April 19, 2018

Hot and Cold: Spies, Armageddon, and Skiing Half-Naked


Hot and Cold: Spies, Armageddon, and Skiing Half-Naked
Bovines, Bikinis, and Bomb Shelters

1. There’s a new secret weapon in the world of espionage: cows. At least, the Russian government thought there was. One Russian farmer was accused of espionage for ordering GPS tracking devices. This turned out to be a cock and bull story, so to speak, as he actually needed the GPS devices for keeping track of cows that strayed from the herd. The Russian government has apologized for the mistake, and the farmer has accepted the apology. Good thing the Russian government is sticking to some measure of a-cow-ntability.

2. The end is nigh, and it’s time to stock up on water. That’s the message from some Russian journalists, who are urging viewers to prepare for a nuclear apocalypse in reaction to new tensions between the United States and Russia. What’s on the grocery list? Fewer sweets and more water, advises one journalist. Say what you will about nuclear war, but it sounds like it will help enforce a healthy diet.

Photo: Россия 24

3. The world has seen a new record broken and is experiencing a new dawn of human accomplishment. What record? This week, Russians set the new record for the most people skiing downhill while wearing a bathing suit: 1,525. The record-breaking event was part of an annual Siberian snow festival, Grelka Fest. Grelka Fest also hosted a concert, skijumping into a pool, and a festival of colors celebration. The Russian aptitude for fun in the very cold sun seems to know no bounds.

Photo: KrekLife

In Odder News:
  • Russia’s turning up the heat: Moscow experienced its hottest April 16th in 70 years when temperatures reached 20°C (68° F)

  • Everyone deserves a fresh start for spring! Check out these great photos of monuments getting a good spring cleaning.

  • A pretty kopek: the most expensive single room in Moscow is a whopping $225,000

Quote of the Week:

“Sweet tooths will have a hard time: Chocolate, candy, and condensed milk will have to be left in your past life.”

—A dire warning from a Vesti-24 news anchor

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

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.
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. 
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.
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.  
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part 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.
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.
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.
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. 
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. 

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