Is it just me... or is EVERYONE....

So much shit is stirring, so much fur is flying, in general, between Russia, North Korea, Hollywood, The Basement Dwellers, Hillary, Obama, Holder, the IRS, and the NFL (did I forget a major flap?), that it's getting hard to focus on any one specific outrage in the news.

By design?
 
Even NASA apparently .... I would be happy to ‘ collude ‘ with some
fine Russian cooter , if I could find any ....

Hey, you got preversions to answer for in "Nom, Nom, Nom," buddy.

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;)
 
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I slow danced with Yelena Pankova

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Colluding with the Russians was a lot of fun in 1990 when we did a port visit to Vladivostok

In 2012 when I did my Arctic Circle motorcycle ride up to Norway and Nordkapp, I went over to Kirkeness. Which is one of the most hilarious places on the planet. Part old west. Part Nanook of the North. Russian smugglers, gold panners, fishermen... it's the wild west if the Wild West was entirely populated by people named Sven and Kreblach. Much drinking. I got invites to come over onto the Russian side of the border to tour the gold mines (No visa needed, we take care of you.... from some Border Guard types who got Thin Blue Line pins I carry... and were my new best friends.)

Best line of the visit was "No Navy in Murmansk. Nothing to see. No Navy Murmansk."

Cheers,

Sirhr

P.S. I didn't take anyone up on an offer to go across border without a visa for a gold mine tour... I am certain I'd have ended up in a Gulag and my bike would have been on Ebayski that night. Did you know they all drink Duff beer up there? And Vodka. Gallons of vodka. I hate vodka. But you can's say no to Russian border guards who are paying the tab!
 
We got so fucking drunk on that port call......holy shit.

We had to go ashore in uniform (summer whites) and russian chicks would not stay away. Almost got in a couple of fights with local guys over that but had to think of diplomatic relations so just walked away.

I still have some cool swag like a Soviet Navy officer's cover and pair of issue binos.

Cartons of Marlboros were better than gold and a pair of womens Levis got you poontang.
 
Trump is looking better and better everyday. Its remarkable this guy from NYC, a lib democrat most of his life, rich , has power galore, yet not one Harvey charge sticks, no laws broken after extreme vetting like no other human being has ever faced. This guy s clean as a whistle, now it make sense why he chose Pence as Veep, another guy that is such a holy roller nobody has any leverage on him. Maybe the last two honest men in public life. we are lucky to have them and I am not a fan either. I am a fan of Imploding the US Government, hopefully peacefully or through Trump driving them insane and they off themselves en masse, either way, I see Trump as a clean cut Boris Yeltsin during the imploding USSR, hopefully we can hold the country together or at least enough of it to maintain our nuke arsenal to protect the continent and get rid of our national socialists dictator wanna bees. May teh FBI be hoist upon the ash heap of history.
 
No, SirHR, it is not just you. It's bizarre and I find it impossible to tell what it is that is taking place. Twice I have been close to events that were covered by the media. Many times during both of these occasions I read the news of the prior days proceedings and wondered how the reporter came to write what they wrote. Acquaintances would ask me to expand on a news story. When I said that the news story was not a good starting place for describing what took place because it bore no resemblance to what actually happened I got quizzical, sometimes even suspicious, stares.Then, as now, events are an opportunity to advance an agenda. However ham fisted the effort, umpteen millions of people lap it up every day.

My experience with Russians is overall fairly positive. I have worked, partied, and trained with quite a few of them. A good bit of my exposure was during Soviet times. When I look back on these experiences I can't help but see a shadow lurking on the edge of my memories' lens. That shadow is the ability of Russians, especially those in any official role, to play an especially confusing long game. It is part of Russian culture, and with this game they are an immensely talented group of people.

While downing a gobs of raw oysters and beer at a New Orleans institution named Cooter Browns I had a former Soviet athlete turned politician describe Russia by having me read an article about Russian dancers. In an interview with an American reporter the choreographer explained how Nureyev and Baryshnikov personified Russian ballet because of their ability to give all sorts of illusions. Besides remarkable physical talent they offered the illusion of taking flight and the illusion of the spinning dancer (by taking advantage of an optical trick the human brain falls prey to) and they did it better than anyone on the planet. If there was ever art imitating life I think this is it. Or vica versa, I can't really tell even to this day.

With a cigarette bouncing from the side of his mouth he readied his pool stick for a shot long shot while laughing and said that such deception is what Russia is all about, and they were the best at it. As ashes fell onto well stained green cloth I stared at him wondering if such a thing was really for bragging rights or if it was a condemnation of a society that had been going steadily sideways since at least 1917. He missed his shot but left the cue ball with no clear view of the 8. As I lined up my shot he protested loudly that I could not use one of his balls to shoot the 8. I shot anyway. A nice little jumper sailed over the 12 and hit the 8 with a satisfying click before it went into a corner pocket. After a moment of silence he laughed again and said "maybe you have some Russian in you".
 
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Of all the nationalities I've met and had great times with, the Russians haven't been amongst them. I've tried a few times to engage in friendly conversation with no luck. I just don't like them and they apparently feel the same. I even refused to patronize the Russian working girls. Being a snotty, stuck up, pain in the ass totally defeats the purpose of prostitution.
The closest I've come to getting along with a "Russian" was a Georgian Marine who was friendly, but most of his team were typical "Russian" dickheads. The Lithuanian SF guys were cool, but I found that most of the people from the Baltics hated the Russians as much as I did.
 
I can only vouch for Ukes and Poles. The Poles were incredibly open, warm, giving, and they partied their asses OFF. Great memories of making many a bottle of rye vodka disappear over keilbasa, smoked fish and ham noshes on dark bread. And i came within a hair's breadth of bringing one back with me ... but that's another story.
 
Yep, liked the Ukrainians I've met, and the Poles were nice folks. I'm still not sure though how a country can produce so many large, round, hairy bald men and simultaneously produce such beautiful women. For whatever reason a lot of Eastern Europe seems to suffer from the same malady.
 
Yep, liked the Ukrainians I've met, and the Poles were nice folks. I'm still not sure though how a country can produce so many large, round, hairy bald men and simultaneously produce such beautiful women. For whatever reason a lot of Eastern Europe seems to suffer from the same malady.

Uh huh. And it makes us Yanks overpaid smooth operators by comparison, moon-walkin' all over their asses.