June 28, 2018

Against Some Odds, Still in the Game!


Against Some Odds, Still in the Game!
A Loss Does Not Mean All Is Lost

1. Russia’s glorious football winning streak ended this week with a three-point loss to Uruguay. But with Russia’s assured participation in the Round of 16, most Russians are pretty content. Some were even relieved by the performance against Uruguay, as they finally recognized the Russian team, which allowed two goals in the first 25 minutes, as their own. In terms of both optimism and accuracy, one Team Russia fan outdid the rest, however, in correctly predicting the scores of Russia’s first two games before the start of the tournament. Upon learning of this, Twitter users quickly set to asking this mystical figure for more predictions: namely, how many kids would they have, what does the future of bitcoin look like, and of course, what will happen after Putin retires?

2. Sometimes all you need to fix a problem is a couple of Croatians in a hole. Two Croatian fans, spying a particularly deep pothole in Nizhny Novgorod, decided to jump in and have a photoshoot. Wanting in on the fun, four Argentinian fans jumped in next. And then, the next day, the pothole was magically filled. This is one of many good deeds that tourists have bestowed on Russia: among other acts, foreigners rescued a man from drowning and saved another man with CPR after a moped accident. Perhaps most notably, fan contingents from Japan, Senegal, and Saudi Arabia took out trash bags and started cleaning the stands after the games they attended. So how do Russians feel about all of these tourists? Well, we think they should be big fans.

Croatians in pothole

Photo: Vkontakte

3. The world somehow still exists outside of the World Cup madness, and in Barnaul nature put on a violent show. Barnaul, a city in Siberia, was hit with a tropical storm last Saturday. The tempest, which led to some stunning images, generated temperatures over 100° Fahrenheit and stripped the city of power. One heroic crane operator remained at his post to move a heavy load away from drivers and pedestrians, an act that led to his own death but saved many lives. Not to be outdone, several Russian cities were treated to the sight of a fiery meteor.

Storm

Photo: Vyacheslav Postnikov

In Odder News:
  • A Rostov-on-Don by any other name… World Cup tourists make some pretty major cartographical errors

  • Spirits are high, but we’re low on drinks: World Cup fans are running cities’ beer stocks dry

  • Football philosophers: the best Russian commentators engage in high-level conversation, even if they do miss a goal here or there

Quote of the Week:

“Ah, that's the Russian team we know.”

— One Twitter user expressed relief during Russia’s match against Uruguay

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

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.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
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.
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.
White Magic

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 Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

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.  
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. 
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.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Russian Rules

Russian 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.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 

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