April 13, 2017

Cosmonautics Day and Fruit in Disguise


Cosmonautics Day and Fruit in Disguise

Spacemen, spies, and detectives

1. April 12 is Cosmonautics Day, marking the anniversary of the first human spaceflight, made by Yuri Gagarin in 1961. Despite the holiday, the Russian space industry is far from thriving, having dropped below the United States and China in the space launch count. But there’s good news for the Russian cosmos, too: for one, young rocket scientists have big plans for conquering space. And also, the Soyuz MS-02 capsule safely touched down in Kazakhstan this week, carrying three cosmonauts returning from a stint on the International Space Station.

2. When you hear fruit in disguise, you might think a pineapple wearing a mask. But in the case of Russian fruit imports, apples from Poland are passed off as being from Belarus to get around sanctions. Domestic products are saving Russia money, but Russia just doesn’t have enough apples. That’s where disguised produce comes in. In most cases, the parties involved turn a blind eye to illicit imports, but prohibited products brought into the country despite are at risk of confiscation and destruction. What with the disguises, danger, and risk of death, these fruits could make a career in espionage.  

3. Noble though it was to gather in memory of the lives lost in last week’s subway explosion, an investigative journalist has shown that the allegedly spontaneous mourners were members of a pro-Kremlin movement. Spotting Anti-Maidan activists in footage and checking with the university that allegedly organized the event, the journalist found that the mourners were part of an initiative focused on bolstering the ideology of United Russia. Condemning mourners for their ideological motives might sound callous, but it shows that this “grief factory” may be the newborn cousin of the troll factory.

In Odder News

Church spires and department stores: now you see it, now you don’t. Or rather, now you see it, 100 years ago you don’t. Check out this slideshow of compared photos of Moscow a century apart.

rbth.com

Cosmonauts are strong, inventive, and brave. Especially the ones who smuggle alcohol – or sometimes, entire jars of pickles – into space with them.

rbth.com

Art is meant to shock and inspire. In this case, shock you with the horrors of bad dental hygiene and inspire you to floss every day.

themoscowtimes.com

Quote of the Week

    “A week before the launch we didn't eat anything except bread and tea, and we lost almost two kilograms (4.4 pounds). We packed everything in little cellophane bags and when we were being dressed, we placed the bags in the spacesuits. That's how I took off with pickles on my stomach."
    —Hero of the Soviet Union, cosmonaut Igor Volk, on his efforts to smuggle a bottle of cognac and two jars of pickles into space.

    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

    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.
    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. 
    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.
    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.
    A Taste of Russia

    A Taste of Russia

    The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
    The Moscow Eccentric

    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.
    Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

    Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

    A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
    Jews in Service to the Tsar

    Jews in Service to the Tsar

    Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
    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. 

    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