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Tingkai
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To find the Northwest Passage
Aug 2001
time: 13:19
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Asher: That was way too much information re: felching.
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Rex Little
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My last name means "little" in a foreign language. It was translated from a different foreign language when my great-great-great-(plus or minus a great)grandfather came to the U.S. I read somewhere that my first name means "king", which is what "rex" means in Latin.
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Boris Godunov
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Portland, OR
Aug 2001
time: 00:19
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Oooh time for Historical Lecture *assumes pedantic pose*
Boring history lesson follows:
Boris Fyodorovich Godunov, Tsar of Russia (1598-1605)
Boris Godunov was the son-in-law of Ivan IV "The Terrible," being married to Ivan's oldest daughter. In 1582, Tsar Ivan beat his oldest son (also an Ivan) to death in a dispute over the Tsar sleeping with his son's wife. The remorse-stricken Ivan IV's health and well-being deteriorated rapidly from that point, and he subsequently died in 1584, leaving Russia in a state of political turmoil and economic ruin.
Deprived of the heir, Russia's throne passed to Ivan IV's second son, who became Tsar Fyodor I. Fyodor was "mentally challenged," and was quite young to boot. Realizing that Fyodor would be ineffective left to his own devices, the Duma (Russia's noble council) appointed Boris Godunov as Regent, effectively making Boris ruler of Russia.
However, Fyodor had a younger brother, the prince Dmitri, who although just a boy was quite smart and capable. Dmitri, by default, became Tsarevich, the nominal successor to Fyodor. In 1591, Dmitri's corpse was discovered in the courtyard of the Cathedral of Uglich, his throat cut with a razor. Boris appointed a nobleman, Prince Vassily Shuisky, to investigate the boy's mysterious death. The investigation ruled that Dmitri, who was epillileptic, slit his own throat accidentally during a seizure.
Fyodor became ill and subsequently died in 1598, leaving no heir to the throne. Although he was only a minor noble, Boris's stature as Regent made him the obvious successor. After rebuffing repeated pleas from the Duma to take the throne, Boris finally relented and became Tsar.
Boris's reign was short and unhappy. Disease and famine ravaged the land, as did war with Poland-Lithuania. While Boris added huge tracts of land to Russia through conquest, he also solidified Russian serfdom.
In 1604, A young monk named Grigory Otrepiev fled from a monastery in Russia to Poland, where he claimed to be the Prince Dmitri, and thus rightful heir to Russia's throne. He raised an army with the support of the Polish king and the Pope and inveded Russia, accusing Boris of being a usurper. Boris himself led an army and met the False Dmitri on the battlefield. Dmitri was defeated and retreated back to Poland.
However, in 1605 Dmitri had rallied his troops and invaded again. This time, increased economic problems encouraged the Russian peasants to flock to his side, and civil war erupted. Many nobles also sided with him, seeing this as a chance to remove the unpopular Boris.
Boris mysteriously dropped dead in 1605 in the Kremlin, reportedly bleeding from the ears and mouth. Some historians suggest this indicates poisoning. Whatever the cause, his sudden death paved the way for the False Dmitri into Moscow. He overthrew and murdered Boris's son and successor, Fyodor II, and raped and murdered Boris's daughter Xenia as well. Thus the Time of Troubles began for Russia, which would last until the Romanov Dynasty was founded in 1613. During its course, Dmitri would be deposed and murdered by Prince Shuisky, who in turn would be deposed and exiled by a second False Dmitri, who in turn...well, you get the idea.
Boris's claim to fame is being the subject of two magnificent works of art: Alexander Pushkin's play "Boris Godunov," a Shakespearian-style tragedy, and Modest Mussorgsky's opera, also called "Boris Godunov," based on Pushkin's work.
The opera is the indisputable masterpiece of 19th century Russian music, and is an epic survey of this period in Russian history. The core of the story is based on the hypothesis (widely believed at the time) that Boris had the boy Dmitri murdered to secure his rise to the throne. While history has absolved Boris in the crime, the opera is a tremendous psychological portrait of a mighty ruler brought down by overpowering remorse for a crime commited. Boris is one of opera's greatest dramatic characters.
Ok, that's all I have to say. I will shut up now. But I enjoyed it, at least! 
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29-04-2002 10:20
My initials is DE
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