With 'no more' comes 'knowing more' and its only through getting stuck that we can appreciate getting un-stuck.
We must hit a wall to know whats its like to pass or over come one.
We must be without an answer or solution to realise what its like when we can find a way.
Being in the thick of it is critical to success as its in the times of stress, loss, thickness and heaviness that we can learning, realise and appreciate another state, way or experience.
Typical Drew at his abstract and convoluted best. A great read which takes a few times to digest.
Each campaign has its moments - those moments that take you by surprise, capture your imagination, make you realise with crystal-like clarity why you are doing what you doing and, best of all, put a smile on your face.
Tonight I just had one of those moments for this Campaign, with all of us in a line doing our one-arm kettlebell exercises to the beat and rhythm of this song - Born this Way. Kettlebells will never be the same.
The Video is in production and on task for a northern summer release and World Premiere in Tampa Bay where the International Dragon Boat Community will come together to view it for the first time. Stay tuned ..
Carmen, Lisa, Karen, Tamara, Jo, Rachel, Frank and Gio (and all the others that have ventured to Concord on a Tuesday Night) you have made the fitness testing workouts so much fun. You encourage and inspire me to be better than I thought I ever could be. You make me realise how lucky I am to be involved in this experience we share on the Road to Tampa.
Thank You.
My mama told me when I was young We are all born superstars She rolled my hair and put my lipstick on In the glass of her boudoir
There's nothin' wrong with lovin' who you are She said, 'cause He made you perfect, babe So hold your head up, girl and you you'll go far Listen to me when I say
I'm beautiful in my way, 'Cause God makes no mistakes I'm on the right track, baby I was born this way
Don't hide yourself in regret, Just love yourself and you're set I'm on the right track, baby I was born this way
Whether life's disabilities Left you outcast, bullied or teased Rejoice and love yourself today 'Cause baby, you were born this way
I'm on the right track, baby I was born to survive
I'm on the right track, baby I was born to be brave
Karen, Carmen and Lisa - Born this Way - Twist - Just warming up - Fitness2u / Concord (Tue 14 Jun 2011)
This victory has cost him anxious moments, nights racked with doubt, endless days of waiting. Since ancient times, celebrating a triumph has been part of the ritual of life itself: celebration is a rite of passage.
His companions see the warrior of light's joy and think: 'Why is he doing that? He might be disappointed in his next battle. He might draw down on himself the wrath of his enemy.'
But the warrior knows why he is celebrating. He is savouring the best gift that victory can bring: confidence.
He celebrates yesterday's victory in order to gain more strength for tomorrow's battle.
The above passage now makes me realise why we should celebrate our little successes and achievements - it is not just about celebrating the victory!!
Jenny - she has just been presented with 2006 Aus Flag Bearer Recognition Trophy (Macau 2006 - a story for another day) - Kawana - 23 Apr 2009 (picasa)
Hard to believe that 12 months has almost gone by since the 2009 AusDBF National Dragon Boat Titles at Kawana. As we go through the final selection process and complete our final training sessions, I guess it is a good time to reflect on past experiences.
We did have a great time at the 2009 Nationals and it was fantastic that Jenny was with us. The day before we flew to the Sunshine coast, Jenny had her 5th cycle of fortnightly treatment (chemo and another drug, Avastin) and was still able to paddle for her State and Club over the Regatta. She did experience numerous visual migraines at night, which a month later would be diagnosed as being caused by a 4cm brain tumor. She also worried that the tumors in her liver would cause painful cramping in her stomach, but this did not occur while she was paddling.
Jenny, Geoff and Joanne - State - Kawana - 23 Apr 2009 (picass)
Jenny, Jo and Geoff - 200m Men's and Women's Tropy's - Breakfree Resort/Caloundra - 26 Apr 2009 (picasa)
The following is a small photo essay of the "9 from 9" effort by my club, the Pacific Dragons. This result was never expected and we took it one race at a time. Each day the Women's Crew would put the race of a lifetime on the water in the final and somehow come across the line first. This then put the pressure on the Men's crew to do the same. A few strategic words, a couple of calming and distracting jokes, and the moving story of brave little Tommy , from Gav would get us on the water to do the best we could. The rest is now history.
Gav gave Eugene (my seat 1 partner) and myself, the great honour of receiving the last club trophy to be presented at the Regatta. It was an amazing moment for Eugene and I, as we held aloft the Gold Medals and 200m Open's Winning Trophy. The assembled Australian Dragon Boat Community stood and applauded the amazing and historic achievement of our club, the Pacific Dragons. I had never seen anything like it and was humbled by the genorosity of spirit the Australian Dragon Boat community displayed that day to our Coaches, Teams, and Club.
All the best to every competing at the 2010 AusDBF National Dragon Boat Championships in Adelaide over the Anzac Weekend. Look forward to some great racing and catching up with many friends, and hopefully making some new friends on and off the water.
See you in Adelaide. Jenny's Spirit and Memory will be with us. She Guides and Inspires us from Above.
PD's Premier Open 200m Final - Kawana - Sun 26 Apr 2010 (picasa)
Premier Opens 200m Final - AusDBF 2009 National Dragon Boat Champs - Kawana/Qld - Sun 26 Apr 2009 (at youtube by warwick27au)
The smile says it all - "9 from 9" - tidying up the Cox Vox cable after the Premier Open 200m Final - Anne would ask me to come and celebrate with the Team off the water - Kawana - Sun 26 Apr 2009 (picasa)
Eugene and Geoff - Premier Open 200m Presentation - "PD's - nine from nine !! - I did not really want this weekend to end as I kind of knew the end was beginning to start (Editors: An End has a Start)." - Kawana - Sun 26 Apr 2009 (picasa)
The Australian Dragon Boat Community acknowledging Pacific Dragons "9 from 9" - Kawana - Sun 26 Apr 2009 (picasa)
Lost in the Crowd - Kawana - Sun 26 Apr 2009 (picasa)
PD's Premier Open Men - After Party Celebration - Kawana - Sun 26 Apr 2010 (picasa)
Pacific Dragons - After Party Celebration - Kawana - Sun 26 Apr 2010 (picasa)
The Orange Wave - Gav Crowd Surfing - Just go with it Gav - After Party Celebration - Kawana - Sun 26 Apr 2010 (picasa)
Joanne, Helen, Jenny and Nicola - After Party Celebration - Kawana - Sun 26 Apr 2010 (picasa)
Joanne, Jenny and Geoff - After Party Celebration - Kawana - Sun 26 Apr 2010 (picasa)
Knowing you, knowing me - Urbanbites / King Street / Newtown (Sun 29 Nov 2015)
Up early for a big day. Decide to go get a coffee, but the local coffee shops wont be open until 8am, so decide to go up to the coffee shop you lived in for the first six months after Jenny's passing. It was frequented many times in the subsequent years and many fond memories with family, friends and mostly, myself, in my thoughts that the place nurtured. If I could write, I could write a book about the place and what I felt and experienced there. Many of the early blog posts implicitly encapsulate this, so I am glad to have made the effort.
It is over 12 months since I have been here and when I arrived just after 7 this morning, I sat and noticed the small changes that a prolonged separation facilitates and makes so obvious. I noticed the staff. Many were the same, which says a lot for the place which becomes incredibly busy later in the day and night.
I am served by a young waiter I know by face. He has been here for as long as I can remember. We don't know each others names but we know each enough to know each other even after 12 months of not seeing or even thinking each other.
You are touched when he remembers to ask before I can say what he is just about to say "large flat white?". "Thanks, that would be perfect" I said, "you remembered". He smiled and then proceeded on his way to make sure my coffee arrived to please me as best he could.
This is the second time in a week you have experienced something like this. And you wonder how and why?
You've walked through life trying your hardest not to be noticed, for that is where a shy person finds refuge and comfort. However, it's moments like this that make you realise that you do exist and in some ways touch people. Maybe it is because you touch people by just being there in the corner, trying your hardest to not be noticed ...
"Knowing you, knowing me" as the ABBA Classic goes ..
Memories of Jenny - The Time of Your Life (youtube)
As many of you will know, I have another obsession in my life beyond paddling - Photography.
I started out buying a small digital camera for our Dec 2000 trip to the Cook Islands to visit Jenny and Jo's Meditation teacher, Barbara, who had moved there to help setup a refuge for women . We didn’t know a thing about paddling back then.
I had bought the camera hoping I would be able to capture our memories. It was a tiny digital camera by today’s standards, 1 Mega Pixel and it cost $1600 duty free and a 64 MB compact flash memory cost more than $300.
I did not flinch and I thought it was all worth it, as my credit card was swiped at Ted’s Pitt Street Camera Store the day before we flew out. 15 years later I can tell you here that it was one of the best things I ever did.
My motivation for the camera came from that fact that Jenny had 11 tumours in her lungs and I did not really know how long we would have together. In the end we had just over 9 years of married life. Given Jenny’s condition, a miracle really ..
We were married on 30th April of that Sydney Olympic year and we honeymooned on Lord Howe Island for 10 glorious days in May 2000. Jenny had a film camera and she took many photos.
On our return flight to Sydney, I remember a conversation we had at the Departure Terminal with an older couple from Whyalla who congratulated us on our marriage. We had briefly met them at dinner at one of the small restaurants on the Island.
They told us they had been married for many years and the trip to Lord Howe Island was a way of creating another experience in life and expanding their memories. Better than [running a busy business or] sitting at home and watching the Telly, they said.
This conversation and piece of simple worldly wisdom has stuck with me and I remind myself of it constantly. It was my main motivation to buy that small expensive digital camera for our December 2000 trip to the Cook Islands.
I took many photos that trip to Cook Islands, even of the Outrigger Canoes on the shore of Muri Lagoon - we had no idea what they were – who would guess our future.
Shortly after our return, Jenny and Jo found Dragon Boating. And over the ensuing years many experiences and memories were created, dutifully captured by our cameras.
I documented the many dragon boat campaigns here and abroad, and ensuing holidays that followed each event.
In the process of this documenting I came to realise the power of photography, not only its visual power, but its ability to record our experiences and remind us of things we have done and who we were. We were doing selfies before the term was even invented. We called them “Holdouts” and I think this might be the main cause of Jo’s shoulder injury.
In those last few weeks at St George Hospital in Jun 2009, I captured the last moments of our lives together. They are the best I ever made.
After Jenny’s passing, It took me a while to pick up a camera again. I had lost my purpose and will. I was hurting and numb all at once but paddled through for a year or two – it helped a lot to be busy and in the company of friends. New experiences were created and I even smiled [for] a little [while].
Lost in the enormity of what had happened so quickly, though it was not a surprise, I found my first moments of comfort and hope, when I decided to start looking at some of the photos from our lives together. It made me cry, but it also made me smile. I was so happy that I had this archive of bits and bytes to remind me of Jenny, Joanne, myself and who we were.
It was only after Jo told me to organise my photos and my Mum said I should start making photos again, that I started to move forward. I was completely broken but I took up their advice and kept myself busy again, organising and photographing again. I am still broken but I live with it better now, it is part of me and who I will always be, but I am happy, optimistic, naïve and creating more experiences.
So I guess what I am trying to say is that we have to go out there and make our memories through the experiences we create for ourselves.
In our lives we have loss, grief and bereavement. It is a part of living. You make a choice when it knocks on your door. And we have chosen to live in the Afterglow of our loss of Jenny – to remember and honour and be guided and inspired. Accept it and live with it and make the most of it, even let it inspire and motivate you. And that is what Jo and I have done, I would like to think.
“Believe in Hope” as the graffiti’ed wall in Cleveland Street said for a few weeks in July 2015.
Believe in Hope - Cleveland Street / Chippendale (Wed 29 Jul 2015)
Seven year ago today.
We remember Jenny. She (as they all do) lives on through our memories.
Hope impacts our internal narrative acting like the aperture of a camera’s lens controlling the amount of light reaching the film. It makes us more resourceful, fuels our resilience and strengthens our resolve. We might not have the ability to alter the scene but we can change our perspective.
Street Portraits (1 of 3) - Hvar Ferry Terminal / Hvar / Croatia (Wed 31 Jul 2013)
Love watching people. Easy to capture these moments. Cameras everywhere, so no one seems to really be too concerned, even if they realise they are being photographed. These were taken as we disembarked our Ferry which took us to Hvar from Split. The light and colour in Croatia is amazing - even during the midday sun. A few more to follow.
Jump - YouTube (*) Parliament Hill, London (*) / London (Sun 18 Aug 2013)
Kite Flyer - Parliament Hill, London / London (Sun 18 Aug 2013), Made my random walk on Sunday to Hampstead Heath. I also wanted to see Parliament Hill and the seat from the movie, Notes on a Scandal featuring our Cate, Cate Blanchett, and Judy Dench. Too many people seating on the seats overlooking London, so I sat on Seat facing the other way and was entertained by the Kite Flyers. Makes me realise there so many things to do. I wish I had time to fly kites. I think I figured out movements of the hand controls to manoeuvre the kite. I was mesmerised.
Memories of Jenny - The Time of Your Life (youtube)
This is my 2000th post here at eljeiffel.
I always try to write something for the Annual Presentation of the Inspire Award. Most times it is just for me, but sometimes I share it with a few people.
So here it is, unedited from the time it was written on the evening of Fri 27 Aug 2015. I think it is a pretty good way to mark the milestone.
As many will know, I have another obsession in my life - Photography.
I started out buying a small digital camera for our Dec 2000 trip to the Cook Islands to visit Jenny and Jo's Meditation teacher, Barbara, who had moved there to help setup a refuge for women . We didn’t know a thing about paddling back then.
I had bought the camera hoping I would be able to capture our memories. It was a tiny digital camera by today’s standards, 1 Mega Pixel and it cost $1600 duty free and a 64 MB compact flash memory cost more than $300.
I did not flinch and I thought it was all worth it, as my credit card was swiped at Ted’s Camera Store the day before we flew out. 15 years later I can tell you here that it was one of the best things I ever did.
My motivation for the camera came from that fact that Jenny had 11 tumours in her lungs and I did not really know how long we would have together. In the end we had just over 9 years of married life. Given Jenny’s condition, a miracle really ..
We were married on 30th April of that Sydney Olympic year and we honeymooned on Lord Howe Island for 10 glorious days in May 2000. Jenny had a film camera and she took many photos.
On our return flight to Sydney, I remember a conversation we had at the Departure Terminal with an older couple from Whyalla who congratulated us on our marriage. We had briefly met them at dinner at one of the small restaurants on the Island.
They told us they had been married for many years and the trip to Lord Howe Island was a way of creating another experience in life and expanding their memories. Better than [running a busy business or] sitting at home and watching the Telly, they said.
This conversation and piece of simple worldly wisdom has stuck with me and I remind myself of it constantly. It was my main motivation to buy that small expensive digital camera for our December 2000 trip to the Cook Islands.
I took many photos that trip to Cook Islands, even of the Outrigger Canoes in the lagoon at Aitutaka, we had no idea what they were – who would guess our future.
Shortly after our return, Jenny and Jo found Dragon Boating. And over the ensuing years many experiences and memories were created, dutifully captured by our cameras.
I documented the many dragon boat campaigns here and abroad, and ensuing holidays that followed each event.
In the process of this documenting I came to realise the power of photography, not only its visual power, but its ability to record our experiences and remind us of things we have done and who we were. We were doing selfies before the term was even invented. We called them “Holdouts” and I think this might be the main cause of Jo’s shoulder injury.
In those last few weeks at St George Hospital in Jun 2009, I captured the last moments of our lives together. They are the best I ever made.
After Jenny’s passing, It took me a while to pick up a camera again. I had lost my purpose and will. I was hurting and numb all at once but paddled through for a year or two – it helped a lot to be busy and in the company of friends. New experiences were created and I even smiled [for] a little [while].
Lost in the enormity of what had happened so quickly, though it was not a surprise, I found my first moments of comfort and hope, when I decided to start looking at some of the photos from our lives together. It made me cry, but it also made me smile. I was so happy that I had this archive of bits and bytes to remind me of Jenny, Joanne, myself and who we were.
It was only after Jo told me to organise my photos and my Mum said I should start making photos again, that I started to move forward. I was completely broken but I took up their advice and kept myself busy again, organising and photographing again. I am still broken but I live with it better now, it is part of me and who I will always be, but I am happy, optimistic, naïve and creating more experiences.
So I guess what I am trying to say is that we have to go out there and make our memories through the experiences we create for ourselves. And this is what I love about PD’s, we are always out there doing something. This time last year we were in Bologna on our way to Ravena, this year we are heading to Hawaii in the next week and month, next year Adelaide and who knows where after that.
Finally, in our lives we have loss, grief and bereavement. It is a part of living. You make a choice when it knocks on your door. And we have chosen to live in the Afterglow of our loss of Jenny – to remember and honour and be guided and inspired. Accept it and live with it and make the most of it, even let it inspire and motivate you. And that is what Jo and I have done, I would like to think.
“Believe in Hope” as the graffiti’ed wall in Cleveland Street said for a few weeks in July 2015.
Believe in Hope - Cleveland Street / Chippendale (Wed 29 Jul 2015)
With this post it is time to let go of a lot things, including the photos of another time and life. I have shed my life here (and Facebook more recently) like a snake sheds it skin and there is nothing left but to start over again. Time to move on, but it is hard to let go .. but I will.
Trying to make a new start here (arotlt.com) with photos from this point onwards. There will be the occasional post at eljeiffel to mark the odd moment in our lives that are relevant, but for now thanks for coming along for the ride these last, almost, 7 years.
Deep down I always wanted a greater connection and loved to explore. This happened in many areas.
Exploring thought process, movement patterns, biases, relationships, failure and obvious exploring success.
I really stuffed up more than I care to remember. Many mistake were made and the surprise is that I kept at it when many others gave up, left, changed their plans.
I stayed the course, and in one sense it was just the course, which probably was unclear to others yet, I knew I was seeking a better way, greater, intending (*) and learning (*).
Mastery (*) then is key I think as its takes the performance from simply doing and achieving or not to becoming more aware, intending (*), taking action, making mistakes (*) and making it count, and reviews (*).
Mastery (*) dare I say it is a journey and never the destination.
It’s the joy in striving for perfection, the working towards the best, to be the best and yet the result is not just best but a newer version or a reshaping of things.
Strange how I can see all that striving was the best part and when I watch other not full enjoying the striving I find myself wondering how I can assist in the unearthing of the mind shift from result to mastery seeking.
Sure I get the need to get the results and after having a few results fall my way its easier to state these words.
What I realise is that some time ago just learning (*) become the many motive
People ask me why I keep paddling? Why put myself through it all, over and over again. I've been fortunate and have experienced it all - the highs and the lows. Maybe it is like Alex with his photography (*), but maybe it is what Drew writes about so well here?
Saint Patrick's Day Parade 2003 - Town Hall / Sydney 2003 - Sun 16 Mar 2003 (picasa and photo.net)
This is a photo from the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Sydney in 2003. The parade was held on the Sunday 16 Mar 2003 (7 years ago today - time does fly!!), being a few days before the actual day. I had gone into work for the day as Jenny and Joanne were in New Zealand on a Dragons Abreast Dragon Boat Tour which took place on consecutive weekends for Regattas in Auckland and then Wellington. I remember the time well as they were away when George Bush declared War on Iraq and was concerned that they were away from Australia.
I had just came across the early stages of the Saint Patrick's Day parade in Sydney. I like this photo for the following reasons:
I like how I captured how the scene unfolded (see below).
How I was able to photograph the photographer. I wonder how his photo turned out and whether they ever look at it. I just assumed, from the medal around the neck of one of the men, that they were official visitors from Ireland - who knows ?
I particularly liked the lady in the Green Dress and Hat. It was a little bit amusing that she is looking at my camera and not the one for which she is supposed to be posing for :-)
For the photo below I wrote the following on photo.net:
Moments before - Saint Patrick's Day Parade 2003 - Town Hall / Sydney 2003 - Sun 16 Mar 2003 (picasa and photo.net)
I just took a quick look at this photo again and then decided to look at the originals from that day. Interestingly enough a crop (see image with this comment) of my first photo from the five I took in the minute or so I waited for the lights to change, gives an insight as to how the scene unfolded. Has made me realise how difficult street photography is, or maybe there is a bit of luck involved?
For the next photo I wrote the following on photo.net:
Smiling Faces of Ireland - Saint Patrick's Day Parade 2003 - Town Hall / Sydney 2003 - Sun 16 Mar 2003 (picasa and photo.net)
As the two men swapped places, I was foiled by a passing pedestrain in getting a clear shot. Anyway, I think their smiling faces say it all ..
This photo was taken 7 years ago today. Time flys.
Sitting on a Bus half between Montreal and Toronto, as I was booking our accommodation for the next 4 nights, I realise the date.
It is 29 Aug 2011, and it is exactly 2 years to the day that we won the 500m Senior A Mixed Final in Prague.
World Champs - Australian Senior Mixed 500m Team - "As I came across the line I glanced upward and I pointed to the heavens" Lance A – Prague/Racice - Day 4 - 29 Aug 2009
As I think back to those moments and the two years that have followed, I have many emotions. I look at the photos of myself and I can't even comprehend how I was even there paddling after barely 10 weeks since Jenny's passing. I also think of the time between then and now, and I try to comprehend what I have been through to be here now. As I look to the future, I really have no idea what is next. Anyway, I try not to think about that too much and just try to be the best I can with what I have been given.
Geoff - post 200m Senior Open Final "letting go" - Racice/Prague 2009 - 28 Aug 2009 (picasa)
It is hard for me to even explain that day. I have tried here a few times (*). I am grateful (*) for the experience and feel lucky that I was on the boat that day.
I have been trying to find an appropriate Warrior of Light passage to mark this moment. Maybe the following is appropriate. I know my own failings and I would like to think that I live life with Faith, Hope and Love ..
A warrior of light knows his own faults. But he also knows his qualities.
Some of his companions complain all the time that
'other people have more opportunities than we do'.
Perhaps they are right, but a warrior does not allow himself to be paralysed by this; he tries to make the most of his virtues.
He knows that the gazelle's power lies in its strong legs. The power of the seagull lies in the accuracy with which it can spear a fish. He has learned that the reason the tiger does not fear the hyena is because he is aware of his own strength.
He tries to establish what he can truly rely on. And he always checks that he carries three things with him:
faith, hope and love.
If these three things are there, he does not hesitate to go forward.
Pavement Stencil - Houston St / SoHo / New York (Thu 18 Aug 2011)
The decayed black bubble gum markings above his head (and elsewhere) become part of the black spray paint, while the cigarette butt makes us realise the photo is colour and not black and white (which we would otherwise think).
Spencer Lum (*) writes On the Beauty of Photography (*):
The question isn’t what looks good.
The question is what fits.
Are you building something?
Are you filtering through what works and what doesn’t and packing your pictures with connotation?
Or just showing what’s there?
In the simplest terms, get rid of the bad and keep the good.
You can spend a lifetime deciding on just what that means.
And that’s the beauty of photography.
The key is just to keep making those decisions.
via Say what you mean and mean what you say (*) by Spencer Lum (*).
Always making decisions here. It's part of the attraction of doing what happens here. I look back over the four years of photos here and sometimes I shake my head at what I see. I look at it and say to myself, it was the right decision (or maybe the only decision) to make at the time. In some ways it makes me realise how much I have done and learnt. So while I might shake my head, there are no regrets.
I did not know I was good at it, but then, when you realise other people think you are good at it, you think you might be good at it, and that gives you confidence and builds the next thing.
Tim Levinson (*) talks to Bernard Zuel (*) on Empathy (*) and Struggle (*) in creating in song writing:
''Part of who I am is, I think, I can empathise (*),'' he says. ''I used to think it was the most normal thing in the world but I realise it's one of the qualities I've been left with, for better or for worse.
''In songwriting, quite often you either come from a point of view of struggle … whether that be heartbreak or circumstances. That allows you to write with conviction.
''For me, I have often seen little windows of that struggle (*) or that heartbreak and it gives me an access point I don't necessarily fully understand. I look at those little cracks of light that come through as an invitation to look into it more.''
via 'The best music is written with conviction' (*) by Bernard Zuel (*).
[..] What I have come to realise is that we only really use a race plan as a framework, it is like our template to bring us together in the way we will approach the racing we do.
What we don't do is put our confidence in our race plan to be the defining element of our rowing.
I have always felt that getting a good start was important because it sets up the race. This does not mean that it is the only thing but it is easier to control things from in front.
When it's close after 500m the thing that is wonderful about that is that it creates an intensity about the middle stages of the race.
Competitive instinct can bring our the best and worst in everyone.
So then a race plan is the thread that runs through our performance.
It's a framework the enables a crew to understand what's required and where.
We use a plan that we believe gets us in to a position that we can use as a platform.
The idea of it being a thread which you have key moments to hang, place, perform based on your decisions the rowing that will bring it all to life.
Every stage can result in an expanded thread which stands out in the field and like wise each of the key moment can result in a contraction that is a narrowing of options and is visible as a performance begins to fade and become lost back in the field.
We have in our minds key point of a race where certain things can take place, certain opportunities realised.
The race plan should keep your options open which is exciting and creates anticipation and is a great source of energy.
On the other hand a poorly conceived, ill considered and unrealistic plan can have an effect in opposition to every athletes desires. [..]
One of Eiffel's most prolific activists from the mid-90s to 2002 was Geoff Eldridge from Australia. He spent most of his spare time hanging out in places like comp.lang.eiffel spreading information to help people to use Eiffel.
After the demise of Eiffel Outlook magazine, Geoff decided that the Eiffel community still needed a magazine, but that it should be online instead of paper-based. With that in mind, he talked a dozen or so Eiffel notables into writing articles for the first issue, and he soon published it on a website at the University of Technology, Sydney.
The magazine was named "Eiffel Liberty", inspired by the fact that Gustav Eiffel had designed the framework for both the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. The word Liberty also reflected that Geoff had visions of helping to "set Eiffel free" from the chains that were restraining it.
The first couple of issues of Eiffel Liberty were very popular, and Geoff moved them across to his newly-registered domain elj.com where he continued to publish a new issue every two months or so.
The increased webspace, and availability of scripting tools, allowed Geoff to expand the scope of the site considerably, and soon Eiffel Liberty was hosting a huge amount of content besides Eiffel Liberty Journal. Geoff's interest in Object Technology featured strongly, and as a result the site gained widespread readership beyond the Eiffel community.
As Geoff's interests broadened, he also covered scripting languages, methodology, functional programming, extreme programming, software quality and componentry. Geoff also latched on to the burgeoning interest in open source software and featured it strongly.
Despite these broadening interests, Geoff kept up the Eiffel content. He maintained GUERL, Geoff's Eiffel Resource Locator which had links to every possible resource useful to practitioners of Eiffel. In time, this overflowed into the OO Soapbox where links to other languages and technologies were featured.
As if this wasn't enough, Geoff also introduced ELJ Daily, a regular posting of the latest snippets relating to Eiffel and Object Technology. Today we'd call this a blog, but the word hadn't been invented yet. Indeed, Geoff was one of the world's first bloggers.
All this time too, Geoff was also writing open source Eiffel software and inspiring others to do the same. Talk about a powerhouse! He was also having to pay a sizeable chunk of his own cash for hosting costs and bandwidth. He never carried ads on the site.
As the site grew, Geoff and others referred to it good-naturedly by a number of alternative acronyms, including Extremely Large Jumble, which it had certainly become. It was a very useful and much-appreciated jumble nonetheless. The nickname caught on, and soon the homepage itself carried the new slogan.
But all was not well. Geoff felt that he wasn't getting much support from the Object community. He contrasted this with his other interest, photography, where he found the online communities to be highly engaging and supportive. His massive workload might have been getting him down too, and it wouldn't have helped that his girlfriend Jenny (later his wife) had cancer.
A major blow came in late 2000 after some people had strongly criticized the GUERL page as being full of disorganized rubbish. Geoff took this to heart, and erased the page, announcing that "This page has been retired ... I suppose no impression is much better than a bad impression". Many pleaded with him to restore the page, but it was not to be.
In a way, that was the beginning of the end. Although Geoff plugged away for a few more years, the zest was never there quite like it had been before, and Geoff was devoting more time to the newly-emerging hobby of digital photography. On 24 September 2002 Geoff took down the whole of elj.com.
No-one in the Eiffel community seems to know what Geoff is up to now - and quite a few of us have tried to track him down. The elj.com home page is still live, though it contains nothing more than an invitation to click through to Cetus Links. (Does Geoff realise that a three-character domain name can be sold for quite a lot these days?)
Geoff, if you're out there, why not post a comment and let us know what you're up to?
THanks for Roger Browne who wrote this. It brings back a lot of memories.
Smile #5 - Circle Line Ferry / Hudson River / New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)
Details #1, #2 (Hands) & #3 - Circle Line Ferry / Hudson River / New York (Sat 13 Aug 2011)
I can clearly remember this day and standing at the front of the Ferry as we travelled south along the Hudson River back towards where we had started our journey almost three hours earlier.
A beautiful summers day, in an amazing City - we had travelled from all parts of the planet to share this experience. Three hours together and then we would part, never to meet again. But I have a feeling the photos we have, unite us all and our feelings and emotions of a shared experience.
I remember these moments so clearly, though I had not really looked closely at these photos (*) since I have been back.
This one is my favourite and it has a lot going on (*), as the tiny details above show. It seems to be have a tenderness and a sense of awe about it - strengthened if looked at as a series of photos (*) which bonds everyone together. I would dearly love to give prints to the people in the photos (I was able to do this once in Shanghai, a story for another day).
I am now reminded of this post (*) and it is in moments like this that I am glad to have had this blog to scratch out my thoughts in words (even if they don't really make too much sense at times) and mostly now through my photos (maybe I am just happy, like the Girl above, just hoping for someone to look at my photos - even if it is just me).
It also makes me realise how lucky I have been to be able to do the things I have done.
Auroras 2013 Team Captains Announcement - Adam Goodes Talk - Dragon Boat YouTube (*) Bank Street / Pyrmont (Sat 29 Jun 2013)
Adam Goodes (*) talks to the Sydney based Australian Dragon Boat Team Members, the 2013 Auroras.
It was a few weeks before we flew out to Hungary for our final training camp in Gyor (*) and then onto Szeged (*) a few days later, for the World Championships.
It was an amazing moment. To think that Adam would come down to say a few words to us.
You knew it was special at the time. But today, looking at this video, it made me realise how special it was. Thanks Adam. You are a Gentleman, a Champion and represent everything that which we aspire to as people and paddlers.
Following Adam's Talk, Kel announced the 2013 Aurora Divisional Team Leaders and overall Team Captains. As each was named, Adam presented the Sydney based Leaders and Captains with a Plaque which acknowledges each persons achievements in being selected to their position.
Finally, Kel thanked Adam for making time to see us, following which he was presented a plaque to remember his time with us. Needless to say, Adam was more than happy to spend a bit of time speaking to us individually and to make a few photos. See below.
Here is my humble efforts to transcribe what Adam said..
Kel suggested I come down here to see you guys who are going off to represent your country which I think is fantastic.
I do like to give back to community as much as possible and thought this was great opportunity.
You know this is not a sport that I am involved with. A sport which I have never tried before, but
[.. from the crowd .. we have got a spare seat. ]
I would hate to kick somebody out of their spot.
It is a fantastic thing, whether, you know, it's your first time representing Australia or whether you have been doing it for so many years as a Master. It is always the same. You have got that Green and Gold.
I have played for Australia four times, I have captained Australia in 2011 over in Ireland at the International Series there.
I didn't really feel what it was like to be a patriot to my Country until I represnted Australia. To see the Americans and how patriotic they are about the flag and everything.
It's not until you represent Australia and you are going away from Australian shores to do it that you actually feel how proud I am about the Country I come from, the Country I am representing and the people that we are.
Look at how diverse we all are just looking at us right now.
It is fantastic that we can go away and represent Australia and give our best. I think that is what being Australian is all about is giving our best.
You are also doing it for ..
The main reason I wanted to come down here today for you guys is to give you a pat on the back. Wish you good luck.
You know it is a fantastic opportunity to ..
You know I have never been to Hungary before. It is a great opportunity to see a different Country. Embrace their culture. Learn somehting new. But also, let them embrace our culture as well. Let them see what Australian people are like.
Have fun. You know, win, lose or draw, you are over there to enjoy yourself.
Get to know people on a different level. Travel together. I know the boys don't like travelling with me because I am a bit of a snorer.
[.. from the crowd - much laughter ..]
I dont have a problem with it, ..
but enjoy, have fun and go and do us proud.
That is the great thing about representing your Country.
It is what it is all about. Good luck.
[.. from the crowd - applause.]
Here are a few photos from the day. Thanks Adam and of course, Kel, for asking Adam.
Adam - Bank Street / Pyrmont (Sat 29 Jun 2013)
Adam - Bank Street / Pyrmont (Sat 29 Jun 2013)
Adam and Sydney-based Auroras 2013 Leadership Team - Bank Street / Pyrmont (Sat 29 Jun 2013)
Adam and Jo - Bank Street / Pyrmont (Sat 29 Jun 2013)
Adam, Jo and Geoff - Bank Street / Pyrmont (Sat 29 Jun 2013)
