Fear and Loathing - The Gonzo Papers - A writer, spiritualist, business consultant, explorer and photographer looks at life

Monday, November 30, 2009

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2009

Are you planning to watch the 2009 edition of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show tomorrow night? Would you, perhaps, enjoy a sneak peak?

What is there to say, other than: ladies, please....

Sunday, November 29, 2009

A Thanksgiving Surprise

TheSpecialOne and I spent last Christmas at La Alegría. It came as a surprise to her family, needless to say, since we left Christmas eve morning without telling anyone in advance.

As it turns out, they haven't forgotten about us not sharing Christmas with them.

When I arrived at her house Thanksgiving morning, around 2:30, TheSpecialOne's family had a surprise for me.

I knew her sisters were staying overnight to help with the cooking, which is unusual, but I didn't question as to why.

I quickly became very clear....

Yes, Thanksgiving at TheSpecialOne's house this year was a combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Of course, it could have simply been Christmas.

I learned later that it came as a surprise to TheSpecialOne as well. One of her sisters has a key and while she was in Chicago for two days they decorated the house.

I was rather impressed by the whole thing, I must say. It's not often that someone pulls off something of this magnitude on me.

As much as anything I was amazed at just how much work they did in only two days.

I learned, from one of the brother-in-laws that it was her oldest sister who initiated the surprise. The planning began while I was on The Last Road Trip; they thought, after that experience, if there was ever a year to be thankful this is it.

Interesting that TheSpecialOne was able to keep the secret once she returned from Chicago. I may have to spank for her that.

Naturally, they didn't limit the holiday surprise to simply decorating the house, and bringing a few gifts for us. Oh, no, it carried over to the menu as well.

One of TheSpecialOne's sisters is a chef; she made sausage stuffed turducken. We also had roast goose and a ham.

You couldn't call it a Thanksgiving dinner and do it justice. It would best be described, I'd say, as a holiday feast.

It's been many years since I stopped giving gifts on occasions when they're "expected" because, to me, expectation diminishes gift giving.

That may seem contrary to the fact that I'm a fan of holidays. That's because holidays provide an opportunity to come together with those for whom I have feelings, not a reason to give gifts.

I've begun to think, though, that this year I may have to make an exception, at least when it comes to TheSpecialOne and her family. I'll have to ponder that one a bit.

Instead of buying gifts I may invite TheSpecialOne's family to spend Christmas at La Alegría.

I've never had them all there at one time before. Of course, to truly bring her entire family to Costa Rica I would probably have to charter a jet and I'm not sure that's something I want to do.

Fortunately these are decisions I don't have to make at the moment. All I know, with certainty, is this will not be a normal holiday season.

Cheers

Monday, November 23, 2009

Autumn At Black Squirrel Run

I've gone out a number of times over the years to photograph autumn trees.

This year, though, I gained inspiration from a friend whose born in "a purple month" and photographed the hydrangea bushes in The Writer's Refuge, in all their autumn splendor.

Thanksgiving comes up this week, and among the things I have to be thankful for are friends who make blogging Fun. That becomes more and more important, when you're into your fifth year, because being a blogger Can be work.

What is there left to say, other than... enjoy?

Photographs by Kilroy_60

Friday, November 20, 2009

Making A Human Connection In Social Media

Does that avatar look familiar?

Yes, that's right, it's my new Facebook page.

I consult with clients on social media issues as a matter of course. Our work ranges from developing and implementing a comprehensive social media strategy to putting pages online and extends to ghost posting of tweets and updates.

What I haven't done is put a personal page on either Facebook or Twitter. Given that, I couldn't create a fan page for The Gonzo Papers.

Instead I created a page as a blogger. Of course, Facebook wouldn't accept any derivation of Kilroy_60. No, you'll find me on Facebook as, Kil Roy. Ho Ho.

These are my first 123 Facebook friends...

It won't come as news, nor as a surprise, to anyone I've known as a blogger over the past four years that I set up this page on Facebook {as well as a Twitter page} to extend the reach of The Gonzo Papers.

Meeting new people through social media is fun, I'll grant you, but there's no good reason to devote time to it lacking a Human Connection.

If we are friends on Facebook and/or mutual followers on Twitter let's make a point of connecting. I'm as happy to give bloggers a boost who have content they want to get out as I am to get a bump.

Friend/Mutual Subscriber on StumbleUpon? Join me on Shoutwire.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Joanna Krupa Falls Short of Dancing With The Stars Final

It's season 9 of Dancing With The Stars and, for the first time, I picked a winner as they came out of the gate in Week 1... Joanna Krupa.

It's not been usual to see Joanna at or near the top of the leader board, week in and week out, over the past two months.

It didn't come as any surprise that Joanna received high scores from the judges this week, as she is able to convey the feeling of raw sex on the dance floor.

Ah, yes, Joanna Krupa is...scorching hot.

As it turned out, though, the vote of the fans knocked Joanna out of the finals.

Rather unfortunate, I'd say, but it doesn't detract from her status as one of the sexiest women to appear in nine seasons of Dancing with The Stars.

I'll be sure to run another post, featuring some of my favorite dances Joanna Krupa performed this season. Needless to say, watching the videos, to select which performances to include isn't difficult work. Ho Ho

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

A Life Lesson

Photograph by Kilroy_60

"If you can't be considerate of other people, and are not helpful when you have the opportunity, you're merely taking up space on the planet."
-Kilroy_60

Monday, November 16, 2009

The Wild Trees by Richard Preston

I have this Ansel Adams print hanging in The Writer's Nook: Redwoods, Bull Creek Flat.

When The Master Baiter and I went to California back in June, and considered spreading my buddy Al's ashes in the Cathedral of the Redwoods, one of the reasons was that it was Al who gave me the Redwoods print as a birthday gift.

It touched me deeply when The Master Baiter presented me with a copy of the book The Wild Trees by Richard Preston, about four months after we were in Humboldt County walking among the most magnificent trees on Earth.

Photograph by Kilroy_60

I've been savoring The Wild Trees over the past few weeks. You can tell by the fact that I've only read about 1/3 of the book thus far.

You don't have to be a fan of trees, in general, nor redwoods specifically, to enjoy The Wild Trees. Richard Preston is an exceptional story teller and he did a wonderful job with this book.

These are some of my favorite excerpts...

"By the measure of overall size---the volume of wood--- the largest species of living tree on earth is not the coast redwood but the giant sequoia, a type of cypress that is closely related to the coast redwood. The giant sequoia occurs in sixty-seven small spots on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. (The species name of the tree is Sequoiadendron giganteum.) The giant sequoia thrives in sunshine, and it gets moisture from melting snows. Giant sequoias (mountain trees) and coast redwoods (coastal fog-belt trees) are never found in the same forest."
-Richard Preston, The Wild Trees, page 21

"Bill Denison, who had been the first explorer of the Pacific Northwest canopy, came to the wedding. By then, he had retired and was getting on in years. Denison was a bearded, wiry man, with a powerful voice and a booming laugh, and he wore black-rimmed spectacles. He had become incredibly fond of Steve Sillett, and had gotten to know and like Amanda LeBrun. The couple invited honored guests to say a few words before they exchanged their vows, and Denison got up and, in a loud voice, spoke about partners who climb together for life. 'Marriage is a rope you tie between you,' he said. 'It's like a rope that joins two climbing partners and keeps them from falling. Marriage is about rope management. You have to take care to avoid knots and snarls in the rope that joins you together. You can't keep the rope too tight, but you can't keep it too lose, either. Each of you has to give your partner enough slack for freedom of movement, so that you can both reach the top together.' His voice broke, and tears were running from behind his spectacles."
-Richard Preston, The Wild Trees, page 93

"It is the right and the privilege of an explorer to award names to things. The tallest trees on earth are redwoods in a class of height above 350 feet. A redwood that's more than 350 feet tall is a rare organism. There aren't many of them."
-Richard Preston, The Wild Trees, page 87

"The remaining redwood forests were thought to be virtually unclimbable. The redwoods were visibly dangerous---scary in the extreme, intimidating as trees. A redwood typically does not have any strong branches on the lower part of its trunk, which is just a huge, bare column, sometimes feathered with little branches, stretching upward to an impossibly high canopy. The lowest strong branch on a redwood may be 250 feet above the ground---twenty five stories up. Well into the last decade of the twentieth century, the redwood forest canopy of California was one of the last unseen realms of nature on the planet. Nobody had entered the redwood zone above the level of the ground, except for a college kid named Stephen C. Sillett, who had nearly gotten himself killed there."
-Richard Preston, The Wild Trees, page 57

"'A treetop in a forest, like a mountain peak or a deep canyon, is a remote world that is plainly visible but not easy to explore,' he said."
-Richard Preston, The Wild Trees, page 52

"He was a man who could find beauty in the small, hidden places that still existed on earth, the lost places that nobody had ever noticed. Michael was the stubbornest person she had ever known. He bore a resemblance to the great explorers who had lived in earlier ages, and had been convinced that there was something wonderful still to be found on earth."
-Richard Preston, The Wild Trees, page 89

Friday, November 13, 2009

The World's Great Airports On Google Earth

John Travolta is famous, or infamous depending upon your point of view, for living in a home (Jumbolair at Greystone Airport in Ocala, Florida show above) where he parks the airplanes he owns on site.

My buddy Tony, who publishes The Lives an Times..., pointed out that it's not just celebrities who are able to pull an airplane up to the door of their home.

In Wadsworth, Ohio, in fact, people live in a housing development called Skypark where they do just that...

While Skypark is likely to be one of the most unique airports you'll run across it's not a great airport.

These are the world's great airports on Google Earth...

Pittsburgh International Airport