At first it looked like he was being attacked, but then I saw the cuteness and I just had to post it.
“Wednesday, April 10, 2013. Russian President Vladimir Putin plays with his dogs Yume, an Akito-Inu, left, and Buffy, a Bulgarian Shepherd in an undisclosed location near Moscow.”
(Source: The Atlantic)
The Lykov children knew there were places called cities where humans lived crammed together in tall buildings. They had heard there were countries other than Russia. But such concepts were no more than abstractions to them. Their only reading matter was prayer books and an ancient family Bible. Akulina had used the gospels to teach her children to read and write, using sharpened birch sticks dipped into honeysuckle juice as pen and ink. When Agafia was shown a picture of a horse, she recognized it from her mother’s Bible stories. “Look, papa,” she exclaimed. “A steed!”
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/For-40-Years-This-Russian-Family-Was-Cut-Off-From-Human-Contact-Unaware-of-World-War-II-188843001.html#ixzz2JU0gQITl
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I think my Boy Toy needs these. He can have the ones with the Mousies on them.
Valenki are traditional Russian winter footwear made of wool felt, so they are not water-resistant and are often worn with galoshes to keep water out and protect the soles from wear and tear.
Valenki come in various colours and are embroidered with designs ranging from ones aimed at children to elaborate modern concepts. They can be decorated with print or made with fur trim. They are not just keeping Russian city goers’ feet warm in winter, they are glamorous, customised pieces of folk art
Source: Vadim Kantor
Viktor Vasnetsov
The Flying Carpet (with detail), 1880, oil on canvas, 165 x 297 cm, Art Museum of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.
Viktor Vasnetsov was a Russian painter who specialized in mythological and historical subjects. He was described as co-founder of folklorist/romantic modernism in the Russian painting and a key figure of the revivalist movement in Russian art.
A flying carpet, also called a magic carpet, is a legendary carpet that can be used to transport people who are on it. In Russian folk tales, Baba Yaga can supply Ivan the Fool or Ivan Tsarevich with a flying carpet or some other magical gifts. Such gifts help the hero to find his way “beyond thrice-nine lands, in the thrice-ten kingdom”.
This painting represents Ivan returning home after capturing the Firebird, which he keeps in a cage. This work was Vasnetsov’s first attempt at illustrating Russian folk tales and started a famous series of paintings on the themes drawn from Russian folklore.
(via captainbrax)
—Looking at fancy jewelry (as I do from time to time) and I came accross this interesting piece about the “Vladimir Tiara.” It was smuggled out of Russia in 1917 in the wake of the Revolution and now belongs to the British Royal family
(Source: orderofsplendor.blogspot.com)
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1800’s Siberian bear hunting armor
(Source: fugu-suicide, via wilwheaton)
Soviet soldiers resting on the steps of the Reich Chancellery looking at German medals that have not yet been awarded, Berlin, by Evgeniy Khaldei, May 1945
(Source: collectivehistory)
Valery Bykovsky, Valentina Tereshkova and Yuri Gagarin (June 1965). Gagarin was the first man in space, Tereshkova the first woman, and Bykovsky holds the record for longest solo space flight.
Those are three world heroes right there.
(via trexhands)
I need this book because of reasons.
In 1961, Leonid Rogozov, 27, was the only surgeon in the Soviet Antarctic Expedition. During the expedition, he felt severe pain in the stomach and had a high fever. Rogozov examined himself and discovered that his appendix was inflamed and could burst at any time. With a local anesthesia, he operated himself to remove the appendix. An engineer and a meteorologist assisted surgery.
Like a boss
Fuck!
certified bad. ass.
(Source: the-cellardoor, via khrushchev-is-my-homeboy)
—Forgetting The Past
In the Balkan Mountain range in Bulgaria lies a frozen monument to communism, the Buzludzha, this flying saucer-like secret supervillain lair stands 70 metre tall and took 7 years to construct by 6,000 workers. Photographer slash explorer Timothy Allen took a flyby before stepping foot inside the derelict dome, left to ruin in 1989 after the revolution. The interior is full of communist mosaic frescos rising above the snow-impacted hallways. Ownership currently lies with the Bulgarian Socialist Party, who still debate over what to do with it (besides concoct world-dominating plans from within), but it’s still accessible to anybody intrepid enough!
(source: humanplanet, via: boingboing)
(via leanpox)
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(Source: cursivehieroglyphics, via captainbrax)
German infantry take cover in a ruined building. Stalingrad 1942.
By far
