February 15, 2020

St. Petersburg Hold-'em, or Russian Roulette?


St. Petersburg Hold-'em, or Russian Roulette?
We've only ever seen this in movies. We think it's a roulette wheel? Wikimedia Commons, Tori Lozano

A leader of a city precinct of St. Petersburg has resigned after authorities discovered an illegal casino in his apartment

Oleg Kalyadin, of Putin's "United Russia" party, had his apartment burst into by police officers. Inside, they discovered a dozen slot machines, roulette wheels, and poker tables, comprising a delightfully oxymoronic high-rise underground casino.

In response, Kalyadin asserted that he was renting out the property and had no knowledge of the seedy underbelly of his apartment. According to United Russia, he has resigned and his position was taken by another party member.

It's amazing what you can do with small spaces these days. No word if Ikea is planning on launching a new SPELA line (that's Swedish for "gamble," in case you were wondering).

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Fearful Majesty

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Moscow and Muscovites

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Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

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Murder and the Muse

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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.
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At the Circus (bilingual)

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