My Mind: Lifesized

Just arrived back from an incredible 12 day adventure in France...well not exactly twelve days: If you take off the travel time (11 hours to France 25 hours including layovers in Amsterdam, Detroit and Minneapolis back to Missoula) and the delays in travel while in France (Paris to Ennordres normally 2.5 hours took us 6 hours, CDG to Paris normally 45 minutes by Bus took us 6.5 hours by bus) then I guess our incredible adventure was more like 9 1/2 days. But we jammed as much as two people could in those 9 1/2 days. I kept a journal everyday, so look for some back dated posts with all the details. I had hoped to post as I went along but the French countryside is not dotted with internet cafes as I had hoped and we just got too busy to stop and check the internet. I had over 2000 email waiting for me upon my return (let's just say I know where to get "v1agra, "vaigra","v*agra", "weekend c1al1s" and every other sexual stimulant available by SPA...

I'm really starting to get excited about my trip to France. I must admit that when we originally decided to go, I wasn't that excited. I really want to get back to Thailand and to places like Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and South Korea so my thoughts were clouded by the recognition that a tript to France would put that dream vacation off for awhile. But as the time has drawn near and I've finally committed to a loose itenerary, I am totally psyched about France. I just found out that I'll be staying at this incredibly cool Bed & Breakfast in Bayeux, it is called the Manoir de Doyens and it was built in the 17th century. Here's a picture. The B & B is owned by a retired British Colonel, a M. J.P. Chilcott and his wife. He is a military historian and is famous for his private tours of the D-Day beaches and surrounding areas. We'll be staying in the attic, which suits me just fine. Bayeux is located in Calvados and is famous for its tapestry, wa...

So, according to sitemeter.com, I've had over 400 visitors to my little corner of the web since April 23, 2004 (when the site was created). When I changed my skin I lost the html that shows the visitor counter, but I still get the reports. If you're visiting me one day and suddenly I have hit counters all over the place, you'll know I've been up to no good. Today was a beautiful day here in Missoula and I spent most of it working outside and reflecting. Almost a year ago one of my good friends committed suicide and last night one of his very dear friends communicated her thoughts about him, his wife, his illness and life...it caused me to do quite a bit of thinking today, thinking that continues to bang about my head even as I write tonight. Excuse me for not wanting to elaborate much right now, perhaps another night I will. Mountain Stage is on PBS right now and the musicians are Paul Thorn and Bruce Hornsby. I hadn't heard of Thorn, but was intrigued whe...

From CNN: WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The nation's capital prepared to say its final goodbye to former President Ronald Reagan, who will be honored with a national funeral service Friday. The funeral, in Washington's soaring National Cathedral, is expected to draw about two dozen world leaders past and present, the U.S. political establishment, key figures in the Reagan administration, family and friends. It will unfold under extraordinary security. After the funeral, Reagan, who died Saturday at the age of 93 after a decade-long battle with Alzheimer's disease, will be returned to California for a sunset burial at his presidential library in Simi Valley.(Special Report: Ronald Reagan) The state funeral will begin with a formal military procession from the Capitol, where the body of the nation's 40th president has lain in state in the Rotunda since Wednesday night. Capitol Hill Police Chief Terrance Gainer told CNN around 89,000 mourners will have passed through...

Ray Charles was one of those American musicians whose music was instantly identifiable. His voice was very unique and he always seemed to be "working". Although many people under the age of 30 might only think he did commercials or Pop award shows, Ray had a long history of groundbreaking Soul music and was a beacon for many young musicians back in his heyday. He had been scheduled to perform here in Missoula but had to cancel his show earlier this year. It seems he was more ill than I imagined. I think his bio on the allmusic.com website is fitting to mention: Ray Charles was the musician most responsible for developing soul music. Singers like Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson also did a great deal to pioneer the form, but Charles did even more to devise a new form of black pop by merging '50s R&B with gospel-powered vocals, adding plenty of flavor from contemporary jazz, blues, and (in the '60s) country. Then there was his singing; his style was among the ...

I have been super busy this week, with a tremendous workload to wade through. Lots of little projects to complete, meetings to set up and two meetings that lasted until past 11:00 PM, so it was a totally wonderful surprise to chat with my friend Sunha (Sunny) this morning. Sunny was in her computer lab, on the campus of Sungkyunkwan University , helping a friend complete a paper in English (I can't even imagine how I would've dealt with having to complete all my papers in English and then in, say, Spanish). Sunny is just, well, sunny. Just look at her! I was first introduced to her by another Korean girl named Kiki (actually her name is Kyeonghee), who I met back in Indianapolis. Kiki was taking ESL courses at Butler University and she lived in the same house as a Brazilian girl (Graziella) whom I met because she needed help with her Visa...BUT I DIGRESS. Kiki was someone I liked instantly and so I spent some time showing her Indianapolis and generally making sure ...

Ronald Reagan passed away today in California. He was 93. I actually voted for him in my first Presidential election. Despite my political leanings, I felt he was doing the right thing to kick start our economy and also, like most Americans at the time, I felt the USSR was a big threat to our country. And even though he put our country into huge debt that took many years for us to dig out of, he did bring a sense of pride (well, at least until Iran-Contra opened my eyes and alot of other people too) back to the country.

I was talking with my friend Pat Gallagher today via email. He's headed for London to meet up with his wife, Caroline and their two boys, Patrick and Michael. Pat and I went to Purdue together and are fraternity brothers. I was browsing my calendar and remembered their anniversary was this week. "How many years?", I asked...lucky number 13. It's hard to believe it has been 13 years since we all almost wrecked Wheaton, Illinois in one night. How many people did we have in that bath tub anyway? Oh and Caroline's mother (poor thing had a room right next to the action) was as patient as she could be, but the look on her face when she came in the room at about 3:00 AM is still burned into my mind. Priceless. Anyway, Pat and I used to exchange mixed cassette's of music we thought each other would like...Pat introduced me to many bands and musicians and we've gone to a fair amount of live music shows over the past 20 plus years (holy smokes we're gett...

I'm trying to figure out how to get my photo added to the "my profile section", so I'm going to try outwitting blogger by first posting it here and then mapping the subsequent url to the picture page. Holy cripes, it's 8:15 PM, what the hell am I still doing at work? John Tiberon.jpg

I know, it's been almost 5 days since I've posted and you must just be itching for Johnny O news. Well first off, the Ultimate team I played on at Bozofest last weekend, the Flycoons, WON THE TOURNEY! Damn, it figures, I didn't play on Sunday and they won. Now I'll spend the rest of my days wondering if they would have still won had I played? If you follow the logic from the German movie Run, Lola, Run (you know, every human interaction changes the course of all life) the answer is maybe they would not have won, but then again maybe I would've just spent my Sunday being happy rather than feeling like a cad for leaving town. But I digress. The team had an amazing day on Sunday, beating Denver's 2003 nationals qualifier DTL (Drive Thru Liquor) 15-3, Winnipeg's 2003 Canadian mixed champions Chaos 9-7 and stomping Edmonton's Psychoplastique 15-5 in the finals. The weather was still not anything to write home about, but the play was stellar and I...