I haven't posted as much as usual this week because Emiana and I went away for the weekend to the land of sheep and ales. I just finished posting a review of the trip and muchos photos over at my ontoTravel blog.
Click here to see the photos.
Click here to read my review of the trip (and of a fantastic blog about pubs in the land of sheep and ales).
Cheers,
Chris
Scottish Ads Target Alcohol Use, Ritual
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York Times
Filed at 11:26 a.m. ET August 22, 2006
Now the round is under threat from Scottish lawmakers who believe the custom feeds into Scotland's notorious alcohol problems by creating enormous social pressure on pub-goers to take their turn buying drinks ...
Click here to read the full article.
So in my last post, I mentioned how cool it would be if an online dating service for admirers of dancing outlaw Jesco White existed. Well, clicking around the web and checking out Jesco info, I came across Jescofest 2006, a music and arts festival in southern West Virginia to benefit "Jesco White, the Boone County Dancing Outlaw." This event sounds like a very good cause and a very good time. Jescofest will be held August 26 and 27.
I was just perusing the latest posts on the cookie wonton blog, when I came across this post about the Atlasphere, an online dating service for Ayn Rand admirers. Hey, why not?
According to the Atlasphere's "About the Atlasphere" webpage, the service was created to fill "the need for a place where admirers of Ayn Rand's novels from around the world can meet easily and affordably — 365 days a year — to network, find shared interests, and perhaps, through our online dating service, even fall in love.
I think this sort of niche dating is a great idea and only wish that, back in my bachelor days, there had been a Jesco-sphere online dating service for admirers of dancing outlaw Jesco White. Artist Profile: Rhys Hall 
Recently, while perusing the Tiki Central forums, I came across the impressive carvings of New Zealand artist Rhys Hall. Apparently, Rhys was scoping me out too, as our correspondence began with his asking about my Easter Island travelogue.
When you think Rhys, think tiny. What first attracted me to his works was how intricately carved they are considering that many of them are small pendants to be worn around the neck.
Rhys hails from Australia but has lived in New Zealand since 1984. For much of his youth, Rhys lived at Birdling's Flat at the base of Banks 
Peninsula, “a windswept and desolate beach where I first learnt about carving from a local family, and discovered my passion for stones and found objects.” This passion is evident in his art, which incorporates his love of beachcombing and of the natural forms of pebbles. The result is a unique style that is strongly influenced by early 20th century sculpture as well as traditional art forms of New Zealand and the Pacific.
In 2000, Rhys moved to the West Coast to study jade and hard stone carving with the goal of supporting himself and family solely on his artwork. After completing his diploma qualification in 2002 and serving a short stint as a commercial carver and lapidary worker, Rhys began working fulltime as a self-employed artist since 2004, opening his permanent workspace and launching his website.
Click here to visit Rhys’s website.
Click here to read about Rhys on Tiki Central.
See below for a complete listing of this week's posts.
And so we come to the end of our journey. I hope you enjoyed the stroll down memory lane as much as I did. Looking back over the first nine years of my life, I have to say that year four was probably the most memorable. As for the 25 years since I was a nine-year old, keep reading. Take care.
Chris was in Miss Van Prooyen's class in fourth grade. He joined the jogging club. He started collecting comic books and patches. He had a penpal who lives in Canada. He started taking piano lessons.
Whoa! Looks like I liked that birthday party at McDonald's so much that I went back for more! I guess the eighth year of my life marked the beginning of my "husky" period. And what's up with that Star Trek commander shirt?
He joined Cub Scouts in third grade. He was in Miss Pence's class that year too. He started collecting rocks, stamps, and toy cars. He was on Star and Honor Roll in school.
Ah, how innocent.
Chris was in Mrs. Webb's room in the second grade. He learned how to write that year. He had a birthday party at McDonald's.
He went to Chickamauga Elementary in first grade. He made a lot of new friends, and his teacher was Miss Autry. He went to the Atlanta Zoo, too. His brother, Phil, got married, and Chris was the ring bearer.For the record, I only liked two things about playing tee-ball. One was retrieving homeruns because that meant I got to climb over the fence and explore the woods and creek behind the field (yes, I played outfield). The other was "red" flavor Kool-Aid at the end of each practice.
Chris went to Happy Valley School Kindergarden when he was five. He did well in school. He played tee-ball. His dad helped coach the team.
This was a phenomenal year for me. Our Florida vacation rocked my world: my memories of Disney World (Enchanted Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean) and of Gatorland still influence and inform my view of the cosmos to this day.
He went to Fairview Kindergarden when he was four. He had lots of fun learning new things and playing with the kids. He played tee-ball. His favorite adventure was his trip to Disney World.
Pretty dashing for a three-year old, huh? I'm wearing my favorite boots in this photo. I'll post the next three years tomorrow!
He had lots of fun his third year. He loved the Winnie the Pooh characters, and his favorite one was Tigger. His favorite TV show was Happy Days.
Here's the next chapter in my life. Check out Mom's hair!
Chris was very active his second year. It was hard to keep him out of things. He got his first haircut that year too. He also had a kitten named Nugget.
Once upon a time, a boy by the name of Christopher John Osburn was born at Tri-County Hospital at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. He weighed 6 pounds and was 21 inches long. His family thought he was cute, and they called him Chrissy Pooh. He lived and still does at 10 26 Crestridge Drive, Rossville, Georgia.See below for a listing of my most recent posts.
