In Soviet Russia, Duba Blogs YOU!

ДОБРО ПОЖАЛОВАТЬ РОССИЙСКИХ ДРУЗЕЙ!

That is supposedly Russian for, "Welcome Russians!" Why am I welcoming Russians? Well, in just one day, I tripled my number of readers in Russia from 1 to 3. Why not celebrate my second biggest audience once in a while (and my third audience has a long way to go to catch up). Do you know who is the third largest audience? Answer at the bottom...

So, I looked up some things about Russia that maybe you did not know already, like that 10 percent of the Government's tax revenue is from vodka sales. There was a beard tax during the reign of Peter the Great. They also blow out candles on the birthday pie, replacing the highly overrated cake.

I would love to one day see Russia. The cities that they show us over hear look unique and beautiful. And your pristine wilderness looks amazing too. Can you believe Rocky IV tried to pass off the state of Wyoming as Russia? Not cool.

I do however have to worry about coming to Russia. Will my son have more toys to play with than these?

I had one really good Russian friend for a while. I cannot remember his last name right now, but I called him Johnny Y. He always wore button up shirts and polo shirts with the top button closed. Is this normal for Russians? Johnny Y also moved to the U.S. around the end of the Cold War. He said that life was actually better in Russia for his parents. They were more successful, but less healthy (as substituting rubbing alcohol for Vodka probably did not help). His parents brought him over here, and he turned out relatively successful while his parents were okay.

My next closest Russian friend was Alex from the Ukraine while I was in the Coast Guard Academy. I know thats not Russia, you sly Russians! I am just saying he was the next closest thing to Russia I ever experienced. Probably more so than Johnny Y, in hindsight. I met Alex in 1999, spent half of my Coast Guard summer training dorming with him and a whole semester as his dorm mate, too. He sweat a lot in the winter months in Connecticut as it still was warm compared to his motherland. His favorite singer was the white rapper Snow, and his hit "Informer" was his favorite at the time. He was a great room mate and a great friend.

So, once again, I would like to welcome my Russian readers. Good morning to you all.

Oh, and my third biggest audience...You guessed it, Frank Stallone!

Just kidding. It is actually Germany. I only have one German reader though. Let us hope this number grows in the future as we all know that if it is one things Germans love is to follow somebody!