My Brilliant Idea

I don't know why, but when I'm in Bulgaria I seem to keep coming up with crazy business ideas. There's been a-plenty, but this post is just about one of them in particular.

But first, a little background...

All around Bulgaria, I keep seeing this very poster:



Now, I don't read Bulgarian. I can only go by what I can glean from the picture and what I know about Bulgaria. First, I can see that some thug-ish looking gentleman is prominently featured at the front of this poster. He appears to be surrounded by a throng of acquaintances; a mob of people, if you will. Second, I know that Bulgaria has a large and active underworld criminal element. Third, by the production quality and frequency that I see this poster, I make the assumption that this is for a TV show or movie in Bulgaria. So my first conclusion was that this was some sort of Bulgarian version of the Sopranos.

Turns out, my first conclusion was incorrect. The guy, I learned, is Slavi Trifonov, host of the Slavi Trifonov Show. From his website:

Slavi Trifonov`s Show is a daily sixty minute evening talk show broadcast from Monday to Friday from 22:30h 23:30h on the first private nationwide TV in Bulgaria - bTV. Although it is an external production it turned into the media emblem and basis upon which it started to build its image and prestige.

So, it's kind of like a Bulgarian version of Sabado Gigante. But I think that my original idea would actually be a better sell. A Bulgarian version of the Sopranos, with this guy Slavi as the lead. Set it in a suburb of Sofia, have Slavi go through a mid-life crisis while he's trying to balance the mob and his family, through a little Balkan flavor in there; it's a can't miss premise. Also, doesn't Slavi bear a little more than a passing resemblance to this guy?



Now, who can green light this baby? I'll set myself up as the executive producer, get some hot-shot Bulgarian director, and a crew of hungry university students for writers. It'll make millions.

Back in Sophia

It's been months since my last post. Thankfully, Jessica has been stepping up and making some posts so everyone doesn't think that this blog has been abandoned. We're still here; unfortunately, I've been away on my business trips to the Balkans for most of the summer. On the plus side, if anyone is interested in doing anything in the Balkans (specifically Romania or Bulgaria), I'll be happy to lend my services as an area expert.

I'm going to try and increase my blog output this month, at least the first two weeks when I'll have some free time without adult supervision. For starters, here's a slideshow of our recent trip to Innsbruck, Austria.

We drove there on Thursday and came back Saturday evening. It was a short trip but we all had a great time and saw some cool stuff there.

It's late here, so I'm signing off. Tomorrow I'll have an update on whether my luggage arrived from Italy or not. As of now, I'm 2 for 3 at having my luggage lost at the Sophia Airport. Moral of the story: If you're flying into Sophia, try to have your stuff in a carry on. That's a little tip from the pros. It's a freebe. Enjoy.

In Sofia, city visits you

I'm back after spending a week in Sofia, Bulgaria for a lame planning conference. When I learned I was going to Bulgaria for a week, I didn't know what I was getting into. I had thought that it would be full of thick-necked guys named Boris and lots of borscht. As it turns out, Sofia is a fascinating city with lots of history and thick-necked guys named Boris.

Truth be told, there were three types of people in Sofia: Russian mafia thug-types, skinny hairy guys, and beautiful girls. The proportion of beautiful girls was actually alarming, even compared to Italy or Europe. I'm not sure the reason for this, but maybe it's because Sofia is named after the luscious St. Sofia.



Compare her to the dowdy Statue of Liberty. Snooze!



She's certainly not the gilded, bare-shouldered hottie that St. Sofia is. But I digress.

Here's a slideshow of some pictures that I took around Sofia. Nothing too nuts, just your standard vacation snapshots. I had only a half-day to really explore the city during the day, so most of these were taken on a whirlwind tour in the afternoon. Worth mentioning is the Ruined Soviet Monument. The picture is just a detail of a much larger monument that used to stand in one of the parks there. It's got a lot of classic cold-war motifs going on: the strong square-jawed worker standing tall with hammer in hand, the poor and infirm cradled in by the caring hands of the workers, you know the drill. But this huge (7-10 story) monument has since fallen into disarray since the fall of the Soviet Union. You can clearly see the exposed steel frame showing in the picture. It's as if the people were happy about the fall of their Soviet masters, but not enough to actually tear down the monument. Lazy capitalist mores creeping in already!