January 17, 2019

The Beauty, the Beast, and the Bumbling Public Official


The Beauty, the Beast, and the Bumbling Public Official
The ice mushrooms of Siberia. Anatoly Isayev

The Wheels on the Bus Go Nowhere

1. It isn’t so easy, after all: the mayor of Saratov attempted to persuade his city’s residents to use public transport by using it to get to work himself. The result? A two-hour commute and a tardy arrival at his briefing! Luckily, Mayor Mikhail Isayev understood this as a call to action, not an embarrassment. He reprimanded snow-clearers for not being efficient enough, and has decided to continue the experiment by riding the bus in from every corner of the city to test the most heavily clogged roads. Although we applaud Isayev, we wouldn’t blame the people of Saratov for waiting to bandwagon on the buses until after the situation improves.

2. In a heartwarming turn of events, the hunter became not the huntee, but the rescuer. A man was fishing on frozen Maloye Lake in the Krasnoyarsk region, when he saw a deer that had fallen and become stranded in the middle of the lake. So what was he to do, except push the deer 400 meters to shore? The video speaks for itself, as you get a cute deer, a very classic Russian man discussing how anyone would save the deer and then talking about his homeland (and having a one-sided conversation with the deer), and, finally, beautiful views of a vast Siberian lake.

[INVALID]

 

3. What’s better than a mushroom? An ice mushroom (although our stomachs might beg to differ…)! Giant, natural ice sculptures have appeared on trees that grow in a reservoir in Siberia. When the water is high, ice freezes around the trees and is covered by a mound of snow. When the water is let out of the reservoir suddenly, the water level drops but the ice creation remains. The natural sculptures have become a local tourist attraction, alongside the nature reserve that the reservoir is a part of.

Ice Mushrooms
The ice mushrooms of Siberia./ Anatoly Isayev
In Odder News
  • Seems fake but okay: an official, forgetting a few historical events, stated that Russia never targeted dissidents
  • But Mom, why can’t we have Christmas when all the other kids have Christmas? The Orthodox Church is refusing to budge on the date of Russian Christmas
  • Russian film is changing: a new, controversial Russian movie was funded by crowdsourcing and published on Youtube
Quote of the Week

“Yes, Mikhail Alexandrovich took more than two hours to get to work… and was a bit late for the briefing”

— A Saratov city hall spokesperson commented on the results of Mayor Isayev’s bus experiment

 

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
[INVALID]
[INVALID]

Some of our Books

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

At the Circus
January 01, 2013

At the Circus

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.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

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.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

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.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

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.

Fish
February 01, 2010

Fish

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.

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