Phallic-Shaped Ice Rinks, Flying Dyed Morozes, and Frightening Elevators

In this week's Odder News, phallic-shaped ice rinks, elevator-traps, and flying soldier Dyed Moroz.

• Novosibirsk has reopened its phallic-shaped ice rink for the winter. Locals boast about it on social media while officials vehemently deny it has any special shape. One Novosibirsk native went as far as getting a tattoo with her city's... ahem, distinct... symbol. Also, Russia's most famous (and only?) late night talk show host, Ivan Urgant, joked about it on his show, even singing an ode to the venerable ice rink.
• Speaking of Ivan Urgant, look out for his special, "Ciao 2021," on January 1 (10:30 p.m. Moscow time, Russia's Channel 1). Several still images of the special are here and remind us of that time that Kramer talked to his Seinfeld friends in the form of interviews on the set of The Merv Griffin Show. Yuliya Pereslid, who just came back from shooting the first feature film in space, shows up with space guns blazing. Based on the photos, the variety show promises to be very weird and, for some reason, a throwback to the 70s and 80s.
• Don't ignore the cries of people over 90 or you might get arrested! Also, don't ignore the cries of people stuck in elevators or you might get arrested! A 90-year-old woman living in the Leningrad region got stuck in the elevator in her building for nine hours. Her knocks and cries did not reach the ears of anyone interested in helping, so she called the dispatcher using the speakerphone inside the elevator. While promising her quick aid, the dispatcher did nothing, even though the elderly woman called the dispatcher every 30 minutes. Help never arrived, and she was only discovered when her grandson wondered why she was not responding to phone calls and came to the building to check on her. After 10 pm and nine hours without food, drink, bathroom, or a place to sit, the babushka was finally released from her prison.
• Apparently, Ded Moroz works for the Russian army. He landed in Yekaterinburg on December 27 (did any of the kiddos ask why he didn't wait until December 31?) on a military helicopter. One report of the proceedings argues that reindeer and a sleigh are so last century. The children who received gifts from Ded Moroz live in an orphanage, and they even got to sit in Moroz's cockpit themselves.