Happy Paczki Day!

Monika even brought us some! yay... The Polish celebrate the lead-up to Mardi Gras / Lent with donuts. And they say we're stupid... Happy Polish Donut Day!

Keyboard from Aunt Louise

He loves his Thomas the Tank Engine keyboard, and Charity got a statue of Pope John Paul II that Aunt Louise found that had previously been a gift to Aunt Stasia from her.

A Thought...

It is difficult to reconcile the beatification of John Paul II & the death of Osama bin Laden. It is unseemly to rejoice in another human being's death. So I will just hold my son a little closer and whisper my gratitude that the forces of Good had a solid weekend.

Polish House Party!

World's Tallest Jesus Statue Completed

Way to go, Poland!

Polish Heritage Celebration

NY City Comptroller John C. Liu honors 4 distinguished Polish-Americans.

Pierogis & Kielbasa Dinner!

Leighton the Crooner

Leighton does his best Sinatra and is mobbed by his Polish fans

Viva Polska!

'Stay Out of Poland'

Not that you can read it here but... before the concert last night I met Josh & Lisa at the Russian Samovar for some pre-concert cocktails. The service was inattentive at best, surly at worst. As Josh & Lisa bought the concert tickets I insisted on buying the drinks. Josh then insisted on leaving the tip in cash.

Fine. Which prompted me to editorialize for our Russian hosts in the TIP: line of my receipt...

"Tip? I've got a tip for you. 'STAY OUT OF POLAND.'"

A Polish Triumph!

Jerzy Buzek Elected EU Assembly President, Becoming A First From Former Communist Nation

"Once upon a time I hoped to be a member of the Polish parliament, in a free Poland," the center-right politician said. "Today I have become the president of the European Parliament, something I could never have dreamed of."

Buzek, 69, drew a standing ovation from an assembly he will lead for two-and-a-half years.

Full article HERE

Poland At Risk

I try to keep my blog light & frothy. It' s supposed to be for friends & family to keep abreast of our wacky misadventures and for the occasional musing. I figure there are enough sources of serious, depressing stuff out there and why should I waste time and energy when there are professional news sources?

But one recent news item has me really bothered and can't be ignored... Poland, land of my ancestors, was explicitly threatened with a nuclear strike by Russia for agreeing to host America's missile defense system. (A move they can hardly be blamed for given Russia's recent activity in Georgia and HISTORY.)

This is truly shocking. Poland has historically allied itself with the West despite the U.S & Britain shamefully leaving Poland to the Stalinist wolves after Polish aviators had saved London in WWII. Poland was & remains one of the most significant foreign contributors to the "Coalition of the Willing" in Iraq. ("He forgot Poland." - President Bush) And now they have, once again, laid themselves on the line and face NUCLEAR ANNIHILATION. From a recent issue of the Economist:

“We have crossed the Rubicon,” said the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, as the deal was done. Russia said any country involved in America’s missile defences made itself a legitimate target for nuclear attack. Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, who went to Poland to sign the deal this week, retorted that such threatening language “isn’t tolerable”.

Terrifying. What year is this?

GO POLAND!

Had a meeting cancelled, so I threw on my Polska jersey & went to legendary soccer bar Nevada Smith's to watch the first half of Poland v. Austria - a MUST-WIN for the Polish! Knew I made the right choice when I saw this Polish beer truck parked outside...

Dead to Me

Following directly on the heels of Kubica's historic win in Montreal, Poland played Germany in the Euro 2008 soccer tourney. Big day for Polish sport. Unfortunately the heavily-favored Germans proved too tough for the pesky Poles and Germany won 2-0.

That would be bad enough, but both goals came from POLISH-BORN Lukas Podolski with an assist from POLISH-BORN Miroslav Klose, both of whom also proved lethal against the Poles in the last World Cup. (!!)

Congratulations, you traitorous bastards. You have just made my "Dead To Me" list.

A Great Day to be Polish

(as most of them are)

For the first time in history, the Polish national anthem was played at a Formula One Grand Prix, thanks to the stellar victory of my main man Robert Kubica. Well done, Robert. Well done...

The Jasinskis!

At the Semester-at-Sea reunion!

Profile of Robert Kubica

My favorite (and first ever Polish) Formula One driver, Robert Kubica, was profiled in this month's F1 Racing Magazine by the talented Peter Windsor. (Should you want a copy, let me know - I've scanned it in and already sent it to a few F1 friends) Good profile and my esteem for Robert just grows. Gotta love the Polish. No bullshit, just racing...

"Which celebrity would you most like to date?"
"None."



The article also adds that "[he has] the sort of face you see in those pictures of the valiant Polish resistance fighters back in 1941."

"Robert is a Pole, and so has resilience-under-hardship etched into his DNA. Life wasn't meant to be easy; life, from the start, is imperfect. You fight, and then you fight on some more. You do what is necessary - and without fuss."

Kubica also donated his driving suit from his first career pole position (at Bahrain) to raise money for Sudan. It is being auctioned off on eBay and Robert will present the overalls in the paddock at Monza. (If I only had a spare 10,000 Euros...) He is a class act and is off to an exceptional start this season.

Who's That?

Who is that handsome gentleman in the Polska scarf marching in the Pulaski Day Parade? (This photo is from the Official Pulaski Day Parade web site! Slide show here!)