No different than the relationships in the most peasantist (read spanish/italian) of romantic movies, my relationship to Playa del Carmen is no different. I absolutely love this place, and couldn’t dislike it more at the same time.

The Beaches

I love them because they are never more than 5 minutes away… Gorgeus, pristine, white, and they never get annoyingly hot like in Sicily or on the pacific coast. The Riviera Maya, even though its immense development boom still boasts a vast amount of empty desolate beaches to be enjoyed by no other than me and my woman!

I dislike them because they are way too close everytime I’m working. Sitting at home, reading about this, in the middle of winter, reminding you of how gorgeus they are, well then, think about poor little me! Everytime I walk out the door there’s 20 dirty hippies heading to the beach, while I’m off to work…

The Restaurants

I like the fact there are so many of them, everywhere I go there’s one. Every restaurant is different than the previous one, with the next one serving better food than the previous one.

I dislike the fact that they’re never consistent. My parents place manage to pull off a pretty good job on the Pizzas and pastas, much like Chicago’s or now Chez Matisse has always managed to keep a constant level of quality. However, not many other places manage to produce a consistent level of quality, besides the taco stands… And its a bummer when you go to your favorite place and one night its awesome, the next its terrible… Plus, the Riviera Maya has a serious lack of fresh vegetables, and anyone who thinks that a Restaurant in Playa is making money better rethink it. Groceries, if you want quality that is, is seriously expensive.

5th Avenue

My favorite part of town. Forget the Beaches, I absolutely love walking up and down this everchanging avenue. There isn’t a day that passes by that the place is the same. Go for dinner at my parents’, or Babes or anywhere else, and then just stroll up to Ah Cacao on 30th and 5th, indulge in some ice cream, peoplewatching and then head back home… Its impossible to describe the feeling. Everything at ease.. its just amazing…

Though I really really really dislike all the vendors that bug me anytime I walk with an englishspeaking person… Seriously. There should be a ban on this. It is nowhere close to as bad as in many other places, and the government do an amazing job at keeping things in check along 5th, but seriously, the area around Juarez towards the ferry dock is a place I stay away from. The rest of 5th is great, but I never walk past 4th street. Also, during extreme high season.. Do people really have to walk that slow??

Its Cheap!

Living in Playa is really really cheap. I live better down here than I ever did back home in Sweden. Im young, with a maid and never do my own laundry or housecleaning… I am ridiculously spoiled.

That means labour is cheap ergo – education is lacking. In such a developing part of mexico, its easy to forget that 20 years ago most of these people had almost never seen a car. There’s a huge transition taking place, and some of the big peasantist spanish developers are doing more and more good for the area. The Sandos Eco-club is an extremely well designed initiative, proving that there’s more to a developers than the dollar sign in their eyes.. In a developing part like the Yucatan, its even hard to blame the local government for not taking a better initiative, they just don’t know any better. Plus the local population is so uneducated on the importance of democracy or politics that many times its just left for grabs. Its sad, but as long as everyone of us are pitching in to make a difference in anyway we can, its all good. In the end a society only gets what it works for as a whole. In the nowadays cliché phrase of John F. Kennedy – ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.

Internet.

I Love that this is one of the most wireless towns I’ve ever visited or lived in, and almost every place has it available free of charge. For a guy like me who works a lot on the move around town, its awesome. I am never more than 100 meters away from being able to send off a contract. Yes – I know there are 3G modems you can buy, but its not cheap or fast enough to warrant it quite yet. Plus, why should I spend 75 dollars a month for an internet service that I can get anywhere in town?

I really dislike Grupo Carso though. The Internet is available everywhere, however, its REALLY SLOW.. Seriously, with such a huge monopoly, Telcel has haltered innovation completely in this country. Its ridiculous. Back home in Sweden my brother has 100 mbit, which for even you american readers is unheard of. And he pays not even 50 USD per month for it. And I have to shovel close to 100 for 4mbit. Not fun at all.

‘Nuff ranting, time for a meeting and justifying why anyone should ever spend any money on marketing or product design/branding. Yes, two slabs of concrete and a roof can make up for a condo. But if you add a couple of amenities, a little bit of service, some extra nice furnishings and, make it a simple and intuitive product, what do you know? You actually might have a product someone would like!

All the best everyone,

Yurij

yurij.gabassi [at] me.com

“After a visit to the beach, it’s hard to believe that we live in a material world.” – Pam Shaw

If I were to write a book on how to live happily ever after, this would be at the top of my list of guidelines:

“Never say no to a day at the beach.”

Photo taken at Pico de Loro, Batangas.

The best way to deal with life in a big city is to escape to the nearest beach.

Photo taken at Pico de Loro, Batangas.

According to Wikipedia – And Introduction Species is – An introduced, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its native distributional range, which has arrived there by human activity, either deliberate or accidental.

Our little friend was waiting for Jon in the parking lot just after 72nd street - 
A Rusty Millipede, Homeschooler’s Friend.

Love Freo headed over to South Beach after work today. The sand was still hot and the water was warm.

Aprés Work

We went to the science center today- They have a $10.00 suggested donation per family – Well Worth It! I’ll start at the end, and say that the book store was a homeschooler’s dream for science curriculum! The whole family got to go and we really enjoyed all the items to touch, feel, browse, hear, and read. We will be going back soon!

 
http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/visitor/

Here are a few pics –

Moon Jelly Fish – one of the first loves of ours at the beach.  It started all sorts of questions which we wrote out in a science class here and then led to their first report on the coast – also written about during a homeschool day here.

Our last waiting question about Moon Jelly Fish – is STILL unsolved!  How many eggs does a medusa adult jelly fish lay?  So – we were directed to a research scientist form NOAA and instructed to ask a more focused question of: “How many eggs does a female Jelly Fish have beneath her bell?”.  I’ll be sure to let you know if we find out.

Here are some random pics of the fam enjoying the day:

So, it is believed this is the shipwrecked hulk of the Canadian Export, which reportedly ran aground and broke apart in August 1921

While the name and specific details of this hulk’s demise are still a mystery, one thing is clear: this vessel’s timbers have been scorched almost its entire length.

Some dune repair was and is still going on at South Beach today…

This involves gathering up lots of plant matter like branches for a base.

The guy in blue is thatching them in to the sand.

Then the wind and the sand does its work and gradually builds up a dune around the man-made base.

For more info about dune regeneration and the guy behind it (Shayne Boyle) have a look at page ten of Fremantle City News

It just goes to show -  that ya never know what you’ll find during a walk on the beach.

It was high tide, the waves were up to the sea wall in spots, and we needed to wear out the pup on a half hour walk before our expected company arrived.

The whole family danced with fancy footwork on the rocks to escape the tragedy of wet tennis shoes.

Suddenly, Nate ran out to the water and then back screaming and wailing,  “A Blue Agate. A Blue Agate, I found a Blue Agate!”. I thought he was making it up and would hold up a piece of hard blue plastic smoothed by the waves, but low and behold it was a huge blue geode!

Does it only come to rock hounds? The sure and utter joy of discovery? The overwhelming joy for those who find a rare item?  He said that only the tip was out of the sand, and that he thought it was just a sugar agate but something sparkled on it and he was curious, then went to the water to wash it off and came unglued with excitement.

Trying to show how the light shows through.
Measures 6.5 mm /2.5 inches from widest points long,
26mm/1.75 inches tall.

Here is another find from about 2 weeks ago in the same area, we are not sure what it is, but it sure glistens in the sun!

Could this be a black banded agate?
This is about 3 inches long, 1.75 inches wide.

If you know anything about agates and have any tips of identification, let us know!  We went to Bob’s Books in Lincoln City yesterday to pick up a great Agate book.   It was just over $5.00.  We want to get down to the Facet’s Shop in Newport to have them look at the geode.  We are really enjoying looking for the Agates in the Central Oregon Coast – I can’t wait to see what the ocean churns up as the storms move here for the winter!

Our favorite easy to access spot – This is facing north, after we’ve walked about a mile south down the beach. But if you walk north, to the end there, where the rock jets out –

During a low tide, a severe low tide, you can climb around this rock at the end and –

Come around to the “mystery” beach. Not sure why it’s a mystery, but it is hard to access. Only about an hour a day, twice a day, and not at all low tides. But we’ve been working on going back  – this week we did! It was SUPER cold and windy, the wind coming off the beach whipping the surf into thick whipping cream foam, the foam blowing around all over.  But the view is amazing! We sat on the beach for about a half an hour and found a zip lock baggie full of red/green/white and yellow agates.

The green is hardest to find, there is an inch long one there in the front, Jon found that beauty.

View of Mystery Beach on a less windy day.

From the closest parking area, it is about a 3/4 or more mile hike to the end, then the climb around the tip, then a half hour to an hour of seclusion on the beach. Walking back with a jingle of agates in your pocket is amazing. We are meeting quite a few rock hounds, learning about the beaches in the area. This spot in Lincoln City seems to be good enough for us. Like fishing, it seems that the best hole is always a bit down the road. . . . but this spot is good for us. We are learning so much! Very exciting. Hope you get to join us one day!

(Agate, Lincoln City, Yellow, Green, Orange, Carnelian, Agate, Sugar, Rock Hound)

I was assigned here three months ago in the City of Hallendale Beach Florida. Initially, I thought I would never like this place. I am not a beach lover. I prefer hilly suburbs. As time passed by, I have begun to appreciate the place where I will be staying for the next 10 months for the following reasons stated

1. The LGU keeps an open communication lines with its constituents as they keep the residents aware through good information dissemination of activities and services available within the City. Twice a year, a newsletter is published containing the ranking events, proclamations and updates on services (i.e., instruction, legal services, garbage collection, housing, etc). The residents are also involved in numerous events and gatherings as they are encouraged to join boards, citizens committees and several volunteer groups.

2. Services accessible provide to the needs of every generation, outgoing or otherwise—for those young at heart, there is a Senior Activity Center with free transportation services for residents 60 years and older to enhance their independence, wellness, and social environment. It also offers enhanced fitness program , bingo, and ballroom sessions.

For single woman like me who wants to stay fit, I am grateful there is a wide array of fitness centers open in Hallendale. Personally, I like what they offer, such as Hallendale Beach Spinning Classes offered by Premier Health and Fitness. It provides group exercises which include yoga, aerobic and spinning classes. For the best Hallendale Beach personal training program, you may try Hallendale Beach Aerobic Classes. Your workout program changes as your body changes.

Living in Hallendale is not as bad as I imagined. It feels like I’m home.

Love Freo is pleased about being a winner in Corbis’ Creatives Behind the Lens competition, which originated in Europe three years ago and has been held in Australia for the first time. The winning photograph (‘South Beach’) was taken at a hazy early morning down at South Beach last autumn. While the Melbourne Man went for a swim a rainbow appeared in the haze and I was just so glad I had brought my camera. Together with the very few other early morning dog walkers I marveled at this beautiful performance of nature.

The 47 national winners were invited to Sydney, where our work was unveiled at a private view at the Museum of Contemporary Arts last week, followed by a party at one of the best locations in Australia – MCA’s rooftop balcony right at Circular Quay with stunning views over the harbour, Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

Corbis is planning to bring the exhibition to Perth early next year and is looking for interesting locations. I suggested Creatures Loft and Fremantle Arts Centre, but if you have other ideas, please let me know and I’ll forward them.

View all winners here or read an article about the event here.
For prints of the winning photo, please contact us.

W październiku 2002 roku Aleksy Uchański i Marcin Przasnyski wraz z grupą zapalonych redaktorów (m.in. Dariusz J. Michalski, Michał Nowakowski, Tadeusz Zieliński, Krzysztof Papliński czy Jakub Kowalski) reaktywowali pierwsze polskie czasopismo o grach. Ich cel nakreślony we wstępniaku był jasny: przywrócić wiarę w dobre teksty, przypomnieć na czym polega radość z inteligentnej lektury.

Wydawcą pisma został Axel Springer Polska (znany polskim graczom m.in. z takich tytułów jak Play czy Komputer Świat GRY).

W pierwszym odnowionym Top Secret mogliśmy przeczytać łącznie piętnaście recenzji  takich tytułów jak m.in. Aliens vs Predator 2: Primal Hunt, Age of Wonders II, Beach Life, Disciples 2, MotoGP czy Zanzarah: The Hidden Portal. Oczywiście nie obyło się też bez recenzji wielkiego hitu tamtych czasów, gry pt. Nina Kroniki Agenta: Tunele Afganistanu .

Redaktorzy TS’a donosili w obszernych tekstach o nadchodzących hiciorach: Counter Strike: Condition Zero, Hitman 2, Icewind DAle 2, Neverwinter Nights czy No One Lives Forever 2.

Jednym z hitów numeru był ośmiostronicowy poradnik do Warcraft III (co ciekawe: w spisie treści podano zły numer strony) przygotowany przez Dariusza Michalskiego.

Nowością w tego typu czasopismach (tj. poświęconym grom na PC) był dział Tapeta, jak pisali redaktorzy: Coś dla oka. Nowe gry chwalą się piękną grafiką. Tutaj podziwiamy najlepsze z nich. I przyznać trzeba, że był to dział niezwykle efektowny. Szerokie ujęcia m.in. z trzeciego Dooma mogły przyśnić się  po nocach, a i zmęczeni gracze uciskiem szkoły/pracy czasem po prostu wolą zawiesić oko na jakiejś ładnej grafice w dużej rozdzielczości.

Inne działy nowego TS’a to News, Tipsy, WWW, Techno, Forum, Tylor (…humorystycznie) i dobra publicystyka zamieszczona w Varii i słowie od Martineza.

Całość kosztowała 15zł, a poza tekstami nie brakło też dwóch płyt CD (na jednej z nich pełna wersja kultowego Thiefa).

a

Kilka zrzutów z niniejszego numeru:

i’m beginning to think i should move to seattle or the pacific northwest since these rainy days make me feel giddy.

or maybe it’s these boots! hee-hee!

giddiness aside, i actually donned them to go venture into the wild nor’easater blowing its way across the little sandbar we call home. lots of flooding, marooned vehicles, impassable roads, ocean sand two-three blocks away from the beach, and houses on the verge of being taken by the sea. the studio, thankfully, is high and dry, though some lower-lying neighbors aren’t so fortunate. it makes you realize how just 2-3 feet in elevation can really make a difference. for our luck, i am thankful and my heart goes out to those that are struggling with losses this morning.

one of the best things about living in a small community is the way people come out to help each other when there’s a real need. living in this fragile environment, that need arises more that we’d like to see. but thankfully we’re there for each other…

yesterday, i got to see a beautiful great blue heron wading across the lake that was previously my road. i’m not sure she was going to find any fish there but she seemed optimistic about it. more likely, she knows something i don’t.

xo*m

No, really. It is when you live on the coast

hehehehe….no, that’s just something my son found before we saw this:

And here is an old saw my son found in the sand by the hulk. It’s still covered with some of the sand it was buried in. If the maritime historical exports are right, and this it the Canadian Export (a log transport ship that sank in August 1921) then this saw has been with this ship in the sand here for about 90 years!