April 20, 2017

Counterfeit TP and Commuting By Ball


Counterfeit TP and Commuting By Ball

Ice, Ice, Baby

1. In the northernmost Arctic, an enormous Russian flag disrupts the expanse of snow. Is it a frozen mirage? Nope: it’s Russia’s newest and northernmost military complex, Arctic Shamrock, of which you can take a 3D tour here. Russia’s Arctic military presence aims at keeping tabs on other countries’ military activity and maintaining control of the region’s resources and the Northern Sea Route. And, on top of bolstering Russia’s Arctic presence, there will be ping pong.

rbth.com

2. How do you have an election when there are no candidates? That’s the question the Siberian city of Omsk is dealing with after all candidates withdrew from its mayoral election. To be fair, “all” was two, since Omsk’s electoral process involves the Commission for Mayoral Election selecting two candidates out of sixteen for a final round. After the selected candidates withdrew, the City Council declared the election invalid, and, for the first time, will be in charge of appointing a mayor for the city.

3. Counterfeit money wasn’t made by the mint. Counterfeit cheese gives a whiff of palm oil. But counterfeit toilet paper opens a whole new line of questions. In this case, however, the renegade rolls were manufactured in a facility in the Chelyabinsk region and sold under the label of a well known-brand, The discovery of the forged paper products was part of a wide sweep to discover and suppress the illegal production and dissemination of goods sold with false branding.

In Odder News

One way to beat traffic: roll through the streets in a giant inflatable ball (it's called a zorb). Yes, there’s a video.

rbth.com

Art of the Soviet avant-garde, smuggled to Uzbekistan on trains and trucks, is now part of a massive exhibit in Moscow. Get a sneak peak.

themoscowtimes.com

How do Russians celebrate Easter? With giant eggs, cakes and candies, religious services, and much more.

themoscowtimes.com

Controversy of the Week

Hold your breath (and your sequined outfit) – Russia will not be participating in Eurovision this year. After Ukrainian authorities effectively banned Russia’s contestant, Julia Samoilova, from participating, based on her having traveled to Crimea, Russia’s Channel One announced that it will not broadcast this year’s contest. The decision brings a layer of politics to a competition that’s usually about special effects and outrageous costumes.

Quote of the Week

    “One of the criticisms that Eurovision always gets is that it’s just kitsch and doesn’t mean anything. If you restrict that space further and take a harder line on what counts as political, you chip away more and more at the things that popular music can actually be about."
    —Catherine Baker, a historian who has written academic work about Eurovision, on the damaging impact of the increasingly political focus of the contest.

    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

    Bears in the Caviar

    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.
    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.
    Okudzhava Bilingual

    Okudzhava Bilingual

    Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
    Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

    Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

    Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
    How Russia Got That Way

    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.
    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. 
    Chekhov Bilingual

    Chekhov Bilingual

    Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
    Little Golden Calf
    February 01, 2010

    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.

    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.

    Woe From Wit (bilingual)
    June 20, 2017

    Woe From Wit (bilingual)

    One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.

    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.

    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.

    A Taste of Chekhov
    December 24, 2022

    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.

    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 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