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jeremy

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 10:24 pm

Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 6794 Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)

Patricia saw The Descendents with our eldest daughter during the week. They enjoyed it, but I think it resonated far too much for (my) comfort.

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gromit

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 8:17 am

Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9010 Location: Shanghai

Quote:

Jolie: nervous, excited about premiere in Bosnia

BERLIN (AP) - Angelina Jolie says she's nervous and excited about the upcoming premiere in Sarajevo of her Bosnian war movie "In the Land of Blood and Honey." The film, which is showing at the Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday, is set to make its full debut in the Bosnian capital on Feb. 14

I'll definitely be seeing this, since I was just in Bosnia last Summer. Did you know that despite being one country, Bosnia today is divided into two separate governing regions -- Bosnia-Herzogovina and the Republika Sprska (the Serb Republic of Bosnia). They each control half of what is/was Bosnia and they even both put out their own money. It looks mostly the same, but with different people on the bills, and the different gov't name. Both currencies good throughout Bosnia. It's really a sad situation, with something like 40% unemployment.

Sarajevo itself is smaller than I imagined -- especially the old part of the city. There's Bosniaks (Muslims), Croats (Catholic) and Serbs (Orthodox) all in an unhappy union.
In the north of the country where the war between Croatia and Serbia spilled over, there were still a good deal of burnt out and half-demolished homes strewn along the roadside. This is from 15+ years ago, but there just isn't much of an economy for rebuilding.

Croatia just last week voted to join the EU. Despite the crisis in the EU, they see how well Slovenia has done, essentially stepping out of the Balkans and into Central Europe. And the EU accession funds of a couple hundred million Euros doesn't hurt. The state-owned Croatia media was warning folks that if they didn't join the EU they'd get stuck in some backward Balkan confederation with (hated) Serbia.

Meanwhile Serbia is cooling on trying to join the EU, largely because Germany insists they'd have to recognize Kosovo as an independent country. Kosovo is ethnically Albanian, also with a rump Serbian gov't region, contained by UN troops. Somewhat tense, but the economy in Kosovo is coming to life. We went to two impressive old Serbian monasteries which are guarded by armed UN troops with armed personnel carriers and some Belgian assault rifle things which looked seriously dangerous.

Anyway, hope the film is good.

Last edited by gromit on Sat Feb 11, 2012 11:38 pm; edited 1 time in total
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jeremy

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 10:17 pm

Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 6794 Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)

Rachel Weiz's Bosnian War film went largely unnoticed.

Syd

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 10:33 pm

Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12921 Location: Norman, Oklahoma

jeremy wrote:

Rachel Weiz's Bosnian War film went largely unnoticed.

Totally unnoticed on my part. What was it?

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Befade

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 10:50 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ

Quote:

Anyway, hope the film is good.

It's worth seeing, Bart......for the acting alone. (and thanks for the update on the situation there...........it's hard to understand some of these civil wars). It might have gone on too long, but basically it showed how 2 people of different faiths, who without the war might have become a couple.....evolved during the fighting. There was sensuality and chemistry in their relationship. He looks like Daniel Craig.

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Lost in my own private I dunno.

gromit

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 11:32 pm

Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9010 Location: Shanghai

jeremy wrote:

Rachel Weiz's Bosnian War film went largely unnoticed.

Thanks.
I had a nagging feeling I'd heard of another such film. I don't like Weisz too much, but will track that down as well.
_________________________________________
As for Bosnia and the Yugoslav breakup, it was all a complicated mess, with lots of ugly behavior (war crimes) by basically all sides. With the Serbs being the aggressors and the nastiest party.

The simplest way to understand the troubles down there: anywhere near the Serbs or Albanians -- the expansionist types -- is where there were wars and ongoing tensions.

Serbia wanted to keep the Yugo federation together, as they controlled the capital (Belgrade) and the bulk of the power. Anywhere bordering Serbia, there were Serbs living across the border, and wars were fought to prevent the breakup of Yugoslavia and to form a Greater Serbia.
Tiny Montenegro stuck with Serbia til late, in a rump Yugoslavia, and so was about the only country down there to get out unscathed.

Kosovo is where ethnic Albanians and Serbia clashed -- and still have a standoff, in the divided city of Mitrovica. UN troops keep a fragile truce there -- one UN soldier was killed last Summer a month before I was out that way. Fallout from the Kosovo War included tiny Macedonia getting a large influx of Albanian refugees which resulted in a small civil war there in 2001. Albanians are normally 1/4 of the population, but that swelled to over half with the refugees.

Macedonia is also stuck in a long-running and stupid dispute with Greece (basically a failed state in Europe) over the name Macedonia. Officially Macedonia was only able to join the UN as
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, often abbreviated as FYROM. And Greece is blocking Macedonia from joining the EU. Petty nonsense which is harming the development of landlocked Macedonia, a pretty place with a nice lake and a budding wine industry. Of course with the Greek economy doing so well, they don't need trade with a neighboring country.

Bosnia, geographically at the center of ex-Yugo, had/has a lot of Croats and Serbs and took the brunt of the fighting when the dissolution got underway. Bosnia today remains a divided country with two governments, as a result of the Dayton Peace Accords way back in the Clinton years.

People were very friendly in Croatia and Albania --and nice but a little more reserved/bureaucratic in Montenegro and Macedonia. But Bosnians were more glum, prone to yelling, and decidedly pessimistic.

Another key to the area is the religious conflict -- Bosnian Muslims, Catholic Croats, and Orthodox Serbs. The Albanians are also Muslim. Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo are the three majority Muslim countries in Europe. But it's a very low-key Islam, with Albanian girls very tarted up like slutty American suburbanites. Albanian roads are horrendous and the main economic activity there seemed to be car washes.

I'm contemplating going to Bulgaria and Romania (and probably Serbia) this Summer, but not sure yet. Wouldn't mind hitting the small European part of Turkey as well (formerly known as Thrace).
Bulgaria is fairly large for that region. The Black Sea should be nice. Not too sure otherwise what to expect, except for a good deal of Turkish culture. I wouldn't mind going in and out of Istanbul if that turns out to be the cheapest/most direct flights. Istanbul is a great place.

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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.

Syd

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:00 am

Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12921 Location: Norman, Oklahoma

[quote="gromit"]

jeremy wrote:

Macedonia is also stuck in a long-running and stupid dispute with Greece (basically a failed state in Europe) over the name Macedonia. Officially Macedonia was only able to join the UN as
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, often abbreviated as FYROM. And Greece is blocking Macedonia from joining the EU. Petty nonsense which is harming the development of landlocked Macedonia, a pretty place with a nice lake and a budding wine industry. Of course with the Greek economy doing so well, they don't need trade with a neighboring country.

The appalling thing is that people actually indulge the Greeks rather than then tell them to go fuck themselves. They did the same thing to the Albanians and Turks in the last century. They may have had a brilliant age 2500 years ago, but that doesn't excuse them bullying Macedonia.

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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament

Joe Vitus

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:57 am

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 14498 Location: Houston

I have this Albanian friend, she's a gorgeous blonde out of every straight man's fantasy and she's extremely well-educated and smart. But she'll tell you up front "I'm Albanian and you don't fuck with people like me. We don't mess around." Cracks me up...but I believe her.

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gromit

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:56 am

Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9010 Location: Shanghai

After the Maoist system in Albania collapsed, capitalism ran wild and unchecked, with a number of huge Ponzi schemes wiping out the life savings of about 2/3rds of the country. During the subsequent unrest (the Lottery Uprising) they overran and looted the government arsenal. The upshot was that serious weaponry became cheap and plentiful. Reportedly almost every Albanian family has an AK-47, many apparently with them mounted on the living room wall. I was only in northern Albania for 2 days, so can't attest to this personally. But you mention this to Albanians and they all agree it's true.

A lot of the weapons found their way over the border to Kosovo, sparking the war/Albanian uprising there. (Kosovo used to be an autonomous province of Serbia).

Kosovo, being a new country of ethnic Albanians, at first looked towards Albania for support and guidance. But quickly the Kosovo Albanians became disillusioned with the poverty and corruption in Albania. At least that's what I learned from talking to some folks.

The Albanians I met in Albania & Kosovo were friendly, huge smokers, very nationalist. The few Albanians I've met in China were not-dream-girls running totally wild.

Oddly, just yesterday I discovered a song called Albania among my mp3's But it turns out to be an old 50's R&B tune, about a girl named Albania -- clearly a complete Caledonia knockoff and nothing to do with the country.

_________________
Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.

gromit

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:05 am

Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9010 Location: Shanghai

I think I mentioned this before, but there is a Bill Clinton Boulevard in Albania's capital Tirana.
Also a Gen. Wesley Clark Blvd. And a statue of liberty replica on top of the Victory Hotel.
Plus a Clinton statue somewhere in the capital (I saw a ceremony regarding it on TV)
Kosovo's capital Pristina has a George W. Bush Avenue.
They like the US, as we intervened to stop the civil wars and stop Serbian attacks and helped them form an independent Kosovo

_________________
Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.

jeremy

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 4:42 am

Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 6794 Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)

The Whistleblower

jeremy

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:21 pm

Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 6794 Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)

An admirer of David Cronenberg, I will go and see A Dangerous Method, but after having seen the trailer and read the ambivalent reviews, not even the thought of Kiera Knightley being spanked, gives me much enthusiastism for it.

bartist

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2012 2:09 pm

Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6958 Location: Black Hills

Quote:

But Bosnians were more glum, prone to yelling, and decidedly pessimistic.

We had Bosnian neighbors for five years - sounds about right. They were also huge smokers, which seems to be prevalent in E. Europe. Just curious - what is your connection to that part of the world? Or do you like less touristy travel destinations?

Some of the Bosnian refugee community here has returned to Europe, though not sure if they've gone all the way home.

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Befade

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 2:00 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ

Quote:

An admirer of David Cronenberg, I will go and see A Dangerous Method

Jeremy.......it's worth seeing (in my opinion) as is anything with Michael Fassbender. Keira Knightly was a bit too histrionic for my tastes. But the film does offer some insights into the beginning of "the talking cure" and those 2 giants......Freud and Jung.

Gromit........thanks for all the info @ Bosnia, etc. (my question: if there was no testosterone would there be war?)

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Lost in my own private I dunno.

billyweeds

Posted: Mon Feb 13, 2012 2:46 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

Befade wrote:

Quote:

An admirer of David Cronenberg, I will go and see A Dangerous Method

Jeremy.......it's worth seeing (in my opinion) as is anything with Michael Fassbender. Keira Knightly was a bit too histrionic for my tastes.

The presence of Michael Fassbender does nothing for ADM, which is as dull as the average hammer. As for Knightley, you are far too kind. She gives the worst performance of 2011 and probably 2000-09 (since Madonna has been unemployed as an actor recently). As a critic accurately noted, one fears that Knightley's jaw will become dislocated in her efforts to simulate hysterics.

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