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The Russian 'make-it-work-with-what-you've-got' attitude has been around for a loooong time. I remember riding on a (hand-made!) 20' boat on Lake Baikal with a bunch of the scientists from the Limnological Institute in Irkutsk back in the early 90's. The boat had a cabin, stove, bunks, the works, and lots of odd-angled, surprisingly high quality riveted aluminum.

It had been a group project for the scientists, and apparently they had hand-built the craft out of salvaged material from a plane crash just a few months prior. None of them were shipbuilders per se, but the ability to adapt what was available to what was needed common to all of them was genuinely impressive.

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There is a book that shows pictures of Russian/Soviet artifacts from this time period. Absolutely worth checking out if you're interested in this kind of thing. It's called Home-Made: Contemporary Russian Folk Artifacts, by Vladimir Arkhipov. It's hard to track down, but well worth it if you can.

Hm. That's a tall order and I am by no means an expert. Maybe try Medieval Russia by Janet Martin. It's not heavy on society but focuses more on rulers, dynasties and succession. It has been criticised as portraying that too cleanly. It's an easy read though IMO. However, a large part of it is dedicated to the Mongol and post-Mongol era.

Another one would be Kievan Russia by George Vernadsky. It's a bit dry in places and a bit dated but certainly still works as an overview and the "data" is still valid. With 430 pages it's not exactly "short" though. There is a real cheap used one on offer (linked) so buy it quickly before I do ;)

Finally, I recommend asking r/history or r/askhistorians

Mainer here. Buy nothing but Ben's Deet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001GCU3VM?th=1. I keep one in my backpack, one in the car, and one in my home. The formula is almost 100% deet. You'll get used to the scent when you see your friends being eaten alive.

> supportive the populations the countries participating in the sanctions currently are of the whole "Russia is evil, lets sanction them" narrative.
> For example in Canada's case, I would estimate that Harper is more alike to an over-eager but small dog trying to pull that sleigh by itself with no motivation by US required.

That's largely to do with conflict over oil and gas rights in the arctic continental shelf. IIRC a couple years back the Russians planted a flag on the sea floor at the north pole. It's also the subtext to the conflict over the fancy new fighter jets the Conservatives have been trying to purchase and whether or not they are as capable or effective as the current F18s. To a lesser extent Canada is at odds with the US over this as the Americans slice of the arctic circle is a tiny little strip north of Alaska

Buuuttt no one talks about arctic sovereignty, including poli sci policy wonks like myself. The Future History of the Arctic by Charles Emmerson is a good read if you're into the climate change/energy resources/environmental intersections of foreign policy in the far north. ^(sorry but I never get to talk about this)

FRED & FRIENDS IPLUNGE PHONE STAND

Fred & Friends iPLUNGE Phone Stand

You can get an RC vehicle like this, called the Terrain Twister. I had one when I was younger.

Probably something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Slime-Academy-Instant-Gallons-Powder/dp/B07B3XWBP2

Do you make it in a food processor or blender? We mash ours with a masher. That's why we call them mashed potatoes. Otherwise, those among us who are civilized, use either a ricer or some other kind of machinery and call it pureé.

Reminds me of the album cover of Swarm, by Shoveljerk.

I was wondering what's up with copper mug. Found out that they are sold under Moscow Mule name and stumbled upon some trivia.

well.. you could lol

Many years ago, a Canadian writer produced a book on this very theme.

Instantly thought of this.

Here ya go. Tube for it.

http://www.amazon.com/portrait-Vladimir-Collectors-U-S-S-R-anniversary/dp/B00FOPZQGO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1398133831&sr=8-2&keywords=Lenin+carpet

Reamde.

[it literally took me 20 seconds to google this. It took you longer to type your long ass ridiculous comment](6 Pound Taylor Pork Roll Also Known As Taylor Ham https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FSB3GW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_76EYBbSG3WJS6)

If you really want to blow your mind check out this book.

American Betrayal: The Secret Assault on Our Nation's Character https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250055814/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_fgTsDb5KFKCTY

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nothing-True-Everything-Possible-Surreal/dp/1610394550/ref=nodl_

> In the office of the Soldiers’ Mothers the walls are lined with photographs of dead soldiers. I’ve come to interview four eighteen-year-olds who have recently fled from a nearby base called Kamenka. I’m late, but they’re all waiting quietly and jump to attention when I walk in. They wear hoodies and the football scarves of Zenit, the St Petersburg football team, and are desperate to prove they didn’t just run away because of common initiation, that they’re loyal, tough. They seem embarrassed by having to take shelter with fifty-year-old women. They never call the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers by its name, just ‘the Organisation’.

> ‘You get beaten up, that’s fine. I pissed blood but that didn’t scare me,’ says one, the skinniest.

>‘Stools broken over your head. It’s good for you,’ echoes another. ‘They put a gasmask over your face, then force you to smoke cigarettes while you do press-ups. If you get through that you’re a real man.’

>‘I’m not red …’ they all repeat. ‘Red’ means ‘traitor’. It’s a prison word: in the 1940s Stalin started to fill up the ranks of the army with prisoners, infecting the system with prison code and hierarchies.

>‘You need discipline. But what happens at Kamenka has nothing to do with discipline.’ ‘The “grandfathers” beat you to extort money, not because they want to make a soldier out of you.’

>The conscripts spend most of their time repairing and repainting military vehicles, which are then sold on the sly by Kamenka’s command. The ‘spirits’ are essentially used as free labour.

>The boys had run away after a night of non-stop beatings. The ‘grandfathers’ had been drinking all day, and then at night they began to whack the boys with truncheons. The commanding officer came by but did nothing; commanding officers need the help of the ‘grandfathers’ in their larger corruption schemes and let them have their fun.
They go to great lengths to cover up for the ‘grandfathers’. In one week, the Soldiers’ Mothers told me, five ‘spirits’ at Kamenka had their spleens beaten to a pulp. The commanders couldn’t take the ‘spirits’ to a normal hospital; too many questions would be asked. So they had to take them privately, paying 40,000 roubles (over £ 650) for each operation.

>At 6 a.m. the ‘grandfathers’ told the ‘spirits’ they needed to each bring 2,000 roubles (£ 35) by lunchtime or they would kill them. One of the conscripts, Volodya, decided to make a run for it. He slipped through the fence and made it to the road. His father had picked him up and brought him to the Organisation.

>Volodya mutters as he tells his tale. I have to keep on asking him to speak up. ‘Of course it’s because the commanding officer in the army is a darkie from the Caucasus. The darkies control the camp, it’s all their fault,’ he tells me. The women from the Organisation tut-tut and shake their heads. They hear this every day, especially in St Petersburg, the skinhead capital, and especially among the supporters of Zenit, Volodya’s team.