On Thu, 12 Dec 2002 11:19:16 -0500, Brad <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >Hi everyone, > >I've been short on time, but thought I'd pass this on. I haven't read it myself, but will copy, and read at w$$K. It sounds interesting. > >http://www.aims.gov.au/pages/research/coral-bleaching/scr2002/scr-00.html> That reminds me of the Taka II trip report that I have tens of thousands of words (in pictures) but not know how/where to put them, so I'll probably not ever write it, except a sentence HERE, and a few there. :-) The description of the coral reef bleaching in 2002 in the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea in Oz explains why the Temple of Doom (the mini- seamount or bommie that was supposed to be one of the highlights of the trip) turned out to be a big pile of DEAD corals (almost ;-)>, pretty obviously the effect of coral bleaching -- estimated at 95% (in the webpage above) in some parts of the GBR and elsewhere in Oz. The local phone call rate of 71 cents per minute gave me a rest from my PC/laptop, which stayed unopen during my entire 7 days in Amsterdam to see and do interesting stuff other than getting wet! :-) I learned from the Van Gogh museum that (a) Gogh is pronouned as 'Gog', and not 'Go', contrary to what I (and others) thought Walter Cronkite misprounounced it when he said 'Van Gog'; (b) the meaning of 'Frog' :-) explained in relation to Van Gogh's stay in Paris. The paintings of Rambrandt, Van Gogh, Gauguin, et al was no match for the live arts in the Red Light District. :-) On our return from the Amsterdam airport to the Newark airport, (a) I was targeted as a bomb-carrying, money-laundering Al Qaeda terrorist, by the Amsterdam security guards; while (b) Sue was targeted by a beagle (dog) at the Newark Airport luggage-claim area as a dope-smuggler suspect (?), when that beagle, after sniffing around passengers and luggage, sat down next to Sue's carry-on, triggering a series of questions (and search) by the beagle-trainer/inspector. :-) Alas, there was no bomb, no hi-tec explosives, bricks of cash, or pot, hash, or anything exciting found by any of the inspectors, for me to have any Tall Tale to report back. Sorry. Congratulations to Brooxie of Nurse-Shark-Tail-Puller fame for having officially attained her retarred status on or about December 4. On our impending trip, we'll be having Breakfast at the Bellagio with this newly-retarred couple, on our way to dive with some REAL sharks. This LIST is all too quiet ever since Strike was mugged by publication crooks and robbers, and presumably busy tending to the cops & robbers business. Hope to see him back soon. -- Bob.