Dracula's Castle, Trains, and Porta-Potties

In this week's Odder News, trains go to the cosmos and to the underworld; a city finds fame in a portable toilet; and we hope the Hollywood remake of a Soviet classic is not too bad.

• The classic Soviet New Year's Eve film The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! is getting the Hollywood treatment. Russian director Maryus Vaysberg has long dreamed of bringing the story of the irony of Soviet sameness to the whole world, and it will bear the inelegant name of About Fate. Thomas Mann and Emma "Isn't-That-Ashley-Tisdale?" Roberts are set to play the lead roles. Vaysberg is thrilled, but we're wondering how the inherently Soviet plot is going to translate to Hollywood.
• Book your ticket on the Russian Space Train, a romp through the platskart section of an RZD train following in Gagarin's gravity-free footsteps! It is a "painfully familiar domestic train" whose passengers are woken up three years before arrival at the next station. According to your friendly English-speaking conductor, all the, ahem, stuff, falls directly into space rather than on the tracks. Many fans of the eight-minute video have already asked for a full-length feature film. Don't forget your intergalactic passport, and hold on to your podstakannik!
• Speaking of trains, night tours of the Moscow underworld have resumed. From 11 pm to 2 am, groups of twenty can legally explore secret metro tunnels and stations and ride a real 1935 train. Visitors might be tired by the time they get to bed, but tour organizers want them to know that, when they look at the pictures on their phones the next morning, they will know it was not a dream. Unfortunately, as of now, you must flash a Russian Federation passport to take the tour.
• In Balashikha near Moscow, a couple built a stunning "Dracula's castle." The owners welcome strangers – perhaps a little too enthusiastically – but you would not want to get lost there at night!
• The obscure city of Nizhnevartovsk has become famous for its porta-potty. Its arrival was hailed with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. As these things do, the "celebration" got out of hand due to its viral spreading on social media. Here's hoping this exciting news is the only thing that spreads from this public "biotoilet."