Got up to watch the parade

RT carried live coverage of the Victory Day parade in Red Square. I was surprised by how little the presenters seemed to know about what they were seeing. "Are those tanks?" "No, those are APC's." "Are those ICBM's?" "No, they're anti-aircraft missiles". When the real tanks showed up, the band played "Three Tankists" and "March of the Soviet Tankmen"; when the self-propelled guns appeared, the music was "March of the Stalin Artillery"; but no one on the broadcast team recognized the tunes. The tunes always pertain to the branch of the service represented by each passing unit. The very last piece of music, as the band marches away, is always "Slavyanka's Farewell"; they did recognize that, but failed to understand its significance. "Is this the end of the parade?" Sheesh, people!

They didn't play "March of the Rocketeers" when the ICBM's rolled past, as they did a couple of years ago, but a tune I didn't recognize.

Oh, and they kept saying things like "is this current technology? They wouldn't be parading their latest and greatest tech through Red Square for the whole world to see." But that's exactly what they do.

I found it interesting that despite the fall of Communism, the Minister of Defence still greets the troops with "Hello, Comrades!", and they reply in unison, "Hello, Comrade Minister of Defence!"

It is the 69th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, which the Russians celebrate on May 9 instead of May 8. The dude doing the Shostakovich Orgy® on WHRB ought to have remembered that, but he didn't; according to the Program Guide he's playing all stuff from the 1930's. "Orgy® is a registered trade mark of the Harvard Radio Broadcasting Company, Incorporated."

I'm going back to sleep.

С Днём Победы, товарищи!