A Postcard A Day - Friday 19 April 2024 - Friday Smiles

 

Hello lovely ladies, how are you all?  Because this blog is about the smiles of this week,  Annie didn't feel she wanted to post a blog last week. She had had some sad news. I hope you are alright Annie.

I have had a dear friend from England stay with me for a week and we have had a lovely time. More about that later. First off my postcard, which arrived today:

It comes from Russia and it shows soviet president Khrushchev visiting Hollywood in 1959, talking to Shirley Maclain. (I can spot a young Frank Sinatra on the far right.)

I found some info on Wikipedia:

Earlier in 1959, Vice President Richard Nixon visited the Soviet Union, attending a tour of the American National Exhibition in Moscow. He and Khrushchev took part in what later became known as the Kitchen Debate, in which both Nixon and Khrushchev defended their country's respective economic systems. 

In early August of that year, it was announced by President Dwight Eisenhower that Khrushchev was invited to visit the United States, and did so that September, spending thirteen days in the country.

Nina Khrushchev, First Lady Mamie Eisenhower, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the White House

The Soviet premier constantly touted Soviet superiority to L.A. during his tour of the city. And on the fifth day, the cantankerous communist visited Hollywood. There, things only got weirder.

Twentieth Century Fox had invited Khrushchev to watch the filming of Can-Can, a risqué Broadway musical set among the dance hall girls of fin de siècle Paris, and he had accepted. It was an astounding feat: a Hollywood studio had persuaded the communist dictator of the world's largest nation to appear in a shameless publicity stunt for a second-rate musical.

Notable American actors such as Gary Cooper, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, and Marilyn Monroe met Khrushchev. Although Khrushchev was supposed to visit Disneyland on 19 September, the visit was canceled for security reasons, which added to his anger.

While visiting a new research campus for the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in San Jose, Khrushchev seemed to express little interest in the computer technology, but rather the self-service cafeteria, which he introduced in the USSR upon return to Moscow.

The stamps are large and beautiful:

I used Google Translate to figure out what the large stamp represents. As you can see, it translates as Academic song and dance ensemble of the national guards of the Russian Federation 50 years.

The Rosgvardia Academic Song and Dance Ensemble, formerly known as the MVD Ensemble, is an official academic ensemble of the National Guard of Russia (Rosgvardia) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (Russian MVD). Established in 1939, the ensemble carries on the tradition of choirs and ballets of the Soviet Red Army, with singers, musicians and dancers.

Since the 1980s, The Ensemble MVD has performed on all continents after modernizing their repertoire. Ensemble MVD has realized more than seven thousand performances in several languages, and more than 20 million viewers worldwide. In this way, Ensemble MVD met Pope John Paul II in Rome, or opening the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

The smaller stamp features a tram:

It's a stamp from 2022.

Let me show you a few photos from when my friend was here.

I went to the fish monger to buy some fish.

So much fresh fish!

I usually stick to large fish like cod or swordfish or salmon.

I don't really know how to cook those little ones. Besides, I'm always afraid of bones.

We went to a restaurant to have lunch and in the display cabinet of gifts, there were these black dolls. 

My friend has close ties with Uganda having been involved in an orphanage and school there for 27 years, so she wanted to buy some dolls. No, she didn't buy them all. In the end she took home two of them. Aren't they gorgeous.

Here we are posing in the 'campo', with my village (and my house) visible in the background. 

That is it from me today. Of course I will put some funnies at the end for you to have some extra smiles.

Have a lovely weekend,

Hugs,

Lisca