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Showing posts from April, 2012

An I For An Island Makes You Blind To The Cost Of Living

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The Oasis Is No Mirage Life on land is not a spectator sport. It’s a pay-per-view sport. Greetings from the user- friendly universe of the USA.  After discovering the God Molecule, flying a Russian MiG-29 at Mach 2 and Taking A World Cruise in Zero Gravity-  I am a mere civilian again. Life After Luau A good-bye is never painful unless you're never going to say hello again.Aloha Sea Aloha Land. I know travel zoos are no longer in my good graces.Neither is eating on a cruise ship. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both. Life off the cruise ships ,however,isn't much of a culinary life. It is like an end game in chess, a game with few pieces. The elements couldn't be more simple, nor the stakes higher. I have to pay for stuff...as in food stuffs. This is certainly different from the luaus and eat-what-you-kill safaris and big game fishing expeditions I took this year, where no matter where I was ,the stuffed animals on display all looked the same. Staged authenicity ...

An I For An Island Makes You Blind To The Cost Of Living

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The Oasis Is No Mirage Life on land is not a spectator sport. It’s a pay-per-view sport. Greetings from the user- friendly universe of the USA.  After discovering the God Molecule, flying a Russian MiG-29 at Mach 2 and Taking A World Cruise in Zero Gravity-  I am a mere civilian again. Life After Luau A good-bye is never painful unless you're never going to say hello again.Aloha Sea Aloha Land. I know travel zoos are no longer in my good graces.Neither is eating on a cruise ship. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both. Life off the cruise ships ,however,isn't much of a culinary life. It is like an end game in chess, a game with few pieces. The elements couldn't be more simple, nor the stakes higher. I have to pay for stuff...as in food stuffs. This is certainly different from the luaus and eat-what-you-kill safaris and big game fishing expeditions I took this year, where no matter where I was ,the stuffed animals on display all looked the same. Staged au...

The Geography Of Bliss-Write About Here

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The ship IS the destination I was happy to learn the world wouldn't end today because it is already tomorrow here in Australia Geography is the topography of ignorance, a finite disappointment not only  when the map becomes the territory, but when you actually visit these hole in the wall places. In most cases, it's a lot better to transcend reality with imagination, re-framing the conversation. "Melbourne was awesome", "Ghana? Amazing!" India? a magical delight".   The future just isn't what it used to be. Nevertheless, there is not one ship that doesn't sail to a port where life is not uncomfortable.  Yet, you don't quit countries, you quit people, and I have to say the best ships are friendships, and I have met some amazing people while sailing around the world. Impossible Is Nothing The Patron Saint of  Optimism-Another dopeless hope fiend! Going out to sea is  the infinity of hope, the preview of life's coming attractions wher...

The Geography Of Bliss-Write About Here

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The ship IS the destination I was happy to learn the world wouldn't end today because it is already tomorrow here in Australia Geography is the topography of ignorance, a finite disappointment not only  when the map becomes the territory, but when you actually visit these hole in the wall places. In most cases, it's a lot better to transcend reality with imagination, re-framing the conversation. "Melbourne was awesome", "Ghana? Amazing!" India? a magical delight".   The future just isn't what it used to be. Nevertheless, there is not one ship that doesn't sail to a port where life is not uncomfortable.  Yet, you don't quit countries, you quit people, and I have to say the best ships are friendships, and I have met some amazing people while sailing around the world. Impossible Is Nothing The Patron Saint of  Optimism-Another dopeless hope fiend! Going out to sea is  the infinity of hope, the preview of life's...

Fiji Islands-Rocky Mountain High

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Coming  home to a place I've never been before.   It's Fee-Gee (Fiji) OMG I'm a Country Boy  John Denver visited this island today-Sunshine On My Shoulders.  You can't get any further away before you start coming back.Imagine sailing across the blue waters of the South Pacific, passing by idylic islands, teeming with exotic fish and majestic coral reefs--Oh wait I don't have to use my imagination because what you see is what you get. Bula. On Fiji Islands-Suva-PineApple Express Fiji-Dravuni- Another Day Another Island-Escape To Reality Fiji-Beachcomber Island-Freedom For Sale Fiji Islands-Savusavu-Cue The Sun Fiji vs. Voss-I could drink a case of You Tap Water To the east of the International Date Line lies an exquisite garland of islands known as Fiji. Dignified smiling people bid you "bula," or welcome, to their unspoiled homeland and give you bottles of water called Fiji, bottled at the "source".  Back To One (Take 2)  Country Roa...

Fiji Islands-Rocky Mountain High

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Coming  home to a place I've never been before.   It's Fee-Gee (Fiji) OMG I'm a Country Boy  John Denver visited this island today-Sunshine On My Shoulders.  You can't get any further away before you start coming back.Imagine sailing across the blue waters of the South Pacific, passing by idylic islands, teeming with exotic fish and majestic coral reefs--Oh wait I don't have to use my imagination because what you see is what you get. Bula. On Fiji Islands-Suva-PineApple Express Fiji-Dravuni- Another Day Another Island-Escape To Reality Fiji-Beachcomber Island-Freedom For Sale Fiji Islands-Savusavu-Cue The Sun Fiji vs. Voss-I could drink a case of You Tap Water To the east of the International Date Line lies an exquisite garland of islands known as Fiji. Dignified smiling people bid you "bula," or welcome, to their unspoiled homeland and give you bottles of water called Fiji, bottled at the "source". ...

An I For An Island - Island- Living Well Is The Best Revenge

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The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes I think of my job as Art Director  as leading people to those moments of awe – that brain -gasm that overtakes you when you encounter a new idea, or place.  There is no doubt about it, the exhilarating state of mind that travel can evoke, when everything seems suddenly fresh, vivid, intensely interesting, and memorable. Everyone has a photographic memory, but not everyone has film. Thanks to digital, and my trusted camera, who cares. Just point and shoot, and you capture snapshots of moments. I'm an extremely talkative  person.  Yet photos speak volumes. I may not be a Master like  Ansel Adams, but I agree with what he said--- Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.  To take a photograph of yourself is to participate in your own  mortality, vulnerability, and mutability  2011 World Cruise Wish Fulfillment ...

An I For An Island - Island- Living Well Is The Best Revenge

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The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes I think of my job as Art Director  as leading people to those moments of awe – that brain -gasm that overtakes you when you encounter a new idea, or place.  There is no doubt about it, the exhilarating state of mind that travel can evoke, when everything seems suddenly fresh, vivid, intensely interesting, and memorable. Everyone has a photographic memory, but not everyone has film. Thanks to digital, and my trusted camera, who cares. Just point and shoot, and you capture snapshots of moments. I'm an extremely talkative  person.  Yet photos speak volumes. I may not be a Master like  Ansel Adams, but I agree with what he said--- Not everybody trusts paintings but people believe photographs.  To take a photograph of yourself is to participate in your own  mortality, vulnerability, and mutability  2011 World Crui...

Africa-A Review From Exactly A Year Ago!

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I had a liquid Vacation- a Corona and started walking....... 2011 World Cruise Day 96 of 110 @ sea. A Year ago today I was on the final segment headed for London in West Africa. My college Roommate Gervásio Francisco Das Neves' homeland  of São Tomé and Príncipe  was finally within sight. Grey Matters- Who needed Facebook or  wifi ---consciousness was wireless--- I drew a laptop with my index finger in the sand  and began typing....S.O.S. and the Sting's soundtrack to Message in The Bottle started playing in my 3lb universe-my brain No Man Is An Island, yet after age 40, land is seldom seen and you can count your friends on one hand.I am an expat, yet not every country will do. I don't know why, some countries fill the gaps and others emphasize my expat-ness. In reality those that satisfy me are those who simply allow me to live with my ''idea of them."Life’s a beach in an ocean of ennui is the take away from the Maldives. These Islands are ...

Africa-A Review From Exactly A Year Ago!

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I had a liquid Vacation- a Corona and started walking....... 2011 World Cruise Day 96 of 110 @ sea. A Year ago today I was on the final segment headed for London in West Africa. My college Roommate Gervásio Francisco Das Neves' homeland  of São Tomé and Príncipe  was finally within sight. Grey Matters- Who needed Facebook or  wifi ---consciousness was wireless--- I drew a laptop with my index finger in the sand  and began typing....S.O.S. and the Sting's soundtrack to Message in The Bottle started playing in my 3lb universe-my brain No Man Is An Island, yet after age 40, land is seldom seen and you can count your friends on one hand.I am an expat, yet not every country will do. I don't know why, some countries fill the gaps and others emphasize my expat-ness. In reality those that satisfy me are those who simply allow me to live with my ''idea of them."Life’s a beach in an ocean of ennui is the take away from the Maldives. These ...

A Boat Load of Thomas Kinkade

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Art Director Ed Reif with Port And Shopping Guide Mike Thomspon discuss collecting "The Painter of Light" Thomas Kinkade and his art--- moments of divine inspiration. What drove the massive popularity of the late artist?  These five words (also known as the five P's) just about sum up how we should collect art-Prestige Provenance Process Production and Proportion.