Sunday, May 31, 2009

 

Prairie Home Companion in St. Louis

I mention this because Garrison Keillor did NOT avail himself of the rare in America opportunity to go out for cevapi! It would have been so easy! St. Louis has the highest numbers of Bosnians outside Bosnia-Hercegovina of anyplace in the U.S. He missed out on some good eatting opportunities!

Friday, May 29, 2009

 

Amazing Hoop Dancer



This young lady is very talented and nice!

 

Tiin-Ma

IMAG0004

some very nice elk jerky and very lovely beadwork on display. The man is Reggie Johnson.

 

The Suspicious Smoke



it was only a test, but it had me going there...

Thursday, May 28, 2009

 

You know your country is in trouble when...

the premier financial newspaper of the United States of America, maybe the WORLD has an article about weed farms... NO NOT THAT KINDA WEED!

I am talking about farms where people commercially grow certified organic weeds, such as dandilions, lambs quarters, stinging nettles itd.

I used to be able to purchase any of the above and a few others for like one KM a pound, in re-used plastic shopping bags. I did so pretty regularly too because these greens are cheaper and more nourishing than lettuce, or spinach, or some others I could name.

In this blog years ago I put in two of my personal recipes for dandelion greens, and I think I put my Irish stinging nettle soup recipe in here.

Guess how much dandelions cost in the U.S.? it's a matter of public record, the Wall Street Journal says $9 a pound! jupi! joooooj!
I went home and told the house-mates we need to start us a weed farm! NO NOT THAT KINDA WEED FARM!

 

Neostatila voda

Nema voda kod kuc danas! No water at home today. Yesterday the city was testing the water system and scared a lot of people (including your friendly editor who thought it was some new plot by Al-Qaida!) by using some sort of smoke. I was off getting the ice cream for my housemate's birthday and backtracked in search of a land line to try and report it. I ran into someone who was involved with all the new construction at the People's Institute of Higher Re:Education and he set me straight. I thanked him and then filmed it because it really really did look suspicious as Hell! Might be nice in one of my little films.

The dream catcher went over well as a present. Right now it's in the dining area hanging from the cieling fan. S. is going to put it in her room near her sleeping area like you are supossed to.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

 

Tiin Ma Club Cultrual Day* (correction)

So I did make it to this event and really enjoyed it very much! There was a young lady who did a Hoop Dance, and she explained about it. I didn't know that at one time it was a secret and very sacred healing ritual, and still is if it's done in that way. At Pow-Wows of course it's done in competition. I filmed most of that dance, but had to save room for the Alaskan dancers, who performed some utterly charming dances, about ducks, swans, friendship, an owl, sobriety and the real crowd pleaser, the seal hunt! The girls portrayed the hunters in a kayak, and a couple of guys were seals, a well built but thin guy got released as he was too thin, and a rotund young man was hauled in, it was truely charming.
I stuck around to make a dream catcher. I wasn't going to at first, but changed my mind, because my housemate S. has a birthday today and I didn't have enough money to get her something really nice. So I took the workshop and emerged with a pretty decent dream catcher that she loves, and the makeings of a second one.
You're supposed to give the first one away, for the same reason that you give the meat of a first kill or catch away. I learned stuff I never knew about the dream catchers and met some nice people.
Oh had some delicious elk jerky that a fellow from Wapato named Reggie Johnson makes.

 

Native American Cultural Events

I am spending the day on campus and seeing all the stuff the Tin-Ma club is up to. Music, Indian tacos for a buck that sort of thing. I plan to take pictures too. Maybe some will wind up here.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

 

Had a quiet weekend

A friend of mine turned 85 so I went to his birthday party it was in the Sun Towers. This is special housing for older people. It was a nice party, got to exchange Nasrudin stories with one guy who came with his wife. One lady had really tried to watch the Memorial Day parade, but missed it because it was so short. So I showed her my little film clips.
I did more laundry than I usually do. There were piles so I got them done and sorted. I slept a lot to try and recover from the vertigo I went through on Friday. I feel pretty decent today.
The weather is nice and it's good to have this library available! Nice air conditioning! :)

Saturday, May 23, 2009

 

Memorial Day Parade

I have been in the Yakima Gulag for something over 20 years minus time spent in BiH and Croatia. Well they always have had a Memorial Day parade, but I have never gone for one reason or another, work, then homework then hous-sitting at my daughter's.

It's kind of a dinky parade, very short. The Martin Luther King day march is bigger and this is a Republican majority area!

Still it was enjoyable. Didn't see anyone I actually knew, but I did see a guy who had a striking resemblence to Karadzic when disguised as Dr. Natural.

Then while waiting for my turn at a computer read the latest National Geographic, a short piece on Arab Christians by an Arab Christian American.

It's a very good article and it illustrates a number of points I have made over the years in discussing the Middle East with friends and people I well ... discuss things with.

Do read it if you get the chance!

Friday, May 22, 2009

 

Vertigo isn't fun...

I don't know what it's about but I had the absolute WORST vertigo I've had since coming back to the States! I was really dizzy. No my drinking habits are not to blame as I gave up that nonsense some time ago. Some people just get vertigo for no obvious reason.

I spent most of yesterday working over my Flikr page, that was fun, I found pictures I'd forgotten about and some will go up here for my readers to enjoy.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

 

Steam Engine, BiH



this film clip is one I took last year while I was in Sarajevo, it shows what in India is called a 'Black Beauty',

The show I was watching is 'Positivna Geografija' and Nisvet was taking this train. I put it here because they actually still let people smoke on the trains as of last year!
I like Nisvet because he looks like a Yakama person (as in a member of the Yakama Nation.) He has been eating, smoking and drinking his way through BiH and a few neighboring countries for some time and I really miss his show! :)

 

Today's Posts Brought to You By...

The Wonderful People at Tropical Heat a coffee shop on Tieton Drive in the Yakima Gulag!

 

And BiH got jacked in Eurovision AGAIN!

http://www.eurobosniamp3.com/

such cute guys too! and it is a nice song. The winners weren't bad or anything, they just weren't Bosnia! Jebes zemelja ko Bosna nema!

 

A less and less Free World or Badges We don't need no stinkin badges!

I am in Rant Mode o.k.! ? I was all set to do a post about Mike Butterfield's place, Yakima Aerosport and the whole concept of General Aviation and manufacturing places on the property of the McAllister International Airport coming under some T.S.A rules.

I knew that it would take a while to go over the ins and outs of this stupid busines. Instead, I have to go to a coffee shop or the Safeway, depending on how far I care to walk carrying a four pound lap top. I have degenerative bone changes in 5 cervical vertabrea, so this decision is NOT to be taken lightly!

O.K. back to badges at the airport....

The General Aviation crowd here in the Yakima Gulag are all traceable to the Wright Brothers in a really DIRECT line of succession.....

As in McAllister was trained by the Wright Brothers and he trained the majority of the people who fly in and out of our Gulag.

All these people are good Americans.

The same goes for the guys who build and fix small planes here. There may be a few people with arrest records in their remote pasts but having an arrest record is a LONG LONG WAYS from having bad intentions toward the United States of America!

The computer access problem at the Yakima Gulag Institute of Higher Re:Education has an awful lot to do with people abusing the systemn to get at pornography. I wish people would JUST GROW UP! What does anyone that stuff for?
It's really boring!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

 

So I decided some retail therapy was in order....

I was in a crappy mood due to the lurker situation and other stuff so I called a friend who is generally happy, and we went to the junk stores and I got some stuff I need for godisnije. Godisnije is a concept few Americans get, it's a little vacation the family is taking.
So I needed a non-trashed but cheap suitcase, big enough for a weeks worth of clothes and my lap top, and maybe a towel or two, and I found a pretty dress for cheap that would have been expensive new. So I am at least cheered up.
Ach what a week so far!
It HAS to HAS to really start getting easier! :)

 

Lurkers Part Deux....

Yeah whoever it is was in the alley at a LESS un-Godly hour, before 10:30 PM when I got home. So who knows....... All I know is they made noise. That's all my housemates know.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

 

Lurkers

No not that kind of lurkers! I am talking about the S.O.B. (s?) that keep(s) lurking in the alley behind our place....

Whoever it is I want them dead because I'm tired of it waking 1. my housemate, and then .... 2. me.

I'm back in house hunting mode again because my housemates really are country people at heart.

The GOOD thing about the country is if someone is near your property at an un-Godly hour, you are pretty safe legally in just shooting them. All you basically have to do is post 'No Trespasing' Signs here and there and you are good to go.


In the city however someone in the alley may actually be innocent. They may be homeless, nuts or drunk. They may NOT be interested in what you have that they can lift. So you can't really do much, even calling the police may not be viable. There's always the damned slow response time. There is a REASON Americans are so gun obssesed compared to other peoples! We have a lot of random crime related to drugs.

I can't be a country person, that whole not being able to drive thing. Living a ways out is less problematic in BiH than here. BiH is crossed by a decent system of affordable bus lines and situations like Lukomir are rare actually. Here you are almost worse off because at least they WILL do an airdrop unlike here, where if you are out far enoug tough $****!


Here if you can't drive you are not even a second class citizen, you are something like fourth class. Not being able to drive has been the bane of my entire adult existance.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

 

Next Weekend...

I may not be in next weekend because of the Memorial Day Weekend. The library here will be closed.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

 

Pre Wolf Shooting Dance



It's possible I posted this Tito-era clip previously, please excuse the lack of sound, it is still pretty cool.

 

Link Dump!

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/breakingnews/article_212230496.shtml?ref=rss

Didn't even know V.P. Joe Biden was going to Srbija! Sretan Put!

Tip of sesir to Mario Profaca


http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/news/sports/goran-to-walk-down-the-aisle.aspx

Goran Ivanisic is getting married!

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=India+destroys+its+chemical+weapons&artid=ZcEgcDES8v4=

India has destroyed their chemical weapons! ! !

I did not know that Albania had destroyed their chemical weapons.

 

headache today

The weather is beautiful, and I have a headache. Probably we have storms moving in. I took my pain meds too!

The Spring Fling on campus includes an opportunity to spray paint an old car. looks like fun.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

 

Take this data to the Mother Ship

Yakima has a pretty decent bus service, no it is not as good as in Sarajevo, but it is less crowded and it is there. The trouble is the busses run only hourly on some routes and there's no sidewalks in some areas. or sidewalk on half the street. So this meant that I walked at a high rate of speed to the place I was referred to for a bone density scan.

The whole deal was very Star Trek. I got a bus back. That part was alright.

They had a huge job fair at the Yakima Gulag People's Institute of Higher Re:Education so came home with some nice swag.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

 

Cafe Society

O.K. due to how my stomach took it I'm probably not going to the Mongolian Grill in Union Gap again, at least I'm not eatting Mongolian Grill there if I do...

I do have an over-sensitive stomach probably other people would not have a problem!

The food was DELICIOUS, I got shaved thin slices of beef, piles of veggiea and the noodles of course! I was a novice, an insurance agent friend of mine instructed me on what to do.

Then here is why to go, the fun part!
NEVER underestimate the entertainment value of a large iron grill hot as the hub of Hell, with three or four guys sliding people's chosen food around! The grill itself is very large, it heats up the whole room and delicious smells issue forth.

I really should have filmed the proceedings, it was awesome!

The prices are very reasonable and you get a lot of food for the money. As well they have a 55 and older Senior Discount! So even if it's just once for the experience you should go watch this and eat what reasults!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

 

A sort of unconventional Mother's Day post...

http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com/


Daniel has been covering the Srebenica genocide for a long time now. He has done stellar work in raising awareness.

In Sarajevo someon who lived in my mahal was one of the Mothers of Srebenica. I used to regularly ride the bus with this very dignified older lady. Her sun was Nermin. It was her husband who was forced to call Nermin out of the forest where he and his comrades were hiding from the aggressors. Both men were killed.

Her face looked strangely familiar to me. Then I saw her on the news, then I saw the infamous film clip and then an interview of her on FTV, and then I knew who she was.

It is an awful thing to survive such an attrocity and to lose your dear ones. In fact only Stalin really tried to destroy such evidence. Bear in mind that this in a less informational age was ultimately a failure! The United Nations should not be destroying such evidence of massacres any place of anyone. Of ALL organizations on this earth they should KNOW better!

WHY IS THE EVIDENCE BEING DESTROYED?



This did not happen in the case of the Holocaust nor in the case of the Armenians. So why is it that European Muslims must take this insult on top of so many other insults?

It is neither right, nor fair. It is a dishonor to the mothers and sisters of the victims of the largest massacre on European soil since the Holocaust and Stalin's massacres.

Friday, May 08, 2009

 

Finding a flat in the Yakima Gulag is harder than finding one in Sarajevo!

On the downside from this my housemates didn't get the place in the country they wanted. The guy at the apartments gave me some story that sounded like a Cover Story to me and to my somewhat paranoid housemates, and they never even heard back from the place they wanted.

I actually have reason to suspect discrimination in the case of my flat. The new game plan is I've told them if they want a place in the outskirts it has GOT to be on Community Connector, which is a 'by donation' free service for getting around the Valley. If they do that, my quality of life will be o.k. and they could do being in the country. All I ask is close enough to the stop that in most weather conditions I could get to the stop.

I am beginning to think the idea of a place in the country for my housemates is looking more like a pipe-dream though.

O.K. I am an American, no criminal record, no drug use, no excesses of any sort really and I am having much greater difficulty finding a flat than I did in Sarajevo. I found two different flats there, and didn't have all this stupid trouble.

I'm sure they have just as many people who should be avoided as tenants as anyone in this region. Meth and drugs are present in the Balkans, so are sex offenders, and people who drink too much or don't pay their bills. So why is it harder here?

As well, I didn't feel discriminated against ever in seeking a flat. I have sometimes felt people did that here in the States.

Anyway, I will be calling the background check place and giving them a piece of my mind. The manager is 'just following orders' he has a family a wife and kids to think of. Back-ground check companies are another matter! They are NOT infalliable. Only God is infalliable.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

 

Control Freeks

Needless to say, I don't like them in personal life or in public life! I feel beset by them...

 

A long day and it's not over yet....

So today I had my first mamogram. I have never had one. There isn't a history of breast cancer in my family. Still it's a precaution that my doctor felt was appropriate so I complied. I have to say that Ohana, which is one of two places for getting this procedure is well run, attractively decorated and efficient.

They also have good coffee. Not that they encourage mass consumption of coffee, it's not good for some stuff like fibrocystic disease.... Still a girl likes to have her cup of coffee!

Feeling a bit squished and tired I went on home to rest...

No word about the apartment yet. That is starting to get on my nerves because I need to know. The only consolation I have is that my housemates haven't heard if they can get their place in the country either.

I totally can't live in the country, not in THIS country where it's so hard for a non-driver to get from Point A to Point B if you start off in Outer Mongolia.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

 

Mike Savage, 'Rev' Phelps Banned from U.K.! :)

Now it's time for my Happy Happy Schadenfrued Dance! I am DELIGHTED with the good taste of the United Kingdom in calling these guys on their B.S.!

Other news, Wall Street Journal had an article on college essays and one on 'diversity' really grabbed my attention because the guy was so in my head!

The quote highlighted was how he wondered if he only wanted 'background diversity so I can impose my white proffessional class ways' I really liked it, because as a matter of fact, I see most alleged 'diversity' as imposing the white proffessional class way on people, as making anythinge else almost illegal in the business and proffessional world. Good for the Wall Street Journal for including this quote!

Also a Serbian officer got his war crimes acquital over turned because he helped in the killings of Croatian P.O.W.s.

 

Malo Kultur Shock

No I am not posting about one of my all time favorite bands, but Gino should really write a song about this one, it's WAY more difficult to procure a flat here than in Sarajevo. You get a background check here, and that is what can take so long. The background check is almost as bad as for a job. This is because in Yakima there are waaaay the Hell too many sex offenders running around! I mean the background check does make ME safer, the complex I am moving to ako Bog da is an over 55 place. So they can't have that kind of resident, and I can't have them as near neighbors either. I just feel it takes way too long in this age of computerized everything. Oh well! Nothing I can do....except wait and pray real hard.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

 

Feliz Cinco de Mayo to my Mexican Readers!

I got wonderful if short films of the danceing horse competition. I was stuck behind the band playing Banda music, which led to a loud-@$& brass and drums induced headache, and since I am not going to spend so much as a penny until I know about the apartment, my camera batteries were running down, so the film bits were short! Very short. Funny thing my camera sometimes does better with video than stills in that situation!
The medication given me for my ankles and neck has some funky side effects on me. I feel like someone stuffed cotton in my ears until my head was filled with it, and a tad dizzy. The other one is I will feel hungry even if I ate well. I'm on Naproxen for the pain. It does a fair job of relieving the pain though. It's just not fun feeling about five IQ points less than usual.

Friday, May 01, 2009

 

***Happy May Day*** Workers of the World Unite!***

So I am missing out on the fun of a Sarajevo May Day. In compensation I do get a Yakima Gulag Cinco de Mayo.

This is silly, the guy at the place said the people couldn't read my SSN on the form. So he did e-mail me, and tell me that. So I sent it. No problem with that. He might have like still called my references after making such a big DEAL that he was going to do it. Oh well....

I have been getting boxes and packing...

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Site Meter