April 27, 2017

Floods of water, juice, and trendy ostrich photos


Floods of water, juice, and trendy ostrich photos

Juice, Juice, Baby

1. If your town has to be flooded with something, why not fruit juice? It may not have been quite as deliberate a decision as that, but that’s what’s flowing in the town of Lebedyan. The roof of a factory owned by Pepsico collapsed, injuring two workers (fortunately, not seriously) and releasing several tons of juice into the streets and toward the river Don. This week, it’s Juicy Flows the Don.

2. In a flood that’s not quite as sugary, a playground in Yakutsk is nearly a foot deep in muddy water. The groundless playground was highlighted by opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who quipped on Twitter that Russia’s military engagement abroad is hindering childcare at home. According to a city official, a local management company was supposed to pump out the water. If the kids get lucky, they’ll fill it with fruit juice instead.

3. The Russian government’s newly vacant post of Human Rights Commissioner will remain vacant. Former Commissioner Konstantin Dolgov has transferred to the presidential administration, and his functions will be transferred to the Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights. The latter department, however, generally focuses on Russian citizens imprisoned abroad. Human rights, as understood by European law, will no longer fall under anyone’s purview.

In Odder News

  • Looking for an edgy new haircut? For a ‘do that’s really on the edge, try the barber who cuts hair with an axe.

Quote of the Week

“I would like my photos to tell about the peace and interaction with the world [...] There is always a place of kindness and love!”
—Photographer Olga Barentseva on her choice to create fairytale-like photography featuring animals with human companions in nature. 

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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.

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.

Faith & Humor
December 01, 2011

Faith & Humor

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.

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.

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...

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