August 16, 2018

The Dog Days of Summer and the Crazy Things They Bring


The Dog Days of Summer and the Crazy Things They Bring
Samara’s Scarlet Letter

1. It’s a different kind of pyramid scheme! The utility company in Samara recently started planting three-ton concrete pyramids in front of debtors’ houses. The pyramids, which bear slogans such as “Here lives a debtor!,” have been quite successful in compelling the outed debtors into paying off their debts in order to remove the pyramid and at least some of the shame. Well, one such debtor recently decided to pay a freight truck to cart away the pyramid, rather than pay off the debts. As with all pyramid schemes, this could only last so long: he is now charged with felony theft and could even receive time in jail.

debtors' pyramid

Photo: RKS-Samara

2. There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the work of scientists in Tomsk, or at least there should be. These scientists are building robotic bees, which are expected to take flight in 2019. These bees will do what bees do best, pollinate the fields around them. They don’t come cheap, as the first 100 mechanical bees are expected to cost 100 million rubles ($1,488,000). The cost may well be worth it, though, given the widespread decline of bees. For that reason, let’s hope the scientists don’t bumble around too much and can help give Tomsk something to bee proud of.

3. A new type of animal has been seen in Moscow’s Zaryadye Park: Shakespeare’s famed “beast with two backs.” To put it plainly, people are having sex in the park, and the city government (for the most part) is none too happy about it. The park’s security cameras have captured an apparent uptick in couples doing the deed, potentially thanks to warm summer nights. While the city’s chief architect lauds the fact that people feel free in the city, other officials have been less enthusiastic, comparing the offenders to “feral animals” and suggesting various punishments. All this has sparked, of course, a plethora of jokery online, with many expressing a renewed interest in spending more time outside.

In Odder News:

wooly mammoth hat

Photo: The Siberian Times

  • Talk about an old hat: one man made the world’s only wooly mammoth hair hat out of hair that is tens of thousands of years old

  • A dangerous book indeed: a boy made an accidental illegal crossing from Abkhazia to Russia while trying to find a nice place to read his book, Catcher in the Rye

  • I’ll drink to that! Russians celebrate a birthday on the peak of Mont Blanc with champagne, which is much more dangerous than it sounds

Quote of the Week:

“The city gives people the opportunity to feel free, safe, and comfortable”

Sergei Kuznetsov, Moscow’s chief architect, on what people having sex in the park indicates about the city

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

Russia Rules

Russia 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.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
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...
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.
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.
The Little Humpbacked Horse

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.
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.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
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. 
At the Circus

At the Circus

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.

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