Stalin Mela and festival held here in Wichita

Today we celebrated the Wichita Stalin Mela, Saturday at Kirby’s. The MC for this event was Red Rob Bloger.

 Rob recorded this discussion. Those present were not really official Stalinist, so some of their remarks were not over flattering. Also, any criticism of Kim Jong Un /김정일, should not be confused with support of the US propaganda campaign against that leader or his country. Bloger has injected comments on these discussions, which broke down after a while, off the topic, into a kind of “theatre of the absurd.”

Panel members included – Стивен Иoн, Lenny Kugel and Paul Harvey Oswald.

Lenny: Megan may get laid off.

Стивен: That’s terrible. How is that happening?

Lenny: The Aircraft companies have been working people over-time to make up their quarter earnings. Now that they have that, they have already fired all the Mexican workers in Juarez. Now they plan to fire most of the workers here in Wichita. Megan believes her job is on the chopping block.

Стивен: So now they are going after Americans.

Lenny: That’s right. 

Стивен: I’ve been reading a lot of the writings of Kim Jong Il (김정일). He has written a lot of books and essays. He wrote way more than his father Kim Il Sung (김일성). Kim Jong Il has written a lot about (Karl) Marx and (V. I. /В И Ленин) Lenin. Neither he nor his father mentioned Joseph Stalin (Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин/ იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე სტალინი) in their writings. Pundits here are always claiming that North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) is Stalinist. But noting in any of the Kim’s writings indicates that.

The Youngest Kim (Jong Un) hasn’t written that much. He had Marx’s and Lenin’s statues removed from Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. He says (wrote) the country is following the ideology of his grandpa and dad. He says nothing of any other Marxist theoreticians.

Red Rob: All are drinking beer. Lenny is drinking Southern Comfort also.

Lenny: Southern Comfort is a juice cleans. It is good for you.

Lenny: Kim Jong Un has to make good relations with the crazy Generals, which may explain his erratic behavior. He has to keep the military appeased enough not to be overthrown. I think the kid is saying: “hey, I’m a %100 on your side."

Paul: Paul Harvey said Stalin was an alcoholic and had an alcoholic father who beat him all the time. That is supposed to explain his behavior (presumably bad or murderous). And THAT is the REST of the STORY.

Lenny: Let’s not forget that Stalin’s name means “man of steal.” It is as if he saw himself as superman. There is even a comic book called the Invaders, in which super heroes saves Stalin so he can help fight against Hitler, in World W II. In the comic book, the NAZIs want to kill him.

Paul: Our Little Governor, El Duce, used to belong to some outfit on C-Street. I understand it was a horror house. Recently he got caught hunting and killing two turkeys. By law he was allowed to hunt only one. His response was “I’ll just pay the fine.” He’s just like all the other politicians, he just wants to throw money at any problem he has. It’s like “I’ll just buy my way out of this.”

Lenny: Why did you decide on April as Stalin Month?

Стивен: The Stalin Society of Pakistan decided to make March Stalin Month, so I just decided I might as well make this month Stalin Month, since it is way too late to celebrate it in march.

Lenny: It is kind of like it was their black history month.

Red Rob: Here the conversation breaks down to a kind of “Theatre of the absurd.”

Lenny: have I ever told you about the Tijuana Bible?

Стивен: Aren’t those the real dirty comic books—they would have comic characters such as Popeye with a big hard-on and screwing everyone around him?

Lenny:  Yes.

Стивен: They had a poster like that in the Riverside Chalet, (a 1970s counter culture bar)—remember it had Snow White fucking all the Seven Dwarfs? It had Mickey Mouse shooting up.

Lenny: Yeah, I remember that poster. I used to hang out at the Chalet all the time, even though my friends insisted it was junkie hang out.

Red Rob: Lenny found this Stalin era park that is left over from that time period, online.

"Exploring the Stalin Era Park"

The park is limited by Labor Square and Bohdan Khmelnitsky Street, Kirov Street and Liberators Street.
The park is an old neglected place, although there is a high-end cafe there: Caesar Сafe near the old city fountain and the old staircase with two lions.
There are a lot of ruins for you to explore, if need be:
- the old fountain with four lions;
- the ruins of old pavilions and the old leisure center;
- the ruins of old fountains.