Kansas City With the Russian Accent, at kcmeesha.com, is the Web journal of a Russian Jewish expatriate who came to Kansas City in 1992. Meesha V. outwrites half the local native-English-speaking bloggers and outcharms most of the others with an original voice and smart, funny asides and observations that could occur only to a cultural latecomer. It doesn’t hurt that the anonymous author kicked off the first entry with jokes about the Iron Curtain and a repudiation of deeply unfunny Russian comic Yakov Smirnoff. Documenting life in Kansas City, Meesha also tells some pretty harrowing stories about growing up during the Soviet era, including the anxiety and fear he confronted during his mandatory induction into the Russian army at age 18, waiting to find out if he’d be stationed near his home or sent to Afghanistan. With one foot in the metro and one in Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, Kcmeesha.com is Kansas City’s best blog this year.
Wow! I am at a loss of words (it’s not that hard for me). I didn’t know that I was even being considered. I am not going to deny that this was a pleasant surprise. I don’t really think I am the best; it’s just that while much better bloggers switched to twittering one-liners I am still here typing away, mostly because I am too cheap to pay for the internet for my phone. I would like to thank many people who read this blog and especially the ones who collectively left over 1,700 comments over the past year. I know it’s not that many and The Readers’ Choice Best Blogger TKC (Congratulations, Tony!) gets that many in a day, but I appreciate every one of you who took the time to comment, participate in a poll or a caption contest, thanks for not being anonymous. I would like especially to thank XO because this site is more or less an extension of my comments on his blog almost a year ago. Many other bloggers who are linked here and even more in my Reader serve as the daily inspiration and also as my imaginary friends. Meeting and corresponding with many of you over the past year made worthwhile all the time that I spend in front of my laptop, 10 lbs of gained weight and no personal life.
This honor just goes to prove that the American Dream is still there for anyone who wants it, it just changed a little. Yes, I got here dreaming about owning a mansion, nice cars, maybe a yacht with a beach house and a small private plane; I got none of these things, and yet I can’t complain: having all this would have made me just another one of many rich people with awesome, care-free, amazing lives full of leisure, travel and entertainment. Instead, I am one of a few, but few of the best.
Every year an ever-expanding group of morons gathers to celebrate Stalin’s birthday and reminisce about the greatness of the Stalin’s years in the Russian history. Considering that a person born in 1953 when Stalin died is quickly approaching the age of 60, not too many people in the crowd actually remember the life under Stalin but that doesn’t stop them from marching around, dreaming about going back in time. The irony is in the fact that during Stalin’s times marching around or expressing disregard for the current regime would be a sure-fire way to get shot or be sent to labor camps.
Russian communists stand in line in Red square to attend a wreath laying ceremony at the tomb of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin marking the 130th anniversary of his birthday at the Kremlin wall in Moscow, December 21, 2009.
And here we see a group kids whose parents could use a few months of labor camps themselves.
Members of the youth wing of the Russian Communist party march along Red Square to lay flowers at Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's grave to mark the 130th anniversary of his birth in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009.Russian Communists hold red flags as they queue to lay flowers at the grave of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin to mark the 130th anniversary of his birth, as they walk along the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009. St Basil's Cathedral is seen at left and Lenin's mausoleum is at right.Russian communists attend a wreath laying ceremony at the tomb of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, marking the 130th anniversary of his birthday, at the Kremlin wall in Moscow December 21, 2009.A Russian communist walks along Red Square after attending a wreath laying ceremony at the grave of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin marking the 130th anniversary of his birthday at the Kremlin wall in Moscow, December 21, 2009.Russian Communists leader Gennady Zyuganov, 2nd left, smiles as others hold portraits of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin after laying flowers at his grave to mark the 130th anniversary of Stalin's birth Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009.Russian communists laugh in front of a McDonald's restaurant after attending a wreath laying ceremony at the grave of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, marking the 130th anniversary of his birthday, at the Kremlin wall in Moscow December 21, 2009.
With a statue, background, and portrait, foreground, of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, Georgians attend a rally marking his 130th birthday anniversary in Stalin's home town of Gori, 80 km (50 miles) west of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009.Georgians carry portraits of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin during a rally marking his 130th birthday anniversary in Stalin's home town of Gori, 80 km (50 miles) west of the Georgian capital Tbilisi, Monday, Dec. 21, 2009.Continue reading →
I was on vacation when the whole Kevin Smith – Southwest fiasco happened but I don’t think I am too late to weigh into the situation. I don’t really care how Kevin Smith flies, as far as I am concerned his 1,6 million followers can all pitch in a buck or two and buy him a cargo plane to transport his fat ass around the country. This is not an issue of obesity and what our culture, or doctors, or friends say what a person should look like. For the record I agree with Nuke that being fat is unsightly, uncomfortable, unhealthy and sometimes embarrassing and humiliating. And it makes women wear one-piece swimsuits. I am far from being normal weight myself and every donut moves me a little further away from being moderately overweight, but nevertheless, I wholeheartedly support the Southwest’s “Customer of Size Policy“. (Yes, I know Kevin Smith purchased two tickets, but the discussion moved way past his particular case).
The Policy says:
Why ask large Customers to purchase additional seating?
We could no longer ignore complaints from Customers who traveled without full access to the seat purchased due to encroachment by a large seatmate whose body extended into the neighboring seat. These Customers had uncomfortable (and sometimes painful) travel experiences, and it is our responsibility to seek resolution to prevent this problem.
To demonstrate this point I made a diagram recreating a flight I had few years ago on an unnamed airline. After boarding a plane and taking my seat I was crushed by a person who plopped himself in the seat next to mine.
As you can see in the drawing I (depicted in yellow, filled with healthy foods) fit in the chair with ease, not really much additional room left, but not overflowing the armrests (blue). My neighbor, as you can tell, did not fit in his chair with his ass-cheeks resting on armrests and not even touching the seat cushion. While the guy’s pain in the ass didn’t bother me, his encroachment in my personal space did.
On a plane and elsewhere I use the NFL definition of the goal line to define my personal space, it’s bounded by the “imaginary vertical plane …, which theoretically extends in a great circle around the world and infinitely into space“. The recreation of my flight shows that for my money I was given only about 75% of the personal space due to me, while my seatmate received about 125% of his space for the same pay. It’s obvious that I did not receive and equal value, and while I would’ve considered being inconvenienced by let’s say a disabled vet or an elderly person, this guy was my age and didn’t look unhealthy. Shortly into the flight the stewardess offered him to move into an emergency exit row. While I breathed a sigh of relief (or just breathed for the first time in a while), I don’t know what would’ve happened if the passengers would’ve had to evacuate.
I sincerely hope the Southwest Airlines doesn’t cave in and stand by its policy. I also hope the other airlines will follow. There is no reason innocent people should be sat upon.
The other choice would be to increase the size of the airplane seat but that would cause ticket prices to go up and if the American people were willing to pay more, the would’ve bought first class or double seat in the first place.
The solution to the inconsistent application of policy already exsists:
I am sure the rest of the flying public would enjoy watching someone trying to fit into the test seat.
Next time Kevin Smith shows up at the Southwest counter I hope they taser his fat ass. Just to get even.
These old photo posts are probably not my most popular posts but definitely some of my most favorite. I usually start with a random query, then something attracts my attention and turns into a short lesson in history. This time, almost by accident, I found a few photos of Charles Binaggio and of course had to find out who Charles Binaggio was.
Charles Binaggio (January 12, 1909 – April 5, 1950) was a Missouri gangster who became the boss of the Kansas City crime family and concocted a bold plan to control the police forces in Kansas City, Missouri and St. Louis, Missouri.
On the night of April 5, 1950, Binaggio and his underboss, Charles “Mad Dog” Gargotta (a notorious enforcer within the Kansas City family), were called to meet some unknown persons at the First Ward Democratic Club near downtown Kansas City. Binaggio left his driver/bodyguard, Nick Penna, at a tavern owned by the mob, saying that he would return in a few minutes. Binaggio and Gargotta then borrowed a car and drove off to the Democratic Club.
Shortly after eight pm, residents in apartments above the Democratic Club heard several shots. Eight hours later, a cab driver going to a nearby cafe noticed that the club door was open; he also heard water running inside. The police were called and they found the bodies of Charles Binaggio and Charles Gargotta inside the club. Binaggio was seated at a desk and Gargotta was lying inside the front door. Both men had been shot in the head four times with separate .32 caliber revolvers. The police theorized that Gargotta had been trying to escape the club when he was shot in the back of the head. As for the running water heard by the cabbie, it came from a broken toilet and was unrelated to the hit.
Some people theorized that Binaggio and Gargotta were murdered by St. Louis gunmen; others said the hitmen came from Chicago. However, it is most likely that the two mob bosses were killed by members of their own crime family under orders from the Mafia Commission in New York The probable organizer of the hit was Gizzo, who no doubt received the leadership of the Kansas City family as a reward. In any case, the murderers were never found.
Charles Binnagio’s grave is at the Mount Saint Mary’s Cemetery.
Murder on Truman Road – an article in Time from April 1950.
I have a lot more of the Life Magazine photos bookmarked and I intend to share them mostly on weekends, so if this is not something you enjoy feel free to skip these posts in the future.
Couple of weeks ago we went out to Woodlands to see the dog races. If you’d never been there before, it’s actually fun and inexpensive way to enjoy a day off. My daughter actually won about 7 or 8 dollars – enough to make her happy. You don’t have to know anything about betting or the rules and you can bet on dogs….
