My entry to the photo challenge (rainbow). Here’s the link. 🙂
The first photo was taken while I was working as captain of a tuna purse seiner out of Tarawa, Kiribati. We usually got to port to unload our catch every couple of weeks and I took advantage of the chance to go ashore every time I could.
Tarawa is a small island and it reminds me of what I imagine life would have been like in the 50’s. I had some great times there with some beautiful people.
If you want a better idea of what it’s really like, try reading the book “Sex Lives of Cannibals” by J. Maarten Troost. It made me feel like I was back on the island. It’s hilarious! 😉
The second one is from a trip I took down to Argentina with a friend in 2010. We went to Iguazu Falls (very impressive) and this picture was from the path around the top of the falls. I do have some much better pictures of the main falls, but they didn’t have any rainbows. 🙁
The last one is one I took while I was at work last summer on the semisubmersible Ensco 8506. The supply boat “Chartres” was standing by and in the perfect spot to get these pictures. Too bad my camera was so fogged up from the AC inside, I could have got some even better shots. I had to wait til my lens cleared up but was still able to get a couple of decent shots. 🙂
I took a trip to Indonesia a couple of years ago to look into having a sailboat built for me. I have been trying to find a way to move out of the USA for years.
The main hold up has been that no other country will give me a work visa (unless I can do something no one else in their country can do). I thought about teaching English (TEFL) and I still think about doing that sometimes (maybe I will one of these days, but I hate to put myself in a situation where that is my only option. I started writing and blogging as another option to hopefully help me make a living without being stuck in the USA.
I am looking for more freedom. I don’t want to jump from the frying pan of the USA (which is rapidly becoming a police state) into a situation where I don’t really know the rules and have restricted myself by not having the finances (because I had to take a low paying job) to get out of any trouble I don’t know enough to stay out of.
So, maybe I’m trying to have my cake and eat it too, but I really think we all deserve to live a wonderful life. The life WE choose. Free to do the things we enjoy, in the physical location we want to be.
I don’t agree with borders in principle. I don’t agree with the idea of any political authority. “Leaders” are just regular people and governments are just groups of people. None of them are any more special than you or me. I believe we are ALL equal under the law (natural law) and we should ALL have the same opportunity to live our own lives without interference.
I think we ALL have the inherent right to do anything we want as long as we don’t hurt anyone else (who has the same rights as we do). The founding fathers of the USA enshrined that principle in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution (Bill of Rights), but the government we have now has corrupted that ideal beyond belief.
We are already FAR beyond the point where the original colonists revolted. I keep wondering WTF has happened to the American people that they submit without question to things like the TSA groping their children in the airports.
We have gone from a country where we had a revolution over a 4% tax on TEA, to a country where the government routinely locks up people for LIFE for mere possession of a harmless plant!?!
OK, enough with the politics (for now). 😉
I went to Indonesia look into buying a boat. I thought I could build a business with it that would allow me to live in a foreign country. I thought if I had a means to support myself, I could make the move. Too bad the price of the boats had gone up so much since I first heard about them. There was really no way I could afford one.
Unless it was one like the ones in these pictures. 🙁
I made it to the rig on Monday. I’m settling in here at my new job. So far everything is going as well as can be expected. I’m learning the ropes here. Nothings really much different on the ship itself or it’s operations.
The big differences are just in the way they do the paperwork. They DO have free fall lifeboats on this vessel. I didn’t notice that from looking it up online. So, I guess there really was a good reason for them to send me to the class last week. 🙂
I did have a good time after all. The course was better than expected. I got a chance to look around Aberdeen after the end of class each day.
The first day was spent just wandering around town. I walked down the main road til I saw something interesting. The first thing I saw was the seamans center (it was closed) and the Fishermans Mission.
Yes, of course it was interesting to me, I’m a seafarer! 😉
I stopped in to chat with the man who was running the Fishermans Mission. We compared notes on the situation in the UK and the US regarding fishermen and fish stocks. Seems things are pretty much the same. Not enough fish, getting harder to catch, much harder to make a living, more and more regulations, less and less people joining the industry.
I found out the seamans center didn’t open til 1800 and planned to stop by on my way back that night.
Further down the road, I found the Maritime Museum. Yes, it looked interesting, but it was closed on Monday. 🙁
I hoped to stop by again but would have to hope to get out of school early since they closed at 1700.
I wandered around the downtown area for a while. The city was involved in an art project called “Wild Dolphins“. Different artists were given ‘dolphins’ to decorate as they saw fit. You could pick up a map to follow the trail to find them all. There were quite a few scattered around town.
I found lots of interesting old buildings, pubs, restaurants, shops, the tourist information center, and Castlegate with its Mercat Cross (and Spiderdolphin). 🙂
As I was gathering information at the tourist center, the ‘Queens Baton’ and its entourage came running by. Scotland was hosting the Commonwealth Games for the first time in many years so they were running around this ‘Baton’. Kind of like the Olympic torch.
There was a buzz about it at our school, they were looking forward to the attention of the press. Our instructor even got to launch the free fall lifeboat to carry the torch down the River Dee while the BBC filmed the whole thing.
It seemed to be a major event all over the city, everyone I spoke to mentioned it. They seemed very happy and excited about it.
I walked by Marischal College and a statue of Robert the Bruce (King of the Scots). I turned the corner and discovered the St Nicholas Kirkyard. That was a pretty cool place, a quiet old church surrounded by big old trees and gravestones green with moss. I saw plenty from 1600, 1700, 1800 and even earlier. I always thought people back then died much younger, but many of them lived 60+ years (according to their epitaphs).
I found myself on Belmont Street, an area of cobblestone streets and old buildings, re-purposed to bars and restaurants. It was a pretty lively area to hang out, relax and enjoy the day. I wish had more time to spend out and about town. I would have liked to relax over dinner and drinks in a few of these places. 😉
I was getting tired and my feet were getting sore. Walking for hours in flip flops is not really the most comfortable way to do it, but I wasn’t ready to buy a new wardrobe yet and was told my luggage would arrive by the time I got back to my hotel, soooo… no shopping (yet).
I just made my way back to the hotel, to be ready for another day of exploration in the morning. 🙂
I’ve been noticing a lot of poetry going on in my reader lately. Maybe I should join in the poetry slam. 😉
I can’t say I’m a big fan of poetry, but I do like some of it, sometimes. I especially like (dirty) limericks. 😉
As for ‘real’ poetry, one of my favorite poets has always been Robert W. Service.
He had an interesting life. Grew up in Scotland, moved to Canada. Then Alaska, where he became famous as the “Bard of the Yukon”.
He wrote about the people he met in his travels. He managed to get the most incredible characters to come to life in his poetry. His poems ‘The Shooting of Dan McGrew” and the “Cremation of Sam McGee” are still considered classics.
I remember an old friend from Florida would dress up and recite some of these poems at parties I used to go to. KC was a character himself and did a great job of rousting us all up. I miss those days.
I like a lot of his poems. I have his book “Collected Poems of Robert Service”. I liked it a lot. Some of his poems are really great stories. Here’s a short one.
In Praise of Alcohol Of vintage wine I am a lover; To drink deep would be my delight; If ’twere not for the bleak hangover I’d get me loaded every night; I’d whoop it up with song and laughter – If ’twere not for the morning after.
For though to soberness I’m given It is a thought I’ve often thunk: The nearest that is Earth to Heaven Is to get sublimely drunk; Is to achieve divine elation By means of generous libation.
Alas, the wine-cups claim their payment And as the price if often pain, if we could sense what morning grey meant We never would get soused again; Rather than buy a hob-nailed liver I’m sure that we’d abstain for ever.
Yet how I love the glow of liquor, As joyfully I drink it up! hoping that unto life’s last flicker With praise I’ll raise the ruby cup; And let me like a jolly monk Proceed to get sublimely drunk.
Author Notes
From Later Collected Verse by Robert W. Service (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1965), page 421.
Here’s my entry for the Word A Week Challenge: Delicate. I looked through my photos to find a few good examples of delicate things.
If you want to see the rest of the entries, check out Sue @ A Word in Your Ear and her weekly challenges. She has some gorgeous photography on her blog. The people who join in are pretty good too. 🙂
This is one of my all time favorite songs by one of my favorite artists. Great video on this one too! I hope you like it. 🙂
Song of the Sea
Broken clouds along the blue horizon The sun is setting and the wind is dying down Outward bound, there is music all around Can you hear it, it’s the, the song of the sea?
Soundings taken at the edge of darkness The widest silences the heart can ever hear You can steer to the stars along your lee Set your bearings to the, the song of the sea
Oh, and the song is as ancient as the days And the winds upon the waves Let it carry you away, so far away (Aaa)
Trim my sails to greet the breakin’ morning Past the headlands to the rolling open sea An’ it comes to me, I have never felt so free As when I’m listening to the, the song of the sea
Oh and the song is as ancient as the days And the winds upon the waves Let it carry me away, so far away
Some were meant to watch the world from windows And never look beyond the road beneath their feet But for me, I was always meant to be One forever chasing the song of the sea The song of the sea The song of the sea
I haven’t mentioned much about politics on here lately. Maybe it’s because I’ve been traveling outside of the country (I was in Korea for a month).
It’s nice that I can get out of the US occasionally. I would love to leave more often for longer periods of time. I’m even thinking I might want to leave permanently. It’s SO nice to get away where the politics isn’t constantly in my face.
Sometimes I wonder if there’s something ‘wrong’ with me. Most of my friends don’t really care about what’s going on around them. They always tell me to ‘just chill out’, or ‘just ignore it’, or best of all ‘just do whatever you have to do to get around it’.
I wonder “WHY should I have to do any of that”? Why should I have to leave to find the freedom I was guaranteed at birth? I was born and raised here.
I was brought up to believe that THIS country was formed specifically to PROTECT our rights! WHY should I have to try to ignore it when I see our government doing the exact opposite more and more often?
People call me crazy (paranoid) because I’m always aware of how much freedom we have lost in this country, even just in my lifetime. They say I’m crazy to think the things that have happened in other countries (Germany, USSR, N Korea, China, etc) could ever happen here.
But I see that we are following the same footsteps that led those other countries down the path of socialism/communism/tyranny. Why COULDN’T it happen here?
I wonder what’s wrong with everybody ELSE, that they DON’T care what’s happening in this country?
Why don’t THEY get upset that they have lost the same freedoms I have? Why do they clamor to give theirs away (and mine along with theirs)????
I feel more and more like an outsider in my own country. I feel like most of the people in this country have completely abandoned the ideas and ideals that our country was founded on. What made this country so unique in all of history…
The idea that “we the people”, (ALL people), have certain INALIENABLE rights. Rights inherent to us, that belong to us simply because of the fact that we are all human beings. We are all equal under the law (supposed to be here). That our government’s main job, (its’ only legitimate function), was to PROTECT those rights (it did NOT create or give us those rights).
Most people have been distracted and disoriented by the corruption of the language and twisting of the meanings of the words. Rights for example, there are those basic human rights that we are all born with, part of our nature as human beings. Then there are government created rights like voting rights for example. People treat them as interchangeable. They’re not.
People are busy arguing about media created hoopla over free speech (political correctness) and racism (freedom of association) and on and on and on. Too caught up in the small issues that tear us apart instead of fighting together for what’s really important. Our FREEDOM as individual human beings!
Yes, I realize that we are all very busy. I understand that most people have so many things taking up their time and energy now a days.
Most people are so exhausted by the time they get home at the end of a long day, all they want to do is chill out in front of a TV set. They don’t want to think, they want to vegetate til it’s time to go to bed.
Maybe as a sailor, I’ve had too much time to think in my life. Maybe it’s because I’ve always loved to read. Maybe it’s because I’ve always been an explorer. Maybe it’s because I’ve always been a skeptic.
But for whatever reason, I do think and I do care. What I see happening around me here flat ass scares the SHIT out of me.
OK, now before you all go running for the doors, please stick with me just a little longer.
Yeah, I’m fishing for comments here. I’d really like to hear from a larger sample of people around the world than just my personal friends and friends of theirs I’ve been arguing with on Facebook. 🙂
OK, just one simple question to start off with…
What do you know about the principle of self-ownership?
Have you heard of it before? Where? What do you think it means? Do you think it’s valid? How would you go about justifying it? Do you think principles like this one change with the times? Should they?
Here’s another one to go along with that, it’s really part of the same question… If you DON’T own yourself, who does?
OK, I’ll leave you all to think on that for a while. PLEASE comment with your thoughts here!
If you’re wondering why I put that video on the top of the post, here’s why. I love that band! I really like this song.
I also think it’s relevant to this conversation I’m trying to start. I do think there’s a war going on. It’s a war for our hearts and our heads. It’s a war for the principles we’ll stand and fight for. It’s a war between the great masses of “we the people”, the common people, (you and me), and the elites.
It’s a war between freedom and tyranny. YES, it really is. So far, it’s happening mostly in the background, behind the scenes. You can see it easily if you look around (don’t count on the mainstream media for your information).
“This is Why We Fight”: “When we die, we will die with our arms unbound.” THAT says it all to me.
“This Is Why We Fight”
Come the war
Come the avarice
Come the war
Come hellCome attrition
Come the reek of bones
Come attrition
Come hell
This is why
Why we fight
Why we lie awake
And this is why
This is why we fight
When we die
We will die
With our arms unbound
And this is why
This is why
Why we fight
Come hell
Bride of quiet
Bride of all unquiet things
Bride of quiet
Bride of hell
Come the archers
Come the infantry
Come the archers
Of hell
This is why
Why we fight
Why we lie awake
This is why
This is why we fight
And when we die
We will die
With our arms unbound
And this is why
This is why we fight
Come hell
Come hell
This is why
Why we fight
Why we lie awake
This is why
This is why we fight
When we die
We will die with our arms unbound
And this is why
This is why we fight
So come to me
Come to me now
Lay your arms around me
And this is why
This is why
We fight
Come hell
Come hell
Come hell
Come hell
OK, I HAD to get out of the house today! I’ve been trying to catch up on lots of things around here that mostly revolve around working on the computer.
My main computer (that I’ve had for a while now), caught a serious bug in Korea. I took it to the shop already, but they didn’t/couldn’t fix the main problem with it. So, I’ve been trying to use it while I transfer all my stuff onto the new (mac) computer I bought a couple of months ago and haven’t had the time to use yet.
I am having a VERY hard time trying to learn how to use it. It’s incredibly frustrating! I am NOT any kind of computer geek. I know how to turn one on and off and get to my emails. That’s pretty much it. 🙁
This is my first Apple computer. I bought it because I’ve heard that Apples are really great to work with photos on. Maybe they are, but I can’t even figure out how to LOOK at my photos on it! Yeah, I can open one at a time, which is frustrating enough, but then I can’t DO anything with it.
On my old computer, I use Windows Photo Viewer or Windows Photo Gallery to look over my photos. It’s very easy to use. I can use Paint to edit them. I could also use a photo editing program like Lightroom or Paintshop if I really wanted to work on them.
On my new Apple computer, I can’t find ANY kind of program to look at or edit my photos at all. 🙁
I did finally get Lightroom on the Apple computer, but I don’t really want to load EVERY photo there.
Maybe I’m just missing something simple that people who’re used to Apple products could clue me in on? I could use some help here…
Anyway, I was going stir crazy here, between frustration with my computers not allowing me to get much work done and taking out my frustrations by arguing with strangers on Facebook, I figured I needed to get the heck out of the house and away from the computers for a while.
So, I went to the zoo. I always like to go and watch the animals. I like to watch the fish swim around, the jellyfish are really calming. I like to watch the monkeys play. I especially like to see the new zoo babies if they have any (they did). 🙂
I saw the baby elephants. One was only 4 months old and the other was 3.5 yrs old.They were still keeping the baby in the house. It was SO cute! I couldn’t get any decent pictures of it, but I watched it play for a while.
baby elephant (3.5 yrs)
They had some baby lemurs. Those were really cute too, and fun to watch running and jumping all over their little habitat.
Lemur with baby
They had young flamingos. They were still gray. Last time I was at the zoo, they were little gray puff balls, they’ve grown a lot in a couple of months.
young flamingo (they turn pink the more they eat)
I got into watching the flamingos for a while, they were out of the water for a change and kind of fun to watch. Here’s a couple more shots…
I usually like to try and take pictures of everything but I still haven’t really figured out how to get past the bars and the cages. Sometimes I can get the camera to focus where I want it to and sometimes I can’t.Today wasn’t a good day for that. 🙁
So, I concentrated the photos on the birds and the fishes. I know I’ve posted lots of fish pictures here already, so today I’ll do some birds. 😉
I don’t know how the Smithsonian judges ever manage to narrow down their choices. They have so many just stunning images to pick from every year.
This year is no different. I’ve been flipping through their choices for finalists and runners up in the different categories and I would have a really hard time making up my mind.
I think I would pick this one…
If only because I LOVE the night sky and it’s SO hard to get good photos of it. There’s so much light pollution now. Also, I really love science fiction and the way they’ve set up those giant bugs just really does it for me. Lots of creativity and excellent camera skills. I love it! 🙂
Click the link and check out all the other photos. It’ll be worth your while. 🙂
Here are a few of my photos that show off ‘orange’…
orange wave (sculpture on Gwangali Beach Korea)
orange flowers (Jayu Park, Incheon Korea)
orange food? (fish market, Incheon Korea)
orange sunset at sea
orange sunrise, Tarawa Kiribati
orange beard (Surfside Texas)
orange umbrellas (and hair)
orange fish
another orange fish
orange spots on another fish
orange boat(s) alongside at Fourchon, LA
orange uniforms on the boat (me and Jess on the DS-5)
orange sky at sea
orange chopper (USCG)
one more orange boat (lifeboat)
I hope you like these. These photo challenges are fun. I really wish I had the time to go out and take some more pictures for them but no time so I have to use some from the past. 🙁
I haven’t done much with these photo challenges lately. I do really enjoy them. Looking at what everyone else is doing and trying to come up with something to fit the theme.
This one is easy for me. Water. It should be easy for me. I have so many photos of water in all its various forms, it’s really hard for me to pick out a few real good ones. 🙂
But, I did manage. Here you go…
out on the water
no waves on this beach!
water makes patterns in the sand
water sprays in Singapore
beautiful beach Riviera Maya
water from the air
water- 3 kinds- clouds, rainbow, ocean
Those were a few of my favorites. I hope you like them too. 🙂
Here’s another great post from the Dollar Vigilante. They always have a lot of great information on their website. I’ve been a subscriber for a while now.
I really couldn’t agree more with his post. I’ve been a traveler since I was born. 🙂
My father used to work as an engineer (before he said the hell with it all and started fishing). 🙂
He used to take on contract jobs for all the big firms. Sperry, Northrup Grumman, Corning, etc. I remember living in Boston, Rochester, Syracuse, Phoenix, LA, El Paso. Lots of other places in between I don’t remember. I was born in Minneapolis. My brother was born in East Hampton (we were staying on grandpas boat).
For a while we all lived in one of those old style cab over campers. Mom, dad, me, my little brother, the dog and the cat. We would live at a campground for a few months at most while dad did whatever job he was contracted to do.
We finally settled down in Florida. My dad took a job with Honeywell. Maybe because it was time for me to start school. I really don’t know for sure. My dad found the love of his life, (the schooner Island Girl), and my parents got divorced.
By then the travel bug was in my veins and I’ve been infected for life! I LOVE to travel!!
My grandmother did too. She was always off somewhere interesting and exciting and she would bring us little presents when she came to visit. Sometimes I was lucky enough to go with her.
I remember one time she took me skiing in Aspen Colorado. I was about 13. I had a blast! Another time she took me (along with her sisters) on a long road trip to pick out a boarding school for me. (I was a bad girl)
I refused them all. I just didn’t think I would fit in at any of them.
Good thing for me! I wound up going to school with the Oceanics out of New York City instead of any of those nice, fancy, expensive schools my grandmother wanted for me.
That experience changed my life forever. I wound up sailing around the world on large traditional sailing ships. I LOVED it!!I decided I wanted to be a ship captain, sail around the world and get paid for it. My grandmother never got over that I didn’t want to be a doctor anymore.
I wanted to keep sailing and traveling and never go home. I did wind up staying after for a while. I tried to find a job working my way back home on a ship. I was only 16 and didn’t have any seamans’ papers yet, so that didn’t work out very well. 🙁
I wound up talking my way into a position on board an old Thames sailing barge in London. The CIV was the name of it.
I had a blast!! The guys on there were such a fun group. I was supposed to cook and keep the place clean while they got it ready to sail across the Atlantic to the US. I don’t know if they ever made it. I had to fly back to the US before they got it ready. 🙁
I learned so much on that trip. MUCH more than I ever could have or would have learned in any kind of normal classroom environment.
We had class on the ship. We learned about things like navigation and seamanship. We learned them by DOING them. Most things we learned outside of class. For example, I learned how to work as part of a team. I learned to be a good shipmate and how everyone on board is there for a good reason and just as important as anyone else there.
We had to keep a journal (good practice). We also had a class called ‘cultural studies’. When we went ashore we learned about the countries and the people we visited. We learned the languages of the countries we were due to visit.
I learned how to communicate better, sometimes even non-verbally. I learned how to be flexible and more accepting of how things were instead of how I thought they should be.
I learned how other people dealt with the same kinds of things we do at home but in their own ways. I learned that my way (or my countrys’ way) was not always the best way.
I learned that most people are basically the same, wherever they live, they all want/need the same basic things… food, water, love, connection, a home, etc. We’re not all that different. 🙂
I learned there is such a great, big, wonderful world out there. I learned about myself that I never want to stop learning and exploring.
Travel is SUCH a great teacher, in so many ways. I encourage anyone and everyone to get out there and DO IT! 🙂
I got this in my email today, I just HAD to check it out. This film looks like it will be a real eye-opener and I sure hope it gets the attention it deserves.
The email (from The Dollar Vigilante) said that the first official screening of the film will be at the Freedomfest (Las Vegas Jul 9-12).
I went to Freedomfest a couple of years ago and had a great time. I hope to go again this year. I’m not sure of my schedule yet, so I haven’t made plans. I definitely recommend it for anyone who is into freedom and individual liberty. There is SO much good information there, SO many interesting people, and the atmosphere is just amazing!
Positive energy for a change. 🙂
Here’s what Jeff Berwick (the Dollar Vigilante) has to say about Freedomfest and the new film… “… Freedomfest is probably the largest conference on freedom in the world and so I decided I couldn’t pass it up. Also, at Freedomfest, they will be screening the first public airing of “Freedom From Choice” a film on the state of the US tyranny today with appearances by Peter Schiff, G. Edward Griffin, myself and many more.“
I checked out the link on the email from TDV and liked what I saw. I can’t wait to see the full movie. I even donated a few bucks to help make that happen. (You can too if you want). I think Kickstarter is a great idea (and another example of the free market at work)!
Check it out and let me know what you think. Do you like stuff like this? Do you care about these kinds of issues? Are you concerned about the way things are going in the USA (or the world)? Are you involved in any projects to help change things? I’d really like to know. 🙂
Here’s another oldie but goodie. I always liked this song. I even learned how to play it on the guitar (but have forgotten since). I miss those days, hanging out after class with my friends in the OMT (Ocean Marine Technology) program.
We used to have a blast! We would go to classes and learn all about how to run a boat. Some days we even got to go out on one to practice all the things we learned in class.
On the weekends we would go down to the beach and have a big bonfire. We’d roast hot dogs and marshmallows. We’d play guitars and sing and camp out overnight sometimes.
I miss doing that sort of thing. All my friends from school moved away (or just got older and gave up all that kind of thing). I forgot how to play guitar. 🙁
Anyway, here’s the song. If you want to know more about it, I found a good link (here). It’s got a lot of interesting stuff on there. 🙂
I’m heading home (from Korea) in the morning. I hope things won’t be so hectic and I’ll be able to catch up with things on here soon. 😉
Another Song of the Sea. This one is for sure an “oldie but a goodie’. 😉
I remember when I was growing up, my father used to love this song. He would sing along or dance around the house to the music. I always liked it too.
I was surprised to hear the mate really getting into it out on the Ocean Alliance last time I was on there. He had the whole bridge team (including me) singing along and really getting into it! (Thanks A.)!!
I really like it too. I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I did. 🙂
Here are the lyrics so you can sing along. 😉
“Beyond the Sea”
Somewhere beyond the sea Somewhere waiting for me My lover stands on golden sands And watches the ships that go sailing
Somewhere beyond the sea She’s there watching for me If I could fly like birds on high Then straight to her arms I’d go sailing
It’s far beyond the stars It’s near beyond the moon I know beyond a doubt My heart will lead me there soon
We’ll meet beyond the shore We’ll kiss just as before Happy we’ll be beyond the sea And never again I’ll go sailing
I know beyond a doubt My heart will lead me there soon We’ll meet (I know we’ll meet) beyond the shore We’ll kiss just as before Happy we’ll be beyond the sea And never again I’ll go sailing
I went out the other day to go to the Gwangalli Eoban Festival. Yes, I was taking chances. There have been a lot of event cancellations around Korea this year because of the ferry disaster.
The internet said this festival was cancelled, but I figured I would go and see myself since I had heard that the Lotus Lantern Festival was cancelled too, but I went to the park where it was supposed to be held it was still going on.
The Eobang Festival is another fishermans festival, like the Gijang Anchovy Festival I tried to go to the other day (which was also cancelled). It sounded really interesting and I was really looking forward to it. Especially after seeing Andreas’ post in her blog about last years.
So, who knows? I tried it. I got there and – no festival! Oh well. It was a pretty decent day. A little overcast, but that was good for me since I get sunburned really easily. The beach was nice.
There were a lot of local people out enjoying the beach but it wasn’t too crowded. People were out flying kites and walking their dogs. I saw a couple of fishermen. A vollyball game was going on and looked like fun. Lots of picnics were sprinkled around the sand.
People were skateboarding and bikeriding along the promenade. The other side was lined with bars, restaurants and coffee shops. I stopped and had some coffee and watched the scene for a while.
This is the first day here that I’ve been able to use my own computer. So it’s the first time I’ve been able to do a lot of things online.
I’ve been wandering all over and taking tons of pictures, so I thought I’d do a preview of some of the things I’ve seen so far. I haven’t had time yet to edit my photos, so all of these are straight from the camera. Enjoy. 😉
Korean Chinatown
This was the beginning of my first day out in Incheon. I wanted to see Chinatown. I heard it was the only one in Korea. It was very quiet through the afternoon. I left before seeing if it got any busier at night.
Wolmi Island
This was one of the ones I took at Wolmi Island. It’s kind of a playground for kids and adults. There’s an amusement park, a couple of museums, a maritime school, tons of seafood restaurants, bars, coffee shops, etc.
Sunset at Wolmi Island, Incheon
I went to Jayu Park and wandered around downtown for awhile.The trees and flowers were all in bloom and the blossoms were falling all around in the breeze. The petals were covering the ground like snow. I finally figured out I was not going to be able to walk to the fish market, so I put it off for another day.
The next day I went to the fish market. Wow! What a huge place. It was crowded with all kinds of people from the smallest babies to the oldest grandmothers. Whole families were out shopping together. There was every kind of seafood imaginable (and some that I have never imagined at all).
Fresh, frozen, dried, still alive and squirming. It doesn’t matter, you can pick it out and they’ll wrap it up for you to take home, or you can bring it over to have them cook it up for you in the little kitchens in the back. There are also food stalls all around outside in case you want something other than seafood (or you can have more seafood!).
I found out those little pancakes are called something that sounds like “hotdogs” and they’re really pretty good. They’re stuffed with something kind of sweet, I think maybe bean paste. Then they add nuts. I like them. 🙂
After I got tired of wandering around the fish market, I made my way down the street to the Marine Square where some of the fishing boats and ferries dock. It was pretty quiet and I just watched the local people hang out. A bunch of kids were playing with the seagulls. They were pretty entertaining. 🙂
fishing fleet, Incheon Korea
I was about ready to call it a day, but I was kind-of hungry so I spent a little time wandering around near my hotel in search of something for dinner that was not too spicy. I wound up going to a place that I thought had a picture menu (it didn’t). I wound up having chicken soup. It was interesting watching the Koreans cook their dinners at the table.
That was the end of my night and going to be it for me tonight too. I’ve got another busy day planned tomorrow! 🙂
Here’s another Song of the Sea. It’s by Dar Williams. I really like her (tho to be truthful, this isn’t really one of my favorite songs by her). I like some of her other stuff a lot more, but they’re not all about the sea, so, listen to this one and then check out her other stuff! It’ll be worth it. 😉
The Light and the Sea-Dar Williams
Sitting out upon the waves, in darkness and upheaval I was told that I alone would not know good and evil Oh but in time but oh in time it came to me As my shepherd fallen rise I could turn and lift my eyes To the light that distant light There will always be The light and the sea Rolling sea the light and me And as the days rolled by I turned my wheel toward the thunder Taking on a challenge that I knew could take me under Oh..and it took me down and oh it took me down And it came to me As I cursed the stem and sail Because its fate that I should fail There is a light there is a light There will always be the light and the sea The rolling sea the light and me And it all comes down down to me To feel the presence of my soul Amid the torrents and the cold Of the sea.. And there will always be the light and the sea The rolling sea the light and me The light and me
I’m glad I had most of these photos uploaded before I came out here this hitch. I really haven’t had the time to get online much and the computer situation is not the best here. I’m kind of limited in what I can do til I get back home.
So, I figured since I already had the pictures on here, I might as well add a little bit more flavor to my earlier post about the Summertime Bikes and Blues Fest.
I was actually there last summer. They usually have this event the last weekend in August. I try to go if I’m home. I usually see a few friends, it’s neat to check out all the cool bikes, and I really love the music. It’s out in the open, spread out around the old downtown area of Freeport. I like that it’s that way, it doesn’t feel very crowded. The food is good too. 🙂
I remember watching this one years ago when it was originally on TV. I used to LOVE staying up to watch Saturday Night Live.
I still try to, but it just doesn’t seem as good as it used to be.
I miss John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase…
I loved the Coneheads, those ‘wild and crazy guys, the cheeseburger guy…
I still love their take on the news, “Weekend Update”.
I rarely stay up late enough to watch it anymore, but if I’m home Saturday night and still awake, that’s what’s on TV. 🙂
PS- I started working on this post while I was at home. I noticed after I posted it this morning that the video I thought I already had in the post had disappeared. I tried to put it back, but since I am at work, I can’t look at things like that. They block it all here. So, I am not sure exactly WHAT the link will show. I HOPE it is showing the video I wanted to put on here about Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley competing for a job as a stripper at Chippendales.
Will somebody please check it out and let me know if that’s where the link goes. 😉
So sorry. I’ll have to be more careful about what I try to post while I’m out here. It IS a funny video, even if it’s not politically correct. 🙂
I always loved this song. 🙂 I’m going sailing this weekend so I thought this would be a good start. 😉
I remember when this song first came out. I was a teenager, still living in Florida. I was living on the beach and sailing my little sea snark just about every day.
My life was about to change in a big way. I went off on the adventure of my life on the sailing ships of the Oceanics School. We ALL loved this song there! Rod Stewart was SO hot!!
“Sailing”
I am sailing, I am sailing,
home again ‘cross the sea.
I am sailing, stormy waters,
to be near you, to be free.I am flying, I am flying,
like a bird ‘cross the sky.
I am flying, passing high clouds,
to be with you, to be free.
Can you hear me, can you hear me
thro’ the dark night, far away,
I am dying, forever trying,
to be with you, who can say.
Can you hear me, can you hear me,
thro’ the dark night far away.
I am dying, forever trying,
to be with you, who can say.
We are sailing, we are sailing,
home again ‘cross the sea.
We are sailing stormy waters,
to be near you, to be free.
Oh Lord, to be near you, to be free.
Oh Lord, to be near you, to be free,
Oh Lord.
PS- does anybody know why he’s singing about sailing while he’s cruising around on a power vessel??? 😉
I was just really missing my job. Yeah, I know that must sound really weird. Crazy even. But I’m not crazy! Really!!
I don’t miss the work I do NOW, right at this moment. I DO miss the work I’m still sometimes able to find. Those few jobs that allow me to do what I’ve trained all my life to do. To sail the seas AS A SAILOR.
I went to sea for the FREEDOM it afforded. Freedom to just do my job (no worries), and enjoy life at sea with an occasional port call (with enough time to go ashore). Not much paperwork, no one really bothered us. We literally were in our own little world out there. Our own community. We all did our jobs yet worked together as a team.
OMG have things changed!!! (NOT for the better)
It seems like it’s almost impossible to find that sort of employment any more. You’ll take a job that’s totally confining, one almost as bad as if you were working on the beach. Paperwork out the ying-yang. Do a JSEA before you even get out of your bed (seriously, on one boat they actually wanted us to do that!). The only advantage is you don’t have to commute every day.
They micromanage every tiny little detail of your life, even to the point of telling you how to dress yourself every day.
WTF??? They hire us to run a multi-million dollar vessel with hundreds of peoples lives in our hands, but they think we’re too stupid to know how to dress ourselves? What’s UP with that?
At least the money’s decent. Not enough for the BS they put us through, but decent.
The other option is to find an interesting job. An enjoyable job. A job that actually lets you use the skills and knowledge you’ve worked so hard to gain. One that might actually GO somewhere INTERESTING at least every once in a while.
But it seems that every one of THOSE types of jobs entail working for people who think that their company is just SO wonderful that we’d just all love to work there for free and they don’t even want to come up with the minimum wage! 🙁
I’m still looking to find that happy medium. A job that lets me be a sailor that actually pays the bills at the same time! 🙂
Those tuna boats were close, I really enjoyed my time there. Take a look at these pictures and tell me you don’t understand my craving for adventure, don’t get it just a little bit, don’t wish you could be doing something like this instead of wasting hours in traffic everyday to get to a ‘regular’ job?
I haven’t been able to keep up with all my email and missed a couple of months worth of these music samplers from Utne Reader.
I always like them so I saved them in my email, but I found out today that even tho I opened up the one from January, the music from January was gone and replaced with the music for March. So I totally missed out on January and Febuary. 🙁
This one is (as usual) a pretty good mix. I really don’t know how to describe some of them.
I really liked the one by Terry Waldo. It’s called “Proctology”. I don’t know why (what a name). I always did like ragtime and I haven’t heard it for a long time. Too long. I used to try to play the piano for my dad and his friends. I never really got to be very good at it, but I had some books on ragtime and always loved the sound.
Another one I really liked in this months sampler is the one called “Agdam” by Hauschka (German composer Volker Bertelmann). It’s all on piano too, tho it’s hard to tell a lot of times.
I always did love piano. I had no idea you could make it sound like that! 🙂
“I Got the Moves” by Habibi is another of my favorites from this months sampler. It’s kindof retro. Reminds me of the 60’s. Probably good to dance to. 😉
There’s plenty more good stuff to check out. “Red Eyes” by War on Drugs, “Calypso Lane” by the Blushin’ Roulettes (love the name), “River of God” by Linda Perhacs, and “Evolve” by Texas girl Emily Elbert (kindof jazzy, I liked it).
I stuck around as long as I could stand it. At least I got to see a lot of old friends and catch up on the news down at the beach. Too bad the weather just SUCKED!
I hate it when the rain gets all over my glasses and I can’t see!
People down there work and plan all year to make this event a success and the cold and rainy weather put a damper on it once more. 🙁
I think only the regulars showed up down there to start with, and only the real die hards stuck around til the parade started.
I wound up leaving right before they started the parade. For some strange reason, I didn’t really feel like hanging around drinking all day (the bars were PACKED with people trying to dry off).
At least I got a few decent pictures. I got to try out my new Olympus Tough camera. It’s waterproof! 🙂
At work last hitch, I got into a conversation with my watch mates about nautical music, or more generally, songs relating to the sea. We had a great time coming up with a whole bunch of great music. This was one of our favorites to sing along…
I love the images of those sailing ships in the video. I always wish I had another chance to sail on one of them but I’m very grateful I got to go even once.
This song and the lyrics make me want to just chuck it all and take off for the islands. Maybe one of these days I will. 😉
Here’s to some more inspiration…
“Southern Cross”
[Intro. (Acoustic Guitars)]
Oooh …Got out of town on a boat goin’ to Southern islands
Sailing a reach before a followin’ sea
She was makin’ for the trades on the outside
And the downhill run to PapeeteOff the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas
We got eighty feet of the waterline nicely making way
In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you
But on a midnight watch I realized why twice you ran away
Think about
Think about how many times I have fallen
Spirits are using me larger voices callin’
What Heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten
(Around the world) I have been around the world
(Lookin’) Lookin’ for that woman girl
(Who knows she knows) Who knows love can endure
And you know it will
When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way
‘Cause the truth you might be runnin’ from is so small
But it’s as big as the promise, the promise of a comin’ day
So I’m sailing for tomorrow my dreams are a dyin’
And my love is an anchor tied to you tied with a silver chain
I have my ship and all her flags are a’ flyin’
She is all that I have left and music is her name
Think about
Think about how many times I have fallen
Spirits are using me larger voices callin’
What Heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten
(I’ve been around the world) I have been around the world
(Lookin’) Lookin’ for that woman girl
Who knows love can endure
And you know it will, and you know it will yes
[Instrumental (Electric Guitars)]
Oooh …
So we cheated and we lied and we tested
And we never failed to fail it was the easiest thing to do
You will survive being bested
Somebody fine will come along make me forget about loving you
At the southern cross
[Ending (Acoustic Guitars)]
Not many things more awesome than the clear, wide-open, star studded skies out on the open ocean. It’s one of the best things about being a sailor. 🙂
