I think I am the only one who finds these things interesting, but since I wasted all the time extracting and uploading all the old caricatures, you get to look at more of them.
If for some reason you want to see more, please don’t hesitate to click on my previous posts.
The following set of caricatures from the Soviet satirical magazine Krokodil is indicative of the treatment of the Vietnam War in the Soviet press. While stepping up the propaganda war, the Soviet Union was quietly shipping ammunition and advisers to Vietnam. During my army years, I served with a guy who was one of the Soviet military advisers in Vietnam; according to him, they were forbidden from displaying any kind of Soviet insignia, didn’t wear the uniform and pretended to be either some kind of sports trainers or construction workers.
There are multiple predictions about the future of the Earth after the humans are no longer populating it; scientists, writers, movie directors are guessing how long it will be before the Planet erases all the traces of our existence. These predictions are not very hard to make: there are multiple examples of abandoned and lost cities from the ancient times and not so ancient like Chernobyl.
And then there is former Benchmark Express Furniture store in Olathe, KS – a slowly deteriorating reminder of a failed business I drive by several times a day. The store closed around 4 years ago, when the economy was still doing fine and people still were spending the money they didn’t yet know they didn’t have. Recently one of the large signs fell down and I thought it was a good time to stop by and take a few photos.
Apparently the letter X is the first to go:
This sign crashed a month or two ago:
No one backed up to the loading dock for a long time:
Concrete is slowly converting back to its original ingredients:
Customers are long gone…
…and trespassers are not welcome:
Grass is growing on the parking lot:
This sign may last a year or two before it falls:
Formerly grand facade is sprouting cracks:
Even the parking lot signs are tired of standing idle:
Wind is blowing through the banner:
Soon after the final sale was over with and the store was closed for good, the developers promptly constructed more retail space across the street.
I had an idea for this post for some time and what could be a better day to do this when Kansas City is swirling with football news (it’s like someone was just waiting for years to pull the trigger and update Wikipedia) and it’s cold as hell (and I know cold) so I am not about to go outside to snap some photos.
Looks like Kansas School for the Deaf – the birthplace of the football huddle maintains the most complete set of annual pictures of their football team. In today’s issue I will post some photos to trace the evolution of their uniforms (yes, there is evolution in Kansas, you just have to know where to look).
Note: I took a shortcut here and bypassed lots of uploading/linking, so all the photos link back to the search results.
1899
1900
1901
1911
1914
1919
1927
1931
1946
1948
1952
1961
1968
1982
2006
This look at the past was brought to you by the Kansas City Lunch Spots : Celebrating 100’s meaningful post.
Also sponsored by: The Weather: It’s Frightful
Additional financing by: My Job: I am still employed!
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”
We were driving on I-70 when my Mom saw the billboard for the Churchill Memorial in Fulton, MO. I told her what I knew about the “Iron Curtain” speech; the American experience during the Cold War; the radiation drills; famous videos of kids hiding under their desks; even the fallout shelters in Kansas City.
