Wednesday, July 12, 2006

It's Tough Kid, But It's Life

And so begins a month or so of fairly intense travelling. Erika left this morning for Barcelona, leaving me in sole charge of Paula, much to my enthusiasm and her anxiety (Erika's anxiety that is, we haven't been able to access Paula's feelings on the matter). However if I post something completely incoherent and hagard sounding on Friday or Saturday you'll know why.

She'll be back Sunday evening and then on Monday morning we set off early for a Holiday in Bulgaria (I am unable to say, think, or -apparently- write those three words without instantly breaking into mental song to the tune of The Dead Kennedys' "Holiday in Cambodia"). A week by the Black Sea, but, crucially at a slightly different point on the coastline from where we have been the last two summers, and then home again. A few days back in Csikszereda and then it's my turn to go to Barcelona for work for a week. Back again for a couple of days before a two week holiday in England (hence my recent visa experiences). It's all go.

Meanwhile, I'm troubled as to how devilishly clever those Russians are. You see, according to noted scientific expert Cornelius Vadim Tudor, they have been launching a meteorological attack on Romania - but so good at it are they that they have managed to avoid Bulgaria, Moldova and other nations nearby.

In other news of rubbish and nutty nationalists, some Romanian software company is releasing a game called something like "Kill all the non-Romanian rubbish cluttering up our country", which is nice of them. That'll improve the cause of tolerance. More worryingly, Slovakia's new coalition government includes a party headed up by a man who wants to sterilise Roma, and has referred to Slovakia's Hungarians as "Lumpen Elements" and has said that "We will get in our tanks and crush Budapest." At least CVT hasn't actually got any power, not like this bloody nutter.

[Oh, and I have no idea why the little weather tracking thing on the right appears to be switching randomly between showing the weather for Csikszereda and Targu Mures. It's a rum do.]

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I suspect that the game was a tongue-in-cheek parody of nationalist thinking. From their page:

<<
In 1988, Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu set out to conquer the United States of America. Ten years later, he is the emperor of Earth, and Romanians are his people.

After a hundred years of Romanian domination over the planet, things look bleak. Romanians have no one to conquer and oppress anymore.

[...]

Remnants of the former republic of Hungary have formed a new nation on a recently-conquered planet. They claim independence and a chance to live freely. This cannot stand.

[...]

You have been assigned to join the 88th fighter squadron, of the 3rd Romanian Fleet, designated Cacanarii.

>>

(note that "Căcănarii" means something like "The Shitheads")

--Bogdan

Andy said...

Ah, thanks Bogdan. That's certainly put a new spin on it. I saw it reported on the (Hungarian) Duna TV channel, and it was done as if it were all straight up. (The Romanian minister for computers - or whatever his title is- was reported as having requested that the company not release it)

Anonymous said...

A lot of people in here don't understand what sarcasm is. Maybe Pratchett had a point when he said that "sarcasm ought to be taught in schools". :-)

--Bogdan