April 04, 2019

Smart Homes, Sledgehammers, and Star Wars References


Smart Homes, Sledgehammers, and Star Wars References
Preparation for a reindeer race. Vesti Yamal

Two Cool Things to Do in the Arctic Circle: Sledging and Sledgehammering

1. Reindeer galore! March 30 was the Day of the Reindeer Breeder, an important holiday for the indigenous peoples of Russia’s Far North (as you may have read in the Mar/Apr issue of Russian Life, or online {digital sub required}). A holiday marking the passage from winter to spring, it features reindeer sledding, snowmobile racing, wrestling, and a competition for the best children’s clothes, among other activities. This year, the city of Salekhard did a modern take on old traditions. Usually, the city exhibits a chum, or traditional tent made from reindeer hides, but the city displayed a “smart chum” — a chum equipped with internet, television, and smoke detectors. Even if spring didn’t arrive, at least there’s wifi in the tundra.

2. When all the world isn’t a stage. Elsewhere in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, one driver encountered a badly parked car and got so mad that he took out a sledgehammer and wrecked the other car. Don’t worry – the video was entirely staged; the guy wrecked his own car to create the meme. However, it wasn’t all no harm, no foul: the prankster was arrested and charged with “hooliganism with the use of weapons or objects used as weapons.” When a car prank takes a bit of a handbrake turn.

Is it legal to smash in your own car? Apparently not. / Vkontakte

3. Luke, I am your mayor. Someone on the Belgorod city council is a huge fan of Star Wars. So huge a fan that, when incoming mayor Yuri Galdun had his swearing-in ceremony, the Imperial March began to play as he walked in. The city council didn’t seem to find this as entertaining as we did: a few days later, an official resigned, and the council issued a statement apologizing for having played something “foreign” at the ceremony. Sure, playing a space opera theme song at an inauguration is a little unprofessional. But still, fun it is.

Only thing missing? A lightsaber. / Screencap from edited video: МБХ Медиа

In Odder News

  • A leopard with an inverted print was sighted in Primorskii Krai. Read the full Facebook post for the juicy details.
  • When his favorite hockey team scored, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin got so excited that he kissed billionaire Gennady Shevchenko on the cheek. The moment was caught on camera and to put it lightly, entertained some internetians.

“Me, work, Twitter”: One tweeter’s take on the moment. / Я к вам из твитора

  • Several Petersburgers rescued two tired young seal pups. The pups are now resting peacefully in a rehabilitation center. This makes us excited enough to (consensually) kiss our neighbor on the cheek.

Sleeping seal pups. / Спасение тюленей 699-23-99

 

Quote of the Week

“Still, the taste of victory is impossible to describe. It is pleasant for the soul.”

Lev Ezyngi, local champion of peretiagivaniye palki (a tug-of-war with sticks), a game traditionally played on Day of the Reindeer Herders

 

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.

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

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.
Murder and the Muse

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.
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.
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.
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
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 Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
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.
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.

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

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.

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.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

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.

 
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. 

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.

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.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955