Addicted to Salsa

In an effort to keep from getting too round, I have taken up salsa dancing. I am pretty geared up with this as I have always wanted to be able to dance like a professional salsa dancer. At the club I go to, there are some really good dancers who just amaze with their spins and turns and their steps. Really ballroom professional looking. After practice on Sunday night I went and asked this girl for a dance, forgot to intro myself etc., and received a weird look with a quick yeah! why not. So after the class I was on a high and this just lifted me to the stratosphere. Getting out on the dance floor was shattering. She was a much much better dancer than me and my male ego took a battering. She is flying around like a ballerina and I am like an elephant on ice skates. I just remember really starting to look for the end of the song so that we could finish. It was like the spotlight was shining on me and I was doing a comedy routine. Luckily the song wasn't long to finish and I quickly found another class member to dance with and I was relieved that my male pride was restored.

To find some music to infuse myself with I have been going to Itunes podcast section and downloading some salsa podcasts. I was at the addicted to salsa website and found the following lists amusing in the forum sections.

TOP 10 REASONS TO DATE A DANCER

10. We know all the positions

9. We have perfect technique, good rhythm, and great hip rotation

8. We are used to having bruises on our knees

7. We are used to performing in minimal amounts of clothing

6. We are perfectionists: Well keep going until we hit it

5. We can shake it like no other!

4. After a quick intermission, were ready to go at it again

3. We dont mind getting hot and sweaty

2. We are not as delicate and fragile as we look

1. One word: FLEXIBILITY!!!

Some reasons NOT to date a dancer:

1. They insist on a hardwood floor.

2. Good rhythm, but do you really want to make love to the clave?

3. They pay professionals for private sessions.

4. They want to change partners every 5 minutes.

5. Always looking at themselves in the mirror.

6. Unexpectedly, they push you away to 'shine' solo.

7. Their feelings get hurt if you're not smiling all the time.

8. They post all their experiences in online forums.

9. The men expect the women to do exactly what they want, when they want.

10. The women expect the men to constantly come up with new moves.

Oh in other news, Liverpool is starting to hit some form (geez I hope I haven't cursed them now).

Whoa!

Last Thursday night I was invited to share my experiences in the Mekong Delta. I had a good time however I was curious as to why every story I told started with after drinking x amount of y, then main point of the story. I am sure I did more than just drink in my time in Vietnam. Well anyway Friday was hell, because the night before I drank too much wine. The head was throbbing all day and my concentration easily departed from the task at hand.

Trying to find some photos of the crocs that escpaed in Hue and filling the flooded town with fear, I want to offer Tyler some advice if he meets one. I want to let him know about how we handle crocs down here below the equator. Now you have all seen The Crocodile Hunter, and I just want you all to know that it is a little Hollywoodised. You don't need to go to the bush to find them, they are in all the cities here. Anyway, also when we catch them we cut them up and eat them or make boots out of them a la Crocodile Dundee.

Sometimes we are not so lucky and the croc gets to eat the steaks.









Anyway I came across this picture which took my breath away with how amazing it is. I found it like one of those pictures on perspectives where you look and see an old woman for about 10 minutes then bam! you find the young woman and the old woman left the building.

I really am not sure if this is a true rock formation or just some photoshop trickery, yet I like it. Just in case you are having trouble with seeing it below is the bam! factor.

Karma Seatra

I somehow got subscribed to Borders' (bookstore) email advertising for new books each month, must have been one of those afterwork zombie moments. As I was going through it I was pretty surprised and impressed with the cleverness of the title when I checked and found this in it.

Kama SEAtra is a comical exposé of the raunchy sex lives of marine creatures. From desire and deception, lust and fetish, pleasure and pain - it's all happening beneath the waves, according to this new book about the marine world. The author Sherre Marris takes a different approach, by humanising the marine life, she is engaging and writes about marine creatures in a way we can relate. It's wacky, wonderful and occasionally weird; KamaSEAtra gives you a whole perspective on what goes on under the sea.

Anyway it had nice pictures attached so I thought I might share them with you.

Big head time!

While working in Vietnam I had the luck to be able to work on a few research projects. Most were directly related for the university's performance identifying weakness and strengths within the economics faculty. However the last project that I did was a study on the Pangasias (Tra & Basa [Vietnamese] catfish) value chain. This project looked at the uncertanties facing the industry at the industry level to identify where improvements could be made to ensure that the livlihoods of those working in it could be secured for the future.

While working on this project I met another Australian who had done similar work in Laos, and had proposed to do a project for the whole Mekong region, Vietnam, Cambodia, & Laos. He was in the process of writing the application when we met and was fishing around for ideas and collaborations. I really liked his enthusiasm when I met him and it gave me a push to complete the project, as my comitment was starting to fade.

Well yesterday, I was in contact with my old boss and he informed me that the funding for the project was secured and the individaul project proposals are taking shape and my work on the catfish value chain is the basis for his project. I was pretty much blown away when I heard that and my head swelled to an all time size, bigger than the Eureka tower shown from my work in the in right side of the picture. I am now on a work high, as this I think is the biggest accomplishment from any work I have done previously. However, I am going to try to top it with the current work on climate change, and try to make my work make a difference for the better.

Looking southeast from my work with the Eureka Tower at the right

The focus of the photos is beyond the buildings that is why the Eureka Tower is not well shown.

Another shot from work with the Eureka Tower at the left.

History making

A history making event, yet still a long way to go.