Unfortunate wording of the day
Nikolina Nikolova, a Bulgarian lawyer specialising in European law, wrote an
opinion piece in
New Europe. On a serious topic: defending the rights of women in the face of Islamic fundamentalism.
Considering the earnestly worded topic ("Nowadays the most dramatic difference, even more conspicuous than the price of human life, is the issue of a woman's rights and social position"), I think, however, that there must have been some translation issues here..
Quote:As long as Islam finds it too hard to recognize a woman's right to show herself in public, to demonstrate her erotic potentials in a man's world, i.e. to be able to choose the style of her sexual performance and her partners, the Western (Judeo-Christian) lifestyle will be [etc]
I mean, I'm all for it, that isnt the point, but..
Never a dull moment, he muttered as he bicycled the 500 meter from the wired terrace to the optician -- past a large, forlorn stage by the mayor's office where Jesus rappers energetically spit their rhymes at an audience of 10, six of whom over 60, and a demonstration of 1,000 or so facistoid supporters of the Hungarian National Guard marching down the northbound side of the boulevard with Arpad flags waving and maps of Greater Hungary aloft.
They should make a postmodern mash-up kind of play, which combines Shakespeare with The Matrix. It could be called I, Moebius.
If you shoot us with a Desert Eagle .50AE, while we are fully submerged in a virtual reality world, do we not bleed.
Sherwin-Williams really ought to rethink their logo/ slogan.
I drove behind a truck slathered with this for a while today:
If it wasn't already disturbing enough from an environmental perspective, did they have to make the paint blood-red?
(For those who don't know, it's a paint company.)
http://www.sherwin-williams.com/index.jsp
My brother-in-law works for Sherwin Williams. Moved up the ladder just in time for the new housing market to go splat.
I went to check on Anastasia just now. She fell asleep in the bed a while ago (admittedly not the worst place for it.) I couldnt immediately see if she was awake or not, so I crouched down next to the bed. She batted her eyes open, like as at a shot or a signal, saw me and said "berries". Berries, I asked? She shook her head. Barbies. Barbies and Disney. Were in my dreams.
I just had the biggest hamburger I ate in all my life.
Seriously. It was really that big.
It was so big, it could crush a small child under its weight.
In fact, it did. I tried.
4:50 AM. The 24/7 downstairs is out of Coke. Trudging off I go.
The one two blocks down the street is shuttered. The one across the street from there is closed too, despite the cardboard sign saying, "We opened! 24 hours!". I walk a total of six blocks, maybe, circular. But how many people there are outside, at this bleak hour!
A shabby old man and a shabby old woman, unrelated, each walking their dog, standing outside the 24/7.* Some young guys in overalls, carrying some heavy tools or materials to a workplace. A group of Italians leaving the Artists' Club, cursing at the closed 24/7 there. A group of teenagers sitting around on a random curb in a random sidestreet after a night of clubbing. Three French guys walking down the street. A weary looking middle-aged guy in a baseball cap, looking down. Some young guys smoking on a bench outside the church. An older guy and a hoody in a passing trolleybus. Another middle-aged guy in a baseball cap, this one pot-bellied and looking like he was off to a job as bus driver, maybe, or janitor. A happy English-speaking couple, chatting and looking at me curiously. One of those Italians again, pissing against a garbage can. A homeless person with a plastic litre bottle of cheap alcohol.
Five when I come back home.
*Oh!, I just remembered how someone told me about how walking the dog was a favoured excuse, traditionally, to go consume one of those small bottles of liquor at one of the early-morning "borozos" - "wineries", literally; walk in places that open at 6 for those who grab a stiff drink before work. Not many of those around anymore, not downtown anyhow, so 24/7s probably have taken their place. Someone told me how, back in the good/bad old days, communism or immediate postcommunism, a Budapest mayor tried to crack down on the practice, shutting down the early morning places. Didnt work. People just decided to already buy their drink the evening before, except of course then they would consume it still the same night, and another couple, and suddenly early morning absenteeism was rampant in the factories and offices. So they rescinded the order. Kind of like how Gorbachev cracked down on alcohol sales one time, only to see the country plunge into an acute sugar shortage.
The wonders of English translations on restaurant menus.
Today's find:
"Skink with garden stuff and liver dumplings."
Mmmmmm!
can i get fries with that
djjd62:
Is that guy lurking in the background related to you?
http://www.daylife.com/photo/0g761T4aCccQ4/Uma_Thurman
I swear God is testing me or something... today that girl was in the coffeeshop again. The girl I had such a crush on last year, before Staz came here.. we smiled broadly as always, and this time she asked if she could come sit at my table. We talked for a bit, randomly, limited to commonplaces by my hapless Hungarian. But she smiled a lot. She's so cute - if I were still single I would so want to meet her anytime, anywhere. Then I walked down the couple of streets in the blinding heat to the office.
At the office, the girls had a bit of a problem last month, because there's a lot of simple data entry work to be done that they just didnt have the time for. So in the end they decided that we should hire a temp, someone to just do data entry half days for a couple of weeks. It's a job anyone can do so they went the fast way and just hired this friend of my colleague Cs.'s ... It's the friend I ended up kissing at our new years eve party, the other year. Usually we miss each other because I work from home in the mornings, but today she was here again, all big smiles and happy to see you...
Life's just not fair. <nods>
Kinda like window shopping when you're broke, huh? You never see a thing you like until you can't buy anything.
Ah well...enjoy the attention. Life is like that...always feast or famine.
Somebody's very sad tonight. There's a guy outside, on the square, sitting in his car with the door open and playing heartbreakingly sad Gypsy music. The quiet, almost introverted kind ... though still audible up here on the second floor across the street.
Staz, who got up to smoke a cigarette in the windowsill, says it's like Hungarian ska music. You know, how those ska men are always so happy, they can't help but just go tuderrup, tuderrup, tuderrup, chanting out their happy rhythm? Well, this singer is so sad, all he can do is just repeat the same humming sounds, strumming up and down the musical scale.
@nimh,
Quote:says it's like Hungarian ska music
Yeah, they love it. I have some some reggae by a Hungarian band. Mad!
nimh, szervusz - what takes you to the land of my ancestors?
@Mr Stillwater,
Is it PASO, the Pannonia All-Star Ska Orchestra? They are bloody brilliant! I love them.
Me, I came here cause I was looking for a job a couple of years ago, and I got one here that fitted my interests/background exactly. Plus Ive always wanted to live in Budapest, I've been here many times and already lived here once for half a year during my studies.
@Mr Stillwater,
Hey, I havent heard of that band yet. Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out!
In exchange, check out this:
http://www.myspace.com/paso . Their concerts are the biggest parties in town.
Now there's a band I'd totally forgotten: New Model Army. They just passed by on last.fm on some "related artists" feed I'd checked in. Cant say I spent a thought on them in 15 years! But they had the fiercest band of fans. Saw them live once or twice, they did do good concerts.
