August 11, 2016

Olympians, Titans, and cats dressed up as sailors


Olympians, Titans, and cats dressed up as sailors

Olympian Update
A special section during the Rio Olympics

tass.ru

The Games are on! Russians in Rio have already snagged 15 medals (and counting), including in judofencingarchery, and shooting. A violent set of sports, perhaps, but there’s also cycling and gymnastics, with silver for both the men’s andwomen’s teams.

Unfortunately, Russia’s entire paralympic team has been banned on doping allegations. Is Russia at fault for putting “medals over morals,” or is excluding Russia a “grave human rights abuse” – and a sign of Russophobia? 

Phobias and their friends

1. Russophobia is a problem, and it’s going to take at least 2 million rubles to fix it. Russia’s Ministry of Culture is investing in research on de-Russification and Russophobia – in other words, prejudice against Russia in the West and elsewhere. This flawed perception of Russia, say those researching it, stems from Russia’s resurgence on the global stage. But whether the country is summed up as a threat or a haven for bears and vodka, there’s much more to Russia than that.

2. Russia and Turkey are back to being best buds. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a visit to “his dear friend Vladimir” with an eye to mending bonds between their countries. After a shot-down Russian plane on Turkish soil spurred tensions (and tourism dips) between the countries, and in the aftermath of the attempted coup in Turkey and heightened conflict in Syria, it’s a good time to look for a friend. Still, the internet responded stingingly.

3. Lake Baikal not only looks beautiful: now it will sound inspiring, too, with Leonardo diCaprio and President Putin potentially teaming up to be the voices behind the lake. Putin has yet to confirm whether he’ll pledge his vocal cords to the 3D documentary, to be titled Lake Baikal: The Heart of the World, but DiCaprio has already climbed aboard. Will the Titanic fare better voyaging across the world’s largest lake?

Contested Quotes of the Week

“I understand the people who didn’t congratulate me because the media was full of fake stories about me. […] All athletes should be above politics, but they just watch TV and believe everything they read. I always thought the cold war was long in the past. Why start it again, by using sport?”

—Russian silver-medalist swimmer Yulia Efimova on other athletes’ reactions to her participation in the Olympics, after previously being banned for doping – allegations many Russians see as a Russiaphobic conspiracy.

vs.

“You’re shaking your finger ‘No. 1’ and you’ve been caught for drug cheating. I’m not a fan.”

—American gold-medalist swimmer Lilly King on her perception of Efimova.

In Catter News

These cats are part of the crew on a Russian cruise ship. That’s all.

rbth.com

What better way to celebrateInternational Cat Day than an opera medley dedicated to meowsical – er, musical – kitties?

meduza.io

This cat has been a loyal member of this Russian family for 23 years. Except that’s not a cat: it’s a bear. (Or possibly a hoax.)

boredpanda.com

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

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.
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.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
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.
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.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
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.
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.

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