Posted: 2 years ago

Well we have returned safely to Phoenix, Az. from our summer vacation.

It was a sometimes busy, sometimes not so busy time. Attended son's wedding in Tokyo, Japan, and had dinner with Ryofu during our week there.

Had an assignment at the NCAA (college) Track and Field National Championships.  Lots of good performances, the weather was terrible until the last day.

Visited with friends and family in Oregon and Washington, attended former Rotary Club meetings, and spent a week in our condo on the beach in Seaside, Oregon.  For the most part the weather again was unseasonably cool and wet.

We ended our trip home with a stop in Sin City (Las Vegas) for a couple of days.

4000 miles later on the car, 10,000+ air miles it was quite a trip.

Posted: 2 years ago

Sounds like quite a summer to remember, Lew! Welcome home!

 Larry Levenson / Prescott Valley, Arizona USA

Posted: 2 years ago

@ Larry and family: it sure was fun and so very nice to meet you here in Tokyo :)

Posted: 2 years ago

Thanks Ryofu.  .. . but that was Lew, not Larry. Lew . .. rhymes with haiku! :)

 Larry Levenson / Prescott Valley, Arizona USA

Posted: 2 years ago

Well, i think i just witnessed one of the worst matches of the World Cup and I saw most of them.  As Lalas said it was a pig of a game.  It was not entertaining at all.  At least it didn't come down to PK's.

Robben will be seeing his missed opportunity in his sleep tonight for the Netherlands.

Congrats to Spain.

Posted: 2 years ago

lew, we didn't even bother watching it (kick-off would have been at 3:30AM anyway).

Posted: 2 years ago

Well, of course, if you live in Brazil, football takes priority over almost everything else.  Yes, I watched most of the games in the World Cup and I agree that the final game was one of the worst.  Bot teams were disgustingly disorganized and un-necessarily physical.  (How many yellow cards?  I was surprised the red card didn't come out until the very end.)  I was glad when Spain scored...not because I cared, but because I wanted the game to end without the agony of a shootout.

This year, as a new resident of Brazil, I had three teams to cheer for...USA, Japan, and of course, Brazil.  Japan because of my friends of nearly 30 years who live in Ibaraki.  The teams went out in that order.

Next time, the Wold Cup will be hosted by Brazil and some of the games will be played close to where I live.  I'm thinking I'd rather watch on TV.  I can tell you this: I would not have endured sitting in one of those stadiums in South Africa with that constant droning of the plastic trumpets.  It must have driven the players crazy.  Maybe that's why the final game was such a mess.

Posted: 2 years ago

THE LITTLE THINGS: What has happened to my world? I watch the television, without any sound but with delayed written sub-notes, and all that I see are images and writings about Chelsea Clinton upcoming wedding. What has happened to our national media, its conscience and its integrity? The major questions of this day are: Where in the 90-mile radius of New York City is the wedding going to be held? Who, exactly, are on the wedding list? What do we know about the senator’s son that Chelsea is marrying (I know that they gave his name and it starts with an M – I believe). Since Chelsea is letting her hair grow longer, is this a preamble to an “up-do”? Will President Obama change his mind and attend? Since the list is only 400 guests (small for the Clintons), how was it put together? And if these fascinating questions were not enough, how do we dream up new ones to fill the air time that is normally given to such things as: the war and dead in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan,  possibly nation building NOW for the next 20 years in the Sudan (if the elections there are proven to be rigged), the recession, unemployment, the deficit, diplomatic attempts to stop Iran and North Korea selling their atomic bomb secrets to terrorist groups, the body count in Mexico in the drug wars, and how to keep illegal aliens from crossing America’s borders for a better life and to get away from the daily killings/poverty in South America. And these are but a few of the ‘wonderful’ news items that we normally get with such relish, seriousness and time (these normally fill at least 80% of a news show, with another 10% on car crashes, fires, murders, police standoffs, chases for a criminal, sex crimes, or just rush hour traffic jams for our good citizens in Houston, waiting for more news while you sit doing nothing).

On leaving the Y, going to the car to wait on Anne who is doing ‘water aerobics’ without the joys of television, I listen to Michael Crawford of Phantom of the Opera fame and watch the rain drops form on the windshield. I notice the patterns of “golden section” raindrops in their spacing and then an ‘ah ha’ hits me: ‘I have been thinking and talking about the clusters that I draw and paint in my art work, and I see them forming here as the rain falls, dissolves and then appears again before my eyes. These known clusters come as welcomed friends so I know that the world is in the right order and all is well. But what about the millions of other clusters that are formed that are not ‘golden sections’ that I lightly see because they are the ‘unknown world’ in my visual education?

It is like going to a large party where you know only a few of the guests; you go to those you know and strike up a conversation. It takes an act of will to make ‘yourself’ available and open to the unknown guests who are also there. You know that you are all there for a reason; you were invited so someone knows that reason. But you hold back at first, not wanting to seem too aggressive, too forward.’

It is the same with raindrops. There are too many patterns of clusters. In a lifetime, can I see them all and understand why we both were invited to this life? As an artist and a person who loves questions, I must try.

Therefore, today, I will take the little things on the wind shield, the rain drops, and explore new relationships, but there are some things, I know, that will always be just “little-things-unexplorable”. It is just like television. I will have to find something interesting in the Chelsea Clinton wedding, in the joy of Bill and Hilary for their only daughter (the one that some in the media feel helped their marriage together in ‘bad times’ in the White House), and in some of the unknowns in the guest list, the location and the reasons behind all the planning and secrecy for this ‘special occasion in the history of the world’ on this day, this media moment.

I am a little sad though because with Chelsea pushing all the news from the television, I may NEVER learn the important ‘little things’ of these days: like, I will never know the make and colors of the crayons that the “too fast, too soon” Hollywood star Lindsay Lohan is taking with her to jail/rehab to do her art projects. Sadness almost overwhelms me, but I shrug away that disappointment and say to myself, “C’est le vie!”

BUT IT IS THE LITTLE THINGS THAT TAKE UP OUR MOMENTS IN LIFE (ALL WE HOPE IS THAT THEY GROW TO BE MAJESTIC, TALL TREES AS WE TAKE TIME FROM OUR LIFE TO PLANT THE SMALL SEEDS OF ATTENTION AND HOPEFLLY NOT CREATE PILES OF WASTED EFFORT.  EXCEPT…MAYBE EVEN ‘WASTED EFFORT’ IS NOT WASTED IF WE LEARN AND WE GROW TALLER IN UNDERSTANDING AND KNOWLEDGE.  JUST MAYBE!

Posted: 2 years ago

It's the "little things" of life that often fascinate me, too...especially in  the realm of nature.  I can't think of any reason why I would want to know that Chelsea is getting married, let alone the many details of the wedding.  But for appreciating nature, Colorado was a wonderful place to live.

Every year I marveled as I walked the mountain meadows an observed the tiny wild flowers in bloom.  That nature should compose beauty in such magnificent detail in a flower no larger than a key on my cell phone is simply awesome.  And with much of the meadow densly covered with such tiny flowers it was as if I was walking on a carpet woven of threads of many colors...yellow, red, blue, purple, white, and more.

Where I lived in Colorado, I would often awaken in the morning and find five or six young deer grazing in the woods behind the house.  Or I would be greeted by some as I parked my car in the afternoon.  I'd have a pleasant conversation with one of them near my open window before I opened the car door.

Then there were the black bears...mama and her two cubs...who regularly showed up in the yard, usually at night but occasionally in broad daylight.  They loved rummaging in the trash cans, but often could be seen eating the berries from the bushes in the forest the other side of the creek.

The foxes with their long bushy tails.  The reccoons...the masked raiders, I called them...politely seeking a handout.  And my buddy, Max the squirrel...who came every morning for the pieces of cookie I gave him.

But what fascinated me most were the variety of birds.  As a private pilot, I loved watching the hawks soaring above the house and taking advantage of the rising currents of air to gain altitude.  I remember how I did that in my mountain flying check-rided, and what a thrill it was.  And they do it seemingly effortlessly.  And then I'd watch the smaller birds flying through the woods at high speed and ask how.  The woods were dense with tree branchse covered with leaves.  How did they miss them as they flew so fast?  Incredible!!!  And the hummingbirds hovering motionless except for the blurr of their wings.  Then they'd dart off to another place in almost instant acceleration.  Two speeds...stop and go, changed in a microsecond.

There's plenty of wild life in Brazil, but I've seen only a few.  Capivara, lobo (wolf), lagarta (a lizard about 3 ft long), and plenty of interesting birds.  The Maritaca, a green bird similar to a parrot, I joke is definitely a Brazilian...the get together in groups, all talking loudly at the same time.  There are hawks they like to soar over the trees on the other side of the street.  And anywhere there is a body of water there will probably be several garça (a white heron).

And flowers!!!  There are flowers everywhere.  Not the micro-miniature type of the Colorado mountains, but flowering trees, flowering bushes, flowering plants...growing wild.  The forest across the street is ablaze with color most of the warm season.  And the hortencia (known as hydrangia in the USA) grows wild in this region, as well as being planted decoratively.

There is natural beauty beyond description everywhere in the world...from the deserts of Arizona to the mountains of Colorado to the lush forests of Brazil.  How comforting it is to leave the chaos of the "civilized" world and retire to the beautiful fields of natural creation.  It's way better than television.

Posted: 2 years ago

More Little Things:

ON A DAY WHEN NOT MUCH IS HAPPENING, WHEN I AM GETTING READY TO SEND OFF A PROGRAM TO THE ROTARY E-CLUB WHERE I AM THE PRESIDENT, PLUS AN INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHT, PLUS THE PRESIDENT’S GREETING AND THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER (WHERE I CAN USE MANY OF THE EXPANDED THOUGHTS THAT ARE BORN IN MY JOURNALS), I GET OUR MAIL AND ALL THAT SUPPOSIVELY ‘BIG STUFF’ IN OUR LIVES IS PLACED ASIDE UNTIL LATER TO GIVE ROOM FOR THE ‘LITTLE STUFF’ THAT JUST CAME IN. TODAY, IT IS THE WINNING OF AN AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FOR A PAINTED LONGHORN THAT WAS DONE A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO (THERE WAS A CHECK IN THE MAIL THAT WENT WITH THE AWARD WHICH CERTAINLY ADDED A LITTLE SPICE TO THE LETTER); AND ALSO THERE IS THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE 11ST ANNUAL FAMILY REUNION WHICH WE TRAVEL BACK TO PITTSBURGH TO ATTEND IN THE LOW MOUNTAINS AT THE BEGINNING OR THE MIDDLE OF AUGUST IN UPPER PENNSYLVANIA. IT IS A SPECIAL TIME TO RECONNECT WITH MY SISTER (WHO HAS BEEN ILL LATELY BUT, LIKE ALL THE KAGLES SHE WILL NOT ALLOW THAT TO SLOW HER DOWN- SHE STILL WILL BE THE CAMP DIRECTOR WITH THE GAMES FOR THE ADULTS AND THE CHILDREN (AND MANY TIMES IF YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES, YOU CANNOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE AT ONE OF THESE REUNIONS) AND MY BROTHER. MY SISTER LIVES IN NEW JERSEY AND MY BROTHER NOW LIVES IN SOUTH CAROLINA. ALL THE OTHER RELATIVES AND FRIENDS AT ONE OF THESE SESSIONS (WE HAVE 50-75 NORMALLY ATTEND) COME FROM FAR AND NEAR. I SIT IN A CORNER AND DRAW, ENTERTAIN THE LITTLE, NEW KIDS WITH MY ONE MAGIC TRIP, AND TALK WITH MY SIBLINGS WHEN THEY ARE NOT TALKING TO OTHERS (OR IF I AM MIXING WITH VARIOUS FRIENDS-SOME I KNOW AND MANY I DO NOT).

IT IS THE LITTLE THINGS OF LIFE THAT DOES ADD SEASONING TO THE MIX. IT IS THE LITTLE THINGS THAT HELPS US TO KNOW SO THAT WE GROW.

Joe

Note: you can view the winning Long Horn at:

 www.wacoart.com/2000PaintedStripeLongHorn.htm

Posted: 2 years ago

Found the Painted Stripe Longhorn, Joe.  Congratulations.  Awesome!!

Where in New Jersey does your sister live?  That's my home state.  Spent most of my growing up days in the Atlantic City area.

Bob

Posted: 2 years ago

MY WIFE AND I HAVE JUST RETURNED FROM A LONG RIVER CRUISE ALONG THE RUSSIAN WATERWAYS (FROM MOSCOW TO ST PETERSBURG.  ALTHOUGH IT WAS CHALLENGING AT TIMES BECAUSE OF MY WIFE´S ILLNESS, IT WAS CERTAINLY WORTH THE TIME, EFFORT, AND MONEY.  I WOULD ENCOURAGE ANYONE TO GO ON THAT PARTICULAR CRUISE BECAUSE IT IS A TRANSFORMING EXPERIENCE.  IT WAS EXTREMELY HOT WHEN WE ARRIVED IN MOSCOW, BUT WE WERE FORTUNATE TO LEAVE MOSCOW AT THE TIME THAT IT WAS GETTING QUITE HAZY BECAUSE OF ALL THE WILDFIRES AROUND IT.  WE SAILED ON THE VOLGA THROUGH SEVERAL LOCKS UNTIL WE REACHED LAKE ONEGA AND FROM THERE WE SAILED ON THE SVIR RIVER TOWARDS ST PETERSBURG.  LATER, WE REACHED LAKE LADOGA WHICH IS THE LARGEST LAKE IN EUROPE AND THEN WE GOT TO OUR FINAL DESTINATION.  ST PETERSBURG IS AN REAL EXPERIENCE! IT HAS BEAUTIFUL CATHEDRALS AND PALACES AND IT MATCHES OTHER CITIES IN EUROPE IN ITS RAW BEAUTY.  PLEASE DO NOT MISS PETERHOF AND THE HERITAGE.  AT THE END, WE TOOK A CANAL RIVER CRUISE AND IT FELT LIKE WE WERE IN VENICE.  BON VOYAGE!

Posted: 2 years ago

I have just got back from New York where I spent eight days with my youngest daughter, the only one not yet to NY ... We have visited all museums, listened to jazz( Blue Note, Vanguard) , ate in nice places( Oyster bar in Grand Central, Boathouse in Central Park, the River cafe- Brooklyn) , go on a cruise on the Hudson, listened Harlem Gospel music , attended shows on Broadway ( West Side Story, The Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins) and during this visit, I received an email from ShelterBox talking about flooding in Pakistan ... So, I made a donation for the purchase of a ShelterBox ... I spent a lot money for my own pleasure in New York and I thought it would be good to spend for those who were in distress. I then encourage all of you to give money for Shelterbox....

Posted: 2 years ago

Très bon, Francoise. Thanks to members like you, the Rotary Spirit is alive and well.

Posted: 2 years ago

REMARKS BY OMAR “OMS” DAVIS – PRESIDENT OMS TENNIS ACADEMY

AT

Taiwan-Saint Lucia Tennis Camp Welcome ceremony

9:30 A.M. SUNDAY AUGUST 8, 2010 @  COCONUT BAY BEACH  RESORTS

HONORABLE LENARD MONTOUTE, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION, YOUTH & SPORTS, HIS EXCELLENCY TOM CHOU, AMBASSADOR EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA ( TAIWAN), MR. VISHALL BHALLA, GENERAL MANAGER COCONUT BAY BEACH RESORT & SPA, OTHER DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, PARENTS, LADIES & GENTLEMEN AND EXCITED JUNIORS.

OMS TENNIS ACADEMY IS PLEASED TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TAIWAN-SAINT LUCIA TENNIS CAMP FOR THE JUNIORS IN THE SOUTH OF ST. LUCIA. OUR ACADEMY IN ASSOCIATION WITH HEAD COACH TONI BISCETTE HAS ASSISTED IN THE TENNIS DEVELOPMENT OF THOUSANDS OF ST. LUCIANS. WE THEREFORE WELCOME THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PARTNER WITH THE MINISTRY OF

YOUTH AND SPORT, AND THE EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) IN ORGANIZING THIS JUNIOR PROGRAM.

THIS CAMP IS ALL ABOUT GIVING THE YOUNGSTERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP NOT ONLY THEIR INTEREST AND PROFICIENCY IN TENNIS, BUT ALSO TO ENHANCE THEIR CULTURAL AND SOCIAL SKILLS.

JUNIORS CONSIDER YOURSELVES EXTREMELY PRIVILEGED AND HONORED TODAY TO HAVE THREE DISTINGUISHED, OUTSTANDING AND DEDICATED LEADERS OF HIGH REPUTE HERE WITH YOU THIS RAINY SUNDAY MORNING. THEIR PRESENCE IN SPITE OF THE TIME AND INCLEMENT WEATHER IS A MANIFESTATION OF THEIR PASSION AND STEADFAST COMMITMENT TO YOUTH AND SPORTS. I REFER TO HON LENARD MONTOUTE, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION, YOUTH & SPORTS; HIS EXCELLENCY TOM CHOU, AMBASSADOR EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA ( TAIWAN), AND MR. VISHALL BHALLA, GENERAL MANAGER COCONUT BAY BEACH RESORT & SPA.

THE MINISTER AND HIS MINISTRY CONTINUE TO INVEST HEAVILY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUTH AND SPORTS NOTWITHSTANDING THE SERIOUS CHALLENGES, FINANCIAL AND OTHERWISE ACCENTUATED BY THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS. THE IMPRESSIVE INVESTMENTS IN BUILDINGS, STADIUMS, CENTERS, PLAYING FIELDS AND OTHER PHYSICAL STRUCTURES ARE EVERY WHERE FOR US TO SEE. HOWEVER, WE MUST NOT LOOSE SIGHT OF HIS OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION IN SOCIAL AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT.  THE MINISTRY NEEDS OUR SUPPORT. I CALL ON THE BIG FOREIGN AND LOCAL COMPANIES OPERATING IN ST. LUCIA TO FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF DUBOULAY BOTTLING AND COCO COLA AND CHANEL SOME OF THE MONIES AND RESOURCES AWAY FROM THE WEEKEND BLOCK O-RAMAS INTO THE PROMOTION, PARTICIPATION & ATTENDANCE AT COMMUNITY SPORTING EVENTS ON SUNDAYS AND SATURDAYS.     

THE DEDICATION, HARD WORK AND CONTRIBUTION OF AMBASSADOR TOM CHOU AND HIS GOVERNMENT TO LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS WELL KNOWN. AS A RESULT OF HIS EFFORTS IN THE BUILDING OF A NATIONAL TENNIS CENTER IN ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES,  TENNIS HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR SPORTS WITH THOUSANDS OF JUNIORS AND ADULTS AT ALL LEVELS OF SOCIETY, REGULARLY PLAYING AND ENJOYING THE GAME. SEVERAL JUNIORS HAVE BENEFITED FROM TENNIS SCHOLARSHIPS TO FURTHER THEIR EDUCATION, WHILE OTHERS HAVE BECOME COACHES LANDING LUCRATIVE JOBS AT HOME AND ABROAD.

I AM SURE THAT WITH THE CONSTRUCTION AND OPENING OF THE ST. LUCIA NATIONAL TENNIS CENTER WE WILL SEE A RAPID AND SUSTAINED GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN LOCAL TENNIS.

MR. VISHALL BHALLA, GENERAL MANAGER AND COCONUT BAY BEACH RESORT & SPA HAVE CONSISTENTLY DEMONSTRATED THEIR COMMITMENT NOT ONLY TO TENNIS BUT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH AND SPORTS.  THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THIS JUNIOR SUMMER CAMP BY PROVIDING THE BEAUTIFUL COURTS, THE FACILITIES AND LOGISTICS SPEAK VOLUMES.

TO THE JUNIORS I SAY HAVE JUN, ENJOY YOURSELVES AND MAKE USE OF THIS EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN AND IMPROVE YOUR TENNIS AND SOCIAL SKILLS.  TO THE COACHES, SUPPORT PERSONNEL AND PARENTS BEST OF LUCK WITH THESE EXCITED AND READY TO GO YOUNGSTERS.