On Sunday night, a documentary called "The Unknown Putin" (Неизвестный Путин) ran on one of the main state-controlled TV stations. I watched a little bit of it, and it was fairly interesting to see how Vladimir Vladimirovich spends his time and how he works. He and I actually keep similar hours: We both work out in the morning (Putin is a dedicated athlete, and his home in the outskirts of Moscow has a very nice gym and a beautiful lap pool), eat a big breakfast centered around oatmeal and augmented with bread, sausage, and tvorog (basically milk curds), and we both work from noon until late at night. Of course, he is running the world's largest country, and I am teaching 65 bright, young (or young at heart) Russians about polite invitations with would and should and trying to explain how to use articles correctly (a never-ending battle), but I think there are enough similarities.

I'm now on conversational terms with a few people at the gym, and this has its benefits and disadvantages. One guy loves to talk politics with me, which is good I guess. He is a committed pessimist and sees no future for Russia (I don't agree), and during one of our conversations--which often take place in the don't-look-in-the-corners shower--he told me all the reasons that the Putin documentary was a cleverly controlled way to get the narod (people) back into line behind VVP (for the uninitiated, that's Putin's name in acronym form). And that is probably true; it's Putin's 60th birthday, and he's been the prominent fixture of Russian political life for over 12 years--a smart politician knows when he needs to reinvigorate his brand. See for yourself and decide about "The Unknown Putin:"

http://tinyurl.com/8bbjqhp