June 21, 2018

Russia Makes Hay in Moscow and Surmounts in St. Petersburg


Russia Makes Hay in Moscow and Surmounts in St. Petersburg
World Cup Double Whammy

1. Russian fans around the world just died and went to heaven. Against the naysayers and the disbelievers (among which you may count this shamefaced newsletter), Russia not only won its first World Cup match against Saudi Arabia with a stunning 5-0 final score, but continued to impress with a 3-1 victory against Egypt. This virtually ensures that Russia will play in the Round of 16, but before that they will play their final group of four game against Uruguay on Monday, June 25. Who could have predicted this result, if not your favorite newsletter? Well, try one of eleven oracles that Russia boasts, from the famous Achilles the Cat (famous to us, at least) to a Beluga whale named Puziryok. Maybe TWERF can’t correctly predict World Cup outcomes, but surely at least one of our animal friends can.

2. American mixed martial artist Jeff Monson is running for City Council in Krasnogorsk, Russia (no eye-catching hook necessary for this story). Or rather, Russian-American mixed martial artist, as Monson recently received his Russian citizenship. The fighter just won the United Russia primary, making him a virtual shoo-in for the general election, which is scheduled for September. Check out this interview with Monson to learn what his platform is (more opportunities for kids), how much Russian Monson knows (not much), and if he plans to win (yes).

Photo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa5165ecE1E

3. Zabivaka, the 2018 World Cup mascot, will light up your night and even your skyline, if you happen to live in Kaliningrad. For those of you not as World Cup crazy as TWERF, Zabivaka is a friendly and energetic wolf who loves to play soccer. In Kaliningrad, a bright Zabivaka stands 37 meters tall, glows in the dark, and is a stylized part of a power line. Constructing this cheery structure was no mean feat: it consists of 2,000 small parts and 3,500 nuts and bolts!

In odder news:

Photo: branconegra

  • Flying saucer spotted: a rocket exhaust trail looks suspiciously like E.T.’s new ride

  • It happens to everybody: a taxi driver blames his crash in Moscow on mixing up the pedals

  • Setting sail for the World Cup, literally: one Brit sailed to Volgograd from Europe for the World Cup

Quote of the Week:

“Maybe [the UFO is] coming to watch the World Cup. Why not? We welcome all guests.”

— The Russian Embassy in Britain on the possible UFO sighting

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.

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Marooned in Moscow

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.
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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.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
White Magic

White Magic

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93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
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.
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.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

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.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

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