June 15, 2017

The Wooly Mammoth of the Past Is the Hotel of the Future


The Wooly Mammoth of the Past Is the Hotel of the Future
Ancient animals, futuristic money, and Monday's festival

1. Monday was Russia Day, the nationwide celebration of state sovereignty featuring parades, events, and, well, protests. Moscow’s festivities included a historical reenactment festival, complete with Soviet troops, Vikings, and archaic torture devices for family fun. Meanwhile, anti-corruption activists gathered across the country in protests organized by opposition leader Alexei Navalny – himself detained before arriving at the protest. By varying accounts, dozens or hundreds of people were arrested by riot police. Whether they had a worse day than the Viking whose ship got trampled is hard to say.

2. When you hear the words “mammoth hotel,” you might just think “really big.” But in a proposed development on the coast of Lake Baikal, a hotel will be built in the shape of a wooly mammoth skull. According to officials in the Republic of Buryatia, the “ethnic and historical flavor” of the structure will attract more tourists and boost investment in the region. Nature lovers who know the unique beauty of Baikal might disagree. Still, chances are you haven’t been to many hotel conferences hosted inside the enormous skull of an extinct animal.

3. “Cryptocurrency can’t buy me love” just isn’t as catchy as The Beatles’ original tune about money. It may not buy love, but cryptocurrency – digital, encrypted forms of currency that exist outside of “normal” economies – can do more than you’d think. One farmer created such a currency called the kolion, which has helped him fund his farm. At first, this was a legal risk, but in an about-face in late April, Russia announced that it will legalize and regulate cryptocurrencies. With their apparent growing role in the Russian economy, it doesn’t look like cryptocurrencies will buy the farm anytime soon.

In Odder News 
  • Russia Day, via Instagram: the knights, floats, funny hats, and most festive photos of the Russia Day Celebration.
  • The daredevil trend of hitching rides on top of speeding trains involves equipment, a selfie stick, and a lot of luck.
  • You can now visit humans’ lizard-like ancestors in Kotlas – a town in Arkhangelsk oblast known as the birthplace of Russian paleontology – which just opened a park with full-size sculptures of ancient animals.

Quote of the Week 

"This is the same kind of tool as a tractor. Only it is a hundred times more powerful and more efficient."
—Mikhail Shlyapnikov, a farmer who has invented a new cryptocurrency called the kolion, on the increasing value and popularity of his currency.

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 Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
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.
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. 
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
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.
Russian Rules

Russian 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.
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.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 

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