Habitat House

Family is frustrating, no doubt about it. But this isn't about that. This is about the foundation family lays and what can be built from it.

This past Saturday all members of my family volunteered with Habitat for Humanity to help construct a house for the Watson family. The money for the house was raised by Grace Episcopal Church in memory of my late Uncle Ned.

Please check out some of the pictures here: Habitat House Gallery

My cousin Harris instigated this project during Christmas '05 with a letter to all family members explaining that Grace Church and Habitat of Hall County would raise the money and get the house started, but at some point during the building process he wanted our entire family to come get our hands dirty.

Since Christmas, it took a few months to get the logistics worked out, but they broke ground the end of June, and this past Saturday morning at roughly 9am every family member & a couple close friends came straggling in for work detail: Puttin' up the roof.

The start was slow and unknowing. If anyone had asked me the day before who would be the first family member to climb on the roof, Harris would not have been the guy. But to my surprise, Harris not only got on the roof, he led the charge!



Before long, my cousins Stuart & Rob, my brother Darrell, and Harris were all up on the roof talkin' the talk and walkin' the walk. Between the four of them, they laid well over half of the ply wood sheets for the back part of the roof (in hundred degree heat no less).

Meanwhile, my father, who has always shied away from manual labor, was measuring plywood, cutting wood with a buzz saw, heaving wood up on the roof, and mixing up concrete with my cousin Meigan.

My Uncle Bill, Aunt Laura, and cousin Liz were busy nailing up the weather proof plastic sheet around the house and cutting out the windows.

My eighty-year-old grandparents even made a showing around lunchtime with homemade sandwiches and sweet tea.

All in all it was a momentous afternoon for our family. I'm sure my Uncle Ned was thoroughly entertained, laughing, and smiling the whole time.

To cap the day off, we drove into the foothills of the Appalachians and my Dad treated a group of us to dinner in Dahlonega at a place called the Oar House. We sat outside on big wooden deck next to the Chestatee River listening to a two-piece jazz band while eating prime rib and pork tenderloin.

As a family bonus, Sunday morning got started with a breakfast batch of grits and a drive to Atlanta. Darrell & I met my cousins Seth & Meigan, and they treated us to the Allman Brothers concert at Lakewood Amphitheater. Summer ain't summer until the Allmans play.

I walked out after the concert feeling physically exhausted with blisters on my fingers from playing too much air-guitar, but my conscience was clear and my heart was full.

It was a workin' man's weekend full of family.

Yokkaichi Summer Music Festival

This is a tip of the hat to my buddy Richard and the rest of the promotion staff for organizing this music festival and a wag of the finger to anybody in Japan that doesn't go.

It's the 10th and last time they're gonna do it, and it's for a good cause; all proceeds go to local Yokkaichi charities.

If that's not reason enough to go, the lineup looks good too! Big Frog, A-Fank Syndicate, and more will get the place rockin', and Tokyo Ale will be serving up cool refreshing beverages, so pack up the car and get down there this weekend for some fun in the sun!

http://www.cty-net.ne.jp/~rtjordan/yokkaichi_promotions/

(*~*)/

Bound for Glory

I shit you not, since being back in the States; I've been on the run the entire time. If I only had a guitar, a few chords, & some truth, my hard traveling and easy riding would make even Woody Guthrie proud.

I hopped on a Greyhound bus out of Boston bound for Brattleboro to pick up the used car I'd bought the previous week. Much to my family's dismay, I decided to break it in by driving it down the East Coast, making a few pit stops along the way to check in with some good friends.

First stop was New York City. I met my friend Daniel, who was fittingly wearing a T-shirt sporting a "100% Organic" logo. Daniel, to me fits the bill as a true activist, and I draw a lot of energy from my meetings with him. This time was no exception.

Daniel now lives in Harlem, and he first spotted me in his neighborhood as the, "white guy driving." The streets were full of African-Americans, Latinos, and the buildings had graffiti memorials to lost friends, but the best part was watching them play games in the streets. The road I parked my car on was blocked off so kids could play a supervised game of basketball.

Then, Daniel brought me up to speed on his current projects, which are always interesting. He is now working with the Gaia Institute in hopes to plant Green Roofs across New York City. A Green Roof, I learned, is exactly as it sounds, vegetation on roof tops to help prevent excessive runoff water, provide more oxygen in the city, help clean dust particles out of the air, keep the soaring summer temperatures down a little, and of course provide a more attractive cityscape.

It's just my opinion, but I think Daniel is really onto something here, and I wish him the best of luck as he tries to market this idea to the city of New York over the next year. But, just remember, to paraphrase my buddy Bubba, its progress not perfection.

The second stop on my southbound tour was Charlottesville, Virginia to visit my friend Alexis. She had recently returned to America from teaching English in Japan due to a job offer from UVA to work on the George Washington papers. I believe it involves digitizing all of George's writings.

Lex was nice enough to show me around Charlottesville and UVA's campus, but she had work everyday I was there, so I spent most of the time sleeping late, lounging around the house, chilling in a hammock listening to Muddy Waters, watching groundhogs trot around the backyard, and reading a JFK book I picked up while in Boston the previous week.



For my third stop, I was lucky enough to have Lex join me, and we drove down to Asheville, North Carolina for the annual Bele Chere Arts & Crafts Festival. This was nuthin' but a big party with good music and lots of beer!

Check out the pictures here: Bele Chere Picture Gallery

My good buddy Stiles (aka Silver Fox) met us downtown as we joined my brother Darrell and cousin Stuart, who both reside in the Asheville area, to check out the last few minuets of a funk band from New Orleans. The keyboard player was wearing a T-shirt that said, "Make Levees, not War."

Later that night we saw hometown hero Warren Haynes with Gov’t Mule rock the main stage before heading back to Darrell's house to play a ring toss game they nicknamed Kasey 151 because it took Stuart's girlfriend Kasey 151 tries to get a ringer.



This video shows 4.5 minuets of Stiles & Lex displaying a total lack of natural ability. If they only had 1/10th of Darrell's skill!

The following night we went back downtown to see Galactic play an incendiary cover version of Zeppelin's "When the Levees Break", and then onto a place called The Root Bar, where the owner has set up a sandpit in the back and patented a game which crosses horse shoes with botchy ball. Root Ball, we were told, is the fastest growing sport in America.

The following day everyone went their separate ways, and I continued south past old Cherokee Indian places like Tallulah, Chattahoochee, Nantahala, and Chatuge into the southern end of the Appalachian Mountain range to Hiawassee, Georgia where my father lives.

I spent a nice quiet evening eating dinner with my dad and stepmother before driving the rest of the way to Gainesville early the next morning.

All in all, I put 1200 miles on my new car, saw some good friends & family, drank a few beers, heard some good music, and watched the sunset over the mountains with my dad.

If Woody Guthrie was here, he might say we're bound for glory. Life is good.

(*;*)v

Mass & Maine

I spent the past ten days traveling with my mother and stepfather, Stanley, through New England. It all started because I needed to go Vermont to find a place to live for school, but it became a great excuse to take a family vacation to Boston and up the coast of Maine.

Please check out some photos from the trip here: Mass & Maine Photos

I owe a great deal of thanks to my mom & Stan for their overwhelming generosity and assistance in finding an apartment and a car. As usual, their hospitality went above and beyond anything I could have anticipated. Thank you very much!

We flew into Boston, rented a car, and immediately drove over to Plymouth to eat lunch and check out Plymouth Rock. Afterwards, we drove back into Boston and checked into a hotel located in Cambridge, a couple blocks away from the Charles River and next to MIT's campus.

(If you're interested in reading more about the Pilgrims, check out this article: Puritans to Prohibition)

The first couple days we spent sightseeing around Boston. We went to the JFK Museum, which was politically inspiring, went to the famous Bull & Fitch Pub, which was the inspiration of the '80s TV show Cheers, and we braved a heat wave to do a portion of the Freedom Walk; checking out Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church, where the famous "Two if by Sea" lanterns were hung.



















The next day we walked around Harvard's campus and spent some time in an outdoor cafe at Harvard Square watching a ten year old boy Chinese boy whip a line of adults in speed Chess.

We drove into Vermont listening to Willie Nelson's Whiskey River on the radio and spent an intense few days apartment shopping. There was no time to take any photos of Brattleboro, but I will say, I'm getting very excited about starting school.

SIT is a very small school, the campus consists of only a few old white columned houses renovated into classrooms and offices, located on top of a hill overlooking rolling mountains. There're maybe 300 students. I think it’s gonna be a phenomenal experience that will light a few creative sparks and get the good wheel of fortune turning.

By sheer luck, there was a Subaru dealership located next to our hotel in Brattleboro, so I bought a used Outback wagon. I'm now mobile!

With my mission accomplished in Brattleboro, we headed into Maine to travel up the rocky coast and eat lobsters! Our first stop was the small town of Ogunquit where we went to Perkins Cove to eat stuffed lobster at Barnacle Billy's.
















As we continued up the coast, driving from meal to meal, we made a sightseeing stop just north of Portland around Cape Elizabeth to see the Portland Head Light, the most photographed lighthouse in the world.

Our next meal was on Bailey's Island at place called Cook's Restaurant, which became world famous in '98 when it was featured on a string of Visa commercials. We all ate our first lobster rolls.

For dinner the same night we drove around Rockland to a small community called Camden where we ate boiled lobster at a place called Bay View Lobster. Stan made friends with a guy from Louisiana whose reason for moving to Maine was Shreveport.

Stanley's goal for the whole trip, aside from eating well, was to make it to Bar Harbor. We had an afternoon driving around Acadia National Park, where we saw some breathtaking views of the jagged coastline before checking into a B&B called Lucerne.

Last, but not least, we drove back to Boston, stopping at some outlets malls for my mother to do some shopping, and had our last supper at one of Boston's oldest family run Italian eatery called Jevelis Restaurant. Evidentially, Bill Clinton ate here a few years ago, so they styled one room after the White House and it has presidential paraphernalia everywhere.



















This was the first extended trip I've ever taken where so much emphasis was placed on food, but I must say, it was really, really, good food! My hat's off to Stanley for being a knowledgeable guide, and my belt's one notch looser in anticipation for my next trip with him.

Thank you.

one red paperclip

This is really cool. Dude started with one red paper clip and through a series of trades ended up with a house.

one red paperclip

Lego World Cup

In preparation for the World Cup final, check out this German video:

Germany vs. the World

July 4th Holiday

Fourth of July necessities: food, beer, water (preferably ocean), friends, & fireworks. I feel like I covered all of these criteria excessively over the past week.

Here are some pictures from my July 4th holiday:
Charleston & St. Simons Gallery

I just want to say thank you to my good buddy Stiles for his hospitality in Charleston and his family in St. Simons for all the delicious gluten free food.

Thanks to Cain for the gas powered blender on the beach and the daiquiris, and his cousin Ashley for being the kindest, funniest redneck from Albany, GA I've ever met.

Thanks to Nelson for the Red, White, & You party which consisted of chili dogs, baked beans, potato salad, beer, and a few hundred dollars worth of explosives. All the summer essentials to celebrate America anyone could ask for.

Thanks to Fiji Ted for taking me out on his boat and letting us watch fireworks from his dock.

Thanks to my friend formerly known as Ronnie and his roommates for grilling everything under the sun and letting me eat it. I wish I had some pictures!

Thanks to Scooter and his family for letting me crash at their house on Folly Beach and feeding me even more food.

I can safely say, "I'm full."

Let freedom ring!!!

TED Blog: Sir Ken Robinson on TEDTalks

My friend Daniel emailed this video to me, and I thought it was very interesting. When you have about 20min of free time, please sit back and listen.



TED Blog: Sir Ken Robinson on TEDTalks

Sir Ken Robinson is author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, and a leading expert on innovation and human resources. In this talk, he makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. [Recorded February, 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 20:02]

MusicPlasma

Check out this site. It gives you a visual representation of various band in the same sphere of influence.

Liveplasma: music, movies, search engine and discovery engine

Kinda cool.

Eco-tribesmen sought for Fiji island - World Environment - MSNBC.com

Just got this from my friend Tyler.

Looks interesting...

Eco-tribesmen sought for Fiji island - World Environment - MSNBC.com

Hawaii

This post is long overdue, and I just got some pictures up online. Check 'em out here:
Hawaii Picture Gallery

Originally, I wanted to write about my departure from Nagoya; the quiet drive with Fumio to the airport on the Nagoya expressway past the twin towers of the station and the new Toyota building. My last view of Nag city came from an almost aerial viewpoint with surreal qualities.

I wanted to write about arriving in Honolulu and getting whisked through immigration because a family of twenty Samoans was in front of me; only to get outside with my giant green duffle bag holding six years worth of summer clothes and be told there's no storage facility at the airport now because of 9/11.

I wanted to write about my Uncle Teddy, a guy from Macon, GA that caught the Southern Rock swell of the early '70s and rode it all the way to Waikiki. In the middle of that tumultuous tidal wave, he married a young Hawaiian woman, had a baby boy, and experienced a religious awakening which bore him again. He spent the next twenty years with a Bible and no secular music. Just last year, he had another religious experience at a church in Harlem, NY, where he was ordained, and he's now on a mission from God to start his own church in Waikiki.



Let's just say, Teddy didn't show me the light... but he did show me a home video of him meeting James Brown in 1968 at the Macon airport. Does that count?

But I digress, I wanted to write about sleeping on Waikiki and overhearing someone point out the exact place where Cameron Diaz learned to surf, and I also wanted to write about Teddy's friend Dr. Wes, a fast talking, fast thinking, fast photo taking guy who married a young Japanese girl named Tomomi in the Ilikai Penthouse suite two weeks prior to my arrival. They still had the keys and wanted to show the place off while I was there.

I still feel like I'm digressing. I wanted to write about flying to Maui and renting a small economy car and paying $125 for a room at the North Shore Hostel; the car nor the room were needed because I met my buddy Dane, an ex-English teacher from Japan who works construction and was renovating his basement apartment. He set me up in a nice condo and didn't charge me any rent.

Dane's girlfriend Yumi arrived the same day as I did (06/06/06), and he proclaimed he was her low calorie sugar daddy. I wanted to write about hanging out with them on Big Beach, going surfing in Kihei and getting a bad rash on my belly and chaffing my nipples, going to a Hawaiian house party full of Dane's host family members and unknowingly meeting Richard Chamberlain.

I wanted to write about driving at 3am to the top of Haleakala, the highest mountain on Maui, to watch the sunrise and nearly freezing me feet off because I was wearing a pair of Dane's oversized work boots and my socks somehow managed to come off my feet inside the boots.




I wanted to write about hiking through I'ao Valley and getting lost, so we tromped through the woods to the river where we stumbled on a nude photo shoot, and Dane ended up jumping off a bridge into a shallow river with some local Hawaiian guys and making new friends.




All these things would have made a great storey, but as soon I landed in ATL, I hit the ground running, and it's hard to look back. Maybe someday, I'll get around to writing all those things up, but in the meantime please take a look at the pictures:
http://web.mac.com/heyheygig/iWeb/heyhey%27s%20Site/Hawaii.html

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Just got home and having some technical difficulites with my new MacBook; nothing serious just can't seem to import all my old pictures & albums into to my new photo library. It should be resolved soon, and I'll get a post up about Hawaii.

In the meantime, please check out this video my friend Ethan sent me.




How long? How long must he sing this song?

Letter of Acceptance to SIT

Dear Heyward,

On behalf of the Admissions Committee and faculty, I would like to congratulate you on your acceptance to the Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages course work that begins Fall of 2006. We are confident that you will both enhance SIT's learning community and benefit from the degree.

Within the next few days, you'll receive a paper packet containing documents related to your acceptance. If you would like to access an Acceptance Packet instantly online, you may visit:
http://www.sit.edu/graduate/accepted/ Please save this email to direct you to this Accepted-Students only website.

In the packet and online, you will find an enrollment card. The Admissions staff recommends that you submit the $400 non-refundable deposit as soon as possible. The deposit reserves your place in the class and will be deducted from your first semester tuition payment.

If you need support accessing on-line documents please feel free to request assistance by replying to this message.

Again, congratulations and, on behalf of the faculty, the Admissions Committee and SIT, welcome. We look forward to meeting and working with you.

Sincerely yours,

Donald Freeman, Ed.D.
Dean, Graduate and Professional Studies in
Language Teacher Education

Peace Out

To all my friends!!

I've been using that intro ever since I saw Mickey Rourke in 'Barfly' say it as he poured free drinks to everyone in a bar, but for me, this is the first time I've ever meant it as sincerely as Rourke said it.

There is nothing I can write, say, or do to express my gratitude and appreciation to each and everyone of you for making my life in Japan more than memorable.

All I can do is say
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Heiwado has left Hewia-cho.

Peace Out.

Rafting in Gifu

This is a leap of faith, and I'm hoping for a soft landing.

Entering my last days in Japan, I feel like I'm being drawn and quartered. Trying to get my bags packed, ship boxes home, finish my grad school application process, get my financial aid application in, negotiate the hand over of my school, train Brian to take my place, and say goodbye to everyone!

I wish I had time to properly write about my last weekend trip, but it's not gonna happen at the moment. Anyway, please check out these pictures. They're worth a thousand words each.

Rafting in Gifu Gallery

Thanks to everyone for making the trip happen.

Enjoy.

Monk-E-Mail

Evidently, as I'm told by this monk-e-mail, I've been neglecting my friends back in the US, and I hope to remedy that in the near future.

Funny stuff.

Whitney Music Box

whitney music box var. 0 - chromatic - 48 tines

Music theory visualized.

Wow.

Lazy Ramadi

Watch the original:

NBC.com > Video > Web Favorites > Saturday Night Live: Chronicles of Narnia

Now watch the US soldiers in Iraq spoof it:

BitTorrent inks studio distribution deal

BitTorrent inks studio distribution deal | CNET News.com

BitTorrent, the creator of the file-sharing software that for some has become synonymous with piracy, has struck a landmark distribution deal with a Hollywood studio.

Warner Bros. Entertainment Group has agreed to use BitTorrent's peer-to-peer system to distribute movies and television shows, including "Dukes of Hazzard" and "Babylon 5," beginning this summer, the companies are expected to announce Tuesday.

Tiff's Slideshow

My good friend Tiffany recently returned to Japan from France. She made a surprise appearance at the Heiwa Matsuri last week by sneaking up behind me and giving me a big hug.

Amidst all the party people, she managed to snap quite a few funny pictures; including some of embarrassing shots of me trying to cut the rug.

Click here to check out some of Tiff's pics from the past few weeks back in the land of the rising sun: Tiff's Olympus Slideshow