SWCAMBORNE

I had run into a technology problem on the site the last few weeks and could not get new photos loaded from Flickr. I figured out a work-around yesterday by going to the (you don’t need to know the details) Anyway I finally posted pictures to the two previous posts that deserved them:

Tom Jensen Photographer

and

The Future of Reading.

Big improvement.

“To move a mountain one begins by carrying away small stones.”

Chinese Proverb

Nurit and I are spending a week on Grand Cayman enjoying some sun and snorkeling.

I got in one day of diving with Dive Tech out of the Cobalt Coast Resort on the North Shore. On one dive my dive master was a guy named Simon. It is rare to run into a Simon.

We are staying at the Discovery Point Condominiums at the north end of Seven Mile Beach. They are excellent. Similiar to the Napili Kai Club on Maui but with out as much traffic or lava.

We went snorkeling with Captian Marvin out to Sting Ray City and had some fun looking at and touching these amazing creatures.

The highlight so far was the Hell Post Office. Check your mail you may be getting a postcard from Hell.

Nurit bought me an Amazon Kindle for Hanukkah and I got it just before we left for the Caymans. It is a wonderful piece of new technology. Now I can read a hardcover book on vacation without having to carry it along. Kindle is about the size of a large format paperback book and has a screen that reads like a book. You can change the font size and even thumb down pages. I am reading the third book in Neal Stevenson’s Baroque Cycle and it is a faster read than the book. The dictionary feature is very good.

I repeat the Kindle is a great new piece of technology. It is more that a book reader including internet access and email but less than a laptop computer. Amazon has a great new product I hope they can manage it successfully.

Kindling on the beach 

Amazon you get the verb! “I have got to kindle that book.”

Tom Jensen, a postcard pal of mine, recently went on a trip to Asia and took some terrific digital photos. You can see them on his Flickr site. It makes me want to do a better job taking photos and fix my flickr site. My Flickr site is mostly a vehicle for getting photos to this blog.

A  Tibet Street Scene by Tom Jensen

Tom has been studying photography for a number of years and is hoping to make a living at it.

There was a story on NPR last week about how it was the 65 anniversary of the first time that a sitting President had flown in an airplane. They spun the story as a positive for flight because it was NPR about FDR. But it would have been as easy to make the story a negative about a President who lacked the courage to fly and therefore held back public acceptance of flight. Lindberg flew across the Atlantic in 1924 it was 1943 before FDR flew.

The point I’m trying to make is how bias creeps into all reporting. The reporter likes FDR so she uses an anniversary to laud him for a flight that was far to late coming.

 This post will eventually contain a You Tube video of some elephant seals fighting. For now you’ll just have to explore these photos.

Hunted almost to extinction the elephant seals are making a remarkable comeback.

We just wonder what will happen when they move into Newport Beach?

This colony lives on a deserted beach north of San Simeon, CA

These are courtesy of Gene B. I’ve selected my favorites and found the link to the World Football News site where the list originated:

“After you retire, there’s only one big event left….and I ain’t ready for that.”
– Bobby Bowden / Florida State

“The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.”
– Lou Holtz / Arkansas

“When you win, nothing hurts.”
– Joe Namath / Alabama

“Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated.”
- – Lou Holtz / Arkansas

“A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall.”
– Frank Leahy / Notre Dame

“There’s nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.”
– Woody Hayes / Ohio State

“In Alabama , an atheist is someone who doesn’t believe in Bear Bryant.”
– Wally Butts / Georgia

“You can learn more character on the two-yard line than anywhere else in life.”
– Paul Dietzel / LSU

“It’s kind of hard to rally around a math class.”
– Bear Bryant / Alabama

“My advice to defensive players: Take the shortest route to the ball and arrive in a bad humor.”
– Bowden Wyatt / Tennessee

“I could have been a Rhodes Scholar, except for my grades.”
– Duffy Daugherty / Michigan State

“Always remember….. Goliath was a 40 point favorite over David.”
– Shug Jordan / Auburn

“If lessons are learned in defeat, our team is getting a great education.”
– Murray Warmath / Minnesota

“We didn’t tackle well today but we made up for it by not blocking.”
John McKay / USC

“I’ve found that prayers work best when you have big players.” !
Knute Rockne / Notre Dame

“Gentlemen, it is better to have died a small boy than to fumble this football”
John Heisman / Georgia Tech

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Reality TV is popular because it is relatively cheap to produce. Additionally the outcome is uncertain so like sports it is best watched live. This is helpful for advertisers since it means less tivoing and so less skipped commercials. (Note this may be your first time reading this tense of the new verb “to tivo” )

Winner of the slogan catagory

This morning I read about a reality show “Sports Star of the Future.” Since I’m working as an activist for the Right to Migrate I thought someone could develop a reality show called “Super Activist.” Choose a few people struggling to change the world and build a show about them.

They could do elimination rounds like: protesting, getting publicity, civil disobedience, sloganeering and celebrity endorsements.

Participants could be groups like labor organizers, PETA, Greenpeace, The Minutemen and the Anti Iraq war movement.

The judges could be activist movie stars like Faye Dunaway and politicians like Jerry Brown.

Another great free idea.