Photo Experiment #3

Houston Marathon 2012

Photo Experiment #2

Dave and I went camping and mountain biking in Burnet, TX.  I was experimenting with foreground/background focus settings.  Still learning.

Photo Experiment - #1

My plan is to upload a photo every week or so to see if my photo skills are improving.  This one is from Christmas at Tim & Liza's.  Had the camera for 1/2 a day at this point.

Thanksgiving in Belize!

Thanksgiving was a tad different this year.  My usual Thanksgiving is not unlike most other people's Thanksgivings.  I stuff myself on turkey and dressing and nod off on the couch watching the Cowboys game with the family.  This year, instead of turkey, dressing, and nodding off on the couch, it was snook, ceviche, and nodding off on the beach.

Sign in Caye Caulker.  If you look closely you can see Bassano del Grappa.  This was a tiny Italian town very close to where I lived in Italy.  Soooo random!

We hopped aboard the big metal bird and allowed it to deposit us about 1200 miles due south in Belize City.  After that a little puddle jumper transferred us to Ambergris Caye (pronounced "Key" we found out), the tourist capital of the country.   I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it is to get to Belize from Dallas.  It was an easy 2.5 hour non-stop flight from DFW to Belize City followed by a 15 minute flight on Tropic Air.  Bottom line, you can be sippin a Rum Runner on the beach in about 4 hours!

Miles from ordinary. 

Here are a couple of highlights from the trip:

• It was first time to have snook and conk.  Snook is a white fish that I thoroughly enjoyed and conch is a large sea snail that is commonly used in ceviche.
• We went cave tubing in some of the very large caves scattered across Belize.  The caves were massive, some big enough for my house to fit into.

Me, Dev, and Brett before cave tubing!

• I had Belikin... a lot of Belikin.  Belikin is the Belizean beer.  There are only a few beers that you can drink in Belize: Belikin has a few different kinds (stout, premium, regular), Lighthouse Lager (which is brewed by Belikin) and Guiness (there is a brewery in Belize that is overseen by a brewmaster that works for Guiness).  Belikin (and Guiness) have a monopoly on the market bc the government does not allow any other beers inside the country.  If you are caught with another beer  there is a very hefty fine.  One or our guides told us that they would go on "beer runs" to Mexico (an hour by boat) to drink some good beer when they got too tired of Belikin.  While the selection is poor, I did enjoy the simplicity.  I could walk up to the bar and simply order a "beer" and receive a Belikin.  If I ordered a "beer" in the US I would be met with a dumbfounded look and smart-ass comment from the bartender.
• We snorkeled at Hol-Chan Marine reserve and Shark Ray Alley.  Everyone else saw a shark and a ray, but I had swam off in the other direction and missed them.
• Thanksgiving dinner for me consisted of Red Snapper vegetable soup and escargot to start, cheese and vegetable stuffed grouper for the entree, and rum chocolate cake and key lime pie for desert.  All of this was washed down with wine and "beer".  After dinner I relaxed with a Makers and water and a Cohiba (a fat Cuban cigar).  I was in hog heaven.  Can't imagine a much better meal.
• We took a boat to Caye Caulker which was about 30 minutes away.  There wasn't much there but if I didn't want to be found for a while, I think that is where I would go.  We found a hostel on the beach for about $12USD a day.  Gonna keep that in mind.

There were a few other things I didn't know that I found interesting:

• English is the primary language.  Almost everyone we came across spoke English but due to its proximity to Guatemala and Mexico about 50% also spoke Spanish.  A lot of people spoke Creole, which is a Jamaican type of English dialect.
• The Belizean dollar is pegged to the US dollar.  $1US = $2BZ.
• There are very few cars on Ambergris Caye.  Everyone gets around on rusted old beach cruiser bikes and golf carts.
• It was the bluest water I had ever seen.

The Happy Lobster!

All-in-all, it was a fantastic trip.  It was not as cheap as I had hoped and Ambergris Caye is very touristy but the beauty of the island and its close proximity (relatively) more than make up for it.  I absolutely loved Belize and got to mark another country off the list (that makes 15).

Movember

This month when you go to the grocery store, gym, or out to restaurant, take a second and look around.  You may notice a few more men sporting a coat of hair on their upper lip.  This is not a coincidence or change in fashion.  Each year around this time, men across the globe begin growing moustaches to raise awareness for men’s health.  This worldwide phenomenon is known as Movember. 

Movember challenges men to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a moustache. The rules are simple, start Movember 1st  clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month.  The moustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for cancers that affect men.  Much like the commitment to run or walk for charity, the men of Movember commit to growing a moustache for 30 days. 

For more about the cause click here…

http://us.movember.com/about/

My grandfather had a brief battle with prostate cancer (that he thankfully won), so when I stumbled across the idea for Movember I did not hesitate to join in.  A few friends and coworkers here at the Bank have all joined in for the cause and started a team, Rock the Stache-bah.

Any donation you can make would be greatly appreciated and will help us reach the ultimate goal of eliminating many of the health risks men face today.  To make a donation online please go to the following link, select “Donate to a team”, and search for Rock the Stache-Bah.  (Or of course you can bring it to me, and check out my moustache).

http://us.movember.com/donate/

I realize with the numerous charities jockeying for your attention and money and the rapidly approaching holidays, that many of you have already maxed out your charitable giving budget.  I completely understand and fortunately Movember is as much about raising awareness as it is about raising money.  Please use the following link to make sure you and your loved ones are taking the necessary steps to avoid some of the health risks men face (pun intended).

http://us.movember.com/uploads/files/PDFs/HealthPoster_USA.pdf

Thanks,

G

Very Fascinating Video

I had never heard this guy speak until today and I am a huge fan already.  Check out this video.  It is a little long but well worth it.

http://laughingsquid.com/clay-shirky-on-cognitive-surplus/

I could not agree more.  Can you imagine what society could accomplish if everyone spent a little less time watching Real Housewives of Wherethefuckever, The Bachelor/ette, or Jersey Shore and instead created something valuable. 

I'm not saying everyone should stop watching TV, all though I don't think that would be a bad thing.  I understand the fact that sitting in front of the TV has a calming, meditative effect on a lot of people.  I watch my share of TV as well.  However, instead of coming home from work and posting up on the couch with your Snuggie until its time to go to bed, if everyone took a little break to create something useful to themselves or others, think about the exponential effect on society that would have. 

Just sayin.  This guy is really on to something.  I disagree on the World of Warcraft thing.  That is NOT doing something. 

Mavs Game Top 10

Ed lucked into four terrific tickets to the Mavs/Suns game last night (6th row behind the Suns bench).  Ed, Eric, Trevor, and I attended.  It was a great game that the Mavs ended up winning 107-97 thanks to some great play by Dirk and Kidd.  Even though the action on the floor was fantastic, it was the off-the-court antics that were the most entertaining.  I have decided to do a recap of the night by highlighting my top ten moments of outing:

10.  Chad Kroeger's brother sitting right in fornt of us.  Seriously, he looked exactly like him.  He was one of the douchiest people I have ever seen.  Oh and his gf had sparkly extensions in here hair.  They were an awful couple.

9.  Seeing Ndamukong Suh sitting courtside behind the basket.  Ed telling me that I pronounced Ndamukong Suh's name wrong.  First of all, 97.5% of the U.S. population can't pronounce his name.  Second, I had consumed a few beers.  Third, Ed acted like he had no idea who I was talking about because I had slightly mispronounced his name.  I mean how many people's names are even close to that?  Whatever, it was cool to see a top NFL draft pick.

8.  Watching Trevor point out all of the hookers in the arena.  I have to say, I was somewhat oblivious to the number of hookers in Dallas.  And if they are not hookers, they are doing a great job of looking and acting like them.  My favorite was the lady sitting courtside and "over-laughing" at every comment the guy made.  Each successive comment would send her into hysterical convulsions.  Highly entertaining.

7.  Mavs Dancers.  Enough said.

6.  Grant Hill trying to "bow-up" to Dirk.  I'm not sure what that was all about.  It seemed really out of character for Grant (you know, because I know him so well).  It inspired a hockey fight type reaction from the crowd. 

5.  Eric making it through Day 1 of his I'm-giving-up-alcohol-for-lint experiment.  I put the over/under at 13 days.  The true test will be St. Patty's Day, if he makes it that far.  Good luck E.  I'm rooting for ya.

4.  Getting to sit that close to Steve Nash.  That guy is awesome.  I could go on and on about why I like Steve Nash but I won't.  Perhaps that will be another blog.  Watching him continue to dominate even though he is 36 has made me seriously consider giving up sugar.  Ok, I considered it.  Life without chocolate chip cookies is not worth living.   

3. Watching Trevor contribute about 50% of all concession sales last night.  This is what he consumed:

• Beer
• Chicken Tacos
• Barbecue Sandwich
• Ice cream

And he begged me to get him another ice cream sundae.  Apparently after assaulting his stomach with this combo, he didn't feel good when we returned home.  Go figure.

2. Ed screaming at Jason Witten as he walked by, "Jason! I love you!"  Jason responded with a half-sincere hand gesture.  No, not that hand gesture.  Jason wouldn't do that to a loyal fan.  Casey opined (via text) that it was a "totally acceptable man love moment."  I agree.

1. Trevor screaming at Billy Gillespie, "Drive me home Billy!"  Billy responded with a much more enthusiatic "Hey, somebody recognized me... and likes me!" wave.  I'm 99.9% sure he didn't hear any of Trevor's numerous references to his DWI charges.  Or maybe he was just too drunk to care.  When someone asked why he was here, trevor responded with, "because someone drove him and offered him free booze."  Nice.

Great night.