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2/19/99 Annelies Herman -
Paris Opera Star
This week I spoke with Annelies Herman, a famous opera singer from Paris,
France. I met Annelies three hundred feet below ground while we were tubing on
a river in a cave. Yes, it was a little dark in there but I also spoke with
her afterwards while we shared soup and bread at the lodge.
Annelies is from New Zealand but lives with her new husband Ludovic in the
Latin Quarters in Paris. But, she says she is a Kiwi at heart and that is why
she has to come back to New Zealand so often or she will go crazy. Imagine
wanting to leave Paris?
Annelies and Ludovic were married in France last summer and they are visiting
New Zealand now to have a barbeque with her relatives who were too old to go
to the wedding. It takes 24 hours to fly from Paris. I wished Ludovic good
luck at the barbeque.
Annelies is very pretty but she is smaller than I am. I guess the French say
she is "petite". But, she must have some voice to be an opera star.
I wanted
her to sing in the cave because it has a big echo and I love singing but I
didnt think it was a good idea to ask her. But, she is really cool. When we
were floating down the river in the cave she would throw hands full of mud at
her husband.
Annelies invited the curiuos kids to visit her in Paris and hear her sing.
If we can make it to Paris we will visit her. If any of you are ever in
Paris, give her a standing ovation. She is really a nice person and I am sure
she is a great opera singer.
2/14/99 eBay
While we were in Silicon Valley we wanted to meet with a company
involved with the internet. Since www.eBay.com is
now one of the most
successful sights on the internet we really wanted to go there and talk
to them. We were lucky enough to get a chance to talk to Steve Westly
one of the people who runs eBay.com He was very friendly and showed us
the site on his computer. He told us about the company and what the
website does. On eBay people all around the world can sell and buy
anything. They have the widest selection of Beanie Babies in the world.
Not only do they have well known products, they have crazy things like
autographed pictures of Olaf Kolzig eating a hot dog with his name
signed on it in mustard. (Olaf Kolzig is Ephraim's favorite hockey
player.) Steve told us that many people are now making their living
selling products on eBay and they can work out of their own homes. He
told us that the reason eBAy is so successful is that the people who
started it were willing to take a risk and that they found a way to do
what they love. The reason ebay was started was that the founders
girlfriend wanted a place to sell her Pez dispensers so he set up an
auction site on the web and today as many as 42 million people a day
visit it to buy and sell anything they want. Oh yeah, he gave us each a
really cool eBay.com shirt when we left.
2/4/99 Island Boys
Liz caught up with Greg (14) and Eric (11) Dombrowski who live on Goat Island,
an old Coast Guard lighthouse station, off the Maine coast.
Q. Tell us about the island.
A. The island is off the Cape Porpoise pier in Kennebunkport. The lobstermen
keep their boats in this harbor and sell their catch at the pier. We have a
small house on the island and its the last active lighthouse in the country to
have an electronic lens.Q. What is life like on the island?
A. We buy food once a week, usually on a Wednesday. It's hard to lug all the
way. We catch most of our water from the roof, but we can not drink that
water so we buy water that is drinkable. A boat trip to the pier is about 15
to 25 minutes. The lack of water is the hardest part. Sometimes our friends
visit but they have to be on time or they miss their only ride.
Q. Eric, what do you like to do on the island.
A. I explore other islands at low tide. I go kayaking, boating,
lobstering and other stuff. Visitors come to the island. They either come in a
kayak, sailboat or walk across the mud flats at low tide. Sometimes a boat
will navigate wrong and may end up stuck on a mud flat for a while.
Q. What's the best part about living on the island?
A. It would have to be the sunsets or the lightning storms.We sit back and
enjoy the beauty of it. There are a lot of good things but Eric likes the
exploring the best. One of my favorite things that happen is when flying Santa
comes out in his helicopter before Christmas and gives us all a big candy
cane. (yummy).
Q. How do you get to school?
A. Greg takes his boat to the pier and catches a school bus there. Eric goes
to the pier then rides his bike to school 4 miles away.
Q. How many lobster traps do you have?
A. (Greg) I have about 50 traps but I have a license for 180. I go out two
days a week, Tuesdays and Fridays. Usually, I get around 25 lobsters a day.
They weigh about 1 to 11/2 pounds each.
Q. What time do you have to wake up ?
A. I wake up around 5:30 and go out the door as soon as possible. I will come
home around 2:30 smelling like fish. I sell a majority of my lobsters, but I
also like to eat some.
Eric sometimes helps out with my traps. He also has a license for 5 traps of
his own.
Q. Anything else?
A. Come visit anytime. Just watch out for the moose that like to roam the
island. |
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