June 15, 2017

The Wooly Mammoth of the Past Is the Hotel of the Future


The Wooly Mammoth of the Past Is the Hotel of the Future
Ancient animals, futuristic money, and Monday's festival

1. Monday was Russia Day, the nationwide celebration of state sovereignty featuring parades, events, and, well, protests. Moscow’s festivities included a historical reenactment festival, complete with Soviet troops, Vikings, and archaic torture devices for family fun. Meanwhile, anti-corruption activists gathered across the country in protests organized by opposition leader Alexei Navalny – himself detained before arriving at the protest. By varying accounts, dozens or hundreds of people were arrested by riot police. Whether they had a worse day than the Viking whose ship got trampled is hard to say.

2. When you hear the words “mammoth hotel,” you might just think “really big.” But in a proposed development on the coast of Lake Baikal, a hotel will be built in the shape of a wooly mammoth skull. According to officials in the Republic of Buryatia, the “ethnic and historical flavor” of the structure will attract more tourists and boost investment in the region. Nature lovers who know the unique beauty of Baikal might disagree. Still, chances are you haven’t been to many hotel conferences hosted inside the enormous skull of an extinct animal.

3. “Cryptocurrency can’t buy me love” just isn’t as catchy as The Beatles’ original tune about money. It may not buy love, but cryptocurrency – digital, encrypted forms of currency that exist outside of “normal” economies – can do more than you’d think. One farmer created such a currency called the kolion, which has helped him fund his farm. At first, this was a legal risk, but in an about-face in late April, Russia announced that it will legalize and regulate cryptocurrencies. With their apparent growing role in the Russian economy, it doesn’t look like cryptocurrencies will buy the farm anytime soon.

In Odder News 
  • Russia Day, via Instagram: the knights, floats, funny hats, and most festive photos of the Russia Day Celebration.
  • The daredevil trend of hitching rides on top of speeding trains involves equipment, a selfie stick, and a lot of luck.
  • You can now visit humans’ lizard-like ancestors in Kotlas – a town in Arkhangelsk oblast known as the birthplace of Russian paleontology – which just opened a park with full-size sculptures of ancient animals.

Quote of the Week 

"This is the same kind of tool as a tractor. Only it is a hundred times more powerful and more efficient."
—Mikhail Shlyapnikov, a farmer who has invented a new cryptocurrency called the kolion, on the increasing value and popularity of his currency.

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

Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
The Moscow Eccentric

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.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
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.
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

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.
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. 
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.
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.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 

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