The Land of Promises

I visited the Terror Háza (House of Terror) museum first time last week. I was very impressed. From Paris to New York and Washington DC I've been in the best museums in the world, but this Hungarian institution, which is dedicated to preserve the memories of the times of Nazi and Bolshevik terror is better than any museum I have ever been. Great design by Attila F. Kovacs, superbly organised display rooms, intelligent presentations reconstruct the consecutive evils which fundamentally shaped Hungarian mentality in the 20th Century and have a profound effect on the minds of the present generations too. I've been invited to the museum to give a first hand account of my personal experiences during the 1960-70s, for their Oral History archives. Before talking to the video camera I had an opportunity to meet with the director of the museum, Maria Schmidt. I gave her my 'Theremin' book and proposed to make an interactive, multimedia show in the museum, which would detail the life and times of Professor Theremin, the inventor of the world's first space controlled electronic music instrument - and as of most of the bugging devices surrently still in use. The theme would perfectly fit to the goals and style to the museum. Ms. Schmidt was in a hurry, but promised me that she will look into the matter and will notify me of her decision. .................... I decided on the theme of my next WordCitizen show, on May 2, at the Merlin International Theatre. I will dedicate the evening to the culture, psychology, metaphysics and art of lying, which is the most decisive feature of present day Hungarian life. As usual I will start the show with a video piece, created especially for the occasion, then I will proceed talking freely about my personal experiences with the subject, trying to give an accurate diagnosys and methods of therapy. ..................... I called Mr. László Moldován, owner of Katalizator Publishers. I have learned that in spite of poromising me the opposite, he did not apply for a publishing grant for my 'Caribbean Book'. I wish he had notify me of his decision before the application deadline has passed, giving me an opportunity to find an other publisher for the book. It seems that it does not make much sense to collaborate with Mr. Moldován in the future, for he is now proven to be unreliable. He is the 8th publisher who promised me the publication of the book, but - after much deliberation and lying - did not deliver. ..................... Mr. Gábor Pados, the would be publisher of the 'Yippie!' book called. He was freaking out, screaming and yelling, because I put the ongoing saga of the book - including his unfulfilled promises - on the Net, in my Hungarian language blog. I do not want to fight with him, so I deleted the incriminating page, which did not calm him a bit. He promised the publication of the book again, but gave no deadline. ........................... I had a high school reunion last night, meeting with the fellows I graduated with from the St. István high school, in 1964. I felt like partying in a mass grave.