Shine on you crazy ... Frogger

Neave Games :: Frogger

You will be amazed. It's not that I am a gamer, but I believe in the power of games. This game, Frogger, brings back memories for sure. As I recall, it was hot-ly contested in the Lanier / Stephenson family and Garden Hills Neighborhood dens of the early 80's. It's a strangely addictive game. This new flash version by Neave games is really good - the graphics and the sounds match my memory.

Okay I'm back to playing...

So, if you have never played frogger, you owe it to yourself to try.

Pink Floyd - "Shine on you crazy diamond"
"Remember when you were young,
"Now there's a look in your eyes,
"you reached for the secret too soon,

Everything is going to be fine...

Cookies are in the oven and the CAVS are on the TV.

6 mins on the cookies...

Eddie meet advertising. advertising, Eddie Spaghetti.

3quarksdaily: "On Saturday, the town of Skarsterlan began fining Hotels.nl 1,000 euros a day for putting branded blankets on sheep. Advertising on livestock violates the town's ban on advertising along the highways."

My Friend, Eddie, is selling advertising in Orlando, FL. When I saw this article on selling ads on sheep that graze near the highway in Holland, well I thought about all the creative, innovative thinking that goes into advertising. I think marketing and Eddie are a good match, because he is a innovative and creative thinker.

Eddie meet advertising. Advertising, Eddie Spaghetti.

Flickr: Photos from newmania

Flickr: Photos from newmania

Just posted my Havasu Falls and Grand canyon trip photos over on Flickr. Some are really good.

Angie and I spent a full week in the area. After flying into Vegas and getting a rental car, we drove out to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and stayed in the Mather Campground. It was super freakin cold - good thing there is a Supermarket there with camping supplies. I bought a fleece liner for my sleeping bag and I was COZY the second night.

It was Angie's first time seeing the Canyon and she summed it up in one word "unbelieveable". You just have to see it. The weather was cold - maybe 40s and occasional snow showers. We were happy to drive into the lowlands for some heat.

The parking lot for the Havasu Falls / Havasupai village is 60 miles down a BIA (bureau of indian affairs) road. We parked there and hiked the 10 miles to the campground and the Falls.

The waterfalls were breathtaking and such a treat after the long, dusty hike. It's a shock to be dry and hot, and then turn a corner and feel the moisture from the falls. A very viseral experience. Your BODY rejoices!

We spent three days hanging out and swimming in the pools and eating - we brought a ton of food. And we met a bunch of very cool folks.

There were the English couple - Richard and ?, the park ranger and his girlfriend - Wayne and Teressa, the folks who horseback'ed in with massive provisions, the Colorado ski resort workers, and of course, the Sisters - Alexis and Rachel. We met the sisters at Mooney Falls - the one you have to clmb down a canyon wall to get to. Alexis convinced us to jump from the rope swing. We all hiked out together and had a blast.

So get on over to Flickr and check out the pix! and it's okay to post a comment or two :)

The Alaskan Forum hits 100 members!

I happy to report that the forum I started alittle over a year ago has 100 members. The forum has information about visiting Alaska and living in Alaska. And it provides a places for Alaskans to share tips and highlights.

Visiting and living in Alaska poses special problems. It's unlike any other place in the USA and probably the world. It's hard to come here and be successful. To have a good experience you need a community and guide to help you get along. Where do you buy xtratuffs? How do you find a good Mexican restaurant in Fairbanks? All sorts of questions arise when living on the last frontier. I created the Alaskan Forum to highlight the web sites that can help and provide a place for Alaskans to discuss these topics.

It's an open place and it's free to join the discussion. Please visit, join the board, and post a topic.

If you are a business or have an Alaskan website / blog, it's okay to post a link to your site (as long as it is relative to Alaska)

http://forum.alaskagold.com

Saddened to report the death of a Valdez Heli Ski Legend

Doug Coombs Dies in French ski accident

To me Doug Coombs was a legend. A story that may or not be true, but gives inspiration and hope. He pioneered the Heli Ski community and guiding business lifestyle. The life he created for himself was the stuff of legend. He rode in a helicopter to work. In a remote part of Alaska he helped define a sport, a business and a lifestyle. The sport was big mountain, heli access free-skiing. He was twice a World Extreme Skiing Champion. The business was guiding mere mortals to the hallowed heights he and a few others had pioneered. He was a success in founding two guiding outfitts and working on at least three continents. And the lifestyle was a global trekking heli ski bum business mogul with a big smile and a pure heart. He was a champion for everyone who looked up at a snow loaded coulair or down at a map where the mountains are shaded white.

In this way, he lives on as legends do. I'm glad to know him. He will be missed.

Raggae blasts out of the RV at the top of the hill next to the trailhead in the sunbleached parking lot in the middle of the Indian Reservation. A handwritten sign says Cold Drinks and underneath "have an Irie Day". It turns out the Havasupai Indian tribe are Rastafarian. Look at some of the pictures and you can imagine why -

Angie and I have only a few hours here in Tacoma and tomorrow we head to Sitka... more later

Goin' Dark... Vacation 'til May Day

Loyal readers!

In my attempt to travel myself into the poor house, I'm going on another vacation. This time to the Grand Canyon. I really AM excited, but I'm a bit weary.

Since I stopped working last year, I've been all over Taiwan, NC, Georgia, Hilton Head, SC, Florida, Wisconsin, Costa Rica, and Cleveland and Tacoma and Seatle and Portland.

It's been a great run, but I'm out of money. This will be my last trip... I mean starting now, I'm not going to book anymore airline tickets. Of course, I'm still going to Sitka in May and a bike tour in Oregon in June - But after that, I'm going to get a JOB.

yep, I'm not sure just what yet. But I will work again.

Being Jobless has been an experience - this is certainly the longest I've been unemployed. But being a world traveler is a job, right? And I've helped people. And spent time with Family and friends. I like that part of it. It's the not showering and lounging around all day on the couch watching DVD's of arrested development that is killing me.

So, I'm hoping for a brief spell of work to make some cash and / or experience and then of to school. Could be an education Masters... Could be an MBA or something totally different.

My confidence shook a bit when I saw my bank account. But it's given me some motivation. So, keep me in your thoughts and I'll see you here again in a week or two.

Academic Studies Starbucks Cultural Impact - Yahoo! News

Academic Studies Starbucks Cultural Impact - Yahoo! News: "Simon, who teaches at Philadelphia's Temple University, thinks that by spending time at Starbucks — observing the teenage couples and solitary laptop-users, the hurried office workers and busy baristas — he can learn what it means to live and consume in the age of globalization."

What it means to live and consume in the age of globalization... I like that. live and consume ... in the age of globalization.

That's my age!

...

Happy Easter everybody!

search"sasha cohen" VideoSift

search"sasha cohen" VideoSift

Borat "Ali G" disgraces the national anthem in Savannah, Georgia. It's funny

My great aunt , Eloise

OKAY okay - one more story about death: The crux of my family, I've always said, is that two brothers married two sisters. Lenny and EvaMae and Raeford and Eloise. They celebrated their anniversary on the Fourth of July. Raeford and Eloise were favorites of mine and when the only thing you know about them is there names, you can understand why. They deserved those cool names because they were off the chart in cool. Raeford was gruff and hard and Eloise was smart, sassy and with the looks to back it up. They loved each other tremendously and raised 5 kids. After a fight with cancer, Raeford died first. Eloise lived on. She traveled to my graduation with my Grandmother, EvaMae. They were best friends. After years with Cancer, EvaMae died. Eloise lived by herself. And on the Fourth of July, her family gathered at a neighbors for the traditional party. She felt tired and wanted to rest. She would be along to join the party after awhile. She lay down on the couch and read a book. When her son came to bring her to the party, the book was peacefully resting on her chest and she was gone.

Perhaps she drifted off like our poet describes. I know she was a simple country lady. And I hope she wasn't afraid and felt the connection with her family and simply got up from the couch and joined them at the party.

I'll try to find a good picture of her and post it soon.

enough of the Death Stuff

... well just one more post. Tonight, while celebrating my return from Portland, I watched the PBS show "Nature". The subject was an African Fig tree. The female narrator's soothing voice explained the web of life surrounding this one tree on the bank of a crystal clear river. The point of the story was the relationship between the fig fruit and the lone pollenating fig wasp. But what surprized me was the life struggle and death of these creatures all in perfect harmony. Nothing is F$#K'ed here. Every lifecycle fit into a whole and served some sort of purpose. As if by pre-arranged contract, each species fulfills an obligation and contributes in some way.

Beautiful. It made me happy for the tree, and the bugs, and PBS.

pictures from Portland, soon.

Thanatopsis

Thanatopsis

Death - This poem was written by a 16 year old in the late 19th century. He seems to get it. "All that breathe share thy destiny." This was and is one of my favorite poems. I first read it in class and have always gone back to it.

My grandfather got word that he has a cancerous tumor and must have an operation to remove his kidney. It's a big deal, in my mind. He is 81 years old. And he has seen alot of death. His wife, brothers, friends have all joined the "innumerable caravan".

It's tough to speak to your grandparents about dying. But why in the world is it? Death is all around us. Yet it's a taboo. Maybe it's like sex - we don't talk about it to build up the mystery and heighten the thrill.

So, okay, I'll play along. I won't try to bust the taboo. But I won't be ruled by it either. A little mystery is good - too much is a dysfunction.

I'm going to die. The fear is that I will die doing something stupid and that I'll cower and creep toward it like a quarry-slave at night.

My grave is waiting, but my obituary is not written. I plan to walk toward my death day with unfaltering trust. So can you.

"The oxen are slow, but the earth is patient."

01:02:03 04/05/06

For another example of why Annie is supercool. She told me she wants to finalize her marriage (long story) today. Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - 04/05/06. Pretty cool, huh? My friend Nat in Portland just sent me this: This afternoon it will be 01:02:03 pm 04/05/06.

Can I just say that my friends freakin' rule!

Near death experience brings people together

I've truly been on a wild ride and I want to share more about it. I'm not the best writer even at my best. Regardless of that fact, every once in a while, I get over myself enough to type a blog post. This one is about death and life.

When the plane I was on caught fire (US Airways Flight 59 from Charlotte to Seatac), I had a bit of an "Come to Jesus Party". It wasn't frantic. I didn't panic - No one did. My reaction was not passionate. I felt alittle sick to my stomach, as I thought "Today is the day I die." I can't say I wasn't scared - I was. But, erierly I was pretty calm as I sort of observed the situation. The flashes of light and the plane sliding around fighting the turbulence on one engine was "off putting".

After we landed and the tension dropped. (The pilot said "I think everything is under control") We laughed and the people in the cabin talked with one another. I wonder what they thought. We had been in a tense situation and we felt a bond stronger than the normal barrier against speaking to a stranger.

I don't know if it's Star Trek's Klingon or Japanese Shinto ninja comic book philosophy, but somewhere way back when I watched Star Trek with my Dad or chucked "throwing stars" at the back of my friend's skateboard halfpipe, I accepted that I was going to die. I really couldn't choose when, but I could choose how. I want to die doing something great.

And in the last couple of months - Since I moved to Tacoma to be with my Girlfriend or Since I quit my job in Taiwan and moved back to be near Family - I feel like I'm doing something great. Like I'm living by the right values or guidebook.

"I'm still alive / do I deserve to be? / And if so, who answers?" That's a Pearl Jam lyric that has been floating around my head lately (before the flaming engine).

I an hour before I got on the plane to leave Wilmington, I met with a friend, Annie. I've known her for less than a year and we have a fantastic relationship. It's intellectual,as well as intimate and physical - She is my massage therapist. After the massage yesterday and while we were saying goodbye, she said something that I truly needed to hear. She said that she was happy to know me, that I was special to her. She said that I was like a wonderful cameo in the movie of her life. It made me feel so good. I felt like busting at the seams. When someone who you think is great, thinks you are great - well, that's just great. (!)

She also said I deserved to be happy and have a great life. That word deserved struck me and I remembered the Pearl Jam song.

So maybe it's our friends who answer the question, "Do I deserve to be alive?" Of course, I've been told by my parents and family and friends that I am special to them, but they are sort of obligated to make comments like that. Coming from a new friend and unsolicited - It's Special. And she is special. And I wish for her the same thing.

komo news | US Airways Plane Lands Safely After Bird Strike

komo news | US Airways Plane Lands Safely After Bird Strike

This was me.

Coming into Sea-Tac, the engine starts to make a funny noise. I didn't think too much about it because planes make funny noises ... sometimes. But when a guy on the other side of the plane starts saying "Hey, the engine is on fire." and there are flashes of light inside the cabin - my "HOly CRAP" meter was pegged.

The pilot had to fight turbulence and with one engine it was pretty frightening. Imagine the engine is on fire and the plane is weaving around. Sucked!

I thought, "Well, I could die in this plane. Today."

hmmm

"I'd rather be lucky than good"

well, the excitment continues....

If you go down to Hammond...

Travel is something for the strong. My brother and I just got off the road from our Southern swing. 1 week and 2 thousand miles later we can sit back and relax for a few hours here at home before we head off again - this time in seperate directions. He is going to Hawaii and I am back to Tacoma.

Florida is a travel paradise. Fecund describes it well. It's dripping with wildlife. And not only in Downtown Orlando. Which is best seen from the back of a speeding pedicab.

Well, my mind is fried. People visited: Mark, Catherine, Paddy, Lilly, The Nestor clan, the lean Mel and Eddie, Charles. Everyone is fine. I'm fine and ready to get back "home".

I hope to write about some trip highlights - like the natural springs, the kayak trip with my brother and sister in Tarpon bay, and the easy life at the Casa del Nestor on Sanibel.

as always, more later,

And who knows which is which and who is who

Things I like: getting comments from friends on the blog (Thanks Doug!) Waking up with the Sun, having a bunch of energy, posting a small article on the Alaskan Forum with fishing info, my brother screwing with telemarketers (Oh no they aren't here, but you sound like a go getter - do you want to represent me with AM-Way. It's a great program, despite what you heard. What's your telephone number?...), cruise control, iwayhigh reagge internet radio stream on my Axim, reagge Pink Floyd covers, B vitamins, turning worms

Things I DONT like: My teams getting wiped out of the tournament (C'mon BC! 23 turnovers!!!!), car traffic on my walk / ride to the store, non-creative and violent solutions to conflict and feeling like there is nothing I can do about it, hopelessness (Hope is the last to die.)

So I want to thank the people who read this blog and are thinking about me.

Party on. I'm going to be dark for a bit while I travel down to FLA. Here is a link to the route.

Sisters of the Sun are gonna rock me on the water

Mile stones - I've posted 200 blog entries here. All this talkin' and not much saying. I've been "between jobs" for over a year. Yep, f@#k work. and more.... I'm working on my site www.alaskagold.com and it seems to be paying off - numbers are up and I'm enjoying learning all the new stuff.

It's a rainy day here in Wilmington, NC. And cold. I thought I had planned to be here in the 'nice' part of the year. And I got it part right - The azelela's are beginning to bloom. Soom trees are budding and pushing out color. But it's cold.

Anyhow, Next week "I'll get down to the beach somehow." Tomorrow is my uncle's 60 birthday and we are planning a surprise party (I hope he doesn't read this blog in the next 24 hours!) . The party will be a Carolina Pig Pickin' - Have you ever been to one? It's the kind where the pig is BBQ'ed with the head and tail and stuff. It's a sight and DAMN it taste good. Good Carolina BBQ makes it ALL worth it.

I've been strugglin' a bit lately. But the rain is coming down and KNBA is on the radio and the cookies are smellin' good in the oven (almost done) - so I'm not complaining at all.

Jackson Brown helps:

Oh people, look around you
The signs are everywhere
You’ve left it for somebody other than you
To be the one to care
You’re lost inside your houses
There’s no time to find you now
Your walls are burning and your towers are turning
I’m going to leave you here and try to get down to the sea somehow
...

We all must do the best we can
And then hang on to that gospel plow
When my life is over, I’m going to stand before the father
But the sisters of the sun are going to rock me on the water now

cookies are done

Yep, that was the sound of my voice...

Wow, um, that was, um, ... good. Um, ... um...

I have to say, not by way of excuse, but I HAD been driving for 8 hours and in the car for 4 days, and it was super late. Anyway, I hope you liked, um, the Audio post.

So, I'm back in Wilmington, NC. And, because the truck isn't "doing right", I took my bike over to cousin Brett's house to watch UNC fall to the Mighty Murray State squad. When Roy Williams almost threw that chair onto the court and grabbed a player, I knew we were in trouble. Hurt feelings and sadness aside, that's the freakin reason we watch March Madness. Little Davids battling with giant goliath. Murray State came to play and win, and, well, we didn't. So see ya next year Tar Heels. Thank you for a great season and for beating Dook on Reddick's Senior night.

So, now in the tournament, I'm rooting for BC and Gonzaga.

Oh, and my Country is waging a war that can't be won and for questionable reasons going on four years now... more later