Bill Murray's Blog, page 82
July 28, 2017
Russian President Visits Finland
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Presidents Niinistö and Putin from my vantage point yesterday on the dock at Savonlinna, Finland. After official talks the presidents took a short tour of the lakes of Eastern Savo before a night at the opera.
July 27, 2017
Visit with Presidents Niinistö and Putin
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We’ll be heading an hour or so up the road to the lovely little town of Savonlinna, Finland, this afternoon for opera with the Presidents of Finland and Russia. This year President Putin attends the annual Savonlinna Opera Festival to mark Finland’s centennial anniversary, celebrating 100 years from it’s 1917 declaration of independence from … oh … whoever.
The performance, and dinner for dignitaries beforehand, will be held in this castle:
As we are no dignitaries, we will not be dining. Maybe just some maalaisperunalastu in the car over (they’re mighty good). We are just hopeful the tickets we bought online several weeks ago will get us into the same room as the Great Men.
Looks like the Russian and Finnish armies have pretty well taken over Savonlinna:
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Quotes:
According to the President’s Office, Putin and Niinistö are not in sight in the Savonlinna region. President’s spouse Jenni Haukio is not involved in the visit. Presidents do not meet the ordinary people at any stage.
and: the police of Eastern Finland have distributed a newsletter where residents are asked to avoid staying on the balcony and opening the windows between 15.30 – 17 and 20 to 24 (on 27 July). The residents have been told these two slots.
From Itä-Savo, the local paper
We’ll be back here tomorrow to report.
July 22, 2017
2:58 a.m. Sunday
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Jet lag. From the front porch near Varkaus, Finland, 2:58 a.m. Sunday, 23 July, 2017.
July 15, 2017
Weekend Reading
By the time this post goes up I’ll have pulled back from the internet in part for some longer form reading, but mostly for sausage grilling, beer drinking, bonfire-making and swimming in Lake Saima in Southern Savonia, Finland. Meanwhile, I leave you with a few intelligent articles to enjoy:
Down on the border. One day on the Canada-U.S. line by Jason Markusoff, Nancy Macdonald, Aaron Hutchins and Meagan Campbell in Maclean’s.
Turkey’s Hidden Past by Christopher de Bellaigue in the New York Review of Books
Russians in Estonia by Cody L. Zilhaver at thestretegybridge.org
The Time of Our Lives by Raymond Tallis at thenewatlantis.com
Now to Stride into the Sunlight by Ian Jack in the London Review of Books
All week I’ve been staring at a stack of too many books to fit in my bag. Two or three of these will make the final cut:
Bears in the Streets: Three Journeys across a Changing Russia by Lisa Dickey
The Cyclist Who Went Out in the Cold: Adventures Riding the Iron Curtain by Tim Moore
Congo: The Epic History of a People by David Van Reybrouck
Last Hope Island: Britain, Occupied Europe, and the Brotherhood That Helped Turn the Tide of War by Lynne Olson
Lenin on the Train by Catherine Merridale
and as for page turners, at least one of:
The Dogs of War by Frederick Forsyth
The second book in the Faroe Islands trilogy, The Killing Bay by Chris Ould
The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen
The Good People by Hannah Kent, imported in advance all the way from Australia
Do you have any suggestions? What must-read am I missing?
If you’re stuck where it’s hot, may I suggest for your summer reading the cooling goodness of my own book, Out in the Cold?
CS&W the blog will probably be mostly quiet for the next couple of weeks. For now, kippis!
July 13, 2017
Elephant Rescue
They say it’s not that unusual but I’d say this is remarkable:
Swimming trunk: elephant rescued from ocean 10 miles off Sri Lanka coast
July 11, 2017
Quotes:
Donald, Jr., who was photographed triumphing over a dead elephant, has decried restrictions on silencers as a restraint on sportsmen.
Amy Davidson in The New Yorker.
July 9, 2017
July 7, 2017
Weekend Reading
Possible poolside reading for your weekend:
How Eclipse Chasers Are Putting a Small Kentucky Town on the Map by Lucas Reilly at Mental Floss
The G20 in an Unjust World by Alexander Jung at Spiegel
Racing the Storm: The Story of the Mobile Bay Sailing Disaster by Matthew Teague at Smithsonian
The man who went on a hike – and never stopped walking by Robert Moor in The Guardian
Monocle’s View From Nowhere by Kyle Chayka in The New Republic
Friday Photo Quiz #12
First, the answer to last week’s quiz: That lazy little capital city nestled in the hills is Windhoek, capital of the beautiful southwestern African wcountry of Namibia. The other photo is from the “dead vlei,” part of the Sossusvlei desert area out by the coast. Here are more photos from Namibia, a lifetime must see destination. Photos from EarthPhotos.com.
We’ll be pausing the photo quizzes for a few weeks after today so that your author can head for a little rest and relaxation by the lake, then we’ll be back in early August with more photo quizzes up until the Labor Day holiday. This week, an easy quiz. For better or worse, this landmark remains square in the center of this country’s capital city, a former “gift” from the ruler of an adjacent land. Can you name the city? The country?
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Leave your best guess as a comment. I’ll put all the correct answers into a hat, draw one, and the winner of the drawing gets a copy of the audiobook version of my book Common Sense and Whiskey. It may be that the winner must be in the USA for the Audible.com download code to work.
Win free stuff every Friday this summer. New photo every Friday, drawing the next Thursday, winner notified by email Friday. Good luck.
Now: What’s your guess in this week’s quiz? Go ahead, give it a try. Guesses accepted.
July 6, 2017
Reliving the 2015 Eclipse in Svalbard
This was my flash bulletin, the first photo from way up north after the total eclipse on 20 March, 2015:
See more coverage of that day here.
