March 22, 2018

Russian Election Special with Winners, Losers, and Shavers


Russian Election Special with Winners, Losers, and Shavers
Voting, shaving and dancing
(all in the name of the election)

1. Putin put in power! STOP THE PRESSES! Vladimir Putin was re-elected as President of Russia this Sunday. Putin won 76.6 percent of the vote, with 67.47 percent of Russians voting in the election. This will be his fourth and (presumably) last term as president. The next runner up, Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, won approximately 13 percent of the vote. This landslide victory aptly follows the occasionally mudslinging (and sometimes water-slinging) campaigns that led up to it.

Photo:  www.kremlin.ru

2. Grudinin’s 13 percent is turning into a hairy situation. He promised blogger Yuri Dud to shave his (impressive) mustache if he did not get 15 percent of the vote on Sunday. Grudinin is trying to create his own shaving grace by claiming that he will only shave if Dud states on camera that the election was fair. Dud recently tweeted a photo of a razor, reminding Grudinin of his original promise. Either way, this will be a close shave for Grudinin.

Photo: www.kremlin.ru

3. Keep calm and waltz on: that’s the message from a protest in Yekaterinburg. Approximately 100 activists, frustrated with the predicted election outcome, waltzed on a frozen pond prior to the election to spread a message of optimism to the country. How did they convey this message? At one moment in the dance as they pause and step apart, the words “f*ck it, we’re dancing” can be read if looking at the dancers’ positions from above. It may only take two to tango, but, then again, you can’t spell anything fun with only two people.

In Odder News:
  • This election-themed costume contest in Omsk was just as competitive as any election (an iPhone was on the line)

  • Bubbles emanated from a St. Petersburg voting booth for 20 minutes: talk about blowing away the competition!

  • This Simpson-style cartoon reflects on the past six years of Russia under Putin

Quote of the week:

"Do you think that I will stay here until I'm 100 years old? No!"

—President Putin, after being asked if he would run again in six years.

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This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.

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Survival Russian

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Faith & Humor
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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.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
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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.

Steppe
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Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

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