5/31 Review: Checking Facts, Basketball, and ICTY, WHY?

News

BIGGEST NEWS OF THE WEEK:

"#ICTY judgements are consistent, logical and contribute to reconciliation in the Balkans," said no one, ever. bit.ly/11dXlny
— Nastasja Vojvodić (@nastasja__v) May 30, 2013

All I'm going to say about that ^^ is holy balls of hellfire, I am slowly starting to hate ICTY.  Make up your mind about what is ancillary and what is not.

Monday Book Review: Us

Today's review is a day late because here in the US, we were on holiday.  Memorial Day weekend means you are only allowed to do several things: barbeque, do yard work, and eat.  I did all three (FTW).  Now on to your regularly scheduled post (1 day delayed).

5/24 Review - Dramatics and Righting Historical Wrongs

Friday means reflecting on our past week.  Tune in to get a gist of the big news, my opinions on the news, videos, art, and music.  My discoveries are yours to enjoy!

Animation Gluttony

I love seeing animations and so do you!  They're not all with English subtitles, so bust out that translating software/website.  Today has a wide selection from countries, styles, and even time periods (though not one is past 1990).  Gear up for some beautiful animation, which goes so unappreciated these days.

Monday Film Review: Farewell

 One of my favorite films (I don't care about the haters out there) is rather conventional, relatively well-known for a foreign film, and deals with the time shortly before and after the fall of the Wall.  The main actor is pretty hunky and it's in German.  Good Bye, Lenin! is a general crowd pleaser, I know, and it will hardly be a surprise that I love it and it will keep a soft spot in my heart.  Like Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others), it's palatable for an American audience; my husband is a relatively good barometer for American responses and he liked it.

5/17 Reflections and Sharing Time

 This is the round up of the past 7 days. Short news blurbs/my opinions on them, and some cool stuff I tweeted about for those who don't follow me/scroll through the little box to the right.

Hungarian Ethnography & Folklore

I discovered this site a number of weeks ago, but never got around to featuring it.  I don't fully recollect how I got to it, but it has visual beauty and information that one needs to learn about rural Hungary.  I lived in Budapest and only ventured outside the city to go to Belgrade, Vienna, and Lake Balaton.  This meant I didn't get to experience the non-urban aspect of Hungarian culture, which was a real shame.  When I end up Hungary again, I'll be sure to visit smaller places and soak in more of the traditional culture.

Monday Film Review: Tapping In, Helping Out

This film is a little old, but still a powerful punch of morality in the Soviet realm.  If you haven't seen Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others), you need to view it as soon as possible.  It was the Best Foreign Film Oscar in 2007 and though I can't speak for the other contenders, this movie was worth every bit of its weight in Oscar gold.  Even my parents loved it, and they are not inclined to love communist things.  I can't remember if I picked it or not.

Pawel Kuczynski

I found Pawel's work on Imgur, but he also has a Toon Pool page.  I'd suggest visting his official website.  I have included some of his satirical work, but his unofficial page on Facebook and a Tumblr (with some gifs!) have a plethora.  His work is not only visually arresting, but the satirical nature gives it heft.   This post is more pictures, less talk, so here's a quick bio I found on Pawel:

Monday Book Review: The Frog's Ass

I have discovered time travel, so rest assured this was published on Monday, but only when I went back into the past today.  It's a weird time loop thing that can never fully be explained by science or fiction.  This book had sat in my mental queue for quite some time since I had seen Kelly Hignett mention that it was a swell read.  By the grace of Stalin, it was in the library for me to snatch up and experience; I had run out of books in my own house to read.  This is my story.

May Day!

I won't write a post on the history of May Day because there is plenty of information that is searchable with those two words.  It's a historic day and has contained various significance over the centuries, including the communist cry for the worker and Hitler's Tempelhof rally/his death.  I wanted to insert a little bit of lightheartedness and personal for the day instead of all those historical facts.  Pretty sure that's going to be covered with great frequency.  Who's ready to learn about a May Day tradition?

(I do want to apologize for the delay/absence in content--I do this in my spare time and I haven't had much of that lately.)