Today is the 91st anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution – an event that truly changed the course of the world history and still influences all things political, military and diplomatic. Millions of people died, millions were displaced, families were shattered, hopes destroyed, lives broken.

Many blame Lenin and the Bolsheviks for the failed 70-year experiment but the truth is that they were at the right place at the right time when with the little agitation and slight prodding the Russian people were ready to fight for what they thought was a better future.

For almost 20 years after the break-up of the USSR people cannot agree if it was a good or a bad time in the Russian history. It was a time of great achievements, industrial development, first man in space, victory in the World War II, but at the same time it was paid for with civil war, oppression, labor camps, millions of lives, starvation, forced relocation of the whole nationalities, state-sponsored antisemitism and constant fear. Would one trade free education for free speech, free health care for freedom to see the world, man in space for plentiful food. To many the answer is clear, others can live with the trade-off.

Today many will gather in public places to celebrate or curse the legacy of the revolution. It lives in people like me who witnessed the last years of the USSR but it also lives in people like you who for the past 90 years tried to prevent this from happening here. Were you successful? Time will tell…

November 7,1977. Red Square, Moscow, the USSR

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH42Gme4oIg

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Citizen journalism in this town is celebrating a huge victory and I am here to take all the credit. My recent ground-breaking report on a possible contender for the biggest pothole in the State of Missouri sent seismic waves through the City Hall and the solution came swiftly – a bigger barrier.

Parts of the previous orange obstacle that weren’t swallowed by the pothole were recycled…

…and replaced with the state-of-the-art early warning system.

City geologists used the circular cracks around the barrier to size up a new commemorative steel plate which will be placed over the pothole in the near future.

The City Council ordered the City Attorney to draft a letter to BP demanding reimbursement for the repairs (mostly for the barricade) since the appearance of the pothole is directly related to the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

On behalf of myself and many residents of the nearby property tax-free building I’d like to thank the City for paying attention and quick decisive action.

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This might cheer up some KU fans who are feeling down these days.

In January of 1957 Life Magazine published a report on Wilt Chamberlain who was recruited by KU in 1955.

What it took to get Wilt

Old recruiter, army of workers, rich alumni helped Kansas land star.

The University of Kansas has had the finger of suspicion pointed at it ever since it enrolled 7-foot-tall Wilt Chamberlain, who was sought by a hundred campuses and is now the most spectacular of all college basketball players. Every time Kansas wins with “Wilt the Stilt” (it has lost only once this season) gossipy stories of how he was recruited grow stronger – of under-the-table deals, of a trust fund of $10,000 (or $25,000) which waits for the big fellow when he graduates.
It sometimes takes money in one form or another for a college to get a greats star today. Because one college can usually offer as much as the next, it often takes something else. In this case it took the man talking to Wilt, aggressive, crafty Dr. Forrest C. (“Phog”) Allen, who for 39 stormy years had survived as coach in Kansas. How he mapped the strategy that brought Wilt to Kansas and led the small army that carried out is told on the following pages. The triumph turned to ashes for Allen last year when, kicking like a steer, he was forced to quit as coach at the compulsory retirement age of 70. When he is asked what he used to recruit Wilt, Phog has a blunt answer: “Of course I used everything we had to get him. What do you think I am, a Sunday school teacher?”

But first, presenting the original and still the best photo of a screaming KU fan.

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These photos of the Santa Claus School where one could get a B.S.C. (Bachelor of Santa Claus) degree for $75 were published in the Life Magazine in 1961. Nowadays, our kids are forced to sit on the laps of uneducated Santas who probably can’t even pass the drug test.

The rest of the photos.

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A recent trip to Charritos Taqueria on Independence Ave. was a success. Aside from a homeless guy trying to start a conversation with me of which I only understood the word “Oklahoma” , the food was cheap and delicious. Tacos are $1.85 and I purchased one with pork (puerco) and another one with steak slow cooked in pineapple sauce. Delicious. They have more expensive items in $4-12 range. Service is a little slow but it’s worth the wait. I also tried horchata which I always wanted to try, it’s somehow made with rice and tastes like cinnamon. It wasn’t bad, but I like cinnamon in moderation. I will move on to another agua fresca next time.
This area is not the safest part of town and gets mentioned on the news almost daily. Thankfully, concerned citizens are making contributions, albeit involuntary, to improve the safety and security of Independence Ave.
And the guy who tried to talk to me? He understood the international sign of “I don’t understand what the hell you just said” and went back to pose for the picture.

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