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.

Get a Taste of Eastern Europe

I came across this magnificent Pinterest user: A Curious Taste.  It is a complete smorgasbord of pictures from all around the world, including the beloved CEE, and even has a board specifically for cuisine blogs.  I found a number on there that I would like to share for those interested in making authentic cuisine from these areas, and added to the list to fill in the gaps.  I had to cut so many blogs that had no English translations/translation function.  :((

This is by no means an exhaustive list.  Plenty of cooking and recipe websites have sections for regional cuisines that aren't difficult to find, but I sought for original blogs in English.  There are plenty of regional cuisine cookbooks as well, so do not feel limited to the internet (is that a limitation? I wonder...)

Risen Again - 4/5 Recap & Rants

It was Easter this past Sunday and it was a good time to indulge in the east European traditions, some of which seemed a little more cruel than unusual.  Particularly when it involves whipping women.  There were lovely eggs to make up for it, though.  Though Europe had it tough because snow, not flowers, came to greet them on the symbolic holiday of rebirth.  It's like winter reborn.

The cat's out of the bag. Orbán is the most sought after television personality in Hungary.  No, I'm kidding, he's stealing all the airtime available.  I want graphs on the Politburo air times for comparison, just for kicks.

April Fool's!  I thought this was a pretty USA-centric holiday, but it turns out that Odessa is the OG of pranks.  The best part was that Humorina started during the Soviet rule. That's one way to let off steam about the endless droning of ideology!

Europe Came to Chicago

I don't mention Chicago on this blog as much as I should.  I grew up just to the north of it and came back after college.  While I hadn't anticipated staying, it seems Chicago had other plans and got me a job and married within my second year of being back.  This place has a very soft/large place in my heart and it's not just nostalgia.  Though the winters are harsh and unpleasant, the summers are season-long celebrations.  The Parks and Recreation Department blows most of its budget during those 4 blissful months by hosting all manner of free events, whether outdoors at Grant Park, the Pritzker Pavillion in Millenium Park  (with the famous "Cloud Gate"/the Bean nearby), or just any park that exists in the city.  Then neighborhoods and any organization that wants to have a party does it during that time.  There's never a thing NOT to do.  It is, hands down, the most enjoyable part of the year despite oppressive humidity and heat.  There's cool stuff to do indoors, like our fabulous museums, and year-round, but the real taste is in summer.  You see all the ethnic mixing and vibrant culture bursting out of the concrete.

Communism and Fire

Self-immolation is a way to get attention.  Just ask Ndreca, Palach, Plocek, and Zajíc.  There is a whole list that I can barely fathom, especially since the last one was in 15 days ago.  They've picked up popularity, though I wasn't aware of almost any of the immolations in the past 10 years, which have to do with Tibet or an Indian province that would like to separate.  But they had a strong tradition in the USSR.

Minimal Olympics Coverage

I haven't been able to watch the Olympics--no TV and no time--but I try to keep abreast in the major events of the Olympics.  I would do more in-depth coverage of ECE nations if I didn't have a day job and public transit didn't eat up additional hours of my day.  I would love to simply watch athletics for hours on end, but being an adult has completely eroded whatever time and enthusiasm I have left at the end of the day.

I wasn't aware that Slovakia had a company that made competition canoes.  Were you?  Luckily, my RSS feeds (see my page for the ones I follow!) brought this to my attention.  I see that Eastern Europe is doing pretty well in the medal count, all things considered.  The full list of medal counts are here on ESPN, but here is the individual list linked for your quick reference (these only include counties that have medals):
Belarus
Croatia 
Czech Republic
Germany
Hungary
Lithuania
Moldova 
Poland
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Slovakia (notice the number of canoeing medals!)
Slovenia
Ukraine

The medal count per capita in these countries must be higher than the USA, which has a ridiculous number of medals.  It seriously resembles the 1% getting the larger part of the spoil.  It is worthy to note that Hungary has more medals than Brazil (where my mother-in-law is from) or India, which is embarrassing for those BRIC countries.  You'd think that a "backwater" Eastern European nation with a despotically inclined PM would not get more medals than two of the fastest growing economies with large populations.  Funny, ain't it?

A Beloved Czech Passes Away

Though Kim Jong Il's death is also significant, it was auspiciously timed with a famous Communist dissident's death, which brings much more sorrow.  Václav Havel was a famous and principled dissident in Czechoslovakia who eventually came to be president.  His reluctance to be president reminds me of George Washington, but Havel had much more healing to begin.  His presidency was a testament to his good nature--he never lost himself in politics, but always searched for the light of truth.  The Economist did a lovely eulogy for this great man and his death is a sad fact of history.  Havel will be remembered kindly.  The eulogy touches on what his version of The Beggar's Opera illustrated: living a lie is living a lie.  He lived the truth and we loved him for it.

Monday Book Review

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Another week, another book review.  Today's book is The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism by Tina Rosenberg.  Published in 1995, the book won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1996 and the National Book Award in 1995.  If those two awards don't recommend this book already, I hope my raving review will soften your jaded soul.  For those jaded souls who are wondering, "What's the fuss all about?" this book is an in-depth and complicated foray into Eastern Europe's reconstruction period.  No, this is not how governments shifted, who won elections, or the dismantling of socialist industry.  This is about the cultural revolution and the can of worms known as "lustrace" in the wake of Berlin's tumbling concrete walls.

Petr Jakubik

Today's designer is Petr Jakubik from Slovakia. I came across his work at the designeast.eu website.  The chair to the right is a "DIY Panton" chair that he designed.  Verner Panton is an influential 20th century Danish designer whose S shaped chair is similarly famous.  The video explaining how to make the DIY Panton chair is in a language I do not know, but the visual seems cheeky enough (see below).  I'm not exactly sure what it's trying to accomplish.  The commercial was done by Tomcateden, a "young European creative art studio".  They also did another commercial, but for a cabinet with chalkboard paint on it.  It's part of Jakubik's DIY furniture series.  When I looked more into the matter, I came across the name "Comunistar", which naturally attracted my attention.  After following the trail of links, I found a page on Facebook that explained far more than the domain web site.  It's a Slovakian brand of design and for reasons I am unsure of, is impossible to track down on the internet.  The main page only connects to their Facebook group and websites only summarize their mission.  I don't know about you, but I have a feeling I'm not welcome in their design club.