September 20, 2018

Ice Age Part 10, Coming Soon to a Russia Near You


Ice Age Part 10, Coming Soon to a Russia Near You

Let your voice be heard! Russian Life’s documentary Resilience (Переживем) is a contestant in a competition being held by ArtDocFest, and we’d love it if you supported us and the film with your vote. Haven’t had a chance to watch the movie? No problem, watch it here. To vote, join the ArtDocFest Facebook group, go to their poll, and click on the option that reads “Переживем, реж. Михаил Мордасов.” Thank you to all of the documentary’s fans and supporters, and happy voting!

Ice, Ice, Wooly Mammoth Baby

You know the phrase “when wooly mammoths roamed the earth?” Well, it may actually be closer to the present than you think. That’s because Russian scientists are predicting that the cloning of wooly mammoths will be successful in the next 10 years. The wooly mammoths would be recreated from original wooly mammoth cells found in the Siberian permafrost, and they would be birthed by a surrogate elephant mother. Although we’re pretty excited about this, is anyone else getting Jurassic Park vibes?

2. Speaking of cold things, the icy Navalny-Zolotov conflict has been picked up by meme artists across the country. If you didn’t read last week’s newsletter(shame on you!), Russia’s Director of the National Guard, Viktor Zolotov (who also happens to be Putin’s former bodyguard), recently challenged opposition leader Alexei Navalny to a duel after Navalny’s negative video about the National Guard. And, as you may have guessed, the internet is loving it. Memes, such as the one below, are picking up on the humor in this tense situation and running with it. Who knows, maybe they’ll lead to a thaw.

choose your fighter

Photo: Lentach / VKontakte

3. If you’re looking for some warmth in this newsletter, here’s a relationship that appears to be getting less icy by the day. At an economic forum in Vladivostok, President Putin taught Chinese president Xi Jinping how to make blini, Russian pancakes, which they then ate with caviar and followed with vodka. The meeting came just as Russia launched massive war games that included Chinese troops. Really, the only thing that goes better with blini than caviar is a big old pretend fight.

Putin and Xi

Photo: kremlin.ru

In Odder News:
  • It’s finally official: Russia and Ukraine are no longer friends, at least according to a nullified treaty
  • Is it a genius sausage-making life hack, or is it drug paraphernalia? You decide.

  • And you thought there couldn’t be more marches to celebrate the Romanovs. Check out this procession held for Yelizaveta Fyodorovna

Quote of the Week:

“Thanks to cooperation with Korean and Japanese scientists, in my opinion, [cloning a mammoth] will happen in the next decade.”

— Russian scientist Aisen Nikolaev

Want more where this comes from? Give your inbox the gift of TWERF, our Thursday newsletter on the quirkiest, obscurest, and Russianest of Russian happenings of the week.

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Some of Our Books

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.
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.
A Taste of Russia

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.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
White Magic

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.
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

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