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Articles by John Keatley
Lego Has Officially Unveiled the Heavily Rumored Star Wars Death Star Set
LEGO has officially revealed the massive LEGO Star Wars Death Star – Ultimate Collector Series (Set #75419), a 9,023-piece build priced at $999.99, making it the most expensive LEGO set to date. Rather than a full sphere, the model showcases a detailed cross-section of the Death Star, packed with iconic scenes from the original trilogy, including the garbage compactor, Vader vs. Obi-Wan, and the Emperor’s throne room.
The Magnificent Monochrome Sculptural Works of Hans Op de Beeck – Design You Trust
Belgian visual artist Hans Op de Beeck is known for his diverse body of work, which includes sculpture, installation, video, photography and painting. He is celebrated for creating meticulously detailed artworks using a strikingly monochromatic palette. His sculptures are primarily rendered in greyscale, a decision that transcends mere aesthetics and has profound philosophical implications. By avoiding colour, he encourages the viewer to focus on the form, texture and inherent appeal of each piece.
Clémentine Bal’s Imaginary Creatures: A Fusion of Japanese and Natural Influences – Design You Trust
Clémentine Bal, a talented visual artist, creates captivating sculptures of imaginary animals that are sure to capture your heart. Inspired by Japanese influences such as manga, Miyazaki’s creatures, and traditional Japanese statues, her pieces bring together elements of nature and imagination for a delightful fusion that’s truly unique.
Paddling the Bartram Trail in Welaka
Paddling along the Bartram Trail in Welaka Gliding in a kayak across the St. Johns on a gray morning, it was hard to imagine that, more than 250 years ago, two strangers to this strange land called Florida were doing the same thing in this same spot. I was here with Sandy to participate in the first Bartram Adventure Tour.
Paddling Mosquito Lagoon | Florida Hikes!
Last year, over dinner, our friend Barbara Golden told us of her plans to do a stand-up paddleboard trip from St Augustine to Palm Beach to raise funds for Alzheimer’s awareness after the loss of her mom. She wanted to ask my advice about paddling the long stretch of the Indian River Lagoon through Brevard County. Growing up along the lagoon, I have been sailing and paddling the Space Coast all my life, covering all the waters from the north end above Titusville to the south end near Melbourne.
Top-Of-The-Lake Snowmobile Museum | Trails & Travel
Knowing about my love of vintage vehicles, a friend suggested we take a tour of the Top-Of-The-Lake Snowmobile Museum while we were in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It’s one of the highlights of that little town at the top of Lake Michigan, Naubinway. Being a native Floridian, I’ve walked around in cold. But I’d never sat on a snowmobile. I’d never seen one in person. In my youth I vaguely remember reading about people zipping through the snow-covered woods in search of adventure.
Paddling Turkey Creek
Leaving our local Italian restaurant after dinner a couple of weeks ago, I noticed two familiar faces behind us. It’s been more than eight years since I left my job at Kennedy Space Center, so it took a moment before I could recall their names. Luckily, the couple was parked beside us. That gave me the time to finally say “Steve and- M.” I knew Steve’s wife’s name began with the letter M but I just couldn’t recall it. “Monique,” she said.
Florida Trail closed in Big Cypress South
South junction with Blue Loop in Big Cypress For the third hiking season in a row, hiking the full 30 miles of the Florida Trail from Oasis to I-75 is impacted during peak hiking season by prescribed burn plans. It will not be possible to do so until further notice. As of February 22, the south end of the trail has been closed.
Tuneup at Ford’s Garage
Did you know that the Ford Model T doesn’t have a gas pedal? Or that if you needed to drive yours up a steep hill, that you had to back up it? Henry Ford’s idea was to put everyone in an automobile, offering affordable transportation for all. The Model T was his answer. You could plow your fields with it during the week and drive it to church on Sunday. Mr Ford sold a lot of them between 1908 and 1927: over 15 million. While traveling through Southwest Florida, we were getting hungry.
Motorcycle Museum of Iceland
1970s Norton Commando and BSA, two of many showpieces in the Motorcycle Museum of Iceland Horsepower has a different meaning in Akureyri than the rest of Iceland. It’s home to the Motorcycle Museum of Iceland, an impressive collection of working vintage motorbikes. I’d already planned to ride an Icelandic horse while we were on this journey through Iceland. But I’d also read somewhere that there was a motorcycle museum in the town of Akureyri.
Paddling the Intracoastal Waterway for Alzheimer’s Awareness
Last fall, John and I met up with an old friend while looking out over the shimmering waters of the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Valley. Both John and Barbara Golden had lost their mothers to Alzheimer’s, so there was much to discuss. Barbara wanted to do something epic to remember her mother, and as an avid paddleboarder, she quizzed us about the viability of getting through Brevard County by water. Could it be done? The answer was yes, of course.
Florida’s Utopia
The Planetary Court was the center of civic life in the Koreshan Unity Imagine a group of people moving to Florida and looking for a place to live that offered alternative social and ideological differences. They were searching to find and join others who were set apart from everyday society. They wanted to remove themselves from all that they found evil or objectionable. Paradise on the Estero River, circa 1894 This really did happen, and probably not when you think.
Stingray City Antigua | Trails & Travel
Kicking off two days of adventure on the island of Antigua, our first stop was to visit Stingray City for the opportunity to jump into the ocean and see them up close. After a short boat ride to a floating dock, we climbed out of the boat and down the ladder into the shallows on a sandbar. Sandy is surprised by a stingray as soon as she gets off the ladder Since there are coral reefs along the north side of the island, we didn’t have to worry about waves.
Biking the Good Neighbor Trail
In Withlacoochee State Forest on the Good Neighbor Trail Spanning 10.1 miles from the Withlacoochee State Trail to downtown Brooksville, the Good Neighbor Trail is the newest entrant in the connectors created for the state-spanning Coast to Coast Trail under development. In September, just a few weeks before it officially opened, we had the opportunity to ride this brand new trail on our way to the annual Florida Outdoor Writers Conference in Spring Hill.
Royal Shenandoah Greenway | Trails & Travel
When we were researching bike paths in Virginia, Front Royal popped up on our radar. We knew it as an Appalachian Trail community since we’d stayed there during our 2012 AT hike, but we didn’t expect it to be a place for cycling. Who knew? We’d found a rough map online, but weren’t having much luck when we asked locals about the trail, until we stopped in the Visitor Center downtown along Main Street. They had a copy of the map we could take with us.
Tip of the Keweenaw
With the bikes loaded up, we took off downthe very bad road to High Rock Bay. After about a half mile Sandy was feeling like the road was going to be too technical for her, and she turned back. Believing I could make it, I continued on. It was a difficult three miles or more before I could see open sky ahead. It felt so good knowing that I was getting close to the end of the Keweenaw Peninsula. As I crested the hill, the view was spectacular: water and rocky shores as far as I could see.
Mountain Biking Marquette
We warned Lori Hauswirth that I wasn’t up to any technical trails, so she picked a short easy trail loop to introduce me to the NTN – Noquemanon Trail Network – Marquette’s extensive network of mountain biking trails. She’s the Executive Director of this trail system that surrounds the city, providing more than 50 miles of singletrack, with a goal of building 100 miles by 2020. We started from the 550 Tourist Park trailhead. It didn’t take long for me to be in over my head.
Keeper of the Past
While visiting the McGulpin Point Lighthouse near Mackinaw City, I met Eric Klein. He was dressed as an early 1900s lighthouse keeper and served as the docent. While we were talking, Eric said that he he grew up at the 40 Mile Point lighthouse. Bringing up a picture of the old lighthouse keepers home on his tablet, he pointed to a window and said “here was my room.” “I was the last person to polish the lenses,” he said. His dad wasn’t the lighthouse keeper. They just lived in the attached house.
Wildlife in the Mangroves
As a native Floridian, I have paddled through many miles of mangroves. Most of this has been through mangrove tunnels, pulling myself along by hand. Other than a lot of mangrove crabs and a bird now and then, I never really thought much about what else might be in there with me. Until my paddle with Key West Eco Tours. We launched at Geiger Key. Paddling along the edge of the mangrove forest, I saw something green looking at me about head high and less than a few feet away.
Bike Paddle Sail Half Moon Cay
While cruising the Caribbean on the Nieuw Amsterdam, our first port of call was the private island of the Holland America Line, Half Moon Cay. It was an ideal day for an island triathlon: bike, paddle, and sail. Most people hit the beach when they land on Half Moon Cay, the private island in the Bahamas that Holland America Line purchased as a destination for its Caribbean cruises. I signed up for a bike tour and kayak tour. I didn’t expect to ride a bike to get to the kayaks.
Pancakes at the Old Spanish Sugar Mill
Legend had it that Ponce De Leon found the Fountain of Youth here in Florida. And Florida promoters were looking for anything to separate the tourists from their money. De Leon Springs, which flows to the St. Johns River, checked all the boxes. Here’s how its crystal clear waters led to the popular pancakes at the Old Spanish Sugar Mill and Griddle House. The site had been a village of the Mayaca people long before the Europeans came.
Meaty Mims on the Coast to Coast Trail
Just north of Titusville is the small community of Mims. The slogan on their water tower says “Mims, the friendly city.” For more than 30 years I have been riding my bike through this little town, never dreaming that one day there would be a cross-state rail trail in its backyard. On a recent ride, I started making notes of places of interest along the new Coast to Coast Trail. As I was turning around at the back entrance of Indian River Preserve Golf Club, I met a couple of fellows on a golf cart.
Heceta Head Oregon
During our visit to Oregon this fall, we stayed at the Heceta Lighthouse B&B. On my way back down the trail from photographing the Heceta Head Lighthouse, I spotted an Oregon Coast Trail sign on side of a post. The trail turned toward the Pacific Ocean before reaching the B&B. It was nearing sunset and time for our group’s scheduled dinner.
Biking Tosohatchee
I have ridden the trails of Tosahatchee for a very long time, taking some of my earliest mountain bikes here after it was established as a state park in the late 1970s. But I had never ridden under the Beachline, nor had I made it all the way to the St. Johns River. Visiting the 1917 Beehead Ranch was one of my favorite rides. Moved to Fort Christmas Park in 1993, the old Beehead Ranch House isn’t in these woods any more.
Biking Orlando Wetlands Park
After six weeks of light duty (and no bicycling, doctor’s orders) came to a close, I was ready to get back on the bike. Sandy suggested that I ride the levees of Orlando Wetland Park. I’ve hiked on the Florida Trail side of the park, but had never ventured past the picnic area on the levee side. With a nice map mounted in my bike in my old map case, I began my exploration of the park. At the first intersection, I joined several fellow birdwatchers snapping photos of a flock of roseate spoonbills.
C2C North Titusville | Florida Hikes!
Riding the C2C paralleling US 1 in North TitusvilleSteve, my oldest biking buddy, invited me to join him and a few of his fellow riders to ride the Coast-to-Coast Trail in North Titusville. It has been under construction for several years. He said the “Road Closed” signs were finally down along the trail paralleling US 1 north of Dairy Road, and they were going to have a look.Since last year, the pavement has been in place. I patiently waited for the closed signs to go away. It’s been a long wait.
10 Business Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read in 2017
Bill Gates recently released his favorite books of 2016. Claiming he averages about one book a week, the billionaire business magnate says reading is his “favorite way to learn about a new topic.” We were inspired to put together our own reading list of some of the best-selling business books of the year. Here’s a selection of 10 must-reads that we think have the potential to transform your business and take it to the next level.
Gängeviertel · Hamburg
In ancient times ‘Gängeviertel’ described a living quarter in the center of Hamburg, where people lived in very cramped conditions, houses were built very closely to each other and were often only accessible through labyrinthine backyards, small gateways or long corridors. The area is a remnant of the Middle Ages which shrunk to approximately twelve houses, situated in Valentinskamp, Hamburg. In 2009 over a hundred artists saved the buildings from being torn off.
The Surreal Pastel Symmetry of Pyongyang
French-born, Singapore-based photographer Raphael Olivier captures a surreal symmetrical vision of the architecture and urban landscape of North Korea’s capital in his series ‘Vintage Socialist Architecture’. Olivier spent a week discovering Pyongyang, and was enthralled by its “spectacular architecture, unique pastel colours, impeccable symmetrical designs.” He continues, “The place is bare, raw, and radiates a powerful energy of its own.
Bill Gates Summer Reading List: Richard Dawkins, Eula Biss and More
The richest man in the world still makes time to squeeze in a good book now and then. Bill Gates—he of the $79 billion net worth, per Forbes—released his annual summer reading list on Tuesday. In between running one of the world’s largest charities and serving as technological advisor to the company he co-founded, Microsoft (MSFT), Gates has made a habit in recent years of letting the world know what he’s reading.
Bill Gates Summer Reading List: Richard Dawkins, Eula Biss and More
The richest man in the world still makes time to squeeze in a good book now and then. Bill Gates—he of the $79 billion net worth, per Forbes—released his annual summer reading list on Tuesday. In between running one of the world’s largest charities and serving as technological advisor to the company he co-founded, Microsoft MSFT , Gates has made a habit in recent years of letting the world know what he’s reading.
ARROWS by Fences (Feat. Macklemore)
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