Song for Margaret River 2006

I have duplicated this post, but I didn't want to delete an old post, anyone know how to bump a post to the top without deleting?

Stop crying when we're
Free and flying..............and we
be gen seeing ...... just what we
Might be believing ............ and please

Times like these,
they only seem to flash and then
they are gone
with the memories that we're so strong

So it's things
That you can hold in your
hearts and minds and hands and souls
it's things like these so sing it please

little things,
that mean a world to you and me
but to most, it's just pine-app-les on a blue uku le LEeeee

Chorus.....

Wrong way back through apple cross,
dick chany in charge makes people cross
Lucky dip hair ties, fairy dolls and pirate patches no one knows

Pirate's home is home to men
in dresses playing cards and then
We're on a tri vi al pursuit for the mupputs star in a green frog suit

Hammocks break while flies have sex
24 shop closed, how much for 8 m & m's?
fucking love you man the targo van
B grade boobs, pass what looks like fag, rhymes with dudes?

________________________________________________________

Stop crying when we're
Free and flying..............and we
be gen seeing ...... just what we
Might be believing ............ and please

Times like these,
they only seem to flash and then
they are gone
with the memories that we're so strong

So it's things
That you can hold in your
hearts and minds and hands and souls
it's things like these so sing it please

Chorus.....

little things,
that mean a world to you and me
but to most, it's just pine-app-les on a blue uku le LEeeee

Wrong way back through apple cross,
proved the quickest scenic route
Lucky dip hair ties, fairy dolls and pirate patches

Pirate's home
Is home to men in dresses playing cards
We're on a trivial pursuit for the green frog star of the muppets

Swings just break,
While flies are copulating
24/7 closed, 20c for m & m's


Fucking Love you Maaan

Awesome week

Tandoori chicken sandwiches

tarago drive

mission for straps

wrong way back through apple cross proved the sceneric but 2quickest route

Fairy shop lucky dip hair ties, fairy dolls and pirate eye patches

Beers packed at backpackers

Game of kings, wearing the dress and being hit on by guys.

Impossible questions from a singapore trivial pursuit board while the green frog star of the muppets is asked.

Long hard days of nothing

Breaking hammocks sore buts

Flies bonking

24/7 that never opens

4 hours of strumming in the court year while the roommates court

powerfully b-grade movies with too many boobs.

Late night fast eddies burgers

OBH patron superman over the bar

While sivi from Norway drives us home in a cool van, cathy from sweeden plans our demise witha crazy laough
and tries to stab us in the ear.

later night water runs on a hungover head.

20c for MM's but only 7 (8 if you're lucky), skittles not as popular.

Eating 2-3 things on every menu

Not missing the secret handshakes on the drive down.

Crap house, crapper fire place and setting fire to everything burnable

Best man not the best sport when it comes to wearing the dresses.

VIP's where it counts

Not able to speak in the surfers lounge

Early morning drives when you can't see the bus

Buying beers from Grace Town with cards and wax with cool packaging

Filming south point while adam snaps the falls and wipe outs.

3 panadol the stable breakfast diet with heart stopper breakfasts not too far behind.

18+ or - at the bakery

Thnk everyone the contest was on during school

Filming sunsets while sinking beers

BBQ's at night and everyone's there

Wedding couple Bianca and Craig, Dan and Kara, Renee and CJ, Adam and Sharlene, Chani and Jess, Nicole
and Mardi and Coby, Luke+1, olly and Mikey with Mel and Caleb.

Juice Stain Justin

Early morning Sunrise Scientology when you can't feel your toes beats the best sleep in at home.

Coffee warms the hands

3 coffees and a diet coke with a "do you want any coffee in those?"

Cut away shots

Simple life of Christian in the bush

Naked Mermaids

Clear eye's for a best man before the wedding for his "sun burnt" eyes.

Flowers found with ease

All places can be found from Caves Road

REligion stretch of camp sites.

Gas point barrels, Box barrelling out of control.

Dolphins swimming in the waves

Chani makes every morning but only brings glasses once.

Spectators Rock the frame

The Canon XL1 gets you places you can't go.

$3.50 water from the large breasted bunch - $4 for beer!

Tightest ass going round in media with black tights

the hot brazilian surfer dude with the hot tattoo

a memorial stantds where a surfer was taken

nic bush bahing snoozes in the scrub

beanie weather good times

kungfu fighting team

funky chicket protects the dunes

dick cheny takes over as president as we recover couch bound by the fire

really really ridiculously good looking people.

blue ukulele's with pineapples

Ukuleles strums the wedding march while max stamps the quiet front at the wedding

No door on the brde and gooms room means we all share their love

last minute beading, water to consecrate the earth, missing children, and long children walks.

"I hope you swallow your own tongue"

Bakery, Cally (swedish) with her meat cleaver.

Soccer stars head butt paper into the fire.

Surf Spot Maps

I've been reading through my Wave-finder Australia book to find a couple of new breaks to surf during my trip down the east and onto the south coast of Australia.

I think the book is amazing, but it started me thinking about other ways to share this information. Fortunately I had recently been part of a review panel for the advantages and disadvantages of using Google Earth as a work application.

I suggested perhaps look at Google Maps because it is less taxing on the bandwidth and does not require any 3rd party software to be loaded for use.

I've been fooling around with the API for a few hours and have so far developed something which I think is the beginning of something useful. I've created these Surf Maps on my footage site, only because it's more of a test site for template changes.

If it's successful or people find it useful I'll migrate it to this site, and who knows I might even take it out of a blog and make it a site of it's own.

Please take a look at the Surf Maps and let me know if you find them helpful, or something else that could be added for ease of use. Click on the HYBRID buttons for Fingal, Pottsville and Cabarita for a better look (the others have poor photo's of the areas).

I'm only going to be using spots that I have previously been to or have been told about by friends, and the descriptions of the surf spots will be either my own or of friends.

Song for Margaret River 2006

Stop crying when we're
Free and flying..............and we
be gen seeing ...... just what we
Might be believing ............ and please

Times like these,
they only seem to flash and then
they are gone
with the memories that we're so strong

So it's things
That you can hold in your
hearts and minds and hands and souls
it's things like these so sing it please

little things,
that mean a world to you and me
but to most, it's just pine-app-les on a blue uku le LEeeee

Chorus.....

Wrong way back through apple cross,
burning everything that burns
Lucky dip hair ties, fairy dolls and pirate patches no one knows

Pirate's home is home to men
in dresses playing cards and then
We're on a tri vi al pursuit for the mupputs star in a green frog suit

Hammocks break while flies have sex
24 shop closed, how much for 8 m & m's?
fucking love you man the targo van
B grade horror to many boobs, what sounds like spliff but rhymes with dude.


________________________________________________________

Stop crying when we're
Free and flying..............and we
be gen seeing ...... just what we
Might be believing ............ and please

Times like these,
they only seem to flash and then
they are gone
with the memories that we're so strong

So it's things
That you can hold in your
hearts and minds and hands and souls
it's things like these so sing it please

Chorus.....

little things,
that mean a world to you and me
but to most, it's just pine-app-les on a blue uku le LEeeee

Wrong way back through apple cross,
proved the quickest scenic route
Lucky dip hair ties, fairy dolls and pirate patches

Pirate's home
Is home to men in dresses playing cards
We're on a trivial pursuit for the green frog star of the muppets

Swings just break,
While flies are copulating
24/7 closed, 20c for m & m's


Fucking Love you Maaan

Awesome week

Tandoori chicken sandwiches

tarago drive

mission for straps

wrong way back through apple cross proved the sceneric but 2quickest route

Fairy shop lucky dip hair ties, fairy dolls and pirate eye patches

Beers packed at backpackers

Game of kings, wearing the dress and being hit on by guys.

Impossible questions from a singapore trivial pursuit board while the green frog star of the muppets is asked.

Long hard days of nothing

Breaking hammocks sore buts

Flies bonking

24/7 that never opens

4 hours of strumming in the court year while the roommates court

powerfully b-grade movies with too many boobs.

Late night fast eddies burgers

OBH patron superman over the bar

While sivi from Norway drives us home in a cool van, cathy from sweeden plans our demise witha crazy laough
and tries to stab us in the ear.

later night water runs on a hungover head.

20c for MM's but only 7 (8 if you're lucky), skittles not as popular.

Eating 2-3 things on every menu

Not missing the secret handshakes on the drive down.

Crap house, crapper fire place and setting fire to everything burnable

Best man not the best sport when it comes to wearing the dresses.

VIP's where it counts

Not able to speak in the surfers lounge

Early morning drives when you can't see the bus

Buying beers from Grace Town with cards and wax with cool packaging

Filming south point while adam snaps the falls and wipe outs.

3 panadol the stable breakfast diet with heart stopper breakfasts not too far behind.

18+ or - at the bakery

Thnk everyone the contest was on during school

Filming sunsets while sinking beers

BBQ's at night and everyone's there

Wedding couple Bianca and Craig, Dan and Kara, Renee and CJ, Adam and Sharlene, Chani and Jess, Nicole
and Mardi and Coby, Luke+1, olly and Mikey with Mel and Caleb.

Juice Stain Justin

Early morning Sunrise Scientology when you can't feel your toes beats the best sleep in at home.

Coffee warms the hands

3 coffees and a diet coke with a "do you want any coffee in those?"

Cut away shots

Simple life of Christian in the bush

Naked Mermaids

Clear eye's for a best man before the wedding for his "sun burnt" eyes.

Flowers found with ease

All places can be found from Caves Road

REligion stretch of camp sites.

Gas point barrels, Box barrelling out of control.

Dolphins swimming in the waves

Chani makes every morning but only brings glasses once.

Spectators Rock the frame

The Canon XL1 gets you places you can't go.

$3.50 water from the large breasted bunch - $4 for beer!

Tightest ass going round in media with black tights

the hot brazilian surfer dude with the hot tattoo

a memorial stantds where a surfer was taken

nic bush bahing snoozes in the scrub

beanie weather good times

kungfu fighting team

funky chicket protects the dunes

dick cheny takes over as president as we recover couch bound by the fire

really really ridiculously good looking people.

blue ukulele's with pineapples

Ukuleles strums the wedding march while max stamps the quiet front at the wedding

No door on the brde and gooms room means we all share their love

last minute beading, water to consecrate the earth, missing children, and long children walks.

"I hope you swallow your own tongue"

Bakery, Cally (swedish) with her meat cleaver.

Soccer stars head butt paper into the fire.

Maybe it's just a coincidence

I read a post today on "The Skye's the Limit" and it started me thinking about coincidences. I figured that rather then take up half a page in Skye's comments, as I may have done once or twice, that I'd post a completely off the Surf topic here.

I have this thing about 11:11. I always seem to look at the computer at work at 11:11. Seriously, it happens at least twice a week.

Or so I thought it did.

I noticed that it was 11:11 today, was it a coincidence that this happened on the same day that Skye was posting about coincidences? And that it would then cause me to post about the same thing? But wait a minute, when was the last time that actually happened. A week, a month? I couldn't remember.

Before we look into that further I'll explain about another situation.

A few months ago I was speaking to a friend of mine, Kara, and she asked if I'd read the Obituaries in the paper. Someone our age had passed away, and Darwin being so small it was rare for you not to at least have heard someone by name if not know them by face, but on this occasion neither of us had.

I forgot all about this, and a couple of days later I was getting out of my car, which I park behind one of our old night clubs Rattle n' Hum, and looked up at the building and thought about all the good times that we had in that night club.

My thoughts jumped from Rattle's to another club called the "Vic", and all the good times we had there. I then started thinking about meeting people at the Vic, and then the night I saw a mate of mine Clint for the first time in ages. I remember catching up with him and having a drink, wandering through the club catching up on old times, and I remember him limping as we were walking around.

I then remembered back to when I was working at the Norther Territory Institute of Sport and Clint was in the Rugby Squad, and the laughs we used to have there.

I also remembered the day at the NTIS when answering the phone to Clint calling to tell the coach some news, but because I answered he told me instead. He called to say that the doctors had found cancer in his knee.

I remembered talking to him about it for a while, then not seeing him for ages until that particular night at the Vic, and then wandering around, catching up on old stories and enjoying the laughs we used when we were a few years younger.

I remembered sending an sms to Clint a few months later to see how he was doing and wish him well because I hadn't heard anything for a while.

I remembered sitting at Clints funeral with all his friends and family. I remember the eulogies thanking everyone that visited and sent sms which kept his spirits high.

I remember crying at the funeral.

My mind dwelled there for most of the walk, between good times and sad, until something caught my eye and my mind went off somewhere else.

Later that week I was at work and someone asked me to check an article in the paper from a few days before. As I was flipping through the paper I remembered what Kara had said about looking in the Obituaries.

When I flipped open the page I saw it almost immediately. It was the anniversary of Clint's passing, and it was on the same day that I'd gone back through all those memories.

Not a coincidence?

I'm not convinced.

I was attending a Buddhist Meditation session a few months ago and they had a special guest who talked about the similarities between Buddhism mantra's and chants and Aboriginal beliefs and songs.

It was interesting to see how he made the connections, and to be honest sometimes they seemed quite a stretch, but what he did say was that both areas were very close to him, he studied one for 20 years and the other for 16 years, and that you always seem to find similarities in things that are important to you.

I think the same goes for coincidences. Things happen around us all the time, but we only notice a very small portion of them.

The 11:11 example for instance. I look at the clock at work anywhere between 5 and 50 times a day. The only time I notice the time is when it's 11:11 because I believe that happens all the time. The time is probably 10:34 just as often, but that's a boring number and not important, 11:11 is cool!

Sometimes we see things as being more then they are because we want to believe that there are clues, plans, or paths there for us to follow, let us know that we're on the right track, or to provide guidence and affirmation for what we believe is true.

Sometimes............ it's just a coincidence.

Brisbane Coochie and Bryon Bay 2004

I came across this journal entry over the weekend. I wrote it 4 days after getting back from my first trip to Byron Bay with Roland and James. There is more to the journal, but this was my reflection on the last few days of the trip I ever made down the East Coast........ and when I re-read the entry I can't help but smile and become more excited about the trip ahead.

---

Some things have been omitted to protect the innocent

Thursday. Two weeks since the start of something which will be looked back on with smiles, laughter and perhaps slight regret. No, regret is not the word, those “regrettable” experiences merely serve the same function as the flags on the beaches we spent so much time at, we know where we are supposed to swim, and occasionally straying from that can have dire consequences.

Life has again returned to its empty state. It's in that period between knowing what living is really like and falling back into the boring mundane task of waking, eating, working and sleeping.

True stock on life and the people you share it with should be made during this time, when you know what you really need to enjoy yourself as opposed to what you want to have to distort your perspective of real enjoyment.

Before more reflection let’s go back to our last days of the trip.

Friday we arrived back from Byron. Once again we were awake at 5 waiting for the inevitable “are you awake?” before the car was packed and off tot he beach.

The night before was a turn up for the books... or at least this journal. 5 beer Jim closed shop and headed well before the boys were ready. In fact I think the previous nights were called closed by the boys much later. Regardless however good times were had by all. Our German friends (both physicists) joined us for drinks at the Bay Beach Bar......and that was after I absent mindedly explained to Ben about RSL's and the significance of The Last Post. Luckily Roland was there to make me realise the err of my ways... if only I was there for him later.....but I digress.

The Germans, Ben and Zabeena, had not drunk for quite sometime so the vodka and lemon they had lasted us 3 beers. Zabeena told an entertaining story of her first cocktail experience, with great quotes like “I remember thinking I really really like this feeling and I want to feel like this again” shortly before vomiting continuously for the next 24 hours. Later on, and a different story, all minds wandered when she spoke of twisting her ankle riding “bare back”.

The rest of the night was good fun, excellent company and cold beers. The only shame was the Great Northern, which is definitely not known for their HUGE pizza's.

Anyway, up at 5 and this time the hold up wasn't caused by James losing something, instead it was James getting the German's out of bed and downstairs. We stopped for the usual Diet Coke and Iced Coffee in the morning, and probably should have thought about getting some fuel for the car at the same time.

We went out to Watego's again and James very unselfishly gave his board to Ben, which also meant that he had the tough job of keeping Zabeena company on the beach.

To understand just how attractive this girl was can be explained in one simple way.........James went the whole time on the beach WITHOUT a cigarette.

Waves weren't all that good but it was great being out and in the water so early.

We, with thoughts of walking for fuel, dropped the Germans off at THE lighthouse before coasting back down the hill in neutral to conserve fuel. We made it back, however Rollies 40 Litre take took 42.5 litre's of fuel.

Jim, the ever alert, pointed our my need for super glue (the same glue that stuck 3 pairs of boxers together in my bag on the flight home) and we were off again.

After photo's with the German's we bid farewell to our little town with FAR too many beautiful women, and far too much beautiful scenery before heading back to Bris Vegas.

Of course being a surfing tour (sort of anyway) meant stopping at every beach on the way back, and not to mention the best bakery in NSW “Hot Bread Bakery” in Brunswic.

The surf was quiet at our regular stops, and judging by the wind at Cabarita we nearly bypassed it. Single to 1/1/2 over heads stretching from the far right point right the way down to the left beach where I first jumped on the board, then fell off, then got back on, then fell off again and again and again. Too big too big would be the cry.

Off again, stopping at Kira, Snapper, Coolongatta and our last stop.

The last stop was D-Bar but with a sore right hip and lack of surfing fitness Rol's was the only one who hit the water.

Sitting back on the “grassy nowl” with nearby kids inches away from a lawsuit, I brought out the guitar and played to the ocean. No one stopped and listened, but being in the sun watching the waves and the surfers while strumming away with nowhere to be pretty much summed up what I loved about the trip.

Back on Huessler Street I got one of my anxious “fuck it lets go to the pub” feelings so we sat there, Jim and I and watched Australia make history while getting slightly sauced. Unfortunately someone had 5 beers and wanted to rage all night, and although thanks were passed on in the morning, there was definate distress at night.

That leaves us on Saturday. The final part of the holiday chapter, and things were looking good. We hadn't drunk so much that I had no recollection, that Jim wanted to go home early, or that Roland was a broken shell of a man.

How much 24 hours can change a situation. But before I continue I have to mention that my friend, and pathological liar, did come to visit us at the pub on Friday. And although James made me say “slotted” while she was in ear shot, and the fact that she didn't recognise me from a foot away it was good to see her....... and her car....... which after a quick description Jim decided he had seen before, no need to leave the pub to see it again.

Anyway, we were dressed and ready to go to the races after another great breakfast at the pandamonium. After a middy at home we jumped in the cab with Joe, a friend of Roland from Mullins, and with directions from Joe headed off to Doomben.

Pretty soon we were in the Chief De Beers room with Joe, John, Mark, Jim, Rol's, Luke, Mark and Kate.

The pick of the day were the 2 girls in green being picked up by bogans while we stood on the members balcony reviewing the entire race course, or at least the crowd watching it. The worst was done by Mark (mullins) and I. Turned out that what was good from far was far FAR from good. In fact she was about 60 years far.

Next there were spirits, 14 rums on the table (thankyou Roland) and we were on a bus heading towards the GPO.

Now are Sterlo always says “If we freeze it here” the footage stops and we look at the playing field. Roland is throwing a handful of coasters across the bar, James is telling some pill popping kids he's a NSW policeman and I'm buying Vodka Smirnof Black for myself and 3 others. Alarm bells are ringing for our short term memories, knowing that only bad things can happen from here. So they do what they do best in this situation...............shut down.

Of course not all memories are lost. We can still identify the following
Someone hit on an engaged girl
Someone kissed a married woman near the toilet
Someone spent $41.00 at the servo
Someone had to catch a cab from around the corner because they were lost
Someone pashed a random chick until the pub closed at 5am
Someone got locked in a toilet
Someone hit on Michelle while completely naked (Michelle was clothed)
Someone was out danced 3 worms to 1 in a dance off.

When the morning rolled around I found myself hanging out in the front of a kabab shop enjoying a Diet Coke and speaking with two girls (I even remembered their names).

A short walk home found my usual bed taken so onto the floor with what felt like a bed sheet as a coushin, but by that stage I could have slept drenched in honey on a fire ants nest without complaint.

Unfortunately the sleep was far too short and I was soon retelling stories (and finding out some others) with Benny, Rol's, Jimmy and Michelle (I wonder why she slept on the couch and not in the room).

We had done it again. We had managed to make it through 7 days of relaxation with rol's before cramming in 3 months worth of anxiety into him within 24 hours.

The trip was over.

There was nothing left to do but pack our bags, load up the guitar and surfboard and think back on the fun we had all had over the past 10 days.

Although we finished feeling fairly ordinary on Sunday, those feelings were, eventually, well outweighed with the entertaining week before hand.

I laughed then, and each time I look back on the car ride out to the airport. Always a quiet ride, watching the cars pass us by as the sun sets over the horizon. Everyone is thinking about what had been done, try to remember what we'd forgotten, and striving to hold onto the feeling of being free and alive you only seem to get on holiday. And always, just as we pull up to the Virgin doorways Roland turns and says “Well boys you've done it again, you've destroyed me. Are you happy?” Of course it's always said in jest, but it's EVERY time we leave.

Shell of a man.

He calls every so often to make sure I'm saving up and have booked my flights, knowing full well he'll say he's happy to see the back of me at the end of the trip.

Ahh, although the staff change at the PADO, we meet different people, the Pandamonium moves down the road, we live with different people we can be sure that we will always leave him a shell of a man.

Although I've had many thoughts about it, the move to Brisbane would kill our careers, however we'd have the clothes on our back, guitars and surfboards, a bit of money and an entire countries coastline to explore and conquer.
As I sat back at the end of the bar at shenannigans, with completely new staff working and Louise crying on her way to the toilets I realised something.

Things will Inevitably change, however some things will always remain the same.

So from our trip to Brisbane, Coochie and Byron Bay I say goodbye, good luck and see you again in 2005

Festival of the Sun 2006

Another chapter of the two week east coast trip has been penciled in after I bought tickets to the Festival of the Sun.

The Festival of the Sun is on the weekend of the 15th - 16th December at the Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park in Port Macquarie.

The band line up includes

• Augie March
• The Beautiful Girls (I was lucky enough to film The Beautiful Girls in Darwin earlier this year, fingers crossed I can do the same.....)
• Faker
• Mia Dyson
• Blue King Brown
• The Fumes
• plus many more.........see the line up for more information

I missed Augie March earlier this year for 30th Birthday so I'm keen to see what they have to offer on stage. The Beautiful Girls gig was awesome at the Old Town Hall Ruins so I can't wait to see them on stage again.

The next step is to look around Port Macquarie and find a couple of easy breaks to surf in the mornings.

78 Days, 16 hours and 1 minute until the trip starts..............

Tips for relaxation and sleep

After being caught out for promising something and then not delivering, here's a few relaxation techniques. It might not seem to have much to do with a surf trip, but I had these problems going into a Surf Trip to Bali in 2005 and it's no fun being on holiday and not sleeping. These suggestions were all put into practice to help alleviate the sleep issue and enjoy my holiday.

In September 2005 I was Project Manager on a fairly large project at work, and while it was rare that I felt stressed the signs were definately manifesting themselves.

I was waking up 2-3 times a night thinking, and having just dreamed about, the project. Once awake I found it impossible, or at least very difficult, to get the thoughts out of my mind.

To compound things, I also had a constant twitch in my right eye. It would start shortly after I woke up each day and would come back anywhere between 5 - 20 times a day, sometimes for 1 minute, sometimes 5, sometimes 15 minutes at a time.

The strange thing is I didn't feel stressed, but my body was obviously telling me otherwise.

This all went away eventually, and it was thanks to the few suggestions I've listed below......

• Let all the thoughts come to you at once
  
  You're lying in bed but can't sleep because you're flooded with thoughts? Let them come, search for as many thoughts as possible and play each one out. After a while you'll find a) you've fallen asleep, or b) there are no longer any thoughts left so you can fall asleep.
  
  The idea is to stop worrying that the thoughts are stopping you from sleeping and embrace each of them until they no longer exist.


• Thoughts still there? Write them down
  
  Sometimes thoughts are tasks you didn't accomplish that day, or need to do tomorrow, sometimes they are ideas of posts for you blogs. What ever it is, it's something that you are worried about forgetting the next day.
  There's nothing you can actually do about them while you're in bed, so write them down.
  I sleep with a pad and pen next to the bed (or futon). If I have one of those thoughts I'll write them down, that way I know I've done something about them and I can stop worrying/thinking about it..... it's on the list for tomorrows tasks.


• Exercise. Run, swim, ride, walk, climb, yoga, pilates, pushups, crunches, surfing.................
  Ok, so you don't have to do them all, but some form of exercise tires the body, which in turn then requires the body to rest........... sleep!


• White/Black Board (circle work)
  Seem strange, it was when I heard about it too. Don't worry, it' doesn't involve hitting yourself over the head with a white board.
  
  Imagine a white board, like one you would have seen at primary school..... if white boards weren't around, imagine a black board, if they weren't invented then..... imagine a cave wall (and congratulations for still being alive!!! ;)
  
  Make a circle large circle on the board. Now put a big cross (X) in the middle of the circle. Get the eraser (this is tough on a cave wall) and erase the X in small circles starting in the middle and working your way slowly to the outside being carefull not to erase any of the circle.
  
  Once you're finished, write the word "deeper" on the right outside of the circle. Each time you write the word deeper, feel yourself getting drowsier and deeper in to sleep.
  
  Now write the number 99 in the middle of the circle. Erase the number using the same technique as the X. Once it's gone go over the word deeper again, remembering to feel yourself getting drowsy and deeper into sleep.
  
  Write the number 98 and so on and so on until you fall asleep.
  
  The important thing about this is you need to feel yourself falling further and further each time you write over the word deeper.
  

Let me know if this helps anyone, and if you have any other suggestions for relaxation or sleep. techniques?

Big Wave Surfing

FWWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Here are some movies from a typhoon in Japan and big wave suring at its best

Pros take on typhoon surf in Japan

Yoga for Surfers

I love to surf.

I love the practice of Yoga.

Both, at least for me, are very much a pursuit for the perfect moment.

Yoga can give you the feeling of completness, sustenance, fitness, flexability, calmness and the total acceptance of ones self in the moment.

Surfing offers the same thing, except the ocean is your yogi.

I decided that rather then list several poses now and continually update the post as I discover other poses, that this will serve as an index to Yoga poses that assist your surfing.

If you've found the perfect pose, please share it in the comments below.

Beginners (give me a week to prepare them)

Intermediate (give me a few months)

Advanced (give me a few years)

~ Namaste ~

86 Days 7 Hours and 51 Minutes

The trip is getting closer but I don't seem to be getting any fitter. In fact I think it's quite the opposite.

You know what it's like................ There's something on the horizon that you know you should be getting ready for, but it's still fare enough away to procrastinate the preparation. Next thing you know it's two weeks away, you're still 5 Kg over weight and the only fitness you have is the inability to fit into a pair of jeans.

So take II.....

I went for a run yesterday from work to the gym and nearly died (still it's much better then swimming). The weather in Darwin is strage at the moment. It's warm, very warm, but the air is still cold and dry (sounds strange hey). This leaves you sweating to death WHILE your lungs burn from the cold dry air.

Once at the gym, and 8 mouthfuls of water later, I was ready.

I have a thing about exercise though, and that is every time I try to get into I throw my back out. Not just a strain either, it's 2 weeks off work with daily physiotherapy, then back to 2 weeks of half days with physiotherapy twice a week. Then of course the sciatica kicks in, and for those of you that might share this condition, I share your pain.

Now the first 6 weeks of my gym routine is structured around core stability. I use a cut out core strength exercise routine from a Mens Health Magazine (or CLEO for me as my female friends have pointed out on more then one occasion).

While I was there I (stupidly) checked to see how close to my goal I had got and........................... 86KG. Yes, I've managed to inch further away from my target!

No more procrastinating

Top 5 reasons why running is better then swimming

I know what you’re thinking, isn’t running harsh on your knees? Isn’t swimming better for muscular recovery? This guy works for the government and has a blog, what would he know about fitness?

Well have you ever considered;

1. When you stop running half way because you're tired, you don't drown.
2. You don’t have to wear budgie smugglers to be accepted as a runner
3. You don’t shower with others after a run (too much nudity at swimming pool showers)
4. People don’t pee on the road while they run
5. When you get out of the shower after a run you don't still smell like chlorine.
   

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One Step Forward.........

.........and two bloody steps back.

It appears that my body is not designed to do itself any favours.

After a week of swimming, running, riding, meditation, yoga and vegetarianism (is that a word?) I've just endured a week of late nights, too much alcohol, not enough sleep and hotdogs.

We celebrated the birth of the first Lamberton boy last night, congratulations go out to Paul for breaking the 3 birth girl streak. A few quiet drinks turned into quite a few drinks, as to be expected from the Lamberton brothers, and while I'm not feeling the effects of the alcohol I most certainly am feeling the effects of 3 hours sleep.

At the moment I'm doing my utmost to try and focus on the task at hand but my mind keeps wandering off to say "Aren't you tired" "You really should get some sleep" "Why aren't we sleeping now" "You know 3 hours isn't enough sleep" "I wonder why they decided to make DVD's 4.7 Gig"

I think I'll take an early mark from the day and put my mind, and eyes, to rest.

Minimalist

Short post.

I'm down to 97 days, 7 hours, 54 minutes.

Oh, and today the boys have flown out to Bali on the September Sessions adventure. Bastards! For an update on how they're going check out the September Sessions link on the left on my homepage.