Happy Holidays

Yes, the season is fully upon us - and it's about time.

And to honor said season, I've put together a little Holiday Oriented web site, just for all the followers of my little blog.

The Beachmiser's Holiday Memorial Website Thingy.

So that's it for this post - go see the website.

And we'll see you - next year!

Holiday Family Video

This is just a little video I put together, using the animoto.com site. It really is pretty cool. I tried to get everybody - probably missed a few - and I hope you enjoy this little holiday family video.
If you guys have any shots I don't have and you'd like to see included, send them to me and I'll remix it.

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes to all - and leave a comment.
Old Bro and the Mustang

2008 Christmas Regatta Boat Parade

This is the 2008 Annual Intercoastal Regatta, a bunch of boats all lit up for the 24th annual Christmas boat parade on the Intercoastal Waterway. Actually, we weren't sure what was lit more, the boats or the crews.

We went over to Sandy's and video recorded this from her dock on the ICW. Great parade, great friends visiting, great munchies. Overall, an eventful event.

Some updates - recently updated!

I've been really busy lately, updating this and that:

My Shagmiser Blog
My Internet Retirement Site
My Trivia Answers Site
My Shagmiser Projects Page

just to name a few. So I thought I'd post this for the both of you who follow this blog so you can check out my updates. I also updated the recommended links thingy down on the right (Blogger calles them Gadgets). Took out a lot of outdated links, and added some new ones. Pretty cool, eh?

On to fun stuff. Cynthia's headed our way to visit over Thanksgiving, and good old C.B. is also headed "to the beach." We're gonna have a full house for Turkey Day! Yahoo-ie! Also, nephew Keith is due back from Taiwan, filled we're sure with a wild story or 2.

The Little River / North Myrtle Beach Christmas Holiday Boat "in the water on the ICW" Parade is next Saturday after Thanksgiving, so we're all headed over to Sandy's to watch the parade of Christmas lit boats (or is it the Captian and crew who are lit?). Like previous years, I'll video the whole thing, then post if to YouTube and the http://www.digitalshores.net/ pages, so nobody will miss a thing. Be on the lookout.

Actually, you don't have to keep checking here for updates if you use an RSS feed, or just "Follow" this blog. Either way works.

Enough for now - mores courses to keep up with and websites to update. Busy, busy, busy!!!!

TTFN, and AMF
Dick

For S.C. Residents - some health record news

I just read this in the AARP bulletin, and for those of us in South Carolina, I thought it was worth passing along ........

" Personal records, all in one place. To encourage the use of electronic health care records, which would cut down on medical errors, AARP South Carolina is urging state residents to sign up for My Personal Health Record, a pilot project launched by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicade Services. As of September 2, 700 people had registered, giving them free web access to the previous 24 months of their Medicare records, including information about their medical conditions, hospitalizations and doctor visits. Users can enter their own information as well, including notes about medications, allergies, and services they've received. State residents with Medicare Part A or B can sign up for the project at http://www.myphrsc.com/. To learn more, e-mail questions@myphrsc.com or call 1-888-697-4772 toll free."

Now, for those of you not yet on Medicare or Medicade, there's another free service for posting your medical records online, and it's being offered by (who else?) Google. It's all manual entry (at last look), but it's a great way to keep all your med stuff in one place, online. It's called Google Health. Check it out.

We haven't been doing much these last few weeks, what with the season being over and all. WW came for a short visit, and Cynthia's due in a couple of weeks. Actually, we've all been fighting off flu symptoms and trying to dodge the off colored variants of same. Oh, well!

I thought these worthy of passing along. Hope it helps. That's all for today - keep those comments rolling in.

It's Robin's Birthday

Yep! You got that right. Today is little bro's birthday (I meant that figuratively). And for the occasion, we posted a special birthday site specifically for him - click on the picture to check it out!

Or if that doesn't work, go here.

It's Been a Month?

No kidding! I cannot believe it's been a month since I've last posted here. Aaaach! Well, that's probably because there ain't been a whole bunch happening, not counting Mom's minor misstep which you can read about on her blog - Mom's Progress Blog - or Sally's latest fun adventure. And except for the fall bike rally, some really cool local area festivals, our one day trip to Charleston, and the beach replenishment project, just not a whole bunch happening.

I have been doing some extra project work, which you can check out on my Shagmiser Blog. And that's been keeping me really busy.

Right now, we're off to the mountains of Virginia to visit the Bostic / Rasnake clan in Swords Creek and Lebanon. Yep, we're headed to the homestead of Sally & Susan, to see family, friends, and a grit or 2. You all know what grits are right? Girls Raised in the South. HAH!

I also just completed another IM related video, and it's posted on YouTube if you want to check it out. Personally, I think it is really boring, but I'll let you decide. It's part of a learning / challenge I've just started, and it's posted on the Shagmiser Blog.

Now here's a thought. If you want to be notified whenever I upload one of my videos, just join in my friends list on Youtube, or join (for free) Plaxco. Or Twitter. They all work.

Enough for now - we're headed out.

TTFN - AMF - Livin' Barefoot in Paradise
Dick

Sally and I go Parasailing

Well, everyone. Sally and I had a very eventful, fun filled Anniversary weekend, one we'll really remember for quite awhile. It started that Saturday afternoon when Sally surprised me with our very first parasail out of Captain Dick's in Murrell's Inlet. I've got a video on the whole thing posted on Youtube. Go to http://youtube.com/shagmiser to get your eyeballs on this one. I cannot believe it took us this long to get around to doing this. It was AB FAB! 500 feet up in the air, floating out over Litchfield Beach, and I got the whole thing on video. Wow!

BTW, if you haven't seen the special dancing video I made from our Friday night on the town, check it out HERE. And no, it's not our usual shag dance.

That night Susan joined us for one of the best dinner's ever at UMI's down in restaurant row. We've been wanting to try this place for quite awhile, based on the fact that my sister Carrie recommended it highly, as did our friends Sandy and Brian. It's a Pacific Rim type seafood restaurant that combines the best of Asian cuisine: select offerings of extremely fresh seafood prepared using blends of unique spices. Combine that with a high tech (not deco) ambiance, and wait service more than a cut above, and you've got a 4 star place that happens to be @thebeach.

Sunday afternoon Sally deigned to accompany me to Hoto's to listen to the Craig Woolard band for awhile, standing in the sun on the beach drinking cold beers. It don't get much better. Now that's my idea of a great afternoon.

Sunday night we all went to Bimini's for crab legs. My nephew Keith is headed back out to (guess where?) the Pacific Rim for his job installing steel scarfing equipment in Shanghai and Taiwan, and we wanted to gather with the rest of the family to send him off. It was noisy, filled with Tourons celebrating the end of summer, but well worth it.

Right now we're waiting to see where Hana and Ike are headed (those are hurricanes, Johnnie), and preparing to batten down the hatches. My next post might be from C.B.'s up in Charlotte. Hana might come into or close to Wilmington just north of us, so we will get lots of wind and rain. But Hana might be nothing compared to Ike, which as I write this is a cat 4 hurricane approaching the Caribbean. If there's some great surf, I'll try and get some video to pass along.

That's all I can think of for now - so check out the parasail video, and post a comment or 2.

TTFN - Dick @thebeach.

And don't forget my other blog, http://shagmiser.blogspot.com/

Sailing Over New Year's Part Dos/Deux

This new video has a lot more pictures of our week long sail! Avast Ye Maties! Them's that Dies are the Lucky Ones !!!!! HAR !

Two new happenings are almost upon us ........

Short, Animoto Video - just to set the tone and mood (swing)!



Yep! 2 things are about to happen .....

First off, Sally and I are going to be celebrating our 28th anniversity this coming weekend. That's a long time, especially in dog house years, not that I've been there the entire time mind you. But it's still quite a long spell. Maybe we'll party at the 30th mark, but this year we're staying low key. Maybe rent a DVD, pop some popcorn, arm wrestle for the remote. But it's been an eventful 28 years, filled with lots of experiences, travels (lots of travels), and the love and respect that only a relationship that has lasted can endure. Something tells me she's a keeper.

For those of you who know us, you know it's actually been longer than 28 years, but who's counting. I hope that Linda White's prophetic comment that long ago Sunday night in Mancino's still holds true.

Secondly, the Fall Migration is coming up in September, or Fall SOS. We'll be there, of course, especially for Fun Sunday and Fun Monday. Should be a real hoot this year. More on that later, or just check it out at http://www.shagdance.com/.

Well, no more banner planes have fallen from the sky, so we're pretty much back to normal. If you missed our original "man on the scene" video report of the first unscheduled ocean landing, you can catch it HERE, or on www.YouTube.com/shagmiser. It's in there somewhere. Search on rudyboo.

Here's something I found interesting ..................
You know you are living in 2008 when...
1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. :)
12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.
14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

TTFN - from all of us here @thebeach.

And don't forget my other blog, http://shagmiser.blogspot.com/

The Linn Family and other Ramblings

Kendra has posted quite a few blog entries on Steve's progress and life in general around the their household, especially now that Steve's home and recuperating. You really have to read it to understand, especially since Kendra has such a wonderful way words. James Thurber, move over. Check out Kendra's Blog.

Not too much happening here at the beach. Tourons are still here, clogging the beach. And the new beach replenishment program is underway, dumping sand on the beach dredged up from about a mile offshore and scaring the hell out of the natives. If I get a video of the process I'll post it here, somewhere.

Sally and I have our 28th anniversary coming up next weekend. Go figure. 28 years? Wow! She's now working days at Ripley's Aquarium downtown, and I'm still playing at being an Internet marketer. Had to apply for SS, and the first check just came in. Oh Happy Days now that the End of Days are near. 2008 is turning out to be a rather memorable year.

I keep adding to the NMB for Locals website, so if you're in the area, check it out. I try and come up with places local to our area you might find interesting since they are usually off the beaten track. Remember, NMB stnds for North Myrtle Beach (duh!). So I guess the full name of the website should be North Myrtle Beach for Locals.

Me personally, I am hitting the books again after lo these many years. I've got a PLR membership site I am ramping up for, taking Reese's TS2 course, and building up my MLM mini sites with Grandstaff's guidance. Keeps me really busy, off the streets, and out of the bars. So far. This stuff can be pretty intensive, but it's fun. But it's nice to know Molly Darcy's is only a golf cart ride away.

We hope and pray for Steve's speedy recovery (but with 5 breaks, it's gonna be a long road) and Kendra's sanity. Go check the blog ------ NOW! And leave a comment.

TTFN - we'll see you @thebeach.

Steve's Progress

I just read Kendra's latest blog post on hubby Steve, and it sounds like he is doing really well, improving, and getting stronger. Check out her ramblings on the Linn Family Blog. And post a get well comment. She and the girls would really appreciate it.

Well, Melissa's birthday has come and gone - another year sailing by-by. Send her a belated b'day card if you didn't do something originally. We've got to continue reminding her exactly how much water has passed under that bridge. She might not appreciate it, but hey - what's a family for?

It's been 6 months in the making, but the video "Attack of the Mud People, or How We Joined the Krippendorf Tribe" is now available at both http://www.digitalshores.net/ (Click on New Year's Sailing Trip) and http://www.youtube.com/ (search for tag beachmiser, mud people). You can post a comment here or on YouTube about the video. Plus, we want to send it viral, so tell your friends, or not!

I am outta here - TTFN!
BTW - New picture on the profile, check it out!

Mel's Birthday Today

Yep! It's my sister Melissa's Birthday today, and to celebrate the event, we built here a little web page, just for her Birthday:

Melissa's Birthday Web Page

So click on over, and enjoy some really great birthday videos. Who knows? You may even be in one of them.

Of course, I'm not gonna reveal her actual age. But send her some birthday wishes anyway.

The Linn Story, Dallas visit, ramblings

OMG - it's do or die traffic out there on 17 now. Our season is in full swing, and the tourons are out in numbers. But that's good because that's what our economic engine runs on, touristas.

I just got back from Dallas for a few days and saw lots of folks, but not nearly enough. Just not enough time. But everytime I hit (or even think about) LBJ or Central Expressway, especially during rush hour, I relish our little bit of touron traffic here at the beach, even during high season.

Met with the doers and shakers at the Dallas Dinner Table Friday and Saturday (Chris, Tani, and Tracy) to plan for future directions and web site redo's, then saw John, Susan and Pat by the pool, Tim and Ellen over wine, Blaine and Sheryl over dinner, and the ex-cells over happy hour. In and out. And my profund thanks to Cynthia for her hospitality. Dim Sum never tasted so good.

That recent storm you all probably heard about mostly just passed us by, but dumped a lot of much needed rain. That was a good thing.

Now, I'm off to read neice Kendra's blog and check on hubby Steve's progress. Seems he broke his legs during a boat race just a short while back, but is recovering nicely albeit rather slowly. Check it out and leave Kendra a comment. She doesn't think anyone reads her progress reports. We all want to wish Steve a speedy and healthy recovery.

If you've been recveiving way too much email spam lately, Neil Shearing just posted a video blog about Spam Arrest. Interesting, so check it out at his latest blog post.

That's it for now - and don't forget to send Steve your get well and speedy recovery wishes at Kendra's blog.

The Beachmiser Gets Kicked Around

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

Myrtle Beach, Samantha Brown and the Travel Channel

What do those 3 things have in common? You'll find out if you tune into the Travel Channel (channel 111 on TWC).

Here's a reminder from the Travelchannel.com. WEDNESDAY JULY 16, 2008 11:30 pm ET on Travel Channel Samantha Brown: Passport to Great Weekends - Myrtle Beach this weekend .

Samantha's heading to sunny Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. It's famous for golf, but Sam's not big on golfing - so what else is there to do? Samantha hits the beach, bike trails and amusement parks, and goes crabbing with the Crab Cake Lady. She also gets some Shag Shoes from Judy at Judy's House of Oldies, and takes a shag lesson from Judy the Shag Instructor at Fat Harolds.

Here's a special link to Sam discussing here 5 fav things @thebeach:
Click >>> HERE <<< to see the video on the Travel Channel.

Senate passes Medicare Proposal

Well, it ain't about the beach, but it is about a subject very near and dear to my heart (literally). It's about Medicare, and the new proposal the Senate just passed (yesterday, I think) about improving Medicare. Specifically, the legislation that the Senate passed would:
o Ensure that Medicare patients continue to have access to care;
o Improve prevention coverage and services;
o Improve low-income protections; and
o Provide improved coverage for mental health services.

If you saw anything about it at all on the news, it was probably overshadowed by Senator Kennedy's return to the Senate floor. But this is important legislation, and it's about to be run down and over by a threatened Presidential veto.

If you agree with the proposal (it's called the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008), then follow this link to send your personal endorsement to your Congressional leaders:
In solidarity with millions of Americans that rely on Medicare, tell President Bush to Keep Medicare Fair by signing the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 into law TODAY!

In my state, both our Senators voted against it, why I don't know. But I am for it, and hope you would be as well. And if you agree with me, follow the above link and get involved.

That's it for now - Pray for Surf - and TTFN

Plane Crashes in NMB

My nephew-in-law and good friend Doug comes running in the house yesterday hollering at me to hurry and and come on down to the beach. A small single engine banner plane has crashed into the surf, and is upside down in the waves, about 10 - 15 feet off the beach itself. Well, I grabbed my vidcam and we raced off to the beach. Here's the video of the whole thing:

Now, was that exciting, or what?

Well, today is July the Fourth, and everyone will be celebrating in a myriad of ways. We're off to that most traditional of all celebrations, a knock down drag out pool party. Lots of good food, cold beer, frozen margaritas, and some really good beach music. Can't ask for more. And I think it was my long ago ancestor who said originally, "Give me Liberty, or give me the 2 party system, one on Friday, and one on Saturday."

'Nuff said, let's party. TTFN, and we'll see you at the next post.

Charlie Brown's Gone and Done It

Charlie has finally put his political money where his mouth is ........ click on the video screen to get started ......
Are you a WAHM? .... BUT .... Look B4 U Leap!

2 New Places to Check Out

If you consider yourself a local, or an advanced touron, then I've got a couple of new suggestions for places to go and check out for yourself. Wango Tango and Snooky's. In fact, I've just added these places to my North Myrtle Beach for Locals website:

Wango Tango bills itself as a sports bar and cantina, has daily lunch specials, and is really laid back. It's in the same spot as the old McCatz on 17th Ave. South in NMB, but did not carry over the rough reputation the old McCatz had. It's a totally new place, with LOTS of screens with a multitude of feeds. This place is really new, so it will get mostly local traffic in the beginning, untill tourist traffic begins to find it, so for now it's cool. It's easy to find, obviously, being right there are 17. The bill of fare is bar basic but with some builtin special treats. And, they've got Dos Equis Amber on tap. Check with Josh, he'll fill you in.

Snooky's is really off the beaten path up in Little River, on the ICW. Turn towards the ICW off 17 North on Baker Street. In fact, the place used to be called Baker Street. As of this posting, it's only 14 days old, has some really good she crab soup, and a fried green tomato sandwhich that is really intereting. And the view of the ICW is fantastic. Snooky's has an outside deck and picture windows inside. It's owned by the guys who also own Deckerz in Ocean Drive, so the pedigree is there.

We've done lunch in both places, but nothing yet at night. I know Josh told me Wango Tango is planning on some live music and a more grand type opening is July sometime. so check back here when and if I hear about it.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Actually, I feel pretty good, considering I turned official Medicare age yesterday. Had a small backyard party with neighbors that could come over and gloat. Here are some shots. The rest I'll post to my Digitalshores.Net website as soon as I get all the other pix together.

And even though the one of me is kinda blurry, you can tell I was stokin' on a stogie and sipping some single malt. Don't get much better.

Thanks to all who came to help me celebrate, and especially to Sally and Susan who really put the whole thing together. And to all my neighbors who were kind enough to help me celebrate.

Some of the pictures are somewhat put together in a video format. Head over to Digitalshores.net and find the link for the party pictures. Our sincere thanks to Terry and Vivian for taking these pictures. Once I get CB's, I'll post the rest.

Walking the Beach - Early in the Morning

The Kingston Trio once sang a song about "up, Up. Up she raises, Ear - Li in the mornin'." Well, that was me this morning, checking out the beach at sunrise. Not bad, I must say. I just wanted to share one of the pictures I took, Sunrise over the High Rise.

Well, most everybody's gone (Lonesome Town) and we're working around the house getting ready for some more next weekend. We're doing a little Happy Hour Welcome To Medicare gathering next Friday (for yours truly), and maybe some more folks will be here. But, I've threatened to play beach music on the outside speakers, so that should keep the crowd down.

I'll keep this post short - for now.

OK - FLASH - I've just update the Shagmiser Blog (6/6) and you need to go check it out now. Time sensitive stuff has been posted there.

OMG - It's Memorial Day

I have just completed a project that's been in the back of my mind for awhile now, and I wanted everyone to know about it. And, it ties in with our Memorial Day savings traditon. I recently went all around North Myrtle Beach photographing all the bars here in North Myrtle Beach. And, I've just created a bevy of T-Shirts with those pictures on my Cafe Press Store. I've included a picture of the montage of bars here, but you need to go check out my Cafe Press Shagmiser Store to really see all the various T's.

And, in keeping with our Memorial Day savings tradition, all the T's have been marked down. I mean, I've really cut my margins way back to where I'm on a subsistance level. How's that?

I've included every bar from Hoto's to Crawdaddy's. Fat Harold's to Dilligaf's, Duck's and Duck's Too. There may be a couple I missed, but not many.

I'm going back to my regular markup June 1, so get your T's of the Bars of NMB while I've got this special going on. The Bars of NMB on Cafe Press.

OK - FLASH - I've just update the Shagmiser Blog (6/6) and you need to go check it out now. Time sensitive stuff has been posted there.

Beach, Bikers and Recent Happenings

Well, it's Harley Davidson Bike Week right now, here @the beach. We've got an estimated 200,000 (probably more) bikers roaring up and down the highways and byways and creating a lot of traffic. But's it's fun. If you've never experienced Bike Week, you're missing out. For pictures and stuff, go to the Myrtle Beach Sun Times Website and look at the pictures.

Jan and Greg and Jack just left last Friday, and we miss them already. This was the first time in 32 years since Jan and Greg had been to the beach, too busy raising a family in Dallas. Jack? Well, since he lives in Charlotte, he gets down here quite often, but we hadn't seen him since he and Becki lived in Savannah, a ways back. If you want to see a short video I posted of the visit, go to Jan and Greg and Jack Visit the beach.

Next up? Cynthia and Dina are due in around Memorial Weekend, during Black Biker Week. That should be really interesting. Our buddy Billy (WW) will overlap with them, and he absolutely loves (sic) Black Bike Week. Since we're only 3 blocks off Atlantic Beach (where the HQ is), we'll be able to hear some of the music(?).

A bunch of us went to Mayfest on Main Street, downtown Ocean Drive Beach (or North Myrtle Beach for those map retentive), and I made a jumpy, poorly shot, quickie video of most of what was going on. You can see it, along with the J&G&J Video at digitalshores.net by clicking either of the videos in the "Latest Beach Videos" box.

I've started a new website about our local favorites here in NMB. It's called NMB 4 Locals - check it out when you get the chance. It's still growing, and I add to it every chance I get.

That's it for now - so TTFN and all that.

The Rain was the Main Thing

We really got dumped on Saturday afternoon. While waiting for the Waybacks to start, it started coming down in buckets. Sally and Susan got under a tree under our lawn tarp while I got trapped in the merchant tent with a scowling North Wilksboro policeman trying to control the overcrowding. I think I was the last one he let into the tent.

Well, the rain finally let up, and they were able to get the music cranked back up, especially on the main Watson stage. But it stayed somewhat "rainy" the rest of the day. I was feeling really quesy y this time, so I went back to the RV early while S & S stayed to see Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby. They said that was a really good show.

Sunday afternoon saw us sitting up close because so many people left because of the rain the previous day. We got up close and personal with Alison Brown, then Jerry Douglas. Both these musicians were so very excellent. Check out The Music of Jerry Douglas of Union Station and The Music of Alison Brown. I was lucky enough to get Alison's autograph on her new as yet unreleased CD.

North Myrtle Beach for Locals - a New Website

OK - on to a different subject. I have just posted a new sebsite, NMB for Locals. It's here I'll try and talk about places to go in the NMB area favored by locals. It's brand new, so leave some comments here if you like and or don't like it, or want to add your 2 cents.

MerleFest - The Music, Hot Dogs, and Rain

And Boy Howdy, did it rain. More on that later.

We picked up our RV in Charlotte that Friday afternoon (after driving up from NMB), checked everything out, then boogied on up to the festival in Wilksboro, NC that same afternoon. We got the RV set up in the VFW campgrounds, stowed what needed stowing, then caught the next 20 minute shuttle ride to the Wilks Community College campus which Merlefest takes over for the 4 days of the festival. This was the 21st year of the festival, and you could tell by the overall organization that their experience had paid off.

We rolled into the actual festival, walked around some, caught an early act on the Austin stage, then went ahead on over to the Watson Stage, the main stage, and listened/saw all the main Friday acts. The setup itself it really fantasic, with something like 10 or more performing stages. The main stage was worthy of a Rolling Stones concert, with a huge sound system and oversized video viewing screen for those of us in the really cheap seats. Because of our lateness and the massive amount of people, we had to set up our chairs pretty far back, so the wonderful sound system and viewing screen made it a no-nevermind.

I'll have some picture in future posts over thenext few days so stay tuned. And while you're here, go on over to my other Shagmiser blog. I try and keep it interesting.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Breaking News News News <<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Here's a note of interest - I've finally started my "NMB for Locals" website. It's brand new, and only has a few listings. But it's there, so check it out (www.digitalshores.net/nmb4locals) then come back here and leave me a comment, especially if you agree/disagree or have an idea or 2 for some places you know about.

Day After Taxes were Due

Free Ebook: The greatest viral marketing idea of all time

Yep! It's the day after taxes, and we're still here. Major ordeal. But the sun came back out this morning, I found a cool new "beach" show (look to the right), friends and family are starting to book, and life is grand. What could be better.

We're in the process of doing some "spring stufff" to the yard, trying to spruce it up, make it look better and all. I used to hate doing stuff like that in Texas, but this is actually more fun here. Not sure why, maybe it's the salt sea air.

I actually saw those Chinese Carp in the pond the other day. Now we're up to 4, and they are all huge, maybe 3 - 4 feet each. They are really hard to see, and I think I got a video, but it's too hard to tell because of the reflections off the water, and the general all around murkiness. But those elusive little critters are there alright. And since Spring has Sprung, it can get really noisy out there, especially when the bull frogs join the chorus.

The Beach Calendar is starting to fill up, so if you'd like to come visit, just let us know. Since this is primarily a "friends and family" blog, and only you know whereof I speak, you know you're welcome.

Gotta go, feed the fishies and all. TTFN .....................

Some New Things are Happening

Spring has Sprung 'round these parts. People, mostly Canadians and snow birds, are congregating on the beach, daily temps are in the 70's and low 80's, but the ocean H2O temp is still pretty cold. Just ask Brent Rasnake, he stuck his feet in and they came out blue.

My Shagmiser Blog has a new post that, if you're into techie web stuff and/or an Internet marketer, will find it mucho interesting. It's about a marvelous, brand new product just released called Virtual Smart Agent. It's an exit chat program, so get on over there to check it out.

New restaurants recently explored include Beef O' Brady's, billed as a family sports bar. Actually, it is pretty good. It's in the new Bi-Lo Plaza. I am still working on my "hard-to-find" locals spots website. I'll announce here when I've got it up and running.

The state of S.C. has recently declined to ask for an extension to Homeland's Security new ID requirements. Which means that all of us here in S.C., when we want to fly somewhere, will have to produce a current passport instead of our S.C. driver's license. The also includes entry to federal buildings. Our S.C. drivers licenses will no longer be considered valid ID from the Fed point of view. So I guess customs checks are due next? I wonder how much booze I'll be able to bring back from Texas?

We've got the Beach Visitors calendar up and running. Email Sally to get the link so you can see the "who's when" so far. Late spring is starting to fill.

OK fellow beach lovers - I am outta here.
Remember, we are Barefoot in Paradise.

A New Day - A New Dawn

Looking out the window here, in my new downstairs office Murphy Bed room, I am reminded that sometimes life is just plain beautiful. The sun is shining, the trees are coming out of their winter shell, the squirrels are rushing about, and the turtles are once again taking over the pond. We've had a huge crane visit us a few times lately, and is he something. Beautiful to watch, too. Makes you want to watch this video:


Check Out SBI! and a FREE EBook!

If you happen to click the video at the end, no worries. I was more interested in the video itself than any promotion it might generate. If you're interested, my Shagmiser Blog has more relevant info.

What's new? Well, I am looking about for and adding to my list of local spot hole-in-the-wall places only we should know about, because they are 1) hard to find, 2) only beach locals (beachols) know about, 3) have great prices and quality, and 4) have local color and ambiance. I'll probably post my recommendations to a private website, so if and when I do publish, I'll be sure and put a mention of it here.

Sneaky Way to get Free Stuff -

It is unethical, and may be downright illegal, but I just came across a way to get stuff for free, by using a website's "Thank You" page, the page you are usually referred to after you've made an online purchase.

Thank You for you Purchase, is hyperlinked, so you can check it out. But just don't go out there willy-nilly and start downloading stuff because it may be copyrighted, and possibly considered stealing. I just thought it interesting so many sites were so vunerable to this backdoor. Once they see the original post (not mine), a lot of these sites will probably start changing their access to their thank you page. I know I have ........

Well, enough said about that. We've got a beautiful day here in the neighborhood, and I fully intent to take advantage of it. It's off to the beach, out to lunch, or just heading off to where the sun is bright and the beer is cold. Later, all.

OH - one more thing. I am going to start posting a continuing short course on registering a domain and getting set up for a website on my Shagmiser Blog here real soon. So check over there often, or just create an RSS entry in your Google, AOL, or Yahoo personal page. It's real easy.

Are You a Newbie?

Well I am, and have been now for quite awhile. I know, I know, I usually talk about beachy things on this blog, but I must digress for this one time to talk about Joel Therien's new boot camp course for newbies.

If you are having ANY trouble with one or all of:
1. Making money online
2. Getting a web site live online
3. Trying to get a pro site live
4. Trying to generate traffic
5. Trying to get a proper domain name
6. You don't understand Google adwords or PPC
7. What is FTP or HTML
8. Affiliate marketing
9. How to build a list
OR
You just don't quite get how to make money on the internet at all!
Then please check out this site -- Joel Therien's A to Z Millions.

My friend and mentor, internet Millionaire Joel Therien, has put up a new site where he reveals how he dveloped a massive ... M.U.L.T.I. million dollar residual income business that has stood the test of time. Trust me, he covers the basics AND some of the most advanced techniques I have ever seen!

Folks, this is the kind of stuff I try and do everyday, and I know from experience, Joel knows where he's coming from.

You do not want to miss out as the space is limited in this amazing Home Study course and boot camp! You can visit the site at Joel Therien's A to Z Millions

And not to dwell on Therien's course, my other mentor, Martin Avis has also just started a newbie course, and it's free. I don't really have all the details, but it is worth checking out at his site: Martin Avis's Kickstart Today - The First Video. If you like it (it is free after all), just change the URL to video2, video3, et all, to view the next in the series. It's not as all encompasing as the Joel Therien course, but it's a GREAT way to learn the initial ropes.

OK - 'nuff said that about all that. Let's get on to other things. Besides, I reiterate a lot of this stuff in my flagship site, the Internet Retirement System.

New Place We've Visited:
We just had a new Damon's open here in NMB, and I thought it was pretty good. It's the first place we've found that actually has fried chicken livers on the menu, and that's a rarity here in seafood land. AND, they were really good. Yo BLT, when you get your butt back out here, this here's the place for our favorite Dixie House speciality. It will bring back memories.

There's also a California Dreaming that opened here awhile back, and we finally got to try it as well. I wasn't that impressed, but the bar area for happy hour is definitely worth checking out. They got great prices for 12 oz. curls.

Serendipity and A really good story

OK - nothing new to report, just a story I thought you'd enjoy.

I’ve just come across a word that I’ve always liked, but could never really, totally understand it’s meaning. I just liked the way it sounded, happy like. Well, the word is 'serendipity', which means the facility of making chance happy finds. Or to put it another way, accidental positive outcomes.

Martin Avis, of the Martin Avis Kick Start ezine, read about a great example of serendipity in New Scientist magazine …... and I thought I'd pass it along. Just good reading.

“During the second world war, government bureaucrats seconded dozens of mathematicians, code experts and engineers to work at the top secret Bletchley Park research establishment in England. Their job was to find a way to decipher the German Enigma codes - a task that was fantastically difficult.

“ One such scientist, a man called Geoffrey Tandy, was ordered to go to work among the high-powered coders and encrypters.

“Nothing strange there, except that Mr Tandy didn't know a code from a lump of coal. His scientific speciality was seaweed. The government functionary who had ordered him to Bletchley Park had confused the term 'cryptogram' - secret codes - with the term 'cryptogam' - an obscure term in the study of seaweed.

“Mr Tandy, no doubt, felt like a fish out of water.

“But our friend serendipity came to the rescue.

“One day some sodden notebooks arrived at Bletchley.
They were German code books that had been rescued from a sunken U-Boat. Reading the books was impossible because of their poor state of preservation, but Geoffrey Tandy had the answer. He knew exactly what to do - he treated the pages like fragile seaweed and knew exactly the right kinds of absorbent material to use to dry them out safely.

“A lot more work was needed to be done before the Enigma code could be deciphered, but without the happy accident that brought a seaweed expert into the company of code breakers, the process may never have even got started.”

Nutin' to sell this post - consider it serendipity ...................

I just had an Epiphany

As most of you know, the old Air Force Base, where Carrie, Robin and I did some living and growing in the early 60's, has been closed down since about 1993 or so, and a lot of development is going on there right now. Due to open in April of this year is a place called Market Commons, one of those residentail/retail communities (live above, shop ground level) that are really popular right now.

Well, (and Mel can help advise on this) I thought that having a place called the NCO Club might be a very viable venue to open there. Along the lines of the original NCO Club when the MBAFB was alive and well. A lot of NCO's partied there over the years, our Dad and Mom included. This place could have a lot of memorabilia from days past, good cheap beer and booze, basic menu. Whatever. Oh well, it was just a passing idea. Ocifers not allowed.

Here's another idea to stave off creeping Alzheimer's , exercize your brain.

A new book out last month puts forth evidence that "exercise is the single best thing you can do for your brain," ........."Some of the myths about the brain—that it was not changeable, that there was nothing you could do about cognitive decline—have really been dispelled in the past 10 years," says Lynda Anderson, director of the Healthy Aging Program at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose bold goal is "to maintain or improve the cognitive performance of all adults." The potential payoff is enormous. Alzheimer's now afflicts 4.5 million people in the United States—double the number in 1980—and is expected to reach 16 million by 2050. "Statistics show if we could delay the onset of Alzheimer's by five years, the number of people with the disease would be cut in half," says Yaakov Stern, a cognitive neuroscientist at Columbia University.

I've found a site that helps you exercize your brain - it's called My Brain Trainer. Check it out.

Enough for Today - my brain's tired. TTFN!

January is Two-fers Month

Flying? Around here? Well, we did. Sally got us a deal for a 20 minute fly around the North Strand the other day. That was great. I've never had a chance to see the area from the air. There's a picture posted here somewhere, check it out.

Here @thebeach, January is usually a very slow month. The ocean is cold (duh!) and the golfers are taking the month off. What's a restaraunt to do? Well, instead of closing during the winter doldrums, a lot (and I mean a lot) of the eateries up and down the Grand Strand offer "buy one get one free," 50% off entries, and "buy one get 50% off your second entree" type deals.

For example, the very popular Charaschurria Rioz at Broadway @ the beach was offering 50% off on Sundays during the month of January. The normal fixed price on this Brazilian style restaraunt is maybe $38 or so? Well, at half off, that's a great deal for those of us who live here and normally cannot afford tourist prices. Boy howdy, was that place crowded last Sunday. There were lines to get in lines just to register to get in line to eat. What a zoo, but it just goes to show you how popular these deals for locals have become.

We headed over the Liberty last Wednesday where it one the old "buy one get one free" deal, and our wait was like 1 hour. But in a lot of these places, the wait to try the places is really worth it because it gives us a chance to try places we normally wouldn't.

Some of these place continue their deals into February, so we're still trying our hand. In the meantime, we're also waiting for Hoskins to reopen.

TTFN - I'm outta here till the next time.

The Golden Corral - Here @thebeach

I would have never believed it, but the Golden Corral in Myrtle Beach North in the Wal*Mart Shopping Center complex is actually very good. I mean, it's one of those all you can eat buffet places, but their veggies, pot roast, and fried chicken are outstanding. I mean, their fried chicken compares with Hoskins, and for me that is saying a lot. We took the Moms there for lunch the other day, and it was very worthwhile. Plus, you really cannot beat the price: less than $7 (senior's price) for lunch.

On another note, a bunch of us gathered at Fire Island in Bare Foot Landing for a 2 for 1 dinner night. I really like this place. They specialize in doing skewers dinners, where you get like 5 or 7 skewers mix and matched among beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, and veggies. Our next door neighbors, Vivian and Terry, organized this outing, and we're hoping for more.

This is a good time of year to hit a lot of these places since it's off season, so I should have some more mini reviews coming up - stay tuned.

C.B.'s coming in this weekend, and the OD Shag Club is doing an Oyster Shucking Saturday night, so we'll be going for some oysters, chicken bog, and shagging. No Tani, it is not the Austin Powers version, it's the state dance of South Carolina. Check it out at the OD Shag Club Website.

We're havin' some fun now. Especially if we stick to plan and hit Rioz on Sunday night for 50% off night.

I might be headed for Dallas this coming Tuesday, but I'm just not sure yet. Depends on timing, flight availability, et all, but it's a possibility. More on that later.

We just finished up on the Dallas Dinner Table website. It's open for business in the Dallas Metroplex. Check it out. My good buddy Pat helped a lot, as did Cliff and Chris. My sincere thanks to them for all there help.

More later .... TTFN

New Years Sail Followup

Well, I have finally managed to post some more videos. I'm not done yet, but it's a start. The first 3 in the series are all about leaving port, sailing over to S. Barts, the undocumented FLW house at Columbiana, then heading on over to Gustavia harbor, St. Barts for New Years eve.

The last 2 are at the end of the trip. All that's missing are the middle video, especially "The Kripendorf Tribe Battle the Mud People."

Everything is posted over at http://digitalshores.net. Just click on the New Years Sail hyperlink when you get there. That should work.

And feel free to comment on this blog, or over at YouTube, where these videos actually reside. Search on the tag beachmiser. You should find them, I guess.

Also, as part of my ongoing series on Internet Marketing, I have just posted a new entry at my Shagmiser Blog, all about Affiliate URL Cloaking.

WOW! Where Have We Been?

It's been over 3 weeks since I last posted. That's too long. But I do have an excuse, of sorts. We just got back from a solid week cruise over the New Years Holiday, in a 44 foot catamaran no less. Flew down to St. Maarten, launched our little yacht over to St. Barts for New Years eve, then over to the French side of St. Maarten for a couple of stops, on to Anguilla, then back to Simpson Bay, St. Maarten. What a week.

I don't have time right now to fill you in with all the details. But I will do so, in a post-by-post posting over the next few days. I just might include some short videos. Cool, huh? So put this blog on your RSS reader so you'll be notified when I do post something new, then lean forward to read all about our exciting adventures through the waters of the Caribbean.

A Note From My Sponsor: The Ultimate in Internet Hosting.

More later ....................... TTFN