Consensus
Works currently unavailable in English
* The Polish Bush (Busz po polsku) (1962) — A collection of early essays.
* Black Stars (Czarne gwiazdy) (1963) — A book which focuses on Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba.
* The Kirghiz Dismounts (Kirgiz schodzi z konia) (1968) — Essays and articles about the (then) Asian and Caucasian Soviet Republic.
* If All Africa… (1968) — A collection of essays and articles about Africa.
* Why Karl Von Spreti Died (Dlaczego zginął Karl von Spreti) (1970) — A book about Guatemala during the 1960s and 1970s, in the background of the assassination of Karl von Spreti.
* Christ With a Rifle on His Shoulder (Chrystus z karabinem na ramieniu) (1975) — A book which focuses on the partisan movements in Africa, Latin America and Middle East.
* An Invitation to Georgia (1983)
* The Notebook (Notes) (1986) — A collection of the author’s poetry.
* Lapidarium (1990)
* Lapidarium II (1995)
* Lapidarium III (1997)
* Lapidarium IV (2000)
* Out of Africa (2000) — The author’s first photo album.
* Lapidarium V (2002)
* A Reporter’s Self Portrait (Autoportret reportera) (2003) — A collection of interviews with and quotes by Kapuściński.
* Lapidarium VI (2006) [edit]
Ryszard Kapuściński - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
this really bums me out
Much of downtown Toronto came to a standstill for hours this morning as Toronto Police, animal services and an emergency task force surrounded and Tasered a wayward deer that ran through the financial district.
After running past office towers and Union Station, the deer eventually took refuge on a grassy patch on the east side of a medical office building at the corner of Chestnut and Edward streets. Around 11 a.m., ETF officers moved their trucks closer to the animal, in an apparent attempt to create a barrier in which to contain it.
They shot the deer with a tranquilizer dart, prompting it to run north, where police were holding a large net. The deer then veered and launched majestically over a strip of yellow police tape.
An officer then jolted the deer with a Taser; it immediately crumpled on the sidewalk.
Deer dashing through downtown Toronto Tasered - Posted Toronto
National Geographic’s International Photography Contest 2009
Sometimes I get a little homesick. And, yes, I know that isn’t British Columbia but it’s Washington state which is where my great grandparents landed after escaping the Tsar of Russia and the Emperor of Japan, in that order. Our ancestral home, consequently, is a little log cabin on the Olympic peninsula.
Over the last decade it’s become a frequent casualty of the rural meth epidemic as break ins have become frequent. The last time I showed up there late at night, the neighbour came by with a shotgun just to check in. I like it when armed people are on my side.
“ Some of the Blackwater personnel, he said, work undercover as aid workers. “Nobody even gives them a second thought. ”
![Granta 17: While Waiting for a War | Magazine | Granta Magazine
Except when he gets sued for calling Shirley Temple a whore, Graham Greene’s war journals are pretty boring. The best part of this Granta, and among the best things I’ve read anywhere, is an excerpt from Teresa Torańska’s Them, a series of interviews with Poland’s former Stalinist leaders. It’s a glimpse into the minds of the powerful and the absurdity of totalitarian propaganda. Here’s an excerpt:
Jakub Berman: Whenever we went to Moscow after the war, Stalin would invite us to supper, followed by a film. It became a custom, and our visits never ended without a meal together. Dinner would start late in the evening and last until morning. The food and drink were exquisite. I particularly remember a delicious roast of bear meat. Bierut always sat next to Stalin and I sat next to Bierut. Stalin propose toasts… Then Stalin would put on a record, mostly Georgian music, which he loved. Once, I think it was 1948, I danced with Molotov [laughter].
Teresa Toranska: You mean with Mrs Molotov?
Berman: No, she wasn’t there; she’d been sent to a labour camp. I danced with Molotov—it must have been a waltz, or at any rate something simple, because I haven’t a clue about how to dance—and I just moved my feet to the rhythm.
Toranska: As the woman?
Berman: Molotov led; I wouldn’t know how. he wasn’t a bad dancer, actually and I tried to keep in step with him, but for my part it was more like clowning than dancing.
Toranska: What about Stalin, whom did he dance with?
Berman: Oh, no, Stalin didn’t dance Stalin turned the gramophone: he treated it as his duty. He never left it. He would put on records and watch.
Toranska: He watched you?
Berman: He watched us dance.
Toranska: So you had a good time?
Berman: Yes, it was pleasant but with an inner tension.
Toranska: You didn’t really have fun?
Berman: Stalin really had fun. But for us those dancing sessions were good opportunities to say things to each other which we wouldn’t be able to say out loud. That’s when Molotov warned me about being infiltrated by various hostile organizations.
Toranska: Did he threaten you?
Berman: No, it was called a friendly warning. Molotov took the opportunity—or perhaps he’d arranged it himself since after all he was the one that asked me to dance—to mention a few things which he thought would be useful to me. I made it clear that I understood and didn’t say anything in response.](http://2.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ktix38TJM31qzffbfo1_500.jpg)
Granta 17: While Waiting for a War | Magazine | Granta Magazine
Except when he gets sued for calling Shirley Temple a whore, Graham Greene’s war journals are pretty boring. The best part of this Granta, and among the best things I’ve read anywhere, is an excerpt from Teresa Torańska’s Them, a series of interviews with Poland’s former Stalinist leaders. It’s a glimpse into the minds of the powerful and the absurdity of totalitarian propaganda. Here’s an excerpt:
Jakub Berman: Whenever we went to Moscow after the war, Stalin would invite us to supper, followed by a film. It became a custom, and our visits never ended without a meal together. Dinner would start late in the evening and last until morning. The food and drink were exquisite. I particularly remember a delicious roast of bear meat. Bierut always sat next to Stalin and I sat next to Bierut. Stalin propose toasts… Then Stalin would put on a record, mostly Georgian music, which he loved. Once, I think it was 1948, I danced with Molotov [laughter].
Teresa Toranska: You mean with Mrs Molotov?
Berman: No, she wasn’t there; she’d been sent to a labour camp. I danced with Molotov—it must have been a waltz, or at any rate something simple, because I haven’t a clue about how to dance—and I just moved my feet to the rhythm.
Toranska: As the woman?
Berman: Molotov led; I wouldn’t know how. he wasn’t a bad dancer, actually and I tried to keep in step with him, but for my part it was more like clowning than dancing.
Toranska: What about Stalin, whom did he dance with?
Berman: Oh, no, Stalin didn’t dance Stalin turned the gramophone: he treated it as his duty. He never left it. He would put on records and watch.
Toranska: He watched you?
Berman: He watched us dance.
Toranska: So you had a good time?
Berman: Yes, it was pleasant but with an inner tension.
Toranska: You didn’t really have fun?
Berman: Stalin really had fun. But for us those dancing sessions were good opportunities to say things to each other which we wouldn’t be able to say out loud. That’s when Molotov warned me about being infiltrated by various hostile organizations.
Toranska: Did he threaten you?
Berman: No, it was called a friendly warning. Molotov took the opportunity—or perhaps he’d arranged it himself since after all he was the one that asked me to dance—to mention a few things which he thought would be useful to me. I made it clear that I understood and didn’t say anything in response.
Chonggak Kimchi
Pyongyang, November 16 (KCNA) — It was one day in November Juche 62 (1973). President Kim Il Sung told with relish the origin of kimchi and how it was spread over the world and asked an official whether he had ever tasted chonggak kimchi.
As the official heard about chonggak kimchi for the first time, far from taking it, he could not answer his question. Fathoming his mind, the President urged him to make and have it.
The President said to the following effect: Chonggak kimchi originated in the northern areas centering on Pyongyang. It was called chonggak kimchi as it was made with young radishes. It is made by the method of salting radishes with leaves, seasoning them with various spices and pouring a little amount of soup over them.
It can be said that chonggak kimchi is an original one along with tongchimi (watery radish kimchi). Radish, he went on, could not grow fully in the northern areas because of cold climate in old times. People picked it up and pickled it for kimchi. It was so delicious that it was spread to the whole country.
It is good to eat buckwheat noodle and other noodles with its soup. Listening to him, the officials were surprised to know that he had richer knowledge on the long dietary tradition of the nation than experts had.
http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2009/200911/news16/20091116-09ee.html
I get links to these little gems from a North Korean english language propaganda twitter account. Sometimes they’re mindboggling.This one is actually kind of pleasant in a food snob kind of way.
Untitled by hopefuldoubtful
(Buffalo City Hall)
I’ve been thinking about Buffalo a lot recently in the context of the Golden Horseshoe, the border and national identity. I want to do a road trip before the snow hits.
brief beautiful day
Today I had brunch outside jacketless, then went to This Ain’t the Rosedale Library, then walked home with the sun low in the sky carrying the new Atlantic and the BBC Focus on Africa. It is mid November.
