December 16, 2021

Yappy, Gigolos, and Timofei Chalamov


Yappy, Gigolos, and Timofei Chalamov
In Odder News

In this week's Odder News, a surprising temperature range, TikTok has competition, and overnighting in a movie theater. 

  • Thank god for the Russian government: starting December 29, Russian women will be safe from "migrants and gigolos." A new law requires most foreigners staying in Russia longer than 90 days to be fingerprinted, photographed, and examined for infectious diseases by state doctors. (The article says the law applies to visa-free guest workers, complaining about Uzbek men in particular, but it actually applies to all foreigners.) Did you know that during Soviet times, foreign visitors to Moscow were highly educated, talented, and socially responsible? But these days, any old creep can "brazenly deceive the native people" of Russia!
  • Move over TikTok, Russia is getting into the short video social media business! The new app is called Yappy (Of course it is). Gazprom Media created Yappy, and you can download it from the Apple App Store and Google Play. TikTok has become one of the top five social media apps in Russia; here's hoping Yappy will join that list before long.
  • Russia is not the frozen wasteland many foreigners think: it has almost reached the biggest simultaneous temperature differential in one country in history. The differential last week was 85.6 degrees Celsius (186.08 degrees Fahrenheit). In Chechnya, it was 24.5 C (76.1 F), while in Sakha, it was -61.1 C (-77.98 F). The typical daytime temperature range in Russia is 10-15 C (50-59 F). Climate change is being blamed for such a range, though we think Russia's absolute hugeness is primarily to blame. Oddly enough, the United States still holds the record with a range of 88 C (190.4 F) in 1954.
  • An unexpected snowstorm left over 100 people trapped in a Norilsk movie theater overnight. Visibility was almost zero with winds at 27 meters per second. Of course, it is not the worst place to be stuck: all-night movies and all-night popcorn. Well, it is Russia: all-night tea and wafers, not popcorn.
  • Meet Timofei Chalamov, Russia's Timothée Chalamet lookalike. The lookalike – actually Artyom Privalov – recorded a peach pastry commercial for Tsekh 85 bakery chain that is taking the internet by storm. The new pastry is even called the Chalamet. Check out the lookalike, or the pastry, here.

You Might Also Like

Long Term Expats
  • September 01, 2011

Long Term Expats

There is a certain breed of expatriate in Russia who puts down deep roots and seems destined never to return home. Perhaps it is because, whether they admit it or not, Russia is now their home. We meet five American long-term expats whose ?stories reveal as much about them as about the attractive mystery that Russia exudes.
Snow More!
  • December 07, 2021

Snow More!

In an unusual turn of events, students in Chelyabinsk protest for more snow in the upcoming year.
Get Your Freeze On
  • December 04, 2021

Get Your Freeze On

Winter is here, and ice swimmers are diving in across Russia.
Leaving the Mark of Marriage at the Altar
  • August 02, 2021

Leaving the Mark of Marriage at the Altar

A move to allow Russians to choose whether their marriage status will be included in their passports has met with traditional backlash. What was that about a ball and chain, now?
A Blog for Babushka
  • December 23, 2020

A Blog for Babushka

A recent survey of the elderly finds that one-fifth of pensioners hope to supplement their income with a blog.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
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...

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
PO Box 567
Montpelier VT 05601-0567

802-223-4955