Unlike other old coastal towns, Bar was built far from the sea, at the foot of Mount Rumija. It only went out to sea at the beginning of the 20th century, when Prince Nikola threw a stone into the water from his yacht "Rumija" and symbolically marked the beginning of what later became the Port of Bar.
Ulcinj, Budva, Kotor, Perast, Herceg Novi... had a great maritime tradition when Bar, in the sixties of the last century, accepted the benefits of its geographical position by founding "Prekookeanska plovidba". Until then, the main economic branches in Bar were trade and craftsmanship. And that spirit of commerce (and commerce, they say, is the least creative form of human activity), connected with the eternal Palanac spirit, seems to have remained dominant all these years in this (still) small town.
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These days I feel like my father did 74 years ago. In 1948, to what he thought was a harmless question, whose side would he be on if America and the Soviet Union went to war, he answered: Of course, on the side of the Soviet Union, not realizing that this sentence would stick in his throat for years afterwards. It's true, no one (yet) asks me to make up my mind about the current, terrible war, but regardless of the intolerable hypocrisy and double standards in the world, I would answer: I'm terrified of war and I'm on the side of whoever is most deserving of signing the armistice!
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My friend lost his pet cat. And he grieves and cries so much that he is uncomfortable. He asks me if those tears are normal or the result of his inner turmoil and age. I relaxed him with a story from 45 years ago when my Angora cat Mićo died. I didn't speak a word for forty days, except when I was forced to. And I've never forgotten Professor Mirjana Gojnić that she gave me an A in biology out of sheer calmness, just to cheer me up a little. She said to my father, her colleague, "I don't know what it is, but I can't look at him so sad."
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A teacher in an elementary school in Bar wrote on his Facebook:
"In a sea of bad news and events, it's nice to write down something positive. This morning I come to work and in the school yard I hear what a father is saying to his son: 'Listen to me carefully and remember, I will tell you an old and wise proverb – if you throw a stone at him, you will throw bread at him!' I almost went to hug him. This was a salve for my ears, because for days I have been listening to hate speech, unfortunately, among children as well as among parents who advise the child: If someone touches you, you should return the same measure!"
In my time, we hid our legs like a snake from our parents if we had a fight with someone, so as not to receive additional beatings from them. Today, parents immediately go to seek justice, because in "Zadruza" and other reality programs, as well as in the comments on social networks that shape public opinion and set standards of behavior, no one questions themselves and their actions, but immediately tears at the one they think made a mistake.
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I accepted the director's offer and since February I have been a member of the Radio Bar. When will I if not now, when I have neither ambitions nor illusions. And I'm counting: maybe I can, at least with my experience, contribute to making Radio Bar a truly public service. This further means that I will refrain from political comments in this blog in the future.
With this, for the first time in the history of Radio Bar, a "triple-double" was made, in basketball terms, because, 25 years ago, I was the editor of Radio and, a little later, of "Bar newspaper". But, judging by the fact that I was the editor of the Radio for only six months, and the newspaper for two issues, I do not believe that I will meet the rapidly approaching retirement (another three and a half years) in this workplace.
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"It's terrible. Man takes nothing from this world. Not even memories. And yet we should express our deepest gratitude to nature for giving us the power to remember. What would a man do without memories?" (Danilo Nikolić, writer and journalist who died in 2016 at the age of ninety-one)
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If, dear readers of this blog, every day is not March XNUMXth, then do not accept that the upcoming March XNUMXth will be March XNUMXth.
Bonus video: