June 27, 2019

Duck, Duck, Owl?


Duck, Duck, Owl?
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s an owl drone! TV Zvezda

Throwback Thursday

Battle of Poltava, painting
The Battle of Poltava by Denis Martens the Younger (1726). / Wikimedia Commons

You might know what happened at the Battle of Poltava 310 years ago today. (Peter the Great routed the Swedish army in an early showing of Russian military might.) But did you know that Pushkin wrote a poem about it and that there’s a Soviet joke about it? Find out more, right here on Russian Life.


Perched on the Ledge Between Foul and Fowl

1. The new dining alfresco. A man sits at home drinking vodka, with a carpet on the wall behind him. But you’re not watching a Soviet film. You’re watching Arseny “Is He a Pest?” on Instagram. And he’s not at home — he’s on the side of a building. Arseny is a performance artist working on a project exploring how a single square meter of space impacts people’s lives. Notwithstanding the Soviet imagery, the project critiques the capitalist penchant to “buy houses in anthills and burden yourself with mortgages for half your life.” In other words, he’s not sweeping any critiques under the carpet.

Man drinking vodka on square-meter platform on side of building
Did he take a magic carpet ride up there? / vreditel_li

2. Giving a duck about ducks. While driving down a Petersburg highway, a driver witnessed a car crash. This was distressing, but the reason they crashed was even worse: A family of ducks was trying to cross the highway. The driver left the car and hurriedly escorted the ducks to the side of the road. However, the baby ducklings couldn’t jump over the curb, and they cried until the mother duck came back to street level. Fortunately, several passerby noticed their plight and lifted the ducklings to safety. They really ducked a catastrophe on this one!


The heroic rescue. / Sergey Karasyov

3. Three hoots for high tech! The latest Russian military drone looks like an owl. Unlike most owls, it looks like it’s permanently screaming, but don’t be fooled: it’s designed to be able to approach up close without being recognized. The drone primarily detects targets using a laser and satellite navigation, so if it flew at night, you could say it’d be a real night owl. And for those who are fans of (f)owl-inspired tech, the military plans to create a falcon-shaped drone that plays the cry of a falcon. Let’s just hope these drones don’t engage in fowl play…

Blog Spotlight

Do you like museums? Do you like tech? Discover some of the best Russian museums that incorporate multimedia technology.

In Odder News

5000-ruble notes
A million, million, million scarlet rubles… / Pixabay

Quote of the Week

“IS IT SERIOUSLY THAT HARD FOR YOU TO USE THE RIGHT FILTERS FOR SWEAR WORDS IN MEDIA????? WOULD IT KILL YOU TO DO THAT????? IS IT THE END OF THE WORLD????? NO, B****, NO!!! SO THEN WHY, @, DON’T YOU USE THE RIGHT FILTER?????!!!! OUR EYES ARE ROLLING, YEAH GO F*** YOURSELF!!!”

— The official Roskomnadzor Twitter account, demonstrating how to correctly self-censor profanities when rage-tweeting

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Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Bears in the Caviar

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.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
The Little Humpbacked Horse
November 03, 2014

The Little Humpbacked Horse

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.

Driving Down Russia's Spine
June 01, 2016

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

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.

Murder and the Muse
December 12, 2016

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

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