I just wanted to point out that I personally visited the “money laundry” (is this what it’s called?) on the Independence Avenue almost a year ago to do some investigative reporting. No big whoop…
Green Borscht is a delicious soup made of spinach, scallions, sour cream, hard-boiled eggs and potatoes. I am not sure why it’s called “borscht” since the only common ingredient with the red borscht is potatoes. Notice home baked (by me) rye bread on the side. and here is some related SNL when it still was funny Update: NBC a-holes removed the video from YouTube, it can still be seen here.
We interrupt less than intense vacationcoverage to bring to you a Soviet cartoon I recently found in the 1955 issue of the satirical magazine Krokodil.
New York Telephone Network: Practice of monitoring phone conversations by FBI has now become widespread. (FBI is the spider at the center of the web).Continue reading →
After a popular post about the sorority girls of KU I searched the Life photo archives for something about the University of Missouri. There weren’t too many photographs but they led me to this interesting story.
Infamous Miss Mizzou appears among other “ever-luscious ladies” who frequently graced the comic strip (sorry for the quality, I had to splice this from two sides of the magazine).
“For some time I had been mulling over a girl character who would be what a Marilyn Monroe type might be like if she had not hit the jackpot in Hollywood,” Caniff explained in a 1954 letter. “Every college town has girls who live and work on the edge of the campus and who are very much a part of the life of the school, but who who do not get invited to fraternity formals. Usually they come up from small towns and often become as loyal to the school as the best-heeled alumnae. I decided my gal wold be from the University of Missouri, if not of it.”
But he did also base the character off of Bek Stiner (born Bek Nelson) too. He would often model new characters off of real people with the intention of having the photos of the model in the paper to publicize the strip.
Even though Miss Mizzou was fictional, the street-naming fiasco mentioned in Life was real, warranting a humorous article in the 1958 Time Magazine:
Faintly but distinctly, the mesmeric boomlay-boom of publicity drums on Manhattan’s Madison Ave. is heard 980 miles away in Columbia (pop. 43,000), site of the University of Missouri. Stout-souled citizens wonder what is wrong. Chamber of Commerce members writhe to the beat and get the message. It is so nonsensical that at first it seems to be garbled: name the new boulevard (boom-lay boom) after Milton Caniff.
Kansas City, MO. When Kansas City’s most famous beer blogger Bull E.Vard was standing in the middle of the cavernous Twin Cities IKEA updating his Facebook with the message about tasting “smoked roe cheese spread” he didn’t know he was texting the beginning of a love story. “I just felt like I needed to share the news with the world”, said Mr. Vard during the phone interview, “I am a big believer in the social media and this was something I wanted all my readers to know”. Another Kansas City blogger meesha.v was on the verge of giving up hope of finding love. After a few short affairs with the salmon-flavored cream-cheese and onion dip he almost resolved to live out the rest of his life without finding the someone he could love. She had to be cheesy, but not overly so, with complex slightly fishy taste; looks mattered too. When he read Bull’s message:
I sampled a surprisingly good smoked roe cheese spread. I may bring home a tube of it.
he immediately knew that this could be the one. Being Swedish was a definite plus. He asked Bull E.Vard to pick up a few and waited impatiently. Last Friday under the H&R Bloch clock tower they were finally reunited. “I slept only 3 hours in the past three days” said excited m.v., “but it was totally worth the wait”. It was love at the first sight. Co-workers and friends noticed immediate change in m.v. “He used to be so sad and now there is a twinkle in the back of his eye” said one anonymous tipster. m.v. is not sure about his plans for the future, but one thing is clear: social media takes matchmaking to the whole new level. “This made a believer out of me” said m.v. “it sure did”
In real life it was even more exciting than in this press release. When Bull E.Vard delivered two tubes of Kalles Kaviar I immediately knew I should have ordered a case because that’s all I am going to eat for the rest of my life. Well, that and the delicious lingonberry preserves he was also kind enough to buy for me.
I didn’t think that anything but the real bread is worthy of the Kaviar, so I baked one.
Then I couldn’t stand the wait any longer:
First, I squeezed the tube:
Then, gently spread it on the bread:
Then, oooooo…ooooooo,mmmmm, there was nothing left. I needed a kleenex napkin. Must be the delicious taste of that “rapeseed oil” and “oeufs de poisson fumes”
and here is some related SNL when it still was funny
