Da Ven... was asking me about the SOTU address...

To tell the truth, have been putting it off, because I had to digest that. Did I see it, he wished to know. Yes, I certainly did. Not that it normally means much. Congress never does what is proposed anyway.

He had a wonderful time watching the Rethugs sitting on their hands with sour faces, and I have the sneaking suspicion he wasn't eating popcorn. He probably had ice cream to go with it.

At first I thought it was just me, but I was listening and watching carefully. Although brilliantly executed, I had some trouble with some of it, especially the bending over to the gas people and saying they would go on with fracking, and opening even more oil drilling. Boy, he played both sides of the fence on the issue, and did it masterfully.

He was still trying for consensus, and managed to put the emphasis in the assertive tone to deflect the fact that he is still 'comprimising'. I don't think there is room for that. None of what he proposed is going to be worked on anyway, the Rethugs wouldn't even consider it.

So yeah, nice speech. Horrible faces in the crowd... looked like a messed up clown car in parts.

Some of the ideas were good... but bottom line? Show business.

Eurovision Song Contest....

Is wacky season. There are ten songs in the running to represent Austria, and am posting the two I like from the radio 3 station on youtube... I think the following has a real chance... even if it's more than a bit disco, but whoever she is has a good voice... and it's a real mind fuck optically. Conchita Wurst. The other is so retro, but catchy, Crazy Swing, with a multi-culti group.





And oh yes, the third I really like because it makes me smile, and want to share it with Annti... she will know why. It's cute. And he looks so dorky '50's. And oh yes... these were clips of the auditions. Since then, professionals have been honing them into super performers, and what's on the radio is way more polished. But I like the freshness of the auditions, to tell the truth.

Whelp... here we go again...

Sigh...

The only friend I have left here had to have surgery... one stent in an artery around his heart.

Can I throw a tantrum now and say I Hate Fate?`

I say friend, but am not sure.. our paths divurged so often for long periods of time... distance, mostly, personal things where I wasn't sure of any approval for what I was doing... but somehow, yes, we'd reconnect, and it was always fun, and as if little had happened meanwhile.

We sometimes worked closely and intensely together. I hung out the big English disciplinarian, polishng his papers, teaching him what I knew about how NOT to give a lecture and put people to sleep, to listen to reporters, how they punch up words, for instance. And him dragging me into a sound studio and do the english explanation of a procedure, with one sentence that was so horrible, I needed fifteen takes to get it right, a tongue twister. And the operation I was describing was... well, you need a strong stomach for it. It was for a presentation in the US.

Posssibly, my voice is still out there on that film. It was a cutting edge procedure, you should pardon the pun.

And he and his family have given me much over the years. So I was very consternated that this very talented surgeon ended up so stressed, he had to get a stent. And his wife has always sort of been the cement that kept us in touch.

As an aside, that Costa cruise we took? Peter invited them both to travel with us... but he couldn't get the time off, so she had ber best friend come instead... it was insanely funny. And his father blamed me for all sorts of things when he began having problems shortly thereafter. Which was absurd.

As a surgeon, well, there is a saying... doctors make the worst patients, but I called this evening, he sounds fine. It's raining in Salzburg... but when doesn't it. They only have 1oo days of sun per year on average, and I KNOW... I had my first bout with bronchitis there.

He sounded 'chipper' enough, which was a relief. He only got one stent. His wife said he complained that it really hurt. Peter got five in two operations. But never really complained. Imagine that. If Peter caught cold... it was the end of the world, on the other hand, and made everyone imagineable miserable. But an amputation? Nyeh... People can be hard to figure.

I had the radio on while I was messing around on line killing things and there was a lot of AC/DC, and hard rock, which made it fun optically. And I thought... wow, last time I heard this it was his fiftieth birfday bash, which was wild. Time does march on.

I hope he retires. I do. Before life retires him. Otherwise, the stress will kill him, and there are many other things I do not wish to broach here. He needs some rest. All the early carreer eighteen hour shifts, the resposibility of having to do things to post natal babies because something went wrong... that's a huge load to carry.

He had huge success, and has been a respected guest lecturer world-wide, and I do mean world-wide. I would think that stent would be a call to reconsider what his priorities are for his own health.

I noticed something different the past two calls... he has become introspective, just as Peter did when he got really sick. It was sort of chilling. Self-absorbed, I guess you would call it.

Maybe it was my imagination. But it wasn't something I would ever have wished for them, because his wife has been through much as well, and I like her very much.

Today is chinese new year, the year of the water dragon, which brings luck and happiness and wealth. They got the latter... I hope it will be the former two for them.

Annti can rest and breathe easily for a couple a days

I hope she noticed... AHHNULD is in Austria at present. This is a very in-joke.. I met her one night, and she told me we have to take him back. In no uncertain terms. Except we couldn't because he has a double citizenship, which is only allowed from the Austrian side if you've done something to promote the image of the country abroad.

Riiiiggght.

I still don't care that he became governor of Kali-Fornicating-Four-Knee-Ya.... Didn't do so well, did he...

He was all over the media, lording it over the downhill race in Kitzbühel Tyrol, which is the most dangerous in the wurrld, and takes your breath away. Crazy arses skiing down a literal cliff. Chills and thrills. And yesterday in Burgenland inspecting a very upper edge research and development facility, telling them they were all 'Stars', he was so impressed. And has wanted to promote them for a long time in his new home state.

I hope he didn't elicit any firm sneakrets from them.

What drives me absolutely bonkers is that he can't speak anything correctly. In any language. And when he visits... his dialect is so awful, and grammatically incorrect, and bo-hunk DUMBED down, I have to keep thinking... 'who are his handlers?' because he can't really be that stupid. Just 'Schmäh', as they call it... I can't explain that one.

On the other hand... looking at the rethug line up of clowns this year... maybe he IS that dumb, but can sell it. It's telling that he isn't visiting his home town. We pissed him off royally, taking his name off the stadium. Add prima donna to the list, the womaniser.

So... Annti, did the bronchial passages free up a bit? (chuckle). Ours contracted.

and oh yes... the Moldavian mystery woman...

who was on the bridge of the ship and is giving interviews... the captain wanted to show her the island, or something... gimme a break.

On profanity...

Seemingly, lots happened this week... slept a lot... my heart was hurting.

However. There was a brouhaha about Little Lily on Modern Family using the F bomb, and some discussion about it. and a lot of blah blah. I really HATE that show, btw.

Now, Lawrence O'Donnell was right in making it an item in his show, 'The Last Word'. But missed the point entirely. Or nearly.

And believe me it gets trickier per language you acquire, and profanity should be the FIRST thing you learn, in my opinion, just so you don't inadvertantly insult someone you didn't mean to insult.

I learned that lesson very early at 23, working in the olympic village, and we were still in the training phase, had lots of time, and played cards, and told jokes and one evening got on the topic of 'what is the worst thing you can insult someone with in your language?' It was very instructive. Although I found the spanish ones the most shocking... mostly involving one's mother's genital areas... don't ask. Wiped my brain immediately. We were all multi-lingual, and in college, from all over the place.

But I'd had a run-in before as senior in high school. I used a word speaking with a girl I really liked and referred to someone as a 'schmuck'. She said, 'Do you KNOW what that means?' 'Well a jerk', I said. And she said no, and that in yiddish, it meant... well we'll get to that.

I turned bright scarlet and apologised and it seemed to calm the waters, but was friggin' embarassing.

Whatever, that evening in Munich was an eye-opener... some people are very creative with insults. And I inadverdantly did it again... told an egyptian I knew what the second worst insult in arabic was, had learned it from an army brat. He looked amused. Till I said it. But I knew what I was saying, and everyone else was being very horrific with things I had never imagined before. It meant, 'You are a male prostitute.' Hey, I was just adding to the conversation, but he was very, very offended. It wasn't like I was saying HE was.

I used to know the worst in arabic.. but I sort of erased it out of my memory.

Now, the sinking of the Concordia is still daily news here... big time. And it even got on the O'Donnell show. One aspect was that the Italians are suffering from low self esteem since Berlusconi, and there was this coast guard captain who got the captain of the ship on the horn, and yelled, 'Adesso commando IO', (Now I'M in command). Then 'Get back on board, 'CAZZO'.' And he became a hero when the tape was relased.' Tee-shirts immediately popped up all over the place with that quote. They were proud of someone who took charge and was adamant. There is a political agenda to that, referring to the government.

But there was the hitch on O'Donnel's show... he translated cazzo as 'dammit'. It isn't.

It means the same thing as 'schmuck' in yiddish. It means 'prick'.

Which is why I turned beet red after saying it in front of Susan in high school, and she told me what I'd said. Looking back, I wished I had had german in high school, because 'schmuck' in German means jewelry... if you pronounce it 'schmook'. Words are dangerous sometimes, in other words, and it would behoove anyone learning a language to learn the worst immediately... just so you can avoid being inadverdantly insulting... and a good tool if you want to be insulting.

For O'Donnell to do one of his re-writes, which I generally enjoy, and go ON about Lily in 'Modern Family' dropping the f-bomb... (the kid is four years old)...and explain that profanity is part of the culture now, and it is up to parents to explain when to use and avoid it, is commendable. But nearly in the same breath on the same show not to explain an italian word or make it harmless isn't doing anyone any good. Just imagine taking your kid to New Yawk, and the kid iuses the word thinking he or she is saying 'dammit'. NOT good. He could have easily circumvented it by saying it was to do with male genital anatomy.

I hate sanctimonious censorship.

This was our ship... and don' t let the perspective fool you, it is how they look upright

It got retired last year. But have fond memories.
Standing on the top deck returning to Venice, it was like having a bird's eye view of the city and towered over any building except the campanile.... bell tower. It was awesome.

And YEAH, I can afford to be self-indulgent... it's MY blog.

Correction

Oh my! Have to correct, it wasn't in the Adriatic, it was in the Tyrhennian sea on the other side. Tuscany has coasts on both oceans, so it must have been the route to Spain, and Portugal, and the Canary Islands. Those leave from Genoa.

ABC had petulant US tourists complaining that the crew was clueless, they hadn't been shown what to do in an emergency, etc. Having ridden that line... they usually depart at night, and the boat drill is on your first day out. Because you board late afternoons, and they let people settle in. So they had departed, there was the 'gala' first night dinner, and they ran aground. I don't think that would have been foreseeable.

And lots of bitching about how they couldn't lower the life boats... errm.... if it's down like that, can anyone tell me HOW?

The pictures are misleading. There was land about 300 yards away. Too close to the coast.

I LURRVED the quote... 'It was like the Titanic... without the water.' Oh please, horrible as it is,reallah?

Just an update...the proportions of this photo don't do it justice. It is three football fields long, hey.

And just spoke with someone I know who had travelled on the Concordia... he concurs with me that the life boat drills would have been the next morning. And seeing the cabin he and his wife had is under water didn't make him exactly 'happy'.... but he's having a catheter shoved up in his heart tomorrow to get stents... maybe. So he was sort of being self-indulging and afraid, although he's a doctor. Who make the worst patients EVAH. I went through that too with Peter, so I could be reassuring. Except it is the shits. Peter doesn't remember being on our Costa Riviera... he just thought it was a terrible accident. So he is far away in his head.

Looks like the gloves are coming off....

The latest news here is that the latest move by Standard and Poor's is a concentrated attack on the Euro... a suspicion I voiced a week ago. They reduced the credit rating of several EU countries, including France, which sort of acts like an umbrella to protect the EURO.

So what are WE hearing? Oh yeah, everyone is gonna haveta cut some more on their decadent socialist lifestyles (HA), and they'll have to make even more cuts to reduce deficits.

What I wanna know now is... WHO are these people, and who are they affiliated with? Ten will get you half a dozen they are locked into the vulture rethug political thinking that they can force their friggin philosophy on, and blackmail half the world into doing what they want.

Interesting times.... I think I will do some digging.

Ironically, the other two big rating companies like Fitch and Moody's haven't made any such move either in the US or elsewhere. This is seemingly a singular attack by S and P. I am SO tired of asshole 'Murkins pushing their shit onto us. Time for a push back....

Especially when the EU countries are already doing draconian cuts to their budgets.

´Hmmm... I can't figure this one out at all....

And it probably got very little coverage in the US, but yesterday a cruise ship ran into a cliff in the Toscana in Italy. And some people died. Which is very weird to me, because I have traveled with that company, and just can't imagine how that could have happened.

This was one of the company's very large ones, with over four thousand passengers. And some very dumb people jumped overboard... it must have been a real mess. And some guy had a heart attack, of course... not hard to figure, since a lot of oldies are usually on board.

Peter booked one for us one year when he was still half-way able to do long trip... he thought. And since he got a two-for-one deal... of COURSE he invited two other people to travel with us, and share some of the 'joy'. We became sort of notorious on that cruise, but all that is beside the point.

After our wonderful trip which was frustrating because he had a foot crisis and had to stay on board, but was wonderful anyway. We always said after that that if we did it again, the ship would have to be much smaller. It was already too much like a middle sized city, although it never felt crowded.

Little did I know that one day years later I'd be on a sailboat that slept six and travel half the adriatic sea on it, with everyone pitching in and sailing it. That was even more fun.

But am digressing. Am only writing, because I KNOW that company, and I know the routes. It makes no sense to me. Their first priority was passenger safety, and one of the first things was life-boat drill... have the pictures to prove it. And in Crete, did the crew get land-leave for the day? No, they were out doing practice drills lowering the lifeboats, and it was obvious they were extremely conscientious, which was a reassuring thing to observe.

Now there is a very tricky strait when they approach Corfu, and if it happened there, I'd sort of understand how that could happen. It's very narrow, and we entered it at sunrise back then. One of the most quiet, beautiful things I have ever experienced. We had Corfu on the one side, and Albania on the other, each so close it was amazing. Some things are unforgettable in life.

However, the latest news report says it happened near an island off the tuscany coast, and the captain maintains there were underwater cliffs that were not chartered on the maps. Hmmm.. possible.

On the sailboat junket, I really learned to lurv the sonar... and there were lots of sudden shallows that might have been dangerous...

Still.. it really seems odd.

I guess shit happens to even the best.

On Media....

Since the first of the year.... have had the radio on a lot. Since the tee-vee doesn't work. And have done a lot of listening, but not so much of the mind-numbing variety.

Austrian radio has three national stations. We have to pay a fee for them every two months. And for the tee-vee as well. Ostensibly, this was to stop them from having advertising, and remaining independent of vested interests. Except, well, they started sneaking in blocks of commercials between shows on television, for instance, and and the news blocks started getting shorter and shorter, and more superficial compared to the incisive sort of reporting they used to be. This has led to a lot of criticism, which sort of comes and goes in waves, usually when it's time to elect another 'impartial' director of the networks.

Radio sort of went the same way, with only one station truly maintaining an impartial and educationally valuable agenda once restrictions were dropped, and private stations began taking over the airwaves. And most of the stations suddenly became a mindless potpourri of trivial crap with most of them playin the same flavour of the day music. Except some have an emphasis on hits from the 80's or classic rock, or the 90's, interspersed with mind-numbing things like someone named Katy Perry, who seems to be getting divorced, which is supposed to make her juvenile meanderings more interesting. Or something. Had never heard of her, nor did I want to, in retrospect.

So... there are three national stations. There's the rock and pop schlock one, which used to have some moderators who were actually funny, only to be replaced with a current crop who have no grounding in reality. Case in point? Make a big deal of all the wealthy people being 'cut off from civilisation' in the west of the country over the horridays. In places like St. Anton, where Princess Di took her sons skiing a few times, which is how 'everyday people' that place is. And others like it. But the thing is... they get snowed in every year, so why the drama? They alre always pampered, And there were the usual traffic jams of people trying to get back home before January sixth, which was the official end of said horridays. Again... not really news. But these dunderheads made it into drama, and what came across was that 'EVERYONE' had been on holiday. Odd, in that there were enough worn faces and people trudging wearily about their business out on the square, and they obviousy hadn't been skiing. It smacks of a certain elitism.

The second is a regional station... so you get a lot of oldies from the Seventies with a sprinkling of really good Austrian artists... and yes Virginia, there used to be a lot of them who got loads of air time but do not any more. And a lot of unlistenable stuff where the schmalz runs out of your ears, or you get dumbed down. But it's good for local news with a sort of bonus of 'the weird story of the day', like the sixty year old woman who got accidently locked in her wc for two days before someone heard her calls for help, and they could break her out of there. Turned out the door handle had been installed wrong. Did they go ON? Yup. It's good for local traffic reports and weather, but hardly anything I enjoy.

And then there is the one that still really fulfills what had been intended in the first place. Still no advertising, and classical music mixed with some very amazing things. The evening news journal is still one full hour of real information and in-depth analysis without too much slant. There are really interesting interviews with notable and remarkable people. And there is something called the radio college, with sort-of lectures on a huge range of topics, such as a nature one, which explains an animal a week. Sounds weird, but isn't. This past week was about the increase in the population of wild boars in Europe over the past few decades, how they live, how they propogate... such as learing that they run in matriarchal groups, for instance, and the males are loners. And how, thanks to man, they have propogated out of control, and are encroaching on cities and towns now, and are incredibly smart. Or a full week covering the seeds of the so-called Arab Spring, and really getting into how and why it all happened. So most of it is very interesting and entertaining... although there was one on architecture that was so abstruse and incomprehensible, I switched over to Katy Perry for a while. (smile) And there is lots of classical music, live transmissions of terrific concerts you would never have the money to attend, and discussions of new books, new films, and best of all, no advertising. It's a terrific mix. Which is why I still don't mind having to pay a bi-monthly fee for listening.

So did opening up the airwaves to private stations provide anything positive? Tja... if you call dumbing people down a good thing, I suppose they did. And if you think constant advertising is bearable. Which reminds me... am surprised that slogans or 'branding' of businesses are still using the worn out ones that were fresh and funny thirty years ago or so. It gets sort of tiring, at least to me.

The one thing the three had in common this weekend? The second of shock that lasted thirty six hours when Standard and Poor's took away Austria's triple A+ credit rating on Friday in a sneak attack, as well as downgrading many other EU countries. Just like they did to the US after the jerks in congress played chicken with Obama on raising the debt ceiling. This was a real blow to the national psyche, as people are proud of their international standing. And I have some preliminary thoughts on this development, but am waiting for more info before I go and spout off... which I certainly will do.

One thing running on the pop station that I love... came out in November and is currently nearly on a loop here... the late Amy Winehouse.

And oooo... a step toward gender equality here... only not like you think...

The train company has set men and women as equals in getting a senior citizen pass for their services. Which means you only pay half price and there are some time related restrictions, but HEY, progress.

Women were entitled at sixty. Men had to be sixty five.

I got one for my Dad when he visited... it sure helped, paying half-fare to Salzburg and Vienna.

So now I can pay 26 Euros, provide a horrible picture to go on the damned thing, and I get to ride the rails at half price.

And to be precise... men have had to work longer than women till eligible for pension, and they don't live as long, So I thought it was nice... sort of.

What came to mind was a play I saw where this dotty woman says, 'You don't know what I WENT through till I got him under the ground.'

Got a huge laugh.

Sometimes socialism has it's perks.

Things I heard on the news, hey...

Local and national....

Whelp, the coalition government.. actually TALK to one another... although the conservative cathlick party will NOT raise any taxes... wonder where they got THAT from... can we really try reeeeeally hard and exercise our brain muscles?

Which aren't a real thing, I will admit.

And OH, joy, Hungary is going bankrupt, Greece is going bankrupt, and the EU is congtemplating de-coupling them from the Euro, except Hungary never accepted that currency, and still has the forint, which is now worth... nada.

Now, Hungary got a HUGE infusion of investment monies from the US when the Iron Curtain ceased to exist over twenty years ago, and boy, they got their financial fingers in many pies and projects. So why now?

I think I have an answer, although it sounds totally paranoid. They hated that the Euro became more valuable than the dollar. Hated it. So, let's just imagine, if you were an investment banker, and a 'Murkin, what would you do? Right, kill it. But here you have Goldman Sachs tanking Greece by selling them junk bonds, and too early to say what the hell they did in Hungary... and Italy, where they gov't is always corrupt, as its's a way of life there, and what the hell happened in Spain?

Yup, am paranoid, but I know a rat when I smell it.

And of course, they will play on national animosities to cover their tracks, am sure.

And yes, that is cynical, but the only thing that makes sense at the moment.

There is a lot of reporting on this... except no one digs into the question 'WHY?' 'HOW?' 'WHO?' 'WHEN'?' Journamalism is in a sorry state.. So it is presented a sort of miracle, hey.. pfui.

These thoughts aren't proveable, nor did I go digging... just gut instinct.

So let's go to some fun news. Now every year, 'everyone' goes skiing between Dec 26th and Jan 6th... if you listen to the radio. 'They are so far out of reality, it's pitiful.

And EVERY year, there's a snowstorm out west, and the most coveted, beautiful ski resorts get snowed in and cut off from civilisation, and it's all the schlock stations blather on about.

And they get stranded and can't get back to work, the poor things....

The only stranding I ever got was in Venice... got up one morning in a hotel room to die for, note under the door... 'don't come down, breakffast will be delivered to your room, we're under water.' Hokay.. I used to kid Peter there... 'do you ever get this 'sinking' feeling?'

Well, there were high winds, and the highways in and out were snowed under, no access, and so on, but they always act as if it were something new.

'Today they did something seemingly unprecedented. When there is that much snow, the trees along the highway get overburdened with the weight of the snow on the branches, you see... And they can break, fall into the lanes, and cause accidents, so the roads get closed.

Today they sent out helimacopters, yup. They went all along the highways very low, and the downdraft knocked all the snow off the branches, seemingly. I doubt it was very safe for them to do that... but interesting.

We have a saying... emergencies make for innovation... sort of like that.

Sort of ... if you're in trouble, you get creative.

Who would have thought helicopters could be so useful, hey.

There were the usual tragedies, of course. A four year old boy got a car dropped on his head.. that was the lead.. He was just playing near his dad, who was working on his car, had jacked it up, and it slipped off the jack, and crushed the kid's head. I wouldn't like to be in his shoes... that was local

In Veinna, a 17 year old snapped and knifed his mother and grandmother and then tried killing himself. Except help came and they stopped them and wth women are still in critical condition. That sort of thing can be national news here, can you believe it?

AAANNND.. as you know, I lurvs me some Desperate Housewives, amd have ofthen thought some of the story lines were way beyond believable, but TODAY? One of them became true as gold, hey.

Some guy got caught having stored his deceased wife in a freezer so he could keep on collecting her pension. Seemingly, someone noticed and did some whistle blowing. I believe he got about 100,000 Euros illegally doing that. Nice sum. And it cracked me up, because it was a story line in that series. Life imitates art, hey.

Well, in the series, the woman had her husband in a freezer. But didn't get penalized. THIS guy? Could face up to five years in prison.

And WHY, please, aren't we seeing anyone going to prison for tanking half a continent? Accountablility only ever is for the bottom two thirds of any given country, I guess. Why am I disgusted?

New Hampshire what the hell happened?

Unsettling news from Rachel.... it begins at 3:33

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Pointless question of the day

The president of Greece is begging for monetary help by March, or the country will be kicked out of the EU.

And telling his people they have to buckle down.

Uh-huh....

I have a suggestion for him. Why doesn't he sue Goldman Sachs for defrauding his country to the point of bankruptcy, and want to know... why aren't the people who bought the worthless bonds and sent them there in jail?

I could ask the same about the US and those on Wall Street, but ... yeah, pointless.

Seeds of acquiesence.......

Just had a flash-back.... shortly after arriving in my new home...

So way, waay back.

And there was one of the greatest chancellors and governments EVAH. Socialists, oooooooo...

And shortly after I arrived, there was excitement in the familiy I was staying with till I got on my feet and found my way to a job and a singular existence. Because, you see, the new government had made a law that all school books were to be distributed free of charge. This would alleviate inequality, Because, you see, till then everyone had to buy them for their children, they were expensive, and the not so wealthy bought used ones, which led to discrimination in school classes, and everyone knew who was 'poor'. Among other things.

And the whole family was around the table discussing it, what a sudden boon it was, and allevieating their budgets.

I thought it was very good news... and disconcerted that until then, they'd had to buy books at all, because we'd never had to until college level. And then hoo-boy, the prices for some extremely dry tomes were sky-high, even in the 60's.

Well, there were seeds of rebellion in me even then. And a tendency to put my foot in my mouf.

And I said, 'T'hat's wonderful news, but is gonna cost the government a real fortune. So why are they giving the children of wealthy people free books? They can afford them.'

They were bloody scandalised. Oh no, they said, you can't do that... it would ruin it for the rest of us.

And that is the seed... someone gives you a break in one respect, you let them walk all over you in others, and be thankful for whatcha get, hey.

At the time, I lived in another part of the city, would pick up the International Herold Tribune on the way to work, which had ten pages, and was mostly stock market listings, but Art Buchwald and a few other things lasted me till I got to work. And one article that was so libellous regarding my city, I went to a person I knew, press secretary of the worker's guild, and said, 'You have to DO something.' Turned out to be a disgruntled opera singer from 'Murka, hubby was a journalist, she wasn't getting the roles she wanted, so he did a hatchet job in a paper that is read daily by all ex-pats in Europe. She got fired, and his career was over. Good so.

Sorry, sidebar there... The tobacconist used to rant and rail about the government and all of the parties, and especially about the local mentality.... 'Obrigkeitshörigkeit.' Kow-towing or bowing and scraping to the powers that be, loosely translated.

And that reaction to my suggestion? Was Obrigkeitshörigkeit. (Doesn't German have some lovely long words, hey...)

I'm wondering... when is the Occupy idea finally gonna take hold here, while something can really be DONE that is constructive.... Tja.

Ummmmmm.. Rick Sanatorium? Really?

and I call him that because he belongs in one... good gawwd... the guy is certifiable and has some sort of trauma regarding gays, and his propagating endlessly, and his weirdness... he needs some professional help.

And his professional ethics were bad enough for him to lose his senate seat.

Iowa? On my never visit list. They are bat-shit crazy.

And Romney? I don't know if it is just me, but have you ever really listened to him? I mean, really listened? That stacatto, that uncertainty, the backpeddling talking fast and nearly incoherent? Reminds me of a kid having been caught doing something he shouldn't have.

Well... am keeping one new year's resoluton...

in that I listen to more local news on the radio... and have to open my eyes very wide at what is going on.....

More on that in a minute.

The Hungarians have seemingly gotten what would be most likely one of Rick Snyder's wet dreams... what he intstituted as governor of Michigan got enacted for the entire country of Hungary. And that in their constitution, yet!

Snyder overrides city elected officials by appointing robber barons.... errrm... 'emergency managers' for cities that aren't doing well. Or for cities that have public lands rich people want to build on but were gifts to the city for everyone to use 'in perpetuity'... which no longer means forever, seemingly.

So uhhhh... these robber barons... errm... emergency managers... go in to a city they target... which will most likely lean to voting for democrats, and they basically shut out the elected officials, and act on whatever their munificent benefactors wish. And the officials like the mayor and city council who were ELECTED, remain as such in name only, have no say in any matter, and are virtually powerless.

So what's that do do with Hungary? Well they had elections, and an extreme right party got the majority in parliament, and the chancellor, so they did a Scott Walker, and overnight, slipped a provision into the constitution installing a new sort of official. And HIS duty is... he can veto anything the parliament passes if the powers that be don't like it. After a democratic passing of any bill... the guy can nix it.

Same principle, Preciousses.

Although far worse, actually... it's taking Snyder's ruse to a new level.

So for the New Year on the first, tens of thousands of Hungarians arose to protest in Budapest, and are outraged.

I've seen no local headlines, have no tee-vee, but there was one good ten minute coverage of it on our most reputable radio station, and I thought, 'Whoa!'

I mean, they're our next door neighbors, one of them...

The Socialists refuse to bargain with the conservatives, who are in the minority and whining about it... much like the rethugs.

And the conservatives? Well they got them some big idears, all right. Wanting to go after the unions, who are strong, much in the way it started in the US, and I KNOW they take their playbook from over there. Right now it's , 'well they're gonna have to sacrifice something too.'

Unemployment is lowest in the EU... 4.6 %. Which is good.

And the progressives came up with an idear.... we all get 14 salaries a year. Two in June for vacation time, and two at the beginning of December, for the horridays. I know I'm not alone in saying it would have been better to just distribute that throughout the year with better salaries, but people sort of depend on those two 'windfalls', so the monthly earnings were lower. They always win in the end, hey...

The progressives would like to eliminate the two extra salaries for the topmost income bracket... after all, they are wealthy, so it isn't as if they NEED it, right?

The conservatives reaction was the personification of indignance. But hey, the public workers, and unions? They can sacrifice something, ya know?

Sound FAMILIAR?

I've always said, whatever crap idear the rethugs there have, it finds it's way here in a heartbeat. That's why they are called international conglomerates, they pipe them the tune to sing.

Otherwise, it was nothing out of the ordinary. Lots of injuries to young people via fireworks... and one kid misjudged the time, or it was defective and got him in the head. And he died. 18 years old, and this is why I've always thought the damned things should be banned for personal use, but, hey they make millions and millions on em.

A former minister is involved in a scandal... laundering money and tax evasion for starters which evinced a yawn from me. What else is new, hey?

Last night a four family house caught fire in Melk... but the firemen had to wait for a herpetologist before they could go in to fight it... because, you see, one of the tenants told them there was a terrarium full of venomous vipers in the basement, where it started. And snake man had to round them up before they could do their job. There were seven of them and the largest was five feet long. ewww Snakes in the Cellar!, hey.

Another guy in Vienna turned on the gas in a four-party house on New Years Eve... supposedly a suicide attempt and he sorta made sure everyone else was out. It blew up. Reason? His girlfriend had dumped him. That he made three families homeless? Na ja...

I 'think' he died... not sure, but if not, he should have.

So... we're four days into the New Year, and everyone was 'oh, it's such a time of optimism', to which I shocked them and replied 'Bullshit'. And yeah, all the bills to be adjusted are coming in, and of course you pay more for everything. As if that were new. What I did not like was the tone when the radio told me us pensioners are gonna get about thirty euros more a month. Sort of whadda we need it for anyway snark, and its LOTS.. uh-huh.

Well my rent just went up thirty-FIVE, so what, I'm supposed to do a Snoopy dance, or something? Because it's only five???? And won't even discuss how the heating cost rose. Oh yeah, lots to be optimistic about. Peter will get more gaga, and I really can't think how anything would make me look on the bright side at present.

So... that's a widening of the news front, but as you see... what happens there is happening here as well, as long as the politicians can get away with it. I usually listen in the morning ´while slaughtering orks, and shaking my head lots. If anyone were to see me from outside, they'd think I have Parkinson's.

Boy, Peter sure gets around, hey...

I just called to wish him Happy New Year. The usual crap. He said he'd seen the New Year's concert yesterday on a German station yesterday.

I said, I wondered how they did that, as it was today and is a live broadcast. He said he was sort of surprised himself.

I was thinking, 'maybe they did broadcast an older one last night, and he thought it was this year's.'

Then came: 'I was in Tokyo last night.'

'Oh, you watched the ball fall in Japan on the tee-vee? '

'No, I was there... with a small group of people.'

'Oh. How was it?'

'I can't say I really liked it much....'

The rest was a catastrophe.

At least he's travelling... although he doesn't like it much and is sad...

Next thing I know he'll tell me how he was in Disney World.... and got back in time for dinner.

Assuming the best, he probably saw these shows they have where every hour hour so, it's New Year's on the television, then dreamed about it and thinks it's real.

I need to get some air, smoked too much and my eyes are leaking. Or something like that.

Yeahhhhh... Happy friggin' New Year RenB...

Well new year's begun, all right.....

I listened to our New Year's Day concert... it was above average with some rarities in it.

And got to thinking about Strauss, and taking my cousins to see 'Die Fledermaus' in Vienna, which I tried to explain beforehand. It's operetta, the forerunner of musicals. And it is viciously funny, and a satire on the hypocrisy of the upper middle class in Vienna around the 1890's or so. And couples acting sanctimoniously upright.... but fooling around on the side... or trying to.

Although they don't understand German, I figured there'd be enough sight gags to amuse them, and of course, there's that wonderful music. And when you have part the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra playing... well, it really doesn't get any better or more Austrian than that, hey.

Whatever, all the subterfuge and deceit gets revealed in the third act. Which is a doozy... as we used to say. And a big part of that is a still very drunk and confused jailor named Frosch...(frog). It's a huuuge role, even though it seemed to be written as an afterthought, and for a comedian... it's red meat, Preciousses, and a very few do it so well, tja... to flip out over. Fortunately, the production we saw had one of the most talented and funny ones I've ever seen. And from the minute he came on, my cousins were doubled over laughing, because the body language was unlike any Frosch I'd seen before. People near us had heard us talking, so instead of watching the stage, they were watching us to see how they would react... and I'd whisper one of his zingers in english to them, and they were off.

Later they told me they'd gone to see an english version of it somewhere in the Northeast, and said, 'NOW we know what we were laughing about.' So guess it impressed them. It was a beautiful production.

Sometimes, some opera houses perform it on New Year's Eve, and have guest stars for the party scene, and it goes on for hours. But just alone, it's remarkable.

Since they played one of the comprimised overtures in the concert this morning, I thought I'd go looking for something, as a remembrance, and that piece really is part of New Year's in Austria. I couldn't find anything of the production we saw, which was highly praised. Found no Frosch worth posting.

But the Met seemingly had a stunning production, and found a culmination scene of the third act, where the truth starts to unravel. Great voices, but what else would you expect of the Met, hey. Dialogue in English, and subtitles for the music. What isn't in there is that everyone ends up happy, and blames it all on the champagne.. The party scene had songs and a philosophy that you would hear any local person quote some time or another. Most importantly, 'happy is he who forgets what can't be changed.' Think about it a minute. Or the host, the russian Prince Orlovsky, who is decadent, and often sung by women in drag. 'I bore myself and invite my guests to amuse myself, and what bores me isn't allowed. With my guests, it's chacun a son gout... sorry, my keyboard doesn't have the french accents... 'to each his own', in other words. Agnes Baltsa did it in a moustache.

A New Year, a new beginning... however you wanna see it...

I wish everyone a good one, so HAPPY NEW YEAR.

I was one of the few people on-line, with Lady Shurkins, Zack, Grandpa Simpson, and a few others, and we had a whale of a time running our moufs about how obnoxious the fireworks were.

And what people might have done better with all that money instead of shooting it in the air for a few seconds of 'oh, pretty, colors, lights!'

It was a fun bitch-fest.

For the past three days people have had their pets on valium, because they go bonkers over all the fireworks, cherry bombs, firecrackers and what not. And that is not a joke, they put them on valium to keep them half-way calm.

Milady and I had a nice private discussion. Very friendly, full of good wishes.

So here we still are... 2012. Shhheeee-it.

Am certain it won't be much better for me, but I do wish it will be spectacular for all those who land here and read this. I wish you all everything good.

So yeah, Happy New Year.

And someone bless us one and all, etc. etc.