Hey, you! Yes, you! Did you hard-core Vikings fans see this quote from my close, personal friend Patrick Reusse on Tuesday in the STrib?

This conversation took place in the press box at Denver's Invesco Field on Sunday as the Broncos readied for a kickoff: Person A: "Who is that No. 54, running around like a complete idiot and playing to the crowd?" Person B: "This probably will not surprise you. Number 54 is former Vikings great Patrick Chukwurah." Later, Pittsburgh's Tyrone Carter -- another former Viking -- came in during garbage time. He took a shot at a receiver, ignoring the potential for an interception, and then celebrated madly. So, the eternal question was laid out for all to see in the AFC title game: Does acting like a fool lead you to the Purple, or does playing for the Purple turn you into a fool?

I had to laugh.....loudly. I didn't even know that Chukwurah (whom I called 'Wookie') was still in the league. But to slightly quarrel with Reusse, every team has idiots who celebrate every tackle and such as if they've just single-handily won the Super Bowl. To single out our formerly beloved Vikings is just down right malicious (insert heavy dose of mockery here). I guess that is what happens when you are near retirement and become a bitter old man.

LightScribe

I bought an external HP CD/DVD burner this week. I wanted to start playing around with LightScribe and this HP model has that ability. LightScribe is an innovative technology that uses a special disc drive, special media, and label-making software to burn labels directly onto CDs and DVDs. Because the labels are laser-etched—not printed—there's no ink, no smudging, and no peeling. And it looks cool as well. Here is my first go at it using a background image of Powis Castle in Wales:



It worked great! I was a little disappointed in the burning time which was about 17 minutes, but the results are outstanding and very professional looking. Anyone else have a LightScribe burner? What do you think? Any hints that you can pass along?

To St. Petersburg

Continuing my little personal thread on my 1995 trip to Russia we now turn from Moscow to St. Petersburg. We had left Moscow late in the evening by traveling on the famous Red Arrow.



We each had a personal berth on the very comfortable train. As well as a bodyguard complete with an Uzi. That made us feel safe and uncomfortable at the same time. One of the retired seniors in our tour group recounted the time he had traveled the same route in the 1950's. At that time, no one was allowed to even look out the windows as the train moved along as the shutters were locked shut during certain parts of the route to St. Petersburg.

We had a comfortable trip, however. And arrived on St. Petersburg the next morning ready to begin looking around Russia's window on Europe. One of the first places we visited was the famed Peterhof palace on the Gulf of Finland. Founded in the very beginning of the eighteenth century by Emperor Peter the Great not far from his new northern capital St Petersburg, Peterhof was intended to become the most splendid official royal summer residence. It has over 170 fountains, the most famous of which is the Great Cascade as pictured here:



We arrived on a perfect autumn day and were met by a performing band that struck up some American numbers for our entertainment. We then we taken on tour of Peterhof and its numerous gilded statues of ancient gods and heroes, remarkable collections of sculpture, painting and works of the minor arts.



The inside of the palace was spectacular as well and I spent a lot of time exploring the architecture of the various themed rooms. But as I said earlier, the weather outside was just too nice to spend a great deal of time indoors.



It was then the The Wife and I discovered the outdoor gardens. We did a study of the gardens and brought back many ideas for our own, such as this overlaying pergola which was one of the reasons we built our pergola.



What was amazing is on our return from Peterhof we stopped at several WWII memorials placed just a short distance away from the city of St. Petersburg. We learned these were memorials to show how far the German army had advanced in the war. I wrote down the story of one of the memorials as follows:

The Germans reached the outskirts of what was then Leningrad but they weren't able to conquer it beginning a siege that lasted for 900 days, from September 8, 1941 till January 27, 1944. The city (whose population then totaled nearly three million people) was completely cut off from the rest of the country, and it was Hitler’s intention to literally starve the city into submission. Food and fuel stocks were very limited (1-2 months only). All the public transport stopped. By the winter of 1941-42 there was no heating, no water supply, almost no electricity and very little food. In January 1942, in the depths of an unusually cold winter, the lowest food rations in the city were only 125 grams (about 1/4 of a pound) of bread per day. In just two months, January and February, 1942, 200 thousand people died in Leningrad of cold and starvation. But some of the war industry still worked and the city did not surrender.

Harrison Salisbury, in his book 900 Days: The Siege of Leningrad, wrote:

This was the greatest and longest siege ever endured by a modern city, a time of trial, suffering and heroism that reached the peaks of tragedy and bravery almost beyond our power to comprehend...Hitler’s attempt to wipe Leningrad off the map resulted in an almost unequaled example of courage, strength and determination from the city’s populace. In the midst of this misery, Dmitri Shostakovich was composing the Seventh "Leningrad" Symphony, a work of music that bore the stamp of genius, from a man who himself had suffered Stalin’s scorn. When he finally finished the symphony, there were only 16 members still alive of the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra, which had previously numbered over 100. And the symphony was scored for a large orchestra. Signs were put up all over Leningrad, asking any musicians who were still alive and could play an instrument, and could get to the symphony hall to assemble. Word got around and musicians came from all over the city and from combat units, and assembled to rehearse this Seventh Symphony. For an entire week this ragged group of tired, sick, emancipated but incredibly dedicated musicians rehearsed the symphony. On the day of the performance, the commander-in-chief of the city’s armed forces ordered his heavy artillery to knock out as many German guns as possible so that there would be no interruptions in the performance. As the bombardment subsided the first note of the symphony sounded. The performance was not only the most emotion-laden presentation of the work imaginable, but was surely one of the most electrifying concerts ever given. Whatever the technical shortcomings the performance might have had counted for nothing; the impact on the audience was truly extraordinary. In January 1943 the Siege was broken and a year later, on January 27, 1944 it was fully lifted. At least 641 thousand people had died in Leningrad during the Siege (some estimates put this figure at 800 thousand). Leningrad still remains a symbol of Nazi brutality and aggression on the Eastern Front.

That stuff kind of sticks with a chap for some time. It still resonates with me.

Back in St. Petersburg, we also visited the Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood. This marvelous Russian-style church was built on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881. Alexander II was assassinated in 1881 by a group of revolutionaries, who threw a bomb at his royal carriage. The decision was taken to build a church on the spot where the Emperor was mortally wounded. And as you could see by the linked photo above, it is an architectural magnificent building.

I could go on talking about the magnificence of the Hermitage. I could talk about the beauty of St Isaac's Cathedral (as seen here at dawn) which was right outside our hotel window. But you can look up all that yourself as those places are famous and well known.

One palace that I also fell in love with was Tsarskoe, also known as Catherine the Great's Palace. I bring this up because it was Catherine the Great who transformed St. Petersburg into a truly European city of Imperial pretension. The arts, music and education where patronized by her and Catherine pumped millions of rubles into the creation of the Hermitage collection. No other Russian monarch appreciated beauty as much as Catherine; she set the stage for the emergence of a national Russian culture that would emerge as something unique and wonderful in the 19th century.

The facade and interior of Catherine the Great's Place is very European. The architecture and landscaping is typical of what I expect in Vienna or at Versailles. The only addition is the gilded domes.



Again, the weather on the day that we visited was exceptional. We strolled in the outdoor gardens and visited every room inside the palace itself. Want to see a magnificent Grand Ballroom? This grand ballroom was itself a piece of art!



Posted by maasx003 at January 25, 2006 01:29 AM