Space Dazzle

Grandma Goes Abroad...hopefully

2009-06-07T23:57:00.008-04:00

Disclaimer: I can't think of anything useful for this blog anymore, but I may keep this site alive for one reason: to document my 87 year old grandmother, Mary Cuthriell (dad's side), on our trip to Italy in November 2009.

Mary has never left the country, except for a few cruises to Nova Scotia and up to Alaska with her widow friends. In the last 2 years, I've realized how I need to learn everything I can about her while I can, and I'm no longer taking our relationship for granted. Since then we've become very close friends.

My promise: I'll take her to Italy, a top place she really wants to see, and dedicate nearly my entire time to her while there. This will be pending doctor approval, which as of today he says he can neither say yes or no. I'm telling her to go for it, and will be meeting the doctor this summer in person.

As well, I've now made the decision to document the entire trip with video and still photography. I'll be interviewing her daily as we travel, asking her about every year and decade of her life, ups and downs, times that have been scary, euphoric, alone, overwhelming, most memorable, incredible, regretful, full of love or loveless...and the list goes on.

Here she is with my brother, sister, and me...can't you tell how groovy she is already?

-msc, listening to Beirut - Carousels

All I Want For Christmas - Part 2 (and the subsequent end)

2009-01-03T02:26:00.008-05:00

So as mentioned in the "All I want for Christmas" post, for two months I've been anxiously awaiting a response from seemingly a black hole known as my congressman Jerry Connolly regarding the lottery being held for inauguration tickets. Well, midday NYE an email had arrived and I can't begin to tell you how excited I was. Here's the opening paragraph:

Dear Michael,

Thank you for contacting the office of Congressman-Elect Gerry Connolly with your request for tickets to President-Elect Obama's Inauguration. We will be sending emails to lottery winners in the next few minutes. If you do not receive a subsequent email from us today, your name was not selected in the lottery.

Sounds good to me. I'll hang tight Gerry!

I caught it on my blackberry and I literally stopped everything, waiting very impatiently for the follow up email to arrive. I've always defined "a few" as three, not sure why, so I figured I'd take a break and just stare at my phone screen for (much longer than) three minutes.

I have to say, I was very optimistic. 10,000 ticket requests for only 200 available tickets. 2% odds...but hey, better than any other lotteries I've played. I also must admit that for me it's felt like the movie A Christmas Story. I wanted the Red Ryder BB gun sooo bad that it just had to come. How could it not?

Lastly, I recently saw this short on The Secret and was convinced that me thinking about it constantly would make it happen. Right? Those people wouldn't lie.

What I learned:

The Secret doesn't apply to the historical Obama inauguration event, so go ahead and bite it you stupid secret cult scam fancy ass.
"A few" may not be three, but I know it's not 1000 because I still don't have an email.
Who voted Gerry Connolly into office (maybe I did)? But I hate suspense, and now I don't like you either. Where's your compassion? Not getting an email from you was like breaking up over facebook - I felt cheap, used, and led on.
I'll be one of the other 4.99 million Americans crammed on the mall watching from a distance on Jan 20. Whatever, at least I'm tall.
Instead of getting my Red Rider, I got the pink bunny PJs.

Who knows, maybe something amazing will happen in the next couple of weeks and I'll be blessed with a ticket to the event. Either way, I'm still excited and only hope it's not freezing out that day. I plan to take lots of pictures, and maybe even get a decent few shots with Mr Pres Elect in them (which I'll share of course).

-msc

I Think I'll Be In Italy A Lot

2008-12-14T21:24:00.008-05:00

It's final, and already in motion in fact. My mom, Molly, and her husband JC, are off to Naples, Italy as of next week. It's a 2-3 year time frame, and where the majority of my travel money will be donated toward for that same time frame. Usually for long trips, mom gets all sappy and leaves me letters on how amazing I am, that I'm the best son in the world, and that my future is bright like a flashlight with new batteries (no bias there whatsoever).

This time I got none of that - she knows I'll be there soon, and lots.

That said, I just had to throw a surprise party for her and JC - b/c like me, they are the best parents in the world, amazing, and with a bright future like a flashlight with new batteries. I wanted to share the invitation I created for this - it mocks JC's "Change of Command" invite for his recent departure from Bahrain. For better preface, see previous blog "My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad" by clicking the "King Kong" link on your left. While he's not my dad, he can still have you lasered to death, among other really shit-hot things. You call him King Kong.

Read it - it's a funny joke, like ha.

I Know You're Excited, But Stop Texting Me

2008-11-28T16:46:00.005-05:00

Disclaimer: This is not to oppress the happy and excited people I know, nor derail our beautiful friendships.

------------------------------------------

It occurred to me that every holiday brings an influx of text messages to my phone. This Thanksgiving I received nearly 30 individual texts from friends and family simply stating "Happy Thanksgiving!!" For me to text all my friends would take forever, via multiple texts (since I can't just send one text to unlimited people at once). Am I missing something here? Do my friends gawk at my lack of response or lack of equal initiative? Are you seriously that excited to text bomb everyone you know with the cliche?

It reminded me that once I even received a text from a girl friend saying "Happy Daylights Saving" - wtf dude, where are you? Naturally, she's one of the happiest people I know, but still, that's just dodo.

So in response, and per daily inspiration from the wonderful Lifeku by Rachel, I've generated a Lifeku of my own; my first:

30 texts, really?
think green and save battery
My network is clogged

Reverse Bradley Effect....suckers!

2008-11-15T11:59:00.003-05:00

At a now later point in time I decided to add a quick blurb on what the "Bradley Effect" is. After telling this to some people in person, they didn't have a clue what I was talking about. Sorry, since Bush began sucking at life (and more importantly, since I started realizing this for myself) I listen to NPR in the morning these days - I hear crap like this.

[The Bradley Effect] theory proposes that some voters tend to tell pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for a black candidate, and yet, on election day, vote for his white opponent. It was named after Tom Bradley, an African-American who lost the 1982 California governor's race despite being ahead in voter polls going into the elections. -Wikipedia

Over the weeks leading up to the election I was of course having lots of conversations with people on their choice for president. One friend in particular was dead set on McCain. I didn't try to sway her vote, but I was truly surprised in following up that she had this to say:

"Last second in the booth, I voted Obama. Dont know why, I just did."

I didn't inquire further, but it was the best email all week, and that's all she wrote.

All I Want For Christmas

2008-11-11T20:36:00.002-05:00

I'll keep this short and to the point - I want tickets to the friggin' Inauguration of Barack Obama. If anyone cares to share just one with me as they become available the week prior (date is Jan 20) I'd surely love you forever, as well as offer to buy you fancy things like toothpaste with baking soda, and Hershey's chocolate bars, among other things.

Per the VA government website - beware of fakers! It states:

Tickets to the 56th Inaugural Ceremonies will be provided free of charge and distributed through Members of the 111th Congress. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies does not provide tickets to the public. Members of the public interested in attending the Inaugural Ceremonies should contact their Member of Congress or U.S. Senators to request tickets.

The public should also be aware that no website or other ticket outlet actually has inaugural swearing-in tickets to sell, regardless of what they may claim. Tickets will not be distributed to Congressional offices until the week before the inauguration and will require in-person pick-up.

“Any website or ticket broker claiming that they have inaugural tickets is simply not telling the truth,” said Howard Gantman, Staff Director for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. “Tickets for the swearing-in of President-elect are all provided through members of Congress, and the President-elect and Vice President-elect through the Presidential Inaugural Committee. We urge the public to view any offers of tickets for sale with great skepticism.”

Seriously, I'm dying over here - hook me up! I don't have faith that I'll win the lottery that's being used to handout tix. That is, so many people have already requested tix, including me, that they are having a lottery for the tickets. (giant sighs).

I'll post up in my scuba gear at the reflecting pool the night before if it comes down to it. Nasty.

"Buy when there's blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own."

2008-10-29T10:19:00.010-04:00

Baron Rothschild, an 18th century British nobleman and member of the Rothschild banking family, is credited with saying this. Rothschild made a fortune buying in the panic that followed the Battle of Waterloo against Napoleon. This is contrarian investing at its heart - the strongly-held belief that the worse things seem in the market, the better the opportunities are for profit.

I first heard this quote in a movie - Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York after one of their bloody battles I think. The point is, and as I've been discussing with close friends, this is the perfect opportunity for us young folk. Which means, if you have cash and have thought of getting into the stock market, now is your golden opportunity, seriously.

So what do you buy? My advice has always been to make a list of 10-20 companies that you like (i.e. Apple - because you love iPods and macs; or Jiff b/c you just love their peanut butter; Chipotle - the burritos are amazing!, and so on).

This is because one golden rule of investing is that you should be able to devote 1 hour per week, per stock, to read up on the company and what it's doing. (I don't even get to do this, though) BUT, if you're buying stocks in companies you like, the more motivated you'll be to read about the company.

Here's a few that I own (and love):

Research In Motion (ticker: RIMM) (they make blackberry phones, which I think are amazing)
Apple (ticker: aapl)(need I justify? Apple is a superstar company)
Visa (ticker: V) (nothing fancy here, but I bought on their IPO per much excitement from the investment community)

I hope that helps get anyone started on making their list.

Also, Yahoo Finance is one of the best go-to pages to get good information (finance.yahoo.com).

That said, here's an article from today that I'll share - if you like any of these companies, they are worth checking out and considering for stock purchase.

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-theory/08/contrarian-investing.asp

Oh, and one more golden rule (from me at least) - BUY FOR THE LONG TERM! I don't flip stocks or day trade - I don't get hung up when the stock drops by 20+ percent (usually), b/c I am in this for years to come. I'll sell when I need to buy a house, or college education for my kids, and I know the stock will have grown almost guaranteed. So stick with it, and DO NOT freak out when things happen that scare the majority (like what's happening right now).

Don't drink and ride the metro...

2008-10-13T22:14:00.001-04:00

...because then you'll get the urge to hop the turnstile when you get off the train, and a metro cop will come over and give you a ticket for it whether you had the money for it or not.

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AIG, are you that retarded?

2008-10-08T10:49:00.005-04:00

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Days after [AIG] got a federal bailout, American International Group Inc. spent $440,000 on a posh California retreat for its executives, complete with spa treatments, banquets and golf outings, according to lawmakers investigating the company's meltdown."

I think it's a great idea. Celebrate the awarding of $85MM from the government (aka us taxpayers) by treating yourself to the spa during a royal retreat. Besides, $440K is a drop in the bucket of the $85MM package...and the fact that AIG was in absolute turmoil was no big deal, really.

It's no surprise that things like this happen. Why? Because the concept of money (or credit) is severely blurred and for many reasons, 1) the company is so big that the majority of employees aren't eying the "budget" b/c they aren't privy to it, 2) there's this feeling of "oh this won't happen to us" when it comes to actually running out of money 3) management is pleasantly hammered at nighttime soirees and says "ahhh f*** it, let's put this all on the company card...and like magic, life is glorious...and free.

Damn it feels good to be a banksta.

McCain Ads Dig Deep...

2008-10-05T12:12:00.002-04:00

I have to post this...nonsense. From crooksandliars.com

These smears have been floating around in email chain letters, but even still, this really shows just how low and how desperate the McCain campaign is. Not Larry Sabato:

The LA Times scoops the Virginia media with this column from the McCain campaign's official Buchanan County representative. You need to read this column to believe it. In "humor" he accuses Obama of wanting to paint the White House black, supporting reparations, changing the national anthem to the "black national anthem", teaching "black liberation theology in all churches", and replacing the flag with a "star and crescent logo".

Nothing like a little race baiting four weeks before the election...why does this guy still have his job?

Meanwhile, Sarah Palin brings up Bill Ayers at a campaign stop in Carson, California:

"Evidently there's been a lot of interest in what I read lately," she said. "I was reading today a copy of the New York Times. And I was really interested to read in there about Barack Obama's friends from Chicago. Turns out one of his earliest supporters is a man who, according to the New York Times, was a domestic terrorist, that quote 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and the United States Capitol.'"

Saturday's New York Times story, an investigation into whether Obama had a relationship with Ayers, concluded that the men were never close and that Obama has denounced Ayers' radical past, which occurred when Obama, who was born in 1961, was a child. It also found that he has downplayed their contacts.

"This is not a man who sees America as you and I see America," Palin said of Obama. "We see America as a force for good in this world. We see America as a force for exceptionalism. ... Our opponents see America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who would bomb their own country."

Classy.

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The roots ate my fish!

2008-10-05T11:40:00.002-04:00

I have sad news this morning. Upon going to feed my big bad beta fish, Mike Tyson, I realized he was no longer in his bowl. Now, this bowl sits on top of a tall book shelf in my house with some bamboo in it. I have no cats or other fish eating creatures. Tyson was not a jumper.

My theory is that the bamboo roots ate the fish. After cleaning out the bowl and picking through the roots, I see that he's not tangled in them. Therefore, the only option would be that the bamboo got hungry and began the process of eating Tyson. This is a travesty.

I will remember Tyson for his quiet presence, blazing red coat, and how he protected my house against evildoers.

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Mute Math Drummer

2008-09-28T22:57:00.007-04:00

A studio vlog of Darren King - drummer in the band Mute Math.

Good stuff...

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The Daily Lifeku

2008-09-26T22:25:00.005-04:00

Short and sweet...I share this recent find of a friend from a friend. Witty and quick out loud laughs - remind yourself not to be the person she's referring to most often if you can!

http://dailylifeku.blogspot.com/

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Anthony & Becca Bronkema Wedding

2008-09-07T17:19:00.006-04:00

http://www.viddler.com/explore/Idioteque/videos/1/

This is my first video slideshow, but I think it came out pretty good. Had I known I was going to do this I would've gotten a wider variety of pictures from the wedding. These are all my shots, using a Nikon D80, 135mm lens and a Fisheye 10.5mm lens.

Video In Reverse

2008-09-02T00:17:00.003-04:00

This is by far one of the coolest videos I've seen in quite some time. While delving from page to page (you know, that create your own story process of hopping from one link to the next that the internet allows us to entertain?) I found a band called Mute Math. This is their video for one of their songs, Typical.

It's not so typical. As I have read, this claims to be One Take videography (everything done in one shot). I got that from Dr. Rose. This is something I'll check out more because I'm not sure I fully understand it yet. Rose also mentions that they learned the lyrics in reverse for the video. Stay tuned...but in the meantime enjoy.

This was their "live" performance on Jimmy Kimmel - about the same, but in a different setting adding to the creativity of it all.

Do you Tweet?

2008-07-15T21:01:00.003-04:00

Listenting to: circa survive

Ever heard of Twitter (twitter.com)? A friend introduced it to me after having just returned from a conference where everyone was just "tweeting" all day long. And so it is, "Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send updates (otherwise known as tweets) which are text-based posts, ranging up to 140 characters long. Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and instantly delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them." -Wikipedia. You can tweet via your mobile phone and receive tweets from those you "follow." If you're curious, find me under 1dioteque. Maybe we'll discover a good use for it - instead of texting a group of people about something, just tweet it and make sure all your friends follow you so they can get the update all at once...

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An apple a day...

2008-06-21T18:52:00.006-04:00

listening to Circa Survive

I was in the bathroom with my headphones and Matt's iPod listening to his music. I decided I wanted to upgrade from my current shuffle - very random decision, frankly due to boredom in Somerset, KY where I'll have spent three weeks straight as of next Friday. I made it to apple.com, which is a sketchy location for me because I've been itching to buy a mac the last 6 months. Of course, to defeat any barriers I may have had, they were offering a free iTouch with the purchase of a mac if going back to school. With ease I labeled myself as a GMU student and was near complete with an entire order for both. I made the plunge and now...it's a waiting game.

Idioteque?

2008-05-16T00:17:00.010-04:00

Music: err..radiohead
My friend Cali asks if she can call me Idiot for short. I figured I'd elaborate after that request.

The only reason I use that tag is b/c it's more interesting than Mike, or Michael. My mom wanted to name me Amos - that could've worked.

Idioteque - a song by the band Radiohead. No apparent meaning behind it, but mr wiki-P states it's from Johnny Greenwood (producer and member of Radiohead) experimenting with samples and synthisizers back during the making of the Kid A album.

Radiohead - a personal favorite, top ten for sure.

This past Sunday night - it rained for what seemed like 24 hours straight. It was 40 degrees or less. I was at Nissan Pavilion (thankfully under covered seating) watching Radiohead. The show was sick, they were near perfect, and Thom Yorke and friends are genius, whether you dig the music or not.

So here's the song, Idioteque.

And here's a couple pictures I was able to capture before security zombies firebombed me to tragic ending. Blasphemy. I laugh until my head comes off.

-msc

My New Anti-American Friend

2008-05-08T12:24:00.007-04:00

Music: none currently

I was motivated by this as soon as it began. A few weeks ago I was downloading an album on Soulseek. Thing is, I don't share my music, therefore nobody can download from me. So upon queueing the album and returning to whatever it was I was doing at my desk, I later noticed the flicker of the shareware icon in my taskbar. Well the shareware has a chat mode, and although I've never used it really, I was getting pinged by someone...named danihell, a 23 yr old guy from Brasil.

From download to death in a matter of minutes...

[msc] the other reason I don't share is b/c if Soulseek were to ever get into legal trouble, I have a better chance of not getting in trouble myself
[danihell] i will never get in trouble because of this
[danihell] america sucks, man... hehehe
[msc] you don't like america seriously?
[danihell] seriously
[danihell] sorry
[msc] tell me why
[danihell] the republicans americans think they own the world
[msc] and...?
[danihell] and?!
[danihell] and you're nutz?
[msc] is that it then?
[msc] but how does that affect/bother you?
[danihell] man, this is not a little thing
[danihell] it will affect me... for sure...
[msc] for the record, i'm not republican, and I do not think i own the world
[danihell] thats good.
[danihell] you know that the chinese will destroy america some day, dont you?!
[danihell] because chinese people are NUTZ!!! and the american goverment annoy the chinese people
-------------
And there you have it. I'm thinking Dr. Strangelove and How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Atomic Bomb is starting to sound good right about now. Pop it in, light a cigar, and lets watch some face melting.

Teen Homelessness...A Fad?

2007-12-27T22:32:00.002-05:00

A thought I've been meaning to write for quite some time now...

I was in Seattle this October '07 for about a week staying downtown. It's quite a nice place actually, and as the locals put it, a great place to live b/c it's one of the least frequented 'big cities' in America. If you can't guess why that is, then perhaps you can tell me quickly the top few things you know or have heard when describing Seattle? If you said "It rains all the time"
then we're well on our way.

Every morning and throughout the day I would take a walk from my hotel to this oversized convention center
about 6 blocks away. I'd leave at different times and take a different route as well in case any assassins were plotting my demise. My secondary motive is so that I can see as much as possible, everywhere I go. As with
every well balanced city, there were skyscrapers, beautiful echoes from people and cars, transient gusts when turning corners, and yes, homelessness. The most influential positioning of a homeless person, in my opinion, is sitting about 7 feet out into the sidewalk from the doorway of a popular shop, facing every single person departing. I don't believe a cardboard sign is necessary - the affect on the senses should be plenty...smell, looks, and either
silence or mumbling. Hey, we all mumble to ourselves somehow or another. I, too, have plans to take over the world, one coin at a time. This position is different than the guy in the center lane walking around, or the one taking turns at each corner of a 4-way stop every change of the light. I'm most turned off by the guy who crosses the street with me. His biggest mistake at this point is that I'll actually engage in conversation and ask him a bunch of questions about his state of mind - I love it. It's not to fuck with him, it's b/c I'm truly intrigued by the person who's spent more time conversing with his own head than with other humans. The stranger their answers, the more I'll tip.
A fucked up approach, I know.

I'm on a tangent and I apologize for this...I'm actually inspired to share more stories later about my run-ins
with "crazy" people. I'm more than curious when meeting them, and I think they're absolutely fascinating, not to mention more interesting than talking to many other people I run into.

So...by day three I start to see a trend, among many of course. But this trend was in regard to the homeless population. I realized that the majority of these people were teenagers. At first I just thought they were the counter culture, dressed in multiple clothes, mostly black and goth...seemingly. With the first few, I wondered how did these kids end up here already?

Then I ate at Cheesecake Factory with a few people one afternoon. When leaving, a couple in front of me
handed their leftovers to a few kids hanging out on the curb...they didn't even appear to be homeless to me. I thought they were just kickin' it. After all, this is a decent sized city, and I always see kids hanging out everywhere. While I was waiting for the crosswalk, I gazed over and saw that a few other kids came over and they were all going to town on the leftovers. I must admit, cheesecake factory leftovers are a score if you ask me.

That's all.

So I really just forgot about everything until I got on the plane. There's always plenty of time to think on a plane, and lose your mind perhaps. Of course, don't go thinking all crazy people you see and hear about just spent too much time on planes prior. Those maniacs actually have a family and home...I know b/c I'm doing my best to avoid the same future. When organizing all the scenes in my head of these teens, I realized they were everywhere, and all very young looking. So I began to think and contemplate; could some teens be acting homeless and living that lifestyle for some reason unknown to
me? I really believed the answer to that question was yes, until recently. Upon further research, a.k.a. results from my Google search (use Google more, I own the stock), I learned that in fact, teen homelessness is quite prevalent across America. Once reading, it was a bit less transparent as to why...you've got foster kids, orphans, etc, that just refuse to live with some volunteer family b/c they believe (or have already experienced) that it will be worse, more abusive, and so on. So instead, they avoid all services available for them so that they can avoid additional hell. Once their 18, they're free to do whatever they want without having to worry about some social worker picking them up and admitting them to a support program.

Overall, it's very sad and unfortunate. I can't even imagine being homeless or w/o family, much less doing so at such a young age. My only comfort (and not even comfort really) in seeing this was that it appeared they all grouped together.
They must all be very close considering potentially similar pasts, and since they're the same age that probably makes it a bit better. Still, that's no excuse. And I'm not saying go help reduce teen homelessness (apparently a majority will refuse any help other than a monetary contribution anyway). I just wanted to talk about it.

If you know otherwise, and think or know that teens really do this for 'fun' (lack of a better word), then please enlighten me. It wouldn't surprise me one bit considering all the strange things this world conjures up.

msc

The Love Bomb; and not Dr. Strangelove

2007-12-05T22:50:00.000-05:00

Please read for yourself news of a gay bomb, or love bomb as you will: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4174519.stm

After seriously considering how this could be done, I can only imagine the government must be employing super-chemists to dabble in a variety of the worlds greatest...well, chemicals. Who knows what side affects that has on the staff, both good and bad. But based on my knowledge of chemicals, or drugs if you will, this would have to be no other than an "Ecstasy Bomb" right?! I mean, you turn it into a gas form and all of a sudden you have a bunch of men in camo rolling, begging for a bottle of water and someone to massage them (for starters). On that note, it's too gross to delve further, so I'll leave you with your own thoughts on what could occur.

Next...
So why didn't they do it? God wouldn't approve? No. Because ecstasy is illegal? Pfff...obviously not. Let's see...ummm...even if the men DID fall in love with each other, it would be momentary. While the gay men would be in heaven, sort of like Dupont Circle meets the desert, all the heterosexuals would wake up and realize what they just engaged in. What does that mean? That means load your friggin' automatic weapons and start killing all the witnesses to avoid any chance of it making it's way back home, thereby reversing the planned effect and continuing the war ten fold.

Btw, I've asked King Kong* about this and his knowledge of the [let's be honest and call it what it is] Gay Bomb before it became public. I will update with his response if able.

*King Kong - reference to JC Oberst (see posting entitled My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad)

My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad

2007-11-30T10:13:00.002-05:00

Yea, face it, he'd kick your ass. Not even himself. He's got access to the big missles (or close enough) and he could "remove" you on his lunch break.

While he's not my biological father, my mom's husband JC Oberst is currently stationed in Bahrain. He just finished about a 2 or 3 year stint in the Pentagon and his current title is something along the lines of "Commander of Southeast Asia," aka King Kong.

Yea, not Captain Stabbin', not Maxwell Smart. He runs the show, and knows more than we'll ever have a clue about regarding our government, the navy, and the middle east. He's commanding the US Naval Base in Bahrain, as well as another *unofficial* base in Djibouti. You know what the capital of Djibouti is? It's Djibouti fool!

Shake your booty to that, and don't talk smack to me b/c I'll point a laser at your house and watch it disappear seconds later. Suckaaaas!!!!

Source - my mom's and his blog can be seen here: http://mollyandjc.blogspot.com/

Krumping, for those who don't know

2007-11-25T04:01:00.001-05:00

So I've been introduced to a seemingly newer style of...dancing...that apparently began in the US - who knew?? Well I didn't until Manda and Jodi spoke to me about it last weekend.

Watch this video please:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrZLCCjIZc8&feature=related

I may just be able to share some aussie krumping by these girls - i don't think they've quite mastered the style :o but they're getting close. It's funny at first, but maybe you'll start to like it? Let me know what you think...or if you already knew about this.

More Pics From Brisbane & The Gold Coast

2007-11-23T21:40:00.001-05:00

Manda's official 21st bday (drinking age is 18 though so it's a bit more tame...until Saturday's party that is)

Dedicated to my beta fish

Manda & Lauren

Jess & Jodi

Manda & Jodi

Lauren ordered about 10 rounds of shots that night, tequila, absenthe, shooters, vodka, blah!

Jodi, Rachel, Dom, Manda

I found ONE pic from the water park. That green funnel was the sickest water park ride I've ever been on.

Gena thought she could give me a piggy back ride. She was way off, we both crashed. I just took longer to get up :-/

Absenthe shot numero tres! This one took longer to go down.

Gold Coast - Surfer's Paradise - A Weekend With Lauren & Gena

2007-11-23T20:50:00.001-05:00

A weekend at the hostel
Lauren, Gena, and I drove to Surfer’s Paradise on the Gold Coast last Friday morning. It’s only about 45 minutes away from Brisbane (pronounced Briz-ben) where Lauren’s house is. We stayed in a hostel about three blocks from the beach through Sunday. As far as the town and beach go, it actually reminds me of a mix between Miami and Va Beach. Miami just b/c of the numerous condo buildings and hotels – not the people. For that it’s more like Va Beach – just a basic beach town with lots of surf shops, regular shops, and cool beach houses all along the coast and in the hills. We explored a few of the other beaches looking for waves, but it was blown out all weekend. While I did catch some surf, it was nothing worth writing home about. Regardless, it’s a beautiful place and I could live there for sure.

So have you ever stayed in a hostel? I’m not so sure all of my friends could do it…although it is really just like camping. Instead of tents, it’s just an old motel with anywhere from 2-6 beds in a room with a bathroom (I’ve stayed in less accommodating hostels before). There’s a communal kitchen where you can keep and prepare your food. Most of the residents are foreign backpackers of all ages.

The first night the hostel hosted a club night at this new place called Bedroom. We caught a bunch of free taxis with about 30 people, although we ended up only keeping up with a couple. One of our roommates, Patrick (pronounced Pat-treeek with a rolling R), was French and spoke little English. We ended up drinking with him all night long our first night and that got really interesting. Drunken conversation in two languages starts to get a bit ridiculous, particularly when only Gena knew some French. It really just involves a lot of laughing I guess, and probably not accomplishing much other than having a good time and mimicking the other person’s accents. Patrick was really friendly and on a 3 month holiday traveling through Australia and sleeping in hostels. We also met a Welsh kid – pretty young, but really funny acting. Every picture we took with him involved this strange blank look. At the start of the night I just thought I had caught him off guard, but then I noticed that he was actually posing that way.

Dinner - chicken and rolls...mmmm

Sandals all day and all night long

A dirty game of kings. it was Lauren's idea to purchase the nudist playing cards. She figures it's a good "souvenir."

Patrick & Lauren

Gena and Lauren

A flash photo before going to Bedroom

The hostel

Can you spot the welsh kid I mentioned??

The taxi to the club.

Patrick enjoyed giving bunny ears in all his pictures...I didn't know that until looking at these.

This is when I figured out he was actually making that face on purpose.

Surfing banners and signs are everywhere. It's more of a way of life around here - I love it.

Late night eats

Andy Irons

For George...the pic below was tough b/c we couldn't help the reflection.

...and more bunny ears

Schoolies??!!
On Saturday we went to the beach all day. By the afternoon, the entire beach scene had changed. By 6pm, it literally became a festival of 17 year olds. It’s like beach week, but it’s called “Schoolies” and it’s when all the seniors spend their first week of summer at the beach. I kid you not, there were thousands upon thousands of 17 year olds roaming the streets wasted. There were free concerts, dj’s, events, and sectioned off areas of the beach just for them (we couldn’t even get in). I’ve never seen anything like it, but apparently this is considered their “Right of Passage” before beginning Uni (pronounced Yoo-knee and short for University). It’s strangely legal, and even permitted by the parents. In fact, the parents drive them all down and drop them off for the week. The balconies are littered with kids screaming from one hotel to another and into the streets. Honestly, it’s like one big sex, drug, and underage drinking extravaganza, or so it appears. It’s also on the local news every single night in all the cities away from the beach.

So we went out to a beer garden, saw a live band and dj, and made our way back to the hostel amongst all these…kids.

Sunday morning we woke up and headed straight to this pretty sick water park. I wish I brought the camera in b/c some of the rides were awesome. Due to the long lines, the coolest part of the park was the kids area with tons of tiny fast water slides, water hoses, and even a gigantic bucket of water that tipped over everyone about every 20 seconds onto your head, almost creating a permanent part of the hair.

Sunday night we met with Lauren’s friend Manda – who I met in London a year earlier – to celebrate her 21st birthday. It was a great night in this really posh outdoor bar called Elysium. One of the guys I met, Shane, is trying to take a day trip to Byron Bay about 2 hours south this Sunday night and Monday – apparently the surf is pretty amazing down there and the place is overall really tight. Not sure if I’m going to be able to make the trip yet.

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I have yet to post my blog about Mon-Wed this week. I went to a place called Moreton Island and stayed in a Villa. This is one of the top 3 places I've ever visited in the world, no joke. Some of the most amazing pics yet will be posted soon.

Fiji - Pictures Only

2007-11-23T18:32:00.001-05:00

Panorama from the Nadi Airport

Perhaps I found the entrance to....?

Early morning from the Rendezvous beach

The small things matter, too.

Tomo & I on the bus

Where we takeoff from...

Peace suckas!

'Tis Eye

I have no good shots of the surf. Here's Wilkes Pass

Taylor & Levi on the boat

A wave making its way through the channel is no bueno. This guy had to quickly move further out.

Stressed? No, not really...

Taylor

Diving for sand to bring home

Simply Beautiful

Taylor, I, Levi - riding the train

Tomo - also riding train

Levi - the man

Levi - choppin' the coconut

I can't for the life of me remember her name, but she was always smiling and I like that =)

Post surfing - time to eat

The cat wants a bite too!

This is Kimmy - his parents apprently left him in Fiji after spending 2 months there. He's been there by himself for 2 weeks, just hanging out. A bit strange I thought, but cool nonetheless. He's learning English.

Levi sneaking a cart onto the track for us to ride.

View from one of the dirt roads outside the resort.

Rendezvous Surf & Dive Resort

There are tons of beautiful flowers and vegetation.

Hibiscus

A small place to relax, all within one big place to relax...

Welcome To This World

2007-11-15T19:50:00.001-05:00

Music: jazz station on tv

Location: Lauren's basement, Brisbane Australia
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This being my first posting to this newly created blog, I didn't want to start just with my trip (the initial reason behind creating it). I had to ask myself: Why blog? I don't know really. Maybe you're interested in some of what I'm thinking or doing - you tell me. Or wait, I'll tell you. Blogging certainly isn't a new trend. I'm not sure I was ever that interested until recently when my family created one. I've told a few stories on the MySpace blog, but even that's not kept up to date. And this probably won't be either, but for now I'm happy to have it setup and start sharing my thoughts, perceptions, and adventures. I really do wonder though...is there anyone actually reading this??

The name behind the URL comes from a Jeff Buckley song, I woke up in a strange place, and just seems to fit...me. I wish I could tell all the really crazy stories here, but then you'd probably think I'm as weird as I actually am, among many other things for certain. Furthermore, a few rules I'll try to follow from here on out:

1) be concise & trim the fat
2) details are good, but only when they are good details
3) I'll try to tell you something you didn't already know, whether it's truth or not!
4) Always set the preface.

There's plenty more, but I just can't think of them all right now.

So enjoy, I hope you do anyway. It's certainly a minor pain keeping a private and public journal, so I hope this gets some web-play.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." H. Thompson

-yours truly

Where The Sidewalk Ends...And Fiji Begins.

2007-11-05T10:42:00.001-05:00

Preface: I've been writing this for about 10 days now with little to no access to the internet for time to post.

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Greetings...

I had hoped to keep this up everyday but due to slow internet or none at all I've only now had the chance publish the beginnings of my journey. Early morning Saturday Nov 10 I left DC to embark on my journey to Fiji and Queensland Australia. I return late evening Nov 27. Yes, I'm missing traditional Thanksgiving.

Of course, getting away from work is a perk, but really minor at this point. I don't take vacations to escape from my job. For so many, vacation is just the word used to state our excuse to go somewhere. For me this is not a vacation, this is living, and us Americans don't seem to get enough of it. If your job shuns the idea of a lengthy vacation, get the hell out. That is, only if you enjoy travel. I've learned that only as an American am I fortunate to take this trip. However, a lot of Americans don't think of traveling the way the majority of people around the world do, and a majority of the people I've met think my trip is ridiculously short and almost laugh at my itinerary. To them, two weeks travel is good enough for one or two cities, and taking 1-12 months visiting a country or doing an around the world adventure is more like it, not to mention, promoted quite heavily. So forget long weekends, holidays, and all the usual days off. We're way of track with that notion. The people I've met are really doing it right...how can we achieve that!!?? Not sure we ever will, but here's my best next step at it =)

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Day 1 - Sat Nov 10
I woke up after a mere 90 minutes of sleep. I shuffled to the airport and was on my way. Despite my lack of sleep, my bargaining skills were at an all time high. I was able to convince the airline to drop the cost to bring my surfboard to $35 instead of the initial $115. I slept the entire trip to LA.

Once there I was picked up by Tony, Mr. Riggs' (Bob) personal chauffeur and driver. Since my flight didn't leave until 10:30pm that night, I had plenty of time to kill. Bob and Teri greeted me with a smile and a beer. One of the highlights of traveling is new food - there are so many types of food out there that we just don't see back home. Well, I never expected this part of my trip to begin in LA. Bob cooked his very own "3 Bird Burgers" - Ostrich, Chicken, & Turkey. Sounds like something Senor Rianhard would conjure up. The burgers were delicious.

I made my way back to LAX around 7pm. Since my bags were already checked I had some time to kill. Coincidentally, Katy (Brown) was flying to Boston and connecting that same night. We were able to suck down a few drinks before boarding our flights...key preparation for extremely long ones.

It was all a great intermission to a lengthy flight plan.

Next was boarding. This was my first time on a double decker airplane. This thing was MASSIVE.

-seats 430 humans
-carrying 4 tons of cargo
-two stories with 100+ rows on each level
-coach seats suck
-the stewards/stewardess wear flower shirts, the ladies have a flower in their ear
-this flight was 11 hours long, going to Nadi, Fiji
-open bar on all intl flights
- flying Air Pacific
-cost of ticket: $1250

We were supposed to depart at 10:30pm. In fact, we made it to the runway just in time for the pilot to announce their was some engine failure!!?? We had to go back to the gate and have the mechanics work on the plane...for 3 hours...very sketchy. My only concern was that I'd arrive too late Monday morning to catch the boat to the reef to surf (which I did). So we finally took off just before 1:30am.

I arrived in Nadi, Fiji around 8:30am Monday (we lost a day crossing the Intl Date Line), not very well rested and with a 14 hr time difference from DC. It was 11am by the time I got to
Rendezvous Beach Resort (http://www.surfdivefiji.com/). I drank two beers and retreated to my personal "bure" - the word for Fijian residence. It's as simple as can be with a bed, sink, shower and toilet. All I need.

The daily rate included 3 meals a day and was all home cooked in the kitchen by an older group of women. There were about 15 ppl staying there this week either to dive or to surf. 6 Americans, 1 Canadian, 6 or so Japanese.

I learned that many Japanese come to Fiji to learn English so a few of them were doing just that. The others were there to dive or surf. What was really interesting is none of them spoke good English. Only a couple even had what I would describe as very broken English. Attempts at conversation were few and far between. But when they did occur, it was really cool. It's almost like a mini game of
charades, with a lot of hand and body movement...lots of fun for sure.

So Monday was a chance to catch up on sleep. Monday night, however, was a different story. We had an official Kava ceremony. You can read a good quick description here http://kavaroot.com/aboutkava_frames.htm. Kava numbs the mouth and is sort of the opposite of coffee. Levi was the gentleman leading the ceremony and telling all the history behind it. There was another Fijian playing guitar and singing songs - it was all very cool. We had to keep a big "Bula" smile the whole time. "Bula" is their term for hello...sort of like "Aloha" in Hawaii. I ended up passing out by 9pm or so in preparation for an early start and good morning surf session.

Tuesday we ate breakfast followed by a 20 minute boat ride to Wilkes Pass around 8:30am. This is a reef about 1/2 mile from an extremely tiny island on one side and probably 1.5 miles from another larger island. The waves were breaking pretty well, with about 20 second rides if you were able to catch it right at the right spot. The reef was anywhere between 3-8 feet below, so flailing out after a wave was not ideal. Actually, I had to do my best to stay afloat to avoid cutting my body or feet. The coral is literally as sharp as razor blades. The water was crystal clear with a dark blue tint in the deeper parts and a bright turquoise in the shallow sections.

Ever heard of Tavarua? For those that know, that's it below and visible from my resort. You can't tell in this picture, but the judges stand for Cloudbreak is far left and about 3/4 mile from the island. You can only surf the Tavarua breaks on Saturday if you're staying anywhere other than the Tavarua resort (Cloudbreak, Restaurants, and a few others I think).
Like any long surf session, we came back and grubbed our faces off. A guy I met, Taylor (from Seattle - but on his way home from a 5 month school session in AU) and I literally had about 4 refills, but the ladies cooking seemed to love us so it was no problem at all.

Around 3pm a few of us caught the bus to town. We could've gotten a taxi, but it's just not as interesting. This was a wonderful decision. I began talking to a lady I met named Macarena (sp? but like the song). She was super nice and we were chatting up a storm. She even invited us to her village the next day, a 20 min walk up the road, and told us to bring Kava so we could meet the chief - a tradition when visiting any Fijian village...you must bring Kava. So we trekked through the hills mostly over dirt road, picking up and dropping locals off at their houses. The area is all farmland except for downtown Nadi. One of our stops was a school where about a dozen or so kids got on the bus. It was pouring down rain, so they literally got on drenched from head to toe. The kids were super cute...I was taking pictures of them and showing it to them. They seemed amazed, but were also really shy so it was difficult to tell what they really thought. I wished I could've printed them right there and given them all a copy.

Here's I am on the bus. That's Macarena behind me, before we started chatting.

Panoramic photo from the outside of Rendezvous.

We finally got to town and it was pretty wet and muddy. We didn't do much other than walk around through different markets. We also grabbed a few small dishes while waiting for the bus back a couple hours later. I ordered a plate of goat over rice....yummmm....haha. I thought it was okay, but not too delicious. I think it was this guy's bro b/c he was giving me a funny look the next day when I met him.

Some of the locals and guests at the resort.

One of the coconuts and juice we opened.

So Wednesday morning we awoke to go surfing, but the wind was blowing at 22 knots and the reefs were all chop, aka no bueno for swimming or surfing. So we did some snorkeling briefly nearby a super tiny sand island that was on our way back. Once we got back, a few of us decided we wanted to go on a walk around the farm land. Levi was our guide, as usual, and Taylor, Tomo, him, and I all left the resort to explore. Levi brought a machete to chop sugar cane. Sugar cane grows year round and is Fiji's primary export. For those who may not know, sugar cane is the same as that bamboo looking sweet stick they put in your mojito drinks back home. This sugar cane is much thicker...about as thick as my forearm. We just kept sucking on it the entire walk and it was delicious and as fresh as could be.

So we made our way about and I shot a ton of photos. We ended up at this tiny train track, which actually also runs straight to the resort where we were staying. Levi decided to pull one of the carts on the track so we could all take turns pushing and riding it back. It took us about 5 minutes to get back and was really cool. It's a hell of a workout, too. I wish I could do that for my cardio workout instead of the monotonous treadmill sessions back in VA.

One of the local cats that just hangs out at the resort.

Right-side up panoramic of me sitting on the beach.

Panoramic of the beach out front of the resort.

Downtown Nadi (pronounced Non-dee)...it's not very big at all. Probably just a few square blocks.

A shot of the main building of the resort from the trees.

Wednesday night was the one night I actually stayed up late and hung out with everyone. I had to leave for the airport at 6am, but I had already packed and since I was waking up really early anyway, I decided to let loose. By the end of the night, another guy and I had ended up in the pool with a bunch of the japanese kids. Unfortunately I had my wallet and my iPod in my pocket (My mom will just love that) so I'm not sure if it works anymore.

I was able to get up on time and make my way to Brisbane, AU. I can't wait to post more...

ciao ciao