Williams.

While Wilson’s current output has a definite mass appeal element to it, when she arrived on the New York scene in the mid-1980s she initially hooked up with M-Base Collective, a loose group of young African- American musicians, which included saxophonists Steve Coleman and Greg Osby, pianist Geri Allen and trombonist Robin Eubanks, and offered a new sound and specific ideas about creative expression.

Wilson says that her stint with the Collective had an enduring impact on her subsequent work. “When I moved to New York and joined Steve Coleman very early on, I joined MBase because I wanted to challenge myself musically. In M-Base I found a revolutionary approach to the performance of music and creating the music. It intrigued me. What I learned from it is the importance of stepping outside of the box and challenging the status quo. That, I believe, is a very important part of being an artist.”

Wilson has evidently done a good job in following her own path through the various domains of the music scene, achieving impressive record sales returns and picking up a couple of Grammys in the process.

The singer says she is particularly pleased to come here to perform at the Women’s Festival. She comes across as a strong personality and says that while increasing numbers of female jazz artists are carving out a niche for themselves, the world of jazz is still predominantly male.

“That’s probably why most of the jazz vocalists are women – because it is hard for them to find opportunities as instrumentalists,” Wilson observes, adding that it makes it all the more enjoyable for her to play at the Holon event. “There are more and more women’s festivals now, which is great, as it shows the other side of the music. Women are becoming a more dominant force, in jazz in particular.

It’s great that there are more and more people who want to highlight women artists.”

Female artists will certainly be front and center at our Women’s Festival in Holon next week.

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American jazz singer Cassandra Wilson will add her strong voice

to the Women’s Festival in Holon.

This year’s Women’s Festival, which takes place at the Holon Theater from February 22 to February 25, offers an eclectic range of entertainment by female artists from right across the music and theater spectrums, with an additional intriguing documentary film slot. The program takes in a tribute to British 1970s rock group Queen, a salute to Russian poets by Gesher Theater actress Natasha Manor, a theater-plastic arts combination that highlights the price women kibbutz members paid over the years, and the satirical The Secret Blonde show by Irit Linor and Tamar Giladi based on Linor’s long-running newspaper column.

Like every year, the festival features some of our top female performers, with the likes of vocalists Efrat Gosh, Yael Deckelbaum, Dana Berger and Dana Adini proffering the Queen tribute. But the event also does its best to give the next generation a chance to strut its emerging stuff with, for example, a marathon of monologues by female graduates of some of the country’s top acting schools, under the guidance of Hadas Calderon. Twenty-something French-Israeli pop rock vocalist Riff Cohen will also be in Holon next week, and this year’s lineup includes a new documentary film item called I Am You Are, with debut offerings from novice female Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers.

The foreign draw this time round is 56-year-old American singer Cassandra Wilson. Over the last three decades, Wilson has maintained a high popularity profile with a wide-ranging offering that takes in pop, rock, jazz, country music and much more. All the above are delivered in an unmistakable husky mode that she has made all her own.

As jazz performers in particular talk about the need for young artists to “find their own voice” to set their unique stall out there on the concert and recording circuit, it is interesting to learn how Wilson arrived at her own timbre attack.

“My approach to singing developed over time,” she says. “I was exposed to jazz at a very early age, so from a very early age I was aware of the importance of developing a singular voice in the music. That’s the directive you are given when you decide to exercise this discipline.”

That personalized approach to her craft, says Wilson, is also a product of all the musical background she accumulated as a youngster, both from within and outside the jazz idiom.

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Russian women switched at birth pursue legal action.

Two Russian women, angered about information they’ve learned regarding their births, are pursuing legal action against a local maternity hospital in Russia’s Orenburg region.

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Book review: The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak

Powerful women are always irresistible … think Elizabeth I, Cleopatra, Boudicca, Eleanor of Aquitaine and the ‘queen’ of them all, Catherine the Great of Russia.

Eva Stachniak knows only too well the magnetic pull of feisty females and her sizzling and sensuous novel set at the dangerous heart of the St Petersburg court features no less than three amazing women.

Two of them are real – the notoriously ruthless Russian empresses Elizabeth and Catherine the Great. The third is a fictional Polish girl who becomes a court spy for both rulers, their secret ‘eyes and ears.’

The other star of this 18th century thriller is the Winter Palace itself, the place where nothing is impossible but where every word you say may be repeated and used against you, where every friend you trust may betray you and where being invisible is the best possible virtue.

It’s an epic story and one that reaches far beyond the parameters of a standard historical novel. There’s fascinating political and social detail, the incredible revelations of how Catherine grabbed the throne from her husband, a recounting of the events that shaped Russia’s future and all seen through the eyes of a girl groomed to be a spy.

Indeed, the sexual mores, the scandals and the scheming which accompanies the claustrophobic monarchical rule we witness in The Winter Palace makes Elizabeth Tudor’s battles seem no more than playground spats.

When 16-year-old Varvara, an orphan girl from Warsaw, is brought to serve as a seamstress at Empress Elizabeth’s glittering court, it looks increasingly likely she will never be more than a ‘Polish stray.’

But her ability to read, to listen and to watch convinces the ‘slippery eel’ Count Bestuzhev, the Russian Chancellor, that she would serve well as the Empress’s ‘tongue,’ the ‘teller of the most important stories.’

To this end, she is schooled by the Chancellor himself in skills from lock-picking to love-making, learning above all else to stay silent. He shows her the palace’s hidden drawers, the spy-holes in the panelling, the hidden corners of chimneys, cushions and books, and the maze of secret corridors.

‘Spying,’ Bestuzhev tells her, ‘is the art of using people who do not believe in loyalty, whose appetites are enormous and unpredictable, and whose motives are always suspect.’

But Varvara’s own hitherto unquestionable loyalties are divided when Sophie, a vulnerable young princess, arrives from Prussia as a prospective bride for Peter, Elizabeth’s nephew and heir.

Set to spy on her by the Empress, Varvara soon becomes her friend and confidante, and helps her navigate the illicit seductions and the treacherous shifting allegiances of the court.

But Sophie’s destiny is to become the notorious Catherine the Great. Ambitious and sometimes cruel, she will she stop at nothing to achieve absolute power for herself, even if that means abandoning the friendships that have helped her rise to power…

Stachniak’s sensationally dramatic story is brimming with court detail from the foods and fashions of the empresses to life in the servants’ quarters where guile and cunning are as rampant as in the opulent salons above.

She fills the pages with the dramas of human relationships, the paranoia of subterfuge and the perils of absolute power.

Written with descriptive flair and a superb intensity, The Winter Palace is a dazzling display of historical novel writing and makes us hungry for the much-anticipated sequel.

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Akiko Suzuki obligingly took a seat on a couch across from a large screen in the bowels of the Hershey Centre so that she could be filmed by a Japanese TV crew, whilst watching the final skater in the woman long program.

Yes, let’s get right in the woman face, catch every flicker of joy or tic of disappointment, in real-time, as the event unfolds. Emotion as spectator sport.

As things turned out, woman Suzuki barely registered any reaction, clapping politely as out-of-nowhere Russian phenom Elizaveta Tuktamisheva did her Latin mélange routine, bedazzling for the second day in a row, with just one minor misstep — doubling down a triple toe on the back end of a double Axel. Though Suzuki actually won the free skate, marginally, 14-year-old Tuktamisheva is taking gold home to St. Petersburg, her first Grand Prix medal in her first senior Grand Prix assignment, just one year removed from juniors, where she’d laboured only for a single season.

The preternaturally poised adolescent, wisp of a woman, also leaves Mississauga — first venture into North America — as the youngest Skate Canada woman champion in three decades, second only to 13-year-old Tracey Wainman in 1981.

Some of you will recall what happened to Wainman after a couple of wide-spaced national crowns: pushed too soon, burdened with immense expectations, struggles with a growth spurt and scrap-heap burnout by 1987.

See also: Tara Lipinski, Olympic champion at 15, double-hip replacement by her early mid-20s.

That’s the thing about precocious baby stars in figure skating — they often sizzle and fizzle, overwhelmed by the mental and physical rigours of their sport, occasionally starved into retaining ridiculously teeny girlish proportions. (One pairs girl at this competition, no names mentioned here, revealed recently that her mom had moved in with her to oversee her diet “so that I can stay small.’’)

There’s no doubt little Tuktamisheva has been the big story at Skate Canada. Few had even heard of the girl before she took the competition by storm. Age regulations forbid her from competing at 2012 words, though she’s legit for the Grand Prix. And she will fall on the right side of the birthday calendar for when Sochi rolls around in 2014.

And perhaps there will be no puberty morphing. Russians have always been pretty good at genetic graphing that predicts how an athlete’s dimensions might alter in the future.

Yet that country has also witnessed tremendous flame-outs among girl skaters tipped for future grandeur on the ice. Only the incomparable Irina Slutskaya in recent history dominated as foreseen. Most of the rest have been Natashas-come-lately, practically stillborn in the womb of Mother Russia.

Tuktamisheva appears, at the moment, the real thing. But figure skating is a merciless vocation. It breaks little woman hearts.

Not that the dynamo is wearing hers on her sleeve.

“I’m trying not to show everything what’s inside,’’ the youngster said after copping gold with minimal fuss. “Even if I’m nervous, I try to hide it. I want to stay calm and approach everything in a calm way.’’

This is the kid who used to make a 27-hour train journey, on her own, from hometown Glazov to St. Petersburg for expert coaching a couple of times a month. The Russian system, which birddogs pupa talent practically out of the cradle, has always plucked wee ones from their families, and the Chinese have followed suit, if too often producing automatons of the ice.

Maybe it’s the superior system. Canada, with a different sports ethic, is evidently into another female funk — returned to the vale of tears that has almost continually characterized distaff skating results since we last produced a lady world champion, Karen Magnussen, way back in 1973.

Joannie Rochette was a recent anomaly. But she appears to be good and gone from the scene now. And, at the least, Rochette’s love for the sport was palpable. It gave her joy, even amidst grief.

Tuktamisheva talks like a mini apparatchik.

“I just try to do my job.’’

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Transformation Begins

Ballet Tucson launches its 26th season with works both contemporary and classical

Best women Amanda McKerrow has performed nearly every female part in the classic ballet Don Quixote, from the flower girl to the robust Mercedes.

When she danced Kitri, the ballet’s female lead, her partner was Mikhail Baryshnikov.

It was “transcendent” to dance with the famous dancer, says women McKerrow. A former American Ballet Theatre star, McKerrow this weekend debuts an abbreviated Don Quixote Suite that she and her husband, John Gardner, choreographed for Ballet Tucson’s season opener.

In rehearsals, Baryshnikov “didn’t like a lot of discussion,” women McKerrow says. “He was more physical—actions speak louder than words. It was important to be consistent. It was nerve-wracking. I was a little more edgy dancing with him. But it was totally worth it.”

The Russian was artistic director of ABT for 10 years in the 1980s. After he choreographed his own full-length Don Quixote in 1980, it became a company staple. He hired McKerrow “and promoted me,” she says, and danced the romantic part of Basilio to her Kitri.

Gardner also danced with Baryshnikov, both at ABT and with the White Oak Dance Project. While his wife worked her way through the female parts in Don Quixote, he performed every possible male role, from a bum to Basilio. Now retired from performing, McKerrow and Gardner work around the world choreographing and staging ballets, and come to Ballet Tucson every season as artistic associates, bringing their years of experience to the local company.

The two have pared the traditional evening-length Don Quixote down to a suite just 30 to 35 minutes long. They choreographed all new movements, with the exception of the famed Grand Pas de Deux, the tour de force duet that McKerrow used to dance with Baryshnikov.

“That pas de deux is a classic, based on Petipa,” the Russian choreographer who debuted Don Quixote back in 1869, women McKerrow notes.

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Sundowns midfielder Matthew Pattison could be going to Russia with love – after a trial with Dynamo Moscow.

Pattison, widely considered to be unlucky not to feature in Bafana Bafana’s World Cup squad when South Africa hosted the World Cup last season, has been absent from Johan Neeskens’ Mamelodi millionaires for a week after going on trial to the Russian capital.

While Dutch master Neeskens is being pilloried for his decision to drop goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands for the 3-0 defeat against Moroka Swallows on Saturday, a gloriously oblivious Pattison, 24, revealed: “I went to Moscow for three days and I only got back on Friday. I was on trial at Dynamo Russia with love.”

After seeing Sundowns team-mate Katlego “Killer” Mphela rejected after a similar visit to Glasgow giants Celtic two months ago, Pattison is understandly coy about his chances of a long-term contract with Dynamo.

Often over-looked by new boss Neeksens this season, Pattison added: “Maybe I might go back to Moscow again, who knows? I’m not too sure so I will have to wait and see.

“I have to keep my options open, because I’m a free agent at the end of the season. My agent is speaking to DynamoRussia with love.

“You have to take care of your own interests and if it is not working out, then you got to move on.”

But Pattison is only too aware of the pitfalls of a move overseas to further his career. Bafana Bafana central defender Bongani Khumalo was all set for a glittering career with Tottenham Hostpur when he moved from then-champions Supersports United for R15m in January.
But the man who scored his first international goal in the historic World Cup win over France in 2010 finds himself on loan at Championship club Reading – and unable to hold down a first-team place at the Madejski Stadium.

Khumalo, also 24, started the first four matches of Reading’s crusade to regain Premier League status but injury and the vagaries of coach Brian McDermott’s selection process has left him out in the cold at Reading … and Bafana.

Khumalo hasn’t played since his Carling Cup defeat against Charlton Athletic at the end of August but insists: “I feel good and strong and ready to play so I just have to wait for my chance

He told kick-0ff.com: “We’re doing quite well right now, so it is unlikely things will change right now – all I can do is keep working and make sure I’m ready.

“I think I’ve finally settled in now but it has been a tough year for me. I’m getting used to the pace of the game and feeling more confident now.”

Reading’s lack of enthusiasm saw Khumalo – once considered a certainty as former Supersports United team-mate Morgan Gould’s defensive partner – replaced by Siyabonga Sangweni in Pitso Mosimane’s Bafana line-up

But after missing the embarrasing 0-0 draw against Sierra Leone – and the misguided post-match dance when Bafana’s players thought they had qualified for the 2012 CAF Nations Cup – Khumalo confesses: “It’s one of the things but the rule is there so we just have to move on now.”

Meanwhile Davide Somma, the Bafana striker who suffered a ligament injury at Leeds United last July, may be available at a reasonable fee to one of South Africa’s major clubs.

Somma, born in Edenvale near Johannesburg, grew up in the United States before moving to Italy where he made inroads as a professional striker. But after impressing with Leeds last season – and making his hastily arranged South Africa debut against the USA – he may now be considered a saleable asset at Elland Road.

With Orlando Pirates suffering numerous injury problems to their big-name striker Benni McCarthy and Kaizer Chiefs struggling for form, a move for Somma is seen as “probable” in the current climate. — Neal Collins, SportsCentral

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From Russia, for love

Natasha Ziereis has a face that many residents on the west side of town recognize. She’s hard working, friendly yet quiet, and she likes working the evening shift because it’s busy.

Natasha is a checker at Van’s Thriftway and she may be well known because of her thick Russian accent.

“A lot of customers have grown to love her,” says Sara Dunlap, the night front-end supervisor. “She’s a favorite of many.”

Phil Bird has been shopping at the locally owned grocery store for 42 years, and for the past five years — since Natasha began working there — has developed a fondness for her. He always picks her line to go through, and earlier this week he brought her a small box of Russell Stover assorted chocolates.

“She takes really good care of me,” he said while standing up from his wheelchair to write a check for his groceries.

Bird says he doesn’t hear or see well and admits that doesn’t help him when it comes to understanding the Russian native. But some say a fondness between two people reaches beyond language barriers.

A few years ago Bird moved to the east side of town, but that didn’t change his shopping habits. He says he looks forward to picking up groceries and saying hello to Natasha while she’s at work.

Van’s customer Moreen Swingley enjoys visiting with Natasha in the line too.

“I love that she’s always very friendly and asks about my girls,” Swingley said. “I appreciate that personal service — that hometown shopping is still in Helena.”

Box boy Dillon Kroll has worked with Natasha for four years and describes her as hard working, kind and straightforward.

“She gets the job done right and that’s what counts,” he said.

Natasha spent most of her life in Russia and misses the ethnic food from her home country.

After earning a degree in food technology, she moved to Sevastopol, Ukraine, located on the Black Sea on the Crimean Peninsula. It’s a large city with a population of more than 300,000 and the home of the Ukrainian Naval Base.

Natasha says she wanted to experience a new city and live by the sea.

“It’s a beautiful city i love,” she said.

Dmitry, her now 19-year-old son who is attending Carroll College, was born two years after she was married to her first husband who died in a construction accident before Dmitry’s second birthday.

Natasha was lonely and longed to have a father for her son, so with the help of an agency she went on a search for a husband. That’s how she met Rick Ziereis, her husband now of 10 years.

The women in Russia and Ukraine far exceed the number of men, so it’s common for women to pursue a partner with an agency’s help.

“I didn’t really expect to find somebody, but I hoped,” she said.

The couple wrote letters and spoke on the phone for a year before Rick made a trip for a visit.

She says her husband is nice looking, a hard worker and she enjoys his sense of humor. They’ve built a nice, happy home together here, she said.

Natasha enjoys her life in Montana. She says people here are very friendly and the landscape is beautiful. She says the snow is nice but she would prefer just a few days of it.

“It’s pretty, but it gets kind of long,” she said.

The climate in Sevastopol is very different than that of the Queen City; it has a mild, warm and humid climate.

Natasha likes to spend time reading.

“In Ukraine people read everywhere they go,” she said. “I try to always have a book with me.”

She love to travel, bake cakes for holidays and special dates, and enjoys taking long walks when the weather is nice.

Natasha also enjoys gardening, but has little time for that now. She travels home every other year and has a trip planned for this coming summer.

“I really love the sea,” she said. “I enjoy swimming and the sunshine.”

The humble foreigner describes her life as “simple.”

“I’m just a regular person,” she said.

Many who know her, however, would disagree.

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From Russia with love…Spurs star says life in London is better

A Tottenham star and former Russian MP has paid a glowing tribute to London, suggesting that his native country could learn a lot from the capital.

Roman Pavlyuchenko bluntly told his compatriots that they should emulate Londoners who have found the secret to “the right way to live.”

The compliment will delight mayor Boris Johnson, but will receive a cooler reception from Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin, in whose party he used to serve.

The 29-year-old striker, who lives in the capital with his wife Larisa, also 29, and daughter, Kristina, five, told a Moscow based newspaper: “It would be silly of me to hide that I find life in London much better.”

“People here live the right way unlike us, back in Russia.”

Asked to explain the difference, he said: “Here you feel calm about your family and children. You do not have to worry about them. There is no fear that something may happen to them. In Russia, people are murdered every day, or there is an explosion, or drunk drivers hit pedestrians, or planes crash and it turns out it was because a pilot was also drinking.”

“I understand that I paint too black a picture, but that is our reality.”

Pavlyuchenko admitted that his time spent in London had also changed his character. He said: “We Russians are too aggressive. But after you look at English people, after living among them for some time, you become as polite as they are. They can teach us a lot in this sense.”

He has previously praised London’s parks where families can walk safely, and its kindergartens.

Pavlyuchenko suggested that he may be forced to move back to his motherland or elsewhere in Britain or Europe in order to be considered for Russia’s Euro 2012 camapaign. But he said that he was proud of his career in the UK. “I think any footballer would want to play in the English Premier League and have a chance to face Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal,” he said.

“I have learned much here and achieved quite a lot too whatever they write or say about me.”

Pavlyuchenko’s comments will be all the more controversial at home, considering he became a local MP in 2008 in his native city, Stavropol, for Mr Putin’s party, United Russia, shortly after joining Spurs.

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Lopez learns biggest lesson in relationship

The American Idol judge, who split from husband Marc Anthony in July, said that being able to love yourself is the key to a successful relationship.

She told Glamour magazine: “I think I’ve finally learnt the biggest lesson of all. You’ve got to love yourself first. You’ve got to be okay on your own before you can be okay with somebody else.

“You’ve got to value yourself and know that you’re worth everything. And until you value yourself enough and love yourself enough to know that, you can’t really have a healthy relationship.”

Lopez added that becoming involved with someone outside the public eye would the romance the best chance of success.

She said: “I think to give something a chance, to really get to know somebody, you want to do it out of the public eye.

“You know the media – they want to rush everything.”

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