Rough Concept for a Bottle Label

Believe it or not I’ve actually been blending my own private label rum lately.  I’ve always enjoyed drinking Dark Rum and Orange Juice and, many years ago, while Teresa and I were dating, I wrote a song on the beach in Negril, Jamaica called “Naked in Jamaica!”

I recorded a long, as well as a short version but have released neither.  The long version is twelve-minutes long but has a parody at the end using the song “Rawhide” which I have yet to get approval for.  I see the long version as an audio track for a film short one day but could release the short version as it’s all my material.  It may have Spring Break cult potential!

Here’s half of one of the chorus’s –

I’m Naked in Jamaica while I work upon my tan . . .

Refresh my drink, got time to think, and could while I still can.

The sun, the breeze, my drink, the view, I soak them all within . . .

It’s time to turn, so I won’t burn, and tan my tender skin!

Anyway, I decided I needed to come up with my own private label rum brand and just started learning about the whole process at a local distillery.  The first thing I learned is that it’s not a science . . . it’s an art!  Can life get any better!

Kermit

Just thought I’d show a few shots of some impressive Heli-ski landing spots from my recent trip to the Cariboos in the Canadian Rockies.  The Helicopter is basically your chair lift and you ski with a guide that is familiar with the territory, which usually encompasses about 25 square miles of terrain.  We had a good week and left just in time as the snow conditions began to get a bit dicey.

Kermit

I got a chance to enjoy a couple of days with aviation friends on a 200,000 acres ranch in west Texas.  The premise of the weekend event is to hunt Quail, which I don’t think I could actually do because they’re so cute!  They always win anyway!  The shots I’ve mainly observed over the years mostly involve alcohol so it’s mostly about having fun, camaraderie, and telling stories!  I did actually fire a gun this time and hit a cactus but neglected to clean it and bring it back as proof of my hunting prowess!

Kind of says it all!

It’s somewhat difficult to get to the Ranch as there are no airports anywhere near by with airline service so everyone flies there in private airplanes.   This was my third event and the first year I got a ride out in a twin-Beech.   Past notables included Tex Hill, highest-scoring Flying Tiger Ace, and Dick Cole, who was Jimmy Doolittle’s copilot.  It’s always right after the Living Legends event in Beverly Hills, CA so I catch a ride the best way I can.  This year I had the opportunity to fly out from Dallas with Southwest Airlines legend Herb Kelleher and several others in a Lear 55.

Kermit with Herb Kelleher - "Cashew Class!"

It’s great to mingle with other successful and passionate people and learn from their successes as well as share what I’m doing.  I’m a firm believer in networking and the “butterfly effect” so it will be interesting to see where all this goes!

Kermit

I was honored this year to be presented the Freedom of Flight Award at the 7th Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards Banquet last January.  I have been part of this illustrious group of 70 “Legends” for four years now which is made up of Celebrities in “Aviation” as well as “Celebrities” in Aviation.  It’s a unique group of people gathered around their love and passion for flight.

Award recipients this year included other aviation notables as well as Hollywood stars Kurt Russell and Tom Cruise.  Great friend, airshow pilot, and Heli-ski partner Sean Tucker MC’d the event and, after a few comments, introduced the famous Bob Hoover to present me with my Award.

Kermit, Bob Hoover and Teresa at the Living Legends of Aviation Awards

I got a chance to deliver an acceptance speech and got a lot of great comments from people afterwards.  My mother, sister, and wife Teresa flew out to the Beverly Hills event to support me and take in the sights.  This was Teresa’s Legends event but I don’t think it will be her last!

Check out this Youtube clip to see some of the highlights and people that attended.  Teresa and I get a few frames!  http://www.tomkatcrazy.com/living-legends-of-aviation-tom-cruise-john-travolta-kurt-russell/

Kermit

I had an opportunity to check up on an investment I’ve been involved in for a number of years called Stayhealthy.  It has created state of the art devices to help you stay healthy including a pager size device that you can wear to help determine your body metabolism and a simple device to measure body fat.  This inexpensive device is on par with machines that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Other devices the company produces are kiosks where people can check different health related things in like shopping malls combined with mall advertising.  I took the opportunity to visit the Spring Hill Mall outside of Chicago to not only check out one of the kiosk locations but to sell some Gee Bee Books as well!  The products are gaining popularity and I sold out of all the books I brought!

Nice Advertising Example on Kiosk!

One of the most exciting things is a new way to measure health that will replace the BMI (body mass index), which is woefully out of date.  This is the chart you’ve probably seen at your doctors office that uses height, weight and age to somehow determine your health.  On the BMI index, I’m almost considered fat!  Amazing.  I just saw on the news President Obama just had a physical and was told the same thing!  Anyway, major companies are partnering with us and, if successful, it will allow me to expand Fantasy of Flight.  Check it out at http://www.stayhealthy.com.

Kermit

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