I'm reminded that American travelers to Hungary often comment on how hospitable the people are, how welcoming. I expect a professional in the travel or entertainment industry to be warm and respectful but I hear this is the case in the small towns and villages too.
Growing up I noticed that relatives of Hungarian heritage seemed to feel that as family you didn't need to call beforehand, that as family you could show up anytime. I considered this to be a village attitude. We still liked to call and ask if we'd be welcome because it was a bit of a drive. And I remember one time we did show up and it was a bad time because my aunt's husband's brother had just died and they were off to a funeral.
What about you?
Saturday, March 2, 2019
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER IS NO LONGER A SAFE SUBJECT
Seems to me my dad told me more than once to "talk about the weather."
The idea was to avoid politics or religion. Of course doing so was avoidance of expressing opinions. In the work place and among people you didn't know - and some you did - the weather was a safe subject.
But now the weather is controversial.
The fact that hard rains have blown out your umbrella, that the heat is roasting you as though you were a bald chicken, or that the snow and cold is unexpectedly fierce (like in Chicago or Milwaukee recently), or that the icebergs are melting all over the globe brings up Global Warming (Liberal), Earth Changes (Middle of the Road), Global Cooling (Controversial ice age theories), and might be avoided. Depending on which theory you most believe, you may be discovered to be a Republican or a Democrat or even a "Socialist."
UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE SUMMIT - SEPTEMBER 2019
It's my feeling that eventually there will be great population shifts that might change the borders of countries in coming years. I read that the North Pole (magnetic) has shifted dramatically unexpectedly (some shift was expected) and I wondered if this had something to do with the deep freeze. Lots of snow can lead to flooding.
MARITIME EXECUTIVE : MAGNETIC NORTH SHIFTING RAPIDLY
EXCERPT: The World Magnetic Model predicts the Earth's geomagnetic field for the next five years and it is normally produced every five years. Scientists have now recognized that the 2015 World Magnetic Model needs updating earlier than planned, but the update has been postponed from January 15 to January 30 due to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.
***
You may or may not like the United Nations but can you argue with sailors?
The idea was to avoid politics or religion. Of course doing so was avoidance of expressing opinions. In the work place and among people you didn't know - and some you did - the weather was a safe subject.
But now the weather is controversial.
The fact that hard rains have blown out your umbrella, that the heat is roasting you as though you were a bald chicken, or that the snow and cold is unexpectedly fierce (like in Chicago or Milwaukee recently), or that the icebergs are melting all over the globe brings up Global Warming (Liberal), Earth Changes (Middle of the Road), Global Cooling (Controversial ice age theories), and might be avoided. Depending on which theory you most believe, you may be discovered to be a Republican or a Democrat or even a "Socialist."
UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE SUMMIT - SEPTEMBER 2019
It's my feeling that eventually there will be great population shifts that might change the borders of countries in coming years. I read that the North Pole (magnetic) has shifted dramatically unexpectedly (some shift was expected) and I wondered if this had something to do with the deep freeze. Lots of snow can lead to flooding.
MARITIME EXECUTIVE : MAGNETIC NORTH SHIFTING RAPIDLY
EXCERPT: The World Magnetic Model predicts the Earth's geomagnetic field for the next five years and it is normally produced every five years. Scientists have now recognized that the 2015 World Magnetic Model needs updating earlier than planned, but the update has been postponed from January 15 to January 30 due to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.
***
You may or may not like the United Nations but can you argue with sailors?
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
THE FAMOUS LOVE LOCKS OF BUDAPEST - SZECHENYI CHAIN BRIDGE
NEWSWEEK - LOVE LOCKS MAY BE FORBIDDEN BUT... This article from the 2015 era discusses the love locks of Paris... I understand that due to the collapse of the bridge due to the weight of the locks, they have been removed. (But the collection is beginning again.)
Did you know that the Szechenyi Chain Bridge is also the scene of lovers padlocking it as a symbol of their forever love? The Chain Bridge was the first permanent stone bride connecting Pest and Buda.
Did you know that the Szechenyi Chain Bridge is also the scene of lovers padlocking it as a symbol of their forever love? The Chain Bridge was the first permanent stone bride connecting Pest and Buda.
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
SOYBEANS ARE NOT DOG FOOD
My dog is an itchy dog.
I understand that the number one reason Americans take their dogs to the vet is itching.
An itchy dog appears to be obsessed - unnerved - and it's difficult to watch too.
You want to relieve them of the itch.
The first thing you do is bath your dog.
You think shampoo - conditioner - and topical ointments.
You think fleas, bug bites - especially spiders.
You switch around their food.
"Grain Free" is popular.
However, what's the substitute for wheat or corn?
(Are "Gluten Free" people thinking DOGS should also be Gluten Free?)
So here is what my research and experience has taught me.
In nature dogs are lucky to breed once and are often dead before the age of 6. They don't get old enough to loose teeth or lay around. They are either contributing to the welfare of the pack or they are put out to die alone.
One dog is accepted as the leader, usually a good hunter. That dog gets to eat first. When they kill an animal whose meat they like, this pack leader goes for the stomach. THE CONTENTS OF THE STOMACH are gourmet food to the dog and it includes DIGESTED VEGETATION.
The vegetation is usually grasses and berries - think what a deer eats.
The number one meat dogs are allergic to is CHICKEN. But birds are not all alike.
So READ LABELS. And what do you read?
SOY. I learned that soy plants and beans and oils are a big export of Hungary to the United States. However popular soy is as a protein substitute for vegans and vegetarians, it can have an estrogen effect and should be avoided unless used minimally by people with cancer or danger of cancer that can be grown by estrogen. (How much soy or yams a person can eat is subject to debate.)
I read labels and I see things like TOMATO SKIN, BLUEBERRIES, CACTUS, ROSEMARY put into dog food.
I seriously question tomato in dog food. As for blueberries, see if your dog will eat one without the kibble. Mine rolls them on the floor not knowing what else to do. Cactus? Forget it. I hear of dogs who like bananas and watermelon. Mine could care less.
However she loves - cabbage - sauerkraut, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower (I hear there are cautions about how much of these), yams and pumpkin (I hear to avoid white potato and sweet potato), chick peas. She could care less about lettuce or other table greens.
So I indulge her. About a teaspoon full on the kibble. She will dig out the real food over the kibble.
I have a friend who feeds his dogs chicken and kibble every day. My dog likes to raid his dog's bowls.
Thus if you have a Hungarian-American dog and must give it people food, forget the spices, but give that dog some stuffed cabbage - but not anything with soy.
A sign that a dog has allergies is black discharge or tears from its eyes. A sign that the food change is working is the end of that discharge or tears.
C 2019 Magyar American BlogSpot All Rights Reserved including International and Internet rights.
I understand that the number one reason Americans take their dogs to the vet is itching.
An itchy dog appears to be obsessed - unnerved - and it's difficult to watch too.
You want to relieve them of the itch.
The first thing you do is bath your dog.
You think shampoo - conditioner - and topical ointments.
You think fleas, bug bites - especially spiders.
You switch around their food.
"Grain Free" is popular.
However, what's the substitute for wheat or corn?
(Are "Gluten Free" people thinking DOGS should also be Gluten Free?)
So here is what my research and experience has taught me.
In nature dogs are lucky to breed once and are often dead before the age of 6. They don't get old enough to loose teeth or lay around. They are either contributing to the welfare of the pack or they are put out to die alone.
One dog is accepted as the leader, usually a good hunter. That dog gets to eat first. When they kill an animal whose meat they like, this pack leader goes for the stomach. THE CONTENTS OF THE STOMACH are gourmet food to the dog and it includes DIGESTED VEGETATION.
The vegetation is usually grasses and berries - think what a deer eats.
The number one meat dogs are allergic to is CHICKEN. But birds are not all alike.
So READ LABELS. And what do you read?
SOY. I learned that soy plants and beans and oils are a big export of Hungary to the United States. However popular soy is as a protein substitute for vegans and vegetarians, it can have an estrogen effect and should be avoided unless used minimally by people with cancer or danger of cancer that can be grown by estrogen. (How much soy or yams a person can eat is subject to debate.)
I read labels and I see things like TOMATO SKIN, BLUEBERRIES, CACTUS, ROSEMARY put into dog food.
I seriously question tomato in dog food. As for blueberries, see if your dog will eat one without the kibble. Mine rolls them on the floor not knowing what else to do. Cactus? Forget it. I hear of dogs who like bananas and watermelon. Mine could care less.
However she loves - cabbage - sauerkraut, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower (I hear there are cautions about how much of these), yams and pumpkin (I hear to avoid white potato and sweet potato), chick peas. She could care less about lettuce or other table greens.
So I indulge her. About a teaspoon full on the kibble. She will dig out the real food over the kibble.
I have a friend who feeds his dogs chicken and kibble every day. My dog likes to raid his dog's bowls.
Thus if you have a Hungarian-American dog and must give it people food, forget the spices, but give that dog some stuffed cabbage - but not anything with soy.
A sign that a dog has allergies is black discharge or tears from its eyes. A sign that the food change is working is the end of that discharge or tears.
C 2019 Magyar American BlogSpot All Rights Reserved including International and Internet rights.
Monday, January 21, 2019
MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY
Today many governmental agencies, libraries, and so on are closed in honor of civil rights leader Martin Luther King.
It's a time to pause and think about stereotypes.
Some say that truisms are based on true things about ethnicity and race and religion and sex.
I can't help but think of all the discrimination and isms I've experienced in my lifetime, that of my parents and ancestors, because of PREjudice
But then again, they say you have to BE in order to have fun with or have humor about stereotypes, and that's something I try to do here at MAGYAR AMERICAN BLOGSPOT.
It's a time to pause and think about stereotypes.
Some say that truisms are based on true things about ethnicity and race and religion and sex.
I can't help but think of all the discrimination and isms I've experienced in my lifetime, that of my parents and ancestors, because of PREjudice
But then again, they say you have to BE in order to have fun with or have humor about stereotypes, and that's something I try to do here at MAGYAR AMERICAN BLOGSPOT.
Saturday, January 19, 2019
IS WORKING SIX DAYS A WEEK THE SAME AS SLAVERY?
BLOOMBERG: ANTI SLAVERY PROSTEST - ANTI ORBAN PROTEST
EXCERPT: Hungarians staged nationwide protests and threatened the first general strike since the end of Communism to pressure Prime Minister Viktor Orban into repealing a controversial new law on overtime.
Thousands gathered on Saturday in Budapest and blocked traffic in more than a dozen cities across the country, reflecting dissent that's spreading beyond the capital. Labor unions and opposition groups are protesting what critics have dubbed the "slave law," which allows companies to ask employees to work the equivalent of six days a week...
Wednesday, January 16, 2019
VILMOS ZSOLAY - WHY HE'S CALLED THE KING OF HUNGARIAN CERAMICS
BARD COLLEGE: HISTORICISM IN ZSOLNAY CERAMICS
EXCERPT: Vilmos Zsolnay adhered to this ideal of technical and artistic perfection. As his daughter Terez noted in her memoirs, Vilmos had wanted to be a painter in his youth. Beginning in 1865 he worked to improve his ornamental ceramics by testing a number of raw materials in and around Pecs, by introducing kaolin from Bohemia, and by refining these materials and even selling them. Through his business connections in England, France, Germany, and Austria, he was familiar with the trends of the period and able to introduce and market fashionable items that appeared as novelties to his small -town customers.
Zsolnay's first major success came at the 1873 Vienna World Exhibition. Some of his ornamental dishes were decorated by transfer prints, others by Schmelzfarben (high-fired colors), designed and executed by a painter named Claven. ....
DAILY NEWS HUNGARY - ZSOLNAY PORCELAIN KING
FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS BEAUTIFUL and VARIED CERAMICS BY RUNNING A SEARCH FOR ZSOLNAY IN GOOGLE IMAGES.
EXCERPT: Vilmos Zsolnay adhered to this ideal of technical and artistic perfection. As his daughter Terez noted in her memoirs, Vilmos had wanted to be a painter in his youth. Beginning in 1865 he worked to improve his ornamental ceramics by testing a number of raw materials in and around Pecs, by introducing kaolin from Bohemia, and by refining these materials and even selling them. Through his business connections in England, France, Germany, and Austria, he was familiar with the trends of the period and able to introduce and market fashionable items that appeared as novelties to his small -town customers.
Zsolnay's first major success came at the 1873 Vienna World Exhibition. Some of his ornamental dishes were decorated by transfer prints, others by Schmelzfarben (high-fired colors), designed and executed by a painter named Claven. ....
DAILY NEWS HUNGARY - ZSOLNAY PORCELAIN KING
FEAST YOUR EYES ON THIS BEAUTIFUL and VARIED CERAMICS BY RUNNING A SEARCH FOR ZSOLNAY IN GOOGLE IMAGES.
Saturday, January 12, 2019
HUNGARIANS ARE MYSTERIOUS : HUNGARIAN / HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN STEREOTYPES
Once they have started pronouncing your Hungarian surname correctly - or close - it's time to tell your friends that it's TRUE - You ARE Mysterious!
How can you not be mysterious?
Every Hungarian has a mystery to them. Their origins, their language, their DNA, their sensibility.
You have strong political beliefs - but who knows what you're really thinking?
You like all women/men - but who knows who you really love?
You play chess well - but did you let the other person win - for future strategy?
Who knows what really goes on in your mind? Not even your mother is sure!
C 2019 Magyar - American BlogSpot All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
ICING IS NOT A HEALTH FOOD
I say this having eaten more thickly iced cupcakes.
It seems to me that over the last few months I have eaten more bread, more sweets, more cookies, slices of cake, and candy, than I may have in many prior years. It's not showing on my body (yet) because I have also been using more calories. I really must get back to my vegetable-loaded diet.
This is not a New Years Resolution. It is an acknowledgement that I'm courting health disaster if I don't reform!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!
It seems to me that over the last few months I have eaten more bread, more sweets, more cookies, slices of cake, and candy, than I may have in many prior years. It's not showing on my body (yet) because I have also been using more calories. I really must get back to my vegetable-loaded diet.
This is not a New Years Resolution. It is an acknowledgement that I'm courting health disaster if I don't reform!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!
Tuesday, January 1, 2019
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
THE CHRISTMAS CAROLING PARTY LAST NIGHT WAS THE BEST
I was invited to the home of a couple who are instrumental in a local Christian church last night to attend a tradition of theirs - Christmas carol singing in the home. I took my dog with me. After we had both eaten plenty from the great variety of foods offered - including a tasty Russian meat strudel and the home made Mexican enchiladas a guest brought with onions not too raw - not too cooked - and a hunters stew, and had one glass of wine, we gathered in the living room. My host played the piano. Also there, a young man - a violinist, a guitar player, and small percussion instruments such as bells, rattles, and tambourines were passed around.
We must have sung fifteen songs, happy to have the lyric sheets in hand. We got inventive. One man made the sounds of cows, donkeys, and sheep, for the song Do You Hear What I Hear. We sang one song that was a German carol I had never heard before, alternating between English and German phrases with violin solos between stanzas. We finished with the Twelve Days of Christmas - those "five golden rings" brought out the operatic and dramatic. My dog fell asleep under a table despite all the kids swirling around and the clamor.
Oh I hated to go.
C 2018 Magyar American BlogSpot All Rights Reserved.
Happy Holidays to all my readers, who I feel sure, will have their decorations up until January 6th.
Friday, December 21, 2018
Saturday, December 15, 2018
A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS - THIS TIME THIS YEAR
The song by that title my mom loved and I remember her singing it around the house. I almost put a YouTube video up of the song being sung by one of my dad's favorite artists. But I am opposed to forcing my readers into having to watch or listen to a commercial first.
A few of my favorite things at this time of year?
I have memories of visiting people and indulging in their cookies - so many different ethnic recipes - so many different spices. Including anise in sugar cookies, glazed with simple powder sugar and vanilla. Never brownies, no chocolaty chip, but a lot of jellies, powdered sugars, almonds, walnuts and poppy seeds.
One of my aunts made a poppy seed roll that was so fresh smelling and tasting, it was impossible to eat just one piece. Another made a particular date cookie with a creamy icing in pastels.
Candy - Jordan almonds and those raspberry-tac filled with a little liquid.
Our stockings were never full of toys or money.
The discovery of a quarter, a box of Jello, an orange, some candy canes, or other small items in an actual knee sock I wore - was enough to please and surprise - since it was left by Santa. Who sometimes ate a cookie and drank his milk - and sometimes did not.
The local news channels ended 6 PM news with checking the radar for Santa's sleigh and it seems that was enough excuse to go to bed early.
Sometimes it snowed. Sometimes it didn't. We never went out looking for sleigh, reindeer footprints, or elf or Santa footprints. Knowing - not knowing - it didn't seem to matter - because it was simple faith.
For the last couple decades I have not put up an actual Christmas tree. I used to collect ornaments and have collections. I sold one collection a long time ago. I put out an antique bowl full of ornaments as a centerpiece at the table. I'm fond of candles and the small lights sometimes called fairy lights. I like to have a few branches of actual pine tree so the rooms smell a little of pine.
A few of my favorite things at this time of year?
I have memories of visiting people and indulging in their cookies - so many different ethnic recipes - so many different spices. Including anise in sugar cookies, glazed with simple powder sugar and vanilla. Never brownies, no chocolaty chip, but a lot of jellies, powdered sugars, almonds, walnuts and poppy seeds.
One of my aunts made a poppy seed roll that was so fresh smelling and tasting, it was impossible to eat just one piece. Another made a particular date cookie with a creamy icing in pastels.
Candy - Jordan almonds and those raspberry-tac filled with a little liquid.
Our stockings were never full of toys or money.
The discovery of a quarter, a box of Jello, an orange, some candy canes, or other small items in an actual knee sock I wore - was enough to please and surprise - since it was left by Santa. Who sometimes ate a cookie and drank his milk - and sometimes did not.
The local news channels ended 6 PM news with checking the radar for Santa's sleigh and it seems that was enough excuse to go to bed early.
Sometimes it snowed. Sometimes it didn't. We never went out looking for sleigh, reindeer footprints, or elf or Santa footprints. Knowing - not knowing - it didn't seem to matter - because it was simple faith.
For the last couple decades I have not put up an actual Christmas tree. I used to collect ornaments and have collections. I sold one collection a long time ago. I put out an antique bowl full of ornaments as a centerpiece at the table. I'm fond of candles and the small lights sometimes called fairy lights. I like to have a few branches of actual pine tree so the rooms smell a little of pine.
