Gone Astray: Russell Johnson » Audio

Horse Walks into a Bar: My Digital Lifestyle

Russell Johnson — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:48:27 +0000

Looking back on past CES Shows in Las Vegas, here is a little audio fantasy I recorded back in 2007, when we were told that adopting a “digital lifestyle” was something desirable.

Christmas in Fiji (with podcast)

Russell Johnson — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 22:20:23 +0000

from connectedtraveler.com

Choirs, Coups and Long Canoes

Where do you go to find a spirited Christmas celebration? Give me Fiji any day. As the temperature teases the freezing tick on the thermometer and our cat Moritz stalks the house looking for non-existent pools of light, my mind drifts on the trade winds to Fiji sunshine. I am a great fan of Fiji. I courted my wife on a cruise of Fiji’s islands in 1997, but ten years earlier I went there to do a documentary for American Public Radio and NPR that was supposed to have been a Christmas special featuring Fiji’s magnificent a capella choirs, but ended up as a rather strange tale of island politics: two coups d’etat, me being suspected of being CIA, a strange encounter with a drunken German arms dealer, But that’s a long story.

The program was an hour long, but I have shortened and updated it. A major part of the 16 1/2 minutes features the music of the Fiji islands ranging from a Fijian drinking song to familiar Christmas carols sung in Fijian. I would guess that there are few Fijians who cannot sing…magnificently. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, peace and joy during this holiday season.

Listen MP3
16:30
A CD with seven songs from The Holidays in Fiji is available in Our Store.

Cold Turkey in Heidelberg: Audio Story

Russell Johnson — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:47:21 +0000

from connectedtraveler.com

Heidelberg Castle ©Russell Johnson

What do you do when you are alone during a holiday, stuck in a place that doesn’t celebrate it? A few years ago I flew to Germany the day before Thanksgiving for a 1/2 hour business meeting. The meeting was a bust and alone, in a foul mood on a bone-chilling afternoon, I boarded a train for Heidelberg where the Student Prince was alive and quite drunk. This is excerpt from an audio book of my stories that will be released by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange on iTunes and on CD early next year.

Giving Wings to Grandma: An Interview With Joe Sutter, The Father of the Boeing 747

Russell Johnson — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:30:33 +0000

from connectedtraveler.com

Airlines come and go. But one airplane, put in service in 1970 by Pan Am and designed and built by Boeing is still flying, still being manufactured and, like Swiss Cheese or a Brooks Brothers suit, still looks the same. It is that ubiquitous, bulbous Cyrano of the skies, the Boeing 747. This week we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the plane’s maiden flight. Joe Sutter, called the “Father of the 747″, led a team of 4,500 (his number) engineers in designing what has been called “the old ladies’ airplane” because not even granny is afraid to fly in it. This is an interview we did with Sutter a few years ago in Hong Kong.

Tales from the Waiting Room: San Francisco and Bangkok

Russell Johnson — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:23:50 +0000

from connectedtraveler.com

Last month I visited doctors twice: in San Francisco to have a spot of sun damage checked, and in Bangkok for a physical. As Mrs. Kuchenbecker, my sixth grade teacher said, “Let us compare und contrast.”

SAN FRANCISCO
I make an appointment, the doctor will see me in about a month. I show up on time, fill out forms and, clutching my Ganesha (the Hindu elephant god associated with overcoming obstacles), am waterboarded by a nurse-enforcer who finally establishes my financial worthiness. I sit down. Another patient in the waiting room stands up, exclaims, “I don’t have time for this,” and leaves.