Beach Party

With New Year's Eve comming up tomorrow night it is making me think about the past year, where I was last year at this time, and what could God still have in store for me in the future! Lets see, I think my favorite part of 2005 was my canoe trip with Melissa and Erin last summer. We decided to canoe for a day down the Big Sioux river by Flandreau. It started off beautiful, but we ended up running into a thunder and lightning storm. We banked the canoe and walked across this field that had been cut up so it had sharp blades of wheat and grass, and we were all in shorts w/ not much for shoes. We walked to a farm house and the lady took us in and let us call Melissa's mom to come get us. After all was over with, it turned out to be a great bonding experience for us. It was also the first time I ever drove a suburban! (for those who dont know, im petrified of driving)

If I even thought that a Jellyfish that was 6 ft wide and 450 pounds was swimming around at Myrtle Beach, I think I would have to move even further inland.

our next activity for the day was to go and try to swim with dolphins. there are sections of the river that are inhabited by this weird species of pink freshwater dolphin. we took the canoe out, and after going for a while, we spotted some dolphins. our guide would race the boat all around and the dolphins would swim after us, enjoying our wake, and poking their heads out of the water. eventually, the guide turned off the boat and we got to go swimming in the water. the dolphins were pretty shy. often times, we wouldn’t see them at all for a long time and then eventually one would poke its head out for a second and then dive back in the water. we kept trying to inch closer to them, but it was hard since they would just disappear and then reappear somewhere else. in a way, it was a bit scary actually. the water was really brown and murky and it was impossible to see anything below the surface. yeah sure, dolphins are supposed to be nice and friendly, but it’s a bit disconcerting when one would be swimming towards you, then dives underneath the water, and you would all of a sudden have no clue where this giant animal was or how close to you it might be.

The mount was on the end of a spit/peninsula..holiday town with lovely beaches. We walked around and up the mount for spectacular views and good exercise. Lots of sheep on the Mount. Went to a party in the town and also swam in the naturally heated hot pools there...lovely!

We were both working full time, but as it was summer we had hours of sunlight after work, so we wired up a stereo to the garden, and sat around, shirts off, sunbathing. The good life. For detail, we usually listened to Lemon Jelly, and drank either Gin and Tonic, or beer (usually Grolsch, but not always - the gin was always Plymouth standard strength, not the Naval strength stuff)

Then head on to the right where you will find the lagoons. These are ideal for families, being perfect for sunbathing and safe swimming. El Cotillo is also home to the best beach bar on the island, Bar Torino Its perfect setting lets you to start the day with breakfast rolls, dive back into your lobster pot, surfacing again later to stroll to the bar to order your personally prepared paella (at a time to suit you). Run by a local fisherman, Torino and his English wife, Michelle the food is excellent, the atmosphere typically laid back and friendly, and it’s not far to walk from your towel.

after spending a day in rurrenabaque, we headed out on our tour. the 7 of us and our guide drove for several hours until we got to the river where we had to transfer all of our stuff into a long canoe with a motor. after a bunch of waiting around, our adventure was finally about to begin.

Got to Mackay and got ourselves onto the transfer coach to Airlie Beach. Got here at 6.30pm and found the backpackers hostel. Oh My God - what a shock for me. I have never stayed in a hostel before and we had booked a shared dorm - well it was me, Jon and 2 other guys from Scotland and Holland. Well I tried to make conversation feeling possibly the most uncomfortable I have ever felt - but to no avail - one word answers - ignorant men!! So I had a few tears outside with Jon and then we went into the main strip to get something to eat - I had a few drinks and phoned my turtle and my mum and cried and felt better.

It is sad, but true. The tiny bras and bikinis in this film cannot camouflage the big, gaping holes in the script and movie direction.

As Szego points out, if I want to, I can dress for a business meeting with a bit of cleavage showing. I can wear a bikini on the beach. It doesn't give anyone licence to treat me as an object. She's quite right to say that attitudes towards women's bodies - despite the acres of flesh displayed in public culture - have a continuing tendency to be atavistic. We need to think about this, and about how to go about changing it.

The usual suspects are throwing a fit over a “Girls of EC” calendar.

The emergence of Students in Free Enterprise’s Women of UWEC swimsuit calendar has caused mixed reactions from students across the university.

Anyway, my wikipedia search informed me that The Phantom Tollbooth is NOT the source of the word “doldrums:”

When I was fresh out of Uni I moved down to live with my then GF (now wife) cesca in Southampton and was forced to go out and get a job. I had no idea about work and ended up as a security guard. My (last) assignment was to guard a sailing mast worth a million quid down at the docks over night. On arrival to the hut by the mast I realised that it had:

After the gym, I set out o go find the nude beach out here. At the gym, I put on a red speedo under my shorts, and then I followed the instructions that I found on the internet. I actually had fiund the beach ust as the sunn was setting. The problem that made it so difficult to find thebeach was that the internet said it was a state park. Turns out that it was a county park. That threw me off. Since it was so late, I was bout to still go on teh beach. When I found out that it closed at sundown, I decided to pass up the opportunity and go another day.

This was the last beach party - All of them were very bad for my health... and my memory!! (I wonder why?!) This was near the start and the music hadn't arrived yet - A must have at any beach party if no-one has a guitar! I may tell one of the stories... watch this space!

Also, keep in mind that many classic pop/rock records had very few of the actual band playing. Virtually all the Beach Boys records used the famous "Wrecking Crew" of famous studio musicians, many of whom played on records considered epiphonal by such other artists like The Byrds, etc. The Beatles used a session drummer or two in the very beginning, and brought in musicians for instruments that were out of their experience, like trumpet, etc, but otherwise, they played damn near all the isntrument, snd sang all the parts.

The video was shot at an indoor pool and although the quality isn’t great to keep the file size low, I think you’ll find it’s a pretty good way to see the techniques, setup, etc., used in rolling. The instructor is Dave Lowery from Wild River Outfitters, who also runs the Virginia Beach Surf Kayakers web site. There is also a roll or two by Ed Shiller, who runs Wild River’s Touring Company.

Captain Dick Lanam sailed off into the sunset last night (Nov. 29th) on his final voyage. He suffered a major heart attack on Thanksgiving and has since been unconscious while on life support. He leaves behind family and friends who will always remember him in their own special way.