Generation Expat

Budapest Week 15-Year Reunion, Sept 9 2006

Yes, folks, that's right, it's been 15 years (and six months or so) since the first issue of Budapest Week newspaper, and we are seriously overdue for a party!!! To help facilitate the reunion and put people back in touch with one another, Steve Carlson and I have founded an email discussion forum using Google Groups (if you're interested in joining, click that link and request to join; make sure to use your name, not just your email address, and remind us who you are, so we don't start opting in spammers, stalkers and other freaks). Here's how Carlson introduced the list to members:

Hello All,

Rick E. Bruner and I set up this mailing list to bully and cajole you into purchasing an airplane ticket and schlepping out to Budapest to join us on September 9 for the 15th annual Budapest Week reunion party.

Yes, those of you in the know are already thinking 'wait, wasn't our beloved rag launched on March 15, 1991? That is correct. And in order to collect your prize you must travel to Budapest and meet us on September 9th.

Fifteen years after the fact, the definition of 'us' has become distinctly blurry. For example, we've included Bart Edes on this mailing list despite the fact that he was an agent of our sworn enemy, the Budapest Sun (or was it the Post?). I don't believe we ever published Matt Welch or Ken Layne (however much we might have wanted to). Who the hell is Gregory John McIlvaine?

Fifteen years after the fact a LOT of things are blurry. What I am still doing in Budapest? Do I know you? Did we meet somewhere at a party?

Feel free to follow Christian Heppinstal's example and fill us in about those missing years. Where do you work and who are you sleeping with? How many of your friends and colleagues can actually locate Budapest on a map?

I will now count to 'five' backwards. When I reach 'one' you will awaken with a burning desire to immediately purchase an airplane ticket and travel to Budapest to relive your glory days in Eastern Europe following the fall of Communism.

We are waiting for you.

Steve Carlson

Currently, members include:

Adam LeBor
Adrienne Haspel
Alison Rose
Bart Edes
Bess Rattray
Bob Dent
Brent Schimkie
Bruce Lewis
Bruno Bourel
Caren Chesler
Chirstian Heppenstal
Colin Woodard
Daniel Langenkamp
Dave Rimmer
David Landry
David Sterling
Desmond McGrath
Desouza
Dick Bruner
Dork Zygotian
Doug Arallenes
Doug Merrill
Drew Leifheit
Dunkcan Shiels
Edwin Tuil
Elysia Gallo
Emmanuelle Richard
Esther Holbrook
Gabor Burt
Gabor Vajda
Gregory John McIlvaine
Hadley Kincade
Henry Copeland
Hugues Martin
Ian Macdonald
Jannes Hartkamp
Jeff Taylor
Jennifer Clemente (nee Brown)
Jim Lowney
Joan Stein Schimke
John Nadler
Julius Strauss
Kate Carlisle
Kati Szephegyi
Ken Kasriel
Ken Layne
Ken Pasternak
Kester Eddy
Kevin Ebbutt
Kinga Bartfay
Kip Bauersfeld
Laura Chappell-Brown
Lucy Hooker
Marianna Csuka
Matt Welch
Michael Jordon
Nick Denton
Pablo Gorondi
Paul Hockenos
Pearl Gluck
Peterjon Cresswell
Rachel Elson
Rick Bruner
Rodney Jefferson
Sam Loewenberg
Shari Spiegel
Sherri Hay
Simon Evans
Simon Hamer
Steve Carlson
Steve Saracco
Strick
Szilvi Csorba
Theressa Agovina
Tibor Szendrei
Tim Randall
Tom Popper

Here are folks we're still trying to find or otherwise cojole into joining the list:

Andras Torok
Balint [Photog]
Blake Steinberg
Cathy Connolly
Cathy O’Connor
Cheryl Loof
Curt Clemens
Dave Del Torto
David Finch
Eileen Brown
Eric Kuhn
Evan Ballinger
Gergely Poharnok
Istvan Butala
Jim Michaels
Judy Sollosi
Mike Stone
Miles Graham
Milorad Krstic
Richard Rifkin
Robert Toth
Ryan Tutak
Sandor Lazko
Serge [zany Russian/French]
Steve O’Connor
Susan Milligan
Susan and Rob Luke
Tibor Vidos
Tim Knox
Tim Smart
Todd Williams

Have we forgotten you? (So sorry! Just drop a note.) Do you know of one of the above people's email addresses? If you're in doubt as to how to proceed, drop me a note at rickbruner at gmail dot com.

Simon Hammer at the Beeb

I got a note today from Simon Hammer after he found our site. He's a producer for the BBC's Today  program (or "programme," as he wrote). Google turned this up:

The pressure is on for studio producer Simon Hamer, who's responsible for making sure that everything from outside interviews to the pips at the end of the program go out on cue.

Christian Heppinstall's Alive and Well and Living in Alaska

Just a quick shout out to direct all of your attention to the web site of our long-lost brother in arms ChristianHeppenstal.com. Seems that he's living, acting and directing his heart out in Ankorage, AK.

Contemporary Nomad

Good buddy John Nadler writes (admittedly a few weeks ago, at this point) to alert us of a new blog of interest, Contemporary Nomad, written by a group of Budapest expats "to discuss the expatriate experience, expat literature, all literature, and really just the view point of being an exile with a laptop." Obstensibly, the contributors are John, Olen Steinhauer, Robin Hunt and Kevin Wignall, although Olen seems to do the lion's share of the posting, I have yet to see a post attributed to Nadler and for reasons unclear Robin Hunt appears to post under the pseudonym Heath Greene. Whatever. It is in any event a good read.

Photos From Rick's Recent Budapest Trip

Lots more photos from my recent trip to Hungary. Here is the complete set. Here are those of some of our gang of Gen Expat friends. Here are my overall trip favorites.

Laura Had a Baby!

I'm delighted to share the news that Laura Chappell-Brown is now a mom of this beautiful baby girl! Frankly, I'm a bit hazy on some of the details, like the exact birthdate (about two weeks ago), the baby's name (update: "Isabelle"), whether the baby's last name will be triple hyphenated, and so forth. Laura does send me occasional emails, but she's been writing to an old address I rarely read anymore, so some details are buried in an old computer. I know she married a Danish architect and builder named Carsten (last name unknown), whom she describes as "desperately charming," and that they bought a gorgeous house somewhere north of Manhattan (she sent me a photo and the town's name, but again, it's lost to the old computer). Anyway, what's important is that she's blissfully happy, and who wouldn't be with this cutie to cuddle?

Prague Fest, Expat Party in NYC, Sept. 10

"OBA" (who prefers to remain pseudonynomous due to prying corporate overlords), a one-time writer for Pragnosis and then Prague Post (buddy of Matt Welch and the gang) alerts me that he and some friends are planning a party for East Euro expats in the NYC area on September 10 at the Bohemian Hall in Astoria, Queens. Dubbed "Prague Fest," they've gone so far as to create a web site for the party.

Richard W. Bruner Profiled in the Arizona Star

Here's a nice profile of my dad in the Arizona Star, explaining why he moved to Budapest to get away from Red Amerika and more background on his political awakening after WWII.

Maass on Oil and Dictators in Mother Jones, NPR

Heard the voice of Peter Maass on NPR's Morning Edition the other moring (listen to the interview) talking about the dictatorship of Teodoro Obiang in Equatorial Guinea, propped up by U.S. oil companies, based on a piece he wrote in Mother Jones this month.

Woodard's New Book: Lobster Coast

Congrats to Colin Woodard on the publication of his latest book, Lobster Coast: Rebels, Rusticators, and the Struggle for a Forgotten Frontier (details on ColinWoodard.com and Amazon). As blogger, I can't be bothered to fact check, of course (a sad little joke; Colin is something of a blog cynic in my experience), but I gather from scanning the itinerary of his book tour that it was actually published a few months ago. Sorry I'm late. If I may permit myself such an unsupportable opinion, if it's half as good as his first book, Ocean's End, it should be highly recommended reading. Would make a great stocking stuffer.