Hey friends, today we are going to be traveling from New York City to Japan to visit Tokyo for the first time. I am so excited. It has always been a dream of mine to travel the world and visit Asia, and it's finally happening. I want to make a video and share all of my experiences with you, including the 14-hour direct flight, just in case you guys ever plan on visiting Japan yourself. So we're going to eat some food, discover a new country together, and have a beautiful Tokyo kind of day. Anywho's, let's go do this. I am currently in Hoboken, New Jersey, and we're going to be flying out of Newark, but I wanted to show you the city before we start making our way to the airport. Also, I want to grab some coffee. We're going to be doing the direct flight, 14 hours straight to Japan, no stops, no layovers. We're going straight to Tokyo. I'm very lucky to be going to Japan with some really great friends of mine from the Roosevelt's team. Steven, Scotty are going to be joining up with me, and we're going to have the best time ever. We're not just doing Tokyo. We're going to do Osaka. We're going to check out the cherry blossoms, and we're just going to experience everything. The culture, the food, and Disney Sea, and Tokyo Disneyland, and Universal Studios Japan. We have so many things, but today it's just about the travel. It's about getting there. I'm going to try to describe and bring you guys and show you everything I go through. Alright, I am all packed up. I got my passport. I normally travel pretty light, but this time I'm just bringing a carry-on and a backpack for my over a week trip to Japan. Only because I want to be able to bring stuff back and have the option to pick up a bag if I need to. Also, it's easier not to carry sundries with you when you go through customs, especially since I'm bald. I don't need shampoo or anything like that. I can just pick up travel-sized things once I get to Japan. Look at the view. I'm probably going to take this vlog right to where we land and check into the hotel in Tokyo. I can show you, but I got to check out of this hotel first. What a view of the city. Isn't that amazing? I can't believe we're going from New York City to Tokyo. Alright, now that we have our bags packed up, it's time to head to the airport. I want to show you around the airport a little bit because we got our seats. They're the United Premium Plus. Like I said, they're like $5,000. They have like a first-class, like a little dome that you sleep in, and those were going for like 10 grand just to go to Tokyo. But with that, you get some perks like with our Premium Plus. It's not first-class. It's not economy. It's in between. They lay down. There's only two of them, so I'm sitting next to Scotty. And it's really cozy, but you get like a skip the line pass at the security.  And I figured I'd show you like some of the amenities. It looks like there's not a line to actually get through security. So we're a little bit early. Well, an hour and a half early. We're supposed to get there two hours early. We're going to make our way up to the United Club. I've never been in one of these fancy clubs before. Look at this. It's like a little pre-flight lounge. You just scan your boarding pass and you get to go in. I think they have stacks. They have a buffet here.  And they got shower suites. You can take a shower before your flight. Wow. I was not expecting a golden corral in the airport. This is pretty impressive here. And they got a lot of food. Lots of drinks too. Coca-Cola freestyle. This is all free. This is all free. I'm going to drink some milk. Right in the airport. Look at this. We got coffee cake, brand muffins. We got burritos, egg McMuffins, some bagel sandwiches. A little bit of everything. It's just grabbing though. You want an egg McMuffin? No. Look at this. Oh wow. They got more over here. Holy moly. Orange juice, apple spice oatmeal. What? We got bread. Oh, they got potatoes. Potato sausage. This is impressive. The coffee cake in the United Club is actually amazing. And I got the potatoes too. I like potatoes. I don't want to eat a lot of food because they're going to be serving food on the flight. And plus I don't want to be sitting on a 14 hour flight with a full stomach or a bad belly. Oh man, can you imagine? Can you imagine? Oh man. I don't want to imagine. Think about that. Oh God, who comes to think? Do you see that robot? Alright, you boys ready to go to Japan? I think so, yeah. We're going. Look at this. We even get a ride to the terminal. Yo, this is great. This has never happened to me before. Just driving around the airport. Hi, how are you? They see me rollin'. They hatin'. Patrollin' and tryin' to catch me ridein' dirty. This is amazing. I love this. Yo, this is the best airport ever. Yo, is this our gate right here? Wow. That is service. That is best. I already go to bed and get the first, like, three hours. This is a big plane. Twenty, twenty-two. Yeah. Oh, look at the champagne bag there. I honestly think this is the biggest plane I think I've been on. This is a big, big plane. Look at our little seat here. We got a blanket. Pillow? Pillow? What's in this bag? We'll find out. Oh, and you get nice candy. Oh, and little foot pedals. You can dim the window. You can dim the what? Oh, I see it. Wow, that's kind of cool. I like it. Look at that. You got a TV. You get to customize your experience. Fourteen hours, Scotty. I'm glad we got the foot pedal, too. I feel like I'm driving. Do you see the reclining buttons on the side? The reclining buttons? It might be on this side. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, I got to put that bad boy up. Oh, there we go. All right, this is cozy. I can do it. I like it. Time to see what's in our special little bag here.  Ooh, what else you got in here? Earplugs? Let's see. Your wellness journey starts here. I don't know what I'm looking at. It looks like a face mask. Oh, it's a toluet. Oh, that's nice. Actually, it's all in package. Look at that. A toluet, lip balm, and hand cream all together. Fancy. What else we got? Soft tissues. I feel a little back. Steve is actually on the other side of the plane. He's like another rollover. Me and Scotty, let's get this together. I think Steve is like over there. There he is. Hi, Steve. They have like a little schedule. So we depart, then meal service, lights out, light snack, lights on, meal service, and arrival. Look at that. Kind of makes it easy. I really hope the internet works on the flight. Can you imagine 14 hours without internet? That'd be rough. It'd be a rough one, but we do have the movies at least. They're free, and they just stream right there. So at least we, like, it's not like we're going to be sitting here in silence, and then we got food. So a lot of good snacks. I like on the plane, they have an interactive map, and it's cool that we're going from here, all the way across the United States, and going all the way on the other side of the world. Beef short ribs. Wow, that sounds nice. Oh, we got a little tray that pops open. It's like a transformer. Alrighty. You said there was pasta. Tortellini. This looks good. It comes with a mint chip cookie crumb cake. Oh, that tortellini looks good, too. Do you want my salad? Oh, that looks good, too. Look at that. Fancy. Honestly, this food looks pretty good, especially those potatoes there. And your tortellini looks pretty good. Got a little dinner roll, some ginger ale. Time to eat. I'm excited to try this. Trying to figure out what's on this. Like, what's that white stuff? This short rib is definitely the best food I've ever had on a flight. I love it. I think it's so good, and I love the little carrots, too. Little tiny baby carrots and a frozen dinner roll. The blanket they give you is actually from Saks Fifth Avenue, and it's a limited edition blanket. I don't know if I want to use it.  Fancy. I had to take a quick bathroom break and switch over and it's something a little more comfortable because it's going to be lights out soon. This is a very nice bathroom. Lots of space. Lots of room for, like, activities. Look at this in here. A plenty of room. I can move around. I can do a 360 spin. Look at that. And of course, the toilet. I just woke up and we got some breakfast. A little bread pudding, a croissant, and we're almost there. Look at that. Only an hour to go. Fifty-eight minutes. Wow. I took a nice little nap though. Nap? I don't know. Probably about two hours. Maybe two or three hours in. That's all you need. How was your flight? It was good. Feeling good? Yeah. Alright, so rivals baggage claim. We just got off the plane and we landed in Narita International Airport. There's two airports in Tokyo. It's a lot closer to Tokyo Disneyland, but this one's a little bit cheaper. So we got to go through a health screening. We have to go through immigration. And then we got to go through customs, which all those papers on the plane we had to fill out. And then we have to hop in Uber and it's about an hour, about an hour drive. And everything transitions over. Like, so Uber just picks up the way it was. Same thing with your bank, if you call them and your cell phone. You have to switch to an international plan. And then we're going to go to the hotel and I'll show you guys around. But first we have to get through all that and I can't film it. So we'll just skip over it and I'll talk about it at the end of the video. I like that the signs are also in English too. Yo, look at that. Welcome to Japan. I think we're coming up on customs here. We just got through customs and immigration. And now we're going to grab a little taxi and actually make our way to the hotel to check in. They actually have taxis right on the outside here. Look at this. It kind of looks really nice and fancy. The airport was pretty easy. We'll talk about it later on. This feels strange. I'm used to driving on this side. Yeah. And the steering wheel is on that side. Get some breeze. Anybody need a window open? Wow, it's so nice out. The weather's beautiful. There it is. Tokyo Disney Resort. We're here. Oh, I can see it. It looks so beautiful. Yeah, we're here. That's it. Magic Kingdom's behind this. Wow, the outside looks like a palace almost. The Uber drive over to the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel was just about an hour, so it wasn't that bad. We're not going to be able to go to the parks today because we're getting in so late. And plus, I'm exhausted. I'm pretty 14 hours out of plane. It can get the best of you. So I'm going to go up. I'm going to show you the room, get all settled in, and then probably call it a night from there. This resort right out front. They have a nice little Mickey Fantasia fountain right here. And then look at the hidden Mickey in the topiary there. Isn't this so beautiful? And then here's the resort itself. It's massive. It gives me the grand Floridian vibes. So I'm going to go in and we'll give you guys a little peek-see inside the lobby there. And then up to the room. Here is the lobby. As soon as you walk in, they have some nice statues of Mickey and Minnie right here and here. The floor, like I said, it reminds me of the grand Floridian a little bit. It's got a very glorious like fountain in the center. That looks like a hidden Mickey too. The elevator, the carousel. And like I said, one of the cool things is is you can see Tokyo Disneyland from here.  I've never seen one inside of a hotel still. That's kind of crazy. Look at that. They have ashtrays in there. They just sit in there and smoke. And then right next to it, they have the Marceline Saloon. It's kind of like a club level. And you get to stay here if you get to go in here if you're staying in one of the suites. We're just waiting for our room to be ready. Check-in is at 4 p.m. Then we'll probably maybe go to the park for a little bit and then explore Tokyo a little bit. But I kind of want to browse around the hotel a little bit. Show you around. Give you a tour. Inside the Marceline Saloon, they have some light refreshments but they have tons of pictures of Walt and Roy when they made their way back to Marceline. Look at this. This is in Marceline, Missouri, Walt and Roy's hometown. And me and Sean, my friend Sean actually visited there. I remember seeing that picture. Look at this. And then like I said, they have light snacks. Kind of like a club level. Oh man, I love it in here. And you get some gummy bears over here. A chocolate Daisy Duck Marshmallow or Mickey one. Chocolate cold coins. A lot of really cool things. Oh, I want to take that with me. And then red wine. Oh, white wine. Ice coffee, iced tea, orange juice, apple juice. It's a very cozy area. I think it's sit here and stare out at all the people going in and out of Disneyland. We're using a translation app. For the 5000, it's orange juice, apple juice, scrambled eggs, plain omelet. Oh, this is the menu for breakfast on Tuesday? Yeah, the 3000. I can't even plan like five minutes in front of me. It's a little long Tuesday. We'll go and we should go to the 5000 because that's the 5000 for child. Yeah, let's do the five. We'll do the 5000. Yeah, there you go. Okay, what else you got on there? The school lens. The translate app helps a lot. Scrambled eggs or plain omelet? Scrambled eggs for me. I just want some French toast. Okay. I need the bread containers. Lots of French. What is that from? I know that. We kind of joined up on our vacation package and I'll show you all of the vouchers. But now we have to set up our breakfast reservation. For a morning. It is French toast. Look at this. I can't wait to see this room. It is Mickey talking. We just got up to the room and I'm going to give you a quick room tour and this is the Magic Kingdom suite. And I'm excited. I think we did make a mistake and booked one room for three people instead of three rooms. So we have to figure out another room eventually. But this is just really nice. We can all stay here actually. As soon as you walk in they have a nice picture of Mickey and Minnie right here. And then look at this. Look at this entrance way. A beautiful mirror.  Some slippers. We all need some slippers. I love that. All of that. Another bathroom over here. Very, very nice. I like all of it in here. Yo, what's up with that toilet? I don't... Oh, this is interesting. This is really interesting. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what's going on in here. Ah! Is that an instruction manual? Well, it's a sanitary bag. Oh, it's a nice little bathroom. Yeah. Then they got some tea here. Look at that. I'm assuming a little mini fridge. Now look at this little... Look at this little living room. Look at this. They have a little tea set out here. And look at the view. You can see Cinderella Castle. Space mountain. You can see everything in here. Wow. This is an amazing room here. Look at that out there. Over here you have the main bedroom. A little work area. Some shirts.  I like this day bed. Look at this in here. It'll be a night bed later. It'll be a night bed later. I can't wait to see what these pajamas look like on me. They're medium though. They're large. Oh! Oh, you get pants? Pants? Yo, this is so cozy. Look at this. This is the Grand Fleurin. This is like the Dell right here in San Diego. This is so cool. I love everything in here. And you can hear the music from the whole... from the park, from the room. Look at this bathroom in here. Holy moly. There's a heart shaped tub. Beautiful little tile work.  And look at the amenities. Look at this. I love this. That is too cool. All of it. Even these little cups. Is there a TV in the mirror? I'm definitely going to take home some of these little vanity kits. Amenity kit. Vanity kits. I don't know if this is all molten brown shampoo. See, this is why I didn't pack anything. I got all the good stuff right here. Literally. That's top notch stuff. And I still got to figure out what this remote's for. Like I feel like there's a TV in here somewhere. I just don't... I found it. It's in here. It's in the jacuzzi. I'm definitely getting in that later. I just thought somebody was talking to me, but the TV just turned on. I ended up getting a vacation package. And it comes with a lot of stuff. Like it's pretty amazing. Here I don't think you can buy tickets day off. Like you have to pre-book things. And that's even with your lightning lanes too. Like not lightning lanes, your attractions. They actually give you kind of like an artillery. And here are our park tickets. And then here are... Looks like these are goods vouchers. A mixture of beverages. And then these are attraction tickets. So this gets you at like each one of these or like a lightning lane. I'll try to show you. Actually I'm going to move the camera so I can show you. So like for instance on... It looks like March 17th. We can go ride the Tower of Terror. I don't know if it says a time. It doesn't have a time just any day. We can literally just go show these and skip the line I think. And they even have the happy ride with the Baymax. I've been wanting to ride that. It's a very popular ride over here. Like kind of alien swirling saucer. What else do I got here? So many things. It's very difficult trying to figure out what you're supposed to do with certain things only because I'm used to the way that Disney and Walt Disney World and Disneyland does things. But I kind of like this. It looks nice. Tokyo Disney Vacation Packages. Now that we're all checked into the hotel we're not going to start the Disney days until tomorrow. Now we're going to head out and explore a little bit of Tokyo and maybe get something to eat.  It's a very big city and I'm excited. I'm excited to try some of the food. I want to go to a 7-Eleven. I want to go to a Lawson. I want to explore the back alleys a little bit but just a little bit tonight because we just got here and got off a 14 hour flight. So I'm starting to feel a little bit but I'm trying to force myself to stay awake so I can get on the time schedule appropriately. It's as shocking as it is. One of the things I've wanted to do since I knew I was coming to Tokyo was come to a 7-Eleven. Just because they have so many unique things. Like look at all this food in here. We're looking at it like they just have chicken breast.  They have like so many unique things. What do you got there? What is that? Is that paste? It says soft and easy to use. Soft and easy to use. I want something else. Maybe like some sausages. Daddy would you like some sausage? I have a question. What about this nice seasoned piece of chicken? I looked at that one already. I thought about this one is beef with burdock. Beef with burdock. Beef with burdock. Yeah. It's very interesting. They have spaghetti and pasta. This is a 7-Eleven. Look at this. All the food in here. And all the drinks. They even have monsters but the cans are smaller. Which is good. And the yen. 213. Very interesting being in this 7-Eleven for the first time in Tokyo. It's a completely different experience. The buildings here are so big. It's almost like we're in New York City I feel like. That's not the building you were talking about before right? That's pretty impressive. So are we going to where are we going Golden Boy? Golden Boy. Let's go to Golden Boy. This is Golden Guy. Oh Golden Guy? Oh. Golden Guy. Should we go? Golden Boy. Stay Golden Pony Boy. Pony Boy. You know it. We're just exploring around the different alleyways. Look at this down here. Trying to find anything that's kind of standing out to us. They have a lot of different bars. Honestly it's just like picking one. There's a desert inn. Where is that?  Yeah desert inn right there. And a ghetto sun Troy. Look at these bars. I know right? I like that Coca Cola sign. The area that we are at is called Golden Guy.  And yeah we're just going to roam around and you know find places that we think are interesting. Not a long night because we had that 14 hour flight. So it's probably going to be a short night and then we're going to go home and call it a night. Hair of the dog. You said that before didn't you? Cigarettes, art and... Plink. Oh punk. Plink. I don't know what's up there. Alley nuts.  Name? Name? Golden Dust. Yay! Thank you. What? Thank you. Good pour too. Great pour. Thank you. Super dry. Yay! This is crazy guys. We're doing it. This is my new favorite bar. I love this bar. It's literally the hole in the wall.  This is the smallest. Oh wow. Here we go. I'm probably not going to have any of this food. Let's roll up. Some bean sprouts? Here. I think we're going to get one more drink or one more stop here at dinner. Five gallons. A lot of these places are really funny because it's kind of like a steep climb. The ceiling right there. Interesting right? Woof. Just a tip? Oh yeah. Just a little tip of the head there. The biggest lion deer. Oh my god. What am I doing? Oh. I'll take that. Look at these guys in there. Oh boy. Come by. Come by. Oh it is good. It's honestly like fireball. Right? But even better. I don't believe I just drank that. I think I'm calling it quits here. I'm pretty tired. We're going to pick it up tomorrow because guess what? We're going to Tokyo Disneyland. I am so excited. I hope you guys enjoyed this video. I like making little travel vlogs sometimes when I go to some places nice because that's one of my biggest concerns is the travel. I'm very just go with the flow of things but I like to kind of make videos and document it. I don't know. It's kind of fun. Maybe I'll do a couple more travel videos in the future. So I hope you enjoyed the video. I enjoyed making it. And we're Japan. I'll see you guys at Disneyland tomorrow. Bye. I feel confident. I figured out how to use the toilet. First of all, you have to use your hand to open it. And then you can do this one too. Open that one. It's totally heated. That back there is the flusher I think unless this one is. That's the flusher right here. And then I think this is the bidet. You hit that button. You turn that over. And it's all good to go. That's pretty fancy. And then when you're done, you just hit the button. And then it shuts automatically. Tell me that's not the coolest toilet ever. I love this.


It was Mother Nature that made the grass that we just simply moved in on and it's been here for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. And we cannot improve on that grass because I saw it go through the 30s and disappear with low dirt everywhere. People didn't know how to farm their crop land. You know, the dirt moving took any vegetation that was growing. That's what that didn't take the grasshopper to get. And yet, when it turned around in the early 40s, we saw little stems of that grass reemerge. It's amazing that that grass lived through that kind of punishment. Sustaining the quality of our soil, health, sustaining our wildlife populations, sustaining the production of our animals that we market is probably not acceptable in most cases. What we want to look at is what once was here and what will it take in management practices to restore what was once here. In the early days of no-tilling, we started dabbling with it in the mid-1980s on certain crops. I mean, it wasn't until 1991 that we went 100%. And I kind of had an aha moment, what we call nobleblading. It was a big v-plow that we used to work our oats and wheat stubble with after harvest. And what it ostensibly did is it just sheared the soil surface about four inches deep. And it looked as though the residues where everything looked fine, but underneath the soil surface, it basically sheared everything away. And I got out and looked and I noticed that a big slab of soil had popped up and it was just full of earthworm holes. And I realized at that moment that I just destroyed that entire environment. So I took that slab of soil and I put it on my dad's desk and I said, we're going to begin to make changes today. So we took the wheels off the noble blade and parked it in the trees. And that was really kind of the first step of moving to a complete no-till system. And then things just started to build and change after that. We planted some of the crop ground or what had been crop ground to grass almost right away. And it was neat to see the native plants come back because that's always been my thing. I like to ID things. I have a degree in biology. And so the ranch has been a hands-on experiment in prairie ecology since the beginning for me. And every time I see a new species or a different forb or different grass, it's exciting for me. That's probably the thing I've enjoyed the most about watching this place evolve. The education process for us started when we moved on this place. And I will tell you it's never-ending. I would feel like I was a failure if I didn't pass on what I've learned in my lifetime to my children. And hopefully they'll do the same thing for their children because all the practices that we've installed in this ranch, the minute I turn over the management to my son or to the next generation or next owner, if we don't teach, it's lost. That's one of the things that I really appreciate about what I do for a living is that I can bring my family with me. As they get older, that happens more and more, and that's really exciting for me as a dad. Since having kids, I think being in a family business means a lot more to me because I'm connecting now my kids to what the other generations did. And it's kind of special that they've allowed me to join their family operation and be a permanent and be a part of the family. I get the opportunity to raise my son here, and I'll get to raise him working by my side, sitting with me in the tractor, coming to work with me whenever it's possible to bring him along. And I get to raise him the way I was raised. So, you know, it's a bright future. I think that's a good thing looking forward. Well-known conservationist Aldo Leopold said, the landscape of any farm is an owner's portrait of himself. It's our goal to portray the portrait that leaves a legacy for others to follow that we can be proud of.


The Australian Sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson Red for LibriVox.org by David Lawrence The morning star paled slowly, the cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb. Till the sun came up from ocean, red with the cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, and the wind in the she-oak wavered and the honeysuckles stirred, and the airy vapor rose from the river breast. The kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and reed-beds put off their shallow grey and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. In the poem this recording is in the public domain. The Australian Sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson Red for LibriVox.org by Patty Cunningham August 16, 2009, Runert Park, California The morning star paled slowly, the cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb. Till the sun came up from the ocean, red with the cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges, and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, and the wind in the she-yoke wavered, and the honeysuckle stirred. The airy golden vapor rose from the river breast. The kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and the reed-beds put off their shallow grey and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. The Australian sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson, read for LibriVox.org by Ruth Golding. The morning star paled slowly, the cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb. Till the sun came up from the ocean, red with the cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges, and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, and the wind in the she-oak wavered, and the honeysuckle stirred. The airy golden vapor rose from the river breast. The kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow grey, and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. End of poem This recording is in the public domain. The Australian Sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson, read for LibriVox.org by Leanne Howlett. The morning star paled slowly, the cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb. Till the sun came up from the ocean, red with the cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges, and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, and the wind and the she-oak wavered, and the honeysuckles stirred. The airy golden vapor rose from the river breast. The kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow grey, and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. The cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb. Till the sun came up from the ocean, red with the cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges, and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, and the wind and the she-oak wavered, and the honeysuckles stirred. The airy golden vapor rose from the river breast. The kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow grey, and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. End of poem. This recording is in the public domain. The Australian Sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson The Morning Star paled slowly, the cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night, waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb. Till the sun came up from the ocean, red with the cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges, and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, and the wind and the she-oak wavered, and the honeysuckles stirred. The airy golden vapor rose from the river breast. The kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow grey, and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. End of poem. This recording is in the public domain. The Australian Sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson Read for LibriVox.org by David Rhys-Thomas, www.davidrhysthomas.com The morning star pale slowly, the cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night, waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb, till the sun came up from ocean, red with the cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges, and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, and the wind in the sheoak wavered, and the honeysuckles stirred. The airy golden vapor rose from the river breast. The kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow grey, and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. End of poem. This recording is in the public domain. The Australian sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson, read for LibriVox.org by Joy Easton of Southern Indiana. The morning star pale slowly, the cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night, waned in the gray awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb, till the sun came up from ocean, red with the cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges, and the shining treetops kissed. When the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, and the wind in the she-oak wavered, and the honeysuckle stirred. The airy golden vapor rose from the river breast, the king-fisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow grey, and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. End of poem. The Australian Sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson, read for LibriVox.org by Ernst Patinama, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The morning star paled slowly, the cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, to pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb, till the sun came up from ocean, red with the cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges, and a shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, to magpie's note was heard, and the wind in the she-oak wavered, and the honeysuckles stirred. The airy golden vapor rose from the river breast, the king-fisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and bullrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow grey, and burned with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. And of bone, this recording is in the public domain. The Australian sunrise by James Lister Cutberton, read for LibriVox.org by Dana Meilinger in August 2009. The morning star paled slowly, the cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night waved in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb, till the sun came up from ocean, red with the cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges, and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpies' note was heard, and the wind in the she-yoke wavered, and the honeysuckles stirred. The airy golden vapor rose from the river breast, the king-fisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow grey, and burned with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. End of poem, this recording is in the public domain. The Australian Sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson, read for LibriVox.org by Tom Watts. The morning star paled slowly, the cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb, till the sun came up from the ocean, red with the cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges, and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, and the wind in the she-oak wavered, and the honeysuckle stirred. The airy golden vapor rose from the river breast, the king-fisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow grey, and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. The Australian Sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson, read for LibriVox.org by Rebecca Watts, August 19, 2009, Peachtree City, Georgia. The morning star paled slowly, the cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb, till the sun came up from ocean, red with a cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges, and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, and the wind in the sheoke wavered, and the honeysuckle stirred. The airy golden vapor rose from the river breast, the kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow grey, and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. End of poem. This recording is in the public domain. The Australian Sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson, read for LibriVox.org by Secrets. The morning star pale slowly, the cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrious purple blackness of the soft Australian night waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb, till the sun came up from ocean red with the cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges, and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, and the wind in the sheoke wavered, and the honeysuckle stirred. The airy golden vapour rose from the river breast. The kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the ball rushes and reed beds put off their sallow grey and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. End of poem. This recording is in the public domain. The Australian Sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson, read for LibriVox.org by Joy Chan. The morning star paled slowly, the cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb. Till the sun came up from ocean, red with the cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, and the wind in the sheoke wavered, and the honeysuckle stirred. The airy golden vapour rose from the river breast. The kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow grey, and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. End of poem. This recording is in the public domain. The Australian Sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson, read for LibriVox.org by Iswa in Belgium in August 2009. The morning star paled slowly. The cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple blackness of the soft Australian night waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb till the sun came up from ocean, red with a cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished. The magpies note was heard, and the wind in the she-oak wavered, and the honeysuckle stirred. The airy golden vapour rose from the river breast. The kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and reed-beds put off their sallow-grey and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. End of poem, this recording is in the public domain. The Australian sunrise by James Lister Cuthbertson, read for LibriVox.org by Raven Notation. The morning star paled slowly. The cross hung low to the sea, and down the shadowy reaches the tide came swirling free. The lustrous purple darkness of the soft Australian night waned in the grey awakening that heralded the light. Still in the dying darkness, still in the forest dim, the pearly dew of the dawning clung to each giant limb, till the sun came up from ocean, red with cold sea mist, and smote on the limestone ridges, and the shining treetops kissed. Then the fiery scorpion vanished, the magpie's note was heard, and the wind in the sheoke wavered, and the honeysuckle stirred. The airy golden vapour rose from the river breast. The kingfisher came darting out of his crannied nest, and the bullrushes and reed beds put off their shallow gray, and burnt with cloudy crimson at the dawning of the day. End of poem. This recording is


I was a communist for the FBI. Starring Dana Andrews and an exciting tale of danger and espionage. I was a communist for the FBI. The story you are about to hear is based on the actual records and authentic experiences of Matt Sevettik, an undercover agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Two for nine fantastic years, lived as a communist for the FBI. Here is our star, Dana Andrews as Matt Sevettik, undercover agent. You can read it in the official reports. The whole story of my life as a communist for the FBI. I was in the party. I saw it work. For nine years I recorded the communist conspiracy against the United States from within. This is part of the story. In a moment, listen to Dana Andrews as Matt Sevettik, FBI undercover agent. Here is Dana Andrews as Matt Sevettik, FBI undercover agent. This story from the confidential file is marked Little Red Schoolhouse. I'm sorry, mister. Excuse me buddy, but have you got a match? Sure. Thanks. Keep them. It's a red nine today. Tomorrow is red eight. Hello, Matt. It's been a long time since we've worked together. When did you get transferred from Detroit, Ed? A month ago. Oh, here comes our car. Hop them back with me. Okay, Klein, take off. Let's make it fast. You know how the party checks on my time. I wish we could offer you more protection, Matt. I know. I'm on my own. The report? A new Soviet agent has arrived from Lenin. They're going training in propaganda and infiltration. I'm one of them. And this new Soviet agent? He's going to meet with us for briefing and an assignment to some important jobs. Anything else? Meeting place has to be changed. This new Soviet agent isn't taking any chances. I don't even know his name yet. When do you meet him? Tonight. Six. Better drop me off now. Any place along here. Yeah, pull it up, Klein. Any last instructions? Yes, man. I want a full report by mail. Also, let me know by phone if you can the name of this new agent and the location of your meeting place. I'll let you know as you... Matt, get him quick. Sure. What's up? That man walking right in the corner. He was watching us. Who is he? Vasily Konestoy, a suspected Soviet agent. He's new here. We had him in the office for a routine check. You? That makes him the boy from Lenin Institute. Yes, very possibly. He knows I'm FBI, so you'd better start praying he didn't get a good look at you with me. If he did, and he recognizes you later... Spare the details. I know what'll happen. I'm in the party, remember? Whether Ed Griesen remembered or not, I did. It was the price of my life. When six o'clock came, I was picked up and driven to a small, isolated, red brick house. Inside were five people, four men, and a girl. Introductions told me the girl's name was Stephanie. And seating arrangements put us together in a corner. Close-up, her dark loveliness was almost like a blow. Comrade Matt. Comrade Matthew. No, I like Comrade Matt better.  It's a tough world, Comrade Stephanie. No room for softness. We're nothing. The party and its beliefs are everything. Do you disagree with that? Of course not, Comrade Matt. It's only that being near you makes me feel like the woman is that so terrible. That's dangerous talk. I'd be more careful. I'm always careful. We'll talk more later. I am Vasili Kornisto. I bring you greetings from Comrade Stein. He thanks you for your loyal work. But he also desires more work, more sacrifice, especially from you, picked comrades. You are to lead the way to revolution. The Soviet state of America. While I listened, I carefully surveyed the room, the people, until I knew I would remember every detail. Vasili Kornisto was a big man, six-one, maybe two. Wait around 200. Black-haired with eyes that forgot to smile when he did. Those eyes stabbed me. And I knew Kornisto's memory was at work. When the meeting was over, he kept me for a private talk. Something to drink? Oh, thanks. My throat was dry. I have had the feeling all evening that we have met before, Comrade Svetik. Not that I can recall. Well, no matter. I'll remember sometime. I always do. You have a way home? Well, the cab's staying only a mile from here. It's a nice walk. Very well. Good night, Comrade. Good night. Comrade Matt, over here. Oh, it's you, Comrade Stephanie. Oh, this is my car. Would you ride into town with me? Oh, thanks. You drive. Nice car. Nice night. Quite a combination. I'm glad you like it. Oh, I didn't say I liked it. I said it was quite a combination.  Then I suppose I have been pretty obvious. You have? Wow. That's some curve. Now, with a drop off of 100 feet, if you ever went over that embankment, it would be curtains. You should go slower. So should you. You needn't be rude, Matt. Says that you're the first man in a long time I've been attracted to. Matt. All right, all right, Comrade Matt. I know it's heresy for a part of them, but they're feelings. I was hoping you might understand. Don't take it easy, Stephanie. You're tired. You're saying things that could get you into trouble. Yeah, I guess I am tired. May I put my head on your shoulder? Sure. What a nice feeling. Your shoulder is strong. What I said about the combination, I mean. The car, the night and me. I like it. Do you? Excuse me. Why did you turn off the ignition? Park for a moment. Why? This is why. When I got to my hotel, Don was breaking. Before I went to sleep, however, I made a call to a certain number and left a message for Ed Grayson to meet me that morning with a wiring crew. Five hours sleep, then I was in a clump of woods near the little red schoolhouse listening to Ed give orders to a half dozen men loaded with wiring equipment. All right, men, Frederick's checked the house gas meter. No one's there now, but that doesn't mean they won't come back at any time. So do your work fast and do it good. I got moving. The mics better be well hidden, Ed. Conestoy's sharp and suspicious. Yeah, he'd have to tear down the walls to find these. Did he recognize you? Yes, but he can't remember where yet. How long is he gonna be here? I don't know. Long enough to give us a briefing in our assignments. Yeah, we got a lot of tape recording. We won't miss a thing that happens. Good. I'll walk down now and grab a taxi and return to the house in the open. That way I'll be there to warn your men that Conestoy or the others show up. Yeah, smart idea. When will the wiring job be finished? All six. Five if it goes fast. That's running it pretty close. Meeting starts at 6.30. Yeah, we'll do the best we can. I returned later and for the next four and a half hours I played watchdog in the front porch of the red house. From inside I could hear the sounds of Grayson's men at work. At 5.42 the FBI men reported their job finished. They were packing up their equipment to leave with the back door. When around the curb I saw Conestoy's car approaching. Feed it, you guys! Flash red! Flash red! What are you doing here so early? I thought I'd like to talk to you, Conestoy. Oh, let's go inside. Oh, wait. What? I mean it's so nice out here why don't we just stay on the porch? I could talk here. Crazy we could be spotted out here inside. Oh, but Comrade... You better keep it in mind that I give the orders. I guess being inside is not so bad after all. What's the matter with you?  What is it? I merely wanted to be sure we were alone. I have a report to make about one of our comrades. Oh, is that so? Which one? Comrade Stephanie. She shows definite signs of bourgeois emotionalism. I see. Then you had better watch her. Keep me informed. I will.  I believe and follow the party line. Oh, don't mistake me. We need a few good fanatics. I wish I could remember where I have seen you before. Haunts me as if it's important that I should remember. The next few days were a growing fever of tension for me. The briefing was hard and thorough. I had little time to do anything but study. And this was complicated by constant invitations to study with Comrade Stephanie. And always hanging over my head was the threat of Conestoy's possible remembrance of seeing me with an FBI man. Finally, the last day of the week rolled round. Tonight, comrades, you receive your assignments. You have been well trained. Now you will act on that training. We will organize infiltration of schools. That is correct. You, Comrade Stratik, receive a choice plan. Do you know Bryson University? Yes. Small college not far north of here. Though small Bryson is a highly respected school. An example to many other colleges. You and Comrade Stephanie will see that the seeds of communism are planted there. We will not fail, Comrade Conestoy. I'm sure you won't. Comrade Stratik, about where I have seen you. Perhaps you were around my hotel for some reason? No. No. Well, don't worry. Maybe by the time you finish your assignment, I will remember. Back to Dana Andrews, starring as Matt Severick in I Was a Communist for the FBI. And the second act of our story. How long did I have before the Soviet agent Conestoy remembered seeing me with an FBI man? The knowledge of what would happen when he did was a cold, leaden ball in my stomach. As with Comrade Stephanie, I listened to Conestoy's final instructions on our new assignment to infiltrate Bryson University. There is one professor at Bryson who will be your best asset, Comrade Stratik. A professor, Walden. Is he a fellow traveler? A very reluctant one.  Walden is fond of helping underdogs. Well, can you get us a big name, Comrade Conestoy, someone to lecture the students? I will send a wire tonight to Philip Stanley. The singer? Yes. He has a big reputation. The kids will listen to him even if he is a Pinko chump. Will he come? He'll come. He's a thoroughgoing exhibitionist. Now, it is some expense money. Comrade Stephanie? Yes. I'm sending you with Comrade Stratik for only one reason. So you can have the opportunity to get your thinking straight by watching his. Well, I don't... I don't understand you. He is an exemplary party worker.  That's all. Good night. Good night, Comrade Conestoy. Good night, Comrade. Oh, Comrade Stratik. Yes? I just remembered where I saw you. Where? At the meeting of the control commission. The first day I arrived back here from the Lenin Institute. Oh, no, I wasn't at that meeting. Oh, I swear I had better remember it soon or it will be the death of me. Bryson University. The usual ivid buildings enrolling green campus, littered with students. Professor Walden turned out to be a thin white-haired man with bent iron rim spectacles. His office was a six-foot square of stale air wrapped around a battered desk and a stack of papers.  Yes, indeed, there's quite a problem. You see, I'm not sure I'm in complete sympathy with communist teachings. Of course, but we're not here to ask you to become a communist professor. We merely ask you to work with us in bringing relief to the unfortunate of the world. Oh? Well, in that case, I... What can I do to help? Two things. Give us a list of students you believe to be in sympathy with our cause. And the others? We're going to organize a lecture. Philip Stanley, the famous singer, is flying all the way out here to address the students. It would be nice if you could act as master of ceremonies and introduce him. Oh, why, of course I'll be delighted. Philip Stanley, indeed. Professor Walden gave us a list of a dozen names and we went right to work on it. Heading the list was a boy named Roger Vanning. We found him in the Student Union. A hodgepodge of noise and smoke, figures of the social center of any college. My goodness, Matt, this is like Mardi Gras. We'll never find him in all this mayhem. Sure we will, but keep moving or you'll be crushed. Wow! Hey, fellas, get him out of this one. She's real great all the way. Looks like you've made a hit, Stephanie. Ask him if he knows Vanning. All right. Excuse me, but do you know where I can find Roger Vanning? I don't understand. Oh, why not take a seat here, Dolly? For you, I'd go on the hook. That'll do, Junior. Don't tense, Dad. I ain't cruising for bruising. Come on, Stephanie. And Roger Vanning looks like a kid who can vote. You'd better handle him alone. I'll try the next one on our list, Grace Sprocket. I'll meet you out front later. So you see, Miss Sprocket, it's up to the intelligentsia like yourself to lead the others. I understand perfectly, Mr. Sabetic. And I can promise you at least 20 students for the meeting. Good. Philip Stanley will know of your work. I can assure you. He will?  You may tell him he can depend upon Grace Sprocket. Sure. I'll tell him. Four days of work and we had nearly 200 students lined up for our demonstration. I hired a hall near the campus, decorated it with the usual banners and slogans. During last-minute preparations, my mind was on Conestoy. Would he have remembered yet? Perhaps he had, and even now the Goon Squad was on its way. Oh, these are terrible acoustics, Sprocket. Perfectly awful. Really shouldn't sing at all in a barn like this.  They deserve to hear me at my best. Oh, absolutely, Mr. Stanley. However, just being able to see you in person and hear your words of truth will inspire these young people to magnificent heights. They'll recognize you as something far greater than a singing star. Greater than a star? Of course. You'll be known as a social leader. A man destined to sway multitudes toward the goal of true socialistic society. Well, I haven't thought of it that way. Excuse me, Static. I think I'll go run over this speech you prepared for me. Better practice it, knucklehead. I hope I can keep my dinner when I hear it. Sure. What is it, Stephanie? Well, I just want to check plans with you. Okay. After his song, Stanley will give his talk. At the end, when he starts the international, you give Grace Sprocket and the other agitators the signal to jump up and begin a community sing out of it. And when the crowd's good and excited, Sprocket and company lead them off for a demonstration on faculty roll. And be sure the placards and signs are ready for them to pick up on the way out. Come on. Let's get this thing rolling. Gentlemen of Bryson, this evening marks the beginning of a new movement here in Bryson. A movement that will excite you as it has excited me. Tonight, we are striking a blow against the pressure of my beloved friends. Here at Bryson, I want to thank you for your wonderful reception of my humble talent and words. In closing this meeting, I can only think of the words of a song dear to my heart and dear to the hearts of all who have compassion for the more unfortunate of this earth. Sing it with me. The words are on the sheets of paper you found in your seats. Everything went off like clockwork, excited by the speeches and music and led by the screaming Grace Sprocket in a cohort. The thoughtless kids eagerly snatched up the waiting placards and signs to start the demonstration on the campus. For an hour, Stephanie and I watched from the background as the shouting, chanting students paraded on faculty roll. Very pretty sight, Matt.  That's exactly what we wanted. Matt, they'll be a riot for sure. Right. That's why I called them. Come on, Stephanie. Our work here is done. They're a little red schoolhouse. Come on. Counter-strike waiting for us. Let him wait for a minute.   Let's quit the party, you and I. We could go away together. What?  What are you going to do? What do you think I'm going to do? I'm going to report you. The party has ways of dealing with treason. Come on, please. Don't turn me in, Matt. I'm sorry. It's too late. Get inside. Very important to raise you. You did a good job, Comrade. What's the trouble? You look angry. I am angry. This traitor just tried to make me quit the party. Oh, itchy. I told you, Comrade Stephanie. Comrade Sretik is as solid as the Kremlin. He sure is. Wait. Wait a minute. You mean I was just being tested? Testing high-ranking party members is my job, Comrade Sretik. I'm an agent of the MVD. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll have to get back to town and file my report. Tested. After all my years in the party. Happens to all of us. Oh, yes. I have something for you. A reward. Here in this drawer. Reward? This. Put up your hands. A gun? What's this all about? I don't understand. FBI agent. That's where I saw you. You were talking to an FBI man. I told you I would remember. Hold on. Now, look, I can explain that.  Move. What do you plan to do? You mind telling me? Yes, I will be glad to. I want you to have time to be afraid. We are going to arrange a little suicide. Your suicide. My only hope was the FBI surveillance. Conestoy and I were at his car when the FBI men moved in on the run. They had Grayson leaving. Conestoy opened the car door just as Grayson squeezed a shot over our heads. Down that, down. I hit the dirt in that precious second when Conestoy's attention was distracted by Grayson. And Conestoy made his break. Stop. Conestoy, stop. All right, man, get it. FBI fire laced the night with red as it went over me, but Conestoy had a good start. He was getting away when he hit that bad curve, doing 70. Then there was nothing on earth that could save him as his car skidded over the steep embankment. He's calling an ambulance. Conestoy's dead. Better clear out, fellas, and let the police handle this as an accident. I'll stick around, square it with him. It's a tough way to go. Lucky for you, though, Matt. You're free to keep on with your work. Yeah, he was the only one who knew. Well, I better get out of here. Think I'll walk up and take a last look at the Little Red Schoolhouse. No, it wasn't the end of the story or the beginning. It was just a part of the strange war I was fighting. Freedom's a good cause. It made me feel contented, even though I knew that until the war was won, I'd always be a man who walked along. Our star, Dana Andrews, will return in a moment. This is Dana Andrews. These stories we bring you are not fiction. They are dramatizations based on actual events and happenings that took place here, in this country, in the real-life experiences of Matt Savetek. For obvious reasons, all names, dates, and localities have been changed. Next week, we'll dramatize another exciting adventure for Matt Savetek's official records. We hope you will join us.


The foundation of Villa Julley's athletics was really some individuals who worked very hard, understood what college athletics was to be, and worked very hard to get Villa Julley up to speed. You know, the history of Villa Julley, we have 25-year history of NCAA athletics. Well, Jeb was a part of 10 years of that. I mean, you're talking 40% of Villa Julley and Stevenson's history. We do have athletes that were pioneers in their era as far as helping teams compete, and he certainly did that with Tennis, but he was a pioneer administratively. He was a pioneer for our sports information staff, our game day operations, our equipment managers, our strength and conditioning. He was a pioneer administratively as well. And matter of fact, he did jobs that we have many people who do those jobs now. Back to his leadership, he was, that was part of it, his commitment to the university. You know, I've been here a long time, and I can share that some of my most memorable moments, Jeb Barber was right there on the side of the bench with me. When we won the conference championship and got the automatic bid, when we got the at-large bid and we went to Manhattan to play in the NCAA tournament to watch the Tennis team win the championship, alongside of us when we joined the Northeast Athletic Conference, when we weren't a part of a conference before, to watch our transition to the Capital Athletic Conference. I mean, many of my fondest memories of Jeb Barber was right there. Well, you know, each of our core values, Jeb, is obviously a leader and the integrity they have, he's always going to do things the right way. You know, Jeb built a community outside of Stevenson, but also built our community within both the administration and our community of our student. Our student athletes loved him, and they are still very close to him to this day, as his athletes are the other. And then Jeb was an excellent student. You know, when you talk about education, Jeb was actually doing his master's program in the middle of all the other jobs I had mentioned earlier. And then he's since is finishing up his doctorate as well.


One of the critical things about the evolution of technology, as you see it today, is the need to share because not everything is a competitive differentiator. There's a lot of pieces that would make us actually better together, be it in terms of infrastructure, common infrastructure for most people, but most importantly the whole element of cyber security. There is no reason for all of us to experience the same issue for us to learn. So one of the key things that we've done at the CTO Rante, but with the ITU, with nine operators and eight major vendors under the guise of the ITU is ratifying a lot of what we call the Ottawa Accord, to share threat exchange, to share best practices. As we notice there's a whole number of gaps in standards, it is important that we operationalize how we become better together, how together we are richer. This is to me cyber attacks or cyber terrorism is an air that is important to all of us. Not just like if it happens to my competitor or myself, this is the more the stronger we are together on that front. Well, the Ottawa Accord as we call it was government institutions coming together with standards bodies and a few operators about defining a framework to share. And that's one of the things that happened today at the meeting with the CTO round table of the approval. I don't know what happened, but more like ratification of the Accord to enable the global threat exchange, to enable the sharing of best practices globally, and all under the guise of the ITU because these days in a lot of places operators actually run a national infrastructure. And thus it's very important for the government to be comfortable with how good that national infrastructure is being run. So my aim is after today really excited to give it a shot to see the birth of the Ottawa Accord with the ITU, with the feedback that we got from the various stakeholders. I have to admit this is only my third CTO meeting and I think it's amazing how in 10-15 minutes we're able to deal up a very important topic, get enough to go around and see how we dovetail it into the standards. So when you look at certain people at certain levels, we really would like to do five or six or seven or eight topics in four hours. And that ideally is it because none of us really are subject matter experts, but all these areas are very important and critical. So these are the kind of meetings that I encourage the attendants and they actually spawn off a lot of activities and certain working groups in other industries.