November 04, 2020

Pink Weather and QR-Codes


Pink Weather and QR-Codes

“In general, yes, winter is expected not to be cold. Winter is predicted in this color - I'm even afraid to pronounce the word – pink."

– Roman Vilfand, scientific director of Russia’s Hydrometeorological Centre, on the colors that will appear this winter on meteorological maps (pink means temperatures higher than norms)

Runner-Up Quote

“The company is joining the Moscow government's check-in program, which aims to combat the spread of coronavirus by informing people about potential contact with COVID-19 patients. The check-in system will be introduced in stages over the next week and will be operational in all 189 McDonald's restaurants in Moscow, including in shopping centers.”

Statement from McDonald’s on the implementation of a QR-Code check-in system in Moscow, to help combat the spread of coronavirus; the check-in system has been in place for nightclubs and bars since mid-October
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A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.

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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.

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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.

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Fearful Majesty

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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.

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