AP PHOTOS: Dramatic New Year’s moments worldwide
I’m stuck out here on the ship for at least another week, so I missed all the festivities going on at home. This article was the best of what I saw for the worldwide celebrations of New Years Day.
I hope some of you got to see some of these fine fireworks. Does anyone have any good stories or photos to share?
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015
It’s almost dinnertime here on the ship, but I think I must still be in time to wish people Happy New Year before the big celebrations are over all over the world.
I hope this year is a good year for everyone and even better than last year! 🙂
Cheers!!
Our catering department stepped up their game and came up with a fantastic Christmas dinner for the crew. The European tradition is for seafood for the holiday. So we had shrimp, mussels, salmon, fresh tuna and lobsters. Appetizers were various cheeses, crackers and homemade pates. We had roast beef, baked chickens, cold meats, even a roast suckling pig. For dessert we had fruits and nuts, cookies and cakes, ice cream and puddings. Our Italian clients even had a special delivery of enough panettone for everyone to try a taste. Everyone enjoyed the feast. 🙂
We don’t really appreciate the catering crew enough out here on these rigs. I have to give them all a big hand.
We had our doubts that Santa would find us out here. All the way out in the middle of nowhere. Offshore Angola, actually. It’s a long way from where most of us call home. But, even tho Santa may have encountered a few problems along the way, he DID finally show up. 🙂
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. 🙂
I just got back from a trip to New Orleans. I was there for the WorkBoat Show. I always try to spend some extra time there if I can. It’s such a great city to just hang out in. There’s so much to see and do and it’s such a creative place.
I saw lots of really beautiful Christmas decorations. Here are a couple of the Christmas trees for the Daily Posts Weekly Photo Challenge: Twinkle.
I went to New Orleans for the WorkBoat Show again this year. I stayed over a couple of days to just chill out and enjoy New Orleans. It’s such a great city to hang out in. 🙂
I did try to check around to see if there was anything especially interesting going on. I checked online and didn’t see anything unusual. I had thought about going on another walking tour or going to the WWll museum, or the Pharmacy museum. What won out in the end was sleeping late. 😉
I had just got around to wandering out of the hotel and I heard the drums playing. I had to find out what was going on. I’m so glad I did. 🙂
I followed my ears down the street a couple of blocks until I ran into the crowd lined up along St Charles street and the parade marching by.
It was so neat. I missed out on the beginning of it, but I was still in time to see a few groups of dancers, majorettes, and marching bands. The riding club and their little miniature horses were SO cute! So were the little girls all dressed up in their sparkling outfits, tapping their way down the street.
Floats carrying bands playing Dixieland jazz and Santa-hatted, bead throwing locals were interspersed among the dance schools and high school marching bands. Santa and his dancing elves brought up the rear.
And tho I think for some reason the bikers weren’t in the parade (technically), they didn’t let that ruin their fun and they had their own little parade right after the last musical blasting car passed by.
Nowhere like New Orleans for a party! 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving!
At least this guy’s safe. I took his picture at the Houston Zoo. 😉
Thank you all for visiting my blog and a big special thanks to my followers. 🙂
As usual, I’m late and having a hard time keeping up with the tasks for the Photography 101 challenge. This is my choice for the Day 8: Landmark assignment.
This was taken in Korea back in April. I was at the Busan Tower and took tons of pictures. I was lucky enough to be in Korea during the celebrations for Buddha’s birthday. There were dozens of these traditional paper lanterns set up here around the tower and other places around town.
Sorry to say, it was also a very sad time while I was there and lots of the usual festivities were cancelled due to the Sewol ferry disaster.
7 of America’s Most Haunted Bars | Liquor.com.
Some interesting stories here. Looks like something to look for if I’m ever in one of these towns.
I love all this kind of ‘scary’ stuff, haunted history, etc. Last time I was in New Orleans I actually went on one of those walking tours. New Orleans is a great city for that kind of thing.
I have actually been to Lafitte’s before. One of my first times passing through New Orleans. I must have been around 18. I never noticed anything ghostly at the time. But that could be because I was sloshed at the time. Ya think?
Halloween Treats Recipe Slideshow – Photos | Epicurious.com.
I thought you all might enjoy some of these special Halloween recipes. Yes, it’s my favorite holiday. Yeah, I know it’s getting kind-of late, but you can always eat any leftovers later (along with the candy).
Some of them are cute, some are silly, some look really good, some I would take a pass on. Something there for everyone I guess.
Here are a few shots from the article to whet your appetite (there are over 40 more). 🙂
Halloween Cocktails | Food & Wine.
I’m stuck offshore again this year for Halloween. It’s my favorite holiday (other than St Patrick’s Day- I hate to miss the parade and all that free green beer!).
It’s pretty much a toss up over free green beer and free candy for Halloween, but since I don’t go trick or treating anymore and I’m the one who has to buy the candy now, I have to give St Patrick’s Day the prize for my favorite holiday. 🙂
That Barm Brack looks pretty tasty. I wouldn’t mind one of those Pomegranate and Tequila cocktails either at the end of the day.
They’ve even listed a couple of cocktails that sound especially good for a sailor gal/pirate like me.
Take a look at the Dark and Stormy Death Punch, the Philadelphia Fish House Punch, and the Dark and Stormy. When the Navy Officers invented that one, they described its ominous hue as “the color of a cloud only a fool or dead man would sail under.” Oooohhhh. 🙂
I hope you all can enjoy some of these. I’ve still got at least a week to go til I can get off this ship. 🙁
To follow up on yesterdays post, can anybody justify this situation?
I would really like to hear from people. Please give me your reasons for why you think women should be treated as worth less than men are.
Why are they still denied a full education in so much of the world? Why are they still considered as property of some man in so many places? Why are they still not allowed to make basic decisions about their own lives in so many cultures?
I’m especially interested to hear from people with Muslim influences. Just because it seems to me that the Muslims are the worst offenders at this point in time. If you don’t think they are, can you please explain why you don’t think so, who’s worse?
I would also love to hear from people of all religions as to how they reconcile their ideas of justice and basic fairness with a god who supposedly says they should treat some people with less respect than others.
If you do worship a god who you think says that kind of thing, WHY do you continue to worship it?
Just thinking it’s past time we (the entire world) start to discuss this situation and CHANGE it. I think first we need to get to the bottom of the reasons people claim it needs to be this way in the first place.
I don’t think it’s justified, at all. For any reason.
Now, who’s up for a good argument??? 🙂
Women of the Early 1900s Rallied Behind Beautiful, Wartless Witches | History | Smithsonian.
Check out these cool Halloween cards. I thought the history mentioned in the article was pretty interesting.
It’s hard for me to imagine how different life must have been for women in the past. Of course, for most women in the world things are still very different than they are here in the USA (not that we’re perfect yet).
Women in many countries around the world are still treated like second class citizens. They’re still denied the opportunities and options that men have, simply because of their gender.
As an American, growing up as an American girl, I can hardly imagine what it must be like. How does a girl from somewhere like Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, or even India or Africa or South America manage enjoy life, or even to get through it all without the options we have here?
I imagine they must only be able to bear it when they don’t know about any other options. Maybe they just don’t think they can live any other way. I don’t really know. It amazes (and disgusts and infuriates) me that in this day and age we STILL have not managed to create a society where women can live their lives as THEY choose.
It’s hard for me to imagine how I would be able to stand a life like that. That I would not have any choices. I wouldn’t be able to go to school. I wouldn’t be able to LEARN about so many things. I wouldn’t be able to decide what kind of work I would like to do. To choose who I would want to marry or IF I would want to marry at all. To be able to choose when I want to have sex, or with who, or IF I want to have sex at all. To be able to choose to have children, or not to have any.
SO many choices taken away from me, just because I happen to be female. What must that be like?
I read a book- Infidel- by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. It really opened my eyes. I have to say I admire her strength and courage to do what she did. She grew up in Somalia, was raised a Muslim, and then grew disillusioned with the life she had. She moved to the Netherlands as a refugee, eventually became a member of Parliament there. Her story is really encouraging. I hope more people (especially young girls) will read it and take hope.
I can see from the Smithsonian article (and even from my own life), that we have made some progress in the USA.
I remember when I was young and I chose to work at sea. I had to fight so hard for every job I ever got. It was ALWAYS a struggle to get hired. Yes, just because I was a woman. No one wanted to have a woman on board. 🙁
Now, (30-40 years later), it is not nearly as much as a problem (tho, yes, it IS still a problem). I see more and more women working at sea. I even see other women in positions of authority. They are no longer delegated to the stewards department, they can work at other jobs and be more than just cooks and room stewards!
I happen to be the only woman on board this ship, (1 out of 178) but on my last one there were women working as geologists, mud engineers, fluid engineers, etc. I’ve seen quite a few other women DPOs lately and even a couple of other captains. 🙂
I hope to see more women from other countries able to take advantage of all the opportunities the world offers. I was very encouraged to hear about the Italian livestock carrier who had female master and chief mates.
Hopefully sometime soon women from all over the world will have the same rights and opportunities that men have always had. It would be wonderful if everyone everywhere had the chance to live their lives the way THEY choose to.
Which Wine Goes With Your Favorite Halloween Candy?.
Halloween is my favorite holiday (after St Patricks Day). Since I’ll be working (again) this year on Halloween, I won’t be able to enjoy any of my favorite wine (or candy). 🙁
I never was much of a wine snob. I like sweet wine but I don’t know enough about different wines to drink it much anymore. I don’t like to buy a bottle to try it, only to get home, open it up and find out I hate it and just wind up dumping the whole thing down the drain.
I hate to waste good food or drinks. I have a bottle of wine in my fridge that’s been in there for a year now. Maybe I’ll get around to drinking it soon. Who knows what it tastes like at this point?
My favorite wine (when I was drinking a lot of it) was Cello Lambrusco. I could always get that kind since that was what my dad drank around the house. It came in gallon jugs. 🙂
If he was still alive, my dad would probably be charged and heavily fined now for “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” for allowing me to have a glass of wine every now and again, but my grandmother was Italian and wine with meals was a given. 🙂
My other available choices back then were MD 20/20, Night Train, Ripple or Thunderbird (all affectionately known as ‘Bum wines”). 🙂
I wasn’t really a bum at that point (I was still in school), but my grandmother used to get on my case all the time about hanging around with a lot of them. 😉
Well, yeah, I did. But what’s wrong with that?
How else to get your booze supply when you’re underage in the USA?
Among the strangest things I ever heard
Was when a friend of mine said “man, let’s get some thunderbird”
I said “what’s that? ” he just started to grin
Slobbered on his shirt, his eyes got dim
He said “you got fifty-nine cents? “
I said “yeah, I got a dollar, but don’t be a smart-aleck
I ain’t gonna spend it on no indian relic”
And he said “thunderbird’s not an old indian trinket,
It’s a wine, man, you take it home and drink it.”
I said “it sure don’t sound like wine to me”
And he said he’d bet me the change from my dollar
We hustled on down to the nearest u-tate-um
The guy wanted my id, I whipped her out and showed him
He got a green bottle from the freezing vault
My friend started doing backward somersaults
Through the cottage cheese
Took it back to his house, started drinkin’
Pretty soon I set in to thinkin’
“man, this thunderbird tastes yummy, yummy, yummy
And I know it’s doing good things to my tummy, tum…, t…”
It’s so you reason when your on that crap
Got a few more bottles, chugged them down
I pulled myself up off the ground
Decided I go see my dearest sweet wife
Who met me at the door with a carving knife
Said “get them damn grape peel from between your teeth.”
I could see we’re gonna have a little misunderstanding
I said “dear, I better get in touch with you later”
She said “forget it, man, you’re never touchin’ me again!”
Now I’ve seen the light and heard the word
And I’m staying away from that ol’ dirty thunderbird
A message come from heaven radiant, and fine,
All I drink now is communion wine
Six days a week
I love to take pictures at night. They almost never turn out very good but I keep trying. I was glad to see the Weekly Photo Challenge: Nighttime.
Here are a few I took the last time I was in New Orleans. I always try to go to the Workboat Show if I’m home. It’s usually in December. Last year someone forgot to reserve the convention center (duh). So they had the show in October.
It was nice to see New Orleans dressed up for Halloween instead of Christmas. 🙂
How to Host an Oktoberfest Party – Betty Crocker.
Since I’ll be going back to work soon, I’ll be missing Octoberfest this year. It actually started in Munich yesterday.
It’s already over here in Houston. I might have gone if I knew about it earlier. Really, I just had too much to do at home to check out fun things to do. 🙁
It’s always like that when I first come home from being offshore for a month or more. With this new job I recently started it looks like I’ll be missing ALL of the things I’d like to do for the next few months at least. 🙁
Here are some fun suggestions for those of you who DO get a chance to enjoy some interesting events on your time off. 🙂
Those pretzels look especially interesting. And beer is always good, I even have some Saint Arnold Octoberfest brew in my fridge right now, I’ll just have to settle for a few of those before I leave for work. 🙂
Arrrrggh Mateys! This is the day we’ve all been waiting for (or not). 😉
It’s International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Enjoy watching the festivities from last year. Maybe you can find some around your location too. 🙂
I know my sailing buddies at Sail La Vie in Houston are having a big dress like a pirate paaarrty and sail tomorrow. (I’m just still too beat from work, that looooong journey home with no sleep, and too much to do to justify a 3+ hour drive, even for a great party).
Instead, I’ll be heading to the Texas Navy Day Celebrations here locally at Surfside Beach. Maybe I’ll even get to shoot a cannon! Arrrrghh, that’s a piraty activity too. 🙂
Check out the Talk Like A Pirate website, maybe you can find some nearby pirates to practice the lingo with over a good glass of grog. (It helps). Join in the fun! 🙂
Anyone who wants to send me pirate pictures, feel free! 🙂
Here’s another entry for the challenge (red). I just couldn’t stop watching this guy in his bright red coat with his cute little dog and it’s matching red shoes. 🙂
I
I took this photo while I was in Korea for the travel writing/photography workshop a couple of months ago. I started out in Incheon and this was my first day out exploring. I wound up at Jayu Park where I could look out over the city.
There were beautiful views over the harbor and the city surrounding the hill. There were lots of local people out enjoying the gorgeous sunny weather. A couple of school girls even asked me for a photo and interview. 😉
It was a nice place to start my explorations of Incheon.
Here’s my entry for the Word a Week Challenge: Red from A Word In Your Ear. 
It’s a photo of a lighthouse in Gijang, South Korea. I went there to see the Gijang Anchovy Festival a couple of months ago when I was in Korea for a travel writing/photography workshop.
Pineapple Lush Dip Recipe – Kraft Recipes.
I got some nice fresh pineapple on sale the other day and need to find ways to use it up before I have to leave for work. This looks like a nice easy recipe.
I wonder if this recipe would work the same with fresh pineapple as with canned. I can throw it in the blender and see what happens. 😉
I’m already making pineapple banana smoothies and pinacoladas. 🙂
Top 26 Margarita Recipes : Recipes : Cooking Channel.
Another holiday with special drinks coming up! So soon? Yep, its almost Cinco de Mayo. 🙂
Get ready for all kinds of events and parties featuring margaritas and Mexican food. 😉
I found this post online today. It has 26!!! different margarita recipes.
I like margaritas, but I haven’t tried most of these. Heck, I’ve never even HEARD of most of these.
Cucumber Jalapeno margarita? Chipotle Grapefruit margarita? Lavender margarita? Raspberry Lemon margarita…
For all you moonshine aficionados out there, there’s a Moonshine margarita!
There’s even a recipe for a Mint Julep margarita in case you want to combine your Kentucky Derby party with your Cinco de Mayo party!
And a Watermelon margarita in case you want to get ready for Memorial Day. 🙂
I definitely want to try the Magical Low-Calorie margarita asap. 😉
With this list, you can margarita all year round. 😉
Derby Punch Recipe – Kraft Recipes.
In honor of the Kentucky Derby this weekend, I figured I’d post this recipe for Derby Punch. 🙂
It looks good, but personally I think it’s a little light on the booze. 😉
I have to say, I haven’t tried this recipe yet, so I don’t know for sure. I think it’s something that can/should be adjusted for personal taste.
I’m still in Korea and my travel writing/photography workshop starts in the morning, so I’m pretty sure I won’t be having any Derby Day celebrations here. So, be sure and have some punch for me and let me know how it goes! 😉
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.
Here are a few photos so you can get the idea. 🙂
I tried my luck with the Gijang Anchovy Festival but it was cancelled due to the ferry disaster. 🙁
I couldn’t really tell that anything was different in this place tho. There were tons of people out shopping for anchovys (and all kind of other seafood).
There was no festival going on, but other than that, everything seemed normal.
People were shopping for seafood, haggling over prices. Eating BBQ squid and anchovys. Fishing off the seawall. Checking out the restaurants.
Check it out…
I’ve been in Korea for the last week or so. Seems I still can’t get away from the ocean. 😉
I’ve spent a lot of time going to the local markets. They have a LOT of seafood in their markets here!
Yesterday I went to Gijang. They were supposed to be having a festival yesterday. The Gijang Anchovy Festival. It said on the internet that it was cancelled. I went anyway since it also said the Lotus Lantern Festival was cancelled and it was still on. 🙂
I figured it would be an interesting day out anyway. Yes, the festival was actually cancelled. Yes, it was still an interesting trip. 🙂
I took the metro up to Haeundae Station and then the local bus (181) from there to the harbor where the festival was supposed to be. The town was obviously set up as a place for people to come and buy and eat fish, (more kinds than just anchovys), but I saw no signs of any kind of festival. I guess it really was cancelled (due to the ferry accident).
I wandered around for a while and took a bunch of pictures. I’ll have to take a look at them later and will put some in a later post. I’m trying to stick to my goals for the Blogging 201 Challenge, one of which was to get back on track with my “editorial calendar”.
So I am posting today another Song of the Sea. All that wandering around the fish market and the fishing boats made me think of this song by Billy Joel. It’s about the fishermen in the USA (NE Coast), but fishermen around the world are all the same. 🙂
It’s always hard work and the pay is never enough, but of course it’s still totally worth it!
I hope you like the song as much as I do. Enjoy. 🙂
The Downeaster ‘Alexa’
We took on diesel back in Montauk yesterday
And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner’s Bay
Like all the locals here I’ve had to sell my home
Too proud to leave I’ve worked my fingers to the bone
So I could own my Downeaster Alexa
And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons
And a good captain can’t fall asleep
I’ve got bills to pay and children who need clothes
I know there’s fish out there but where God only knows
They say these waters aren’t what they used to be
But I’ve got people back on land who count on me
So if you see my Downeaster Alexa
And if you work with the rod and the reel
Tell my wife I am trawling Atlantis
And I still have my hands on the wheel
Yeah yo [x4]
Now I drive my Downeaster Alexa
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they tell me I can’t sell no stripers
And there’s no luck in swordfishing here
I was a bayman like my father was before
Can’t make a living as a bayman anymore
There ain’t much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain’t no island left for islanders like me
Yea yea yea oh [x4]
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! 🙂
Sorry I haven’t had time to do a whole lot of posting here this week. I hope I can catch up some in the next few days.
I’ve been enjoying my time home and busy doing some fun stuff for a change. I went to the Houston Rodeo, the Houston Maritime Museum, the Sail La Vie meeting, the Campaign for Liberty meeting, and this morning I went to the St Patricks Day Parade at the beach.
I haven’t had time yet to get my pictures together, but here’s a preview. I’ll get them up tomorrow! 🙂
Darkest Chocolate Cake with Red Wine Glaze Recipe | Epicurious.com.
Just in time for Valentines Day (in case you’re a late starter, like I am). 😉
I got this recipe in my email from Epicurious.com. It looked perfect for a sweet treat for a sweetie. 😉
Chocolate and wine, together, umm…
