My quest for the perfect birthday photo.
 

If you read the chiefsplanet tabloids at all, you probably know that I'm about to turn fifty.

Fifty.

It's a time of reflection. A time of taking stock. And to a great extent, it's a time of figuring out how you should celebrate surviving a half-century of life on earth, which for the most part is reserved for humans, turtles, parrots, and some mosses and large tree species.

So as my birthday's headlights began appearing over the horizon, my wife asked me how I want to celebrate it. She's older than me, and on her fiftieth we hosted a big party with all of her friends and five really awesome cakes, each decorated to reflect one decade of her life. It was a very nice party, and it made her happy to celebrate it with her friends.

She asked if I wanted to have a party with my friends, but I thought about it and said no. My fiftieth birthday should be bigger than just hanging out on Chiefsplanet for a few hours and fedexing you some cake.

What, then, should we do? I gave it some thought, but she nixed my initial suggestion of a threesome. Honestly I didn't expect that to fly anyway.

My second choice, however, did, and it became my quest. For my fiftieth birthday, I want to take a really cool and memorable fiftieth birthday photo.

After several months of planning, the process has begun. I will post pictures of my progress.

Let me begin by saying that if you fly, you should fly first class. I seldom do, but I shot up a decade or so of frequent flyer miles and got "the pod", one of those first-class seats that folds completely flat into a bed. [ferris bueller voice] If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up on a long flight. [/bueller] Plus, you get a nice big screen with hundreds of movies and TV shows, and they give you a little bowl of cashews before every meal. Choice.

Night 1: Here's the view from my hotel room. Perhaps it offers a hint of my quest for the perfect birthday photo. Or perhaps not.

My wife and I wandered around today and looked at the ocean and stuff.

You joined CP in your thirties. Reflect on that.

Also happy birthday. Whenever that is.

Wishing you a happy birthday wish with the perfect picture.


I've got to fly first class one time and it was freaking awesome loved it. Flew back in coach and it was not a good flight. I'd fly first class for a vacation day if I could.

Perfect photo would be you in a threesome.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...O/HT-G0001.jpg

Strike this pose and accent it with some nice lighting

Looks like Miraflores.. You are in Lima! And you are going to Machu Pichu! Sweet!

Well shit i just turned 50 as well. I went to work like usual. Got some cards with lottery tickets from Mrs / kids. I'd take a picture but that lawn isn't going to mow itself.

Happy Birthday Rainman, I just turned fitty also..

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an excellent guess, and you are partially correct.

I think that's A view from Danes house

I'm turning sixty :deevee: in six weeks. My wife an I are meeting with some friends in Las Vegas. We are getting a big suite at the Venetian for three nights and on my birthday we are going to go sky diving. I guess that beats blowing my brains out.

What kind of amenities did your wife enjoy back in coach?

She said it was 'fine'. Didn't say much else.

Nice freaky green shoes.

Okay, I took off again yesterday and did some more flying. But I am now positioned for the best 50th birthday photo ever.

First we had a little lunch at this fine restaurant.

And then we drove out to the cemetery in our rented SUV.

And then we did a little hike as we prepare for the best 50th birthday photo ever.

That's a pretty cool picture RM I would go with that happy 50.

There's this really great renovated historic hotel in Decorah, IA that you should check out for a nice photo, Rain Man. The business consultant in you would have a great time marveling at the wise owner who decided to make the investment in such a lucrative building.

I can't wait to see this perfect birthday photo. I wonder if it will involve planking

http://static02.mediaite.com/geekosy...5652038-13.jpg

tebowing

http://www.totalprosports.com/wp-con...tebowing-3.jpg

or te'oing

http://2.media.collegehumor.cvcdn.co...b-teoing-1.jpg

Happy bday and good luck with the photo!

Are you showing us tonight?

I turned 49 a couple of weeks ago so get to face turning 50 soon enough. I'll probably deal with it the same way I do every birthday - by doing nothing.

I don't know exactly where you are, but it has to be pretty fancy for them to charge 4000 for a sandwich.

There's a lot of overhead in keeping those dirt floors clean.

Happy Birthday. Enjoy!

Well Happyy Birthday. 50 is awesome, as in I am going to be Fifty in two Months.
Also, are we trying to guess where you are?
It looks like Telume Mexico or Belieze to me.

Well worth the trip. I haven't stayed there but when I am up in Decorah I always stop by.
http://www.hotelwinn.com/

Also cool is the Toppling Goliath Brewing Company.
Great Beers and fun times
http://www.tgbrews.com/site/about/

It's about $8.50. ;)

No, he's not in Central America.

Happy birthday!

Don't drink the water...

I paid 8 cents for an elevator ride yesterday in Salvador, Brazil. This apparently funds the salaries of the ticket taker, security guards, and the elevator operator who pushed either the "1" or the "2", depending on direction.

But before you think it's a bad financial model, recognize that I also paid 8 cents for the trip back down.

The back story is actually kind of interesting. There's a 100-foot cliff down the middle of the city, so someone (I'm presuming the city) built a small building that consists of nothing but four elevators. If you need to go from the low part to the high part, you either buck up the 8 cents and take the elevator or you walk up a long road at the end of town that according to at least one guidebook "is just asking to be robbed". I weighed the pros and cons and invested the 16 cents for the round trip.

The picture of the Coast in the beginning made me think Costa Rica. But the Heads look like Easter Island.

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still awaiting the opprotunity to take the best 50th birthday photo ever? Its been awhile since your last photo.

If you have a picture of you planting a Chiefsplanet flag on Mars, I'm going to be so ****ing pissed.

He went out on a boat cruise in Peru and hasn't logged on Facebook for 10 hours. His mom is pissed and sent the Peruvian government to look for him.

Still working on the whole birthday trip and have very slow internet. I'll post pictures and a summary once I return to the northern hemisphere and its more advanced information infrastructure.

according to google....THIS is the best birthday photo ever.

(ok ok so it's a gif....fo)

http://image.blingee.com/images16/co...55_1905142.gif

Congrats, have a kick ass birthday man.

Saw a Rainman post in the experimental soda thread and it spawned me to bump this thread. We've all been waiting for the perfect photo

This

The truth is, he never got one. We're going to have to do this all over again in another 50 years. Sucks.

And the winner is....

I am indeed back. Now I just have to sort through my photos to pick my official birthday photo.

It was a good run. In 35 days, I accomplished the following:

12,200 airline miles
6,700 sea miles
400 taxicab solicitations, more or less
80 Easter Island moai, more or less
60 minutes on a submarine
50 miles driving a mini-SUV on Easter Island
40 dollars worth of various foreign currencies in my pocket that I don't think I can exchange
20+ colonial cathedrals
18 nights on a cruise ship (the Carnival Splendor)
15 really cool travel magnets for the refrigerator
6 countries (Antigua, Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Chile, and Peru)
5th continent riding a subway, which is a world record (probably tied with a lot of other people)
3 interesting cemeteries, including Evita Peron's grave and reasonable proximity to Pizarro's grave
2 llama burgers
2 volcanic craters
1 conquistador's home
1 terrorist threat
1 subterranean catacomb
1 night at sea with 20 foot waves and 70 mph winds (but aye, she was a sturdy and solid ship)
1 cup of Argentine mate
1 police stop by virtue of being in an insanely driven taxi
1 birdman cult dwelling
1 trophy for winning the cartoon trivia contest on the cruise ship
1 bottle of Inca Kola (diet - I don't really recommend it)
1 traffic accident (minor)
1 erotic pottery display

Overall, it was a good 50th birthday.

Pretty impressive travel log. How did llama burger taste?

....does the wife know you're sharing her/your most intimate moments with CP?

This is all great and everything... but where is the ****ing picture?!!

Must not have been too bad since he didn't stop at one.

http://www.empireonline.com/images/f...arantino/2.jpg

Excellent point.