Pi-Consulting

Despite a recent spate of anti-US rhetoric from the Kremlin, a newly-prosperous Russian middle class seems to be re-visiting its liking for things American. Russia just became the 43rd country to open a Starbucks (a Venti Mocha will set you back $9, almost double the Stateside price). This year’s surprise TV hit in Russia is a re-make of America’s favorite tacky family sitcom, “Married With Children”, here re-named “Schastlivy Vmeste” or “Happy Together”. Sample dialog: “Honey, take your clothes off”. “Heyyy, after all these months, suddenly you want sex?”. “Naw, I’m hungry. I thought the sight of you would kill my appetite”. Local analysts’ take on the new show’s success? “TV is now training Russians to forget about politics”, they solemnly aver. Says one: “People are getting used to living like children, in the family of a strong, powerful father. Everything is decided for them”. Sounds like Putin’s influence over the media goes way beyond the newscasts alone. Source: New York Times, Pi.

Why do people have sex? If you think you already know, psychologists at the University of Texas at Austin have news for you. They interviewed a random sample of 2,000 people, analyzed their responses, and determined that there are a total of 237 reasons for jumping someone’s bones. These ranged from the sublime (“I wanted to feel closer to God”) to the eminently practical and altruistic (“It seemed like good exercise”) to the brutally frank (“I was drunk”). To bring order to this chaos, the study’s leaders devised a system of four basic categories. First was physical attraction (“He was a good kisser” and so on), second came goal-attainment (“Getting even with my cheating partner” and the like), third was emotion (“I felt we had to communicate at a deeper level” or whatever), and last but surprisingly common was insecurity (“I wanted to boost my self-esteem”). And YOU though there was only one thing on their minds…. Source: New York Times, Pi.