Sunday, October 30, 2011

BELA LUGOSI (Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó ) FIND A GRAVE

Friends, I blogged about Bela Lugosi, known for his horror films in early Hollywood, before and I've posted a link to his official web site before also. (You can find it on the sidebar!) But today I'm linking to his FIND A GRAVE page, where there is some genealogical information for Bela Ferenc Dezso Blasko. He is buried in Los Angeles at Holy Cross Cemetery.

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I thought Bela yesterday when, for the first time, I saw the film he stared in called "THE RAVEN" in which he acted the part of a doctor who loves Edgar Allen Poe, the poet who wrote the poem called "The Raven" and many other dark pieces. In this movie, which I saw in black and white, the doctor has a prison basement where he has built various torture devices that Poe only imagined in his fiction. The doctor lures a group of people to a party, intent on getting the young beautiful woman he has fallen in love with, his personal torture being that he can't have her. And it goes from there...

Saturday, October 29, 2011

NO JACK O LANTERNS IN HUNGARY BUT ANCESTOR WORSHIP IS REAL!

In Hungary there is no Halloween, but there is All Souls Day (early November) when people go to the graves of their ancestors to clean the stones (or right the posts), leave flowers, but also REMEMBER their friends and family who have gone before them.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

HALLOWEEN GREETINGS : TIME TO TELL GHOST STORIES

So there is no Halloween in Hungary. But I can bet there are plenty of spook or ghost stories in Hungary. Would you like to tell one to us? Use comments!


Sunday, October 23, 2011

HUNGARIAN STEREOTYPE : WE HAVE A HIGH SUICIDE RATE AND ARE REALLY REALLY DEPRESSED

We are supposed to be drowning in sorrows and suicidal more than most ethnic groups... hmmm... is this genetic depression or one more stereotype?

Thursday, October 20, 2011

MARISKA HARGITAY and HUSBAND ADOPT ANOTHER CHILD : NOW FAMILY OF FIVE

Hungarian-American actress MARISKA HARGITAY and her husband, Peter Hermann, announced a second adoption today, making their family five - their natural son, a daughter adopted six months ago, and now this baby. ANDREW NICOLAS comes six months from the adoption of AMAYA JOSEPHINE. Linking to one of many articles on the net about this today, Mariska, Peter, and five year old August are THRILLED!

It is so wonderful that people with the means to do so - the money and the love - are adopting!


Saturday, October 15, 2011

RADIX LISTS THE MOST COMMON HUNGARIAN SURNAMES

RADIX, a popular Hungarian genealogy site, lists the most common Hungarian surnames...

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

94 YEAR OLD ZSA ZSA GABOR BACK IN THE HOSPITAL

A gorgeous picture of Zsa Zsa on this LA TIMES mini article (so many on the net!) about her latest health crisis. She has been eating solid food but also has an infected feeding tube.

Monday, October 10, 2011

THE RAVEN KING by MARCUS TANNER EXPLORES MATTHIAS CORVINUS and THE FATE OF HIS LOST LIBRARY

MARCUS TANNER IS THE AUTHOR!





An excellent book!

I'm thoroughly enjoying reading this one!

If you, like me, feel that there isn't much known about King Matthias and the 15th century, this book will prove us wrong! The story of Matthias and his book collection - illustrated manuscripts - and what happened to it, winds through the early history of Hungary. At the time Italians at court had influence as did Matthias' wife Beatrice who never did take much to Hungary, Hungarians, or the language, but brought some refinement with her from Naples and ended up back there as a broke widow.

While the Ottoman Turks attempted to take over Hungarian lands warfare and intrigue dominated the lives of the court and the people, Matthias continued to collect books.

To this day it is unknown how many books he actually had and estimates vary wildly. When he was dead and his people were no longer in power, the library was carried off so that today few books surely his survive. The quality of his books as well as the quantity are debatable.

I learned a lot about Hungarian history as a result of reading it through the characters in this book.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011