Marat Kashin and Mikhail Gurevich talk about the main topics of the week. Well, this has happened historically. They tried to sell it relatively recently

Once Ichiro invited us to visit his city on the occasion of a big fireworks display there. Such fireworks displays are held in Japan every year and attract huge crowds. In the fall, a parade of fireworks marches across the country from city to city, and some fans follow it, managing to attend a dozen such events. The largest fireworks displays last more than two hours. For this reason, traffic is blocked, and stalls with traditional food and nonsense souvenirs are set up along the roads, which go in great demand during such festivals. People have been taking places since the very morning - laying out bedding, setting up tables and chairs, bringing boxes of beer and food. By evening, within a radius of several kilometers from the fireworks venue, there’s not only room to settle down, there’s nowhere to set foot. A crowd of thousands sits and lies on the ground, huddled closely together.

We were invited to one of these events.

Along with us, Ichiro invited our friend, an American of French origin, whom Ichiro met at our home and immediately added to his friends. Ichiro categorically refused to explain the way to his house, citing the fact that we wouldn’t find it anyway (I wonder what he meant?), He said that he would take us in his car.

Indeed, at the agreed time, our Japanese friend came to pick us up, and about an hour later we arrived at a Japanese five-story building, something like our “Khrushchev” building. We got out of the car, but were not invited into the house: Ichiro asked us to wait outside while he went to his house and picked up “something”. This “something” turned out to be a shaggy dog ​​of an unknown breed, however, quite cute. The dog wagged its tail in a friendly manner, we began to get to know each other, and Ichiro gave us the leash so that we could enjoy communicating with “our little brother” to the fullest.

After this, our company, accompanied by the dog, went to the store around the corner, where our hospitable host bought three cans of beer, and we were ready to go to the site of the spectacle.

I love dogs very much, but here I expressed doubts about the advisability of such an accompaniment: after all, there are too many people, or they will scare her, or she might scare someone. Ichiro said that everything was fine and went ahead, so all that was left was to follow him with the dog on a leash.

The location of the fireworks display was a slope running along the river bank. When we arrived, this slope already resembled the beach shore of Yalta at the height of the swimming season. Naturally, the dog immediately became stunned, because it did not know where to step. At first she rushed between the bodies, but then she realized that she wouldn’t succeed anyway, and began to move straight over the bags and bellies of the Japanese lying waiting for the fireworks. I can’t say that they were delighted, but Ichiro boldly walked forward towards some goal known to him, we could barely keep up with him, and the poor dog was soon completely exhausted from such an obstacle course.

But then the first salvo rang out, our dog sat down in surprise and immediately made a pile. The Japanese man sitting next to him grabbed his bag with a roar and seemed to reach inside for a samurai sword. He was determined to hack to death on the spot the idiot foreigners who came to such a place with a dog. While he was looking for his sword, we, in horror, began to call Ichiro for help, who by this time had already managed to run quite far. Fireworks are thundering in the sky, we are yelling, the dog also began to yelp, the Japanese man is rising menacingly from the ground, the people around were clearly not on our side, and I closed my eyes, praying for the salvation of my soul. Then Ichiro, thank God, turned around.

I didn’t understand what Ichiro was saying, but it was as if he was blaming everything on us, but he asked us to give him bail, because the...the Japanese man, gradually calming down, still cast hateful glances at us and said something unflattering about us. Finally, the Japanese grabbed his wife, who also jumped up from the ground indignantly, and her two offspring, who were waiting with interest to see how their samurai dad would kill the stupid and arrogant “gaijin,” and the whole family left the desecrated place.

I'm wondering if this whole thing with the dog was an elaborate performance?

Ichiro took out cans of beer from the bag, gave them to us to hold, collected his dog’s disgrace with the bag and invited everyone to sit in the vacant seat...

Your guide in Japan,
Irina

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The Time Machine group on May 31, 2014 gives a big anniversary concert in honor of his own 45th anniversary at Luzhniki. In anticipation of this event, the correspondent InterMedia went to the studio with Alexander Kutikov to discuss the band’s birthday and other musical topics.

- What are you recording now?

One of mine old thing- “Let me dream” - we re-recorded it at the request of the radio operators. It was recorded in 1988; They really want to have it on air, but the recording is old and needs to be updated. In addition, we are recording two songs for a new solo album.

- When do you plan to release it?

I think I'll do it by the end of the year anyway. But, as always in my practice, the delay occurs due to texts. The work on the texts is very painstaking and therefore takes a long time. I would like them to be quite simple and understandable, but not primitive or banal.

-Who are you puzzling with this this time?

Several songs were made together with Volodya Tkachenko from Underwood. Two more things that will be recorded in the near future were done with a different author. There is such a group “Chronop” from Nizhny Novgorod...

- Vadim Demidov?

Yes. I think we ended up with two very nice songs, which came as a surprise to both me and him. He usually doesn’t write for others, on rare occasions he works as a guest co-author, but here somehow everything came together. Apparently, we somehow liked each other as people.

- Maidanov doesn’t write to you now? He is now a star himself.

Well, Denis and I tried it once, and we came up with one good song. It somehow didn’t go further - due to his busyness, my lack of freedom... Joint creativity is a very difficult process. When people are busy with their own thoughts, their projects, their concerts, it is quite difficult to find any “resonances”. Our relationship is excellent, but in a creative sense we do not continue cooperation.

- “Time Machine” will celebrate its 45th anniversary with a free concert at Luzhniki on May 31. Who suggested this format?

We promised our fans: if we celebrate our 45th anniversary, we will make the concert free. And, despite all the organizational and financial difficulties, we keep our promise.

- Will the program have an anniversary theme?

If we have enough physical strength, we want to play 45 songs.

- About four hours?

No, it's okay three hours. We hope that we have enough strength. Everything will be accomplished by the forces of the Time Machine. According to our current sense of self, we need guests at the holiday only as friends, spectators and participants in the feast after the concert.

- Are you sure you have enough strength for the feast?

Well, he always has enough strength (laughs). There are no questions here.

- Will you rehearse a lot, or can you play everything from sight, from experience?

The best improvisation is one that is thought out and rehearsed in advance.

Major companies are now accused of the fact that in the 80s and 90s, when there was no Internet and music was really sold, they promoted not the most talented people and profited from it unfairly.

I don't agree with this. If we take the entire period of existence of large record labels - and this began in pre-war times - then the number of stars found by these labels is simply colossal. Real stars. And the Internet is for last years gave only a few names, you can count them on two hands. In general, you need to approach business seriously. The music and publishing business is not some kind of joke, you need to learn it, you also need to have talent for it. Unfortunately, today attempts to regulate the relationship between the Internet and authors are moving very slowly. The Internet in its music segment reminds me of a republic called Anarchy: I do what I want. I write whoever I want. I rewrite it to whomever I want. The music business is dying because there is not enough money to live, people are starting to look for other jobs. Not to write songs, but to work in some area that brings in money. Previously, authors, despite all the costs of the system, received very substantial deductions, which allowed them to feel comfortable in life and have decent working conditions.

- Despite the above, “The Time Machine” is in iTunes. Do you think this is a viable model?

This is one of the attempts to somehow bring the Internet space into a more civilized form. iTunes Well done, we are cooperating with them, because this is the most promising system that gives some dividends.

- If you look at the charts iTunes, every week they change quite radically. Does this mean that the sample is unrepresentative?

If you look not at the Russian segment, but at the American, English or Australian, then the charts iTunes will coincide with the charts Billboard or at least they will be very similar. In our opinion iTunes there is no point in drawing conclusions.

- On May 9, everyone downloaded the song “Victory Day” from there, and already on the 10th they started listening to Conchita Wurst.

Someday, at the end XIX or the beginning of the twentieth century, circus shows were popular. Ordinary people, as a rule, went there to see clowns, acrobats, wrestlers, bearded women, Siamese twins, an elephant man and other wonders. For me, “Eurovision” is a semblance of a circus booth of those times, at the same time filled with modern technologies. For Americans, Eurovision is just a stone's throw away.

- And in Russia they take it very seriously - deputies are discussing it, the Russian Orthodox Church is expressing concern...

People probably have nothing else to do. If the topic of a bearded woman is so relevant for deputies that it needs to be discussed for so long, then I get the feeling that they simply have a lot of free time.

Do you meet interesting young musicians who have prospects, despite all the above-described difficulties with Internet anarchy?

The gap between our and Western musicians today is simply colossal, and is growing all the time.

- Well, this happened historically.

In the 70s it was smaller. This can be judged from the material that was then recorded here and there. There was no gap. When we first came to America in 1988, we were told that if we had arrived in 1972, we would definitely have had success and our own audience. This was said by big serious American producers. But in 1988 it was already too late - our potential age audience was occupied. Now the gap is huge, and I also notice that the lack of education is beginning to take its toll. Over the last 15-20 years, the quality of education has been constantly regressing, people do not know the Russian language, they do not know Russian poetry even at school level. They consider the rhyme “stick - herring” to be normal. Illiterate song lyrics, no thought. Poems, in their opinion, are the rhyming of words, when in fact they are the rhyming of thoughts. Poetry is the highest manifestation of philosophy.

- Maybe the musicians are simply adapting to the low needs of the public?

No, they play as best they can, and write music and lyrics the same way.

- When “Time Machine” went to record Abbey Road, was this a symbolic gesture? Or did this also make sense from the point of view of recording quality?

It was the realization of a dream that seemed impossible to us in childhood and adolescence, that’s all. Plus, we had a fantastic experience working with producers, musicians, and engineers. No studio in the world can be compared with Abbey Road. That's why she's legendary. They maintain such a level of professionalism and culture that the legend lives on.

- They tried to sell it relatively recently.

They tried to sell it as an asset that generates income. A good asset that could have been sold at a high price. The musicians were indignant, McCartney said that he would buy it himself, if anything happened. After all, they wanted to sell it to the Japanese and make a museum there. Never mind turning a unique studio into a museum! There's also a fantastic recording room there. symphonic music, incredible in sound and acoustics. It would have been stupid to refuse such a studio and, fortunately, it didn’t come to that.

Alexey Mazhaev, InterMedia

Imagine that you are taking part in a training, during which you ask the coach: “John, please tell me...” John answers very clearly, with humor, and gives interesting examples. The audience applauds wildly. You think: “Wow! Yes, John is simply a master of improvisation. I’ll never be able to respond so well without preparation.”

You probably don’t even think about the fact that John is conducting his seminar for the hundredth time and has answered this question more than once. He came up with different answers, analyzed the audience's reactions and ultimately chose the one that resonated the most with the audience.

Imagine that one day, when you turn on the TV, you see a politician answering questions from the host on some TV show. He speaks confidently and eloquently. What conclusion will you come to when looking at it? “Perhaps this person really understands what he is talking about. He has an innate ability to perform without preparation. I wish I could speak just like him.” It probably doesn’t occur to you that the interview plan was sent to the politician in advance and he not only carefully prepared the answers, but also crossed out some questions.

Now imagine that you and your family are going to an improv show on Sunday night. At the beginning of the performance, one of the actors asks the audience to name any word that will later be used during the performance. The audience suggests words, and the actors then include them in the lyrics and come up with funny poems with them. After laughing all evening, you come to the conclusion: “Of course, talented guys. It’s amazing how they manage to perform so well without any preparation.” And you don’t know that the troupe rehearsed this number many times with different words. Songs and poems are also carefully prepared. In addition, friends of the actors are sitting in the audience, and the words they say are known to them in advance.

Now that you've seen the behind-the-scenes of an improv show, does it seem any less fun? Not at all. Do the politician's answers seem less professional to you? No. Are Coach John's words any less persuasive? Of course no.

An impromptu answer is rarely better than a prepared one, no matter how naturally intelligent and eloquent you are. In preparation for speech improvisation competitions, participants think through and repeatedly rehearse fragments of statements and stories that may be useful to them in answering a variety of questions. When they go on stage, they combine improvisation with prepared and rehearsed fragments. The audience laughs, applauds and enjoys the performance. The viewer only sees final result, and only a few in the audience know how impromptu songs are actually born.

Of course, there are also completely unprepared shows, interviews and conversations, but best improvisations always rehearsed, at least in part. To become a brilliant improviser, you need to learn to neutralize the element of surprise as much as possible.

Mirror

Warm-up, attention, transfer of initiative

This exercise is done in pairs. Take a partner and stand opposite each other. The distance between you should be about a meter. One of you is the Leader, and the second is his Reflection. The presenter shows any movements, and Reflection copies it. Try to act in sync. The presenter can offer everyday or abstract movements. There is no need to rush - make sure that the Reflection has time to tune in to the general wave!

The next step is a spontaneous change of the Leader. At any moment, any of the partners can seize the initiative and begin to lead. The second partner must adapt!

Mirror with lag

Warm up, attention

The principle is the same - one of the partners is the Leader, the second is the Reflection. Only Reflection repeats the movements with a lag of one! This exercise is great for developing attention.

Mirror and associations

Warm up, attention

We take the “Mirror” exercise option and add an Association game to it!

We divide our attention - body and imagination.

One of you shows the movements, the second one copies it and at the same time you play simple associations.

Associations are necessarily nouns that are associated with each other (table - chair - furniture - store - seller - glasses - look, etc.)

Sculptures

Warming up, spontaneity, feeling a partner

This exercise is best done in groups of 3 people.

Distribute the order - first, second and third!

The first participant takes any body position, the second adjusts to it so that it becomes a sculpture, and then the third joins them. After this, the first one dies again and attaches itself to the sculpture that remains) And further in a circle!

The main thing in this exercise is the speed of thinking and reaction. When you are dying and you need to find a place and position for yourself, then do not think - act quickly, without pause. Be spontaneous and creative!

Variation 1: set a certain image that the sculptures will personify. For example: summer, clouds, underwater world, flower shop etc.

In this case, you don’t need to figure out what exactly other partners mean, just start from the given image and real sculptures!

Variation 2: Voice each sculpture with sound or word. If you use words, this exercise turns into an "Association" game with movement!

This exercise develops associative thinking, imagination and expands your repertoire of movements.

Director - actor

Warming up, acting, emancipation

The exercise is done in pairs. One of you is a director, the other is an actor. Then everything is simple: the director gives the actor various tasks, and the actor completes them!

Tasks can be divided into three types:

• simple steps
• acting games
• creative thinking

Simple actions are tasks like: sit on a chair, go to the door, look out the window, etc. They should be as simple as possible and only use real objects.

Acting games are tasks that begin with the word Show me!

Show me tiger, chair, manual sunset, inspiration, liberation, etc. The director can come up with any images, feelings, concepts that the actor shows. The main thing here is improvisation, courage and acting.

If you are an actor, then feel free to let go of your imagination and jump into the game!

Creative thinking. The director gives simple tasks: bring a chair, sit on the sofa, pour a glass of water, etc. Only in this version the actor must not perform this task directly, but modify it.

For example, if you need to bring a chair, the actor will first carefully check it for stability, and only then bring it)

If you need to pour a glass of water, then the actor can put this glass on his head and fill it with water in this position! The main thing is that these actions are internally justified. For example, an actor is rehearsing a number with a glass of water, or he made a bet with a friend.

History by word

This is both an exercise and a very fun improv game!

You and your partner need to create a bright, interesting and coherent story.

Only in this story you speak one word at a time.

For example:

But yesterday

B: Maria

A: came out

B: from the hut.

And she

B: I saw

A: big

B: beautiful

A: bear! etc.

The main thing here is to listen to your partner and accept everything he gives.

We need to collaborate and write together. Don't pull the blanket over yourself!

Feel free to take the initiative - assign locations, characters, events.

Keep the plot coherent. It's better if you have one main character, with which different events occur.

One of good reception here is a game with adjectives: “Big, beautiful, white, in love.. bear!”

You describe something that doesn’t exist yet, and it’s always interesting what will come out of it.

Good luck and practice!

Alphabet

(game form, attention, partnership)

This is a great game for developing your speed of thinking and sense of the whole.

Start a dialogue with your partner on any topic. Only each subsequent replica must begin with the next letter of the alphabet.

For example:

A: A August ends..

B: B autumn is coming!

A: IN it's time to get Alyonki)

B: G awesome skis too!

A: D Let's get some skates - I've always dreamed of learning to skate on them!

B: E Skiing is more fun! Etc...

As you understand, there should be no pauses between remarks! The dialogue happens quickly and dynamically. Name any word that comes to mind with the desired letter and weave it into the text of the conversation.

Find a logical ending to your dialogue!

Variation 1: Take one letter and start all your lines with it! Try not to repeat yourself, change the starting words.

In this version, you also need to maintain dynamics and find the ending of the dialogue.

For example, you and your partner chose the letters “N” and “R”:

A: N I need to paint the fence!

B: R I don't want to get dirty)

A: N put on your gloves!

B: R rubber?

Variation 2: Repeat each letter of the alphabet twice. In this option, you will have a longer and more detailed dialogue!

For example:

A: A Your acting skills are top notch!

B: A Our director doesn't think so...

A: B Oris Borisovich rarely praises anyone, don’t worry!

B: B Apparently he doesn’t know how important this is for an actor!

A: IN inspiration and play are more important than praise!

B: IN you inspired me, thank you) Etc.

In June 1999 talk show host Jerry Springer appeared before representatives of the police and department fire safety Chicago. City Council members were concerned that The Jerry Springer Show, which had been on the air for eight years, was encouraging violent conflicts among its cast and even inciting fights.

Martha Irwin, one of the correspondents covering the conversation, wrote: “Everything was there: applause from supporters, whistles from opponents and 20 television cameras aimed at the speakers.” Simply put, the plot had the lion's share of the NEP. What reporter would miss a show like this?

A consummate media manipulator, Springer prepared for the conversation. When asked why talk show producers would invite someone who may have broken the law into the country, Springer did not answer directly. Irwin gleefully reported that "he leaned forward and said, 'I've never been a member of the Communist Party.'" Springer's fans gave him a standing ovation. One brief, powerful remark (NEP principles) and Springer portrayed himself as an innocent lynching victim in the McCarthy tradition. Preparation is a powerful weapon.

Almost anyone can tame the Beast and gain the desired fame. This requires preparation. Remember the 1999 Women's World Cup Final? The USA played against China. At the end of normal time the score was not opened, and the matter was decided by a penalty. Brandi Chastain scored the winning goal and tore off her T-shirt in joy. Her face, distorted with happiness, and her sports bra appeared on the covers of all newspapers and magazines, as well as on TV channels around the world. Chastain claims that her gesture is the result of a moment of insanity. I'm not sure about that.

It's more likely that Chastain planned to rip off her T-shirt when the right occasion presented itself. Luckily for her, best case impossible to imagine. The speed with which the soccer player tore off her clothes, and the fact that underneath it revealed a black bra (easier to see among the white T-shirts), proves that she had been planning this trick for a long time. By the way, when Chastain showed off her lingerie, sales of sports bras jumped.

Everything is clear with bras, but how to draw attention to technologies, for example, to the protection of computer information? Gather some daring hackers and offer $50,000 to anyone who can hack into a system and gain access to data. This is exactly what Argus System’s Group, the manufacturer of the Pit bull security program, did in January 2001. Argus challenged hackers during the Orep Nasc III open computer hacking competition sponsored by Week magazine.

The risk was not as great as the headline promised: “Pit bull tests hackers.” Argus knew that the best hackers would refuse to participate in the competition because they would have to reveal the secrets of their skills to receive a prize. Did the Beast know he was dealing with a fake? Of course, but the temptation to tell such a story was too great.

I don’t think Jerry Springer, Brandi Chastain and the producers of Pit Bull prepared for their media appearances by saying, “Let’s look for something extraordinary, emotional and simple that will give us fame.” They acted intuitively and felt what would work and what would not. Intuition drives most marketing and PR professionals. Possessing a huge practical experience, some of them acquire the ability to cook his favorite dishes for the Beast. However, the majority make mistakes more often than they hit the mark. For those who do not know the principles of the Beast, its behavior is a great mystery.

Anyone who wants to get the most out of communicating with the media and publicity must follow the principle of preparation. Anyone who would avoid the dire consequences of the Beast's displeasure must follow the same principle. (ABOUT possible consequences I'll tell you later when we get to the risks.)

The principles of mass media operation remain unchanged. Knowingly or unknowingly, they are used by everyone who achieves fame. As a reporter and media strategist, I long years followed the principles of the media without knowing it. Accordingly, I did not use them to their full potential. I made mistakes that could have easily been avoided and missed golden opportunities. The most developed intuition will not replace you with a clear system in working with the media.