The Yolk of Communism

Easter weekend. Time to give our "Paskhalinka" Russian egg-decorating plastic-film wraps a whirl. We'd picked up two packs, both with traditional Russian motifs; one like "Palekh" lacquer boxes, the other patterned after "Gzhel" porcelain. Each had designs enough for 3 eggs, though we discovered that the label was made of the same material, and used it to make the above exemplar for instructional purposes. These are as follows: (1) cut the film along the perforated lines into separate sections; (2) hard-boil your eggs and let them cool; (3) stick an egg into the plastic ring of film; and (4) dip the ensemble into boiling water for 3-5 seconds. A brief demonstration for the hard-of-reading:



Prior to egg-dip, we had our doubts, but the space-age plastics and thermal technology, whether Soviet or post-, did not disappoint. Maybe the plastics engineers should be thinking extra-large, and I don't just mean free-range. What if more things in Mother Russia were shrink-wrapped, like Christo wrapped the Reichstag, or like Nescafe disguises scaffolded buildings like monolithic steaming coffee mugs? Why not give Red Square a homey, welcoming facelift by parboiling Lenin's mausoleum into a wrinkle-free plastic coating of Khokhloma? For an extra couple thousand grand, space tourists could blast off from Kazakhstan in trendy rocket-wraps of their own choosing.

ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATE...
Tales from Russia upcoming since travel authorization nearly obtained! Tourist visa invitations were ordered, tourist support was granted, invitations and related fees were paid for in full, confirmation voucher was faxed and picked up at Tallinn Central Post. Visa application forms (no. 95) were filled out. These, alongside voucher and photos were submitted, perused, authorized; invoice drawn up, processing fee disbursed. Potential refusal due to missing or unreadable stamp, unreliable support or unpredictable whim, thus far averted. Passport pick-up time set for one week hence; passports, in the meantime, on file awaiting visa-sticker insertion. Let's us all spit three times over our shoulders in unison, shall we?