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YES, BUT WHAT DO THEY HOON IN AZERBAIJAN?
Jalopnik.com
Oct 6 2011
Car culture has gone global -- are you keeping up? Find out what the
kids are hooning in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan.
My Azerbaijani isn't that great, but by the looks of things this
video was shot here, a roundabout in central Baku that's pretty
popular with the city's hoons. If I'm right (correct me if I'm wrong,
Azerbaijani readers), the square is dedicated to the esteemed fifteenth
and sixteenth century poet Fuzuli, which is what a tour guide might
tell you if you were to visit this beautiful capital.
What you wouldn't get from that tour guide is a look at how the young
people of Baku are living in their city, with their history.
Three-wheeling Ladas squeal through traffic right in front of a police
station. They've got some cojones over in Azerbaijan, if you don't
mind me play in mix-and-match with my cultural references. I like
to think that Fuzuli looks on at these hoons with a benevolent eye,
as he wrote, "Don't ask Fuzuli for poems of praise or rebuke / I am
a lover and speak only of love."
Before, I go on, let's get in the mood for some historical reflection
with the state anthem of the AzE~Yrbaycan Sovet Sosialist Respublikası
(Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic). Azerbaijan was soviet from
1920 to 1991, ending with ethnic and border conflicts that persist
today. So what the fuck does Azerbaijan have to show for its years
under the communists? There's certainly more to show than just Armenia
and Azerbaijan fighting over the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,
because these Azeris aren't just drifting cheap cars around a busy
city square, they're also tearing ass in vehicular manifestations of
their past. The best kind of history doesn't end up as footnotes tucked
away in a forgotten archive; it ends up as smoking tires and hoonage.
watch video at
http://jalopnik.com/5846921/yes-but-what-do-they-hoon-in-azerbaijan
From: Baghdasarian
Jalopnik.com
Oct 6 2011
Car culture has gone global -- are you keeping up? Find out what the
kids are hooning in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan.
My Azerbaijani isn't that great, but by the looks of things this
video was shot here, a roundabout in central Baku that's pretty
popular with the city's hoons. If I'm right (correct me if I'm wrong,
Azerbaijani readers), the square is dedicated to the esteemed fifteenth
and sixteenth century poet Fuzuli, which is what a tour guide might
tell you if you were to visit this beautiful capital.
What you wouldn't get from that tour guide is a look at how the young
people of Baku are living in their city, with their history.
Three-wheeling Ladas squeal through traffic right in front of a police
station. They've got some cojones over in Azerbaijan, if you don't
mind me play in mix-and-match with my cultural references. I like
to think that Fuzuli looks on at these hoons with a benevolent eye,
as he wrote, "Don't ask Fuzuli for poems of praise or rebuke / I am
a lover and speak only of love."
Before, I go on, let's get in the mood for some historical reflection
with the state anthem of the AzE~Yrbaycan Sovet Sosialist Respublikası
(Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic). Azerbaijan was soviet from
1920 to 1991, ending with ethnic and border conflicts that persist
today. So what the fuck does Azerbaijan have to show for its years
under the communists? There's certainly more to show than just Armenia
and Azerbaijan fighting over the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh Republic,
because these Azeris aren't just drifting cheap cars around a busy
city square, they're also tearing ass in vehicular manifestations of
their past. The best kind of history doesn't end up as footnotes tucked
away in a forgotten archive; it ends up as smoking tires and hoonage.
watch video at
http://jalopnik.com/5846921/yes-but-what-do-they-hoon-in-azerbaijan
From: Baghdasarian