PhotoHunt: Black

A loan cyclist riding in perfect form and wearing an all black cycling attire. I took this photo in Redondo Beach, California near the Palos Verdes Peninsula a very popular spot in Southern California for cyclists because of it's challenging hills and spectacular scenery. In fact, Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean films were partly photographed on and off the coast of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. I think this might be the start of a future post in the making...


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American Idol Season 9: Shania Twain Returns to Mentor Idols

Although I was out of town last week, I did manage to watch American Idol and I really enjoyed watching Alicia Keys mentor the Idols. This week Shania Twain returns from her earlier guest judge appearance to mentor the idols. I like her as an artist and song writer and I think it is very cool that the Idols performed her songs tonight.

And here's how I saw tonight's performances:

Lee DeWyze opens up the evening by singing You're Still the One. This is one of my favorite Shania Twain's songs and I loved his interpretation. I thought he did great!

Michael Lynche sings It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing from Up. I'm not very familiar with this song, but listening to Michael sing it made me an instant fan. Very smooth...

Casey James sings Don't a very cool ballad. I have to agree with Kara that he is at his best when he connects with the song and when he allows his vocals to be the center of attention rather than his skillful guitar playing. I thought this was his second best performance in the competition. I loved it.

Crystal Bowersox sings No One Needs to Know. I'm a huge fan of Crystal, but this was not one of my favorite performance from her, especially given the other idol performances during the evening. But I still love Crystal and I think she deserves to stay in the competition.

Aaron Kelly sings You've Got a Way and I thought it was a much better performance than last week. He did good.

Siobhan Magnus sings Any Man of Mine and I really liked her performance. I thought Shanai gave her great advice.

My favorite performance of the night goes to Casey James and following closely beind him . . . Lee DeWyze, Michael Lynch and Crystal Bowersox. It wasn't Crystal's best performance but I thought she was still better than Aaron and Siobhan. But just to be safe, I'm throwing all my votes to Crystal (fingers crossed).

And that's my Recap. Keep on Rocking AI . . .

The Journey & Prize of my B2V weekend . . . .

I'm back from my crazy road trip and what a weekend and week it has been. It's funny but I nearly didn't participate this year, but our team captain convinced me to join the team again because they needed experienced support crew help and so I did. And to be honest, I enjoy my B2V friends and the whole idea of racing through the California and Nevada desert over a stretch of 120 miles and 20 legs. It's so obscenely crazy and yet a lot of fun at the same time! It turns out that we did really well and finished in 3rd place in our division. Whoo hoo!

And here are a few images of the crazy 24 hours . . . .



After running my first ever marathon, I wrote in my journal . . .

"I realized that the greatest achievements in life are found not necessarily in the final outcome itself, but in the journey . . . Training for and running in a marathon can in some ways mirror life."

Since then, I have come to realize and appreciate those words over and over and over again. In life we are all on a journey to something, someone or some experience waiting for us. And when we achieve those things or meet the people we're supposed to meet, I often reflect the most on how I got there. I look at our trophy mug with much appreciation and gratitude, but somehow what I remember the most are the smiles of my team mates, the strategy meetings, the disagreements and mistakes we had and made along the way, the frantic preparations, the cheers . . . And so I'm home now and I placed my mug on my trophy shelf to sit and be admired every now and then, but it's the memories of this remarkable journey that is the real prize and they will always be with me.

The rest of my trip went well...Vegas to me represents the land of indulgence and excess but it can be quite entertaining when you're there doing other things besides gambling, eating, dancing and drinking . . . but hey that can be fun too. :)

Did some walking . . .

Did some eating . . .

And some drinking . . .

Worked out at the gym . . .

And on the dance floor . . .

And a few of my co-workers came with me to see Purple Reign . . .

PhotoHunt: Covered

A car covered with artificial grass is one of several creatively decorated cars which participated in the Edinburgh Christmas Art Car Parade in 2009. I was very lucky to be in Edinburgh when this annual tradition took place and it was so much fun!


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Roadtrip . . .

Leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning for the big B2V race weekend! We're assigned to work the 2nd Catcher vehicle 12 hour shift which should be a blast. I'll have my iPhone and may try to twitter a bit if I can get a signal with some blow by blow happenings, breaking the what ever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas rule. But let's face it, with Twitter, TwitPic, Facebook, Blogging, Texting, etc., what ever happens anywhere in the world, doesn't really stay there anymore do they. And thank goodness for that.

I'll be out and about for another week to attend this training for work, ending in a side trip for some play time. I'm hoping to get internet connection so I can keep reading my friends blogs while on the road...

And now for some Idol chat...I was so happy to see Adam Lambert back on the Idol stage. He really lit up the stage both literally and in his performance. I think Ryan said it right, "now that's a performance". Wonderful job. I think from this point on it's going to be so hard to see each Idol leave and true to form it was hard to see Andrew and Katie leave last night. I hope that they are successful in their Post Idol life because I do think that they are very talented.

Next week, Alicia Keys will mentor the idols on singing Inspirational songs to be followed by a special results show, Idol Gives Back . I can't miss next week's show, so I'm going to try to watch and blog about it.

Have a great weekend and week everyone!

American Idol Season 9: Adam Lambert returns to the beat of a King . . .

Tonight Adam Lambert returns to the Idol stage on Elvis night! The first AI contestant to be invited back as a mentor in Idol history. How cool is that! First, Adam looks great and I loved his mentoring advice to the contestants. He has so far been the best mentor this season.

And here's how the night went:

Crystal Bowersox sings Saved, an Elvis song that I have not really heard of before. I totally loved her high energy. And I don't mind sounding like a broken record, she totally rocked...in a bluesy gospel kind of way!

Andrew Garcia performs Hound Dog , a classic Elvis song. It wasn't the home run hit of the competition like Straight Up was but I have to agree with Ellen. I liked his performance and what he did with the song. But I'm afraid with the negative comments from three out of the four judges, he could sadly be in the bottom three.

Tim Urban sings Can't Help Falling in Love and I thought it was pretty good. I wasn't "in Love" with it as much as the judges were, but I think he'll get a truck load of votes.

Lee DeWyze sings Treat Her Like a Lady and I loved it. I thought Adam gave him really great advice which improved his performance on stage. He has now become my second favorite next to Crystal.

Aaron Kelly performs Blue Suede Shoes and although he didn't have the great hip action moves as Elvis did, I thought he sang it pretty well. Tonight's performance was so much better than last week.

Siobhan Magnus performs Suspicious Minds and although she received some criticisms from the judges, I thought she was pretty good. I still really like her.

Michael Lynche sings In the Ghetto and nails it! One of my favorite Elvis songs and he did sang it so beautifully. I'm so glad he was saved.

Katie Stevens performs Baby What You Want Me to Do and she totally sold it in a sassy great vocals kind of way! Ellen's one liner was too funny. :)

Casey James sings Lawdy Miss Clawdy which is an upbeat bluesy kind of song. I thought it was okay but I loved his performance last week much better.

My favorite performances were: Crystal Bowersox, Lee DeWyze, Michael Lynche

My least favorite performances were: Sorry, but I can't really say that I disliked any of the performances.

And since the judges used their one and only save on Michael Lynche last week, there will be two Idols going home this week so I'm keeping my comments short so I can burn my redial button voting like crazy for Crystal.

Thanks Adam. You did great! I will be tuning in to watch Adam's performance on the results show. Now, off I go to start voting! Remember, Crystal Bowersox (866) 436-5701.

And that's my Recap. Keep on Rocking AI . . . .

PhotoHunt: Vertical

"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves." ~ Edmond Hillary

I took this photo of the Yosemite Half Dome just after we came down from the top.

A group of 8 of us camped and then did the Half Dome Cables Route hike which runs from the valley floor to the top of the dome in 8.2 mi (via the Mist Trail), with a 4,800 ft of elevation gain. The final 400 ft ascent is up this steep almost vertical rock between two steel cables used as handholds. Somewhere near the midway point, there is this overhang section where you have to literally pull yourself out and over to get to the next step. This was the point in the hike when I saw my life flash before my eyes! But as you can see, we all made it up! :)

We're standing on what hikers nickname the Yosemite Diving Board, because it sort of jets out over the dome where there is nothing but a big scary vertical drop down. Traditionally, hikers lay on their bellies to catch a glimpse of the beautiful valley below. You can sort of see a hiker next to us on his belly doing just that. The really brave souls climb down to a ledge below for their view. I wasn't one of those souls. My view from the diving board was just fine.


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American Idol Season 9: John Lennon, Paul McCartney (Beatles) songs . . .

This week the Idols pick songs written by two of the most talented song writing duo of all times, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. To start things off a message from Sir Paul himself telling the Idols "I just want to wish the final contestants the very best of luck...Get out there, Go for it, Enjoy Yourselves." Very cool!

So who's going to step it up and make one of these classic songs "their own." Well, here's how it went:

Aaron Kelly opens the show and sings The Long and Winding Road. I liked his song choice but he seemed a little shaky to me and I didn't think it was his best performance in the competition.

Katie Stevens sings Let It Be and I loved it. First of all, this is one of my favorite Beatle songs and I thought she sang it beautifully. She has always been in the bottom three each week for me, but I really thought she nailed that song. Great job!

Andrew Garcia sings Can't Buy Me Love. He received mixed reviews from the judges, but I really liked his performance. He changed it just enough to make it his own.

Michael Lynche sings Eleanor Rigby and although I'm a great fan of Michael I'm sort of with Simon. I thought it was okay but it wasn't one of my favorite performances for him. I think Big Mike says the 2nd best quote of the evening challenging Simon to a pec contest. :) My favorite line has to be from Ellen after Andrew's performance, "You can buy love".

Crystal Bowersox sing Come Together and to add a little something, something to her performance, she brings someone in to play the didgeridoo which is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians to her performance. I just totally loved it! She is such an awesome and talented artist. And did I mention that she is recovering from a cold! Mama sox did great!

Tim Urban sings All My Loving. I agree with Ellen that this is probably his second best performance in the competition. He received a lot of compliments and Kudos from the judges for taking the criticisms (and there has been a truck load of them) "like a man" and I agree.

Casey James performs John Lennon's Jealous Guy and I thought it was his best performance in the competition and the best performance so far in the night. Very soulful, bluesy, emotional and incredibly believable. I loved the chello accompaniment and his acoustic guitar change up.

Siobhan Magnus performs Across the Universe . I really like Siobhan and her uniqueness. I really enjoyed her performance. It was very touching hearing her talk about her sisters and how no one can take who she is away from her. Very tearful and emotional statement.

Lee DeWyze sings one my favorite Beatle songs, Hey Jude. Lee has become one of my favorite contestants. It was cute listening to his fellow Idols talk about him as a worry wart and his close friendship with Andrew. I thought he did great. And being that I just came back from visiting Scotland, I loved the bagpipes at the end.

And here's how I would rate the performances:

1. Casey James
2. Crystal Bowersox (Just voted 20 times)
3. Lee DeWyze
4. Katie Stevens
5. Siobhan Magnus
6. Michael Lynche
7. Andrew Garcia
8. Tim Urban
9. Aaron Kelly

BTW, next week Adam Lambert returns to the Idol stage to mentor the top 8 Idol contestants. Like fellow Adam Lambert fan, FoxVegas, I'm very excited to see Adam again and I am looking forward to hearing his tips to the idols.

And that's my Recap: Keep on Rocking AI . . .

Travel Thoughts: Let Kindness be your guide . . .

Go out into the world today and love the people you meet. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people. ~ Mother Theresa



Time permitting, I thought it would be fun to start writing some periodic themed posts and for my first topic I wanted to write about brief encounters of kindness while traveling. Some of these moments are no more than a few minutes, but the impact of these moments will last me a life time.

Here are some of my more memorable encounters:

2005 the car rental guy goes out of his way to escort me and my friend to the edge of town in Siena so we wouldn't get lost;

2006 on my first big Solo trip I was trying to find my way to the Old Town in Prague, a local resident literally touches my arm and showed me the way;

2007 a shop owner (aka Italy mom) in Venice Italy made me feel so comfortable and looked after;

2008 a local gentleman in Seville Spain takes the time to lecture me on the pleasures of drinking local Spanish coffee rather than my American Grande Starbucks coffee;

2009 in Arisaig Scotland, the bartender/waitress was a nice girl from Thailand who was working there as part of her school. She took the time to share some of the area's beautiful sights. I also shared what I had read on Candi's Corner: Wanderlust & Passions blog about her experiences in Thailand like the beautiful temples and the elephant sanctuary, which she really enjoyed listening to.

But kindness goes both ways. While in Arisaig, I was on my way to sight see when I saw this couple walking in this heavy down pour and carrying their luggage. It didn't seem right to drive right past, so I pulled over and offered them a ride. They accepted and hopped in. It turns out that they were staying at my hotel too and they were on their way to the train station to go back to Glasgow. I told them I had just come from Glasgow and we enjoyed a nice chat before I dropped them off. What a coincidence.

So it's true . . . the world is a much better place with a lot more kindness in it.

PhotoHunt: Sweet

The "Sweet Victory" of success can be achieved by those who dare to dream and say yes we can . . .

Decent health care is a fundamental human right and the fulfillment of that right is not only the right thing to do but it is the most compassionate thing we can do as a society. To do otherwise is just so wrong.

"We will pass reform that lowers cost, promotes choice, and provides coverage that every American can count on. And we will do it this year." ~ President Barack Obama

This is a re-posted photo but the words, "Sweet Victory", was one of the first things that popped into my head for this week's theme and this image followed soon after. During the 2008 Presidential campaign, I joined my blogging friends who launched a cyberspace campaign and my cycling friends who organized a ride for change along a popular bike route in Redondo Beach California to spread the word for change. In more ways than one, it was a sweet ride to Victory!


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Happy Easter!