Category: Travel

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Music Travel

Saturday Night Retro

6 years ago in March of 2003 I went on Spring Break with my brother to the Tampa Bay area. My brother was actually there on business at first, and then it became a vacation for him as well. On my own I visited Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo, The Florida Aquarium, and Florida International Museum. We spent a couple of nights at a hotel in Tampa followed by a couple of nights at a hotel directly on Clearwater Beach amongst other Spring Breakers. We were on vacation on the beach when Operation Iraqi Freedom began. Spring Breakers were out on their hotel balconies partying and singing in unison “Bombs Over Baghdad” (by Outkast). My brother often jokes that whenever he goes out-of-town on vacation major world events occur. This vacation was clearly no exception, but it was one of the best vacations that me and my brother shared together in our entire lives.

The soundtrack of my life from back in 2003 was almost exclusively European Trance, Techno, and House music. This was one of the biggest Techno jams from that era, and it’s one of my favourite tracks of all-time. It’s legendary Dutch DJ Ferry Corsten with his 2003 megasmash “Rock Your Body, Rock”. 

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Astronomy Blogging Career History Holidays Music Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

It’s the longest-running episodic weekly series in the entire history of this blog:

1.  So far March in America’s Riviera has been windy and soggy – and that’s a good thing considering the fact that November, December, January, and February were pretty much chilly and arid extra dry. This morning I drove through a ferocious rainstorm in the dark. It lasted all but three minutes, but I thought that I was either gonna drown or blow away to Kansas during the peak of it.

2.  I’m allergic to a bunch of things to include cologne and freshy cut grass. They make me sneeze. I don’t wear cologne. I don’t need to. I smell fresh and delightful naturally primarily because I take regular showers. Some people use cologne in lieu of bathing. They make me sneeze. Oh yeah – and they smell nasty.

3.  I moved over to my current workplace on base almost 20 months ago. I don’t have very many ‘low’ days, but of the ones that I’ve had they’ve all been far better than my ‘high’ days at my previous workplace on base of over 13 unlucky years. My career renaissance continues.

4.  Exactly 22 years ago tonight (on March 24TH 1987) I saw British musician Howard Jones LIVE in concert at London England’s historic Royal Albert Hall. That place has been standing there for nearly 140 years (since 1871).

5.  Last year March 24TH was the Monday after Easter Sunday. This year Easter Sunday occurs on April 12TH. That’s because it’s the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the 21ST of March. (The full moon occurs on April 09TH.)

That’s what I’ve got for you for this week. Be sure to check out my ‘Mini Thoughts’ this Thursday night here on the big green blog. You won’t regret it pal.

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Animals Travel

The Major’s Walk-A-Thon: Special On-Location Edition – Miami Seaquarium

I visited the Miami Seaquarium for the first time since an unspecified date sometime during the mid-to-late-1990s.

Here are my takeaways in 15 words or less:

– I’m on my ‘2009 Economic Stimulus Tour’ (of tourist attractions).
– So far – Metro Zoo, Monkey Jungle, and Miami Seaquarium.
– When we (me and a buddy) got there there weren’t a lot of people there.
– By the time that we left in the afternoon the joint was jumpin’.
– It was really jumpin’ !
– It was good to see people spending money at a tourist attraction.
– I love to hang out with the animal kingdom.
– I loved the sea lions.
– I could watch them frolic for hours.
– They are really smart creatures of the sea.
– They will work for food.
– So will I.
– They love their fishies.
– So do I.
– Lizards, Turtles, Alligators, Crocodiles – They were all chillin’ in the hot sun.
– The birds are not afraid of the humans – or the killer whale !
– Speaking of birds – The next logical stop on this tour – Jungle Island.
– Maybe we’ll hit that place up next month.
– Lolita is a 7,000-pound killer whale !
– She’s the same exact age as me – born in 1967.
– ‘Free Lolita the killer whale’ generates 183,000 searches via Yahoo !
– She’s been at the Seaquarium for the past 39 years.
– This is the only life that she knows.
– Some activists want her to be released into the wild.
– Releasing a killer whale from her home of 39 years makes no sense to me.
– The manatees were MASSIVE !
– They are sort of like elephants of the sea.
– They are calm, cool, and collective – just like me !
– They mostly eat plants – not like me.

No visit to Miami is complete until you’ve visited the Miami Seaquarium !

Categories
Animals Driving Health Holidays Money Music Politics Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Nearly 16 months of historical statistics reveals that Tuesday is by far the busiest day here on the big green blog. I think that we all know why that is so:

1.  We may actually receive some significant rainfall here in America’s Rivera between tonight and Sunday as a couple of old cold fronts from the north ease closer to us. Don’t expect a flood or anything close to that, but don’t be surprised if we manage to receive up to an inch of the much needed rain that we so desperately need. There’s also a very remote possibility that I may actually issue a late-season ‘Homestead Cold Weather Alert’ for both Saturday and Sunday mornings as wind chill temperatures may approach the upper-40s for a brief period of time.

2.  I’m not exaggerating here when I state that most motorists here in America’s Riviera totally ignore the green traffic light arrow that points to the left that states that you have a protected path to make a left-hand turn. I guess they don’t teach that in traffic school down here. GREEN = GO !

3.  Weight Check – I’m slowly easing down into the lower-170s. I just weighed in at 172.5. My goal is to get back into the more comfortable upper-160s. Yes I can !

4.  We probably won’t find out that the recession has ended until at least six to nine months after it has actually ended. It may have ended already, but we won’t really know for sure until perhaps Thanksgiving or Christmas. Politics and policies aside I’m rooting for a strong and robust economy in 2009 and beyond. How can you not root for that ?

5.  It’s St. Patrick’s Day in 2009, and I wore virtually all green today. I’m proud of my Irish heritage. My ancestors on the paternal side had a last name of ‘O’Day’. The ‘O’ was dropped when they emigrated from Ireland to The U.S. back in the late-19TH Century. For over 17 years our beloved cat Fluffy – a Manx – was an integral part of our family. The Manx breed originated from The Isle Of Man in the Irish Sea. I lived in the U.K. for exactly two years from 1985 to 1987, and I did quite a bit of traveling during that time. But one regret is that I never got to visit either Northern Ireland (part of the U.K.) or The Republic Of Ireland. Some day I hope to visit both countries. While living in the U.K. two Irish bands – The Pogues and The Dubliners – joined forces to become one, as they performed a traditional Irish song about a MASSIVE ship in the sea. Check out this 1987 performance of “The Irish Rover”. It was a U.K. TOP 10 pop smash back then, and I present it to you as a very special St. Patrick’s Day edition of the ‘Saturday Night Retro’.