# Russia: Land of the Tsars-who else is excited? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295 "2003-05-24T21:56:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/41 "2003-05-26T23:39:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Splanky \* > **There’s no “P” in the Chinese alphabet but we still spell it “Peking”.** We do? _I_ spell it “Beijing”, and I thought most of the rest of the English-speaking world was with me on that one. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/42 "2003-05-26T23:46:21Z")
Perhaps the reference is to the famously crispy and delicious recipe for duck. Mmm…duck… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/43 "2003-05-26T23:47:06Z")
Oh fer chrissake, will you people open a spelling thread, and let’s get back to whether or not this special is crap? ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/44 "2003-05-26T23:53:07Z")
**Eve** , you are absolutely right; I started this whole wagon train to nowhere (albeit unintentionally), and I apologize to all and sundry. Sorry for the hijack, **Guinastasia**. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/45 "2003-05-27T00:17:56Z")
It got great reviews in the New York Times yesterday or today. Said it was very artfully done. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/46 "2003-05-27T00:22:08Z")
Not the copy of the _Times_ I read! I repeat, from above: " . . . a pop-up textbook of grisly moments brought to lurid life in heavily costumed and scored reenactments." I may watch the Ken Burns docu on the U.S. Congress instead . . . ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/47 "2003-05-27T01:22:09Z")
So far, so good, it seems. The images of Moscow are breathtaking. Sorry, I’m really anal about Tsar/Czar. Oooh, they’re showing the cap of Vladimir! Ooh, and the Kremlin! I can’t wait until tomorrow, to see Nicky and Alix! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/48 "2003-05-27T01:34:45Z")
Ah, yes, “Bloody Nicholas,” as my grandfather called him. Oh, well, if it weren’t for Bloody Nicholas chasing my family out of Russia, we’d have been there for the even-_worse_ people who followed him. Oh, you’re right, the show’s much better than I’d predicted. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/49 "2003-05-27T04:12:12Z")
I enjoyed the musical theme based on the promenade from “Pictures at Exhibiton,” but I felt they overused it. There are more songs in the piece. Yes, I heard the themes from the castle and the crypt, but they were unutilized. I am enjoying the show, but I liked “History of England” better. Tomorrow should be good. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/50 "2003-05-27T04:14:41Z")
And by unutilized I of course meant underutilized. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/51 "2003-05-27T04:45:43Z")
Ah yes, Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” One of my favorite pieces of classical music. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/52 "2003-05-27T13:08:41Z")
It wasn’t bad at all—but I was so exhausted that I fell asleep in the middle of Peter the Great. I’m sure they’ll rerun it sometime . . . ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/53 "2003-05-27T15:11:40Z")
They showed Peter’s infantry using precussion caps in the 17th century. Not good for the History Channel. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/54 "2003-05-27T15:35:33Z")
Standard gripe about the HC: Waaaay too many commercials, plus they use the same shots over and over and over. Same “horses galloping over the rocks.” Same “dead soldiers in the grass.” Same “incinerated building.” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/55 "2003-05-27T15:40:02Z")
Yeah, and when the Mongols were losing, they didn’t even show they riding the other way! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/56 "2003-05-27T16:04:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MLS \* > \*\*Standard gripe about the HC: Waaaay too many commercials, plus they use the same shots over and over and over. > Same “horses galloping over the rocks.” Same “dead soldiers in the grass.” Same “incinerated building.” \*\* You forgot the “Evil Dead Karo Syrup Blood” dribbling down/across various surfaces. I still liked it. Peter the Great kicked ass. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/57 "2003-05-27T18:12:12Z")
I love it when the narrator said, “Tens of thousands of soldiers were killed,” and I was thinking, “But we can only afford to show you four of them.” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/58 "2003-05-27T18:17:41Z")
Good gad Eve, I’ll never be able to watch the History Channel with a straight face again. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/59 "2003-05-28T00:10:46Z")
The stock footage was beyond annoying, but I really enjoyed the analysis from the historians. Overall the material was good enough that the budget limitations didn’t matter to me. Go History! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295/60 "2003-05-28T01:32:53Z")
The only thing wrong that I heard so far was last night, when they showed the Imperial Crown and said it was designed by and created for Peter the Great, when actually it was Catherine who had it designed for her coronation. I’m wondering which Nicholas they’re going to feature-I think Nicholas II, but the promo I saw last night showed a painting of Nicholas I. Perhaps they’ll discuss the Crimean War and the Decembrists, then? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/russia-land-of-the-tsars-who-else-is-excited/177295.md?page=4)