The essence of the gods slowly makes its way into my cup. Being old school, there is no reason to move or engage in mental activity without that first sip of Columbia’s second-most favorite export. The cup is full, and the first sip is consumed. Thoughts turn to the alarm clock. It is set for August 31, 1924, and the location is Coberg in Bavaria. The duration is for an hour. The puller plunger finds us in the town of Coburg.
It is here that Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia, a former officer of the Imperial Russian Navy, first cousin to the late Tsar Nicholas II of the Russian Empire, and grandson of Tsar Alexander II, proclaimed himself to be the Tsar of all the Russias as the closest living heir to the Tsar Nicholas who was murdered by the Soviets in 1918.
This announcement was made, and we know that Kirill sought to regain the monarchy but was unsuccessful until he died in 1938.
Just as the announcement was complete, our alarm takes us back to the trusty couch. A text from Linda Hill is waiting that reads: “Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “school.” Use it as a noun or a verb; use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
To see what others have done with the prompt, visit Linda’s post. https://lindaghill.com/2024/08/30/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-aug-31-2024/
School by John W. Howell © 2024
“So old Kirill spent some time trying to regain the throne?”
“Yup, and it never happened. He even promised to keep elements of the Soviet system.”
“Did he live in Germany till he died?”
“No, he bought a place in France and lived there.”
“This information is certainly obscure these days.”
“Yeah, I guess it is.”
“How come I never learned this in school?”
“Unless you were into Russian history, it isn’t something that commonly comes up.”
“I suppose it is like VooDoo Ranger.”
“Gee, three minutes till that subject came up. I give. How is VooDoo Ranger like Russian history?”
“Unless you have sampled it, you have no idea what you have.”
“Call Uber, for heaven’s sake.”
“Done. He’s right over there.”
Photo by Dan Antion
“Wow, that looks like a 1951 Chevy dump truck.”
“With snow plow, I might add.”
“We have the old squeeze play in the front.”
“I wonder what riding in the dumper would be like.”
“You go right ahead. School me later.”
Fiction Favorites 
Interesting take on Russian history, John…
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History no one is taught.
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Dear John
thanks for this short lesson in Russian history.
Coburg is quite a beautiful little town with an impressive castle of the house of Saxon-Coburg.
We wish you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Thank you, F4oC. A very interesting time between 1917 and 1929
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We agree with you, dear John.
In the beginning after the 1917 revolution especially the arts were flourishing. Actually it was the beginning of a lot of Avantgarde ideas like the Russian structuralism (earliest structuralism), like Kasimir Malewitsch who painting his famous black square 1919, the feminism with the idea of free sexuality of Alexandra Kollontai (influenced by Clara Zetkin) just to mention the most influential tendencies.
It all went down after Lenin’s deteriorating health after the attack and the upcoming of Stalin.
Anyway, I am amazed that you seem to know about all this. When I was teaching at American universities then students as well as teachers were quite ignorant of the cultural movements after the 1917 revolution.
All the best
Klausbernd 🙂
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One of my passions is history, Klausbernd. My fiction books are loaded with it and I am a constant student of early 20th century history. I believe what occurred then has had an influence on the way things are now. The Soviet era of Russia is particularly interesting right up until Glasnost.
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very neatly done all round John 💜
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Thank you, Willow. 😁
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a pleasure 💜😁
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😁
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Squeeze in, boys. That Voodoo Ranger isn’t going to pour itself. Interesting bit of history today, John. Crazy things make this world of ours go round. I hope you have a nice easy weekend,
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Thank you, Dan. WVU and Penn Sate game today. Also Notre Dame and Texas A&M. Go Mountaineers and Irish. Makes for a good weekend. 😁
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Go Mountaineers and I can even support Notre Dame in this one. I tried to get tickets for the WVU game. My brother and I were going to go, but two tickets were going to be over $800 for crummy seats and parking was about $150. We decided to watch on TV. $800 is more than I paid for out-of-state tuition in 1973-76.
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I loved your comment about out of state tuition. The Producer went to WVU for the same reason. Much cheaper than Penn State.
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Best do rock, paper, scissors to see who has to change that flat first.
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I know right? Thought I would ignore it.
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Maybe it’s the driver’s responsibility.
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Well, we are paying good money fro the ride.
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LOL It doesn’t look like the Uber will get very far. 🌻
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Looks like we will have to carry it. A couple of VooDoo Rangers and we can do it.
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Right on! Let’s go! 🌻
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You have the left side.
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LOL All righty!
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🤣
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Fun take on Russian history, John! I’ll stick with Uber on this one! The snow plow could come in handy though! 💓
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I think it will later in the year. Thanks, Cindy.
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🩷👍
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I guess the Grand Duke is lucky he wasn’t assassinated after he claimed to be the Tsar. Riding in the back of that dump truck could be uncomfortable on the way to pub, not so bad on the way back. 😊
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Yeah, On the way back anything is possible. Thanks, Tim.
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That truck can really help with traffic around here.
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I think it could help almost anywhere.
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Well, I’m a little better schooled now. I didn’t know that about Krill. You met this challenge well, John!
We could that truck and plow around here some days during winter!
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I’m sure the truck would be happy to help. Thanks, Deborah
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As always, brilliantly done. Not much need for a snow plow in Texas, especially these days. 🙂
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I can only think of using it to clear the dead moths off the roads in West Texas.
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Make certain he’s an experienced operator before sitting in the plow!!!!
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Good idea. I’ll bet chunks of concrete could result from wrong way handling.
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😮 Ow!
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Oh yeah. That city worker wants to talk to us.
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If he can catch me!
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Yeah running is a good idea.
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That is an old dump truck – what a find! 👍🏻
“How come I never learned this in school?” Right! A thousand plus times.
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Thanks, Michele. 😁
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Welcome! 🛻
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Wouldn’t want to have to ride in that dump truck. I wouldn’t really mind watching that though. 👀
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Might be pretty dirty. 😁
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I’m betting!
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Interesting bit of history. Ummm… that uber, I dunno, John. Hope you make it to the pub!
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Looks pretty sketchy for sure
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That it does…
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Karol must not have had good campaign managers like Vlad has when he gets 85% of the electorates’ votes. Even Joe didn’t get much…although he tried😉😉😉
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Well, Vlad has a way of convincing you to vote his way. 🗡 Thanks, Steve.
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Makes you wonder if Grand Duke Kirill’s last thoughts were “boy was I schooled in duplicity,” doesn’t it? Imma gonna guess that Uber ride isn’t gonna be nearly as easy to handle as a couple of VooDoo Rangers.
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I think you are right on both counts, Monika. 🤣
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So, did Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia have any kids?
I thought there was no living bloodline of Russian royalty on the planet. I could be wrong.
How is VooDoo Ranger like Russian history?
They are both bottled up!
Alrighty, heading to the art show!
🐂 👑𝖃 🍺🍻 🐖
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Here is a profile of Kirill’s 3 kids.
Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia (2 February 1907 – 27 October 1951) married Friedrich Karl, Prince of Leiningen on 25 November 1925. They had seven children.
Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia (9 May 1909 – 8 September 1967) married Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia on 31 October 1938. They had seven children.
Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia (30 August 1917 – 21 April 1992) married Princess Leonida Georgievna Bagration-Moukhransky on 13 August 1948. They had one daughter.
There are plenty of great great grand children running around
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No kidding!
Wow.
Thank you for this John! I appreciate it.
💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋
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😊X
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That Uber gives new meaning to down in the dumps, but hey, if learning some Russian history is the key to a Voodoo Ranger, then have at it!
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😊 Russian learning goes better with VooDoo Ranger
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I hear that.
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😊
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Hi John, I didn’t know this about a potential Russian Tsar. I thought all the potential heirs were killed. An interesting post.
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He had three children who all had children so there are plenty of heirs should Vlad want to get back to a monarchy.
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Hmmm, an interesting thought.
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Thanks for the history, John. The ole’ Uber should be a fun ride…maybe not.
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Might be a fun carry if we could get enough people. 😁
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I’m in. 😀
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Need 99 more.
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😅
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😁
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Well played with the school prompt! I wasn’t aware of the Grand Duke’s attempts to regain the monarchy. For some reason, that rusty old dump truck appeals to me. The aesthetics of rust maybe?
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There is something attractive about rust. Says experienced.
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