Why must they wrap them in cellophane?!

Which translates into: I don't actually want to pay 7 leva ($4.60) for a Harper's Bazaar. Oh, how I miss the Starbucks-inside-the-Barnes-and-Noble set-up, where one can flip through magazines all day and never buy a thing. But it's Bulgaria's first Bazaar issue! I had to. For educational purposes. And resident national pride. And models have to eat somehow.

Breakin': The Electric Bulgaroo

So I asked the kids what kind of music they liked, and all the boys said rap. And then they hit the floor with breakdance moves. In fact, one boy had a cellphone which played Flo Rida's "Low" on constant loop. Upon closer inspection by Sarah, the same boy had a video of a kitten bopping its head to: "Shawty had them apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur..."

Hubs almost loses arm to kids angered by paparazzi.

Time to check in on the kids at Lopyan!

Oy! That's cute. We visited Lopyan this past weekend to see how our young friends at the school were doing. I'll be posting more photos from Lopyan over the next couple days. Enjoy!
There's one in every bunch.
So. Friggin'. CUTE.
Julietta (in the jacket Victoria gave her), Sarah (not an orphan), and Ivanka.
And my sweet, tiger-leopard-print-fringe girl, Tomislava. Up next: the Hubs gets tackled by over-excited children.

What we're working with here in the BLG

Earlier today, my boss sent me the above photo of a group of Bulgarian mobsters (mutri) and their bodyguards at the 2006 funeral of drug-smuggling billionaire Ivan "The Doctor" Todorov, who was assassinated with 15 bullets. Our Bulgarian colleague chuckled and said, "They're just beginners. I'll show you the serious ones." And sent me the below photo:
No real need for debates or town-hall meetings here.

Oh my! A riot?!

Let's just follow the smoke...
Ah! It turns out the smoke is just part of a friendly soccer match between Bulgaria and Italy! Those would be flares that the Bulgarian fans lit up while the riot police stood by to, um, keep the peace.
And this would be the Hubs and Larry, who were cheering for the home team if only because NOT cheering for the home team would result in a violent end for the both of them, since they were sitting in a sea of this:
The Bulgarian flag guy!
Bulgaria tied with Italy in a 0-0 game, which isn't a bad showing against a top team like Italy. The national teams are now playing World Cup qualifying matches for the 2010 games in South Africa. Those last two sentences, btw, were all Hubs citations, since I have no idea what I'm talking about. All I know is that in many countries, people use the word football instead of soccer. Needless to say, I was not at the match, but could hear the crowds cheering from our apartment: "Bul-ga-ri! U-na-tsi!" (United Bulgarians!)

A Cause to Celebrate

If you subscribe to the Very Short List (introduced to me by fab poetess Ms. Parks) then you've seen the blog Cake Wrecks, which features the above piece of art right below another cake that says, "Congratulations on Completing Your Jail Sentence." So much fun! 

I have a couple ideas that might be nice to emblazon on future cakes: "Congratulations on Finally Restraining Yourself from Telling Me What to Do" and "Non-Violent Communication is Alright, I Guess." Though, the latter one would look better on a pillow. 

And, your cake...?

Look into the eyes of love...and heal yourselves.

photo from Japan Probe

How much do I miss you, Japan?! You've probably already read about Tama the stationmaster cat since the folks at Yahoo! figured smartly and mercifully that we needed a break from all the stories about stock market crashes, Palin winks, and why guys purposely mess up a good thing, and instead featured this fluffy story to lift the spirits of those of us — the ones who really value cuteness and long to care about stupid shit again — in financial crisis:

As the economic might of Japan faces up to the global banking crisis, Tama has boosted the finances of a small Japanese city by millions of dollars...

This lil' gal was a stray living in an unmanned train station in Wakayama, where she drew in about 1.1 billion yen from tourists who simply wanted to check her out. Konichiwa! Someone find me a calico costume and an empty train station and I'm there! You can have the bailout money; I'll just spend it on crap anyway, as evidenced from the era when we lived in Tokyo and I would spend a large chunk of my salary on stationary from Ito-ya and toys from Kiddieland. It's a five-story toy store — you're going to find something you like. 

For those of you who don't care for cats, the following story might defrost that freezer box you call a heart. Here's an AP story that blossomed out of Japan in about 2005:

Radish in intensive care after murder attempt

TOKYO - A giant white radish that won the hearts of a Japanese town by valiantly growing through the urban asphalt was in intensive care at a town hall in western Japan on Thursday after being slashed by an unknown assailant. The "daikon" radish, shaped like a giant carrot, first made the news months ago when it was noticed poking up through asphalt along a roadside in the town of Aioi, population 33,289. This week local residents, who had nicknamed the vegetable "Gutsy Radish," were shocked -- and in some cases moved to tears -- when they found it had been decapitated.

TV talk shows seized on the attempted murder of the popular vegetable and a day later, the top half of the radish was found near the site where it had been growing. A town official said on Thursday the top of the severed radish had been placed in water to try to keep it alive and possibly get it to flower. Asked why the radish -- more often found on Japanese dinner tables as a garnish, pickle or in "oden" stew -- had so many fans, town spokesman Jiro Matsuo said: "People discouraged by tough times were cheered by its tenacity and strong will to live."

Sundays with Omar

On Sundays for the past several weeks, the Hubs and I would watch six episodes of "The Wire" back-to-back, and this would steel us for the upcoming week, where we would annoy and alienate colleagues by sprinkling exchanges with phrases like, "You feel me, dog?" and "Damn, String! How you gonna turn them corners?!" It was play or be played. As much as you can do that in a work place with cubicles.

Unfortunately, we finished the last season about two weeks ago, and it has left a large, gaping hole in our Sundays (about six hours worth, to be exact). I can't help but feel nostalgic for the show and the characters, like the kids on the corner, Bubs, and especially Omar, whom I miss terribly. Will someone please suggest a TV series that will come close to filling the void that has been left by "The Wire"?

Well, what now? Oh, I know: the debates!

So I've discussed it with friends and relatives, and it's confirmed: Britney doesn't have a sex tape and her weave is in tact. Oh, and the economy is indeed in the crapper. With those issues settled, I'm free to check the election polls/electoral college map on Yahoo! every hour or so, and then call up Joslyn to ask her *how excited* she is to watch the VP debates tonight. We'll be watching a little later than usual, since the debates take place 4 am Sofia standard time. We're gathering at the office to watch a taped version tomorrow at lunch, where we were warned to "please refrain from partisan commentary." Partisan-shmartisan, pop the popcorn!