17 September 2023

The Red Menace: Anti-Communist Propaganda of the Cold War

Every age has its bogeyman.  If you grew up in 1950s and 60s America you would have been bombarded with anti-communist propaganda. In hindsight it is perhaps easy to raise a wry eyebrow.  Yet at the time the threat was taken very seriously indeed. Here, hysteria intact, are a few of the stranger messages delivered to the American people.

Is your washroom breeding Bolsheviks?
“Employees lose their respect for a company that fails to provide decent facilities for their comfort” goes the by-line for this advertisement.  Yes, quite possibly, but does that really mean that they are going to turn into rampaging Bolsheviks because the paper towels at work are rough on their hands?  This apparently was a real danger back in the fifties and sixties.  Fortunately the introduction of soft tissues on a massive scale helped to avoid the commie takeover of the western world. 
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6 March 2021

Teufelsberg: Abandoned Cold War Listening Station Built on an Artificial Hill

A remnant of the Cold War, Teufelsberg Listening Station stands deserted, abandoned to the ravages of time and vandals.  Dominating Brandenburg Plain, in the northern section of Berlin’s Grunewald Forest, the permanent station at Teufelsberg was constructed in 1963.  Yet perhaps the most surprising fact is that the hill itself is less than twenty years older than the listening station that sits atop it.

At the end of the Second World War, Berlin was in ruins.  The process was to take more than twenty The process of rebuilding was to take more than twenty years but by 1948 the city was in crisis.  The Soviet Union had blocked all transport access to the parts of the city under Allied control, to effectively control Berlin.
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2 December 2010

Snow in the UK - in Pictures

If you live in a colder climate you may scratch your head and wonder why, every time there is a sprinkling of the white stuff, the UK grinds to a halt. Well, it has happened again but this time it is a little different. The UK has had the most snow over the last few days than it has had for a generation - for this time of year. At least it gives people a good reason to take pictures. So, we thought we would put together a selection.The above is from Meath in Northern Ireland.

For many the snow means a day off work.  However, just because you can;t get to work, it doesn't mean that you can't get out in the snow closer to home and enjoy yourself.  Certainly, Wollaton Hall in Nottingham had no shortage of visitors wanting to try to tobogan down its slopes.

For some, however, the show must go on - rain or shine or snow.  The Royal Mail, for instance, must get through.  However, from the expression on the face of this postman in Otley, West Yorks, it could have waited a day or two really.

At Westgate School, someone left a message for the children in case that they got there. The wags.

The weather isn't completely without the opportunity for a little irony.  In fact it is ripe with ironic possibiities.  The above window cleaning service van in Sheffield (one of the worst hit places) certainly has a certain irony to it.  Perhaps the owner could have ensured the windows were uncovered.  Yet sometimes, the intervention of the human hand is not needed.

The Sphinx in Crystal Palace Park has been given a new hair style, thanks to the snow.

If you do manage to get out to take a walk, you may not be able to have a rest if you tire. These park chairs in Sheffield need a little clearing.

If you were hoping to use alternative transport then you might have to reconsider, particularly if you live in Bradford.  In general the media has been telling people that unless their journey is completely necessary then the safest thing to do is to stay indoors.  However, people are already asking about what happens if the snowy weather persists?  We may just have to get uesed to it.

Shops are opening but if you want to make a call or have a cigarette break then you still have to go outside.  At least with the plethora of snowmen that have sprung up you have some company.  However, don't expect to get far in your car.

Unless.....
Now, that's what I call winter transport!


No need to tell you where this is but you are probably best not to go there.  Of course, going by the stereotype that all the British ever talk about is the weather, imagine the conversations and text messages that have been occurring throughout the snow bound British Isles!

Yetdespite the moans and the groans about the snow (and the weather in general) there is a beauty to it which cannot be denied.  Edinburgh Castle (above) looks magnificent in the snow.

There may not be (m)any shopper on Lewes High Street but with the added festive cheer of the Christmas tree is looks lovelier than usual.


The view of the river Thurso is beautiful. Yet there is a certain desolation to many scenes.

In many places it looks as if a zombie apocalypse has happened - many roads are deserted.  The only sign that there are survivors, possibly, are the tracks in the snow.  Yet they look like they may have been made by a certain undead shuffle.

Yet there are many living beings still around.  Children are everywhere, some experiencing their first large snowfall.  Yet it is still a matter for debate whose behaviour is the dafter - the kids or the parents!

One group which should not be forgotten are those who do not necessarily have access to warm homes and central heating.  Many have spared a thought for the birds and other animals, making sure that the little creatures have something to eat.

20 August 2010

Belka and Strelka– 50 Years Since Space Dogs Circled the Earth

They were the the forerunners of their kind – the first living creatures to circle the earth in a space craft and make it back down to earth.  August 19, 1960 was the date that this pair went up dogs (most likely confused and bewildered ones) and came back as national cosmonaut heroes of the former USSR.

Amazing to think that only fifty years ago no one had boldly gone and now we have the International Space Station (even though many believe we could have done better).

Belka and Strelka, unlike their human cosmonaut counterparts, had little choice in the matter but this particular dirty job that had to be done and it paved the way for Yuri Gagarin to make the first manned spaceflight.

Scientists believed that dogs were the best animal for the mission as they were suited to long periods of inactivity (mmm). 

The training sounds more than a little harsh – they were kept in small boxes for up to twenty days at a time to assess their suitability.


Stray dogs, such as Belka and Strelka were rounded up and sent to the labs.  Used to a hard life already the scientists believed that they would cope with the stress of being launched out of the atmosphere than more pampered pooches.  The pair were both female – another deliberate choice.  First, temperament but more importantly the suit designed for the dogs was designed only for females and the closer proximity of the orifices that expelled their waste products.

Training was hard, too, with practice wearing space suits, spinning in centrifuges and being fed nothing but a protein filled jelly (which gave them constipation and gallstones).   Belka (Whitey in Russian_ and Strelka (Arrow) were above the earth for a day on board Sputnik 5.

Let’s not forget the grey rabbit, the 42 mice, 2 rats and the flies that went up with them, all of which survived the mission too.  Of course, Belka and Strelka had the most publicity, having a much greater cute quotient than the other creatures – and the Soviet authorities wasted no time showing the pair off to the world.

Strelka had puppies some time later and one of them, Pushinka (Fluffy, left) was given to Caroline Kennedy, JFK’s daughter.

That was in 1961 when the Cold War was at its height but it didn’t stop another Kennedy dog and Fluffy doing it like they do it on Discovery Channel.

The result of this union was four more puppies – in fact the descendents of Belka and Charlie’s pupniks are barking and burping their way around the US to this day.

Poor old Strelka ended up being stuffed an put on display in various museums around the world.

Of course this being Kuriositas we couldn’t resist showing you a trailer from the new Russian animation, Belka and Strelka – Star Dogs.

It hasn’t been released in English yet, so the narration is in Russian but, hey, it’s an animation – you will get the drift.