NWR: Nominations for Politburo positions

Another poor sap grifted by disreputable Quahogs. You didn't pay up front for the timeshare, did you?

There's nothing worse than a bivalve gone bad.
 
250px-William-Tecumseh-Sherman.jpg


If drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve.
 
What do you mean, internationally famous dissident? I am, as Jonathan Nossiter so aptly writes, a dyed-in-the-wool, politically correct Parker slave. So naturally I am the lone non-dissident here. It's all those other characters, SFJoe and Kane and the like, who are manifestly malfeasing miscreants.
 
originally posted by VS:
What do you mean, internationally famous dissident? I am, as Jonathan Nossiter so aptly writes, a dyed-in-the-wool, politically correct Parker slave. So naturally I am the lone non-dissident here. It's all those other characters, SFJoe and Kane and the like, who are manifestly malfeasing miscreants.

Dissent is relative to the state in which it occurs. Here, you're a dissident. Live with it.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
Live with it.
I will, but grudgingly so. While I eagerly spoofulate heavy undrinkable wines in my cellar, I'll keep muttering: "Miscreants!"
 
originally posted by VLM:
I nominate myselfas Stalin.

To the gulag with all of you.

I view you as more of a Beria figure. You know: the sinister power behind the throne. Plus, you get more ordnance that way.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:
originally posted by VLM:
I nominate myselfas Stalin.

To the gulag with all of you.

I view you as more of a Beria figure. You know: the sinister power behind the throne. Plus, you get more ordnance that way.

Mark Lipton

I don't see VLM being behind anyone/anything.
Much more Hunter Thompson-esque . . .
Best, Jim
 
Wow, Mark, I really appreciate this nomination (well, I think I do). But serving on my Homeowner's Association Board has provided me all the intrigue, bureaucratic wrangling, and political power that I could ask for in one lifetime.

Besides, I think you have omitted some positions that would be most valuable here, like Head of the Department of Food Photography, Supreme Leader of the Ministry of Chemistry, Director of the LolCat Section, Chairman of the Semiotics Department, etc.
 
originally posted by Bwood:
Wow, Mark, I really appreciate this nomination (well, I think I do). But serving on my Homeowner's Association Board has provided me all the intrigue, bureaucratic wrangling, and political power that I could ask for in one lifetime.

Besides, I think you have omitted some positions that would be most valuable here, like Head of the Department of Food Photography and Supreme Leader of the Ministry of Chemistry.

Well, I never meant my list to be definitive. It was meant more as a starting point for discussion or, better yet, hurled accusations and putsches. Perhaps you'd be more comfortable with a Ministry of Justice position, although one might argue that there ain't a whole lot of justice to dispense when in the Politburo. And in my view any Ministry of Chemistry would be instantly subsumed into the Ministry of State Security for obvious reasons.

Vyacheslav Molotov
 
originally posted by MLipton:
any Ministry of Chemistry would be instantly subsumed into the Ministry of State Security for obvious reasons.
There is always the thorny question of polonium.
 
And in my view any Ministry of Chemistry would be instantly subsumed into the Ministry of State Security for obvious reasons.

Here I was, thinking it would be a department head in the Ministry of Entertainment. I can see I wouldn't survive long in this ruling clique.
 
I wonder if anyone here has seen the Russian film "Burnt by the Sun"? (Утомлённые солнцем)

It's about the beginning of Stalin's purge in 1936 -- which reached halfway around the world to include Trotsky, along with millions of Russians of various political stripes.

It's a little hard to find but very rewarding if you can get your hands on it. A beautiful movie.

This thread keeps bringing it back to me.

wiki

F
 
I saw it twice when it first was shown in the U.S. Good in many ways, a bit heavy-handed on the pathos, I thought. But I did go back a second time.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
I saw it twice when it first was shown in the U.S. Good in many ways, a bit heavy-handed on the pathos, I thought. But I did go back a second time.

Yeah, I saw it back soon after its release here. An interesting piece of history and a bit less wooden than Eisenstein, but still a bit stilted for my taste. Cultural differences, perhaps?

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:

...but still a bit stilted for my taste. Cultural differences, perhaps?

That is an interesting point to ponder, given the pacing of many Russian/Soviet films of my experience.
 
Our film discussion group was split down the middle. The gay guys who prefer musical comedy found it utterly boring. I was enthralled throughout. I -do- understand that Russian Cinema can take a glacial pace -- Solaris was basically a nightmare. If they decided to drive to Sasha's house, 15 minutes away, you got to see them driving down the freeway for 15 minutes. Incredible.

But the early scenes with the loopy ex-nobles in the Dacha were charming for me. It was like "The Cherry Orchard" or something like that. Chekhovian. Of course I watched it with my laptop on my lap, I found several versions of the original Polish Polka on YouTube by the time we were 10 minutes into the movie.

And I learned that Kotov (the main character) was played by the director, and that the incredibly cute little girl was actually the director's daughter, and that his BROTHER is also a famous director etc etc etc etc.

So I had no problem enjoying every minute of the movie.

We had the opposite problem with "Death at a Funeral"... I was about to slit my wrists during that one, and inventing imaginary plots involving Vikings or meteorites or atomic weapons. The gay guys loved it.

The fact that I understood a bit of the Russian (and French) probably helped too.

I should emphasize that normally we all find the films interesting -- everybody liked Dr. Zhivago...

F
 
originally posted by Frank Deis:
Stalin's purge in 1936 -- which reached halfway around the world to include Trotsky
And whom did he find who would carry out Trotsky's assassination?

A Spaniard, of course.

Figures, doesn't it?
 
originally posted by Bwood:
Wow, Mark, I really appreciate this nomination (well, I think I do). But serving on my Homeowner's Association Board has provided me all the intrigue, bureaucratic wrangling, and political power that I could ask for in one lifetime.

Besides, I think you have omitted some positions that would be most valuable here, like Head of the Department of Food Photography, Supreme Leader of the Ministry of Chemistry, Director of the LolCat Section, Chairman of the Semiotics Department, etc.

Ah, so that's you appearing off-panel here?

 
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