Soviet Life

In Lithuania.

Federalism contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Said Putin: 

Putin was particularly critical of Lenin’s concept of a federative state with its entities having the right to secede, saying it has heavily contributed to the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. He added that Lenin was wrong in a dispute with Joseph Stalin, who advocated a unitary state model.

(P.S. Stalin is back in fashion.)

"Google Gondola"

Google Street View does Venice.

Thanks to my friend Donna for directing me to this story.

Roo Row

The Australian Prime Minister sparks controversy because a story features her knitting a toy kangaroo for the royal baby. Here's more about the "charm offensive."

 

A columnist chided the Prime Minister for "giving encouragement to young female politicians by plying a hobby now synonymous with mad old aunts." Hey! We were just talking about knitting aunts. 

 

Australians should embrace knitting—even staged, political knitting. Australia once was a leading producers of knitting wool. In the 1960s and 1970s, Mom and I often ordered yarn from Australia.

 

Incidentally, Germaine Greer thinks the Prime Minister has "got a big ass." It's nice to see that Greer still is wearing those scarves.
 
Baaaaaa: 
 

 

 

Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, June 26, 2013. Ignore the gawkers and do your own thing.

 

UPDATE: The Prime Minister is out.

Purl 1 and Knit 1

Meet the G8 yarnbombers.

An Emigration Problem

Since attaining independence in 1991, Lithuania has struggled with an emigration problem. The issue partly stems from economic pressures.

Recall also the problems faced by migrant workers in Sweden.

The Guardian recently featured a piece about Lithuanians living in Great Britain. The article highlights some points for its British readers:

From beer to babies: a guide to Lithuanians in Britain

Do not confuse Lithuanians with Poles Many hate that. Not least because the Poles have fought a number of wars with Lithuania, most recently seizing Vilnius in 1919.

They are not Slavs, but Balts The Lithuanian language is nothing like Polish. The former has 32 letters, including cool ones like ą (that squiggle is an ogonek) and ų (that's a macron).

Do not confuse the Lithuanians with Russians either and assume they all like vodka (they prefer beer). The Soviets occupied Lithuania until 1990 and the wounds have yet to heal.

British life has started to influence Lithuanian culture A few years ago a song called Londone Lietus – London Rain – was a hit for Pikaso. It told the story of a lonely man watching rain run off the roof of his London flat as he dreamed about his beloved back home.

Don't believe the bad press Lithuanians are not especially prone to criminality compared to other nationalities. Statistics from the Lithuanian embassy in London show that between January and October last year, 181 Lithuanians were arrested and prosecuted for a crime in the UK. The year before, the number was 277.

Lithuanians are not yet contributing much to the UK's rising birth rate Embassy statistics show 516 Lithuanian babies were born last year up until October. In 2010, there were 509; in 2011, 434.

UPDATE: More British perception.

"The godfather of avante-garde cinema"

An interview with Jonas Mekas.

"When the old forms began collapsing and falling away though exhaustion and repetition, a new sensibility is born. That is what happened back then and may be happening now."

I mentioned Mekas once before here.