December 02, 2021

Spy Rocks, Scent of a Man, and Lump of Coal


Spy Rocks, Scent of a Man, and Lump of Coal
In Odder News

In this week's Odder News, men have never smelled this manly, a lump of coal has never been such a great gift, and St. Petersburg museumgoers have never been so happy.

  • Watch out for the new spy rock if you are in Voronezh. The "hidden surveillance complex" that looks like a pretty regular rock was invented by cadets at the Air Force Academy in Voronezh. When it senses motion, the rocks stops acting like a rock and a camera and microphone jump into action, recording up to 15 hours of content. The rock can move itself around, as seen here. You might want to kick the rocks around you, just to check.
  • Few art museum exhibits are designed just to make visitors happy. But St. Petersburg's Manege Exhibition Hall decided to just make people happier in its new "Peace and Joy" exhibit – with the help of nineteenth-century Russian painters. You will not find "battles, heartbreaking dramas, fervent passions, heightened emotions, or frightening mysticism" here. In an unusual twist, the exhibit includes an original soundtrack playing in the gallery and swings for guests – though nowhere near the paintings. The exhibition brings together artwork from 39 collections around the world.
  • A Russian dog has received all new paws. Monika was found in southern Russia with all of her paws cut off, and activists raised money online for her to get prosthetics in Novosibirsk. Her titanium paws were printed on a 3D printer.
  • You want Hugo Boss or Tommy Hilfiger cologne for the holidays? That's kid stuff. Try the new Russian man scent, a combination of leather, metal, and exhaust fumes from a stealth fighter jet. The scent is called The Checkmate after Russia's latest Sukhoi fighter jet. All that man musk has had juniper, oakmoss, and patchouli added to it to taste. It is unknown whether the fragrance will see mass adoption after so far only being distributed at the Dubai Airshow 2021.
  • Getting a lump of coal for Christmas is not always a bad thing. Residents of the Far East are being promised coal as a COVID-19 vaccination incentive. Other gifts – which we might rather have – are haircuts, gym memberships, microwaves, and dental services. However, the lump of coal is nothing to sneeze at: it is a three-ton lump!

You Might Also Like

Worthy of Aivazovsky's Brush
  • September 19, 2021

Worthy of Aivazovsky's Brush

If you love the sea, Ivan Aivazovsky is your man. Everyone should know about this Armenian-Russian painter.
Smells Like Money
  • April 09, 2021

Smells Like Money

Soon American coins won't be the only "scents" that are exchanged inside Sberbank's buildings, as Russia's national bank plans to introduce its own perfume. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

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.

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.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

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.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

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.

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.

How Russia Got That Way
September 20, 2025

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.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

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.

Steppe
July 15, 2022

Steppe

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.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, 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