Teaching moment, learn from another's missteps Part 1

[BillyB]

Of course sexual "favors" also work in this bartering type of economy all to well. Not my personal experience of course but let's just say  I've been witness to it.

Let me guess since it wasn't you. It was JD who bent over and took one for the team.

[acrzybear]

Let me guess since it wasn't you. It was JD who bent over and took one for the team.

Billy - THAT was funny

[AnastassiaAsh]

Let me guess since it wasn't you. It was JD who bent over and took one for the team.

    :kissing::crackthewhip: 

[Taz]

As you might remember from the last post the militiia were really shaking me down. They stopped the wrong guy for speeding, me, and wanted me to pay a big fine on the spot and or go rot in jail until I could see the judge in court.

Then it hits me. I have a stroke of genius (or so I hope). I have always done well by being compliant. I reach into my pants and start to pull out my wallet. They start to get excited and one guy says the equivalent of "Now that's what I'm talking about" to the other one. I slowly open my wallet. Their eyes are glued to it now. I make a show of going through my cards and there aren't any credit cards or ATM cards. I then open it up where the cash is. Now their eyes start to get really wide. This is the "money shot" to use a term from another industry.

As I fully open it up their faces just crash. There is a whopping 7 griven. I very proudly pull out the 7 griven and stuff it in O1's hands. I then reach into my pockets and make a big show of offering them every last kopeck I have as well. The look on their face is priceless. I've played the best hand I have but I don't know if it is good enough. Not exactly a straight flush draw but I at least have a full house here, maybe better.

They look at each other for a terribly long moment. I am keeping my smile to show I am "all in". After one of the longest pauses in my life, O2 says nothing but nods at O1. O1 hands me back the money and mumbles something like I obviously need it more than they do. O2 hands me back all my documents and I get the hell out of the car as fast as I can before they change their mind. I speed walk back to the car. I jump in and get out of their as fast as I can.

JD is really relieved to see me and he is definitely surprised and shocked at the same time. JD is just amazed. He asks me what happened. He was sure we were going to jail. He was already trying to SMS his boss to let him know he might not be at work on Monday. I am a bit shocked at this point. I feel I have just been held hostage for about the last 2 hours. I still don’t really want to think about it and I just keep heading toward Kiev. At last we see the lights of the city. It is after midnight now.

I ask JD if he wants to go downtown and look for a hotel or get something to eat. He isn’t really sure what he wants to do at this point. I am pretty whipped myself and I’d be content to go to sleep. We decide to go to the hotel at the airport and call it a night. We don’t have much gas left and the next day is a holiday. We have enough gas to likely make it there and then back to the rental car agency.

When we get to the hotel, there isn’t much available except for a pretty expensive room. I have no cash left on me (7 griven) and my ATM card won’t work so I am pretty much up to JD’s mercy. He thinks it is too expensive and we decide to look for something else that might be a bit cheaper. We can’t waste too much time as we have a flight later that morning.

We decided to head into to Kiev proper. I use the GPS to look for hotels close to us as we don’t have a lot of gas. It shows the nearest one at the airport and then back toward Zap but much closer than any in Kiev. I suggest we just grab a quick bite at McDonald’s rather than wasting a long drive into Kiev and then still looking for a hotel. We look at our fuel situation and it isn’t good either. So far nothing has been open for fuel. I figure that closer to town we will have more options. As we head to McD’s I see a fuel station on the other side of the major road. I note it in the GPS so we can route to it on the way back.

We get to McD’s in about another 5 minutes. We eat and recycle. I also take the time to clean up the car a bit. I take our water bottle and give it a little bath and refill it in the bathroom at McD. I clear out all the junk as I want to just be able to dump the car and go. The Hyundai held up quite well and while I personally wouldn’t buy one of them, I have a grudging respect for them. This car has held up quite well considering its rental service in a terrible environment and likely lousy drivers.

So back on the road in search of a hotel. Gas up a bit on the way with what few griven we have left while saving some for a hotel. JD has some dollars on him but no place to change them. I trust the GPS and it routes to some little dot on the map that it indicates is a hotel. It is a hotel with absolutely no name other than “hotel” in the GPS. I pull up and I can’t tell it is actually a hotel. It is behind a big wall and looks like a house. Some guy is walking outside the wall and I call to him. As luck would have it, he is the  hotel administrator. It is in fact a hotel and they even secure parking for my car. I look at JD and he looks back at me. It must be somebody’s birthday! To add icing to the cake, it is even reasonably priced AND they have openings. Sold!

We drive within the secured compound and get a great parking place. A few minutes later and we are being escorted to our room. Hot damn! Decent beds, clean shower, no sandpaper for toilet paper and even disposable slippers for our comfort and hygiene; I am literal in shock. A little stocked mini bar and nice towels.

JD is about amazed as I am. We quickly head back to the car and the administrator unlocks a shortcut for us to more easily unload our gear. All he asks is we lock it when done. That shortcut saves us at least 10 minutes. I call Lana and she is relieved to hear me but concerned because it is so late. She jokes and asks me if I found another woman. I tell her I found 2 and laugh. She laughs but I can tell she is tired. I cut the conversation short and I suggest she get some sleep. I say I won’t call too early later that morning so she can sleep in. I can still tell she is worried that we got to Kiev so late; smart chick!

So now for a good morning’s sleep and we are ready to hit the road. Off to the airport. We look around as we exit the hotel and we definitely lucked out with this no-name place. We speed off to the airport. We don’t exactly have a ton of time to waste but thankfully it is close. I nurse the car back so we don’t burn off too much fuel. Get to the rental car place and the parking lot is full and can’t park in the rental area. I have to drive up to the main area and waste precious time finding a rental car guy to check the car in. Finally find a guy and he checks the car out and all is ok. We dash into the airport.

JD decides to take a quick smoke. I am not going to wait. I dash in to see a huge line at customs. I sneak my way through and by the time I am through, I see JD at the tail end of the line. I get lucky and there is a free agent for my airlines which is different than JD’s. I get checked right through but I overhear there are some issues in the US. From what I heard all internal flights were cancelled in the US for JD’s airline. My flight isn’t direct to the US but I have a flight to Amsterdam and then to the US and then a drive to home.

Now I am ready for passport control. I have no immigration card but half the time they don’t check. I need it to be this time as well. I’m done well so far so I have nothing to worry about right?

Right! I sail right on through. I am getting settled in at the little Irish Pub and I am getting ready to call Lana. I don’t have too much time to my flight boards and I want to talk with her a bit.

Just about the time I get ready to dial, JD shows up. Just my darn luck. I have great luck with apparently everybody but JD. JD is really stressed. You are probably thinking “Now there is a surprise!” Yes, JD is stressed and for a good reason. He was told the same thing I’d just heard that all internal (US) Delta flights were cancelled. He is thinking it must be a terrorist attack or some other security issue. I am thinking weather.

He asks me if I have Internet. I tell him yes but I don’t have much money on my phone (about 34 griven) and it is expensive during the day. He keeps insisting I check with his airline and see what is going on. I dig out my laptop, connect the phone and can’t find anything related to any security issues on the Internet but all of his airlines flights that I can check seem to be cancelled. We run into a RW/AM couple and she tells me she heard the same thing and they are flying to Arizona and their flights internally are cancelled.

I connect again and search on other websites and nothing to be found to help JD understand what is going on. He wants to check his email too. According to his airline his internal US flight is cancelled with no replacement that day or for either of the next 2 days that I checked.

He will be stuck in NYC and likely miss his fight out for work. He is PO’d and wants me to keep looking. My time is about up and I want to call Lana. I unplug everything and check my phone balance. It says I have 4 griven left. I burned through about 30 griven in 10 minutes or so on the Internet. I ask the bartender if there is anyplace I can buy a phone card and he says not after you complete passport control. Note to self, buy phone card before checking in! I won't be caught on this one again.

I wander around asking people if they have a phone card I can buy. I finally find someone who is willing to sell me one. Of course it is way over face value. I pay about 4 times the normal price. You can’t put a price on love can you? Right? Well I just did, my budding infatuation cost me 120 griven to buy a 30 griven phone card. Talk about capitalism at work in the former FSU.

I check my phone balance again as I’ve learned that not all charges post right away. I punch in the code to check my balance and it is freakin’ negative. I can’t believe my luck. It is as -20 and I only have a 30 griven card that cost me 120 ($24 dollars) and that came from some money I had stashed for an emergency.

I wait another 2 minutes. My card is now -50 g and still dropping by the looks of it. Even if I add the money from my new card, I’ll still be negative. I am so PO’d I rip my phone card out and toss it in the trash. That turned out to be a big mistake. My flight is called to board and I have to dash.

All my phone numbers I’d dialed were saved to that SIM card rather than in my phone itself. I don’t know why it did it as usually it doesn’t, but this time it saved them to the SIM’s phonecard memory rather than the internal memory of the phone. By the time I realized what had happened I couldn’t go back to the trash can as it was on the other side of a security checkpoint.

Every time I received a woman's phone number, I put it in my phone and "test dialed" it while with them to make sure it worked. Back in Zap I had a catastrophic failure with my power supply for my laptop and I couldn’t sync my phone any more with my laptop. As a result I had no backup of my phone data other than what was on my SIM card. All my call logs were lost as I make it point keep only UA numbers on the SIM cards I will call them from.

So here I was as the saying goes, “screwed, blued and tattooed.” I promised Lana I would call and now I had no way to call. Somehow JD had ended up screwing me again and I inadvertently added to it. At this moment I was so ticked off you wouldn’t have believed it.

Intermission time. Coming up in Episode 18 Does Taz ever connect with Lana or is she just think he bailed out after an intense romantic beach session? You know, the love 'em and leave 'em type of guy. Does JD make it back in time for work or does anybody really care?

[AnastassiaAsh]

Yes, we do care. 

[acrzybear]

Taz

You are too nice, with only 34 griven on my phone I would have told JD to go pound sand, I am calling a lady.  JD strikes me as a user type of personality, sort of like a spoiled child.

 I lok forward to your next installment and hopefully things worked out for ya.

[dneid]

OK, Taz,
I know you are busy, but, for the love of Mike, man, finish this?  Don't leave me hanging out here waiting for the finale.  Your story has really hooked me.

[Taz]

Well I’ve been so swamped at work and with helping some other forum members it has been hard to get back to the JD saga but finally I am back on track. Unfortunately I need to veer off a bit before getting directly back to the JD saga.

I’ve had a few people ask me a bit about my background. I tend to be a private person but it might help to put things in perspective to help others. There have also been a few questions about things I’ve alluded to that I’ll try and fill in some of the details but not in this post

So first a bit more about my background. I was born a poor black child. Not really but I love comedy and it seemed like a good way to start by quoting a line from an actor I appreciate. It doesn’t really matter where I was born but my upbringing was in a very mixed cultural environment where English was not the predominant language where I lived. Outside of my parents, I wasn’t around almost any English speakers so maybe it had an effect on my ability to assimilate into many different cultures.

While I was a young lad, I had an opportunity to travel to Russia a few times as well as quite a few other countries. Our trips were due to the fact my father was part of a professional exchange program that shared the advances in his field with the advances of Russians in those same fields. This was an interesting exchange as it took place during the height of the Cold War and was scrutinized quite carefully by both the US and Russian governments.

We initially were in Moscow and Leningrad (you may know it as St. Petersburg which is what was called originally and then renamed back to). As a young lad, I wasn’t subjected to the scrutiny my parents were when we traveled. I’d just go off wandering about all over Moscow. I didn’t speak a bit of the language nor could I read Russian outside of a quasi-understanding of the alphabet.

I didn’t have much to do in the day as I quickly made short work of my studies that I had my teachers prepare a lot of my course work in advance. I’d knock it out and then spend my free time getting chased by the police. What do you expect? What do young boys tend to do? They find ways of getting in trouble of course. Nothing really serious but I made sure I never got caught.

Pretty quickly I made a few Russian friends of about my age. They didn’t speak English but we still had a lot of fun together. I was at that age where I was just beginning to notice girls and of course I noticed all the young lasses I encountered. I wasn’t naïve by a long shot but they sure found me interesting being a foreigner and all. All I’ll say is the feeling was mutual.

Just about the time I’d really start to get in a groove, it would be time to leave. I’d say goodbye to my newfound friends and off we’d go. I’ll never forget times of when we would “sneak” into the Bolshoi Ballet or major concerts. I happened to be a pretty accomplished musician at a young age. At the age of 10 I was playing for city orchestras in addition to my school. As a side note I was offered a musical scholarship to college though I ultimately choose engineering, I still have a deep love of music.

I’ll never forget walking down Nevsky Prospect in Leningrad. I am pretty sure it was Old Nevsky but not 100% certain. I was on a quest to buy an accordion. I was told that Russia had great accordions and I was on a mission to find one. I was told that there was a very good music shop located on this street. I rode the metro for a few stops and set out to find the shop on foot.

As I walked down the street, I was shocked by the sight I saw before me. No it wasn’t some scantily dressed, teenage Russian hottie, but an amazing machine. It was a WWII era Mercedes that was in immaculate condition. It looked like it had just rolled off the assembly line. I was just stunned by it beauty and condition. I was so smitten by it that I didn’t even notice it was parked directly in front of the address I was looking for. After I got done drooling over the car, I turned an faced the entrance to the building.

There in front of me where steps worn like I’ve rarely seen them anywhere else except maybe Rome and other parts of Italy. How can I describe it so you will really get a feel for it? Think of granite or marble steps about 6 inches thick. It is like monument grade stone. No picture them so warn down that at the center of the steps they are about 3” thick and going toward the ends the curve back up to their full depth.

As I walked up the steps, I was struck by how many people must have had to walk up these steps to actually wear them down so much. It is obvious the building had been around for a while. To this day it still amazes me.

I finally get to the top of the steps and I am not really sure it is the right place but as there is a really big heavy door. The outside windows are covered by heavy drapes. I finally open the door and walk into a very dimly lit room. I am almost over whelmed by the smell of death, mustiness, damp rugs and old people.

It took me a few minutes before my eyes adjusted. The stench was making me want to barf all over the place but I suppressed the urge to do so. After a while my nose tired of the smells and my eyes were at least working well enough I wouldn’t trip over anything so I took a few steps deeper into the tomb.

That really is the best way to describe it. It was like walking into a tomb. It was dark, dank, musty and creepy. I about crapped myself when some old guy touched my arm. I didn’t see him come up and I sure as heck didn’t hear him. I was sort of in a self-absorbed trance trying to decide if I should get the heck out of here or if I was in the right place after all.

The guy said something which I didn’t understand as it was in Russian. I answered him in English and he then started to speak with me in halting English. He affirmed I was in the right place. This guy who looked like Gollum from Lord of the Rings was apparently the proprietor. I am not joking, he looked a lot like Gollum in retrospect. He was small and very shriveled. His hands looked like branches of a tree that had grown grotesque with time or for some other reason.

I told him I was looking for an accordion. He walked behind the counter and flipped on an old light. Perhaps you know the kind, the ones with a filament that looks more like a big piece of string. Finally there was some decent light in the room. I could tell now the curtains were those really dark, heavy, theatrical type curtains you would find in an old theater or concert hall.

I could now make out the rest of the room and saw little showcases filled with instruments. I explained to him I played a few instruments but I was looking for an accordion. He asked if I played piano and I said somewhat passably. He walked over to something under a gigantic drape that appeared to be a piano. When he removed the covering I immediately recognized it as a harpsichord.

Once Gollum set down on the little seat, his hands began to dance about the keyboard like a man possessed. He launched into Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and so many more composers that I lost track. He transitioned from one piece into another so smoothly I couldn’t tell where one ended and the next began. I should interject that even though I wasn’t an adult yet, I had been playing classical music for a long time or “since I was knee high to a grasshopper” as my grandpa would say. I definitely was well versed in the great composers and had been trained by one of the best musicians in the world on the instrument I played. Anyway that is a story for another day and forum.

Anyway Gollum seemed to shed 50 years and his eyes shone with an intensity that showed there was still a lot of life left in that old frail body of his. After about 20 minutes of being serenaded, he stopped. I was totally stunned. It was the most amazing performance I’d witnessed in my life. He then begged my forgiveness as he hadn’t practiced in a long time and keyboards were not his forte. My jaw about dropped to the floor.

He went on to say that his real talent was the violin. He walked behind one of the showcases and took out a violin. He began to play and if I was impressed by his ability to play the harpsichord, it hadn’t prepared me for what my eyes heard when he started to wield the bow. I was truly in awe. You know that moment when you are in the presence of a true master of their craft. You know the type of people that receive and incredible talent from God and then polish it with incredible diligence and tireless practice. Gollum had to be at least in his 70’s or so at this point.

I just stood there dumbfounded and listened to him play. It was like having a front row seat to the best concert of my life. He played and played and finally stopped and returned to his normal Gollum-like demeanor. I said his violin had such beautiful pitch and clarity. He said it was a Strad. You know as in Stradivarius but who knows. All I know is the sound was beautiful, he showed me some markings and he claimed he had had it for over 40 years. It all could have been BS but something tells me he might have been right. He showed me around to some of the other instruments he had on display. Some I knew very well. He had a Loree oboe. They are the Stradivarius of oboes. I know them very well as I have one.

It was more of a museum than a music shop. I asked him about the car outside. It was his. Very long story but apparently he survived WWII and being in a death camp by his incredible music ability. It was pretty obvious he was Jewish so I had and inkling there might be an interesting story to his life. It seems the camp that he sent to die at had a few officers who were into classical music. They basically spared his life so that he could entertain them. Somehow he ended up with one of the officer’s car by some sort of testimony on his behalf to help the officer from being killed during the war crimes trials of Nuremburg after the war. After the war he made his way to Russia and ultimately to Leningrad. I am not sure if he was originally from Russia or not but there were a lot of Soviet Jews.

Anyway I spent a few more hours there until I was pretty sure my parents were going to be worried and headed back. I had found an accordion and just needed to come back and get it. He had made me a heck of a deal on it and I didn’t realize how good until we got back the US. I paid at that time $300US for it. When I returned to the US I had it appraised and the shop said it would have been at least $2000 for it not including the super nice case. I also bought a few balilaikas from him as well. He was kind enough to throw in some music for both the accordion and balalaikas.

On the way out of Russia, we were delayed in the Leningrad airport due to terrible weather. Our flight was canceled and we had no where to go as our visas were no longer any good and we had already passed passport control. My parents wondered off to the bar and proceeded to meet some Russians and they shared a few too many bottles of vodka.

I wasn’t allowed to go to the bar so I just sat in a corridor and tried to figure out how to play the accordion with my Russian music and how-to book. I had tried it a little bit after I bought it but I didn’t have much time as we were packing to leave.

I had my music book propped up on the open case. I was fumbling through some songs but getting better. Finally I was getting somewhat proficient and apparently I was doing a reasonably good job on what I later learned were some popular Russian folk songs. Russians would walk buy and drop some money in the case. Some folks had dropped in a few pins By pins I mean the lapel type pins that seem to commemorate everything there. I ended up with some coveted hockey pins. By the time my parents returned I had amassed a fair amount of Rubles and a decent pin collection. My parents were so excited that they had “scored” some pretty rare pins…that is until they saw what I had managed to amass while there were gone. For a kid I’d had a pretty good day and didn’t mind so much that our flight was delayed.

Anyway that is enough of a detour into “Taz Land”. If there is enough interest I can delve in more to other adventures in the FSU. As it is probably obvious by now, I’ve had a pretty in depth exposure to Soviet culture going back quite a ways. As I would say to JD when things are “interesting” that it just “adds to the adventure!” I can definitely say my trips during my childhood really added to connection with the FSU. I really wanted to go back but during that period of time it was so difficult for Americans to get a visa to Russia and you were so closely watched while in Russia. Those are some interesting stories for another day.

I should have the next JD episode posted in a few days it is written but I need to edit it. Thanks to all of you who have been patient but at the same time anxious for the next round. FYI, JD IS definitely going back. He emailed and looks to return to Kiev in April or so. He requested the time off. I don't know if I can deal with him again though quite honestly unless he can do things differently than before.

[SANDRO43]

When he removed the covering I immediately recognized it as a harpsichord.
Once Gollum set down on the little seat, his hands began to dance about the keyboard like a man possessed. He launched into Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms

The last two must have sounded rather quaint on a harpsichord. Any idea what those pieces were ?

[Taz]

Fur Elise as I recognized it immediately as it has always been one of my favorites. Even thinking about it today sends chills down my spine. I can't help myself whenever I walk by an electronic keyboard to dial up the harpsichord mode and play it. Even my kids are addicted to it. It was the first piece I taught my son to play on the piano and next was the theme from "Mission Impossible" followed by "The Entertainer".

He actually played 2 Brahms pieces if I remember correctly. He played the Piano Concerto no. 2 and then the Hungarian Dance (#5 I believe) which he then later played the violin part to the Hungarian Dance. He also played a bit of the Violin Concerto as well. It was a like a whirlwind version of Classical name-that-tune. He did just a little bit of Lullaby on the violin. Of course his knowledge of music was far greater than mine but he was surprised at how many I did know. He had more talent in one finger than most people do in their entire body!!!!

Sandro I am sure you can relate to this as well as some others but there is something about classical music that truly makes it a classic. I know this is stating the obvious but some people just don't understand how special music can be. Very few compositions can truly stand the test of time and still sound fresh and alive every time you hear them. Even after several decades I can still remember some of the details so vividly that I can almost relive the moment and feel those sensations again. Until the day I die I'll always treasure the few brief hours this man gave me and his virtuoso performance. It is a gift he gave me that I passed on to my children. His effect on this earth truly outlived his life.

[SANDRO43]

Sandro I am sure you can relate to this as well as some others but there is something about classical music that truly makes it a classic. I know this is stating the obvious but some people just don't understand how special music can be. Very few compositions can truly stand the test of time and still sound fresh and alive every time you hear them.

They also lend themselves to 'manipulations' that may not detract from their beauty: in my choir's next performance on 14th March, we'll present a 4-voice 'a bocca chiusa' adaptation of the first 16 bars of the Adagio un poco mosso from Beethoven's Piano Concerto no.5 in Eb major op. 73, one of my all-time favourite pieces.

When our choirmaster proposed the idea, I was a bit skeptical. However, I later had to admit that the effect of mixed voices humming those beautiful notes is remarkable .

I wonder if opening a thread on music here may interest a few members .

P.S.: for those not familiar with the piece, here's my MIDI transcription made many years ago.

[dneid]

Hey, Taz,
JD in Kiev in April?!!  Oh, great.  You need to PM me with a description so I can be sure to avoid him.
Really enjoyed your description of the music incident.  I was blessed with seeing Eubie Blake many years in at the University of North Texas (a highly ranked music program) in a small ampitheatre.  The "show" went at least 3 hours and it was Eubie discussing the background behind various pieces he wrote or collaborated on over all the years.  He would then place that piece.  No other instruments, just Eubie and his piano.  Man, was that a magical evening.  From that night on I have been completely hooked on jazz.  I still get chills when I remember that night!  All for $4!!  Gotta love it when a town/university reaches out to the military (I was in the Air Force then - late 70s).  Anyway, your description really brought that night back to the front of my mind.

[Taz]

Not to scare you off, but JD looks a lot like you but with a bit darker hair.

I am glad I could bring back some memories. Memories are the one thing you can carry with you no matter where you go! I was pretty blessed when it comes to music. I had a chance to see a lot of great musicians up close and personal. My best friend's mother, while growing up, was a concert promoter for a very large sports arena in a major city. We got to meet a lot of the bands and had some great seats. I never really appreciated Ozzie until I saw him live, back in the day when he was biting heads off of bats...

On the flip side was Chuck Mangione. Who the hell knew what a flugelhorn was? Wasn't as interesting in concert as I thought he would be. Good musician but terrible stage craft. Then you have someone like Nora Jones who has such an "intimate" concert that you swear you can smell her perfume as it lingers on her hair.

I will have to say that I have seen some remarkable concerts while in the FSU. I make it point of trying to see one every time I am there if there is one even remotely close to one of the cities I am in.

I do think a music thread would be worthwhile. I have a pretty fair sized music collection of classical, jazz, pop, etc. and about 20,000+ Russian songs of varying genre. If you haven't been to a Russian concert, by that I mean a Russian artist in a Russian venue, you really owe it to yourself. It is quite an experience AND a great place to meet women too. I'd wager a lot of you never thought about that angle.

I personally am a firm believer in doing what you love. If you meet someone while doing the things you love, then likely they enjoy the same things you do and you'll instantly have something to talk about. A common foundation from which to work so to speak.  The whole idea of picking some woman somewhat randomly from a catalog goes counter to my intuition. Is this how I'd normally date?

OTOH I can appreciate it's expediency. Hopefully though it is from a reputable agency that knows their clients very well. Sadly there aren't that many honest agencies out there. They can vary a lot under the big network umbrellas so it is hard to know what you are really getting when dealing with them. That is why forums like this are so crucial and as evidenced by the current crop of newbies they took too long to find them!

[Phil dAmore]

Sandro I am sure you can relate to this as well as some others but there is something about classical music that truly makes it a classic. I know this is stating the obvious but some people just don't understand how special music can be

Not to dis the classics but remember people, they didn't start out that way.  At the time they were written it was simply the pop music of that time.  For all we know Mozart was the Britney Spears of his day.

Much like the classic paintings.  So many nudes!.. How do we know that we just aren't admiring what amounts to a very old collection of porn?

Great stuff Taz.. My eyes hurt from reading it ALL in one session, but great stuff.

[SANDRO43]

How do we know that we just aren't admiring what amounts to a very old collection of porn?

Not really. Western music and art were basically the result of two factors:

1. General illiteracy.
2. The Roman Church's innovative intuition: multimedia !

If you cannot rely on people reading the holy texts on their own, reinforce the priest's words with pictures on the walls (an image being worth a 1,000 words) and give them something to hum .

[Raikov]

    It was a job well-done having written about your adventures with JD. Unfortunately he let a few good women slip past him. If I was in his shoes I would of chosen Nastya, Anna, or Gaia as a bride. It seems to me that he was searching for perfection which I believe doesn't exist in this world. Compatibility is far more important than a pretty face, model physique, etc. I haven't finish reading all of it yet, but I hope he has found his other half already or will soon.

[mark2353]

Well you must be a hell of a friend! because I would have given up on the first trip! you are a big boy and good luck. However I must admit the adventure was probably well worth it. Now you have stories to tell.
like I said you must be a hell of a nice guy.

[Taz]

@ Raikov - I think JD passed up on an incredible number of good women. I too think he was seeking perfection. I don't think you'll ever find the "perfect" woman as no such woman truly exists. It is all about compromises that you can either live with or you don't. I don't think you can ever find a woman that will match EXACTLY every area you want.

The question becomes "How close is she to what you want in key areas?" Some things I won't ever compromise on and that is drugs, smoking, insincerity and dishonesty. Most other areas I am more flexible. I know I am not perfect either but hopefully I meet the essential criteria for the woman I am interested in.

@ Mark2353 - I prefer to be pretty modest but in general I would say I am a pretty nice guy. To hear JD tell it I totally abandoned him to go ice-skating when I had no idea of where were going in the first place. He likes to blame everyone else for his mistakes and has a hard time owning up to where he mucked it up. I can admit to where I screwed up. I am  not happy about it but I can try and learn from them when I make them.

JD truly passed on some amazing women. It isn't all about looks but I do believe there has to be some level of physical attractiveness. Do I want a "10", can't say that I do but I sure as heck don't want a "3" either. I am a fairly attractive guy but no model. I need to lose 20 lbs but that is probably the worst thing about me physically. A few members have seen my photos so they could potentially correct me if I am wrong or vouch for my self-assessment.

I think the problem with so many men (and women) is they have unrealistic expectations. They see John Doe with some super hot babe and think they can do as good or even better. Time and again, JD commented that he thought he could do better than the particular woman he was with at that moment. You know, the BBD (bigger better deal).

Several times he walked away from a good potential relationship because he thought he could find someone better. In the next breath and the next woman, he comment that she was too hot and would be trouble when he brought her back home. It is hard to have it both ways. It is like you are trying to find a woman that is a 8.1468 as a simple 8.1 isn't hot enough for him and a 8.2 will get him in trouble. Trying to find that porridge that is just right is very difficult and JD doesn't really have the patience for it.

I personally pay less attention to looks than JD. Over time the bloom will fall off the rose anyway. I better like what is within that shell as ultimately that is what I'll have. The odd thing about this is, by taking this position, I typically have ended up dating far more attractive women than JD in the FSU though arguably women might think he is more handsome than me. Perhaps it is my character that gives me the "bonus multiplier" that bumps up my base score. Honestly I don't really care or compare myself with JD on this level. I am who I am. I am comfortable with who I am and in general I think it shows. I have nothing to prove to anyone but the lady I'll love someday.

I have been one helluva a good friend to JD but so often he doesn't appreciate it. Then he'll treat me like crap and I'll pull out the big gun and shoot back at him with an intensity that tells him he crossed the line and he better wise up or he's on his own totally. Then he normally backs off, realizes he screwed up and apologizes. I try to be tolerant but I am in no way a doormat for anyone. I'll tell people tactfully they can go to hell. My definition of tact is "the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a manner that they actually look forward to the trip!"

[Lily]

JD truly passed on some amazing women. It isn't all about looks but I do believe there has to be some level of physical attractiveness. Do I want a "10", can't say that I do but I sure as heck don't want a "3" either. I am a fairly attractive guy but no model. I need to lose 20 lbs but that is probably the worst thing about me physically. A few members have seen my photos so they could potentially correct me if I am wrong or vouch for my self-assessment.

 The odd thing about this is, by taking this position, I typically have ended up dating far more attractive women than JD in the FSU though arguably women might think he is more handsome than me. 

IMHO, I don't think that you are right about JD's attractiveness.

Another very IMHO - you Taz would not need to loose any single pound. 

[AnastassiaAsh]

Well, well, where are the pics, Taz? 

[Taz]

You need to sign up for the VIP membership before you can see the photos. 

How about I'll show you mine if you show me yours...

[AnastassiaAsh]

No, no, mine are only for very special Canadian-German VIPs! 

[mark2353]

Taz,
i would love to hear more of those great adventures in the FSU. You are filling a wish that I could have done in early in my career. however due to all the travel restrictions I always avoided. So you were truly lucky to experience all it! Sounds like a performance of a life time. thank you for sharing!
I still think you have a great deal of tolerance for JD. Especially when he ends putting you down post occurance. Next time let him swim alone. I am thinking of going in april to Volgograd are you anywhere in the neighborhood? I can use the help.
again thanks great story!!

[Eduard]

Taz,
i would love to hear more of those great adventures in the FSU. You are filling a wish that I could have done in early in my career. however due to all the travel restrictions I always avoided. So you were truly lucky to experience all it! Sounds like a performance of a life time. thank you for sharing!
I still think you have a great deal of tolerance for JD. Especially when he ends putting you down post occurance. Next time let him swim alone. I am thinking of going in april to Volgograd are you anywhere in the neighborhood? I can use the help.
again thanks great story!!

Oh yes, Volgograd...some of the most beautiful girls live there! I almost married one  but then changed my mind. Mark, make sure you bring a neck brace with you, you might need it after looking at all the beauties walking around! have fun!

[SANDRO43]

Oh yes, Volgograd...some of the most beautiful girls live there!

I've always wondered why there seems to be an unusually high concentration of pretties in the former Stalingrad-Volshky area. Any explanations ?