Russian speakers may find this amusing, it's about towns in Russia with funny names, like "Scrotum." If so inclined, Russian speakers may wish to add comments explaining the names to non-speakers.

But that's not why it's here. It's a TV broadcast from NTV channel which went out on April 1, 2006 -- just over year ago. It's a brilliant slice of Russian life, showing how people really live outside Moscow, and it hasn't changed one iota since then or since Putin came to power. No five minutes could better dispel the notion that Putin's Russia is somehow rich and prosperous now than spending them viewing this footage, no Russian language required.