December 20, 2018

Merriment and Mischief


Merriment and Mischief
The Reckless, the Robotic, and the Rebellious

1. Watch out for fake robots, friends. Even the best among us can fall for their beautiful, shining allure. Russia-24, a state television channel, spent time at a youth robotics forum admiring Boris the “robot,” for his dancing skills. Sharp-eyed viewers were skeptical, asking where Boris’ sensors were, and why his dancing contained so many movements. And, above all, why did photos of Boris reveal a sliver of skin in between his head and body? Alas, Russia-24 had been duped. But let this be a lesson, both to our readers and the so-called robots that would try and take them in: never let them push your buttons.

Robot man

Photo: Gizmodo

2. Russian educators in Perm are finally doing as students want and getting out of their hair. Quite literally, too, as officials have told local schools to stop expelling students based on their hair color. This all started when one student was suspended from classes for having pink hair (the horror!), and the suspension was subsequently investigated. Not to worry, though, schools are still discouraged from letting students wear symbols of “asocial informal youth cultures,” whatever that means, as well as clothes that promote illegal behavior.

3. We get it, you’re Russian. One Siberian daredevil (lunatic?) awed crowds by being swung around in circles while hanging onto an excavator bucket at -37 degrees celsius, after which he was promptly doused by a bucket of water. All this in a pair of shorts and nothing else, no less. This was part of the “Open Winter Siberiada” games, a winter festival in a small town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, in which a variety of stunts and competitions occurred.

In Odder News:

Christmas ticket tree

Photo: Meduza

  • O Christmas ticket tree, o christmas ticket tree: a new Moscow metro art display smashes together holiday and commuting vibes.

  • Was it the 66th car that tipped them off? A Russian transport official was fired after his wife purchased a stunning 66 cars for personal use

  • Move over Khabarovsk, there’s a new capital of the Far East: Vladivostok

Quote of the Week:

“The festival was a big success and the Siberian freeze (minus 37 degrees Celsius) had no effect on the mood of the town’s residents,”

— The company Sibzoloto, commenting on the heartwarming conclusion of the Open Winter Siberiada

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

Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

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.
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.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
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.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
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. 
Marooned in Moscow

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.
The Latchkey Murders

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...
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
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.
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.

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