Sunday, March 30, 2008

Pictures of the Mandolin

Last week I wrote about my new mandolin, and said I would post some pictures of it. Today, I fulfill that pledge. This is a beautiful instrument, and I am sure I will get lots of enjoyment learning to play it.


Opening the case


The mandolin

Sweet Home Alabama, Comrade?

There are some things in the world that are just so out of their place that they just seem very odd. Case in point . . . the Finnish rock band, Leningrad Cowboys, did a concert in Russia, and recruited the Red Army Choir to sing with them. What was one highlight of that concert? Why what else but an English version of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama. Somehow, you get the idea that the closest any of these guys has ever been to Birmingham or Muscle Shoals is Vladivostok. Looks like Nikita Krushchev got it wrong when he proclaimed, "We will bury you!"