2006-06-10

With you occasionally

Okay, here's the deal: my trusty computer has reached the point of no repair. This means that updating here will be highly limited, at least until Mrs Ethnia arrives in town with her computer next week. Points to Marshall McLuhan for observing many years ago that we tend to become dependent on those things that are invented for our convenience.

In the meantime, there is of course much to report from the country I am in, a different one from the one I entered although I have not gone anywhere. But I am following daily events less than I might, since I have been fortunate enough to get access to the archives of one of the popular daily papers, and am instead spending my days reading newspapers from years ago and scribbling their contents onto index cards.

Unfortunate things, aside from the ones that you might expect, include the weather -- heavy rain more or less every day, and the one sweater I brought along (at Mrs Ethnia's insistence) is getting heavy use. This has also been a sad year for restaurants globally: first with the closing of the best Chinese place in our neighborhood in Boston, and now with the surprise closing of Manjez, the last remaining nonšminkerski place in the center of Belgrade (aside from Proleće). News is that the famous and much admired konobar Draško has moved to Orašac on Bulevar Revolucije, or whatever forgotten personage they are calling that street after now.

Good things in Belgrade: Disciplina kičme, last night at SKC.

7 comments:

Michael M. said...

Ditto here -- all rain and no computer make me a dull boy.

Katja R. said...

Well it's good to see both of you are alive!
It's these bez kompjuter times th at remind us of how the computer has becaome a part of so many of us!

Catherine said...

When did Manjez shut?! OK, it was looking a bit run-down when I was there in April, but still....

Eric Gordy said...

The Manjez catastrophe came as a suprise, I was sitting there happily just last week.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Manjez was packed and usuallay pleasant until the very last days, no apparent reason for closing, and still it's closed. Just like that.

Bg anon said...

Im thrilled to read that you are spending your time on similar mundane tasks.

I have been sorting my newspaper articles accumulated over the years (including front pages Djindjic assasinated etc) in the last few days. Its such a pain and the flat is still a mess.

Still, makes me feel slightly better that Im not the only one.

Regards and please visit us again at the Belgrade blog soon Eric.

Belgrade Daily Photo said...

I heard the space was bought by a casino or something...not entirely sure, though.