January 03, 2019

Out with the Old, in with the Emu


Out with the Old, in with the Emu
A Christmas emu escape. The Moscow Times

New Year, New News    

1. The wheels of time continue to turn, and this week we witnessed the passing of another year. Quite a lot happened in Russia this year, and one poll took the opportunity to ask Russians what they thought the most important events of the year were. Both Russians and Putin agreed that the building of the Crimean Bridge (aka the Kerch Strait Bridge) was the event of 2018. Per the poll, this was followed by the increase in retirement age, the presidential elections, the FIFA World Cup, and the Winter Cherry Mall fire. For a bit of a lighter take on the year, The Moscow Times also collected their favorite Russian memes of the year. 

2. A suspected gas blast in Magnitogorsk pitted rescue workers against the -20 degree weather and time on New Year’s Eve. A large residential building was torn apart on the morning of the 31st, killing at least eight and trapping up to 40 more. Vladimir Putin flew to the scene to monitor the rescue efforts. There was some good news to cheer up the somber holiday: a baby boy rescued after 35 hours under the rubble.

3. Looking for Alaska: one lost Alaskan found himself celebrating Christmas in a Moscow detention facility, awaiting deportation. The truly bizarre story of John Martin III started with an attempted voyage to China in an 8-foot sailboat to reunite with his wife and child. The vessel strayed off-course, and Martin ended up in Chukotka. Martin was taken in by a local family, and he spent time giving English lessons and feeding pigeons, until he was sent to a deportation facility in Moscow. Martin remains positive, though, saying he’ll write a book to fund his next attempted trip to China. Frankly, we would buy that. 

Looking for Alaska
John Martin III on his boat. / Jerry Lamont


In Odder News 

Emu who
A holiday emu on the loose. / The Moscow Times
  • How emu-ising… an emu made a daring escape in a Russian Christmas special, and the internet rejoiced
  • Take a bike! One Siberian, disgruntled at a rise in bus fares, protested by taking to his bicycle in the minus 40 degree weather
  • Tarred by their own brush: authorities in a coal-mining region of Russia appear to have painted the polluted snow with white paint, though the ruse did not go unnoticed
     

Quote of the Week


“We recommend Nikita and all residents of Surgut to dress warmer and get to school and work using safer routes.”

— The mayor’s office of Surgut, telling our disgruntled Siberian cyclist to deal with it


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 Little Humpbacked Horse

The Little Humpbacked Horse

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.
22 Russian Crosswords

22 Russian Crosswords

Test your knowledge of the Russian language, Russian history and society with these 22 challenging puzzles taken from the pages of Russian Life magazine. Most all the clues are in English, but you must fill in the answers in Russian. If you get stumped, of course all the puzzles have answers printed at the back of the book.
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.
Russia Rules

Russia 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.
Steppe / Степь

Steppe / Степь

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.
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 Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
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.
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
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.
The Samovar Murders

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