TAR Finale Weekend - NYC

G'day to all,
It was a busy week leading up to the weekend where we all got together for the finale party for TAR Season 19.  What an incredible, well-organized time of celebrating.  A big thank you to Cindy Chiang and Justin Young from the season for their organization of the events in NYC and a big congratulations to the three finalists and the winners Cindy Chiang and Ernie Halvorsen for a job well done.  


Also, not to forget the hard work of Television Without Pity  for a great party after the final showing.  Megan and Miss Dona did an incredible job.  It was much fun for all who attended.  NYC was fun and a hive of activity - a little too busy for me, but I made the most of it.  The fans made it a great event and to see our fellow racers again was special.  Some we hadn't seen since riding elephants through a rain forest in Thailand.  


Unfortunately, Zac and a few of the other racers (Andy, Tommy, Bill and Cathy, Ethan and Jenna) were unable to make it due to traveling and business plans.  They were missed by all.  Your TAR teammates become like a family, a bond forms between you that unites us because of the the rare experience of traveling to those obscure places around the world where we uncover, undo, eat or solve some of the most bizarre challenges one can imagine. 


Of course, it was great to talk about some of the challenges and relive them in a more relaxed environment. Yes, our celebrations took us to a couple of night clubs and I found myself with a couple of moves that I didn't know that I had.  It was much fun. 


After a couple of days of reuniting with our fellow racers, celebrating and watching the finale, it was time to say our good byes and leave those frigid temperatures of NY and fly back to LA. 


Oh yes, the greatest part about going away is coming home to my wonderful family.


Cheers,
Laurence


PS  No photos of our weekend in NYC but will get those posted as soon as they are received.

TAR Finale Warm Up

Jeremy and Sandy

G'day,
What a great time in San Fransisco!  Though it was short trip it was a lot of fun.   Jeremy and Sandy, my fellow racers from this season of the Amazing Race had a good turn out of there friends and race enthusiasts at their viewing party on Sunday night.  It was nice to drop in and surprise them both.  It was a great warm up to get us ready to continue the festivities for the conclusion of TAR Season 19 in New York City this weekend. 


I think everyone was surprised and shocked to see our good friends Andy & Tommy get eliminated.  They had a good race and were favored to win by many. I was also surprised to see that Jeremy & Sandy won that leg of the race.  It made my surprise visit all the more worthwhile to be able to congratulate them on a job well done.


The Amazing Race - It's Good But Hard.

Cheers,
Laurence

Weekend Happenings

G'day
I wanted to take the opportunity to write a quick note about the weather experienced Wednesday evening.  Yes, there was a pretty good blow in Marina Del Rey. I was surprised how little wind we had in Thousand  Oaks.  I heard that there were strong winds in Pasadena. My mother-in-law lives in Pasadena and the following day she called letting us know just how bad it was. Toby, Ben and myself went out to Grandma's to help put her yard and blown down fence panels back together. 


I was surprised at the extent of the damage, not only to her house but to many others in the area.  These are the photos I took. 

The tree that is blown down landed between the two houses.  This could have been a different story - someone was praying.


I was shocked  to learn that just a few miles away at the Henninger Flats a gust of 167mph was recorded!  Let's hope we don't get nailed by another blow like this for a long time.  




Another spontaneous paint job 


After Toby's gallant effort at Grandma's house, we only just made it back to Thousand Oaks in time for his uniform fitting for the all star soccer team and then straight out for a camping trip with the Boy Scouts in Ojai.  Rather them than me - it must  have been below freezing in Ojai as it was 37 here in Thousand Oaks. 


Toby's trip gave me the opportunity to bless him by painting out one of the rooms that was being used for storage, now Toby's new room . Why do these jobs always seem to take twice as long as the time I allocate for them?   Fortunately, we managed to keep my little helpers out of the paint tray this time. 


On top of this we had a little celebration as my beautiful daughter, Jessie, turned 13 yesterday. So after the painting and celebrating we had a little father and daughter time and I took her to see Hugo which was a treat for me as well as her.  

Hugo

It would have been much easier to just have a nice evening in, but I'm glad that I made the time to take Jessie to the movies.  I realize that these children grow up very quickly and as a father it is important to come along side them, love them and speak into their lives so they can come to us as parents when times get a little tough having the confidence that we will listen to them and not be too busy.

Hugo was a great movie - one I would recommend and encourage folks to go and see.  Directed by Martin Scorsese, who did a great job of keeping this tale entertaining and engaging. This is based on the book The Invention Of Hugo Carbret by Brian Selznick which Jessie had recently read.  She thought that the book was as good as the movie.   The screen play written by John Logan was well done.


Now I will be heading out to San Fransisco to surprise a couple of friends from the Amazing Race who are putting together a party later tonight after the show airs at 8pm.  I would not ordinarily afford this luxury, but  I have a couple of business meetings in SF Monday.   This way I  get to surprise a couple of friends, have a good time and a do a little business. 


Now I know all of you will be a little surprised at tonight's outcome on the Amazing Race as this season draws to a conclusion.   Follow along on CBS at 8:00 pm.


The Amazing Race - It's Hard But Good!


Cheers,


Laurence

Blown Away

G'day to all,

Never a dull moment! What a Wednesday for those of us that weren't blown away. I had little time to prepare for a talk at Ventura Missionary Christian School but fortunately it went down quite well. The theme was to be motivational and inspirational. I like to have an interactive audience which helps those with a narrow attention span from falling asleep or being distracting to others.

One of the interesting times of participating is when I have 2 volunteers from the audience come up on the stage where I have two offshore survival suits waiting for them and we have a little competition. After placing them in a scenario of a life and death situation they then race to put the rather cumbersome survival suits on.

I must say I am quite surprised how quickly they do this. The winner wins a DVD documentary. It's a lot of fun and the kids really enjoy it. I think we all had a great time.

Then a swift drive from Ventura to Marina Del Rey for Peter Greenburg's (from CBS Travel news) annual holiday party aboard his yacht that I have the pleasure of managing and skippering.

Hanging out with Peter Greenberg

Well, if you were in the area at all you would understand why we concurred that due to the wind warning it would be best to have the party dock side. LAX clocked 40 knots. I had to leave the party to tend to a couple of other yachts and make sure they were secure as well.

All this was topped off by a five mile run in the morning - a good full day. Oh, we are told that the wind will be back tonight.

Cheers,

Laurence

Festival News

We are excited that our latest documentary Wild Eyes: The Abby Sunderland Story has been accepted into the San Diego Christian Film Festival which runs from Decmber 27-30, 2011.

There will be workshops for film makers and a family day featuring films that the whole family can enjoy together on Tuesday the 27th.  Wild Eyes is tentatively scheduled to screen on Family Day with a Q & A with Abby and myself afterwards.

The festival web site is  http://www.sdchristianfilmfestival.com/.  Check them out for more details on locations and schedules.

I am currently working on an exciting project that is consuming a lot of my time.  I can't elaborate any further at the moment but will fill you in at the appropriate time, hopefully in a few weeks.

My latest adventure is that I will be speaking on Wednesday morning to the middle school students at Ventura Missionary School.  Hopefully, it will be inspirational and motivational as well as a lot of fun for all of us!  Hoping they listen to me more than my own middleschoolers!

After speaking, I'll be running down to Marina del Rey to captain a client's boat for the first Christmas party of the year.  Hoping that the warm weather will hold for a few more days!

Happy Thanksgiving

What a great day - up and at it with a 5 mile run with the dog.  Returned home to those wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen enough to make one salivate with anticipation.  There is sure to be a great feast later.

Lots of blessings!

I know we can all find something to be thankful for.  It is just a matter of perspective.  Just yesterday I awoke with a spontaneous idea of painting the kitchen and one of the bathrooms.  Now I would have to say that there were a couple of times yesterday when I thought spontinaity was not such a good thing.  Like when Paul, my one and a half year old, decided to slip into the kitchen unannounced to help his dad, only to dive straight into the wonderful roller pan full of paint while I was in mid flow of rolling out the kitchen ceiling.  Totally taken off guard, I was thrown into the chaos of dealing with the situation.  It would have been easy to get angry at this one but I decided to be thankful to God giving me an inquisitive little boy.

Paul helping me paint!

Earlier in the week, it was great to see Andy Finch from the Amazing Race while he had time during a layover at LAX.  Before his flight left for Reno, we had lunch and got out on the ocean.  He and his team mate from the Amazing Race, Tommy Czeschin, both retired from being pro snow boarders and have been doing extremely well on the Amazing Race.  It was great to share tales of our different adventures.

Andy at the helm

Fun on the sea!

When it all comes down to it - this is a great day that has been set aside for giving thanks.  Amidst all of our trials, I want to encourage you all to keep a positive outlook seeking God through all of them.

Have a great day and Happy Thanksgiving!

MLS Cup Final 2011, Los Angeles

A big thanks to Marco Bizzarri from La Curacao who gave my son, Toby and I, VIP tickets to the game.  What an outstanding game.  With the Home Depot Center packed with more than enthusiastic fans, the LA Galaxy took on the Houston Dynamos in the MLS Cup Finals last night.  Okay, yes, the weather turned it on as well.  We could have been back in my homeland - the good old UK.

It was a fitting end to the soccer season.  The day before the game, my kids' soccer season with AYSO came to an end as well.  Both my daughter's U14 team that I coach and Toby's U14 team had good seasons.  It was great to watch Toby put in the extra effort in training this year which paid off as he was selected for All Stars.  Jessie, too, is an avid player and has been training hard, determined to improve her game.

Both of their teams tied their last games - narrowly missing the playoffs.  It would have been nice to continue but, all in all, a good conclusion to the regular season.

The LA Galaxy vs Dynamos game was the icing on the cake.  I was called by Marco mid week letting me know that he had 2 extra tickets to the game.  What a great surprise!  The LA Galaxy were in rare form dominating the play and quelching the break aways from the Dynamos.  The Dynamo's goalie was kept quite busy most of the game until London Donovan in the 75th minute put the ball in the back of the net.  This was the second of two goals scored, the first being disallowed by the questionable offside that was ruled by the officials.  David Beckham played incredibly well having pulled his hamstring early in the week.  He was a little more reserved than normal but delivered what was necessary when needed.

I hope he will be back next season.  It is a rare treat to watch one of soccers all time greats in LA.  The fast pace, the excitement, the supporters, the win - what a great game!