Thursday, March 29, 2007
Twenty Two years
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Mexico
We spent Friday night and Saturday in Oaxaca where we went to Monte Alban, an ancient Indian ruin. We left Oaxaca on Sunday morning and drove down to Hualtulco. It is about an eight hour drive through the mountains to get from Oaxaca to Hualtulco. Oaxaca is at about 4800 feet above sea level, and it is desert-like this time of the year. We climbed to over 8,000 feet where it was green, and cloudy. Then we went down towards the ocean, and at about 6,000 feet we went into a very green jungle. Then at about 2,000 feet we were back into the desert. The coast line is very brown right now because we are at the end of the dry season. It was the windiest road I have been on in my life. For those of you who have been to San Francisco, picture six hours of Lombard Street. Anyway, one of us, who shall not be named, left his breakfast on the side of the road on our way up the hill. His lunch was later deposited on the downside of the hill. I have pictures of it, but I thought they were too graphic for the site.
Anyway, the reason for the RUT. We went out deep sea fishing yesterday, and then over to a secluded cove where we went snorkeling. After we finished snorkeling, we were on our way back to the docks when the captain of the boat said he saw a whale about 400 yards ahead of us. First, you have to remember that we were in a boat that is about 20 feet long and seats about eight people. It is not a big boat. Anyway, we took off toward where the captain saw the whale, and then we stopped and waited.
We sat for about a minute or two with me sitting on the bow of the boat with my camera at the ready. All of the sudden, no more then ten feet in front of me, a humpback whale came head first out of the water, and looked me right in the eye before doing a complete belly flop right along side of the boat. I held the shutter of the camera down, but he was too close, so the camera couldn’t focus on him in time, and I didn’t get a picture, but as soon as I saw he was going to come back down in a belly flop, I quickly put my camera behind me, and it was lucky I did, because it was like a wall of water coming over me, and I was soaked from head to toe by the splash. It was only a baby humpback, which was good, because otherwise our boat would have been swamped. Even though it was a baby, it had to have come out of the water by at least ten feet, and it had to have been about as long as the boat.
After he soaked us, he swam off to his mother, and I did get some pictures of him and his mom swimming away. It was certainly the experience of a lifetime.
Today is Tuesday, and we went scuba diving today. We saw a ton of great sea life, including a bunch of manta rays and some moray eels.
Later…
Monday, March 12, 2007
Donald B. Hutchings--a Legacy
Friday, March 9, 2007
Where did the Spreewells go?
I want to discuss if I might a topic of supreme importance. Most basically stated as where did the Spreewell’s go. For those of you less informed readers this title begs an explanation. Latrell Spreewell a professional basketball who has made his mark on the sport of basketball with many controversial acts made his contribution to society in a different way. HE introduced and popularized the spinner rims. I’ll break it down even simpler. Spinners are wheel covers which spin independently of the wheel itself when the brakes are applied. A trend that found it’s way into everything from footwear to belt buckles, and even onto snowboards. Which brings us full circle back to where did they go?
This seems to be a reoccurring theme among things that I enjoy so much. Among other things I have noticed a similar trend in bling. "Bling-bling" (usually shortened to simply "bling") is a hip hop slang term which refers to expensive jewelry (as seen at Bling Bling Online). And what about those shiny grillz we so adamently loved? And when was the last time you read about a rapper being shot? It has been far to long. It is a disturbing trend and the purpose of this RUD is to address some of the causes behind this trend as well as some of the detrimental effects.
At work I often have the opportunity to surf the web. Lately there has been an increased public concern towards white supremacist attitudes. I read on cnn.com about a resurgence of the klan. Could these unnerving trends be to blame?... All sources point to yes. And what about boys wearing girls pants? 50 don’t roll that way, but that is the subject for another blog.
The question is where does that leave us now? I can’t speak for the entire population, but I know personally it leaves me worried for the future of this great nation. This is the call to action, go out get “a grill”, buy pants that are far to big, buy those spinners (even if they are the wal-mart special, isn’t that truly embracing the culture), and always remember drop it like it’s hot.