May 03, 2018

Flagging Relations, Funny Money, and Floating Laundromats


Flagging Relations, Funny Money, and Floating Laundromats

What Goes Up Must Come Down

1. It’s harder to rally round the flag when you have no flag. Russia is insisting that the United States return the Russian flag to its rightful place on the flagpole at Russia’s seized consulate in Seattle. Oh, and Russia would also like its consulate back. In the meantime, Russia polled Twitter users regarding which American consulate Russia should close, which led to the closing of the (un)lucky American consulate in St. Petersburg. As for the Russian flag, a U.S. diplomat confirmed that it will be returned to Russia. All in all, this is looking to be yet another “banner” year for U.S.-Russia relations.

Photo: Vexillus from Glasgow, Scotland

 

2. The Russian ruble was knocked down a few pegs, literally. Vandals destroyed a monument to the Russian ruble outside the Central Bank branch in Syktyvkar, Russia. The once sleek, glass-and-metal structure is now a pile of glass shards and an overturned ruble sign. This incident hits a little too close to home, as the ruble recently fell against the dollar after newly imposed American sanctions. At press time, the vandals were still unknown, but you can bet your bottom ruble that if caught, they will pay dearly.

Ruble ruckus

Photo: ProГОРОД

 

3. That’s one more item checked off the laundry list! The town of Veliky Ustyug is building floating laundromats at the junction of its two rivers. Keep in mind, these aren’t your everyday American laundromats: these are laundry stations that help people better wash their clothes in the river. There’s even a chance Ded Moroz (Father Frost), Russia’s version of Santa Claus, will give his clothes a good rinse there, as he is rumored to live in the town. If hand washing your clothes with Russia’s Santa doesn’t sound like good clean fun, then we don’t know what does.  

In Odder News:

Tiger hunting

Photo: Kaliningradru

 

  • A whole different animal: a zoo practices catching tigers by dressing up an employee in a tiger costume. Hilarity ensues.

  • A last minute goal is scored as the Samara World Cup stadium is finished the day before its first test match

  • Check out Russian artist Anastasia Bulgakova’s spot-on drawings of different countries as warriors

Quote of the Week:

“Pretty, cold, straightforward and with diplomatic skills of a sewer drain. Still, if you know her a bit, she will show you how warm and loving she can actually be.”

— Anastasia Bulgakova’s description of her personified sci-fi drawing of Russia

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

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. 
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
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.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
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.
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.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
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.
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. 

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