Monday, 25 February 2008

Thanks Oscar

After a paltry showing last year in the 'Pick the Winner' Oscar contest organized by Archimedes Screw, I came back in 2008 to win by one point! Yea! Victory!

The prize for winning is an Archimedes Screw carved stamp - winners choice. I'm trying for a personal stamp for Penny dachshund.

Stay tuned to see what happens. . .

Sunday, 24 February 2008

State of My Plants Address

Current status of my planted boxes:

-51 actual live boxes (excluding all retired ones and multiple stamp listings)

-30 of the 51 carved by me

-live boxes currently in: US (Pennsylvania, Virginia, California, and Texas) and England (Berkshire, Wiltshire, and Surrey counties)

-The two Texas Tour Bus boxes have a split update. The original TTB box started back in 2005 and retired when the box was so full it couldn't fit one more - it had/has 41 stamps in it - has been lost for over a year now. I recall it was last picked up by a new boxer and never returned to the wild. On the plus side, nearly every serious letterboxer in Texas got to find it, so it certainly filled its role. The second TTB box which came out in late 2006 when the original was retired is still alive and moving around the state. Since I'm not able to physically check on this box, I don't the current number of stamps inside.

-I don't plan on re-carving any of the stamps for my boxes. If they go missing or I pull them, they are retired.

-As stated in a recent post, other than some more hedgehog stamps I need to plant, I won't be planting any other boxes this year.

-However, I do have some new ideas for my letterboxing in England including a tour bus like box. So. . .stay tuned.

And that's where everything stands.

Live at the London Palladium

A night out to see 'The Sound of Music' at the London Palladium.

Great performance with Connie Fisher as Maria of an Andrew Lloyd Webber production (whose company owns the Palladium).

And speaking of which, who should we see come in and sit just 2 rows in front of us but Mr. Andrew Lloyd Webber himself. Cool!

Wednesday, 20 February 2008

A Book & a Cuppa for a Friend

Hats off to Texan letterboxer, Ruby Tuesday of the Celtic Lions (standing in black in photo with sons to her right). She lost her fight with ovarian cancer this month. Ruby T (aka Sam Aulson) was one of the first letterboxers I met. We drove up to Dallas to letterbox back in late 2004 and met up with her and her husband in a Starbucks. It was really nice - and a big relief to me - as I realized this letterboxing 'thing' didn't look to be full of strange and odd people. LOL. It was her first exchange.

She was a real force in Texas - trying her hardest to get interest and people boxing in the Dallas Metro area. Back then, she was nearly the only one. At least the only one actively planting. Her boxes were fabulous. I was lucky enough to not only get her boxes in the wild, but also get her postal letterboxes which she also really enjoyed. I consider her one of the queens of the plb world. Her boxes and stamps were fabulous - well thought out and original. I've included pictures of her 'Mary, Queen of Scots' plb and her 'The Office' plb (she was a big fan of The Office). The stapler in the jello stamp is one of my favorite stamps.





























I remember being First Finder on her 3 box series 'Tut Takes A Holiday' in Moody Gardens on Galveston Island. The day we went they were holding a mini-festival right where the boxes were all located! Talk about being stealthy - hordes of people streaming by right next to me! But I got them all!

One of the last gatherings she attended was 'The Great Book Adventure' hosted by Dewberry and myself back in 2006. Her health had limited her, but she still came down and joined us in Houston.

She was a neat lady, and will be missed. I look at her personal traveler and think no one else will ever get this.

So, here's to you, Sam. Thanks for helping me get started in this letterboxing world. I'm going to finally pick up that book series you loved and recommended (Lymond Chronicles).

And I remember that tea you chose for the plb Tea Ring we did together. They probably don't have that brand in the UK, but I'll start the book with a cuppa and remember you. Goodbye.








Losing the Groove & Carving Withdraw

I've lost my letterboxing groove! Can you help me find it?

The other day I finally decided I might try this LTC thing. Afterall, it's a way I can participate with the US boxers as the postage would only be about 2 US postage stamps sending these cards in the mail. So, I set about looking up examples and trying to come up an idea. I finally got a quick idea and put it together. Very simple. But. . .I didn't like it. Well, maybe I should say, I liked it, but I don't think its in the league of what others are doing. I'm not a scrapbooker, but I admire people that can put together lovely assembled pages and cards and also put lovely carved images together in an artisitic way. A neat talent. But not one I have. So, I've put this LTC stuff on the shelf for now. Don't think it's for me.

This leads to another issue. I just don't want to carve anything. I don't like carving. It's my least favorite part of letterboxing. Some people love it. And I love seeing the awesome images they carve. But I can't do that. Sigh. . .

(Regardless, I thought this was a neat tutorial . . .http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/franontheedge/RubberCarving.html)

Perhaps the main issue is that there is no one to carve or plant for around here. It's not like I can go out and plant a box and the next day someone has found it. It may be months before someone gets to it. It may be long gone from the elements by then (I seem to be having a poor time with planting recently). Hard to get excited and motivated without some fellow letterboxers in your local area.

So, what to do? I'm going to put carving and planting away for now. I do have the obligation to plant some others boxes, and I will do those. But nothing I created. Not yet. I'm going to focus on finding. Just getting out and finding.

The same requirements for letterboxes as geocaches apply for me though. . .I've wasted so much time and energy on looking for boxes in crummy areas, with vague clues, with complex clues that frustrated me, etc. But I decided I just want to have a nice walk, a nice time outside, not think hard, just enjoy. And if one comes along that will take much more effort, I'll just decide how bad I want to get it.

This approach is not for everyone, obviously. We each find our own little letterboxing groove and focus on the things we like about it. I've had to resign myself to only letterboxing a few times a year now - when I can get over to Dartmoor or off to another area of England where some boxes are planted. Or maybe a trip to the US here and there.

Until then. . .

Slow and steady. . .just enjoy.

Monday, 11 February 2008

Going to Chelsea

This is the story of going to a big football game in London. . .

On Sunday, Feb. 10th, we went to see the Chelsea vs. Liverpool game. Tickets were from BIL's company, so were expecting great seats, a great game, and a good day out.

Normally, from this far out of London (1 hour), we find it easiest to take a train into Waterloo station, and then get on the tube to get to a specific place. This was our plan to get to Stamford Bridge. Quick, easy, and low stress.

First obstacle: Mr. TeamKing got the train departure times wrong. Can't get a train from here in time.
Resolution: Drive halfway in to another station and get the tube from there. Nix train.
Result: Yes, we did drive to another station, got stuck in gobs of traffic. Had a hard time finding a place to park. Finally got a parking place in a neighborhood that seemed possibly dodgy. We get to the ticket counter only to find engineering works have resulted in no District Line (the line we need to go straight to the stadium).

Second obstacle: Stuck at a tube station with no lines going to where we need to go.
Resolution: Take the bus.
Result: Packed off down the street to cram our way onto a double decker bus. Bus was going so slow, that I saw people walking faster than us. Traffic was horrible. Bus came to standstill in Hammersmith area. We decided to ditch the bus and find another tube station and make the necessary transfers.

Success! We finally made it to the stadium with 15mins before kickoff.

Third obstacle: Where are these seats?!
Resolution: We see lines of people pouring into the stadium in a set of main doors. However, the seats we have mean another door entrance. We go over. No line. Cool! These seats must be good! Up we go on the stairs. Up? After about 4 flights, I'm starting to have doubts on these seats. Are we on the roof, or what?
Result: We get to seats. We are one row away from being as far from the field as any seat in the stadium. We are so far up, that the roof rafters block the scoreboard and the entire opposite side of stadium seating (don't let photos fool you, they are all zoomed). Seats are designed for people approx. 5' 8" and 130lbs or less. If you are bigger than this in any direction, it's a tight fit. Being over 5'8" myself, my knees hung over the seat in front of me. The poor woman sitting there could hardly sit back. That's how tight it was. (Note to UK: measure out a US seat and row in the future for assistance.) And no beer at the seats, but you can get some at the concession. . .is there a point to that? (Oh wait! I know. It's that whole rubbish collection thing again, isn't it?)

Anyway, the game was horrid. Just about the worst that Chelsea and Liverpool have played the whole season. Nil-Nil thriller (as we call them.) Boo. Disgrunted with game and seats, we're ready to leave. Then we hear the announcement on the loudspeaker - more tube problems - we need to walk to another tube station about 2 away due to ? I don't know.


Obstacle 4: Walk to tube station in unknown location in the dark.
Resolution: Just follow the crowd. 41,000 people were at the game. There must be quite a few going our way.
Result: Off we go. In the mass exodus of people crowding up the street in the direction of the desired tube station. So we walk, and walk, and walk. 45 mins later, I've had it. We have no idea where it is and we are now in South Kensington. Lovely stores and restaurants, but we're trying to get home. We ask directions. We missed it about 1/2 hour back. Another one is 1/2 mile away. I finally demand a taxi. Mr. TeamKing reluctantly agrees but moans about the cost. We hail a taxi to go straight back to our car.

Obstacle 5: Is there always bumper to bumper traffic in London on a Sunday night?!
Resolution: Sit tight. No other option at this point.
Result: We jump in the taxi and. . .sit. . .plod along. . .watch ambulances, motorbike delivery drivers, and walkers pass us by. Slowly, slowly. It takes us 40mins to go 5 miles.

Finally! Finally! At the car. Mr. TeamKing grumbles on about spending 20 pounds for the taxi. I block him out. We jump in, roar out of the city and make it home in a new land speed record.

What an adventure.

We have tickets to see Chelsea vs. Middlesborough in an upcoming match. Upon second thought, we're going to give them back to BIL. Let's sit home and watch on our TV instead, we decide. Ahhh. . .

Saturday, 9 February 2008

Play Fantasy Baseball With Us!

We have a private league set up for just 10 teams in the CBS Sports Fantasy Baseball League. Come and join in!

The info:

-free league
-head to head format
-both AL & NL player selection
-LIVE DRAFT (but I recall you can go in mark it to draft automatically if you can't make it)

March 8th
5:30PM ET

How to sign up:

http://www.sportsline.com/fantasy

-click on Fantasy Baseball
-click on Fantasy Baseball Free sign up button
-create a team name
-then it will give you a list of leagues to join
-search for our private league: Wellies in the Outfield
-password is: baseball08

That's it! You're in. Remember the draft day & time, and log in to get your team.

We'll probably have a few non-letterboxing friends, but you don't mind, do you?

Hope you will join us!

Monday, 4 February 2008

Shelfari

Ooooh. Neat. Deleted my old text section of recently read books, and added a Shelfari widget. Love the visual of the books. (You can see mine at the very bottom of this blog.) Although I'm curious just how long do books stay on the 'recently read' shelf/section? I mean, if they stay there forever, then the length must get ridiculous. Hmmm. Do I have to specify something about this somewhere? Probably. . .

Anyway, have a look. Try it yourself. And if you want to add me as a 'friend', look under the name TeamKing. We'll leave the kettle on for you.

:p