Here is the translation with the style preserved and HTML markup intact:
(ENG) Today, I introduce Marc Dailly. Creativity is often defined as the ability to recognize patterns and break them—to disrupt the usual order and create something new. Take the rules of composition and do the opposite. Need contrast? Render everything subdued. But. It requires sheer talent to make all this truly turn out great. And Marc Dailly succeeds.
Posts like these are grouped under the tag #artrauflikes, and on beinginamerica.com, under the “Art Rauf Likes” section, all 141 can be found (unlike Facebook, which forgets (overlooks) about almost half).
(ENG) Today, I’m introducing Marc Dailly. Creativity is often defined as the ability to recognize patterns and break them—to disrupt the usual order and create something new. Take the laws of composition and do the opposite. Need contrast? Make everything muted. But. It takes extraordinary talent to make all of this work brilliantly. And Marc Dailly pulls it off.
Posts like this are grouped under the hashtag #artrauflikes, and you can find all 141 of them on beinginamerica.com in the “Art Rauf Likes section—unlike Facebook, which tends to forget (or ignore) nearly half of them.
Here’s the text translated to English with the style and HTML markup preserved:
What I appreciate about the USA is the consistency of standards, especially those non-vexing ones.
For instance, right now, I’m stuffing a duvet cover. In Russia, I had to shove a 200×210 cm duvet into a 210×200 cm or a 200×210 cm cover—well, you get the idea. In the States, it’s a square 90-inch duvet and a square 90-inch duvet cover. Although, duvet covers aren’t really a thing here.
Electrical outlets and light switches seem to be universally the same. I’ve never seen different ones. Pure standard. When you plug something in, it doesn’t block the area for the adjacent plug. Most dishwashers are 24 inches wide, refrigerators are 36 inches.
If there’s a left turn on the road—in our parts, it’s always a separate lane. I can’t recall an intersection where cars behind wait to go straight when you turn left.
Front doors are 36 inches, interior doors are 32 inches. In general, when you need to measure something, it’s very pleasant that almost all dimensions fit within a grid of 1-2-4-6-12-16-18-20-32-36-48 inches. That is, there’s almost nothing like 17.5″ x 13.5″.
All east-west highways have a two-digit code ending with a zero, north-south ones end with a five. The smaller the number, the closer to the east or south respectively. For example, highway 15 is north-south, west coast, while 95 is north-south east, and 90 is east-west northern part, and 10 – east-west southern part.
Secondary highways have three digits, where the last two digits are from which you exit. For example, 285 – you exit from 85. And if the first digit is even, it means the secondary highway will eventually lead back to the primary one with that number.
ZIP codes also follow a standard system. The first digit represents a major region of the USA, and the digits roughly proceed from the east coast to the west. The second and third are for navigation within the region, and the last one – for city area navigation (delivery zone).
House numbers are even on the right, and numbers increase as you move away from the center. Often, a hundred numbers are allocated per city block, so the hundreds often signify blocks.
Bottles and cans often come in very understandable volumes – 12, 16, 22, 32 ounces, half-gallon, gallon. Yes, it’s unusual, but at least there isn’t a package of 900 grams of milk next to a 1-liter package. Yes, I intentionally put grams and liters side by side.
I have long noticed an interesting feature. You practice a piece on the piano and when progress seems to stall, you quit, but the next day when you sit down at the keyboard, suddenly, the difference from yesterday is like night and day, even though all you did was sleep.
I found a study (Journal of Neuroscience) suggesting that the proximity of sleep to practice plays a significant role. The researchers hypothesized that motor memories – the brain’s way of preserving skills and actions – not only consolidate over time, but can significantly improve if sleep follows soon after practice.
This hypothesis was tested through a series of experiments involving 290 right-handed individuals. Participants had to move a cursor on a computer screen to hit targets using a joystick. The complexity arose because sometimes the movement of the cursor was altered by optical rotation, which forced participants to adjust their hand movements to accurately hit the target. Different groups of subjects underwent this at different times, and those who did it before sleep showed the best progress.
It turns out that engaging in activities involving a significant portion of motor memories—like playing the piano or participating in complex-coordinated sports—right before sleep is beneficial. You could either adjust your sleep or the timing of these activities.
Who won the Second World War? Interestingly, notice that nobody paid attention to Trump’s words about the Second World War in his recent tweet-ultimatum. He writes “Russia helped us win the Second World War” — “Russia helped the USA to win the Second World War.” Everyone focused on the incorrect casualty figure of 60 million, but not on this.
I found an interesting study from 2017. It’s a study on how people (survey, 1338 participants) from 11 countries remember the war, including 8 Allied nations and 3 Axis countries.
It showed significant differences in how the former Soviet Union and 10 other countries recall the war.
The events highlighted by representatives of the Soviet Union almost completely differed from those mentioned in other countries. Moreover, Russians declared a greater responsibility for victory in the war (75% of military efforts) than representatives of any other nation (although the USA and UK also rated their contributions at over 50%).
However, when people from each country evaluated the contributions of other nations to the war, they attributed a greater contribution to the USA than to the former Soviet Union.
Another interesting finding is that when asked why the USA dropped atomic bombs on Japan, most residents of the ten countries said it was to win the war, except for the Russians.
Additionally, the older the respondents in 7 of these countries, the more often they agreed with the statement that the USA dropped the bombs to end the war.
Russia (USSR) in the survey results demonstrates a unique narrative, focused on the Eastern Front, unlike Western countries.
Most countries (including former Axis countries) focus on events related to the USA and UK, such as Pearl Harbor, the Normandy landings, the atomic bombings of Japan, and the Holocaust.
The USSR holds a central place in the Russian narrative (75% contribution to victory). The USA and UK also inflate their estimates, stating that their contribution exceeds 50%, focusing on the Western Front and the Pacific campaign. The total contribution assessments of the eight Allied nations amount to 309%, which demonstrates the effect of “national narcissism.” Most countries prioritize the USA (27%), while the USSR is at 20%.
Four events achieved “key” status (mentioned by more than 50% of respondents): the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the Atomic bombings of Japan, the Normandy landings, the Holocaust. The Russian narrative concentrates on events that are called the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945) in Soviet and contemporary Russian historiography. Russians highlighted unique events: the battles of Stalingrad, Kursk, Moscow, Berlin, and the Leningrad blockade. Thus, despite the fact that the USA and Russia fought together as allies, studies show that there is virtually no overlap in the events remembered as most significant. Members of each group primarily remembered those events that were associated with their own country. However, this is not surprising.
About the atomic bombings, most respondents believe that the bombing aim was to end the war. Russians view this event as an act of intimidation against the USSR. Opinions within countries vary by age: older generations more often support the official version of ending the war.
In France, in 1945, 57% of the population considered the USSR the main victor. By 2004, this figure had dropped to 20%, while the share of the USA increased to 58%.
The reasons are clear: history textbooks and popular culture reinforce national emphasis. In the USA and UK, films and books that praise their role in the war predominate. The USSR and the USA fought on different fronts and represent different ideological systems, which defined narratives. And of course, all countries exaggerate their role in historical events.
Alright, cooking up a soup. Business as usual. Because the first thing they do in our diet-conscious family is scarf down the lamb chunks and broth from the soup. And when you dig into the fridge, at the bottom of the pot, there’s potato and beans winking at me. Now, just need to fry up some sausages, and dinner’s set.
Trump got JFK, RFK, and MLK’s assassinations declassified. Imagine they’ll dig up the archives and it turns out UFOs are to blame.
Well, I wouldn’t be surprised, really. Kennedy did send people to the Moon. Well, here’s the payback. Musk has been in touch with Martians for a while, it’s probably all set up there. But the ark isn’t ready yet.
An intriguing artist, Yao Zhi (姚治), also known under the pseudonym Huihuabiji, has captured my attention. It seems this alias is a sort of nickname. I had to do a bit of investigative work since the internet is full of misinformation. In Facebook groups, these works are often credited to Yao Yi Zhi, a partially Belgian artist, who is a real person but not the same individual, leading to confusion about their biography.
On the gallery website of this other Yao Yi Zhi, it’s clear that their style is entirely different—none of the charcoal sketches are present there. Additionally, Yao Zhi’s Instagram lacks the works shown on that gallery site, making it evident that this is a mix-up. Such things often happen with Chinese names.
Occasionally, the name Huihua Biji pops up, but that appears to be a creative misinterpretation by an audience unfamiliar with the nuances of Chinese naming conventions.
Yao Zhi primarily works with the dry charcoal technique (using charcoal pencils). On YouTube, searching for Huihuabiji or 姚治 reveals videos showing the creation process of some of these artworks. While they’re essentially sketches, they exude a unique atmosphere and are fascinating in their own right.
Thanks to Lana Denis for the lead.
Similar posts can be found under the hashtag #artrauflikes, and the Being in America website features all 140 works in the “Art Rauf Likes section—unlike Facebook, which tends to overlook nearly half of them.
2. “We’re changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the American Gulf, effective immediately”.
3. “We will build the strongest military the world has ever seen”.
4. “Our troops will be free to focus on their sole mission—defeating America’s enemies.”
5. “Effective today, the official policy of the United States states: there are only two genders – MALE and FEMALE”.
6. “We will end all governmental censorship and bring back FREEDOM of speech to America”.
7. On oil: “We will lower prices and fill up all our national reserves. National energy emergency: drill, drill, drill!”
8. “I will end the catch and release practice.”
9. “I hereby declare a state of emergency on our southern border. All illegal border crossings will be immediately stopped.”
10. “I am creating an External Tax Service for taxing and tariffs on foreign nations to protect American workers and enrich American families.”
Under the practice of “catch and release” in the context of U.S. immigration policy, it refers to the procedure where detained illegal immigrants, instead of remaining in immigration detention until their case is heard in court, are released under certain conditions (for example, the obligation to appear at a court hearing in the future).
This policy was primarily used due to limitations in the capacity of immigration detention centers, a lack of space in prisons, and the length of the deportation process. However, critics, including Donald Trump, argue that it leads to abuses — some released migrants fail to appear in court and remain in the country illegally.
About Panama — this statement indicates his desire to revisit the agreement on the transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama, which was completed in 1999. Practically, this is unlikely without serious international conflicts, as the canal belongs to Panama under international law. We’ll see.
The gulf can be renamed as desired, but the question is whether it will be renamed in Mexico itself. I don’t think so. After all, there are many geographical names with different names for different countries. Just look at Germany (Allemagne, Germany, Niemcy, Tyskland, Saksa, and of course Deutschland). The Falkland Islands in the UK, in Argentina they are the Malvinas. Even Florence is called Firenze in Florence itself, while the rest of the world calls it Florence. The Baltic Sea in Germany is Ostsee (eastern sea). And so on.
I am listening to the opera Cosi fan tutte, half-watching the libretto in another window. Suddenly, I notice a whole section isn’t translated. And they completely skip it in the opera. That is, after “O ciel”, it jumps straight to “Ei parte”. I go to Google to figure out what’s going on. Seems there were many cuts, but in the entire libretto, only this aria is untranslated. Everything else is translated. I find another version of the libretto with a side-by-side translation, and there, Aria No. 24 by Ferrando “Ah, lo veggio, quell’anima bella” is missing altogether. That’s precisely why it is also missing from the parallel translation—because the translation is from the booklets of various productions, and in them, the aria is omitted.
I started digging deeper, it turns out that Aria No. 24 is feared and not included in most productions and even studio recordings because it is very difficult to perform. “Ah, lo veggio, quell’anima bella”. However, of course, if you wish, you can find a few performances from different theaters on YouTube.
UPDATE: Suddenly, ChatGPT has developed a sense of humor. It replies to me, “Although Mozart can no longer participate in the staging 😄, his music is sometimes subject to adaptation”. It even added a smiley face! And this was a reply to the third question with no Personalization message, and all the questions were serious.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 