Backyard habitat

Some pics of the backyard...Nico is not allowed out here as she eats the trees.

The pile of mud is our worm compost bin (normally covered).

Marsha is planting Irish Moss between the rocks.

The Hummingbird is just hanging out in its nest.

Get a Mac

For more on Macs and why I made the switch click here http://www.apple.com/getamac/

Get A Mac - Security

Get a Mac - Tech Support

Apple Mac vs. Microsoft Windows PC - Viruses

Interesting Story about BC and California

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/03/16/bc-california.html

Going back to AT&T

So after trialing Vonage and then Packet 8, I have decided to switch back to a regular phone service with AT&T. Voice over the internet is great, when it works. If your internet slows down then guess what your phone will be choppy. I think the technology is still not perfected for the internet infrastructure is still not where it needs to be.

Will have a new number on Monday with a 408 area code for San Jose/Santa Clara.

This is Why We're Angry Atheists: But we'll discuss, calmly.

If Christianity means you end up in a heaven with these backwards brainwashed people then I want no part of it.

Introducing...................the Apple iRack

Funny parody of Iraq using Apple Computers.

Rage Against The Machine - Guerilla Radio

Rage Against the Machine are getting back together and coming the the Bay area in August. I will be there!!!

Running the Sahara (NFLD connection)

You have probably heard of the Canadian guy, Ray Zahab (who finished first I might add), that ran the Saraha desert as part of the documentary being produced by Matt Damon. Here is a link to the official website. The doctor that was there the entire time with the runners was actually a guy I work with a lot and know pretty well from Stanford named Jeff Peterson (click the name and read the Bio). Anyway as it happens, Ray Zahab (the Canadian) is married to a woman from Newfoundland and Jeff became pretty good friends with both of them and now wants to visit Newfoundland in the summer. Jeff spent over 100 days in Africa with the runners. The last time I saw him was around Halloween when he had a wine party at his house. Pretty cool.
Also check out This story.

24: Jack Bauer - DAMN IT!

Funny Damn It!!!

Cook Islands Movie

We created this movie with our iMac. It runs 26 minutes and there are some pics after the credits roll so don't turn it off too soon.

My Kitchen!!!

So here is what our kitchen looks like now. We had to remove some cabinets so that the plumber can come back tomorrow and cut and even larger hole in the ceiling to fix a leaking pipe. What a pain in the ass!

New website I am playing with using Mac

Not sure if I will expand this page or not but I am trouble lately updating my google based website.

Click here to view .Mac website

some pics

click the link for some pics I took with my phone.

Short video of the back yard

Poor quality video I shot with my cell phone

Made the Switch to Apple Today

This is it, this is the entire computer (it does come with a keyboard and mouse and a small apple remote control). There is a camera and a microphone built right on the top of the the monitor and all the USB plug ins and what not are out of sight in the back. I love this computer. You don't even really need a anti virus program as hardly any viruses are written for MAC. Very Cool

Who Killed The Electric Car?

Who Killed the Electric Car?

We are addicted to oil but who keeps us that way... the car manufacturer's or the oil companies or both? This is 2007, we should be zipping around in electric hover crafts and wearing silver jumpsuits, not driving cars based on the same antiquated technology prevalent at the time when films were black and white and had no sound. Our cars technology in 2007 is embarrassing and pathetic. We have landed people on the moon and we still drive around in vehicles that have internal combustion engines.
These engines are why there is a war in Iraq, why the world's glaciers are melting and water levels are rising, yet we plug on with less insight than chicken little, at least he was aware that the sky is falling.

Genetic Engineering on Children has already begun

It has begun.

Crazy Mary - Pearl Jam live

Cool!

Effects of Drugs and Alcohol on Spider Webs

FUNNY FUNNY VIDEO

President Clinton responds to Ann Coulter

Ann Coulter is a nut job.

Rats Take Over KFC/Taco Bell

GROSS!!!

KRZR - disconnected thoughts

So I am just getting over the cold now.

Bought new cell phones last week and we love them, we got the Motokrzr from Motorola. It has a 2 mp digital camera built right in and it is super thin so it does not look like you have a brick in your pocket.

Tried out a new Sushi place across the street from us tonight called Hoshi, it was really good/authentic. The best thing is that we can walk to it!

Marsha's Birthday

Went to Menera Moroccan Restaurant in San Jose for Marsha's birthday. It was pretty cool, you sit on the floor and eat with your hands. For more pics click here.

What's new today???

Well my old phone number finally 'ported' over to my new phone company, Packet 8 (www.packet8.net) which is a Voip service (Voice over the internet protocol).

I cannot update my website right now as googlepages is acting wierd. I can only update my blog.

We went to OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware) last night and bought a apple tree and a plum tree to plant out back. We also bought some worms to start a compost bin.

Going for my annual physical tomorrow and getting the ole cholesterol checked. I think I am in better shape than last year though.

Anyway it is going to reach 20 degrees celsius here today so spring has started I guess.

List of Wolf Links

List of Wolf Links

Watched an awesome documentary last night titled "Living with Wolves" Watch it if you get a chance. Be sure to watch the video on the Discovery website when you click the link.

Comcast in NL???

So my internet was slow tonight and I called Comcast for customer service. The lady on the other end had a strange accent. I did not know where in America I had called but she did not sound American. Usually Comcast tech support is close by like in San Jose. This lady sounded strange but oddly familiar until finally I had to ask where she was located. My suspicions were correct, she was in Newfoundland and talking in the native tongue! Here I was a transplanted Newfoundlander living in Santa Clara, California calling my internet service provider, Comcast cable only to speak to a tech support person in St. John's, Newfoundland. Man globalization is funny.

Belkin Wifi phone

So I bought a wifi phone for use with my Skype service. This phone is pretty cool. The biggest drawback so far is that you cannot upload more ringtones, you cannot text message and sometimes when you call there is an echo. The calls are super clear however and loud. This makes a great travel companion as you do not need a computer only access to a wireless internet network. The phone signs you into skype and you can make your phone calls. $14.95/year to call Canada and the US unlimited is pretty good, even if there is a bit of an echo.

For more info click here

Wolf article in National Wildlife Federation magazine

To me wolves are the perfect animal...they are social animals, they mate for life, they are highly intelligent, and great hunters. Wolves actually will keep a herd of caribou strong by killing the old and the sick but they don't just eat deer. When Farley Mowat lived with wolves in Canada's arctic he was surprised to see that a huge portion of their diet consisted of lemmings or mice.

A wolf is natures template from which all of the genetically selected animals we know as Dogs descended from. A wolf is a dog in its purest form, with no man made selections for personality, cuteness, size, shape or whatever. It baffles me why so many people fear these animals. No doubt is has to do with theIR portrayal in movies, works of fiction and even Christianity (lambs represent innocence and wolves kill lambs so they must be bad or evil). Anyway, I am not a Christian so I find this view no more accurate that the story of little red riding hood.

Wolves need our protection. Please click here to read this great article.

Work Sucks

Busy again at work, no beds in the hospital, everybody bringing in their kids for the sniffles. I remember when I was kid, I did not go the the hospital for every little cold or flu, even if Ihad vomiting and diarrhea. Parents these days bring their kids to the ER for diaper rash. Some even call 911 to get a ride in!

Good News for Canada

I love LL Bean, it is an awesome store and now it may be easier for people in Canada to order from them in $CAD and items would ship from CANADA. Now if only Target would head north!

L.L. Bean looking to expand Canadian presence
Last Updated: Saturday, January 27, 2007 | 11:00 AM ET

L.L. Bean, the Maine-based retail catalogue giant, says it wants to significantly increase its presence in Canada.

The company said that could ultimately include building retail stores in Canada, as well as a Canadian website and Canadian catalogue.

Currently, the only way for Canadians to buy L.L. Bean's outdoor gear and clothing is to order it through the U.S.-based website or from the thick catalogues that flood into the country by the hundreds of thousands each year.

As a privately held family company, L.L. Bean does not release much financial information. But it said its interest in establishing a bigger Canadian footprint was sparked by a 30 per cent annual increase in its Canadian business in each of the past three years.

"We are … looking to boost our presence in Canada with an in-country catalog, website and ultimately a retail presence," said Zane Shatzer, who was recently named as L.L. Bean's general manager of international new market development.

Shatzer has led L.L. Bean's expansion in Japan, where the company now has 15 retail stores. It has 22 retail and factory-outlet stores in the U.S., and a huge flagship store in Freeport, Maine.

L.L. Bean is also looking to expand its retail presence in Latin America and beyond Japan. Company CEO Chris McCormick said "it makes sense" to think about diversifying into other markets. "Of particular interest are international locations with a strong outdoor orientation," he said.

In Canada, L.L. Bean would face a lot of competition in the bricks-and-mortar "outdoor" retail market. Rivals would include Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-op — which has 11 retail stores in Canada and a catalogue business — as well as Canadian Tire-owned Mark's Work Wearhouse, which sells casual and outdoor apparel at its 300 stores across Canada.

Roots, Eddie Bauer and Bass Pro Shops all have stores in Canada that cater, at least in part, to the typical L.L. Bean customer.

Tactical Knife Training

Went to a knife defense seminar at Krav Maga today. We used shock knives to stimulate getting cut for more realism it was awesome. Click here to view a video on shock knives.

So we switched to green power

100% of the energy coming into our house comes from renewable power sources (97.5% from wind and 2.5% from solar). Here is a certificate that puts the impact of this into perspective.

My orange belt.

This is what I nearly killed myself for for 5 hours. The funny writing is Hebrew. I have already started working on the Green Belt material.

Dispute flares up again over Quebec-Labrador border

Above is how the Quebec government sees Labrador (no one else shares this view but them and no treaties support this)

This is how Labrador is seen by the rest of the world and this is supported by documents.

A decades-old border dispute involving Quebec and Labrador has resurfaced, this time over the management of wildlife. Click here to read more....

Why do we put up with Quebec's BS. They refuse to recognize anything, Quebecers can't even enter into most contests open to residents of Canada and the US because they are so fussy no company would ever want to open up that can of worms. How many offers have to be "void in Quebec" simply because no one wants to deal with them and their weird rules. Now they are arbitrarily redrawing the Labrador border to suit their needs. I say bring Quebec in line or cut them off from the social programs they enjoy courtesy of Canada's tax dollars. What they are really after anyway is Labradors resources...duh!

Put my money where my mouth is

So here is what I have done to decrease the carbon footprint I leave on this Earth.

1. I replaced every bulb possible (some light fixtures I have cannot take these type of bulbs) in my house with compact fluorescent light bulbs.
2. I signed up for Santa Clara Green Power which means I get charged a small amount more for my power but the money goes to supporting 100% renewable energy which projects like these.
3. I recycle everything I can.
4. The next car I get will be a hybrid.

An Inconvenient Truth

YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE. IN OUR LIFETIMES, OUR ABILITY TO LIVE WILL BE PROFOUNDLY CHANGED...DO NOTHING AND YOU WILL SEE FOR YOURSELF BUT BY THEN IT WILL BE TOO LATE...THE CLOCK IS TICKING.............

Tragically Hip Coming to town.

March 26, 2007
San Francisco, Ca
The Fillmore

Age : All Ages
Tickets : $25.00
Tickets Onsale : January 21st @ 10:00am (pac)

Tickets are available for purchase at all Ticketmaster outlets including Wherehouse Music, Ritmo Latino, select FYE stores, select Save Mart locations and Tix Bay Area in Union Square.

Call (408) 998-TIXS,(415) 421-TIXS, (510) 625-TIXS, (925) 685-TIXS, (707) 528-TIXS, (916) 649-TIXS or (559) 485-TIXS to charge by phone.

Tickets may be purchased on-line at www.www.livenation.com.

Tickets available for all Fillmore and Warfield shows are available for purchase at The Fillmore Box Office with no service charge Sundays between 10 A.M. and 4 P.M.

Burgeo Old Days Photo Slide Show

Another video posted to You Tube by Crystal Pink

Burgeo

Video put together by Crystal Pink on You Tube

Cold

So it is -7 C wind chill or 20 F this morning at 3:36 am. Starting to feel like Canada here. I came here to get away from the cold! 2 More nights and I am off again for two days.!

Tired

First night back to work after 6 days off, I am tired. It is cold here today, -1 c windchill. It will get below freezing tonight! You don't think of freezing when you think of California but hey it is a big state. It is warm in San Diego and LA but up here winter is like an extended autumn in Canada.

Finally Moved in

So we are finally moved in to our own place here in Santa Clara. It is awesome to finally not being paying rent to someone. I will have some pics posted in the future as the place get more organized. We have been to Ikea a bunch of times already and will probably hit Crate and Barrel tomorrow. Marsha installed a cat door in the door leading to the garage tonight so we finally don't have to smell like we own a cat, as his litter is nice and poked away out there. Nico likes it here but she already has nail mark on the hardwood on the stairs we now we have to get mats for the stairs from skymall, better than having to replace the hardwood later on. The heating system is weird here being from Canada. There is no furnace or radiators or ducts so no dust blowing around. Instead there is a network of PVC pipes buried in the floor and link up to the hot water tank. You turn up the heat and the floors get warm (radiant heat). It is supposed to be more efficient that traditional methods. Anyway pics to follow.

Thanksgiving Trip

Went to Maryland on Thanks giving with our friend Kate. To see Pics of our trip click these
links.



Maryland Thanksgiving
Maryland Shooting Guns
New York Trip

I got it!!!

Got the e-mail today and I passed my orange belt test so I am so happy because I did not want to go through that again anytime soon. I am still too sore to walk (and my back is sore).

Orange Belt Test Krav Maga

Will I took my orange belt test today in Krav Maga and now I am officially dead. It started at 1pm and we were not finished until 6:30PM (it was only supposed to go until 5pm but these things are notorious for ending late).
We began by jogging to Safeway about 2 miles (3.2 km) return trip and then began a sequence of drills that were designed to exhaust us and they did. After about an hour we were broken up into those testing for yellow belt and green and those testing for orange. We then had a 2 hr 30 seminar that covered all of the orange belt material. Also, we could not half ass it during the seminar or we would have been denied the opportunity to test at all so it was 100% all day.
After the seminar we had about a 4 minute break and went directly to the testing phase and covered everything that we had just gone over. At so many times I felt like quitting. Like everyone we all had periods of dizziness and nausea and mouths as dry as sand. Sips of water when we could get them (and these were few and far between) were like heaven. The good news is that I survived the ordeal but the bad news is that I may not have even passed and may not know for a couple of days. Whatever the case I am glad I made it though because I know I had nothing left to give at the end of the day.

Glad we just bought a townhouse in Santa Clara!!!!

(11-09) 11:14 PST -- The San Francisco 49ers will abandon their namesake city and look to build a stadium in Santa Clara, after concluding that their plan to build a stadium and retail-housing complex at Candlestick Point will not work. click here for more

Mind of Mencia

Drive by shooting school...whether its East Palo Alto or East LA these lessons ring true in any hood.

Moving to Santa Clara

So we are closing at the end of the month on the townhouse in Santa Clara. To find out a little more about Santa Clara click here.

Carlos Mencia as Sean Paul

Funny Carlos Mencia

The Who were awesome!!!

The Who concert was one of the best ones I have been too and I have been to a lot of concerts from U2 to Pearl Jam to Green Day to Bob Dylan. 'Baba O'Riley' and 'Won't get fooled again' were exactly as I imagined it as a kid listening to Who's Next on my dinky little CD player. They played a lot of songs from their new album as well. It was awesome to hear 'pinball wizard' and have the visual of Pete Townshend doing the windmill.

Dove

http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/

This commercial by Dove illustrates the fact that the billboards we see are a fantasy...a lie, not even the models look like this really. This is must view for all young girls self conscious about themselves.

The Who - Who Are You

Going to see The Who tonight (11/08/06) at the HP Pavillion in San Jose with Marsha. Should be awesome!!!!

Newfoundland Tourism Video 3

Newfoundland Tourism Video 2

Nicely done video celebrating Newfoundland

Krav Maga

Cool Demonstration of Krav Maga I found on YouTube.

Buying a House

So it is up to us to sign the counter offer on the Townhouse that made an offer on today. So tomorrow morning we are going to see the realtor and finalize the deal!!!

Taking the Plunge

Made an offer on a property today in Santa Clara. Hopefully it gets accepted.

Nissan X-Trail - Bonavista

Funny Commercial.

Buying a Townhouse!

It looks like we may be buying a townhouse in Santa Clara, CA if all goes well. It all started when we took a course at De Anza College a couple of Saturday's ago titled "Buying your first home in the silicon valley market". It just so happens that the instructor is also a realtor and the other instructor a loan (mortgage) broker. We ended up meeting with Gene, the Realtor and he showed us an amazing townhouse. We looked at a few others in person and many online but the very first one we saw blew the others away. Today we took it a step further and went to see the loan broker Sam and it looks like we will be able to get the funding we need. I don't want to put up any pictures of the place in case the deal falls through and since we have not even made an offer yet. Will keep you posted.

Krav Maga

Krav Maga: "contact combat") is a self-defense and military hand to hand combat system developed in Israel. It came to prominence following its adoption by various Israeli Security Forces and is now used by military and law enforcement personnel, as well as civilians, around the world. The version of Krav Maga taught in civilian martial arts classes is more often a simplified version that emphasizes personal self-defense, and is likely to exclude the killing techniques taught to the military, or the holds and come-alongs taught to police forces; there are legal proscriptions in some countries which govern and constrain the teaching of hazardous or life-threatening techniques to civilians.

click here for more

I am attempting to take my orange belt on November 18th, it is 5 hours long approximately with the first 4 hours simply to exhaust you and the last hour or so for testing. I must be crazy!!!!

I am also picking up escrima now as well which takes a lot of concentration and hand eye coordination.

Eskrima or Escrima refers to a class of Filipino Martial Arts that emphasize stick and sword fighting. Other terms which have entered into common usage include Kali and Arnis de Mano (harness of the hand); occasionally the abbreviation FMA (Filipino Martial Arts) is used. Eskrima and Arnis are among the many names primarily used in the Philippines today to refer to these arts. The name Kali, although primarily used in the United States and Europe, is seldom used in the Philippines and in most cases is an unknown word. But due to the popularity of the term outside of the Philippines and the influence of foreign practitioners, the term Kali is increasingly being recognized and accepted in the Philippines. Kalis, as used in the Philippines, refers to a sword. It is commonly mistaken as synonymous to or a derivative form of kali (note: postfixing of "s" is not used in Filipino languages or dialects to indicate plurality). However, for all intents and purposes, Eskrima, Arnis, Arnis de Mano, Kali and FMA all refer to the same family of Filipino weapons-based martial arts.

Went to a wedding

Went to a wedding in Dublin (not Ireland, but CA) on Saturday here are some pics. Marsha's friend from work, Lisa got married to Ryan.

more pics here

Anderson resevoir

Went to Anderson Reservoir last week. It is just south of San Jose in Morgan Hill. Pretty big lake I did not know even existed. You can have your dog there with you, you can fish and boat and there is a fast moving stream nearby for your dog to swim in. Click here for more pics.

CDT

Finished CDT today, very painful course. To find out more about it click here

Camping for my Birthday

So we decided to get out of the city and go camping for my 30th birthday. As usual Marsha did all the research and I said 'yes' and we ended up going to 127 miles east to Pinecrest, CA to camp on the lake (Pinecrest Lake). It was a nice park in the Stanislaus National Forest not too far from Yosemite National Park. There were about 200 campsites and a lake stocked with 3500 rainbow and brown trout every year (but we did not manage to catch one). Anyway it was great, I turned 30 in a tent listening to neighbor's pet hawk sqawk (who takes a pet hawk camping anyway???). Before coming home today we also checked out Beardsly Resevoir which is a much bigger lake, less people, very quiet but not services and it is 10 miles just to get up to the main road to the lake and another 10- 15 to any services. For more pics of our trip CLICK HERE

What's Up

Going camping tomorrow at Beardsly Resevoir (at least trying to as it may be full- only 26 campsites). If not there then somewhere in the Lake Tahoe area.

Bought tickets to go see The Who today as well! That should be a good show and it is in San Jose so it is close.

Nico Swimming at Niles Park in Fremont Aug 2006

Fremont (Niles Community Park)

Canada Day Picnic

So I am going to the annual Canada Day picnic today in Woodside, CA. I have been wanting to go to this for 3 years now and this year I was able to get the day off. Also Canada Day, falls on a Saturday this year so it actually is Canada Day on the day of the picnic. Usually, these guys have it on the Saturday closest to the day as it is not a holiday here, obviously.

BFD

Went to BFD yesterday. It was a cool show. It started at noon but we did not make it there until 5pm. It was over at midnight. The strokes were the best part of the show as well as Franz Ferdinand. AFI was the headliner, they are okay but the lead singer screams too damn much or maybe I am getting too old. Echo and the Bunnyman sucked. I am not even sure why they were there. They were apparently pissed that they got moved down from second last to play to second to play on the main stage.

Back Home

Well we made it back home finally. The last day on the island, the 18th we went to CINVAS (Cook Islands National Visual Art Society) and got tattoos by a girl named 'Stormy'. She is the niece of the famous tatoo guy Te on the island and like her uncle who trained her, she specializes in free hand polynesian designs. We went there with no idea what we were getting. Anyway, the end result was pretty cool. You basically tell her your story and she designs something around you and it is yours. You cannot go there and look at her art and say I want that one. Each tattoo belongs to only one person.

After that we headed over to the Blue Note Cafe and I had the Tuna burger and Marsha had the Parrot Fish and chips. Parrot fish is a blue colored lagoon fish by the way. We also had our last two Cooks Lagers and then headed back to our villa for the last time.

For supper we went up to Dougies once more and had a toasty (toasted sandwich) and a thick shake before heading off.

Went to the airport around 9:45 pm and left at 11:15 and 15 hours later we were back in San Francisco wishing we were back in the Cook Islands.

May 17th Cook Islands

Supper at the Tamarind was excellent. The Tamarind is located just 3 minutes from Avarua (the island center) and has an open feel to it. The yard is full of lush coconut trees with a nice breeze off the Pacific Ocean from the north. The atmosphere is great there, there is a piano player there while you are eating and the food is very very good. For appetizers we had sashimi (raw tuna in this case) and then I had shrimp, game fish, New Zealand mussels, and calamari in a coconut cream sauce with rice. Marsha had a thai peanut crusted fish with rice and veggies. For desert we had a cheese board with grapes and crackers and lettuce. We also bought the cook book that the owner wrote. She used to manage the flame tree where we ate last week but came out of retirement by popular demand and started the tamarind. The restaurant is called this because there used to be a tamarind tree growing on the property that all the local kids would eat the tamarind fruit from.

This morning we went on Pa’s cross-island trek. We started at 8 and we were done at 12. Lunch was provided and it was a hard but excellent excursion to do. Pa is a colorful character pushing 70 years old. He has done the walk 3052 times now including today. The walk consists of a straight up hike to the base of the needle (or temple) and this part takes about 30 minutes or so with lots of opportunities for photos. Pa stops and points out all of the medicinal plants along the way as well. One plant of interest was the one from which Cialis is made (Viagra’s competitor). Apparently, you just boil the leaves and drink the tea and it does the trick. We also saw a very rare flower (one of the rarest in the world) that only grows on Rarotonga and nowhere else. When we got to the base he showed us the spot where back in 2003 he took the Dali Lama. Apparently in 1999 before the millennium followers of the Dali Lama went to Tibet and dug up one of their past Dali Lamas from 900 years ago and cremated the remains and divided up into 8 urns. The Dali Lama and his followers then traveled the world looking for places with high energy to bury the urn and they contacted Pa with a special request. He picked them up at 5 am and took the Dali Lama and 22 of his followers to the needle and place of high energy on the island and they held a 1 hr ceremony and buried the urn there at the base. Since then Pa gives a few stones from the temple to newly married couples for good luck and he did the same for us. One couple he gave the stones to just wrote him a letter to tell him they won 3.75 million dollars.

From there we started out 90-minute descent. We ate lunch at the river and continued on and ended at Wigmore falls for a quick dip. Then our bus picked us up and we were home by 12:30 pm. I highly recommend this walk. It is slippery and hard but well worth it.

May 16th Cook Islands

May 16^th Cook Islands

5pm

Rented (‘hired’) a car today. Tried to get a convertible but ended up with a Toyota Echo and it is much smaller than the North American version but a nice little car for getting around the island. It is hard to stay on the left hand side of the road as well but they have a big reminder sticker on the dashboard for you…”Keep Left!”

Drove around the entire island today, went to the hospital and took some pictures and then went to the prison to see if they had an ukuleles for sell. They will have one tomorrow for us. After that we went to town and did a bit of souvenir shopping and talked about how much we don’t want to leave. I really do not want to have to work on Sunday, but I have to. Sunday the real world comes back to bite me in the ass. I will probably be working in the trauma room or something and we will probably get some guy that was shot, stabbed or beaten up or whatever and I will think…man people in North America do not know how to treat each other. If the whole world was like the Cook Islands, it would be a much more peaceful place.

Anyway, we are going out for supper tonight at a place called Tamarind that is supposed to be awesome.

May 15th Cook Islands

May 15^th 2006 Cook Islands

Did not do too much yesterday. Went up by the church to record the singing then biked up to the botanical gardens and took a bunch of photos. It was closed but you could still go in to see it they had an honor box there with a $3 charge. Then we brought our bikes back and went for a 4 km kayak around the islands and saw an octopus.

Later in the night, the irish couple we met dropped over for a bit to see our wedding photos and they were heading out today to New Zealand for a 11 days and then off to Sydney before heading back to Ireland.

Today we got up bright and early to catch our bus to the airport. We took Air Rarotonga to Aitutaki. Apparently, it was the English version of survivor that was filmed there (it is called ‘Shipwrecked’) and it is currently running over in the UK now.

When we got to Aitutaki our guide (who was also a dancer in the Island night we went to on Saturday – people do a little bit of everything here) took us around the town on the bus and then we went to our boat and began the lagoon cruise. We went to Shark Island, one of the islands the Brits are currently watching if they are a fan of Shipwreck, the other show was named Tiger. It was cool; we got to see their tribal council area, etc. Apparently they were all pretty much useless. The could not figure out how to open a coconut (which every island is full of). They also stocked the islands with chickens and pigs and they could not bring themselves to kill any of them. Pretty lame survivors.

From here we went snorkeling and saw loads of fish and some giant clams. By the way if you are dumb enough to touch a big clam and get an extremity stuck in it when it closes up quickly, you will not be able to free yourself and you will probably drown.

After snorkeling came the barbecued fish meal and then we were off to one-foot island where there is a little post office that opens up only with the tour boat. Here for $2.50 they will stamp your passport as well.

Finally we headed home and bet on some crab races along the way and stopped in the bar for a beer before going to the airport and heading back to Rarotonga. It was a great day. Aitutaki is a must see if visiting the Cook Islands. It is much quieter and slower than Rarotonga with population of just 1700.

May 13th Cook Islands

May 13^th, 2006 Cook Islands

Well we have settled into married life (ha ha). Actually, there was no adjustment to be made as we were pretty much married anyway, now it is legal that’s all. Yesterday we went to town, got a Cook Islands driver’s license ($10 and a cool souvenir) so that we can rent a car and a copy of the marriage entry certificate (doesn’t hurt to have a copy-not like we can just get one quickly once we are back if we need it for any reason).

When we got home we ran up to the butcher and got a massive tuna steak and barbecued it along with some bananas. We washed it all down with a Steinlager beer. For desert we had some paw paw. Went for a long walk afterwards.

Today we got up early took the bus into town, it was packed. Went to the market and ate some really good food, there was a cruise ship in so it was busy there. Finally got home around 3 and then went kayaking out to the shipwreck off muri beach. We pulled up along the perimeter of the lagoon and walked around perhaps 100 meters from where the open ocean is breaking on the coral reef (wouldn’t go any further than that).

Tonight we are going to an ‘island night’ which involves a feast that they cook the traditional way using hot rocks and leaves and burying it in an underground oven. There will also be a drumming and dancing show.

Too bad our time here is nearing an end. All good things must come to an end I guess. Tomorrow we will probably just relax and perhaps rent a sailboat or take some pictures from the kayaks. Monday we are off to Aitutaki for a day trip, leaving at 8 am and back at 5:30 pm. It is only a 30-minute flight. The lagoon up there is supposed to be one of the nicest in the world. The trip includes a day of snorkeling, a glass bottom boat lagoon cruise and food. On Tuesday, we plan to rent a car and take in any sights, shops we might have missed. Wednesday, we are going to do an organized walk with Pa, well known local character that does the trek 3 times a week for travelers. It takes about 4 hours to go just 2 km. Thursday is our last day here and we check out of Sokala at 6pm and our flight leaves at 11:30 pm (Rarotonga - Papeete, Tahiti – Los Angeles – San Francisco). Two weeks from now this will all seem like a very pleasant dream. Since we so have history here now though, I think we will be back here again from time to time throughout our lives.

Got our professional photos back yesterday, 56 prints, negatives and a73 pics on a cd. They are very nice and we will put them on flickr when we get home.

Wedding Pics (in no particular order)

These are not our official pictures, these are ones that Lawrence the owner/manager of Sokala Villas took with my digital camera and also ones that Marsha and I took ourselves and using our tripod. The catered meal we had afterwards was awesome. For starters we had prawns with aspargus, then a tropical salad followed by a margarita each. Then the main course was a ribeye steak on a bed of garlic mashed potatos, oyster mushrooms and cheese. After than we had a plate of New Zealand Cheeses, dried fruit, nuts and handmade chocolate with a bottle of New Zealand pinot noir wine. Excellent and all of this under the full south pacific moon.





















More pics of course to follow later.

More Pics

Pic 1 is Marsha holding up a traditional meal that we got at the Cultural Village tour
Pic 2 is the dog that visits us everynight. In the pic he is hunting for fish and crabs.
Pic 3 is of a modern day outrigger canoe.
Pic 4 is nice pic I took on an overcast day when we went to the waterfall.
Pic 5 is of another day when it was rainy but I thought this made a nice picture.
Pic 6 is of me standing in front of the Landrover that we took on the 4x4 tour of the island. The Cook Islands flag looks a lot like Australia's and New Zealands except that there are 15 stars one for each island.

Going to get married in one hour from now. Talk to everyone soon!

Jamie

More pics

Marsha and I at the market drinking from a Coconut. This was on May 6th Saturday.

May 11th, Cook Islands, Wedding Day

Well it looks like it will be a nice day but it is too soon to tell. It is hot here today and the sun is out and sky is blue with big puffy clouds so that is a good sign. I know it can turn on a dime however.

Photo above taken a couple of days ago of one of the peaks on the island (the only volcanic island of the Cook Islands, the rest are coral Atolls). Some of the islands of the northern group are so low to the water they highest point is only 5 m and during a cyclone, waves can wash over the entire island. The higest peak in Rarotonga is like 690 m or something.

The other picture on top is a sunset we got from the north side (near the airport) one night when we got stuck up there betwee then period of 4pm to 6pm when the bus is not running.

The Pic of me and Marsha is during the Safari tour when we stopped by Wigmore's falls the only waterfall on the island.

May 10th Cook Islands

Today it did not rain yet. Imagine that. Got everything sorted for the wedding. This morning we went on the cultural village tour and it was really interesting with a great lunch and dancing/singing show at the end. Sorry for the lack of pictures but it really is hard to upload them from here and it really chews into you internet time. After the show we came home and vegged out. Marsha went up to talk to the lady about the flowers and then we laid on the beach for a bet and our dog friend was off in the water catching crabs or doing whatever it is he does in the water all day. Great life for a dog. I found a coconut on the beach (they are everywhere actually) and now that I know the different stages I knew this was a ripe one so we broke it apart to get at the nut which we split and drank the juice and now we have the flesh in the fridge. The green coconuts are the best for drinking and they are younger, the darker ones are better for the cream. Anyway that is all for now. Just at Dougie's now having a thick shake (coconut and paw paw/and chocolate and coconut).

PHONE NUMBER FOR VILLA

Hey everyone the phone number that gets you directly to our villa is

011-682-29504.

May 9th, 2006 Cook Islands

May 9^th, 2006 Cook Islands

Got up early today to be on the main road for 8:30 am to get picked up by Raro Tours. This tour consisted of three Land Rover vehicles that took us all over the island and in the mountains. It was an awesome tour and very informative. We learned how the Cook Islands used to be THE orange producer for the pacific, but lost the market to competing countries and the same thing happened with pineapples. Right now the biggest crop is Paw Paw or Papaya and they are supposedly the best. New Zealand can’t get enough and they sell for like $5.50 NZD in Auckland at the grocers.

We also got to see the site of the $120 million scandal were the Sheraton hotel was supposed to be built. The politicians at the time were involved and they basically got in with an Italian company without checking them out well enough and the Italian company turned out to be a front for the Italian mafia and the island was taken advantage of. Finally, a Cook Islander developer living in New Zealand is very close to bringing the project into reality. It will be awesome it is goes ahead, they are actually going to divert the road and dig up the existing road and bring the lagoon right into each villa’s deck area.

There are no big hotels or resorts here (which is a good thing in my book). No building here is taller than a palm tree. What makes this place so unique is its lack of commerciality and friendliness of its people. Can you imagine a stranger in the USA stopping to pick you up? Better yet, would you be crazy enough to get in the car with a stranger in the USA or Toronto, Canada? It would be a good way to end up in the trunk of someone’s car. People here mean you no harm and trust is a given. People do not fear their neighbors here, xenophobia is not an issue.

Got to see where the prison is located as well. They only have 18 prisoners and 2 are maximum security for murder. The prison is cheapest place to buy a ukulele as the prisoners make them ($40 vs. $80 in the stores). Prisoners can also be rented out for the day to do any type of work you want them to. The state charges $28.50 and of that the prisoner get $5 deposited into their savings account. The maximum sentence here is 14 years and you only serve 1/3 if you are well behaved.

Like Newfoundland, out-migration is an issue. This island used to be 22,000 in population in the 90’s now it is only 12,000. Cook Islanders have New Zealand passports and thus are entitled to live and work in New Zealand and Australia. Many leave for school, many do not return to live. It is sad as this place is about as perfect as you can get.

Anyway the day ended with a barbecue on the beach of swordfish steaks, barbecued bananas, salad and fruit. It was very nice and tasty. The couple just married from Ireland that we met when we first got here was on this excursion with us. They are off to Aitutaki today for 4 days. We are doing a day trip there on Monday. It is only a 30-minute flight. It should be great.

5:00pm

Went to the store just now on our mountain bikes. One 6 pack of beer, one papaya, three bananas, one bag of chips and a piece of banana bread $25 NZD. Got caught in yet another downpour on the way back but seems to have stopped now. Also dropped a CD full of Newfoundland music to Dougie’s. Not sure if he will like it or not but he collects music and books from all the backpackers that go in and out of his place.

6:30

Going to the Flame Tree restaurant tonight for supper at 8:00pm. Should be good.

May 8th Cook Islands

May 8^th, 2006

It continued to rain heavily today right up until 1pm or so and then gradually the sun came out. So we got the marriage license. It was funny because on it Marsha is classed as a spinster (don’t think it has the same negative meaning here as in Canada).

From there we went to the Internet café and I tried to upload my pics but was only able to put on about 6. The Internet here is painfully slow; even though it is broadband it is only 256kbs/s at best (5 times faster than dialup). I have decided to only add a couple of pictures here and there on my blog and upload the works of them to Flickr when I get home to my own computer. The internet cafes here are pricey, $10 NZD for 1 hour (but you can sign out and come back later and use your remaining time) at Dougies and $12 for 90 minutes at the post office. The villa here charges about $6/hr for dial up service. It takes me 10-20 minutes to upload just 6 pictures at the Internet cafes.

We took a lot of cool pictures again and ended up eating at the Fish and Chips place next to the main wharf. $14 for two huge pieces of marlin, two deep-fried battered sausages and some chips. Not bad, I was full afterwards. Then we had to wait a long time for the bus as there is no bus from 4pm to 6pm and then the bus only goes in one direction for the rest of the night, clockwise. Roratonga is round island so during the day there is a clockwise bus and a counterclockwise bus. To quote the locals, if you ask them when the next bus is they say “when it comes”. Usually it is every hour though give or take 10-15 minutes.

We also extended the rental of our mountain bikes today for a week as they come in quite handy for getting around cheaply.

When we got home around 7pm it was already dark and the dog we have named “creampuff” was there to great us as usual and he followed us to our balcony and flaked out for 10 minutes before leaving. Going to bed now as we have a tour book for tomorrow. A lot of people here are using skype to call home, it is a phone over the internet service that ebay owns. Perhaps I will try it sometime, it must be cheaper than the $20 NZD/6 minutes I get with a prepaid calling card.

May 7th Cook Islands

May 7, 2006

Some facts about the Cook Islands Geography

Total land area: 241 sq km (about 25% as big a Rhode Island)

This area is chopped up in 15 islands divided into a Northern and Southern group and then scattered over 2 million sq km of sea (area the size of Western Europe)

Roratonga is 3447 km from Auckland, New Zealand. That is isolation.

12:30pm

Got up and went to church today. First time I stepped foot in a church in years (considering I don’t really think of myself as Christian). Anyway it `1 was really nice, all the men and women were dressed in white and the women all had hats on. Most of the sermon was in Maori and a little in English. Man these people can sing!!! After the service all the tourists were invited over to the minister’s house where they had coffee, tea, biscuits and sandwiches. We stuck around and chatted for 30 minutes or so with a nice Cook Island lady from New Zealand that is in the process of moving back to Aitutaki (as a side note, the new season of survivor is being filmed there now). We also met a nice backpacker couple; the guy was from Slovenia and the girl from the Netherlands. She is actually moving to Walnut Creek (in the San Fran bay area) this Thursday, as this is where her parents live now. Small world. Probably going to rent some bikes today and go around.

9:30 am May 8^th, 2006

So we ended up renting bikes (bicycles) today and we will probably keep them all week. They are a great way to get around without having to worry about gas or getting the motorcycle license which is necessary if you are renting a scooter. We biked about 8 km each way to get to this really nice waterfall where we swam with the locals and actually got to meet PA, the guy who we are going to do the cross island trek with at some point.

After spending the day riding around, we went the to internet café but I had trouble uploading more photos (will try again today). Dougie, the owner invited us to his place to cook up some food so we ended up going there and we had a bunch of sausages, lamb chops, salad, beer etc with a bunch of people from New Zealand, Ireland, and the UK. It was a good time. Anyway, got lots of stuff to take of today (marriage licenses and stuff).

May 6th, 2006 Cook Islands

May 6^th, 2006

9:30am

Got up early today to go to the market but it is pissing down outside so we are waiting for it to let off a little before we venture out into it. Caught a lizard today as well.

8:25pm

Had a great day at the markets despite the heavy rain. Bought a few souvenirs for us and a toy for Jake, sorry Susan-it is noisy. We got a lot of really cool pictures as well. For lunch we paid $10 NZD and got a huge platter of lamb chops, chicken, arrowroot (not the cookie), a banana-like thing and some creamed spinach with a coffee of course. We poked around at the local stores and saw someone getting an island tattoo and thought…umm that looks cool maybe we will get a traditional tattoo while we are here as a permanent souvenir.

We ended up buying some cheap speakers and a radio, as the portable speaker I brought here cannot be recharged with the 240-volt current and what not. They only have one radio station here and it is really funny as they seem to play all the modern hits only they are all re-done with an island twist by the locals I guess (ukuleles and stuff).

We went back to Trader Jacks for another Cook’s Lager of course, watched some dude snorkeling with a spear gun looking for fish and bunch of people going out in Polynesian canoes. We managed to find another grocery store with more reasonable prices. When we got home we went up to Dougie’s Internet café (not Doug Harris) and had more coffee and uploaded some pics. This guy is really cool, originally from Wellington, NZ, then he moved to London, now lives here.

For supper (they say ‘supper’ here not like in the USA where it is Lunch and dinner) we had a barbecue of chicken sausage, garlic and onions, garlic cheese bread and baked potatoes. There is only one barbecue here for everyone to use but Lawrence said as long as no one else requests it he will just keep it on our deck.

Anyway going for a walk up the beach now. We have a safari tour booked for Tuesday which should be cool (www.rarosafaritours.co.ck ) . We are also planning to do the Cultural Village tour (www.cookislandsculturalvillage.com) hopefully on Monday or Wednesday. The other things we want to do include PA’s mountain walk which takes you across the island’s center, a day or day/night trip to the island of Aitutaki (45 minute flight), rent (hire) a car for the day and go everywhere we can to take pictures. We also need to take in an ‘island night’ kind of like a Hawaiian Luau (not sure I spelled that right) but a hell of a lot cheaper (probably go to the Edgewater resort).

By the way everyone here rides a scooter (I guess it is cheap with the gas (petrol) prices). As ludicrous as this might sound, the Cook Islands does have a lot in common with Newfoundland…they are losing people to New Zealand like we lose people to mainland Canada at a rate of 1.4 per day. Everything here costs a little more due to the isolation of being an island. They really know isolation here. Imagine taking Newfoundland and breaking it up into a bunch of islands and then putting those islands hundreds on miles apart…that is the Cook Islands. Imagine if we were a thousand miles from mainland Canada how much things would cost.

Also there are many many dogs here that people own but they are all off leash kind of like Newfoundland in the old days but they are all friendly.

9:03pm

Speaking of animals we just had a cat come to the door that went away after we played with it and now there was a dog we named ‘creampuff’ here at our door wagging his tail so we let him into our villa he now he is passed out asleep on our floor. He is very well behaved though.

That’s all for now.

May 5th, Cook Islands

May 5^th, 2006

Got up today around 10am to the sound of birds. It was awesome sleeping last night with all the windows open to the island breeze off the Pacific Ocean. I slept like a rock. Last night we discovered that we have a little friend in our villa, ‘Gary’ the gecko. He is usually on the ceiling, but who cares…he eats the bugs. Also found a baby crab in the bathroom, they are all over the place outside, guess he got in when we left the door open.

After some breakfast of fruit, cereal and coffee we went to catch the bus into the town but missed it and to our surprise this old lady driving a Kia blew her horn at us and asked if we needed a ride so we said yes and she took us right to the courthouse to get our marriage license. People are friendly like that here. I think she is the mother of the guy that runs the villas, Lawrence.

In town after we got our license application done, we walked around and grabbed a bite to eat at Trader Jacks and Marsha had the best Sashimi (raw fish, tuna in this case-blackened on the outside) I have ever tasted. It literally melted in your mouth. I had the fish and chips and we both continued our practice of ordering Cooks Lager beer on tap wherever we go. Great beer but it varies in taste depending on where you get it (very inconsistent but always good). I also bought a colorful Island shirt so I don’t look too much like a tourist (everyone here wears flowery shirts).

The groceries here are very expensive. It cost $6.50 for a big bag of chips and $7.00 for a box of cereal. Meals are not provided at the villa so you have to buy groceries and use your kitchenette as eating out all the time will quickly take a bite out of your money.

After we got home we went snorkeling up past the last island. It is really shallow and you can actually stand up (but all the coral makes it hard to do so) if you get tired but there are lots and lots of fish. They all look like the kind you find in really nice aquariums at Doctors offices, etc. Finding Nemo type of fish.

Just had some stir fry beef with garlic, onions, peppers and a Cook Island Sweet Potato. It was really good. Now we are drinking the champagne that came with the villa. Anyway, it gets dark early here (around 6:30 pm). This is because it is so close to the equator. There is not much to do at night as the place pretty much shuts down at 4pm except for restaurants and a few grocery stores. The view of the night sky is amazing though and you see all the stars you don’t see if you live anywhere near a populated area.

Tomorrow we are heading back into town to check out the Saturday markets and Sunday we are going to the church to listen to the people sing (supposed to be a must according to all the travel books).

We will keep you posted. By the way called home today and a $20 phone card gets you 6 whole minutes of talk time to Canada.

Day one Cook Islands

Well we made it here in one piece, two earthquakes off the coast of Tonga later. On the way here we stopped in Tahiti, very beautiful. Picture the rocky mountains rising from the sea and covered in green, that's Tahiti. They speak French there (I think they are actuall French Citizens or something).

We finally made it to Roratonga at about 3 pm NFLD time or 0730 local time. Since we have been here we have met with the wedding planner, paid for the wedding, met the local guy that owns the internet cafe, kayaked the length of the lagoon to look at fish got caught in a thunderstorm that was very cool and refreshing in this heat. Tomorrow we go into town to apply for the marriage license. For more pics keep checking jamiestone.com and click on photos. Stay tuned for more.

By the way, we don't have a TV in our room but we do have access to the internet (dial up mind you but hey it is better than nothing).

Sitting in LA

Well after a 3 hr delay in San Fran due to mechanical problems with the plane we finally made it to LA around 530pm but had to check through security again. It was crazy in SFO, e had to go through secondary security and get tested for chemical dust by this big machine by GE and all of our stuff got swabbed. It took 10 minutes and of course I was beltless and barefoot (you have to take you belt and shoes off-everyone does). Anyway the next leg og the trip goes from LA to Papeete, French Polynesia and then on the Roratonga, CI.

Until then

Leaving

Well Nico is in Santa Cruz at Doggie Camp. She did not want us to leave, this is the longest we have ever left her. She will have a good time though, she always does. We are leaving for the airport in 1 hr, Brian is coming over to drive us there in the TOR TOR (taurus). We should get to the Cook Islands by 5pm NFLD time on Thursday or 12:30pm California/BC time. We will keep you updated as long as we kind find internet access. Hopefully, no more Tsunami warnings!

Viva Las Vegas

So this is the Bellagio in Las Vegas, where we will be staying the next 4 nights (mon-thur). It should be a good time. Click the link to find out more about the Hotel. Meanwhile Nico will be at Doggie Camp in Santa Cruz. It will be a long drive though from PA (aka Palo Alto) to Las Vegas and we will be going in the Tor Tor (the boat, the Taurus).

This article appeared in the St. John's Telegram. I think it illustrates an important quality found in Newfoundlanders but lacking in a lot of places. Living in the USA really opens up your eyes to racism especially coming from small town Newfoundland . Newfoundland is definitely not a multicultural province but when faced with people different than us or with culture unfamiliar to us, we tend to treat them like people and no different than anyone else. Celebrity also means little to us Newfoundlanders which is why Kevin Spacey sent his bodyguards home when filing the Shipping News in Newfoundland (he did not need them as no one bothered him). It is not that Newfoundlanders did not know who he was (hell we have all seen "The Usual Suspects" at least) but we just did not care. He actually appreciated that . Here is the story as it appeared in the Telegram

Lanier Phillips left St. John’s on Saturday having shared, once more, his story of the kindness and compassion he encountered from the people of St. Lawrence over six dec-ades ago — people, he says, who not only saved his life but also changed it completely.

Phillips was the only African-American among the 55 people whose lives were saved when the USS Truxtun crashed off the coast of St. Lawrence during a blizzard on Feb. 18, 1942.

Had he not been aboard the naval destroyer on that fateful day when 101 people lost their lives, Phillips has no idea where life would have led him. There were only two options, he says: hell or jail.

• • •

The interview takes place in a small, bright, comfortable room in the bed and breakfast where Phillips is staying in St. John’s.

His voice lowers to a whisper when he speaks of crawling under his bed as a young boy in fear of the Ku Klux Klan who were riding through the community shooting guns into the air.

“On one occasion, I could peep out through my window and see them beat this black man with whips. The hatred just rose up in me. And I had terrible ideas. But the people in St. Lawrence erased all of that. … They cured that disease of hatred. It is a disease. And the best way in the world to cure that is with love and humanity. It’s the best medicine there is.”

At age 18, Phillips was one of four black mess attendants onboard the Truxtun. There was also one Philippine mess attendant, he says.

His earliest memory of the shipwreck was of being thrown out of his bunk.

“I landed on top of the rest of the mess attendants who were thrown out of their bunks… I thought we had been torpedoed. I just grabbed a pair of shoes, I don’t know if they were my shoes or someone else’s. And I ran topside. But it was dark and I couldn’t see anything,” he recalls.

Phillips’ heart sank when searchlights shone over the area showed snow-covered cliffs and mountains. He was convinced he’d been shipwrecked in Iceland. Any black man to step on the land in that country at the time, he recalls, would be lynched.

“The storm was so bad you could barely see. The waves would just pick the ship up and slam it against the rocks.… I went onboard a raft, but the other mess attendants were afraid to go over the side.… I had looked at the men who were washed overboard from the waves. They were being crashed against the rocks close by. It was so terrific you could see body parts flying by. But I knew the ship was going to sink once it broke apart.”

Philips said while the four other mess attendants were terrified they’d be lynched on Iceland shores because of the colour of their skin, he chose to take his chances.

“I told them, ‘Gee, if we die at least let’s just don’t stay here and freeze to death.’ Ice was forming on all our bodies by then.”

That was the last conversation he’d have with his shipmates who refused to abandon ship.

“Just before we reached the land, the raft capsized and threw everybody out in the water. … We were already wet. Now we were so numb we could barely move. … It seemed like the heart rate had slowed down and you were very sleepy, extremely sleepy. You knew that all you had to do was close your eyes and it was all over.”

By the time he reached the shore, still believing he was in Iceland, Phillips had convinced himself dying was a better fate than living.

“I decided to go in the corner and end it all. And I did. I went back into this little small cove. Not too much larger than this room. I got down

on the ground but someone came

and said, ‘Don’t lie there, you’ll surely die.’ ”

Phillips, still covered in bunker C oil, was eventually taken into shelter with the white survivors, where the women of St. Lawrence worked to save each and every life.

Having grown up in a society where racism was as popular as slavery, the teenager was sure his life was about to end in some horrible way.

“When I got my eyes opened, I saw these ladies, they were massaging my body, getting the circulation going. … I was completely naked and I was really afraid. … Being from rural Georgia, it was a crime to be naked in front of white women — to even look at white women, or whistle at one, was a crime. Maybe you’d be lynched for it. And I was terrified.”

As they cleaned the oil from his face and head, the women began to comment on the texture of his hair.

“I had a lot of hair then, and one of the ladies said, ‘This is the curliest hair I’ve ever seen.’’ I said to myself, ‘Now that’s the end of me. They’re going to throw me out in the ice all naked. I’m finished. I’m dead.’ ”

With every stroke of their wash cloths, the women continued to offer the frightened young man comfort, compassion and reassurance.

“One of the ladies had my hand and was trying to get the bunker C oil off me. It was like jelly. And she says, ‘This poor fellow, I can’t get it off. It’s all in his pores.’ That’s the first time I spoke up. I said, ‘It’s the colour of the skin. You can’t get it off. I’m black.”

Sixty-four years later, Phillips words are still laced with the gratitude he felt for the women who continued to care for him, oblivious to the colour of his skin.

“They lifted my head up and they had a spoon and was giving me rum, I think it was rum. I had a hard time swallowing. … They kept rubbing my throat and caressing my forehead and another lady kept rubbing my body and washing it off. I was just overcome. … I had never heard such kind words from a white person before.”

Phillips was eventually taken to the Pike home where Viola Pike put him to bed and began heating rocks and irons to place underneath the blankets.

“She said, ‘I made some soup for you.’ She lifted my head, but I couldn’t hold the cup. My fingers were … I couldn’t hardly bend them. She just fed me like a baby with a teaspoon. And I was just overwhelmed.”

When Phillips returned to St. Lawrence in 1988, the woman who’d help nurse him back to health had passed away.

“That house brought back a lot of memories and I felt so bad that she was deceased and I couldn’t thank her.”

Phillips says nothing he could

do could thank the people of St. Lawrence for what they did for him. Nonetheless, he has started a scholarship and has donated financially to the community.

• • •

Growing up in rural Georgia, Phillips said he always knew his place as a young black boy. He’d attended school for about three weeks when the Klan burned it to the ground.

By the time he’d reached his teens, his mother had sent him to Tennessee to live with an aunt. That’s when he decided to join the navy, though he couldn’t read or write.

“I wanted to get away from the south because I resented the racism and the discrimination. I resented the cotton fields and the cornfields. … I resented the granite pits.”

The role of black men in the navy at the time was to serve the white officers their meals, make their beds and shine their shoes.

“I guess what’s why they called us mess attendants.”

Phillips spent 20 years in the navy, becoming the U.S. Navy’s first African-American sonar technician. He married and raised a family and continued working as a sonar technician in later years.

He has done many meaningful things in his lifetime. He’s marched with Martin Luther King. He’s fought for civil rights for decades. He’s told his story about the people of St. Lawrence to anyone who would listen.

While the people in his hometown have come a long way over the years in eradicating racism, there’s still a master-slave mentality there, he says. Those people never met the people of St. Lawrence.

“I know within my heart if I continue to resist the wrong of racism that, some day, I’ll overcome. I know that today is better than yesterday. But I want tomorrow to be better than today … and there are people that still hold on to the plantation mentality, to not resist and not talk about it.

“But I’m going to talk about it. And I don’t care whose toes I step on. Because it’s wrong. … We are all God’s children and we’re all human. If we could just learn to treat people like the people of St. Lawrence treated me, how sweet the world would be.”