Shoot the Messenger

Street Fighting Man

2009-11-29T13:47:00.001-08:00

Beware the cops of Brava. A friend related to me last week that one of her friends had been picked up by the police, roughed up by them, and then left by the Danube. Apparently, he had been thrown out of a bar earlier (been there myself), maybe for being foreign, and in anger kicked the glass window of the bar. The bouncers smacked him around, and called the cops. And the cops then took him for a little ride...

The story seemed a little far-fetched to me until this weekend. This time I was with a friend who was a little out of control. In anger or drunk or both, he tried to kick a taxi we had called to take him home. So the taxi guy called the police, and we restrained the friend. I had him in a bear hug when the cops arrived, but the police, about four of them, started to hit my friend anyway, no questions asked. We were able to drag him to safety eventually. Long story short i guess, don't lose your cool, and beware the cops of Brava ...

Straight Outta Bratislava, Slovaks With an Atttitude

2009-11-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

Despite problems with racism in Slovakia, and black friends of mine not made to feel welcome sometimes here in Brat, Slovaks seem to have odd fascination with what I guess you could call African-American black street culture. In Bratislava you will find more than one 'hip-hop' shop with asorted bling. Baggy jeans, chains, gangsta sweatshirts. Not that I have seen any Slovaks wearing any bling. Though I once swore I saw a Slovak guy wearing a sweatshirt that said Nigga. I went back to make sure I saw it right but he was gone by then. Even more strange, afro wigs are a popular item at festivals and concerts here. You'll see Slovaks walking around these events with faux 'fros and dreadlocks as a kind of joke. But I don't get it at all...

noisey Brat

2009-11-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

The loudest city in Europe, go bratislava...Can say we do have a noise problem at work with tons of jack hammer work outside (nearby they are doing street and building repair.) But perhaps it will die down soon with the onset of winter rain, snow and cold. All this week too. Guess winter does have its upside if it gets quieter. http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Noise+pollution+besieges+Europe+cities/2154357/story.html

All Saints, Dead Souls

2009-11-01T04:52:00.000-08:00

All Saints day here, appropriately grey, gloomy day. Even the castle, possibly the world's least interesting castle, high up on the hill is shrouded in mist. As part of honoring the dead, people place candles on graves throughout the day. By evening cemetarys are small islands of light, and smell of wax and fire. Many of the candles are in small glass jars and at times the heat breaks the glass with a pop, It's really quite something.

Halloween is also making small inroads here too. Many stores have some decorations, usually pumpkins. Cafes and bars also offer Halloween themed events or drinks. But walking around on a chilly evening last night, you wouldn't have known it was Halloween at all, except for the full autumn moon in a dark blue sky.

Goodbye Summer

2009-10-26T03:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a beautiful Indian summer day, with warm temperatures and big sunshine.
Being Sunday, tried to find a nice spot to sit outdoors cafe-side and enjoy the weather. However, like the trees that have now lost their leaves and are going dormant, the cafes have lost their tables outside. A sign of the grim winter months ahead perhaps. Still, able to find a few places with outdoors tables, and best of all, went to the castle. There the sun was full, and good to sit on the grass with views of the onion dome towers of the old city, the space ship bridge, the Danube and socialist housing sprawl across the river. Hoped to take a bike ride too , but with sudden time change, moving back one hour, the sun sank fast and early. But good to enjoy it while it lasted.

Poznan

2009-10-14T03:27:00.000-07:00

Poznan gets its name, I'm told, from the Polish word poznac, meaning to get to know. Think I have gotten to know Poznan pretty well over the years, and nice to see it evolving so nicely on my a quick trip last weekend. I still associate the city with cold winter weekends, and escaping my small town of Walcz on Fridays for a place with life after dark, and even lights on after dark. And heat, since the three or four hour bus ride from Walcz usually came without heat, or intense heat at the floor level that melted your shoes but you left you an icicle up top.

Poznan has changed much since I first visited in the 1990s. As the friend I visited (then and now) pointed out last weekend, back then Poznan still didn't have sliced bread or email. Now, Poznan has cyber cafes, coffee chain stores, multiplex cinemas and American style malls. The old main square remains vibrant as well, with pleny of beer gardens and cafes. The old buildings almost seem new, with fresh color and paint, but actually layers of smoke and grime have just been power washed off them in the last decade. Overall, the city feels elegant and comfortable with itself.

Walcz, I'm told, is doing less well, with unemployment in and around the town roughly 50 percent. Not sure, but wouldn't be surprised since unemployment was about 30 percent or more when I lived there. But life seems good in Poznan, though I am still disappointed the battling goats on top of the town hall (every day at noon) aren't real like I originally thought.

Some Days You Are the Dog

2009-10-11T12:46:00.001-07:00

Some days you are the dog, some days you are the fire hydrant. Not sure which Bratislava is right now. The gray, rainy weather would argue for hydrant. But then there is the Dog Expo in town. It calls itself the "World's Biggest Dog Event" for what that's worth. There are dogs all over town. There a short ones, tall ones, well-groomed greyhounds, odd poodles, packs of pugs. Also dog memorabilia around too, such as dog photos at the McDonald's. Since I live next to a hotel I can also hear dogs barking outside my place from dogs being walked and others waiting in vans, loud barks, short yips, all sorts. Fair to say for once that life is a bitch in Bratislava.

Making Friends Wherever I Go

2009-09-30T04:29:00.000-07:00

A popular gathering spot near the old city is the Nu Spirit Bar, though you can occasionally have problems there as a foreigner. For instance, once a group of us were asked to leave when it became crowded and tables scarces. But usually it is a good time. The bar is in a cellar with brick walls and ceilings. The space is narrow, tables close together and some nights a DJ is squeezed behind the bar. At times, the place is packed, with the small middle space taken up by people dancing, and other people dancing on their chairs. The close quarters also make a good way to meet people.
The other night I got to talking (in English/Slovak) to a big, friendly guy named Radek. A self-described "homeboy," he lives across the Danube in a large socialist-era housing complex called Petrazalka. He had a job selling tractors or construction equipment or something. It was a little hard to hear. I think he had lost his job or sales were down since he started talking about the global economic slowdown. Strange topic for a Friday night at a crowded bar but whatever. Radek had a lot of thoughts on the issue and said, "there were problems all over the world because of the crisis and it is all the United States' fault and people being greedy." He added, "That's we don't like you boys in the U.S." This is why I tell people I'm from Africa or Hugo from Slovakia.

Wine of the Times

2009-09-21T05:13:00.000-07:00

After a loong, summer break, the blog is now lurching/stunbling back by not so popular demand. Lurching or stumbling seems the best way to put it as spent the weekend at a wine festival near Bratislava in the village of Pezinok. Southern Slovakia has a wine industry and in the fall harvest season there are several wine harvest festivals. The Pezinok festival was the middle of three-week series of wine festivals near Bratislava.

It was quite a fun event on a warm autumn evening. Very crowded with long rows of wine stands, and also some craft stalls, amusement park rides and music stages. Fortunately, there were no fuzzy wine bottle mascots walking around as there likely would be in the US. The featured band, wildly popular, was a Slovak ska band, called Polemic. They dressed in 80s-style white suits and hats, the 80s seem quite big here, at least in the music on the radio and in some fashions. The wine was good if a little sweet, and known here as Burchak. There were also some stronger spirits on sale, the potent kind that seperates the men from the boys. By the end, at about 11 p.m., as the 1000+ crowd made its way to the train station for the half an hour late train back to Brat, many were stumbling at least a little bit and a few fights broke out. So perhaps best we left when we did.

Lyon

2009-08-03T04:57:00.000-07:00

Good times in Lyon at the Tete d'Or Park, riding trolley bikes through the zoo, "listening" to geese, playing in the square with lion fountains and drinking beer cafe side.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40971559@N03/?deleted=3771214659

Slimak Bar

2009-07-22T04:37:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of the hiking trip was the Slimak Bar. Possibly the most forlorn beer spot in Slovakia, the Slimak (or Snail) Bar is next to the bus station in Zilina. Actually it is more of a kiosk. The bar attracts committed drunks who lean on tall tables and argue with themselves and each other. There was one metal table with benches to sit at, all be it quite wet, so put plastic bags down and made it workable (as it was the only place to sit). After a bit, a few of the serious drinkers decided to join us and sat down, again arguing with themselves and each other, (we decided to not argue back, but just agreed to whatever they said). Nearby, next to a dodgy looking restaurant, there were women who walked back and forth. We couldn't tell if they were prostitutes,or just desperately bored. They didn't seem attactively put together, but then again perhaps the local clientelle isn't too choosey. One woman who caught my eye had an intriguing style, with one pant leg pulled far up, while the other pant leg staid down. Even a small circle of trees near the bar seemed tired and worn out, with their branches bent over and reaching to the ground.
It was so interesting we had to visit twice.

Hiking

2009-07-16T01:11:00.000-07:00

At the last minute, took a weekend trip via train and bus to the lower Tatry Mountains. Riding the buses through remote, small towns reminded me of Peace Corps days and a good way to see a different side of Slovakia than the big capital. The hike was great as well, and near a town famous locally for being the home of the Slovak Robin Hood, Janosik.
Hiking is quite popular in Slovakia and for the first hour the trail was impressively crowded with all manor of people, young and old, heavy and fit, After the first hour there was beer hut in a nice little grassy, valley. After that, for a few hours, the trail followed a canyon and stream. At certain points you had to use metal ladders and chains bolted into the rock. Good thing I only had one beer at the hut. I also should have been better prepared since I only had tennis shoes and the metal ladders could be slippery, but no falls so that was good. After six hours of climbing we reached a sort of saddle of land in an Alpine meadow. You could chose a lower peak to ascend or a higher peak that took longer. Due to the late hour, we selected the lower peak, which again included metal chains to navigate certain spotsm esp those with much gravel.

Once on the peak we had a great view, with mountains and valleys to the horizon and the small town were started spread out along the highway far below. We also had a good view locally, as one young women had climbed up wearing long leather combat boots, short-short hotpants (butt cheeks on view), and a pink tank top. We watched the sun go down a little while on the peak, then went back to the meadows and camped overnight until awoken by loud birds about 4am.

Slovenia

2009-07-01T02:48:00.000-07:00

Travelled down to Slovenia for a whirlwind weekend visit. Great train ride down through deep forests, small towns, rain-swollen rivers and mountains. Also stopped briefly in Schwarzeneggers' hometown, Graz. From the train at least, it looked industrial and like a transport hub for cargo. Slovenia had charm to burn.
In the rural areas, looked like a mini-Switzerland, with long, green valleys and Alpine peaks. Though tiny, the capital Ljubljana was also full of charm. The town centers on a small river crossed by foot-bridges lined with statues, and along the river are places to stroll and many cafes. And above it all is a castle.

Music

2009-06-24T04:54:00.000-07:00

Trying to pass myself off as a Euro hipster been to a couple of concerts. One was a festival on the Danube featuring electronic music. The music was mostly electronic, and strangely, much of the crowd didn't dance, even those standing just in front of the cafe, but watched, expressionless, with their arms crossed. They looked like their dog just died. My friend and I referred to it as shoe-gazing. The more recent concert attended was more spirited. Saw 1980s English-band Depeche Mode at a big Socialist-era soccer stadium. The stadium was a rusted, fading landmark to a faded time. The music was good, and the crowd larger and more festive crowd-though the band's attempt at audience sing alongs fell completely flat. And to add to the experience,in a strangely fun way, during the concert the sky poured buckets of rain and after we had to almost swim through small lakes to exit the stadium and find a taxi home.

Why did the Lippinzaner X the Road?

2009-06-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

Was in Vienna last weekend. A friend drove, and when entering the city we realized Vienna is an easy place to get lost. The main circular road, the Ringstrass, only goes one direction. But when we got off on side roads they quickly all looked the same, with the same sort of shops, cafes and buildings. Baroque generic I guess you could call it. Eventually, we found his girlfriend's apartment. We went to dinner at a popular local place, an outdoor market with lots of Asian restaurants.
The next morning I walked for quite a ways, enjoying the different neighborhoods, and also saw a Remembrandt exibit. The exhibit wasn't too great (just few actual Rembrandts) but greatly enjoyed exploring the city. There are many great, leafy parks. In the old section of the city, you also come across many impressive fountains and classical buildings. Near the Hofberg Palace I also happened to see two of the famous Lippinzaner Stallions crossing the road, moving from one to stable to a riding area.

Soccer in the Park

2009-06-04T03:09:00.000-07:00

Playing pick-up soccer in a park across the Danube on Wednesday evenings. I play with a couple of co-workers and others who are local. Most of them are pretty good and some, weird thought, are half my age. The park is nice, old shady trees and grassy lawns. It supposed to be one of the oldest municipal parks in Europe, but who knows for sure. It is squeezed between a small soccer stadium for one of Bratislava's professional teams and the Spaceship Bridge. We can see the top of the Bridge sticking up above the trees. Most Wednesdays we see another group of people practicing martial arts, and another group of shaggy, bearded folks sword fighting. They use broad swords and shields, not sure what they're up to. There are also lots of couples between all of this activity. The couples are quite intensely kissing and otherwise 'making out on blankets on the grass'. We sometimes hit them with the ball. They sure make tempting targets.

Slowing Vakia

2009-06-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

The economy is slowing here. You can see it around town, with a growing number of shops closed up and the windows papered over. At a popular Indian restaurant, one of the best restaurants in town, the owner says his business is down 30 percent. The contraction so far is estimated to be an EU worst 11.2 percent. Overall, though, Bratislava is better off than a lot of Slovakia. Banska Bystrica, where I visited in April, has an unemployment level of about 20 percent, about twice what is here. The Euro is also apparently making things more expensive. But the beer is still cheap, less than 2 euros, so can't complain too much.

Graduation

2009-05-25T01:10:00.000-07:00

A fun local custom surroundng high school graduation has popped up around town. In shop windows, graduating classes have placed photo boards with pictures of the class , the homeroom teacher and usually a creative theme. Themes have included a pirate ship, Greek Olympics, a big puzzle... Some of the pictures are goofy, with the girls, wearing rabbit ears is popular. Goofy expressionss with the boys are popular, as are faux afros. Also, seems like the high schools here are like the Polish ones, with a class of 15-30 kids forming a core group that takes every class together for four years. Most schools have four groups in a class, say 1A, 1B and so on, with 1 representing the first year or freshman class.

BTS

2009-05-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

Ahead of my trips for work last week, traveled through the Bratislava airport. I understand it's about to get a thorough renovation and modernization but for now its an old-school, throwback 1960s-style airport. It looks like a big, boxy bus station. Small and sleepy, since most people use the airport in Vienna, the airport makes getting through security a breeze. On the day I flew out, many flights were delayed, but there wasn't much room for the stranded fliers. The departure area became standing room only. Eventually, passengers on my flight were checked into a small room. After 20 minutes, a woman came in and announced, "the plane is lost." We were told to leave the room for ten minutes and then come back. Fortunately, they found a plane in that amount of time and on our return we were lead out to the runway and put on an airline different than the one we were booked for. I was curious to see where we would land but it all worked out and we made it to the original destination. The experience, and the casual style of the airport, reminded me of Kotoka Airport in Accra, Ghana, and the fun we had exploring there after school among the planes and control tower.

KGB Bar

2009-05-03T00:45:00.000-07:00

On a slow Saturday night, passed the time at a favorite watering hole, KGB Bar. KGB is in a brick-walled cellar with Communist memoribilia on the wall. For instance, Red Soviet-era stars, old posters with presumbably inspirational socialits slogans (can't tell as in Cyrillic) and small statues of luminaries like Lenin. The KGB, home to what appears to be mostly a younger, student crowd, also has curious items on the menu such as a meal called the Fidel with Emigration, and the Bin Ladinova, whatever those are. Think the Fidel is suppossed to be spicy.

At the bar, Slovakia happended to playing hockey against its bitter rivals Czech, on television. Two Slovak guys I sat and chatted with told me the match has much subtext. Back when they were one nation, Czecho-slovakia was apparently a world hockey dynamo. After the break-up of the single nation, one of Slovakia's may grudges against the Czechs is they apparently got the better hockey players.

That was certainly the case yesterday. Let's just say by half-time it was 8-0.
A least the people at KGB had a good sense of humor about it. Eventually, a bunch of guys playing cards at a corner table just started laughing after each score.

Both teams had uniforms covered in corporate logos, so they looked like skating billboards/advertisements as much as national team hockey players. The Slovaks had a big ad for a Czech car company, Skoda, on the front of their helmets. Skoda is also a Slavic expression for "too bad" or "pity" So at least the Skoda part was fitting.

Aside from the ads, the hockey championships also got the unfortunate American habit of big, fuzzy mascots down. Being a wipeout of match, the camera often drifted to shots of some pantless creature running around in among the fans. Think the creature was named Cooly. At least that was the name on the shirt. Not sure if it was supposed to a moose? bear? cow? I'm thinking cow since the games are in Switzerland as part of the world hockey championships.
where's Cheney with his gun when you need him? There's a name for an item on the KGB menu.

Thin Ice

2009-04-27T02:10:00.000-07:00

Slovakia had a big world hockey championship match against bitter rivals Hungary Friday night. In my apt. I could keep track of Slovakia's progress through the blowing horns and large roars from nearby bars. I finally got around to turning on the tv in time to see Slovakia pull out a hard fought overtime victory-a big deal since they are as rabid about hockey here as they are about soccer in other European countries.
Hungary made for extra drama, since there is a large Hungarian minority in the country. My friends told me too, that Hungarians at the game stood and chanted "Hungaria" "Hungaria" during the playing of the Slovak national anthem. Despite Slovakia's win, prospects now seem dim, after a loss to Belarus yesterday and a match against Canada tomorrow.

Inside Out

2009-04-24T02:37:00.000-07:00

Speaking of outdoor markets, Brava has an almost hidden world. Walking down alleyways and entering passage ways to a building, you will find another layer of shops or small markets. Small alleys telescope into interior courtyards with cafes or stores. Some have nice places to sit and drink coffee or beer, others are patches of concrete. Picking an alley or passageway can be a nice little adventure, often leading to a narrow eating or shopping area, and then on through to a different street. Sort of part of the adventure to see what street you will arrive at. The outdoor Asian market is squeezed between one street that seemingly deadends at a playground and a bar. But if you turn to the right you actually wind through the narrow market and out through a small tunnel onto a main shopping street.

Rifles for Sale

2009-04-20T03:39:00.000-07:00

An outdoor Asian market near my apt. has many off-brand or no-brand things for sale, like Rifle jeans. Cleverly, I thought to myself Rifle is just the kind of brand you'd only find at outdoor Asian markets. But, in a good reality check, just learned in my Slovak class Rifle isn't a brand name at all, but a Slovak word for jeans. So I guess the jeans had no name at all. I'm told the market is home to mostly Vietnamese vendors, due to the old socialist ties between Vietnam and the then Czechoslavkia. It gave Vietnamese a toe-hold in the country, say as students, and then other family members followed. Apparently Prague has many Vietnamese as well. But strangely, Bratislava doesn't seem to have good Vietnamese restaurants. Would seem to be logical business evolution, but may be wrong on this front, so will have to investigate.

Country Mouse

2009-04-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

Before heading to the airport to put the my visiting nomads from India on the plane , we spent a few hours in Vienna. Vienna seems the city mouse to Brava's country mouse. Vienna has a much bigger city center. Also, at Vienna's center in the St. Stephen's Place area it has more of the usual sort of tourist stuff-mimes, street performers, expensive cafes, guys walking around dressed like Mozart ( people like that no doubt giving Freud food for thought back in the day). Plus, as a bigger city, it has lots of joggers running in green parks along the Danube, much diversity and ethincity (nice to see for a change) and strangely for a city famous for its coffee house culture, a Starbucks across from the Hapsburg's grand palace. Damn Americans!

Central Slovakia

2009-04-12T01:57:00.000-07:00

Trekked out to central Slovakia. A beautiful drive through long valleys with small towns centered along the main road, with each town topped churches by onion-dome spires, making them easy to spot in the distance. To the north as we drove were low mountains and in the valleys spring flowers were just appeaing. In some of the smaller villages, older women in long skirts, head scarves and wooden clogs were outside working in their gardens. We stopped in Banka Bystrica. A historic town framed by mountains, including snowy ones to the north, Bystrica had a long, upwardly sloping main square with brightly colored, old houses and a nice church at the top of square. Also the town is home to a World War II museum (since the region was home to an ill-fated Slovak resistance movement in WWII), according to guide books one of the best museums in Slovakia. We couldn't verify this ourselves, as the museum was closed due to the sleepy Easter weekend. Instead, we ambled out a park with old military equipment, and had a store-bought lunch on benches in the main square. Then drove back through scenic country, passed through small towns, around the industrial edges of bigger cities, crossed the River Vah, and back on into Bratislava.

Beer Garden Weather

2009-04-07T06:27:00.000-07:00

In less than a week it has gone from winter to hot and sunny. Seemed to have skipped spring so far. Also in the last week, cafes and restaurants have moved tables outside joining craft stalls, street performers and my personal nemesis-lots of accordion music. The sudden appearance of the cafes outside in just days happened so quickly it was like they were waiting the tables and chairs behind the bushes for the first sign of sun and good weather. Can't blame them. Nice to be outside having a coffee in sunny, warm weather and (thank goodness) blue skie. Interestingly,you also can hear more English spoken on the street. I guess the number of visitors/tourist rise along with the temperature heading into summer.

More Cowbell

2009-04-04T05:51:00.001-07:00

Went to hear music last night at a bar a little out in the suburbs. The bar was called, I think, Strange Heads. As part of that, there were plaster heads like the kind that hold wigs mounted high along the wall. The music turned out to be sort of
African highlife and at times a drum circle that included members of the audience invited on stage occasionally to take part (fortunately for all not me). The performance reminded me how unexpectedly blended Slovakia can be. A friend told me the lead singer/performer is originally from central Africa, though the singer has lived in Slovakia for about 20 years. Every so often you'll meet someone here who has one parent from Syria or Nigeria, say, and the other a Slovak. Partly a legacy, I think, of the socialist era when foreigners moved to Slovakia to go to univeristy. Anyways, strange but good music at Strange Heads, and also the first time I overheard any conversation about the presidential election taking place today.

Little America

2009-03-31T02:51:00.000-07:00

One thing to do in the grayer months here is go the movies. There is a multiplex at a big mall across the Danube. Walking to the mall is a like walking a time line. You cross an old bridge currently under renovation. You walk through a large, dark park and into the mall, which sits at the edge of a massive Socialist-era complex of apartment blocks (reputedly the large such complex in Eastern Europe). Once in the mall, which includes a restaurant shaped like a pirate ship, you could be in Walnut Creek, California or Arlington, Virginia. It is also a destination for people here, and many well-dressed people, go there to "walk the mall" as one of my friends put it. When you leave, you go back through the park and can take another bridge across the Danube. This one, built in the 70s, resembles a flying saucer, or UFO. Across the river, on your left is the castle up on a hill and below it the old Jewish quarter that was replaced in the 70s by socialist planners. the site is mainly a bus station now. On the right is the main square at the heart of the picturesque Old Town.

Fitness With Nadia

2009-03-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

The weekend is a good time to go the gym, the other entertainment options being hit and miss. I chose my gym mostly for its convenience to home and work, and price (3 euros at a time). Though I understand there are nicer gyms a little further out from the center.

My gym has a charm of its own though. On the first floor are squash courts, a ping pong table, locker rooms without soap curiously, and a hair salon.

On the second floor, watched over by Nadia the parakeet, is a strange collection of newer aerobic machines and battered and well-used weights (they could form an abuse support group). The clientele seem to approach working out as if they just rolled out of bed. They hit the weights in slippers, sandals, or socks. Nice change of pace from the American one, where working out seems to be as much about the exercise accesories/bling as exercising). Sometimes, the approach here seems to have its drawbacks. Once, I saw a guy trying to use the stair master wearing jeans. Couldn't have been easy, but perhaps a short, intense workout thanks to the jeans. Whatever works I guess. When Nadia the bird is not napping, (or perhaps covering her eyes with her wing), she sometimes sings along to the Europop tunes on the radio.

Snow!

2009-03-26T01:44:00.000-07:00

Well, that's nothing new actually. No blue sky since arrival in January. Soon? Yesterday, apparently was a historic Slovak anniversary too.

Election

2009-03-25T02:44:00.000-07:00

Forgot there was an election over the weekend. But walking in downtown last week, there was nothing to indicate a presidential election was taking place. At the street-level no banners or campaign staff getting out the vote, though Bratislava had the highest national turnout with about 48 percent. Even with American-style numbers, a quiet, uncontentious election is probably the ideal for most places.

Wally World

2009-03-21T06:50:00.000-07:00

In what's sort of like the first bird of spring around here, I saw my first group of guys on a "stag" party. Essentially bachelor parties, British guys about to get married fly over from the U.K. on cheap flights for the weekend, in pursuit of cheap beer and attractive women.

Supposed to a lot of them in the warmer months. Still cold here, but the group yesterday was walking in the Old Town at mid-day with one of the guys, I guess the the guy soon to be married, presumably named Wally, wearing green tights, a green leotard, a yellow cape, a mask and a sign saying Wally Man.

Later, in the evening,a similar group in the Old Town were standing on the street saying to women walking by,"Hey ladies, where you going, going to the pub?" in thick British accents.

No wonder some locals don't always like us native English speakers. Capes and tights can't help.

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-19T06:37:00.000-07:00

Toasted the Irish at a Scottish bar. The proprietor was a jolly, bearded Scotsman (with an accent like groundskeeper Willie from the Simpsons) and he and his Slovak staff wore kilts. He kept asking the girls to see if he had anything under his kilt. There was Guiness, of course, an old U2 cd seemingly on a loop, plenty of green, and free Irish stew.

Fascists on the Loose

2009-03-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a good day to keep a low profile, as it was full of the kinds of things that tend to give facsism a bad name. On March 14, neo-nazis and supporters of fascism gather in Brava's Old Town to commerate the founding of a Nazi-puppet state 70 years ago (1939). According to news reports , several hundered people attended and trouble started after one leader used a Nazi-style salute and the crowd refused orderers to disperse. Police with dogs then pushed them out of the square and accompanied the demonstrators as they marched to the grave site of Hitler ally and president of war-time Slovakia, Josef Tiso.

All in all, a good day to avoid the Old Town. Especially, at night when some of the marchers were likely to be liquored up and looking for trouble. A few years ago a student bystander was killed.

There was also a rally near the town of Nitra and in Brava, at least, a counter-demonstration.

D'oh

2009-03-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

On Thursday evening, a rainy, blustery night went to hear some jazz with co-workers. The jazz was quite good, especially the singer. The bar was in a non-descript neighborhood with grey, socialist apartment buildings and the usual shops and restaurants at the street level. This bar, however, had a Simpson's theme. The front of the building had a long picture of Moe the Bartender. Inside, there were posters for Spiderpig and other Simpson icons. There was also a t-shirt on the wall for "Simpranos" and Homer posing a la Tony Soprano. On the menu were pizzas named for different Simpson characters, Bart, Lisa, Nelson and so forth. The 'Hommer' pizza's special ingredient was chili powder. D'oh! Pass the Duff beer.

AIG Life

2009-03-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

Walking downtown after work, up above on one of the handful of tall buildings, you see a sign for 'AIG Life' high-up in lights. Given AIG's contributions to the global financial problems, the phrase seems like a twisted joke, or a prophecy.
AIG Life?
It could well be on it's way to this capital. But hard to tell with if it has hit here yet.
Local politicos say Slovakia is fine, or at least the pride of Central Europe. The business sector is less certain. Volkswagen, one of the major employers, keeps going back and forth with furloughs and layoffs. Country-wide unemployment is hovering at 10 percent, in brava it's much lower.
Here in Brava, things seem ok. Though it is hard to tell who is keeping a lot of the smaller businesses going. Like the hip hop shops you see all over town, though you don't see many people sporting baggy jeans, chains and backwards ball caps.
But, people are out and about, well-dressed, generally enjoying themselves. The buildings could use some work, fresh paint, new roofs, but they are full of businesses and people.
So in the capital at least the AIG Life is just a sign on top of a building, seemingly out of view for a lot of people at the moment.