Popcornless

The only way of seeing high-budget special effects in St Petersburg was to go to a cinema and sit in a cold, popcornless auditorium watching a dubbed Western film.

Popcornless, I step inside the Ryman sanctuary, listening for sounds from the past—old Sam Jones preaching the gospel, the laughter and music of the Grand Ole Opry, or Minnie Pearl's "How-dee!"

The Bronx Zoo elephants "settle into the strike's popcornless daze," joke one reporter.