The New Age Of Exploration (An ExWeb Editorial)

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There is a new editorial published at Explorers Web this morning that I'm sure many of you will find very interesting. The article is entitled "Exploration Clubs - What Future for a Tradition in Decline" and it is written by CuChullaine O’Reilly, one of the founders of the Long Riders Guild. In the story, CuChullaine takes a good hard look at the current state of exploration and the role that clubs such as the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club play in it. What he finds is that these once important institutions have become relics of the past, seemingly more focused on raising funds rather than promoting the importance of exploration in the 21st century.

The editorial offers some scathing commentary not on the current state of exploration itself, but the state of the RGS, EC and similar organizations. O'Reilly says that being a member of those institutions was once a badge of honor that had to be earned, but that now days many people are admitted who have only a superficial connection to true exploration or are simply armchair explorers who want to rub elbows with those who are actually continuing to push the envelope. In contrast, he points to his Long Riders Guild, which has no fancy headquarters, no membership dues and no regular meetings. Members are invited to join after completing a ride of 1000 miles (1600 km) or more and the group stays in touch and organized via the Internet.

Cuchullaine goes on to talk about a new age of "citizen-explorers" who no longer belong to such clubs but instead stay connected, and engage with, like-minded people through a variety of technologies that allow us to collaborate like never before. These tools open up the possibilities for exploration and adventure to everyone, not just a privileged few as in ages past. He sees this movement creating a new renaissance of exploration and I tend to agree with him. We've seen this in action many times in recent years, with men and women organizing small, grassroots expeditions that accomplish amazing things.




O'Reilly was also kind enough to name a few online resources that are helping to promote this movement, citing my blog as one of those resources. He also mentioned ExWeb as well, and if you're a regular reader of this blog you know how much I respect the work they do. Cuchullaine gives a nice tip of the hat to Mikael Strandberg for his efforts in this area as well. Mikael is also someone that I've cited here on numerous occasions and is an explorer that I admire quite a bit. I'm honored to be mentioned with prominently in the story and listed with these others.

The editorial is a good one and I urge everyone to read it. While I'm sure many will see it as a harsh critique of the RGS and Explorers Club, I choose to view it as a recognition of the democratization of exploration. In this new age, anyone with the desire and determination can carry the torch of exploration into the 21st century and beyond, and I think that is a great message to share.

Thanks to Cuchullaine for bringing this message to the community and for mentioning my small role in it.

Richard Bangs: The Cayman Islands - Fifty Shades of Bay (Part 3)

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Today we have part three of the excellent series contributed by Richard Bangs of Adventures with a Purpose fame. Richard recently traveled to the beautiful Cayman Islands and he's been sharing his thoughts on that amazing place, which provides visitors with a mix of adventure, luxury and romance. Enjoy!

The Cayman Islands: Fifty Shades of Bay
By Richard Bangs

Part 3 of 4 Parts

Cayman Islands

The hours melt away as I snorkel the brilliant reefs, hike the filigreed interior, draw figures in the sand, collect lovely shells, even paddle around the island in a leaky plastic kayak. I finish reading my one book, Explorers of the Nile, and then stare at a palm tree. I come to admit I’m bored. All these studies about how continued connectedness leads to attention deficit disorder may be true. I’m restless, and anxious. I need a fix. It’s time to get back to civilization. So, I pull out my cell, and push the on-button. But nada. It’s out of juice. I panic. But then reach deeper into my pack, pull out an Energizer portable charger, plug it into the phone, and make the call. But it goes to a robot voice saying the mailbox is full; call again later. I’m castaway on a desert island.

So, I decide to swim for it. I stash my pack and sandals, towel, hat and sunglasses, and head into shark and jellyfish waters towards the shore of Little Cayman.

I make it, and after arranging for a pick-up of my left-behind gear and electronics, head to the Edward Bodden Airfield, and catch the first flight back to Grand Cayman, and then straight to Camana Bay, the new cosmopolitan development packed with so many high-end restaurants, glam shops and luxury labels some call it Brand Cayman.



I first stop at Books & Books, carrying the kind of collections the best Borders used to offer, and pick up several new titles, in case I’m stranded on a desert island again, or a hurricane hits. I step by the sports stadium, where the Rugby team “No Woman No Try” is practicing. I stop for a delightful meal at Ortanique, a Nuevo Latina Carib-Asian eatery. And I run into Kenneth Hydes, the VP of Product and Experiences, who tells me the billion dollar development is the brain child of Kenneth Dart, heir to the Dart Container Corporation of Michigan, world's largest manufacturer of foam cups. Kenneth gave up US Citizenship in 1994, moved to Cayman, becoming an investor, and a champion of recycling initiatives. His refined taste is represented in Camana Bay, which is more Rodeo Boulevard than Caribbean sugar shack, more Waterford and Cartier than watermelon and giclée, and it gives Cayman, already the most sophisticated stop in the region, an extra lift.

The perfumed tropic air is Sunday’s, and at the crack of noon I head out for the contrast to Camana Bay, the Grape Tree Café on the beach in Bodden Town with its locally-famous Sunday Fish Fry. This is where the islanders come, and bask in deep-fried bliss. “It humbles the stomach,” says Alex Bodden, related to the first settler on Cayman back in 1700, and who owns, with his family, the adjacent Texaco gas station and liquor store. The perfect combination platter. The café itself is the size of breadfruit basket, and sizzling away inside are chunks of snapper, mahi, wahoo, swai, chicharrón, as well as conch fritters, plantains, cassava, and sweet potatoes, all for a fraction the price of the fusion appetizers at the resort hotels and trendier west end eateries. And outside, around thatch-roofed tables, an array of well-nourished Caymanians sit and nosh, swap stories and jokes, and generally enjoy the island life and food.


After lunch I’m hungering for some island music, so head over to Hopscotch Studios, where the Swanky Kitchen Band is in full practice mode for an upcoming wedding performance.

It’s an incredibly energized jam—it’s music that softens rock, and could bend the ironwood tree. Between takes I chat with the electric violinist Samuel Rose, the leader. He explains that “swanky” is a Cayman word for lemonade (made with brown cane sugar), and that Cayman kitchen music represents the melting pot that is Cayman, tracing influences back to Irish fiddling and Scottish jig traditions, mixed with African slave rhythms. Then it blends in ostinatos of calypso, reggae and jazz. “In the old days the kitchen, or caboose as we call it, was the center of Caymanian homes, a detached room in the back where everyone gathered, and so it became a natural place to socialize, celebrate, dance and create music, using cassava graters and other kitchen utensils. We’ve picked up on that tradition, and are carrying it forward with our own signature.” But Samuel doesn’t want to jab too long; he wants to skank, and I’m not suffering from an overabundance of good sensations, so I step to the back of the room, pick up my feet in terpsichorean splendor, and surrender to the swank.



A photobomb went viral recently, three women in midst of a vacation photo pose being hugged from behind by a pin-eyed stingray:



So, this final soft-blue morning I catch a fishing boat named Heavenly Hooker and head out to find the scene of the slime. We cruise out to a shallow bank in the North Sound, drop anchor, and beneath crystalline waters see a dozen gray-hued underwater bats, the size of pterodactyls, gracefully circulating at our stern. Captain Stacy leaps into the waist-deep brine with a bucket of smelly squid. Immediately the rays lap him, coddle him; cats to catnip. The captain motions me to join, but I’m a bit hesitant, remembering too well Steve Irwin’s untimely death by stingray barb in the Great Barrier Reef.

But what good is travel without a little fear? So, I take the leap, and though my mind is trembling on the edge of danger, the soft Portobello mushroom skin of the rays against my own is rather silky and sensuous. It is an agreeable kind of horror.

This interspecies dynamic came about some years ago when fishermen, to avoid the once mosquito infested coastlines (so bad it was, they say, the mosquitos could suck a cow to bloodless death), started cleaning their catch in this calm off-shore channel, and the Atlantic Southern stingrays gathered to nibble at the gut scraps. Soon the stingrays began to associate the sound of a boat motor with food. Now, it’s a daily ritual, and the wild rays have gone gentle, gliding about torsos, through splayed legs, planting hickies on exposed human skin while suckling for food, and wrapping wings around their guests in puppy-like hugs, all in symbiotic exchange for morsels of sea meat. “Oh, it feels good to be touched by a stingray,” beams Captain Stacey. It is undeniably, ahem, a raydiant experience.

Antarctica 2012: The Logistics Of Antarctic Travel

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Another day has come and gone in the Antarctic, and yet there are still things to report in what is becoming a very active season down south. New South Pole explorers are off and running, while those that have been out on the ice for awhile continue to make progress. Meanwhile, over on Vinson, the teams begin their work all over again.

One of the more interesting dispatches today comes from Aaron Linsdau, the 24-year old American who is making his way to the South Pole. Aaron has been out on the ice for a month and a half now, and during that time he has learned a lot about traveling across the frozen expanse of the continent. In his audio message to today he talks about keeping his feet warm while on the go, but not too warm. If they start to sweat, his feet will get cold, inviting frostbite to set in. As a result, the wool liners of his boots are a vitally important piece of gear, and when they get wet they immediately start to frost over. That's when danger is setting in and he knows that something has to be done. Aaron also notes that he sleeps with those liners inside his sleeping bag each night in an effort to keep them as warm and dry as possible. The worst thing that could happen to someone skiing solo and unsupported to the South Pole is to contract frostbite in the toes, and the skiers take great care to prevent that from happening.

Also of interest, Aaron talks about the position of the sun at the moment, which is always overhead at roughly the same angle. At this time of year, the sun never sets in the Antarctic, which means it is daylight 24-hours per day. That can mess with the rhyme of the body and make it difficult to get proper sleep as well. Linsdau has also previously talked about how warm the weather can be, while the temperatures are still well below freezing. The direct sun can bake an explorer inside of his down suit, while taking it off can expose him or her to sub-zero temperatures. It is an odd experience to be both very warm and very cold at the same time.

These are just a few of the lessons he's learned while traveling through the Antarctic. Progress remains steady and sure at the moment, with his eyes firmly focused on reaching his next supply cache, at about 85ºS, sometime in the next few days.

Yesterday I posted that Eric Larsen was setting off on his attempt to ride his mountain bike to the South Pole, but it turns out I jumped the gun just a little bit. Eric actually spent the day at Union Glacier camp putting the final touches on his preparation for the start of the expedtion. He now expects to get underway today with the hopes of reaching the South Pole from Hercules Inlet, in roughly three weeks time. It should be interesting to see how well his specially modified Surely Moonlander bike handles the conditions on the frozen continent.

One skier who wasted no time in getting underway was Richard Parks however. Already a bit behind schedule, Parks was eager to get going on his solo and unsupported expedition to the South Pole, embarking yesterday. His first dispatch was a brief one, saying that it was a tough day skiing mostly uphill, but he still managed to cover 15 km (9.3 miles) in just six hours of time. That's a solid start to his expedition.

Vilborg Arna Gissurardóttir notched her best day yet, hitting the 22 km (13.6 miles) amidst a variety of weather. The Icelandic solo skier says that the day started off cold and windy, but later the winds dropped and the skies cleared, warming things up nicely. As she wound down the day, things took another turn as snow began to fall, making it difficult to see very far. Fresh powder also made it difficult to drag her sledge filled with gear and supplies.
Over on Vinson, the teams are starting their next round of climbs. The RMI squad made their first gear shuttle up to Low Camp at 8700 feet (2651 meters), which served to stretch the legs and start the acclimatization process. Weather was not ideal, but still good enough for them to take the walk. Similarly, the Seven Summits Club reports that both of their climbing teams are now in BC and will likely begin their first trip up the mountain today. 
Business as usual right now. Everyone is just focused on the tasks at hand. More to come soon. 

The Mystery Of Indiana Jones' Mail Has Been Solved

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Last week I posted a story about how the University of Chicago had received mail that was addressed to "Henry Walton Jones, Jr." otherwise known as Indiana Jones. The package contained some a journal that was written by Indy's friend and mentor Abner Ravenwood, as well as some postcards and photos from the 1930's era in which the first Indiana Jones films are set. At the time, it was a complete mystery as to how the parcel showed up in campus mail and who exactly sent it. Fast forward a few days, and the mystery as been solved.

It turns out, the replica props that were contained the package were actually created by a man named Paul Tabosa, who sells them on E-Bay. Tabosa has put together the package for a customer who was looking for the props for a personal collection, and as part of the experience, Paul puts all of the items into a large envelope and labels it for delivery to Henry Walton Jones, Jr. at the University of Chicago, were our favorite fictional archaeologist went to school. Tabosa then puts the package into a larger envelope/parcel and ships it off to whoever his buyer is. In this case, it was someone in Italy.

While in transit from Guam (where Tabosa lives) the outer package, the one with the real address on it, was destroyed and torn off. Revealing the replica package inside. When the U.S. Postal Service saw the  fake package, they mistakenly thought it was the real-deal and immediately forwarded it on to the University of Chicago, not even noticing that the Egyptian stamps were not real either. When it arrived at UC, it was dropped in campus mail, where an intern recognized who the intended recipient was.

So, that bring an end to the mystery, although I have to say the story is still a cool one. The mere fact that the fake package would actually be sent to the University is great, even if there isn't some deeper meaning behind it. It also says a lot about Paul's work if it was able to fool the USPS into deliver it.

Happy Holidays From The Adventure Blog

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I am hitting the road for home today to get some much needed time with friends and family, but before I go, I wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone Happy Holidays! This is the time of the year when we should reflect on our good fortune, treasure all the wonderful people in our lives and look forward to a promising new year ahead. Over the next week or so, I intend to do all of that and more. While I'm traveling, updates will no doubt be light, but I'll get back to a regular routine soon enough. Until then, enjoy the season and get outside and enjoy a few adventures of your own.

Europe's top 10 golf courses beyond Great Britain

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Today I found interesting course rankings from Golf World Magazine. Golf World Magazine's top 100 courses in Europe ranks those within mainland Europe, leaving out those in Britain & Ireland. The top 10 of the rankings are as follows:

1. Les Bordes Golf Club
2. Golf de Morfontaine
3. Royal Hague Golf & CC
4. Royal Zoute Golf Club
5. Le Golf National
6. Valderrama Golf Club
7. Kennemer Golf & Country Club
8. PGA Golf de Catalunya
9. Noordwijkse Golf Club
10. Bro Hof Slott Golf Club

And so it is Les Bordes Golf Club that is the top course for continental Europe. Not a golf course that I've heard much about, but it's a large one that stretches approximately 7,000 yards. The course is set in the forests of Sologne, in France, alongside the River Loire. As such, this golf course's holes are combined with both water and the birch forest.

A number of other French golf courses are included on the list. Among them the Le Golf National which is a future venue for the Ryder Cup, and the Golf de Morfontaine is another of France's gems which ranks in at second. Both climb above more famous courses such as the great Valderrama Golf Club, a golfing mecca that has formerly hosted the Ryder Cup. Set alongside the Pyrenees, on the eastern Spanish coastline, is the PGA Catalunya Golf Course which is another PGA Tour course in Spain ranked among the top 10.

I'm not sure how many of these courses are public ones, but if membership is not required they are certainly worth noting for a golfing vacation in Spain and France. Check out the Planet Golf site for the full rankings of Europe's finest courses. Additional Golf Digest course rankings for the USA can be found in previous posts on this blog.

Browsing the Archives

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Today there are hundreds of posts on Amateur Golfer. So, I've selected a few notable blog posts from the blog's archives. Check out some of the following:

Golf Stats for the Golf Course: 

This blog post includes some golf stats for course. Stats such as stroke average, putting average etc.

Ryder Cup of Amateur Golf: 

As a team based golf championship the Walker Cup is similar to the Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup of Amateur Golf post covers the Walker Cup championship.

Golf at the Olympics:

A brief blog post about Olympic golf championships. Only a few championships have been played at the Olympics, but golf will return.

Cypress Point Golf Slideshow: 

Check out this post for a great course video. The video includes a photo slideshow for the Cypress Point golf course.

T - Rex at St Andrew's Old Course: 

Believe it or not a T - Rex was discovered. This blog post includes a remarkable photo of a T - Rex at the St Andrew's Old Course. Add it to your desktop wallpaper.

Great Mackenzie Golf Courses: 

Mackenzie has some great golf courses from Georgia to California. Among them the Augusta championship course. This blog post covers some of Mackenize's more famous courses in the United States and beyond.

The Ideal Half-set of Golf Clubs: 

Check out this post for some golf club selection suggestions. It includes details for golf half-sets, and which seven or eight clubs should be included in your bag.

Those are just a few from the archives. The links included above will take you to the posts. Browse the blog archive on the right, below the article links, for additional posts on Amateur Golfer.

The highest Golf Course... anywhere!

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Apparently there was a golf course at Tuctu that rised some 14,000 feet above the sea. That's some altitude, and needless to say it was the highest golf course with fairways that flirted with the clouds. However, now that it has been abandoned since the '90s, with the former course overgrown with vegetation and weeds other mountainous courses lay claim to the highest golf course altitude record.

In the USA you can sure find some of the highest courses. Take a trip to Colorado which includes a few that rise over 9, 000ft, such as the The Lodge Resort at Cloudcroft. Whilst they certainly set the records in the USA, a higher altitude golf course can be found in Bolivia.

That golf course is La Paz at the Valle de la Luna. This golf course rises some 10,695 ft which is the record altitude. From the gold tees it is approximately 6,771 yards. Here you can play golf over eroded sandstone mountains which have left a flatter landscape for the course itself.

It is indeed unique terrain, and the course has some interesting holes. When you make it to the 12th you'll find an island hole and cross two bridges en route to the tee box. From here the ball will travel over rocky outcrops before landing on a flatter fairway.

One thing you can sure of at this golf course is that your ball will travel further. That's because your golf balls go that much further when playing at higher altitude courses. At Le Paz you could expect an additional 20% more distance, that's 20 more yards for every 100. Thus mountain courses are in fact somewhat shorter than their yardage charts may suggest.

Needs Based Selling - Reading Your Customer's Mind

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... there is no subsitute for paying attention.

- Diane Sawyer

Trip

WALKING into the local grocery store the first week in January, I nearly tripped over a pallet of Slim Fast. I smiled at this excellent piece of "prophetic marketing" - knowing what the customer wants before she wants it.

The owner of this store knows that with each New Year nearly every American resolves to lose weight. The diet related products are in place on New Year's Eve. And he follows this marketing strategy all year long. In February, ice chests will line the high traffic areas within their stores. Outdoor accessories are on display weeks before spring arrives. School supplies are on the shelves by the end of June. This business owner anticipates each season months before its arrival.

How can you adapt prophetic marketing to your business? What seasons do your customers follow? Are they sports oriented? Do they own a boat? Do they follow the hunting seasons? Answering questions about your customers' seasonal inclinations will offer clues that enable you to anticipate their personal needs.

Another way to anticipate your customer's needs is to be sure you have everything required to use your product. For example, my wife went into a store to buy a mailbox. She picked out one made out of wood. An alert salesman pointed out that she would need to weatherproof the mailbox. He then proceeded to take her to each location for the other products she needed - sealant, sandpaper, brush, paint thinner.

Identifying what your customer wants before she wants it can place you in an invincible position. Any business can furnish customers what they want when they want it, but to give a customer what they want and how they want it before they actually want it, is Customer Service that knows no equal.

TURNAROUND TIP: This level of Customer Service is all about strategy. Below are three more ways you can learn to "read your customer's mind."

1.Help customers to identify their needs. Some people don't plan for their needs until they become urgent. Convince them of the value of pre-planning. Understand in detail your customer's business to see where your product fits in.

2.Make it a group effort. Get together with your colleagues and share information about customers and their product or service requirements. Cooperation is the key to making your business successful. Discuss ideas on problem prevention. Share current resources of information about each cust-omer.

3.Explore all of the capabilities of your products in relation to each customer. You may find that your service or product can help customers in ways they hadn't imagined. Be sure your clients fully understand all of the uses for your product or service.

By using these strategies, you will gain loyal customers, increased sales and less stress from unforeseen problems.

Needs Based Selling - Reading Your Customer's Mind

ike Dandridge md@theperformancepro.com Mike is the founder of High Voltage Performance, a consulting firm that specializes in designing customer experiences for the industrial marketplace. He is a keynote speaker and a seminar leader with 25 years experience in electrical wholesale distribution. Dandridge is author of, The One Year Business Turnaround, a book based on his years in wholesale, containing a year’s worth of ideas for improving your customer service. You may reach Mike at 254-624-6299. Visit his Website at http://www.highvoltageperformance.com. Subscribe to his blog at http://www.businessturnaround.blogs.com.

A Character Analysis of Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

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What created Goodman Brown? A man so tormented by what even he considered to be a dream that it changed his life in a profound negative way forever. Goodman Brown was man plagued by his own conscious; he was someone who believed himself to have committed grave sin by meeting with the devil and participating in a witches meeting in his dreams. This spoke of an era where people were overcome with religious guilt and superstition. As a result of Brown's dream he suspected everyone in the town of being cohorts with the devil, in addition his superstition and questioning of his own self overcame his ability to trust or believe in anyone else. He died a bitter, unhappy, miserable man.

In order to fully understand the character of Young Goodman Brown we must first understand the era he comes from. Although Hawthorne does not state directly whether or not the plot of this story takes place in Salem in the seventeenth century, his references to other characters clearly imply it does. His references to Martha Carrier, Martha Cory, and Sarah Cloyse, all women hanged as witches in 1692; as well as his reference to King William who ruled England from 1650-1702 tell of this horrid time where people killed, tortured, burned, executed and suspected that everyone from their sister to there neighbor might be in contact with the devil. As a result of this environment of suspicion and paranoia Goodman might have felt as though his dream was in reality a lack of faith on his part. He may have felt so guilty for experiencing this dream that he thought he, as well as the people in his life were guilty of coercing with the devil.

Journey

Goodman Brown might have been Hawthorne's expression of his own struggles with his faith in humanity and himself. Hawthorne was a guilt ridden person and I believe that he had many instances when his faith was tested. Brown is Hawthorne to a lesser extent. Goodman Brown starts out as a good, happy, decent man; he seems very content. All of this changes when he decides against the advice of his wife faith (the symbolism is obvious here) that he should go out on a journey into the woods to meet with the devil. I believe path in the woods to be his continued decent into metaphorical as well as literal darkness. As he continues down the woods he reaches the pinnacle of his journey when he comes upon the witches meeting. Once Brown reaches this point he loses his faith despite his last ditch effort to save his wife. He never knows if he was able to save her. This doubt is what destroyed him.

Brown's motivation for meeting with the devil is never made absolutely clear and can only be speculated by the devil's references to others that have come into his fold. He speaks of the King, Goodman's father and grandfather, the deacon, minister and mayor. The devil makes it appear that everyone with any power, success or for that matter anyone that means anything to Goodman is in fact allied with Satan. Although Goodman resists the devils temptations at first; as more and more people are brought to his attention as being followers of the dark one, the idea becomes more acceptable. I believe Brown's motivation to meet with the devil was power; he wanted an advantage over others to achieve his goals. This may have contributed to his last ditch effort to save faith when he shouted "Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One". When he arrived at the witches meeting he discovered that everyone already had the advantage of being on the wicked side and had already sold there souls for money, power, or prestige. He was able to see that nothing would put him ahead of anyone else by following through with his original task. He had nothing to win and everything to lose by making an alliance with the devil. Unfortunately for Young Goodman Brown it was too late for his soul to be saved. He reached the point of no return and not only didn't he reap any benefit from his ordeal but lost every bit of happiness he previously possessed.

Goodman Brown was a man destroyed by his own obsession. He lived a miserable life as a result of the guilt he felt for embarking on a dark journey in his dreams; which resulted in his suspicion of everyone and a lack of trust for individuals in his community, himself and humanity. The only way Goodman Brown would have been able to save his faith would have been to never embark on the dark path.

by John Schlismann

A Character Analysis of Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

John Schlismann has an interest in American Literature.

To read Young Goodman Brown goto:
http://www.online-literature.com/short.php/158

Video: When Eagles Attack!

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This video has really been making the rounds today, but in case anyone has missed it, it is a  must see. It was shot in a park in Quebec and features a large golden eagle swooping down and actually picking up a small child. The first part of the video is at regular speed, so it's hard to see what's happening, particularly when the cameraman starts to panic. But wait for the second half of the video when it drops into slow-motion to really see what was going on. Crazy!

Edit: Okay, so I've been had. This video is a fake. I knew it had to be too good to be true. Still a fun video. And kudos to those who made it for pulling this off.

Richard Bangs: The Cayman Islands - Fifty Shades of Bay (Part 4)

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Today we have our fourth, and final, installment of Richard Bang's series on the Cayman Islands, which I've been fortunate enough to share with everyone this week. Richard is the host of the PBS television show Adventures with a Purpose and as such is fortunate enough to visit some of the best destinations on the planet. Judging from his stories from the Cayman's, I'd say that Caribbean paradise fits into that category.

I hope you have enjoyed the series and I want to thank Richard for sharing with us.


The Cayman Islands: Fifty Shades of Bay
By Richard Bangs

Part 4 of 4 Parts 


It’s the final afternoon in paradise, and I head for Hell.

Hell, it turns out, is a flash in the road near West Bay, named for a swatch of spiky, tortured, black, ironshore that looks like midday in the garden of evil. There are just a few structures in Hell: a bar named Club Infernal; the Devil’s Den novelty shop, a post office where one can send a postcard from Hell; and the fire-red barn called The Devil’s Hangout, sporting Beelzebub on the side, and the devil on a sheet of plywood in front with a circular hole where the face should be.

After I park on the brimstone pavement, a man wearing a red cape, pointed horns, a sharply trimmed goatee, and carrying a three-pronged pitchfork, bounds over with an arsenal of greetings:

"How the hell are you?" “Hell of a nice day.” and "Where the hell you from?"

“From Los Angeles, City of Angels. How do you like living here?” I ask.

“It’s a hell of a place.”

“How’s the weather?”



“Hot as Hell. But living Hell is the best revenge”

“Who the hell are you?”

Turns out Satan is septuagenarian Ivan Farrington, who makes a living dishing out every hellish pun on earth. He bought the shop in 1987 when it was called, like so many other affairs in these islands, “Paradise.” But, he says, “My business went straight to Hell, so I renamed it the Devil’s Hangout.” Now he does brisk commerce selling satanic souvenirs-- t-shirts with slogans such as “I took your advice and came here in a hand basket,” as well as coffee mugs, spoons, bumper stickers, whelk shells, and postcards with every mal mot conceivable.

As I pay for a bottle of Scotch bonnet-based Hell sauce Ivan pulls out his calculator and says, "I was born on July 17, 1934." He taps the numbers '17, 7, and 34' into the calculator, turns it upside-down. It reads: "HELL!"

When he hands me change he snorts, "Thank you. Now get the hell out of here.” As I depart, I realize I’m made a wrong turn, ending up on Church road. So, I make the U-Turn, and once again pass through Ivan’s infernal town, so at least I can say, with all honesty, I’ve been to Hell and back.


---

So, what makes the Cayman Islands different? My undergraduate degree is in Sociology from Northwestern University, and I still pal around with sociologists, and some fret about constant e-mailers and texters losing the everyday connections to casual acquaintances or inconnus who may be sitting a touch away in the café or on the bus. That is the current dynamic in the continental U.S., in Europe, Asia and beyond; but not yet here. It could be said that we in the US are now, more than ever before, building barricades with our devices, employing screens that screen out strangers. Yes, they reinforce family and friends—we can chat and text and twitter with them more than ever—yet we are blocking the chance encounters, the random meetings, and with them the brushes against novel and unfamiliar perspectives, and the shivery flashes of insights. Cayman is different, and it disarms all who visit.

The Caymans Islands achieves a kind of correspondence between belief and place, between inner and outer landscapes, between travelers and locals, as all trace to somewhere else.

Caymanians talk to everyone. They look up at the clear sky. There is a dance to their tread. Adults become children as they swim with stingrays. Businesspeople walk to their appointments, greeting the people they see. Caymanians are connected to the sky and water and land, and, most of all, connected to one another, and to those who visit.

Wandering through the blades of sunlight along the paths of Cayman, witnessing the mastery of environmentalists and entrepreneurs, delving into the music, food, nature and culture, and basking in the welcomes of new acquaintances, I am knocked over with a feeling of being part of something deeply human and universal.

The paradox of the Cayman Islands is that it was a bleak, unwelcoming place that kept people away for much of its history; yet it became a place of gathering for modern questers, and as such, a locus for the exchange of fresh ideas, of fusions of food, song and the arts. It was once considered a Hell on earth, but it became Paradise. And it is today a milieu that transports identity and tolerance, romance and preservation; it unnerves habits and perceptions, unwinds the mind, sheds shells, and along the way leads to the loss of items not usually missed….pins and needles, taxing thoughts, and disquietude.

This is the treasure of the Cayman Islands.

Antarctica 2012: Eric Larsen Is Still Waiting To Ride

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It has been emotional roller coaster for Eric Larsen the past few days and reading his most recent dispatch makes that clear. The veteran polar explorer who intends to ride a specially designed mountain bike to the South Pole has been delayed once again, and that has brought on some self doubts as he anxiously waits to begin. Meanwhile, elsewhere on the frozen continent, others are continuing to make their slow marches to the bottom of the world, knocking off miles as quickly and efficiently as they can. None are particularly close to reaching the finish line yet, so we'll continue to track their progress in the weeks ahead.

Yesterday was suppose to be the day that Larsen loaded up his bike on the Twin Otters aircraft and caught a ride over to his starting point at Hercules Inlet. But as the day progressed a fog set in over the camp at Union Glacier, grounding the flights and preventing him from getting started. He spent the day resting, but his sleep wasn't very restful as he struggled with nagging doubts. He chalks these feeling up as pre-expedition jitters and after months of planning, he is simply anxious to get started. An afternoon bike ride helped to calm him to a degree, but until he actually begins riding, he is probably going to continue to struggle with his emotions.

Fortunately he won't have to wait long. As I wrote this piece, Eric sent a tweet that simply read: "All systems go for departure to Hercules Inlet in one hour!" That means that he'll finally hit the trail today and start his 700+ mile (1126 km) journey to the South Pole. We should start getting updates on his progress as early as tomorrow, and it should prove interesting to see how this new mode of travel works in the Antarctic.


Richard Parks has been having a bit more success on the start of his solo South Pole ski. He set out a few days back and is already off to a good start. He claims to be easing into the start of the expedition, but yesterday he managed to ski for seven hours, covering 25.4 km (15.78 miles). That's a pretty good clip for someone who is just getting warmed up. Richard admits that he isn't "firing on all cylinders" just yet, but he has a very positive outlook and is very focused on his goal. The weather has been spotty so far, with some whiteout conditions, but nothing too horrible just yet. All in all, he has to be very pleased with his progress thus far.

Also continuing to pick up steam is Vilborg Arna Gissurardóttir, who has now been out on the ice for a month and seems as determined as ever to complete her solo and unsupported journey to the Pole. After a bout of homesickness earlier in the week, she seems to have bounced back nicely and is now covering more distance each day. Yesterday it was 23 km (14.3 miles) in very good weather. She also treated herself to a "Christmas Buffet" dinner, enjoying some tasty treats that she has been saving just for this occasion. I'm not sure why she's having her Christmas dinner early, but perhaps its because she is celebrating the fact that she has now passed the half-way point of her expedition and each mile now brings her closer to 90ºS and eventually home.

Aaron Linsdau reports that he had one of his best days so far, with incredibly good weather allowing him to knock off about 11 miles (17.7 km). He's now about 22 miles (35 km) from his next supply cache and he's hoping to reach that in the next two days. He has roughly enough food and supplies for 5 days, so he has a nice little cushion in case things don't go as smoothly as he'd like. Over the past few days, Aaron has been fielding questions from friends and family following along at home, with someone asking him what he intends to do when he reaches the South Pole. Obviously his roundtrip journey from Hercules to the Pole and back seems doubtful at the moment, but Aaron hasn't completely given up on the prospect. He says at this point he really hasn't decided what he will do just yet, as he is completely focused on one day at a time.

Finally, over on Mt. Vinson the climbing teams have been stranded in Base Camp. After making some gear shuttle runs up to Low Camp yesterday, bad weather set in keeping everyone in BC for now. This weather pattern could last few a couple of days, which means everyone will be well rested, yet anxious to get the climb underway. Hopefully early next week they make the push up to High Camp and assess the situation on when they'll make their summit bids.

Video: First Winter Ascent Of Gasherbrum II

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Tomorrow marks the first official day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, which means groups of very hearty climbers will now be working their way into position on some of the big Himalayan peaks in an attempt to make a winter ascent of one of those giant mountains. It seems only fitting then that we should look back at a previous winter climb in this video, which documents the first ascent of Gasherbrum II in winter. The mountain was climbed by none other than Simone Moro, Denis Urubko and Cory Richards, with the men topping out on February 2, 2011. The video below gives you an idea of what they endured on that climb.

Adventure Tech: A Solar Charging Snowboard

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Lets face it, when we hit the slopes these days, we tend to take a lot of gadgets along with us. Between our smartphones, GoPro cameras, regular digital cameras and electronic goggles, we have a lot of batteries to keep fully charged. That's where the latest creation from Signal Snowboards can come in handy. The mad scientists that work in the company's labs have managed to add a thin photovoltaic cell onto the deck of a snowboard and wired a convertor between the bindings. The results? A board that can collect power while you're shredding the slopes, then allow you to charge your devices when you take a break.

The video below shows you how they want through the process of creating the snowboard, which isn't meant for production. At least not yet. It is more about the Signal team having a little fun and pushing the envelope to a degree. Still, a very cool project that I'm sure some snowboarders would love to have.

Antarctica 2012: Summits On Vinson, Richard Parks Ready To Roll

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It has definitely been an eventful week in terms of news from the Antarctic. Some of the skiers have continued their progress towards the South Pole, while others wait for a chance to get out on the ice. And while they deal with their various issues, teams on Mt. Vinson have continued to seek that elusive summit.

Earlier in the week we heard the troubling tale of Richard Parks, who is hoping to embark on a solo and unsupported expedition to the South Pole soon. In that update, we learned that while Richard had made it to Punta Arenas just fine, his all important gear was still stuck on a shipping dock back in London. The question was whether or not the gear could make it to Chile on time, as Richard felt his small safety window was closing rapidly. If the gear didn't get to him by Monday, which is when the next ALE flight out to Union Glacier is scheduled, he may have to cancel the expedition altogether. Turns out that won't have to be the case, as one of Richard's support crew back in the U.K. has picked up most of his equipment and is now en route to Punta to deliver it to him personally. He had to leave a few items behind, most notably his pulk, but Parks is borrowing one from ALE so that he can get underway. Hopefully he'll now be back on schedule for a Monday departure, provided the weather cooperates.

There was good news from Vinson yesterday too, where the RMI team, led by Dave Hahn, has successfully topped out on the mountain. Earlier in the week the group was turned back by bad weather, but after descending to High Camp, they were able to rest up, gather their strength and have a second go at it. The weather was far more cooperative this time out, with nearly no winds and warmer than expected temperatures. The entire team made good, steady progress all the way to the top and actually spent a half hour on the summit, enjoying their accomplishment.
For Icelandic skier Vilborg Arna Gissurardóttir it has been business as usual the past couple of days. She just goes about methodically chipping away at the mileage, hitting her 20 km (12.4 miles) goal day in and day out, despite the conditions and changes to the Antarctic surface. She has had to deal with whiteouts the past few days, which can be a bit demoralizing, but her daily dispatches always come across as upbeat, focused and on course. Slowly, but steadily, she is making her way towards 90ºS.

Finally, another explorer is getting ready to set out soon and has now arrived in Chile. Eric Larsen indicated earlier that he had made it to Santiago, along with all of his gear, and would be on his way to Punta Arenas today. He is, of course, attempting to ride a specially designed bicycle from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole, and possibly back again, weather permitting. My guess is that he's hoping to be on that same flight to Union Glacier that Richard Parks is catching on Monday. If so, then both should be underway by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.

That's all for now. I'm sure there will be plenty of more news early next week.

Adventure Tech: Boombot REX Wearable Bluetooth Speaker

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Wireless, Bluetooth speakers have become popular accessories for smartphones and tablets over the past couple of years, allowing us to listen to our favorite music, podcasts and streaming audio from a quality source no matter where we go. I've personally tested and reviewed several of these devices and found some of them to offer exceptional sound quality in a tiny package that is perfect for travel. Soon there will be a new entry into this competitive market in the form of the Boombot REX Ultraportable Speaker, an speaker system that has been designed to be rugged enough to take with us anywhere and small enough that you can actually wear it on your person as you go.

The Boombot REX has just been launched as a Kickstarter project and to say it is off to a successful start is quite the understatement. The designers of the speaker set out to raise $27,000 in order to launch production of their device. They have now raised more than $68,000 with 28 days still to go in the Kickstarter campaign. In other words, it is safe to say that this thing is getting funded. Judging from teh video below, it is easy to see why too. The unit is small, tough and seems to put out good sound. It is just the kind of thing that would come in handy to listen to some tunes while relaxing in base camp or sitting around the campfire with friends on a backpacking trip.

Unlike most other speakers of this kind, the REX also lets you pause tracks and skip ahead with built-in audio controls. It even works as a speakerphone, allow users to take handsfree calls. For such a small device, it seems to pack in plenty of bass as well, which isn't often the case with these types of speakers.

The Boombot Rex will be available in a variety of colors and is expected to begin shipping in early 2013. Looks like a winner for those who don't want to leave home without their music.

Website Recommendation: OutdoorEquipment.com

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Looking for a good source of information and reviews on all kinds of outdoor gear? Then look no further than the new site OutdoorEquipment.com. The recently launched site is the brainchild of a husband and wife team who came up with the simple idea of interviewing everyday folks like you and me about our favorite outdoor gear. They then record those interviews on video, edit them and post them on the site, providing fresh, unbiased insights into how well a piece of gear performs.

In addition to each of the video reviews, the site also provides a written transcript of what is said as well as a brief description of the item. The "Where To Buy" section even links out to online sources to purchase the product in case you decide that you want to add it to your personal gear closet too, while "The Lowdown" is a summary of the pros and cons, and the best places to use the particular gear item.

What i like about the site is that we get mostly unfiltered thoughts from the various reviewers, who are knowledgable about the products and the outdoors. Each of the videos that I watched featured someoe who is obviously an outdoor enthusiast, and in some cases an outdoor professional. They came across as being smart and experienced with gear, without conveying the sense that you were watching someone spout PR jargon.

As you would expect, the site is broken down into sections based on activity such as camping and climbing. There are even sections for both men's and women's gear, which is a nice touch too. There are already a nice catalog of reviews in place, with more being added all of the time.

If you're looking for a new resource for gear reviews, then you'll want to add OutdoorEquipment.com to your bookmarks. There is definitely a lot to like here.

Needs Based Selling - Reading Your Customer's Mind

To contact us Click HERE

... there is no subsitute for paying attention.

- Diane Sawyer

Trip

WALKING into the local grocery store the first week in January, I nearly tripped over a pallet of Slim Fast. I smiled at this excellent piece of "prophetic marketing" - knowing what the customer wants before she wants it.

The owner of this store knows that with each New Year nearly every American resolves to lose weight. The diet related products are in place on New Year's Eve. And he follows this marketing strategy all year long. In February, ice chests will line the high traffic areas within their stores. Outdoor accessories are on display weeks before spring arrives. School supplies are on the shelves by the end of June. This business owner anticipates each season months before its arrival.

How can you adapt prophetic marketing to your business? What seasons do your customers follow? Are they sports oriented? Do they own a boat? Do they follow the hunting seasons? Answering questions about your customers' seasonal inclinations will offer clues that enable you to anticipate their personal needs.

Another way to anticipate your customer's needs is to be sure you have everything required to use your product. For example, my wife went into a store to buy a mailbox. She picked out one made out of wood. An alert salesman pointed out that she would need to weatherproof the mailbox. He then proceeded to take her to each location for the other products she needed - sealant, sandpaper, brush, paint thinner.

Identifying what your customer wants before she wants it can place you in an invincible position. Any business can furnish customers what they want when they want it, but to give a customer what they want and how they want it before they actually want it, is Customer Service that knows no equal.

TURNAROUND TIP: This level of Customer Service is all about strategy. Below are three more ways you can learn to "read your customer's mind."

1.Help customers to identify their needs. Some people don't plan for their needs until they become urgent. Convince them of the value of pre-planning. Understand in detail your customer's business to see where your product fits in.

2.Make it a group effort. Get together with your colleagues and share information about customers and their product or service requirements. Cooperation is the key to making your business successful. Discuss ideas on problem prevention. Share current resources of information about each cust-omer.

3.Explore all of the capabilities of your products in relation to each customer. You may find that your service or product can help customers in ways they hadn't imagined. Be sure your clients fully understand all of the uses for your product or service.

By using these strategies, you will gain loyal customers, increased sales and less stress from unforeseen problems.

Needs Based Selling - Reading Your Customer's Mind

ike Dandridge md@theperformancepro.com Mike is the founder of High Voltage Performance, a consulting firm that specializes in designing customer experiences for the industrial marketplace. He is a keynote speaker and a seminar leader with 25 years experience in electrical wholesale distribution. Dandridge is author of, The One Year Business Turnaround, a book based on his years in wholesale, containing a year’s worth of ideas for improving your customer service. You may reach Mike at 254-624-6299. Visit his Website at http://www.highvoltageperformance.com. Subscribe to his blog at http://www.businessturnaround.blogs.com.

A Character Analysis of Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

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What created Goodman Brown? A man so tormented by what even he considered to be a dream that it changed his life in a profound negative way forever. Goodman Brown was man plagued by his own conscious; he was someone who believed himself to have committed grave sin by meeting with the devil and participating in a witches meeting in his dreams. This spoke of an era where people were overcome with religious guilt and superstition. As a result of Brown's dream he suspected everyone in the town of being cohorts with the devil, in addition his superstition and questioning of his own self overcame his ability to trust or believe in anyone else. He died a bitter, unhappy, miserable man.

In order to fully understand the character of Young Goodman Brown we must first understand the era he comes from. Although Hawthorne does not state directly whether or not the plot of this story takes place in Salem in the seventeenth century, his references to other characters clearly imply it does. His references to Martha Carrier, Martha Cory, and Sarah Cloyse, all women hanged as witches in 1692; as well as his reference to King William who ruled England from 1650-1702 tell of this horrid time where people killed, tortured, burned, executed and suspected that everyone from their sister to there neighbor might be in contact with the devil. As a result of this environment of suspicion and paranoia Goodman might have felt as though his dream was in reality a lack of faith on his part. He may have felt so guilty for experiencing this dream that he thought he, as well as the people in his life were guilty of coercing with the devil.

Journey

Goodman Brown might have been Hawthorne's expression of his own struggles with his faith in humanity and himself. Hawthorne was a guilt ridden person and I believe that he had many instances when his faith was tested. Brown is Hawthorne to a lesser extent. Goodman Brown starts out as a good, happy, decent man; he seems very content. All of this changes when he decides against the advice of his wife faith (the symbolism is obvious here) that he should go out on a journey into the woods to meet with the devil. I believe path in the woods to be his continued decent into metaphorical as well as literal darkness. As he continues down the woods he reaches the pinnacle of his journey when he comes upon the witches meeting. Once Brown reaches this point he loses his faith despite his last ditch effort to save his wife. He never knows if he was able to save her. This doubt is what destroyed him.

Brown's motivation for meeting with the devil is never made absolutely clear and can only be speculated by the devil's references to others that have come into his fold. He speaks of the King, Goodman's father and grandfather, the deacon, minister and mayor. The devil makes it appear that everyone with any power, success or for that matter anyone that means anything to Goodman is in fact allied with Satan. Although Goodman resists the devils temptations at first; as more and more people are brought to his attention as being followers of the dark one, the idea becomes more acceptable. I believe Brown's motivation to meet with the devil was power; he wanted an advantage over others to achieve his goals. This may have contributed to his last ditch effort to save faith when he shouted "Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One". When he arrived at the witches meeting he discovered that everyone already had the advantage of being on the wicked side and had already sold there souls for money, power, or prestige. He was able to see that nothing would put him ahead of anyone else by following through with his original task. He had nothing to win and everything to lose by making an alliance with the devil. Unfortunately for Young Goodman Brown it was too late for his soul to be saved. He reached the point of no return and not only didn't he reap any benefit from his ordeal but lost every bit of happiness he previously possessed.

Goodman Brown was a man destroyed by his own obsession. He lived a miserable life as a result of the guilt he felt for embarking on a dark journey in his dreams; which resulted in his suspicion of everyone and a lack of trust for individuals in his community, himself and humanity. The only way Goodman Brown would have been able to save his faith would have been to never embark on the dark path.

by John Schlismann

A Character Analysis of Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

John Schlismann has an interest in American Literature.

To read Young Goodman Brown goto:
http://www.online-literature.com/short.php/158

Te Araroa Expedition: New Zealand North-South Ultrarun Begins

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Last week I mentioned that British ultrarunner Jez Bragg was getting ready to attempt a speed record on the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand, which runs the entire length of the country, north to south. Today Jez actually got underway by officially launching the Te Araroa Expedition at a place called Ninety Mile Beach in Cape Reigna. He now hopes to cover 3054 km (1897 miles) in just 50 days, ending in a town called Bluff at the southernmost end of the country.

For his first day out, Jez took it easy by "only" running 100km (62 miles). That's a great start for a long distance run like this one, but the trails are a bit easier in this area. As he moves way from the city and gets out into the wilderness, conditions will be a lot more challenging and difficult. Still, he has to be pleased with his start and reading his initial blog post, it seems he's feeling good about the run ahead.

The Te Araroa is a relatively new trail, having just opened last year, but it is already garnering plenty of attention amongst thru-hikers and backpackers alike. Jez is hoping that he'll be able to set a speed record for its entire distance, and to do so he'll need to run between 60-80 km (37-49 miles) each and every day. While out on the trail, he also expects to burn about 6000 calories per day as he spends about 80% of the time on off-road trails.

Just which speed record he'll be attempting to break remains to be seen. As I also mentioned last week, Australian ultrarunner Richard Bowles is also out on the Te Araroa and is hoping to set the mark himself. Richard actually set a goal of completing the entire run in just 60 days, but it now looks like he'll miss that mark by 2-3 additional days. He should finish things up this coming weekend, giving Jez a target to set his sights on.

You'll be able to follow Bragg's progress both on his own website and on the North Face Journal. It should be fun to see if he can catch the Aussie over the next month and a half.

Don't Forget the Yardage Chart

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The yardage chart is one of the handiest things to have for a round. Yardage charts are those hole-by-hole sketches of golf courses, which include details of the relative hole yardages at various points on the hole. They can highlight yardages from various points off the green, not merely the tee to green yardage of the hole that's noted on the main scorecard anyway.

A lot of course scorecards include small course yardage charts on the back of them. Note that you can note down additional yardage points onto them with a ruler and calculator if they lack details. Multiply the yardage total by percentages, and then note their relative yardage position on the hole yardage chart. For example, the half yardage of the hole would be 0.5 x total yardage.

However, some golf clubs may also have larger, more detailed, mini-booklets which provide details for the hole yardages, and will also highlight the relative positions of the bunkers, ponds etc more closely. If so, add the mini-booklet to your bag. They can provide much more detail than what might be included on the back of a scorecard.

Either way, you should have some sort of yardage chart for the round. Especially if you are unfamiliar with the course and its layout.

A more detailed hole yardage chart
which highlights a variety of yardages. 

Europe's top 10 golf courses beyond Great Britain

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Today I found interesting course rankings from Golf World Magazine. Golf World Magazine's top 100 courses in Europe ranks those within mainland Europe, leaving out those in Britain & Ireland. The top 10 of the rankings are as follows:

1. Les Bordes Golf Club
2. Golf de Morfontaine
3. Royal Hague Golf & CC
4. Royal Zoute Golf Club
5. Le Golf National
6. Valderrama Golf Club
7. Kennemer Golf & Country Club
8. PGA Golf de Catalunya
9. Noordwijkse Golf Club
10. Bro Hof Slott Golf Club

And so it is Les Bordes Golf Club that is the top course for continental Europe. Not a golf course that I've heard much about, but it's a large one that stretches approximately 7,000 yards. The course is set in the forests of Sologne, in France, alongside the River Loire. As such, this golf course's holes are combined with both water and the birch forest.

A number of other French golf courses are included on the list. Among them the Le Golf National which is a future venue for the Ryder Cup, and the Golf de Morfontaine is another of France's gems which ranks in at second. Both climb above more famous courses such as the great Valderrama Golf Club, a golfing mecca that has formerly hosted the Ryder Cup. Set alongside the Pyrenees, on the eastern Spanish coastline, is the PGA Catalunya Golf Course which is another PGA Tour course in Spain ranked among the top 10.

I'm not sure how many of these courses are public ones, but if membership is not required they are certainly worth noting for a golfing vacation in Spain and France. Check out the Planet Golf site for the full rankings of Europe's finest courses. Additional Golf Digest course rankings for the USA can be found in previous posts on this blog.

Needs Based Selling - Reading Your Customer's Mind

To contact us Click HERE

... there is no subsitute for paying attention.

- Diane Sawyer

Trip

WALKING into the local grocery store the first week in January, I nearly tripped over a pallet of Slim Fast. I smiled at this excellent piece of "prophetic marketing" - knowing what the customer wants before she wants it.

The owner of this store knows that with each New Year nearly every American resolves to lose weight. The diet related products are in place on New Year's Eve. And he follows this marketing strategy all year long. In February, ice chests will line the high traffic areas within their stores. Outdoor accessories are on display weeks before spring arrives. School supplies are on the shelves by the end of June. This business owner anticipates each season months before its arrival.

How can you adapt prophetic marketing to your business? What seasons do your customers follow? Are they sports oriented? Do they own a boat? Do they follow the hunting seasons? Answering questions about your customers' seasonal inclinations will offer clues that enable you to anticipate their personal needs.

Another way to anticipate your customer's needs is to be sure you have everything required to use your product. For example, my wife went into a store to buy a mailbox. She picked out one made out of wood. An alert salesman pointed out that she would need to weatherproof the mailbox. He then proceeded to take her to each location for the other products she needed - sealant, sandpaper, brush, paint thinner.

Identifying what your customer wants before she wants it can place you in an invincible position. Any business can furnish customers what they want when they want it, but to give a customer what they want and how they want it before they actually want it, is Customer Service that knows no equal.

TURNAROUND TIP: This level of Customer Service is all about strategy. Below are three more ways you can learn to "read your customer's mind."

1.Help customers to identify their needs. Some people don't plan for their needs until they become urgent. Convince them of the value of pre-planning. Understand in detail your customer's business to see where your product fits in.

2.Make it a group effort. Get together with your colleagues and share information about customers and their product or service requirements. Cooperation is the key to making your business successful. Discuss ideas on problem prevention. Share current resources of information about each cust-omer.

3.Explore all of the capabilities of your products in relation to each customer. You may find that your service or product can help customers in ways they hadn't imagined. Be sure your clients fully understand all of the uses for your product or service.

By using these strategies, you will gain loyal customers, increased sales and less stress from unforeseen problems.

Needs Based Selling - Reading Your Customer's Mind

ike Dandridge md@theperformancepro.com Mike is the founder of High Voltage Performance, a consulting firm that specializes in designing customer experiences for the industrial marketplace. He is a keynote speaker and a seminar leader with 25 years experience in electrical wholesale distribution. Dandridge is author of, The One Year Business Turnaround, a book based on his years in wholesale, containing a year’s worth of ideas for improving your customer service. You may reach Mike at 254-624-6299. Visit his Website at http://www.highvoltageperformance.com. Subscribe to his blog at http://www.businessturnaround.blogs.com.

A Character Analysis of Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

To contact us Click HERE

What created Goodman Brown? A man so tormented by what even he considered to be a dream that it changed his life in a profound negative way forever. Goodman Brown was man plagued by his own conscious; he was someone who believed himself to have committed grave sin by meeting with the devil and participating in a witches meeting in his dreams. This spoke of an era where people were overcome with religious guilt and superstition. As a result of Brown's dream he suspected everyone in the town of being cohorts with the devil, in addition his superstition and questioning of his own self overcame his ability to trust or believe in anyone else. He died a bitter, unhappy, miserable man.

In order to fully understand the character of Young Goodman Brown we must first understand the era he comes from. Although Hawthorne does not state directly whether or not the plot of this story takes place in Salem in the seventeenth century, his references to other characters clearly imply it does. His references to Martha Carrier, Martha Cory, and Sarah Cloyse, all women hanged as witches in 1692; as well as his reference to King William who ruled England from 1650-1702 tell of this horrid time where people killed, tortured, burned, executed and suspected that everyone from their sister to there neighbor might be in contact with the devil. As a result of this environment of suspicion and paranoia Goodman might have felt as though his dream was in reality a lack of faith on his part. He may have felt so guilty for experiencing this dream that he thought he, as well as the people in his life were guilty of coercing with the devil.

Journey

Goodman Brown might have been Hawthorne's expression of his own struggles with his faith in humanity and himself. Hawthorne was a guilt ridden person and I believe that he had many instances when his faith was tested. Brown is Hawthorne to a lesser extent. Goodman Brown starts out as a good, happy, decent man; he seems very content. All of this changes when he decides against the advice of his wife faith (the symbolism is obvious here) that he should go out on a journey into the woods to meet with the devil. I believe path in the woods to be his continued decent into metaphorical as well as literal darkness. As he continues down the woods he reaches the pinnacle of his journey when he comes upon the witches meeting. Once Brown reaches this point he loses his faith despite his last ditch effort to save his wife. He never knows if he was able to save her. This doubt is what destroyed him.

Brown's motivation for meeting with the devil is never made absolutely clear and can only be speculated by the devil's references to others that have come into his fold. He speaks of the King, Goodman's father and grandfather, the deacon, minister and mayor. The devil makes it appear that everyone with any power, success or for that matter anyone that means anything to Goodman is in fact allied with Satan. Although Goodman resists the devils temptations at first; as more and more people are brought to his attention as being followers of the dark one, the idea becomes more acceptable. I believe Brown's motivation to meet with the devil was power; he wanted an advantage over others to achieve his goals. This may have contributed to his last ditch effort to save faith when he shouted "Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One". When he arrived at the witches meeting he discovered that everyone already had the advantage of being on the wicked side and had already sold there souls for money, power, or prestige. He was able to see that nothing would put him ahead of anyone else by following through with his original task. He had nothing to win and everything to lose by making an alliance with the devil. Unfortunately for Young Goodman Brown it was too late for his soul to be saved. He reached the point of no return and not only didn't he reap any benefit from his ordeal but lost every bit of happiness he previously possessed.

Goodman Brown was a man destroyed by his own obsession. He lived a miserable life as a result of the guilt he felt for embarking on a dark journey in his dreams; which resulted in his suspicion of everyone and a lack of trust for individuals in his community, himself and humanity. The only way Goodman Brown would have been able to save his faith would have been to never embark on the dark path.

by John Schlismann

A Character Analysis of Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

John Schlismann has an interest in American Literature.

To read Young Goodman Brown goto:
http://www.online-literature.com/short.php/158

Don't Forget the Yardage Chart

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The yardage chart is one of the handiest things to have for a round. Yardage charts are those hole-by-hole sketches of golf courses, which include details of the relative hole yardages at various points on the hole. They can highlight yardages from various points off the green, not merely the tee to green yardage of the hole that's noted on the main scorecard anyway.

A lot of course scorecards include small course yardage charts on the back of them. Note that you can note down additional yardage points onto them with a ruler and calculator if they lack details. Multiply the yardage total by percentages, and then note their relative yardage position on the hole yardage chart. For example, the half yardage of the hole would be 0.5 x total yardage.

However, some golf clubs may also have larger, more detailed, mini-booklets which provide details for the hole yardages, and will also highlight the relative positions of the bunkers, ponds etc more closely. If so, add the mini-booklet to your bag. They can provide much more detail than what might be included on the back of a scorecard.

Either way, you should have some sort of yardage chart for the round. Especially if you are unfamiliar with the course and its layout.

A more detailed hole yardage chart
which highlights a variety of yardages. 

Europe's top 10 golf courses beyond Great Britain

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Today I found interesting course rankings from Golf World Magazine. Golf World Magazine's top 100 courses in Europe ranks those within mainland Europe, leaving out those in Britain & Ireland. The top 10 of the rankings are as follows:

1. Les Bordes Golf Club
2. Golf de Morfontaine
3. Royal Hague Golf & CC
4. Royal Zoute Golf Club
5. Le Golf National
6. Valderrama Golf Club
7. Kennemer Golf & Country Club
8. PGA Golf de Catalunya
9. Noordwijkse Golf Club
10. Bro Hof Slott Golf Club

And so it is Les Bordes Golf Club that is the top course for continental Europe. Not a golf course that I've heard much about, but it's a large one that stretches approximately 7,000 yards. The course is set in the forests of Sologne, in France, alongside the River Loire. As such, this golf course's holes are combined with both water and the birch forest.

A number of other French golf courses are included on the list. Among them the Le Golf National which is a future venue for the Ryder Cup, and the Golf de Morfontaine is another of France's gems which ranks in at second. Both climb above more famous courses such as the great Valderrama Golf Club, a golfing mecca that has formerly hosted the Ryder Cup. Set alongside the Pyrenees, on the eastern Spanish coastline, is the PGA Catalunya Golf Course which is another PGA Tour course in Spain ranked among the top 10.

I'm not sure how many of these courses are public ones, but if membership is not required they are certainly worth noting for a golfing vacation in Spain and France. Check out the Planet Golf site for the full rankings of Europe's finest courses. Additional Golf Digest course rankings for the USA can be found in previous posts on this blog.

Battles of Pacific War blog

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Battles of the Pacific War blog is another of my blogs included on the links to the right. This is the blog for my book Battles of the Pacific War 1941 - 1945. Here you can find all the details on my book, which alas has absolutely nothing to do with golf! The blog includes colour video footage from the Pacific War and some photography from the Pacific, alongside further details for the book. If you have any questions about the book you can put them on that blog, or at the end of this post. So why not check the blog out?

Needs Based Selling - Reading Your Customer's Mind

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... there is no subsitute for paying attention.

- Diane Sawyer

Trip

WALKING into the local grocery store the first week in January, I nearly tripped over a pallet of Slim Fast. I smiled at this excellent piece of "prophetic marketing" - knowing what the customer wants before she wants it.

The owner of this store knows that with each New Year nearly every American resolves to lose weight. The diet related products are in place on New Year's Eve. And he follows this marketing strategy all year long. In February, ice chests will line the high traffic areas within their stores. Outdoor accessories are on display weeks before spring arrives. School supplies are on the shelves by the end of June. This business owner anticipates each season months before its arrival.

How can you adapt prophetic marketing to your business? What seasons do your customers follow? Are they sports oriented? Do they own a boat? Do they follow the hunting seasons? Answering questions about your customers' seasonal inclinations will offer clues that enable you to anticipate their personal needs.

Another way to anticipate your customer's needs is to be sure you have everything required to use your product. For example, my wife went into a store to buy a mailbox. She picked out one made out of wood. An alert salesman pointed out that she would need to weatherproof the mailbox. He then proceeded to take her to each location for the other products she needed - sealant, sandpaper, brush, paint thinner.

Identifying what your customer wants before she wants it can place you in an invincible position. Any business can furnish customers what they want when they want it, but to give a customer what they want and how they want it before they actually want it, is Customer Service that knows no equal.

TURNAROUND TIP: This level of Customer Service is all about strategy. Below are three more ways you can learn to "read your customer's mind."

1.Help customers to identify their needs. Some people don't plan for their needs until they become urgent. Convince them of the value of pre-planning. Understand in detail your customer's business to see where your product fits in.

2.Make it a group effort. Get together with your colleagues and share information about customers and their product or service requirements. Cooperation is the key to making your business successful. Discuss ideas on problem prevention. Share current resources of information about each cust-omer.

3.Explore all of the capabilities of your products in relation to each customer. You may find that your service or product can help customers in ways they hadn't imagined. Be sure your clients fully understand all of the uses for your product or service.

By using these strategies, you will gain loyal customers, increased sales and less stress from unforeseen problems.

Needs Based Selling - Reading Your Customer's Mind

ike Dandridge md@theperformancepro.com Mike is the founder of High Voltage Performance, a consulting firm that specializes in designing customer experiences for the industrial marketplace. He is a keynote speaker and a seminar leader with 25 years experience in electrical wholesale distribution. Dandridge is author of, The One Year Business Turnaround, a book based on his years in wholesale, containing a year’s worth of ideas for improving your customer service. You may reach Mike at 254-624-6299. Visit his Website at http://www.highvoltageperformance.com. Subscribe to his blog at http://www.businessturnaround.blogs.com.