March 01, 2018

Viral Videos of All Stripes and Sizes


Viral Videos of All Stripes and Sizes
Is This What the Kids Do These Days?

1. The adults are trying to appeal to the youths, and, as usually happens in such cases, the result is amusing. A local Russian media company just dropped a new music video, “Oi, come to the ELECTIONS!” The video features singing and dancing pensioners, rapping youth, and uncomfortable-looking cadets, all for the purpose of encouraging young people to vote in the Russian presidential elections, which will take place on March 18. These videos are nonpartisan, but they aren’t immune from controversy: one widely-shared advertisement portrays a post-election world in which middle-aged men are asked to enlist, children beg parents for millions of rubles, and families must adopt gay people when their partners dump them. Will it be better at encouraging the youth to vote than it has been at riling them up? Unclear.

 

2. Leonardo DiCaprio may have gotten himself into a bit of hot water. Or rather, very cold water. After Leonardo DiCaprio made a video about climate change in Oymyakon, a Russian town known as the coldest inhabited place on Earth, local kids made a response video. In this video they challenge Leo to come to Oymyakon and dump a bucket of water on himself, which they promptly do themselves. Leonardo DiCaprio may be famous for doing extreme stunts, but something tells us he wouldn’t be too hot about this idea (despite his Russian roots).

3. Art imitates life, life imitates art, and video game clips are being broadcast as real life war footage. One of Russia’s state television channels, Channel One, recently aired a segment honoring a hero who died in Syria, interspersing it with footage of the Syrian war. The problem was, not all of it was from Syria (or anywhere else on Earth): one internet user noticed that two very short clips were from the computer game Arma 3. Channel One clarified that editing snafu  was “accidental”: maybe someone just needs to get their heads out of the (Arma 3) clouds.

In Odder News:

Photo: Vnsilin

  • No, you didn’t miss the Rapture: the pillars of light hanging over St. Petersburg last weekend were just caused by ice crystals.
  • One impatient minibus passenger decided to keep his ride on schedule by stealing it and driving it off himself. As tempting as that sounds, taking a deep breath is probably a better coping mechanism.
  • An ice-cold heart that actually has some joy in it: check out Lake Baikal’s heart-shaped ice skating rink.
Quote of the Day:

“Oi, come to the elections, let’s go vote! Who if not us will pick our president?”

—The very endearing pensioners of the “Oi, come to the ELECTIONS!” music video

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

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

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. 

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. 

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 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.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

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.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

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.

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