April 25, 2019

17% of the Earth Day


17% of the Earth Day
Playing limbo without limbs works pretty well. teamrussiamascots / Instagram

Dodging sanctions, Saturday work, and penalties for picking up moss

1. How do you prevent your Olympic team from kneeling before its competitors and the problems that have plagued it in recent years? Well, your mascot can’t kneel if it doesn’t have knees, said Artemy Lebedev’s studio, which designed Team Russia’s 2020 Summer Olympics mascots: a knee-less bear and a two-legged [grumpy] cat, representing some of Russia’s most iconic wild animals. The team isn’t dodging tough issues like doping, scandals and sanctions. In fact, the studio released an official video of the mascot bear actually, roly-poly style, dodging doping, scandals, and sanctions. Over the next few weeks Russians will vote on the mascots’ names. Please, Russia, anything but Misha. 

2. From serfs to Stalin to subotniki – work on Saturdays – Russia has a history of forced labor that may finally come to an end. Springtime means it’s time to get outside and take care of the city and parks, such as fulfilling that unique Eastern European tradition of whitewashing trees (or not anymore). However, a lawyer argued that the common practice of municipal administrations requiring their employees to perform “volunteer” work around the city is illegal, and the head of the Duma Labor and Social Politics Committee agreed. Of course, he added, employers are encouraged to invite participation in subotniki, where one can chat with colleagues while enjoying the fresh air and doing something good, such as helping to plant millions of trees.

3. “Friends, very soon we will make most important changes in Oblast law,” said a deputy of Sverdloskaya Oblast. “Now we have access to moss, forest floor, reeds, and grasses.” The recently accepted law allows people to gather these woodland raw materials. This summer, be on the lookout for babushki in elektrichka suburban trains with buckets full not only of berries and mushrooms, but also… reeds. Which are apparently also edible. According to an opinion piece in Novaya Gazeta, it’s a concerted effort by ruling party United Russia to make easy, small concessions: share the reeds, not the oil. Whether or not you want to reed that much into it, to someone, probably, it is actually “mosst important.” 

In odder news

  • In Chelyabinsk a woman yelled after someone stealing her bike. A person in a cat costume interpreted this as a cat-call for help and caught the thief red-pawed.
cat catches bike theif
Komsomolskaya Pravda / Vkontakte
  • A St. Petersburg artist reacted to the fire at Notre Dame with street art he called a fresco. 
Fire notre dame russian art
Oleg Lukyanov / Vkontakte 
  • A giant diamond of almost 119 karats was mined in Yakutia. It sure rocks for Alrosa, the company that found it. 

Quote of the week

"Barvikha-Barvikha-hoo Barvikha-Barvikha-hoo Barvikha-Barvikha-hoo Krasnogorodskoye boulevard!”

– Lyrics of a rap song by candidates for the Council of Deputies of the Moscow region, inviting residents of towns such as Barvikha to vote. 
 
Russian rap voting invitation
oinfo / Instagram

 

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

Some of Our Books

Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
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.
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. 
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
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 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.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
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.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
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.

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