President Obama went to Russia, and I wish I’d gotten the t-shirt.

This is not a political post, but I’ve enjoyed several of the articles and photos that have come from the Obama family’s trip to Russia. Firstly, he met with Patriarch Kirill,

"In turn, His Holiness, Patriarch KIRILL stated that he also highly regards the possibility of a meeting with the President of the United States. According to the words of His Holiness, not only political contacts between their two leaders are important for the development of relations between two countries, but also sincere relationships between the peoples of the nations.
His Holiness stated that “there is great potential for removing anti-American feelings in Russia and anti-Russian sentiments in America, and that is to include the feelings of the heart. The Russian Orthodox Church brought Orthodoxy to the American continent, and now there are good relations between our Orthodox American brothers. Even in the most difficult years of the Cold War we tried to maintain these good relations.”

Then, it was lovely to see this photo of Michelle Obama at a nursing school. I love that there’s an icon in the school, and apparently even a priest on staff. I also love their uniforms, they remind me of St. Elizabeth the New Martyr (on a side note, the article is quite interesting too)

Another side note, and I’d love for those in Russia or those who speak Russian to elaborate on it, was apparently much was made in the Russian media about the fact that Sasha Obama’s name is Natasha and not Alexandra (Natasha is the diminutive of Natalia; Sasha is the diminutive of Alexandra - I'm not quite sure how Sasha came from Natasha).

And, lastly, this is the t-shirt I wish I had. Hat tip to Russia Magazine

I’ve lamented the fact that my amazing husband and I are woefully out of whack on the Venn Diagram of musical tastes. However, he was kind enough to take me to see Duran Duran last night – and then spend time taking most of the photos of the band.

It was an outdoor concert, and other than horrific post-holiday traffic to get there (I allotted 3 hours for an hour and twenty minute trip, and we barely made it on time), the weather and the venue were fantastic.

When I was standing there listening to the band and watching their interactions on stage, I had one of those moments where I realized that I just love to watch them play live. It was a fabulous moment and I enjoyed myself very much.

I’ve not found an online review yet, but the set-list was a delight – they did most of their major hits, reached into the “closet”, as they called it, to pull out Election Day , which Simon indicated Duran Duran had never played live before (and it was delightful), they did a beautiful rendition of Do You Believe in Shame
(as a tribute to Michael Jackson), as well as two of my favorite songs off their newest album . One of my favorite things was they way the segued through the songs and their encore was a several song segue that featured, and returned to Girls on Film.

It was a lovely evening, and I’m thankful my Dh went with me*. The only bummer is apparently I am prone to Duran Duran knees after their concerts – I guess I dance too much. It’s an affliction I’ll gladly bear.

*He did mention that he was disappointed that they didn’t sing Too Much Information