The Truth About Actors

That being said... I can't act. lol.

Sierra Leone :: Part 2 :: The Reason

So why the heck did I go to Sierra Leone?! And why didn't many people know anything about the trip?

Well, it was a bit of a quickly planned trip, actually there was barely enough time to get the necessary shots. As for why, it was a visioning trip to help determine the needs of a children's home. My travel partner was Nolan Watson of Nation's Cry. I acted as the second pair of eyes as we attempted to determine the needs of International D.O.V.E. on behalf of Nation's Cry.

D.O.V.E. has been operating in Sierra Leone for nearly 20 years enduring the entire period including the various wars and coups that the country experienced. D.O.V.E.'s initial operations consisted of a foster program "Up Country" Sierra Leone. Working with the S.L. Ministry of Social Welfare D.O.V.E. cares for 44 children who have been placed with foster parents and those with the greatest need have been brought to the Village of Hope. D.O.V.E.'s Village of Hope is situated near the town of Regent on the outskirts of Sierra Leone's capital city of Freetown. The village is situated on a 12 acre plot of land which includes numerous fruits and vegatables. The village currently houses 23 children and as increased funding permits that number may grow.

At D.O.V.E.'s Village of Hope the children "have these things provided for them: Food, clothing, medicine, education, and all their practical needs. The goal is to provide them with a warm, loving home and family so that they become well educated, well adjusted young adults who can further their education and eventually become an asset to their own country by using their skills and training to bring better living conditions for their own people. We know that not all the children will return to help their country but DOVE's goal is to give each of them a chance at life that they would not have had otherwise."

Despite these noble goals, D.O.V.E. International has remained quite underfunded. This is especially surprising given the fact that Nolan Watson, CA, CFA, has gone through every Canadian Charity registered with the CRA to determine which had the least amount of administrative waste. D.O.V.E. was that charity.

SL Update :: Part 1

Sierra Leone :: Part 1 :: The Country

Sierra Leone is on the Western horn of Africa an area often referred to as the Rice Coast. The country is thoroughly marred by it passed as over a span of nearly 40 years the country so near constant political instability, coups, and civil war.

Sierra Leone was first known to Westerners through the slave trade. The island's illicit activities were started in 1670 and the fortress became the largest slave passage on the West Coast of Africa up until it was shutdown by British Parliament in 1808. The slaves that came through Bunce were prized for their rice growing skills and techniques and were highly sought after for the southern coast of the United States. The 1997 movie Amistad is a story about slaves from Bunce Island.

In the late 1800's the capital of Freetown became a British Crown colony and the rest of the country a British Protectorate. At this time the country began to be re-settled by many former slaves, many from various tribes and areas. This melding of cultures, tribes, and languages has created a unique kaleidescope in Sierra Leone and helped to create the Creo (or Kreole) language that is spoken in the Freetown area.

In 1961 Sierra Leone gained its independance and became a full member of the British Commonwealth. Unfortunately since that time there has been few periods of peace and political stability. The country has been mired in coup after military coup, civil war, war, and more. The various instabilities got to their worst in the late 90's. Stories of child soldiers high on drugs and forced to slaughter thousands of innocent people are far to clear in recent history. Fortunately early in the 2000's a UN lead peace keeping force came to the country.

2002 saw the war officially announced to be over and May brought peaceful elections were the most recent president from before the war got to its' worst re-elected with a 70% majority. The years following that election saw much stability return to the region and in fact a second peaceful and democratic election was recently held, in September, and a new president, Ernest Bai Koroma, was elected on a platform of reigning in corruption.
Time will tell where Sierra Leone goes from here but there are several encouraging things to watch. A large electric plant is currently under construction and is anticipated to be completed in the near time. Foreign investment which for 2006 was approximately $5M USD is growing rapidly and there is news of a $500M beach & golf resort being built near Freetown! The stamping out of corruption will also be something that will have to be watched closely...

SL Update :: Part 2

Ski Resorts and Vanishing Snow!

As I've blogged before... climate change is real. It's happening. We won't get into the causes, solutions, marketing opportunities, etc. One huge industry that's attempting to battle the brown bandit of climate change are Ski Resorts. What are they going to do if there isn't snow in 50 or 100 years?!

Well, many of them are working hard now to combat that potential likelihood and feverishly putting in extras and non-snow-sports options to not only entice the more sedentary among us and to increase their year-round popularity, but to also improve their no-snow survivability. Many resorts in the Swiss Alps that used to be mobbed for their winter revelry are now attempting to compete in the areas of pop culture, shopping, and spa'ing in addition to their lessening on-hill attractions.

In the meantime, get your snow-on and head up to the Whistler SlopeSide Retreat. They still have great snow in the winter and even more to do in the summer with several world-class golf courses, mountain biking tracks, hiking trails, and more!!!

Black Monday: Will it Happen Again?!

Today is the 20th Anniversary of Black Monday that saw the second largest single day declines on major world stock markets. The US market declined by more than 22%, the Canadian market by a similar amount, the UK by more than 26%, Spain by more than 31%, Australia by nearly 42%, and the Hong Kong market by more than 45%!!!!

History of Black Monday can be found here.

Some people, such as Warren Buffet, have commented that they believe a crash like that of '87 or for that matter like that of 1929 which was at the start of the Great Depression could happen again. What do you think?!

I alluded to Black Monday in a previous post after Alan Greenspan had alluded to a possible US recesssion.

What's Crazier Than Base Jumping?!

Taking a little man-powered flight using only your base jumping suit, chute, and well, and nothing else. And then flying within' feet of the cliff your jumping off! Yes... flying using only your person... mere feet from cliffs... 100mph!!!!! Okay, I made up the 100mph number, but it's probably pretty accurate.

Pre-Fab Revolution

All the talk these days about environmentally friendly, green choices, sustainability, etc. has sparked a bit of a revolution in the pre-fabricated housing market. Pre-fab homes come in specific size multiples helping to reduce building waste and many of their builders focus on using sustainable building materials such as cork and bamboo lending to their greenness. Traditional ideas of pre-fab housing spark admittedly politically incorrect notions of trailer trash living in double wides. But in the time since those stereotypes were established the industry has grown up considerably resulting in a wide range of manufactured homes that look nothing like a Kid Rock video.

Some of the most exciting developments in pre-fab housing has been the introduction of many new and varied modern takes on the construction method. Pre-fab can lend itself well to the modern home by exploiting the typical boxy frame using them to configure endless possibilities. There have been all sorts of modern pre-fab designs making splashes in main-stream media and home shoes from miniature rustic-modern cabins to full-fledged suburban family homes.

Right here in British Columbia, inHabit modern dwellings, a North Vancouver company has just sprouted building reasonably priced modern bungalows starting at just over $10,000 for a 10' by 10' secure Gear Garage and only $12,500 for the Studio 1.0 which includes double glass doors, one opening window, ceder siding, and 4' by 10' covered deck. Other models are available depending on your needs and budget.

Some other pre-fab favourites include: weeHouse, glide house, and small house. A great source for more info and even more manufactures can be found at fabprefab.com.



On a slightly related note... Modern Cabin by Michelle Kodis looks like a great book showcasing some of the most unique modern cabins gracing some of those great getaway locations in the world.

My Guide to the Interweb & eMail

I've considered writing this little guide for a while and finally decided I'd start working on it. It's meant to give an overview of a few random tips and tricks both in regards to the internet as a whole and to email. I won't bore you any more with the details but just blurt it out:

1. Email can be a substitute for "snail mail" but that doesn't mean it's the same thing. The thing about email is that it's much more conversational than traditional "snail mail" which is written more like prose. Emails can be short, one line even, or they can be long. The key with email is that they almost always require a response of some sort. If the email is long, you could write back a long 'letter' email when you have a chance, and in the mean time just send them a short reply noting that you'll get back to them later. If the email was short, send a quick reply, if one's required, or acknowledge the email in a more traditional way like a phone call or in person.
   
2. "Forwards" seldom speak truthiness. Of the 10 or more FWDs you may receive in a month most if not all of them are complete and utter lies! That's right that little girl in Kansas doesn't have cancer, the Gap is not interested in giving you free clothes, and on and on and on. But if you'd like to be sure of their truthiness before pressing the DELETE button then go to About.com's Hoax section and search for the specific hoax you've just received.
   
3. You're going to break the computer! You're computer will have errors, it will freeze up, it will do things that are completely inexplicable. Don't worry... computers although great are made by humans and contain errors. Give it a restart, if the problem persists you may have to re-install some software... give your braniac nephew a call and have him lend a hand.
   
4. I found the best deal on Expedia. Expedia and Travelocity sometimes have good deals... check them out. But the latest advancement of the internet is called 'meta' search engines or in English, search engines that search search engines. Kayak.com is a great meta search engine for travel that will help you to find the best travel deals on the web and a recent feature they added includes searches of Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, and Hotwire.com. Other features that will help you, but require simple registration, include searching with flexible dates and times.
   
5. If I put pictures on the internet my identity will be stolen. If people want your identity they'll get it. Take precautions. Shred important documents. Vary passwords and make sure they include both letters of the alphabet, numbers, and if you're feeling really sneaky add in some punctuation and varied cases (i.e. upper and lower case letters). As for pictures and info on the web, again, be careful, but you don't have to worry too much. First, if someone wants your info, it's probably already there. Second, you can limit who gets to see what with Facebook.com or Flickr.com so you don't have to worry about some crazy internet stalker enjoying the pictures you took of your cat in the garden.
   

Saving for Retirement

Or maybe you're still putting the saving part off, but you do think about retirement ever so often despite being in the very early stages of your career. Retirement is one of those words that is bound to spark your imagination. Where's the daydream taking you? Has it kept you inside that 3 bedroom, 2 bath bungalow that you're going to raise your 2.5 kids and a dog in or have you been transported to an untouched white sand beach in the Caribbean? Well it's time to start researching and planning for that.

Many studies have shown that abruptly moving to a new retirement destination can be very hard on the retirees and I imagine on their families as well. So one must plan well in advance and ensure they thoroughly think about any and all retirement decisions.

With that in mind there are many attractive retirement destinations both within the United States and Canada and in more exotic locales. Within North America Atlanta, GA, Portland, OR and Victoria, BC have been noted as prime destinations, especially given their favourable tax climates and moderately priced real estate. EscapeArtist.com recently rated Ecuador as one of the top places to retire in the entire world. The country is quite favourable to ex-patriots, has reasonable real estate prices, no income tax, and a moderately warm climate.

Green Travel Going Virtual...

Forecasters are starting to predict that in about 10 years time real travel will be largely replaced by virtual travel as the desire and need to be eco conscious alters travel as we know it. But how is this affecting travel today?

Two interesting developments come from a couple of notable airlines: Air Canada and Virgin. Air Canada who has been voted the best airline in North America, to the confusion of many of its' customers, has recently introduced a voluntary carbon offsetting program. This revolutionary program allows fliers to purchase a carbon credit add-on if their conscience leads them to do so. This additional fee is handled by ZeroFootprint a non-profit environmental organization that will take your 'donation' and use it to plant trees within British Columbia.

Another interesting development is that Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson has started a new venture, Virgin Green Fund, in an effort to seek to find and use renewable fuels that are economically feasible and environmentally friendly. The Virgin Green Fund was started with $400M in seed money and will continue to receive profits from both the Virgin Airline and train businesses over the next 10 years. I've read that the anticipated figure is an additional $3B of investment but heard Branson quote a figure of $10B while on Martha Stewart's show.

Maybe we'll still be able to fly in 10 years. Let's hope so, it's a big world out there.

Some carbon offset examples:
Vancouver, BC to London, UK - 1.6T of CO2 per flight - $25.60CDN
Vancouver, BC to Maui, HI - .9T of CO2 per flight - $14.40CDN
Vancouver, BC to Calgary, AB - .2T of CO2 per flight - $3.20CDN

Mentos and Pop

It's long been seen on the interweb that if you put mentos (one or MORE) into a 2L bottle of pop you can get some pretty exciting non-nuclear reactions. Well a couple of Germans, I presume, have taken it to a new level...

101 two litre bottles of Diet Coke.

523 Mentos Freshmakers.

Flight of the Conchords

Near the end of August I had a scary little item on my calendar... a reunion. Yeah, that's right, we're all getting older and apparently we like to mark the milestones with celebrations. Hmmmm. Thankfully the high school reunion was much more fun than I was initially expecting and I was very glad to have gone. I might add, in case they're reading, that Kate & Shannon did a great job organizing the evening. And on top of their great organization skills, one might call them an organization duo, they introduced me to another duo named Flight of the Conchords.

Now if you haven't already heard, Flight of the Conchords are New Zealands #3 Folk Parody Duo. They used to be #2, but that's another story altogether. Some of their claims to fame include trying to promote acceptance, stewardship of the earth, and of course being the inventors of rap music in New Zealand.

I've included two of their more notable songs below. Enjoy.



NOTE: You should NOT be attempting to drink any sort of beverage or trying to carry on a serious conversation whilst watching these videos. You may very well fail. Nope... you WILL fail!

Money Wasting, Money Wasting

If you haven't taken the time to keep a detailed account of your daily expenditures for a month (or a week at least) you really should do it as it may really open up your eyes to where all that money goes that you supposedly receive from those twice-monthly cheques. And as I'm sure you're well aware, it's not the monthly rent, car payment, cell phone bill, etc. that get ya (although they certainly do their part), it's the little things that really add up to suck the savings out from under you.

It's been called many things but most notably in recent years it's been trademarked as The Latte Factor by David Bach author of many best-selling financial literacy books. I would highly recommend you read at least one, my wife and I read Smart Couples Finish Rich. The title sounds rather petty and materialistic but one of the foundations of his financial planning approach is to view your choices based on your values.

Today I read an article outlining what various 'normal' expenditures can add up to including unused memberships, interest on credit cards, and daily lunches out during the work week. Here's a couple examples (Note figures are based on U.S. prices... add 20% for CDN):

1. Coffee -- According to the National Coffee Association, the average price for brewed coffee is $1.38. There are roughly 260 weekdays per year, so buying one coffee every weekday morning costs almost $360 per year.

4. Bottled water from convenience stores -- A 20-ounce bottle of Aquafina bottled water costs about $1. One bottle of water per day costs $365 per year. It costs the environment plenty, too.

5. Manicures -- The Day Spa Magazine Price Survey of 2004 found that the average cost of a manicure is $20.53. A weekly manicure sets you back about $1,068 per year.

7. Weekday lunches out -- $9 will generally cover a decent lunch most work days. If you buy rather than pack a lunch five days a week for one year, you shell out about $2,350 a year.

9. Interest charges on credit card bills -- According to a survey released at the end of May 2007, the median amount of credit card debt carried by Americans is $6,600. Rate tables on Bankrate.com indicate that fixed interest rates on a standard card average 13.44 percent. Making the minimum payment each month, it will take 250 months (almost 21 years) to pay off the debt and cost $4,868 in interest. Ouch!

The rest of the Top 10 Money Drains.

The Front Lines

Whether you agree with the foreign policy decisions that eventually led to the current wars in Afghanistan & Iraq the fact is that the wars were started, power vaccuums created and now peace keeping and simply completion of the initial missions is crucial as to not create complete and utter chaos in the region.

That being said most, if not all, Western reporting on the subject is viewed from a negative viewpoint and rarely is anything other than the latest fatality reported.

Michael Yon is a self-funded, independent journalist who has been embedded with several units from both the United States and British forces within the region. Michael has been with several units during ambushes and fire fights with unwanted results. To get a new perspective check out Michael's website. (Unfortunately he hasn't yet embedded himself with the Canadian Forces... I imagine there's not enough donations from our little country to support his projects.)

I really enjoyed the Death or Glory series: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV.

Crazyness: Part Deux

I've been posting a number of interesting and normally humourous video clips on my random blog. Today is no exception. Unfortunately this one can't be embedded but I'll provide the links below. It's a three-part YouTube series from Switzerland on "buggy rollin". What's 'buggy rollin'?! Well, it's basically one of the craziest things you could dream up.

Start with a medieval armoured suit, add in the following sports: street luge, roller blading, motorcycle riding, and anything else that might be considered completely psychotic and you've got 'buggy rollin', 31 wheels of 'buggy rollin'! My description doesn't really do it justice so here you go... Jean Yves Blondeau Buggy Rollin in the Swiss Alps:

Buggy Rollin - Part 1

Buggy Rollin - Part 2

Buggy Rollin - Part 3

Navigating your Greenity

How do we make choices that are more green? Choices that will help the planet or at least not damage it? How do we reduce our carbon footprint?!

There's so much information out there and I've discussed some of it before. Suggestions that most would agree with include walking whenever possible, buying organic, driving a hybrid automobile, and of course always using paper and not plastic.

This morning I came across some 'facts' excerpted from a new book by Chris Goodall titled How to Live a Low-Carbon Life. NOTE: I call them 'facts' as statistics can be tweaked to serve almost any end goal so as such take this with a grain of salt.

Shattering the great green myths

— Traditional nappies are as bad as disposables, a study by the Environment Agency found. While throwaway nappies make up 0.1 per cent of landfill waste, the cloth variety are a waste of energy, clean water and detergent

— Paper bags cause more global warming than plastic. They need much more space to store so require extra energy to transport them from manufacturers to shops

— Diesel trains in rural Britain are more polluting than 4x4 vehicles. Douglas Alexander, when Transport Secretary, said: “If ten or fewer people travel in a Sprinter [train], it would be less environmentally damaging to give them each a Land Rover Freelander and tell them to drive”

— Burning wood for fuel is better for the environment than recycling it, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs discovered

— Organic dairy cows are worse for the climate. They produce less milk so their methane emissions per litre are higher

— Someone who installs a “green” light bulb undoes a year’s worth of energy-saving by buying two bags of imported veg, as so much carbon is wasted flying the food to Britain

— Trees, regarded as shields against global warming because they absorb carbon, were found by German scientists to be major producers of methane, a much more harmful greenhouse gas

Sources: Defra; How to Live a Low-Carbon Life, by Chris Goodall; Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacturers Association; The Times; BBC

Article Link.

One Crazy Thing, One Awesome Thing...

First... the crazy:




Don't worry, he's okay. But that must have really hurt. OUCH!

Second... the awesome:




Get your own Michael Vick Dog Chew toy here!

Supercharged Powerwheels!

Other than this video dragging on a lot this looks like so much fun. Wish I had one of these as a kid. Note to dad... get him some rubber wheels!





p.s. Vid ends with a sweet spill.

The true cost of television...

I just read an article about the 'real' costs of watching television. They broke down the 'start-up' costs, added in all of the reoccurring monthly charges, accounted for the increased consumerism, and factored in the opportunity costs of all that 'wasted' time. The figures are pretty astounding... from the article:

"So what does this all add up to? Say you're 25 years old and you initially spend $2,000 for your TV, DVD player, entertainment cabinet and gaming system after getting your first job. Add in monthly costs of $100 for cable, $10 for electricity use, $20 for renting movies, $25 for buying games and $20 for an occasional pay-per-view event, and you're looking at $175 a month. Add in another $525 a month extra you spend due to the influence of commercials if you are the average person, and you are costing yourself $700 a month watching TV."

Using an 8% growth rate, only compounded annually, that $700/month would grow to more than $3.7M by the time you're 70 years old if you ceased watching TV at age 25.

Of course what's not considered here is that from time to time you may learn something from television that actually saves or makes you money and one may also derive some stress relief or relaxation from their time in front of the screen.

Article Link.

Mosquitoes... narrowly avoided.

So Trish & I decided to get away for a night this weekend and decided that would be by camping in Whistler for Saturday night. We booked a tenting site at the Riverside RV Campground & Resort.

We checked in around 1:30pm and decided to set up our tent before hitting the town. Now at this point in the story you may be wondering why we were setting up a tent since we have the Disco Camper v. 1.5 at our disposal. Well, it turns out that the sites in question are not drive-in and are in fact walk-in and thus the Disco Camper would not suffice. So, we set up our tent at the spot they designated for us and due to the extreme amount of mosquitoes and a campfire ban in effect we decided to enjoy the rest of Whistler until bedtime.

Later that evening as we drove back towards the parking lot near our campsite Trish noticed some people 'in our site', or so she thought. We parked, put some pants on, and then strolled toward our site where sure enough there WERE people in our site and they had already set up their tent and staff from the campground had taken down our tent and removed all of our stuff from the site. We were a little shocked, but tried to find out what was going on. Apparently we had set up in the 'wrong' site, according to the managements quick research. We reviewed our info and had actually set up in the spot we were told to, however, in the computer we were supposed to be 5 sites down. In the hurried take down of our tent by the campground staff they also inadvertently broke one of our tent poles rendering our tent somewhat useless.

The campground has some log cabins in addition to their tent and RV sites, and fortunately there was ONE log cabin remaining which they decided to put us into.

All and all it worked out pretty well and they handled things fairly well, other than the broken tent pole, which they will be replacing. But the cabins were clean, dry, mosquito free, and had showers, etc. so it was somewhat of a nice surprise.

Kill Bill: Volume III

I know, most of you thought there were only two volumes to Kill Bill. Well, I have news for you, there's three! Volume three, the lesser known of the series is about the killer prairie dog, view if you dare:

Poodle Dog... hmmm...

Pup Room? Good Food? Poodle Dog? So confused. Thumbs up Tacoma!!!!1!!!one!!!!

the Nacho King

At first glance of that title one might think that Trish & I have moved to Guadalajara, Mexico and opened a Nacho hut at the side of the road, fortunately we haven't yet embarked on this type of entrepreneurial activity.

What we have gone and done is found a Keeshond named King from the Lewis County Shelter in Chehalis, Washington and gone and adopted him. But King just wasn't a fun enough name so since we always wanted to name our dog 'nacho' and he's already got the name 'king' we have deemed him the Nacho King.

Nacho King has only been in the shelter a few days but at this point we figure he was a farm dog that didn't quite get the love and attention he needs. With a little bit of time, a lot of shampoo, an extreme amount of brushing and potentially some temporarily short hair he'll be up to cosmetic snuff in no time.

Now we just have a whole night and most of tomorrow to kill until we can pick up Mr. Nacho King from the veterinary as he has to get his manly bits removed as a part of the adoption. Poor fella.

Here's Nacho King...

FREE Education?! Nahhhh.

Yeah, that's what I first thought. I mean sure most nations on earth offer at least basic primary education free of charge, that's old news! No, what I'm talking about here is university-level, first-rate, higher education... FREE OF CHARGE!

Okay, what's the catch?! Well, apparently there isn't one... yet. Canada, although democratic and certainly quite capitalistic, is quite far down the Capitalism-Socialism scale. Some of the benefits of this include 'free' health care for all, many social programs, cheap education (especially when compared with higher-level education available in the United States), and of course a some sweet taxes. Further down the scale toward socialism are many Scandinavian countries. Some of the benefits of these countries' social values are in line with Canada's but instead of inexpensive education their higher education is free, that's right, FREE.

There are current discussions with the European Union to alter the current free education for all stance to have it only applicable to EU member countries. Presently, Denmark is the only country that charges non-EU students tuition fees and they have done so since September 2006.

So if I were to study in Scandinavia would my English-only skills pose a problem? Normally not. Most Scandinavians speak some English and many courses are taught solely in English. Also, depending on the school, some offer introductory language classes as a part of an international student program.

Accommodation and living expenses are not covered, but student housing is often available at a less-than-market-value level.

Countries that make up Scandinavia include: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and Greenland. I'll have to do more research to verify if all Scandinavian countries, save Denmark as earlier mentioned, offer this sweet deal.

Fight Climate Change!!!

Further to my previous post on hybrid cars and the sometimes scewed facts pointing to them being the most environmentally friendly way to go, today I was pointed to a study on climate change. Most of us have been taught that to fight climate change we need to reduce general consumption, make green choices with regards to our homes and transportation, and explore alternative 'green' energy options.

A study released today on the Hidden Cause of Global Warming points to deforestation as the single largest culprit, far outweighing every other environmentally negative action. The study claims that the deforestation that will take place over the next 24hrs will pump more CO2 into the earth's atmosphere than 8M people travelling by jet from London to New York!

The key forests that need to be saved, in light of this studies' findings are the tropical rain forests that line the earth's equator. The Amazon, Indonesian forests and also those of the Congo are crucial to combating climate change. The Kyoto Protocol and other environmental pacts are useful but without the preservation of the worlds great rain forests, which contain nearly 50% of the earth's biodiversity despite only occupying 7% of it's landmass, are moot points.

One option to help save the rainforest is this website: Save The Rainforest. Click it today (and everyday!)
Disclaimer: In this case "with one click" means 'with two clicks'

Camping v. 1.0

At the end of our little vacation Trish & I decided that we should keep the adventures flowing this summer in a more cost effective manner, hence camping v. 1.0. After some intense brainstorming we determined that we didn't need a tent, trailer, or motorhome, but that we could use the Disco, hence Disco Camper v. 1.0. We attempted to have Camping v. 1.0 in Disco Camper v. 1.0 on the first weekend home. For some odd reason we have had interest, maybe a small obsession, with Whidbey Island, despite never being there or really knowing where it was other than West of Burlington, WA. We intended to cure our fascination and achieve our first camping in experience in some time.

NOTE: My previous camping experiences included Alberta 1985, TREK in 1998, and my grad present safari in 2001. Tricia's included several Garabaldi trips with the family friends growing up.

So last week we set about to build the appropriate camping apparatus in the Disco to create Disco Camper v. 1.0. Due to some poor planning and time management the 'camper' was not finished until midday on Saturday, but v. 1.0 was finished. We packed up everything we thought we'd need and headed down to Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island.

The border had some traffic so we took our usual Truck Crossing route with a quick stop in at the Duty Free Shop, which by the way has a great USD/CDN exchange rate. Once through we stopped in at the Cost Cutter which has ridiculously low prices to get our sustenance for the next 24 hours. Turns out it took us barely more than 1 hour to get to the park once we had crossed the border.

The pass & park were gorgeous. A bridge to a central small island and then another to Whidbey with rushing tidal water below greets you. I should remind everyone at this point that there climbing on bridge is prohibited. But driving over it is permitted. The state park takes up both sides of the bridge although the main park area, where we stayed, is on the Whidbey Island side. The park and island are very Pacific Rim National Park like including the drive there, as parts literally seem like a copy. I'm shocked more Vancouverites don't know about Whidbey Island as it's really so close and costs so little to get to as there aren't any ferries involved.

So other than a few minor tweaks to Disco Camper v. 1.0 needing to be carried out prior to the Camping 2.0 we had a great time. Although it didn't 'look' like rain as we set up camp we should have probably set up a tarp because come the next morning there was some light rain. Being relatively inexperienced campers this was an oversight. But no worries since we were in Disco Camper, we just packed up the few things we had left out and continued on in our exploration of the island.

We went through Oak Harbor (US town so US spelling) and then shortly after that turned around to start heading home. A wrong turn led us through Anacortes and right by a location of The Calico Cupboard. We were powerless to there cinnamon buns and had to stop in for one. After that we took the right turn and headed on back to Canada.

We'll definitely go back to Whidbey Island. One other item of note is that at Fort Ebey State Park there is apparently some surf, enough to ride. I will have to verify local rentals prior to our next WI trip.

Modern Architecture

I know I promised some more pictures of some of the great modern design and architecture that we got to see in Acapulco, but due to a certain 'incident' we didn't venture too far from our hotel for the latter half of the week.

I did snag a couple shots on our way to the aeropuerto. These two pictures are quiet typical of entrances in much of Acapulco. Because much of the city is built into the side of a mountain, buildings on the downside of a road are often barely visible. The only thing one will see is the entrance and from there the visitors will descend down into the actual building.

Survivor

That's right... I'm a survivor. During our getting ready this morning and packing up our things we got to experience to earthquakes, or maybe it was one earthquake and one aftershock.

It was a moderate earthquake with an epicenter about 50km NE of Acapulco. According the the US Geological Survey it was a 4.9 on the Richter scale.

Interesting way to cap off our time in Mexico.

Homecoming

I am a fall weekend of high school celebrations. "Trish, will you go to the dance with me?"

Our month away is quickly ending. Tomorrow morning we'll be taking a cab the the Acapulco Aeropeurto to board a flight that will eventually take us to Seattle, WA. In the interest of not shocking our system too much with going home all at once, and to facilitate a few purchases without duty we'll stay an extra night in Seattle. We've been trying Priceline out a bit lately, the service where you name the price you'll pay for a certain star level, but not having luck there we went with our other recent favourite travel website, Hotwire, to secure our nights lodging.

What's the best thing about leaving your home for a month? Well... nevermind the fact that we don't technically have a home right now... The best thing is just relaxing and rejuvenating yourself.

Acapulco Dreams

Some seem to think that Acapulco isn't safe, and granted, during high season, the main drag which is lined with night clubs (aka discotheques) could be a bit harry, but as with any major city if you keep to yourself and keep your street smarts about you there's nothing to worry about. Keep in mind that after dark, you should make sure to use a taxi when travelling off of the main streets.

Now on the the good stuff... Acapulco has some great history as it's fairly close to Mexico City and was heralded as a destination for the elite back in the 60's. We're staying at one such establishment, the Villa Vera. The Villa has hosted numerous stars and even been featured in an Elvis Presley movie!


What I have enjoyed most about Acapulco has been the modern architecture. I assume that given it's historic nature as a place to be, it's close proximity to Mexico City, the constant influx of American investment, and also the limited variation of weather has all contributed to the areas love of cutty edge design. I'll have to post more design related pictures later on my Flickr page... stay tuned.

Okay... the pool is calling. :)

Maui Uber Post

No educated editorial banter here, just a journal-style rambling of our activities of the last week.
We've taken it pretty easy but done a few specific things, I guess. Tuesday evening we went into the 'big' city of Kahului and did some shopping, picking up a few items needed for the condo and we got ourselves some inexpensive tennis rackets. Wednesday was pretty relaxed, don't think we really did anything specific other than our first tennis match.

Thursday was our first day sans-friends and we went out to the area I really like snorkeling at, Ahihi Bay, but this time we went past it into the Laparouse Bay lava fields that are now a nature reserve. We parked and then hiked about a half-mile down the road and then at 45 feet before the second to last telephone pole before the poles switch to the other side of the road we took a trail about a mile across the lava fields to a great little spot called 'fish bowl'. The 'fish bowl' was almost entirely protected from the ocean and had very little waves which made it great for Tricia especially. We saw a couple things we hadn't yet seen, like some pencil (sea) urchins, and a few crazy fish, names TBD.

Friday was our big surfing day. There was a $10 savings per person if we took the lesson 30 minutes away in Lahaina. Since Lahaina happens to be quite close to Ka'anapali, another nice resort area where we had spent our last night on our previous trip, we thought we'd take it there and make a day-trip out of it. We packed out lunches and drove up there right after the market close. We started with some souvenir shopping at the Whaler's Village for gifts and such, and then we walked along the beach for a little snorkel at Black Rock, sans flippers which makes it quite challenging. After our snorkel we sat on the beach for a bit, at our sandwiches, and enjoyed the view with our toes in the sand. Before we knew it it was time to motor on over to our Surfing lesson.

The surfing lesson was fun, our instructor Lucas was from Brazil and a real riot. Knowing that I had surfed a bit before he decided to make me go on the big waves, but his instruction helped a lot and he was able to point out what I was doing wrong, etc. Trish also did really well and it was a good intro to surfing. Our lesson seemed to start a bit late, maybe it was on island time, and potentially went a bit long as well. In light of that we didn't get back to our car until about 5:23pm and we had a reservation for dinner at 6:30pm.

Normally this wouldn't sound like a challenge, however we were approx. 45 minutes away from the condo, quite salty and sandy, and then another 10-15 minutes from our dinner reservation. Trish decided we could rise to the challenge and after 3 minute showers and lightning-quick ready-getting we made it to our reservation only a few minutes late. The mai-tai for two that the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a served seemed to do a great deal of calming. The lovely sunset, rushing waterfall in the background, and 40,000 gallon fish filled salt water lagoon probably also influence our calmness.

Saturday was another pretty relaxed day for us. We spent some time by the pool, some time in our place, and sometime at the beach. We BBQ'd some Ono (a white fish) for dinner and had a fairly chill evening.

On Sunday we again went back to Hope Chapel, our friend's church. We really enjoy the worship and the pastor's quite funny. If we were ever to be in Kihei on a more extended time frame we could certainly make that our home. After that we grabbed our day stuff and headed up to Pia'a on Maui's North Shore. We decided to have breakfast at Charley's a famous eatery that serves one of the most massive buttermilk pancakes I've ever seen. Once we were thoroughly stuffed we went over to Hokipa Beach to watch the windsurfers for a little while. Their speed and skill is quite amazing. We didn't see any kite-boarders this time, which is good, since there wouldn't be any thing visual to tempt us into it. It'll have to wait until SouthEast Asia. Since the North Shore is so windy we decided to just head back over to Kihei to hit the beach, especially since it was about 1pm and we like to try to stay out of the sun during the sun's hottest rays. After chillin' for a bit we grabbed some beach chairs and hit the beach to partake in the locals regular weekend activity... sitting on the beach. For dinner we BBQ'd a couple teriyaki chicken breasts and enjoyed some beverages but then I ate too much and felt sick. Boo.

As for what's on store this week... who knows? But the weather forecast has been getting better each day, so far so good. We'll have to see if our last couple of days turn out nice or not.

Fuel Efficiency? The complete measure?

It's a good question: should the environmental impact of a car measured solely by its fuel efficiency?! I would say no.

I recently read an article that compared the impact of a Toyota Prius --the ultimate green car according to many environmentalists-- to a Hummer H2, the enviro arch nemesis.

Surprisingly enough the article stated that when considering more than just the fuel efficiency but taking into account things such as waste produced during manufacturing, fuel efficiency, length of drivability, end waste, etc., that the Hummer is approx. 40% MORE efficient than the Prius.

At the end of the day simple, single-engine internal combustion vehicles such as a Smart car or Toyota Yaris are among the most enviro-friendly cars one could own... or a Hummer.

Article Link.

Maui Waui

Okay, I really don't have time to say much at this point. We're having fun with our friends from home enjoying the company, water, beaches, etc. So in the meantime check out Tricia's Blog and I'll try to also update my Flickr page soon too. :)

Update 2: Munich, London, Customs, etc.

07.03 - Paddington Stairs
Originally uploaded by sacrifice333.

Tricia's put another update on her blog. Sounds like she had a pretty interesting time. Her blog is here.

Munich

07.03 - Munich Town Hall
Originally uploaded by sacrifice333.

Munich is definately a great city. As with many cities the public transportation is incredible. The systems in Europe really put most of the North American ones to shame. Vancouver's no exception in that area. So, when we arrived we jumped on the S-Bahn directly to the main station, Hauptbanhof (or something like that). The train was easy... the purchase of the tickets through the non-English speaking/communicating machine was nearly impossible. Thankfully, after far too long we found a desk manned by real people that spoke English. English speakers sure are demanding, eh?!

The character of older European cities is hard to imagine and fully understand and appreciate coming from North America. The picture included here is of the glochenspiel (sp?) above the Rathaus (city hall) in the Marienplatz (city center square). The part housing the tower and clock is only about 250 years old. The rest of the building is 400-500 years old! And that's just in the Marienplatz, there are many, many, many other very old, historically significant buildings scattered throughout most of the city. The other interesting contrast is the German affinity for ultra-modern design. The contrast is very interesting and I'll have to upload some more photos to my Flickr account when I have a chance.

But the architecture and history is only part of the story. The passion of the German's for all things German (and some not) is quite something. It's not really a stereotype that Germans love their beer, at least not regarding Barvarians. There's a beer for every occasion, different beers in different seasons, and countless micro-breweries. There's even beer that's especially for breakfast! Weis beer (wheat beer) is eatin' with white sausages and pretzels, but it's only served before noon so you have to make sure you're up early.

The passion Germans have for sport is quite something. Their passion really makes Canadians' hockey passion quite pathetic. I didn't get a chance to attend a football (soccer) game at Allienz Arena to get the full affect, but I did attend a Muenchen playoff hockey game and it was great! Nearly half the fans had the home-teams jerseys on and many other's had scarfs representing the home team. The chanting and constant noise was electrifying and yet there were only 2300 people in attendance at the Olympic Zentrum. Every time the home team scored a giant flag, bigger than the infamous Canadian flags that have been smuggled into Olympic hockey games in years past, was passed over the crowd as chanting and screaming abound. Of course there was beer and wine at the game, the wine was called bluwine, or something, and was a warm, mulled wine.

More to come...

London Town

Trish & I had a great time in London. It's been our first trip together to Europe and we've had a great time together. Our hotel is near Paddington Station near the Northern border of Hyde Park. We took the Heathrow Express into Paddington and then found our hotel.

After checking in we crashed for a bit to try to regain at least a smidgen of energy. Before long our little crash turned into a bit of a medium crash. We finally wrestled ourselves out of bed and into the town. I think we strolled toward Hyde Park and along Regent Street before eventually using the Tricia Navigation System, known as TNS, to get us to Liecester Square to check on cheap show tickets for the evening. Wanting to see the Lion King we had to continue on to the Lyceum theatre to get tickets. We managed to score the VERY last row. It was still great and I'd see it again in a heartbeat, though maybe I'd try for the second last row.

On our next day we again strolled through Hyde Park, enjoyed coffee in our duplex and then went on to Camden Town to visit its' markets. We had lots of fun exploring them and seeing a new area of London. That afternoon we tried to go to the London Museum, but due to an extended nap and poor scheduling on my part we didn't make it there in time. Quickly coming up with an alternative plan, Tricia used her TNS to get us to Oxford Circus and then into SOHO where we decided to find some dinner. We found a nice little place, Aperatifo, which was fine but nothing too special, especially the service.

Read more about our adventures @ The Boulevard to Paris.



Cheers.

Black Tuesday?

A mammoth day on the global stock markets as the Chinese government moved to stem stock speculation and former Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan, sparked concerns of softening Chinese and U.S. economies and the affects that would bring also hardship to the rest of the worlds' economies.

Greenspan's chatter sparked the worst single-day losses in many markets since the terrorist attacks of 9/11! The U.S. markets, measured by the Dow Jones Industrial Index (DJIA) lost over 400 points! The Shanghai Stock market lost nearly 9%, it's largest loss in over a decade! (Fortunately, it's already Wednesday in China, and at writing of this blog, the Chinese markets are headed slightly higher lead by Financial Blue Chips.)

Other markets around the globe also felt the drop, as economists, traders, and investors alike were forced to consider more closely the chances of an impending recession as the U.S. economy continues on one of it's longest periods of expansion ever! Greenspan's primary point was that things cannot go on forever and that more and more signs are pointing to the 'R' word by as soon as the end of 2007.

We'll have to wait and see when the right time is to pull the trigger and buy stocks again or to just put that money in your ING account.

The Hair is Back!

That's right folks, the Vancouver Canucks have reaquired the Hair from the Los Angeles Kings. It's been a couple years since he's been around, but I'm sure he'll be able to fit right back in with the boys without too much difficulty. Who is the Hair? Why it's Sopes, Brent Sopel that is.

End of 2 Eras

Hard to imagine, but two eras came to a swift conclusion since the new year. The first was planned, the second was a bit of a shock to many.

On February 9, 2007 we sold our first home with the help of our realtors. Wierd feelings, but now that its' had time to settle in a bit we're really happy about everything. The place was only on the market for about 10 days when we received our first offer. We accepted it, and here we are, a couple weeks after the fact starting to pack up our lives. As to where we'll be next, that's a good question. Let me know if you have a good answer for it. ;)

February 22, 2007 saw the end of the other era, The O.C.. Seth, Summer, Ryan, Taylor, and the rest of the gang will have to live on in our hearts and DVDs. The summer-time series that could, could no longer. But the series finale was one of the best conclusion-style episodes of any show in recent memory. A few surprises, but overall a good wrap-up of the questions we all had.