Lou Reed: Former lead singer with The Velvet Underground, former heroin addict, proto-punk, bisexual, transvestite, poet, experimentalist musician and tai chi practitioner.
László Tőkés: Bishop of the Hungarian Reformed Calvinist church, catalyst of the 1989 Romanian revolution, conservative, nationalist and member of the European Parliament.
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ReplyDeleteLászló Tőkés? Is he wearing his sex face expression?
ReplyDeleteSx
Sorry for deletion... it's too early...
They both look as though they're wondering where they left their glasses.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, that's giving my age away, isn't it.
Ha! I know a lifelong Private Eye reader when I see one!
ReplyDeleteJohn Cale's role in the Romanian Revolution is a story for which the world is not yet ready.
ReplyDeleteAnd their younger, prettier, sister, Conrad Veidt
ReplyDeleteConrad Veidt, goodness me. We all recall The 5000 Fingers of Dr T; he was John Cale's piano teacher.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I would say Lou Reed is the spitting image of Tokes' hermaphrodite sibling.
ReplyDeleteBreaking News!! Tőkés was on the radio this morning saying that he wants autonomy not just for Transylvanian Hungarians (for which I have a deal of sympaythy) for but all paprika-botherers within other nations' borders. Imagine going to The Costa Del Sol and claiming that it should be part of Essex, ha ha. (Similar, though of course much less flippant, statements could made in all the other major conflict zones of the world).
ReplyDeleteScarlet, the face is sexy enough for any pure-blooded Hungarian lass - nothing turns them on more than irredentism.
Autolycus, yes it does rather, though I'm not sure either airing inflamatory political viewpoints or making experimental music requires the use of reading glasses!
Brother Tobias, you have me sir!
Indeed it is not, Boyo. I saw Cale playing his viola in a gypsy wedding band here, still using the avant garde techniques he learnt from LaMont Young, and he sang "Lume Lume" in a distinct Welsh accent.
Kevin, I'm not convivnced - he looks more like Frankie Howerd having a bad hair day!
Inkspot, was he?! No, you pulling my leg.
Bananas, if Tőkés has a hermaphrodite sibling then we should be told. Campaigning for Hermaphrodite Autonomy in their enclaves within the meat-and-two-veg majority would be a lot more interesting to watch.
Oh, so he's not a proper mitre-wearing bishop, then!
ReplyDeleteTőkés was on the radio this morning saying that he wants autonomy not just for Transylvanian Hungarians (for which I have a deal of sympaythy) for but all paprika-botherers within other nations' borders. Imagine going to The Costa Del Sol and claiming that it should be part of Essex, ha ha.
ReplyDeleteI hesitate to introduce a word of pedantic seriosity to the proceedings, but obviously with a lead-in like that I'm about to...
(a) He's not suggesting that these places/populations should be part of Hungary
(b) He's only talking about populations which were in Hungary prior to Trianon - ie not just the ones in Transylvania, but Hungarians in Slovakia, Ukraine, Serbia
(c) I have no idea what this would look like anyway - outside small pockets such as the one I live in the Hungarians are in the minority so there couldn't be some kind of territorially based Hungarian-statelet.
(d) Paradoxically, I think not being in the government anymore is a good thing for Hungarians - they can come out with whatever they want and wind everybody up without having to watch what they say and or have to imagine what it would be like if they actually got anywhere.
Sorry about that, I'll be funnier next time.
Hre is a proper bishop, Mr Can Bass. We have a good friend who is a pastor in the same demonimation and they do dress quit formall, though I'm not sure if a mitre is ever part of the garb.
ReplyDeleteHi Andy, I was unsure what he'd actually said and had it translated by the Romanian who was with me at the time. You do seem to confirm though that it was potentially inflamatory. Many of the "populations which were in Hungary prior to Trianon - ie not just the ones in Transylvania, but Hungarians in Slovakia, Ukraine, Serbia" were also very much minority populations, albeit ruling ones. Should every minority population get some form of autonomy? The history of pursuing such ideas is often not pretty. I'm generally pro-Tőkés and I can't believe that he hasn't thought this through. You are the best person I know to keep us informed about all this, so I'd be glad of any info. (Oh, and sorry, about saying "paprika-botherers", but we're rude to pretty much all groups in this area of the blog-sphere!) Cheers.
I think he's a bit of a dick really. I mean mad props to him (as I believe the yut dem say) for his actions and his role in 1989, but he's increasingly positioning himself on the nationalistic wing of the Hungarians-in-Transylvania - his link up with the MPP does him no favours, to be in bed with people like Szasz Jeno from round here and the Fidesz party in Hungary is not exactly positive stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe whole autonomy thing is being dealt badly from both sides. You have Basescu coming out with his "never" stuff, which just pisses people off, and then you have Tokes and his ilk angling for something which scares/pisses off Romanians. What Romania needs is some kind of genuine federalism in which there might be areas which have a Hungarian flavour, rather than what we have now, a dysfunctional and highly centralised country run from and for the benefit of Bucharest.
Sounds like Romania is following the Westminster model.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Andy. Like you, I'm guessing, I never find nationalism very attractive, even when it appears to be a reaction to some other oppression, though I suppose that being English we haven't really experienced too much of that kind of oppression first hand and so maybe we should be slow to judge. I agree with you that more decentralisation in Romania would be a good thing: Harghita would then be run by Magyars, Oltenia by Oltenians, etc, and hopefully people would feel less infringed and wouldn't have to travel to Bucharest so often.
ReplyDeleteKev, I dunno any more - I'm out of touch even with what happens in Westminster these days!