Ngor Island, Dakar, Senegal

For those of you who didn't know, I am kind of a big deal now. I got this fancy pants new job coordinating internships and other youth engagement projects for the International Centre for Sustainable Cities.  Best of all, they sent me to Dakar, Senegal for the first ten days of January. I am pretty stoked!

I arrived in Senegal four days early in order to make the most of a free plane ticket to Africa. I spent these days on Ngor Island, just off the coast from Dakar. It was a really nice place to relax and rest up before our meetings in the city.

I was staying at this surf camp and gave the sport my best shot each of the four days. I always thought I would be a natural at surfing. I am not.

Every morning we woke up and shared a communal breakfast. Senegal, being a former colony of France, has amazing croissants, baguette and pain au chocolat. Breakfast at the surf camp consisted of fruit, baguette and lots of talk of the best waves of the day.

Turkey Dinner

I am feeling really lazy, and also quite jet lagged (more about this later.) I wouldn't even bother with this post if it weren't for the ridiculousness of this first picture of two turkeys being brined in preparation for Christmas dinner.

There isn't much of a storey here. Basically we brined a couple of turkeys, barbecued one of them and deep fried the other. We invited a bunch of people (most of you were there) and asked them to bring too much food. We ate until we felt sick.

Arguably, the most motivating aspect of deep frying a turkey is the industrial set up.

J, Phil and Graeme marvel, from a respectful distance, at the 16lb turkey frying in 5 gallons of oil over a propane torch. It truly was impressive. Note that Mike, not Graeme, is dangerously close to the boiling pot of oil. Weird.

Bridezillian Quote #2

Re: The wedding flowers

"I'm glad I put the kaibosh on daisies and roses; they're so common (said with disdain.)"

(A) Hilarious joke (B) tragic mountain bike accident or (C) naive commemoration of a guy named dick?

Seriously, I'd like to know because whatever it isit is either (A) kind of offensive (B) Seriously tragic or (C) pretty f-bombing naive

NB: You can click on the image to read the subtext, but if you are at all offended already, you probably don't want to.

Take a bow Enid

I know this has been a long time coming, but y'all knew the result anyway. In any case here is confirmation that Enid has officially won the DTMB T-shirt contest. It was a tight race and Graeme just might have won had Larlen not been too lazy to vote. But Graeme didn't win. Enid did and she is therefore better. Sorry Graeme, she just is.

Truth be told, neither Graeme nor Enid would have had a chance if this discovery had been made earlier:


Over the weekend that voting was wrapping up, I was in Campbell River. It was then that Robin and I discovered this under Mike Brown's sink. The full text reads:

"Please don't use on tubs sinks or showers
*It is abrasive on the finish

Thanks!
MB"

Classic! A stylized version of this photo would have definitely made a strong contender and, I am guessing, probably would have won. Oh well, Enid still wins and gets a shirt made up of her design. Fuckin' woo!

The 2nd Round of Voting

Graeme and Enid's DTMB entries have seperated themselves from the pack and emerged as clear leaders. Step aside Larlen, it's a Havelaar/Brown design off.

Enid has made a couple of changes to her entry. It was always going to be printed in black and white so we have changed the sample to be more representative of this fact. Also somewhere a long the line "Just givn'er since 1977" was dropped from her design. I blame her. She blames me (she always does.) In any case here it is:

Graeme's remains the same:

As promissed, in order to be declared the winner of this design competition Graeme or Enid's entry needs majority support, that's 51% or more (not 50% as previously stated.) You have until Saturday July 25th to make your choice known through the poll in the top left hand corner.

Submissions

The DTMB t-shirt contest submissions are in! I was going to keep the creators of each design private until after a winner was chosen, but I think most of us can recognize the artistic stylings of Leigh Greenius. Arlen's necessity to take it to the limit is also evident in his submission. I think Graeme and Enid's personalities also shine through in their work, in less hilarious ways. Here they are:

Eli Pees on Lamp Post (the street signs say Mike Brown Shorts in case you can't read it)
By Leigh Greenius
DTMB
By Enid Havelaar


DTMB
By Graeme Brown


WTF
By Arlen Tees

You can vote in the poll in the top left hand corner of this page. We will be doing it French style where the winner has to get 50% of the popular vote. So, if there isn't a clear winner in the first round of voting the top two candidates will move into the second round. I thought about using STV but alas, it is too complicated. I am not sure whether the poll will allow you to vote more than once, but don't do it. Good luck to the competitors!