May 30, 2019

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Fire/Lightning?


Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Fire/Lightning?
Blast off at the speed of light! @Rogozin

Throwback Thursday

Boris Pasternak painted in 1910 by father Leonid
Boris Pasternak, painted in 1910 by father Leonid Pasternak. / Wikimedia Commons

On this day in 1960, Boris Pasternak, one of Russia’s most famous dissident writers, poets, and translators, died in the Soviet Union. He was fondly remembered not just in the West, where he received a Nobel Prize, but also by his Russian literary peers, including Mandelstam and Akhmatova. Read some of their reminiscences here on Russian Life.

Avengerful Pomp and Fiery Circumstance

1. Avengers Endgame 2: Graduation Boogaloo. In Russia, as in the US, it’s high school graduation season. Some teachers at a Murmansk high school decided to send off their graduates in style. The graduating students were big fans of the Avengers, so the teachers filmed a 2-minute video of themselves as Marvel and DC superheroes (be sure to keep watching, the vid takes an unexpected turn at about 40 seconds). “We decided to be on the same wavelength as them,” said one teacher. Needless to say, the students loved it. It was a heroic way to end the heroic feat of school.

Teachers in Avengers costume
The Avengers return to say farewell. / 360tv

2. Onwards and upwards! The Plesetsk Cosmodrome launched a rocket on a cloudy Monday morning. About fourteen seconds in, a bolt of lightning hit the rocket. Nevertheless, the rocket continued its intrepid launch into the sky, prompting a major general at the cosmodrome to quip, “We’re all-weather forces.” As it turns out, the engineers usually anticipate such situations, even though they are rare. Let’s hope that next time around, lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice.

3. Keep calm and swing on. In Yamal, a boy was swinging cheerily in a playground. This would not be news if it weren’t for the fact that there was a huge fire burning right behind him. The short video has gone viral on social media and sparked comparisons to the popular “This is fine” meme. One commentator, however, admonishes us for taking this video too seriously: “What did you want from the kid?…He had already seen enough of the fire.” Honestly, that’s a fair point. Still, we can’t help marvelling at how he could keep his cool in such heated circumstances.

Boy swinging in front of fire
He didn’t start the fire. It was always burning since the world was turning / Vkontakte

Blog Spotlight

Tired of hearing about Americans going to Russia for the first time? Then read Victor Pogostin’s story about visiting an American subway (Subway) for the first time.

In Odder News

Swan father and baby
Father and baby. / 47channel
  • After the untimely death of his swan partner, one swan father in Gatchina took it on himself to raise their sole surviving swan baby. The elder swan is teaching the hatchling to nip at the grass and clean its feathers.
  • Make way for utkas! In St. Petersburg, drivers on a busy street stopped for two ducks crossing the road — in the crosswalk of course, these are clearly very law-abiding ducks.
Ducks crossing the road
Bon quackage! / Serg Mikerov

Quote of the Week

“Because of the abundance of expletives in the video, the audio had to be turned off.”

— A news website regarding a (terrifying) video of a tourist who got too close to a bear and just barely managed to escape

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.

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Some of Our Books

Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
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. 
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
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.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
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.
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.
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. 
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.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

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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.

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