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Russian Meteorite
Caught on Dashcam
(With Chelyabinsk Meme Update)


February 15, 2013 | Marina Galperina

Friday morning in the Russian Ural city of Chelyabinsk, a 10-ton meteor plummeted out of the sky. Inevitably, it was recorded on the dashcams.

The residents of the city are being treated for minor injuries to the flying glass and debris. According to the latest from the governor, 950 people were injured and 3000 buildings were damaged. “Do not panic, this is an ordinary situation we can manage in a couple of days,” Yurevich said, and launched the emergency Operation Fortress. The giant flaming rock was going 33,000 miles per hour, shattered 18-32 miles above the Earth and crashed into a frozen lake.

Let’s watch this dashcam video again. You may notice the driver is eerily calm and unnerved as he watches A METEORITE BURNING THROUGH THE SKY AND CRASHING OVER THE TREES. No big deal. What is he saying, in mumbled deadpan? Something like, “Fuck. Holy fuck, huh?” Why? The Russian dashcam blogosphere has a name for it. (ANIMAL already explained why there are so many dash-cams in Russia.)

железобетонное очко – “Anus of Concrete.” An honorific given to drivers who, faced with sudden danger like a huge truck coming head-on, remain calm, only saying “shoot” or “darn” quietly in the background, and efficiently steering away from danger, displaying some seriously fucking great driving skills.

This goes further than that. The city of Chelyabinsk is the butt of many jokes in Russia for its very “hardcore” gentlemen, the sort of jokes Dubliners make about dudes from Cork. There are several reasons for this, mostly because of videos like this one of a dude with a Viking helmet and a molotov attacking a tank-thing are from Chelyabinsk. Here are some Chelyabinsk jokes:

Chelyabinsk men are this hardcore! (See photo.)

Chelyabinsk men are so hardcore, cops bribe them.

Chelyabinsk women are so hardcore, even the bus drivers give up their seat. 

Chelyabinsk porn is so hardcore, it’s banned in Germany.

AND NOW THERE’S A NEW ONE. Of course.

Chelyabinsk people are so hardcore, in the winter it snows meteorites.

That was fast, Russian internet. That was fast.

More Russian meteorite dashcams: