A clip of the Russian folk string quartet Skaz performing Brahms’s Hungarian Dance.

httpvh://youtu.be/CsmVCIWBoRU

When I was growing up®, there was an old guy “Uncle Kolya” playing balalaika on the street for some change near my house. He sounded a lot like this.

httpvh://youtu.be/HU7oqkJeItQ

Update: This post was published long time ago, so I am adding a new amazing clip by Aleksei Arkhipovskiy called “Hurdy Gurdy“:

 

httpvh://youtu.be/ZmzP73rPTD4

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Today I went to Grinders to partake in the He’Brew Happy Hour and to meet the founder of the Shmaltz Brewery Jeremy Cowan. I have no idea why I did that: I am not a giant beer fan and when Jeremy introduced himself and tried to blind me with scientific beer-speak I acted like he was speaking Chinese and ordered a beer because it was on special. I ended up with a Coney Island Sword Swallower and I am pretty sure it was a beer.

While the beer was good and Jeremy Cowan was very nice and stopped by to talk to me when he was leaving, my trip to Grinders was even more delightful because I met the former proprietor of “George’s Cheese and Sausage Shop” and Hy-Vee Hall-of-Famer George Detsios.

I remembered reading about him here and there and even having a commenter on this blog suggest trying out George’s goulash at Grinders on Mondays. I talked to George for more than 30 minutes about his life, travel, his job at Hy-Vee, his old shop and his weekly Hungarian cooking at Grinders. By the time we were done taking I knew what I will be doing next Monday.

On Monday, March 23 between 5 and 6pm you are welcome to join me at the Grinders for goulash cooked by George Detsios.

After a beer or two be prepared for some Hungarian singing and possibly dancing.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fyug3T-CUA

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Cue the State Song of Kansas

Were buffalo used to roam there is now the Glacial Hills Scenic Byway where no one roams anymore, just an occasional car with passengers who didn’t find anything better to do on a gloomy Sunday. Scenic Byway officially starts at Ft.Leavenworth, passes through Atchison, twists and turns through Troy and stops right before the Nebraska border at White Cloud – a place still recovering from the housing bubble of 1929.

White Cloud is home to the 4-State lookout – a place where you can see Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska at the same time.

Panoramic view from the lookout can be seen here.
Miss Teen Kansas lives here (at least until 2010):

White Cloud was voted the best place to dispose of a dead body:

Just don’t forget to “dispose of all head and guts” and leave the work area clean for the next person.

North of the White Cloud you will find an Indian Casino adorned by the symbols of past glory: Eagle Feathers, Eagle without feathers and an unfinished tepee:

At the casino zombie-looking white people are sitting in the clouds of smoke, mistakenly hoping they can fool the Indians again. Instead, their money is financing the modern-day tepees.

On the way back you can cross the river, drive past the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge,and return home via I-29.

Overall, this is a pretty nice weekend trip, but it will probably look more picturesque during the spring and summer months. There is a lot more to be seen in Atchison and there is a 10-mile auto route around the Refuge.

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The City Hall was built in 1937, under the influence of Tom Pendergast (who owned a concrete company that built the city hall), the “political boss” of Kansas City at the time. It was built to “counter” the effects of the great depression on Kansas City, and was part of a series of other government buildings, which include the Jackson County Courthouse. Both buildings were designed by Wight and Wight.

If you’ve ever squinted trying to see the reliefs on the City Hall building in Kansas City,MO you are not alone. So I thought I’d present to you some close-ups of all four sides of the building, brought to you by my lunch walks and short attention span. Some scenes I could interpret, probably incorrectly, other ones seemed more mysterious. If you know what they mean, fell free to comment.

Major episodes in the city’s history are depicted in a frieze of 16 panels directly above the sixth story. Sculptures on the building’s exterior were done by C. P. Jennewein, Ulric H. Ellerhusen, and Walker Hancock.

*it was sunny, I had to make photos a little darker to make detail more visible.

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Today, May 19th, is the Soviet Pioneer Day. In order to properly celebrate the holiday you need to print out and wear the following badge…

…report to work marching in the uniform, blowing the bugle…

…and singing this song.

–Young Pioneer, be prepared to fight for the cause of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union!

– Always prepared!

Here are a few more illustrations on the subject.

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