Organized crime is said to be an unusually big problem in Bulgaria, and here's a story from Today's Sofia Echo that might lend credence to the notion. Meanwhile, the BBC reports that three players missing from Bulgaria's 1-1 March tie with Ireland could prove useful in Saturday's key rematch.
In other news, here's my shopping list for the Bulgarian dishes I plan to make over the course of Bulgaria Month:
5 Large Potatoes
1 Pound Sauerkraut
4 Cups Vegetarian bouillon
Butter
Salt And Pepper
3 Tablespoons Flour
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic
Plain yogurt
5 carrots
stalk celery
2 cans pinto beans
200g white beans
4 bell peppers
medium-sized cabbage
2 onions
7 tomatoes
1 beetroot
1 tsp. paprika
dozen eggs
sunflower oil
parsley
4 hot peppers
Mint
1 pound+2 packets of phyllo dough
600 grams of cheddar and mozzarella mixture
1,050 grams of feta cheese
soda water
spinach
2 roasted peppers
oregano
3 Pounds Pie Pumpkin
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon
Walnuts
And the recipes:
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Bulgaria Month, June 3
The country's first cases of swine flu, the heart-attack death of a mayor while competing in the Bulgarian version of Survivor and Motley Crue's first concert in the country are among the stories in today's news. Furthermore, the country is turning its attention to Saturday's soccer game with Ireland.
A Kentucky schoolboy friend of mine about 10 years ago decided to become a fan of European football. Stephen started reading all sorts of books, monitoring Internet sites, ordering videos, etc., and manufactured for himself a deep love for all doings on and around the pitch. So, according to Stephen, even a draw would likely eliminate Bulgaria from contention for a World Cup berth. Bulgaria's hasn't done much in World Cup competition since reaching the semifinals in 1994. Stephen says this was the equivalent of Mississippi State winning the Sugar Bowl and finishing fourth in the national polls.
The big star Bulgarian player on that 1994 team was Hristo Stoichov, who in 2003 was voted by the Bulgarian Football Union as the country's "Golden Player" of the last 50 years (very cool award). He went on to a short, mostly unsuccessful and highly controversial tenure as coach of the Bulgarian national team. This guy sounds a little bit like Pete Rose.
A Kentucky schoolboy friend of mine about 10 years ago decided to become a fan of European football. Stephen started reading all sorts of books, monitoring Internet sites, ordering videos, etc., and manufactured for himself a deep love for all doings on and around the pitch. So, according to Stephen, even a draw would likely eliminate Bulgaria from contention for a World Cup berth. Bulgaria's hasn't done much in World Cup competition since reaching the semifinals in 1994. Stephen says this was the equivalent of Mississippi State winning the Sugar Bowl and finishing fourth in the national polls.
The big star Bulgarian player on that 1994 team was Hristo Stoichov, who in 2003 was voted by the Bulgarian Football Union as the country's "Golden Player" of the last 50 years (very cool award). He went on to a short, mostly unsuccessful and highly controversial tenure as coach of the Bulgarian national team. This guy sounds a little bit like Pete Rose.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Bulgaria Month, June 2
Most of the media sites are in Bulgarian, but there are a couple I intend to monitor during Bulgaria Month. In today's news were the following two tidbits.
From http://news.dnevnik.bg/: "Bulgaria dropped from the top of the rankings in terms of highest spikes in housing property prices, with an increase of just 3.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2009, according to the latest report of British property advisors Knight Frank. The country slipped to ninth spot from year-ago’s second, when home prices skyrocketed by 30%. ... Israel strode atop of the first-quarter table with a 10.9% increase, followed by the Czech Republic, where home prices soared by 9.9%. Bulgaria was leapfrogged also by Switzerland, India, Indonesia and Russia. Dubai and Singapore trailed at the bottom of the table with falls of 32% and 23%, respectively. Thirty of the 46 countries in the ranking saw their housing property prices collapse, with Dubai and Singapore again marking the steepest drops of a respective 40% and 16.2%. The worldwide economic deterioration and the mounting unemployment continue to pinch the global housing market, according to the analysts, who predict that the sector will stay in the doldrums by the end of the year."
And from http://www.sofiaecho.com/: "At noon on June 2, sirens sounded in honour of one of Bulgaria's most beloved heroes and revolutionaries, poet and rebel Hristo Botev (1848-76). Following custom, people stood still for a minute until the sirens stopped. Even traffic on Sofia's busy roads was halted for one minute. The sirens are a reminder to remember the day on which Botev died after several days of fighting the Ottoman army in the days when Bulgaria was under Ottoman rule. The sound of the sirens at noon marks the beginning of a minute of silence in honour of Botev and his comrades who fought on the last day of the April uprising in 1876."
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hristo_Botev, Botev in 1848 was born a liberal teacher's son from a southern Bulgarian mountain-valley town. He goes away to study in Ukraine and falls in love with Russian, Polish and French revolutionary writing. When he was 19, he returns home to substitute teach in place of his sick dad and speaks at a nationalist festival that his dad had actually helped launch. It turns out to be a screed against Ottoman rule and wealthy, Uncle-Tom Bulgarians, and it gets Botev pegged as a rabble-rouser. Feeling the heat, he again skips town--this time for Romania, a popular destination for Bulgarian exiles.
Over the next few years, Botev lives hand-to-mouth, writing poetry and befriending Vasil Levski, the key organizer of Bulgarian insurgency from Romania. This had to be absolutely great. Oh, what a perfectly heady gas it must've been to spend ages 20 to 25 sleeping on couches and spewing out poems with titles ranging from "Patriot" and "Epistle (to the Bishop of Tarnovo)" to "To My First Love" and "In the Tavern" that come to be received as the moral compass for a bunch of fast-talking, jittery revolutionaries! At some point along this era, Botev marries a woman named Veneta with a son, Dimitar, and they eventually have a daughter of their own, Ivanka.
But, alas, the fun and games end when Levski is tried (for treason, I suppose) and executed on Feb. 19, 1873. This splits the Bulgarian revolutionary movement in Romania. Botev is the voice of a camp that says now is the time to gather a revolution, while there forms another, more moderate position that suggests regrouping, retooling and waiting for the next train. When the leader of that group becomes ill and steps out of the scene, Botev becomes the singular head of all things "Take Back Bulgaria."
If you've read this far, I encourage you to scroll down to the "Death" section at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hristo_Botev. Here's some lively writing involving Botev and his band disguising themselves as gardeners, seizing control of an Austro-Hungarian passenger steamship but eventually converting the captain to their side, kissing the homeland upon their invasion across the Danube (only to find the locals not very interested in confronting the Ottomans) and, despite limited training and equipment, putting up a sticky and inventive mountain defense against the authorities that exploited the Ottomans' custom of suspending any operations at nightfall. Botev took a bullet to the chest on May 20, 1876, and died.
The legend of Botev grew not only in Bulgaria but also in Russia in the decades following his death, and today he's a national icon. In addition to a bunch of streets and public buildings, a number of soccer stadiums and teams are named after Bodev, including http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFC_Botev_Plovdiv.
Given all of this, I hereby expand the list of topics of my Bulgaria interest:
-- Bulgarian National Revival,
-- feuilletons,
-- bashi-bazouks,
-- the Paris Commune,
-- the organized-crime problem,
-- NATO membership after being on the losing side in two world wars,
-- the Bulgarian Orthodox Church,
-- Saints Cyril and Methodius,
-- music,
-- food,
-- John Ross Beryle (U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria),
-- star speedskater Eugenia Radanova,
-- 2014 Olympics candidacy and
-- the June 6 soccer must-win vs. Ireland/Hristo Stoichkov.
From http://news.dnevnik.bg/: "Bulgaria dropped from the top of the rankings in terms of highest spikes in housing property prices, with an increase of just 3.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2009, according to the latest report of British property advisors Knight Frank. The country slipped to ninth spot from year-ago’s second, when home prices skyrocketed by 30%. ... Israel strode atop of the first-quarter table with a 10.9% increase, followed by the Czech Republic, where home prices soared by 9.9%. Bulgaria was leapfrogged also by Switzerland, India, Indonesia and Russia. Dubai and Singapore trailed at the bottom of the table with falls of 32% and 23%, respectively. Thirty of the 46 countries in the ranking saw their housing property prices collapse, with Dubai and Singapore again marking the steepest drops of a respective 40% and 16.2%. The worldwide economic deterioration and the mounting unemployment continue to pinch the global housing market, according to the analysts, who predict that the sector will stay in the doldrums by the end of the year."
And from http://www.sofiaecho.com/: "At noon on June 2, sirens sounded in honour of one of Bulgaria's most beloved heroes and revolutionaries, poet and rebel Hristo Botev (1848-76). Following custom, people stood still for a minute until the sirens stopped. Even traffic on Sofia's busy roads was halted for one minute. The sirens are a reminder to remember the day on which Botev died after several days of fighting the Ottoman army in the days when Bulgaria was under Ottoman rule. The sound of the sirens at noon marks the beginning of a minute of silence in honour of Botev and his comrades who fought on the last day of the April uprising in 1876."
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hristo_Botev, Botev in 1848 was born a liberal teacher's son from a southern Bulgarian mountain-valley town. He goes away to study in Ukraine and falls in love with Russian, Polish and French revolutionary writing. When he was 19, he returns home to substitute teach in place of his sick dad and speaks at a nationalist festival that his dad had actually helped launch. It turns out to be a screed against Ottoman rule and wealthy, Uncle-Tom Bulgarians, and it gets Botev pegged as a rabble-rouser. Feeling the heat, he again skips town--this time for Romania, a popular destination for Bulgarian exiles.
Over the next few years, Botev lives hand-to-mouth, writing poetry and befriending Vasil Levski, the key organizer of Bulgarian insurgency from Romania. This had to be absolutely great. Oh, what a perfectly heady gas it must've been to spend ages 20 to 25 sleeping on couches and spewing out poems with titles ranging from "Patriot" and "Epistle (to the Bishop of Tarnovo)" to "To My First Love" and "In the Tavern" that come to be received as the moral compass for a bunch of fast-talking, jittery revolutionaries! At some point along this era, Botev marries a woman named Veneta with a son, Dimitar, and they eventually have a daughter of their own, Ivanka.
But, alas, the fun and games end when Levski is tried (for treason, I suppose) and executed on Feb. 19, 1873. This splits the Bulgarian revolutionary movement in Romania. Botev is the voice of a camp that says now is the time to gather a revolution, while there forms another, more moderate position that suggests regrouping, retooling and waiting for the next train. When the leader of that group becomes ill and steps out of the scene, Botev becomes the singular head of all things "Take Back Bulgaria."
If you've read this far, I encourage you to scroll down to the "Death" section at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hristo_Botev. Here's some lively writing involving Botev and his band disguising themselves as gardeners, seizing control of an Austro-Hungarian passenger steamship but eventually converting the captain to their side, kissing the homeland upon their invasion across the Danube (only to find the locals not very interested in confronting the Ottomans) and, despite limited training and equipment, putting up a sticky and inventive mountain defense against the authorities that exploited the Ottomans' custom of suspending any operations at nightfall. Botev took a bullet to the chest on May 20, 1876, and died.
The legend of Botev grew not only in Bulgaria but also in Russia in the decades following his death, and today he's a national icon. In addition to a bunch of streets and public buildings, a number of soccer stadiums and teams are named after Bodev, including http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFC_Botev_Plovdiv.
Given all of this, I hereby expand the list of topics of my Bulgaria interest:
-- Bulgarian National Revival,
-- feuilletons,
-- bashi-bazouks,
-- the Paris Commune,
-- the organized-crime problem,
-- NATO membership after being on the losing side in two world wars,
-- the Bulgarian Orthodox Church,
-- Saints Cyril and Methodius,
-- music,
-- food,
-- John Ross Beryle (U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria),
-- star speedskater Eugenia Radanova,
-- 2014 Olympics candidacy and
-- the June 6 soccer must-win vs. Ireland/Hristo Stoichkov.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Rolland
Rolland Lawrence's name came up today in an email exchange with some friends of mine. It also came up in a terrific New York Times blog entry in January.
Here are three things I've read about Rolland Lawrence:
--He had 13 siblings, including a brother, Roland.
-- He dedicated the 1977 season to his mom, who had died, and then led the NFC in interceptions.
-- His 1979 football card said that he never dreamed he’d get a sack and that, therefore, once sacking Bears quarterback Bob Avelinni had been the highlight of his career.
Here are three things I've read about Rolland Lawrence:
--He had 13 siblings, including a brother, Roland.
-- He dedicated the 1977 season to his mom, who had died, and then led the NFC in interceptions.
-- His 1979 football card said that he never dreamed he’d get a sack and that, therefore, once sacking Bears quarterback Bob Avelinni had been the highlight of his career.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The 1970 draft, the Steelers and the Falcons
On the eve of the 1969 NFL draft, the Steelers heeded Don Shula's and others' recommendations and hired Chuck Noll as head coach.
"Noll arrived in Pittsburgh, and we went right to our draft boards," Art Rooney Jr., the Steelers' director of player personnel and vice president from 1964 through 1986, says in an interview with Tom Danyluk published in Vol. 28, No. 3 of The Coffin Corner, The Official Newsletter-Magazine of the Professional Football Researchers Association. "We reviewed every single guy on there. All that was listed was the player's name, rating, height, weight, speed and school."
Rooney compared thoughts with Noll, and "there was immediate agreement over whom to take in the first round."
Joe Greene.
After a 1-13 season, Pittsburgh was at the top of the 1970 draft and fielded a variety of trade offers for the choice. Noll was willing to listen, Rooney says, as was his dad, the team's owner. One of the most compelling proposals was a package of players and draft picks from Atlanta, but the Falcons, Danyluk reported, were unwilling to include defensive end Claude Humphrey, whom the Steelers hoped to play next to Greene.
Instead, the Steelers picked Terry Bradshaw. Selecting 12th in the first round, the Falcons chose John Small, a linebacker from the Citadel whom Coach Norm Van Brocklin converted to defensive tackle. Small lasted three seasons in Atlanta, then finished his career in 1974 after playing 14 games over two seasons with the Detroit Lions.
"Noll arrived in Pittsburgh, and we went right to our draft boards," Art Rooney Jr., the Steelers' director of player personnel and vice president from 1964 through 1986, says in an interview with Tom Danyluk published in Vol. 28, No. 3 of The Coffin Corner, The Official Newsletter-Magazine of the Professional Football Researchers Association. "We reviewed every single guy on there. All that was listed was the player's name, rating, height, weight, speed and school."
Rooney compared thoughts with Noll, and "there was immediate agreement over whom to take in the first round."
Joe Greene.
After a 1-13 season, Pittsburgh was at the top of the 1970 draft and fielded a variety of trade offers for the choice. Noll was willing to listen, Rooney says, as was his dad, the team's owner. One of the most compelling proposals was a package of players and draft picks from Atlanta, but the Falcons, Danyluk reported, were unwilling to include defensive end Claude Humphrey, whom the Steelers hoped to play next to Greene.
Instead, the Steelers picked Terry Bradshaw. Selecting 12th in the first round, the Falcons chose John Small, a linebacker from the Citadel whom Coach Norm Van Brocklin converted to defensive tackle. Small lasted three seasons in Atlanta, then finished his career in 1974 after playing 14 games over two seasons with the Detroit Lions.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Good day
On. Sept. 11, 2005, the Miami Dolphins clobbered the Denver Broncos, 34-10, to open the first regular season of Nick Saban’s coaching reign. Knowing that it turned out to be the first of only two seasons before two more resets for the team makes the following bittersweet reading. But being a Dolphins fan my whole life has taught me to enjoy the victories whenever they come. I try my best not to appreciate them only in context of living up to the past or building toward a brighter future but to remember that a good day is a good day and that is enough and a lot.
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 10:09 AM
Subject: Re: dolphins' radio team
of course, they're incurable homers, but i love the dolphins' new broadcast team: Jimmy Cefalo for play-by-play, Joe Rose for commentary and Nat Moore on the sidelines. all three of these guys played on the same early and mid '80s dolphins teams, and, toward the end of the first half yesterday, as they considered denver's options of what to do on offense, they veered into this conversation about the hook-and-ladder play. "i still don't know how that worked for us." they never referenced the game to which they were referring. also, they had Don Shula in studio for a little while, and he gushed about how much he has always loved Zach Thomas. he actually used the word “love.”
also, before the game, Cefalo and Rose pointed out that all the former dolphins call Larry Little, "Chicken." Cefalo didn't know the origin of the nickname, but he knew that some guys figured it was based on the character "Chicken Little." others thought it was because Little's legs are as skinny as a chicken's. Rose, though, said, no, no, no, it's because Little can eat so many chicken wings in one setting.
i can't wait to hear what they say next week about Larry Csonka.
it was a very happy day to be a long-time dolphins fan.
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 10:09 AM
Subject: Re: dolphins' radio team
of course, they're incurable homers, but i love the dolphins' new broadcast team: Jimmy Cefalo for play-by-play, Joe Rose for commentary and Nat Moore on the sidelines. all three of these guys played on the same early and mid '80s dolphins teams, and, toward the end of the first half yesterday, as they considered denver's options of what to do on offense, they veered into this conversation about the hook-and-ladder play. "i still don't know how that worked for us." they never referenced the game to which they were referring. also, they had Don Shula in studio for a little while, and he gushed about how much he has always loved Zach Thomas. he actually used the word “love.”
also, before the game, Cefalo and Rose pointed out that all the former dolphins call Larry Little, "Chicken." Cefalo didn't know the origin of the nickname, but he knew that some guys figured it was based on the character "Chicken Little." others thought it was because Little's legs are as skinny as a chicken's. Rose, though, said, no, no, no, it's because Little can eat so many chicken wings in one setting.
i can't wait to hear what they say next week about Larry Csonka.
it was a very happy day to be a long-time dolphins fan.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Everything about Carl Eller is just bigger, more severe
There will never be a movie made of my life; there could be a dozen made from Carl Eller’s:
-- I’ve enjoyed playing but more often watching football since I was a boy. Eller was a college and professional football star.
-- At 5-foot-11, I'm the biggest member of my family. Eller’s a giant man (6-feet-6, according to his 1970s Topps football cards). Here's part of what Dan Dierdorf said about Eller in his 2004 "Welcoming Committee" address at the Pro Football Hall of Fame: "... I'm sure that when I get to know you, you're a nice man and very gentle soul. But, I'm sorry, when I lined up against you as young player in the NFL, you were about the scariest-looking guy I've ever been around. ..."
-- The neighborhood I grew up in, in the racially mingled outskirts of Paducah, Ky., appears to have never been any too prosperous. The neighborhood Eller grew up in, in formerly segregated urban Winston-Salem, N.C., appears to once have been that town’s most affluent black neighborhood.
-- The houses in my old neighborhood are about as OK as they were when I was growing up there; the very small community of businesses, about as vibrant. When I visited there in 2005, the homes in Eller’s old neighborhood were alternately well-kept-and-charming grandparents' homes or falling-apart, abandoned eyesores. It appears to have once had a full spectrum of businesses that you'd need to exist within your own neighborhood (grocery, gas station, bank, etc.) By 2005, though, most were boarded-over and plastered with handbills; there appeared to be only two operational businesses: a beauty salon and a convenience store.
-- The high school I attended is going to close in a few years as part of a county-consolidation plan. There's a historical marker in front of Eller’s former Atkins High School, now a community center: "Constructed with the assistance of the Rosenwald Fund, a philanthropic organization devoted to building schools for African Americans. First use of Rosenwald Fund in North Carolina."
-- I have a drink or two a week. Eller has reportedly admitted to abusing alcohol and cocaine in the past.
-- I’ve participated in various anti-drug events through school, church and work. Eller operated a rehab facility and helped spur the NFL's anti-drug policies.
-- I've gotten speeding tickets and parking violations. As of last week, Eller's locked up in the Hennepin County, Minn., workhouse, serving a 60-day sentence after conviction on charges of fourth-degree assault of a police officer and second-degree refusal to submit to chemical testing.
Everything about Eller is just bigger, more severe. Bigger things—good and bad—happen to him, and he does bigger things—good and bad. And so, while I very much hope this latest episode in his life ultimately comes out well (and actually believe it could because unlikely redemption is the sort of thing that happens to a remarkable individual like Eller), there’s no experience in my life I can use to imagine what that outcome might be. My softer circumstances, choices and consequences are irrelevant in forecasting his. I hope and pray for the best.
-- I’ve enjoyed playing but more often watching football since I was a boy. Eller was a college and professional football star.
-- At 5-foot-11, I'm the biggest member of my family. Eller’s a giant man (6-feet-6, according to his 1970s Topps football cards). Here's part of what Dan Dierdorf said about Eller in his 2004 "Welcoming Committee" address at the Pro Football Hall of Fame: "... I'm sure that when I get to know you, you're a nice man and very gentle soul. But, I'm sorry, when I lined up against you as young player in the NFL, you were about the scariest-looking guy I've ever been around. ..."
-- The neighborhood I grew up in, in the racially mingled outskirts of Paducah, Ky., appears to have never been any too prosperous. The neighborhood Eller grew up in, in formerly segregated urban Winston-Salem, N.C., appears to once have been that town’s most affluent black neighborhood.
-- The houses in my old neighborhood are about as OK as they were when I was growing up there; the very small community of businesses, about as vibrant. When I visited there in 2005, the homes in Eller’s old neighborhood were alternately well-kept-and-charming grandparents' homes or falling-apart, abandoned eyesores. It appears to have once had a full spectrum of businesses that you'd need to exist within your own neighborhood (grocery, gas station, bank, etc.) By 2005, though, most were boarded-over and plastered with handbills; there appeared to be only two operational businesses: a beauty salon and a convenience store.
-- The high school I attended is going to close in a few years as part of a county-consolidation plan. There's a historical marker in front of Eller’s former Atkins High School, now a community center: "Constructed with the assistance of the Rosenwald Fund, a philanthropic organization devoted to building schools for African Americans. First use of Rosenwald Fund in North Carolina."
-- I have a drink or two a week. Eller has reportedly admitted to abusing alcohol and cocaine in the past.
-- I’ve participated in various anti-drug events through school, church and work. Eller operated a rehab facility and helped spur the NFL's anti-drug policies.
-- I've gotten speeding tickets and parking violations. As of last week, Eller's locked up in the Hennepin County, Minn., workhouse, serving a 60-day sentence after conviction on charges of fourth-degree assault of a police officer and second-degree refusal to submit to chemical testing.
Everything about Eller is just bigger, more severe. Bigger things—good and bad—happen to him, and he does bigger things—good and bad. And so, while I very much hope this latest episode in his life ultimately comes out well (and actually believe it could because unlikely redemption is the sort of thing that happens to a remarkable individual like Eller), there’s no experience in my life I can use to imagine what that outcome might be. My softer circumstances, choices and consequences are irrelevant in forecasting his. I hope and pray for the best.
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