Two sets of picture galleries available

Just to clear up any confusion, I have two sets of photos from Iceland. One set is from my phone camera which I took and uploaded immediately while I was in Iceland. These are lower quality, but funner pics. They are here:

http://trevoray-iceland.buzznet.com/


And then the next set is the set from my real camera that I wasn't able to upload until this morning. These are higher quality and more 'serious.' These pics are here:

http://www.hurldesigns.com/iceland/

New Pictures from Iceland Available

I've uploaded my pictures from my 'real' camera. I didn't put in any comments or descriptions just because I wanted to get the pictures out there. There are three pages of images. Enjoy!

Trevor

http://www.hurldesigns.com/iceland/

Back Safe

After a very long travel day, we arrived home safe and sound last night. Our flight was delayed a bit and the flight took a bit longer than scheduled. We got home around 9:00 PM (2:00 AM Iceland Time).

All pictures taken from my camera phone are available on the link to the right. Higher res pictures from my 'real' camera will be available later this week as I get a chance to sort through and upload them.

I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to visit Iceland. It is an amazing place filled with God's beauty. I'd suggest everyone put Iceland on their 'to do list'.

About last night

Riding on the bus now. I forgot to comment on our fun last night. We had a great time. The ice bar was cool. They have you a warm jacket and took you into a frozen room where the tables and everything was made of ice. You can see a pic of daryl at the bar in my photos. We went to many different bars/clubs. It was so much fun to watch the icelanders partying. We took a nap before we left the hotel, and started out for the evening at 1200 midnight, which is the normal time when the locals start to in out. We drank responsibly so that we could last the evening. We had such a fun time. We left at 430 am and woke up at 800.

Last day here

It's near 800 am and we're waiting on our tour cup to pick us up. It will take us on a tour me the western peninsula to see volcano formations and to take a relaxing swim in the Blue Lagoon, a famous icelandic natural hot spring. After that we'll head off straight to the airport. We have a six hour flight, but because of the time difference, we leave at 400 and arrive at BWI at 630 pm.

Iceland road trip

Today was great fun. We rented a small car and drove down the southern coast of iceland. Iceland is so beautiful. It's mythical in its appearance. Think "Lord of the Rings." I didn't take many pics with my camera phone, so there won't be many "instant" photos online for today. I did take heaps of snaps with my real camera and will upload those when we get home. I'm really excited about the photos i took today. I think i got some good ones. We've got about three more hours until we get back to our hotel. Daryl's driving and i'm in charge of the radio.

Driving around iceland today

Today we are renting a car and driving to some nice waterfalls and other places. Last night we had a fun time on the town, but don't feel like we got the hang me it. We need more practice tonight. We're off now.

Day of icelandic adventures

It is 430 PM and daryl and i are riding in the tour bus on our way back from a full day of EXTREME sightseeing. We are having a very rough ride in this 4x4 van. We are in the middle of nowhere in iceland. It looks a lot like the moon, except with snow. Today we say a waterfall, say some geisers, and took snowmobiles to the 2nd largest glacier in iceland. let me say something, and i cannot stress this enough, IT WAS FREAKIN AWESOME! check out the pics. We even got to crawl in a tunnel that seperated the glacier from the earth. On the way back we got a chance to meet and pet a pack of snow dogs. They use these dogs for movies and commercials. they were the dogs used in the movie tomb raider. We still have an hour's time until we reach our hotel. fun day, looking forward to a night on the town.

Doing Golden Circle tour today

It's a little after 600 am and we are about to head down to enjoy breakfast. At 800, the bus picks us up to go on a full day of glacier hiking, waterfalls exploring, and snowmobing. I hope to get some great pictures.

Touring Reykjavik

We got back to our hotel a little bit ago and now are getting ready to eat thanksgiving dinner hosted by the hotel just for us yanks. our tour by cup ended today at 200 PM, but we wanted more. So before the cup dropped all the old people off at the hotel, we had them leave us at the center of town. daryl, bernadette, mindy, (two gals from philly on the tour with us) and myself went exploring all over town. We had a full day. daryl's on my case to go eat, so i gotta go . HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Spent the day touring the capital

It´s 5:30 PM here and we just got back to the hotel. This morning when we got to the hotel, we took a tour that was included in our package of the city of Reykjavik. The bus took us around interesting places and the tour guide gave us a brief history of Iceland. It was mostly old people on the tour though and we wanted to get out and do more. So, before the tour bus headed back to the hotel at 2:00 PM, we had them drop us off in the middle of the city so we could do some exploring on our own.

Daryl and I ened up meeting and hanging out with two girls from Philly on the same Iceland Thanksgiving package. So, Daryl, Bernadette, Mindy, and myself went walking all over the city, took some fun pics, and now we are about to go enjoy a ´Thanksgiving dinner´ hosted by the hotel. We shall see how that turns out. I am very hungry. All I´ve had to eat all day is a large black & white cookie.

Happy Thanksgiving from Iceland!

Arrived safely

daryl and i just arrived. It's 800 AM still very dark. Word on the street is that it gets light at 1000 AM. I am squashed on this cup next to a really large icelandic man. I hope if doesn't hurt me.

Leaving for Iceland today

Daryl and I are leaving today to go on our Iceland trip! I plan to update this site with pictures and comments while we are on our trip. I have setup an online 'photo blog' at buzznet.com. This is where I will be displaying all of the pictures I take from this trip. With this service, I can instantly display a photo taken from my phone camera. I can also later upload photos from my 'real' camera to buzznet.

This page is setup to automatically display the latest 3 photos that have been submitted. The photos on the side will rotate as new ones come in. The photos and the link to the all photos taken for the trip are on the top of the sidebar. Over there ------------------->

Be sure to check back frequently for the latest, up to date, 'live' photos from our trip!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Looking forward to seeing you when we get back!

- trevor

Forget your wingman, try a 'wingwoman' instead

There's this new service in NYC where men can pay women for their company... but with a twist. They're paying the women to help them meet women. There's a company called 'wingwomen.com' that provides the man with a 'wingwoman', instead of the usual 'wingman', to help him meet women. The woman acts as the man's friend and helps him strike up conversations with other women.

This is the from the wingwomen.com website:


Advantages to having a "Wing Woman"

In the game of meeting women, it is understood that in most cases, it's the man who does all the work. Unfortunately, women have not made it any easier for men to approach them. As a result, men have learned to work together in order to increase their success rate. The solution to the male dilemma is the "Wing Man" pickup strategy, which usually has some level of success. But some women have learned to recognize the "pack" mentality and have developed reactive strategies to counteract the wingman's pickup mission. The guy's response to such female defenses is the Wingwoman. Here are a few reasons why the wingwoman approach is so effective:

• Domino Affect
  Women are attracted to men who have women around them more so then men who have other men around them.


• Limited Resources
  Women want what they can't have.


• Let The Games Begin
  Women are very jealous and love to compete with one another.


• Icebreakers
  Women tend to lower their defenses around men who have other women around them. Most women tend to see these men as having a seal of approval and being less hostile.

See Reuters article here.

The Complete U2

As of today, you may now go to iTunes and buy the very first comprehensive 'digital box set'. For only $150, you can get your hands on EVERY U2 song ever made PLUS 25 previously unreleased tracks! That's works out to about 33 cents per song! They're practically paying YOU to take this off their hands!

Get the Complete U2 Box Set here.


Also, if you're still dying for a U2 fix and can't afford 33 cents per song, you can get their new album, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" released today for only $9.99.

Get the "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" CD here.

See review of the new album here.


Liner Notes Are Back!!

Also, if you're a regular iTunes customer and have been frustrated that you don't get liner notes anymore with digital music, listen up. This CD and the previously mentioned box set both come with what Apple is calling a 'digital booklet'. I think it is in the form of a PDF. This is a first for iTunes and I hope it continues to be a trend. It's frustrating buying a new album, hearing some backup vocals on a track that sound familiar, but not knowing who's responsible because you lack the liner notes.

Be sure to visit NYC in February

For two weeks in February, walkways in Central Park will be festooned with 23 miles of saffron-colored fabric gates by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. This will be on display for only 2 weeks in February, then gone forever.

Artist Cristo is known for wrapping entire buildings in cities in Germany and California and islands near Miami. The pair also surrounded part of Australia's coast in sand-colored cloth.

A collage of what the project will look like:

Wolfgang Volz/Metropolitan Museum of Art

See full article here.

I wish...

I was listening to Pearl Jam's song, 'Wishlist' today and thought it was just an amazing song. I've heard it before, but don't think I've ever really listened to the lyrics until today. Or maybe I had and I just forgot because I am getting pretty old, which on the downside I forget things now and then, but on the plus side, I get to enjoy 'new' music over and over again! :)

Listening to that song made me want to pull out my dusty guitar kept in the closet and start practicing again. (I think I can do like one chord.) Just in the same way that when I see a great movie, I want to pull out the pen (really computer, but pen sounds cooler) and write that script I'm going to finish one day.

You can get the Pearl Jam song here.

Here's some of the lyrics...

I wish I was the souvenir you kept your house key on
I wish I was the pedal brake that you depended on
I wish I was the verb 'to trust' and never let you down

I wish I was a radio song, the one that you turned up
I wish...
I wish...

For those that were worried... I'm OK

After this week's episode of Jack & Bobby on the WB (ok, I know I'm revealing that I watch way too much TV, but what else is Friday night good for, if not catching up on Tivo?), there was a public service advertisement for a suicide/crisis line for gay & questioning teens. I just want to assure my friends out there that I am not suicidal or questioning or gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Well, there's something wrong with being suicidal, but a good wrong, not a bad wrong. Wait that doesn't sound right. I mean if you are suicidal, you should seek help. Maybe this hotline can help you. But it can't help me.

Scrubs

Scrubs is the best show ever. So freakin hilarious. I have a man-crush on Zach Braff. Plus, I love that girl that plays Eliot, especially when she flips her hair back up with a quick puff. Great stuff!!! Frick!!

Iceland Itinerary

I'm getting very excited about my trip to Iceland next week. This is what is in store for Daryl and myself.

Wed night: Fly out of BWI (Baltimore/Washington International)

Thursday: Fly into Reykjavik, Iceland's captial city and check into the Hotel Loftleidir. Mid-day we will go on a tour of Reykjavik and come back to the hotel that night for a lavish Thanksgiving dinner provided by the hotel.

Friday: We signed up for an all day tour here. This is the tour description:

Golden Circle Winter Adventure , 9-10 hours The classical sights of South West Iceland are easily turned into an amazing adventure, where areas like desert fields, rivers and mountain tracks, which are normally not visited, are made accessible by the Super Trucks. You can take a snowmobiling tour on Langjökull, Iceland's second largest glacier. Or take a quad bike tour through mountainous desert highlands. Dress: Wear warm clothes, wind and waterproof outerwear and winter shoes.

Friday night we will party in Reykjavik for as long as we can handle it.

Saturday: We're not quite sure yet what we'll do on this day. We talked about renting a car and just driving around the country to see the sights. Saturday night we'll be back in Reykjavik for more partying.

Sunday: Pack up our bags and head out on a tour of iceland's Blue Lagoon. This is the tour description for that:

Blue Lagoon and Reykjanes Peninsula, 6 hours Experience the power and serenity of the marvelous Reykjanes peninsula, a landscape of ancient volcanic eruptions and intriguing coastal villages. The highlight of the day is the Blue Lagoon, a mineral-rich azure lake where you can luxuriate in the warm, rejuvenating waters. (This is an ideal last day tour for passengers departing to North America as the tour drops passengers at airport at 2:30pm). Note: Bring swimsuit and towel.

Sunday Night: Fly into BWI. Trip over!

I'm planning to take plenty of pictures and will share the pics through this site once we get back. I'm also considering options for updating this blog while we are in Iceland with pictures. I'm just not sure if the hotel has internet access or not. We'll see.

Uno, Dos, Tres,..... Catorce??

U2, one of my favorite all-time bands, starts off their new single, Vertigo, with "Uno, Dos, Tres, Catorce!"

1,2,3,14?? Is this some sort of secret mathematical algorithm that unlocks a hidden map in Halo 2? Or are they just anti-cuatro?

Christians in East Texas town afraid that school might turn their children into homosexuals

Apparently this school in Spurger, Texas, has had a Sadie Hawkin's Day type tradition called 'TWIRP Day' for years. TWIRP stands for "The Woman Is Requested To Pay." On this day, kids reverse gender roles, the guys dress up like girls, and the girls dress up like guys.

A Christian parent and Christian legal group opposed and said,

“It might be fun today to dress up like a little girl -- kids think it's cute and things like that. And you start playing around with it and, like drugs, you do a little here and there (and) eventually it gets you.”

Because of this controversy, the school changed the tradition from TWIRP day to Camouflage Day. Kids will now come dressed in Camouflage.

And everyone knows that dressing up in camouflage is cute, but like drugs, you do a little here and there and eventually you're starting your own militia in Waco. (can I get a quick drum roll and a cymbal clash please?)

Seriously folks, I'm a Christian and it upsets me every time I see stories like this. I suppose perhaps I'm perpetuating the negative stereotypes of Christians by posting this story, but I think we have to reminded of the ridiculousness of ourselves from time to time to keep us on track.

See full Reuters article here.

Congress to raise debt limit

Looks like Congress is all set to raise the U.S. debt ceiling by $800 billion, raising the new limit to a total of $8.184 trillion. This is the third rise in three years. I'm not claiming to know much about politics, but this kinda scares me. Can't we just spend less instead of going even further into debt? I know that's what my Christian leaders have always taught me. Surely there's something we can cut back on? 50% less paper clips?

Reuters article is here.

Addendum: I have learned that this increase is pretty much required to avoid ridiculously high interest rates, penalty charges, shutting the government down, not being able to pay pensions, etc, etc. Seems like we've already spent the money and now we don't have enough to pay the bills, so we just raise the amount we're allowed to go into debt. I realize that Congress needs to pass this bill, but I wish they would've been fiscally responsible in the first place so that we wouldn't be in this position.

New Software for Recording Music

I downloaded this new software last week for my mac to record internet radio streams and it totally rocks! I did not expect it to be as good and helpful as it is. Lately I have discovered that I have been putting WAY too much money into the iTunes piggy bank and need to find a more cost-effective method for listening to new music. This software is the solution. I got the combo pack, RadioLover and iRecordMusic. They both work in different ways to make sure you can record the music you need. I'll break it down.

RadioLover is my current favorite. It works with the Radio streams provided in iTunes and other 'mp3 streams' out there. It records the songs and then seperates each song into its own file with the correct mp3 tags. So, if the radio station has any commercials, etc, it will seperate those into their own files. This will not work with normal radio stations that stream their broadcast. These are usually streamed with Windows Media or Real Format and do not behave the same way that the mp3 streams like the one's in iTunes do. I found this great alternative radio station in Austin, TX that I have been recording from since Monday. I have 600 cool alternative tracks now. It's great! I'm also recording Virgin Radio UK and getting to check out what our friends across the pond are listening to. They really love Maroon 5 over there right now.

iRecordMusic allows you to schedule recordings from ANY internet broadcast. It's amazingly simple. You just point the browser to the webcast that you want to record, say 'schedule it', enter the date into iCal, and it will record it for you. It DOES NOT seperate these recordings into nice seperate mp3 tagged files, but you get one big file instead. You can set preferences to automatically seperate the files into predetermined sizes if you like. I used this program to record my friend Jessi Canning's appearance on a Z104 show on Sunday. It worked great. I think I'm going to use it to record some of my favorite WAMU/NPR programs as well. Like Tech Tuesday with Kojo.

These programs are for the Mac and I've seen similar one's for the PC, but haven't checked them out. If you know of any good one's for the PC, please lemme know. These programs are also 100% legal. They explain how it's legal on their site. You can download and try/buy these programs at BitCartel Software.

The Real Gilligan's Island

Have you heard of this? It's a new reality series on TBS. They have chosen real professor's, skippers, goofy first mates, rich married couples, hot farm girls, and movie stars (Nicole Eggert and Rachel Hunter) to play the parts!

The 'castaways' must work together to get off the island. Each of the castaways competes against his/her character counterpart for a spot in the final cast of seven characters.

Set your Tivo's to record a season pass of this! Show starts Tuesday, November 30.

Read more details on the show and the cast here.

Firefox and Thunderbird

If you don't have the new web browser, Firefox 1.0, or the new email reader, Thunderbird, what are you waiting for? These are great free programs that are putting Internet Explorer and Outlook Express to shame. Microsoft bad. Mozilla good.

Get Firefox
Get Thunderbird

Who let Anna Nicole go on TV like that?

Poor girl. And I thought there wasn't a good reason to watch the American Music Awards!

New York Post article


Anna Nicole being helped off stage.

1 Week Until Iceland!

A week from today, my roommate and I will be traveling to Iceland for the Thanksgiving holidays. My roommate found a really good deal on icelandair, and we didn't have much else going on, so we took advantage of it. Neither one of us have ever been to Iceland. We're pretty excited about the trip. Check back here after Thanksgiving for photos and updates on our trip!

David Lee Roth saving lives

Wow, this is interesting.

Guess he's not a 'gigolo' anymore!