An Irish Christmas

Upon returning from my trip to the desert I was able to gather at a fine St. Charles establishment and celebrate the holiday season with a group of Irish friends on the Sister Cities/Irish Heritage club.
It was an intimate affair but the evening was splendid with Irish coffee and plenty of merriment to go around the room, and the Irish Session players who showed up to provide the music added a nice little touch as well.
To see some of the pictures from the Irish Holiday Social, click on the headline above.

Watching Cardinals Fly

Had a great time visiting the Arizonia Cardinals this past weekend and catching up with an old friend who is now the tight ends coach for the team.

Made the trip with longtime friend Paul from college and it was great to visit with him on the plane ride there.

Click on the headline above to see a slideshow from the game.

The Buck Slayer

Well I was just about to give up on my third day of hunting on deer season, after a Saturday adn Sunday of going out and not even seeing a deer, with about an hour left of daylight I was about to gather my stuff and head back then, but then this small 7 pointer came out of the woods and walked along the brushline until I dropped him where he stood with one shot. Not a big buck by any means, but for my first one I was pretty proud of the shot, to see some more photos click on the headline above.

Neglected Blog-- Back in the Game Though

As you can tell by the dates of the below entries this blog has been overlooked and neglected, but that will change now, a promise of more up to date posts and current ramblings to come over the next few months which will hopefully lead to more regular updates on a long term basis.

World Series Celebrations

While I didn't have a ticket for the game 5 World Series Championship clincher, it was a memorable experience as I headed downtown with my brother Jeff and dear friend Bookem (Dan Breneman) to just be close to the action.

We couldn't really see much of the game, even at the bars that had the game on a TV they were so packed it was tough to get a good view, but to be in the streets as the celebration ensued was awesome.

Click on the headline above to see some photos from Friday's festivities.

Melbourne's Sporting Highlights

Well my last few hours in Melbourne, in Australia for that matter, are drawing to a close.
With my last full day in town I decided to hit the streets and see what I could find, I know the hotel was within walking distance to two hallowed grounds for sports in Australia and I was able to not only find them, but do tours at each. Rod Lavor Arena plays hosts to the Australian Open tennis tournament every year and the Melbourne Cricket Ground is one of the oldest sporting venues in all of Australia and both were fun to see up close in person.
The tour of Rod Lavor ended up being a private one as I was the only one who signed up for the 2:30 tour, so that was kind of cool. The picture above is of me in the post-match press conference room holding court with the imaginary throngs of media I had to deal with, the tour guide got a good laugh over my antics as she took the photo.
The Melbourne Cricket Ground tour was interesting all together, I still don't really grasp the whole idea of the sport, I mean how can you call it a sport when they have a "tea break" and a "lunch break" and some of the "tests" can last as long as 5 days, are you kidding me? But still I can appreciate history and people who rise to the top of their game. The ground was actually used as a military base during WWII as a staging area for U.S. soldiers, who about them apples?
You can see all the photos of the sporting tours, click on the headline above:
After the tours I took to the streets of the city where I came across the "Shrine of Rememberance" which is kind of a WWII memorial but encompasses a lot of the country's military history.
My journey, at least in terms of photos, wrapped up with a visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral. There is a lot of Irish influence down here, and there is a funny story about that, ask me next time you see me, and the cathedral is a perfect example of that. The native "blue stone" used to build it really gives the church a characteristic you won't find at any other St.Patrick's.
To see photos of the surroundings of the city, including the cathederal, check on the blog entry below for the link.
Well it is Thursday night in Melbourne, I am all packed and ready to go, I am going to hit the poker table in hopes of doing two things :a) winning some money and maybe even playing against riegning World Series of Poker champion as the Crown is his "home" casino and he reportedly got into town yesterday and b) staying up as late as possible to try and sleep for most of the plane ride to help me suffer as little jet-lag as possible upon my return. But, as they say, the best laid plans. . .
Cheers and see you all soon.

Melbourne's St. Patrick's Cathedral

Click on the headline above to see a small photo album of photos from St. Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne.

Melbourne City Photos

Click on the headline above to see more misc photos from Melbourne's cityscape.

Down Time in Melbourne

Well the conference is over now, and I think was a success but no need to bore you with those details.
Had some down time today so I took a tour of the Great Ocean Road, which runs along the cost near Melbourne.
Among the highlights of the tour was seeing the 12 Apostles Rock formation (photo above) and Shipwreck Bay, a imposing rock formation that gets its name because so many ships met their demise in the 1800s after getting caught in storms or fog oonly to ram right into the rocks and drop to the bottom of the ocean.
Had Billy Tea and vegimite today too.
The photo you see here on the post is a self-shot LOL):
The trip is almost over as I have only one real day left (it is already Wed. night here) so I have Thursday which is going to be a work day in the hotel as I have loads of issues to tend to and calls to sit on, but I hope to get out in the afternoon and see some of the city sites as well as take in some poker here at the Crown Casino in Melbourne.
Cheers

New Perspective on Bridge Climb

I had time to upload some new pics that I took on my last day in Sydney, they give you a little more perspective of what it is like to do the Bridge Climb, as I took them from an observatory tower on the bridge on Sunday. Those can be found by clicking on the headline above.

The Great Ocean Road

Not sure if it is the simplicity of the road names themselves or just the fact that the splendor you get to see when youd drive down them, but one of my two favorite places in the world now is the Great Ocean Road outside of Melbourne, joined with of course the Great Sky Road in the west of Ireland. The views on both were breathtaking, click on the headline above to see some shots from the great ocean road in Melbourne.

Skyline Pics Uploaded

If you want to see some shots of the Melbourne skyline (at least as it looks from my hotel room), go ahead and click on the headline above.

A Sydney Safari

So who knew only an hour or two bus ride away from the bustling city and the beauty of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House, there was so diverse wildlife and remote attractions to see.

My Saturday in Sydney was spent on a rather unique "safari tour" that was offered through a company I found at the hotel. The first thing that made the trip unique was the ride, a photo of which you can find above and right. It was a cross between a Hummer and a shuttle bus, and it was pretty cool. What made it even better was I got to ride shot gun for the day, a "bonus" to being the only "single" traveler in the group and the last one picked up from his hotel.

The day started with a visit to a wildlife park just outside the city of Sydney. This place had loads and loads of animals, everything from koala bears, kangaroos, wambats, tasmanian devils, from crocs, exotic birds and loads of other stuff. The only bad thing about the stop was we only had an hour, I could have easily spent most of the morning there.

The day progressed to a visit to a cannon cut thru-pass where we needed the 4x4 feature on our vehicle. Not only did we do some "off roading" our guide Sam (who was fantastic), let us walk around in the national forest for a while and showed us some cool stuff that was indigenous to Australia. At the end of our walk he even busted out a didgeridoo (sp) and played it for us, and even let us try it, no one could do it right. There was a group of Asian traders in our group and they laughed at each other while they tried to do it, that was funny to see.

After the stop in the cannon we got back on the "bus" and had lunch at a wonderful botanical garden spot that overlooked the Blue Mountain pass. The mountains get their name because of the eucalyptus (sp) trees that grow in the valleys. As the gas evaporates into the atmosphere it brings a blue hugh to it.

From lunch it was off to Australia's "Grand Cannon" which was neat to see, but not anything like what we have in the U.S. This Grand Cannon is more green and flush with color, still very cool.

From there it was off to see the most famous rock formation in the area, the "Three Sisters" formation. The tales are interesting on this one, but it was well worth the stop and walk through another park.

The day ended with afternoon tea at the Olympic Village which was the site of the 2000 games. It was getting dark so I was really only able to get one good picture, but was neat to walk around where the games took place.

So having said that it was a rather busy day, and you can decide what photos you want to spend time looking at. To make it easy, I have listed the "albums" below in the next few blog entries.

Animal Kingdom Visit

To see all the animals I got to see up close and personal (one bird bit my finger while I was trying to take its picture the little bastards), click on the headline above.

Three Sisters Rock Formation Photos

To view photos of the "Three Sisters" rock formation, the Blue Mountains, and my visit to the "Scenic World" park, click on the headline above.

Sydney Harbor Bridge Pics

To see pics of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, click on the headline above.

Botanical Gardens -- Lunch Spot Photos

To view photos of the lunch spot and botanical gardens, click on the headline above.

Safari Guide and Ride Photos

To view a small number of photos of the safari guide and ride, click on the headline above.

Cut-Thru Pass Photos

To view photos of the cut-thru pass were we did a short hike, click on the headline above.

First Batch of Australia Pics Posted

Didn't have a lot of time to work on these, just uploaded them for folks to see, there are some that need work I know, but there are others that are some pretty good pics (if I don't say so myself). The bridge pics will give you an idea of how much climbing I did (the pics of the flags are zoomed in from the harbor and you can also see them from a distance, but the point of it is that one of the "official" pics were taken with me standing right under that flag, pretty cock I must say.

To see pics of the famous Sydney Opera House, click on the headline above:

I am trying to arrange a tour tomorrow that will take me to the Blue Mountains where not only would I get to see some pretty cool rock formations, but also kangaroos, and other wildlife, hopefully with lots of pics to share too, stay tuned for more updates.

1,400 Stairs, but You Can't Beat the View

Well after some slight deliberation, and spending most of my morning sorting out e-mail issues with the hotel and the server room in Costa Rica, I was able to see some of the sites of Sydney Australia today. I am "Down Under" to speak at a conference which begins next week in Melbourne so I am in Sydney getting adjusting to the time difference and seeing as much of the sites as I can in the two days of "personal" time I have before I get hunkered down next week in Melbourne.

The only deliberation that was going on with me was whether or not to do the walk today or on Saturday when I knew I had more time. I went down to the harbor around lunchtime (after getting e-mail issues taken care long enough to get three days worth of e-mail openeded before it crashed again), and the weather was so wonderful that I decided today was the day to do the climb.

For those fo you who don't know you can pay($165 Aussie dollars) to climb a tone of stairs (1,340 they tell me), to go to the top of the famouse Syndey Harbor bridge. The draw back is they make you wear these silly ass outfits and won't let you bring your own camera and stuff, which I can understand, so I only have a few "official" pictures from the event, but I can tell you that the view from the top of the bridge was most spectatular and well worth the money.

To view some more of the "official" photos taken during the bridge climb, click on the headline above.

I ended up getting a lot in today as on my way back to the hotel I swung by the famous Syndey Opera House and was able to get in on the last tour of the day. I will have more photos to share tomrw.

Truck Drivin' Man

Well it wasn't exactly a "trip" but the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series was in town last week and that meant I had the chance to meet up with driver Mike Skinner. Mike drove the BETonSPORTS Nextel Cup car for the last five races of the 2005 season last year and was a joy to work with from a sponsor's prospective.

It just so happened that the truck race was the same weekend of Mike's wife's b-day, so on Friday night Kelly and I treated them to dinner and then Saturday they hooked us up with pit passes for the day.

Below are the photos from the race. Mike was running great in the first 50-60 laps and was in contention to win until he blew a tire and hit the wall and was done for the day (you can see the extensive damage that was done to his truck in the photos as well.

To see the photos click here:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/celticcommunications/album?.dir=/ced2scd&.src=ph

Playboy Pics Posted

Finally got the CD in the mail containing the high quality digital pics from the Playboy party, thanks to our photographer Bo Bridges (yes that is his real name, or at least the "real" name he does business by), for sending me the CD.
To check out all the photos (there are tons of them, but many of you wanted more of the painted lady, and they are up now, so enjoy), go here:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/celticcommunications/slideshow?.dir=/241f&.src=ph

First Visit to "The Garden"

Well they call it the "world's most famous sports arena" and while I am not a big fan of any New York sports team I found myself back in the Big Apple for a day's worth of business meetings, and it just so happened that the Knicks were playing that night at Madison Square Garden against the Boston Celtics.
Another plus of working for an online sports betting company is that you can pretty much get tickets to any sporting event you want with 24 hours notice, so I was able to score two very good seats for the Knicks game (it probably had more to do with the fact both the Knicks and Celtics suck right now), but it was nice to get to sit in the Garden.
As both a sports fan and a sports history junkie, it was cool to sit in the garden and just think of all the historic moments and famous athletes that toiled in the old building. Louis, Ali, just to name a few. Probably would have rather seen a Rangers game there, but it was still cool to sit in the Garden and take it all in. To see a slideshow from my MSG visit click here (some of the photos are dark, but that was due to sucky lighting at MSG):
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/celticcommunications/slideshow2?.dir=fc90&.beg=3&.src=ph

Kickin It at the Mansion -- THE PLAYBOY MANSION

I've always been told that I am somewhat of a "playboy" (OK maybe not, but it sounds good doesn't it?), well once again this job has perks that don't come with most other jobs, and this week I was informed that I was needed in LA to help publicize a party BETonSPORTS was sponsoring at the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills (yes that Playboy Mansion).
The party was held in conjunction with the first round of the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament and was complete with a poolside casino, sponsored by BoSCASINO. We had a large number of our top cusomters from the east coast as well as a handful of b-list celebrities.
It was a great time and all of our customers were blown away by the event. To be honest I was too, but I had to play it cool like it was old hat for me.
I did get to see the famous grotto as well as tons and tons of very good looking women.
What I didn't get to see, since everyone keeps asking me, is there was no sighting of Mr. Hefner, nor did we get to go inside the Mansion, but just the outside of the facility is something to behold.
I rubbed elbows with a guy from a band called Snow Patrol as well as Tyler Hicks (the gray haired dude on American Idol this season), some guy from CSI New York (a show I never watch), and some singer called Ryan Caberra.
BETonSPORTS made two great moves the night of the party: 1)we sponsored the body-painted playmate (pictures in the slideshow below), and she was clearly the most popular girl on hand and 2) arranged for a big screen TV to be wired outside near the casino, UCLA ended up beating Gonzoga in the Sweet 16, and the game came down to the wire so a huge crowd gathered around the TV as the game drew to a close. The TV was flanked with BETonSPORTS signage, so that was a big bonus for us.
To see a slideshow from the event (something tells me this link will get more hits than any other on my blog before), you can go here:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/celticcommunications/slideshow?.dir=/241f&.src=ph

Back in Costa Rica -- For a Week

Back to the BETonSPORTS campus in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Not sure if it is the 14-hour days, being confined to the Mall of San Pedro, or just knowing that there is so much more to this country to see that I am not getting to even scratch the service on, but for some reason I am dredding my time down here more and more, but at least this time I am only down here for a week, and considering all the upsides to this job, that is a small price to pay in the longrun, and I realize it.

Super Bowl XL

Well I can honestly say that my first visit to Detroit lived up to its expectations, considering that my expectations were about as low as they can go doesn't say much for the impression the city left on me.

Can't rip on it too much because I would imagine the city leaves probably the same impression on outsiders who visit STL and can't explore much more than what is within a 10-15 block radius of their hotel, as was my case with the Motor City.

Some of highlights included:
* Getting to see Joe Louis Arena, and getting to see the Blues play there none the less, even though they suck you-know-what right now it is always good to see the Note play on the road, and they hung with one of the league's best teams for two whole periods.
* Getting to see a ton of celebrities in my hotel and the greater hotel complex, the Marriott I was at was connected to the media center, where SportsCenter and every other media outlet was set up at, so there were celebrities always coming and going from doing interviews, among the highlights:
John Heder (Napoleon dynamite)
Joe Montana
Michael Irvin ("Make sure you hide the crack pipe" I yelled as I walked by a group mobbing him late and night, and yes, I was drunk!!)
And the list goes on and on.
To view a slideshow from my trip to the Motor City, click here:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/celticcommunications/slideshow?.dir=/7d39&.src=ph

A Small Bite Out of the Big Apple

Back from a busy week of work (and one day of fun) from New York. This trip was a little more enjoyable though as instead of going back to an empty hotel room or trying to find things to keep me busy I had a great travel companion in my girlfriend Kelly.
The great thing about New York is that she was able to keep herself more than busy during the day while I was tending to business and then in the evening (and sometimes early afternoon) we were able to hook up and see some of the sites. I was able to work my schedule so that I didn't have any meetings on Thursday so we spent an extremely warm day throughout the city. We started with a long stroll through Central Park and saw most of the highlights of the famous area (the fountain, the dairy, the castle, the statues, it was very nice I must say). We then walked up and down 5th Ave, checked out diamond row, St. Patrick's cathedral, Rock Center, and then back to the hotel for a quick change before a stroll through So-Ho, the Village and a great dinner at Provence (French place in So-Ho, and I highly recommend it).
Other highlights of the week included:
Getting to see a live taping of the Late Show with David Letterman
A tour of the United Nations headquarters in New York
Walks through Times Square, Grand Central Station, Broadway, and 5th Ave.
Links to the photo album will be posted soon.
To view a slideshow from the NY trip click here (but be warned there are a ton of pics -- many taken by Kelly during the day while I was in meetings and so forth, but there are some good ones):
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/celticcommunications/slideshow?.dir=/e75b&.src=ph