Crime and Punishment

Lviv, Ukraine.  October 26, 2015 3AM

I committed a petty crime yesterday.  When I rode the Trolley or I should say "Tram" like the woman in the tourist office corrected me, several times as I was asking her for directions.

My crime? I rode the Tram without paying.

Since I'm publicly confessing this I do have a public defense, the ignorance of a foreigner. I know ignorance is no excuse under the law but still ......

The trolley, whoops tram, system is marvelous here. You can go anywhere for 2 hryvni which is about 9 cents.   Yesterday I took the tram to attend an organ concert performed with the largest organ in Eastern Europe.

The tram was packed. We were all standing pressed next to each other and I didn't know how I was going to get my 2 hryvni to the driver and get a ticket back.  But then I noticed the passenger next to me was collecting money from a number of other passengers which she then passed with her money on up to the driver fully one tram car ahead of us. This was a multi car tram and the driver was hidden by the crowd of passengers ahead of us and the money collected was quickly out of site as it passed through the hands of these many passengers between us and the driver.

The system seems to depend on the kindness of strangers. And trust.

Which appeared to be justified as tickets came back and were distributed without any apparent confusion about entitlement.  As the passengers got their tickets they used the punch machines mounted on the side of the tram car to perforate their tickets.

So I wondered what would happen since I did not pass my money up for a ticket?

Well I was about to find out, at least about not paying.   As I was musing about this my stop suddenly arrived and I had to get off the tram.  I anticipated the hand clap on my shoulder and the cry of 'stop him".   And what happened?

Nothing. So far at least.

Now in my own defense. let me say that I didn't pay because I was figuring out how this all worked before I parted with my 2 hryvnias - all of 9 cents at current exchange rates. Fortunately, neither you, nor I, for that matter, have to judge on the merits of my defense.  That's up to the judge to decide if it ever comes to that.

It seems to me on a crowded tram, paying is "only" a moral issue.  I don't see how anyone could actually know for sure who had paid or who hadn't. And no ticket collector was in sight and couldn't have moved within the jam packed car if he/she were.

In fact in Hungary the hotel manager told me you don't really have to pay there when the tram is crowded. Apparently, it's up to the driver to collect the fare and he doesn't care or have time to deal with it, or the ability to do so in a crowded tram he is driving.

But not here.  And that's the thing that fascinates me. This is a country with world breaking records of corruption.  But where does it happen?  Not apparently, at least in this instance, at the level of the public. It certainly does happen at the highest levels which is why the last government got thrown out and the present one may also be removed if it doesn't do a better job than its done so far in fulfilling its mission to clean things up.

So this ties in with what I read yesterday in the Financial Times about a place where Democracy is really working well. Maybe working the best it does in any place in the world.  Where you ask?

In Syria of all places!  But just in one particular province isolated by mountains on the Northern border with Turkey.  It's working multi culturally with Arabs, Kurds etc. all participating and getting along together. And even more amazingly, for this part of the world, it's working with women playing a major if not the major roles in government.  The secret seems to be that government takes place at the local community level not at the top where it does here and in most Democracies.  You can read all about it (and should) here.

And this all seems consistent with what I see here.  It is the people who are battling the corruption and created the revolution, not the U.S. as some of my misguided friends think.  No doubt some in the U.S. government encouraged it and wished for it.  But, the U.S. couldn't have accomplished what the people did or are doing.  Ultimately, Democracy works or doesn't work, only if the people, not the elites, or Government, make it happen.

As for paying for my crime?  Well I haven't been caught or charged yet.  But since I'm going public here, I'm buying two tickets for my  next single ride on the tram today. The extra ticket to pay for the one I didn't buy yesterday.

And just to be sure, I'm doing that before I publish this post so I can publish the tickets as evidence.

And here they are. If you look closely you can see they are in number sequence which proves I purchased them both together on one ride.

One other thing. When I was on the tram today a woman started kind of yelling at me.  Then she pulled on my backpack and actually pulled it off my shoulder. Geez what's this?

Well then I saw my bag was unzipped with my computer displayed.  But, before I could zip it back up the woman sitting on the seat next to where I was standing zipped it up and stood up and insisted I sit in her seat as she was getting off the bus.

There is nothing better in this world than the kindness of strangers here in Lviv.

P.S.  One of my favorite things here in Lviv is the many, many ancient trams, a few of which you see in these pictures plus one super modern gorgeous new one which was the scene of my crime yesterday. All of the trams are painted in different colors and patterns.

Except for this super modern model of which I've seen two. It's the sleek green one which I caught a fleeting photo of as it passed by the more typically ancient one I was on as I took the pictures up above. and here again as I caught it this morning on  my way to the castle.

All is not Sunny_

Lviv, Ukraine October 24, 2015.
The weather forecast for yesterday was "Dreary". Very unprofessional I thought. To make a judgment and not just report the facts like "Rainy, Overcast" etc. And incorrect too. The sun was actually out as I planned to climb to the top of city hall tower which overlooks the city.

For the last two weeks I've been physically training for the "assault" on this city's "Mt. Everest" (ok a bit of a stretch) with its challenging reputed-to-be 400 plus stairs. (I counted 406). In my hotel I took the tiny elevator which holds only 3 people (on the left of the picture here) down to breakfast and walked back up the massive double 100 stair (exactly my actual count) staircase as I do every day. Good cardio workout!

By the time I'd made the round trip (down to breakfast and back up to the room) the sun had gone into hiding proving the forecasters right on the facts but not the interpretation. It's never dreary here. On days such as this the city has an equal if not greater haunting charm. And it is the best coffee house weather. Perfect for spending time indoors pursuing my "new career". But, that's a blog post for another day.

Thanks to my physical training I made it to the top of the tower with no more heavy breathing than I heard from some considerably younger than I. And I took some pictures, but will have to do this again on a sunny day when at least for high altitude picture taking there is no substitute Another reason to return to this town. As if i needed any.

Here I've included a picture and video on a sunny day.  The video shows the setting in the historic  medieval square. And if you listen closely, you can here the bell in the tower ringing at Sunday noon.

In the picture of the tower you see here, there is some face lifting going
on. And in front of my hotel they are repairing the road. And one of the city blocks in the old town is hidden behind a wooden fence as they are doing a big new construction job with now a big crater which you only see when you peek (no pictures here for this) behind the boarded up fencing surrounding the site. They are building the foundation for what I fear may be a big out-of-character building.

My fears were stoked further when I walked out of the city hall after descending from my trip to the tower top and found a demonstration where a guy dressed as an executioner was beheading a cardboard figure with a cardboard ax. I just missed photoing the actual execution. I asked a young guy and he told me in broken English that they were protesting the construction going on in the city.

A woman overhearing us broke in to say very emotionally how what they were doing was illegal as this is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But, she said, someone comes along and gives the city a million dollars and then something for the politician to put in his own pocket and it happens. Like her, I find this very disturbing.

However, I don't want to overstate this as I don't really know the full extent of what's going on or planned and this happens in every city where preservation versus development is an ongoing struggle including my own hometown of Baltimore where a cabal of political and social elites threatens to destroy our most famous icon public park, Mt. Vernon Place. Their motivation? Largely ignorance and bad taste IMHO. But,don't get me going on that.

I spent the afternoon in a newly discovered (easy to do here) coffee house, This must be the coffee and chocolate capitol of Europe. The variety of the many cafe choices (it seems every block has one here) certainly makes this a terrific city in which to hang out.

I spent a couple of hours studying the manual for my relatively new SLR camera so I could video a performance at the Philharmonic in the evening. I learned a lot including the basics of how to keep the flash from firing and the beep from sounding so as to cause the least disturbance during the performance. I say I learned a lot but these devices are so complex and the technology so advanced that I barely scratched the surface. 

As I studied I took a lot of pictures trying out the various settings of the camera and as I was packing up to leave a middle aged guy came up to me and asked me why I was taking pictures of him and his friend without asking their permission. Uh oh.

He didn't speak much English and my Ukrainian is extremely limited. But, my pronunciation of "I don't speak Ukrainian" and "I don't understand" is so good, because of the listen and repeat recorded language course I've been taking, it tends to convince the listener of the exact opposite of what I am telling them.

So he went on and on speaking Ukrainian in an agitated manner which I found a bit alarming. Having gotten myself in trouble with advanced camera technology I was, fortunately, able to rescue myself with equally advanced computer technology with my Chromebook computer with, in this instance, an invaluable feature of almost instantly starting without the long delay of my Microsoft Windows computer which I left at home to avoid the risk of theft of my most important personal files and possibly even my identity.

The manual for my camera immediately displayed on the computer when I turned it on and he quickly grasped what I was doing, It wasn't "all about him" net even about him and his friend at all,, And just as quickly we became new best friends with him asking me where I was from, how long I was here for and on and on such that I became concerned that I would be late to the concert.

My time in the coffee house all paid off though as I was able to get some nice videos of the Ukrainian American celebrity violinist Oleg Khrysa.  And how good was the performance?

Well I sought professional advice from the two student musicians sitting next to me.  I knew one of whom had to be a violinist given the shape of the instrument case she had sitting in front of her resting against the balcony guardrail, And,.after some language confusion, she told me "it was beautiful".

Play the video below and I think you'll agree with her assessment as did the audience which completely filled this beautiful and uniquely intimate concert hall.

And if you play the video all the way to the end (just 3 minutes) you'll see something I find especially encouraging here for the future of classical music. The prevalence of youth in the audience including those too young to sit through a concert in America literally jumping for joy as well as a brief shot of my very young concert neighbor to the right of me.

And if you don't know this already let me mention you can make this video full screen by pressing the button on the far lower right.

Enjoy!

Oh Canada!

Lviv, Ukraine 10/21/2015 7:30 AM Oh Canada! The first line of the Canadian national anthem.

 And Canada has certainly struck a chord this week with its rejection of its Conservative Party government. A government that ruled the country for 9 years. And "ruled" was increasingly becoming the right term for the party's domination with its authoritarian leader and the country's Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

 I've been summering in Nova Scotia, Canada for 14 years and the change during that time I found both profound and disturbing. Canada is basically a liberal country with three political parties, two of which are liberal. The three parties divide up the vote kind of evenly although the proportions fluctuate.

So I found it particularly interesting that the Conservatives have managed to dominate in spite of being out numbered by those who support the Liberal party and the even more liberal New Democratic Party. In other words the Conservatives have ruled in spite of having only 1/3 of the voters. Even more surprising to me was the fact that Stephen Harper was able to do this in spite of the fact that he had an unusual lack charisma.

 Don't get me wrong I think leaders without charisma are generally a good thing as they have a greater need for good values and policies since they can't depend on their charm to lure voters astray from their core values. But Harper wasn't a guy who ruled by appealing to Canadian core values IMHO. What are those values?

 In my time in Canada, I've come to believe that Canadians are more liberal, are less materialistic, are more open to immigration and definitely politer than Americans. And they are far less violent with much lower rates of crime. Canadians are less warlike. Perhaps, due in part to their not having the influence of the Military, Industrial Complex that President Eisenhower warned America about. They refused to join in George W, Bush's disastrous Iraq war for which the world continues to pay such a high price.

 But, Stephen Harper did not lead by tapping into Canadian's core values. He lead in spite of his distance from them.

 So what was the secret of his success? He was tough, willing to bend the rules and appeal to peoples' worst instincts and fears. Raising the fear of terrorism in order to give the government greater control. And this isn't about Conservative vs. Liberal. Some of my best friends are Conservative and were no fans of Harper's one man rule over party and nation.

 One must not speak ill of the dead (politically that is). We must give Harper credit for personally prevailing against the odds with commitment and determination for his rule of so many years and in finally delivering a message to Canadians that they must rise up with equal commitment and determination to rid their country of his rule.

 And that's exactly what Canadians did do this week. With a voter turnout of almost 70%, the largest turnout in 22 Years.

 From a personal standpoint I'm extremely happy at the result. As one who loves and admires Canada and is relieved to see it returning to the Canada I knew in the early years of my summers there. And best of all Canada has shown that it is possible to return a country to Democracy. All we have to do is vote.

 Oh Canada!

The Great Debate

Lviv, Ukraine.  11.30 PM

I can't sleep.

I got up at 3:30AM last night to watch the U.S. Democratic Debate live from Ukraine. I wanted to see it live so I wouldn't be influenced by media reports before I made my own judgments.  However, after spending an hour not being able to get the streaming video from CNN, I gave up and went back to bed.

Then at 7 AM this morning I went down to breakfast and got to see the debate on YouTube before I read about it in the news.  And I'm glad I did.

I believe we are at a critical point in the history of my country, the U.S.A.  Like in Ukraine where the people are trying to overcome the huge level of corruption and get democratic control of the government

In the U.S. we have our own corruption.  At the highest level.  With our government controlled by Wall Street and big Corporate money. Not the democratic will of the people.

Our economy in the U.S. is in bad shape, far worse than we realize.  And we are vulnerable to another financial meltdown like occurred in 2008. The worst since the Great Depression in 1929.

One of the topics discussed in the Debate without being explained was the Glass-Steagall Act, a piece of legislation passed by Congress to prevent another Great Depression.  This Act was repealed during the Clinton presidency and so without the protections of the  Glass Steagall Act we got a big financial meltdown in 2008

Simply stated the Glass-Steagall Act separated the high risk Investment Banking business from the Commercial Banking business which holds  all the depositors money.  Without such protection the depositors money was at risk if the Banks' Investment Banking activities lost money.

Which is exactly what happened in 2008.  The Banks knowingly enticed borrowers into borrowing loans that the borrowers did not have the income to repay.  Then the banks repackaged these bad loans and sold them to institutions fraudulently claiming they were sound investments. And they did this on a scale big enough to bring down the entire world financial system. The biggest financial fraud in history.

So what happened to those responsible for the biggest financial fraud in history? Did they go to jail? No.
.
Did they lose their jobs?  No.

Instead those responsible for these criminal activities which caused the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression paid themselves huge bonuses!

How did the Government respond?  It filed criminal charges against the banks.  The banks admitted their criminality in settling and paying billions in fines.  But who paid for the fines?  Not the CEO's responsible for the criminal activity who instead paid themselves big bonuses.

The money to pay the huge fines came from the banks holdings of money,  reducing their assets and thus the value of the banks to their owners, the stockholders. And these stockholders  included large institutions with investments from pension funds, the retirement money of people wholly innocent of any wrongdoing.

And how did the government justify this failure to prosecute those responsible for the crimes?  The U.S. Attorney General at the time said that it would be too difficult to  prosecute those responsible. Well of course it was much easier for him to get the CEOs to pay off the government with someone else's money and avoid going to jail.  And where is this Attorney General now?

He left government to return to his former Wall Street defending law firm with commendation from President Obama who called him "the people's lawyer".  Yea right.  If you define "people" as Wall Street CEOs.

And having learned from the experience of the financial meltdown did the Congress restore the Glass-Steagull Act to prevent a re occurrence of the financial collapse. No they didn't. Why? Because Wall Street which controls the politicians in Congress with its financial contributions told them not to.

So the perpetrators were given a strong message to continue to take huge risks with depositors and ultimately taxpayers money having learned there is no accountability for doing so and if they fail they will continue to prosper.

And without the safeguards of the Glass-Steagall Act  we face another financial collapse. Except this time it is likely to be far worse.  Worse than the collapse in 2008.  Worse maybe even than the Great Depression.  Why? Because the government having taken on huge amounts of debt is in far worse shape to deal with another bailout.

So with all this in mind, it was with great anticipation that I began to watch the debate. The big issue in my mind is whether the voters can get the country back or will big money continue to control the government.  Just like here in Ukraine.  And will the American people show the level of interest in taking back their government as Ukrainians have here.

Here is what I saw in the debate -

Bernie Sanders clearly cares.  He's on a mission.  He's not just another politician.  As a former CFO I can tell you I believe in capitalism but not the crony capitalism we have in the U.S. and the crony capitalism that has cost Ukraine so much.

Normally I wouldn't be drawn to a professed Democratic Socialist.  But with the people power he's demonstrated and his desire to change the corrupt system I find Bernie Sanders appealing as one who could actually make a difference.

Hillary made clear, at least to me, that she isn't going to take on the "Banksters".  She gets a lot of her financing from them.  She's not going to push for stopping the banks gambling with taxpayers and depositors' money.    She will not break up the big banks and they will remain too big to fail and their CEOs too big to jail.

Don't get me wrong.  I have great admiration for her personal grit.  And she is a terrific debater.  But this isn't about her it's about what's best for the country.

The other candidates, James Webb, Martin O'Malley and Lincoln Chaffee would all take a hard line on Wall Street.  While Chaffee showed great courage and common sense in being the only Republican to vote against the disastrous Iraq war, he did vote for the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act.  His defense of that vote was bizarre to say the least.  He pretty much said he didn't know what he was doing being new to the Senate and his father having just died. Probably the honest truth which in politics is really bizarre.

James Webb who I had thought early on was the best of the candidates in terms of integrity and willingness to take on Wall Street gave, I thought, the poorest performance as a debater. Perhaps debating skills influence Presidential selection too much but that's the way it is.

Martin O'Malley gave the best performance of the three lowest polling candidates but not good enough to make him a contender which is fine with me as I'm no fan of the former Governor having seen him in action in my home state of Maryland.

That left Hillary and Bernie where they were before the debate as the only serious contenders. I've thought for some time that the email controversy should have disqualified Hillary along with her vote for the Iraq war and her coziness with Wall Street. But she's still standing.

After watching the debate I ranked the performance as 1. Sanders 2. Clinton 3. O'Malley.

Then I read what the media said.  Clearly Hillary won according to the Media and Washington "experts".

Well if she did I was thinking Bernie Sanders handed her the nomination and ultimately the election as the next President of the United States since the Republican candidates all seem to me to be running only to their base which is not the majority of voters in the U.S.

Bernie handed the election to Hillary by defending her against the Republican attacks and the Media  questions about her use of private email servers for government business.  A major vulnerability for Hillary for which she is unable to defend herself given her inability to explain why she did this and the serious questions about compromising security and breaking the law it entails prompting the current. FBI investigation.  (Note: It isn't just a Republican attack issue. But the Republicans are doing a fine job of making it seem that way and helping Hillary in the process).

Why did Bernie do this?  Because he's a nice guy?  Don't nice guys finish last?

Did he do this because he believes in what he said?  That there's too much talk about this?    Could be. But if he wants to get elected and deal with the bigger issues he can't let the candidate he opposes, who won't deal with the issues off the hook.

Or was this, in fact, a most brilliant move on his part?  He gets to surprise by being not just another politician.  And he scores with Democrats by defending a fellow leader of his party against the Republicans and the Media.

As for who won the debate.  I got to  thinking maybe the Media and the Washington "Experts" have it wrong.  They've been pretty clueless about the anger around the country and the appeal of Donald Trump.

And then I read that the  social media and focus groups and quick polling indicate the people think Bernie won.  Maybe the people are looking for more than a slick debate performance.  For someone who really does care and will deal with the real problems.

One of the reasons I came to Ukraine is that I find it fascinating to see a country and people who are trying to change things for the better.  Taking on big time corruption.

Maybe that's true of the people and voters in the U.S. too. Maybe they are fed up and aren't going to take it anymore.  Maybe they will actually get out and vote.

As Bernie says, no President alone can change the system. The people will have to get involved, vote and stay involved.  And make their government respond. Like the Ukrainians.

On Sunday evening,  May 24th of last year I watched the Ukraine Presidential election returns come in on a huge TV set up on Maidan Square the scene of the mass demonstrations and the revolution here.  I asked a guy dressed in military fatigues standing next to me  whom he wanted to win.  He said "It does not matter. If they don't do what they should do we will return here".

And how is it going in Ukraine?  In a word - slow.  While things are looking up here in Ukraine with Putin seeming to have backed off here and shifting his attention to new adventures in the Middle East and Syria, the outcome of the fight against corruption could go either way. The forces of corruption are still deeply embedded. Although my bet (hope?) is with the people.  That they will persist and prevail.

As for the U.S., it's also unclear how this will all turn out. Whether people power or big money power will rule.  But I am encouraged that the media may be wrong as to who won the debate and that the Democratic party's establishment candidate may not be a sure thing. It may not continue to be "business as usual" in Washington

But as Yogi Berra said. "It's hard to make predictions - especially about the future.

And if you had told me a year ago that I would be cheering for the "Democratic Socialist" in a debate for the Presidency of United States, I would have said no way.  And yet I was.

Musical Feast

October 10, 2015. Lviv, Ukraine

Yesterday I attended an Organ Concert and a Piano Concert. At two different venues.  Tonight I'm going to the Symphony and tomorrow I'm attending the Opera.

In this city it's easy to do this.  The Organ concert was free. Well it is to "pensioners" (seniors). A designation for which the ticket booth lady was polite enough to ask me if, rather than just assuming, that, I qualified.

And the Piano Concert and the Symphony Concert each cost less than $1.50.  No that's not a typo.  Well what about the Opera?  OK that was more expensive.  But just relatively.   It still cost less than $5.00. And these fares are for some of the best seats in the house!

Why so cheap?  Well the long answer is for another day. I started to look into this and got sidetracked. What I found was fascinating, but I'll develop that in another post.  I'm still figuring it out.

But, what I need to tell you is that it isn't really "cheap".  Not at all. The correct word is "inexpensive".  The "quality" is world class.  So the value is extraordinary.
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Now I have to  interrupt this narrative as it is time to go off to dinner and then the symphony.
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OK I'm back again from the symphony.  It was wonderful.  Music I've never heard before. Contemporary classical music which I really liked.  Modern classical music has never sounded as good to me as the old masters. Until tonight. I don't know if I'm changing or whether it was the music.  But it was marvelous.

And it was all by Ukrainian composers.  And all the musicians were Ukrainian.  I need to see if I can get CDs or DVDs of this music while I'm here in Ukraine.

The orchestra was excellent. The Lviv Academic Youth Symphony Orchestra. Mostly young musicians as you'd expect.  With just a few grey hairs where needed, I guess.

The conductor was a young guy with incredible energy and the most rapid movements I've ever seen by a conductor.  He had one particular movement I've never quite seen before.  A very rapid flick with his left hand to get the hair out of his eyes.  A movement not so needed by older conductors I suppose.

So I decided to take a video of his conducting.  But just as I did the music slowed and the great rapid movements were gone and then the piece was over.   So I decided I'd take a video after the intermission.

But, alas.  He didn't return.  The second half was conducted by a much older conductor.  Don't get me wrong. some of my best friends are elderly.  Including. some might say, me. Although I don't much see it that way :).

The older conductor's movements were as slow and as understated as the younger's were rapid and dramatic.  And yet there was no doubt that the musicians and the music were just as responsive to the older conductor.  Sometimes  as they say "less is more".  Or maybe in this case "less is no less".

As I walked home I found myself saying "I envy the young conductor (particularly his need to flick the hair out of his eyes :).  But "I am proud of the older conductor" with his ability to get as much out of life in a way which is possible and more appropriate for him.

When I got home I decided to check out the conductors in the program brochure.  The young guy's name was Natalia Ponomarchuk.

What?  Natalia?   Could that be?

Thinking the conductor I saw was a last minute substitute not shown on the program and not Natalia, I checked her(?) out on the Internet. And yes indeed it was her conducting. How could I have been so mistaken?

Well she was dressed formally as any male conductor would be in this part of the world.  Black pants, suit jacket and a white shirt. But come to think of it I was somewhat surprised to note that she had an open collar. No tie.

In my defense, I'm arguing that anyone could have made the mistake I made.  And I was in the very back of the hall in the balcony. So I didn't see her from the front as you'll see her in video below.   Here's a picture of her from the Internet.  Could be a young guy right?

Well actually I picked this picture out of all the others which would not allow such a mistake as I made. She's clearly an attractive woman.

The other big (biggest?) reason for my mistake, maybe, was  that I wasn't expecting to see a female conductor.  This is an example of seeing what you expect to see.  Even if, like me. you pride yourself as having an open mind.

In the world of classical music, female conductors are very, very rare. Look at any symphony orchestra and you'll see lots of women.  But, not on the podium.

In fact At the end of 2014, music listings website Bachtrack reported that, in a list of the world's 150 top conductors only five were women.

So I checked further on the Internet and found that this young conductor is one of the most sought after in Ukraine. And she's conducted orchestras all over the world.  In Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Italy, Poland, Russia, China and Mexico.

But, I note, not North America.  Or the USA. So this gives me an idea.

The first woman to become Music Director -  (Main Conductor etc.) of a major US symphony orchestra is Marin Alsop.  And the orchestra?  The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In my home town. So when I get back home I'm going to see if I can lobby Marin Alsop to invite Natalia Ponomarchuk to be a guest conductor.

Not that I have much clout to achieve this.  But, I am a loyal attendee and do go to all the concerts.

More importantly.  I believe Natalia Ponomarchuk is a unique talent. One of the most interesting I've seen and heard.  And while no music expert, I have seen a lot of conductors over the years.

The opportunity to have this Ukrainian artist make her US and North American debut in Baltimore is unique. An opportunity too good to pass up IMHO.

And it seems a natural to me for Marin to want to support a fellow (if I can use that word) woman conductor. I imagine Natalia would be delighted  to accept.

It also strikes me that this would also be a unique opportunity to give recognition to a fine representative of Ukraine, a country striving with great courage to achieve freedom and independence as vividly portrayed in an incredible new film documentary "Winter on Fire".

I regret not taking that video of Natalia when I saw her perform.  But here is one I found of her on the Internet.


I I I
vi

Alive in Lviv

Lviv, Ukraine. Oct 8 2015 11:30AM

I'm back in Lviv, Ukraine. I got (maybe) a total of 1 hour of sleep in the overnight flight to Vienna from Baltimore and a just maybe 5 minutes on the following flight to Lviv. I arrived in a daze and almost tipped over walking on the sidewalk in town.

My old smartphone sim card from Ukraine no longer worked so I had to get a new one ("Life" card is best for data here). Did that right away so I could email family about safe arrival.

Other changes since I was last here?   Airport was VERY busy.  I asked airport info lady why. More tourists? Are people discovering what a great place this is?  She thought it is seasonal. (Last time I was here was in the Spring). Not sure that makes sense. Will further check this out later at Tourist Info.

Another big change is heavy construction on the road in front of my hotel replacing/upgrading cobblestones on this main road.  My hotel is in the centre overlooking an historic square.  Glad I saw it before construction. But it's really not too bad although the air quality is a bit affected by the construction dust.

They welcomed me back at reception.  Nice to be where they know you.  Like TV program Cheers. "where everybody knows .... your name". This is my third time in Lviv and at this hotel.

Another big change it's cold.  41 degrees now. High 50 today.  I planned on this and have lots of layers - so I could travel light .. like with packable down vest, fleece sweater, turtle neck, T shirt, and shell jacket. Found this works great and takes up very little room in carry on bag - essential to avoid checking bag which is a no no for me.

I began to wonder last night what I would do here this time.  I'll be here in Lviv for 3 weeks. Is this too long? However, I woke up after a great 8 hour sleep and am feeling great and excited about being here. So much to do.  Nice to be here in one hotel for 3 weeks and can really settle in, unpack and make myself "at home".

I'm going to check in with the two Universities.  Ivano Frankivsk University, to see if they want me to attend some English classes as a "sample native American English speaker".  I decided I didn't want to take on the time commitment and responsibility of teaching English here, but would still like to help out if I can be of use. "American" English is much rarer here than "English" English which accounts in large part I think for their eagerness to have me teach in spite of my lack of qualifications to do so.

The other major thing I want to do is pursue my mobile app development ideas with the professor at the Politechnic University whom I met last year and with whom I discussed working  on one of my app ideas.

And then of course there is the pure joy of living and experiencing in this beautiful city with such a great cultural environment of classical music, architecture, etc. All at bargain rates and without the crush of tourists in comparable but much more "discovered" cities like Vienna and Prague.

Even the Post Office here is beautiful.  I found this out quite by accident when I wandered into it as I passed by on the street.  Always a good idea to wander down streets and into buildings on a whim when traveling.

I feel very fortunate to be here and Alive in Lviv!

Ukraine Trident Ascending

Kyiv, Ukraine.  May 31, 2015.  I was looking out my hotel window onto the Maidan (Independence Square) the scene of the Orange Revolution in 2004, and last year's revolution.

What I saw was a group of 20 or 30 people moving down the street supporting a bunch of blue and yellow balloons. Blue and yellow are the vivid bright colors of the Ukrainian flag.

When you travel by train from Lviv to Kyiv as I had a few days before you get to see, across the immense flat terrain, vast yellow fields of grain stretching to the horizon under a comparably big blue sky.

The blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag give prominent, appropriate and proud recognition to these colors which accompany Ukraine's unique geography, position and important contribution as "The Breadbasket of Europe". Yes Ukraine does matter and not just to Ukrainians!

Not knowing the purpose of this balloon procession, I left my room and hastened down to Maidan Square to see what this was all about. I then saw that they were bringing the balloons to the center  of the square, having, I believed, failed to launch them into the sky.

This was not about just a bunch of balloons. The balloons were being assembled in the shape of the Ukrainian Trident. The Trident is Ukrainian's coat of arms. An important  symbol of its unique identity as a country and culture.

You see the trident  on clothes, shirts and hats, posters. Everywhere.  And importantly in the pattern of the candles laid out on the surface of Maidan Square to commemorate the fallen heroes. The Heavenly Hundred I discussed in a previous post.

So what I was hoping for, and hoping real hard, was that they would be able to launch this Trident successfully. That it would soar into the sky and be a hopeful sign of what was to come for Ukraine. I am sure that my hope was shared by the crowd which gathered and grew as we all waited patiently and with intense attention.

It did not concern me that they were having difficulty in launching the Trident as long as they were ultimately able to achieve liftoff.  For me the difficulties signified the reality of Ukraine's struggle for independence and that it was and will not be easy.

And indeed there were obstacles to this launch. First the challenge to balance the balloons in such a manner that the ones on top filled with helium were sufficient to provide liftoff while the ones on the bottom filled with air  were of sufficient mass to hold down  the base of the structure.

Properly done the Trident would stand erect and also face, not sideways, but directly towards the crowd as it rose into the sky. Thinking about this later I better understood the failure of the first attempt that I had witnessed from my hotel room and the long delay in getting the structure positioned and balanced just right. This was not an easy task to accomplish.

After quite a long wait a man came across the square holding a bunch more of yellow gas filled balloons. These were then attached, somewhat painstakingly where I assumed they would provide lift off, if all went well.


And then gradually the ropes tying down the balloon assembly were loosened and ever so slowly the structure began to assume the shape of the Trident.

After a bit more time the ropes were completely released and the Trident began to rise but very very slowly.

As the Trident rose it became apparent that  a breeze  was pushing the structure towards Maidan Square's 200 foot high Independence Monument. Uh oh.


I certainly did not want to see it collide with the monument.

Then it occurred to me that even if it did successfully pass by the the Monument it had to get past the massive Ukraine Hotel directly in the path it was moving.

So what happened?  Click on the Video below.