There is a very good and clear blogpost on Daily Kos about radioactivity in food, and I recommend reading it if you want to know more. It also reprinted this excellent description of the difference between being 'exposed' to 'contaminated', from a Vermont brochure:
More from OK and his iPhone in the northern Swedish latitudes:
Idag planerar jag att ta en tur med tält några dagar. Tills dess jag är tillbaka får ni hålla tillgodo med följande (mycket) lokala sevärdheter.
(Today I am leaving for a hike with a tent for a few days. Until I am back, you will have to be satisfied with these (very) local sightseeing items.)
Bastuns omklädningsrum. Som en norrlänning skulle säga: "Å här häng man använda handdukar som ska bli ren." (The dressing room in the sauna. As a northerner would say: ".. can't translate.. but the point is that reindeer and clean is the same word in Swedish :) [LS noted])
"Any frolic in your pocket?" [Frolic is a kind of dried dog food]
Den verkliga bossen på vandrarhemmet är dock Murre. (The real boss at the hostel is Murre.)
Långväga gäster har med sig sina inhemska specialiteter. Vad det är? Krylli-Cola kanske? :) (Far away guests are bringing their own cultural specialities. What is this? Cyrrilli-Cola maybe?)
Hepatica nobilis, also known as Liverleaf, Liverwort, Common Hepatica, Kidneywort, Pennywort, Leberblümchen, lehtosinivuokko, sinivuokko, blåsippa, on this Russian (=Soviet Union) stamp from 1983.
The Hepatica by Archibald Lampman ( in part)
Then flourish fairly, flower and glossy leaf,
Let no hand stoop to do thee any wrong,
God wot, thy pale mid time is very brief
To gather in the sunlight and the song;
_ - - - - - _ - - - - - - _
"It is a mild remedy in disorders of the liver, indigestion, etc., and possessing pectoral properties it is employed in coughs, bleeding of the lungs and diseases of the chest generally." (A modern herbal, Grieve, 1931)
Don't believe old folklore. Hepatica is poisonous in large doses.
In addition to LS post about Manhattan I contribute with a Russian match label: Day and Night Safety Matches.
This night when we drove home an owl passed over the road in front of us. Silently, quickly, with big rounded wings in the dark. The others missed it, but I saw it clearly. Not sure what kind it could have been, but probably not a Bubo bubo, which is on this Soviet stamp. I think the face of this species looks just like our cat Ella - not the tufts on the ears, the white markings around the eyes, and the general fluffiness of the head. Ella must have some owl DNA in here. Would that be a cowl or a cawl, or a oat, or owat? There is a species in Sweden called kattuggla (catowl), so that must be what Ella is. I'll post a picture of here later on so you can see for yourselves. Ella is also a nightly creature, but she is not a good mouser yet.
The two brothers Andrei and Ivan live with their mother and grandma. One day when they return home from their daily outings with their friends, there's a man sleeping there. Their father has returned after being gone for twelve years, a father none of the brothers have any memories of.
Andrei, the older brother is happy and full of admiration but Ivan, the younger one, is filled with doubt. Is he really their dad? Where has he been for twelve years and why did he come back now? The father and the two boys go on a fishing trip to get to know each other, but the purpose of the trip is changed under the the way...
This debut film, "Vozvrashcheniye" / "The return" / "Återkomsten" (2003), from director Andrei Zvyagintsev is in the category of films that "make you associate, think and look at life in different ways" as Pippi wrote. Very little is spelled out for the viewer, a lot of questions that are raised remain unanswered. There are clues here and there making your brain remain active during the film trying to figure it out. The film has great photo as well. What it "lacks" in the car chase, superhero and funny jokes department it more than compensates for in other areas. Add it to your to see-lists if you haven't seen it yet, folks!
I saw Zvyagintsev's new film "Izgnanie" / "The banishment" / "Förvisningen" (2007) the same night as well. It is similar in style and well worth seeing too. And it features Arvo Pärt's "Für Alina" as part of the soundtrack, very fitting with since they share that same vagueness.
/O.K.
(Listening to while posting: Herbie Hancock - Bubbles)
Three men, carefully walking in each others footsteps through the grass, following the trajectory of the nut (the fastener kind) they've thrown. Where it lands it is safe to go . They are in the "Zone", an abandoned and restricted area where a catastrophe decades earlier wiped out the inhabitants, and created a place within the zone where it is said that your deepest wishes and dreams will be realized. The three men are "Professor", a scientist, "Author", a successful writer and "Stalker", their guide in the zone, trying to get there. Each of them for his own reasons. But in the zone the shortest and most safe route is not the one of shortest distance.
Yesterday I saw Tarkovsky's film "Stalker" (1979) in a movie theater for the first time, although I've seen it several times on dvd before. Easily one of the ten best films I've seen. Slow, but with an intensity that grows on you, and very russian in style. If you don't crave car chases, superheroes, funny jokes and don't mind thinking once in a while this might be a film for you.
/O.K.
(Listening to while posting: Gaffaman and his space-dub)
All the things you can do to avoid studying... Russsian students playing large scale tetris. :)
Since the current theme are ribs from pigs, here is a stamp of some live, but wild, pigs from Russia. I also got a question on how to find stamps on the internet, and without google not much would be possible. Google images for 'topical stamp XXX" or 'stamp XXX" or "postage XXX" (eller frimärke for Swedish) where XXX is your topic and see what you can find!
There are also some other good websites, such as:
Russian stamps
US stamps (USPS), for about the last 10 years
Swedish stamps (Postverket, in Swedish) or go to this page, and click on Press pictures
ebay.com can be good too
Wonderful World of Stamps
Computers on stamps
Stamps by themes (French)
Dinosaur stamps
Chinese stamps
American Topical Association (lots of links here)
Norwegian railroad on stamps (and other countries too)
Thematic stamp site list
And, in fact, the most beautiful stamp in the world is Swedish: Greta Garbo of course! (note that the collaborative American stamp didn't get the honors). Here is a link to a larger version of the Swedish Garbo stamp.
I think, but I am not sure, that this is a lathe on this Soviet Union 1957 stamp celebrating Russian Machine Shops. PP, maybe you can tell? The thing in the background hanging from the ceiling is a travers in Swedish, which is probably the same in English. Note Lenin up to the top left.
Inspired by recent russian posts I made myself Borstj (russian beet soup) with sour cream for lunch.
Mmmmm...
Edit: Here is the recipe I used, should be enough for 4 (big, O.K.-sized) servings:
6 beets (0,5 kg)
3 potatoes
2 onions
1 l vegetable broth
salt, pepper
crushed caraway
1-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Peel beets, onions and potatoes and slice them thin. Boil in broth for 30 minutes. After that, mix the vegetables with half of the broth to a smooth purée. Put back in pot and dilute with the rest of the broth. Add spices. Serve with sour cream.
/O.K.
On the subject of stamps with questionable messages...
Who could have guessed that the brotherly love of 1968 had spread all the way into the Soviet army, and that they decided to make a stamp to mark the occasion? :)
Picture from englishrussia.com
Actually they celebrated the 50th anniversary of the red army.
/O.K.
