February 21, 2019

Black Snow, Brown Bears, and Sore Losers


Black Snow, Brown Bears, and Sore Losers
Unfortunately, writing “white” in the snow does not make it so. olegga48

Throwback Thursday

Michael Romanov. / RBTH

On this day 506 years ago, this mild-looking fellow became Russia’s first Romanov tsar.

 

 

 

Life’s Good When You’re a Bear…But Not Ilya Ber

1. All’s fair in love, war, and Russian game shows. One “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” contestant took “phoning a friend” a bit too literally. According to show host Ilya Ber, last November veteran contestant Alexander Drouz called him and offered to split the winnings if Ber gave him the answers ahead of time. For his part, Drouz claims that it was actually Ber who bribed him, but he just “played along” to “find out how far this person would go.” The producers, meanwhile, have banned both Drouz and Ber from participating again. What’s the game show term for when everyone loses?

2. Black as snow? Siberia’s white winter landscapes are turning black. This is a problem not just for fans of snow, but also for people concerned about air quality. That’s right: local residents are pointing to coal plants emitting huge billows of smoke into the air, which aren’t just ruining the snow, but also making it hard to breathe. On the bright side, it turns out black snow can make great art. One creative citizen, for example, decided to write “white” into the black snow. Maybe this situation isn’t so black-and-white after all.

Bear hugging man
Mansur’s guardian really knows the meaning of a bear hug. / Andrei Ivanov

3. The bear necessities. Three years ago, vintage plane restorers in Tver found a lonely orphan cub wandering around on their territory. A local aerodrome took the bear under its wing (pun intended), and now the bear (named Mansur) is healthy and strong — he’s even best friends with a husky. But, as it turns out, bears (just like the rest of us) cost money to keep happy. To help them bear the cost of caring for “Air Bear,” Mansur’s guardian has created a crowdfunding campaign and a Youtube livestream where you can watch Mansur chill for eleven hours straight. We personally hope their campaign bears fruit!

Blog spotlight

In the summer of 1922, Ruth Epperson Kennell, a children’s librarian, left New York City for the far reaches of Siberia. She travelled with her husband Frank and 132 other ‘pioneers’ who were eager to establish industrial and agricultural communes to aid the ‘new Russia’. Read more in Julia Mickenberg’s January 30 article on Russian Life.

In odder news:

 

Quote of the Week

“I can talk with him [Viktor Sydnev, co-contestant] so that, you know, also, well you know, whatever you call it.”

— Alexander Drouz to Ilya Ber, allegedly while bribing Ber for answers on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”

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

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.

Driving Down Russia's Spine
June 01, 2016

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 

Life Stories
September 01, 2009

Life Stories

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.

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.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

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.

Woe From Wit (bilingual)
June 20, 2017

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 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.

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