love and other dirty words - think magazine

DO YOU RELATE? • HU/EN BUDAPEST LIVING

A CATALOGUE OF TRENDINESS MASQUERADING AS DEEP THOUGHT • WWW.THINK-MAGAZINE.COM • 02/2011 #06A CATALOGUE OF TRENDINESS MASQUERADING AS DEEP THOUGHT • WWW.THINK-MAGAZINE.COM • 02/2011 #06

What Stereotype are you?Melyik sztereotípia jellemez téged?

LOVE AND OTHERDIRTY WORDS;

The Relationship Issue


The Relationship Issue


The Relationship Issue A kapcsolatok havaA kapcsolatok havaA kapcsolatok hava

SZERELMEK ÉS EGYÉB PISZKOS ÜGYEK;SZERELMEK ÉS EGYÉB PISZKOS ÜGYEK;SZERELMEK ÉS EGYÉB PISZKOS ÜGYEK;

Love.

Some of us never know love, some of us never share love, and some of us never fail to love. In every grimy,

nasty circumstance of life's misery or in the most opulent of lives, the experience of love never fails to ele-

vate us. Love improves us. It can heal the deepest wounds, teach us where education fails, inspire us to

innumerable acts of beauty and drive us to achieve the formerly impossible. Love as a word is tossed around a lot,

to be sure. Some speak of love in terms of things. Things they appreciate, laugh at, and things they would want.

These uses are simple intrusions onto the soft, blurry edges of what love is. They infest the tattered edges of our

most noble evolution, they are the bastardized usurpation of our inner drive for good by the forces of the materi-

al world. Love of people and animals, and perhaps even plants, can be returned. Cars and homes and belongings,

philosophies and practices, religions and biases we hold dear do not love us back. They simply serve to divide our

love, to diffuse it among the myriad facets of mundanity, perversity and obsession our environment wishes us to

subscribe to. Objects and concepts can be "loved," but they do not love back. The love of the unloving is as much

the antithesis of love as hate is. Love for our fellow being is a reward in itself. The most profound of loves can trans-

form us, focus us, and elevate us, carrying us far from the obsessively mundane perversion of everyday life. Be it

requited or not, returned or not, lasting or not, our need to breach the black wall of the infinite alone can be for-

ever sated by a single moment of true love, shining in the light with our fellow sojourners. That moment is singular

for some, multiple for others, and, for a lucky few, continuous and unabated, an existence shining in the darkness

and breaking down the wall until all the universe is light. Let there be love.

Szerelem.

ATHINK Budapest februári, hatodik számát tartod most a kezedben, FÉL ÉVESEK LETTÜNK! Ezt a sikert

főként Nektek köszönhetjük, amit egy nagy bulival szeretnénk meghálálni. Itt végre személyesen is

találkozhatunk! Február 16- án várjuk minden támogatónkat és olvasónkat a Boutique Bárba, ahol welcome-

drinkkel fogadjuk azokat, akik magukra húznak valami (bármi) pirosat! A részletekért klikkeljetek a

www.facebook.com/thinkbudapest címre! A Jégbontó hava ezen kívül is bőven ad alkalmat az ünneplésre. Itt lesz

a farsang, a karnevál, a busójárás, a bálszezon, és természetesen Szent Bálint napja, a szerelmesek ünnepe. Emi-

att, főként ennek a témának szenteltük jelen kiadásunkat, de mivel a szerelemről annyi mindent megírtak már,

bármiféle előszó közhelyesen hangzana (habár, már ez is kissé annak tűnhet). Éppen ezért nem is próbálkoznánk

így megoldani a bevezetőt, inkább csapjatok bele kissé szokatlan szemszögű cikkeink olvasásába. Reméljük, talál-

tok itt sok érdekes programot, melyekre ellátogattok szerelmetekkel, barátaitokkal, de akár egyedül is!

HUMANIFESTOTHINK, A CATALOGUE OF TRENDINESS MASQUERADING AS DEEP THOUGHT…

those to blame:Vol. II, Issue 06

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR/FŐSZERKESZTŐ: Francis Pruett – [email protected]

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EDITOR EMERITUS:Alexander Zaitchik

CON TRIBUTORS:Nagy Greta, W. Hunter Roberts, Rebeka

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HohKoon AuYeong, Kálnay Eleonóra, Tarcali

David, Pete Wylde, Dan Swartz, Doug Smith,

Hillary Frink and Alfonso Majetic

ON THE COVER:“What’s Your Stereotype?”

Art: Szuhay Gergely

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THE FINE PRINT: Think Magazine comes

out when Think Magazine comes out (usual-

ly the first Friday of the month). We follow

the moon, and its deep mysteries. Think

Magazine is an Entertainment Information

Periodical established in Prague, c. 1996 by a

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Magazine is brought to you by the principles

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porters and advertisers who make this en-

deavour possible. To them we give thanks.

T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE I USED TO THINK WOMEN WHO LOOKED PAST MY FLAWS WERE REALLY COOL WOMEN WITH BRAINS. NOW I JUST THINK THEY'RE DESPERATE.

BUDAPEST

Phot

o: Z

suzs

i Pál

Apárkapcsolatok fogalma erős en

átfogalmazódott a 21. század

folyamán. A modern nők egyre

többször lázadnak fel a konvencio -

nális kapcsolatok ellen. Miért szab -

junk határokat? Miért ne legyünk egy

nyitott kapcsolatban? Miért házasod-

junk meg? Miért ne váljunk el? Miért

költözzünk össze? De mi is lehet ez

valójában?

Persze ezek a kérdések teljesen

jogosak. Ezek jelentenek kihívást a kon -

vencionális, régi időknek, es ezáltal

fejlődik a világ azzá, ami. Aminek,

legyünk őszinték, vannak hibái, de

vannak előnyei is, főleg ez esetben a

nők szamara. Nem kell például a férfi

kísérőjeként megjelenni nyilvánosan,

lehetünk akár mérnökök is (a férfiak

pedig lehetnek ápolók), és egyre

inkább az a trend, hogy egy nőt a ki -

sugárzása es nem a „méretei” alapján

ítélünk meg. Persze ez még mindig

hibádzik egy kicsit, de ez most mel-

lékes.

Amin elkezdtem gondolkozni, az

egy teljesen más dolog volt. Éspedig

a következő: aki kicsit is ismer, tudja,

hogy amennyire csak egyet lehet

érteni a feminizmussal, én meg te -

szem. Még éppen a radikálisokkal is

tudok szimpatizálni, ha másért nem,

egyszerűen azért, mert az extrém

követelésekből lesznek a látható vál-

toztatások, amik bizony mindig jól

jönnek. De az ötlött a fejembe: man-

apság a feminizmus és a szabad szel -

lem nem egyfajta kalandvágyat pró -

bál álruhába bújtatni és eladni?

Miért van az, hogy nekünk, szabad

szemléletű nőknek azzal nincs külö -

nösebb problémánk, hogy elmen -

jünk bulizni, összeszedjünk egy va-

didegent, akit aztán egyenjogúság

nevében felviszünk magunkhoz, majd

reggel kirakjuk a lakásunkból, es

önelégült fejjel kortyolgatjuk a reggeli

kávénkat a metrón, miközben gondo-

latban veregetjük a saját vállunkat,

hogy most egy jelentős lépést tettünk

a nők emancipációja fele?

Ezzel szemben azzal nagyon is

van problémánk, hogy valakivel el-

menjünk randizni, megtetsszen ne -

künk, és kimondjunk egy szót, ami a

kapcsolatunkat leírja, ne adj isten

elkötelezzük magunkat egy megha -

tározatlan időre? Nem lehet, hogy

elkezdtünk azokká a férfiakká válni,

akiket annyira szenvedélyesen és

egységesen utáltunk mi Nők? Es

most bátorkodok olyat javasolni,

amit én is meg fogok bánni: nem

lehet, hogy mára már csak azért har-

colunk az egyenjogúságunkért, mert

mi is „kötöttségfóbiásak” lettünk?

Igen ez durvának hangzik, és ter-

mészetesen távol álljon tőlem, hogy

elbagatellizáljam azokat az elveket,

amelyekért a feministák éveken át

küzdöttek. Itt egyáltalán nem erről

van szó. De lehet, hogy megéri fogni

a feminista elveket, es újra gondolni

őket a 21. század immáron második

évtizedében, még ha ezt csak a sze re -

lem es párkapcsolatok terén tesszük

meg?

Mitől lettünk mi, Nők hirtelen en-

nyire fenemód harapósak, ha kap -

csolatokról van szó? Talán meg érez -

tük a szabadság ízét, es tetszik ne -

künk? Nem hibáztatom magun kat.

Igazán felemelő érzés, amikor ott

állsz egyedül a bárnál, tudod, hogy

jól nézel ki, ráadásul ehhez megvan

az önbizalmad is, es mindezek felett

megvan a lehetőséged arra, hogy ezt

akárhogy kamatoztasd!

Anélkül, hogy ezt akárki „kur vás -

nak”, férfiasnak, vagy rámenősnek

skatulyázza be. Sőt! Kész főnyere -

mény vagy! Es ha nem sikerül?

Sikerül máskor! Es ha kiröhögnek?

Ta pasztalat! Es ha besikerül egy

zoknis szandálos fogai közt pet -

rezselyem? Tanulópénz!

De mi történik eközben a férfiak -

kal? Most akkor kezdenek egybe -

olvadni a nemek vagy a szerepek felc-

serélődtek? Ezt nehéz lenne meg -

mondani. De szerintem egy dolog

biztos: a férfiak egyre tanácstalanab-

ban figyelik a történteket. Egyik

pil lanatban még azt akarjuk, hogy

meghódítsanak, a másikban a kezünk -

be vesszük az irányítást. Az egyik

pillanatban védelemre vágy unk, a

másik pillanatban meg sér tődünk, ha

a vállunkra teszik a kezüket. Az egyik

pillanatban boldogan élünk, amíg

meg nem halunk, a másik pil lanat -

ban boldogan élünk egy műterem -

lakásban egyedül, koktélokat szürc-

sölgetve. De hogy a férfiak elpuhul -

tak-e? Nem hinnem!

Az Y-generacio egy új generáció,

férfiakban is. Mar nem néznek kerek

szemekkel, ha meghívod őket egy

italra. Már nem húzogatják ki a

széket, es nyitogatják az ajtót. Már

nem érzik magukat megszégyenítve,

ha többet keresel, mint ők. Tudjak,

hogy ezek az idők rég elmúltak.

Képesek a változásra, es ezért le a

kalappal előttük!

Talán mindig is könnyebb hely -

zetben voltak, és lesznek is, mint a

nők, de talán ez azért van, mert ők

könnyebben is alkalmazkodnak ezek -

hez az új helyzetekhez. Talán ez a

speciális, new-wave nő-férfi kapcsolat

jobban ki fog jönni a későbbi „Z-

gene rációban”? Ezt majd csak 10 év

múlva tudjuk meg, kiváncsian várom!

Addig is legyen még 10 ennyire

boldog évünk a férfiakkal! Boldog

Valentin-napot Srácok, köszönjük,

hogy vagytok!

WWW.THINK-MAGAZINE.COM T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE

05

A 21. század nőjeAVAGY AZ Y-GENERÁCIÓS KAPCSOLATOK IDEJE?

modern kapcsolatok

KÖZELEDIK A VALENTIN NAP, ÉS ELKEZDTEMGONDOLKODNI, A PÁRKAPCSOLATOKON. (NEM,EZ NEM EGY „MIÉRT NEM SZERETNEK A PASIK,ÉS MIÉRT KELL MÉG EGY VALENTIN NAPOTEGYEDÜL TÖLTENEM?” TIPUSÚ CIKK LESZ!)NAGY GRETA

„A modern nők egyretöbbször lázadnak

fel a konvencionáliskapcsolatok ellen.

Miért szabjunkhatárokat? Miért nelegyünk egy nyitott

kapcsolatban?”

6

Marriage Counseling for SkepticsIS MARRIAGE THE ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF ROMANTIC LOVE?

relating

T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE GET HIGH ON HOPE! IT'S FREE AND YOU CAN MAKE IT AS UNREALISTIC AS YOU LIKE!

In search of answers to love’s per-

sistent dilemmas (even after

twenty years of being a coach cum

therapist cum spiritual director) I

sometimes succumb to the siren

song of self-help.

Recently I was reading: How to

Have the Relationship You Want by

Rori Raye. On page 54 the author

wrote “Ask yourself: Am I ready to say

flat-out that I want to be married?”

“Hold on,” I thought. I thought this

was how to have the relationship I

want. Does she think that’s the rela-

tionship everyone wants? Sure, I want

that special someone who loves me,

whom I love. I want someone to

spend time with, someone who

knows me well, lets me in, turns me

on, and is willing, so long as we’re

good together, to hang in for the long

haul. But married?

Why do married people think

everyone has to be married? Did we

miss “last call” for Noah’s Ark? Not

that I have anything against marriage.

It works really well for certain things,

like raising children in a stable envi-

ronment and all sorts of other

practical, domestic considerations.

Our nesting instincts, wisely

developed by Mother Nature using

de - signer hormones, make females

want to bed down permanently, or at

least for a while, with Thag, the big

brave brute who impregnated them.

Happily for this arrangement, an-

other hormone makes Thag content

to sit around in his undershirt and

watch the game instead of going out

on the prowl. The method in Nature’s

madness is for him hang to around

long enough to protect the children

until they reach the age of reproduc-

tion themselves (even if he is

catching a little on the side). Great

idea. It got us here. It worked right

through the time, only a hundred

years ago, that most people lived on

farms. For those thousands of years,

when women needed a man to hoe

fields and fix roofs on barns before it

snowed, and men needed a mate to

put hot meals on the table, darn

socks and birth lots of babies to work

the land, it worked out well.

A hundred or two years ago, if no

one got beaten and you kept shoes

on your kids, anything else was gravy.

It would have continued to work if

we’d stayed on farms and no one had

started dreaming of lasting love, ro-

mance, and intimacy.

But does it apply to me? I earn my

own living, I am not having children.

I don’t have a barn, and if I need

someone to fix something, I can call

the plumber, carpenter, or landlord.

What I need a partner for is love,

companionship, deep friendship, a

place of refuge and stimulation, and

really hot sex. My question is whether

marriage is the best venue for that.

Contrary to what history’s redactors

are trying to sell, it wasn’t designed

for that. It wasn’t designed by God as

a “holy union of one man and one

woman,” but for the exchange of

property between men. Hence the

bride was given away by her father to

her husband, usually with a dowry, to

ensure social stability, not romance.

Romance was an occasional perk,

or it happened on the side. In light of

that, am I to believe that marriage is

the ultimate, or even the only, expres-

sion of romantic love? Can’t we come

up with some more satisfying, com-

mitted, intimate connection that isn’t

marriage and also isn’t the one-night-

stand, the NSA “Friend with Bene -

fits,” or the casual fly-by-night affair?

Something to sustain the romance

and intimacy many people want

today? When was the last time you

heard anyone say their relationship

became sexier after they got married

or began living together? More often

it’s the other way around. I must ask:

Is it sexy to argue over bills, discuss

what to buy at the market, and sleep

in the same bed every night, even

when grungy and downright grumpy,

to be intimate? I know sex isn’t

everything. I’m a middle-aged

woman, not a teenage boy, but still…

Is there some innate virtue in this

that I am missing?

My friends and clients will attest I

have no problem with commitment.

It’s not marriage that I find unappeal-

ing, so much as the assumption that

domestic partnership is associated

with sexual partnership. I know we’re

wired to nest, and it got our ambi-

tious genes—and the people who

carried them—what they needed in

times past. I’m not sure this arrange-

ment can get us what we need or

want... because we don’t want the

same things as our grandparents.

I’ve been trying for quite a while to

figure this out. So far I haven’t suc-

ceeded. I’ve met plenty of guys who

wanted no strings, and a few who

wanted to drag me back to their caves.

Maybe I’m just stubborn. There’s

something unquestionably lovely

about the idea of committing to one

person, whatever your particular pref-

erences; sharing love, loyalty, warmth,

and moving through time together by

choice rather than necessity.

Maybe I’ll never find what I’m

seeking, or maybe I’ll find it in mar-

riage. But I have this crazy idea that

the form should fit the content

rather than vice-versa. So I’ll look for

that. Until then, am I ready to say

flat-out that I want to be married? I

guess I’m not.

ARE A MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN’S HOPES FOR ROMANCE IN THE 21ST CENTURY THE SAME AS A TWENTY-YEAR OLD’S FROM 100 YEARS AGO?W. HUNTER ROBERTS, WWW.TRANS-ARTS.COM

“When was the lasttime you heard any-one say their rela-

tionship becamesexier after they got

married or beganliving together?”

Entering the Central European Dance Theatre (CEDT) at Bethlen Gábor tér

might make one think they are taking a step back into the past. The building it

resides in hearkens back to the early 20th century and the twilight-tinged years

between Europe’s two cataclysmic wars. Csaba Szögi, the Founding Director of the

Theatre, likes it that way.

“Our one-of-a-kind lobby reflects the 20s and 30s, when the theatre was first opened and

showcased cabaret performances,” she said. “Later it was turned into a cinema and, in the

90s, back into a dance theatre with a rehearsal studio where the dancers can undertake their

daily requirements.”

The theme of cabaret and the roaring 20s has been well-evoked by the restoration of

its status as a dance house, but the technique and style of the performances is definite-

ly more in the vein of the forward-looking and young. A juxtaposition, to be sure. The

shows “are of the freshest contemporary ‘dance theatre’ styles,” Szögi asserts. “Our current

troupe started forming in 2006. They are all in their 20s and all are from the MU Terminál

studio.” MU Studio runs a pre-professional program for dancers from all over the world.

It cultivates a humongous amount of talent, along with a work ethic that suits the

CEDT and its diverse productions well.

“The repertoire now includes a number of countries,” Szögi explained. “Our invited chore-

ographers’ personal styles are reflected in each performance. Our dancers train daily to become

more accomplished professionally, and to work with our shows’ creators.” The dancers have

to be flexible. No two productions will require the exact same movements or expres-

sive styles that CEDT hosts. “We have a lyrical voice and emotional dance performance in

Aréna, choreographed by Duda Éva, and a Shakespearean, King Lear-influenced perform-

ance called Vasszavonhatatlan (Irrevocable).”

But the dancers do not always toil to simply bring the works of others to life. Szögi

encourages creative growth. “This year’s initiative, Io Sono, came together without a chore-

ographer from our own dancers’ creativity and personal shades of improvisational

performance.” It’s a natural outgrowth of the creative critical mass Szögi has gathered in

the Theatre. Nurtured, perhaps, by her own path in the art. She led the group in 1989.

“I was a dancer before, primarily folk and soloist, and later a contemporary choreographer.”

Io Sono, or I Am, features six 20-something dancers in each performance (two men

and four women). They are not choreographed and dance independently, but they do

play off of each other, each starting at the self. The goal is, according to the description

at CEDT’s website, to find as many layers of the self as they can, and share them with

the audience.It’s juxtaposition again, and in triplicate at that… dancers find the self in

the other, offer the singular personal to the impersonal mass, and dig deeper into their

selves to elevate each other and a rapt audience.

— Central European Dance Theatre, VII Budapest, Bethlen Gábor tér 3

Tickets: Tel: (+36 1) 342 7163, email: [email protected], www.cedt.hu

WWW.THINK-MAGAZINE.COM

dance

THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN DANCE THEATRE’STROUPE CHOREOGRAPHS A MOVING FUTUREAMIDST A VENUE’S SOLID ROOTS IN THE ART OFDANCE’S WHIMSICAL PASTFRANCIS PRUETT, PHOTO: DUSA GÁBOR

Synched Juxtapositions

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8

Rules of the GameTHEY DO IT BECAUSE THEY KNOW WE CAN'T REFUSE.

rejection

They do it because they know we can’t refuse. To

do so would go against the most basic tenets of

battle protocol. And it works, sometimes. Some-

times when you’re already in somebody’s arms it’s just

easier to let things happen than to keep on ducking

and diving. Men are aware of this. They learn at early

ages to work the hug.

Martin and I had spent most of the evening swilling

beer at Instant, and ended up back at his flat after the

place closed down. The decision to go to his place had

made perfect sense to me as we wobbled out of the bar

and onto Andrássy Avenue. It would have taken me an

hour to get home by bus, he pointed out. He lived just

around the corner on Király and had plenty of room.

How hospitable, I thought cheerfully. How sweet.

So later on, after indulging in a few (harmless!) kiss-

es, I found myself trying to pry myself away from his

Tupperware-like clutches and avoid his groping hands,

which had inexplicably seemed to become more nu-

merous. I was attempting to explain to him that, despite

my earlier behaviour, I did not think that a romantic en-

tanglement would benefit either of us. As if the guy was

interested in romance.

My words couldn’t have carried much weight,

though, since only moments before uttering them my

tongue had been somewhere in the vicinity of his lower

left wisdom tooth. This must be one of those things

that men despise about women, and rightfully so.

So I was explaining to him that some people (“us, for

instance,”) were destined only for friendship. But I

think the only word he caught was “destined.” He

seemed to find it encouraging.

“The thing is,” I was saying as I reached behind me to

wrench his hand from my ass, “is that I really do like

you and I wouldn’t want to do anything…” I ducked to

avoid an incoming kiss, which ended up landing

squarely on my ear, “…anything to compromise our

friendship.”

Do women really talk like this? I do. I once told a

man that I didn’t want to cheapen our friendship by

making it sexual. Christ. I made a mental note to come

up with a better line for use in the future.

“But baby,” he said, manoeuvring me back against

the wall and sort of pinning me there, “just stay for a

while. I only want to hold you.”

This oft-used line, of course, is the male equivalent of

“I just want to be friends.” On the lameness scale they

each rate a perfect ten, plastic and transparent, the very

antithesis of sincerity.

“Martin. OK. I’m going now.” He ignored me and

continued nuzzling my ear. It felt nice.

“Martin. Really now. I’ll see you later, ok?”

I gave one last wriggle to extract myself from his

grasp. He stepped back and looked at me; his stricken

expression resembling that of a puppy in the rain -

adorable, pathetic. He let out an exaggerated sigh,

paused for effect, and launched his final assault. “Just

give me a hug, okay?”

I respected the rules. I put my arms around his neck

and bussed him on the cheek in as sisterly a fashion as

I could manage. When I tried to move away, his arms

were predictably locked around my waist.

“Martin,” I said firmly. He let go, accepting the fate of

the evening with as much grace as he could muster. I

grabbed my jacket and hit the door. Walking through

the light drizzle toward Deák Ferenc, I reflected that it

might actually have been nice if I had stayed with Mar-

tin. Hell, I thought, maybe I should have. Like Janis

Joplin advised us all those years ago, the “get it while

you can” attitude might make the long dry spells be-

tween relationships considerably more tolerable.

Old Janis probably never thought much about

whether or not people considered her a ‘nice girl.’ And

at times my whole life seemed like a big fucking dry

spell, I thought wryly. The price you pay for not being

made to wear a scarlet letter. The thing was, though,

people didn’t really wear scarlet letters. Hawthorne has

been dead for a long time. I lit a cigarette and looked up

the street toward Martin’s. Asleep by now, I thought.

Maybe next time.

T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE I'D LIKE YOU A LOT MORE IF YOU LIKED ME A LOT LESS.

“Do women really talk likethis? I do. I once told a manthat I didn't want to cheapenour friendship by making it

sexual. I made a mental note tocome up with a better line.”

WHEN ALL OTHER METHODS HAVE BEEN TRIED AND FAILED, WHENTHE BULLETS ARE GONE FROM THE CHAMBERS, WHEN THE QUIVERSARE EMPTY AND THE BOWS LIE DISCARDED ON THE SMOKING ANDDESOLATE BATTLEFIELD, THE WEAKENED SOLDIER MUST CHOOSE TOACCEPT DEFEAT ON THE TERMS OF HIS ENEMY OR TO DIE FIGHTING.THIS IS WHEN A GUY WILL ASK YOU FOR A HUG.REBEKA LODGE

Post

Ten

se

Iadmit I’m a serial tosser dater. I don’t wish to be a moron magnet but my track record

is telling me it’s time to admit defeat, join a nunnery (the one that Julie Andrews went

to in The Sound of Music ‘coz I know all the songs) and be done with dating forever.

My dating disasters strangely coincided with moving to hungary. Not only did I have

the misfortune of increasing in dress size overnight - from a small in the UK to a large in

Budapest, but I also went from being a hot chick to the invisible woman.

Last Christmas (I feel a song coming…) my sympathetic friend bought me a copy of

‘He’s Just Not That into You’ – I spent my Christmas day weeping. Finding a willing victim

ain’t easy on these shores. I’m obviously not alone, since the women’s magazines are full

of articles on ‘How to Bag a Man.’ One mag went as far as to write a guide on which bars

to frequent if you’re looking to date a doctor or lawyer, and which ones to avoid because

they’re full of brokers. There are hoards of women on the man hunt. In turn, there are

plenty of men looking for a relationship here – a one night relationship that is.

THERE’S ALWAYS THE GOOD OLD ‘LAW OF SOD’ TO TURN TO AT SUCH BLEAK TIMES. TAKETHE FOLLOWING TIPS AND I GUARANTEE YOU’LL MEET THE MAN OF YOUR DREAMS:

1. Eat lots of cheese, yogurt & garlic and don’t brush your teeth

2. Don’t wash and acquire your own fruity scent

3. Don’t wash your hair and let it go greasy and druffy

4. Dress so badly social services are likely to intervene

5. Wear passion killers if you’re looking for a brief encounter

This is a tried and tested theory - you will meet someone you want to date! One draw-

back – he won’t be at all interested as you’ll be the woman of his nightmares! A total

skankypants! The ‘Law of Sod’ has a nasty habit of entering my life when least expected.

Take last weekend, I’m having a wee tipple in a popular bar in the Jewish Quarter when

two hunky guys I’d briefly dated (more than one night though) joined me. Since three-

somes are the new couple (think Jude, Sadie and Kate) I was game for a sexy ménage a

trois… well so the copious amounts of alcohol told me! The boys persuaded the bar man-

ager to give us use of his office. Thankfully I still had the dignity to hide my face from him

with my elegant Louis Vuitton handbag – but I was too sozzled to realize I held it lop-

sided and revealed most of my face to him! How embarrassing (though he probably

makes a living from porn on the side judging by his willingness to let us use his office).

We stumbled around under the harsh glare of the office lights and it didn’t feel very ro-

mantic at all. I promptly fell over on all fours and ended up with a staple wedged in my

knee. At that point one of the boys lifted up my skirt and screamed hysterically

“GRANNY PANTS!” Bugger, I’d forgotten I was wearing my tummy flatteners! The ones

with a cast iron girdle to hold-in my spare tire. I hadn’t worn them in about three years –

what were the odds on wearing them tonight of all nights!? The cruel ‘Law of Sod’ pre-

vails. The boys were rolling round in hysterics, all thoughts of a hot night gone, “Haha!

Granny Pants! I can’t believe you’re wearing Granny Pants!” So much for my night of pas-

sion. A night of embarrassment more like, although the good thing about excessive

amounts of alcohol is that you’re too out of it to really care.

the single life

ELLA SHERBET

Are you an STD...(Serial Tosser Dater)?


Az első ilyen villám, ami belém

csapott, egy Timi nevű lánytól

jött. Talán nyolcadikos lehetett,

én pedig elsős voltam. Kedves arcú,

rövid göndör hajú, középmagas

lány volt. Mindig 3-4 osztálytársával

lógott a nagyszünetben az udvaron.

Beleszeretni egy pillanat műve volt.

Most érett fejjel visszagondolva,

pusztán annak a tudata, hogy sze -

relmes lettem is óriási boldogság -

gal töltött el.

Maga a szerelem, mint fogalom,

azon belül a kötődés, nem volt

is meretlen a számomra, elvégre

3 nővérem van, akik közül a legi -

dősebb már anyuka volt, a közép -

sőnek pedig akkoriban lett barátja

(akit ma már szintén a sógoromként

ismerek).

Velük láthattam először ezt az

érdekes kapcsolatot, amikor az

ember párban van valakivel. (A

barátság most más, mert olyan volt

nekem egypár, és azt inkább egy

kalap alá vettem a családdal.)

Amikor pedig megismerkedtem

Timivel, ráébredtem, hogy ez

ugyanaz az érzés… Szerettem volna

minél többet vele lenni. Reggel ro-

hantam az iskolába, és vártam a nagy-

szünetet, amikor végre kiengedtek

minket az udvarra.

Saját tapasztalat híján a kötődés

romantikus értelmét nem érthettem

igazán. Mégis, nem sokkal később

már az akkori olvasókönyvem vas -

tag külső borítóján hirdettem az ér -

zelmeimet: a dolog adta magát,

mivel a borítórajz is megerősítés -

ként hatott: egy lombkorona alatt, a

fa két oldalán (ez volt a tankönyvem

címlapja és hátoldala) egy kisfiú és

egy kislány ült. Vastag filccel odaír-

tam (friss íráskészséggel) neveinket,

és gyakran nézegettem.

Timi és az osztálytársai mindanny i -

szor kedvesen fogadták a helyes köly -

köt, aki udvarlónak még fiatal volt,

mégis szokatlan érdeklődéssel je-

lent meg az osztálytermükben, vagy

a focipálya mellett a padoknál.

Sokat kérdezgették különböző dol-

gokról, a fiúnak pedig jól esett a

figyelem. Timi a következő isko-

laévre eltűnt, vélhetőleg kijárta az

általánost. Én pedig már a vezeték -

nevére sem emlékszem. De maradt

egy keresztnév, ami kedves szá-

momra, mivel ehhez kötődik az első

szerelem érzése.

A húgom csak nevetett rajtam,

hogy a közös családi nyaralásaink

során minden évben akadt egy lány,

akibe fülig szerelmes lettem. Ott volt

Vera, Dóra, Enci, Anna. Csakúgy,

mint Timinél, mindegyiküknél vár-

tam, hogy megjelenjen, és kerestem

az alkalmat, hogy vele legyek.

A nyaralások végén címcsere, jó

ideig tartó telefonálgatások, levélvál -

tások. Mindannyian élvezték több-

kevesebb ideig a kitüntető figyelmet.

Ennyi lánytestvérrel, amennyi ne -

kem jutott, leszögezhetjük, hogy

sok kal jobban szót tudok érteni a

lányokkal, mint a fiúkkal. A férfias

tapasztalatok híján viszont nem

nagyon volt valódi fogalmam arról,

hogyan hódítsak meg egy számom-

ra kedves lányt. Így sok esetben,

viszonzás helyett kettőnk között egy

bizalmas kapcsolat született, ahol

sok mindenbe be lettem avatva, és

bármilyen kitüntető legyen is egy

ilyen szerep, az érzelmi összetett -

sége miatt egyre nehezebben vi -

seltem ezeket a plátói szerelmeket.

A középiskola végére, pedig már

egyenesen kétségbe voltam esve,

hogy vajon sikerül-e kellő vonzal-

mat ébresztenem valakiben.

Férfivá érésünk során mindan-

nyian éreztük azt a kételyt, hogy a

nagy ő valaha is felbukkan, és ránk

talál. Nekem az igazi szerelem

egészen későn jött. Nagy boldog -

sággal tölt el az a kitüntetett helyzet,

hogy valaki viszontszeret, bír,

elvisel, sőt, imád.

Azoknak, akiknek sokkal több

ilyen megerősítés jut (értsd: sokkal

inkább bejön a nőknek) másfajta

súlya van az egyes kap cso latoknak,

elvégre, van miből válogatni. Ebből

persze egy másfajta keresés alakul-

hat ki az idők során, miközben az

illető férfi lába előtt számtalan ösz-

szetört női szív is hever. De mi van

a korai fellángolások emlékeivel?

Egy este azon kapod magad,

hogy a közösségi oldaladon mász -

kálva szórakozottan beütöd egy régi

lány nevét. Mi van, ha előkerül?

A gyermeki szempár, amelybe

régeb ben belenéztél, egy női arcból

néz vissza rád. Izgatottan megnéz -

ed a családi állapotát, vajon van-e

kapcsolata, vagy esetleg hozzáment-

e valakihez? Kinyitod a fotókat, és

mit látsz?

Nyaralási képeket, ahol egy hoz-

zád alig hasonlító csávó mellett

mosolyog, vagy ficánkoló gyerekek

képeit, akiknek ő adott életet. Hirtel -

en arra gondolsz, vajon milyen lett

volna vele? Rájössz, hogy valójában

az ő életébe próbálod beleképzelni

magad. Az ő gyerekfotóiba, és a mel-

lette álló pasas helyébe. Olyan ez

tulajdonképpen, mint az Ikeában

szobát nézegetni, aztán hazamenni:

az ember rájön, hogy az ő szobája

soha nem lehet pont ugyanolyan.

Mégis, mit lehet csinálni ezek

után? Kapcsold ki a gépet, és ha van

olyan szerencséd, hogy már van

valakid, bújj oda mellé, vagy irány a

város, és keress tovább.

10

Az első szerelemVEGYÜK SORRA OLYKOR SZERELMEINKET!

emlékezés

T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE „ AKIT FELEDNI AKARUNK, ARRA GONDOLUNK.” - JEAN DE LA BRUYÉRE

AZ ELSŐ CSÓKRA MINDANNYIAN EMLÉKSZÜNK, MIVELLEGBELÜL VÁRTUNK RÁ. DE VAJON KIBE ZÚGTUNKBELE LEGELŐSZÖR?HORVÁTH MIKLÓS

“Beleszeretni egypillanat műve volt.

Most érett fejjel visszagondolva,pusztán annak a

tudata, hogy szerelmes lettem is

óriási boldogság - gal töltött el.”

Think Magazin Red Party

Think Magazine Red Party

16/2/2011 @ Boutique Bar

info: www.facebook.com/thinkbudapest

Az első gondolatok: Február tizennégy. Bálint, Valentin. Szerelem,

szeretet. Férfi, nő. Számomra nincs különösebb jelentősége ennek

a napnak, de valljuk be, azért jó érzés, ha van egy Társad, akivel

megoszthatod és megélheted, ha mégis magával ragadna a hangulat – ami

éppen még meg is történhet, ha a lakásajtót bezárva túljutsz azon, hogy

a „piár” meg a „marketing” meg a „virág- és szívecske biznisz”.

Számomra nincs jelentősége annak sem, hogy a Társad Viktor vagy

Viktória, de valljuk be, azért jobb érzés lenne, ha ezzel kicsit többen

lennénk így…

Az utcán mi ma sem fogjuk meg egymás kezét, nem adunk puszit a

másiknak. Talán megszokás, talán félelem. Vagy mindkettő. A többség

számára természetes mozdulatokkal és gesztusokkal mi még provo -

kálunk… S bár egyre több pozitív hozzáállású emberrel találkozom

kishazánkban, sajnos itthon még mindig nem ez a meghatározó.

Pedig azt gondolom, sokaknak csak tovább kellene lépniük – hogy egy

példát említsek – a teljes mértékben torz képet festő talk-show-s tapasz-

talataikon és benyomásaikon, és esetleg tehetnének egy próbát, hogy

megismerjék egy-két homoszexuális embertársukat. Nem a tévéből,

nem a felvonulásból, nem egy haver volt szobatársának beszámolóiból.

Személyesen, kérdéseken és válaszokon keresztül.

Ami engem illet, ilyen téren eddig csak pozitív tapasztalataim voltak.

Örültem a nyíltságnak, az őszinte kíváncsiságnak, és kiderült az is, hogy

rengeteg kérdés, fekete volt és – nagyon fontos! – sztereotípia él az

emberekben velünk kapcsolatban. Márpedig amit nem ismerünk, ami

idegen, attól jobbára ódzkodunk, és talán sokaknak kényelmesebb is

elfogadni az eléjük tálalt elméleteket akár anélkül is, hogy utánagondol-

nának egy kicsit.

Én úgy tapasztaltam, ezen egy közvetlen

beszélgetés rengeteget változtat, teljesen új

kép alakult ki bennük, miután saját tapasz-

talatot szereztek. „Nahát, hiszen ők is

ugyanolyan emberek, érzésekkel, hibákkal,

erényekkel. Sokszínűek, érde ke sek. És min-

demellett teljesen hétköznapiak!” Aztán

barátok lettünk…

Onnantól kezdve szívesen velünk tartot-

tak legközelebb és azután is. Persze

mégis csak egy számukra új, szokatlan világ-

ba kerültek, de immáron nem ellenségesen,

hanem érdeklődőn, elfogadóan kezeltek

minden impulzust. Szerencsére volt mit

mutatni nekik.

Kezdjük a délutánt a szépségszalonban,

ahol az ott dolgozó fiúk-lányok maguk is

melegek, ahol bárki szívesen látott vendég.

Ha az ember belép, rögtön érzi, hogy vala-

mi más, mint az eddig megszokott. Hogy az

a valami az első pillanattól garantálja, hogy

teljesen otthon érezhetjük magunkat, míg

testünk-lelkünk pihen és szépül.

Este a melegbarát pub-ban a légkör barátságos, jókedvű, közvetlen.

Persze nyilván ez sem véletlen. Ha egy társaság csupa olyan fiúkból,

lányokból – emberekből – áll, akiknek hasonló a sorsuk, hasonló

küzdelmek után/előtt állnak, ott a szoros összetartás magától értetődő.

Nyíltak lehetünk, egymás előtt nem kell titkolóznunk, s ha megfogjuk

a párunk kezét, az senkit nem zavar. Annak pedig mindig örülünk, ha egy

újabb színfolttal gazdagodunk.

A táncos lábúaknak nem itt ér véget az

este. Attól függően, hogy mihez van ked-

vünk (kisebb vagy nagyobb nyüzsi, ilyen

vagy olyan zene), választunk egy szóra -

kozóhelyet a palettáról, ahol egy éjszakára

elfeledkezhetünk a mindennapi gondokról.

Már szól is a „Love is in the air”, boldogan

megöleljük a barátainkat – „De jó, hogy itt

vagy!” – és mindenki, legyen az nő vagy férfi,

vezető vagy beosztott, fiatalabb vagy idősebb,

önfeledten tudja jól érezni magát. Egy ilyen al-

kalommal a barátunk a pultnál összetalálkozik

egy régi, heteroszexuális ismerősével.

„Hát te? Csak nem?!”

„Ja, én nem, a barátaimmal jöttem.”

„Jaj, én is, gyere, bemutatlak nekik, biztos

imádni fogjátok egymást!”…

A záró gondolatok: Minden pillanat. Elfo-

gadás, tolerancia. Szerelem, szeretet. Ember,

ember…


11

„Love is in the air”…A SZERELEM MINDENKINEK JÁR!

egyenlőség

KÖZELÍTSÜK MOST MÁS OLDALRÓL A SZEREL -MESEK NAPJÁNAK HAVÁT. NÉZZÜK MÁS SZÍN-BEN, LÁSSUNK TÚL AZ URALKODÓ PIROSON,ÉS FIGYELJÜNK EGY KICSIT A SZIVÁRVÁNYTÖBBI SZÍNÉRE IS...KISS ANIKŐ

UNLESS IT IS

MADPASSIONATE

E X T R A O R D I N A R Y

LOVEIT IS A WASTE OF TIME.THERE ARE TOO MANYMEDIOCRE THINGS IN

LIFE.LOVE

SHOULDNOT BE ONE OF

THEM.

12

Dear World...ANOTHER LETTER FROM AMERICA

truth

Yes, there are the few loose nuts who made the

headlines lately with their rants and the rather

frightening and unreasoned blabbering. Please

just ignore them.

Unfortunately, our media (notably our TV media) is

constantly and desperately seeking to outdo each other

in being the first to air the latest exciting news. In doing

so, some networks have opted for sensationalism and

have forgotten what journalism is all about - informing

the public of worthwhile news and analyzing, printing

or airing topics that are important for the welfare of the

nation and the general public. Topics get old very

quickly on a 24-hour TV news cycle and there are insuf-

ficient breakthroughs in medical research, weather and

climate changes, development of new technologies,

etc., to fill up the air time. In their desperation to stay

exciting in order to grab a bigger viewership and more

advertising dollars, they have resorted to giving voice to

attention seekers of all sorts. Consequently, more and

more TV “news” programs have taken on a tabloid char-

acteristic. If you are not one to fall for the “exposes” in

supermarket tabloids, you shouldn't fall for all the sen-

sational news items on TV channels either.

Please, look beyond the obvious. I am a hundred per-

cent sure that if you take a closer look, you will find that

there are, in reality, many times more sane people than

the insane ones. It is just that the sane ones aren't as

vocal or they find it harder to get the media's attention.

On TV, sane and normal are not as audience captivat-

ing as the wild and unbelievable. TV show producers

love the “exotic” acts - those who would do anything to

get their five minutes of fame in front of a camera.

What's better for the networks' bottom line than if they

don't have to pay for those acts?

The early settlers in America had left their homeland

for the new world so that they could practice their faith

free from the oppressive powers that controlled Europe

back then and, when America became an independent

nation, the founding fathers of the nation followed that

same instinct and spirit of freedom and the authors of

the US Constitution entrenched in it certain fundamen-

tal rights for all Americans, including the freedom of

religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, free-

dom of assembly and the freedom to petition. As a re -

sult of such freedoms, we can express our dissent with -

out fear of arrest and incarceration. Those freedoms, as

you may have noted, are essentially freedoms of expres-

sion and do not extend to include acts of violence.

We can't really silence the few individuals who are

vocal and whose incantations are welcomed by the

media. We can only seek to expose their falsehood and

lies by speaking out (or writing) against them, arguing

our case with facts and good logic. Exercising those

same freedoms, some Americans voice their opposition

to the offensive speeches through counter demonstra-

tions and marches. Sadly, there are also those who are in

positions of influence and responsibility who choose to

remain silent instead of bringing a rea-

soned voice to the debate.

Freedom has a price and democra-

cies are messy but the alternatives are

oftentimes worse. America has shown

and continues to show its true heart

and compassion when disasters strike

in other countries. With little hesitation,

Americans jump in to help rescue and

treat victims of earthquakes, Tsunamis,

floods, AIDS, and other disasters.

Because we're essentially a mixed bag

of immigrants from all over the world,

anytime a disaster happens in some

corner of the world, we feel it and we

feel engaged and involved. Although we

are American citizens, we treasure the

heritage and culture of the countries

that we or our parents or their parents

came from. We are a nation of workers

and our lives are not very different from

yours. We love our children like you do

yours: we clothe and feed them, we

send them off to school and we hug

them and kiss them goodnight when

bedtime comes.

We make mistakes (hopefully not too

often) and we try to remedy them. We do our best to

learn from our mistakes and we try not to repeat them.

Sometimes we succeed and other times we fail but we

don't give up on trying. When we fail, we laugh at our-

selves and we try not to take ourselves too seriously.

We cry over the loss of a loved one and we sympathize

with others who have experienced a personal loss. We

are excited at the success of someone we know and we

root for the 'underdog' who is trying to beat the odds

and come out on top.

Our hope is that you will not listen to the few fanat-

ics and false prophets who would exploit the sen si-

tivities of others for their own glorification. Don't give cre-

dence to them or use the mindless words of the few

crazies against all Americans. Our appeal to you is to tune

them out, just as you would tune out those among you

who seek only to provoke and to incite others to no good.

REMEMBER: Not everything you see on TV or read on

the Internet is real. Be sure that there is a hidden plot

or lots of clever editing to keep the viewers or readers

enthralled. Just as you have learned to discern what's

real and what's not on “Reality TV” shows, you must

apply the same thought logic to what you see or hear

on the news.

“Finally, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatev-

er is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever

is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if

there is anything praiseworthy-keep thinking about these

things.” - Paul to the Philippians

Your friend, America

To read more from HohKoon AuYeong, please visit:http://wordswitandwisdom.blogspot.com

T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE YOUR WHOLE LIFE HAS BEEN LEADING UP TO THE POINT WHERE YOU ARE LOOKING AT THIS.

“We can't really silence thefew individuals who are vocaland whose incantations arewelcomed by the media. We

can only seek to expose theirfalsehood and lies by speakingout against them, arguing ourcase with facts & good logic.”

DESPITE WHAT YOU'VE SEEN OR HEARD IN THINK AND ON THE NEWS LATE-LY, AMERICA IS NOT WHAT SOME FANATICS WOULD MAKE IT OUT TO BE. HOHKOON AUYEONG, ART: JAMES COSGROVE

As Egypt burned this week and Hosni Mubarak’s family reportedly fled

to London, news outlets around the world showed scenes of violence,

anger and surprisingly, regardless the venue, very pointed displays of

earnestness. There was balance in the coverage of the revolt, better exposure

than in Tunisia, and a general sense of the rightness of the protesters’ cause.

Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria are all in one region, true. All have features of

autocracy which lend themselves to revolt. Can anyone truly support Egypt’s

nigh-on 44-years of dictatorship and “emergency powers” with a straight

face? No. But some media have missed the biggest story of all. Youth around

the world are in the margins of their societies. In the world of the mature

democracies, this phenomenon is reflected in the unemployment or under-

employment of younger workers. To be sure, the movement of manu -

facturing and low-skill jobs to cheaper markets has been the major structur-

al force in this trend. But, as is the case in Egypt and throughout the world,

the devaluation of youth increasingly extends to the educated.

When protest over this phenomenon emerges, the refrain is, “The world is

changing, you will have to adapt.” But that adaptation may not be the quiet

acquiescence to ever-lower wages and expectations coupled with skyrocket-

ing inequity the trade-toting internationalist elite arrogantly demands. In

fact, it most certainly will not. No, it may more resemble a massive and sus-

tained surge of disruption, organized and unified under a banner of a better

future for the world’s ever-waiting youth. The headlines spoke of Egypt as an-

archic violence, or soft-pedaled it as a protest against an enduring dic tatorship.

But it’s only a generational war’s first skirmishes in the most remote corners

of Neo-liberalism.

To call the uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria isolated incidents is be-

yond disingenuous. Moreover, it is insulting. The Algerian and Egyptian

youth took their cue from Tunisia. The same can be said of the burgeoning

uprisings in Yemen and Jordan. The world’s youth is watching and support-

ing this movement. Dozens of groups on Facebook have sprung up, many of

them Western in origin,since the Internet was cut off in Egypt. To a one, they

all espouse support for the protesters. If one looks at the surface, or points to

the differences between these supporters and the Arab protester, then all is

well in the world of the aging democracies. But that is an illusion. pg. 17 >>

NEOLIBERAL INTERNATIONALISTS AND “SILVERDEMOCRACIES” SHOULD HEED NORTH AFRICA’SEXAMPLE WELL...FRANKLIN PRUETT, PHOTO: REDDIT-LATENIGHTCABDRIVING

Rage of the Waiting Youth


world

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14

The Ghosts of 89IF BÉLA BISZKU FEELS THIS WAY, THEN WHO ELSE DOES?

relating

T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE "TOLERANCE AND APATHY ARE THE LAST VIRTUES OF A DYING SOCIETY" - ARISTOTLE

Béla Biszku is an 89-year-old

man who served as Interior

Minister from 1957 to 1961 in

Hungary’s post-1956 revolution com-

munist government. He claims he had

little or nothing to do with the deaths

and persecution following that upris-

ing, though he is considered to have

played a key role in suppressing it.

Now, he is on the block with Hungar-

ian prosecutors for minimizing the

atrocities of those times.

“I consider 1956 to have been a na-

tional tragedy of which I was [a]

victim,” is the statement he made to a

documentarian in an interview that

was broadcast in August. He went on

to describe the punishments meted

out by the Soviet-backed government

of the time, “justified.” It was a clear

violation of Hungary’s law against

such statements, in my view, and one

he will now answer for in court.

But those very courts may be his

only hope. There may be, in fact,

some lingering old guard elements

from before 1989, perhaps even

reaching back to 1956, waiting to ex-

onerate him. Perhaps a few of those

remain who were bolstered in their

legal careers for acting as he and a se-

cret cabal of Communist Party leaders

directed them, manoeuvring through

his 1972 attempted coup and keeping

their heads down in 1989.

In most countries that left commu-

nism behind, at least a few people

were prosecuted for their actions.

East Germany’s former secret police

are still despised, and often known

for who they were. Former commu-

nists (especially security forces) in

the Czech Republic are forbidden to

work in government at all. In Roma-

nia, Nicolai Ceausescu was executed

and the government torn down, prac-

tically to the gravel.

But Hungary “decided” to remain

civil about the whole matter. No re-

views of the bureaucracy, no

investigations into the members of

the party in government, and no re-

movals from civil and judicial posts

were undertaken. It was a very con-

trolled affair, and it is somewhat

generous of the population to have

allowed such a path to be traced.

Sure, Hungary was once called the

“happiest barracks” in the Eastern

Bloc. But now, it’s time to gently re-

lieve some of those soldiers of their

duties. It is obvious that the resist-

ance to the release of documents on

the secret police and the criminal in-

vestigative service arise from the

people who served in the Commu-

nist government. This cannot stand.

It’s shameful, really. Even now,

there remain charges against people

and convictions in their records dat-

ing from the persecution by people

like of those deemed counterrevolu-

tionaries. It’s a travesty that the

records of those who were document-

ed and watched, tried and sent away

are partly available for destruction,

but the names of those who made

them miserable are off-limits. The

Kenedi Committee revealed that the

whole picture has been immutably al-

tered anyways. Documents were

pulped in the 90s at a staggering pace.

There is no need for a painful and

visceral lustration of the government.

The proceedings by which the remain-

ing secret service and interior police

forces are vetted and culled need not

be humiliating or brutal. Quiet retire-

ment and a quiet departure should be

enough. But they still need to go.

I can find no justification for the

continued employment of the people

whose way of governing made so

many miserable. Doubtless many of

those still in government with ties to

those years and that way of ruling still

enjoy the perks associated with being

“passed over” in the transition. But to

strain the metaphor, that ain’t lamb’s

blood on the door. That’s human

blood, folks.

The universities in Hungary churn

out thousands of qualified candi-

dates whose prospects for entry into

the government remain somewhat

limited. Economists, finance special-

ists, bureaucrats and lawyers are

plentiful and often underutilized. A

common lament I have heard from

young Hungarian careerists is the

suspicion they face in offices domi-

nated by grey-haired holdouts. One

young auditor even claims she was

vetted for ties to the current party in

power (Fidesz) during her first year in

government. There is something very

wrong with that.

Would removing a few of these for-

mer oppressors via retirement

(mandatory or “suggested”) really

wound the conscience of a country

that has allowed nearly 22 years more

time for them to accumulate pension

benefits and salary?

I think not. As it stands, the

smooth transition has served little

purpose other than to embolden the

cogs in that old machine to once

again oppress people. In the mean

time, the evidence of their past mis-

deeds is being erased, and along with

it goes the hope of any justice for the

people they harmed.

In 1972, Béla Biszku attempted to

throw János Kádár out via a coup in

favour of a harder-line communist

regime led by himself. Kádár respond-

ed by promptly removing him from

power. Hungarians have been patient

enough. It’s time to tell 1989’s grey-

topped holdouts and their lackeys and

nephews that “the party is over.”

WITH A GENERATION OF WELL-EDUCATED HUNGARIANS OUT IN THECAREER COLD, THERE'S NO NEED FOR OLD COMMUNISTS IN THE GOV-ERNMENT.JOE BODIA

“Sure, Hungary wasonce called the

"happiest barracks"in the Eastern Bloc.But now, it's time togently relieve someof those soldiers of

their duties.”

Mikor kezdtél el fotózni?

A fotózás, mint mondani szokták,

családi betegség. Édesapám, amikor

Venezuelába vándorolt, fotográfiával

kezdte el ottani életét. A nagybátyám-

nak fototechnikai boltja volt, melyből

profi fotós bolt lett. A féltestvérem szin-

tén fotós, úgy látszik genetikailag belém

lett kódolva.

Érdeklődésedet a fotózás iránt ők

„erőltettek” rád?

Nem, egyáltalán nem. Saját magam

érdeklődtem. Úgy 7-8 évesen kaptam

ajánd ékba egy összeszerelhető kis fény -

képezőgépet. A kis autóimat kezdtem

el vele fotózni.

Hogyan kezdted fotós karrieredet

(Venezuelában)?

Érettségi után nem jutottam be az or-

vosi egyetemre. Ezért elkezdtem dol -

gozni egy stúdióban, így közelebb

kerültem a hivatásos fotográfiához. Lát-

tam, hogy ezzel pénzt is lehet keresni.

Ezt követően építészként diplomáztam

le, de azon kaptam magam, hogy ismét

jobban érdekel a fotózás. Ekkor döntöt-

tem végleg a fotó mellett. Szaba d -

úszóként dolgoztam mindig is. Volt egy

kis irodám, mindenféle munkát elvállal-

tam: esküvők, sztárok, reklámok, port -

rék, épületek fotózását. Rengeteg kapc-

solatot szereztem Venezuelában.

Akkor miért költöztél Magya r or -

szágra?

Mindegyik munka egy újabb kihívás.

Eljön egy olyan szint, amikor az ember

újat szeretne. Ez indította el bennem az

ötletet, hogy eljöjjek Magyarországra.

Venezuelában egy idő után meguntam,

hogy, - bár sokan mondták, hogy „jaj de

szépek a képeid” - nem kaptam soha

egy erősebb kritikát. Elismerték a

munkámat, kiállításaimat, megjelené-

seimet. Nevem is ismert volt már

ezekben a körökben. De ez olyan, mint

bármilyen munka: beleszürkülsz. Ne-

hezen fejlődsz, ha beleesel egy rutinba.

Ezért gondoltam, hogy Budapestre

jövök. Ez 2003 februárjában követ -

kezett be. Biztatott, hogy ismertem a

nyelvet és hogy, nem egy idegen ország

számomra (gondoltam én).

Magyarországra érkeztél. Hogyan

kezdtél neki?

Az volt a nagy szerencsém, hogy a

kezdetekben egy szociofotós megnézte

munkáimat és azt mondta: „Tomi, ezek

nagyon rosszak”. Ez egy kicsit megrá-

zott. Hazamentem, megnéztem és

tényleg nem voltak jók! Újra át kellett

gondolnom a céljaimat, a látásvilágo-

mat. Mi az, ami bennem van és tovább

tudok adni belőle? Ekkor kezdtem

belevinni az új fotóimba a tényleges

világomat.

Ezek szerint, nem elég, ha valaki

tehetséges? Nem mindig ösztönös

ez a munka, hanem át kell gondo-

lni a célokat?

Igen, önkritika mindig kell. Hogy

ettől megerősödjön az üzenet, amit át

akarsz adni. Azóta nagyon másképp

látom a dolgokat, mélyebben.

De a legeslegelején, mivel kezdt-

ed itthon?

Lehet, hogy ez egy kicsit a latin stílus-

ra jellemző, de úgy éreztem bármit el

lehet érni. Megfogtam a portfóliómat és

elkezdtem minden szerkesztőséghez

bekopogni. Se telefon, se időpont, csak

mentem. Pár hét után, egy babamagaz-

intól felhívtak, hogy készítsem én a

címlapfotót. Ez egy jó kezdet volt.

Érkezésedkor miben láttad a két

ország közötti főbb különbsége ket?

Nagyon tartottam a magyar pg. 17 >>

„Ez olyan, mintbármilyen munka:

beleszürkülsz.Nehezen fejlődsz,

ha beleesel egyrutinba.”

Venezuelától hazáig képekbenOPITZ TOMAS VISZ MINKET EL ERRE AZ ÚTRA, A FOTÓIN KERESZTÜL...

életutak


15

Tarc

ali D

avid

KÁLNAY ELEONÓRA

Three weeks alone in the Welsh hills lay

ahead of me. But rather than work on the

novel I haven't been writing for years walk

to the orphanage to help the needy, I took a deep

breath and set in to the usual Christmas house-

bound activities.

First there was eating. And I'm not talking

about snaffling the odd mince pie. The trade-off

for the luxury of living in a flea-ridden flat in the

Big City is that I never have any food in the cup-

boards. So I set about demolishing the contents

of my mother's fridge like a heartbroken teenage

girl. Scampi with noodles? Get in! Microwaved

pavlova? Why thank you. Anchovies straight

from the tin, not even bothering to take my head

out of the cupboard before I devour them? Just

watch me.

But soon enough I became bored with this

Roman gorging and switched on the TV. Surely

Rupert Murdoch and his chums at Sky could en-

tertain me for a couple of weeks? Alas not.

Nothing but 100 million channels of flickering

bullshit. Live open heart surgery, deep sea fish-

ing for gays, Russell Crowe playing a Nobel

prize winning economist, Will Smith's infant

daughter gyrating and singing dreadful pop

songs. No thanks.

And so it was, like

an obese and tech-

nologically spoiled

toddler, that I stum-

bled into

the liv-

ing

room one night and cast a weary eye over at the

Xbox 360, sitting in the corner, fluttering it's lash-

es at me like Pandora herself. Well why not, I

thought. It was either this or clean up the sardine

tins I had left all over the kitchen. I chose a foot-

ball game (soccer to you lot across the pond) and

got down to giving myself arthritis.

After figuring out the buttons I was surprised

to find myself actually having fun. I could pass

the ball about, score goals from 30 yards (quite

far away to you lot across the pond) kick the ref-

eree and loads of other good stuff you can't really

do if you go and play real sport. But something

was missing.

I had by no means mastered the game, but after

a while, no matter what level I set the difficulty, I

never felt particularly challenged playing against

the computer. Of course, setting the opposition

level to Professional meant that the other team

would run faster and do their own wonder goals

and referee assaults, but it always seemed so,

predicable. And that, my friends, is when I saw it.

Xbox Live.

This game, like most of them these days I am

told, can connect to the internet so that you can

stay up all night, playing against other lonely peo-

ple like yourself. Just one click and I would be

thrown onto a roulette table with literally millions

of other players, all waiting to kick my arse at an

imaginary game. But who were these fuckers?

Murderers in their underpants? Celebrities on

yachts? Call girls at Puff Daddy's mansion? Gay

deep sea fisherman?

I began to feel nervous at the prospect of let-

ting one of these freaks into my television set.

But it was too late to back out now. I took anoth-

er swig of Gentleman Jack and threw myself into

the ring. I chose my team and than sat, memo-

rised, as the other player, Prince Charles or Ted

Bundy or Miley Cyrus or WORSE, flicked

through the various divisions to choose their

team. And then we were off.

I decided to take no chances and play it

straight, unlike my opponent, who I have

since decided was either Diana Ross or

Oprah, tried to intimidate me with fancy

tricks. Whilst she was pissing about with

some double step-over, I charged in and

took the ball, played it down the left and

tucked a neat shot in at the far post. 1-0

after 3 minutes. Before half time I was 3

goals up. Perhaps I was really good at this

game? I tried to image my faceless opponent, in a

Persian tent or a Romanian tower block, squirm-

ing away trying to score back. The game ended

4-1. And I felt great.

My heart racing, I quickly started a new game.

My next opponent, who I guess from his flawed

brilliance was washed-up 80s actor Edward Fur-

long, would pose a much greater threat.

I should have guessed that old Ed was going to

play well when he chose Wolves, who are current-

ly languishing at the bottom of the English

Premier League. Only a true master would

choose a technically inferior team. Every ball he

played was perfect, every run into the box in-

spired. I was lucky to lose 2-1, my only goal

coming when Furlong put the controller down to

reach for a crack pipe.

But I didn't need crack. I was hooked. Game

after game went by. Every goal I scored filled me

with glory, every one conceded pure agony. But

nothing could stop me playing. I had been

sucked into a vortex, my mind at one with the col-

lective conscience of the all-night gamer. Until I

heard the birds.

Looking out of the window, I saw that the sun

had risen and people outside were getting into

their cars to go to work. My swollen fingers were

clutching the controller. All I wanted was one

more game. Just one more. But I couldn't, no I

WOULDN'T, become one of them. I turned off

the machine and headed towards my room.

But as I went to switch off the light I saw an ap-

parition in the mirror. A bleary eyed, dry lipped

fiend stared back at me, wearing a baggy T-shirt,

covered in anchovy stains, and faded tracksuit

bottoms. Tracksuit bottoms that were both back-

to-front and inside out. The transformation had

happened. Dorian Gray had become the portrait.

Terrified, I climbed into bed, vowing never to

touch the game again. As I drifted off to sleep, I

saw tiny men on an imaginary playing field. Run-

ning and running.

16

Pandora's XboxIS ONLINE GAMING A TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION OR THE OPIATE OF THE MASSES?

digitalis

T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE ‘GOOGLE BEFORE YOU TWEET’ IS THE NEW ‘THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK’.

AND SO THE CHRISTMAS PERIOD ARRIVED. AFTER APPROXIMATELY 4 MINUTES, THE NOVELTY OF MY PRESENCE IN MY PARENTS' HOUSE-HOLD FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 6 MONTHS HAD WITHERED AWAY LIKE A DEAD PINE TREE COVERED IN SHINY BITS OF PLASTIC. PETE WYLDE, ILLUSTRATION: KATE GUENTHER

“As I went to switch off the light I saw an apparitionin the mirror. A bleary eyed,

dry lipped fiend stared back at me, wearing a

baggy T-shirt, covered inanchovy stains, and faded

tracksuit bottoms... The transformation had

happened. Dorian Gray hadbecome the portrait.”

The developed world’s youth are also in revolt.

The young Japanese, who work without giving to the national pension

fund, or move away to find better opportunity than the calcified salary-

man system will proffer them, is in revolt. The youth who throng in the

thousands at every World Trade Organization meeting are in revolt. French

protesters, be they angry workers or unemployed victims of racism, are in re-

volt. The growing number of articles on the unsupportable aging popu -

lation’s workforce presence in America is just the edge of a brewing inter-gen-

erational clash. But are conditions poor enough to warrant revolt? Surely they

are not that oppressed?

That there are no paral-

lels in mature democracies

and Mubarak’s police state

is a falsehood. In America,

the Patriot Act and various

state and federal laws have

created a prison state

wherein the basic free-

doms they proudly tote

now come with caveats

that chafe with every pat-

down, nudity-generating

scan and lopsided prose-

cutorial proceeding.

Sarkozy’s heavy-handed use of security forces during peaceful protests in

France was a test run. It succeeded in pushing through undemocratic, unsup-

ported pension reductions. Protesters rose in Greece, and the police were

quietly escalated their brutality with almost no media outcry.

But why not change the system and create opportunity to alleviate the

sense of permanent, enforced poverty driving these protests? Simply because

business demands it get its way, and increasingly does. Financial interests

throughout the world manipulate lawmakers and bully currencies into mas-

sive inequities and debt to cut sovereign funds and attack social safety nets.

Breton Woods establishments (the IMF and World Bank) offer “aid” loans,

but only if the states in need hobble their sovereignty and people, or hitch

their political and economic futures to the whims of currency traders, specu-

lators, and outsourcing evangelists.

Older generations profit by being established enough to steal some of the

loot, being “grandfathered in” on better pensions and benefits, and generally

eating the futures of their children in a kind of post-industrial infantivoric

frenzy. But now the youth are no longer willing to be eaten.

The youthful Egyptian protesters want what everyone wants. Whether they

be the burgeoning majority in the developing world or the outvoted genera-

tions of the sclerotic “Silver Democracies,” they want a bright future and good

prospects. The machinery of oppression within the “democratic” world is well

aware of the coming storm, and is in fact preparing for harsh suppression of

the inevitable clash. But the media of developed, “mature,” and “stable” democ-

racies focus narrowed on something very telling in the proceedings in Egypt.

And well they should. The army appeared as expected there, but then re-

fused to attack the protesters. True, the army protected the precious national

heritage sites, government buildings and treasures of Egypt. But it also heed-

ed the entreaties of the people to join the uprising.

If the powers that be think that their riot police can stop this tide of change

with the help of a few tanks and soldiers, they should examine the demograph-

ics of their armies. With most of the soldiers being the same age, and facing

the same futures, as the protesters, it just isn’t a very promising plan.


world, con’t from page 13 életutak, folytatás a 15. oldalról

“The headlines speak ofEgypt as anarchic violence,or soft-pedal it as a protest

against an enduring dictator-ship. But it's only a genera-tional war's first skirmishesin the most remote corners

of neoliberalism.”

társadalomtól. Nem ugyan az a magyar

kolónia Venezuelában, mint maga az

ország. Tartottam, attól, hogy a magyar egy

zárt közösség, nem tudtam, hogy lesz ez jó

nekem itthon, újoncként. De észrevettem,

hogy ha látják, hogy az ember tisztességes

és szorgalmas akkor sokkal nyitottabbak,

mint a latinok. Hete k en belül többen,

egyszerre felhívtak, mert valaki mesélt

rólam. Venezuelában más. Ott elsőre nagy-

on közvetlenek, de többet ígérnek, mint

amit tudnak adni.

Hogyan születik egy kiállítás? Tyúk

vagy tojás? Kitalálod a kiállítás

irányvonalát és aszerint fotózol,

vagy meglévő fotókból kreálsz egy

koncepciót?

Változó. Vannak olyan témák melyeket

kitalálok, mert egyszerűen tudom, hogy jó

lenne belőle egy kiállítás. Ilyen volt

például, a Szép lányok, csúnya fotók

c. kiállításom. De voltak olyan kiállítások

(pl. Venezueláról), melyeket egy meglévő

anyagból raktam össze.

Nem nehéz tudatosan fotózni?

De, a dolgok maguktól jönnek. Ha egész

nap, egy galambot akarsz lefotózni a

lánchíd oroszlánjának a hátán, akkor az

biztos nem fog összejönni. Inkább várni

kell, hogy az impulzusok hozzák a témát.

Ez történt a parti tájakkal is, melyek ezen a

kiállításomon láthatóak. Bretagne-ban volt

egy tengerparti táj, felhős volt az ég. Erre

ráhangolódtam, és akár hova men tem, jöt-

tek utánam a felhők. Még Venezuelába,

Miamiba is ahol mindig napsütés van.

Mesélsz egy kicsit aktuális kiállításo-

dról?

A Kempinski szállodával még tavaly

megbeszéltük, hogy fotóimmal én nyitom

meg a 2011-es évadot. Ennek a kiállításnak

neve „3 in 1”. Három különböző témát rak-

tam össze, kihasználva, hogy nagy a tér.

A parti tájak eklektikusabbak, méreteik kü -

lön bözőek, s mint említettem nem a

tipikus, napsütötte tengert mutatja be. A

másik, a Városképek. Itt sem tipikus város-

fotókat láthatunk, hanem épület, szobor

részleteket. Kíváncsi voltam, ki-ki hogyan

találja meg egész Berlint egy töredékből. A

harmadik a Caring, melynél mindig volt

egy növény, mely előbb keltette fel a fi-

gyelmemet, mint a mögötte lévő épület.

Közeli és távoli céljaid?

Közeli: tartani a tempót, csinálni, amit

eddig. Minél több ember ismerje meg

munkámat.

Távoli: továbbfejleszteni önmagam,

több izgalmas projektben részt venni.

Aktí van dolgozni, hogy minél több

élményt hozzak az embereknek. Egyelőre

Európában maradok. Magyarországon

még sok lehetőség van (igaz, sok fotós is).

De aki igényesen és szorgalmasan dolgo-

zik, annak még mindig van itt helye.

Mit javasolnál annak, aki érdeklődik

valamilyen művészet iránt, de tart tőle?

Ki kell próbálni, körül kell venni magad

olyan emberekkel, akik a szakmában van-

nak, okosat tudnak mondani. A gyakor -

latba kell vinni, amit tanácsolnak. Csinálni,

csinálni, mert csak így tudsz gátakat átlép-

ni. Édesanyám 45 évesen eldöntötte, hogy

divattervező iskolát végez. Addig csak pál-

cikaembert tudott rajzolni, de utána ő

maga is meglepődött milyen jól megy neki.

Mi fontosabb a szorgalom, vagy az

egyediség?

Van, aki nagyon tehetséges, de hiába, ha

nem csinálja rendesen. Van, aki nagyon

szorgalmas, de hiányzik belőle az újítás

képessége. Lehet, hogy minden nap fel-

porszívózok, de mi van, ha egyszer fel is

mosok utána?

Sok olyan ember van, mint például

én is, akik szeretünk fotózni, de re -

mekművek nem kerülnek ki ke zeink -

ből. Mit tanácsolsz nekünk?

Ha elmész egy tanfolyamra, ott kapsz

pár olyan irányvonalat, melyek biztosan

segítenek. Csak fel kell világosítani az em-

bereket. Ilyen egy gyerek is: nem tud

magától olvasni, de ha megtanítod, akkor

menni fog. Mindenkiben benne van a

kreativitás, mindenkiben rejtőzik egy kis

művészlélek, egy kis érzékenység.

Ha valaki kitanulta, akkor egy bö-

gréről is tud érdekes képet csinálni?

Persze, ez azt fogja megmutatni, hogyan

látja a világot egy fényképezőn és egy bö-

grén keresztül fotó formájában. A festészet

ilyen értelemben „könnyebb”, mivel ott egy

fehér vászon, melyre azt rakhatunk, amit

csak akarunk. A fotógráfiában vannak

adott faktorok, figyelni kell a komponálás-

ra, mi ne legyen benne, mi lógjon bele, stb.

Mindenkinek más a lelkivilága. Amit én

mondok egy képről az az én ér tel mez -

ésem. Lehet, hogy te benned teljesen más.

Azért sem akartam a kiállított képeimről

sokat mesélni.

Találják meg saját maguk az emberek,

akik nézik a képeket, hogy mit üzen nekik

a táj, az épületek, a felhők, a tengerpart,

a növények.

“VAN VALAMI, AMI A TENGERNÉL IS GRANDIÓZU -SABB, EZ AZ ÉG; ÉS VAN VALAMI, AMI AZ ÉGNÉL ISHATALMASABB, A LÉLEK.” - VICTOR HUGO

17

Who didn’t want to see the mysteries hid-

den behind the tall walls of the factory?

Who didn’t feverishly ride their bikes to

the Penny Candy Store at every chance and buy

sweets with grubby hands and hungry eyes?

Isn’t this why we worked for our allowance

money? It was not until 15 years later in college

that upon watching the film again after many

years that I realized the film was actually about

imperialism and colonialism. That while I was tak-

ing out the trash and mowing the lawn for 5

dollars a week, other children in the Cote d’Ivoire

(Ivory Coast), Cameroon, Mexico, Ghana and

elsewhere were literally slaves and worked to

death by the thousands for those same choco-

lates. In fact, most do not know what they are

harvesting or what it is used for.

Cocoa was first used by the Olmec in Mezo-

America as a drink, so highly prized, that the

Mayans and Aztecs later used cocoa

beans as currency, not gold or silver.

Cocoa pods are the size of butternut

squash, containing grey-purple seeds

the size of almonds in tan-colored

pulp. The pods are split and the

seeds left to ferment and dry before

being roasted.

The Spanish first developed a tri-

angular trade bringing weapons and

salted cod to Africa, African slaves to

the Americas (12-15 million) to work

the cocoa plantations, and chocolate

to Europe. It was Spanish priests and

monks after Cortez conquered the

area that began adding sugar and

later spices to the brew.

Chocolate’s pharmaceutical prop-

erties are thought to include theo -

bromine and caffeine that stimulate

and dilate blood vessels; Phenylethy-

lamine which stimulates sexual drive;

Serotonin, a mind-altering chemical

that can relieve depression; and per-

haps antioxidants. Up until the 1800s,

Europeans still bought cocoa in

pharmacies.

Until 1828, the cocoa butter con-

tent, so highly valued and warred

over by the Aztecs and Mayans, was

routinely thrown out by Europeans

who found it unpleasant on the

palate. They tried everything to re-

duce the cocoa butter content, but it

was still 50% fat.

Dutchman C.J. Van Houten invent-

ed a hydraulic cocoa press to squeeze

the grease from the roasted beans.

He later determined the right fat con-

tent to easily emulsify it for home

preparation. In 1840, Quaker Joseph

Fry attached a steam engine to Van Houten’s

press. He also began to mix back some of the

cocoa butter into the cocoa powder, and the re-

sulting mass could then be molded into the

modern “melt in your mouth” chocolate bar.

Quakers were integral in the chocolate trade, be-

cause unlike other commodity production, they

did not find it sinful. Another Quaker, Cadbury,

created the first box of bonbons in the 1860s, in-

timately linked chocolate to Valentine’s Day, and

in 1875 introduced the first chocolate Easter Egg.

English investigative reporter Henry Woodd

Nevinson began investigating the cocoa trade

about this time. The Portuguese-controlled is-

lands of São Tomé and Principe (Cameroon) were

both the leading producers of cocoa, as well as

the location of some of the worst abuses. The Por-

tuguese brought slave labor from Angola, none of

whom ever returned home. The British Govern-

ment turned a blind eye to the Portuguese prac tices

because they did not want dirt dredged up about

their own use of slave labor in the gold and dia-

mond mines of South Africa. Twenty years after

the first reports, neither the British Government

nor the supposedly socially-concerned Quaker

chocolate magnates had done a thing to stop the

slavery. Cocoa production was not the only com-

modity based on slave labor, nor was the worst

abuses in this sector, but Cadbury, Rowntree, Fry,

and others had made chocolate special, a symbol

of joy, an innocent pleasure; but in reality it was

made with blood, death and slave labor. Because

of chocolate’s symbolism, people expected a high-

er corporate and moral standard from chocolate

companies than the diamond and gold pillagers.

In 1887, Swiss Henri Nestle blended milk with

cocoa solids to create milk chocolate. Hersey later

used condensed and powdered milk to the same

effect in the US. Meanwhile, UK companies mov -

ed their operations to Trinidad and Jamaica, partly

because their plantations in Africa were being

decimated by disease, but also to avoid scrutiny.

Corporations imported slave labor from China

and elsewhere to work the new plantations. In

1910, the US passed a law prohibiting the import

of cocoa produced with slave labor. However, US

companies controlled sugar production in Cuba,

a major component in chocolate, with slaves from

China and Africa. In the 1930s, Forrest Mars in-

troduced the Milky Way (Mars Bar in UK),

Snickers and Three Musketeers candy bars, using

solidified malted milk drink and nougat coated in

chocolate. Rowntree introduced the Kit Kat, Black

Magic and Aero about the same time.

While cocoa plantations in the Americas were

in turn destroyed by disease, and companies relo-

cated to Africa again, Mars and Herseys joined

forces to produce Smarties and M&Ms. The Gold

Coast (Ghana) in turn became the world leader in

cocoa production, but were then surpassed by the

Ivory Coast in the 1980s. Benevolent dictator

Felix Houphouet-Boigny converted the country’s

economy and bet the country’s future on cocoa in

the 1960s. But by the 1990s, the country had de-

scended into poverty, chaos, war and child

slavery. Child trafficking from Mali and Burkina

Faso to the cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast

assisted the country in continuing to supply over

50% of the world’s cocoa. “Child slavery had

become the secret ingredient in chocolate.”

18

Bitter Sweet:THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY

fair trade

T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE WE'RE AT THAT POINT IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WHERE I'LL HAVE SEX WITH ANYONE BUT YOU.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES AS A KID WASWILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY(1971). WHAT CHILD DID NOT WANT TO WIN THEGOLDEN TICKET? DAN SWARTZ (SOURCED FROM: BITTER CHOCOLATE BY CAROLYN OFF)

“The US State Departmenthas estimated that morethan 15,000 child slavesworked the plantations in 1998. Children in thethousands were being enslaved and abused – for CHOCOLATE.”

UNICEF and the US State Department estimated that more than 15,000

child slaves worked the plantations in 1998. Children in the thousands were

being enslaved and abused – for CHOCOLATE. The Mali Government did

very little to stem the practice, since the country depended on trade with its

neighbor.

US Congressman Eliot Engel introduced a law in 2001 that would have

created a “slave free” label for chocolate like the “dolphin safe” label for tuna

fish. Senator Tom Harkin joined him in the fight. However, the Senator had

already learned that there was a fine line between human rights and eco-

nomic necessity. Harkin had introduced the Child Labor Defense Act in

1992 that boycotted goods manufactured with child labor. Bangladeshi gar-

ment manufacturers panicked and 50,000 children were fired, who then took

on even more dangerous jobs like rock crushing to help support their fami-

lies. The balance is to “find a way to take the hazards out of the work, not the

child out of work.”

Big Chocolate hired Bob Dole and George Mitchell to lobby against the

bill. The resulting wrangle produced an industry voluntary agreement called

the Harkin-Engel Protocol that delineated six points to eliminate child labor

in the cocoa chain by July, 2005. However, the protocol was voluntary, and

did not include provisions for a fair wage, or a fair price for the beans.

In 2002, the protocol was adopted by Big Chocolate worldwide, becoming

the International Cocoa Initiative. Simultaneously, an industry-funded inves-

tigation found that while there was no slavery, 284,000 children worked in

hazardous conditions on cocoa farms in West Africa, two-thirds of these in

the Ivory Coast. The International Labor Rights Fund rejected the protocol

and filed suit using a 1930 US law that prohibits the import of goods made

by slaves.

Big Chocolate did not make the 2005 deadline - not even close. They are

now setting up a small pilot project in Ghana, now the biggest producer of

cocoa along with Indonesia. The International Labor Rights Fund filed a

class action suit against Nestle, Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland for traf-

ficking, torture and forced labor on behalf of former child slaves.

Smaller chocolate producers took the lead in “slave free” or socially-

conscious chocolate, later integrated into the Fair Trade system. Green

& Blacks became the first Fair Trade chocolate in 1994, its signature prod-

uct being the Maya Gold chocolate bar. High school enrollment for farming

families supplying Green & Black have gone from 10% to 70%. If farmers are

paid, they normally get around 25 cents/lb., whereas in the Fair Trade sys-

tem they are guaranteed a minimum of 89 cents/lb. plus premiums.

FAIR TRADE STARTED IN THE NETHERLANDS IN 1988 WITH THE MAX HAVELAARBRAND. FAIR TRADE IS A SYSTEM IN WHICH:

• Trading partnerships are based on reciprocal benefits & mutual re-spect• A fair price is guaranteed to small farmers and producers for theirproducts • Prices paid to producers reflect the work they do• Workers have the right to organize• National health, safety, and wage laws are enforced• Products are environmentally sustainable and conserve natural re-sources

Valentine’s Day and Easter mark two of the biggest shopping days of the

year when it comes to chocolate. By purchasing organic and Fair Trade

chocolate, your money will no longer be going towards toxic pesticides, child

slavery, and farm worker exploitation.

This Valentine’s Day or Easter, buy something made with hope and love,

and help small farmers in the Third World break out of the cycle of poverty.

And if you’re looking around in Budapest, Fair Trade organic chocolates

are available at Treehugger Dan’s


Ah, Valentine’s Day! A day that comes only once a year, when you are sup-

posed to express your love to another person, while the other 364 you can

act like a heartless bastard. From the time you wake up to the time you end

up in bed again, you can feel the romance in the air. What better place to celebrate

romance then among the elegant 18th century streets of Budapest, where luxury

and exquisite taste from years gone by can still be seen? This fantastic world, com-

bined with the chivalrous images we have in our heads of European men being

Prince Charming… Well, where else could romance be more alive?

One February 7, I received the loveliest email from a friend of mine, asking me

what I was doing on this annual day of compassion. When I told him nothing, he

responded, “Well, now I am taking you out for a date you will never forget.” I was flab-

bergasted to see a post on my Facebook early in the morning of February the

14th. It was emanating the sensuality of the 1980’s Hollywood courting culture.

He wrote, “For a day filled with love, I will make it all about you, so that all the love is

yours.”

To be honest, it was a bit much, but as I am human, I take what I can get.

Throughout the day, I received other little messages of affection from him.

Feeling like a diamond in the rough, I put on a sexy red and black dress that left

just enough to the imagination. After all the messages, my expectations were high

for this date. We had decided to meet on the corner of Blaha Lujza tér and Erzsé-

bet körút. Not the classiest part of town but it is just moments away from some of

the imperial hotels.

We met just as evening turned to night and started walking towards Oktogon. I

had gotten my hopes up that I was eligible to enjoy the royalty of the New York

Café. We walked right past the gargoyles, calling to me as we passed, beckoning

with stone eyes of romance. I was trying to figure out where we were going, for it

was not the warmest of evenings. Finally the lights and sounds of Oktogon were

in view and he told me we are almost there. As we almost started into the round-

about, we stopped in front of a restaurant: TGI FRIDAYS.

As he was paying, I did not question his choice of restaurant. A free meal is a

free meal in the end. After we were seated, he turned to me and said with a very

heavy accent, “I had thought you were missing America, so here is some America for

you to feel at home.” I had to bite my lip to stop from laughing, or emitting profan-

ities at this absurd notion that an American wants American food. So I decided to

go all out and order something special from the menu, a truly American experi-

ence full of burgers and fries galore. I decided on a classic, the Bacon Cheese -

burger with a margarita, a very large margarita. As we waited for the food, the con-

versation was light and never went below the surface.

Before the food arrived at the table you could smell it as it glided to the table

on the waiter’s tray. Then true love was delivered right in front of my face. A burg-

er topped with crispy bacon, sizzling cheese and fresh vegetables, stacked on top

of two buns that would give even the biggest mouths lock jaw. With every bite a

wave of flavor washed over me pushing me further into a food coma of happiness.

Each fry was crunchy on the outside and piping hot on the inside, with all the

Heinz Ketchup you could dream of. Halfway through I was full, but it was just so

good I had to keep on eating.

Once I had cleaned my plate, like a good American would, I had had all the love

I could bear for one night. The date was not

the worst; the food was by far the best part

though. One thing to keep in mind on dates

is that if the romance is dead, the love of

food will make it worthwhile.

After all… it is always better to eat with

someone then to eat alone.

FOUR LOCATIONS: WestEnd, 1062 Budapest, Váci út 1-3, Metro: Nyugati Pályaudvar • Oktogon, 1066Budapest, Oktogon tér 3. Metro: Oktogon, • Mammut,1024 Budapest, Lövőház utca 2-6, Metro: Moszkva Térand T.G.I. Friday’s Deák Tér, Deák Ferenc utca, Metro:Deák Ferenc Tér, www.fridays.hu

20

A Repast to RememberREFLECTIONS ON THE CULINARY FOLLY OF A BUDAPEST VALENTINE PAST.

food in the city

SOMETIMES, ROMANCE IS JUST NOT ON THE EVENING’SLIST OF SPECIALS.DAISY BLAZE, ILLUSTRATION: NORIO NAMURA

T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE MODERN ART = ‘I COULD DO THAT’ + ‘YEAH, BUT YOU DIDN’T’.

“I had to bite mylip to stop fromlaughing at thisabsurd notion

that an Americanonly wants

American food.”

Iwould risk my credential as a food reviewer if I did not admit that I was

skeptical of VOX’s pizza at first. I first wandered into the newly opened

Raday location with lots of signs advertising karaoke, seeking some

comic relief and perhaps a bite to eat. I glanced at the menu and saw noth-

ing but pizza. In a setting that looks very much like a karaoke bar and

nothing like a pizza parlor, well…

I ordered a pizza Marguerite and fought off a well-earned sense of dread

with a Jack Daniels and Cola while I waited. In the interim, I looked back on

the regrettable pizzas I had suffered in Budapest, from dried out, barely

cheesy breads to overpriced and undercooked offerings. I fretted for nought.

I got over my trepidation when the first bite

was down my gullet. The sauce was rich and

delicious; the cheese was generous (to be fair,

the Marguerite comes standard with double

cheese). The tomatoes on top were fresh and

bright red. They were juicy but did not soak

the pizza even a little. Perfection. I had finally

found a pizza place to be a regular at.

The service was simply excellent. The wait-

er was attentive, but not too so. The pizza was

served hot from the oven, with a knife and

fork that proved necessary only for the first

two pieces. The good service was no fluke. It

continued though my subsequent visits.

Even Vox’s hours are out of the ordinary.

Pizza (the ONLY food they make) is served

until 1AM Mon-Thu, and until 4AM Fri-Sat.

They’re closed Sundays. Prices range from

690-1490Ft (My pizza was only 690). I recom-

mend the Marguerite or the Meat with Meat

pizza for the carnivores out there.

- Vox Café and Bar-IX. Budapest, Ráday

utca 8 Tel: (06) 70 457 5653, Facebook: Vox

Kávézó Pizzéria


21

Time for a Pizza PartyNEVER MIND THE KARAOKE, HERE’S THE VOX PIZZA

slices

FRANCIS PRUETT, PHOTO: SCOTT WARREN

Avocado Reopened, Reimagined,Renovated and Ready...V. Budapest, Nyáry Pál u. 9, Tel: +36 17 834 159 [email protected]

If you are looking for a great place for that Valentine’s date, the Think may have justthe spot. Avocado is back under a new owner, and the place is simply amazing.

There has been quite a lot of work done on the interior, (the layout will be famil-iar to the patrons of its former incarnation). I’m looking forward the reservation-only private booth in downstairs club. It’s that cozy place between the Buddhastatues in our photo. My visit before the official opening was intended to be brief,but it became an hours-long extension of hospitality. The manager and the maîtred’ proudly walked me around, punctuating small talk and details of their effort withPálinka (I recommend a little of the apple-cinnamon liqueur with a cappuccino).

The whole place has a Zen feel, albeit with a distinctly Hungarian sensibility. Idon’t know if they hired a Feng Shui advisor, but it seems so. The Buddha is ever-present, and the floor plan and arrangements of the furniture allow plenty of spacefor people, yet without feeling empty. My second visit, before their official opening,was for food. Sitting in the balcony, I enjoyed a delicious glass of the house red, apremium elsewhere, and ordered a luscious, rich, pork and mushroom stew servedwith pastry (see the picture). I’ll do a formal food review after a few visits, includ-ing some details on their amazing chef.

Valentine’s day is coming up, and I urge you: run to your phone and set a reser-vation at Avocado. With fine dining, a wide selection of Hungarian and internation-al wines and two full bars (with dancing), you can spend a long, happy night outall in one place (maybe a private booth). Hurry. The reservation list is likely to fill andremain full.

WELCOME BACK!

22

T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE IF ENGLAND CREATED FOOTBALL, WHY DO THEY KEEP ON LOOSING THE WORLD CUP?

TRUE GRITThis remake of the 1969 clas-

sic is somewhat uncharacteristicof the Coen Brothers in that it isa relatively straightforward workwhen compared to their tradi-tional visual fare. The result oftheir efforts on True Grit is awell-crafted traditional Western— sans the trademark nihilismpresent within their other filmsincluding No Country For OldMen. This might disappointsome hardcore Coen fans, butthe style and tone adopted forTrue Grit has certainly widenedpotential audience appeal.

The lead role of “Rooster” inthe 1969 original was played by— of course — John Wayne,and this time around Jeff Bridgessteps into Wayne’s lofty boots.Many critics contend thatBridges’ performance outshinesthat of Wayne’s, and that thecurrent remake depicts a farmore vivid story. The True Gritstory takes place in the ruggedWest of the 1870’s, and it tellsthe tale of little Mattie Ross(played by Hailee Steinfeld) whoconvinces Rooster to track downher father’s killer. This questleads Rooster — accompaniedby a Texas Ranger (well playedby Matt Damon) — deep into In-dian Country.

The film’s cinematographer,Roger Deakins, creates dream-like landscapes within the finestWestern traditions, and support-ing cast including Josh Brolinand Barry Pepper add to thestrong performances renderedby Bridges and Damon. Don’tworry; you won’t have to toler-ate hearing Damon singing — asGlen Campbell did when playingthis part in the 1969 original.Thinky rates True Grit as a mustsee which is sure not to disap-point — whether or not you typ-ically like Westerns.

- CINEMALICIOUS.COM

BLACK SWANMany of you probably noticed

that this movie involves ballet — and quickly dismissed it as aboring chick flick. This couldn’tbe further from the truth. BlackSwan is a jarring and surreal experience more akin to a horrorfilm of the most disturbing variety. Opposite as you’d ex-pect, you might emerge fromthe theater loving this film whileyour girl hated it. Black Swanentails a barrage of visualiza-tions, themes and personalitiesthat evoke reactions within theaudience ranging from bewilder-ment to revulsion.

Some films are quickly forgot-ten, but you can be assured thatimagery from Black Swan willstill be swirling through yourhead long after you leave thetheater. If you were under themistaken impression that this is agood romantic data movie, thinkagain. It depends upon the girlobviously, but the odds are highthat Black Swan will tend moreto freak her out as opposed tomake her hot.

This is despite the fact that themovie is replete with sexuality — often of the most raw andlascivious sort. Consequently,Black Swan is probably not agood idea for a first date movie.If you’re looking for a wild rideand to see Natalie Portman inways you never dreamed —then check out Black Swanthis month. You won’t be disappointed.

It was a place called Balaton,

where first I looked, and gazed upon

a gently rippled, land-bound sea,

A beauty there glanced back at me.

The wanderer I am was calm,

my nomad heart was given balm.

As glasses filled with sweet Tokaji,

I grew in knowledge, and my eye

was drawn to her, that gentle grace,

a luscious curve, a sun-kissed face.

From steps of history renewed,

we slowly ambled down and viewed

a throng of revelers, all alight

with wine within and torch-fire light.

Drunk and laughing, all around

and yet to me, the only sound

was not musicians nor the crowd,

surrounding us and growing loud

It was your voice, through all of this,

And lips that pursed as if to kiss.

Pinot Noir and Rosé flowed,

we spoke about life’s wandering road.

A storm had driven us below.

I felt a pure and simple glow.

As our companions went to rest,

I went with her, a happy guest.

But sleep took me too soon it seems,

as all I shared with her was dreams.

The storm had passed at morning’s light

I gazed on grace and thought of night.

I kissed her then but it was done.

She left to languor in the sun.

That moment never came again.

We toured the Balaton, and then

regret replaced that smiling gleam,

a simple end, it was dream.

Perhaps somewhere, somehow, again,

I’ll wander to that shore and then,

I’ll call to her and she might smile

I’ll bid her, “Visit for a while…

Bewilder me and serve me wine…

Gaze back at me with smile divine…

Unleash your storm and bare your soul…

You have no pain I can’t console…”

But then I think right back upon

what happened by Lake Balaton.

Some moments come then go away

for they were never meant to stay.

And if this one is such as these,

I know my nomad’s heart was pleased.

That moment came, was here, then gone,

a ripple on the Balaton.

‘ON BALATON’ BY FRANCIS STANLEY PRUETT

MEDIA JUNKY

ROHAM MAGAZINÉS BÁR1088 Vas u. 16.Nyitva tartás: H-P: 9-24;Szo: 16-24; V: zárvawww.roham.hu

A néhány éve nagy lelke -sedéssel megindított magyarképregénykultúra egyik erős hajtása a Roham névre hallgatóösszművészeti magazin. Találhatunk benne képregényt,illusztrációkat, novellákat, es-széket, festményeket, kollázst-montázst. Ha lehetőségük lennerá, a szerkesztők szerintem mégkihajthatós szobrokat is beten -nének a lapba. Az összműv -észeti szó pedig egyben arra is vonatkozik, hogy a Rohamzászlaja alatt tavaly egy többtermes szórakozóhely is létrejöttamely mindenfajta művészeti ág képviselőjét szeretettel várja.Természetesen ez nem jelentiazt, hogy a magukat átlagem-bernek valló személyek nelennének kiszolgálva ezen ahelyen! Sőt! Olvasgathatják akorábbi lapszámaokat, sőt bátran jelentkezhetnek sajátagyszüleményeikkel a szer-kesztőségnél. Kedves kiszol-gálás, kiállítások, és majd’ min-den este előzene a metáltól asurf-rockon és a blues-on át azelektronikáig! Gyertek el minéltöbben, elvégre nincs jobb egysör mellett megbeszélni azolvasmány- és egyéb élményein -ket, illetve a saját mun káinkatvéleményeztetni. Írj, rajzolj,igyál, hallgass zenét, táncolj,alkoss, élj, szórakozz! - HM

Incident on the Temple MountThe Third Secret of Fatima, has the signal been sent? If you’re read the Bible Code, (or the Bible for that matter), one mystery has alwaysbeen “the bible within the bible”. There is the upper text, what you read in church,and a hidden truth to only be revealed in the end of days. The ancients had muchknowledge of the sun’s seasons, (http://tiny.cc/sunx) as do the learned (or Illuminat-ed) today, that some major changes will occur during the transition into the newage (Aquarius). The global elite will have a signal, an “incident on the TempleMount” signifying the start of the end, and on 1/1/11 a “UFO” descended on theMount... could this be the sign? See for yourself: http://tiny.cc/ufomount

END OF DAYS

Vintage year 2010 is over, as are all of its competitions, presentations, tast-

ings, challenges and various gatherings of vintners, varietals and vinomaniacs.

The results are in, and so, apparently, is Hungary. We knew it (our first issue

featured an article on wine and the economic future of Hungary in September).

Many prognosticators, proven correct, justified and accurate, demur when

they are vindicated. I will engage in no such false modesty. We were right. Hun-

garian wines are on the rise. So there you have it, “We told you so.”

I am smug, really. In 2006 and 2007, Hungary’s wineries won 29 Decanter

awards. By 2009, the number doubled. Last year, 86 wines won Decanter

awards. The future is here, and it is mirthful and comes in a bottle.

I tried hard to find a dark lining to go along with this silver (and gold, bronze,

and Decanter Award-hued) cloud, but only came up with one curmudgeonly

note. Portugieser is still a bit under-appreciated.

I will say that perhaps the best Portugieser is not always on offer. I will also

say that, “Bull’s Blood” (Egri Bikavér) deserves the lavish attention some of its

Decanter awards note. I will admit with a note of guilt that (regardless the po-

litical correctness of the sentiment), the idea of the wine rising from an

unlikely victory over Suleiman’s horde is especially tickling. More in next

month’s column on that...

Hungarian Portugieser (or Blauer Portugieser) is traditionally made for the

feast of St. Martin (November 11), served young, perhaps after a bit of aging

in oak. It seems, especially in this late month, simply not as available as other

wines. But rarer still is a good and even-handed estimation of its worthiness.

It is considered, “easy drinking,” a term often used vituperatively by those

with higher-pointing noses than mine. Sweet and fruity, I will acknowledge that

it is sometimes a bit too light. However, I have enjoyed a few worthy bottles.

Bock has an excellent 2008 that i was able to secure and it seemed fuller in

body and yet imminently drinkable. I drank it alongside a bit of Bolognese and

was quite happy with it.

A few others have been appealing, but I most wish to note the Gere 2009,

which I was offered at a social occasion. It had all of the characteristic fruit of

the appellation but a depth that surprised me. If you cannot find the Gere, do

give the people at BOCK BISZTRÓ (VII. Budapest, Erzsébet körút 43, +36 1 321

0340) a quick ring and see what they have on offer or may suggest.

Until next month, vinomaniacs! For now I feel an urge to find a bottle of

bull’s blood and harass the local Kebab shop.


HUNGARIAN WINE GROWS MORE NOBLE BY THEYEAR, BUT WHITHER THE HUMBLE PORTUGIESER?F PRUETT ([email protected])

The world loves Hungarianwine almost as much as we do

THE CAKEa cukrászda

YOU'LL FIND A WIDE SELECTION OF SELF-PREPAREDCONFECTIONARIES AND SALTY BITES IN OUR SHOP,AND YOU MAY TASTE OUR ICE-CREAM THAT IS MADE OFA PRIVATE RECIPE HERE ON THE SPOT!

WE ARE HAPPY TO SERVE YOU WITH:- ALL KINDS OF CAKES - EVEN YOUR SPECIAL WISHES - SALTY BAKERY FOR MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Fashion is all around

this city now! With

stars like Kate Per -

ry and Selena Gomez

making videos, and Angelina and Brad

raising their hundred and one kids, you

better look like a star! Its 2011, new

trends are coming, so you’d better pick

up quickly with the latest in clothing and

accessories. Forget about Valentine’s

day, spend the money for your loved

ones on fashion. In the end, they will ap-

preciate it more to be with a hot and

fashionable person than with one that

loves them, right?

I don't know how many of you “fash-

ionistas” watched the Golden Globes

gala, but the awards season is here and

nothing is more satisfying than to criti-

cize and how a bunch of egocentric

people walk the so-called red carpet full

of themselves. The good thing is that we

mere mortals get to see them. Since we

are the ones who watch their idiotic

movies and buy their cheap perfumes,

we get to talk smack about them and

their outfits. So here we go, this is my re-

view of the Golden Globes.

First of all, there was not a defining

color this season, although we could see

a lot of green, red and nude (for the un-

knowing, “nude” just means skin colors).

THE GOOD: Starting with the best (because

the winners always come first), we have

Angelina Jolie. She looked stunning in a

green Versace dress that had a vintage cut. People please

don't try this look at home, as it is something that only

Angie can pull off… you would look like crap. Natalie

Portman showed her pregnant figure in an awesome

draping pink dress that was complemented with a red

flower creation by Viktor & Rolf. Next was January Jones

(pictured), the star from Mad Men, who wore a very sexy

and bitchy red dress from Versace’s 2011 Spring-Summer

collection. It’s totally in, girls should check into this look.

Finally, the very best of the night was Anne Hathaway,

who pulled off a shoulder-pad palliate dress in a nude

color from the Armani Prive collection. From what I

could see, the vintage look of the 80’s is back (paired

with the Greek goddess style and 40s hair).

THE BAD: Last year’s big winner Sandra Bullock looked sloppy in a nude dress with

a “Hindu sari” shape that made her look like a walking bag with a lot of fabric. To-

tally disappointing! Girls, please don't try the hideous bangs that she attempted, it

is totally out for this season. Megan Fox was another of the mistakes of the night in

a pale pink Armani dress that made her look like a cheap princess… and what hap-

pened to her face? It seems she’d been hanging out a lot with her best friends… a

botox club. I’ll end this segment by pointing out the safe look of Scarlett Johansson.

Wearing an Elie Saab nude dress neither won or lost, illustrating once again that

taking a risk and looking bad is better than not taking one at all.

THE UGLY: Lea Michele star from Glee showed us that she is not only a loser on

the show, but also when it comes to style. Her pink Oscar de la Renta dress was

too heavy, and the big draping on the sides just made her look like a piñata almost

ready to burst. Michelle Williams was the other big mismatch of the night, wearing

a daisy-bedecked dress by Valentino. It was a complete mess. She looked like a bad

hippie gone fancy. Finally Helena Bonham Carter showed us her eccentric taste

once again with a dress that, as usual, was taken from the horror trunk, but we love

her for taking risk and showing us her irreverence.

This is it my fellow fashion followers, I didn't bother to write anything about the

guys, since all of them look like a bunch of waiters in their impeccable suits. Re-

member.. as in the movie (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) only the good is worth

keeping, so go with that and stay fabulous!

ALFONSO MAJETIC

Irány Downtown!

A 72 Smalldive's új kollek-

cióját, a Downtown-t, egy Japán

író (Hayashi Fumiko) egyik

regénye ihlette. Egy nagyon

szegény család legkisebb lánya

mindenféle munkát elvállalt,

hogy eltartsa magát és legnagy-

obb szenvedélyének, az írásnak

szentelhesse életét.

Bár női karakterei gyakran

szegény származásúak,

meglepően nagy vidámsággal és

reménységgel élik életüket. Ez

egy, a világ hősnőinek szentelt

kollekció. A 72 Smalldive az

összes évszakban új modellekkel

jelentkezik, melyek egy fiktív

vagy történelmi hősnő nevét

viselik majd! Így újra és újra ün-

nepelhetjük szilárdságukat,

bátorságukat, a szabadságban

vetett hitüket.

Termékeik egytől egyig kézzel

készülnek, független dizájn

stúdiókban. Ezért csak korláto-

zott mennyiségben kaphatóak,

emiatt igazi kincsek! Ezen kívül

személyre szabott termékek

készítését is vállalják. A

Downtown kollekcióhoz 2011 ta -

vaszát ól juthatunk hozzá az Eu-

rópában és Ázsiában kiválasztott

kereskedőknél, ill. online boltjuk-

ban, a www.72smalldive.com-on!

2011 TAVASZÁN

24

T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE DID SOME CAVEMEN GET THE PISS TAKEN OUT OF THEM FOR WEARING LAST SEASON’S MAMMOTH SKINS?

What to wear? Ask Dr Dapper!

It isn't about being there(IT IS ABOUT BEING NOTICED)

DR. DAPPER DETAILS THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY AT THEGOLDEN GLOBES, AND TRIES TO NOTICE EVEN THE CONSPICUOUSLYINCONSPICUOUS...

HIT LIST

In true Scotch VeinThe first official record of Scotch whisky production is to be found in the exchequerroll of 1494 which states, "To Friar John Cor, by order of the King, to make aquavitaeVIII bols of malt"...

The King in question was James IV and while staying at his Falkand Palace hunting lodge he commissioned FriarJohn Cor of the Tironensian order of the nearby Lindores Abbey to make aquavitae, or water of life. Eight bolsof malt is the equivalent of approximately 580 kilos which would yield over 400 bottles of whisky today.

Some imagine it tasted a bit like Auchroisk 1975. This is one spectacular whisky! Distilled at the elegant andmodern Auchroisk distillery in 1975, only 228 bottles of spirit were ever charged from refill hogshead cask num-ber 5522. This whisky smells of vanilla and rum raisin in a hot apple pie - stewed apple citrus and baking spices.The taste opens fresh, almost youthful, but quickly shows its maturity (all 34 years of it) as the palate runs tospicy and oaky balanced with yet more sweet citrus cooked cherries and berries? The whisky finishes long,strong and chewy with the oak, spice, and berry sweetness lingering.

So if you're looking for a mature Scotch Whisky and think it's ok if a Scotch costs more than the car you drovein school, then Auchroisk 1975 is the one for you. — For some of the best Scotch and Whiskies in Budapest, besure to visit Caledonia Scottish Bar & Restaurant, www.caldonia.hu

BARMANGUIDE.COM

January Jones

Here are seven reasons why men should con sider shaving their

pri vates. No, I’m not talk ing about the Army, although a “sol-

dier” at attention, with a shiny helmet and a loaded weapon, is

definitely involved. Most men worry obsessively about the hair

on their heads but rarely give a second thought to their pubic

hair. Only when the time is right with that special lady do men realise

they should have spent some time grooming their privates. Guys, here are

7 compelling reasons why you should groom your pubic hair or even re-

move it completely.

1. CLEANLINESS. The crotch is a focal point for heat, sweat, and bacteria.

Cropping or re mov ing your pubic hair makes that area much easier to

keep clean, and more importantly, smelling clean and manly. She’s more

likely to explore that area up close if it’s well maintained.

2. NOVELTY. The contrast be tween your obviously adult-sized package and

your new hair lessness can be quite erotic, and not just to you! Your lover

may gush over the idea of making love to what now has the illusion of

being forbidden fruit.

3. IT’S MORE INVITING. If you remove most or all of her objections to per-

forming oral sex on you, isn’t it worth the trouble? Pay special attention

to removing stray hairs from your shaft. Hair in the mouth sucks, but she

won’t if she finds one.

4. DON’T FORGET THE SCROTUM. A woman’s body is playground of softness

and smoothness, so don’t you think she’ll appreciate the same on you? A

silky smooth ball sack invites both manual and oral caresses. She’s far more

likely to play down there if she doesn’t have to use a weed-whacker to find it.

5. IT’S HEALTHIER. She’ll see immediately that you have no skin outbreaks

or unwanted “critters” to hide. Furthermore, you will have greater manual

sensitivity when you perform your periodic testicular self-exam. You do

examine yourself regularly, don’t you? You should. The earlier you catch

any problems, the easier they are to fix.

Learn more about Testicular Self Exams (TSE) at http://my.webmd.com/

hw/mens_conditions/hw234856.asp

6. IT’S FUN TO LET HER DO IT! That’s right, let her shave you! This is not only

an exercise in trust, but a highly-suspenseful erotic thrill ride. The danger

of an ultra sharp razor in such a sen sitive area, the tension of long slow

razor strokes, the aching of your pulse-pounding erection, and the foamy

friction of her shaving-creamed hand on your shaft can intensify your

pleasure like you never thought possible. Just don’t make any sudden

moves.

And most importantly (to some at least):

7. IT MAKES YOUR ERECTION LOOK HUGE. I’m not kidding – you will swear

that you gained at least an extra inch in length! If your crotch is not

groomed regularly, you probably have pubic hair at least part way up your

shaft. Your penis “appears” to begin where that pubic hair ends. Remove

the under brush and your hidden length will be revealed.

When you’re grooming the hair on your “big

head,” don’t forget about the hair on the “little

head” too! Whether you do it to please your-

self or a partner (or both), regular pubic hair

grooming or even total pubic hair removal can

spice up your love life. If you like it enough,

consider permanent removal methods such as

laser hair removal or electrolysis.

Note that some people experience moder-

ate to intense itching the first few days after

shaving as the pubic hair grows back. You

might want your first groom ing experience to

be at the beginning of a weekend so you’re not

squirming in your office chair all day Monday!

The itching should decrease or stop if you

continue to groom yourself regularly. And if

the guys in the gym locker room make fun of

you, first ask them why they are checking out your package.

In the embarrassed silence that follows, tell them why you did it, that

you’re having twice as much sex as they are, and what she’s doing now

that she wouldn’t do before! Then get ready to answer their questions.


7 Persuasive Reasons...WHY MEN SHOULD SHAVE THEIR PRIVATES.

style points

“When you’re groom-ing the hair on your

“big head,” don’t for-get about the hair onthe “little head” too!Whether you do it toplease yourself or a

partner (or both), reg-ular pubic hair groom-ing or even total pubichair removal can spice

up your love life.”

I always shave my privates‘cause I expect my women todo the same. Oral pleasureand hair gel don’t mix well.

Does yougirl shave?

3 MÓD ARRA, HOGY ELVESZÍTSD A PASID:

párna

NE BOROTVÁLD TÖBBET A LÁBAD

TÉGY ÚGY, MINTHATERHES LENNÉL

FEKÜDJ LE ALEGJOBB BARÁTJÁVAL

DOUG SMITH, ILLUSTRATION: JOHNANDJOHN.NL

T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE IS IT BETTER TO HAVE LOVED AND LOST THAN TO HAVE PAID FOR IT AND NOT LIKED IT?

Friends and lovers, we've

combed over the multitudi-

nous events and decided which

the best will be. To wit: First off is

a TRIBUTE TO NÉMETH JÓZSEF AT DUNAGALÉRIA (XIII. Budapest, Pannónia Street

95, (+06 1) 340 9186 www.artportal.hu). The

exhibit started on the 2nd and runs through

the 20th, so you have plenty of time to see

varied works by varied artists (including

nudes) alongside Németh's work (including

nudes). I am going for the nudes mostly,

though a (nude) landscape is occasionally

nice. Furthermore, I prefer mountains to

hills in any (nude) landscapes.

Ah, Jazz... and right on Raday Street, to

boot. BALÁZS JÓZSEF WILL BE AT IF CAFÉon February 10th (IX. Budapest, Ráday utca

19, Tel: (+36 1) 299 0694). It sounds like a

date night may be in order. Why wait for

Valentine's Day? Also, the Stones' sax player

visits next month... catch our next issue for

details. Too sedate? Well, you're all wet (or you

should be, otherwise we might chafe a bit).

Regardless your current personal humidity,

we'll see you at CINETRIP’S "WATER CIRCUS"PARTY on the 12th (Rudas Baths: I. Bu-

dapest, Döbrentei tér 9, ticket info: www.

cinetrip.hu). Save your shekels for this one,

it's worth it. Hot bodies, warm waters, good

times. If A) You don't “do” wet, or, B) You just

love animals and are awake after "doing” wet,

go to the VALENTINE'S DAY EXHIBITION ATPETŐFI CSARNOK (XIV. Budapest, Zichy Mi-

hály út 14, Tel: (+36 1) 251 7266 www.

petoficsarnok.hu) It's for the animals, and

the animals are for you. The event benefits a

ton of charities and hopeful little puppies

and kittens... and odder choices, too. Spider,

anyone? Monday the 14th looks fun at the

Merlin Theater (V. Budapest, Gerlóczy u. 4,

(+06 1) 317 9338, merlin.szinhaz.org). THEMADHOUSE COMPANY WILL PRESENT "ONESET TO LOVE" for your enjoyment. This orig-

inal production will feature lust, love, butlers,

death and shenanigans galore. Shenanigans,

I say! We’re doing something special, as well.

We like you. We like that you read (especial-

ly that you read us). Like us back on

Facebook (Facebook.com/thinkbudapest)

to check out THINK MAGAZINE RED PARTYon the 16th at the posh Boutique Bar.

More Music? Something a little bit darker,

perhaps? SISTERS OF MERCY. That's right.

Sisters. Of. Mercy. The goth who are not

goth and the rocking band that is more than

rock hits Budapest like a donkey punch de-

livered by the Hulk himself at 9pm on the

25th. A38, people (XI. Budapest, Petőfi híd,

budai hídfő, (+36 1) 464 3940, www.a38.hu).

What did you expect? The Love Boat?

More party? OK, then. MERLIN WILLALSO HOST THE MOME CARNIVAL THEMEPARTY on the 24th, 10pm-5am (http://

tiny.cc/mome). Tits and Clits will spin. They

and other Djs, I mean… geez. It should go

down with more gusto than a 10,000Ft

hooker on a 100,000Ft customer, to be sure.

So... what is with North Korea? You can

find out. On March 3, Fogashaz (VII. Bu-

dapest, Akácfa Utca 51, Tel: (+36 30) 243

0035) will hold an open FORUM ON NORTHKOREA HOSTED BY BODÓ BALÁZS. Balázs

counts on his excessively extensive list of ac-

complishments so many items of prestige

that we will not bother to recount them here

(out of envy). Suffice it to say that he richly

deserves this mention and you should be

there. Will the new media law creep into the

talk, since he edits and is on the board of

Tilos community radio? I think it is quite

likely. If you aren't that serious at the mo-

ment, hit Fogashaz on Wednesdays during

"Bounce," and check out the szinház sched-

ule and see what's what (on their pages).

Finally, we wanted to get the word out

early on an appearance by some very cool

performers at the SportArena. THE GIPSYKINGS will rock their funk-basted flamenco

jams there March 7th (XIV Budapest, Stefá-

nia út 2). If the most well-known gypsies in

the world (and one Moroccan-Algerian)

can't lure you out of your cave, then it's like-

ly that nothing will. Tickets are available at

www.ticketa.hu, Tel: (+36 1) 422 26 82


Win Free Tickets!Unseen Works of the Great Lucien Hervé To April 30th, The Museum of Fine Arts (Szépművészeti Múzeum) www.museum.hu

A very special exhibit honoring a very special native son of Hungary, LászloElkán. Not destined to remain in his homeland, in 1938 after taking French na-tionality, he was captured at Dunkirk by the Germans, but he escaped andjoined the French resistance, within which he was known as Lucien Hervé. Per-haps because of these experiences and the dehumanization of mankind viaHolocaust and war, Hervé's works evoke the human, despite the fact that heeschewed the then-de rigeur anecdotal school of photography. His works, fea-turing sharp lines and stark captures of light and shadow, are described asbeing composed in the vein of Mondrian and Constructivist art. The exhibit atthe Fine Arts Museum draws on his entire oeuvre, and sports a completescholarly detail of his works and relationships in art. TO SECURE FREE TICKETSTO THIS EXTRAORDINARY HOMAGE, SEE OUR FACEBOOK GROUP AD ON PAGE 13.

Party Time!14 ÖTLET, HOGY ELMENJ HAZULRÓL

AGENDA

14 ötlet, hogy elmenj hazulról14 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR SOFA

Átfésülve Budapest ten -

gernyi programját, amit

a város februárra (és

március elejére) felajánlott, fel-

sorolnánk ezekből a legjobbakat:

Először is itt van egy fotókiállítás:

NÉMETH JÓZSEF FOTÓMŰVÉSZ ELŐTTTISZTELEG A DUNA GALÉRIA (XIII. Bu-

dapest, Pannónia Street 95, (+06 1) 340

9186 www.artportal.hu) A kiállítás

február 2-tól 20-ig látható, úgyhogy van

időtök megnézni számos művész akt-

fotóit, akik mellett Németh öt, eddig

kevésbé ismert fotója is látható.

Érdemes megnézni, hátha ti is kedvet

kaptok egy kis aktfotózásra…

Közben szól a Jazz, például a Ráday

utcában. JÓZSEF BALÁZS FEBRUÁR 10-ÉN LÉP FEL AZ IF CAFÉBAN, (IX.

Budapest, Ráday utca 19, Tel: (+36 1)

299 0694). Tökéletes program egy randi-

hoz, úgyhogy miért várnál Valentin

napig? Továbbá, a Rolling Stones szaxo-

fonosa is fellép a jövő hónapban, de

erről többet a következő számunkban!

Ha be vagytok lassulva, és fülledve a

fűtött lakásban, akkor kapjátok elő a

fürdőruhákat! Várunk a CINETRIP"WATER CIRCUS" PARTIJÁN február

12-én, (Rudas Fürdő: I. Budapest,

Döbrentei tér 9, jegyinformáció: www.

cinetrip.hu). Forró testek, meleg víz, is-

teni buli! Ha mégis víziszonyosok

vagytok, de szeretitek az állatokat, vagy

kipihentétek ezt a bulit, akkor látogas-

satok ki a PETŐFI CSARNOK VALENTINNAPI KIÁLLÍTÁSÁRA, (XIV. Budapest,

Zichy Mihály út 14, Tel: (+36 1) 251

7266 www.petoficsarnok.hu). Ez a pro-

gram az állatokért van, az állatok meg

értetek. Lesz számos jótékonysági pro-

gram, reményteljes kiskutya és kiscica.

Na és persze pár furább állat, mondjuk

pókok, valaki?

14-én hétfőn aki nevetni akar, men-

jen a Merlin Színházba (V. Budapest,

Gerlóczy u. 4, (+06 1) 317 9338, www.

merlinszinhaz.hu), ahol a MADHOUSECOMPANY MUTATJA BE A „ONE SET TOLOVE” előadását! Ebben az eredeti pro-

dukcióban lesz szerelem szenvedély,

komornyikok, halál, és svindli minden

mennyiségben!

Persze, mi is előrukko lunk egy kü -

lönleges program ot, mert szeretünk

titeket! Szeretünk titeket azért, mert

olvastok, (pláne, hogy minket is)! Lájkol-

jatok vissza minket a Facebook-on, (Face-

book.com/thinkbudapest) ahol min dent

megtudhattok a 16-i bulinkról!

Ha még mindig nem elég a zenéből, és

valami sötétebbre vágynátok, akkor jön a

SISTERS OF MERCY. Jól olvastátok! A

goth zene, ami nem is goth, a rock, ami

keményebben sújt le Budapestre mint

egy pofon a Hulktól, február 25-én 21

órától kezdi döngetni az A38-as hajót

(XI. Budapest, Petőfi híd, budai hídfő,

Tel: (+36 1) 464 3940, www.a38.hu). Mit

vártatok? Ez nem a Szerelemhajó!

Ha partira vágytok, akkor ismét irány

a Merlin, ahol a MOME TARTJA A FAR -SANGI buliját február 24-én, este tíztől

hajnali ötig. (http://tiny.cc/mome). DJ: Tits

and Clits, Popbitch. Érdemes benézni,

hátha felfedeztek néhány új erogén

zónát is a fületeken túl. Március 3-án vi-

gyázó szemeiteket közben vessétek Észak-

Koreára. A Fogasházban, (VII. BP, Akácfa

Utca 51, Tel: (+36 30) 243 0035) nyílt FÓRU-MOT TART ÉSZAK KOREÁRÓL BODÓ BALÁZSvezetésével. Balázs itt beszámol arról a szá-

mos eredményről amit eddig elért amelyeket

itt nem sorolunk fel (mivel irigykedünk).

Legyen elég csak annyi, hogy bőven

megérdemli az elismerést, amit azzal fejez -

hettek ki, ha odamentek! Vajon az új

média törvény átszövi-e a beszélgetést, elvé-

gre Balázs egyúttal a Tilos Rádió műsor -

vezetője. Több, mint valószínű. Ha nem akar-

tok lelombozódni, inkább szerdán menjetek

a Fogasházba, a Bounce előadásra, és néz-

zétek meg a színházi programjukat, hogy

képben legyetek! Végezetül, szeretnénk

időben szólni egy közelgő koncertről: a

SportArénába (XIV. Budapest, Stefánia út 2)

igazán remek zenészek érkeznek! Március 7-

én a GYPSY KINGS csap a húrok közé, hogy

elővarázsolja nektek a funk-os flamencóját.

Persze, ha a világ legismertebb legismertebb

cigányzenekara sem tud előcsalogatni

benneteket az odútokból, akkor semmi

sem. Jegyek kaphatók: www.ticketa.hu,

Tel: (+36 1) 422 26 82.

T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE A SZERELEM OLYAN, MINT EGY KÁD FORRÓ VÍZ – NYAKIG ELMERÜLSZ BENNE, AZTÁN SZÉP LASSAN KIHŰL.

28 AGENDA

popFergie hallani akarja a hangodat!Gondolkodtál már azon, milyen lehet egy színpadon énekelni a kedvenceddel? Jelentkezz most,és Fergievel együtt énekelheted az AVON VOICES himnuszát! Ehhez mindössze elég, ha csak egyfél percet mutatsz meg magadból! Az AVON Voices egy online tehetségkutató program, amelyetazzal a céllal hoztak létre, hogy a világ 60 országában élő nők hallassák a hangjukat. Nem kellmást tenned, minthogy regisztrálsz az AVON Voices oldalára, (www.avonvoices.com) ahol feltöl-theted a saját félperces videódat! Ebben megmutathatod az énektudásodat, miután kiválasztot-tad az egyik dalt a honlapon található listából. A világhírű zsűri, többek között Fergie, DianeWarren és Natasha Bedingfield, a közönséggel együtt választja ki a továbbjutókat. 200 továbbjutóegy professzionális zenei képzésen vesz részt Hong Kong, Hollywood, Rio de Janeiro és New Yorklegjobb stúdióiban. A legtehetségesebb tíz pedig rögtön lemezre kerül, hiszen ők éneklik a nőkkelszembeni erőszak ellen fellépő AVON kampány himnuszát. Diane Warren szerzeményét az AVONVoices tehetségei a zsűritagokkal együtt adják elő az AVON őszi díjátadó gáláján New York-ban.A nagyszabású rendezvényre a cég a belépőkből származó bevétellel az alapítványt támogatja.Innen csak pár lépés a saját album és a világhír. Csak kattints néhányat, és már énekelhetsz is!

mozgásbanA Spiritusz Galéria megnyitó kiállításaVárfok u. 14. Tel.: +36 (1) 202 1420 , +36 (30) 846 2998 www.spiritusz-galeria.hu

A 2007-ben alakult SPIRITUSZ GALÉRIA februártól a Várfok utcában várja a kortársművészet iránt érdeklődőket. Az új helyszín közvetlenül az anyaintézmény, a Vár-fok Galéria mellett található, annak régi termében. Mostantól havonta rendezendőkiállításokon mutatja be mára összeérett, fiatal festőkből, fotósokból, szobrászok-ból álló művészkörét. A galéria nyitótárlata – vélhetőleg a költözéstől inspirálódva– egy csoportos kiállítás lesz, amelyet a Mozgás témakörében szerveztek. A lényega művészek és a közönség közötti áramlás és együttrezgés, ahogy a nézők amaguk tempójában nézhetik végig a legújabb munkákat, és interakcióba léphet-nek a művekkel, és a művészekkel.A SPIRITUSZ GALÉRIA MŰVÉSZEI: Abonyi Alma, Appelshoffer Péter, Balla Vivienne,Fabók-Dobribán Fatime, Fátyol Viola, Hangay Enikő, Jahoda Réka, Kaszás Réka,Komlovszky-Szvet Tamás, Mayer Hella, Szemethy Orsi, Tesch Katalin, Tóth Szilvi

festivalTrafó House's “Time of Images”www.trafo.hu

Trafó has a good reputation for great productions. And they've kicked off anoth-er awesome festival, TIME OF IMAGES with 20 days of avant-garde arts. A multi-artist production spectacular, featuring motion pictures and live performance,runs through the 20th. Featuring through the 27th is Trafó'sis "Fear in a BlackBox," a program on discerning fear generated by the media from real fears. Interesting... The 9th will feature two at the Művész Cinema: "Maguy Marin ladanse cachée" at 7pm, and "Angelin Preljocaj: Blanche neige" at 8:30. A Hun-garian actorless “Cinderella” should be neato on the 10th. Local group Zagar's10th anniversary concert is on the 12th, "Nous" by Fabien Prioville dances bythe 15th. The 11th hosts “The Cryonic Chants,” by Scott Gibbons and theSocìetas Raffaello Sanzio. Try Gödör on the 14th for “Peer Gynt.” WANT TO WINA PAIR OF FREE VIP PASSES? Well, they are for the grand finale, the Pre-miere opening of Nigel Charnock’s “Live Revolution! Love Revolution!”Go to www.facebook.com/thinkbudapest, take the 1-question quiz:correct entries will be entered into a lottery for a pair of VIP passes!

WWW.THINK-MAGAZINE.COMWWW.THINK-MAGAZINE.COM T H I N K B U DA P E S T CITY MAGAZINE


Why Valentine?HOW A FERTILITY RITUAL WENT ALL HEART SHAPED

St. Valentine’s Day: 5th Century Rome

As early as the fourth century B.C., the Romans en-

gaged in an annual young man’s rite of passage to the

god Lupercus. The names of teenage women were

placed in a box and drawn at random by adolescent

men; thus, a man was assigned a woman companion,

for their mutual entertainment and pleasure (often

sexual), for the duration of a year, after which anoth-

er lottery was staged.

Determined to put an end to this eight-hundred-

year-old practice, the early church fathers sought a

“lovers’’ saint to replace the deity Lupercus. They

found a likely candidate in Valentine, a bishop who

had been martyred some two hundred years earlier.

In Rome in A.D. 270, Valentine had enraged the

mad emperor Claudius II, who had issued an edict

forbidding marriage. Claudius felt that married men

made poor soldiers, because they were loath to leave

their families for battle. The empire needed soldiers,

so Claudius, ne -

ver one to fear un -

popularity, abolish-

ed marriage.

Valentine, bishop of Interamna,

invited young lovers to come to him in

secret, where he joined them in the sacra-

ment of matrimony. Claudius learned of this

“friend of lovers,” and had the bishop brought to the

palace. The emperor, impressed with the young

priest’s dignity and conviction, attempted to convert

him to the Roman gods, to save him from otherwise

certain execution. Valentine refused to renounce

Christianity and imprudently attempted to convert

the emperor. On February 24, 270, Valentine was

clubbed, stoned, then beheaded.

History also claims that while Valentine was in

prison awaiting execution, he fell in love with the blind

daughter of the jailer, Asterius. Through his unswerv-

ing faith, he miraculously restored her sight. He signed

a farewell message to her “From Your Valentine,” a

phrase that would live long after its author died.

From the Church’s standpoint, Valentine seemed

to be the ideal candidate to usurp the popularity of

Lupercus. So in A.D. 496, a stern Pope Gelasius out-

lawed the mid-February Lupercian festival. But he

was clever enough to retain the lottery, aware of Ro-

mans’ love for games of chance. Now into the box

that had once held the names of available and willing

single women, were placed the names of saints. Both

men and women extracted slips of paper, and in the

ensuing year they were expected to emulate the life of

the saint whose name they had drawn. Admittedly, it

was a different game, with different incentives; to ex-

pect a woman and draw a saint must have

disappointed many a Roman male. The spiritual over-

seer of the entire affair was its patron saint, Valentine.

With reluctance, and the passage of time, more and

more Romans relinquished their pagan festival and

replaced it with the Church’s holy day.

VALENTINE CARDS Traditionally, mid-February was a Roman time to

meet and court prospective mates. The Lupercian lot-

tery (under penalty of mortal sin), Roman young men

did institute the custom of offering women they ad-

mired and wished to court handwritten greetings of

affection on February 14. The cards

acquired St. Valentine’s name:

as Christianity spread, so

did the Valentine’s Day

card. The earliest extant

card was sent in 1415

by Charles, duke of Or-

leans, to his wife while

he was a prisoner in the

Tower of Lon don. It is

now in the British Museum.

In the sixteenth century, St.

Francis de Sales, bishop of Geneva,

attempted to expunge the custom of

cards and reinstate the lottery of saints’

names. He felt that Christians had become

wayward and needed models to emulate.

However, this lottery was less successful and

shorter-lived than Pope Gelasius’s. And rather

than disappearing, cards proliferated and became

more decorative. Cupid, the naked cherub armed

with arrows dipped in love potion, became a popular

valentine image. He was associated with the holiday

because in Roman mythology he is the son of Venus,

goddess of love and beauty.

By the seventeenth century, handmade cards were

oversized and elaborate, while store-bought ones

were smaller and costly. In 1797, a British publisher

issued The Young Man’s Valentine Writer, which con-

tained scores of suggested sentimental verses for the

young lover unable to compose his own. Printers had

already begun producing a limited number of cards

with verses and sketches, called “mechanical valen-

tines,” and a reduction in postal rates in the next

century ushered in the less personal but easier prac-

tice of mailing valentines.

That, in turn, made it possible for the first time to

exchange cards anonymously, which is taken as the

reason for the sudden appearance of racy verse in an

era otherwise prudishly Victorian. The burgeoning

number of obscene valentines caused several coun-

tries to ban the practice of exchanging cards. In

Chicago, for instance, late in the nineteenth century,

the post office rejected some twenty-five thousand

cards on the ground that they were not fit to be car-

ried through the U.S. mail.

The first American publisher of valentines was

printer and artist Esther Howland. Her elaborate lace

cards of the 1870’s cost from five to ten dollars, with

some selling for as much as thirty-five dollars. Since

that time, the valentine card business has flourished.

With the exception of Christmas, Americans ex-

change more cards on Valentine’s Day than at any

other time of the year...”

“...THE CATHOLIC CHURCH’S ATTEMPT TO PAPER OVER A POPULARPAGAN FERTILITY RITE WITH THE CLUBBING DEATH AND DECAPITA-TION OF ONE OF ITS OWN MARTYRS IS THE ORIGIN OFTHIS LOVERS’ HOLIDAY.”INFORMATION FROM “PANATI’S EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINS”

“[He] brought her name writ upon blue paper

in gold letters…” - (Samuel Pepys, The Diary of

Samuel Pepys, February 14, 1667)

Although sending Valentine letters or poemsdates to the 15th century and perhaps before,the first mention of a decorative Valentine's Day“card” may be in the writings of Samuel Pepys,a chronicler of domestic life in Charles II's reign.He relates how “this morning came up to mywife's bedside…little Will Mercer to be herValentine; and brought her name writ uponblue paper in gold letters done by himself verypretty; and we both were very pleased with it.But I am also this year my wife's Valentine.”

FIRST VALENTINE "CARD"?