Oliver Hansen » Recreation

Vacation In Jamaica

Oliver — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 18:53:13 +0000

I spent almost two weeks in Jamaica the end of August and beginning of September. Originally I had planned to spend three weeks there but as anyone who has used frequent flier miles knows, the flight dates are very limited. I spent most of my time in Kingston visiting a few friends and helping out in the computer lab at Kingston High School which I will write about separately as it was an involved project. I did get to spend a couple days in Negril at the beach but because of the elections I didn’t have as much time there as I had planned. I did get a couple nice photos though.

As you can see, not all of Jamaica was ravaged by Hurricane Dean.

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Visiting Monifa in Dallas

Oliver — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:53:05 +0000

I took a short trip to Dallas to visit my friend Monifa. A friend from Jamaica, she had been working at Six Flags through a summer work program most of the summer. Because I already had the time off work and couldn’t go to Jamaica as early as I wished, I took the time to go see her.

I rode a couple roller-coasters — some of the bigger few that I had never tried before because I was too scared. Now I can just say I don’t like them. I don’t mind the speed, it’s the jerkyness of the whole thing. Having my neck thrown around by the sudden movement just isn’t my thing. Second day I got to go to the water park which was more my style. I got some sun and got to experience it free since she could bring a guest in.

Throughout the days and later the last night I met her coworkers and friends. Some from Jamaica, one from Trinidad, some from Turkey, and some from Moldova. Here are a few photos from that trip.

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Time To Get Out of The Water

Oliver — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:18:06 +0000

Had to post this after my kayaking experience the other day. Hmmm, I think I’ll stick to the lake rather than the shark infested waters…..

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A Day With Mom

Oliver — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 06:23:45 +0000

I’m going to be gone for a while in July so I decided it would be a good weekend to spend a day with mom. She decided to join an alumni group from her university and that gives her access to a nice lakeside recreation center on Lake Whatcom. It was this recreation center we decided to visit because they have kayaks for a very cheap price.

So we took the kayak out after I figured out how to get my long legs inside without tipping it over. We decided to get a two person kayak and it was pretty nice. One of us could take a break while the other kept going. We went quite a ways and it was a really nice day.

After the water, we went back to mom’s and had some nice fish. I don’t eat fish very often but when I do it is usually good. The fish lacked a lot of flavor but the topping was very nice. Also had a fresh salad from her garden! We had time to play a called bolo toss which was actually quite fun. As my mom says, it would be a great family game ’cause everyone can play! Simple but competitive.

I then showed mom the DVD from Green Eyes In Africa, a non-profit that runs an orphanage in Africa. The documentary is about how they got started and I plan to review it soon on this site. I also gave her my copy of Office Professional 2007. I hope she can get used to the new menu system. I’d had it for some months now but couldn’t think of someone who really needed it. I left soon after that and got home in time for my weekly chat on Skype!

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Day at The Park

Oliver — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 05:01:51 +0000

I called up Jess this afternoon and he, Richard, and Michelle were going to the park to play some tennis and things so I came and tagged along. I met Richard and Michelle a couple weeks back at a game day in Jess’ apartment and they are fun to be around. Richard also brought along his dog Lydia who almost chewed through her leash while tied to the tree at the park. Haha.

We first played a game of pickup 3-on-3 basketball with two other guys who showed up on the courts. The two guys were fairly decent but we had a close game. My team ended up winning 11-10. Then we headed over to the tennis courts where I had to use Jess’ “child racket” — the thing was so small my hand could almost wrap around the handle twice! It was still fun though. We played through all the possible teams with the four of us and it was pretty even I guess. We were pretty worn out after the first game of basketball but decided to go play another round of 2-on-2. Before we did that, we showed off a bit for the camera.

Game of 2-on-2 was good but maybe not as close as the first game. Richard’s mom was nice enough to invite everyone over for dinner afterwards but I was too worn out and had a few things to take care of at home so I declined. The whole afternoon sure beat sitting around at home watching a movie or playing on the comp!

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Paintball last Saturday

Oliver — Thu, 24 May 2007 16:14:26 +0000

For the first time last Saturday I went paintballing with some friends. I had never gone before and in reality when I was younger I was scarred of getting hit. My friend Jemaal had planned it for the birthday party of his niece and we were supposed to have an entire field just for ourselves. Unfortunately, there was a death in her side of the family so the party was canceled. Jemaal was still available to go so he, my friend Brandon and myself were the small group of friends that showed up.

Jemaal has been going for a little while so he has his own gun (marker, in paintball speak) and gear. For Brandon and I, it was our first time so we used the rental gear. You get a mask with goggles and free refills on air all day. You have to buy the paint at the field so that people can’t bring unsafe paint in. Another safety feature is that every marker has to be chronoed-in which means they check the speed in FPS. I believe it has to be around 270 FPS to be safe. Once all that is done and they give the safety speech, we split into teams with the other people that day and then head on in to the field!

We played a little woods-ball first and then some speedball and alternated between the two all day. Woods-ball was out in a lightly wooded area with a hill, some old vehicles, tractor tires, pallets, stacks of wood and makeshift shelters strewn about. Before any shots were even fired, I could feel my heart beating in my chest with the adrenaline pumping out. The first time out I was shot in the hand which can be one of the worst places if you don’t have gloves. It stung a little and actually broke the skin some. It was nice to get it over with and realize it wasn’t that painful though.

Speedball is a smaller area with several rubber inflatable barriers to hide behind. The object is to run out firing and hit the other team as fast as possible. With us non-professionals, it didn’t really go as fast because we spent too much time hiding behind the barriers but it was still interesting. Oh, one thing is if you are hit and the paintball breaks then you are out or dead. You hold your hands and marker up in the air, say “I’m hit!” then walk off the field as quickly as possible and the others should stop shooting at you by then. Works pretty well actually. I got hit once on the arm while leaving the field but it was really an accident. So as I mentioned, the paintballs don’t always break and when they don’t it’s a little more painful. The worst hit I got was one that glanced off the side of my stomach and left a nasty looking welt. It really doesn’t hurt so bad but it looks cool so I’m showing it.

All in all, it was a nice outdoor experience! My legs were still sore for a couple days from all the diving and crawling around in the dirt. Brandon and I both want to go again sometime and hopefully it will be fairly soon. I recommend it and really it doesn’t hurt bad at all so give it a shot!

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La Rêve at The Wynn in Las Vegas

Oliver — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:34:11 +0000

I just returned to my hotel room at The Wynn after seeing their show La Rêve. What can I say that hasn’t already been said? Probably nothing but as usual I’ll still say it.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect and with tickets above $100 a piece it was a bit of work talking myself into it but I figured since I’m in Vegas and don’t gamble I should at least partake in a show! It’s described as a collection of dreams and advertised to be an aerial and aquatic show. It certainly surpassed all my expectations.

I’m not sure if the story line has much to do with it but as far as I could tell it begins with a woman going to sleep. Wait — first let me set the stage for you. The theatre is a theatre in the round so there really is not many bad seats in the house. The stage is set in a pool with one million gallons of water and metal platforms that raise and lower throughout the show. All around the auditorium above and behind the audience are large screens which function as a backdrop to each sequence with subtle lighting and sometimes a background to the set. So this woman goes to sleep on a bed in the middle of the pool and slowly disappears below the surface. Meanwhile performers come down from above suspended and several dreamlike characters push for their turn to act their part in the dream. There are revolving themes of good, evil, light, dark, and humor during the performance. With a crack, rain begins to pour down from the heavens straight into the pool as you smell the moisture in the air. The storm continues for a while with the lightning and thunder drawing you into their world of dreams.

I won’t describe every scene and I couldn’t even if I tried but I’ll just say what I found most remarkable about the entire show. The combination of gymnastics, acrobatics, synchronized swimming and diving were just awesome. Several times the men would come down from above while the women reached for them and either slipped or gained grip for an amazing foot-lock at 40 or 50 feet. Other times there were gymnastics performed on the raised stage — one which resembled a pommel horse but on flat ground. Two men began performing feats of strength and flexibility with a finale of walking off the stage with one inverted on the other’s shoulders and not touching anywhere else but at the shoulders. Hard to describe some of these things so that’s just more reason I suggest you go see it if possible.

One dive was from the very top of the arena which must have been above 50 feet. Incredible. The synchronized swimming just added to the whole artful feel of the show. Something about symmetry just makes me feel all-right! Besides, when they weren’t swimming they were splashing around the water at the edge and just seemed like they were enjoying their time as I did while in the dream.

So there you have my recommendation. Very nice!