The Sopranos Rolling Stones

 

        Citizens of a small town in Germany protested and rejected a plan for a new munitions factory to be built in their town, according to a report in yesterday's New York Times.

        The town is Grossenhain, located in the former East Germany.  During the decades of the Cold War, East Germany was a Soviet "satellite" -- the article said people in the region were left with both a lingering fear of, and an affinity for, Russia.

        Interesting.

        That's an effect of people being terrorized and oppressed, I think.

        It's like:

(East Germans whispering) - we're terrified of those horrible Russians.

(East Germans calling out loudly and cheerfully) - Hello, Russia, we llloooovvee yoooo...!

They got over 200 Reader Comments under the article.  One woman in Germany answered a New Jersey resident's comment:

Helge

Germany  |  Oct. 3

Actually, the EU and major European countries (Britain, France, Poland, Germany) have delivered and pledged many Billions of Dollars, both in monetary aid and weapons, to Ukraine.  In terms of %GDP, this is higher than what the US delivered and in total the amount is quite similar (read Mr. Krugman's article on this in this newspaper).

Do not mistake a small town in East Germany for Germany.  And do not mistake opposition against virtually any change for a strong specific sentiment.  Among the older population there is something that may be called "affluent neglect":  They oppose any change, any investment or any industrial development.

Propose to build windmills?  Against.  Propose to construct a new major road?  Against.  Propose to construct a new industrial parc?  Against.  Propose to build transnational high performance power lines?  Na, not in my region.

Often times such people are retirees with plenty of times at their hands, and little to benefit from such changes as they see it.  Sometimes that can be quite maddening.

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        Season 2, Episode 13 of The Sopranos has a song by the Rolling Stones at the end.  I was so happy!!  Usually Mick Jagger has lead vocals, but this was a rare occasion where it was Keith Richards.  Love Keith.

I have watched the series all the way through a couple of times, and I didn't realize it was the Rolling Stones.

        (They don't appear, like on a stage or anything -- their song plays in the background while you're watching a scene.  Sometimes I miss it the first time, even one of my favorite songs or favorite artists, in a tv show or movie, because I'm fully engagaed in the story.  The music seeps into the mind subliminally, in support of the scene.)

        The song is "Thru and Thru" from the Stones' 1994 album, Voodoo Lounge.

♪ ♪

Any minute, any hour

I'm waiting on a call from you...

On You Tube, type in:

The Sopranos, Rolling Stones

and you can hear the song and see the scene.

        Playing the episode this time, while taking care of "homework" - work at home - I finally realized what it meant when Tony has a dream where there's a row of fish, and one of them talks to him - it's foreshadowing another character is going to, in mob parlance, "sleep with the fishes."

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