Keiko, star of "Free Willy" died Friday 12, 2003 in Halsa, Norway after he contracted pneumonia. He was 25 or 26 years of age.

And the Awards went to:

Entertainer of the Year - Alan Jackson

Female Vocalist - Martina McBride

Male Vocalist - Alan Jackson

Vocal Duo - Brooks & Dunn

Vocal Group - Rascal Flatts

Single of the year - "Hurt" by Johnny Cash

Album of the year - "The Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash

Video of the year - "Hurt" by Johnny Cash

Vocal of the year - "It's 5 o'clock Somewhere" - Alan Jackson/Jimmy Buffett

Song of the year - "Three Wooden Crosses" by Randy Travis

It was a great show and they did a
great tribute to Johnny Cash.

Kidnappings have now reached 175 for 2003
with 42 being for ransom.

Oscar was Head Boat Boy in 1995 at TTYA and later became a Seaman. He recently returned from sea, collecting his pay, and was kidnapped from the Carenage and his wife had to pay 25,000TT to get him back.

He sustained only minor bruises and knife cuts and has no idea who the kinappers were. Police are investigating. No arrests
have been made.

Oscar - has moved his family to Chaguanas.

Even closer to home:

This week there was an "attempted" kidnapping at the home of Donald Stollmeyer. There were three armed men who snatched Tessa and her 6 yr.old daughter in the driveway of their home. A scuffle ensued and a gun shot from an unknown source caused the kidnappers to release their hostages and flea.

No arrests have been made.

Please add TT to your prayer lists.

"It's a sad day in Tennessee, but a great day in Heaven" - "The 'Man in Black' is now wearing white as he joins his wife June in the angel band." Johnny Cash has died.

He had battled a disease of the nervous system, autonomic neuropathy, and pneumonia in recent years. He succumbed to complications of diabetes Friday morning. His second wife, June Carter Cash, who co-wrote Cash's hit "Ring of Fire," died in May.

Cash launched his career in Memphis, performing on radio station KWEM. He auditioned with Sun Records, ultimately recording the single "Hey Porter," which became a hit.

Because of Cash's frequent performances in prisons and his rowdy lifestyle early in his career, many people wrongly thought he had served prison time. He never did, though he battled addictions to pills on and off throughout his life.

"He was the greatest man ever picked a guitar. He spoke to the American man. He did songs people could understand and relate to," said Williams, who then sang a few lyrics of his favorite Cash recording, "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky."

Most recently, Cash was recognized for his cover of the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt." He had hoped to attend the MTV Video Music Awards, where the video won for best cinematography, but he was hospitalized.

John R. Cash was born Feb. 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Ark., one of seven children. When he was 12, his 14-year-old brother and hero, Jack, died after an accident while sawing oak trees into fence posts. The tragedy had a lasting impact on Cash, and he later pointed to it as a possible reason his music was frequently melancholy.

In his 1971 hit "Man in Black," Cash said his black clothing symbolized the downtrodden people in the world. Cash had been "The Man in Black" since he joined the Grand Ole Opry at age 25.

Cash won 11 Grammy Awards - most recently in 2003, when "Give My Love To Rose" earned him honors as best male country vocal performance - and numerous Country Music Association awards. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

"Truly I can only think of two people in my life, where you knew it when they were in the building just by their presence. The air would just get exciting and stimulating and electric even if you couldn't see them. Those two people were Johnny Cash and Billy Graham," Barbara Mandrell recalled.

"One Piece at a Time" was about an assembly line worker who built a car out of parts stolen from his factory. "A Boy Named Sue," a Shel Silverstein song he took to No. 1 in 1969, was a comical story of a father who gives his son a girl's name to make him tough.

Cash said in his 1997 autobiography "Cash" that he tried to speak for "voices that were ignored or even suppressed in the entertainment media, not to mention the political and educational establishments."

His career spanned five generations, with each finding something of value in his simple records, many of which used his trademark rockabilly rhythm,

We'll miss you, Johnny.

For those of you who missed this phenomenon, here is a photo published by Hubble. Photo was taken between 2:35 a.m. and 4:20 a.m. PDT august 27 when the Red Planet was 34.6 million miles from Earth. According to a spokesman from the Space Telescope Science Insttute, "The Mars encounter has been Hubble's biggest event. We've been overwhelmed." Note the southern polar ice cap (bottom center), which is shrinking as it is summer in Mars' southern hemisphere. Note in upper center, the Arizona-size Olympus Mountain Range with the system's largest volcano on the right. The long, dark scar at center right is believed to be the Valley Maneris, which is a 2,480-mile system of canyons. The dark features at lower left are thought to be Terra Sirenum, the highlands riddled with impact craters.

Herea's a bit of trivia might be of interest. Many have no idea what Labor Day is all about or where or why it got started.

Labor Day, legal holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, and the Virgin Islands. The celebration of Labor Day, in honor of the working class, was initiated in the U.S. in 1882 by the Knights of Labor, who held a large parade in New York City. In 1884 the group held a parade on the first Monday of September and passed a resolution to hold all future parades on that day and to designate the day as Labor Day. Subsequently other worker organizations began to agitate for state legislatures to declare the day a legal holiday. In March 1887, the first law to that effect was passed in Colorado, followed by New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. In 1894 the U.S. Congress made the day a legal holiday. Parades, and speeches by labor leaders and political figures, mark Labor Day celebrations.

A Labor Day Parade in Buffalo, New York in 1900

Labor Day is celebrated in Canada on the first Monday in September. The first parades and rallies to honor workers were held in 1872 in Ottawa and Toronto, and the September date was officially recognized by Parliament in 1894.

In 1885, the administration of President Franklin Pierce asked the famous
Native American, Chief Seattle, if the federal government could buy some of
his tribal land in the state of Washington, where the city of Seattle is
located today. Chief Seattle's reply to the president was more than a simple
no, he also warned, "Continue to contaminate your bed and you will one night
suffocate in your own waste." Sadly, his warning was close to prophecy

Here, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, we see, feel and experience the
devastating effects of the impact we are having on the ocean. We are using
the ocean as a garbage can, a universal sewer, and a dumping ground. For a
long time, we have had the mentality of "out of sight, out of mind." But
there are no secrets hiding our actions in what we are encountering on these
remote atolls of the Pacific.

We are not just witnessing the massive amounts of marine debris that wash in
with the tides, but we're finding tons of small pieces of plastic.such as
the millions of cigarette lighters, toys and fishing lures, just to name a
few of the varieties of junk.that are brought in by adult albatrosses hoping
to provide a nutrient-rich meal for their chicks. We see dead chicks that
have decomposed, and what is left is a pile of plastic from their guts.For
more information, go to their Link on the "Links Page".

This is something near and dear to my heart. As a youngster, I joined in with the world in championing this little guy. He was knock-kneed and cantankerous, but the combination of losers who believed in him made him the Darling of the Race World at a time when they needed something to smile about. When Pollard busted himself up, Woolf rode Seabiscuit - but for the biggie, Pollard rode him to victory even tho' he was busted up, hurtin' and lame. I shared in the excitement of Seabiscuit and like to believe a little of his spirit rubbed off on me. I highly recommend the book, available at Amazon.com as well as the DVD when it becomes available in months to come.- LC

Seabiscuit - The Movie Has Been Released
Based on the best selling book written by Laura Hillenbrand

The mass hysteria caused by this little horse pushed Hitler out of the headlines at a time in American history that the people needed a hero – a story with a happy ending - and this horse adequately provided all.

Toby Maguire plays Red Pollard, the jockey who rode Seabiscuit to fame and glory, despite all odds
Jeff Bridges plays Charles Howard, the owner who sums up the framework of the story in a nutshell when he explains to the press, “Our horse is too small, our jockey’s too big, our trainer’s too old, and I’m too dumb to know the difference.” Chris Cooper plays Tom Smith, the trainer who exposes his secret when he explains to the press, “You don’t throw a whole life away just ‘cause it’s banged up a little.”
Gary Stevens plays George Woolf, the jockey who couldn’t beat Seabisbuit, but who rode for Pollard when he got all busted up. (Gary is a successful professional jockey, not an actor, and has won the Kentucky Derby and Breeder’s Cup races in his own right.)
Fighting Furarri plays Seabiscuit, a 4-year-old gelding
Over fifty horses were bought and trained for the film.

Other famous quotes by Charles Howard:
“See, sometimes when the little guy doesn’t know he’s the little guy, he can do big things.”
“Everybody loses a couple, and you either pack-up and you go home, or you keep fighting.”
When Red was getting instructions from Smith, he asked, “How far do you want me to take him?” And Smith’s answer was, “’Til he stops.”

By Veronica Gayner, The Associated Press

Note from Lady Charli: With the problems existing in the Solomon Islands, it seems prudent to pass them by. The residents of the main island, Guadalcanal, are clashing with settlers from neighboring island and there exists little rule of law.

Never again in your lifetime will the Red Planet be so spectacular! This month and next Earth is catching up with Mars, an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years but it may be as long as 60,000 years.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August Mars will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient when it comes to seeing something that no human has seen in recorded history. So mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share this with your friends and family. No one alive today will ever see this again

Many of us who have visited Trinidad have enjoyed Bake & Shark at Maracas Beach (Especially those prepared by Richard) Here is your very own recipe for Bakes with the compliments of Sharon Rose James of Members Only in Trinidad.

2 cups of flour
1 tsp instant yeast
1/2 tsp shortening
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
Vegetable oil

First combine the flour, yeast and sugar;
Rub in the shortening until the mixture crumbles.
Then add enough warm water to knead to a soft dough.
Form into a smooth ball, cover and let rise for 30 mins.
Divide the dough into 4 smaller balls and let rise again for 15 mins.
Flatten the balls to 1/4" thickness.
Heat oil in a deep skillet and deep fry until they float to the top
and are golden in color.
Serve with fried fish or shark.
Add condiments as desired; e.g., lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, pepper
sauce, and chadonbeni.
Enjoy!

Recieved a telephone call at 2:50 AM Sunday morning and it was the Coast Guard calling about the EPIRB going off on the Grayling.... Told them that I had sold the boat to David Board, a Brit last August and had given him all of the paperwork to transfer the unit to his name and contact list.... Stumbled around for a while and finally found the name of the broker in Daytona that was his friend and gave them his cell phone number and told them that the emergency might be real, as he was supposed to go the the BVI's where he registered the boat (No Fla Taxes)... At 9AM the following morning I called the broker - Chris and learned that he had not heard the cell phone ring as it was in another room and was trying to make contact with the Coast Guard and said that he would call me back.... He did later in the AM....

Turns out that David had been cruising the Bahamas with his daughter and a friend but had dropped them off and was taking some school supplies to Haiti solo and struck a reef off Acklins Island in the southern Bahamas and had holed the boat.... He set off the EPIRB that triggered the phone call to me... The Coast Guard sent a helicopter down and got him off the boat and currently he is trying to arrange salvage for the Grayling.... So if you hear of problems on the Grayling - it isn't us and we are hoping that the crunch was not too serious as the boat was still in great condition, but that part of the Bahamas doesn't really have many areas for service or support..... More news to follow...

BOB HOPE TURNS 100

'thanks for the memories'

Here are some of his famous quips from some of those shows:

May 2000, Library of Congress opens the Bob Hope Gallery of American Entertainment. Universal Studios has put together "The Bob Hope Tribute Collection," comprising 17 of the premier entertainer's films that are available wherever DVD's are sold. R2 has released a seven-hour DVD or five-hour VHS, titled "The Best of Bob Hope." The collection consists of memorable moments from Hope's career as well as an hour of playful outtakes and funny moments from his holiday overseas USO specials with a number of his celebrity friends

Bob's health has gradually worsened since his 90th birthday. He is not allowed to be in crowds as his health is very frail. He is very comfortable at home, spending time outdoors in his patio. Bob's wife of 69 years, Dolores Reade Hope, is now 94 years of age and in ailing health and has been unable to be interviewed.

His victory sets the stage for what will be one of the most anticipated runnings of the Belmont Stakes in its long history. There has been no Triple Crown Winner in 25 years.

The “boys” of the Sackatoga Stables are hyped and anxious to meet their formidable foes at Belmont in three weeks. If Funny Cide ‘should’ win the Triple Crown, I see another movie in the making.

Whales have returned for the first time in living memory to Fiji's Levuka
Harbor, site of an 18th century whaling station from which commercial
hunters helped to bring the marine mammals nearly to extinction. Two adult
whales were spotted inside Levuku, whle a mother and baby humpback were seen just outside the harbor. Researchers surveying whales in the area, funded by several internatinal wildlife organizations, believe the whale population is recovering due to Fiji's designation of its 200-mile exclusive economic zone in the surrounding Koro Sea as a whale sanctuary. Whales had virtually disappeared in the region by the mid-1960's due to former Soviet Union's illegally hunting of the animals in the South Pacific.

Pods of killer whales that were expected to arrive
offshore from the Norwegian fjord where Keiko, the movie-star whale, spent
the winter failed to show up this year. The wild orcas generally arrive off
the coast of Norway between January and April of each, following schools of
herring that are their primary food source. For the first time in a number
of years, they did not make their annual appearance.

Scientists and fishermen speculate that shifting ocean currents or
warmer-than-usual temperatures could have kept the herring, and therefore
the whales, far from shore.
Keiko's handlers had hoped to once again bring the famous killer whale into close contact with wild members of his species. But that won't happen anytime soon says Berman, the Director, "because the orcas are really far out 30 to 40 miles "Continuing, he pointed out that Keiko is already free. "He is not tied into any net or bay pen. He's the only orca ever to be returned to its native waters."

Efforts to bring Keiko into contact with wild Orcas will continue whenever the opportunity presents itself. "He is maintained with satellite tags to keep track of him." He is monitored and fishermen advise when they see Orca in the area. Keiko has been adventuring out on his own for a day or two at a time before returning. He has been doing some foraging for food; however, his diet is still supplemented with fish provided by his handlers.

Last summer, Keiko swam on his own for several weeks and traveled over 1,000 miles from Iceland to Norway. Now he has been moved to Taknes Bay he is no longer being bothered by the tourists; they can catch a glimpse of him, but they cannot approach him either by land or by boat.

Good Luck, Keiko !

For more information on Keiko, go to the website under "Links"

May 3, 2003
This was a race full of surprises, 'firsts' and triumphs.

Louisville, Ky. - Funny Cide had to do more than withstand a powerful rival, Empire Maker, the odds-on favorite; but, he had to overcome history.

Not since 1929 has a gelding won the Kentucky Derby. And never has a horse bred in New York state won the Derby. Now all stand in the records of history-making events; in addition, it was the first Derby win for the
jockey, as well as the trainer. Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lucas had to take a back seat after co-winning 6 of last 8 RaceFor The Roses.

There was a female jockey in the race, Rosemary Homeister Jr., only the 5th woman to ever ride in the Derby. Her horse, Supah Blitz, pooped out and finished 13th. Of further interest is the Sakatoga Stable, owners of Funny Cide. It is a syndicate of six former high school friends from Sackets Harbor, N.Y.

Indian Express, trained by Lucas, had a poor showing. Lafitte Pincay, the "winningiest jockey in the world", was to have ridden him; however, he sustained a broken neck earlier in the year and has had to retire.

The movie, Sea Biscuit, will open in the States 7/25. Gary Stevens plays the role of the infamous jockey, Red Pollard. Sea Biscuit became a Racetrack legend early in the 20th Century against all odds: He was too
small; the jockey was too big; the trainer was too old; and the owner was too dumb to know what he was doing.

Dr Steve does boat call and saves Kramer

Kramer the parrot was in the mood for a bit of nesting, so he crawled under his favorite rug ... and then tragedy struck as someone unknowingly stepped on the rug, crushing poor Kramer. The bird, which lives on the cruising yacht Surrender, struggled to survive for 24 hours, with Dad Les calling the couple's veterinarian in American to get assistance.

The vet recommended that the bird have a shot of a certain type of medicine and as luck would have it, Majuro Hospital's pharmacy had the right stuff available. But who would inject the tiny green parrot?

Enter stage right, Dr. Steve Watters, one of the visiting team of Army specialists. Watters is a vet and while birds are not his specialty, he was happy to do a 'boat call' and pop the needle into the parrot. Given that
the last vet on island was in 1996, the odds of someone being available to save Kramer were about a million to one. So thanks go to the good doctor. Last heard, Kramer was avoiding nesting a wee while.

Still active, a few of the mounts have craters over half a mile wide and team leader likens them to Italy's Vesuvius, which buried the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. "The volcanoes are a potential danger for the Tongan archipelago. If they erupt, they could send a tidal wave over the relatively flat region," said Stoffers, adding that "it could happen tomorrow, or in 1,000 years."

The expedition consisted of marine researchers from Canada, New Zealand and Tonga.

We just finished another Carnival & this year it was very slow & not well attended. Part was the crime problem & the lack of boats coming to Trinidad. TTSA only had 25 boats on anchor on Carnival Tuesday. The ACP had a meeting with the cruising community on Carnival Friday & assured us that they would have every available police, fire & defense force personnel patrolling the streets to make sure that nothing happened to stop Carnival. The papers stated that this was the safest Carnival ever. Unfortunately it
was too late.

I saw Chris Garcia playing mas with the Woodbrook Playboyz. We spoke for a short time. He is now living in England where he is recording & performing. He is getting much more respect there. He moved over there about 2 yrs. ago.

Andre Tanker, 3rd World Contraband died of a massive heart attack on Carnival Friday. He was scheduled to play at Michael Boothman's Jazz in the Yard on Ash Wednesday. The concert was unbelievably good. He had artists from all over jammin with him