Production for Use!

So I'm killing time after my discussion class today, when I decide, "Hey, I'll see if they have anything good and cheap at the Strand". (One of the few redeeming factors NYC has for me is the fact that the Strand exists).
Among roughly 1000 books about Sotheby's wine auctions (some old rich drunk must have just died and his kids had no idea what to do with his stuff), I find a large folio-type item that's covered in yellowing, brittle paper, and basically just looks OLD. Oh, and it has

on the cover. "Hm", say I. "I think I'll have a look inside. This could be interesting."
So, I open it, and what do I see?

HELLS YES.
What do I have before me? A 1949–I don't know, book? File? Magazine? Folio?– that's 100% Soviet propaganda about how glorious Stalin is. Seriously! Printed in the Soviet Union (says a stamp on the back) and distributed in four languages. It looks like this was one of a series about the various aspects of the USSR, I was just lucky enough to snag the one saying what a swell guy Stalin is. I LOVE Soviet-era stuff, so this was a real find.
Some samples of what's inside (this thing's pretty big, so I took admittedly crappy digicam pics instead of scans):

I think I've actually seen this picture, when the Guggenheim was doing a retrospective on Russian painting. It's (I believe) a head of a collective farm and Stalin at a celebratory dinner (or something of the sort).

Hero's Square, Budapest– I think (my directions are horrible) that Hero's Square is actually pretty near the Terror House, the museum of Communist torture and imprisonment (never let it be said that things get too lighthearted in Hungary).

Tractors! Because you can never have a book of Stalinist propaganda without liberal use of tractors!

Rosie the Riveter defects.

The Young Pioneers strike a pose. I believe my friend Yulia told me she was a Young Pioneer, but "wasn't very good at it". While I was in Budapest I inadvertently bought a Young Pioneers badge, so I guess all my jokes about how I defected from the Girl Scouts weren't entirely unfounded.

Last one for now. They look so happy! And...um, armed! I believe this picture was taken in Belarus, which means that Belarus is following me, which means if I suddenly vanish, check the cooking schools.

Oh, and the price? A whopping 48 cents.
I love the Strand.

Keep Your Hair Free of Drunken Mashings!

Yeah, I haven't updated in awhile. I've been busy!
Saw this pic on an ephemera blog I frequent (Swapatorium) and thought it was just keen.
Not only because of the lovely graphics, but because Unicum in an incredibly potent Hungarian liquor that's a lot like Jägermeister...but tastes even worse.
Maybe that's what the bubbles represent. That, and her utterly HASHED expression.

Not much else happening otherwise (that's fit to print, anyway). Been working my heiney off with Thesis, having odd dreams about protozoa, clown balloons, and Shane MacGowan (not necessarily in that order)...
Oh! New art! That actually I'm really really happy with (oh, God, they're cooking BBQ under the window where I'm sitting, and though I've been a vegetarian about 8 years now, that smells SO damn good. Uh, where was I going again? Right. Art.)
It's based off a song I have been obsessing about since I heard it in a movie, "Flame Trees" by Cold Chisel (or, as sung by a children's choir in the movie, 'Little Fish'). Basically just sketchbook noodlings that came out a lot better than I thought they would. I'm really happy with it as a piece.
Oh, God. BBQ. Sigh...