There is no better sign of (approaching) middle age than reminiscing about the restaurants, bars and clubs which are no longer around, but which left a mark on one’s memories, taste and, in many ways, life. My path towards becoming a kafana connoisseur started in Vidin kapija, across the road from my primary school. I was taken there in 1996 by my mom and grandma … Continue reading Vanishing Majik of turn-of-millennium Belgrade hotspots
Najgadnija pojava u medijima, odnosno širem propagandnom kompleksu, koji sve više uključuje i akademske institucije ali i „civile“ po društvenim medijima, je sada normalizovana praksa uklapanja izolovanih, ali duboko tragičnih i strašnih slučajeva u modle koje pogoduju interesima koje služe. Kada god se desi neka tragedija, poput masakra na Cetinju ili davljenja Matrija Periša, često imamo samo par sati da je iskusimo kao manifestaciju okrutne … Continue reading Tragedija ličnog u totalnom sistemu
Reading Camille Paglia’s essays in “Sex, Art and American Culture”, I came across a book that very much appealed to me, especially given that I only became passionate about going to the gym on the cusp of my 30s. She gave it the highest praise, in her own characteristic way: “Muscle, sympathetically read as an archetypal hero saga of embattled masculinity, exposes the parochialism, preachiness, … Continue reading The Consolation of Hypertrophy: Samuel Fussell’s “Muscle: Confessions of the unlikely bodybuilder” by Samuel Wilson Fussell
The first time that I remember crying to a song was with my Grandmother and Mum, after a Đorđe Balašević concert. That must have been in December 1995 of 1996, while we were staying at Grandma’s and I remember putting on a Balašević tape as we loved the concert. At one point it played „Priča o Vasi Ladačkom“ (The story of Vasa Ladački), and all … Continue reading Crying to and for Balašević
If you think you are a Balkan culinary know it all for loving ćevapi, sarma, burek and kajmak, well the truth is… there is plenty more to discover. Everybody knows they are great, and with ajvar now present on the supermarket aisles from LA to Dubai, and the increasing number of restaurants serving Serbian fare all around the world: from Kafana in New York, via … Continue reading Politically charged pies and the first Chinese dish in Serbia: More stories about Serbian food
One of the last fights I had with my Mom was because she did not want me to be „inconvenienced“ by her illness. As any caring Boomer parent, to her last day, she wanted to pretend that I, her only son with very little in the way of other obligations during a coldish COVID spring, should actually be unfazed by her rapidly progressing fatal illness … Continue reading Death in the Boomer-world
August used to be the best month for me. As everything would grind to a halt and most people would escape to the coast, I would enjoy wandering around scorchingly hot but blissfully empty Belgrade (and before that London and for one summer each Ljubljana and Athens). If I were to travel somewhere, I would feel pangs of regret as I would be missing out … Continue reading Med Times
Ever since the debates about current or imminent “fascism” and “antifascism” (or Antifascism™) became popular again, I came to think about my grandad, who as a committed communist before WWII and then a partisan during it would probably have more to say than those engaging in these debates now. He was a bit of an oddity as a bourgeois lawyer/communist in Nikšić, a town in … Continue reading Warrior Posing
The current pandemic, as insane as it is, highlighted problems of dense, large cities, where sharing tight public spaces is the only way of survival. From public transport carriages to lifts in high rises, we cannot escape density and the risks it brings. On top of that, the race to density, in making housing and facilities ever tighter, and more cost-efficient for their owners has … Continue reading Why so dense?
Tonight, when I looked at my phone and it was twenty past eight in the evening. It was a crisp, March evening and the wind cleared the sky, so even in central Belgrade you could see the stars, glistening at night. It was eerily quiet, except for the occasional howling of the wind, which blew in the streets emptied of people quarantining in their homes. … Continue reading 20:20 / 2020
How do millennials fare in one of the richest cities of Europe? We interview two Genevans to find out. After studying international relations, M. (30) works in HR for a global financial institution in Geneva. She always thought she would pursue a career in development, and even spent a gap year teaching French in an orphanage in Senegal. She remember fondly her humanitarian time. It … Continue reading Post Tenebras Lux? Life In One of Europe’s Richest Cities.
My first serious relationship with organised religion and an adult began while I was studying in Oxford. One of my best friends, a devout South African, mentioned he was going for a Sunday evensong at New College, and a few of decided to join him – albeit more for the aesthetics of listening to wonderful music inside a famously ornate medieval chapel, than for the … Continue reading British Aisles
Smarmy, annoying and overconfident, perhaps. But they don’t need to be like that. Continue reading Young Leaders and Why (Not) Hate Them
Yesterday, on the last night of being 30, I decided to go for a run around Belgrade to clear my head a little (as I’m one of those people who have an ambivalent relationship to no longer being kids), and also lose a few calories ahead of birthday celebrations. Although I’ve been running since 2011, I really got into it regularly last year after losing … Continue reading Running and Falling
What would a management consultant do in a Viking village? Continue reading Consultants in the Viking Age
Belgrade’s Matematicka gimnazija (Mathematical High School) is a rare Serbian institution, along with athletes and cuisine, which receives nearly unanimous national acclaim and the school is protected from the usual mud slinging of Serbia’s public arena for good reasons. Year after year, the school churns out positive news: alumni routinely achieve great success at the world’s best universities- one alumnus is a former mayor of … Continue reading Mathematical High School: Serbia’s Academic Bright Spot
You are sitting in a grey office on a gloomy day, tried, and after yet another frustrating day, you are thinking your life is going to waste. You take your phone, and see a person – maybe even a friend – sipping cocktails on a tropical beach and bragging about their freedom, and – more gratingly – being bale to afford a care-free, happy life … Continue reading Corporate to Creative in 10 Gruelling Steps: A Realist’s Guide
At some point you decided to leave for foreign lands, with the aim, perhaps, of getting an education, pursuing a career in a better organised place, or just seeing what life is like outside Serbia. Eventually, overworked and frazzled, probably in a cramped room somewhere in a big international city, you started thinking of Serbia. 1. The siren call You went there recently and found … Continue reading The Agony and Ecstasy of Serbian ‘Repats’
In the past few years, many have started looking for advice up north in Scandinavia, especially Denmark, in order to help us cope with gloomy winters. Denmark has a well-deserved reputation for great design and high quality of life, but it is hygge, a famously untranslatable lifestyle concept, roughly meaning something like cosiness, that makes many trendy Europeans scour lifestyle websites and coffee table books … Continue reading Slava: Hygge, Serbian-Style
Cemeteries, along with large parks and markets, always top my list of sights to see in any city I visit. Unlike shops and cafes, which are increasingly the same all over the world, cemeteries remain shielded from changes and give us a glimpse into the private workings of the city. Even in the busiest places, they are quiet and dignified, rarely overrun by tourists. They … Continue reading Tombstone tourism, from Arlington to Zagreb
