February 06, 2004
Maski-show
Where does that word combination come from... I guess it appeared somewhere in the beginning of the 90 when we had a TV show that was called like that. Clowns were running around there talking these silly sounds... At the same time as you all might know our government was having some problems and more and more often Muscovites could see the riot squad on the streets and in the buildings for this or that reason. Finally when we became used to it, an event which involved the squad got to be called a “Maski-show”.
Thursday night, ladies night... Boarhouse... DJ Stanely up there spinning his CD’s and singing the songs instead of the singers... Me — drinking away my life in 4th... maybe 5th IQ bottle, talking with Timochka who told me that JBJ was here in 1989... I always thought he was here before that...anyways... new group getting wasted (second night at Boarhose — we all remember how it was.. well, maybe not). Some dude falling asleep next to me, drinking Iverson’s beer (that’s where it was!), Masha being nice and friendly as usual, asking me how I was doing every now and then... Well, you know — the usual thing. 11 o’clock — time to go home if I don’t wanna get smacked on the head by the time that I get there.
7 is my lucky number. For some reason the last couple of days I always got coat numbers with a 7. This time it was 77... boy, am I lucky... Got my coat, all packed for the -15C outside... Masha and I get on the front porch and... wow.
I just stood there amazed by the beauty of the scene. Something you can see only in those big budget cool movies. I’d compare it with Braveheart — the battle scene, Masha compares it with Lord of the Rings 3 (which I never saw). Anyways, about 20 people were standing on the porch — all tall guys so I had to hop a little to see what was going on, I thought the fight had already started, but what we saw was something I never expected seeing... They appeared from the corner of the building like a “lake of ants” as I call it. About 40 people, well at least that’s what I saw, till Masha grabbed me and pulled me in the Boarhouse. The bouncers slammed the door shut behind us and we heard bodies slamming against the door... The music was out and in a couple of minutes the Maski-show began.
They didn’t let anyone out for a little, then they started checking documents and letting people out. The main question was “Are you Russian? Where did you come from?” Outside there was much less people than we saw. Most of them were standing facing the wall and some were beat up. I don’t think anybody from the group had any problems. Correct me if I’m wrong.
In the morning the first thing I heard when I woke up was that there was another explosion in the metro... Not far from the place we drank last night. They were expecting it... But they didn’t warn anybody...