January 24, 2019

Mud-slinging and Money-making


Mud-slinging and Money-making
"Our boys in Salisbury," Russia's newest board game. theins.ru

Trash, Taxes, and Trolling

1. You’ve got mail! Siberian activists sent packages of trash to four State Duma members and one senator to viscerally impress upon them the odious and odorous cost of Russia’s continuing garbage crisis. Piles and piles of trash have been stacking up around the country, with little action taken to staunch the stench. In extreme examples, overfilled landfills have led to extreme sickness in children and animals. We suppose these activists are trying to prove the more literal sentiment to the phrase “waste not, want not.”

2. Don’t want to pay taxes? Join a trade union! Such was the brilliant idea of Sergei Dymokin, who claims that by joining his trade union, Union SSR, one can legally evade both taxes and utility payments by claiming they are citizens of the USSR. Sounds great, doesn’t it? All this is allowed because Dyomkin published (the fire background is a nice touch) a contract on behalf of the members of Union SSR that Vladimir Putin has not personally responded to, and because a few technicalities might mean that the Russian constitution never took effect. While people across the country are following Dyomkin’s lead, law enforcement (amazingly) hasn’t yet taken the bait.

3. International intrigue isn’t all fun and games… or is it? A hot new Russian board game has been released that is based on the Skripal poisoning story. The game, “Our Boys in Salisbury” (Наши в Солсбери), follows the path of the two men accused of poisoning former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England. You can partake in the “fun” for cheap, as the game costs less than two dollars! Who says crime doesn’t pay?

"Our Boys in Salisbury." / theins.ru
In Odder News:
Putin's 10-year challenge. / Alec Luhn
  • Russians took on Facebook’s viral “10-year challenge,” and the results are perfection
  • A purr-fect ending: animal rights activists bought a lioness that had been seen on the streets of St. Petersburg
  • Not their swan song, after all: a rare breed of swans were spotted in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast for the first time in a century!

Quote of the Week

“The anti-extremism center has summoned me so many times! I start telling them everything, and they always crack up. And then they let me go.”

—  Sergei Dyomkin, explaining his relationship with law enforcement

 

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Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

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.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
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.
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 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.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
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.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

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. 

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