  Highly effective conversion of kinetic energy into abundant particle
multiplicity is the remarkable feature discovered in high energy heavy ion
collisions. This short and pedagogic review addresses topical issues related to
the understanding of this phenomenon, originating in the creation of the
deconfined quark--gluon plasma phase. I consider in depth the apparently
simple, yet sometimes misunderstood, intricate issues: a) statistical
hadro-chemistry, chemical parameters, b) strange flavor chemical equilibration
in quark--gluon plasma, and c) particle yields and sudden hadronization, in the
historic perspective of work and competition with my friend Jozsef Zimanyi.
