FINE ARTS SHOP

I remember going to the Fine Arts Shop to buy ties for birthday presents. They had leather ties, actually I think they were made of vinyl. They were the perfect present, and cost 150 lei. It was also the place to buy birthday cards made by Mihai Stanescu. (A. V., 97)

In order to make some money, many artists used to put all sorts of objects on sale in the shops of the Artists? Union (the Fine Arts Shops). Bags, belts, leather sandals, dresses and jewelry, all of them of a considerably superior quality if compared to what you could usually find in public shops. For many, it was the only possibility to get to wear something original. (160)

Ocean fish was promoted but not bought. The Romanian fishing fleet was the fourth in the world. There was plenty of ocean fish and as everything that is plenty it was rejected a priori, because you had the feeling it was shoved down your throat. (I. H., 54)

?There is no fish like the mackerel and no football team like Rapid?, wrote humorously Fanus Neagu. The mackerel, brother of the Romanians! There were meatballs, cabbage rolls made of mackerel and you expected one day to eat mackerel chutney and mackerel cake. Chicken smelled of fish, because they were fed with fish flour. The entire Romania smelled of fish. (7)

Adrian Paunescu had two seats reserved at the Polyvalent Hall and he received notes with requests from the public. Somebody asked him, ?Mister Adrian, why do keep the other seat next to you? He answered ?when there is no more room enough for me on the first one, I sit on the second one.? But I?m telling you what we witnessed there was of rare beauty. It lasted until 4 a. m. (A. V., 173)

We listened to Radio Free Europe every evening. Connecting the TV aerial to the radio, we could listen to the whole concert broadcast by Free Europe. Many songs by Adrian Paunescu. And then there was Pitis too?And there were some disturbances and we stuck our ear to the radio set?Everybody was singing, everybody was in high spirits, it was havoc when Paunescu started reciting. They did not shout out slogans. Very few songs were about country, about Romania. There were simple poems, Eminescu?s or Cosbuc?s lyrics combined with music. A lot of people came. There were young and old people that used to come, there was no age limit and the young persons stayed next to the old ones. I liked the Flame Literary Circle, I felt sorry when it was suspended. (A. V., 174)