January 06, 2022

Weak Stomachs, Romanov Reboot, and Ciao to 2021


Weak Stomachs, Romanov Reboot, and Ciao to 2021
In Odder News

In this week's Odder News, say "Ciao" to 2021, say "Privyet" to someone living intentionally with a carbon footprint of zero, and prepare for another retelling of the last of the Romanovs.

  • We were right: Ivan Urgant's (er, Giovanni Urganti's) "Ciao 2021" variety/talk show on January 1 was as weird as expected. It was completely in Italian, with Russian subtitles, with fake suntanned and coiffed audience members in 70s wear on Russia's Channel 1. The best part was President Putin's speech that ended the show: the clock struck midnight on a different tower, and Putin addressed the nation in deepfake Italian in front of the Colosseum, here. Check out the entire show – if you have way too much time on your hands – here.
  • Russian-speaking Ukrainian blogger Stas Asket is showing the world that a completely eco-friendly life is not only possible but also internet-glamorous. Asket – which means “Ascetic” – gets everything he needs from a local landfill, including food, and millions of people are watching him do it. The 25- or 27-year-old (it's complicated) was born in the rundown house he lives in, and his parents left it to him when he turned 18. Ascetic will eat nearly all food that he finds in the landfill, arguing, "There is no stale food, there are only weak stomachs." According to his pictures, Ascetic has a dog but, we are guessing, no wife or girlfriend.
  • Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin has proudly announced that Moscow has 3.5 times fewer orphans than in 2010. What that really means is that Moscow is shifting to a foster care model, so there are 3.5 times fewer children living in orphanages. A whopping 93.4% of orphaned Muscovite children are not being raised in institutions anymore. At the end of December, Sobyanin gave awards to both foster and adoptive families that are helping to solve the problem of orphaned children. The "Family of the Year" has five adopted children. Sobyanin emphasized that not terminating parental rights, but returning children to their biological parents, is the system's priority.
  • Sergei Kozlov's The Romanovs: Loyalty and Betrayal is being turned into a Russian movie, and actress Milla Jovovich wants to play Tsarina Alexandra, the wife of Nicholas II. In an interview, Kozlov and producer/screenwriter Oleg Urushev said that Alexandra was a foreigner anyway, so the native Russian-Serbian Milla Jovovich who went to school in the United States and does not have perfect Russian should be a great fit. Filming is expected to begin in late 2022. In the concept photo, does anyone else think that Jovovich looks like Nancy Kerrigan?

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