I was listening to CBC radio the other morning and heard an interview with an author who recently wrote a book on a part of Stalin's life. All i've ever known of Stalin is his hard core communist regime in Russia, and his relations to the capitalist world during the cold war. So the facts I heard surprised me because I guess when you learn about tyrants in school, you forget that they are people too, not just merciless political leaders. Stalin, unlike Hitler, was a huge womanizer... sorta like Truedeau, only slightly more Russian. Photos of Stalin do show that he had an attractive air to him... and yea I can picture him as a man with charm if I want to get all romantic about it, but when you hear Stalin's name, the last thing I picture is smile on his face or smooth talk escaping his lips. Even though he was poor, and young and from humble beginnings, he always had a lover. Age, looks, prestige, didn't matter, he always had a woman. Undoubtedly he never kept any relationships going for very long, nor did he acknowledge any children he may have fathered with these women. Until he gained power, he was an outlaw, a rugged rebel, a charmingly dangerous man. What woman wouldn't fantasize about him? It's just surprising as a youth raised to believe Stalin to have been an enemy to our way of life in the West, it comes as a surprise to hear of the romantic side to such a tyrant.

And to address my favourite tyrant of all time... of course I am referring to Vlad Dracula (Vlad the Impaler, Drakulya, whatever other names are used for him) I learned in speaking with a Romanian friend of mine, that Vlad, although he is notorious for impaling people, and killing numerous people, he was very good to his own people. In Romania, they are taught that Vlad impaled and slaughtered the criminals among his own people and the enemies of his country. Yes, he was ruthless and merciless, but he did everything to provide glory for his people in Wallachia in defending them from the invading Turks/Ottomans. He held such respect in his day that if Vlad was walking out in the streets of town and dropped his wallet on the pavement which held $500 in it, he could returne three days later to pick it up and no one would have touched it, nor dreamt of touching it. You could argue that everyone was scared stiff of him, but if you were living in a country that you had pride in and you were the last region in the land to resist the overpowering invading foreigners and yoru leader was keeping you independant and free, you'd have pride in your leader and respect him immensley. Plus Vlad was capable of emotion, he had a wife whom he loved during his lifetime.

That's all, that's my beginning to this blog. C'est profond I tell you.