31 December 2010
25 December 2010
22 December 2010
14 December 2010
13 December 2010
10 December 2010
07 December 2010
29 November 2010
23 November 2010
22 November 2010
16 November 2010
10 November 2010
SNOWBOARDS FOR KASHMIR - 500 STRONG
PRESS RELEASE: SNOWBOARDS FOR KASHMIR
10 NOVEMBER 2010: Greetings to All, and Thank You for your support of Snowboards For Kashmir.
Snowboards For Kashmir now has 500 members, but our goal is to reach many more people for support, so please recruit one other person this weekend - we could double our numbers in one week with your effort.
Thank You All, and Very Best Wishes,
Snowboards For Kashmir now has 500 members, but our goal is to reach many more people for support, so please recruit one other person this weekend - we could double our numbers in one week with your effort.
Thank You All, and Very Best Wishes,
22 October 2010
01 October 2010
25 September 2010
24 September 2010
21 September 2010
16 September 2010
10 September 2010
05 September 2010
03 September 2010
27 August 2010
24 August 2010
22 August 2010
19 August 2010
08 August 2010
27 July 2010
SNOWBOARDS FOR KASHMIR
PRESS RELEASE: SNOWBOARDS FOR KASHMIR
27 JULY 2010: Snowboards For Kashmir, A Non-Profit Corporation, has gone live at its site - http://snowboardsforkashmir.com
Your help is needed for people who will utilize the equipment & coaching our program will provide. And while I openly seek the participation of the large audience the Cause: SNOWBOARDS FOR KASHMIR application provides through Facebook, it's especially meaningful to find support here among individuals who also feel deeply passionate about winter sports.
These are people like you, though halfway around the world, who we are trying to help, and here is our program in a nutshell:
1. Purchase & ship a rental fleet to Gulmarg (20 snowboards, 20 pairs boots, 20 pairs bindings) to employ local (Kashmiri) instructors.
2. This rental fleet will be used commercially & charitably. Instructors will teach visitors for profit, and will teach local youth for free.
3. Rental fees from paying visitors will service debt on the purchase of the rental fleet. Rental fees are waived for free lessons.
This is how a simple click will help:
People like yourselves are in the first tier of membership, and may feel the most passionate about this cause, but among the least able to donate financially. No problem. Your foundation supports the second tier of membership from among we are more likely to find a corporate sponsor, or a donor who is impressed both by the cause, but also the audience it has attracted.
As members of the Cause: SNOWBOARDS FOR KASHMIR you would be included in any net cast to solicit funding but you can opt not to donate, that in no way diminishes your support.
If you cannot make a donation please click this link & join to show your support: Cause: SNOWBOARDS FOR KASHMIR
If you can make a donation (hugely appreciated), your donation to SFK can be easily made using the PayPal button on the main page of Snowboards For Kashmir.*
Suggested donations:
$30 - Buys a full-day lift pass at the Gulmarg Gondola (Stage 1 & 2).
$10 - Buys a single-ride lift pass at the Gulmarg Gondola (Stage 2).
$5 - Buys a single-ride lift pass at the Gulmarg Gondola (Stage 1).
Snowboards For Kashmir, A Non-Profit Corporation, is a 501(c)(3) educational, charitable, international amateur sports organization registered in the State of Vermont, USA.
*100% of your donation will be channelled to purchase tickets for Kashmir snowboarders in training.
Thank you in advance for your support & participation!
25 July 2010
23 June 2010
22 June 2010
16 June 2010
26 May 2010
MIA>PTY
LONGBOARD & CRUISER, SAN CARLOS, PANAMAFor the first time in a long time it seemed, I was clean and unencumbered at an airport with plenty of rest, and time to spare before the flight departure. It was as though the travel planets had aligned to permit my safe and easy passage. If so, I was grateful.
23 May 2010
18 May 2010
15 May 2010
POMFRET SCHOOL: ALUMNI REUNION WEEKEND
ALUMNI REUNION, POMFRET, CONNECTICUTI'm not even gonna say I had mixed feelings about going to a high school reunion, because I was stoked all the way through for this event. Many thanks to agent provocateur and host PWH for egging me into attending, and a tip of the cap to the many classmates who returned to make it a memorable weekend.
http://www.pomfretschool.org/
11 May 2010
10 May 2010
01 May 2010
27 April 2010
19 April 2010
15 April 2010
GOA>MUMBAI
THE GATEWAY OF INDIA, MUMBAI
From almost the moment I arrived at Goa it seemed like a mistake. Certainly I was aimless; it was hot, humid, and one could see the place was emptying out. I had left a climate in Kashmir that defined pleasant, done so without an itinerary, mainly from an obligation to visit some other place in India, to upend the comforts of the status quo. Within three days I was plotting lamely to leave Goa, but it took ten days to make it happen.
At Anjuna the staff were pleasant but settled, since the tourists were few, and slow to rise for any reason at all. The tourist season in southern India was drying up, and soon these people would be home, happy with the friends and family that now occupied their thoughts. Property-owners and landlords in the state mainly rent their lands on a temporary basis to concessionaires who operate seasonal guest houses and restaurants to serve Goa's many visitors. Most of the structures have to be dismantled and removed when the lease ends, and some come down earlier, if business has been slow.
It had not been a banner year, and Anjuna wore it on the face. I spent two days in north Goa on a rented scooter exploring a string of beach new to me: Candolim, Baga, Vagator, Arambol. It didn't look its best, no place does at the end of the dry season, but it was the many cliff bands separating the beaches which put me off, so I went to south Goa, returning to Palolem after two years.
04 April 2010
DEL>GOI
THE BEACH AT PALOLEM, GOA
It was easy going in Srinagar but a familiar hammer was going off: The infinite compulsion to venture someplace new or otherwise, if only to change the scenery. I stifled this sensation for two weeks easily, but for one ennuitic week I mulled and dithered over my next move.
Then, one drizzly day I bought a ticket, and flew south to Delhi the following morning, with no onward destination. It certainly could not be in that city for long though, for it was getting hotter and grittier daily, as both summer and the Commonwealth Games were quickly approaching, and the whole city was a mess of construction. Connaught Place was a dusty, impassible ruin, and all the traffic was a bore.
From Delhi I could travel anywhere. Many friends from winter at Gulmarg had flown cheaply to Sri Lanka, and a strong temptation was pulling me that way as well. The fundamental problem facing me, causing my indecision was flying in the face of logic. All the world of India in motion seemed to be going north in search of cooler weather, and the move I had just made, flying south from Kashmir, in the opposite direction, was against the grain.
03 April 2010
SXR>DEL>?
HUMAYUN'S TOMB, NIZAMUDDIN, DELHI
Three weeks passed in Srinagar while city residents, the area gardens, and myself, all emerged from winter's chill to revel in the greener, longer, sunny days of spring. Preparedness for the approaching summer tourist season became the order of each day, stirring somnambulant houseboat staffs to scrubbing planks and lathering the decorative work with fresh coats of paint.
My daily routine of talking walks and photographs completely overtook my ambition to wander India; it was an opportunity to watch spring come alive in Srinagar, as I had wanted since first leaving Kashmir in 2008. To this I added a sturdy Indian bicycle, and constantly traversed Srinagar, spending also many days going around the city lakes and to the many Mughal gardens, just then coming into bloom.
13 March 2010
GOODBYE GULMARG, SEE YOU NEXT WINTER
GONDOLA LINE-UP, GULMARG, KASHMIR
As the freezing temperatures are sailing upwards, the time has come to pack up the winter gear for storage, and prepare to leave Gulmarg. Initially, my new squat will be at the Noor Guest House astride Dal Lake in Srinagar, but after a week of that I'll be leaving for points now unknown.
12 March 2010
TR: GULMARG '09/10 - ONE SPRING DAY
CHOOTI NALI BOWL, GULMARG, KASHMIRThe period from 8-12 March turned out to be the very best days of the winter season 2010. A well-timed storm delivered a meter of fine, dry snow for the very few people remaining at Gulmarg. Less than 40 skiers & riders were present to enjoy nature's gift, so getting favored lines was easy peasy.
Music: Skankenstein by Kora.
08 March 2010
20 February 2010
16 February 2010
BTV>JFK>DOH>DEL
TOMB OF THE BARBER, NIZAMUDDIN, DELHI
Qatar Airlines FL 84 JFK to DOH. Holy Wow! Twelve and one half hours non-stop flight. A great airline - excellent service, facilities, and food. Top notch, and recommended. I believe the long flight deters many travelers, and most Americans generally don't fly other national carriers. Before booking I searched the seating charts on flights going East, and discovered this leg with nearly 50 empty seats. Promising. Once on board I ditched my seat up front and headed aft, where there were many empty rows. Result: I slept comfortably prone for most of the airtime.
19 January 2010
PTY>MIA>BDL
OLYMPIA DINER, BERLIN, CONNECTICUT
This was a royal sh*t-show: First, I altogether missed my exiting flight from PTY by an entire day. This due to distraction caused by a sh*t-storm panic in my house all the previous week. Second, my wallet gets tapped for an additional flight ticket north, bringing this leg of travel up to a K-note. Lastly, misplacing a receipt results in a $300 whack for the long-term parking. Grrrr...
The upside is that Connecticut hosts some excellent diner restaurants, so the solemn chore that lies ahead, packing up & storing my Father's possessions, will be softened by a belly-full of blue-plate specials.
04 January 2010
BDL>CLT>FLL>PTY
PARQUE BELISARIO PORRAS, PANAMA CITY
On this date I am already four days behind schedule for the winter trip to Kashmir, and I am flying in the wrong direction: South.
Furthermore, I have to sail a gauntlet beginning with the 3:00PM connector to Charlotte, landing Ft. Lauderdale at 10:30PM, in time (barely) to board the 11:30PM to Panama City, which arrives at 2:30AM, next day.
Then the fun starts: I have 12 days to remodel a kitchen, and a bathroom. But first I have to blow wads of dough on appliances & furnishings to fully kit one apartment, plus figure out how to get it all to San Carlos.
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