Success in Medewi. Reportage delayed.

Firstly, apologies for the late posting. There is no internet in Medewi, Indonesia, and I had to wait until my return to Kuta to post.

Although you wouldn't tell from the half-foot wave breaking in the background, the surf was pretty amazing at 0732 WITA on the appointed day. As a result, the hardest part of completing this challenge was resisting the temptation to pick up my board and head out for a session. The second hardest part was explaining to the Indonesian cow farmer the reasoning behind my wanting him to wait until a certain moment before taking my picture. Luckily for everyone, the language barriers were somewhat overcome and by taking the picture, the farmer unknowingly became part of the catalyst for economic recovery in the world (actually, he was an immediate beneficiary when I pressed some rupiah into his hand as thanks).

The cow seemed to sense that history was in the making and turned to face me as the photo was taken. It was wearing a handsome blue handmade bell.

The item I am holding is a deck of Indonesian playing cards (I'll post a detailed view later) which I purchased the previous day for 15,000 rupiah - about A$1.90/US$1.40 from the little bamboo shop owned by the family of Putu, the local surfboard repairer. The cards are a low-to-mid range quality cardboard with a decent slip and feature a traditional looking design versa. There are 3 jokers in the deck. Later in the night they were used by myself, my 2 Australian travelling companions, 3 Israelis, 1 Belgian and 2 Indonesian Muslims to play a card game - proving that not only did the challenge help the economic recovery, but also (as an unexpected side effect) aided in improving Jewish/Muslim relations.

There was no pre-meditation involved in my having worn the same hat and sunglasses as in last month's challenge.

Report From Oaxaca

Well, it wasn't easy, but as you can see from the photo above I was successful in completing my half of the mission. The souvenir I procured is right up there with some of the worst I've seen. I've included a close-up to give you some idea of just how horrendous it truly is. It's a pen featuring a stereotypical Mexican figure sucking down a shot glass of Mezcal. Notice the distended belly and pumpkin head of the figure and the crude carving of the word Oaxaca that reads from bottom to top. I paid 20 pesos for it, which comes out to about $1.50 US or $2.10 Australian dollars.

The photo was taken at exactly 6:32pm CDT outside of the Santo Domingo cathedral in Oaxaca City. Being Good Friday, we were among the throngs of people gathered to witness the big processional. With about 10 minutes until the appointed time, I began scanning the crowd for animals of any kind. Things were looking grim until I walked around the church and saw a couple relaxing on a curb with their dog. Would they stay long enough? My photographer/wife framed the shot and we waited for an anxious five minutes. Literally seconds after the shot was taken, they stood up and walked away. Whew! Disaster averted!

Immediately after the picture was taken I noticed that many people were purchasing things. I assume that this is a direct result of the effect of GvsG on the global economy. Those that witnessed my strange one-legged pose may have thought it silly… if only they'd known how important it actually was.

Mark Your Calendars!

After pouring over our data and crunching the numbers, it is clear to us that the next mission must take place on Friday, April 10, 2009, at precisely 23:32 GMT. This time, your intrepid heroes will venture to separate exotic locales in an effort to stabilize the global economy. OZ–Gibson will be traveling to a remote village on the island of Bali while US–Gibson will be on location in Oaxaca, Mexico.

The mission is twofold:
1) Purchase a particularly awful souvenir.
2) At precisely 23:32 GMT, pose with said souvenir while balancing on one leg (US–Gibson will stand on right leg, OZ–Gibson will stand on left leg) with an animal somewhere nearby.

As you can plainly see from the details above, if we succeed with our mission, the global economy should see immediate improvement.

Photographic documentation and a debriefing by the Gibsons will be posted on this blog as soon as they both can locate internet access. Note: OZ–Gibson might not be able to report on the status of his mission until a week or so after the event.

Thanks for your support.

Safe for now, but there's more trouble brewing...

Well, folks, it looks like our first mission was a success and that equilibrium has been restored to the planet. And while this is cause for some celebration, our data seems to indicate that another anomaly threatens to warp the space/time continuum in the not-too-distant future...perhaps as early as early April.

Stay alert, not alarmed, but mostly stay tuned.

Mission Accomplished: Seattle, WA

Weather was ugly all day — temperatures around 40º F (4.4º C) with a mixture of snow and rain. After toweling off the seat and trying out some test shots, a group of rogue youngsters appeared and attempted to hijack my dry swing. Fortunately they relinquished control when I explained the urgency of the situation.

At exactly 4:29:59 pm PST, I launched awkwardly, but managed to land upright without injury to myself or any of the spectators. Upon landing, I could immediately tell that things seemed better aligned (in both my spine and the universe). The rain/snow even held off for the event, as if nature herself was aware that something of great significance was underway.

Sure, I missed the end of the UW Huskies game, but that's the kind of sacrifice I'll have to make in order to keep mankind safe from all sorts of catastrophic imbalances in the universe!

Successful Launch in W.A.

Although it was difficult to get out of bed before 9 on a Sunday morning, we made it down to Hyde Park in Perth and staked a claim on the only adult-height swing in the joint.

The countdown to launch was quite tense, especially given that wayward children kept sniffing around the swings and threatening to cross the landing area.

As the countdown reached 10 seconds, I began gaining thrust and released my grip at T-minus 1 (09:29:59 WDT). My photographer began rapid fire snapping and a fine moment was captured.

The southern hemisphere is safe for now.

The Challenge Begins!

The first task to be performed and documented by the Gibsons is set to take place on Sunday, March 8, 2009, 0030 GMT.

Attempting to realign a slight gravitational glitch, the Gibsons will simultaneously launch themselves from park swings; one in Seattle, WA, one in Perth, W.A.

Photographic documentation and a debriefing by the Gibsons will be posted on this blog soon after the event.