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Most of my students have watched many Hollywood movies and appreciate learning about IMDB.com. It’s a great website filled with information. Some of you may be curious as to what my favorite movie is based on my top 10 list. It was difficult to put in any particular order so I alphabetized my list. Figure out which movie goes with this photo, THAT is my favorite movie? 
1) As Good as it Gets 2) Ben Hur 3) Casablanca 4) Chariots of Fire 5) Citizen Kane 6) It’s a Wonderful Life 7) Life is Beautiful 8. My Best Friend’s Wedding 9) Princess Bride 10) The Gods Must be Crazy I and II
Answer to Trick question: Who should get the credit if your camera was used to take a picture of YOU? Well, the person who took it, of course. But if you submit a photo for the First Annual WIUU Photo competition from your family album, YOU will get the credit, especially if you write information of the people’s names, the year and where the old photo was taken. Submit as MANY photos as you want that you have scanned and are at least 30 years old or older. The oldest submission will get a prize, as long as there is proof that it is from that particular year. Start gearing up for the Digitial Photo competiton. Four categories: 1) Portrait/people 2) Animals 3) Nature/Landscape and 4) From Your Family Album.
Six year ago, Dr. Shannon Lucid, NASA astronaut came to WIUU to speak to my freshmen students in the fall of 2001. What a thrill to hear this wise, accomplished woman, who happens to be a Grandma, talk about her 5-6 months up on the Space Station Mir and her time spent with two Russian cosmonauts, the two Yuris. We wondered how they could tell one Yuri from the other when their name was called. In such close quarters up in space, she claimed it was not a problem.
My Ukrainian students were in awe of this universe traveller, as I was, because Shannon seemed so “down to earth” and not wanting to have any publicity or any of the limelight. She said that from outer space she and her fellow space travellers could see Mongolia had a forest fire and they reported to Earth what they observed. Sure enough, the people in Ulan Bataar didn’t even realize it until they were notified. Shannon had a special interest in Mongolia and traveled there to visit after her week long visit in Kyiv.
Shannon spoke of one recurring question that she was asked upon her return to earth by those who were skeptics. They asked, “Did you see God up in outer space?” She told us her answer was, “No, and I’m glad I didn’t see God because, if only the privileged few who get to fly as an astronaut or cosmonaut are the only ones able to see God, that would leave all the rest of the world out. God can be seen in every intricate detail around us on earth.” She spoke with authority as a Ph.D. in biochemistry and with a clear Christian emphasis.
As a seasoned pilot, Shannon would commute back and forth from her Texas home to Washington D.C. since she had a prominent government position in DC after her months in space. Shannon currently holds a world space record for Americans and for women. I nominate Shannon Lucid as my ideal woman for International Women’s Day!!! (BTW, she also roller blades!!!)
Seventy-six years ago movies, as we know them today, have existed. I know this because my North Dakota relative recorded in his 1930 diaries what he watched: Gold Diggers, Marriage Playground and The Love Parade. Thanks to IMDB website I read that Gold Diggers was produced in 1929 and was the second full length color and sound feature film ever produced. Unfortunately, this gem was shelved into oblivion except for some Australian who had another reel of it stored in his archives. Apparently it was redone again in 1933 but with more Great Depression references. Marriage Playground was also produced in 1929 and is about marriage, divorce, step children and mixed up families. Finally, the Love Parade is about the intrigue of a queen in the mythical kingdom of Sylvania and it is a musical comedy.
Romance and love seem to be the common theme in all three of these movies. What interests me is that a 64 year old Norwegian bachelor farmer went to see these movies in the year 1930 not only to be entertained but perhaps to confirm his suspicions about love and marriage not working out.
I feel like finding my relative’s notes about the movies he watched helps to understand this time period in the 1930s. Thanks to the archives for storing his diaries for me to discover 50 years later, it is amazing to peer into a window of a different era. Another archival find of an entirely different nature happened in 1987. AMichigan couple bought four books at an estate sale. They were excited to find that the books contained two collections of letters and sermons by the preacher and hymnwriter John Newton (1725-1807) who wrote the much sung hymn “Amazing Grace.” Apparently Newtons heirs had brought these books to the US in the 1840s. That means over 200 years ago, what a find!!!
I’m wondering what kind of archival evidence of bygone communist era do my students have access to in their grandparents storage. What photos do their families have that can reveal a time that has passed? My students had better start asking NOW before it is too late!!!
II Chronicles 34:14-21
We have been brainstorming in our Comp II classes and I think we have come up with some excellent ideas about how we could improve the atmosphere at our university. I think having a photo competition of all the WIUU students photos sent digitally and voted on by all the students is a good start. Then for the final selection we might have three objective judges vote on landscape, portrait and animal photos. The top prizes would have their photos displayed in a big room and each year we would add to the collection. I think if everyone went through their digital photo files, some real prizewinners would be found. Also, I think we could have the old photos that were scanned for the “History Matters” presentations and have those posted in a kind of university archives with all the identifying stories and names behind those photos.
The main thing is to document and display what resources we have as a student body and the coming together of these links can give our school a distinction that noone else in Kyiv has. What do you think of starting off with a Photo Contest in early April? We will celebrate our 10th year anniversary of the start of WIUU in May so we need to have something to show all our invited guests.
Trick question: the above is a photo that my husband took of me next to a bonfire near our MN farmhouse about a month ago using MY digital camera. Who should get the credit if I were to enter it in a photo contest? (Once all your comments and responses are in, hint, hint, I’ll give you my answer to this trick question)
I found this history about St. Valentine by doing a Google search, can you find out which URL?
“Legend has it that Valentine was a priest who served during third century Rome. There was an Emperor at that time by the name of Claudius II. Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those that were married. With this thought in mind he outlawed marriage for young men in hopes of building a stronger military base. Supposedly, Valentine, decided this decree just wasn’t fair and chose to marry young couples secretly. When Emperor Claudius II found out about Valentine’s actions he had him put to death.
Another legend has it that Valentine was an imprisoned man who fell in love with his jailor’s daughter. Before he was put to death he sent the first ‘valentine’ himself when he wrote her a letter and signed it ‘Your Valentine’, words still used on cards today.
Perhaps we’ll never know the true identity and story behind the man named St. Valentine, but this much is for sure…February has been the month to celebrate love for a long time, dating clear back to the Middle Ages. In fact, Valentines ranks second only to Christmas in number of greeting cards sent.”
With my husband at home in Minnesota and my being here in Ukraine, what is the next best thing to being together? Well, we had a long talk on the phone last night. A week ago I also sent him a card that had Russian words in it that I guessed was a valentine’s wish. Finally, I’ll be counting down the days when he arrives to Kyiv again to join me. Twenty-three days and counting.
One Valentines Day when we lived in the Washington D.C. area, I gave my husband a Casablanca card and then we went to a restaurant by that same name and then went home to watch the movie “Casablanca.” If you don’t know what that classic movie is about, go to IMDB.com (Internet Movie DataBase) and find out. Not my absolute favorite movie, I’ll tell you another day in a future blog, but it is in the TOP TEN of my most favorite movies!
Also, look to see what kind of movies my North Dakota, Norwegian ancestor watched in the early 1930s by looking to the right of HOME on this blog, above. See what the general themes were of those movies by going to IMDB.com and writing about that in another blog. Tell which ones you would be interested in seeing just based on the titles and plot summaries.
Well, I want to say that I LOVE my Ukrainian students who work hard for me in class and also outside of class. If you need help, ask and I will make myself available or try to answer over e-mail. Blog away!
Dr Gray. Dr Gray who? Dr. Gray who is healing after his foot surgery. He is convalescing in our “dacha” home and you are welcome to come visit us in the summer months. BTW, are there Knock, Knock jokes in Ukraine?
Anyway, no joke, the photo below is my home in northwestern Minnesota where my husband is trying to get better so he can join me in Ukraine soon. This farmhouse was built by my paternal grandpa in 1915, over 90 years ago. I grew up in this farmhouse with my five siblings and did not like it at the time. I wanted to live in town and wished we had a more modern house. Is it not true that we seem to never be satisfied with what we have? But NOW I’m glad to live in this house in the summers. That is our lifestyle at present, to teach in Kyiv during the winter and garden in the summer at our “Viking dacha.” I DO miss my x-country skiing around the farm’s shelterbelts. 
Note the photo of me standing under a Material object of a woman personifying victory to communism. 
Metro stops in Kyiv have different personalities just like my students show their different personas in the themes and layouts they are choosing for their blogs. Fun seeing the progress and development as I too am learning new things about how to move photos around. Much to learn yet.
President John F. Kennedy, notable anti-communist, is known for this famous quote: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask instead what you can do for your country.” He has several other quotable quotes yet I like to utilize quotes from a man who died the very same day JFK was assassinated. I’m referring to C.S. Lewis, noted scholar and author. The movie which came out last year,”The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe” was based on one of Lewis’ many childrens’ book.
C.S. Lewis also wrote serious books like Mere Christianity. I like the following quote from Letters to Malcolm where Lewis wrote: “To the materialist things like nations, classes, civilizations must be more important than individuals, because the individuals live only seventy-odd years each and the group may last for centuries. But to the Christian, individuals are more important, for they live eternally; and races, civilizations and the like, are in comparison the creatures of a day. The Christian and the Materialist hold different beliefs about the universe.”
St. Andrews Cathedral on Artists Street in Kyiv. Beautiful jewel on the skyline of Kyiv designed by an Italian architect. Fortunately it was preserved during Nazi war times and many more years of Soviet “occupation.” Sadly, many other churches in Kyiv were annihilated. Today’s St. Andrew’s should be functioning as a church and as a vital part of worshipping God since that is what churches are for. What goes on inside the church should be more imporant and more beautiful than how it appears on the outside.
So too with our blogs. We may have figured out how to make the formatting look good and thought of a clever title. Or we may be computer savvy enough to know how to attract readers with our own photos but do our words engage and make others think? Do we provide solace, comfort and encouragement to those who are despairing? I hope that my students know that I am cheering them on to enter whatever entries they can, the fancy stuff will come later. They have freedom to explore, experiment and comment on each other’s blogs. Now that’s FREEDOM, right?
On a side note, I read in Our Daily Bread today about a man by the name of Bela Karolyi who coached gymnastics in Romania under the control of communism. “He skillfully developed the talents of stars such as gold-medalist Nadia Comaneci. For his success in training athletes who were bringing fame to his Iron Curtain country, he was rewarded with an expensive car and many other favors. But Bela hungered for freedom. So one day, carrying only a small suitcase, he resolutely walked out of Romania into penniless liberty.”
These photos are not from Kyiv, Ukraine but taken from Google Images. This morning as I was talking on the phone to a friend looking out of our kitchen window, I watched a whole sheet of ice (the size of a piece of plywood) come careening down from six stories above. If anyone would have been walking below, they would have been killed, I’m sure. It made me realize anew the dangers that abound with the beautiful snowfall we had. The snow can fall in a different form of ice-icles and then be a sad ending for some hapless soul. We need angels all around to protect us wherever we go, especially now with the congested streets. Check out the blogger (Megapolislife) who writes about Kyiv’s streets and the new traffic problems that didn’t exist even a year ago.
True History Matters 