Enjoy the hell out of your trip, amigo.

As for me, I've lived aboard my sloop since July of '99. Beats mowing a suburban lawn, lemme tellya!

So, just in case....

....Bon Voyage!

Jim
Sloop New Dawn
Galveston, TX

EW&F's brass section was every bit as tight as James Brown's.

Amen to that. Trouble is, I can never listen to EWF because my Melissa cannot stand Phillip Bailey's "cat's nuts in a walnut cracker" falsetto voice.

Mheh. She likes ABBA. 'Nuff said.

The Earth, Wind, & Fire horns make an appearance on a couple of good Genesis tracks: "No Reply At All" off Abacab, and "Paperlate," one of the extra studio tracks on the U.S. version of Three Sides Live. Very funky-sounding tracks, somewhat atypical for Genesis but cool nonetheless. (Phil Collins, of course, made use of horn sections more frequently on his solo albums.)

You know that you've reached maturity when you desire "prompt" above all other assets when evaluating the waitstaff. I've been mature for many years now.

Also, your wife loves swim-up bars. I'm very very jealous. Will she be getting you that Lego Death Star?

Just got back from there, a place called Gala Playacar. Pretty nice, we had a ball. It's a place with kids, though, so I doubt that's where you're going.
If you're renting a car, there are some cool places to check out. We went to Coba to see Mayan ruins, not as fancy as Chichen-Itza but only half the distance. Also, down the main highway is an ATV excursion outfit, you can probably find them through your hotel. This was a LOT of fun, you drive an ATV and they lead you through back trails, with a stop at a cenote (sinkhole) for some awesome snorkeling.
For some other cool inland snorkeling, check out two cenotes, Azul and Eden, on the west side of the main highway (185? I think). They're right next to each other, marked with hand-painted plywood signs.
Have fun

How about posting your playlist?

Surely you don't expect us to imbibe news from a foreign blogger??!?...Oi!

Pleasant journey. I hope that you and your lovely bride have a great time. I love your priorities, and I second the motion to post your favorite beach music.

May I suggest some Los Lonely Boys for your listening pleasure. That, a couple of drinks, and the local sights, will most definately get your mind right.

If you want tight horn sections then definitely check out Tower of Power. That was one crack outfit of horn-blowers. Better than EW&F, if you asked me for my opinion.

I saw Rod Stewart on tour one time (back when he was still cool and not a joke.) He had the ToP horn section backing him. They absolutley kicked total ass.

My advice: dispense with the rules and get the iPod now! Drive to the store and pick one up locally if you have to. The hassles it will save you on this trip are surely worth a few extra bucks.

I just got one a couple months go, before I took a two week trip to the left coast. Using it on the plane was pure joy. As an unexpected benefit, I think the Apple compression routine blows the doors of MP3.

If you don’t take that advice, at least consider this: Save your MP3 files on your hard drive as you are copying them over now. Otherwise, you’ll be going through the whole DJ routine again when you eventually do go iPod. BTDT..

Forget the 30 gigger...You could never listen to 20,000 songs anyways. Get the iPod Shuffle. It holds about 150 songs. Basically your favorite hits. That's still about 10 -12 hours of music. I like my Shuffle a lot more than my 20 gigger. And use it more often also. It's way smaller and more convienent. As an added aside, if you lose it, or it's stolen, you're only out $99.
Tom

jungly nature hikes, parasailing, etc.

Oh, thank God ~ had me worried for a moment there. After adventures in Mexico/Central America/Phillipines, when my brain saw Cozumel, it processed parasailing as parasites. Have a good time and only drink things that have the factory attached cap still sealed on. (Fanta and any beer. Remember, ice cubes are made with the local water.)

Be sure to do whatever it takes to make sure you have some children right away, okay? That way you can never ever take another vacation like this until you are so old you'll be ordering Geritol at that swim-up bar.

/jealous bastard rant

EW&F's horn section (called the Phoenix Horns, if memory serves) used to back up Phil Collins on his solo tours. They absolutely killed when I saw him in '84 (hey, cut me some slack--I was a sophomore in high school, and by definition had no taste).

The last thing I want to do is start an iPod pissing match, but I have to tell you that I have a 40 gig iPod, and it is filled. 30G of that is music. I reserve the other 10G for miscellaneous computer files. Once it formatted properly, it works like any other USB drive. I find it very handy. If you are going to put digi pix on yours, 30 G could fill up a lot faster than you might expect, especially with an 8Mpix camera.

The 30G of music comes to about 2000-3000 songs (I think. Don’t have it with me right now.). But again, I don’t use MP3 compression. I prefer the Apple MP4 format, and that’s not nearly as compact as MP3. I also have quite a few 20-30 minute extended jam songs on there, so that skews the song numbers a bit.

If you want tight horn sections then definitely check out Tower of Power. That was one crack outfit of horn-blowers. Better than EW&F, if you asked me for my opinion.

David Crawford,

Tower of Power couldn't get hired to play the Phoenix Horns' high school reunion . Normally, you make such sense, and I believe you must otherwise be a nice guy. However, your blasphemy on this point leaves me no choice but to challenge you to a duel.

Enjoy the trip Steve, just got back from that area (Cancun) a few weeks ago. If you're interested in the Chichen Itza ruins but want to avoid the 6 hour round trip drive check out this air charter company in Playa Del Carmen: http://www.aerosaab.com/

You end up at the ruins about 3 hours before the mass of tour busses and before it gets very hot. Plus, you're back on the beach with a lovely beverage in hand by 3:00.

I'm a fan of the iPod shuffle too. No screen (to get scratched and broken), but it's cheap, as portable as you can possibly want, has great battery life, and still carries more music than you'll listen to in a week.

The only Apple product I have (and will probably ever) buy, but it was a good one.

I got the 30G photo iPod for Valentines Day. It's freakin' awesome! It'll hold around 7,500 songs--I'm working on filling it up one pepsi bottle at a time ;-). I bough some Sennheiser phones for extended listening and they are sweeeeeeeeeet!

And yes, we'd love a playlist.

Oh, happy birthday and have a great time!

Sorry guys you are all wrong. No horn section was as funky as Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band!!!

Boz Scaggs? You bet. I was walking down Waikiki with a young lass listening to Boz Scaggs 28 years ago this spring. Sigh...

Amen to Tower of Power! I love Stevie Wonder's earlier albums, which also were also good. But my favorite is still the Moody Blues. No horns. Just wonderful full bodied rock and roll music.

Rocketeer-

Oh, yea!?!?!?!
Having seen Tower of Power a number of times, as well as Earth, Wind and Fire, I know who are the better.
I will volunteer to be Mr Crawford's second. Otherwise, you can just try and slap that little doily at me.

Ed

Having seen Tower of Power a number of times, as well as Earth, Wind and Fire, I know who are the better.

Ed,

I saw Tower of Power a few times too, I think at a the mall and a couple car dealership openings, or something. Now granted, Phoenix Horns might not have sounded so grand on the Taylor Rental "sound system" ToP was forced to use, but tight is TIGHT, and PH still win hands down with me.

TO: Stephen Green
RE: What's This??!?!?!?

No shots of the "Kissing Camels"?

Shame on you....

Regards,

Chuck(le)
P.S. May Hizzballah infest your tent.

P.P.S. If they infest mine, I'll call it 'target practice'.