Sun, Jul 05 2009

Latest columnists

My Bulgaria: Divide et impera

One must hand it to Ahmed Dogan. He always gets what he wants in Bulgarian politics.

The English Angle: Look back in anger

If you have a son never send him to an all boys’ school. These institutions, which, needless to say, scar the landscape of that strange island called the United Kingdom, can screw you up big time.

Legal Alien: Driving right

Sightings of right-hand-drive cars with Bulgarian licence plates are becoming all the more frequent.

Offline: Social fever

Only for someone who has lived under a rock for the past year, would it be news that social networks have really, really exploded

Macro: Bargaining

Some degree of horse-trading is unavoidable in politics. To rail against the practice in principle is pointless and counterproductive, but one can understand why political deals get such a bad rap in Bulgaria, beyond the implied negative connotations of the word itself.

Macro: Bargaining

Some degree of horse-trading is unavoidable in politics. To rail against the practice in principle is pointless and counterproductive, but one can understand why political deals get such a bad rap in Bulgaria, beyond the implied negative connotations of the word itself.

Offline: Social fever

Only for someone who has lived under a rock for the past year, would it be news that social networks have really, really exploded

RANDOM: Final beauty

There is this billboard, an advert stuck at many of the intersections of Sofia, advertising "the last beautiful place", this being a housing development on the Black Sea coast. The sign is clean, sleek, white with black printing and a swash of blue. Modern, affluent, as its target audience should also be. I'm sure that the development is all of those things. Judging from the house plan drawn on the sign, some thought,

The English Angle: Look back in anger

If you have a son never send him to an all boys’ school. These institutions, which, needless to say, scar the landscape of that strange island called the United Kingdom, can screw you up big time.

The English Angle: Dis(respect)

I watched an old British film from 1961 the other day, set in London. The landmarks may still be the same but everything else has changed drastically in the almost 50 years since. In particular, the old social bonds have weakened dramatically

RANDOM: Final beauty

There is this billboard, an advert stuck at many of the intersections of Sofia, advertising "the last beautiful place", this being a housing development on the Black Sea coast. The sign is clean, sleek, white with black printing and a swash of blue. Modern, affluent, as its target audience should also be. I'm sure that the development is all of those things. Judging from the house plan drawn on the sign, some thought,

The English Angle: Ogling at France

France is my favourite European country. There! I can already hear a chorus of denunciations among certain Brits.

Macro: Anger

Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev has taken condescension to an art form.

My Bulgaria: Brothers Grimm and elections

A commentary in one of Bulgaria’s newspapers recently referred to the two highly controversial, to say the least, businessmen from the small town of Doupnitsa as the Brothers Grimm. To clarify for those hot off the plane, these two businessmen are often referred to in the media as the Galevi brothers, although they are unrelated.

Random: To my father

1984. It could be no further back than that, for that is the year – the summer – in which my little sister was born.

Legal Alien: Driving right

Sightings of right-hand-drive cars with Bulgarian licence plates are becoming all the more frequent.

The English Angle: Look back in anger

If you have a son never send him to an all boys’ school. These institutions, which, needless to say, scar the landscape of that strange island called the United Kingdom, can screw you up big time.

RANDOM: Cocaine-red shark

It was going to be abhorrent that I have started to drink sugarfree Red Bull on a daily basis at work until I realised that it was an Austrian product, and not another capitalistic US takeover. It is my choice, yes, to drink such concoctions, but when the choice in Bulgaria is limited to four or so brands of energy drinks, and only one regularly available in the sugarfree version, there really is not that much choice. It is also

The English Angle: Dis(respect)

I watched an old British film from 1961 the other day, set in London. The landmarks may still be the same but everything else has changed drastically in the almost 50 years since. In particular, the old social bonds have weakened dramatically

The English Angle: Look back in anger

If you have a son never send him to an all boys’ school. These institutions, which, needless to say, scar the landscape of that strange island called the United Kingdom, can screw you up big time.

The English Angle: Dis(respect)

I watched an old British film from 1961 the other day, set in London. The landmarks may still be the same but everything else has changed drastically in the almost 50 years since. In particular, the old social bonds have weakened dramatically

Legal Alien: Driving right

Sightings of right-hand-drive cars with Bulgarian licence plates are becoming all the more frequent.

Offline: Social fever

Only for someone who has lived under a rock for the past year, would it be news that social networks have really, really exploded

My Bulgaria: The resurrection of Siderov

Christianity and politics often mix but the result is not always that great, to say the least. There must be some reason why Christianity, which fancies itself as one of the world’s most peaceable religions, is often used by people to march against others.

The English Angle: Look back in anger

If you have a son never send him to an all boys’ school. These institutions, which, needless to say, scar the landscape of that strange island called the United Kingdom, can screw you up big time.

Mommy Diaries: Swimming lesson

Yesterday, four-month-old Rada swam for the first time. Contrary to what many people imagine, newborn-swimming is different from adult-swimming. No, you can’t throw a baby in a pool and expect that she will stay afloat for 10 minutes or swim a couple of laps before getting tired.

The English Angle: Look back in anger

If you have a son never send him to an all boys’ school. These institutions, which, needless to say, scar the landscape of that strange island called the United Kingdom, can screw you up big time.