Boobs are great. I love them. I wish we could spend more time together… I mean with you dear, of course.
Unfortunately there’s this nasty little thing called cancer that destroys them and kills people. And there are people who fight this thing. With their brains. With their will. And if nothing else is available, some do with their wallet.

I know someone, well, not in person, only from Internet, but I’ve learned to appreciate and respect her, and every year she walks with many other women to raise awareness and cash to help the big brains fund their research so that we can get rid of this pesky crab. It’s called the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

Cancer affects millions of people all over the world, and we need to put an end to it. The money donated will be managed and disbursed by the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade to help provide access to care for those that most need it, to fund educational programs, raise awareness, to accelerate research into new treatments and to find potential cures.

Many thanks to Scott Kurtz, author of PVP Online, for his kind permission to use his work.
 

Being a sci-fi fan, geek, whatever, I also can’t stop reading about astronomy, astrophysics, and all that fascinating stuff out there in the stars I can’t even begin to comprehend. Among other things I try to follow the rover missions as much as I can, even though I can be a bit late sometimes.

Recently, I came across a wonderful picture taken by the Spirit on Mars in 2004.

It is the Earth, viewed from the red planet. A tiny dot, barely visible in the dusty martian skies. An awesome and humbling sight which reminded me of another picture, and Sagan’s famous description of it: The pale blue dot.

The only home we’ve ever known.
 

It’s decided.

I’ve had a lot of fun since 2007, and I don’t regret one second of it but it left me pretty much without a safety net, let alone actual savings. So whether I get this flat or not (which, by the way, I think I will), I won’t travel this year and keep my extras and bonuses safe in the bank. I need to dedicate the moneyz for future projects of much more ambitious scope than a week’s vacation, and I need to start saving now.

I don’t want to get stuck.
 

I promise, it’s not about me this time.

No, I’m just posting this as a tribute to Mitch Mitchell who passed away yesterday.

Behold the great Dirty Mac performance from the Rolling Stone’s Rock and Roll Circus, feat. John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell.

Yer Blues – The Dirty Mac

Share and Enjoy
 

Well I’m back. I can’t sleep and I’m jetlagged as hell.

But I had the most excellent holidays ever. I think I actually did manage to top the Trail, which wasn’t an easy task. But looking at the results, it’s quite clear:
- I jumped out of a plane at 18,000 ft and survived
- I saw Clint Eastwood
- I hiked in the Yosemite wilderness alone and managed not to get mauled by bears
- I visited a ghost town

Now pushing it further is going to be real hard. I honestly don’t know if I can do better. I’m thinking either my ever-postponed Aussie Southern Coast roadtrip (Sydney-Perth) or maybe a safari.

I don’t know. I’ll come up with something, no worries

I’m gathering my strength now for the next big thing: NaNoWriMo. One month to gear up, and I lost a lot of time. After starting so great on a routine, I haven’t written anything in over two month :/

Sucks.

Stay tuned.
 

In little less than two weeks I will set foot in San Francisco for the second time. What follows is then similar to last year in that I will only spend the night there, and leave the following day to Monterey for the Jazz Festival.

Then the program changes a bit. I’ll stick to No Cal this year, staying in the Yosemite area, and driving back to San Fran on the 26th. But no worries, I got some pretty good stuff scheduled for these ten days, and I fully expect these holidays to be nothing less than completely awesome.

Yep.

Follow the adventure at Highway 120 Revisited, this year’s travel blog.
 

It’s difficult but I’m starting to get good results…

Here’s a try at old-style fashion:

comments welcome
 

Yep.

Hello.

Don’t tell anyone, but I am pre-pre-planning an Australia road-trip for 2008, Sydney-Brisbane, to be precise.

Of course, I’ll have to make it out of the upcoming Trail alive first. Stay tuned.
 

Holy shit. 1 month.

I AM NOT READYYYYYYY!!!!!!!
 

I’ve seen launches in the past, after the fact, but it’s the first time I’m following a Space Shuttle Mission live from Nasa Web TV and I’m absolutely in awe.

This beats all movies. The work they’re doing up there is truely remarkable and it’s a shame that the orbiter has become so “unnoticeable” in the eye of the public. Even if the Space Program has its share of flaws (most notably the layout design of the thing), the crew of the STS flights and of the ISS deserve our respect and admiration, yet nowadays it seems it’s now only reserved for space geeks.

Well, let me correct what I just said. It doesn’t beat the kick-ass Adama Maneuver… but for real-life stuff, it doesn’t get any better and I would give anything to get perfect vision and be able to join them out in the black.

Kudos, STS-118, and all the others, for expanding our horizons.

I’m thinking of going to KSC next year for the launch of STS-125.
 

Putting the final touches to my road plan…

21 Sept.
pick up car at SFO
San Fancisco to Monterey following PCH (CA Route 1)
Monterey Jazz Festival opens

22 Sept.
morning – visiting farther down CA-1 to Pfeiffer Beach, possibly to McWay Falls
rest of day and evening, back Monterey Jazz Festival

23 Sept.
Monterey Jazz Festival

24 Sept. – the fun begins
Monterey to June Lake via Tioga Pass

25 Sept. – longest day
June Lake to Las Vegas, via Badwater (Death Valley)
If I reach LV, dinner at The Tillerman.

26 Sept.
Las Vegas (or earlier stop) to Bryce Canyon

27 Sept.
morning off
Bryce Canyon to Salt Lake City
In SLC – dinner at David’s Kitchen

28 Sept.
Salt Lake City to [wherever I'll end up], Wyoming

29 Sept.
[wherever I ended up], Wyoming to Devils Tower National Monument

30 Sept.
DTNM cont’d, then to the East, no specific plans
possible visit to Mt. Rushmore.

01 Oct.
still going East

02 Oct.
latest possible day to reach Madison, WI

03 Oct.
Madison to Chicago

04 Oct.
morning off
Chicago to wherever, along Great Lakes in the general direction of Niagara Falls

05 Oct.
towards Niagara Falls, cont’d

06 Oct.
Niagara Falls to NYC

07 Oct.
give back the car at LGA

all TTLG Trail posts will from now be simulposted at the trip’s dedicated travel log
 

Let’s do the I officially present to you… the logo of the TTLG trail 2007:

Everything is pretty much finalized now. Not because of the logo, obviously. The serious stuff is practically ready for kickoff. Now comes the wait, three months to go…

Keep flyin’
 

… but coming along nicely.

I have almost everything laid out now, even finance is sorted out. The only unknown is whether I will actually be allowed to take three weeks off to do it, and I’m somewhat confident there shouldn’t be any problem.

Gosh that country’s huge. It’s daunting… I’m like, what in the hell am I about to do here? Hehe…
On the other hand, it’s a bit weird, it kind of feels like something I have to do, I don’t really know why. An ego-boost of some kind that would be long overdue. If you agree to call a fourteen-day solo trip, in a car with myself during 4200 miles an “ego-boost”.
That’ll be a hell of a long time for thought. Not that I’m gonna write a book or anything, I don’t think so anyway, but still.

I’ve never been looking forward to a trip like I am now. Then again, I never thought of a trip like that before… Maybe it will top Ireland ‘98 as my best trip ever, Maybe I will fail miserably. But one thing is certain.

If this takes off, it’s gonna be memorable.
 

The TTLG Trail

more later.
 

Maud Fontenoy left Callao, Peru yesterday and will try to reach Polynesia by boat.

So far, okay, nothing unusual, you say. Except she’ll row all the way there. Yes, row. And note it’s not a coup d’essai. She already crossed the Atlantic two years ago. Impressive, huh? =)

Good luck to her, and may she have clear skies and gentle winds!