Chasing The Blue Beyond

  It is one of the most beautiful islands in the South Pacific-Bora Bora, after  Hawaii's-Kauai, Maui, Oahu and The Big Island-of course. I missed three days of The 32 Day Tahitian Treasure Cruise , because of volcanic ash. So I leave tomorrow from LAX.  It's just as well I missed New Zealand - After the earthqauke,  it must be a mess with all that angst and after-shocks   ---and  I didn't have to sail through   the Tasmanian sea-some of the roughest waters I have ever encountered, like back in February of this year--- I learned geology the morning after the Christchurch earthquake.I learned  Australasian geography by cruising in the same hemisphere.  This was the calm before the storm,  headed out of Milford Sound in NZ on the way to Tasmania on board Crystal Serenity      Australia to 17 ports in 9 countries  

 His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Integration- Pulling a rabbit out of his hat again. What am I on? My bike.  All Good PPL( Your Move ) Monkeying around - Homage to the Lord of the Rings I biked past Chess Park, where (Pre-September 11th), my buddy Bicycle Pete PBUH who lived in his  van, frequented, along with  the Old  Radicals- John Demjanjuk look-alike- "Swiss" Pierre, the kindly Grandfather with that Nazi past, who sat all day under his rainbow umbrella giving chess "lessons" for a $1 a game; Hired Gun for the RAND corporation Irwin, who was busy living happily ever after; Grandmaster of The Caro Cann Defense- e4 c6-Mark Rosenberg, who had no visible means of support, and was the self-proclaimed King of Chess Park, a Barney Fife public safety officer with his  trademark straw hat and bright Hawaiian shirts, who got The Urinator-one of the "houseless"  ticketed for trespassing and publicly peeing...

The Cruising Godfather · Declassified File CG-405 From Los Angry Cars to Auckland Flight Risk The world cruise was over. London, the Midwest, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, the 405, the international date line, a Chilean ash cloud, and a cancelled Qantas flight stood between me and the Land of the Long White Cloud. The 405 Auckland Date Line Volcanic Ash Tahitian Adventure See Full Image Open Declassified File Watch the Dispatch Show Story Ordinary World The Call Answer the Call Foreign Land Trials The Elixir “If God had really intended men to fly, he would have made it easier to get to the airport.” Planes are like diets. I do not like being on them—especially when the route includes Los Angeles traffic, the international date line, and a horizon already rearranged by the sea. 01 Ordinary World · Re-entry The world cruise ended. Normal geography returned....

The Cruising Godfather · The Call · A Summer That Never Left Declassified Field Note Pond Be Good for You A childhood summer, a film memorised line by line, and a lifelong habit of carrying irreverence, friendship, and play into every destination. The Grass Is Greener at St Andrews The Geekfather in Sicily Caddyshack Hero's Journey Cruising Godfather St Andrews Sicily Ordinary World The Call Answer the Call Foreign Land Trials The Elixir Bob reminded me of the summer when we were kids—the summer I quit my job, learned the meaning of respect, and watched Caddyshack every day until we knew every line. Some films become entertainment. Others become ...

Split Screen- Today in the USA , last week in the UK Caught One Today! 

On Being Sane in Insane Places On Being Sane in Insane Places Working on a Cruise Ship Working on a cruise ship is the sandpaper of my inner life. It smooths out rough edges and shapes me into a better person. Everything changes when you stop acting in the story and start witnessing it instead. This shift allows you to see life’s quirks and challenges in a new light, and the energy that flows from these moments—simpatico energy—is transformative. Onboard, life feels like a constant balancing act. With an all-you-can-eat buffet and an open bar as distractions, the deeper "good voice" of life often struggles to make itself heard. Yet, it’s there, waiting for us to tune in amidst the chaos. A Tale of Two Ships Cruise ship contracts are relentless: four months, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. There’s no room for a bad day; the only easy day was yesterday. The Boulders...

The London Underground is  a political movement. Conversations about the weather are the last refuge for  the unimaginative so let me de-create a bit.. and say the most serious charge which can be brought against England during my months long vacation, is June. It's been  cold and wet constantly. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing for people who live in "bad" weather. It rains a lot here-the rain starts with a single drop, and I haven't felt any so far today, but I am not used to all this  precip er I mean moisture- Climate is what I have been used to getting, not weather. I was 20 the first time I  visited London!

No longer gluten free yet still wacktose intolerant This is your brain on French Fries! Marlboro Man---is an American Beauty---Look Closer. Cowboy French Fries! from the most powerful---and in some quarters, most detested---brand image of the century, The United States of unconscious eating where the portions are too small and there is never enough--It is easier to change a man's religion than -his diet. The default mode of eating-the  S tandard American  D iet  S.A.D- of incredible sumptuous meals, a nautical buffet of seeing food and eating it-- onboard the World Cruise- - was wacky enough to through off my entire digestive  system. After binging out on one last "Fish and Chips" for cultural reasons,(it is  after all the United Kingdom),  I am back on the path to desludging my liver, and the gallbladder cleanse- thanks to raw fruit and vegetable juices-a plant based living foods diet, I am re-booting my metabolism. I have been juicing for a...

Trials / Brighton, England Brighton Beach No Noose Is Good News Four seasons in one day, a beach made of pebbles, and the growing suspicion that the world had become too accessible to remain mysterious. See Full Image Show Text Ordinary World The Call Answer the Call Foreign Land Trials The Elixir June is the start of summer, but looking into the cool waters of the English Channel, there is no way I am going swimming today. It is four seasons in one day. You do not get climate here; you get weather. And there is no such thing as bad weather—only bad clothing. A lot of places claim to be unique. Brighton really is. It reminds me of Coney Island and New York, New York, but Brighton Beach is nothing like its sandy counterpart. ...