Beat ya to it!

Two South American golden lion tamarin monkeys have been born in Szeged Zoo. The zoo in question now has a staggering seven monkeys. Well, we assume they're staggering.

Why is this important?

1) Monkeys are cool.
2) We beat The Budapest Sun to the news (the English language newspaper that never fails to tell its readers about Hungary's monkeys, bears, sheep, big cats and three-legged goats).

Too cool for words pic

Too small and stupid-looking for words pic

Most odd

30 people visited Budapest Bluster last week after searching Google for the words Wiggedy Whack.

0 people visited Budapest Bluster last week after searching Google for the words Lazy Expats With Too Much Time On Their Hands.

Whacky Bluster

Strange world we live in.

You got credit

Erste Bank Hungary has issued its first "classic credit card."

The bank told Hungarians just dying to get into debt that it plans to circulate 20,000-25,000 cards by the end of 2005.

What's the deal? A mere HUF 2,990 annual fee and an annual percentage rate of 41.75% on payments made 45 days after purchase.

41.75%.... Bugger!

Empty

Move along, move along

Hungary's Ambassador to the US, Andras Simonyi, says he's going to give a concert and dedicate the revenues to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

He will be supported by the "Coalition of the Willing" Band, which includes former assistant state secretary Lincoln Bloomfield and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, guitarist of the Steely Dan and then Doobie Brothers band, who currently advises the White House on counterterrorism. (!)

In other words a wanky concert that will raise heaps of money - I guess they can add that to the US Congress-approved $51.8bn emergency funding.
Or add it to the $500 million now collected from private charities.

Gentrification here we come!

Lazy cops: Tell us more - we'll do less

The Neppy reports today that the police have struck a deal with the Hungarian Banking Federation and will now have access to "essential" bank data in the event of bank robberies.

"Eh?", you say. Simply put, the coppers say investigations are hampered because there is a muggy set of rules determining what banks tell the police.

Funny, as you'd assume the banks would do all they can to get back their, sorry "our", money.

The Neppy also reports that from now on the police will only zoom to banks in mid-robbery if two independently functioning alarms are triggered, or, if one alarm goes off and a security guard confirms a robbery is indeed taking place.

Basically, if clever robbers slip the alarms and disable the fat, balding security guard when you're trying to make a deposit, don't bother using your mobile to call the cops... you're totally fucked.

What to look out for

Bang Bang, my Bobby shot me down...

It must be cool to be a copper. Nice uniforms, spit-and-polished shoes and the right to carry handcuffs.

Sadly, it also brings the right to shot people for stealing handbags. Earlier this week two men in Budapest tried to steal a hangbag from a man changing a car tyre. The DIY mechanic was having none of it however, and pulled out a "gas pistol".

What happened next is the stuff of a 1980s TV cop drama. The two would-be handbag-nappers fled, jumped into a waiting car (with, the cops say, US plates), zoomed off and tried to run over a policeman in pursuit. Abandoning their car, the criminals tried to make off on foot but one of them was shot by yet more police on the scene.

The man shot suffered serious injuries and another was "lightly injured" when being arrested. A third man, possibly the getaway driver, escaped.

This event throws up many questions, but we feel the need to ask only one.

What the hell was a man doing with a hangbag?

Nice

Boo! Hiss! Bunch of Wankers! etc

Sometime you just can't catch a break. Sometimes even the cultured (in every sense) kick you in the jimmy.

Take Culture Minister Andras Bozoki and Opera general director Jutocsa Arpad Hegyi. The two merrily turned up at the opening session of the State Opera company on Friday only to find the gathered crowds boo and whistle at them.

Shocking and disgusting behaviour! (wicked chuckle)

It's funny what a plan of austerity measures can do to an assembled crowd of rabid opera fans.

In contrast Miklos Szinetar, the former Opera director, was the recipient of "much love". Having resigned over nasty cut backs he arrived to a hero's welcome - cheered and slapped on the back by singers and staff alike. Hurrah!

Special needs

Not only are we all slow to return to BP following our summer breaks, but to add to our laziness the last four Bluster updates got lost in Blogger's deepest depths, never to make their way to the site.

This one, we hope will get through...

Viktoria Mohacsi, an MEP of junior governing party SZDSZ, says a legal remedy must be offered to "normal" children who were unreasonably put into learning disability classes.

Mohacsi says that "by the age of 16 these children have built up such a disadvantage compared to those who attended regular schools that their fate is practically sealed and they will end up being unemployed."

Really? We'd never have guessed it.

A slow return

Slowly everyone returns and so back to the blogging.

A quick note to those on the email list - enough already :-) Please quit with the Gyurcsany jokes from last week.

Also, members please remember that the email list is for the serious ranting and backbiting, the blog for the dumbass news etc.
This way we don't get nasty threats but still get to have a good snigger.