Blake Shelton

What a great night out with great friends. It was concert night here in the US, at the Manson, Mill Bay Casino last night with country star Blake Shelton , center stage. Lead off country singer was Rae Solomon, (lower pic). As usual I crashed the party a little late but managed to get a late ticket given to me. This was maybe the best concert I've ever seen with Shelton singing his hits for 2 hours, and mixing it up with the crowd with jokes and stories. I saw Eric Clapton a few months ago and he's got nothing on Blake Shelton as a true showman. Thanks to my US friends, you're the best!

London Riots

What a terrible thing to witness here, as local youths destroy their own communities. We've just had the 3rd night of riots with arson, vandalism, and looting here in London and other cities in the UK. The police here are accused of being heavy handed, so they step back and watch as these criminals destroy businesses, houses, personal property, and threaten the safety of good citizens. Then police get criticized for allowing this to happen and not responding to every call for help. They can't possibly win this war without being allowed to use whatever force it takes to stop these local terrorists. Being an American, I grew up with the right to bear arms and protect my family and property with any means possible. It's a little different here and that might be the problem. City and Government leaders in London want to meet with the local communities to understand the needs of these young criminals. Can you believe it! People here are living in fear as the police have lost control of the city. There are no guns allowed here in the UK but the police should be equipped with what ever means possible, including calling in the military, to get control of this country. Just my opinion.

Spinalonga

The island of Spinalonga has a history that goes back 8 centuries. We took a bus into the port city of Apios Nikolaus and then a small cruise boat one hour, to Spinalonga. Along the way we stopped for a beach barbecue and an ocean swim. This Island with all of its history, might be best known as the last active Leper Colony in Europe from 1903 to 1957. There is an award winning book about Spinalonga called 'The Island' by Victoria Hislop, that has inspired the most expensive weekly TV series in Greek history. Fascinating tour!

The beach life

Here on the Mediterranean Sea the life is always at a slow pace and that's why we come to these places. We got held up be the local camera lady here in the evening, you can't hide from the cameras here. The bottom photo is of a 'cicada and these little bugs are about an inch long. They hang out in the local trees and make a buzzing noise about 100 times louder than then crickets. You just gotta get used to the noise because it never stops.

Crete, Greece

We've just returned from a week in the sun on the Greek Island of Crete. Julie and I flew 4 hours from London Gatwick to Crete's Heraklion Airport for our first trip to Greece. Another hour on a bus got us to the Aquis Slva Beach 5 star Hotel in Hersonissos. After changing rooms once we got an ok room with a beautiful beach front view. A 5 star resort here might rate a 3 1/2 star where I come from, but we were still satisfied with the property. This was an all inclusive holiday with flight, room, food and drinks included. After 5 days in the mess hall we did get tired of the food and dined out our last 2 nights. The meat was mostly cooked with curry and cumin spices which we got tired of, so I kinda missed the slop that I usually cook. We got right into the action with an evening show of traditional Greek music and dancing. And it never fails, as usual we are the first to get drug onto stage as part of the act. The next thing I know we are at the head of some form of the 'Greek bunny hop' with about 60 people behind us. Too much fun!