Nicholas Comrie's blog

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head

Nicholas Comrie — Wed, 23 May 2007 10:06:32 -0500

‘I imagine that you must like this weather’ Serbs keep telling me, each and every time it decides to piss it down. ‘Yes, I love being soaked, don’t we all?’ I feel like replying, but instead just nod doggedly and continue the pretence that us English are only ever happy under cloudy skies. The problem is, we aren’t, and when it comes to just how wet London is, it isn’t half as bad as Belgraders are led to believe.

dalje

KGB: Planet of the Apes

Nicholas Comrie — Sun, 06 May 2007 09:26:27 -0500

KGB’s internet ‘provision’ has been messing with my head again. The call centre has been shamelessly blaming my computer. I know it ain’t the case. They have promised engineers. I know they aren’t going to come. And so after several weeks of CSI-like investigation, the only explanation for three months (and counting) of delays and prevarication is what is really going on at KGB’s call centre:

dalje

Alright darling, can I buy you a drink?

Nicholas Comrie — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 14:30:04 -0500

‘Alright darling, can I buy you a drink’, she said as she patted him gently on the arse. The world has been turned upside down, the roles are reversed and Queen’s ‘I Want to Break Free’ plays endlessly on MTV. Girls are now (officially) chasing the guys. It used to be the preserve of man, the hunter-gatherer, to find a woman, bonk her on the head and drag her home. It was expected of men on both sides of the gender divide. But recently, and I have been told by members of the increasingly club-wielding sex that we’re talking in the last two years, that girls here in Belgrade are now the one’s expected to make the move, do the running. The guys are all well pleased, but what’s going on?

dalje

I love Nenad Bogdanovic

Nicholas Comrie — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 04:28:12 -0500

I love Nenad Bogdanovic. I only love him in the Platonic sense mind, but it is love nonetheless. This love stems from the fact that as mayor of this fair city, I think he has done a rather good job. Everywhere you look they’re re-building, re-tarmacing and re-cladding and as our dear leader I suppose he should take some of the credit. I am all for criticism of our political elite, but give a man his due when it’s due.

dalje

Beyond Anthrax

Nicholas Comrie — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 09:46:04 -0500

I have opted for a change of scenery for today’s blog. Rather than the usual, I am including details of a particularly funny and horrifying incident that so nearly befell whilst working in London a few years back.

Beyond Anthrax:

dalje

Viva La Roller Disco

Nicholas Comrie — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 16:40:32 -0600

I was in London last week and found myself taking an unexpected trip into roller disco heaven. No, I had not over-medicated myself, but had instead opted to go to some club called Canvas and roller-disco my arse off. And that was despite all the high-camp and the constant fear of time spent in traction. Apparently, it’s a craze that is gaining ground in London, as everyone I spoke to while I was there had either been or was going. My girlfriend persuaded me that it was something we couldn’t live without doing. And so at 8.30 on a Thursday night I found myself strapping on a pair of roller boots and hoping that my bones were still supple.

dalje

Running the Visa Gauntlet

Nicholas Comrie — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 12:49:31 -0600

Ever been to Bijeljina? If you have, and you’re reading this blog, the chances are that, like me, you will have experienced that most joyous of occasions – visa renewal. For those who haven’t experienced this, it is a requirement that numerous foreigners living in Serbia face. Every three months they are required to leave Serbia to update the status of their visas simply to continue living and, as is often the case, working in Serbia.

dalje

Burn the Election Posters, Give Me a Park

Nicholas Comrie — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 01:10:18 -0600

I was standing on my balcony yesterday watching a load of guys plastering political posters all over my neighbourhood. I hate those guys. Or at least I hate the party that they represent. They stick them up there with no intention of taking them down and now my area looks like a slightly crooked political rosette. It’s not that my neck of the woods is particularly beautiful it’s just that there is enough graffiti there as it is. And for me these political posters are nothing more than that.

dalje

SBB – They’ll Break Your Heart

Nicholas Comrie — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 03:31:42 -0600

I decided this Christmas to treat myself to some cable internet from my beloved provider SBB. What with the holiday season upon us and the nights well and truly drawing in, I thought I might well sit at home and enjoy whiling away the hours surfing the net. However, as luck would have it, I had none and instead I spent most of the holiday season attempting to track down and break the will of SBB in a still vain attempt to get my hands on the internet access I had so stupidly paid for. I think that I have actually spent more time listening to recorded telephone queue messages and standing in record-breakingly slow-moving queues than actually surfing.

dalje

Jamie ‘F’ Oliver

Nicholas Comrie — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 13:14:13 -0600

“Pukka tucker mate”, “Scrummy” “Lovely jubbly” and other Oliverisms have been being used wantonly in my flat since the arrival of a Christmas parcel bearing a copy of a Jamie Oliver cookbook. Despite my best efforts at avoiding some of the more annoying Oliverisms (and most fall into that category) I have begun to talk like a lad from Essex and have found myself adopting the more annoying ones all the more. I suppose it’s because I am actually quite excited by the prospect of trying out some of Mr. Oliver’s recipes. After nearly exhausting my culinary ‘repertoire’ I think that I was in need of some inspiration. And it has been Oliver’s inspiration that has either avoided me, or been avoided by me, for several years.

dalje