Archive for October, 2008

Off to Israel, well, eventually. . . .

It’s a quiet evening here at Chicago’s O’Hare airport.  That’s Monday for you.  We arrived quite early  through  spitting snow.  Early was good. It gave me plenty of time to fiddle with “Boingo” the airport hotspot.  $7 to check my email and post to you.  Yikes!  But I expected that one.  The unexpected cost of the trip so far was $150 one way for my Greenland Paddles. Double Yikes!  But you have to have ‘em.  Usually you can get away with traveling with them fairly cheaply but Air France charges for long stuff.  I really need to get Ron at Novorca to make 2 piece paddles.

Well, we’re being paged.  Off we go.  Next stop Paris.  I picked up a copy of Steve Martin’s new book to read along the way.   Man I can’t shake this moody feeling this evening.  Must be the heavy clouds and snow.

Look at that sky, life’s begun
Nights are warm and the days are young
- bowie

Justine Curgenven is just about ready to head back to the states to begin the US leg of the premiere tour for This Is The Sea 4. (I’ll come join you in Chicago, btw.) The premiere parties are going to be lots of fun and more people than we can count will be taking home their copy of T4. Of course with the release of any new DVD, it’s also time to write a review. Now I confess that I’m totally in the bag for Justine and her work. What’s more I have worked with Justine for some time now on the web and off, including doing the cover art for the last two videos. I’m biased. You’d think that would be a good thing wouldn’t you!? Read the rest of this entry »

“Now, here you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.
If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that.”
- said the queen.

I’m no jet-setter. Sea kayaking has, through a bit of work and the generosity of others, given me the opportunity to travel a bit, teach a bit and speak. It’s all good stuff. Yet I have to admit I always feel a bit like a fish out of water as I prepare to go again. The world after all is a very big place. Very big indeed! Read the rest of this entry »

Well, it’s getting near Halloween after all!  For anyone interested in Lake Suprior, “Haunted Lake Superior”  by Hugh E. Bishop, is certainly a book worth having.  Here’s the link to Amazon.

Funny how my memory slips
while looking over manuscripts
Of unpublished rhyme
Drinking my vodka and lime

But look around, leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter
- paul simon

The Sea – The Pacific Ocean is big. It extends from the Arctic ocean at the top of the earth, down to Antarctica on the bottom. The eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean touches Russia, Japan, China, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia and a whole host of other islands and nations. The west coast slides from the top of Alaska down to the southernmost tip of Chile. The Pacific Ocean covers over 63 million square miles of the earth, that’s about 32% of the planet’s surface. In fact the surface of the Pacific Ocean is larger than the total surface area of Terra Firma. In the middle of this vast liquid wilderness is a little pin-prick of an island chain called the Hawaiian Island. Something to think about when you slip your kayak off some sunny sandy beach. Read the rest of this entry »

“These questions, are, how do I say, stupid. They’re not even funny. I would insult my readers if I was anything like you.” - Freya Hoffmeister, Sept/Oct 08. Paddler Magazine.