My China Tea

 My UCONN college roommate Jack recently returned from a trip to China. He was there during typhoon season and had to stay four extra nights in Hong Kong and fly back "business class" rather than coach due to the weather disrupting the air flights. Luckily he had trip insurance so he and his traveling companion didn't have to pay for the flight upgrade and the extra hotel nights.

 

Jack brought back this "Rickshaw Iron Buddha Tea" from China to me. No, this isn't my company tea and I don't get any royalties for them using my name. Imagine if I for example received a dollar for every box of "rickshaw tea" and with about 1.2 billion people in China more or less; why I could easily earn over 1 billion dollars I bet in no time at all!

Axel's 1st Birthday Party

Nephew Axel takes the (cup)cake and eats it during his first birthday party.

Building Up & Tearing Down at The Soundings Resort

 Things are building up and tearing down at The Soundings Resort this Fall as the renovation of this five acre oceanfront  Blugreen managed resort continues in Dennis Port on Cape Cod. Currently a new 22 unit luxury resort building is under construction and replacing the original 44 unit direct ocean view building which was constructed in the 1950's and 1960's. The pool building originally constructed in the mid 1970's is being torn down and being replaced with a brand new indoor pool. The original pool building from what I have been told was constructed with a huge crane located in the parking lot lifting the "wishbone like" wood support beams over the lobby area rooms. That must have been quite a sight!

Construction of this building phase is scheduled to be completed near the end of May 2014 and the Soundings Resort will boast the newest rooms on Cape Cod. The only thing these new rooms will overlook is the private Nantucket Sound ocean beach.

NIN 2013 Tension Concert Tour 10/11/13 TD Garden Boston ("Breathless")

I rode the P & B bus from Barnstable on the Cape to Boston on Friday 10/11/13 to see "NIN" (Nine Inch Nails) at the TD Garden. What a show!  I have never seen such a "light show" before at a concert. The concert stage had a "LED" type of cage that descended in front of the stage and band with all sorts of "crazy" light patterns somehow projected on the front of this cage. A few of the songs started with large amounts of generated "fog and smoke" from smoke machines situated on either side of the stage with so much "greyish,blackish" smoke that you would almost think a fire broke out as this huge wave of smoke almost filled the whole arena. During one song there was a fellow on stage with some sort of video camera filming the band as they played and the image projected on the rear screens was a combination of a picture that changed into red laser imagery. Yes the lighting effects truly......left one "breathless" with their complexity and synchronization with the music. There were of course "strobe lights", as well as many "whirling lights descenting from above the stage , stage lights shining into the crowd as well as on to the band, and columns of lights in back of the band as well as the "LED" lighted cage.

Concerts in big arenas are always a good place to find "bargain beer" and snacks. Why, I bought a 10-12 ounce plastic cup of Sam Adams Boston Lager beer in the stadium concourse and it only cost me $9.00! I don't know how they make any money at that price. I also purchased a small bag of shelled peanuts for the mere price of $5.00; another bargain indeed! I must admit that I did spill some of the peanut shells near my seat onto the floor; I do hope that they have someone available to clean up the shells after the show. OOPs! sorry about that. 

Trent Reznor, the main creative force behind "Nine Inch Nails" assembled a total of eight musicians for this incarnation and tour. The concert lasted about 2 hours and consisted of some new songs from the recently released album "Hesitation Marks" as well as some of the older material such as "Head Like A Hole" and "Hurt". This show was an energetic performance and included 2 "back up singers" which I understand were never present in previous tours. There was a "mosh pit" on the main floor of the "open seating" section as well as a few big balloons bouncing about the main floor. 

After departing the bus terminal at "South Station" I walked over to the MBTA (the "T") Red Line station and took the Red Line to "Park Street" where I changed to the "Green Line" subway to "North Station" and the TD Garden venue. After the concert I of course had to retrace my subway route to get to the Cape Cod bus which is scheduled to depart at 11:50 pm. being the last bus of the day with the next bus departing at 6:35 am. It got a little "dicey" for me as a remember the subway clock showing a time of 11:42 pm. while I was waiting in the Park Street station with South Station being the second "Red Line" stop. Luckily I was wearing my "Saucony" brand running shoes that night as I was calculating that it would be "hit or miss" on me arriving on time for the 11:50 pm. Cape bus. I ended up having to sprint from the Red Line South Station stop through the South Station rail terminal, past about a 200 yard open section of walkway where people board the trains, through an "S' turn at the bottom of the train area into the bus terminal, up a long set of stairs that reminded me of the "Rocky" stairs in Philadelphia as the escalators were closed for  the night. around a right hand corner and about an 80 yard straight away then up another large stairway by another closed escalator then through that crowded bus terminal to the Cape departure point. While running this "gauntlet" I was thinking, "I hope I don't have to spend all night in the bus station by missing the bus by a minute or two". I've missed bus connections from Logan airport and the South Station bus terminal before and didn't look forward to the possibility of being once again "homeless for the night in Boston". I was also thinking, "Gee, this running and dodging people reminds me of the old "Hertz " rental car commercial where "OJ Simpson" was running through an airport terminal and leaping over chairs. While climbing the first set of stairs I was starting to feel very "winded" but I pushed through the "breathless" state spurred by the desire as described not to have to stay all night in the bus station. Fortunately, although I arrived at 11:53 pm. at the departure area for the Cape Cod bus; the bus was late and arrived around midnight so I was there "wheezing and gasping" in my hyperventilating state as it took me a few minutes to recover to normal breathing.

Between the awesome concert and light show that left me breathless in amazement and the journey to the bus stop that literally left me breathless I definitely had a memorable night.

Nantucket Spirits

  This past week while inspecting homes on Nantucket for insurance updates I came across this "Thai Spirit House" in a tree in the front yard. The owners of this property besides living on Nantucket also have a boat that they use to "sail the seven seas". Spirit houses are used to house spirits so that they are happy and don't cause trouble for the inhabitants of the land nearby. Yes, even spirits don't like to be homeless. This 2 story spirit house has a ladder from the ground to the house as well as a ladder to the upper spirit house levels. There is also a little elephant out front so the spirits can travel around the island if they so choose.

Urban Cowboy

Yes, it looks like we have an " urban cowboy" in the White House. Like Gary Cooper in the movie "High Noon" our president Obama against the will of the American populace with a coalition of one nation so far (USA) seems willing to attack Syria on behalf of the terrorist rebels of Syria over a claim that Syria's Assad used chemical weapons against its citizens thus crossing the "red line" set by President Obama. And how does using chemical weapons in Syria affect America's interests with the potential of leading to an escalation perhaps of World War III by bringing Iran and possibly Russia into the Syrian civil war? I don't know. I do know however if President Bush were president today and did what President Obama is proposing there would be a "national outcry" and demonstrations across America about "Bush the cowboy war monger".

Now, what is the objective of sending bombs, cruise missile, and maybe a few "killer drones" into Syria when it has been reported that the "rebels" have used chemical weapons themselves and may even have used them this time just to bring America into this conflict and provide them with an air force that they don't have? Obama has stated that this proposed action is not for "regime change" but to show that chemical weapons use can and will not be tolerated without consequences.

Is America's role in the world to be the enforcer of world behavior against all atrocities? If so, then where was America when hundreds of thousands of people were being butchered and starved to death in Africa in western Sudan (Darfur)  or in Uganda where approximately 1.9 million people were displaced ? Where was America when dissidents in Iran wanted to topple their theocratic government? Where is America when Christian citizens in Egypt are killed and their churches burned? Is Obama's "red line" only concerned with how people are killed (chemical) versus being butchered by machetes, shot, or burned alive?

Oh, and what is the calculation of how many civilians will be killed with the US missile attack? Possibly or probably more people will die as "collateral damage" from the US attack if it comes than were killed by any chemical weapons. What happens if a missile strays off course and kills a few Russian advisers stationed in Syria?

Maybe, like in a chess game, the world leaders are thinking a few moves ahead. Maybe, by lobbing a few missiles into Syria, Iran will direct missiles into Israel. Israel will then attack Iran and attempt to destroy the Iranian nuclear facilities.

Yes, our "urban cowboy" in the White House if he proceeds is playing a dangerous game where  many unforeseen and unintended consequences can develop. I think we should "stay away" from this situation and let the Syrian government and the rebel terrorists fight it out amongst themselves. You didn't see any Syrians intervening in the American Civil War of the 1860's did you?

Hot Stuff

  Here's a photo of a few hot peppers I grew in my garden this year. I tried eating a whole one recently and for sure these peppers are "hot stuff!" My mouth , tongue, and lips felt like they were on fire and swollen and numb all at the same time.

Yes, this pepper was hot ...but not as hot I imagine as the "Ghost Pepper" (Bhut Jokolia) which is the hottest pepper in the world and approximately 400 times hotter than "Tabasco" sauce.

Some peppers have been used as a weapon and recently the "Trinidad Moruga Scorpion" pepper has superseded as of 2012 the title of world's hottest pepper. Peppers are rated using the Scoville heat units and the "Ghost Pepper" of up to 1,041,027 units compared with Tabasco rating of 2,500 to5,000 "Scoville heat units. Hot stuff indeed!