Yesterday I had my last three vocational visits, taking in the Museum of Life and Science, Centre for Documentary Studies and Nasher Museum of Art.
At the Museum of Life and Science I met with Troy and Elizabeth, who showed me around and told me about their unique model and how it works. As one child labelled it, it's a Zooseum, a healthy blend of natural history museum, hands on science centre and zoo. Impossible not to have fun here!
The lovely ladies (April, Courtney, Bonnie and Alexa) at the Centre for Documentary Studies took me out for lunch and told me about their centre, which teaches and presents documentary work (photos, film, audio, text).
My final stop was the Nasher, Duke University's art museum. As well as being very jealous of their 3-year-old building, I was impressed with the scope and scale of exhibitions they are producing.
It was a productive day, and a great way to round off my official vocational visits. Over the past month I have been fortunate to meet plenty of NC's museum elite and they have all been very generous with their time and information. The learning and sharing has been really beneficial for me.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Prince does Princess for a day
Ooooohhh, the Prince was a teeny, weeny bit excited when he stepped into the sassy 'Party Girls on the Go' pink limousine. Inside, hot pink vinyl greeted him, as did Hannah Montana on the totally awesome, like, yeah stereo system. Then all the 6-8 yr olds squealed, pushing their way in so his like, totally cool play time in the limo was over.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Rotary Conference at Wilmington
We just returned from the three day conference in the gorgeous beachside town of Wilmington, North Carolina. Firstly, a huge thank you to conference organisers and District 7710 for putting us up in individual hotel rooms. Although we are a close-knit group, it really was just what the doctor ordered, to spend some time in solitude and luxury.
First day saw us settle in and then wander around the streets of Wilmington. Looked into the price of postage for those of us who had been supporting the American economy through shopping, and were unpleasantly surprised. There must be a plan B.
Below is a shot from our hotel room. Nice, I know.
This thoughtful basket greeted us with a note from District 7710 saying, 'Welcome to Wilmington'
At the opening of the conference, a flag ceremony was held to recognise the international spirit of Rotary. Here is the Aussie flag bearer, Scott, after he whacked the flag on the door on the way through.
The team standing by to do their presentation
Up on stage during our presentation. I know it is rude to talk amongst ourselves during this time, but Corey was super-excited and just had to share
Walking along the water to dinner on Friday night. The team in casual clothes, is in fine spirits.
First day saw us settle in and then wander around the streets of Wilmington. Looked into the price of postage for those of us who had been supporting the American economy through shopping, and were unpleasantly surprised. There must be a plan B.
Below is a shot from our hotel room. Nice, I know.
This thoughtful basket greeted us with a note from District 7710 saying, 'Welcome to Wilmington'
At the opening of the conference, a flag ceremony was held to recognise the international spirit of Rotary. Here is the Aussie flag bearer, Scott, after he whacked the flag on the door on the way through.
The team standing by to do their presentation
Up on stage during our presentation. I know it is rude to talk amongst ourselves during this time, but Corey was super-excited and just had to share
Walking along the water to dinner on Friday night. The team in casual clothes, is in fine spirits.
We had a scrumptious seafood dinner, with great conversation and generous friends. Thank you to the 'check fairy' - you know who you are.
After dinner we visited a few places. Here is the accommodating DJ at one, who played all of our requests, including Down Under, Hilltop Hoods (??), Prince and Kylie (OK, so we weren't altogether there at times).
Our presentation went very well, and the crowd (although some had heard it before) still laughed in all the right places.
The SOUGHT-AFTER auctioneer, Scott Endersby, put on a ripper show, auctioning off items that we had brought over and others. A total of $1,870 was raised at auction on the night, which I think was largely due to Scott playing off the UNC, NC State, Duke rivalry.
Congratulations to the Winsteads for taking home the original Aboriginal artwork, with a knockout bid.
I think the auction reached great heights when Corey strutted his stuff and shook his booty whilst displaying some of the artwork.
Thanks to all who supported our endeavours to raise funds for the Rotary Foundation (Polio Plus). Our auctions and artwork we commissioned and paid for ourselves, raised $1,660 for Polio Plus which equates to preventing 16,600 children across the world from contracting Polio. These funds are being submitted to the Rotary Foundation from our host district 7710. We thank you for taking part and are glad we could give a little back.
Sunday saw us head to the US Battleship North Carolina, for a self-guided tour. Lucky for arrows, as it is so humungous that we would've been lost without them. Lovely Karen bought us souvenir hats to mark the occasion; thank you.
Once again, thank you to District 7710 for a professionally-run conference, for looking after us so well and the fellowship, laughter and entertainment!
Kel.
Dancing Queen - shaggin' with 16 different men in one night!
Last night we had a sensational time at the Governor's dinner at the annual district Rotary conference in Wilmington. Wilmington is a town on the south coast of North Carolina and it ROCKS! We had a ball. More about the conference in another blog (I am taking a leaf out of Pearson's book and doing multiple, short(ish) blogs).
At the conclusion of formalities, the DJ brought the house down with his first song choice, 'Down Under' but then mysteriously swapped it for Rolf Harris's 'Home Among the Gum Trees'. Scott and I took to the dance floor in front of EVERYONE to display our (my) very bad dance moves. I seem to recall that they were much, much better the night before at the bar 'Hell's Kitchen' but then that may have had something to do with the beer consumption rates come to think of it.
But the belle of the ball was Princess Margaret. We had photographers standing by to snap EVERY single one of Margaret's shag partners. She was shaggin' her heart out (to those in Australia, shagging is a dance, not an act of passion). To be fair, most approached her to shag as she was looking especially gorgeous in her flowing ball gown last night.
Here's no. 1 which of course had to be DG Don (hold onto your hats, there are many more beaus to come) ...
Margaret, note to self; maintain eye contact at all times
She did not forget her team mates (Tim, it is wonderful what a camera can do - you actually look coordinated and rythmic)
Big bad Scotty places a protective arm around Margaret as they prepare to dance
Here's no. 4, Neil, and Margaret looks ecstatic in this double-overhead combined hand manoeuvre
Ned, no. 5, did an awesome twist
Princess Margaret got carried away with Peace Fellow, Marios, from Cypress
Of course Lacey was not about to be left out of the danceathon
There was even some girly action when Margaret and I tore up the dance floor
Jimbo is looking rather pleased with his catch here!
The ever smooth Italian past Peace Fellow, speaks the language of love to Margaret, through movement
Dr Tom was not to be left out and he has some moves left in him, that's for sure!
Corey went cheek to cheek with his 'Cap'n oh Cap'n'
Bill from Durham met us before we were actually hosted in his region (I am not so sure this was a smart thing but he reassured us that they would still take us)
The distinguished Bart, swept Margaret off her feet with his height, dance moves and red tie
Art and Margaret share some boogie night style dancin' which was lovely to see
The DJ, after some misinterpretation of my instructions, finally abandoned his first choice of partner to dance with Margaret to be her 16th dance partner of the night.
But wait, there's more. Tonight we went for a gorgeous cruise on Holt Lake with our hosts, Gary and Linda. This followed a delightful dinner of barbequed Mahi Mahi fish sprinkled with roasted almonds, accompanied by baby red potatoes, home-made coleslaw and garlic bread (Linda is a whizz in the kitchen).
Bet you can't guess; Margaret conned her 17th dance partner into some moves aboard his pontoon boat. Surpised? I'm not! Although, I did take a few tips from that leader of ours, as you can see in the photo following ...
Some more photos to rub it into all of you guys out there who weren't cruising on a lake on Sunday evening.
OK, so it wasn't all that short(ish) but I tried. Having so many photos blew it out. Give a girl a break!
Kel.
At the conclusion of formalities, the DJ brought the house down with his first song choice, 'Down Under' but then mysteriously swapped it for Rolf Harris's 'Home Among the Gum Trees'. Scott and I took to the dance floor in front of EVERYONE to display our (my) very bad dance moves. I seem to recall that they were much, much better the night before at the bar 'Hell's Kitchen' but then that may have had something to do with the beer consumption rates come to think of it.
But the belle of the ball was Princess Margaret. We had photographers standing by to snap EVERY single one of Margaret's shag partners. She was shaggin' her heart out (to those in Australia, shagging is a dance, not an act of passion). To be fair, most approached her to shag as she was looking especially gorgeous in her flowing ball gown last night.
Here's no. 1 which of course had to be DG Don (hold onto your hats, there are many more beaus to come) ...
Margaret, note to self; maintain eye contact at all times
She did not forget her team mates (Tim, it is wonderful what a camera can do - you actually look coordinated and rythmic)
Big bad Scotty places a protective arm around Margaret as they prepare to dance
Here's no. 4, Neil, and Margaret looks ecstatic in this double-overhead combined hand manoeuvre
Ned, no. 5, did an awesome twist
Princess Margaret got carried away with Peace Fellow, Marios, from Cypress
Of course Lacey was not about to be left out of the danceathon
There was even some girly action when Margaret and I tore up the dance floor
Jimbo is looking rather pleased with his catch here!
The ever smooth Italian past Peace Fellow, speaks the language of love to Margaret, through movement
Dr Tom was not to be left out and he has some moves left in him, that's for sure!
Corey went cheek to cheek with his 'Cap'n oh Cap'n'
Bill from Durham met us before we were actually hosted in his region (I am not so sure this was a smart thing but he reassured us that they would still take us)
The distinguished Bart, swept Margaret off her feet with his height, dance moves and red tie
Art and Margaret share some boogie night style dancin' which was lovely to see
The DJ, after some misinterpretation of my instructions, finally abandoned his first choice of partner to dance with Margaret to be her 16th dance partner of the night.
But wait, there's more. Tonight we went for a gorgeous cruise on Holt Lake with our hosts, Gary and Linda. This followed a delightful dinner of barbequed Mahi Mahi fish sprinkled with roasted almonds, accompanied by baby red potatoes, home-made coleslaw and garlic bread (Linda is a whizz in the kitchen).
Bet you can't guess; Margaret conned her 17th dance partner into some moves aboard his pontoon boat. Surpised? I'm not! Although, I did take a few tips from that leader of ours, as you can see in the photo following ...
Some more photos to rub it into all of you guys out there who weren't cruising on a lake on Sunday evening.
OK, so it wasn't all that short(ish) but I tried. Having so many photos blew it out. Give a girl a break!
Kel.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Cape Fear River
One of the two major rivers in our area in North Carolina; the Cape Fear. The other one is the Neuse but I don't have a photo of this. It looks similar, trust me.
Kel.
Margaret teaching
Whilst visiting the fine campus of Campbell University Margaret could not help herself but start a lecture informing the team about the great advances in information technology... all we heard was '.......................................' - except Scott who somehow realised he could stare at a floor tile and be more interested.
Of course this is not the case and the photo was taken in all good fun.
Of course this is not the case and the photo was taken in all good fun.
The best Chinese buffet EVER!
On arrival in Lillington when asked what we wanted for lunch, quick as a flash I sprouted, "Chinese buffet". I had experienced one of these with Poppa Don in our first week and it was great. This one, in the Lillington area, was even better!
Look at the size of our bellies, I mean plates.
Teacher Margaret asked us a really hard question. I think Scott has the best pondering technique.
Professor Tim, teaching us much ado about nothing.
Us presenting to the Lillington and surrounding clubs with President Peter, Area Coordinator Bill, Rotarian Karen and 7710 Team Leader Gary.
Look at the size of our bellies, I mean plates.
I think Corey won with the number of helpings consumed, but perhaps (?) I won with the actual amount consumed. You may notice from recent pictures that I am somewhat more rounded. Let me assure you I am not pregnant; I am merely enjoying the Southern hospitality! During this trip I have discovered an exceptionally scientific equation:
(f + g) - e = mtb + og
Where:
f = food
g = grog
e= exercise
mtb = muffin top belly
og = other growth
We had a good day today touring Campbell University, a small private university, in the town of Buies Creek. In the afternoon we took the opportunity to invade Karen's office and occupy every available computer to check emails and do blogs. We knew you'd all be missing them as we hadn't time to scratch our ... hair or do blogs in Raleigh as we were too busy working and partying.
Teacher Margaret asked us a really hard question. I think Scott has the best pondering technique.
Professor Tim, teaching us much ado about nothing.
Us presenting to the Lillington and surrounding clubs with President Peter, Area Coordinator Bill, Rotarian Karen and 7710 Team Leader Gary.
Margaret and I have just arrived at 7710 GSE Team Leader Gary's lake house (yes, so hard to take this lifestyle) and we are off to the district conference tomorrow where we are going to deliver our best presentation EVER! The conference is in the beach town of Wilmington so that will also be fairly hard to take.
We are all having so much fun (and also doing some seriously GREAT WORK). Keep those comments coming on our blog. I think although Mares was slow off the mark, she is making exceptional progress and is perhaps the most dedicated blog post mistress.
Kel.
CSI NC
It is high time that I knocked up a bit of a spiel on what I have actually been up to in the past 3 weeks. To cut a really really long story short I have been dropping into random county, city police, state and sheriff crime scene offices for some crime scene duties. I realise that it is hard to believe that there are so many agencies but let me break it down for you:
1 - there are 100 separate counties in North Carolina
2 - each county usually has about 3 - 5 different law enforcement agencies
3 - the simple maths is that there are around 500 different agencies in the state - that's 500 different uniforms, cars, policies and procedures
I have had the sheer pleasure to hang out with certain people and agencies.
Most recently I have been able to hang with my good mates at the CCBI - City County Bureau of Investigation. They are a team of great crime scene folk from Raleigh who cover all crimes within their county. They are a busy bunch of hard working crime sceners, and I have hung out with my mate Shayne. She was kind enough to pick me up at about 5.30am each day we worked (12 hour shifts) and we got to go to heaps of great jobs - including deaths, house breaks, car crime and more.
A little insight into the sheer volume of crime that they attend to can be appreciated by the following. These are the crime stats for 7 days in Raleigh:
Murders - 2
Rapes - 3
Robberies - 17
Assaults - 18
Burglaries - 61
Vehicle thefts - 20
Arsons - 4
Larcenies - 181
They are obviously busy people!!
This is me and my mate Shayne
The SBI is the agency that is called upon when the job might be a little beyond the capabilites of the attending smaller crime scene units. SBI stands for State Bureau of Investigation. Unfortunately there were no major hiccups for the fine people of North Carolina when I was with the SBI but we ran through some great programs and I was lucky enough to be invited along to their Blood Splatter course for a day. We ran through some great mock crime scenes - including a police shooting and shared some great ideas and methods.
1 - there are 100 separate counties in North Carolina
2 - each county usually has about 3 - 5 different law enforcement agencies
3 - the simple maths is that there are around 500 different agencies in the state - that's 500 different uniforms, cars, policies and procedures
I have had the sheer pleasure to hang out with certain people and agencies.
Most recently I have been able to hang with my good mates at the CCBI - City County Bureau of Investigation. They are a team of great crime scene folk from Raleigh who cover all crimes within their county. They are a busy bunch of hard working crime sceners, and I have hung out with my mate Shayne. She was kind enough to pick me up at about 5.30am each day we worked (12 hour shifts) and we got to go to heaps of great jobs - including deaths, house breaks, car crime and more.
A little insight into the sheer volume of crime that they attend to can be appreciated by the following. These are the crime stats for 7 days in Raleigh:
Murders - 2
Rapes - 3
Robberies - 17
Assaults - 18
Burglaries - 61
Vehicle thefts - 20
Arsons - 4
Larcenies - 181
They are obviously busy people!!
This is me and my mate ShayneThe SBI is the agency that is called upon when the job might be a little beyond the capabilites of the attending smaller crime scene units. SBI stands for State Bureau of Investigation. Unfortunately there were no major hiccups for the fine people of North Carolina when I was with the SBI but we ran through some great programs and I was lucky enough to be invited along to their Blood Splatter course for a day. We ran through some great mock crime scenes - including a police shooting and shared some great ideas and methods.
My vocational advocate SBI Special Agent Whyatt PETTINGAL has been a cool guy and taken me around a whole heaps of different locations, and given me the opportunity to meet and speak with many people in high places. I was particularly impressed with the Apex Police Chief's choice of patrol cars for his troops. I knew no-one would believe me if I told them, so I have photographic proof of the fleet the Apex police cruise around in!!
A whirlwind four days in Raleigh
Wow, a pretty intense four days was had in Raleigh. A jam-packed itinerary with three club presentations and two full vocational days. Oh yeah, and a few "socials" as our program stated. They were actually cocktail parties, visits to pubs, yet another Carolina Hurricanes ice-hockey game and the like.
Jane, an ex-GSE team member (to Argentina) took us under her wing and showed us the highlights of Raleigh. We met Miss Jane when we gatecrashed the Progress Energy corporate box (we love 'em). They are now officially sponsors and have been recognised as such in our presentation!
At the Flying Saucer, which despite having over 150 beers on offer, only stocked one Aussie beer - FOSTER'S. No Coopers to be seen, so we went with some exotics.
Post-presentation at the combined meeting of West Raleigh, Crabtree and North Raleigh. Note the corsages that we were presented with were in our country's flag colours, (which happen to be the same as USA's!).
The highly SOUGHT-AFTER professional auctioneer, Scott Endersby, auctioning tickets to the Hurricanes game with President George chuckling at his accent in the background, at the beautiful venue at the Capital City of Raleigh club presentation.
The highly SOUGHT-AFTER professional auctioneer, Scott Endersby, revving up the crowd (hang on, that could have been his sassy assistant, Margaret) during the auction of Australian Aboriginal art.
We raised over $700 for Polio Plus and aim to top this at the District Conference as we have yet more Aboriginal art that the GSE team had commissioned by local Aboriginal artist Christine Tschuna and purchased for this purpose.
President Tom, who, following his loss to Serge (District Governor Elect) in the auction for the Aboriginal art, donated money to the Rotary Foundation's Polio Plus, on the proviso that we answered his question correctly; "In which city was Mel Gibson born?" He thought us Aussies would try to claim him but there's no flies on us - we knew it was 'Pigs something' in New York. Well we did after he whispered it to me!
The ever youthful and beautiful Eric and Mary (Corey's hosts but Eric and I are alumni of Melbourne University so I adopted him!).
Looking at a watershed project with the North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program, following the signing of the Wake County Conservation Memorandum of Agreement; a monumentous occasion between county, state and federal government agencies and community.
Margaret's and my wonderful hosts, Nan (exceptional shopping partner) and Rob Robinson. Until this day, I did not know that ironing fairies existed. My clothes were as shocked as I was.
Off to yet another presentation - to the Lillington club. If they're like all the other clubs, they will be a good audience and laugh in all the right places!!
Kel.
Jane, an ex-GSE team member (to Argentina) took us under her wing and showed us the highlights of Raleigh. We met Miss Jane when we gatecrashed the Progress Energy corporate box (we love 'em). They are now officially sponsors and have been recognised as such in our presentation!
At the Flying Saucer, which despite having over 150 beers on offer, only stocked one Aussie beer - FOSTER'S. No Coopers to be seen, so we went with some exotics.
Post-presentation at the combined meeting of West Raleigh, Crabtree and North Raleigh. Note the corsages that we were presented with were in our country's flag colours, (which happen to be the same as USA's!).
The highly SOUGHT-AFTER professional auctioneer, Scott Endersby, auctioning tickets to the Hurricanes game with President George chuckling at his accent in the background, at the beautiful venue at the Capital City of Raleigh club presentation.
The highly SOUGHT-AFTER professional auctioneer, Scott Endersby, revving up the crowd (hang on, that could have been his sassy assistant, Margaret) during the auction of Australian Aboriginal art.
We raised over $700 for Polio Plus and aim to top this at the District Conference as we have yet more Aboriginal art that the GSE team had commissioned by local Aboriginal artist Christine Tschuna and purchased for this purpose.
President Tom, who, following his loss to Serge (District Governor Elect) in the auction for the Aboriginal art, donated money to the Rotary Foundation's Polio Plus, on the proviso that we answered his question correctly; "In which city was Mel Gibson born?" He thought us Aussies would try to claim him but there's no flies on us - we knew it was 'Pigs something' in New York. Well we did after he whispered it to me!
The ever youthful and beautiful Eric and Mary (Corey's hosts but Eric and I are alumni of Melbourne University so I adopted him!).
Looking at a watershed project with the North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program, following the signing of the Wake County Conservation Memorandum of Agreement; a monumentous occasion between county, state and federal government agencies and community.
Margaret's and my wonderful hosts, Nan (exceptional shopping partner) and Rob Robinson. Until this day, I did not know that ironing fairies existed. My clothes were as shocked as I was.
Off to yet another presentation - to the Lillington club. If they're like all the other clubs, they will be a good audience and laugh in all the right places!!
Kel.
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