Novosibirsk

Its almost midnight and the massive road grader is almost too big for the small side street it is lumbering down and the driver, obviously bored, decides to play with the large blade underneath his cab, normally used to flatten new tarmac. The result is that the back four wheels are lifted off the ground and spin uselessly while the huge yellow beast grinds to a halt. He retracts the blade and sets off again, nodding solemnly to me as he mounts the pavement. Behind him is a gigantic, sparkling, white stretch Hummer, who honks his horn as he passes and gesticulates. The combination of vehicles is an odd one, but if it were to be found anywhere, it would be Russia.

Its bright sunshine in Novosibirsk and Russian news is gloating over the unseasonal winter being experienced in Europe. Admittedly, its not summery here by any means, and Natasha informs me that St Petersburg is deep in a snowstorm, but it is with considerable glee that Yevgeniy, the Russian correspondent in Brussels, puts the finishing touches on his snowman at the end of his report. Also in the news is the problems in Belarus and another little girl who has gone missing, this time in Krasnoyarsk where I am heading today. Aside from the news, Russian TV is an interesting mix. They have many detective shows that stick to all the good detective show cliches. The Russian for "Hands up!", "Its quite simple really..." and "I think its time we paid Mr. Vladmirovich a visit" are all fairly easy to discern just from the hammy acting. Elsewhere, where programmes might feature a message from the relevant department or ministry, they now have some words from their corporate sponsors. The weather report has three, not only read out by the glamorous forecaster but also featured at the end. In a home makeover show, where a typical Russian apartment is transformed by a typically smug home makeover show host, the programme is dominated by close-ups of the brand of wallpaper paste they are using, to do two small squares of wallpaper on either side of the room. From a design point of view, the "English patterned" wallpaper seems an odd choice, but the wallpaper paste is the show's main supporter and thus it is a necessary feature of every room. Finally there is Dom Dva (Home 2) the Russian Big Brother that has been going for an unbelievable three years non-stop. One housemate goes and another arrives every week and it still remains popular, despite seeming to consist of the same combination of crying, drinking, screaming, throwing things and fumbles on the couches. Everything is sponsored. Even the duvets are emblazoned with a mobile phone company logo. At one point a girl is comforted about a break up by being allowed to try what seemed to be a new brand of some form of cellulite removal strip, the name of which was oft repeated with the swearwords in between bleeped out. Alot of the rest of the output consists of culture shows, films about World War Two and investigative documentaries, all of which are advertised with the same dramatic music and gravelly voiced announcer.