Monday, February 04, 2008
Tadic wins!
I am sure a lot of people are relieved that Tadic won, and that the speeches of the candidates on hearing the results were civilized, and it looks like people are ready to get back to some semblence of normal life.
I do not have the same level of faith in the International Community that the S.O. does, so anything that lowers the ante in this region comes as welcome news.
I was up kind of late last night. I watched a Blacksploitation film with a young O.J. Simpson. It was called 'The Klansman' and was about things going to Hell very fast in a pink handbasket, in a small Southern town. The violence was considerable. I could not have watched this if the S.O. were around. It had a lot of sick stuff quite aside from all the shooting, three rapes, lots of murders, and I do mean lots, one castration, followed by shooting. I am not proud that the K.K.K. was ever a part of U.S. history, but it's too bad if people get a mistaken impression of boht the South and the rest of the U.S. as a result of such films. It was interesting to see O.J. on film before he was totally corrupted by his many later mis-deeds.
The other thing I watched was a re-run of (apologies to A.R. if I spell something wrong, go ahead and correct me!) 'Jesen stize dunjo moja' which is a really great series. There were some customs the people observed that I can't get an explaination for from my usual reliable sources. So I am going to post pictures and ask for someone to please comment and explain it.
Basically the people had something a LOT like Jack-o-lanterns, but I know that Halloween was never really a part of Balkans culture, it's a Celtic observance, still it looked a Hell of a lot LIKE Halloween. Any explaination would be greatly appreciated. The S.O. did not understand my questions, and I drew pictures too!
The other program I watched this morning has this French guy who skiis in WEIRD places where you'd NEVER think of skiing, he snowboards in such places too. Places like Kashmir where he showed some rather hefty Indians how to snow board, that was definately amusing! This time he went to Siberia, which looked Suspiciously like the Yakima Gulag. Then he went on to Mongolia. Now I always figured Mongols might occasionally have the right attitude to be bikers, just give them motorcycles and let them go. That was true! They showed Mongols enjoying a bit of cross country motorcycling. Probably Hell on the environment, but it looked like the guys were having a great time.
Another show I catch often is Zelena Panorama, it's a show for and about farmers. Often they show parts of the country I am unlikely to ever visit. This time they showed Tornjak dogs, and a family that raises this breed. Someone in town walks a REALLY gorgeous huge Tornjak everywhere, he's shown up in pictures on Flikr. His dog is well trained and well cared for, and a nice dog. Someone else in the near vicinity owns a big, very FAST Dalmatian. That dog scared the crap out of me one day, not because he did anything bad like bark at me, but he went by so fast I didn't know what I was seeing, just a HUGE blast of air and a black and white blur sped by me on the side where I don't see so well. A very gorgeous dog. There are many stray dogs and cats in Sarajevo. The neighborhood has packs of these dogs, but so far they haven't molested me in the least. They try to get stuff to eat out of the trash. There was one that looked like an Irish Setter mix I saw this morning.
A big favorite thing that I watch, even if it's a re-run is 'Positivna Geografija' This guy who looks like he has to be a Yakama or perhaps, given how much he smokes, an Anishanabe person, but no he is despite his trademark red and black wool shirt, and his jeans and sneakers and his longer than average black hair, a Bosnian does the show. He goes different places in BiH and just talks with people and it's interesting. Again he goes a lot of places I may never see in person. He's on F.T.V. Last night he went to this village near Mostar where a guy had a smoke house and was makeing suho meso. Already I was all eyes and ears.
Suho meso is delicious, and often kilo per kilo GOOD suho meso is cheaper than not as good fresh meat. So I mostly get it now, as it doesn't require hours of cooking, and in the event of the fridge failing, you don't have to worry about spoilage. Fresh meat of course can be a risk. Fridges here do not run as cool, and there are sometimes announced and unannounced power outtages as they repair the infrastructure. In fact you are not supposed to cook suho meso, you are supposed to slice it thin, maybe some fresh onion slices and garlic slices, and some bread if you want, then a cup of coffee, if you drink you might have wine or rakija with it. All in all delicious, and you are supposed to eat the fat parts. Here they call that the bijelo meso, and you had BETTER eat it. :) If you don't eat a lot of it, a little won't hurt you. The guy that had the smoke house said he eats a kilo to a kilo and a half a day, and he was thin as a rail, wirey and fit. He said, 'No it won't make you fat, it's those people that eat macaroni that get fat!'
Here is the funny part, all my life I have had th e sort of appetite that is not easy to control. I gain weight a lot more easily than when I was younger, and unfortunately appetite control pills are really dangerous. It turns out that a very small snack of suho meso will do the trick, I am talking two to four thin slices, then I don't crave the more fattening types of junk food. So the guy with the smoke house may have a point saying what he said. Seriously, I find there are since I added it to my diet, things I eat WAY less of, cookies, chocolate, macaroni for that matter! :)
A nice salad and a few slices of suho meso makes a perfectly adequate meal, and then some wine, or mineral water to drink with it. Seriously, I need to learn how to make this stuff because at whatever point I go back to the Yakima Gulag, I need me a smoke house! :)
I do not have the same level of faith in the International Community that the S.O. does, so anything that lowers the ante in this region comes as welcome news.
I was up kind of late last night. I watched a Blacksploitation film with a young O.J. Simpson. It was called 'The Klansman' and was about things going to Hell very fast in a pink handbasket, in a small Southern town. The violence was considerable. I could not have watched this if the S.O. were around. It had a lot of sick stuff quite aside from all the shooting, three rapes, lots of murders, and I do mean lots, one castration, followed by shooting. I am not proud that the K.K.K. was ever a part of U.S. history, but it's too bad if people get a mistaken impression of boht the South and the rest of the U.S. as a result of such films. It was interesting to see O.J. on film before he was totally corrupted by his many later mis-deeds.
The other thing I watched was a re-run of (apologies to A.R. if I spell something wrong, go ahead and correct me!) 'Jesen stize dunjo moja' which is a really great series. There were some customs the people observed that I can't get an explaination for from my usual reliable sources. So I am going to post pictures and ask for someone to please comment and explain it.
Basically the people had something a LOT like Jack-o-lanterns, but I know that Halloween was never really a part of Balkans culture, it's a Celtic observance, still it looked a Hell of a lot LIKE Halloween. Any explaination would be greatly appreciated. The S.O. did not understand my questions, and I drew pictures too!
The other program I watched this morning has this French guy who skiis in WEIRD places where you'd NEVER think of skiing, he snowboards in such places too. Places like Kashmir where he showed some rather hefty Indians how to snow board, that was definately amusing! This time he went to Siberia, which looked Suspiciously like the Yakima Gulag. Then he went on to Mongolia. Now I always figured Mongols might occasionally have the right attitude to be bikers, just give them motorcycles and let them go. That was true! They showed Mongols enjoying a bit of cross country motorcycling. Probably Hell on the environment, but it looked like the guys were having a great time.
Another show I catch often is Zelena Panorama, it's a show for and about farmers. Often they show parts of the country I am unlikely to ever visit. This time they showed Tornjak dogs, and a family that raises this breed. Someone in town walks a REALLY gorgeous huge Tornjak everywhere, he's shown up in pictures on Flikr. His dog is well trained and well cared for, and a nice dog. Someone else in the near vicinity owns a big, very FAST Dalmatian. That dog scared the crap out of me one day, not because he did anything bad like bark at me, but he went by so fast I didn't know what I was seeing, just a HUGE blast of air and a black and white blur sped by me on the side where I don't see so well. A very gorgeous dog. There are many stray dogs and cats in Sarajevo. The neighborhood has packs of these dogs, but so far they haven't molested me in the least. They try to get stuff to eat out of the trash. There was one that looked like an Irish Setter mix I saw this morning.
A big favorite thing that I watch, even if it's a re-run is 'Positivna Geografija' This guy who looks like he has to be a Yakama or perhaps, given how much he smokes, an Anishanabe person, but no he is despite his trademark red and black wool shirt, and his jeans and sneakers and his longer than average black hair, a Bosnian does the show. He goes different places in BiH and just talks with people and it's interesting. Again he goes a lot of places I may never see in person. He's on F.T.V. Last night he went to this village near Mostar where a guy had a smoke house and was makeing suho meso. Already I was all eyes and ears.
Suho meso is delicious, and often kilo per kilo GOOD suho meso is cheaper than not as good fresh meat. So I mostly get it now, as it doesn't require hours of cooking, and in the event of the fridge failing, you don't have to worry about spoilage. Fresh meat of course can be a risk. Fridges here do not run as cool, and there are sometimes announced and unannounced power outtages as they repair the infrastructure. In fact you are not supposed to cook suho meso, you are supposed to slice it thin, maybe some fresh onion slices and garlic slices, and some bread if you want, then a cup of coffee, if you drink you might have wine or rakija with it. All in all delicious, and you are supposed to eat the fat parts. Here they call that the bijelo meso, and you had BETTER eat it. :) If you don't eat a lot of it, a little won't hurt you. The guy that had the smoke house said he eats a kilo to a kilo and a half a day, and he was thin as a rail, wirey and fit. He said, 'No it won't make you fat, it's those people that eat macaroni that get fat!'
Here is the funny part, all my life I have had th e sort of appetite that is not easy to control. I gain weight a lot more easily than when I was younger, and unfortunately appetite control pills are really dangerous. It turns out that a very small snack of suho meso will do the trick, I am talking two to four thin slices, then I don't crave the more fattening types of junk food. So the guy with the smoke house may have a point saying what he said. Seriously, I find there are since I added it to my diet, things I eat WAY less of, cookies, chocolate, macaroni for that matter! :)
A nice salad and a few slices of suho meso makes a perfectly adequate meal, and then some wine, or mineral water to drink with it. Seriously, I need to learn how to make this stuff because at whatever point I go back to the Yakima Gulag, I need me a smoke house! :)
# posted by Katja R. @ 3:43 AM 
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Absolutely it is not like Bulgaria on that score, the government here is a lot more efficient and there are animal control people who periodically round up the strays. There is also some local branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals who try to help.
That's good--I've spent two summers in Bulgaria, and the number of stray dogs in Sofia is just staggering. I had a somewhat disconcerting run-in with a pack of them early one morning, while I was walking all alone from the train station to meet my wife at her grandmother's apartment. They acted somewhat feral, and for a minute or two I really thought they were going to seriously attack me. Fortunately, I had a heavy bag full of stuff to swing at them.
Actually, to be fair, the dog situation back in the Yakima Gulag was worse. Outside town, if dogs molest livestock, it is legal to shoot them, not otherwise. In town, you have to call Animal Control, which is WAY under-funded, and way understaffed too, and they can't always get to the problem in time. If it is a weekend you have to call the police too, and that may not work, the police do not put a high priority on dangerous or aggressive dogs on the loose. Some of the worst dogs in the Gulag have owners, very BAD owners, who won't correctly train their dogs, or care for them properly. That can be worse than encountering feral dogs in a pack. I have filmed and photographed dogs on the loose in the Gulag before.
I actually like dogs for the most part. I have more respect for some dogs than I have for some people, it's just dogs that cause problems I don't care for, and that coming down to it is a lazy, careless HUMAN problem! :)
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I actually like dogs for the most part. I have more respect for some dogs than I have for some people, it's just dogs that cause problems I don't care for, and that coming down to it is a lazy, careless HUMAN problem! :)
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