Shocking Coral Reefs Provides a Jump in Biodiversity

Fascinating. Reefs in Bali which had died out due to overfishing, rising temperatures, cyanayde and other issues are being brought back to life by submerged metal structures fed by low volt electrical charges. The article provides further details.

Make my Logo Bigger Cream

I just about died when my brother showed this to me.

This is for all of my friends who work in marketing or web design. The video (and the focus of the web design company that made the video) is hilarious.

A new twist on the choreographed wedding dance

I totally love this. Looks very much like the choreographed "Baby Got Back" Dance that happened at my friends Mark & Stephanie's wedding.

Give me all sorts of devilish ideas for my future, not even yet planned, need a groom first, wedding... Gosh, I hope he dances. :-)

Enjoy!

Bored of Watching Paint Dry? Try Global Birth and Death Rate

It's sort of addicting. Check out the global clock that tracks global births, deaths, illnesses and injuries from various factors. Keep an eye on "cancer" and "cardiovascular disease" - you'll see both of them move - totally unnerving.

Amazing Pointe Technique & Acrobatic Strength

Ok. It's hard enough to do a single pirotte in point shoes. I still remember what it was like when I last attempted it (I believe I was 16). This video takes ballet to a whole new level. It starts off slow (lots of stretching and audience shots in French) but stick with it...about 5 minutes in, you'll notice that the dancer does a full pirouette in pointe shoes while balancing on her partner's shoulder, and then she executes a full backwards layout while in pointe ON HIS HEAD!!



It's totally amazing.

Save the Chocolate, Save the World

My friends know that I've always been passionate about saving the tropical rainforest due to the need to preserve genetic diversity, slow global warming, preserve indigenous cultures. I even started a rainforest preservation organization when I was in high school called The Rainforest Challenge, and created a multi-media, multi-disciplinary curriculum to educate and get kids involved in rainforest preservation.

I have hope now that perhaps there is a compelling reason to eat more chocolate to encourage more rainforest preservation. This radio episode on NPR caught my attention. A Santa Cruz professor is working to get cocoa farming included as a viable carbon credit to create added financial incentives to get farmers to raise more cocoa.

I'll have to keep an eye on this one - so that I can consume the chocolate the produce and purchase some of their carbon offsets.

Funny Anti-Drug Video

I kept thinking about my friend Scott who tested drugs on mice for his PhD...

Effects Of Drugs And Alcohol On Spider Webs - Watch more free videos

Very Cool Pop Locking Video

Fedde Le Grand - Put Your Hands Up...
Video sent by night-sounds

Viens voir mon blog : http://good-boy-69260.skyblog.com/


Viens voir d'autres clips : http://www.dailymotion.com/night-sounds/1

10 Signs you are a Search Marketing Geek

OK, I have to admit that I stole this and modified from another post.

Here is my top ten list to know if your a marketing geek:

1. You look for and point out the SEO mistakes on every site you visit.
2. Your friends and family have stopped sending you forwarded chain emails because they are tired of being accused of spamming.
3. You use acronyms for everything even if there is no reason to.
4. You forget that phone directories still exist until you see the new one on your doorstep once a year.
5. When you go out to eat you look for user reviews on the menu and can’t believe that restaurants have not embraced user generated content.
6. You want to call up every restaurant you find that doesn't have an operable website to offer your services - just so next time you can easily find their menu and phone number.
   
7. You can't understand why EVERY local business is not registered on local search - it's free people! And it will let me find your phone number and address, considering I recycle the phone book as soon as it's delivered to my door.
   
8. You get caught up in the usability of every website you visit
9. You've developed a new game with friends and family titled, "Can you tell me what this ad is selling and who is selling it?"
10. You've put your 60 something parents through search engine marketing training so that they can help you promote your family's website (yes, I've actually done this)
    

Funny Search Suggestions from Ask.com

Pulled this from Inside Google, and it made me laugh, so I had to share.

Ask’s Strange Search Suggests

Crave and Gizmodo are laughing at some of the strange search queries being suggested by Ask.com’s suggest feature, which suggests complete or longer queries as you type in the search box. They’ve got examples like:

* “is it legal to”, which suggests completing that with “marry your second cousin”, “own a penguin” or “sell a kidney
* “can you” :: “freeze cheese”, “get pregnant in a hot tub”

Clearly, some of Ask’s users have some strange things in mind. Here are some search suggestions I found, with the suggested part in bold:

• why did Jeeves retire


• why do i never see baby pigeons? (answer: because pigeons don’t leave the nest until they are almost as large as adult pigeons)



• why does my eye twitch


• why does asparagus make urine smell


• why does my belly button hurt


• why does my urine smell (perhaps you had asparagus?)


• i wanna to be anorexic



• how to knock someone unconscious


• where is my liver

Go ahead and give it a try...see what Ask.com suggest for you. :-)

Funny Song about a Certain Senator from Idaho

Thought folks might enjoy. It made me smile.
http://www.paulandstorm.com/lyrics/tap-three-times/

Pie Fight

In honor of the Board Games, Wii and Pie Dinner Party we are having tomorrow.

The worst personal ad (M4W) EVER!

Ok, so I spotted this on Craigslist and had to share. It looks like he's a skinhead, and I'm shocked that he's:
1.talking about his KKK membership upfront and
2. thinks that's a great opening line to get a girl.

Notice how he at first lets you know he was in the KKK for 10 years, and then later says that he should be judged because he was only in the Klan for "a minute."

Amazing!!!

Former KKK member seeks girl - 29

---

Reply to: pers-474341474@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-11-09, 11:45PM EST


For a while, 10 years, I was in the KKK. Now, I'm out, and I'm looking for that special someone who I can continue life with. I no longer use violence against others and I believe that diversity is, to some extent, OK. Let me know if you want to get coffee. Hey, we all have our issues; big deal I was in the Klan for a minute.

I'm the second from left. I also do not respond to threats.

Male Birth Rate Declining

A new article in MSN highlights the decline in male births and deaths due to pollution that is starting to skew the male to female ratio. Not only do I worry about my future daughter's dating prospects, but I begin to wonder when we as a society will start to take notice and frankly freak out about the level of pollution we are pumping into our environment. When it's polluted enough so that we are all sick, why don't we start doing something?

More Proof that Running isn't good for you

Ever since my knees started to go south, my Dr.'s informed me that I should not run. I asked them if I could get an "official" Dr's note for that. I've hated running all my life - the shin splints, knee/feet pain, and instant asthma attack that it causes has informed me that my body just is NOT made for running. Give me a bike any day.

So here's a story about a man who DIED running. My condolences go out to his family, but it's just one more sign that I won't be joining the running craze any day soon.

Are you a Member of the Working Dead?

This blog post (and the TONS of comments left by readers) really struck a cord with me. My friends know that I've been a member of the Working Dead at various jobs over the years.

No Hablo Espanol? - LiveMocha Offers Free Lessons

Had to spread the word about a new Web 2.0 community interested in helping people learn languages: LiveMocha.com. I've signed up to freshen up my Spanish skills.

Web 2.0 site for Bibliophiles

There really is a social media site for everyone. Here's one where you can create a profile, and share the books you read with your friends. I'm assuming that this appeared before the Facebook online bookshelf application was developed.

But if you want to meet people over your favorite book....

Everybody Touch the Dinosaur - PopTech 2007

"Open the door, get on the floor, everybody touch the dinosaur".

That was the scene after Caleb Chung's session about Pleo was finished. Caleb is the toy inventor who brought the world Furby, and his newest is a toy robotic dinosaur which can reach out to the world and learn new behavior.

Quite a few people approached the stage to touch the toy robotic dinosaur. It was fascinating to see people (myself included) interact with the robotic dinosaur as if it was a cat. It has 38 sensors, and nuzzles your hand as your petting it - many people where making "cute" faces and murmering to the toy as if it could emotionally connect with you (it could hear). It has microphones, two speakers, a camera and multiple sensors. It's also going to be released with open source software so that people can enhance the software platform it runs on to create infinite growth for the toy.

Here's a video to give you a sense.

I found it fascinating when Caleb picked up the toy - curious to see if one of its legs wasn't working- and pulled the leg back. It caused a sound like all toys make when there gears are forcefully moved, but we all grimaced like he was breaking our beloved toy's legs.

I've never been more excited about a toy. I left wanting a Pleo myself - now all I need to do is find $350 and wait in line well after the Christmas rush to get one.

Feelings Nothing more than Feelings

Has to share Jonathan Harris' We Feel Fine site. A tracking of people's feelings who are blogging on the Web. Truly worth playing around and experiencing the site.

The Female Brain - PopTech 2007

Louanne Brizendine has now taken the stage and is talking about how female hormones affect and change the women's brain throughout life. I loved her book, The Female Brain. It was a great look into why being a woman does really feel like a changing mental perspective throughout your life - because it is! Once menstruation happens, our brains change, at pregnancy, and during menopause - the brain changes each time. I got a chance to meet her, and she's a fabulous woman. She asked if I had encouraged my male friends to read the book, and I have spread the word. In fact, her next book is focused on the Male Brain.

What I find amazing is that every two weeks the estrogen and progesteron level in a woman actually changes up to 25% of the synapses in the hypothamus - the brain actually shrinks and grows every month based on the hormone load.

Fascinating to exist on this planet as a human being who has a truly ever changing brain.

PopTech: Day One

Ok. It's officially day two. PopTech started last night with a cocktail hour at the Waterfront. It was a great way to catch up with old friends, and have some great new conversations about how to support non-profit capacity by more effectively engaging volunteers.

The show has started off with Chris Jordan talking about his photographs of our trash, his "Intolerable Beauty" series - his photos of how much materials we discard are awe inspiring. I has just seen him on the Colbert report last week.

So You Think You can Dance Tour

Yes, I'm so addicted to the show that I caught the tour last weekend in Baltimore. The dancing was amazing. It was great to see some of the new choreography - the breaking piece was great. It was also fun to see some of the pieces from the show in real time - clearly the dancers are enjoying performing those pieces now that they know them so well.

I haven't been to a previous SYTYCD tour, so I'm not sure if they normally keep it a show of all the dancers, but there wasn't any unique highlighting of Sabra (the winner) except for the solo that she performed. Though all of the top ten got to perform a solo. Watching her dance is amazing - she makes it look effortless and gives 200% of herself to her dancing every time. Pure talent.

I should have realized that the crowd would be like seeing a New Kids on the Block concert, the audience for the show is largely teenage girls, but the high pitched screaming was shocking. It was a great show to see with my friend Nick, who has taken dance classes and could chat with me about the outstanding technique.

Ultimately, it made me want to get back into more classes now that my knees are able to handle more volume. And I'll definitely get tickets for next year's show.

Left or Right Brain Dominant? Watch the Dancer

Had to lift this from another blog...how cool!


Look at the dancer and decide which way she's spinning.

Got it?

If you think she's going clockwise, you're apparently right-brain dominant (imaginative, philosophical, touchy-feely, impetuous); if you see her going counter-clockwise, you're left-brain dominant (logical, practical, detail-oriented, safe).

If, like us, you are able to alternate views to see her going in both directions, then you're just a plain old genius.

Source: Australia Herald Sun

Btw... I can see her move both ways.

Microsoft using Neural Networking Ranking in Search Results

I've been curious to see when search engines were going to start exploring using neural networks for their search engine rankings. Microsoft at Searchification Day just announced that their new algorithm is able to understand the meaning between the words used in a keyword phrase:

The improved ranking algorithms use neural networking ranking that are loosely modeled from biological neural networks and can learn patterns that simple algorithms can't. These algorithms can detect things like words pairs and are close to natural language queries (for instance, "what's the hottest it's ever been in AZ"). They note that for queries like this, Google returns pages with all of these words in them, but Live can now return better results because it can understand the relationship between words. [NOTE: This new Microsoft patent on ranking found by Bill Slawski is also interesting.

This is from a Search Engine Land article.

With only 69 million searchers in a month (vs. 104 million for Yahoo and 142 million for Google), and only 11% of queries (vs. 23% for Yahoo and 56% for Google) Microsoft knew it had to do something to improve its rankings.

I'm curious to see how this will be eventually implemented in the other search engines...

Argh! You'll almost be missing Talk Like a Pirate Day

I can't believe I almost missed this! International Talk Like a Pirate Day is today. Make me long for the Cayman Islands...

Check out the official site. The most amusing bit is the pirate pick up lines. There are also audio files so that you can hear what talking like a pirate in another language would sound like.

Or, here's a video that will help you master the art of talking like a pirate.

Stumbling Upon Happiness

Now that the speakers for PopTech are posted, I'm busy reading to catch myself up to speed on the variety of topics that will be covered during the October conference.

The first book I consumed, Stumbling Upon Happiness, was a quick read for me and it discussed how our brains store memories, and use those memories ineffectively to predict our future happiness.

Considering I'm in a transitional phase with my work situation, this book was perfect for me to read and process. I still haven't fully embodied all of the research presented, and I can't wait to meet the author to fully understand his thesis.

My one funny take away - our future prediction of happiness is based on our recent memories and our current state of mind. In particular, our happiness related to food is based on how often we consume our favorite food.

For example, if I have sushi one day and it's fabulous, it won't be as exciting the next day. But if only have sushi once a month, I will always experience the same level of happiness because my memory of how great it was has faded. So instead of forcing myself to "try something new off the menu" at a restaurant I only go to once a month, I should let myself eat my favorite dish, because I will get more happiness overall.

Next on the reading list is The Female Brain.

Shameless Cross - Promotion

Many of you may or may not know that I maintain a blog for work as well about how to use Web 2.0 properties to recruit volunteers, and how to use mass email to keep them engaged.

Check it out!

Ooze of a more harmless kind

Yes, that's how my brain works sometimes. :-)

The Washington Post Express had an article that totally amused me, and anyone who knows my hatred of okra would understand. I love all vegetables, but okra is a horrible substance in my mind.

They were covering the Okra Strut festival in Irmo, SC where they celebrate okra in the typical food festival way - including having eating contests of the stuff. The writer's sense of humor (Erin Mcclam) is what struck me...here's some of the more amusing pieces:

From the Jim Twitty, the festival organizer:
"Sometimes I have to explain what it is first"

and then Erin's comment:
"Not to mention explaining why anyone would want to eat okra. It grows in slender pods 3 to 4 inches long covered in light fuzz. It's not much for inner beauty, either. Slicing and okra pod open releases an oozy inner membrane."

Here's the best part of the whole article -- when the organizer talks about the okra eating contents and how the 2 lbs that the contestants need to eat are fried okra.

Fortunately, it's not boiled, which is what we used to require them to eat, " Twitty says. " We were loosing people. They refused to eat it. Plus, it sometimes makes people sick, and that's not the best thing to happen on your main stage.

If it makes people sick, why do people eat the gross stuff at all?

Ebola Outbreak in Congo

Ever read the Hot Zone?

The horrifying Ebola Virus is devastating citizens in Southeastern Congo. It's already claimed more than 160 people with an estimated 400 more infected.

Its spread through human contact and its affects on the human body are right out of a horror story - it attacks the central nervous system and causes bleeding from the eyes, ears and other parts of the body - you bleed from every crevice as your insides become liquid.

It's horrifying stuff, and there is no cure.

AIDS Victims Buried Alive in Papua New Guinea

I was shocked by this news item today. HIV/AIDS education has clearly failed in PNG if families feel like they need to bury their family members to NOT become infected with HIV.

"I said, 'Why are they doing that?' And they said, 'If we let them live, stay in the same house, eat together and use or share utensils, we will contract the disease and we too might die.'"

Clearly the citizens of PNG don't understand the basics of HIV infection and transmission, and they have been holding witch hunts - killing women who they believe are witches and caused the deaths of young people that PNG people.

You begin to wonder how the island is going to hold itself together when HIV infection rises at 30% ever year....

Get a Part Time Job at Google working in your community.

Own a camera and looking for an easy part time job?

You can work for Google by helping them document the world!

(All you have to do is) buy a digital camera and a notebook, and walk down the street. Take pictures of every business you see. Then write down the address, hours of operation, method of payment, and a couple of other things. Oh, and be sure to get the contact information for the business.

Then go to the library, get on a computer (if you don’t have one at home), and put this information into a database. The ever-benevolent king of all Internet advertising will thank you for your efforts with $2 for every business you upload and another $8 once they confirm your information is correct.

The whole article about the deal is from a Search Engine Watch article.

I'm now an SEO/SEM Trainer!

Looks like I've found myself providing training on Search Engine Optimization and Marketing, and I conducted a workshop at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in July to rave reviews.

Here's a comment from one of my attendees:

By the way, I wanted to share with you that your workshop was the best that I attended at the conference. I especially appreciated the presentation of different levels of investment in SEO activities based upon how much time individuals have available. - Marta Bortner,
CaliforniaVolunteers

I'm also managing a blog for work related to How to Use the Internet to Recruit Volunteers where I translate SEO/SEM resources/research/techniques for a non-profit/volunteer recruitment audience.

And my co-workers thought it was amusing that I ran my parents through the same basic training so that they would understand how they can help me drive traffic to my father's website for the Golden Raven Storytelling Circle in Union, Maine.

Finally! An update on my New Zealand trip

I thought for all my friends far and wide, and for posterity I would create a narrative about my New Zealand trip with links to the photos in order of our trip.

Overall the New Zealand trip was great. Everyone was right about the people being amazingly friendly – by far our interactions with the Kiwis made the trip.

Getting to New Zealand

It started out a bit rocky from San Francisco though. Mom and I had booked separate flights into San Fran with the same flight to New Zealand. Mom’s flight out of Charlotte was delayed, and it didn’t look like she was going to make our 9:30 PM flight. Her flight touched down at 8:40, and three staff from Air New Zealand was posted at her incoming gate, at baggage claim to get her to the outgoing flight. Mom laughed that I sent the Cavalry for her. If we missed the flight, the tour company (who booked it) would be unable to even think about re-booking us until the next morning at 8 AM, and who knows if we would have had to pay for a new flight…. So mom made it, and two days later her bags made it as well.

Air New Zealand is an amazing airline. The plane was so spacious w/ high ceilings. The plane was only partially full, so we had the entire middle section of 4 seats to ourselves. The flight attendants were amazing, as was the food and ever flowing wine, the entertainment options at your seat were overwhelming, and the seats were big enough that I felt like I was flying business class. Granted, business class had seats that became beds, but…

Landing in Auckland

When we landed in Auckland after the 14 hour flight, we lucked out by being able to check into our hotel at the Crowne Plaza immediately (at 6:30 AM). It felt great to finally be able to take a shower, change clothing, and brush our teeth. We tried to stay awake for as long as possible, and visited the Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World and Antarctic Encounter. Check out the photos of the penguins. I’m also a dork and took some pictures of the signs explaining the coldest temperature and how much rain Antarctica gets. I didn’t realize it was such a dry continent There was also a replica of the original Antarctica research lodge where you can see the cramped quarters with the constant whine of wind hitting the outside of the building. There was also an aquarium shaped in an arch where you can see the fish along the top, left and right. There would be sting rays and sharks swimming over our head. Mom and I were fascinated by the fish that had great camouflage. It didn’t move the entire time we were there, and had to ask a worker at the museum if he was even still alive. The pufferfish and lobster were also really cool there. They also had huge sting rays. The view of Auckland harbor from there was also beautiful. Mom also wanted to have her picture taken by a New Zealand Moa, and I took a picture of the sign so that we could get the history behind the extinct bird.

What shocked and pleased me was that Auckland women don’t seem to wear makeup or work on their hair. I actually had to check to see if they sold cosmetics at all. It was great! My makeup stayed packed away until performance day.

We didn’t make it all day and crashed out that afternoon for a nap. That evening for dinner, I tried food with soy and realized that my sensitivity seems to have disappeared. The rest of the trip I ate what I wanted to – including mayo and pastry- both of which have soy in them.

Road Trip thru the Northland

We didn’t realize until the next day how jet lagged we were. That was also the day that we picked up our rental car and mom made me drive on the wrong side of the road for the first time. Luckily Auckland isn’t a busy traffic city. My first day of driving was pretty intense – probably 7 hours of driving and almost all of New Zealand is switchbacks – 30-50 different left than right turns and a “shortcut” that turned out to be a lonely dirt road – at night, through the woods, in the rain.

We stopped off briefly at Eutopia which was an outdoor hippy café. I took pictures of the scene from the road, the entranceway, the fountain, the carvings, crystalis and butterfly in the larger meeting room, and even the stone work on the toilet.

We stopped often along the route to take pictures of the landscape, and signs for railroad crossings, areas were you need to take caution and random birds and yet more landscapes. The light in the Northland was incredible, so bright and intense.

Got to see the huge Kaori tree out in the boonies, and the energy and sheer size of the tree was amazing. Turns out it’s the second oldest tree in the world. The walk in was tropical and getting quickly dark. I finally convinced mom to stop for dinner even though we were close to our hotel. I was starving and cranky. Even though the town didn’t look promising, we found a great restaurant where mom got carrot salad with apricot yogurt. So yummy! It was also were I took pictures of the weird toilet for Dad.

Cable Bay

Our hotel for two nights was probably our favorite place to stay during the entire trip. It was the Driftwood Lodge Motel in Cable Bay – and faced the beach. Totally magical. Due to jetlag, it was impossible to stay asleep after 5:30 AM, so I saw quite a few sunrises (1, 2, and 3) there. Mom was impressed to see the sun rise up over the Pacific Ocean. It was so relaxing to fall asleep to the sound of the ocean. This place was right on the ocean and had a kitchen, so we had a good breakfast. We had bought groceries the day before.

90 Mile Beach

We took a trip to Cape Regina with “Dune Riders” which picked us up at the town's ice cream shop, next to a cool tree. Instead of taking a bus tour, we were in a military 4 wheel drive vehicle converted into a short bus. I’m so glad we took a tour up there – the roads on the way were also dirty road switch backs with no shoulders. Our guide (of course) took them at a crazy speed that almost made us nauseas. Even though we were bundled up, he spent the day in shorts and a T-shirt with no shoes. Cape Regina is the top of New Zealand where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific. It was a gorgeous site. We took some pictures of Cape Regina –which is a native spiritual site where the spirits of the Maori people head off into the ocean—and pictures of the lighthouse with a description, and the sign that points to all other locations from the top of New Zealand. There's also a picture of mom and one of me, to prove we were there.

Mom got a chance to put her feet in the Tasman Sea, and I took some gorgeous photos of the beach on the Tasman Sea side. The water there (even though it was their winter season) was warmer than Maine in the summer, so mom and I waded in enjoying the surf. I got a chance to sand board off the sand dunes, and gather clams (tuatua) along the beach. If I had known we were providing our guide with a way to get around the 150 clams per person per day harvesting rule (or if I had thought ahead) I would have brought our own container for clams. Ah well. I did try eating some raw on the beach. The 90 mile beach is actually New Zealand’s Route 1 highway, and you can get stopped for speeding along the beach by New Zealand police. At the end of the day, we enjoyed some local fish and chips with our fellow “Dune Riders”.

Kerikeri

The rest of our time in the Northland was learning about the founding history of New Zealand and sampling the local food and arts. We stopped by a local farmers market where we picked up brie, tasted hazelnuts, mom got to try persimmons for the first time and we picked up local mandarin oranges as snacks for our trip. We also got to experience the standard toilet for New Zealand public toilets which includes a wooden toilet seat linked to the stainless steel toilet bowl, w/ metal bolts protruding from the wooden slats. I learned more about how to drive on the left, and took pictures of their cute railroad crossing sign.

In Kerikeri we found a mug for my brother at a local pottery studio, and found a fabulous café where they brewed their own coffee, and we enjoyed one of our many delicious meals that used pumpkin. We also learned about the first English settlement in New Zealand, you can see my picture of the original stone store, signs for how to handle the one lane bridges, and a few of the traditional Maori village. The village had small buildings, low ceilings, barely room to get in. It was rainy and Mom thought it must have been miserable living there.

Waitangi Treaty Grounds

We also went to a museum that told the Maori side. I took a few pictures of the carving at the door to the museum and a few close up ones from dad (who is a wood carver himself). It was amusing how sterilized the English version was – the Maori version definitely painted Maori as originally sets of warring tribes that slaughtered the foreigners who landed in New Zealand – only aligning with England when they needed protection against other less appealing foreigners who were landing there. The English version talks about how they “saved” the Maori from killing themselves off due to fighting between the tribes. I took a few pictures of the totem that was next to the movie screen which told the Maori side of things.

We saw the site where they signed the treaty aligning the Maori with the English, and enjoyed the carvings in the Maori meeting building (here are the carvings). I also took pictures of the war canoe and the carvings on the building that protected the canoe.

Paihia

The view of the Bay of Islands as we drove into Paihai was gorgeous. That night we decided to stay in a backpackers hostel called the Mousetrap. It’s like a student’s dream group housing. I had to take pictures of the two living rooms (with a fireplace in between), the strange ocean netting above one of the living room spaces, the piano, the kitchen and kitchen nook, the outside porch, the backyard tropical area, and the outside laundry facilities. The view from the building was also gorgeous, as were the tropical flflowers that were growing outdoors. (More flower pictures here) Unfortunately the buildings are not insulated and it was so cold. We got extra blankets and went to bed early to get warm (Maine-style).

Kawa Kawa –

The one thing that Mom wanted to see on this road trip was the Hundertwasser Toilets. These are art deco toilets created by an Austrian artist. Just part of her ongoing art appreciation touring. They reminded us of Dad’s creations – bottles imbedded in cement. So we took pictures for Dad - including nearby buildings

Kaiwiti glow worm caves

The one thing that I wanted to see was a glow worm cave. In planning for the trip, I had thought that we would not be able to see the glow worm caves (because I thought they were only in one location in New Zealand not on our route, but Mom had found mention of one in this area ). I was excited when we drove by a location that advertised that they had glow worms. It was such a neat experience. Our guide was the 14^th generation of her family to take care of the glow worms in the caves, and she expertly guided us through the caves with warnings about avoiding “knee bashers” or “shoulder bashing” stalagmites and stalactites. And she explained the difference in a way I’ll finally be able to remember…Stalagmites are using all their might to reach for the ceiling, and stalactites are holding on tight to the ceiling. It turns out glowworms exist throughout New Zealand wherever there is an abundance of bugs, water, and damp underhangings. We wandered in, and once the lanterns where turned off, the ceiling above looked like the milky way – thousands of tiny lights. It was magical even if I was looking at the glowing poo of the worm.

Whangeri

We also took in the Whangeri Falls. Not anywhere near as impressive as falls I’ve seen, but I took pictures anyway. In Whangeri we stopped near the harbor to have lunch, our daily afternoon coffee, and mom convinced me to check out the national clock museum that was nearby. Have to admit, I was skeptical about paying the $ to get it. I completely thought it was going to be a waste of money, and I wasn’t quite captured with the place until one of the volunteers who worked there decided to give us the tour. So here’s the background. There’s this guy who LOVES clocks and music boxes, and goes overboard collecting them. Then he runs out of space, and decides to start a museum. Our friendly volunteer (who I wish I had taken a picture of) started telling us all the history of the clocks, how old they were, where they were made, and started to turn them on for us. Here are some of my highlights:

The duck clock run by magnets underneath the pool of water with a rubber duckie floating…no matter how you shake up the pool, the duckie always finds it’s way back to pointing at the right time.

The windup clocks – the one with birds flitting about just can’t be done justice with a photo – it was hard to see how the birds where flying, and considering it was made over 150 years ago, it was totally impressive. There was another one with a dance performance. There were cuckoo clocks, 24 hour clocks, impressively painted clocks, Ferris wheel clocks, Victrolas, and even an Elvis clock. The weird dog on the shelf felt out of place until the volunteer picked it up like it was alive and asked me if I wanted to pet it – she deftly pulled a string and it looked like it was going to take my hand. A watchdog it seems made out of paper mache. Knowing we were American, she even put a John Phillip Sousa record on a huge music box that used to live on a steamer ship to entertain the seafaring passengers.

Our trip shifted in feeling once we met up with the rest of the Washington Women’s Chorus in Auckland. Gone was the rental car (and I was glad to no longer be driving) and we joined a bus tour. Unfortunately, that also meant that we had less ability to stop wherever and take photos when we wanted. And in returning the car at the airport, I had my only moment switching to the wrong side of the road. Delirious at 5 AM, I’m just glad that there wasn’t much traffic on the road. It made me freak out though, and certainly got my heart racing.

Rotorua

Along the way to Rotorua we stopped to enjoy some corrugated sculptures, and I picked up Merino and Possum sweater to attempt to keep me warm. It was so freezing that I thought it was a critical move on my part and the sweater make me so happy on the rest of the trip.

Our first stop with the rest of the chorus was in Rotorua, a thermally active part of New Zealand. The city smelled like sulfur, steam was leaking out of the surface everywhere, and we got a chance to visit their mud pits and geysers. Our guide called their geyser “Old Unreliable” (vs. Old Faithful) and while it was not as impressive as Old Faithful in Yellowstone, the “hot seats” that were nearby that we got to sit on while waiting for Old Unreliable where delightful on a freezing day. The rocks where thermally heated with steam escaping from the cracks. You sit long enough and it smells like you’re ironing your clothing. It was on that tour that we got to have our first Silver Fern pointed out to us, the tea trees and flax plants that grew there.

We also got a chance to see Kiwi birds, and to see traditional Maori woodcarvers and weavers at work and I experienced probably one of the best parts of our trip. Our Maori guide had a fantastic personality and was related to the weavers in the shop. She showed us how they create baskets and skirts, etc out of plant leaves. Once the women found out we were a choir, they asked us to sing for them. Our rendition of “Embraceable You” brought all the Maori weavers out of the woodwork to listen to us and they were so touched that they gave us all roses made out of flax leaves. It was such a touching artist to artist moment. And we sounded great singing – I got verklempt with the entire experience.

By the time we met up with the choir, I was getting fatigued with travel so on a particularly rainy and cold day I convinced mom that we should just “take a Sunday” by only visiting the thermal hot springs, and then read a book bundled up in our rooms. It wasn’t hard to convince her. So we decided to take advantage of the Polynesian spa where the water was thermally heated, and then enjoyed reading a book in our hotel. It was in Rotorua that I decided to pick up a cookbook about savory pies. Considering I love cooking pies but I always get stumped when I try to come up with more than three savory pies, I figured it was a good purchase.

That night we got to experience a traditional Hangi feast at one of the local tribes. We got picked up by a bus driver from the tribe who convinced us that we should think of the bus as a war boat heading toward the tribe’s land. We had to pick a chief for our village, and by default our conductor, Don, got picked as our chief. This is hilarious because Don’s flaming gay. He was taught how to greet other Maori in the traditional ways with a touch of noses – twice, not three times. Three times would mean something else…and if the chief did a good job, he would get two wives. Of course, Don would have rather have two husbands. He wanted to bring home a nice Maori man for a souvenir. Once we arrived at the village, we were greeted by the traditional Haka war dance where the warriors were trying to scare us away by sticking out their tongues, showing off their tattooed bodies and thrusting spears. If our chiefs did not act frightened, at some point the tribe we were visiting would lay down a piece of greenery (ferns, etc) and then if our chiefs picked up the greenery, we would be able to enter the tribe. We were then treated to a traditional Maori performance with Haka shows, songs with guitar accompainment, and other performances that traditionally were created to train the hand/eye coordination of their warriors. Then we were off to the hangi meal, which is kind of like a clam bake. They layer food and pudding and kumara (New Zealand sweet potatoes) over hot coals and let it cook for 3 hours or so. The tribe was clearly focused on singing as a part of their culture, and our choir was asked to sing for the whole group of bus tours. On the way back to our hotel, our bus driver took advantage of the fact that we were part of a choir by having folks sing a song from their native country. One of our singers picked Summertime – what a great song to sing!!! We also started singing “She’ll be Coming Round the Mountain” while we took a roundabout enough times to make it seem like it was an amusement park ride. Made us all laugh and made us slightly nauseas.

Lake Taupo

The next day we drove to Napier and stopped for lunch at Lake Taupo where I attempted to take a picture of the sheer number of cafes on one street, a neat picture of a railroad stop, and the fact that you had to pay to use the public restroom. Though the restrooms also offered shower facilities.

Napier

In route to Napier we stopped at a winery. I had never done a wine tasting before and it was tragic that the places we stopped at did not import to the US. Mom enjoyed the wine educational experience. The first winery we stopped at was the first winery in New Zealand called the Mission Vineyards. It had been hit and rebuilt after the huge earthquake in the early 1931. The scenery in the Napier valley was gorgeous. Our bus driver told us that the area holds a blossom festival when the fruit trees bloom in the spring – with all the trees, I was sure that would be gorgeous.

We ended up in Napier that evening with some daylight to explore the Art Deco buildings, and enjoy the corrugated King Kong sculpture. Our hotel looked over the beach and I caught quite a few pictures of the black volcanic pebble beach with the sunset. I also took a picture of a caution sign for my friend Joe.

The next morning we started with a schnapps tasting at 9 AM at Penzel liquor. They had samples of flavored rice bran oil and honey schnapps (which tasted like cough syrup for all those who are curious). It was there that we realized that we had a national star as our tour bus driver, Ken. He was a former All Black rugby player and had even coached the team. The staff at Penzel came on board the bus to lead a cheer for our former all black and to give him a gift.

From there we went to yet another wine tasting. At this point I was getting excited about tasting more dessert wines. The view from the driveway was stunning, as was the view from the eating area. I also enjoyed and picked up some of the chocolates that had wine in them.

To Wellington

We then drove along to Wellington where we had our first choir rehearsal. On the way we saw TONS of rainbows – at least 10 on the way. We landed late that afternoon, and didn’t have much time to wander around. The next morning we got a chance to visit the Te Papa museum (for only an hour and ½!). I literally speed walked the museum. My favorite parts where the carved Maori temple where native Maori were playing native instruments, an exhibit that was about importing plants into New Zealand and how those items can bring in unwanted diseases, etc into the country. It was very interactive with being able to open boxes, etc. I also loved the exhibit about native birds from New Zealand which also had birds who were now extinct. It was depressing and fascinating to see the birds that were no longer with us. The music section was also fascinating where I got to hear artist who combined traditional Maori music with hip hop and contemporary music (amplifier.co.nz). I also got to enjoy their art exhibit. I picked up a postcard of a watercolor which I felt like captured the unique New Zealand light. Mom liked the art gallery and the sheep cam.

To Christchurch

We then caught a flight to Christchurch and upon landing went right to the Christchurch Girl’s High school to participate in our dress rehearsal for a few hours. After a rough dress rehearsal where we tried to meld two choirs that had never heard each other before and a pulled together orchestra, it was amazing that we pulled off a great performance.

Mom met up w/ Jean Arnold, a friend of Donna & Arthur, who showed her around Christchurch. The highlight was the stained glass windows and art work in the Provincial Council Buildings. Jean joined us the next day at the performance.

Once we landed in Christchurch, we had a chance to wander to the Cathedral Square where I took a few pictures of a chess game, the cathedral, a cool sculpture, and one of the outdoor cafes where people were enjoying their coffee outdoors all bundled up. When looking for dinner, I was fascinated by all the restaurants that had outdoor fires (sometimes in the middle of the table) where people could eat outdoors in 32 degree weather. Needless to say, we decided to enjoy dinner indoors.

The next morning we had a few moments to enjoy a farmers market and the Art Center shops before we had one more last minute series of rehearsals before our performance that afternoon. After the show, we explored the streets where I got to explore the talking seats outside of the Dyslexia Office building which had interesting sculptures. There was one of an artist falling in love, and one of a girl trying to read with the words escaping off the page and floating away. When you sit on the talking seats, you get to hear the girl talking about how she struggles with reading.

I also took a picture warning cyclists of the hazards of hitting the trolley tracks which I thought was funny. Right near our hotel there was the picturesque River Avon that was overhung with willow trees, and gorgeous buildings. Between our rehearsals and show (where I wore extra layers under my choir outfit to keep warm since they were not heating the building) I had a roasted veggie pizza (more pumpkin and silver beet) with a curry yogurt sauce on top. So yummy. I also got hooked on their organic ginger beer with real sugar and picked up some almost everywhere.

Our performance space (the Arts Center in Christchurch) was amazing. The acoustics were amazing, and we sounded phenomenal. The stage was gorgeous, there was a fireplace inside, and stained glass windows. During the show I noticed that during singing Bewitched that there was a guy in the audience swaying to the music, and mom was swaying back and forth and mouthing the words – similar to what I was doing on stage. I’m so like my mom! And as usual, when singing Come All Forsaken, I had a hard time not getting so wrapped up into the music that I needed to hold back the tears.

We explored the Christchurch Art Gallery where we got to see contemporary art. I was drawn to the museum by the inflated bunny that was laying in the entryway – the feet of the bunny had to be at least 10 feet long. I kept thinking “bunny down!” It also had a unique contemporary exhibit where they were focused on gathering art pieces that they felt would be significant pieces in New Zealand history. There was a sculpture of a blond man sitting on a chair leaning up against a wall with a balloon above his head and when you get closer you realize that he is talking about his insanity. But really my favorite was a tea set that was entirely croqueted – including the table legs, the candles with melted wax, the tea and cups, and cake with kiwi on top. The cake was singing a Maori lullaby. Mom liked the photo of a outdoor café in Antarcticia.

We took some time to wander the Christchurch Botanical Gardens with gorgeous trees, fountains, and I tried to capture how the light highlights the silver fern. There was also a cool fountain with a woman reaching with arms open, and an area with huge great energy trees.

We also took a tour of Lyttelton, a port town, and perhaps took some of the most beautiful pictures of New Zealand. Enjoy some of the gorgeous views.

lyttelton46
Originally uploaded by TaprootDancer

We also stopped by a beach that had a whole in a lookout rock, some pictures of ferns. I also found it fascinating that folks out there had houses on the rock ledges, and huge staircases from the bottom of the mountain to their houses up above. Some of the staircases were four flights or more. In Lyttelton there is the Timeball station. Each day at 1 PM the large black ball hanging from its tower is lowered to signal Greenwich Mean Time to the ships in the harbor.

While we were enjoying Christchurch for two days, we heard about the snow that had shut down the roads and airport into Queenstown. We lucked out that by the time we needed to head out to Queenstown the roads had cleared. I took tons of pictures on the road to Queenstown.

We also stopped by the Lake Tekapo with the Church of the Good Shepherd and a dog statue. This was the first time we took a picture of mom and me after realizing that we hadn’t yet taken a picture of the two of us. For some reason the light here was even more intense than other areas, and you can see that in some of my photos. Perhaps the snow reflection made it even more intense.

Due to the snow, the Winter Festival was delayed until the day that we landed. You can see the Remarkables mountain range from our hotel, and it was a great place to see the fireworks from the festival that evening. It was freezing there (you can see that it was zero degrees Celsius) and while we could heat our hotel room, the hallways where not heated and all the businesses kept their doors open during the day. The gym view in Queenstown was amazing – you got to see the Remarkables from there.

Milford Sound

We decided the next day to splurge on a plane fight to Milford Sound. The plane was a six person plane (including the pilot) and we got to actually fly through the mountains. I took TONS of pictures from the plane. You can see how lush the landscape got once we got closer to the Sound. The flight was 45 min or so, though you could also take an 8 hour bus ride. In the summer, the hiking trail in takes 5 days and 4 nights, and has 15,000 hikers who hike the trail every summer. Once we landed in the sound, we then joined a cruse ship where you can see lush mountains, waterfalls, and seals. On the flight back, I got to sit in the co-pilot seat and took tons of photos which included shots were I caught the prop from the plane in my shot. Mom found the flight and the cruise to be so peaceful. We were wearing ear phones on the plane and so everything was so quiet. We seemed to be flying so slowly over the snow covered mountain ranges, but the pilot said we were flying at 150 miles/hour.

The final night we took a gondola to the top of the mountain over the Queenstown area. It was a huge buffet, but we took a few pictures of me and mom.

On the last morning in Queenstown, we wandered around the lake in Queenstown and caught a parasail framed by beautiful weeping willows, and explored the Queenstown botanical gardens which had great trees, some with the light playing through the leaves, a sculpture of the princess and the pea, and Frisbee golf cages. I also took pictures of the harbor, and a Kiwi statue. And we stopped off at a burger place for lunch that sold “Little Lamby” burgers and “Little Bambi” burgers. I had to take a picture of their menu.

And that was it for New Zealand –we had a long trip home where mom and I landed (delayed off course) and it took mom 41 hours to arrive home and it took me 37 hours. Well worth it though.

New Zealand Photos Now online

I've finally uploaded some of the photos from my trip to New Zealand. I still need to add descriptions and tags. You can see photos from the first four days or so here on Flickr.

More photos and notes about my trip to follow!

Back from New Zealand

Just back from the my choir's tour of New Zealand. Our performance at the Art Centre in Christchurch was superb! I have tons of pictures that should be up soon, as well as my thoughts about what parts of the trip were my favorite. The last flight and cruise of Milford Sound is certainly one of the highlights, as was the rose made out of flax leaves that we received for Maori weavers after we sang "Embraceable You" for them at their request.

Googlemaps Street view!!!

Ok. This new feature by Google is amazing. If you search in Denver, CO or San Francisco, CA using Google Maps there is a "Street View" feature...then you move the little person and you can see photos of the street with a 360 view. It's amazing!!!

Unnatural Body Positions

Ok. In my attempt to find illegal clips of So You Think You can Dance on YouTube, I stumbled upon this AMAZING vidoe of a guy who takes popping and locking to a whole new level. Check out his video.

Considering I can't even moonwalk smoothly, I find his whole combo mind blowing.

So You Think You Can Dance - Have you Ever Taken a Dance Lesson?

Ok, so for obvious reasons I'm a HUGE fan of So You Think You Can Dance. The first couple of shows when they have the first auditions are always amusing and frightening. The sheer number of bad dancers who after their audition mention that they are also dance teachers - it's just criminal. One didn't even spot her turns - what is she teaching her kids???

And there are quite a few who clearly have been paying for lessons forever, but also have not had great teachers. I'm so lucky that my folks found me good teachers early. It really makes a world of difference.

Dorking Out about Adhesive Tarps

Spent a week at the Florida Governor's Hurricane Conference for work, and was totally impressed by the XTarp product next door to my booth. You can see a video of the product on the Miami Herald site.

It's tarp that people can use for their roofs that has impressive adhesive, so you don't need to nail or use sandbags to hold it down. It can withstand 110 mph wins with huge levels of rain - keeping the interior completely dry. It's good for 15 years in the sun without any degradation, sticks to everything, and yet doesn't damage the material when it's been removed. Seriously, it's a product that is absolutely brilliant.

In Maryland, hitting pedestrians is not punishable by jail time.

Yes, unfortunately it's true. I attended the traffic court trial of the man who hit me with his car in January (I was in a crosswalk in Bethesda, with 11 seconds left on the walk signal). I don't believe I've ever been so frustrated with the criminal justice system.

Seems as though there is a loophole in the MD traffic law, where you can't charge someone with hitting a pedestrian in a crosswalk in an intersection where there are working traffic lights. So basically, all the crosswalk signals in Bethesda (which also have traffic lights) are not safe places for pedestrians. You can totally disable a pedestrian by hitting them in those crosswalks, and you can't be charged with something that carries jail time. The guy who hit me, Kyle Meyer, was charged with failure to yeild to a pedestrian in a roadway, which he plead guilty to, but it's an offense that carries points and only up to a $500 fine.

So a Kyle hits me with his BMW Z3 going 25 mph, throws me 3 feet, I end up in the ER with injuries to my arm and hand that takes months to heal, where I'm worried about keeping my job due to my inabilty to type for a while (due to injuries) and I'm now paranoid about crossing the street....and he walks away with a $125 fine. I believe I've had a speeding ticket that cost that much.

The irony is that his attorney mentioned that he has a clean driving record EXCEPT for a DWI 3 years ago. So they let a guy who has been nailed for driving drunk, and has now been hit in a crosswalk with a walk signal get away with points on his record and a $125 fine. No jail time, not suspension, no traffic class, he's back on the roads...so watch out folks who walk in Bethesda - it is not safe to cross those streets even if you're in a crosswalk with a light.

Tart Bing Cherries Reduce Inflammation

I've found a new thing to try for my knee inflammation - eating tart cherries. Some researchers are saying that cherries even work better than over the counter anti-inflammatory drugs. Considering that I hate taking pain killers, and my knees are still holding onto fluid, and not 100% healed, what a great thing to try! Of course the study was partially funded by the California Cherry Advisory Board, but I like cherries anyway, and eating them more regularly would an enjoyable addition to my diet.c

Bird Flu? We should be worrying about Coughing to Death

A recent article in the Washington Post highlights a new TB epidemic. TB is only fully treated if a patient undergoes the full series of drugs, and in Russia and Africa, doctors are noticing a trend that may illuminate a new completely drug resistant strain. Many TB sufferers in Russia are homeless and that contributes to their inability to take all of the drug regime, but if they stop mid-cycle, they are letting the virus build up an immunity to the drugs. In Russia they are considering court ordered isolation for these carriers to limit the spread of TB to the rest of the population. Considering it can be spread via coughing, spitting or talking, it's easy to spread around. This is frightening - a quote from one of the drug resistant TB sufferers.

Daniels, for instance, was often homeless when he was in Russia, according to him and his wife, Alla Danielova, an English teacher. Daniels said he bounced among friends' houses, partying and trying to ignore the bloody sputum he was coughing up. "I knew I was going to have to treat it, but I had other plans at that time," he said. "I didn't think it was a big deal. Now I know better."

While his attitude is something that many of us can relate to, the impact this type of attitude and/or lack of education might have on global heath is chilling.

Performing at the Kennedy Center

What can I say? It was totally cool. Granted, it was the Millenium Stage, but it still was the Kennedy Center. After the sound check, we sounded great, we really knew our music and I was able to really get into some of the pieces. You can catch the recorded May 2nd show here:

It was a part of the Washington, DC's Six Month Shakespeare Festival.

Sourdough Bread has Antioxidant Properties

I LOVE baking bread and a new study shows that if you let the whole wheat flour rise for more than 48 hours (my favorite peasant bread recipes is a 3 day recipe), the number of antioxidants called phenolic acids doubled. Scientists are guessing that the antioxidant properties are due to the fermentation process.

Sheep & Humans Merged

Fascinating what scientists are able to splice together. The first sheep born with 15% human cells was announced this week by a scientist from the University of Nevada. This would allow humans to grow a herd of sheep which were grown from their own cells - sheep they could use as transplant organs.

You have to wonder what the long term effects of this type of splicing will have. What if the genes of these mixed sheep make their way into the food supply, and we begin eating lamb that is part human? What if sheep become more intelligent? How will this increase our exposure to animal viruses?

Duckies!!

Yes, just gratuitous ducky photos that made me smile. I am a fan of ducks. The are always talkative, happy, and just having a great time enjoying the water.

Dancers Have Different DNA

Finally! A scientific study that illuminates why as dancers, we can't stop moving, and don't feel "whole" without being able to dance.

In a study published in the American journal, Public Library of Science Genetics, Psychology Prof. Richard P. Ebstein and his research associates have shown, through DNA examination, that dancers show consistent differences in two key genes from the general population.

"People are born to dance," says Ebstein. "They have [other] genes that partially contribute to musical talent, such as coordination, sense of rhythm. However, the genes we studied are more related to the emotional side of dancing - the need and ability to communicate with other people and a spiritual side to their natures that not only enable them to feel the music, but to communicate that feeling to others via dance."

I've always said that dancing for me was my spiritual experience....

The Healing Process

When reading this article in the Washington Post today I really connected to the reporter's feelings about healing from an injury.

I had double arthoscopic surgery (both knees) on the 12th of January. I was feeling relatively upbeat about my recovery. After a week of couch rest with lots of icing of the knees and gentle hobbling, I was slowly getting back into activity - with gentle modified yoga and then eventually being able to handle some easy biking.

Then on the 23rd of January, I got hit by a car as a pedestrian. Yes really. I was crossing the street at 10 Pm or so in Bethesda - focused on the walk signal to make sure I had enough time to cross. I was moving slowly because of the pain in my knees. And I got hit by a BMW Z3 going about 20 mph. Luckily my knees seemed to have faired the impact well, but my left arm took most of the damage, and I sprained my left wrist (potentially broke a bone in the wrist). There goes being able to do downward dog pose and using yoga as a movement therapy. I officially only have one good limb left.

And now my knees are recovering, but slower than before. I can't just do some yoga to get the endorphin high, to keep the fluids moving in my knees, to reduce the pain. Sure I have other activities that I can do, but considering I can't dance for 6 weeks, it was nice to be able to move to music by doing yoga poses. Now I'm modifying my exercise and recovery yet again. Not including the days off from recovery and work as I was drugged with painkillers and muscle relaxers because of the accident.

Anyway, the article talked about how to handle therapy as set backs happen - often not within my control - how to keep moving forward without guarantees about recovery, and how it feels to be sidelined from the sport or activity that you love.

It's been a challenge, and continues to help me learn patience and have faith that the process will result in be being able to dance again - the one thing I love more than anything else in the world- at some point this spring.