A Belated 'Russian' Update

One of the pages on my site (diabetoboy.com) is actually The Plight of The Mad Russian. For those that do not know, in St. Louis, The Mad Russian, or Vladimir Noskov, has been a radio DJ, a frequent oddball on the legendary public access television show World Wide Magazine, and nationally he has appeared on the Howard Stern Show several times to do humorous interviews.

The Mad Russian and Howard Stern

I first met Vladimir back in 2002 to interview him for a student documentary I was doing for school. The video, later named "P.E.P.", covered the life and times of Pete Parisi, the genius creator of the aforementioned World Wide Magazine. I have kept in touch with Vladimir off and on since our meeting.

Mad Russian on WWM interviewing Ill. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun

Last August, Vladimir was jailed and faced deportation to the Ukraine, his "home" country that he left almost thirty years ago. He was put in the slammer for being drunk and disorderly at Blueberry Hill, a popular restaurant in The Loop district, but his possible deportation stemmed from a marijuana charge from the early 1980s.

I set up the Plight page to give updates to this story, which seemed to drag on forever. At the end of this past July though, The Mad Russian was finally allowed to stay for good. His pot charge (possession with intent to distribute) from California in 1984 was downgraded to a non-deportable offense, and the Feds backed off.

Today I got around to updating the page, hopefully for the last time. I wish The Mad Russian well and hope he watches his alcohol consumption.

2 Guys from the STL...Vladimir and Nelly