Captain Richard's Musings and Other Things

Heading back to Gtown tonight, then on to the NY on Thursday. Took Princes to the childrens museum this morning. What a grat place for families with young children from about 3 to 12. The place is huge and is a virtual Disney World with many exhibits from dinosaurs to a Barbie fashion walk. Almost lost it though when she scooted under a 2 foot high slot into a house of mirrors and disappeared. The place was a maze of mirrors and deadens. 15 minutes later I had security out looking for her. Finally found her crawling onto another exhibit. Not a care in the world and not a clue as to why I was so upset. Oh what fun! See photos on last post. Kind of glad my GP duties are over for awhile. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

Princes digging for dinosaur bones Posted via web from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

Riding in my son's van with his band members, the IRB, to a gig in Ft Wayne. Closed van with 4 members of a reggae band!! WoW Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

Christmas Eve in Indie with my son & family. Cloudy & damp but no snow so far. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

This is what it look like a few minutes ago as we made our approach to Detroit's Wayne County Airport. Going on to Indianapolis fo Christmas. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

Click here to download: 1-05 Rhayader Goes to Town (Instrume.m4p (4852 KB) Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

My last post had the wrong music attached.  Here it is again.  Kind of nice on a Saturday morning.  This music was inspired by the short story "The Snow Goose" by Paul Gallico and tells the story of a young girl (Fritha) who befriends a hunchback (Rhayader) who is a lighthouse keeper who finds a wounded snow goose in a marsh and nurses it back to health.  It has a tragic ending with Rhayader going across to Dunkirk to help evacuate the British army and the snow goose following.     Download now or listen on posterous The_Great_Marsh.mp3 (1631 KB)    Download now or listen on posterous camel_Fritha_alone.mp3 (1199 KB) Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

Sitting here listening to "The Snow Goose" by Camel.  Great music inspired by the short story of the same name by Paul Gallico.  Here is a sample.  The first one is Fritha Alone followed by "The Great Marsh".  Posterous is really a great medium for this kind of stuff.    Download now or listen on posterous camel_Fritha_alone.mp3 (1199 KB)    Download now or listen on posterous Camel_The_great_marsh.mp3 (2089 KB) Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

Download now or preview on posterous Hannukah.doc (40 KB) Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

Download now or preview on posterous A Little Christmas Tree Lore.doc (3358 KB) Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

Santa on Towboat Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

I think today, after the decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, this Onion headline right after Obama was elected is most apropos.  This was a no win scenario for him as he would have been damned no matter what he did.  Talking about being between a rock and a hard place.   http://bit.ly/8Duci4 via @TheOnion - Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

Spent the rainy cold morning back in Georgetown uploading photos from the trip to Panoramio for viewing in Google Earth.  Great way to save photos with tags of where you have been.  Here is the website for my photos.  http://www.panoramio.com/user/160762?comment_page=1&photo_page=1 Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

Now that President Obama has made the decision to send an additional 30+ thousand troops to Afghanistan I again have this one question.  Who the hell is training the Taliban?  This is a post I made back in October. Every time I hear someone say we have to put more trainers on the ground in Afghanistan to train the militia or the local federal army I wonder who trains the other side.  We pour millions into the effort, buy uniforms, give them huge amounts of equipment, support them with air power, medical facilities, etc.  Yet it seems that the Taliban fighters are just recruited from the population, given an AK47 with lots of rounds of ammo and sent out into the field.  They defeated the Brits, the Russians and it looks like they are winning the war against us.  If these Afghanistan fighters are so good why do we need to train them?  Maybe they should be training us to fight in their environment.  How is it that the Northern Alliance, in 2002, with just a few hundred of our special ope...

My last post on this blog was of the little trolley I took from the boat to the Grayhound station in Ft Myers less than a week ago. After a good Thanksgiving weekend with China, today I am on the LIRR just pulling into the Jamaica Station on my way to Servo in Westbury. Needless to say it is gray cool and cloudy. Needless to say I had rather be on the moored in Hard to believe that I have been associated with Servo since 1993. Who would have thought. Today George and I will be working on the presentation for Breckenridge in February. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Captain Richard's Posterous Blog

Well jus as I guessed. Plane now diverted to Atlanta for fuel. Looks like 1 or 2pm before we get out of here. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Thanksgiving morning at MYR Airport in a Peasoup fog. Doesn't look like I am going anywhere for awhile. They just announced that the plane is still in the air circling. If the fog does not clear up he will probably have to divert to another airport, most likely Wilmington. There goes Thanksgiving dinner as the flights will be too foll to take our passengers. Utxo, they just said he is a little low on gas. To be continued. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

First leg of my trip back to Gtown. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Great little pool & hot tub at the Matanzas inn in Ft Myers Beach. The Inn runs the mooring field so we get to use the facilities. Leave for Georgetown tomorrow morning, then on to China's in NYC on Thursday. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Just entering the inlet to Ft Myers Beach Sent by RiBurton's IPhone 0840 22November 2009 Posted via email from Richard Burton

At sea in the Gulf of Mexico. Departed Boot Key Harbor this morning at approximately 0900. Passed under the Seven Mile bridge at 1000 and enterred the Gulf Steered a course of 335 deg after we negotiated the shoals. At about 1400 we turned off the engine and sailed for a couple of hours under lite winds of about 5kts. Bob & Gary went for a swim while I was on watch. We encountered a large school of Jacks feeding. Gary was able to snag one with a lite spinner rod but we lost him trying to get it in the boat. Sailboats are not the greatest fishing platform, espesially with no net or gaf. Presently lying on the deck writing this on my iPhone notepad. Obviously no cell service here. Very dark night with only a small sliver of moon. Pink Floyd is playing on the CD player below. Lots of stars out. On a night like this the Gulf is like a pond. Hardly any wave action like on the ocean on a calm night. Just a slight rocking of the boat, mixed with the gentle rumble of the engine below. V...

Good band, great time. Back at the boat. Leave early tomorrow. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Sent by RiBurton's IPhone 20 Nov 2009 Posted via email from Richard Burton

Left Lake Worth Inlet at daybreak wednesday Nov 18. Light breeze out of the NW to strart the day, then switched around to the north. Made Miami Beach By 16:30 and picked up fuel at the MB Marina and went back out immediately. Wednesday night was moonless so the only thing to be seen was the lights of Biscayne Bay and the lower keys. I had the 0100 to 0400 watch. Beautiful night sail. Called China at about 0200 and her as she was just getting home from work. Seemed like she had a good night. Slept nicely after my watch. Arrived Marathon at about noon on Thursday and picked up a mooring at the Municipal Marina. This is a big destination place for a lot of the snow birders. Boats here all the way up the coast to Canada. Personally I would have to have something to do here. Sitting on the boat and relaxing for a day or two is ok, could get pretty boring for the whole winter. Well the weather is really nice. Sunny and in the mid to upper 80's. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone 20 Nov. 20...

Posted via web from Richard Burton

Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Bright sunny day temp 85 winds lite out of the North. Sails are not much help today. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Posted via web from Richard Burton

Great time today sailing on the Lagoon 44 "Lazzarone" owned owned by Steve &Susan. Sailed out of the inlet at about noon with a light breeze out of the northeast. Threw up the cruising chute and sailed on a reach out into the Gulfstream. The water turned really blue and the rollers built up to 8-10 ft. The huge cat takes these seas beautifully with almost no sense of pitching as would get on some monohulls. In early afternoon the wind started to increase to 10-15 with caps. We doused the chute and put up the white sails and made our way back. Then took their RIB dinghy with a big 50 over to West Palm for giant giant burgers at the Grease Burger bar Tomorrow there is a race in the PM. We plan to win. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Talking about blue slies and warm weather: Hooked up with the owners of this beautiful catamaran for a sail off Palm Beach. Day couldn't be more perfect. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Posted via web from Richard Burton

Posted via web from Richard Burton

This stands to reason. When I take a photo either for my magazine or to place on a website I take care to get releases from people whose faces are shown in the photo. Why can google take photos of hundreds of people, place those photos on the Internet and be unaccountable. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Drove up to Cape Caniveral today to check out this boat for sale. It is a custom made Belgium boat. Really a sweet boat. Would have to do some real thought as to work some type of deal. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Today I took Gary and Bob to the airports in the Enterprise rental car. They will be back next week then we start the rest of the trip. Offshore to Marathon, then over to Ft Myers. Stopped the Megliori Amici and picked up Tony. We had some dinner at the Thirsty Turtle in Juno Beach. Then back to the boat via the Winn Dixie. Pretty lonely tonight not much on the TV. We pick up some really weird channels. Reading time. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

November 2009 Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Circa 1965 Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Sitting at the Elbo Room at the corner of Los Olas Blvd & A1A. I have a lot of history here. 1965 the streets were packed, you could hardly walk on the beach during the day. At night you crashed were you could, anywhere except on the beach as the cops would transport you to jail. The Elbo Room is pretty much the same and Crazy Gregs was upstairs, it's gone now. Sitting here looking out over the street and the beach it all looks pretty much the same. The ocean and the beach sure does. 45 years ago. I still feel the same. Probably still have the same hangups. Two marriages (the first one happened to start right here on this corner in 1969), two kids 3 or 4 different careers and lots of people and places later, it all looks the same and I am sitting here writing this on my iPhone to be posted on a blog. Who would have thought. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from Richard Burton

Unions Spurn White House to Oppose Senate Health Bill (Update1) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&sid=asRzBcIRCcog

Coast Guard Announces 10-day Closure of Ben Sawyer Memorial Swing Bridge During Peak ICW Travel Season   By Gary Reich Oct. 13, 2009 The U.S. Coast Guard last week issued a Marine Safety Information Bulletin (MSIB) regarding the replacement of the Ben Sawyer Memorial Swing Bridge span (Mile 462.2), which will have a significant impact on ICW travelers headed south. From the MSIB: "Due to the scheduled replacement of the swing span of the Ben Sawyer Bridge, the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AICW) will be closed to marine traffic from Friday, November 13, 2009 at 12:00 A.M. to Monday, November 23, 2009 at 11:59 P.M. A safety zone will be enforced around the Ben Sawyer Bridge during the entire 10 day closure. The safety zone will encompass the entire waterway from 180 yards northwest of the bridge, and 220 yards southwest of the bridge. No one may enter the safety zone without prior authorization from the Captain of the Po...

Everyone seems to be joking about Obama winning the Nobel Peace prize.  Even SNL made it the opening skit last night.  Well the argument is that he was nominated after being in office for only 11 days.  In fact the voting did not occur until just recently and there were over 300 nominees and anyone can be nominated for the peace prize even George Bush who was nominated twice as shown below.  If he had won that would have been the real joke.  "(BBC)Wednesday, 13 February, 2002, 13:42 GMT US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have been nominated for the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize." "Fri January 30, 2004 08:03 AM ET Bush and Blair nominated for Nobel peace prize By Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) - President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair are among nominees for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize before a Sunday deadline for nominations despite failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."

This is what the 1% is doing with that money   http://riburton.posterous.com/  

I just love the fact that so many the Republicans just hate Obama.  I hated Bush for 8 years.  I could not stand to listen to him, to see him or to even think about him.  I was embarrassed when I knew he was speaking that I would change the channel or turn it off.  I just knew that everyone else in the world was listening and thinking how in hell could the American people elect someone like that for two terms.  During the 2004 elections I became so involved in trying to defeat Bush that I probably got a little sick and I know it was one (but only only one) cause of the end of my second marriage.  So I just love the fact that the right wing has such a hate campaign against Obama.  Now they know what I went through for the last 8 years.  So Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize.  Not only should it bring prestige to the the United States, but it lends credence to the push for world peace, a reduction in the world complement of nuclear weapons and the possibility that nations can join togethe...

Every time I hear someone say we have to put more trainers on the ground in Afghanistan to train the militia or the local federal army I wonder who trains the other side.  We pour millions into the effort, buy uniforms, give them huge amounts of equipment, support them with air power, medical facilities, etc.  Yet it seems that the Taliban fighters are just recruited from the population, given an AK47 with lots of rounds of ammo and sent out into the field as Mujaheddin.  They defeated the Russians and it looks like they are winning the war against us.  If these Afghanistan fighters are so good why do we need to train them.  Maybe they should be training us to fight in their environment.  How is it that the Northern Alliance, in 2002, with just a few hundred of our special operations guys were able to totally defeat the Taliban in a matter of weeks or even days?  What happened to those guys?  Are they now the Taliban?  It seems that while we were off fighting a war we did not need to f...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Where the Riled Things Are www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

Republican Senator Grassley said, ."A government run plan will ultimately force private insurers out of business," adding that supporters of the public option were trying to open a back door toward a fully government-run, or single-payer, health system like those in Canada or England.  Good let them go out of business.  A government run plan is what he has and is what I have had since I was 18 years old and first enlisted in the Navy.  Any plan that does not have a public option will be a win fall for the insurance industry and should be defeated and so should all the so called representatives of the people that vote against it, yet keep on the public dole.   

Rep. Trent Franks, a Republican from Arizona… "Obama's first act as president of any consequence, in the middle of a financial meltdown, was to send taxpayers' money overseas to pay for the killing of unborn children in other countries," said Frank. "Now, I got to tell you, if a president will do that, there's almost nothing that you should be surprised at after that. We shouldn't be shocked that he does all these other insane things. A president that has lost his way that badly, that has no ability to see the image of God in these little fellow human beings, if he can't do that right, then he has no place in any station of government and we need to realize that he is an enemy of humanity ." Franks later tries to "explain his position this way"  Bethany Haley, spokeswoman for Franks, said the congressman was referring to "unborn humanity" and should have clarified his statement. She also said that Franks meant to say that Oba...

Riki Wanted this sent to as many as possible. • Every member of Congress, the President and Vice President and every federal employee receives health care through a taxpayer funded "public option".  Why are so many of them so intent on denying the same possibility to the rest of us?  And why are we so complacent about their hypocrisy? •  Each beneficiary of the publicly funded Federal Employees Health Program who opposes a public option should be called out and exposed for hypocrisy in denying to others what they have for themselves, and in some cases, rabble rousing to cynically confuse their constituents about the role in government in the health care system.   • No-one in the Federal Employees Health Program is denied coverage because of prior conditions or health status.  Why deny this to anyone else? • A large proportion of health care is already a public mandate for broad categories of Americans - Medicare, Medicaid, the VA...  While each system has its issues...

this is a test

Which are you? More specifically which would you rather be, a Conservative or a Liberal?   Here are the definitions from Dictionary.com:   Conservative:   Disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.    Liberal:   Favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs. favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.   Using the definitions above lets examine the events of history and who might have been identified how.   How about the American Revolution.   Was it Conservatives or Liberals that boarded the tea ships and tossed the tea overboard?   Was it Conservatives or Liberals that signed the Declaration of Independence?   Not everyone was in favor of American Independence and they were called Whigs. Were they Conservative or Liberals?   Using the above definition I would call t...

www.theharborwalk.com/lowcountry_dining.htm Posted via email from riburton's posterous

Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from riburton's posterous

Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from riburton's posterous

Just strolling along enjoying the sites and sounds of the city. Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from riburton's posterous

According to this article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/17/new-jersey-poll-33-of-rep_n_289896.html   33% of NJ Republicans think Obama is not a citizen and 14% think he is the anti christ.  Additionally 17% of all conservatives thought Obama was Satan incarnate.  The article also indicates that NJ was actually the lowest of 5 states they surveyed.  Gee, I wonder what the other 5 states were.  This is what happens when people do not listen to facts but listen to radio talk show hosts and those with a specific agenda.    On another subject,  I am starting to think that this whole offensive aganist the Obama administration is being covertly directed by some group that has a total plan of action and is bleeding out news item for the media to pounce on day after day. For instance yesterday the big news item was Acorn, today it is the Czars.  Never mind the fact that Bush had more Czars than Obama and Acorn has offices in every major city and over 700 employees, most staffed b...

There are several trailers out for Capitalism, A Love Story, but I think this is the best one. </object> Posted via email from riburton's posterous

I Agree with President Carter when he says that the majority of the animosity exhibited by the opposition to Obama is driven by race. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy Like Carter I was born and raised in the South. I left for many of my adult years but I am back now and except for the fact that the colored only drinking fountains and segregated eating establishments are gone, I see very little difference in the South I left and the South I now live in. Today most of the black people do not dine in the mostly white restaurants, they do not hang out in the local pubs. If they do, they will not be thrown out but they will not feel comfortable either. It's not said openly even among white people who don't know each other, but get into a group where they all are "good ole boys" and just listen. We all know it, they all know, even the media all knows it, they just won't say it. But Carter said it. By God, he is 85 year...

I'm really starting to wonder if Obama was the right choice.  In the beginning I was for Clinton.  I thought she was tough, she had been there and knew how to play the game with the Republicans.  Get tough and kick ass when you need to. I also did not think that America was ready for a Black President and I made that known as one of the reasons I was for Clinton.  Well as time went on and Obama inched closer to winning the nomination I started to change my mind.  I saw a toughness about him that I had not seen before.  After all if he could beat Clinton then he must have a little spunk.  I also started to change my mind about the blackness.  Maybe the country was ready, and I just didn't see it.  So by the time he won the nomination he had my full and devoted support.  Unlike other avid Clinton supporters, I switched completely and became a wholehearted Obama fan. Early on I was happy when he got tough with the pirates, although he did seem to have a tendendancy to throw a c...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trey-ellis/please-mr-president-more_b_286665.html Posted via email from riburton's posterous

For all the birthday wishes. I had agreat day. Hope yours was also.  Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from riburton's posterous

Sent by RiBurton's IPhone Posted via email from riburton's posterous

from Jovien Clauzade on Vimeo .

This is a test to see if my post's get picked up on Facebook and Blogger.  Posted via email from riburton's posterous