Russian people know hats. When I was growing up® almost every Soviet citizen owned some variation of a fur hat. You could tell a person social status by the hat: the cheapest ones were made out of rabbit fur and more expensive ones were made out of fox, wolf, sable, mink, beaver (yeah, I said beaver), etc. The typical Russian hat style is ushanka, which simply means a hat with ear-flaps.
Many years ago my Father had a muskrat hat custom made which at that time was very expensive, several time his monthly wages. I have to say that we got our money’s worth because I still own this hat and occasionally wear it to work to the delight of my co-workers.
And no, my cat is still alive:
Of course in my hometown wearing this hat didn’t attract as much attention as it does here.
And in the army it was a part of the winter uniform:
Policemen wore them (this one is from Finland, which was a part of the USSR for some time):
Regular people wore them:
President Ford wore it:
And even Kissinger put one on when it got cold enough:
Whatever you do, if you are a heterosexual male do not ever leave your house wearing any variation of ear-muffs, ear-warmers or other partial hats (visors included). These devices are the crocs of the hat world. If you are in a bind and a small animal is within reach you can easily have a do-it-yourself hat within seconds.
By the way, if you are in search of a small furry dead animal, please contact Happy In Bag, he will set you up.
I am not a fan of boycotts. So I am not about to call for one. I personally will not be patronizing businesses owned by this guy, I know they have two or three inside the City Market. I don’t really aim to harm his business, just when I buy another falafel sandwich I feel I contribute money so his relatives can buy more rockets and bomb my relatives. Not gonna happen!
Speaking about boycotts, what’s up with vindictive gays harassing people who contributed to the passing of the Proposition 8. Tolerance my ass! (no pun here, move along). Here is one example: The “No Milk for Cinemark” movement tries to dissuade audiences from seeing “Milk” at Cinemark facilities. I think if you don’t agree with how someone spends his personal money you can do whatever you want (see the paragraph above), but trying to screw with said person’s livelihood is little extreme, coming from a group promoting tolerance. If it was turned the other way and let’s say I had a problem with the gay community, should I just pick on someone and make his/her life miserable? And a blogger can make a person’s life miserable, just ask “mayor funky“( wow! 645 results). Many people like me are not against gay rights (and why would someone be I don’t know) but when I see things like this I can’t see myself supporting the cause and I won’t (not that I have before).
Lastly on a lighter note:
Why is this guy returning toilet paper? Impulse buy? Not soft enough? Not absorbent enough? If I was working retail I would’ve probably redefined “going postal”, so let’s be thankful that I don’t.
A long, long time ago…
I can still remember
How his writing made me feel.
And I knew if I had my chance
I’d lie and cheat and even dance,
Just to sit down with Ferruzza for a meal.
But January made me shiver
With every Pitch they don’t deliver.
There is a gaping void:
Ferruzza’s unemployed.
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read short notice on this site,
But something must have crushed inside,
The day food writing died.
Why? Why? Who’ll be tasting the pie?
Who will tell me for sure
What to order and why?
And them good old boys drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Wouldn’t know what’s better
Get food poisoned and die.
Did you write about food and love,
Do you have faith in the Chef above,
If Food Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in Fork and Screen,
Is food tasty if it’s lean?
And can you teach me how to cook “low and slow”?
I have your articles archived,
I almost feel like widowed bride.
Ferruzza, please don’t leave, I cried!
The day food writing died.
Bunch of Palestinians agree:
UPDATE: Apparently Ferruzza stays, but I already wrote this. Maybe he needs a raise or something.
I don’t have any kind of built-in emotional connection to Israel. To me it’s just another country. A country where I have relatives and friends, just like Argentina, Chile, Germany, Russia or Ukraine. In a way I am grateful that I didn’t end up there - seems like whole city blocks picked up and left my city and now reside somewhere between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Great many of them became proud patriots, served in the military and now are seeing their children in the uniform.
When I was growing up® we didn’t talk much about Israel, not too many people did. Although in the beginning the Soviet Union supported the establishment of Israel, once they aligned themselves with the USA, they were always cast as evil and blood-thirsty American marionettes.
Signed “In his own image”.
Inscription on the back “World Zionism” , on the flag “Long Live Great Israel”.
Inscription on the bayonet “Israel”.
In bloody letters “Lebanon”.
Title “Wings of a Hawk”, on the helmet “Israel”, on the wings “US”.
We often saw Yasser ArafatFrench-kissing various leaders; we were supposed to sympathize with the plight of the Palestinian people against American-financed Israeli warmongers, murderers of the freedom-loving hard-working Palestinians but something seemed out of place. Many of the Israeli “bloody murderers” used to live around the corner, or grew up with our parents, went to work with our grandparents and have never been known to “murder” anything bigger than an occasional chicken. We just shrugged it off and went on with our lives, once in a while hearing whispers about another acquaintance joining the “bloody Israeli clique” for some reason taking their piano with them, probably to entertain Palestinians while they work.
During many years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict no matter how successful the military operation, Israel always lost the PR war. So much for the Jews controlling the media. The news are available for those who want to know but while the bloody and dead Palestinians are always front page news, bloody Israelis may get a mention somewhere in the back of the paper or not at all. I am sure you are aware of the current events, but did you know about almost daily rocket attacks of the civilian areas in the South of Israel this year during the truce and in the previous years which finally caused Israel to respond with its own air strikes. How many of these pictures have you seen:
These are not today’s photos, these bombings of the civilian areas are so routine in the Southern areas of Israel that some kids grew up without knowing life doesn’t automatically come with sirens and bomb shelters.
It’s hard to imagine what could be the goals of the Palestinians who day after day shoot home-made rockets into the neighboring country which just happens to supply their territory with electricity and other necessities, other then a total destruction of said country. It’s hard to understand why does the world community expect the country whose citizens are being bombed to exercise some kind of restraint. Where was the world’s outcry when these rockets were fired? Where was the UN when the rockets and military supplies were placed around civilian areas? Where were the demonstrations when Palestinian rockets killed their own children?
With the beginning of the “Operation Cast Lead” some Russian-Israeli blogs tried to explain the situation by hypothetically placing it in a more familiar context. Let’s say some people in Tijuana unhappy with the Treaty of the Guadalupe Hidalgo start their morning by shooting a dozen rockets into San Diego area, not causing massive death and destruction but a steady stream of injuries and property damage and occasionally killing a person or two. Citizens of San Diego spend their days mapping bomb shelters and determining the kind of weapon by the sound it makes. How long will the United States “exercise restraint”?
Do I feel compassion for the Palestinians? Not really. Victims of their own propaganda, financed from the outside they couldn’t have expected any other outcome. Using human shields only turns away potential supporters and seeing their disregard for the lives of their countrymen as well as Israeli civilians it’s hard to feel sorry for them.
After years of planting lead in Israeli soil, hearts and minds it’s harvest time…
We answer: Tracy, what you see is a traditional Russian folk dance. Although I personally never observed anyone dance that way at home without beforehand consuming “mass quantities” , it doesn’t mean it never happened. Maybe the fact that all of my relatives and most of my friends were Jewish explains my lack of personal encounters with the Russian folk dancing, but the fact remains.
It doesn’t mean that I was immune to some folksy dance moves. The photograph below depicts me in a Russian-style shirt ( I am the one next to a girl, if you have trouble locating me) at some kindergarten event. Of course you may wonder what was a Jewish kid doing wearing a Russian folk shirt. Well, that makes two of us, but on the other hand what does a Jewish shirt look like? I don’t know either. So much for multiculturalism…
Old joke: A Jewish girl comes home and tells her parents she needs to wear a national outfit to school the next day. Her Mom says to her Dad: “You hear? She wants a fur coat already!”
But I digress, if you want to find out more about Russian and Eastern European Folk Dancing, there are plenty of photos and videos on this website.
Here is another demonstration presented by the Red Army Choir:
