alt.street 'Life's Full of Chuckles'

Life's Full of Chuckles as here in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, at a

McDonald's where two men are engaged in conversation. Note the

white shoes of the center-most figure . . . the height of Ukrainian

fashion. (chuckle). Your ratings and critiques are invited and most

welcome. If you rate harshly or very critically, please submit a helpful

and constructive comment; please share your superior photographic

knowledge to help improve my photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

and the execution is interesting. Aesthetically I don't like very much the contrast you have chosen and the cropped feet on the bottom left. Thank you, Giuseppe

My computer was stolen and I am on a borrowed computer, so I have no editing capabilities.

 

And this was in shadow -- tricky lighting. Lens limitations prevented keeping the feet in completely and of course I would have liked to have Ronald McDonald's feet in the photo too.

 

Life is full of wishes.

 

Thanks for the critique.

 

John (Crosley)

I find this capture witty. Those two guys look like evil characters from a comic book. Ronald McDonald in the foreground serves as an introduction to these characters. It's like he's saying "Allow me to introduce you to...."

 

White shoes are not the only fashion statement in that part of the world. If I recall correctly that is also popular among Dominicans (noticed that while living in Miami). There is no accountability for taste, is there?

Who has the more fashionable outfit?

 

Ronald McDonald who borrowed much of his outfit from the ages old Bozo the Clown - really, it's true, he's a derivative and mostly lock, stock and barrel, derivative of Bozo himself.

 

The man in the pointy white shoes (actually, they're whitish, cream color, not true white and they're made for summer wear.

 

And the big guy with the big gut; it's hard to find a shirt and pants to fit a big belly and a big enough shirt that you can button, much less keep your pants up when your gut is so big. Fat men are not so rare in Ukraine, but fat younger women are rare. Older women tend to get fatter very quickly, however, as a diet of mayonnaise, winter vegetables, cucumbers and lots, lots and lots of mayonnaise held together with the abundant potatoes (kartoshka) binds things together.

 

But the young, slender women are a delight (at least to me). Nothing can compare, at least in the US, that I can recall, even when I was in the LA area. There is a famous disk jockey based in LA who also covers S.F. and Seattle (Leykus) and he says a Seattle 10 is an LA 8 (I know, it 's being male chauvinist, but I'm male, and my girlfriend is a model and my last wife looked like a movie star -- challenge me on THAT one if you dare and put some money on it).

 

Well, the beauties of Ukraine surpass most American super beauties, in part because most American super beauties are so well fed, and the Ukrainian women really, really watch their diets. They expect to marry by the time they're 20, no later, and to have kids by the time they're 21, and they must snag a man by then and a man who can love them and support them well and whom they hope will love them. That means taking advantage of every feminine attribute and that doesn't mean they can take advantage of graduate degrees in nuclear physics at that age. .. . . . if you get my drift.

 

And the men often snag a 15-year-old or 16-year-old when they are in their mid to late 20s or early 30s, and provide everything for her so she is loved and dependant on the guy and expected to marry him when she is 'legal' and free to do so. She often is head over heels in love with such a guy as he is expected to shower her with affection and attention, until marriage when he kicks off his shoes, puts them up and demands pivo and to watch sports on the television while she produces babies (and if lucky goes to institute or university, but maybe not, if many husbands get their way).

 

Still the women have a high degree of attendance at university and a high degree of graduation. A clunker here, however, grades (marks) are routinely

'sold' by professors who are paid low salaries or are otherwise corrupt, so no one can value a Ukrainian degree, and that practice starts as young as age 6 or 7 if the parents seem to have the cash. (Pravda! That means 'the truth'.) The Rada, legislature, was even considering making such a practice legal as it was so widespread it was seen as unstoppable.

 

Things are different in Ukraine, but Julia Timoshenko, the new head of state is making some inroads against corruption, although others point the finger at her and her husband. Who's right? No one I know really knows the truth, and it isn't my place to point fingers as I am not privy to the truth.

 

And sometimes I'm a guest, not an investigative reporter.

 

There; more than you ever wanted to know about people who wear fat suits and pointy cream colored shoes.

 

Thanks for contributing.

 

John (Crosley)

 

John, you are one lucky guy. More power to you.

 

You are right about the assertion of foreign women. The famous French actress Jeanne Moreau used to said something to the effect that femininity is a woman's greatest weapon and should be cultivated diligently in the movie "La Femme Nikita". In certain countries this belief is followed religiously and ingrained in little girls at an early age. Beauty not only encompasses the physical aspect but also decorum, savoir faire and sophistication.

like the lines and situation, not to found of post.

regards

In order to realize the goodness of some of my better photos I have to post one that's more ordinary from time to time.

 

This is one of those,,but it's still not so bad.

 

It's just not 'great'

 

Regrettably.

 

Thanks for taking the time to share.

 

John (Crosley)

Pardon my delay in responding to your thoughtful post.

 

I have been savoring the brightness of yoiur comments, all so succinct and well stated.

 

Well said.

 

John (Crosley)

The explicit copyright assertion above, recently was omitted probably through a software error. This is its reassertion. This photo is copyright 2008, John Crosley, all rights reserved.

 

John (Crosley)