Happy Birthday, Rasputin

You must admit though that “girls who go through a very intense Rasputin phase” are absolutely a type.

Jan 21, 2019 2:00PM EST

Rosa Lyster @rosalyster

Rosa Lyster is a writer who lives in Cape Town.

There are four types of girls in this world: horse girls, Ancient Egypt girls, urban foraging girls, and Rasputin girls.
Jokes, there’s more than four types, and in addition I’ve yet to meet anyone who shares my very strong feeling that “urban foraging girls” are a distinct species. It’s bad to taxonomise women in this manner – we are all different and special in our own different and special ways.
You must admit though that “girls who go through a very intense Rasputin phase” are absolutely a type.
It goes without saying that I was one of them. AM one of them – I don’t think it’s possible to just shake off a fixation with Rasputin and move on.
A healthy fixation with Rasputin will survive numerous assassination attempts, including being poisoned and stabbed and shot in the chest at point blank range.
Just when you think your fixation with Rasputin is dead, a natural consequence of it having been shot in the chest with a revolver, here it comes surging back to life and needing to be shot another three or four times before finally collapsing in a snowbank, and even then.
There will always be another 700-page book coming out which claims to finally clarify the mystery behind the figure who epitomised the dark dawn of Russian modernity, and I will always be there to read it.
Even though you are like the third item on the list titled “Things That People Who Know Nothing About Russia Know About Russia” you still remain something of a cult figure.
This is a stunning achievement in a life and legacy full of stunning achievements and genuinely surprising twists.
Icon, legend, useful metaphor for all types of things, subject of an article titled “Is This the Foot-Long Preserved Penis of Rasputin?”, subject of a documentary called “Rasputin’s Penis: The Documentary”, and ongoing reminder that one must never take one’s eye off Russia for even a day. Even a cool half an hour.
You would think that last one would be obvious, but you would be wrong. Why do people continue to do it? Why would anyone stop paying avid attention to Russia for even one minute?
Russia: Land of Insane Surprises.
Russia: The Great Bear Is Always Up to Something.
Russia: The International Community Has Made Little Progress in Establishing Consensus Regarding How to Approach Us.
Just some slogans for you.
Happy Birthday.

Rosa Lyster

Comments on Happy Birthday, Rasputin

Want to leave a comment? Commenting is available to Popula subscribers only. Subscribe Now for unlimited access to Popula—and join our conversations—starting at just $4/month.

Each comment or response costs a tiny ETH fee of 0.00019 (about 5¢ in Ethereum cryptocurrency), payable from your Metamask.io wallet (the wallet is free, and takes just a moment to add to your browser). This system helps protect Popula conversations from trolls, fakers, Cambridges Analytica and other malign influences.

If you haven’t got any ETH yet and you’re a Popula subscriber, please write to hey@popula.com with your subscriber email address and MetaMask wallet address, and we’ll send you a little bit to get started! It’s pretty easy and a lot of fun to use, Yay.

If you’d like to learn more about cryptocurrency, Ethereum, and how Popula is using these new technologies to help protect speech rights and the free press, please visit our FAQ page.

I’m ready to subscribe to Popula! or Log In

I’m already a subscriber and logged in! OMG, try again please.

Hmm, you don’t seem to be subscribed or logged in. Click the ‘Subscribe Now or Log In’ button.

Hmmm, something’s up.

We’re having trouble checking your subscriber status. Try refreshing the page.

Click here to refresh the page!

Want to leave a comment?

Welcome! To leave a comment, you’ll need to log in, and also have your MetaMask wallet ready with some ETH cryptocurrency available.

It’s easy! Just visit metamask.io to install an in-browser MetaMask wallet. If you’re a new subscriber, write to hey@popula.com for $2 in free ETH crypto!

Click to continue to login

I’m already logged in. Check again!

Hmm, you’re still not logged in. Click the ‘Log In’ button.

Want to leave a comment?

Thank you for being a Popula subscriber! As a subscriber, you may leave comments, but you have to be logged in as commenter here first. This is an additional login—the login for your commenting privileges—and you’ll stay logged in after you log in the first time.

I’m already registered and logged in. Check again!

Hmm, you’re still not registered here. Click the ‘Register Me’ button.

Yay, you’ve been registered!

We’ve sent an email to your registered address at … with your commenting details. Please follow the directions in the email to open your commenting privileges and then come back here to leave your first comment!

OK, I logged in. Load the comments!

Hmm, you’re still not logged in. Click the ‘Log In’ button.

You’re already registered.

Thanks for registering! Please log in and you can get started commenting.

I’m already logged in. Check again!

Hmm, you’re still not logged in. Click the ‘Log In’ button.

Looks like you’re on the test network!

You need to connect to the Main Ethereum Network before you can leave a comment. Click on your MetaMask icon so the window pops up, then select ‘Main Ethereum Network’ from the network-chooser dropdown at the top.

Waiting for connection to main network…

You need to activate MetaMask to leave a comment!

You’re logged in and ready to leave comments! All you need is a MetaMask wallet and a little ETH cryptocurrency, just like with our microtipping system.

If you know what MetaMask is and have it installed, activate MetaMask and refresh:

Checking your commenting status…

Registering your account…

You Say You Want a Revolution (at MSNBC)?

Maria Bustillos

At some stage, MSNBC must reckon with the preferences of its own audience

Feb 24, 2020 4:00PM EST

By reason of being struck by an auto

Alexander Sammartino

Feb 24, 2020 1:00PM EST

My Dictator: Growing up in Ceausescu’s Romania

Oana Godeanu-Kenworthy

We believed—at least a little—the things we had been repeating all our lives.

Feb 21, 2020 11:00AM EST

OK, let’s activate MetaMask!

Hmm, looks like you don’t have MetaMask activated!

If that doesn’t make sense to you, click here:

Please grant us access

The MetaMask window will pop up and ask if you want Popula to have access to your MetaMask. Click the ‘CONFIRM’ button.

Don’t see the MetaMask window? It might have popped up behind this window… Take a look and see if it’s hiding somewhere!

Still can’t find the MetaMask window? Click here to try again:

If you don’t see the MetaMask plugin popup, you may need to click the MetaMask icon in your browser toolbar (looks like this: ) and enter your password to unlock MetaMask.

Waiting for access to be granted…

Your MetaMask may be out of date

You have an old version of the MetaMask extension installed. Before we can continue, you must install the latest version.

Here’s how:

Uninstall (don’t just disable) the existing extension from your browser.
Restart your browser.
Go to metamask.io and re-install the extension.
Come back here and try again!

We know this step is inconvenient, but it’s necessary to make sure this all goes smoothly!

Oops, we need access!

Your MetaMask extension is running, but for privacy purposes you have to allow us to connect to your MetaMask wallet.

You can’t tip yourself…

You can’t conduct a transaction where the source and destination wallet are the same. Sorry! Maybe you need to switch wallets in MetaMask first?

You need to connect to the Main Net before you can continue. Click on your MetaMask icon so the window pops up, then select ‘Main Ethereum Network’ from the dropdown.

Confirm your transaction!

Your MetaMask window will pop up in a few seconds, and you need to confirm the transaction in order for your payment to go through.

Hit that ‘CONFIRM’ button to make it happen!

Hmm, that comment couldn’t be posted.

Your comment was rejected! Here’s what the computer had to say:

You can try again if you want:

Want to fix that comment?

Maybe you’re not quite comfortable with this yet?

Decided not to comment?

Did you reject the transaction by accident? Click here:

Want to edit your comment first?

Hmm, something went wrong.

That transaction didn’t go through for some reason.

Try clicking on the MetaMask button in your browser bar (looks like this: ) and see if you have any transactions listed at the bottom of the popup. If you don’t see one for the comment you just tried to post, then try again:

Or just want to ask us about it? We’ll look into it personally for you.

COMMENT POSTED!

Comment posted successfully! Refresh the page to see the comment you just made. You’ll also receive an email notification of your transaction.

To see your transaction logged in MetaMask, click the MetaMask button in your browser toolbar—this one: —and your transaction will be listed in the popup.

You can also track the transaction on the Etherscan website. It usually takes under a minute to process, and you’ll get a notification from MetaMask when it’s done.

Track on Etherscan

If you have any questions at all, please let us know!

Ready to Tip!

How much do you want to tip?

You can adjust either amount to see how much ETH or USD you’ll be sending.

You can adjust the tip amount in the MetaMask popup window before confirming the transaction.

Participation in the Popula comment tipping system is optional.

Decided not to tip?

Did you reject the transaction by accident? Want to adjust your tip amount? Click here:

Try clicking on the MetaMask button in your browser bar (looks like this: ) and see if you have any transactions listed at the bottom of the popup. If you don’t see the tip you just tried to leave, then try again:

TIP SENT!

Your comment tip has been processed! Thank you so much. The comment author will appreciate it a lot, and so do all of us at Popula.

Want a receipt? (We won’t store your email address.)

Set your wallet address for tips

In order to receive tips on your comments, you must have a wallet address saved. Enter your wallet address below and click ‘Save.’

Or, you can:

If don’t want to accept tips, clear the address and hit ‘Save.’

We’ve automatically filled in the wallet address that you’re currently using in MetaMask. If you just have that one wallet, leave it as is and click ‘Save.’

That wallet address is invalid. It should start with 0x and be 42 characters long.

Hmm, we couldn’t save your wallet address. Try pressing the ‘Save’ button again.

Yay, your wallet address has been saved! You can now accept tips. Close this popup to continue commenting.

You have entered no wallet address, so you cannot accept tips. Close this popup if you're OK with that. Enter a wallet address if you want to accept tips.

Questions? Problems?

We know this cryptocurrency stuff is new and weird. We’re here to help you understand. Ask us anything!

hey@popula.com

Help: What is ETH?

ETH is Ether, a popular cryptocurrency generated on the Ethereum blockchain.

You’ll need some Ethereum cryptocurrency (ETH) in a MetaMask wallet in order to continue. Currently it’s not possible to use other cryptocurrencies, or in dollars or other fiat currencies.

For a comprehensive FAQ to help get you started, please visit our FAQ page.