Old Photos: Mennonite Settler Statue Dedication
Few photos from the dedication of the Mennonite Settler Statue in Newton,KS in 1942. Mennonites immigrated to Kansas from Ukraine in 1874 and are credited with helping to turn Kansas into the breadbasket of America and subsequently placing images of wheat on our license plates.
Continue reading →Old Newspapers: Hyatt Regency Disaster
Everyone in this town knows about this, even people like me, who came here years after it happened.
Just a few pages from the Kansas City Times and Kansas City Star issues in the days after the accident (should be mostly readable if clicked).
Continue reading →
Cold War In Space
An interesting article in 1966 Popular Mechanics describes potential ways of disarming an orbiting H-Bomb. A manned spacecraft would be dispatched to the potential offending satellite and disable it by the most unimaginative of ways – cutting off its antenna.
Obviously nothing like this have ever transpired (as far as we know) but the seriousness of the article makes it a nice read.
Continue reading →
The Soviet Army and Navy Day
This year marks the twenty-year anniversary of the triumphant end of my military service. Shortly after my long-awaited discharge from the Engineer Corps in June of 1990, the American Secret Services sensed a weak spot in the pontoon troops where I had served and used it to break up the Soviet Union. Of course, it was unthinkable while I was still in service; my fierce looks used to send the enemy running for their lives.
Today is the Soviet Army and Navy Day – a long-renamed holiday of a long-gone country. 20 years ago I couldn’t imagine being nostalgic thinking about my military service. But here I am – it was a time uncomplicated by work, taxes and raising kids and now it doesn’t seem like such a horrible way to spend two years of one’s life. So instead of rewriting my last year’s post I will share a few music videos on the subject.
This song is called “We Are The People’s Army”:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANU2Rz4WNcI
And lastly – world-famous Kalinka, here you can find the lyrics and sing along.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_A7Hu0uKNw
Continue reading →Remember The 80’s? Michael Jackson
One day I was
researchinglooking at pictures of Michael Jackson’s 1984 Victory Tour which launched in Kansas City and then I saw this:This piece of art was published in a special issue of the Billboard Magazine where everyone from Michael’s accountant to the company which made his tapes took out ads to congratulate Michael Jackson (and slap their own backs in the process)on becoming the King of Pop.
After the first picture I just couldn’t stop. Sorry…
Continue reading →