What Exactly Is A Black Russian?

    

Tucson Weather Today

 

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I have often heard mention of a Black Russian? Strangely enough, I never bothered to find out what it is exactly. Now, at age 74, having become more curious than ever, I decided it is time I investigated the subject.

I discovered that:

The Black Russian is a cocktail of vodka and coffee liqueur. It contains either three parts vodka and two parts coffee liqueur, per the Kahlúa bottle's label, or five parts vodka to two parts coffee liqueur, per IBA specified ingredients.

Traditionally the drink is made by pouring the vodka over ice cubes or cracked ice in an old-fashioned glass, followed by the coffee liqueur.

 

A variation is the Dirty Black Russian, Tall Black Russian, or Australian Black Russian (also known as a Colorado Bulldog), which is prepared in the same manner as the Black Russian, but served in a taller glass and topped up with Cola.

Not yet satisfied, and looking further, I found: Afro-Russians (also called "the blacks") are Russians of Black African descent, including black people who have settled in Russia and their mixed-race children.

It is thought that the first Afro-Russians were a group of 20 men from Ethiopia who came as diplomats of the Abyssinian Empire, some of them being originally purchased as slaves and transported to the Crimea by Ottoman Turkish traders in the 1670s as gifts of diplomatic friendship from Abyssinia (as Ethiopia was otherwise known) to the Russians.

It is estimated that there are currently 40,000 - 70,000 black and mixed-race Russians.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union racism and xenophobic sentiments have increased in the modern Russian state, particularly, due to mass immigration and falling birth rates amongst Slavic Russians. Afro-Russians are subjected to threats and violence on the part of ultra-nationalists and white power skinheads.

For Russians of African descent, the first black U.S. president is a potent symbol of triumph over the same challenges they themselves face in a country where dark-skinned people remain rare and often unwelcome.

Obama Visit To Russia

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TRIVIA

The Incredible Hulk was born gray. It wasn't until issue No. 2 that Bruce Banner's alter ego turned green, and that was because the printer couldn't hold a consistent gray.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1784, four counties in western North Carolina declared their independence as the state of 'Franklin'. The counties lay in what would eventually become Tennessee. In defiance of Congress, Franklin survived as an independent nation for four years with its own constitution, Indian treaties and legislated system of barter in lieu of currency,

The creation of Franklin is novel, in that it resulted from both a cession (an offering from North Carolina to Congress) and a secession (seceding from North Carolina, when its offer to Congress was not acted upon, and the original cession was rescinded).

North Carolina set up its own parallel government in the region. When Cherokee, Chickamauga and Chickasaw began to attack settlements within Franklin's borders in 1788, Franklin quickly rejoined North Carolina to gain its militia's protection from attack.

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WORD FOR TODAY

coprolites
noun
Fossilized excrement.

A coprolite is fossilized feces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour (in this case, diet) rather than morphology.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

River Jude Phoenix
(Aug 23, 1970 - Oct 31, 1993)

River Phoenix was an American film actor, musician, and activist. He was the older brother of Rain Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix, Summer Phoenix and Liberty Phoenix. Phoenix's work encompassed 24 films and television appearances, including the science fiction adventure film Explorers, the coming-of-age film Stand by Me, the action sequel Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and the independent adult drama My Own Private Idaho.

On October 31, 1993, Phoenix collapsed and died of drug-induced heart failure on the sidewalk outside the West Hollywood nightclub The Viper Room.

Barbara Eden
(born August 23, 1931)

Barbara Eden is an American film and television actress and singer who is best known for starring as the title role in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.

Gene Kelly
(Aug 23, 1912 - Feb 2, 1996)

Gene Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director, producer, and choreographer. Kelly was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks and the likable characters that he played on screen. Although he is known today for his performances in An American in Paris (1951) and Singin' in the Rain (1952), he was a dominant force in Hollywood musical films from the mid-1940s

Shelley Long
(born August 23, 1949)

Shelley Long is an American actress best known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers, for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress and two Golden Globe Awards.

 

She has also starred in several motion pictures throughout her career like Night Shift (1982), her Golden Globe nominated role in Irreconcilable Differences (1984),The Money Pit (1986), Outrageous Fortune (1987), Hello Again (1987), Troop Beverly Hills (1989), The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), and Dr. T & the Women (2000). Most recently she has had a recurring role as DeDe Pritchett on the ABC comedy series Modern Family.

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The only difference between me and those other great Yankees is my skin color.
--Reggie Jackson

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