Silence of the Lambs

It took 12 hours of sleeping but I left the jet lag behind ready for business in St. Petersburg.  Anyone that knows me at all knows that I am a picky eater.  The free breakfast at my hotel offered some culinary challenges.  I'm not much on carrot juice or eggs or the weird hash that was waiting me.  But I did manage something resembling scrambled eggs, some toast and believe or not cucumbers.  It was the first real food I had enjoyed in 24 hours.

Then it was off to St. Petersburg State which is a very prestigious institution of higher education in Russian.  This lecture had not been included on my original list so the State Department was getting a freebee out of me.  I was told the class understood English so no translator would be needed.  That left me a little worried that I would be short on material because having to translate everything helps fill the time.

I stumbled my way through 45 minutes talking about why Americans aren't big consumers of international news and the students stared back blankly.  I tried getting them to ask questions and I was met mostly by silence until finally a couple of students, both Germans started asking very good and pointed questions.  I made it through the first 90 minutes wondering what in the heck I would do for the last 90.

I went with the tried and true and showed them videos of some very good television stories.  That finally got the questions coming.  I think they were mostly stunned by the quick, tight shots and the frequent use of natural sound.  Most Russian television news is completely lacking in pace and energy.  The storytelling is lethargic.

My host Vera Savko later explained to me that Russian students are usually reluctant to ask questions in class.  These two were Germans who want to come to tomorrow's lectures.  I guess they are gluttons for punishment.  Russian students apparently like to wait until after class and ask any questions in private, which did happen.  It was three hours of what I thought felt like sheer boredom but Vera and the school's dean liked it in fact the dean asked that I come back on Thursday.  Fortunately I am going to another school that I have been before and where the professor there always makes me feel like a superstar.

I declined a drive from Vera and her driver back to the hotel and took the one mile or so walk back to my hotel.  Vera's directions really didn't help a lot but as soon as I got across the river I began to recognize landmarks and found my way back to the hotel with nary a problem.  After I refreshed myself I went on another long walk, about two miles, to The Hermitage.  It was too late in the afternoon to bother paying to tour the place but it felt good to see this beautiful city again.

Right now I'm watching some weird Russian MTV show that is a combination of the Dating Game and stripping.  I'm not sure what to think.  Tomorrow I'm going to make it over to one of the tourists markets and go through one of the historic churches.  I'm just glad I don't feel completely crapped out from the lack of sleep.  Besides, I just have three more days to enjoy this wonderful adventure.

The Major Road Trip that is Flying from Fort Myers

The major road trip that is flying from Fort Myers, Florida to St. Petersburg Russia, got off to a spectacular on Saturday.  Our 12:45 p.m. flight carried me and a couple of hundred other souls to the city of Cincinnati where the airport bars close at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Our scheduled departure for 5:50 seemed in doubt when none of the pilots were on hand for general boarding at 5:05. I spent an hour so with a young man headed to Vegas and working over his iPAD like a dog with a bone.  Man this those things must be fun.

The Pilots stated strolling in about 15 minutes late and boarding began.  It all made me a little nervous because I had 90 minutes to run the gauntlet this customs and made it on to my next flight.

The trip from Cincinnati to Paris was uneventful.  The six foot three inch Frenchman jammed in our middle for a better spot where he could stretch out.  That left an FAA inspector and me with plenty of room for the seven hour plus the food was decent. This plane didn't have the individual monitors where you get to pick and choose what you want, but I degree.  The highlight of the entertainment evening was X-Men First Class and it went pretty much downhill from there.  The      problems involved a epic fat guy snorer and an old Chinese man who spoke in a very loud voice at very early hour. 

Coming off the flight that arrived on time I was worried about my checked bag.  I was reassured twice over my bag would make.  The Paris Charles DeGaulle Airports had some interesting smells which I won't dwell but I do want to say that the customs, security folks, and gate agents were all super nice and super helpful an made this American feel good about his trip.

Loading the plane for St. Petersburg was something of an adventure. It was first come first serve so it triggered a mild case of pandemonium which actually led a rather quick loading of the aircraft.  The Air France crew had to keep tabs on the rather rowdy Russian passengers who don't like following rules.  They served an interesting breakfast, cold chicken, which down right decent.  The gentleman next to me drank red wine with his, the flight attendants seemed shock at my lack of interest in alcohol.

The attendents fill out our visa paperwork on the plane which saved a major hazzle for customs.  I flew through there in record time and my bag rolled out on the carousel not five minutes later and my driver Sergey and I renewed our acquaintance for began in 2008.  Gone was the Amercan Ford beater that he had been driving for a much nicer Sonota.  I was toast so the sites of the city whiz but one can't stop to help think about the massive parks between the airport and downtown that hold the mass graves of the siege of the city of Leningrad in World War II.

They've highjacked my day off, Monday, and I was talk to a group of University students.  I'm going to try to be entertaining as possible.  You know me, I can spin yarns about newsroom activities all day.  Time for some more sleep so I'm human in the morning.

Monsoon City

The beautiful thing about Florida weather is that it rarely rains all day.  You can almost always count on an appearance from the sun.  But as fate would have it the rains came and never dissipated this weekend in Orlando.  We made the trip to catch up with Mike and Katherine Bloemker.  Mike brought his cross country teams from Johnson County Community College hoping his squads could catch some good weather and run some fast times.

Mother nature did not cooperate.  First I want to take a well-deserved shot at Disney.  They charged $14.50 to get into the venue to watch the meet.  I could see charging 5 dollars to get into the meet but this kind of price gouging is embarrassing.  When we arrived at 7 a.m. it was overcast with a hint of rain.  By the time the gun sounded at 7:45 a.m. for the men's race a steady downpour was underway.  At times it rained buckets.  The course quickly turned to slop.

Mike's men did a remarkable job considering the conditions and finished 3rd in the team race.  Poor Mike had to scramble around in the nasty conditions while the Czarina and I hid out in some nearby stands.  By the time the women's race got going the rain started to ease up as the course got muddier and muddier.  JCCC's women executed some nice pack running and beat their main junior college competitors.

The drier conditions allowed us to get a good look at the finish.  The wet conditions slowed down the men's and women's winner by a good minute at least.  But the main purpose was to catch up with Mike, Katherine, and their bruising son Griffin.  The precocious 30-month-old was in his element, rain and all.  He enjoyed running like a wild child around the Disney complex.  It's a wonder Mike and Katherine can keep up with him.

Within 30 minutes of the women's race ending the skies opened up again and it poured non-stop.  That put a crimp in our plans to check out Sea World and it shortened our shopping expedition to Downtown Disney and a nearby outlet mall.  We were relieved to return to Fort Myers on Sunday where the sun was putting in an appearance.

Where Has the Year Gone

The blog has been ignored with a mountain of writing and preparation.  I've always done okay with Power Point but the whole video thing has been a pain in the backside.  The workload kept me from writing about the year that has passed since the 2010 St. George Marathon.  Last year the Czarina and I ventured to Utah to join my friend Craig Davidson as he ran his 200th marathon.

St. George was my 20th marathon and I'm guessing my last.  I detailed the race last year in my blog.  Breaking four hours isn't my idea of running a good marathon but one never knows.

I've only run one race since then participating in a team marathon relay last December running an 8 mile leg in Sacramento's California International Marathon.  Without race goals to motivate me my training really went slack after St. George.  I really didn't get back into the swing of running more than 20 miles a week until April of this year.

Returning to Fort Myers certainly helped in terms of running almost everyday.  But I haven't done anything fast and not a single run of more than 8 miles.  With the soreness in my right hip speed and mileage just don't seem very inviting right now.  Regardless, I'm looking forward to doing some fall racing even if it means barely running under 8 minute mile pace.

The joy of running remains with me.  The weather finally turned in the last week and the humidity suddenly vanished making it even more inviting to lace up the shoes.  I'm sure Craig would have liked to have had some of our weather last weekend when he ran St. George completing his 207th marathon.  It was another hot year at St. George which is unusual.  Craig made it to the finish line in 4:27 and change.  That's more than a half hour slower than last year's run.  Needless to say, there are things about getting older that stink!

Quick Trip to the Land of Czars

The job search went on hold about three weeks ago.  I received an invitation to visit St. Petersburg, Russia in October.  I'm going to visit with Russian journalists to speak about the changing landscape of local American television news. 

This will mark my third visit since 2008 to St. Petersburg.  The picture on the left was taken during my first visit during Russia's Christmas season.  It was an incredible experience.  It was my first trip overseas and a first class experience all the way around.

The second trip came about 15 months after the first.  I made even more friends and became even more familiar with everyday life in Russia living in an neighborhood apartment, learning to navigate my way around the city without getting too lost.  Unfortunately I didn't do the kind of sightseeing I did on the first trip.

This time around I plan to make better use of my free time.  I want to make it to Peterhof which is just outside the city.  I also want to take another walk through The Hermitage.  There's so much to see in this one-time palace that it's overwhelming.

I've even started taking Russian classes.  It's ridiculous that it's taken me this long to make a real effort at learning the language.  It is a ridiculously difficult language to learn.  Sometimes I feel like my head is going to explode.  But I'm enjoying the challenge.  It's like puzzle solving taken to the nth degree.

Sadly my Russian will be sorely lacking when I step off the plane in three weeks.  But I'm hoping that with a lot of studying in the next few months I might be able to actually hold a short conversation with The Czarina.  Now that would be something!

A Concert I May Never See

I've seen every band or singer live that I've wanted to except for a handful.  Obviously when it comes to bands The Beatles would be on that list along with The Band.  I'll never get to see either thanks to the passing of some great performers.  Also on that list is REM, which shocked fans by announcing it's the end today.

REM helped ignite the genre of college or alternative music in the early 1980's.  I didn't pay much attention just like I pretty much ignored U2 for most of the 80's.  But along came a music video on MTV that grabbed me probably more than any video I ever saw, period.  "Losing My Religion" made REM a hugely popular band starting a ride of three very successful albums, "Out of Time," "Automatic for the People," and "Monster."

By the late 90's the band was running out of steam.  "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" was just okay and the albums that followed had moments but lacked the power of the aforementioned trio.  Actually REM's early albums like "Murmur," "Life's Rich Pageant," and "Green" are outstanding in their own right.

When I first saw today's news of REM's retirement on Facebook my guts told me this was about selling records or their inability to do so in today's crazy world where music is stolen left and right.  An article on the band in "Rolling Stone" party confirmed my suspicions.

REM's only choice to make money was to tour.  I'm not sure Michael Stipe, Mike Mills and Peter Buck wanted to grind it out for dollars that way.  They've made a ton of dough already and the lure of touring probably doesn't appeal to the group, especially Stipe, the band's lead singer.  My hope is that a few years down the road someone will pile up enough cash in front of REM to lure them back out for one more go.  In the meantime I'll have to be satisfied with videos like this of my favorite REM song.

Mockingbird Time

Next Tuesday a musical resurrection comes to fruition when one of my favorite bands releases their first new music in eight years.  "Mockingbird Time" marks the reunion of the song writing duo of Mark Olson and Gary Louris making their first album as The Jayhawks in more than a decade.

Olson left the group in 1995, partly out of frustration I suspect.  The band had produced two critically acclaimed albums yet failed to catch on with the main stream.  Louris soldiered on for another six years putting out three more albums including the fabulous "Rainy Day Music" before calling it quits.

The Internet killed bands like The Jayhawks, who had survived on the edge before the rampant theft of music destroyed music sales.  That left touring as the only way to make money and although they had a loyal following I suspect the band didn't see a future for itself.

But that loyal following kept buzz about the band alive, mostly on the Internet.  And then the occasional reunions only added fuel to the fire.  Finally Louris and Olson put out a duet album setting them on a path for a full blown reunion.

I had the pleasure of watching them perform live on a web stream this week from their home base in Minneapolis.  They played a large batch of their new songs and some old favorites for one of the NPR stations in the Twin Cities.  One of those selections is a gem from one of their earlier albums.  It's a song I overlooked until recently and it's certainly one of their best.  Enjoy "Red's Song."