January 31, 2019

Art Theft Made Easy and Pizza vs. the New Cold War


Art Theft Made Easy and Pizza vs. the New Cold War
Air traffic controllers with their Russian Pizza. ATC Memes Facebook Page

The Best Crimes (and Gifts) are the Simplest Ones

1. A picture is worth a thousand words, which might explain why we’re speechless. This weekend, a man walked up to a painting in Moscow’s Tretyakov Gallery, plucked it off the wall, and brazenly sauntered out of the museum. The painting was a relatively low profile one – of the mountains of Crimea by the landscape painter Arkhip Kuindzhi, but luckily, it didn’t remain missing for long. Police arrested the thief and found the painting unharmed just one day later. The man has stated that he doesn’t quite remember what he was doing at that time, which, given his clear appreciation of art and creativity, we find rather uninspired.

 

2. Remember all the World Cup fans who fell in love with Russia and said they never wanted to leave? Well, it turns out not all of them did. Russian police estimate that 5,500 World Cup fans remain in Russia, enjoying the now expired visa exemption. However, they won’t be able to stay in their Russian vacation bliss for long: the police are hoping to get everyone back to their rightful place by March 31. If only getting our in-laws to leave was that easy.

3. Just when you thought there wasn’t any hope left in Russian-American relations, a story pops up to remind you that people will find a way to share their similarities, not just highlight their differences. In a show of support, Russian air traffic controllers bought pizza for their American brethren, who were working without pay thanks to the partial government shutdown. The move was inspired by Canadian air traffic controllers who did the same. To say this story gives us that warm glow might sound cheesy, but, just like our pizza, that’s the way we like it.

Air traffic controllers with Russian pizza
Air traffic controllers with Russian pizza. / ATC Memes Facebook Page

In Odder News:

  • Incredibly rare footage of endangered Siberian tiger cubs playing like the kittens they are? Yes please.
  • From “rags” to riches: read the Cinderella story of a South African print business that hit it big and decided to invest in the (apparently booming) Russian classifieds industry
  • Maybe you should count your eggs: Russians are surprised to find one less egg in their carton, thanks to rising food prices

Quote of the Week

“I hope that all of them will be expelled by March 30.”

— Andrey Kayushin, discussing the World Cup fans that overstayed their welcome

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Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

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Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

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The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
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White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

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