Long time ago (and I mean long,long time) I was traveling in what was then a beautiful and welcoming Republic of Georgia, still a part of soon to be defunct Soviet Union. Georgia is known for its beauty, Caucasus mountains and warm beaches on the Black Sea, ancient cultural relics, great food and some of the best wine in the world, and as the birthplace of Joseph Stalin. Stalin was born in the City of Gori which was a huge source of pride for the Georgian people. When Stalin was alive, his portraits, monuments and various other likenesses were literally everywhere. After Stalin’s Cult of Personality was condemned in 1956 most of this junk was removed and one of the few places that kept all of it’s pre-1956 glory was the City of Gori. From the huge portrait of Stalin at the entrance to the railway station to his monument and museum at his birthplace, complete with Stalin’s personal rail car, the city looked like the old days when it was the Birthplace of the “beloved” leader.
By the time I was born all of the history books and movies were edited not to dwell on Stalin’s persona and the horrors during his regime. In the movies he was shown as a wise man of a few words, issuing battle-winning military directives, and in the books there may have been a mention or two about the cult of personality. It wasn’t a secret but it wasn’t talked about either. As it turned out later,everything was much worse than it was presented in 1956. So when I found myself staring in amazement at something I have never seen in my lifetime, I didn’t really think twice about standing at the birthplace of evil, on the contrary, it was neat to take a step back in time.
A lot has changed since I stood next to the Stalin’s rail car in Gori. There is no Soviet Union, Georgia is not so welcoming anymore, and I don’t have curls. I found this old photo in my album and thought about my careless youth and fun memories I still have from that time.

Every year I have an idea to write a post about a Jewish veteran for the upcoming Veterans Day, but with my lack of interviewing skills and not personally knowing any veterans, every year I come up with nothing. Last year I took a few photos of the Jewish Veterans Museum and since my email to the local post of the Jewish War Veterans went unanswered, I decided to search for something interesting online. Only few names come up when searching for the Jewish Veterans in Kansas City and one of them is Bert Berkley – veteran, civic leader and the Chairman of the Board of Tension Envelope.

The article below was published in the Outlook – Kansas City Business Journal in May of 1979. The issue is available at the Missouri Valley Special Collections at the  Kansas City Public Library (if you have a Twitter account, you should follow @KCPubLibrary).

The article is presented almost entirely with an exception of the discussion of the envelope business and its future as seen in 1979; I felt these details were irrelevant. Many of the things the article talks about in the future tense are now well in the past, that’s why I enjoy reading the old magazines.

This is the most typing I’ve done in the past ten years, and even though I am positive no one will finish reading this, I still liked doing it.

To those who already know me it comes as no surprise: I ain’t classy.
Today’s episode of me being “not classy” is brought to you by Twitter:

kcklo63:
@kcmeesha You’re making fun of law enforcement at a memorial ceremony? Really? You stay classy.

I guess I wasn’t supposed to post a photo of this gentleman getting ready for the police officers memorial ceremony in front of the KCMO police headquarters.

To quote Larry the Cable Guy: Lord, I apologize, but, on the other hand, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, how could I possibly pass this by? I don’t know what law enforcement function this gentleman performs, whether it’s a wide entrance blocking, extreme uniform testing, bear-wrestling or just plain intimidation of the smaller-sized criminals, I am sure he is great at what he does. I just hope he is not tasked with foot-chases, stair-climbing or long jumps.

To my credit, this photo was taken before the ceremony started. Still doesn’t make me classy although even if I could buy class I am too cheap to spend the money.

The tackiest gift of the week (photographed at the Great Mall in Olathe)

Wrong drugs? (somewhere in Olathe)

Unique or Eunuch ?