Не волнуйтесь, или если вам нравится, не бойтесь, look you see, as no i am not going to do this whole post in the language of Russia. or Russian. in ode to the subject matter of most of this post it just seemed appropriate, if not in fact respectful, to throw a little in.
i have, then, been awarded medals and associated gestures of prosperity by the Soviet Union, or if you like USSR. well, made by them, and awarded by Spiros. well, sent by Spiros. recently his talents and skills as the greatest legal mind of his generation drew him to the area once known as the Soviet Union, with his call to service being decidedly un-communist in nature. he very kindly procured the following for me.
quite a haul, i think you will agree, and all with the added bonus of a note written by Spiros himself. or, quite possibly, one of his many assistants that he travels around the world with.
in electing not to use Commodore 64 mode, since to do so would humiliate our friends in Russia as they never had computers what was as powerful as that in the 80s, i think the above is fairly if not reasonably clear. should clarification be required, the main currency in the Soviet Union (and could be in Russia today for all i know) was the ruble, with their variation of cents and pennies being called kopeks, i think. i hope so, and i hope that they have them now, as kopeks sounds smart.
also, as you can probably see, there's some star badge which i consider to be a military award and thus shall wear with pride, as well as some boss Soviet star buttons or cufflinks, which i will attach to a suitable item of clothing. the flag badge is, if i am not mistaken, the temporary one devised when we stood aside and foolishly allowed the Soviet Union to collapse, and what was left of it was briefly referenced as the "CIS", or Commonwealth of Independent States. just without our Queen as head.
where was it what Spiros got these mighty fine items for me from? here, i believe.
that, ladies and gentlemen, as you hardly need me tell you if you are an avid follower of the adventures of Spiros, is exactly what you suspect. this is a bathroom facility in a former Soviet area; one designated for use by men or if you like members of the gentry.
was it at all the case that Spiros, in between giving the benefit of his legal skills, made time to meet a gentleman (or two) here in order to make a short term but mutually beneficial friendship, and then this was where the gentleman gave Spiros these items which he has given to me? possibly. i mean, he didn't say as such. there was mention of an "exchange", and indeed how surprised he was to see the items so clean.
if we wisely set aside any possible controversy in the way that Spiros obtained these we can then look at the controversy surrounding how Spiros got them to me. apparently, to be sure, Royal Mail does not share the enthusiasm for awarding items off of the Soviet Union what Spiros has.
in a decidedly capitalist and imperialistic move Royal Mail mercilessly charged me coins of money to get them to deliver this. what a shame that the people at Royal Mail could not respect Spiros' touching gesture of celebration of the Soviet Union in using a 2nd class stamp to send this to me. no, in their officialdom they declared that the size of the medal and badges made it too thick to count as regular second class mail, and that Spiros should have sent it as a parcel or large letter.
this ignores that it would have involved Spiros spending more money on me than he wished to in order for me to get all this bounty. he is very angry about this, and has called Royal Mail a bunch of cowards. actually he used some other words to describe them but i do try and keep the language clean here.
obviously i was concerned about the fact that Spiros was in some distress over the matter, so i took the items he posted me to the scales of justice.
ahem. as can be seen reasonably clearly here the coins, buttons and medals of the Soviet Union have a collected weight of 16g, including the plastic bag and special note. 1st or 2nd class mail is supposed to allow for up to 100g,
that said, 1st or 2nd class is also supposed to only allow for up to 5mm in thickness of an envelope. them fancy buttons or cufflinks stand a proud 10mm, or if you like 1cm, erect. in terms of their rules, then, the people at Royal Mail were probably right to reject it, although Spiros would not want to hear that. now had he shoved two 2nd class stamps on, all would have been well.
now, to move away from the bourgeois subject of money and the financial value of things, Europe. no, not the continent, the ultra pop beat combo out of Sweden. them what did The Final Countdown, and have a decidedly Swedish sounding bloke called Joey on the front. or at least they did, i cannot spot him on this poster.
one of the major concerns of liberals about the collapse of the Soviet Union was, at the time, that the nations which formed it would be bereft of culture. the Soviets gave us everything from ballet to dancing bears wearing smart helmets, after all. i would like to think this poster proves that the fears were incorrect, for now the people of former Eastern Bloc nations can now get down to the sounds of Europe.
and now if we can go back to money, here you go, if for some reason you have yet to clasp your eyes or other such viewing means on them, here's the shiny new £1 coin what has been introduced in glorious style across the UK over the last week or so.
where did i get them? Primark. there's been a scramble to obtain them ever since they were officially launched, but few places seemed to have them. going on my experiences thus far it would seem that the Royal Mint and the Bank of England have elected to make Primark the sole distribution point for them. so, if you are looking for some, off to Primark you go, armed with cash and with a mind to make purchases only of thinks that would give you between £1 and £4 in change.
do i have any plans for my Soviet bounty, medals and buttons? not too many beyond that which i have mentioned here. the badge things might look most smart on my somewhere around 30 year old black denim jacket what has the Frankie Goes To Hollywood patch on the back. as for the coins, well, perhaps one day common sense shall prevail, the Soviet Union will be restored and thus i shall have some spending money should i accept an ambassadorial role there.
one thing i don't get, though, is how come the Soviet Union had money? wasn't it all supposed to be this one big massive pure Communist utopia in which the State provided everything? if that were so, what need would a comrade have for money?
what's that above? some sort of shrine, effigy or such that Spiros sent me a picture of. he believed it was important that i saw it, so on the off chance that he is correct i thought it best to add it here.
and so that would be that for another article here. many thanks again to Spiros for the generosity in awarding me these medals and things, and many thanks indeed to Royal Mail for their valiant efforts in trying to prevent me from being awarded them.
Быть отличным друг от друга !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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