Archives for November, 2007

A Beaver store in Japan. [source]

I’ve been busier than a Japanese beaver lately. I’ve also been too busy to write that I’m busy. Things should calm down soon, though.

—> How to make a good, happy pizza
And here’s how to make a truly American pizza.

—> I’ve built a simple page for checking weather in Slovenia.
As cool as the weather is these days.

—> Radovljica of old
Great pictures of the old town in Upper Carniola.

—> Slovenian streets at night.
Just three pictures, but great ones.

—> Slovenes are very trusting to have glass/wood doors.
Writes a Spanish immigrant, who likes this most about Slovenia

—> Dr. Fil settles the Lipizzaner origin question
At length and in glorious detail.

—> STOP SENDING THE GATES E-MAIL AROUND!
It’s a hoax; an old, stupid hoax, dammit.

Have a great weekend! And I’m serious about that AOL/Gates e-mail. Please don’t send it to me anymore.

A flexi-record about the Postojna Cave from the 1970s.

Eric sent me this truly wonderful find: the Postojnska Jama - Diaphon Souvenir.

It’s an old guided recording through Slovenia’s famous Postojna Cave complete with eerie background music and an unintentionally humorous pronunciation of “stalagmites.”

You can download the mp3 and read more about it here.

(Thanks Eric!)

The European Vertical: The blue arrows represent contempt.

Vladimir Arsenijević recently wrote an interesting article about the relationship between Serbs and Albanians called “Our negroes, our enemies.” Ethnic relations in the former Yugoslavia are just a big fat depressing mess, and this article does a great job of tackling the particularly bad feelings surrounding Kosovo.

He also mentions the “European vertical,” or the “Yugoslavian brand of racism”, which was:

… always directed at those who were on the next rung down geographically and economically. Hence the Slovenians showed the contempt they felt for the country bumpkins, idlers or failures of the other republics most clearly towards the Croatians; the Croatians for their part passed it on to the Serbs; and the latter, in turn, took pleasure in making fun of the Macedonians or Montenegrins. The Bosnians, on the other hand, as the people who inhabited the centre of the Republic of Yugoslavia, were the object of mockery from all sides.

I don’t agree with his assessment later on of Albanians as “absolute outsiders” because I can think of another group that is even further away outside. It’s still a fascinating article and a great introduction to the Kosovo problem.

And while we’re on the subject, Viktor recently put together one of the greatest posts ever, regarding Serbian conspiracy theories about Kosovo and the world. It’s a must-read.

[Via A Fistful of Euros]

Proof that Slovenia never dies.

One thing the Internet has provided us with (besides obscene amounts of pornography) is an outlet for humanity’s little grudges to flourish. Anyone who has spent any time on a forum or in a chat room knows how quickly a discussion of, say, salsa dancing can escalate into a full-blown war of words until (inevitably) someone gets called a Nazi.

The Last Combat is a natural outgrowth of this. It lets you pit two things against each other and then mock kill one or the other, or both. Presumably there’s some kind of vicarious thrill to this, because some matches get a lot of attention. (The most popular right now is USA vs. Russia)

Slovenia is currently featured in two fights: Slovenia vs. Slovakia (with no one yet participating) and Slovenia vs. The Czech Republic. (A case of the ol’ mix-up, I believe.)

Miraculously, there is no “Croatia vs. Slovenia” although I’m pretty sure it’ll be there before the end of the year — possibly even the end of today. When it does, I can see it making the list of most active fights very quickly.

In short: The Internet is dumb. Then again, how did we ever survive without it?

Danilo Tuerk, Slovenia’s next president. [source]

Yesterday, during an important drinking holiday, Slovenes went to the polls and overwhelmingly voted for former UN diplomat Danilo Tuerk to serve as the country’s next president. The post of president is largely ceremonial in Slovenia, but the race was seen as providing some hints about how next year’s parliamentary elections might go.

And what was the hint? That the current government is in serious trouble. According to unofficial results, Tuerk (who had the backing of the opposition parties) took 70% of the vote.

I’ve always found Slovenian elections to be mysterious; this one was no exception. I’m especially confused by lopsided results like this one. It’s worth pointing out that the country has been chugging along steadily since independence. The economy is growing, people are prospering, and Slovenia is regularly singled out internationally as a post-socialist wunderkind. But still the public seems to suddenly and inexplicably turn on its ruling party with a fierce vengeance that can only be described as surprising.

When I first came here, the LDS was the party in charge. They basically helped steer the country to EU and NATO membership; they even got the economy Euro-ready. These were no small feats — and they were rewarded with such an intense thrashing in the previous election that they virtually don’t exist anymore. They’re currently a splintered party on the sidelines, while the socialists look set to take over next year.

Indeed, the same destiny seems to be waiting for the current government. Obviously opinions vary on its performance, but as a whole the country is prospering and racking up high-profile successes abroad: the EU presidency next year, for example. But opinion polls (and Tuerk’s landslide victory) augur hard times ahead for the center-right.

I’d hate to see what would happen to a Slovenian government during a recession, or God forbid, a depression. Judging by how hard voters treat governments now, I’m guessing there would be rioting involved…

Congratulations to the president-elect!

Back soon…