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

    Frogs Who Begged...
    November 01, 2010

    Frogs Who Begged...

    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.

    Survival Russian
    February 01, 2009

    Survival Russian

    Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

    Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka
    November 01, 2012

    Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

    In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.

    The Latchkey Murders
    July 01, 2015

    The Latchkey Murders

    Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

    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.

    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.

    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.

    Fish
    February 01, 2010

    Fish

    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.

    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