Last week there was the 66th anniversary of the surrender of the Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union, commonly known as Victory Day.
It was first begun in the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union following the signing of the surrender document late in the evening on May 8, 1945, but already after midnight by Moscow time, thus May 9th.
After the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, most former USSR countries retained the celebration. In Russia during the 1990s, May 9th was not celebrated massively, because Soviet-style mass demonstrations did not fit in with the way the liberal power base in Moscow communicated with the country’s residents. Things changed when Vladimir Putin came to power. He started to promote the prestige of the governing regime and history, national holidays and commemorations all became a source for national self-esteem. Since then Victory Day in Russia has increasingly been turning into a joyous celebration in which popular culture plays a great role.

As expected there were lots of pretty pictures taken that day.
I couldn’t decide which one to post here, so I picked two. As usual the pictures link to their original post.

I think this man must be the most decorated in history. There are other over-decorated people in the original post but this man is the coolest. I’m dying to know what every medal is there for. Really, I’d love to sit in that guy’s living room and hear him talk for a few hours.

Then I chose this picture for the simple reason that it’s disturbing to my sense of proportions. I mean, I’m pretty sure that those soldier’s legs are longer than they’re supposed to be. By a lot.

Last week also saw the winners of the World Photography Awards 2011.
They were chosen from more than 51,000 submissions from 148 countries.

As a concept artist I love to (and have to) keep a considerable amount of pictures as reference for my job. Most of them are creatures of various kind, and I’m always amazed at how Nature, most times, surpass Fantasy, even when it doesn’t have any brief to be constrained into.
The next picture is from Wired Science’s The Ocean’s Oddest Creatures And Why They Matter

Browsing Reddit I found this picture of the well known Al Khazneh in Jordan.
It has been seen in a lot of films, after Indiana Jones 3, but this shot is pretty cool.

BONUS CONTENT (I used to do it all the time to my sister, lol):