7th Son Web Widget

Oops he did it again!!

Mark Hunter, host of The Tartanpodcast, Mark My Words and other podcasts mentioned in the previous posting has recorded Tartanpodcast 112!!!!!!!!!!

Download it and all the other great episodes Mark has produced from the link in the last post!

Great to have it back Mark!

Since I already wrote this...Part 1

I posted this on someone elses comment section (http://www.gadzooki.com/) and thought, hold on... I've already written this, I might as well use it on my own blog... so here it is...

In response to the question of what podcasts to we listen to, here is my reply:

Hey Jim!
I too have let podcasts take over my life. As a postal worker, processing mail, I listen to podcasts for over 8 hours a day!! Because of this, I need a variety of ‘casts, and I really prefer ones which are 30 min or less, to keep the pace up. I also tend to prefer the “homemade” podcasts, where “real” people like me seem to be having fun podcasting. It gives me hope for my future podcast. Here are some I’ve found in the last 3 years that I’ve been listening to podcasts:

Podcastpaul and This Week in London are a great mix of music, friendly chat and the occasional holiday in a caravan. Paul Nicholls and Paul Parkinson are mates in real life, and have both had their families involved in some of their shows. Janet Parkinson (Geek Girl on The Flashing 12 Podcast) is so genuine, you'd like them to move in next door. Love these guys, and hope to meet them and their families someday.
Comedy
Bell’s In the Batfry with John Bell www.thebatfry.com This is great family friendly skit comedy. Listen from the beginning of show One.

Podiobooks

Playing For Keeps- by Mur Lafferty (@mightymur on Twitter) A wonderfully read tale of a Third Waver trying to lead a “normal” life in a world filled with super heros and villains. http://www.playingforkeepsnovel.com/

Billibub Baddings and the Singing Sword - by Tee Morris www.teemorris.com, author of Podcasting for Dummies.

Music

The Tartanpodcast with Mark Hunter. www.tartanpodcast.libsyn.com Within the Tartanpodcast feed are the Sleepy Sunday shows, Mellow Monday shows and some spotlight shows. Great independent bands from Scotland such as Finniston, Amplifico and Hollow Horse, just to name a few. Mark also has some “talking” podcasts under his “Mark My Words,” www.tartanstories.com . Mark has moved on to doing podcasts for the Association for International Cancer Research, which are very informative and cover a different type of cancer each podcast.

Three from Leith with Grant Mason…

Talk
Old Time Radio Shows
Adventures of Inspector Maigret
Old Time Radio Detectives
Old Time Radio Mysteries

Videos
I just discovered the Ask a Ninja podcast which is brilliant, clever and short… must be seen to be understood.

the next post has more from this

A Visit to Tubac

Have you discovered the jewel in the Arizona desert that is Tubac? No? Well, why not? Tubac, Arizona, is one of my favorite places to wander through when I'm in Arizona visiting my mother. Located alongside I-19, the Interstate highway which leads Tucsonians and hundreds of thousands of touristas to the Mexican border town of Nogales, Tubac is easy to find, but difficult to leave. Nestled in the sagebrush of the Santa Cruz River Valle, Tubac is the oldest European settlement in Arizona. History buffs will love it for that reason alone, but if weren't enough, there are enough shops and restaurants to satisfy any desire.

(Photos above shamelessly borrowed from www.tubacarizona.com site. Please visit this site for an indepth history of Tubac).

If you love to shop for western clothes, furnishings, pottery or jewelry, this is the place. There is a shop just for southwestern spices, and others which specialize in ironworks like these in the video below. On my last trip to Tubac, I found beautiful ceramic house numbers with a wrought iron holder to mount on my house. I could have chosen from a dozen or so styles, and several sizes, which didn't make the decision very easy!

My brother was on a quest for a certain type of bowl, sort of like a mortar bowl, which is used to make guacamole in. One particular shop knew what he wanted, but didn't have it. She was, however, visiting her own mother in Nogales that evening, and promised to bring one back with her if we could come back the next day. We did and she did. Mission accomplished! (As an aside, I got my house numbers from her too.)

You don't want to shop? How about eating? With several restaurants and cafes to choose from, taste authentic foods from the area. There are also museums in Tubac and the nearby area, including the "Chili" museum just south of Tubac (past the giant chicken restaurant shown in a previous blog).

The Tumacacori Mission is across the street from the Chili museum, and was founded in 1691, though the standing Mission was built in the early 1800's. Be sure to take your National Park's passport for a stamp commemorating your visit!!

Nogales?? What? You never made it? Oh well, it will be there the next time... if you can drive by Tubac without stopping.

And on a lighter note:

In the middle of winter... a ray of hope that Spring will be here soon...

Going Green??

I have my own opinions on this whole Global Warming thing... one word... cycles. I don't mean bicycles, motorcycles or unicycles either. I'm sitting here in the coldest winter since 1990 where I live, under a blanket of snow, and with a down duvet over me. Global warming indeed.

Be that as it may, I'm doing my best to stock up on incandescent light bulbs before they are outlawed (Thomas Edison is spinning in his grave!!). I concede that I bought 5 energy saving light bulbs last month, but that was because they were mismarked at 99 cents instead of $5.99. I'm not stupid after all. I use them for my back porch light which stays on 24/7.

I almost got out the duct tape today, to keep my head exploding, when out on my front steps was my FOURTH new telephone book this month. Greeness aside, WTF??? Who needs FOUR new phone books? Granted, they were from three different companies, but why? It must be expensive for the 'phone' companies to print out these every year. Wouldn't a better idea be to send out postcards to their local area customers asking if they would like a new phone book? This sounds better than putting a new one on every front step in the region.

What do I do with last years phone books? Or the year before's, for that matter???? Phone book recycling is available somewhere, but who knows where. There should be a notification on the front of the NEW books telling you what to do with the OLD books. Perhaps a pick up service by the phone companies themselves the following week so they can recycle them for their own use?

Just a thought.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Egypt 2005

I had a lovely 7 weeks in Egypt in the Summer of 2005, courtesy of Uncle Sam. Everyone needs a rich Uncle to send them travelling!!



See my striped tan? That's what 13 days on the beach does to you, when the sun comes through the bars of the balcony.



The Egyptians loved me so much, they presented me with my own fez.



I started out on the coast of the Med, up near Al Alamain where "there is also a Commonwealth war cemetery with graves of soldiers from various countries who fought on the British side. This has monuments commemorating Greek, New Zealand, Australian and South African forces. The Commonwealth cemetery, as is common at many such cemeteries in the world, consists of parallel rows of gravestones, each one bearing an engraving of the deceased soldier's unit emblem, his name and an epitaph from his family. Rows upon rows of gravestones stand witness to the battles' human cost." (thanks wikipedia).


Besides the Great Pyramids of Giza... I was able to get down the Nile Valley to Bani Suawayf for a day. On the way back, we saw a few "step pyramids'. Our driver said there are over 120 pyramids in Egypt. We only saw 12 that day, and we weren't even looking for them. We just stopped along side the highway to get this pic.








Egypt is known for it's fantastic crystal, made from the silica in all the sand there. It comes from a particular region and the pieces are fantastic!



This is the showroom of one crystal factory in Cairo. Talk about sensory overload!! There were mirrors on all the walls with reflected the lights of the room and display cases. Sunglasses were almost needed to save your eyes!



Besides lounging on the beach for a few days, I actually got to the Giza pyramids, the Egypt Museum ( no cameras allowed inside, grrrr), took a nice dinner cruise on the Nile, and had a late night personal tour of the ancient section of Cairo on the first night of Ramadan. What an experience!!



I do hope to get back eventually and see the Luxor area of the Nile Valley.

My Mac blogs

I thought I'd just put a link up to my original blogs I started when I bought my MacBook Pro... it was so user friendly, I had to do it.

There are two: one with Site_2 in the link and one with Site_3 in the link. Both have pictures from my various travells on them.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

http://web.mac.com/laurelmeadows/Site_2/Blog/Blog.html

http://web.mac.com/laurelmeadows/Site_3/Blog/Blog.html

Snow in Boise

I woke up to snow this morning again... must be the fault of Global Warming... everything else seems to be. ( I wonder if I'm only 5'4" because of Global Warming too, even though I'm the tallest female in my family in 3 generations, lol)

As I write this it looks like a proper blizzard out there, and here I went and shovelled my steps, walkway and driveway, grrrrrrrrr.

Road trip through Kabul

There were three ways of getting from Kabul to/from Bagram Air Base: airplane, helicopter or by road. Travelling the 30 miles took at least 90 minutes and had to be done by armoured vehicled convoy. This trip was in British SNATCH vehicles, and this video was taken through the one window in the passenger compartment.

95% of the civilian vehicles in Afghanistan are Toyotas. White Toyotas. Yellow and white ones are taxis.

I was in the lead vehicle, so you can sometimes see the chase vehicle in the video.

Great lads, the Brits- diligent, well-trained professionals. They got me home safe everytime.

Birthday video

I wanted to the video up of Gerry blowing out his candles, and opening his cards, but there is a 100 MB limit, and the video is 103 MB. Sheesh...

Arizona desert

Just a few pics from Arizona... my ticket from the play "Scrooge" at the Gaslight Theater...


Dias de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)



Everyone needs a giant chicken in their front yard... this one is at a restaurant south of Green Valley, AZ


Mission San Xavier in south Tucson. Its a gem, dazzling white, which can be seen for miles.

And finally... the panoramic Arizona desert in December.

Arizona in December

ARIZONA - DECEMBER 2007

Last month, I was able to get to Green Valley, AZ for a few days, to help celebrate a milestone in our family. My step-dad, Gerry, turned 90 years old. He's been a part of our family for over 40 years, and you couldn't ask for better.

Both my brothers and my sister (along with assorted family members) were there, and along with the usual jocularity, we were able to get some good family time in. My three siblings and I hadn't all been together with my mom in over 10 years (+/- a few).

Of course, my mom had a few activities planned. Sheesh, what do you do with a house full of adults, and 2 toddlers? lol.

The first day, my sister and I met up in the Denver airport, and caught the same plane in to Tucson. We did all the normal catching up, sitting across the aisle from each other, while she wrote out her Christmas cards. (I, of course, have my envelopes addressed and stamped and STILL haven't mailed any out).

The next day, we had tickets for SCROOGE, a modernization of the Dicken's play, which was on at the Gaslight Theater. This little theater puts on a variety of different plays and productions. I'd been there once before to watch a melodrama where they encourage you to boo and hiss at the villian.

The play was hilarious, and afterwards everyone in the audience celebrating a birthday got an ice cream sundae (Gerry included). We went to a great Mexican restaurant (well, it is Tucson, after all) afterwards.

We also did a quick trip to Tubac, a small artsy town (ok, more of a village), a few miles south of Green Valley. Almost every building is a shop of some sort selling southwester/mexican/craftsy stuff. My brother was on a mission to find a particular bowl made of stone for making guacamole. We found a lady who could get it that night from Mexico, and promised to come back the next day for it, which we of course did. We picked up an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen on the way home for Gerry's birthday.

The last night I was there was the BIG dinner at the restaurant at the golf course. Nine adults and two children! I don't think they were ready for us. The big surprise was my Brother in Law and nephew flying in from Georgia that day, just for the dinner. They flew out the next day, as I did. WOW!!

It was a great time, not too much sibling rivalry (haha). We all got to take the mick out of Gerry, excusing anything he did with .... "it's alright... now that you are officially "really really old"" LOLOLOL

Happy New Year 2008!!!

Last New Year's Eve, I had the extreme pleasure of being on a boat with new friends from England's Barmy Army. In Sydney Harbour, under the fireworks, I was amongst the first in the world to bring in 2007. So, from my heart to yours, please enjoy some fireworks to start 2008 off with a BANG!!!

New Year's Resolution #1

1. I resolve to mail out all the stuff I should have in 2007.

Specifically...
a) one digereedo I bought in Australia for an Army friend I worked with in Afghanistan. I'm sure he's given up on it. I have his address, that's not it. I work for the Post Office, but have to go to another facility to mail things. I carried this four foot long thing all the way home, checked it through the fragile baggage sections (with skiis and stuff), and lugged it home. Next Monday... for sure.
b) one shot glass from Mexico for a mate on PalTalk in Indiana. Same excuse as a).
c) one ginger and blue fright wig for my mate who will wear it to the Cricket in New Zealand.
d) my 2007 Christmas cards... will date for 2008, so just think of them as very, very early.

sheesh!!

Christmas 2006

One year ago, today, I was a guest at the Guest House, in Melbourne Australia. I didn't know any of this wonderful family before I got to Melbourne, so here is the story...

I was in Australia to catch the last three test of the 2006 Ashes, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. My travelling companion (Steve) and I both support Portsmouth FC, and he was a member of a message board for the Aussie Pompey supporters called Pompey Down Under. A great deal of banter goes on on these message boards, and personalities emerge.

Well... one day in the chat room on PalTalk in which we listen to the live feed of the Pompey matches, one of the aussie's who had read about Steve going for all five Tests (and 8 weeks in OZ) asked him what he was doing for Christmas?

As the Cricket didn't start until Boxing Day... he told this mate (also called Steve) that he's be at the BBQ at the park with the Barmy Army (see more about them later) playing a friendly 20/20 (or something, close enough). Steve the Aussie told him, "No, you're not. You are coming to our home for Christmas barbie. We're cooking Skippy." riiiiiiight...

At this point, my Steve told aussie Steve that he wouldn't be alone. "No worries, Mate the more the merrier!!" Nice one!

We arrived in Melbourne, and as we had a week off before Christmas, decided we'd better meet these crazy people who were inviting complete strangers to their home for Christmas dinner! We arranged to meet after their working hours at the Young & Jackson's pub near the main trains station, and for some reason, we knew them right away. Maybe it was the pile of shopping bags which Fiona had just acquired while shopping. Maybe it was the shaved head of Steve (#1). I think it was the arms full of tattoos, along with the rest, which helped us pick them out of the crowd,

After talking for at least an hour, during which time we knew we'd get along famously, we discovered that the couple sitting next to us, eavesdropping, were also from Portsmouth. Well, he was, she was from Oxfordshire somewhere. In fact, he said his father played for Pompey in the 60's. What a small world!! They joined us in the pub, and the next thing we knew, Fiona and Steve were inviting THEM to dinner too!! They were just wandering around OZ escaping the English winter weather, so they accepted! Oh, and Fiona told all of us to bring our swimming gear, as they had an in-ground pool! What fun!!

We exchanged mobile numbers, and arranged a time for all of the adoptees to meet at the train station under the clock as they lived in Mentone, about 40 minutes by train from Melbourne.

Five days later, as the weather was getting colder and colder, we caught the bus to take us to the train station. Brrrrrrrrrrrr, it was cold... in fact, I'm pretty sure it was the Christmas Day in Melbourne history (or the last 50 year). We were bundled up in our warmest clothes (remember, it's December, and this is supposed to be SUMMER... hellooooooooo!!)

Everyone was at the train station at the right time, including a workmate of Fiona's and her hubby. I'd brought presents for Fiona and Bella, who was almost 5). We'd also picked out some wine the day before to contribute to the feast.

Even though we didn't get to go swimming that day, and we had to keep the patio sliding doors closed to keep the heat in, we still had an authentic Australian barbie for Christmas dinner, complete with beef, chicken and kangaroo. I don't know how Steve marinated that roo, but it was delicious!!!

What a wonderful day to remember with new friends who have become old friends, as well as strangers who are no longer strangers. When Fiona Guest opens her home to friends new and old, it is truely the "Guest House".

Wow I'm almost famous!

This whole twitter thing is great! I really like it better than any of the other "social networks" out there because it allows Twitterers a chance to spontaneously interact with friends all over the world.

I started Twittering after hearing about it from several of the podcasters to whom I listen on a regular basis... and I signed up. I am Tiggr on Twitter, just as I am on PalTalk and the Pompey Till I Die message board, and sheesh, most who know me online as Tiggr end up calling me that or Tiggs in person too :)

I got my second (yes! second!) mention on the PodcastPaul show yesterday, and I'm chuffed, thrilled and downright humbled. Since I have his feedburner embedded, you should be listening to it right now! (Show 167 the Christmas Show).

Just about at the 16:00 mark, is my famous minute, and a half... and in response to Pauls query, here's a bit about me and why so many people think I'm an ex-pat.

I was born in the wrong country. Now, wait a minute, don't get me wrong. I love America. I bleed Red, White and Blue. I serve my country both domestically and overseas, but I feel a certain affinity with the Brits.

I'm sure it all started over 10 generations ago, when my ancesters were alive: The Breckenridges in Ayrshire, Scotland, the Stevens' in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, the Johns in Pembrokeshire, Wales and the McMorrows in Ireland. My mother's parents spent over 50 years tracing our geneology and trust me, I'm so Anglo-Saxton, I had ancestors fighting on both sides of the American Revolution. That would be the War of Colonial Insurrection if you were on the losing side (joke, really!).

Add to this that my first step-mother was from Kent (Kidbrooke and Sidcup to be exact) and so my pre-teen and teen years were enhances by her British wit and copious relations. I learned to love british comedy and drama through her, and grew up watching Masterpiece Theatre, especially Upstairs Downstairs. We even woke up very very early one morning to watch Princess Anne's wedding to Captain Mark Phillips live. Being on the west coast, it must have been 3 am, sheesh.

OK, this is a really complicated amalgam of bits and pieces of my life... but to add to the formula, I joined a UK chat room on PalTalk back in 2002, in anticipation of a trip to the UK in 2003. I figured a 30 year anniversary revisit was in order, and I wanted to meet some Brits to get an idea of where I wanted to go and what to do. The first time I was there I was 16, and that's a whole nother story...

...so, I met some great friends in the UK in the United Kingdom and Friends chatroom, hosted by my dear friend Paul (in Hull, as opposed to the Paul in London or Birmingham, lol) who has since been my host the three time I've been over in the past 5 years.

Well, Uncle Sam has a twisted sense of humour, and instead of my vacations trip to the UK, he recalled my Navy unit and me to active duty and sent us to a British island, yes... but in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Diego Garcia is not England. Fact. However, there was a handful of Brits, and they became some of my best friends while there. Most weekends (ok, all weekends) I could be found in the Brit Pub, near the wretches corner, sometimes as official timekeepper for the "Drink a Yard and try not to Puke" contest. I still correspond with the Regimental Sergeant Major (now retired) and a Chief Petty Officer from that deployment.

Diego Garcia is a blog in it's own right.

okokokok... too long... too detailed... you might get the picture. More in another blog.

So, I add extraneous "U's" to words like colour, humour etc, support the Portsmouth Football Club (another entire story) and feel the tug from across the pond to return.

The moral of this story is... if you want mates with a great sense of humour, who can have fun watching strange sports like cricket, in pubs with names like The Flying Handbag (Blackpool), sing Sweet Caroline over and over till you think you are Caroline, hang out with the Brits. They will never let you down. Fact.

oh yeah, and...
PLAY UP POMPEY, POMPEY PLAY UP!!!

Wow!! What a singer!

If you haven't ever seen this talented young lady, watch her in the finals of Britain's Got Talent. She'll blow you away with her dead-on pitch and six year old innocence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjeNS4eLghc This is a Christmas video in which she sings "I Will Always Love You" (oh and the video isn't bad either!

Wierd

Sitting in the Denver airport, looking outside at the snow, and hearing birds chirping... ok, I see the bird now, and it's looking a bit lost. Birds inside buildings flying free always make me smile, as you know they eat gourmet food in here, and don't have to contend with the snow outside

Rick Reilly is Quitting SI, or... who will I bathe with now???

Every Friday or Saturday, my son's copy of Sports Illustrated slides through the mail slot, straight into the basket in my front closet. Usually I just toss it on my coffee table and hope Chris finds it, or if I'm so inclined, I'll walk the 15 feet down the hall and toss it on his bed where he'll be sure to find it. I always give him first crack at it, because I know I'll have my chance soon enough.

Eventually, the latest issue ends up in the bathroom. This is not a condemnation of the contents, rather it illustrates the reverence given by Chris, as it shows he is reading it as soon as it arrives. This is where I find it and get to read it in the bathtub. I stand corrected... this is where I used to find it, as I won't be looking for the latest issue for quite the same reason anymore.

I read Rick Reilly. Well, his column anyway. You can easily find it because it is the last page of each issue of Sports Illustrated. No more. After 23 years writing for SI, Rick Reilly is going on to bigger and better (?) things. Big deal, you say? Very big.

Over the last 23 years, Reilly's column has been the first page millions of people have turned to first (my estimate only, at least I'm convinced it has to be millions, maybe billions even!). Quick, easy-to-read articles that highlight a point of light in sports that the average person may not know about if not for Rick Reilly. From uber-parents planning their infants high-school sports programs to how a particular Pro Basketball player would be "coach and captain" of the "team of the most selfish, greedy, spoiled to the Spleen, Multimillionaire Athletes you'd Most Like to See Thrown to a Dieting Lion", Rick's (if I may be so bold) column has made people laugh, cry, write hate mail to him, but everytime... to think.

I've been trying to catch up on some of his essays by reading his book Hate Mail From Cheerleaders (and Other Adventures From the Life of Reilly) which I bought for my son at his request. Best money on a book I've spent in a long time. It's not his only book. Check them out, you don't have to be a sports fanatic, you just need to be interested in humanity, good, bad or indifferent.

Rick's column in the December 3, 2007 issue of SI is a farewell to his readers. He's taking six months off before starting a column for ESPN the Magazine, as well as ESPN.COM beginning in June of 2008. I wish him the best of luck. Somehow I have a feeling that a new magazine will be slipping through my mailslot sometime around late spring of next year.

Oh, yeah... and Mr. Reilly... have you ever thought of a podcast??? Just a thought.

Thank you, Rick Reilly.