this radiolab is cracking my s up.

of course the atm is in greenpoint.

omg you have got to read all of this.

this scientist thinks he knows what happened to that malaysian airliner. READ IT!!

why do so many Russians have dashcams in their car?

have you noticed how many people captured the meteor strike on dashcam? here is why.

your fortnightly boat

the world's largest private yacht just pulled up into new york harbor yesterday. this thing is nuts.

  The yacht... is called the M/Y Eclipse, and is owned by Russian businessman Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea Football Club. It features 2 helicopter pads, 24 guest cabins, two swimming pools, a few hot tubs, a disco hall, a military-grade missile defense system, and a mini-submarine.
via

are you going to watch The Americans?

it is a new show kind of like homeland that is going to be on FX and it has felicity and the gay brother from brothers and sisters as russian spies or something. i'm going to find a way to watch this one. read a review here. it starts tonight.

some black swan shit

MOSCOW — A masked man threw acid in the face of Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the legendary Bolshoi Ballet, on Thursday night, leaving him with third-degree burns and possibly threatening his eyesight, Bolshoi officials said on Friday morning.

The attack followed a series of anonymous threats to Mr. Filin, 42, a dancer who rose through the ranks of the world’s largest ballet company to become its head.
...
As dancers kept an overnight vigil at the burn unit where he is being treated, his colleagues said they suspected that professional jealousy was behind the attack. In recent weeks, his tires were punctured and his car scratched, and his cellphones and personal e-mail account were hacked and correspondence published, his associates have said. A relative had offered to supply Mr. Filin with a bodyguard, but Mr. Filin refused because he did not believe that the threats would lead to physical violence, said Dilyara Timergazina, his assistant and adviser.

The threats, she said, “don’t show that someone with great conceptual thinking is behind that, but someone very primitive, with unhealthy aspirations — I don’t know how to put it — someone full of hate.” (via)

thrilling

these guys document their illegal mission to climb europe's newest tallest building in moscow. turn on the closed captioning on youtube for subtitles. and hold on to your armrests.

a ferocious bear attack caught on camera

"wait, why are you petting me. i am BITING YOU!!!"

also pwned

A Russian reporter at a press junket attached to the Russian premiere of Friends With Benefits had the gall to ask Justin Timberlake “why movies” (in lieu of, say, music). A delay in translation kept Timberlake from responding, so his co-star Mila Kunis stepped in to deliver a verbal smackdown in the reporter’s native tongue.

“Why movies? Why not?” Kunis, who moved to California from Ukraine at age 7, testily replied. “What kind of question is that? Why are you here?”
via

may i present...

... grand duchess maria of russia.

here she is being simply stunning at that other (better?) royal wedding last weekend.

SPOTTED: a giraffe

a new baby giraffe is going to be introduced to the world in (holds nose) cincinnati.

that's cute, but i still want one of those russian pocket giraffes that all the kids are talking about

did you go shopping today?

what did joel do this weekend?

gawker has a collection of the drunkest people on the internet.

omf. flying russian donkey.

from melissa.

you've got to be kidding me!

A three-month-old bear cub plays at the zoo in Stavropol, Russia. (via)

looks like our 2Pz bear's baby!

RIP, Government of Poland

our hearts go out to you. the president and their equivalent to the four joint chiefs and the leader of their central bank all died in a plane crash in heavy fog in russia. they were trying to land and came up short of the airfield and crashing into some trees. the national tragedy killed 97 people.

ironically, the president was on the way to this specific place in russia because to commemorate the loss of 20,000 polish elite officers killed by russians there 70 years ago.

nytimes

2ceeyute.

In Leningrad (St Petersburg) Zoo, the oldest zoo in Russia, a European Lynx has a frequent visitor who has been coming over to hang out with the big wild cat and now they are practically living together. This visitor is a calico cat who has bonded with the Lynx ever since the day she entered the enclosure.

According to the local people, the Russian cat considers the lynx as her mother and spends every day by her side inseparably. (via)

russian bobsled

i like the seal on the top, but the swizzly "russia" on the sides is dumb. also, isnt it weird that they wouldn't use their own alphabet on their sled?

they need it to stay warm!

Every Russian leader, it seems, finds a new way to try to confront the country's addiction to alcohol. Now, it's current President Dmitry Medvedev's turn.

His approach: declaring war on cheap vodka. As of the first of the year, vendors had to begin charging at least 89 rubles — or about $3 — for a half-liter of Russia's favorite drink. Last year, a thirsty Russian could have plunked down just $1.70 for one.

The Russian vodka tradition goes back centuries. The word "vodka" may even come from the Russian word for its main ingredient, water, says Nikolai Kamaletdinov, a guide at the museum attached to the Cristall vodka distillery in Moscow.

The problem is that sometimes Russians drink the liquor like it's water. They are convinced it helps them survive Russia's bitter cold. It is their national drink, in the way other countries have embraced wine or beer. But vodka is a much stronger drink — a problem for Russian leaders who have been trying for years to reduce consumption. (via)

terrorized by a russian blue

so this young man and his mother called police in new york city when their kitty kat went nuts and started attacking them.

they hid in a bedroom waiting for the police to show up.

turns out 16 pound Carmen was just diabetic

oops...scooped by ganimalz