Gatlog

Gatlog has moved!

2009-11-15T12:10:00.000-08:00

I've moved this blog to it's new location: www.davidhgatley.com/gatlog - or click here.

-David

Disc Golf San Diego

2009-10-01T23:42:00.000-07:00

September 26th 2009:

Combined with my brother Mike's skillz, and a little photoshop action from myself, I bring you some of the shots from this past weekend at the Sun Valley Open Disc Golf Tournament:

Hole 10 placard.

Mike putting on the 15th hole (click on the image to enlarge it)

A tried and tested quiver.

Here's a composite shot of Mike putting on the 1st hole. CLICK TO ENLARGE. If you look close, you'll notice he just missed the put by a couple inches and the disc banked off the rim...hahahaha sucker.

The Road to Arizona

2009-10-01T23:33:00.000-07:00

From the South Rim of the Grand Canyon...some 12 hours from San Diego.

We decided to take Zoë with us on our 2000 mile road trip to Northern AZ...a fantastic idea...until we hit Sedona and realized the gorgeous iron rich sand that turn the desert a brilliant red combine with water to make clay. Wet sticky clay that gets all over everything, especially a dog...

Even at high noon the Grand Canyon is majestic.

Who says you can't find a nice view in a 110 degree desert? The dog, enjoying the dog days of summer on the Glamis Overlook...

Yosemite Yearnings

2009-02-02T21:43:00.000-08:00

The Merced River in Winter in the Valley Floor.

-David

Death Valley - Phototrip

2009-01-26T21:01:00.001-08:00

Death Valley National Park.

My Father, Jim and I hopped in the car and headed towards the mecca of photography in California, Death Valley.

Jim had just recently purchased a new Nikon D80, I had my D70 and the Dave Gatley had practically every professional camera Nikon makes, along with more gadgets and gizmos than circuit city; which to his credit are fantastically sweet.

We spontaneously decided a trip of epic photojournalistic proportions was long overdue, promptly jumped in the car and headed north east.

Desert Glass turned purple by decades of unrelenting sun, left behind by miners.

For those of you who haven't been, or have only driven through... Death Valley is quite an interesting place, aside from the photography. In the early 1900's it was a magnet for mining boom towns, which seemed to appear overnight in the middle of no where. Thousands of people would prode and poke the mountain sides hoping to strike it rich, however they ultimately found nothing but a godforsaken landscape and shattered dreams. Sucks for them, but it's pretty freaking sweet for us.

In their haste, they left behind them mountains of trash, debris, tools, women, children and apparently some mules. Which when mixed with 120+ degree weather, 300+ days of sunlight, and not much human life to speak of, makes for sweet photo fodder.

Some sort of buckety/kettley/boxey bin of rust and awesomness.

I found this admist a mass graveyard of tin cans, broken glass, rusted nails and other misc. ghost town remnants.

Death Valley Sand Dunes in the early morning sunlight.

When we weren't rumaging through ghost towns dump yards, we found ourselves scampering across the windswept sand dunes in the middle of the valley. Patted down from a rare but brief overnight soaking, the dunes were slightly frozen in their normally fluid state. Winds pick up across the valley with unbelievable strength and constantly reshape the surfaces of these dunes.

Devil's Cornfield - Death Valley
I guess those bushes look like corn....if you're blind, and I guess what with them being in death valley and all they are a little ominous, but "Devil's Cornfield"? Really? More like "Sandy McBushes Bushfield" if you ask me, but I'm no nameyologist.

Wild Burros - Rhyolite, Nevada
We chased down these poor asses like our dinner depended on it. Armed with telephotoish lenses and a yearning for some action shots, we geared up and chased the heard:

Dave and Jim plotting their attack.

While Dave and Jim attacked from above, I flanked the dumb-asses and almost caught them off gaurd, that was of course until my dad came storming up the mountain side in his black, tank like tahoe. Thanks Dad. =)

Jim at Ubehebe Crate - Death Valley, CA

Dave Gatley working his magic at Ubehebe Crater.

Black, volcanic rock around the base of Ubehebe Crater.

A little over-photoshopped image of some old mining ruins near Badwater Basin in the valley. The winds were blowing about 40+ mph while I shot this. Strong enough to send Jim chasing after his hat a good 100 yards.

Badwater - Death Valley
The recent rains left behind some water on the valley floor, I've never seen water here in all the time I've visited the park, a definite bonus.

-David

Borrego Mates

2008-12-30T21:31:00.000-08:00

Spidey!
Thanks to Clayton, I was treated to a sweet Offroad Adventure through the canyons and badlands of Anza-Borrego State Park. The weather was perfect, the roads were treacherous and the photos were plenty =)... a crikey good time if I do say so myself.

Quartz-rock-plant thingy with a little photoshop love. Shot inside the slot canyons.

The badlands overlooking the park. The desert haze adds a cool 1970's kinda feel to this shot. Off the distance is Ocotillo Wells home to hundreds of thousands of ATV's and dune buggies and probably the reason for so much dust in the air.

Looking West at the begining of a sand dune formation.

Thanks Clay!

-David

Not Fun

2008-12-03T13:05:00.000-08:00

"... at least they didn't get my surfboard."

-David

From The Archives

2008-11-22T00:05:00.000-08:00

This is still my most cherished surfing shots...taken some 4 years ago. Swamis - San Diego

-David

Cabrillo National Monument

2008-11-21T19:11:00.001-08:00

A couple lazy Sunday's ago, Jessica and I found ourselves as "tourists" in the city we call home. Cabrillo rests at the tip of Pt. Loma and had remained hidden to us for all this while. It's really a treasure that helps define the city, some of the best views of both downtown and the Pacific are to be had:

Looking at the 6 ft. bulb inside the lighthouse.

Although it might not look like it, those are about 6-8 foot perfect waves rolling through the Pt. (Click to enlarge) Off in the distance you can see the Coronado Islands home to some of the best tuna fishing on the west coast...mmmm....yellow fin tunnnnaaaaaa.

The Hotel Del Coronado in all it's opulence and glory. I typically shy away from B&W because I find the color so much more intriguing, but this shot seems kind of timeless in the way the light is hitting only the hotel and leaving the more modern developments covered in shade.

Somewhere in there, you can see Tom Ham's lighthouse...future home of awesomeness.

-David

Yearly Yosemite

2008-10-25T00:23:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh San Diego

2008-10-25T00:05:00.000-07:00

Drink it in:

iNano

2008-10-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

iUrban

2008-08-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

iGatley 3G

2008-07-31T09:56:00.000-07:00

Alright so the photo quality isn't great....but I'm stoked none the less. Thanks Jessica!

New Orleans - French Quarter / Garden District

2008-05-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

Some snapshots from around the city.

-David

New Orleans - Self Guided Swamp Tour

2008-05-08T16:05:00.001-07:00

New Orleans is incredible.

Jessica and I just got back from another incredible adventure. This time we found ourselves in the humid tropics of Southern Louisiana.

On our first day to the city, we left the city behind and headed to the infamous swamp. Devin, Darin and I returned to the same place that almost claimed our very lives a year earlier. We returned to much nicer weather, and oddly, many more man eating animals.

The path leading you in to the swamp.

Before long, that path takes you to a swamp river and a boardwalk 3 inches above the water level. In effect, putting you within biting distance of dinosaurs. This guy was happy hanging out on said trail until I almost kicked him in a stoke of blind stupidity.

The weather this go around couldn't have been in more contrast to last year if it tried. This same tree last year. Amidst 60 mph winds and vertical downpours.

Jessica had her national geographic game on, and spotted this 8 foot beast from across the river. If you look closely you can see him/her tucked away in the shadows. Alligators may not be as big as crocodiles, but I imagine this bastard wouldn't do too bad in a red-headed photographer eating competition.

She also tracked down this spotted owl with my camera and popped off a terrific shot. I guess any girl who can handle a Nikon D70 like her is worthy of keeping around ;)

This thing was nuts. It had talons the size of frizbees, and a beak that cut through the mightiest of oaks. This "cute little" owl of death had the potential to do some damage and it knew it. From its perch, immediately above the walking path, it would swoop down at innocent tourists like a dive bomb from hell, and then at the last second, hit the brakes and fly up to the next tree.

If I have a spirit animal, I've decided this was it. As it guided us out of the park I felt a connection with it. Perhaps it was it's shared hatred of tye die t-shirt wearing tourists, or perhaps it was the fact that it knows the secret amount of licks it takes to get the center of a lollipop, but either way...I liked it.

Moving on.

'
I'm not sure there exists an animal of the swamp that can't kill you. Or at least remove a limb. This snake may look like a garden snake... but judging by the catfish eating crabs, the harbinger of death owls, the man eating alligators, and the ROUS (yes rodents of unusual size)... I'd say this snake is a black mamba capable of killing a small village.

Even the most innocent of skinks seem ready to strike with lethal force. Ok, maybe not a skink. Maybe a skank would be deadlier, but who knows...this may be a skanky skink!

I'm not sure, but my money is on poisonous arrow frog.

This picture freaks me out, still. Watching this guy tromp through the river was badass. I felt like I was in Jurassic Park and the electric fence just broke down, and my ford explorer didn't work. And then this ... freaking alligator found me. Ok well whatever, you get the point. Alligators = cool...real cool.

Anyhow. No crazy shenanigans this time. No floods of biblical proportions, no epic car chases fording rivers, no death sprints back to the parking lot...just animals, everywhere.

More Nola Blogs to come =) For now enjoy "the money shot".

-David

love of my life

2008-04-28T00:18:00.001-07:00

On the Horizon

2008-04-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

Visiting the Visitors

2008-03-28T11:40:00.001-07:00

It still amazes me where people view my blog from. I think it's even cooler that people from China are finding my blog about China despite that country monitoring and in many cases blocking the majority of outside websites.
Anyhow, I've decided i need to visit all the places that are visiting me. Especially that little guy all by himself down in Argentina!
=)
-David

Arizona - Baseball A's vs. Angels

2008-03-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

Took in a great game today at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Mesa, AZ. The (deep breath) Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim and the Oakland A's (A's were running a split squad today and had the real fresh meat on the field).

We had some great seats for 10 bucks this go around. Spring training brings most of the farm raised talent to the field and and can be a real guessing game as to who is who, hence the program this gentleman had in hand.

The Angles brought out all their studs, above is Fransisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) and he's arm angles of impossibility. His elbow is literally behind his head....he's a mutant.

The A's catching someone in a pickle.

Classic baseball scene. Harden on the mound, 3-1 count, runner taking second...

Watching the A's second string outfielders take the field was like watching a bunch of circus clowns in a tripping contest...but with less skill.

Valdimir Guerrero. Grand Slam. Freak of Nature.

Stud.

Vlad the man.

The A's got shut out 6-0 with something like 3 hits. This was the only highlight...a cleanly fielded ground ball to short.

Great game. Not sure if Jessica and I will make any more this year, real life is calling us back. There is one more night game a couple hours before our flight...but if the aromas lofting from the BBQ in this backyard are any sign of things to come...I'm not leaving this sun drenched lounge chair if someone pays me.

Here's to the regular season opener on the 25th... 6 days 9 hrs and 50 minutes from now =)

-David

(Heard some rumors of the A's trading Harden to the Yankees today, saw the yankees scouts out in full force, and a guy from baseball prospectus didn't deny the rumors)

Arizona - Desert Flowers in Bloom

2008-03-19T15:12:00.001-07:00

Took a hike in Phoenix yesterday. The desert bloom is in full effect and the foothills were blanketed with wild flowers like I've never seen:

On the Go John trail in Cave Creek Memorial Park.

Blankets of poppies and other wild flowers.

Poppies up close.

More on the baseball to come.

-David
See Jim and Joe's photos.

Arizona -Spring Training - A's vs. Royals

2008-03-17T19:43:00.001-07:00

Major League Baseball Spring 08
Tempe, AZ.
Kansas City Royals vs. Oakland A's

Despite the Padres being split between Tucson and Beijing, Jim and I represented the club well.

The Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Tempe is one of the oldest parks in all of Phoenix. Despite its age, it is by far one of the most enjoyable venues. Simple food menus, good beer, and great seats for 10 bucks. The outfield is decorated with billboards marketing local establishments from bailbondsmen to steakhouses; truely capturing the essence of Single A baseball,cheap seats, cheesy fan contests and quality baseball. In stark contrast to the newer fields like Peoria who cater to the masses and sell out the sport like a cheap whore...OK well not exactly...but it's nice seeing baseball in a stadium that cares less about money and more about fans.

10 dollar seats.

100 dollar view.

Bannister, warming up for the Royals....who suck terribly...still.

Timing this shot was more blind luck than skill. Despite my camera gear, catching a 90 mph pitch and the swinging bat is practically impossible.

Great game. Enjoyed the company even more. Can't wait till tomorrows. I'll post pictures soon.

-David

Arizona - Cardinals and Baseball

2008-03-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh Arizona. It's nice to be drenched in the desert sun, knocking back some ice cold brews, eating great food, hanging out with great people, and catching some early spring baseball.

I'll be posting some shots over the next few days of the various games we get to and hikes we go on. So Far we've taken in two games, yesterday we saw the Mariners take on the Brewers in Peoria, and today we got a glimpse of the Oakland A's and the Kansas City Royals over in Tempe.

For now, here's some shots of some Cardinals that showed up in Deborah's backyard early this morning.

This is a glimpse of some of the game we scored today. I busted out my 300mm lens for some much tighter shots, I'll post those up tomorrow, right now I'm being beckoned back into the spa and my beer is getting warm.

Joe's cooking us a nice filet and a couple whole chickens on the BBQ. Should be a rough night.
see Jim and Joes pictures here:

Joe's Blog

Jim's Blog

Check back tomorrow for more!

-David

Fantasy Baseball

2008-02-25T14:04:00.000-08:00

OH DEAR GOD ITS ALMOST BASEBALL SEASON! waaahooooowheeeeee!

If you've noticed a slight depression coming through in my photos and or lack there of, chalk it up to a severe withdrawal syndrome from Major League Baseball. Ahhh...just the thought of it...the crisp summer air, the crack of the wooden bat, the various aromas of spilt beer, cracker jacks, pine tar, baseball glove leather and bbq flavored sunflower seeds....ahhhhh. Is your mouth watering yet? No....??? Whatever...go back to Russia...you soulless anti-american.

I may be going to Spring Training this year with some crazy kids...expect many photos to be posted if I make it.

For those of you who resonate with those long over due yearnings....hopefully you're as addicted to Fantasy Baseball as a crack head is to ....well... crack. =) I know I am. Just little over a month is left before draft day and a half year of number crunching, statistics whoring, and swearing! WHOO!

...yes... they fixed my work coffee maker.... why do you ask?

-David

GO PADRES!

Ohh and my keepers for this year are (Robinson Cano, Travis Hafner, Justin Morneau, Aaron Harang, Ben Sheets and Nick Swisher) mmmmmmmm

Snow...Seattle...Siscos...SOLID!

2008-02-03T01:05:00.000-08:00

Spent the past week up in Seattle/Olympia visiting Kate for her and Brian's wedding, and getting some time in with Julia as well.

Without getting too in depth with all the happenings, I'll give you a quick run down....Landed in Seattle, found Julia, ate at Dick's, Drove the better part of the puget sound trying to find a target store, saw my sister get hitched, drank some 30 year old scotch, made fun of my brother, made fun of everyone else with my brother, met a badass dog, hung out with my train obsessed nephew, got the flu, medicated myself into oblivion, hiked in the snow, went to seattle, ate a crazy french lunch at pikes market, said bye to Julia, flew home...got food poisoning...puked my guts out!

Good times!

Overlooking the Puget sound underneath Bald Eagles =)

Suka, Brian's dog. I'd go on about how much I like Suka, but then I'd wind up depressed and Jessica would have to convince me all over again that it would be cruel keeping a dog in a place as small as ours...bah.

Snow...in Seattle... pretty awesome.

Brian and Kate's front yard.

Night Photography

2008-01-14T22:39:00.000-08:00

California State University San Marcos at night. This is one of the more beautiful campuses in San Diego, albeit new and undeveloped for the most part.

Wild Fires in Poway circa 2003 at Espola Rd and Twin Peaks. In a weird twist of Irony, almost everywhere this fire burned in 2003 was saved in 07 when the Witch Creek fire gutted most of the surrounding area.

Point Loma Sunset. That tiny spec in the middle of the water is a sail boat. I really try to stay away from sunset photos as they are pretty cliche, but every now and then you can't help but be amazed by the setting sun.

Washington D.C. Backyard summer nights. 100 degrees, humid, fireflys, bbq's, cold beer and a tiki hut.

Candy Cane Lane, Poway, CA. Think the Griswalds Christmas lights....but on crack. The entire neighborhood follows suit and about 30 houses combine forces for a month to put on this amazing display. Which, I'm pretty sure is visible from space.

San Diego County Fair Fireworks, not the most spectacular in San Diego, by any means, but you can't beat the ocean front location.

Click to enlarge, San Diego Coastline Fireworks. This is overlooking dog beach in Del Mar with La Jolla off in the distance. Believe it or not, those fireworks are from Sea World.

Enjoy,
-David

Del Mar Nightscape

2008-01-14T15:01:00.000-08:00

Snapped these a while ago in Del Mar, California. Above is a shot of the coaster train that runs up the coast of southern California. Below is a shot from Powerhouse Park, Del Mar at 15th st.

I love these photos for many reasons, the main I guess is because I find myself surfing here in the summer more than anywhere else.

Enjoy.
-David

Unwritten Law

2007-12-24T01:38:00.000-08:00

A few years ago I used to take some photos for a Nationally Recognized Band, Unwritten Law.
While I no longer shoot for the guys, I did have more fun working with them than I have on a photoshoot in a long time.
Enjoy some of my shots below:

PK and Tony at a practice session prior to their concert. Unwritten Law is originally from San Diego, couple from Poway and the rest from So Cal.

Scott Russo, leading a packed house at the HOB in Anaheim.

Taking photos in a concert is one of the most difficult places to shoot. Lots of movement and little to no lighting at all. Flashes generally kill any colored lights, and well..take a look at the difference below...I really hate flashes =)

It's really tough finding a photo that illustrates the energy the music provides.

I find that off all the emotions I've tried to capture in an image, music/concerts are by far the most difficult. Songs carry so much emotional weight with each note, it's tough to convey the overall feeling of a song with only a split second being illustrated.

More practicing. I'm not sure how these guys do it. They were back in Southern California wrapping up what was a very long International Tour, and yet they seemed unphased going about business as usual. The life of a rockstar is generally more of the photo above, than the glamorous shots at the actual performance. Long days spent away from loved ones, constant practice, and time spent in a crammed tour bus. It's no wonder drugs and alcohol run so rampant in the business, there's really not much else to do.

Steve from Unwritten Law, an amazing guitar player and overall quality guy.

House of Blues is an indoor venue, with 2 levels of seats. Without an incredibly wide angle lens, illustrating how many people were jammed in this relatively small space was next to impossible. But all photography related issues aside, standing on the same stage as one of my all time favorite bands still remains one of the coolest moments of my life.

Same shot as above, except with no flash to fill light the audience, notice how much smaller the audience looks, but how much more moody the overall photo feels.

I think this may have been the only good energy shot I found that night. Unwritten Law, if you can't tell by the audience of teenagers and grungy look of the rockers, is a Rock band. Trying to capture that "im a rock band" look is pretty tough.

So that's it, a brief look into one of the perks of having a great camera. Access to awesome bands. If you'd like, check out UL's site here to check out some of their music.

-David

Did you know...

2007-12-18T16:33:00.000-08:00

I Stumbled Upon this really cool video of the future of the world. It's pretty fascinating and simply put:

An official update to the original "Shift Happens" video from Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, this June 2007 update includes new and updated statistics, thought-provoking questions and a fresh design. For more information, or to join the conversation, please visit http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com -- Content by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, design and development by XPLANE.

Anyhow, enjoy.

-David

War and Peace - Surfing Trips to Baja

2007-12-11T14:48:00.000-08:00

(Salsipuedes beach break on a small day...incredible to say the least)

There's been a lot in the news lately about the increased attacks on Americans traveling in Baja California, Mexico; especially that towards surfers. That being the case I thought I would share with you Devin and my story from about, well maybe 3 years ago.

On a whim, Devin and I decided we would make a long weekend out of a camping/surfing trip in Mexico. With literally about 4 hours preparation and knowledge of our plan we headed out on a trip that would be the best and very nearly the worst trip of our youth.

I had recently bought my Jeep and was a little hesitant to take it to Mexico, but after much convincing, and google image seraching of our destination, I was swayed to drive Devin and our gear down the coastline about 1 1/2 hours south of San Diego. We picked a solid little slice of heaven aptly named "Salsipuedes":

The campground in the upper left, literally on the coast cliff line, an apple orchard behind the campground and a little village that sold firewood and who knows what else on the right. Oh and in case you're wondering, translated "Salsipuedes" means "leave if you can". So our destination was set.

We got all our gear together, loaded up my car, bought some Mexican car and health insurance and headed South. Now in case you have never been to Mexico, or Tijuana in particular, from the U.S. you should know getting in is really easy, in fact...you wouldn't know you were in Mexico were it not for the gigantic sign above the freeway labeling so...that and the immediate and extreme shift from wealth to dilapidated poverty. This, to new comers, is somewhat deceiving, for it can foolishly be thought easy to return, which it is most definitely not. Anyhow, with little to no problems or bumps in the road, we made it down to our new home for the next few days.

Salsipuedes is just north of Rosarito (pictured above) but near no town of any sort. That being the case, Devin and I thought it prudent to find a store of some sort to purchase mass quantities of beer. Looking at the map, we decided to shoot for something on the way, as opposed to going all the way into Rosarito, then backtracking to our campsite. The map, while showing roads, showed no towns of any kind. We chalked that up as a misprint, and figured beer wouldn't be difficult to find in Mexico...wow, were we wrong. Only after trekking deep into the heart of Baja, did we find said beer. You'd think if we'd run into any trouble in Mexico, it would have been on our venture away from the tourist areas of Mexico, but that couldn't be further from the truth...anyhow I'm getting ahead of myself...

We got back to our site only to find there was practically no surf. I mean we're talking like 1 ft waves if we were lucky. So, some serious drinking was in order. =) The swell that should have hit the Baja coast missed it completely, leaving the camp ground virtually empty. Devin and I scored what had to be the best spot in the entire place, overlooking the Ocean and immediately next to the path that led down to the beach.

That night we hung out with the only other people at the campground, 2 other guys doing the same thing Devin and I were. We sat around our dusty fire pit and drank way too much beer and traded stories we'd heard of American surfers getting into trouble in Mexico...you know because whats better than horror stories that took place to our friends in the same place we currently found ourselves? Just as our fire started to die, a car started coming down the hill, one head light busted, old clanky metal, chains...you know the truck that mass murders drive in Horror movies...yeah that one. We couldn't see a freaking thing in the dark and we figured we were all dead as the truck slowly pulled in behind my car. The four of us had taken to complete silence in our drunken stooper as we desperately looked to each other for some kind of weapon or light saber or anything to provide protection from what had to be some evil Mexican mafia member... Slowly the driver side window squeaked down, it must have been an old school hand cranked window because that thing moved slower than imaginable.
"Quiere madera?" a small squeaky voice asked from inside.
...she wanted to sell us firewood. The small 5ft nothing 85 pound owner of the camp ground was being sweet and delivering us more firewood. Feeling like a complete idiot I gave the lady 10 dollars and she dropped what had to have been a half a ton worth of wood. We could have built a small mansion out of that much wood...or you know...build a bonfire the size of my car and sit back and cheer it on like a bunch of idiots...we chose the later ;)

That night was also a red tide. Red tide, for those of you who have never been lucky enough to see at night is really a bad name for a natural phenomenon happens for about a week every few years on some select coastlines. When the temperature is right, phytoplankton come to the surface of the water and at night emit a neon blue light when disturbed by the crashing waves. Normally this is only visible in San Diego as a dull, barely visible, burst of light when the bigger set waves break. However, with no light pollution in Baja, this effect was brilliant. The colors literally lit up the cliff side and put on a light show that I still think didn't really exist. Devin is convinced there was some sort of LSD in our beer. Blue explosions kept us awake for most of the night, only after swimming in the water and seeing our bodies light up with every step or splash of the water did we get our fill.

(a wave crashing during red tide)

The next morning I awoke to a strange sound outside the tent. It sounded as though someone was rifling through all of our camping gear and trying to steal our surfboards. I punched Devin in the face to wake him up and told him we had to go bum rush the punk taking our stuff...On the count of 3 we ran out of the tent fists wielding and ready to brawl...except that the "punk" going through our stuff was a horse. Yes, a horse. Apparently that small lady who brought us wood, also raised horses and fed them apples from her orchard. The bastards learned to equate surfers with camp food, and was looking for a nice steak or bag of doritos in our trash.

Feeling like ignorant assholes thinking everyone was out to get us in Mexico, we packed up and cowered home. About a mile out of TJ our trip that have previously been so wonderful, turned sour in about 10 minutess time.

Baja operated it's Highway system as a toll road for a while, and recently opened them up for free. However they left behind the toll collection stations and every 4 miles or so you pass through one of them. Well on the way South, we went through these with no issue or concern whatsoever. It wasn't until our return home that they would haunt us. At what had to be the last station before entering TJ, the local police (i'm assuming- you can't really distinguish between police, federalies, people pretending to be police, or just ordinary thugs) set up a check point. Not the check point you see in America. This was basically a tourist filter. They only set up station there to let the poor, P.O.S., local cars drive through with no problem, and to pull over the American tourist cars.

Driving up to this, I got a unsettling feeling and Devin must have picked up on it, for we both held our breath as we tried to pass by unnoticed. I'm not sure what it was that made us scream American money, perhaps my brand new Jeep with surfboards strapped to the top that gave it away... or perhaps it was out stupid looking faces, maybe both, but anyways a giant statured Stalin looking man waved me over to the side of the road. For a moment I thought about flooring it and making a run for the border, but that thought was a fleeting one as soon as I saw the 10 thirteen year old kids holding fully automatic assault rifles looking at us.

At this moment in your life only one word really suffices. "......Fuuuuuuuuuu$$$$$k" Devin and I both uttered it in unison and with despair.

The army of children told us to get out of the car. I told Devin not to. Stalin walked his way over like a jolly old fat bastard, pompous and arrogant. He knocked on my window. Without moving my face an inch I looked up at him from the corner of my eye...He didn't look pleased. He asked me to roll down my window. So I cracked it open about 4 inches.

You should know that I speak Spanish pretty well. In fact it is said that when I am drunk, I'm practically fluent. However when I am shitting a literal brick, like I was at that very moment, my Spanish comes out more like some ancient tongue in a mess of spitting, hesitations, and nerve. But I understood everything that was being said to me.

Stalin asked for my keys.

Now, thanks to our new found friends the night before, one thing was for sure in Mexico. Give a cop your keys, and say "adios" to your car. They "impound" it, and it's basically gone from the face of the Earth for all you know. So handing my keys over to this guy was not something I was going to do without a little fight.

"Dame sus llaves" he stammered with impatience.

"No... no gracias. "

I sounded like an idiot. I said no thank you....of all things...i mean that doesn't even make sense. And well, at that moment things elevated. They instructed Devin and I to get out of the car. I said No again, with a little more confidence...Thinking I had made a little ground...then they lowered their guns...which were previously pointed up towards the sky.

We got out of the car. I slid the keys into my pocket and walked towards Stalin. Devin was escorted the opposite direction with Timmy, the 13 year old soldier of fortune pushing him with his gun. I tell you, a giant full grown man aiming a gun at your face is more comforting than a kid with an assault rifle just looking at you. That image alone still haunts me. Anyhow, the separated Devin and I about 20 feet each on other sides of the car. I started coming to my senses and spoke with the Officer. I told him, in Spanish, that we didn't have any drugs on us, or any alcohol, or anything.
He pretended I wasn't saying anything. I figured that they must have pulled enough surfers over in their time to realize most surfers had a stash of pot the size of a small child in their car, and more liquor than a liquor store. So they were looking for it in my car, in the hopes that when they found it, our only option would be to pay the cop all the money we had on us at the time to get out....if we were lucky. Unfortunatly for us, we didn't smoke weed, nor were we alcoholics...well ok, maybe we drank a lot of beer, but at least we had the wherewithal to drink all of it the night before and dispose of the evidence.

(image: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20031208-9999_1n8cartels.html officers searching cars in Baja, much like they did to mine)

But NOT having drugs on you in Mexico is more suspicious than actually having it. The guys were looking everywhere in my car, our camping gear, between my seats....they even unpacked my bags, found my pants, and looked in the pockets. I was impressed with their determination. I then started to fear that they might plant something in my car and say they found it. They had been searching for a few minutes by this point and it felt as though it were a life time. Stalin was getting impatient and demanding I give him my keys. My Spanish started coming back to me and when I asked him why, or what we had done, he said that I didn't have license plates on my car, and that that was illegal and my car had to be impounded. I explained to him that it was new and that I didn't have them yet. He didn't care.

I think he was really just trying to scare me into giving him money, which I wasn't about to do. And when he realized I knew Spanish, he realized I was going to be a pain in the ass before he would get any money.

But he kept his guys at it. I couldn't really see Devin from where I was. Which was somewhat unsettling and I figured things were about to get worse before they got better. So I started stammering some blabber in Spanish to the officer. He must have understood the words embassy, father, no dinero, no drugas, or something at some point because he finally gave me one last long, hard stare.

He demanded my keys one last time, with a voice that spoke more of consequences than demands.

Practically defeated, I said no one final time and left our fate in his hands.

Thankfully he didn't want to deal with us any longer, and I guess his little troops didn't have anything to plant on us, so he let us go.

I can't tell you how lucky we were. Things could have sooo easily gone much worse. If he had actually taken my keys, we would have been stranded, or worse, arrested. Most cell phones don't work in Mexico, so getting in touch with loved ones is very difficult, even worse, they could have split Devin and I up and kept us in different areas until one of our family members was contacted and told to come down with money to let us out of jail.

What's tragic about this entire story is, what happened to us, was by no means anything bad. That's a very mild and common occurrence. We were basically just given a hard time and the standard run through trying to scare some money out of our pockets.

In reality, things are much worse. Gangs are preying on surfers, holding them at gunpoint while they either steal everything out of their cars, or take the cars altogether. Police have been reported to have shot into motorhomes demanding the people come out from inside. Once doing so there have been sexual assaults, battery, robbery, muggings, and probably worse.

See this article in the UT about a much worse encounter south of the border.

Anyhow, the camping was incredible, hard to beat. The surf, the little we found at least, was spectacular....maybe a little colder than desired, but good and uncrowded. But the risks far out weigh the rewards, and while that is something of an accomplishment in retrospect, it's something that you should be fully aware of before you attempt it yourself.

-David

New York New York

2007-12-11T13:24:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to be able to visit New York and stay with my best friend Devin for about a week. My time spent there would ultimately shape my love for urban living. New York is so full of energy and youth. There are really more possibilities there than anywhere I have ever been. And the city has really cleaned itself up since the days of Gotham and crime.

From atop the empire state building. The density here is really spectacular. The closest to China America has to offer.

It's funny how nature really has a hard time penetrating dense urban cities like New York. I remember riding the elevator up to the top of the empire state bldg and being stunned at the difference in weather conditions. There were gale force winds up there with bone chilling temperatures. I could barely steady my camera to take the these photos. Whereas down on the street level, there wasn't even the slightest breeze, and the city emitted a strange warmth. It was pretty cool. Oh and word to the wise, do not pay the extra 10 bucks to venture 2 floors higher when visiting the building...things look no different from a gajillion and 30 feet than they do at a gajillion ;)

This is the Upper West Side at night. I'm still not sure how Devin scored this place, but that door to the top right was his bedroom door, atop his building. He basically had the entire roof as a living room, as well as the adjoining buildings. I used the rooftops much like Spiderman would, scampering from building to building, leaping across alley ways and kissing girls whilst upside down hanging from my own spider webbings...well not exactly, but you get the point. It was incredible.

The Upper West side.

The cityscape from Central Park. On a windy day, like most in the early spring, getting the water to be still and reflective is quite the laborious task. While a lake reflection is almost as cliche as a sunset photo, it's so hard not to find them pleasing. And I must have stood ankle deep in mud for 30 minutes trying to get this shot.

I love how timeless this looks. Thanks to Aaron for keeping the mafia look alive, and owning the pose in a plastic chair. For all anyone knows, this could be the only color photo to have been taken in the 30's ;)

Taking photos of ground zero is one of the most difficult things I've ever tried to do. It's one of those rare places in life where you so much emotion overtakes your mind, you shut down a little. No words really seem to be appropriate, and the only thing you can think of doing is taking a photo. Problem being, 99% of the vantage points there only give you a view of the immense cement hole in the ground, not a very picturesque setting. The entire area is bordered by a hideous fence that kills most photos, and well.... really the only thing I found interesting was right when I had given up looking for a nice shot. This was from inside one of the WTC's surviving buildings. I like the dimensional feel it has, looking at the people looking at ground zero.

Big Surf Revisited

2007-12-08T22:09:00.000-08:00

Wow... 6000 people in 3 days is a lot of visitors...Gatlog was overwhelmed ;)

I guess that means people like looking at big waves...that or I've become way too big of a web geek for my own good. Anyhow, I thought I would contrast the waves from last week with that of those we had 2 years ago, on what was really "Big Wednesday". Ironically, these were shot December 22th 2005, almost exactly 2 years ago.

Taken from roughly the same spot as my photos from last week, except I used way too much lens that time. Notice how the wave fills the entire frame. Unfortunately you lose most of your perspective as to just how large that wave is, although... I think you can still get the point ;) I'm no wave measurement expert, but in my years as a surfer I'd guess thats over a 20 ft. face he's about to rocket down...and at least a ton of water.

This was taken from Swamis that same day a little north of La Jolla.

Swamis as seen from afar. Keep in mind that you have to paddle through all that white water to get to the surf. Basically like running a never ending marathon, without being able to breath, in freezing water.... and with Semi Trucks running you over every 5 seconds. It's AWESOME... ;) And then you get to try and surf...makes sense right? I didn't think so.

This absolutely breaks my heart. That board is easily 600-700 dollars. An Al Merrick Channel Islands Gun...basically a Ferrari for large surf. Either he is the richest moron on the planet, or the poorest incredible surfer...I never found out.

Back at the Cove. La Jolla just goes monstrous when the conditions are right. And when you mix in a bunch of mid-life-crisis-loving older guys, 8 ft boards, and fear...you get some scary results...they ended up running into each other... it was great!

The "LJC" as we lovingly refer to it. The cove at it's greatest.

This is Black's beach on the same day as well. I was a busy, photo happy, nut ball that day. As seen from the La Jolla Glider Port looking down. This was shot with a 700 mm lens with a teleconverter. Basically I was shooting with 900mm worth of lens, and I was still far away, but still, it made for some great photos.

That little speck on that wave is a person...a very, albeit temporarily, happy person. (click to enlarge)

Black's beach doing it's impression of heaven on surfing earth...at least for me...I'm sure some of those guys found it to be a little more like hell...but to each his own... I guess.

Looking at La Jolla Cove from the Glider Port. You have to understand that is a rather large distance between us. To make out wave shapes from as far away as I was is just looney. They estimated waves then to be as large as 20ft - 30ft. I don't think I saw a 30 footer out there, but I wouldn't surprise me if there were.

(Again, all these shots were taken December 22, 2005)

It's really a rare thing to see waves this large, these photos rob you of the shear power they bring with them. The waves explode in every sense when they break. Tons of water are thrown around with such fury it's unimaginable. However, despite the chaos these waves bring, there are occasional moments where a surfer tucks into a barrel and the whole setting becomes so serene and peaceful. The crowd, if there is any, generally holds its breath and gets goosebumps, and when the surfer emerges from his or her watery grave the entire pack of surfers greets him with hoots and hollers. It is really quite a sight.

-David

San Diego Surf December 5th 2007

2007-12-05T14:59:00.000-08:00

La Jolla Cove - December 5th - 12:00 pm

San Diego was pounded with heavy surf today, actually most of the Pacific Ocean was hit with this enormous swell. Here are some photos I shot at around 12:30pm Wednesday December 5th, 2007 at La Jolla Cove looking north west. Although not the largest surf to hit the county (we had a much larger swell around 3 years ago) people are referring to this as Big Wednesday...people whom apparently have never been to Hawaii...but anyway...big waves =)

Figure those boards are about 9 feet long, making that wave face about 15 - 20 feet!

This guy had a tiny little 6 ft. short board out there. In larger surf like this, you need a much larger board to handle the bumps and the speed...this is generally what happens when you bring too little board with you.

A gigantic set rolled in and caught most of the pack sleeping inside. If you don't surf, picture this as the moment when you realize you're about to get run over by a freight train...twice.

A-frames off La Jolla cove, a rare but beautiful sight.

Cheesy photo, I know...but still...pelicans are cool.

La Jolla cove packed with people. There were even some geniuses scampering around on the rocks below.

While not the largest surf ever seen in San Diego, by any means, any time the waves break at the cove, it generally becomes a media spectacle.

This is generally the last thing a surfer sees before he hates himself for ever thinking it would be fun to surf in waves twice his height. This is a wall of white water about 15 feet high, he has to attempt to get under that wall, with his board...or ditch his board and swim to the bottom...both of which will result in what equates to throwing yourself in a washing machine....times like 10000.

More surfers getting caught inside...hahaha suckers.

If you can't see it, that's a surfboard in the middle of the shot, at the lip of the wave...making this wave the world's largest coffin. (Click on this photo for a high rez. version to see just how big it actually is)

Positioning themselves for either A) an escape to safety B) the best take off spot or C) an early death...

Looking west from the point at La Jolla Cove.

This is one of the nicest waves I have ever seen in San Diego, and no one was riding it! I died a little inside seeing this. Probably a 12 foot, perfect peeling wave...that is until it closes out and there's nothing but La Jolla cove rocks in front of you.

I love San Diego... =)

-David

Red Bull Air Race- San Diego

2007-12-03T21:54:00.001-08:00

Alright, it's been a little while since I went to this with Sean, but...well...these photos are long over due. The red bull air show is one of the coolest, highest adrenaline sports I have ever seen, if you ever get the chance, you have to go.

red bull air race.com

-David

Right Brain vs. Left Brain Test

2007-12-03T15:50:00.000-08:00

I found a really sweet article testing which side of the brain you use predominantly, anyhow follow the instructions and try to see if you can make the dancer change direction, it's really nuts. After a splitting head ache, I was able to get it to change direction by focusing on screen images to the left and right of the actual moving image:

The Right Brain vs Left Brain test ... do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.

Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses logic
detail oriented
facts rule
words and language
present and past
math and science
can comprehend
knowing
acknowledges
order/pattern perception
knows object name
reality based
forms strategies
practical
safe

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
uses feeling
"big picture" oriented
imagination rules
symbols and images
present and future
philosophy & religion
can "get it" (i.e. meaning)
believes
appreciates
spatial perception
knows object function
fantasy based
presents possibilities
impetuous
risk taking

In case you can't switch the direction, this site does it for you. Anyhow, I thought this was really cool. Try it out.
original source:

-David

China - Day - 13 - Llama Island

2007-12-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

Ahhhhhhhh, Llama island. Technically not our last day of traveling, but for the sake of saving the best for last....it will serve so in this blog.

A former ex-pat British retreat from the hustle and bustle of the overwhelming pace of Hong Kong, Llama islands is a small island found to the East of the mainland. Reachable by high speed ferry in about 30 minutes, this place was my Shangrila....my cloud nine.... it was a place only imaginable in the faintest of dreams, and a place that will forever exist in my mind accompanied by all 5 senses that were truly awakened there.

Llama Island has two main towns, each on the opposite coastline. The gem of the town we chose will remain secret to me, and will only be shared with those people in my life I deem worthy enough to enjoy such a treat. For this place could easily be mistaken as normal and even quirky by the untrained eye, and that....well that would just be tragic.

Before I go on, I need to thank Jim again, and one final time for bringing this place up and offering it to our trio. Not to forget the fact that he treated me to the best meal of my life there, which I will soon describe with such detail that your mouth my actually die a little inside from jealousy. Jim is a scholar and a gentleman, and for taking me to this place...a saint. Thank you.

Ok, back to the point. From the ferry we walked down the main drag in town. No cars exist on this island, and only a few golf carts help with deliveries to the storefronts and restaurants. You can hike around the entire island in about a half a day, which I bet is incredible, but alas, we had no time for such treats. Even still, had we the time to hike, our plans would more than likely changed after we walked through the first restaurant.

Harbor to our right, and wall of incredible live seafood to our left we found ourselves in the middle of heaven. I'm quite the little saltwater aquarist and despite my failings at keeping most anything alive other than algae, I do have a great understanding of what it might take to keep things alive...having said that...the gentleman that ran this seafood joint was a genius. He literally had a wall 15 feet high and maybe 6 feet deep of aquariums, filled to the brim with every possible sea creature, from snail to rainbow colored lobster, all caught that day less than a mile from the dock. We spent the better part of 30 minutes surveying the "menu" and speaking with the owner. I was broke at this point and lobster wasn't really an option for me, shit ramen noodles would have pressed my bank. But Jim, in his infinite wisdom, saw the potential this creature served to our tastebuds, and insisted we dine there later that night. And who was I to argue....a giant snow crab was staring at me, daring me to eat him.

We instructed the owner to save us a waterfront table, and promised to return when we had the sufficient appetite, and continued down the small path to discover the rest of the island.

We passed through all kinds of produce stands, and small hippy shops filled with beautiful music and goods. Jessica found some nice scarves and a little downtrodden with the idea of eating seafood for dinner thought a smoothie was in order. Now eating seafood for Jessica, is about as enticing as well...nothing....she really cant stand the majority of it. To her credit, she's eaten more things and variety of things on this trip than even I dared, so she had earned her decision to opt out. I think her body was in rebellion of that decision, and it bestowed upon her a tremendous headache, she would say something to the contrary....but I think we all know she should have had the dinner we were about to enjoy with us ;)
Anyhow, after drinking down some organic smoothies we finished our walk passing by some small shrines with incense, banana trees, lush vegetation, and children enjoying the island life their parents had thrust upon them. We also found a tiny little bar with the best, freshest Guinness I have ever enjoyed, and it was about 3 bucks for a pint...You may now start to understand why I loved this place so...but the best was far from occurring.

We found our way back to our little slice of heaven, and found the owner adding the days catch to top off the tanks. He was busy negotiating prices with the fishermen, and I was getting hungry, so I sat myself. We got a rather choice little table with a priceless view of the setting sun.

The waitress, or should I say angel, came over to take our order...I let Jim take the honors as he was the Captain of this journey. He got up and walked over to the menu with the waitress where he proceeded in choosing our dinner with marksman like talent. He decided we should have 5 courses of deliciousness, snail, fish, lobster and crab...and some chicken fried rice for Jessica. That with the bottle of wine I snagged from a shop down the street constituted our ordered meal...

And so it began.

Jim had left the meal preparations up to the house's recommendation. First to bat were the snails...you can see them up above to the lower left of the snow crab in a little baggy. They came to us in a spicy little soup dish, in shell and everything. Jim and I dug in, and Jessica got over her gag reflex and started taking pictures (some of which I'll post soon.) Our first bite of that soup concluded any vocal communications for the rest of the dinner. From that moment on Jim and I only communicated through a complex series of grunts and groans from such depths of myself I doubt they will ever be uttered again. The snail soup was outstanding. But it's excellence was quickly outdone. Next we ate fish. Funny, I remember that fish being very good, and it's being consumed in it's entirety...but the lobster we had next had really wiped out all other memories of that fish...

OH MY GOD the lobster. As large as some small countries, the lobster was served opened in it's shell in a decadent buttery onion sauce of happiness. I have never....in my life....eaten something so good. That lobster didn't even qualify as food, it was without a doubt, some kind of illegal drug that only the wisest of hippies know about. The tender juiciness of the lobster meat melted in your mouth for even teeth are not worthy of touching this animal. The buttery onion creamy sauce that smothered the meat served to help you from fainting out of pleasure. I remember actually feeling that meal in the back of my cerebral cortex....the pleasure center of my brain was giddy with joy. I think Jessica even got residual happiness from the meal as she indulged a bite....but Jim and I were goners so I don't really remember. Laughter mysteriously burst out between Jim and I....we laughed for no known reason... it was some primal instinct that kicked in and took over....I believe my soul actual crept out of my body and finished the rest of that meal for I have no actual visceral memory after the 3rd bite. And before we knew it, that monster sized lobster was gone.

I think the waitress wanted our buzz to last as long as possible before she brought out our last dish of snow crab, for it wasn't served until I landed back in my seat and started speaking something other than ancient tongues and grunts. That crab was rather incredible as well. Although nothing of the lobster level, but still the best crab I had ever eaten. The meat was perfectly cooked and basically fell out of the shell and into my mouth.

I think Jessica must have carried me out of that place because I was so drunken with pleasure that I doubt I would ever have left under my own will.

Here is your only clue as to the location/name of said establishment. If you ever find yourself here....for the love of everything that is holy....GET THE LOBSTER.

Thank you Jim.

That meal capped out what was a trip of a lifetime. I learned more about myself on that trip than I have in 24 years of living. I took about 900 photos and earned 6 stamps of honor in my passport. I interacted with locals without knowing a lick of Chinese and carried on with world travelers that only exist in my memory about who knows what.

Despite what our government may think or say in regards to China, many things I found true, people are the same anywhere you go. Politicians are corrupt, tourists are ignorant, and people are, for the most part, good natured and understanding. I bargained with pros only to find that after starting as enemies over the price of worthless junk, we became friends over the bond of trying to out wager each other. I found that if you are dumb enough to get robbed or taken or pick pocketed, you probably deserved it, your money will eventually help someone so sweating it may be silly, and you can learn a few lessons. Beer always tastes better when in a different country. Smiles are international and can get you help, un lost, a cab, a beer, and better yet a friend if only for a few moments.

This world we live in exists only in our minds. The person who lives down the street from you is no different than the person who lives 12,000 miles away and who lives in an opposite environment. Wars are fought between ignorant fools who don't eat enough Llama island lobster or drink enough Guinness. Passports are fingerprints, money is worthless and people are good.

I'm not sure where my travels will find me next, but I cannot wait to go, and part of me is already there waiting my arrival. I can only hope to share my future journies with such incredible people as my last.

Until then...

Days 1-2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Days 11-12 Day 13

-David

China - Days 11&12 - Hong Kong

2007-12-01T17:28:00.000-08:00

I'm going to blend our 3 days in Hong Kong into one entry as I just now realized I have no itinerary of what we did while there. Not that any one other than Jessica or Jim will realize...however much of what we did in Hong Kong was a blur at this point. I'll save my last entry of the trip for Llama Island, which was by far, the best part of the trip.

We left Youngshou by bus, arrived back in Guilin and immediately boarded a high speed train to Hong Kong. Concluding what was our guided tour in doing so. Hong Kong was only a scheduled stop at the end of the tour for the plane ride back to LAX, lucky for me, Jim and Jessica both wouldn't dare entertain the notion of not enjoying Hong Kong.

I still haven't decided if it is better to end a 2 week tour of China in Hong Kong, or begin there. In case you've been living under a rock for the past 15 years, you should know that Hong Kong was, until '95, a British Commonwealth. It remains, for all intensive purposes, the same today. You even need a separate visa to enter the "city". Everyone there still drives on the left side of the road, they all maintain British accents, and the beer there is second to none. And that means easy traveling for the International Tourist. I'm not sure if I enjoyed the city as much as I did due to the ease of traveling in such an international setting, or if it was due to my previous exposure to the Chinese culture. Anyhow, Hong Kong cannot be missed.

We stayed across the river from the downtown proper of what is known as Hong Kong city, in Kowloon. Although, if it weren't for the gigantic harbor/river the separated the two areas, you wouldn't know they were different. There is more wealth in Hong Kong than imaginable. Every other car is a Maserati, or a butler driven Mercedes. Apparently hotel prices there are no joking matter, and Kowloon is much more affordable.

See Hong Kong in the lower portion of the photo and Kowloon directly across the river, taken from Victoria's Peak in Hong Kong.

What you can't see in that photo are the miles of subway that run underneath the channel and the incredible ferry system that make crossing that distance no trouble at all. The subway system in Hong Kong is one of the most beautiful mass transit systems I have ever been witness. The train schedules leave you never having to wait more than 2 minutes. The stops are immaculate in their maintenance. The trains themselves are not separated, leaving a very long tube like train that sends an incredible whoosh of air across all of the riders faces with every start and stop...perhaps the only chance at catching a real fresh breath of air in China. Anyhow, compared to even New Yorks subway system, Hong Kong is far superior.

The city is also marveled for it's incredible architecture. The building above is by far the tallest in the city, but were it not for that fact, probably one of the most boring. All kinds of shapes, structures, purposes and community are found within the beautiful skyscrapers that fill the Hong Kong cityscape. From buildings made to look like a tree with Koala's ascending the sides, to inverted structures that seems as though the top of the building is the bottom, and vice versa. A sight worth seeing, and one I sadly did not capture, was the Hong Kong cityscape at night from Kowloon. The incredible amounts of colors mixed with the density of the development make for a sight incomparable to any other city in the modern world save maybe Dubai. Oddly, Hong Kong captured so much of my attention I made a very rare decision to leave my camera behind so I could fully take in such a wonderful place.

We spent our days there finding all kinds of fascinating markets to walk through. Pictured above was the fish market where the freshest fowl and fish could be found, most times still living, and were all available to be butchered for you in front of your eyes. I kept wishing I had something like this in Downtown San Diego where I could walk a couple blocks, and pick out today's catch, have it filleted in front of my eyes, and take it home to grill, all before it squeaked out it's last breath. Jessica couldn't stand more than 5 minutes of this place, as the rather ripe odors lofted around her nose and seeped into her skin turning her a pale greenish color. So our stay at the fish market was short lived. We did however find more markets where we could spend a little more time. We found a jade market with every possible trinket and Buddha statuette imaginable. We flashed our newly honed and scary bargaining skills and walked outta that place with more weight in jade than was humanly possible to carry....lucky for us I have superhuman strength and a backpack to suit. We found a goldfish market filled with millions of fish tanks, every species of fish known to man, more coral than the Great Barrier Reefs in Australia all for the taking...so long as smuggling was no issue. The odors Jessica loved so much were also omnipresent here and made our trip a little too short, but that was perhaps better for me as my urge to mail myself illegal corals was growing with every tank.

Above is a bird's eye view of a typical market street in the city. Filled with people, store fronts, odors and everything else that comprises the daily grind of a Hong Kong shopper. All of this shopping made me very thirsty and some good beer was in order. Good beer and Hong Kong go hand in hand. Jessica's uncle Joe had mentioned that we must make a trip to Lan Kwai Fong, the greatest bar district the world had to offer. Joe is a brilliant man, and from now on, anything he utters as truth will become testament to both my drinking pallet and soul. We knocked back some great british ales, found some tastey smooth cuban cigars and spent the remaining night hours speaking with fellow world travelers and purveyors of great beers.

There is more energy and life in Hong Kong than I have ever found in my travels. Albeit my travels to this point were primarily stayed within the US, but still...the youth here seem to have purpose and excitement for change. I'm not even sure how I got that sentiment, but I couldn't shake it. Even the "graffiti" spoke more of art than gang turf establishment.

Art is youth, and youth is the future and Hong Kong represents the future civilization of the world. A little presumptuous I know, but this place, this community has a collective energy that even the most apprehensive skeptic can feel. I really feel as though my adult life will find it's way back to Hong Kong in more than one way, the most of which I feel will be in the way Hong Kong is going to effect the rest of the world; that is at least if China doesn't have it's way with the city.

I really loved this place, and could go on ad nauseum about it, but this blog isn't long enough, nor do my fingers have the strength.

Perhaps I'll come back here at some point and update this with the lasting memories that weave their way in and out of my day dreams, until then....

Days 1-2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Days 11-12 Day 13

-David

China - Day 10 - Li River to Yangshuo

2007-11-28T11:51:00.000-08:00

Whenever I had previously envisioned China, after the initial thoughts of firecrackers, steeple roofs, scorpions on a stick, hole in the ground toilets, communism, orange chicken, and the Great Wall passed I pictured the Li River. Although, I never knew it was the Li River I was imagining. All I could think of were the signature mountain landscapes and the winding rivers. I thought the entire country looked that way based on how much I'd seen the images in popular culture or history class:

(20 yuan dollar back, printed with images of the Li River)

(Traditional Chinese Art)
So actually seeing the place was rather inspiring. We took a 5 hour cruise on a 2 story boat, one of about 400 on the river doing the same thing. This boat, although not made of bamboo, was basically as primitive. A few crude welds on a couple of sheets of metal, a lawn mower engine strapped to a propeller and presto changeo, we had a boat. To it's credit, it managed to get a boatload of people down a river that was easily only a couple feet deep on average.

Anyhow, we gently passed by some old villages and fishing parties, clicking pictures and drinking tea; the life of the Chinese tourist.

Most of the day went by at this pace, a gradually we made our way to a small tourist town of Yangshuo.

We arrived at a tiny plot of cement just tall enough for us to disembark the boat. And were instantly thrust into a community that exists primarily through the wallets of the Li River tourists and some major theater act I'll get to later.

From the ferry landing we had to walk about a mile to our hotel. There were significantly fewer cars within this city, primarily congested by tourist foot traffic and the occasional golf cart like delivery truck.

Jessica's sixth sense kicked in and after about 5 minutes she realized that this place was filled with incredibly good knock off merchandise. I admit, even I was impressed with the quality of this crap. I mean, to this day people see the stuff we got there (ok maybe just the purses jessica bought, after all my watch already broke) and swear that they are the real thing. Anxious to spend some money, we raced to our hotel, got situated then made a journey back to the market area for some hard core bargaining. Some 4 purses, 2 rolling luggages, numerous silk garments, and who knows what else later it was time to head back for dinner, and some weird show everyone kept raving about.

To this point, I had seen my fill of "shows" and was contemplating ditching the group for some more time in the city, but Jim assured me that I would be a fool in doing so. Thankfully, I listened to him.

We finished dinner and started our bus ride to what was claimed to be some big cultural show with dancers or something that really didn't capture my interest. The only thing that broke the layer or resilience around my thick skull was that the same guy who is in charge of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics was producing this show. Now, if you know me, you know I can appreciate most forms of art. I mean I can even find some abstract sculptures to contain some shred of artistic value, but without fail...halftime shows, cheerleaders, and choreography in general have never been something I considered artistic or worth my time. Generally, by rule, if people are dancing in any kind of production within a sports arena its bound to be horrid. And the Olympic ceremonies have reinvented the term tacky. So, in full "this is going to suck" mode, I went along for the ride.

I sure am a real idiot sometimes.

I realized that sentiment at about the same moment when I observed half of the freaking planet lined up trying to get into this arena/theater/stadium we were heading to. Even more so when we got of out the bus and merged with the hordes of thousands of people trying to get to their seats. Honestly, there were probably 100,000 people in the audience of this show (which plays every night!). A show, to this point, that I still had no idea the content of. It was dusk, but there was just enough light to find our seats and sit down. My brain didn't process where the stage was going to be in front of us, for our seats looked forward towards nothing but the Li River.
And well...then the indescribable happened:

(Those are mountains about a mile away and about 700 boats with fisherman on them, all moving in unison: both images were found at http://www.guilin4seasons.com)
The mountains as far as a mile away lit up with spotlights, thousands of dancers and fishing boats appeared on the water, the riverbanks were lit up by archers with flame arrows, everything followed some kind of color scheme as was set to music...I'm telling you, I doubt I will ever see something so incredibly beautiful and man made in my entire life.

Somehow, this guy...who damn well better prove me wrong about opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics, made a performance with thousands of actors on such a grand scale that no amount of adjectives will ever come close to capturing. There was some sort or story about some Chinese woman and how she liked to dance on the moon or something, but there was no translation needed. Hands down...the coolest show I have ever, or will ever see in my life.
That night I realized a couple of things.
1.) China really does have more people than physics should allow, thus making anything possible i.e. the most beautiful production ever choreographed in history. and
2.) I deserve to be slapped in the face when I decide, before knowing anything, that I do or don't like something.

Conceding that point to China, I put the score of awesomeness at: China - 8,330,484,32 and David - 0.

Broken, and in disbelief I went to bed.

If you ever find yourself in China, you must...MUST make a trip to Guilin, find someone who will drive you or ferry you to Yangshuo and find a way to see this show. It is called the " Impression on Sanjie Liu".

I found this video on youtube: which kind of illustrates the show:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEUDdtWi_d0

Days 1-2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Days 11-12 Day 13

-David

China - Day 9 - Guilin

2007-11-27T15:41:00.000-08:00

Leaving Shanghai was an anti climax. Sensory overload was in full force and I was practically resilient from any more dramatic scenery. It's only now, in retrospect, that I fully grasp and appreciate the few destinations we had between Shanghai and Hong Kong; our first being Guilin.

We flew from Shanghai at night, so peering out of our small airplane window to see the incredible landscape below was no option. I passed my time then like I did on most plane rides by reading my newly discovered gem, Travels With Charlie by John Steinbeck. An oddly synonymous story of my own travels, despite the differences in plot and location. When we arrived in Guilin we were greeted with the thickest pollution yet. Which came as a surprise, as we were told the air there was especially clean. We could barely breathe getting off the plane, and mixed with the late hour and lack of sleep, our group was all but pleasant on the long ride to our hotel. Apparently there was a small fire nearby the airport and we were inhaling smoke, but for the sake of continuity I am going to chalk it up to Global Warming and coal burning industries ;)

An odd site at the airport was a bunch of fake palm trees colored in tacky primary red, green, and yellows. Odd more because there was no lack of natural, very beautiful palms in that part of the country. I would soon find out that Guilin had a knack for artificially coloring things to the point of nausea and absurdity (I think the government there may be enjoying a little too much opium, perhaps) they looked ridiculous.

Anyhow, the smaller town of Guilin meant a slightly smaller hotel, but an excellent one none the less.

Day 8 really started that next morning when we awoke to find we had another event filled day of sightseeing. We first headed out to what was dubbed a cave, rather the "reed flute cave" which really should have been called "a whored out tourism vomitorium of cave like structures and color, where people played reed flutes a long time ago"...I really enjoyed my time there if you can't already tell. At the cave we were filed through what equated to something like the Carlsbad Caverns or any generic cave with stalagmites and stalactites. One thing different, this cave had a light show of horrid excess. Picture a mini golf course or you local put put panorama with those terrible red flood lights lighting up the windmill for no apparent artistic reason, but in a cave. Caves are beautiful things, even with the slightest bit of natural or soft white naturalish light...why ruin them in color? Bahh, listen to me, I still can't even enjoy that place...I guess it had it's charms, Jessica and I got a rather cool photo after all:

We left the cave and made our way back to where I really found a place worth seeing. The entire region around Guilin (South West China) is dominated by rivers. The entire economy revolves around them and I found this to be one of the most serene places I had ever been.

Everywhere you could see, bamboo boats, fisherman, villages, everything was tied to the water. Perhaps I was finding solace in something close to an ocean and boats the slightly resembled surfboards, or maybe I missed my own surfboard a little too much, but either way I loved this place.
Life seems to slow down anywhere near water. It's as though your worries are washed away. Or perhaps you just have an excuse to sit, listen and think about things for a while. This city, as a whole, seemed to share the sentiment. "Screw motors, we can pull ourselves across the freaking river...whats the hurry" says the men pictured above and below.

I really found a lot of life lessons to be true in China, the most important of which being the lack of importance material possessions possess. These people could go an entire life time using less materials than I use in a week. Give a man a piece of string in China and you'll get a factory back. They really know how to make the most of the smallest amount.

Now I am also highly suspect of this "native lifestyle" so close to the tourism heart of Guilin. Take for instance this gentle man pictured below:

He was standing on rocks that helped frame a pedestrian bridge from the tourist bus stop to the tourist gift shop along the river walk. Apparently he was using that net to catch fish, but I swear, he threw that thing in there about 30 times and had nothing to show for it when he was done. Trust me, I must have shot about 30 photos of him tossing the thing in there, each time cursing his lack of skill. It now occurs to me that no fisherman in China is lacking in skill. I mean, shit, they've perfected the technique to levels that rival Great White Shark skill. Have you ever been lake fishing near a Chinese man or woman? I swear they can catch fish after fish using the same bait, the same reel, the same rod, less the 5 feet from you while you remain biteless. This guy not being able to catch a fish with a net strikes me as something a little...fishy. More than likely he served as a little tourism point of interest, along with his girlfriend below:

What you don't see in this photo is her sign that reads "10 dollars to take picture with my birds". Which Jim, in fact, did. Those birds, I learned, are cormorants. They are used as fishing poles...in a sense. The fisherman puts a ring around their neck that disallows swallowing of any fish caught, and then allows the bird to dive into the water to scoop up any unlucky swimmers and report back to said fisherman. These birds pictured didn't even have the rings on their necks...piff...the imposters! But still, they served as nice focal points for many of my photos, and were still pretty damn cool, authenticity aside.

Serving as a backdrop to all of this tomfoolery was one of the more dramatic cliffsides I have ever witnessed. Elephant Trunk Hill..

However, this site was nothing compared to what we were in store for on Day 10. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Not too far away from the hill were the elephants...of sorts.

Although cement, they did look pretty damn life like. Notice the boat captains? just hanging out, watching the day go by from atop their bamboo yachts...not too shabby I say.

These poor people ferry ignorant, photo happy, tourists like myself up and down this river probably 363 days a year. A lot of people say that going to war with China would be a cataclysmic event as they would overrule us in no time, but I disagree. If the patience level of these boat ferries drivers is anywhere near the average level, these people would never get mad at anyone, for anything, ever. I don't care what you say =)

We got back to our hotel after dinner just in time for a "traditional dance" of some sort. It turned out to be some crazy acrobatic/middle school performance with cheesey costumes and weird music:

and just when I thought it couldn't get any worse... I was taken captive by the evil temptresses:

I'm still not sure what I was selected for, or what I witnessed up there (Im in the back right with the please kill me now body posture) . A lot of colors were whizzing by me, and girls were signing and dancing around me in some twisted ritualistic virgin sacrifice. I think there must have been some opium in my tea.

Thankfully, the drugs wore off, and the dance ended and I was allowed to return to reality. A reality in which Jessica and I decided to get a 2 hour full body and foot massage. For about 30 us dollars were were granted two round trip tickets to heaven. Well, perhaps hell first, those little 16 year old Chinese kids have death grip strength, but heaven after....not that kind of after...Happy endings were NOT included nor purchased nor anything...ohh forget it...pervert.

We drank more tea, and passed out with perma-grins plastered on our faces the rest of the night.

Days 1-2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Days 11-12 Day 13

-David

China - Day 8 - Shanghai

2007-11-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

(above: Shanghai's business district. The sphere looking tower to the left is the Radio Tower Building, and the tallest building in the right portion of the picture is the tallest building in all of China and the second tallest in the world, The Shanghai World Financial Building.)

Day 8 was a bonus. Our tour guide informed us that our early flight out of the city had been bumped to a later flight and we had the entire day to see some of the city. A most excellent turn of events. Shanghai was a city I could get lost in for a least a week, so an extra 15 hours there was more than welcomed. We planned to visit a renowned shopping center, a really cool museum, a silk factory, and a nice Mongolian food lunch. Although, after our guide brought up the lunch not being Chinese food, I would have been happy watching paint dry the rest of the day.

So we headed out on our leisurely day of sightseeing in such an incredible city. First we stopped amidst the giants of Shanghai, the Shanghai World Financial Tower (pictured at the top of this blog) and the Radio Tower (pictured below).

Shanghai is situated on a river like harbor that runs through the city. More barges run through that stretch of water in a minute, than cars do on the 15 during rush hour...ok not really...but you get the point...it's crazy busy. We walked around the harbor front for about an hour on what turned out to be a beautiful day in the city. The sun came out and a gentle breeze whipped up. I actually took a little break and found a nice little perch above the boardwalk and just took in the setting for about 10 minutes. I managed to situate myself slightly behind a little camera stand selling batteries, memory cards, film...etc. 2 younger guys seemed to be working the stand although business was extremely slow and boredom was driving them away from their responsibilities. I soon discovered that one of them was catching small turtles that were washing up from the harbor. Using a 15 foot net tied to a stick, he would swoop them up, wash them off, and turn around and sell them to tourists...salmonella included free of charge. =) The ferries and barges passed by at a brisk pace and life seemed to have a little bit more hurry everywhere around me. Jessica and Jim returned from their walk further down the boardwalk and we met up with the rest of the group and got back on the bus.

We were headed to a silk factory. Normally anything that had "factory" in the destination name turned me off, and drove me into a slow catatonic state...but I had been waiting to get to this particular factory from the onset of the trip's planning. Jim had mentioned that I could get a really nice silk comforter for my bed for next to nothing, and this was the place to get it. For some reason my American brain processed "silk" comforter as a comforter filled with little strips of silk fabric...like as if somebody had taken a silk sheet and cut it up into strips and filled the comforter...Apparently I'm a moron. Or perhaps I never really imagined what silk looked like before it was...well...silk...or at least the manufactured silk that I am used to. Anyhow, to get this silk from the silk worm to fill a comforter a couple of things must happen. First the silk worm must spin his little cocoon so close to another silk worm doing the same thing that they both become intertwined in a little rat's nest of silken cocoonness. Thus creating a double cocoon that cannot be used for spinning fine silk, for shirts, dresses, etc. They then boil the cocoon and remove the worm(it helps to know that they aren't slimy earth worm type worms). Then the stretch out the silk from a little 3 inch ball to the size of my Cal King Bed and repeat the process about 500 times until the right thickness is reached.

(above: A worker boils the silk worm cocoons to spin the thread into a bundle of usable silk. One cocoon gets one continuous silk thread some 200 feet long.)

Anyhow, we got my new comforter for about 100 us dollars, compared to a much thinner down comforter the same size at 250-300 dollars. And I'm happy to report it is amazing, if you have the means, you must get one yourself.

We then made our way to the central downtown area for some museums and shopping. The Shanghai Museum of Art I believe it was, was pretty standard as far a museums go, except for its Ming China Collection. Basically a bunch of very old pots, to put things mildly. Jim took some sweet shots, I decided to leave my camera stored away. We then made our way to some crazy shopping district with more people and more stores than... I'm not sure how many times I can type the phrase "more people/buildings/stores/cars/bikes/ _____ than imaginable" without going crazy...so just picture lots of people...or better yet look at Jessica's photo below.

I don't think we actually bought anything in this chaos, I think flashing your money here was practically an invitation to be robbed but the sales were awesome and the choices endless.

We saved most of our shopping for our next destination...and it was a good thing too for the prices were lower and the quality even higher than anything we had previously seen.

Shanghai was a place I wish I had more time in more than any place except for maybe The Great Wall. Have I the opportunity to ever visit again, I will without hesitation.

Days 1-2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Days 11-12 Day 13

-David

China - Day 7 - Xian to Shanghai

2007-11-26T09:26:00.000-08:00

(above: Shanghai market area)
Day 7 started early, a recurring theme throughout our trip. Unfortunatly we had to leave Xian before we really got to enjoy it. We barely got a glimpse of some of the treasures that city had, and while I doubt I will make any extra effort to visit the place again, if I do, I must find a way to rent a bike and ride it along the city wall. I'd also like to hang out with some locals there. There is very little tourism in Xian other than to the Terracotta soldiers, so unless the locals live or work within that specific region, exposure to westerners is limited. I really wanted to understand Xian a little better, there seemed to be a great energy there that I was disallowed to tap into. Anyhow, we had virtually no time in the morning as we were off to the airport and then to Shanghai, the excitement of which quickly filled any void I felt from Xian.

We arrived in Shanghai and scored an amazing hotel for the night, the 4 points Sheraton. A 5 star hotel with amazing accommodations. We also lucked out with an incredible tour guide. A 30-40 year old brilliant academic type man. We were only scheduled to be in Shanghai for that evening and the following half day as we had a pretty early flight to Guilin. I didn't really process how short that time would actually be, until we drove into the city of Shanghai and I realized how much I wanted to stay.

Shanghai is immense. I can't even begin to tell you how many skyscrapers there are there. It's basically Manhattan....on crack. Apparently Shanghai blossomed very late in the industrial revolution, no real growth really took hold until about 25 years ago, which was great for the city. With a virtual blank canvas to develop, modern technology and architecture took root and has spread like crazy throughout the region.

The only problem with such rapid development is pollution. And Shanghai is dirty.

From the skies to the seas, filth overwhelms. Shanghai is still a beautiful city, despite it's waste, but something needs to be done. That amount of pollution is a global problem, not a local one. Not to get too Al Gore on everyone, but this is a problem we will be facing as a global community within the next 10 years. Even my camera fell victim to the dirty living space. I felt as though I was back home taking shots of the wildfires judging from the amount of dirt that found it's way inside my camera and thus onto most of my photos.

On our way to the hotel we stopped in the city for dinner and shopping. We were treated to another amazing, traditional Chinese dinner...I think we had more duck and chicken...

I was losing my mind at this point as the food was becoming one gigantic dish of the same mystery meats and veggies. We washed up and headed out, half of the group going to the hotel with the bus, the rest going shopping and getting a cab to get home. We walked down the busy streets and peeked into the various store fronts. I mysteriously found a desire to buy a watch. For no other reason than over commercialism and availability of cheap products, I found I needed one. So while I started looking at watches, Jessica started doing the same with designer (knock off) purses. Most of the stuff we found was utter crap, but it was still fun looking none the less. I can only last so long in such environments. The longer I am packed in with masses of people the more rage builds inside of me eventually leading to me acting like a bulldozer. I lower my head, square my shoulders and start plowing my way through the crowds of innocent people dragging Jessica behind me and taking no mercy on the speed bumps of smaller Asians in front of me.

Anyhow, we made our way back through the city to our Hotel in a cab. It was dark when we arrived, and Shanghai is known for it's lights. Practically every building, from the most prominent to the most dilapidated, decked out their building side with incredible lights. Our hotel was no different, we were greeted with a 20 story plus tower with a beautiful display of color and design. We checked in and found ourselves surrounded by opulence and wealth. That Hotel was absolutely baller.

Jessica was getting antsy to find a decent nightlife in China. She had visions of a crazy disco/karaoke house filled with techno music and crazy Chinese youth. So, as we got off the bus, we pulled our guide aside and asked him for some recommendations. He kindly jotted down the name of some bar district in Chinese for us to hand a cabby and we were off. Jim was eager to join in as the rest of the group was pretty much all yawns at this point. We got a relatively late start to the night, we ended up leaving the hotel at about 10 pm. Mind you this was the middle of the work week and most places were already closed. We made it to the bar scene at around 10:30 and found a handful of really cool looking places. The first of which was a authentic German Bar complete with Chinese waitresses dressed in laider hoisen, and incredible beer.

I was starting to get tired of nothing but traditional Chinese food, so I ordered a plate of German Sausage, which accompanied with a German Lager is most excellent I must say. We finished our boots of glorious beer and checked out a few more bars on the way home. We stumbled into a nice little dancing bar, crammed with people. I'm not sure if it met Jessica's desires, but it seemed crazy enough to me =) and the rest of that night is really a blur to me.

We got back to our hotel around 1 and passed out, somewhat disappointed the day was over, but we were in store for some great news the next day.

Days 1-2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Days 11-12 Day 13

-David

China - Day 6 - Xian & Terracotta Soldiers

2007-11-20T14:55:00.000-08:00

(Xian at nightfall from atop the Xian City Wall)
After sleeping on a wonderful bed, I know i begin all of these the same, but trust me...if you were a 6 ft 1 inch man sleeping in hotel beds in China would be a memorable experience, to say the least. The average bed size there is at least a foot shorter than the shortest of bed sizes here, thus leaving my feet to dangle off the end of the bed like some bad comedy sketch.

Anyhow, Xian is an altogether unimpressive city. It doesn't have the lights of Shanghai or the temples of Beijing, but it is by no means short of history and or people. Xian was a isolated urban area primarily known for the terracotta warriors. Tourists went there for few other reasons, so the city didn't cater to them in any outward way other than the expected tourist traps on the way to the site. What I did enjoy about Xian more than anywhere else was it's authenticity. Albeit from the inside of the bus, Xian seemed like a city true to itself. The citizens there weren't outwardly friendly nor by any means negative. Life seemed to carry on as it were regardless of our presence. I found this very refreshing. Everywhere else wanted some piece of my American wallet, Xian just wanted me to appreciate the immense place in time it served.

We soon discovered that despite the city's few promoted attractions, there was much to discover. One of the most incredible attributes Xian hold is the Largest intact city wall in all of China. Much like the Great wall encompassed the country, the Xian city wall protected the city. Every major city in China had one, but few remain today, and Xian's is in near perfect shape.

This photo was taken atop the wall, looking at one of the towers. I didn't manage a decent one showing the actual wall as we only saw it from inside the bus. But it is incredible none the less.

We drove through the city on our way to a farm on the outskirts of town where some farmer accidentally discovered one of the most treasured archaeological finds in history while digging a well. He found the terracotta soldiers:

Now I haven't been to many archaeological digs, in fact I've never been to one, but I'm sure this one takes the cake. There are 3 bunkers packed with these things. Each bunker could hold a few football fields each, and each hold thousands of warriors. It really was a sight to see.

Like most tourist destinations, we were herded through the compound with thousands of other visitors, all taking as many photos as memory cards would permit. Some coming out nicer than others, some not coming out at all, and some looking like some kind of metaphysical photography of people taking photos of people taking photos...or something:

We also managed to see some pretty cool hot springs while in Xian. Some emperor built this to warm up during the winter which apparently is rather cold.

Apparently that mountain in the background had a couple natural hot springs that were discovered then exploited and rerouted into bath houses and man made lakes. It made for a rather scenic setting, and a pretty nice place to clean up with a few of your favorite concubines.

Jessica took this of a concubine statue from inside the Hot Springs. Those emperors had a pretty rough life ;)

We ended our day with a relaxing local dinner. Anxious to start our next day on our way to Shanghai.

Days 1-2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Days 11-12 Day 13

-David

China - Day 5 - Beijing to Xian

2007-11-20T11:18:00.000-08:00

(Jessica and her twin-like friend/tour guide Ashley)

After our 4th night on the cement mattresses my back, albeit straight as an arrow, was hurting for a qualifiable bed that would rest my traveling body.

You'd think a day centered on a 1200 km flight or 800 miles would be relatively uneventful, but not on a CYTS 14 day tour of China. Prior to our flight, and on the way to the airport, we made a voyage to the temple of heaven.

Funny, of the 900 photos I took....I didn't take any of this place...I blame it on my mattress, or perhaps the fact that there were a gazillion people there and I retreated in my shell...or maybe I just haven't gotten to them in the 2 gigabyte folder worth of photos yet...In either case i didn't take that photo its from here: http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/Tour/ScenicSpots/t161755.htm">

Maybe I'll find some photos I took and post them here later, but anyways...Temple of Heaven...basically another opulent Chinese Shrine built buy some Emperor in order to do something holy or well... you get the point.

The coolest part of the temple, in my opinion, was something that was altogether unrelated. Every morning thousand of retired Chinese people gather in the entrances to the temple and go fitness crazy. No, I'm not talking about those cheesey Saturday morning spandex arobisize classes you see on TV, I'm talking about sweet games that I normally only attempt while intoxicated or reliving my life as an 8 year old. From Hackey Sack: (I did better than this photo illustrates ;)

to Tie Chi, to flag dancing:

dominoes:

singing, dancing, to some crazy smashball looking thing you do under your legs like a ninja of paddlesport:

you name it, those old people know how to party. And I couldn't resist, and neither could Jessica, we jumped right in.... and got schooled by people 3-4times our ages, it was great!

We then left the temple, said goodbye to our tour guide, and boarded a plane to Xian, to see the Terracotta soldiers.

When we arrived we met our tour guide for the city of Xian who took us to our hotel, then to a amazing dumpling feast. We ate more dumplings that night than I had ever seen in my entire life, some 12 courses of every kind of dumpling imaginable:

We also had our first group member fall victim to counterfeit money, as we found out when the waitress practically threw the bill back at him and started yelling some crazy Chinese no one understood. We were then treated to some fancy Opera that I almost fell asleep through, nothing against the Opera, it was pretty good, but if you pull me through 800 miles of Chinese sights and sounds then stuff me full of dumplings, turn down the lights and put a bunch of men in crazy costumes who start singing to me on stage, I'm probably going to fall asleep 99 times out of 100.

We then went back to our new 5 star hotel, which I was very pleased to find had a real bed, and passed out.

Day 6 and the terracotta warriors to come soon.

Days 1-2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Days 11-12 Day 13

-David

China - Day 4- Beijing & The Great Wall

2007-11-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

Day 4 arrived with much anticipation. In the 180+ days we had to look forward to our journey to the Orient, the Great Wall was a definite focal point and something everyone was especially looking forward to.

Breakfast and the hour long bus ride to the wall went bye in no time. The only thing worth noting was that by leaving the urban area of Beijing we finally saw a contrast in air quality. The skies in Beijing have this very depressing grey starkness to them. While under the cloud of smog and soot you don't really fully understand just how bad the pollution actually is. The skies don't clear up, if at all, until you get about an hour out of town.

As our distance from the city grew so too did the changes in the scenery. The colors of autumn were really starting to take hold on the mountain sides with such vibrance and splendor words only do an injustice. We started weaving our way up the mountain side, when all of a sudden the Great Wall greeted us. Like a giant ribbon resting atop the mountain crest, the wall followed the mountain tops as far as the eye could see.

It really is awe inspiring.

Our bus found the rest of the thousands of tourists visiting the wall that day and we began to file out to join the masses.

Again, before my feet could even reach the ground from the bus doorstep I was barraged with "You wan Wolex Watch?" "You wan gootchy bag?". Like moths to a lone summer's night light bulb, these vendors (hawkers) could find us anywhere in China. We didn't actually give into them until about day 6...when our wills finally broke. =)

When I first saw the masses of people about to attempt to scale the wall with our group all of my excitement was lost. The wall must be about 20 feet tall and 15 feet wide. It looked like it would be shoulder to shoulder people slowly climbing with us.
And as much fun as some sweaty, 80 year old, German ass in my face for some 5000 steps of awesomeness seemed, I was desperate to find an alternative. Thankfully, our guide let a few of us go across the street(un-guided) to an isolated segment of the wall where virtually no tourists roamed.

It was incredible. At our leisure we explored about a mile and a half loop of the wall, rarely passing any other people. Up and down with the rise and fall of the mountain we hiked on. To the Chinese who once used this wall for its actual military purpose I give much credit; this wall is a physical challenge. The steps are about 2 feet steep and a half a foot deep. Try to scale this thing whilst being shot at, at night, in the rain, in the cold does not sound like a enjoyable experience. We even ventured into some of the old guard towers and found ourselves scaling the same steps the ancient Chinese warriors climbed in the midst of said rainy, cold battles. That wall was incredible, and the pictures I took came out no different. I don't think a bad photo from even the worst of cameras was possible on that day. The lighting was perfect, the skies were clear, the leaves were in full autumn color and the wall was magnificent. I am so glad I went, and will never let go of the vivid memories of such a magnificent place.

Looking back, it still amazes me how people could build such a thing with such ancient technologies. It is said that so many lives were lost in the construction of the wall, that The Great Wall is considered to be one of the largest cemeteries on the planet. It is also said that you can no longer see the Great Wall from outer space as the pollution has gotten too bad.

When I took most of the included photos, it was from a vantage point I will be hard pressed to forget.

(Above: Jessica snapped this of me on my perch...I'm there in the middle if you can spot me, leaning over the edge in photo heaven. I'm so glad she got this photo)
Every intimate detail of my little perch on that wall has been ingrained into the deepest parts of my memory. From the eerie chill each of the bricks maintained despite the warm day temperatures, to the uniformity of each brick, to the perfect precision each stone was set. I sat atop my little ledge that must have served as a bench or perhaps bed to some Chinese Archer looking out over a country I had little comprehension of. The moment had such a profound impact on me that I am still trying to make sense of everything I experienced.

We ended our night with a Beijing delicousy, Peking Duck. Really just roasted duck, and nothing worth raving about in my opinion, but I can see how people enjoy eating something with a neck still attached. =) I guess I have never really developed my gamey food pallet. But the spectacle and rarity of the dinner was incredible to experience.

Days 1-2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Days 11-12 Day 13

-David

China - Day 3 - Beijing

2007-11-14T12:57:00.000-08:00

Tienanmen Square -The Forbidden City - The Summer Palace

(above: Tienanmen Square, notice the top of the light tower...it's the same in a photo below)

First off...5 star hotels are incredible, their beds however are not. We got our wake up call before dawn and arose from our cement mattresses to a packed day of touring.

We met Ashley, our tour guide for Beijing and got on our bus. Not being the itinerary type, I had no idea where we were headed. I had tried to make sense of where our hotel was on my little Beijing map but had no luck; which, for me, is saying something. I take pride in doing one thing well in life, figuring out my compass direction anywhere I am... There are only 2 places I have not been able to find my way north; any indoor mall with a JCPenny or Macys, and Movie Theaters. If there is a street sign or a visible sun, I can figure my way around practically any city...that was true at least until we found ourselves in China. The Chinese invented porcelain, silk, tea, and they built The Great Wall...but build cities around grid systems...forget it. To rub salt in the wound, there are so many sky scrapers in even the smallest of Chinese cities that the sun can never be found. Anyhow, we headed off in what I'm guessing was West from our hotel were immediately hit with our first culture shock.

From our seats in the back of our Air Conditioned tour buss, we passed through little slices of Chinese life. As if China were some incredible ant farm, I pointed through my window and sat awe struck for our entire ride, separated by glass from the world around me. Store fronts had no doors, just an open wall to beckon customers from the street. Traffic was well more of a parking lot than traffic, and there were more bicycles, motor bikes, scooters, motorcycles, etc. on every street than there are people in the rest of the civilized world.

You cannot possibly imagine the magnitude of the population there. It is just unreal how many people are tucked away in those cities. Perhaps the one clue as the amount of people is the pollution. The smoked filled skies of San Diego in the days prior to our departure were perhaps the only thing that comes close in comparison. Forget "smog" Beijing (and later we found the same in most every major Chinese city) has a thick blanket of soot hanging 50 feet overhead. Thankfully a brisk breeze picked up our first day in the city and much of the pollution was absent from the sky, but this we soon found, was only temporary relief.

Anyhow, we arrived to a side street and found a long line of familiar looking buses. There must have been 50 buses lined up, empty and parked on the side of the street. We filed out of the bus one by one, Jessica and I being the last to get off. Backpack and Camera strapped tight to my body, I peeked my head out of the door and took my first real breath of China (the day before didn't really count in my mind). Before my feet could hit the pavement, we were swarmed with about 9 vendors selling everything from "Rolex" watches to Beijing 2008 Olympic goods. I made the mistake of glancing at the 2 dollar Rolex watch and that poor vendor lady followed me for the next 50 minutes lowering her price with every step. I'll get back to these vendors later.

(above: tourist hell...sad part is I doubt anyone actually got a good shot inside that dark little room)
I rounded the corner from the street and found myself looking straight at Tienanmen Square. The history of the place immediately overwhelmed me. Black and white visions of the single student holding his ground in front of the tank could not be shaken from my mind for the rest of the day. Every where we went I tried to picture from what surrounding rooftop those photographers must have been filming the massacre. I then got lost in thought, wondering what current students there were taught about the massacre. Whispers in our group instructed me not to say anything to anyone about it, but my imagination was running wild. Ashley was leading our little pack through the, what had to be close to, 500,000 visitors that day. I could barely hear her brief speech on the history of the place in the distance, for I was already wondering off from the group. I was still overwhelmed with culture shock, and visions of Chinese prisons and pick pockets, so I didn't stray too far from fear. Anytime I wandered more than 40 feet away Jessica was there to guide me back. But I still managed some nice shots that day none the less.
(above: crazy big brother security in the square)
We slowly made our way through the masses of people and found ourselves in front of the gates to the Forbidden City. Pictures will never do this place justice. Mao's portrait greeted everyone as we walked under him and into the city. The amount of money, time and people spent creating every intricate detail of that place is beyond comprehension. The one and only fact that stuck in my head that day was that the Emperor had the floors built 11 layers thick with brick so that no enemies could tunnel in through the ground, talk about paranoia. Anyhow see the photos of the place for a little taste.

(above: Forbidden City)
As if that weren't enough oppulence and majesty, we turned our bus I'm guessing north, and headed to the Summer Palace. Being sure to stop by a fresh water pearl factory on the way, code for tourist trap for which to spend too much American dollar on overpriced goods. An otherwise forgetful 2 hours of my life, except for the 30 minutes when I escaped the group and discovered a little lake with fisherman and children amidst broken down tractors and empty buildings. I snapped a couple gems of photos and found Jim and Jessica to share my little discovery with.

(above: little lake near the pearl factory)
We got on the bus, rode through more city, passed the Olympic village, and found ourselves at the Summer Palace. The group was getting a little tired and cranky. A mild argument about walking a couple miles vs. riding a boat erupted and briefly died down. I really wasn't sure what we were doing, my focus was never really on anything inside that bus. Apparently some genius, probably Jim or Jessica, convinced the group that walking the couple miles around this place would be better than a boat, but I'm sure that boat ride would have been just as magnificent. So back to the point, the Summer Palace is a ...well...Palace that some crazy lady called "the Dragon Lady" made out of pure gluttony and excess. She basically had slaves dig a monstrous hole, pile all of the dirt into a gigantic mountain, fill the hole with water creating a lake, surround the place with marble carvings and pathways, build a couple palaces, and wallah...the Summer Palace was complete. But I love her for it, because I got even more great photos here as well. Jessica would be mad if I didn't tell you that this same "Dragon Lady" made her servants make her 138 meals for dinner, 3 times over. She would smell the first batch, look and the second batch, and taste the final one...freaking Chinese Royalty.

(above: the summer palace)
That about rounded out DAY 2...hahaha...just typing about the highlights and I'm exhausted. We kept this pace up for the next 10 days.

Days 1-2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Days 11-12 Day 13
-David

China - Days 1-2 - LAX to Beijing

2007-11-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

After a rocky week prior to our departure, Jim, Jessica and myself found our group one member less and our home town devastated by wildfires and chaos. Unfortunately Jim's traveling buddy Able had to stay back and tend to his family and friends dealing with the fire, so our foursome was a threesome, but excited none the less. We flew out of LAX and left behind smoke and ash filled skies for an 11 hour flight across the International Date Line. Visions of awkward language barriers and Chinese prisons filled my dreams for the entire flight.

We landed at Beijing International airport early Saturday morning, before dawn.

Perhaps before I get too far into this, you should know some background as to how we arranged this trip for such a cheap price. One of Jim's co-workers found a Chinese Tour Agency as opposed to an American one working in China. Through that agency we had our own tour bus, tour guide, tour flag, tour button, tour itinerary, tour meals, tour hotels....basically we couldn't use the bathroom without some kind of tour group related permission or direction. I hate tour groups...actually I despise them, everything about them goes against my grain. I like finding my own path, spending as much time as I need and not having an itinerary. A guided tour group through China sounded as fun to me as a field trip to the DMV... Normally I would never embark on such a journey under such circumstances, however through this agency we were afforded more luxuries than I could ever manage on my own, and the total cost of the trip was probably 1/5 the cost with the group rate. We were also traveling with about 13 people in a group, 10 of which I didn't know... I figured all I had to do was out run 1 of those 10 people and I would escape the Chinese police and prolong my predestined stint in a Chinese Prison camp.

Alright, so we land in Beijing and meet our tour guide and piled into our bus and headed off to our hotel. Being the first day after such a long flight, we had the remainder of the day to settle in to our hotel and sleep off any jet lag. Our guided tour was to begin the next day. So we checked into our hotel at like 9 am, bid our tour guide and bus farewell and had nothing to do for the next 12 hours.

My formal education on China started about 10 hours prior on the flight to the wonderful communist country. I had decided I needed to learn 3 words/phrases in Chinese in order to survive on my own. They were: "hello" "beer" and "thank you"... Ni Hao, PeiCho and Xei Xei. I learned to pronounce them with such art and poise that my accent sounded as though I was raised in the southern Qin mountain regions...I was sure to blend right in. I practiced my newly acquired Chinese tongue on the English speaking Hotel Staff at the...I shit you not, Days Inn and Suites Beijing...we may have well been staying in a hotel in Fresno. The entire staff spoke better English than I, and were probably far more educated than I will ever hope to be. Any how, I managed to get a beer, and a smile within the first 10 minutes in the Hotel lobby...although I felt as though I were cheating because of the ease. To establish a precedent, I got a beer for Jessica's dad as well.

Beer in China is about 3-4% alcohol. In the states it's about 5-9% depending on the type...O'doul's non alcoholic beer is 1-2%. So needless to say, drinking beer in China is really the safest alternative to drinking water. Thus my justification for my copious consumption of the fermented beverage.

Jessica was eager to explore and sitting in our 5 star hotel for more than what we required for sleep was not an option. So we found a nearby flea market and thrust ourselves onto the Chinese economy and street scene with utter nieveity. This being our first experience with the 7.5 to 1 exchange rate and serious negotiation tactics...we failed miserably and paid far too much for what turned out to be cheap, Chinese, tourist crap. I walked out of the place with some kind of Communist poster with Mao on it, Jessica got a really cool painting for our apartment, and I think we got some trinkets and perhaps even Sars or Avian flu. We had a great time none the less.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped for dinner. We ditched our group which had the only Chinese speaking member of our entire party, and found a local restaurant. Eager to engage the non-english speaking residents, we headed into a food serving place with pictures of every dish framed in gold and mounted on the walls. Of course by "headed into" I mean we were yelled at from the streets by the restaurants owner and practically dragged into the establishment kicking and screaming. I guess we looked hungry, and or rich because that crazy lady knew we were an easy sell. Anyhow we sat down, I managed to order a couple beers, and by a crazy series of charades and pointing I got Jessica a Sprite. We were then handed a picture book menu of mysterious colored foods and dishes. Word to the wise, just because meat looks like chicken...there is NO guarantee that it actually is. We somehow managed to get a couple bowls of noodles, and by bowl I mean bottomless buckets, and a plate of what the waitress described as curry. Funny, she didn't know a lick of English, but when I asked for a curry dish, she repeated the word Curry with such excitement and accuracy that I had to agree and order it. We weren't all that hungry and practically had to walk out of the place to stop the owner from making us agree to more than the 3 plates we ordered. We pegged her as a crazy old bat who had owned that place for far too long and wanted to fatten us up so they could cook us up and serve us to the next stupid American tourists who happened to walk by her front door innocently. Only after receiving the bill however, did her motives come to fruition. We were by no means robbed on the amount of food we were served, we had enough food for 6 hungry people, enough beer for a frat house and about a liter of sprite. Nothing we saw in the menu resembled a price, so we really had no idea what to expect in terms of a total. They handed me the bill because I made the international symbol for bill by holding an imaginary pencil and writing on my open palm...which really makes no sense to me, but my 6 years of waiting tables perfected this technique and our bill was served. 60 yuan total. Long division completed and much head scratching later and we discovered that that was about 9 bucks American, for a full dinner for 3 people with drinks. We tipped far too generously and hugged the staff and waived good bye. "Can that even be true?!" we kept asking ourselves trying to figure out the bill on the way back. 9 bucks for 3 people? We figured it must have been some kind of dead rodent disguised as chicken and yesterday's noodles...but later realized it was true and that food there, away from the tourist traps, is very cheap and surprisingly good.

We ended our first day in the Hotel bar paying far too much for cheap drinks and telling stories of the battles won and lost negotiating at the flea market.

Days 1-2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Days 11-12 Day 13

-David

Back From China

2007-11-12T10:09:00.000-08:00

I'm ALIVE!

some 2 billion people, 10,000 miles, 900 photos, 9 cities, 6 airplanes, 2 trains and 1 boat ferry later and I'm home.

I'll get some photos up asap and run through some of the highlights of the trip within the week.

For now, all I can say is, China has more people than imaginable, more pollution than tolerable and some of the best knock off merchandise in the world.

We saw the Great Wall of China, Tianamen Square, The Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, The Terracotta Soldiers, the Ming Tombs, the Hutomb cities, the Olympic park, most of Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, .... and that was just the first 6 days.... wow.... I need to sleep.

-David

Pics of our new place

2007-10-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

Above: a painting of Beech street looking west. Our place is about 4 blocks towards the ocean from here and about 4 blocks from the water.

Palermo, our new building built in 2005.

some idiot in the living room =) My TV literally takes up the entire width of the wall behind me.

Our kitchen =)

Our laundromat =)

We're on the third floor looking out into the piazza.

Future home to my weber grill....mmmm steak, artichokes and charflavoring

Our new home =)

Return to Yosemite

2007-10-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

So we're back...unfortunately. If I sound depressed writing this blog it's probably because my trip is over, the Chargers suck and the Padres have broken my heart...again.

But enough of that!

Here are some photos of my last trip.

Like always, the Park never disappoints.

I bummed a ride up with Jessica's dad Jim, and her uncle Joe. Two Jersey brothers with foul mouths, strange bodily noises, good taste in beer, and old stories I have been sworn to secrecy with; quality gentlemen in my book.

Jessica's Uncle, a few of her father's friends and myself decided to embark on a 24 mile hike on a whim Friday night. Promising to wake up early the next morning (and by early I mean 4:45 am) we would meet at the trail head and head out. If it weren't for Jessica's uncle Joe, I would never have gotten out of that bed. It must have been like -5687 degrees and it was still dark when I stumbled out of my sleeping bag cocoon. The freaking stars were still out for heavens sake. If you know me at all, you know I don't really function properly until I've been awake for at least a couple hours, and well this morning was no exception. Had I not prepared the night before, I would have tried that hike wearing only my boxers, my sandals, and brought no food with me other than some gum and peanuts. I grabbed my stuff, through on some clothes, forgot to eat breakfast and we shivered our way down the path to the trail head and met up with the rest of the bunch.
If you're not familiar with Yosemite, the magnitude of this hike may be lost in translation, but I have to say that this was by far the most challenging hike I have ever done. Not necessarily for the danger or trail conditions, the danger was low and the trail was wonderfully well kept the entire way; but more for the freaking length of the hike and the altitude we traversed.

Starting at the valley floor of 3000 ft. we ended at the peak of Clouds Rest (well above half dome) at 10,000 ft. That's a 7000 ft elevation in only 12 miles. Joe and I had wisely decided to try out this hike after consuming about 10 beers a piece the night before. Man, did we pay for that in the first 3 miles. I must have drank my entire body weight in water in about 2 hours. Anyhow, after the hangovers wore off, and the sun came up we found ourselves walking beneath half dome and surrounded by hundred foot pine trees, immense mountain peaks, and no people to speak of whatsoever. The trail, for being as well traversed and maintained as it was, was pretty freaking evil. The damn thing never flattened out, it just kept going up and up and up.
Like some godforsaken ramp to nowhere this trail never let up. I consider myself in pretty good shape, and I was with some older guys who weren't any slouches either, but man did that trail kick my ass. It was well worth it though. The view from the top was breathtaking, literally at 10,000 feet breathing is an effort in it's own right. Not only did my feet feel like an elephant had been doing jumping jacks on them for the past 6 hours, but atop the peak my lungs felt like Evander Hollifield had socked me in the gut a few times. It was looney, but incredible. I must have passed out on the mtn. for about 45 minutes. I think I only snapped about 6 photos up there. Which is a testament to how exhausted I was, I generally take 20 photos of a flower, when there's a 360 degree view of the world's most beautiful landscape, and I only take 6 photos, my brain is operating on a very limited budget. But they came out alright, I suppose. =)
As soon as woke up and popped off those shots, the wind picked up and it must have dropped the temperature about 10 degrees (to something like 45-50 degrees), so we decided to head back.

We blazed down that trail and got about half way back in no time when our bodies started to give out. Well mine and Joe's at least. The three other guys ran marathons and crap and felt no pain or discomfort whatsoever, the jerks. My knees started to feel like the were melting into a rubbery, burning mess. we had another 3000 feet to drop in about 3 miles and I could barely move my feet. It was nuts. I think Joe and I must have uttered more curse words in those 3 miles than mankind has ever uttered in the collective history of civilization.
But we made it. Fittingly, our 24 mile marathon of torture trail blended into the 6 mile hike grandma can take to go see the pretty waterfalls. So as we were grasping for every inch of trail like dying men in the sahara desert, little kids just learning to walk were sprinting by us, old ladies were pushing us aside with their walkers, German tourists were posing next to us taking photos...it was humiliating. But worth it, that hike was awesome.
The next few days revolved around drinking beer, swallowing 800 mg of pain killers, riding bikes, and limping around the valley floor. Jim, Joe and I ran into a mama bear and her cub on accident, and while wrestling a bear sounded like a really cool idea, we just gave them a wide birth and took hundreds of photos.

We spent our afternoons on sandy river beds watching rock climbers scaling El Capitan and passing out in the sunlight while the wind rushed through the thick pines surrounding us. We spent the last few nights in our tent cabin listening to the crazy conversations of Germans, Asians, children and bears rummaging through trash. All in all it was just what I thought it would be, a giant breath of fresh air and a break from the daily grind.
gain.

Jessica and I found a place!

2007-09-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't already know, Jessica and I have been looking for an apartment together for well over 3 months now...maybe even longer. We have had our eye on Little Italy, downtown for quite some time, but it seems as though the only places affordable in that neighborhood have been less than 500 sq feet and in random, older, scary buildings.

With little luck in finding any places for less than $1600 a month (mind you some studios were going for about $1500 with only one parking spot!) we turned east and starting looking at more affordable places in east village, but no luck. Anything that was in our price range lasted for moments on the market and were very hard to find. Facing a choice between a 400 sq foot shoebox of an apartment, or giving up and looking elsewhere in San Diego, like Hillcrest or...well...I get depressed even thinking about it. We had our hearts set on Little Italy, and we desperately wanted a place there. It is, without a doubt, the most energetic, least trendy, least expensive, best culture, best food, best beer fests, greatest art walks, best parks, best views part of the city, the list goes on.
Enter craigslist.
I got pretty emotionally spent looking at all of those places and coming to a sad realization that our aspirations may have been a little too high, when in a stoke of luck, I saw a posting on craigslist. $1350 for a 1 bedroom in Little Italy. This wasn't something new, a few postings like this had shown up in the time we were looking, but either they were some weird situation involving odd lease agreements, a scam, or they were taken in seconds after they were posted.
Anyhow, Jessica showed a lot of interest in the place so I called up the landlord. Apparently 5 other couples were chomping at the bit and had already contacted her. I set up an appointment to view the place, but it really sounded as though this lady was very busy, and was not concerned with showing this to too many people, as it was assured to go quick. She gave us the last time slot she had open that day, we were 3 hours later than the first couple, and 5th to be shown the place. I actually met Jessica downtown for some brunch an hour before our meeting with the landlord and unknowingly passed by the landlord walking a couple around the property; later reaffirming to me that she wasn't scamming us, and that there were actually other people trying to get this place, and you can't blame them.
Here's the building it's in:

Better yet, this is a condo complex, so it's very clean and quiet. As opposed to the unmentionable conditions of most of the apartments we were considering. It's nuts, some of the places we were considering were FAR worse than my freshman dorms.
So we met the landlord and walked to the unit.
We walked into this:

A remarkably cool, small 1 bedroom unit with odd dimensions, cool wall angles, a large bathroom, a full washer and dryer and porch that can actually fit a weber grill so I can finally COOK!mmmmm weber grill....

The unit overlooks the "piazza" courtyard which has a really nice Water fountain that fills the place with the gentle sounds of a trickling stream in the crisp valleys of the Italian alps....good thing we have a big bathroom, I have to pee just thinking of it.
Needless to say we loved it the second we walked in. Other than Jessica's concerns that my California King Pillow Top mattress may be too large for the bedroom, the place is perfect (and i will make that bed fit, so help me if I have to tear down an exterior wall that bed will fit).
We told the landlord we really wanted the place but we had to talk about it first. Understanding if we didn't act fast this place would go in a second, we got in all our paper work, ran our credit, kissed some major landlord butt, and impressed her enough to choose us over the other applicants. Jessica is dropping off the deposit today, and we'll both be signing the lease when I get back from Yosemite.
So that's it! We found it. And will be calling Little Italy home in about 2 weeks. So when you come to visit here's some of the amazing things within walking distance of our pad:

I don't know what this is, but that lady looks like shes having fun. And that little kid has a really cool flag...

Little Italy has some of the best Deli's and restaurants in the entire city.

This is Basilione Plaza, home to concerts and art walks

I don't know, but tents generally mean food and beer, and lots of people can't be wrong.

This is the Princess Pub and Grill which looks like an awesome "Brr-ish" Pub with some sweet dart boards, great beers, and I'm sure a soon to be second home for me and anyone else visiting. Jessica may grow to hate this place, as well as my liver, beer belly, and dart throwing arm.

And finally, the trolley stop is 3 blocks from our pad. Giving us cheap access to Fashion Valley, the Chargers, Old Town, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Oceanside, LA and the rest of the rail connected world.

We should move in in the beginning of October, and I'll be sure to post some photos of the place.

-David

HOW TO: Create a slideshow for your website

2007-09-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

Want to display your photos without all the complications of downloading a complex program, learning the software, and then trying to piece the puzzle back together within your site?

I have a simple solution that can make this possible, and better yet it's FREE! and simple!
See a sample of the final result here: davidhgatley.com

First off, it should be known I have nothing to do with the following sites. They just happen to be the best products I have ever used, and I wish to share them with you. In return for their use they ask that you create and account with them, which I recommend doing.

(If you have a Myspace account, much of these STEPS 1-7 should be rather simple.)
STEP 1.) go to www.slide.com.
STEP 2.) set up a free account on that site. I don't receive any spam from slide.com, so feel free to use your normal email if required.
**Note, you do not have to create an account, however if you want to save your slideshow and or make any changes, you need an account to do so.
STEP 3.) Find the "Make a Slideshow" button and click.
STEP 4.) At this point you'll be able to create your slide show.
*To customize the effects play around with the "customize your design" section
STEP 5.) Upload your photos
STEP 6.) Click "Save and Get Code"
STEP 7.) Copy the code slide.com creates for you

Now that you have your code you need to paste it with the BODY of your website. Now this is where a basic level of HTML coding will come into play. Assuming you can access your desired web page editor, make changes, and save it; this will all be easy. If you do not know how to do this, contact me for further help at davidhgatley.com.

STEP 8.) Paste the code in the body of your website
Step 9.) Fit it to size (remember to scale the slide show proportionally. The default size that slide.com issues is a height of 320pixels and a width of 436pixels.

Your code should look something like this: (do not copy this code it, will not work)
**find the width and height within the code:

p style="visibility:visible;" object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://widget-ac.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" height="320" width="426" style="width:426px;height:320px" param name="movie" value="http://widget-ac.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" / param name="quality" value="high" / param name="scale" value="noscale" / param name="salign" value="l" / param name="wmode" value="transparent"/ param name="flashvars" value="cy=ms&il=1&channel=43234556424tt30218284&site=widget-ac.slide.com"/ /object> p a href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=ms&ad=0&id=432345564240218284&map=1" target="_blank" img src="http://widget-ac.slide.com/p1/432345tt5643240218284/ms_t016_v000_a000_f00/images/xslide1.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /> href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=ms&ad=0&id=4323453564240218284&map=2" target="_blank" img src="http://widget-ac.s1ide.c0m/p2/43234tt5564240218284/ms_t016_v000_a000_f00/images/xslide2.gif" border="0" ismap="ismap" /

Make sure to change both fields to your desired size.
And you should be good to go!

Hope that helps,

-David

New Orleans- Jazzfest 07 - The Plight - The Flood - The coolest city in America

2007-09-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

New Orleans, Lousiana May2007

Last May (2007) I embarked on a journey that would eventually become one of the greatest experiences of my adult life. Devin (my best friend from high school) invited myself and 7 other buddies to all meet up in New Orleans for the city's annual Jazz Festival. It should be noted that Devin's father, John Quirk, is the New Orleans Historic National Jazz District Superintendent; meaning we were all going to roll VIP status, or at least be able to act like it. John and Priscilla (Devin's parents) were kind enough to let us crash at their pad.

John (pictured above) opening the door to his beautiful house, and welcoming the horde of men about to take over the city inside. This trip took place almost exactly 2 years after Katrina. You wouldn't know it however because much of the devastation was still evident throughout the city. Worse yet, the city has yet to rebuild it's defenses against another storm that size. I'll get to this a little later, in the mean time, see the Lyons-Quirk pad below, our home for the following 4 days.

Built in, i'm guess the 1800's, this house is a testament to how classy and cool a house can be. Not only did it survive Katrina, but it's still standing after a fire gutted it's interior. All the floors of the house were covered with rich, red wood planks, the ceilings were lined with amazingly detailed crown molding, and the everywhere you went you were reminded of the sophistication and character that was used to build homes hundreds of years ago. Nothing like the cookie cutter houses I'm used to in So-Cal. It's crazy to think that New Orleans and much of Louisiana were founded by pirates long before America was a country. The French cultural influence and outlaw, pirate life still has a firm grasp on everything in the area.

After unpacking our bags, settling in, and awaiting everyone's arrival from the airport, we headed out to a couple of the neighborhood bars. It must have been around 6 pm when Devin, Mikey, Biz, Scott, and myself headed outside for our first taste of "Nawlens". We headed, what I'm guessing was North, towards a small bar/pub that served some authentic cajun food and some awesome local beer. We all reeked of the gallons of bug spray Devin's mother doused us with. Good thing too, the humidity made walking more like swimming, and must have tripled the already massive amounts of bugs. As we walked down the street, some of the gravity of the city started to set in. These homes had been here for so long. All the trees had overgrown much of the side walks, making tunnels of leaves and mossy ferns.
Night was falling and the city seemed to be waking up. Lights were flicking on and people were slowly emerging out of their houses. We made it to the bar at about 6:30. From the outside looking in, the bar easily passed as a house, minus the flickering neon lights. Although, it appeared as though the owners lived upstairs from the bar, so perhaps it really was more house than bar.
We all stumbled inside, trying to escape the parade of mosquitoes following us from Devin's front door. We must have stunk like tourists; for the entire bar all the muttered conversations, the dish washing, even the music playing in the background stopped when we came in. Everyone looked at us for a minute, looked us over from head to toe, paused for an awkward couple of seconds, then resumed in their discussions of who knows what... probably the best way to broil a craw dad, the best grease for deep frying a squirrel, or some other salty topic. That seemed to be a consistent vibe I encountered throughout the city; the semi-annoyance of tourists accompanied by the ultimate acceptance of our tourism dollars. It was as though everyone sensed we would only be there a short time. Not to get all wax-philosophic on a city, but I think if a city can have a soul, New Orleans would be one of the traveler, passing but for just a moment through the city's immense history. Anyhow, I ate some crazy cajun dish that made me think people over use the word cajun when describing menu items. I washed it all down with a rather tastey brew, Abita Beer, which I highly recommend.
(image courtesy of: http://www.abita.com/images/wallpapers/amber02.jpg)
We paid our bill and headed back to Devin's pad. We walked back on one of the levees. I later found out that the same levee we were walking on was the same that had broken down the river, flooding much of the city, and well you know the rest of that story.
The next day Russ and Moudy, and Darin showed up. After a groggy start to the morning, we were all ready to tour the Bayou swamp land. Being that there were 8 of us, 2 cars were in order. Perhaps Devin's parents' largest mistake of the trip was allowing us to borrow these ill-fated vehicles. We headed out, driving through some of the coolest neighborhoods in America (and by coolest I mean most dilapidated, poverty stricken, crime ridden, ghettos) but at least the trees were pretty.

We were headed for Jean Laffite National Historic Park (the bayou swamp land). Our destination was promised to be filled with gators, snapping turtles, voodoo witches, and crazy forgotten souls who practiced cannibalism when they were bored. Little did we know something much more dangerous was in store for our poor, unfortunate souls.
When we arrived, in a clever disguise of the dangers of nature, a sweet little vine-rope swing welcomed us to the swamp.

Like a bunch of 8 year old, tarzan wannabe's we swung to and fro for about ten minutes. Happy and content we pressed on. After I finish this story you may never want to travel here, so in hopes of you stopping now, you should know, this park was absolutely beautiful. Unlike anyplace I have ever seen, the swamp truly is a mystical place that must been experienced.

The wooden walk ways seemed to float inches above the gator infested swamp. Weaving in and out of swamp trees and grassy plains, this brief mile hike had more diversity per foot than imaginable. The sounds surrounded us, the rustling of the reeds in the wind, the eery animal calls, the frogs, the drops of water, the trickling streams. It seemed so peaceful and enormous.
That was however, a short lived feeling.
To the southwest of us, a massive storm was rapidly developing, we could hear the tremendous booms of thunder and occasionally saw lightning flickering in the distance. Devin was the first to voice some concern saying something to the effect of "hey guys, so that storm looks like it's moving in, theres about a half mile left of this trail...you think we should keep going or turn back now?" We all paused for a moment to re-evaluate our situation. No one really said anything, so like a fool I uttered my famous last words, (i was thinking to myself, ohh just a half mile, thats no time at all, and who cares, we're already soaking in sweat from this damn humidity a little rain may be nice) "Ehh, the wind seems to be blowing that storm in the opposite direction of us, I doubt well see any of it" It must have been my cheap attempt at a meteorological forecast, but everyone bought it. I'm sure we all knew, in some way or another, that pressing on would get us a little wet, but no one, even Devin, could have predicted to what degree.
For the next ten minutes or so, it seemed I may have been right. The storm wasn't headed our way and just a little rain was falling...that was until the wind changed direction and started blowing with about hurricane force strength.

This was the last photo I managed to take before the sea's opened up above us. At about the same time we reached the further most point of the trail, the storm unloaded it's fury on us. I'm not talking about your typical rainy downpour here, it was seriously as if somebody dropped the pacific ocean on top of us. We started heading back, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. But, with each passing minute, the storm picked up, rained even harder, and the lightning was getting even closer, our laughing quickly turned from quiet concern to silent panic, and eventually led to an all our sprint back to the cars. Running/swimming for our lives we tore back down the same, once peaceful, trail that we entered on. The swamp was swelling with the downpour and slowly taking over our boardwalk. I just imagined that gator's thoughts while they ate our bug spray tasting bodies "freaking morons...the storm looks like its going the other way...wow...you guys went to Harvard?!" Stupid gator, that encouraged me to run harder.
It should also be noted at this point that 90% of this group of guys were Ivy League cross country runners. I can't speak for everyone else, but Devin is pretty much retardedly fast at long distance running, not special olympics retarded but Prefontane retarded. So as my gator induced, adrenaline sprint peeked at what I thought was blazing fast, 5 of the 8 were disappearing in the distance. Just Darin, Scott and I remained. For the next 2 to 3 minutes not one of the 3 of us said a word. We didn't want to come to terms with Darwin's survival of the fittest theory, we just wanted to make it to our cars before the swamp swallowed us alive. Right before all hope was lost, the car's emerged from the drenched tree line.

Stripping down to our shorts (I guess thinking we would minimize the amount of water allowed into the inside of the vehicles) we piled inside the cars. We all caught our breath, made sure we were all in one piece and started laughing hysterically thinking the worst was over. Everyone calmed down, somewhat sad our adventure was over, and we left the parking lot and headed back towards civilization. The road out of the park was pretty treacherous, the windshield wipers could barely keep up with the onslaught of rain, and the puddles were deepening by the second. And just as we thought we had made it through the danger zone, nature once again reminded us that we were in New Orleans, a city below the water line.
Darin, driving the family mustang was behind us, in the family truck. I remember looking back at that silver mustang filled with 4 half naked, fully grown men, thinking I would never see them again, as the water came seeping out from underneath the hood.
Streets were turning into rivers, and there seemed to be no where to go. Eventually Darin sailed the mustang into a parking lot thinking we could ride the storm out, and the water would eventually recede.
"Pull over! we lost darin!" I yelled to Devin. It was at that moment I realized everyone, every soul, had given me their cell phones for protection. I had the only backpack of the group, and it happened to be a champion of backpacks, swiss army's waterproof hiking back pack with an iPod pocket=) Crappy part being, there was now no way to get a hold of anyone in Darin's car. We were miles away from home, and no one knew how to get back.

So we pulled into a parking lot a couple blocks down the street. I decided I would make a run for it to Darin's car with a cell phone. Devin, Scott, and Mikey wished me luck, told me they loved me, and watched as I ran for Darin. The sidewalk was waist deep in water and the current was incredible, it was like the worst rip tide I have ever seen. I made for higher ground and started running on the front yards of the businesses on the way to Darin. I looked down from time to time as I sunk my feet into the depths of the abyss below me and saw bodies, small boats, live electrical wires and piranhas. Just as the stupidity of my plan was setting in, as well as the water setting into to Darin's phone rendering it ultimately useless, I saw Darin's boat of a mustang sail past me on the road back towards Devin. I remember locking eyes with Moudy in the front seat. As if we were brothers, being separated for the rest of our lives we watched as the car floated past. Moudy had one hand on the window, watching me with a solemn look of despair. Helpless, he must have thought I was going to die.
5 minutes later, we were reunited. I handed Darin his secretly destroyed cell phone, wished their boat luck, and got back in with Devin and the crew. We sailed on. The city as a whole suffered just as badly. It was later found out that the massive pumps used to pump water out of the city and back into lake Pontchartrian failed, and like Katrina, the city was filling with water. You could see the break down in systems designed to help people, emergency crews were left stranded, police couldn't block flooded roads, people were getting their cars stuck it was catastrophic failure everywhere. This was one single storm, not even close to a hurricane, and the city was in ruin again. Our little adventure culminated with an "off roading" adventure through backyards and medians. The city streets were shut down, and no one, anywhere was moving.

We made it back to Devin's house. Darin rejoiced by kissing the ground. Everyone else, stricken with the near death experience quietly filed inside and recovered. Retelling the story to John and Priscilla with 8 different versions proved one exciting story. We all washed up, rinsed off, hung our clothes out to dry and decided to go look at the city, after the storm passed through.
As if running from the death swamp wasn't enough, the track stars decided a jog was in order. (See photo at the beginning of the blog). I decided to ride Priscilla's bike and Darin decided to run Murphy, the dog. Scott was hidden in the house, assuming the fetal position and sucking his thumb in horror. While running (riding my ladies bike) along the levee some incredible views of the city could be seen. We even ran past a shipyard rebuilding some of the barges that deliver goods up and down the Mississippi.

I found this photo rather telling of the rebuilding effort. Here we were hours after devastation, and still work pressed on. I found it as a testament to the resilience of the entire town. New Orleans may be broken, but it has been here for hundreds of years, and as far as I can tell, it's not about to go anywhere.

The next day brought about the purpose of the trip; our attendance to Jazz Fest. Thankfully Priscilla bought us Saturday tickets as opposed to Friday tickets, seeing as how Friday's festival was all but ruined when the fairgrounds were turned into a small lake. We strolled down downtown on our way to the shuttles to the festival grounds. The city really is a beautiful urban area. Eclectic bars and mainstream upscale hotels are randomly found on every block. Every street was filled with character and charm, we definitely spent far too little time here.

We did happen to make an appearance at Burbon street this same night. However for the sake of all of the involved parties, I will leave out those details in fear of imprisonment and or loss of professional status.
Jazz fest however, was outrageous. While you ponder the next portion of the blog, perhaps you should be listening to this:
sweet zydeco music

Some 500,000 people joined us that Saturday in what had to be 100 degree weather. There were something like 5 stages with all kinds of jazzy music. Picture a state fair, with no animals, good food, great music, and a lot of people smoking weed.

We spent the entire day revolving between stages, and styles of music. By the end of the day I passed out on the lawn with John Mayer rocking in the background.
We returned home to a treat. John had made us a traditional Shrimp broil. He sacrificed the dinning room table to the shrimp gods, and let our animal instincts take over. After consuming about 60 shrimp a piece and drowning them with some more tastey Abita beer, we journeyed to Bourbon street and concluded our adventures (note I'm leaving out bourbon st. adventures for aforementioned reasons)

All in all, this was an incredible trip. Worthy of retelling many times over. I made some incredible friends and cannot wait to do it, or something similar, again.

Thanks again to John And Priscilla for hosting. I left so much out, but you should get the point. This city was just incredible. Perhaps my fondest memories were those I can never retell. The amount of energy felt in the smallest of local bars. The lively atmosphere, the kindness of strangers (at times), the presence of history, the lawless nights, they all added up to an overall feeling of home, despite being a visitor. This city has left a mark on my soul, and I hope to return soon.

-David

How to buy your first Digital SLR camera

2007-09-12T10:10:00.000-07:00

So you're thinking about buying a Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera (DSLR). First off, good for you. You've finally joined the rest of us in the 21st century. I know how hard it was for you to let go of the vintage feel of watching your film develop in a dark room, but really, how much time do you have for that anymore? And, unless you're an over eager hobbiest, my guess is you don't have access to a dark room anyways. So DSLR it is. But now what? There are so many choices, and so many dollars to be spent, and potentially wasted on a camera far too advanced or far over priced for your photographic needs...Luck for you, you found my blog ;)
Summing it up
First off, you need to figure out what you are going to be taking pictures of. I like to break DSLR consumers into 3 categories. If all of the below fit, you are wise beyond your years. =)
1.) The Sporty Parent: Little Timmy and Sally are weekend warriors, and your life revolves around getting 300 pictures of their game winning goal, their home run swing, or just capturing the kids playing in the pool. You want photos of activities. You are generally on the sidelines observing and cheering on the situation. You want to show off your kids / friends in sports illustrated style action shots. Uses: Sports, Action, Telephoto lenses, shooting from greater distances.
2) The Quarter Life Artistic Crisis: On your road trip away from the daily grind, you find solace in the open road. The expansive skies. You find emotion in a sunset, or a dew encrusted flower. You love hiking, hugging trees, vibrant colors, and you want to capture these natural wonders with a camera capable of doing so. Uses: Landscapes, nature, sunsets, low light situations, tri-pods, wide angle lenses.
3) The Budding Wedding Photographer: You like people. You want to make people look good in your photos. You're tired of eyes half closed from blinking, washed out faces, red eyes, and tiny subjects. You aren't afraid to get close up and shove your camera into any moment. Uses: Portraits, Weddings, Parties, Indoor, People, Products, Tight shots with Flashes.
Of the three there are well suited options, which I will get to below. Of all three there are great versatile camera set ups that will allow for shooting in any situation.

Pricing It Out:
How much do you want to spend on this? DSLR camera bodies (without the lenses) range from $400 dollars to $2000. Lenses range from $200 to $10,000.
First, ask yourself if there is any way to make money from your shots. Are the hordes of soccer mom's willing to shell out some dough for their kids captured at their greatest. Are you thinking of doing some photo gigs on the side with your friends? If you camera, can in any way return some investment, spend as much as possible.
If you are doing this for personal endeavors, you want every dollar to count. This camera will last you for a while if you buy it right, and you should buy just the right product. Too little camera won't allow for any growth in the subject area, and too much camera might be wasted in areas you never utilize.
A incredibly good base model DSLR is the Nikon D40 (photo left). (about $600 w/ lens)
and or the Canon equivalent the 350D Digital Rebel (about $650 w/ lens)

See dpreview's review of the D40 here and the Canon Digital Rebel here. These cameras would be great for somebody who doesn't expect to grow much in the hobby, and wants a little more control over the photos than a typical point and shoot camera will provide. You will still find some shutter lag (time between clicking the shutter button and when the camera actually takes the picture) And you will find a limited selection of lenses for these models. Keep in mind for less the $200 more, you can get a substantially better camera.

A mid-ranged pro-sumer (not quite a pro, better than average consumer) model would be the Nikon D80 (about $900 w/ lens) and the Canon Digital Rebel Xti(about $800 w/ lens).

See the Nikon D80 dp review and theCanon Digital Rebel Xti review. Both of these cameras are great. Leaps and bounds better than the entry level models mentioned above. These two will give you everything you could ever need in a camera on a non-professional level. Although, even some professionals have been known to use these cameras. The lenses compatibility with these are far greater than the lower models, and even some of your old film SLR camera's lenses will work with either of these.
In case $900 is too much for this camera. See the Nikon D70. The model the D80 replaced. The price has plummeted on this model, and it is still, by all means, an incredible camera. One I have worked with for well over 2 years. For maybe about $700, you can score one of the D70s. See the D70 review.

There are higher model cameras available, the Nikon D1x and D2x, but well...if you're about to drop 2000 dollars on a new camera, you're one of two people who shouldn't be here. 1. A professional who is very bored. 2. Somebody with no experience, far too much money, and a learning curve ahead of them that would challenge even Ansel Adams.

Lenses:
The above prices and were quoted with the assumption that when you purchase the camera it will come with a standard DSLR lens. Generally something like a 18-70mm lens. What does that mean? 18-70mm is a fancy way of describing the effective depth of field your lens is capable of attaining.
18-77 mm lenses are good for landscape photography and subjects you can get up close to. If your subject is relatively still and within 10 feet, this is a great lens for all around shooting. This is the go to lens for most amature photographers. It is also good for relatively wide shots, of open landscapes or sunsets. Good for the quarter-life-artistic-crisis consumers. And the budding wedding photographer.
70-300mm lenses are good for sports photography that you can get within 100 ft of your subject. Say the sidelines of a little league game, or soccer. This won't get you close to pro sports athletes from the nosebleed seats, but if you're on the field with the players, this size lens will get you tight up shots of your subject. These can also work dramatically in portrait photography. Getting very tight on the face and blurring the background for a very professional look and feel.These lenses are great for the Sporty Parent and the budding wedding photographer.
300-700mm lenses are for subjects very far away. These are you standard telephoto lenses and can get extremely pricey.

The Megapixel Myth
No, more megapixels does not necessarily mean better photos. Basically what megapixels refer to is the amount of data that camera stores for each picture. Just because there is more of it doesn't make it better. A ton of poor data will still give you a poor picture. What really matters in digital cameras are the nitty gritty components of the camera that most people are unaware of. The digital processor for example, the light sensors, and the quality of the optics inside both the lens and the camera body all add up to the quality of the image. Megapixels are nothing more than "sponges" soaking up the information all those aforementioned parts put out.
So, it is possible for a 6 mp camera to take better photos than an 8 mp camera. Keep this in mind when looking at cameras. Megapixels is a catchy sales word that takes attention away from the more important pieces of the camera. David Pogue wrote a great article about this in lehman's terms at His article here

Accessories
Still with me? Bravo!
So, if you aren't overloaded enough by now, don't worry...it gets worse. Buying a DSLR requires a small amount of required accessories. The most important being the flash. If you want decent indoor pictures with no red eye, and dramatic lighting, this is the cheapest (relative term) and easiest way to do so. No I'm not talking about the built in flash, no DSLR on the market has a decent one. I am talk about this:

A giant, geeky, photographer must have, the speed light. If you buy nothing else make sure this is it. This model sells for something around $200 and is great.
Other accessories that are just as important:
The Tripod: Buy the heaviest, simplest tripod you can afford. The heavier the better, as light weight tripods tend to vibrate more to the camera and blur images. Try to look for tripods with quick release heads.
The Memory Card: The fastest card the best. I'm talking about the speed at which the card stores the image. You'll see this advertised on clearly on the front of the box. What this means is, if you are trying to snap rapid shots of someone running across a soccer field, if you card lags and takes a while to write the images, the camera will stop taking pictures and wait for it to catch up. Cameras will buffer this, and instead of being able to take 10 shots in 2 seconds, you might only get 6 or 7.
The Battery: Buy and extra battery and keep it charged. Nothing is worse than being in the middle of no where when your battery dies. Most of these cameras use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, meaning you can't just pop in 8 AAA batteries and get back to work. You need to specific battery for your camera, and at least 2 of them. Especially if you're doing a lot of indoor flash photography.

Why Nikon? I chose to compare Nikon and Canon in this guide primarily because they are the industry leaders. My father, being a professional photographer (The LA Times, NY Times, Time Mag, etc.), only uses Nikon. Much of my life was paid for by that tool. So yes, I am somewhat biased. I own a couple Nikons myself. And while I've never used a canon, and don't have anything against them, I highly recommend Nikon. Nikon consistently produces better optics and sensors, and while canon seems to be turning this trend, Nikon will give you the best value for your dollar at the present time.

Obviously there's a lot to consider here. I barely glazed the surface. I hope it helps. If you have any further questions, please don't be afraid to contact me at www.davidhgatley.com.

-David

Going back to Yosemite...

2007-09-11T15:20:00.000-07:00

After about 7 months, I'm finally going back. This time without Jessica =( but none the less back. I am planning on hiking up and out of the valley floor on some gnarly hikes with Jessica's dad and Uncle, hopefully I'll have some fun, new Yosemite Photos to post.

Until then, here's some of my favorites from the past:

This has to be one of the most photographed places I have ever been to. Making it one of the hardest places to capture from a different perspective, so my main focus of this next trip will be just that; seeing Yosemite through a different lens. Hopefully that lens won't be a result of copious amounts of pale ales, and stouts, and lagers....but even if it is, I think we all win.

Until then,

-David

Return to yosemite

Mass Media and the Loss of Individuality

2007-09-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

(from my focus paper at CSUSM)

The Industrial Revolution shifted economic and social change, making the world available to all who wanted to experience it. Efficiency and innovation led society into a new world, a world that needed to stay connected. Mass Media by definition is designed to distribute media to as many people as possible. In essence, Mass Media keeps the world connected. Understanding the process of how Mass Media works, primarily in regards to it relationship with society, one will see the grandeur of the spectacle that is Mass Media. All 1984 and Brave New World references aside, we are controlled in every aspect by what we see, and what we buy. Money, consumerism, radio, television, printed media, and fame have constructed the “American Dream”, the spectacle. Thinking for ourselves is now aided and even guided by our high speed internet connection and the ten o’clock news. These sources also, conveniently enough, sell products that help attain the “American Dream”. Through careful analysis of the current state of Mass Media and the effects it has on society it is my contention that the Industrial Revolution has created a new, pre-packaged and ultimately non-satisfying self image that is exaggerated by today’s Mass Media and the spectacle it creates.

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, needs were based on survival. People made, farmed, and bought only what they needed to provide for their families. Occupations existed to provide unique services and you were known for your job. For instance in Europe if you were a blacksmith, your last name reflected your occupation and everywhere you went people knew you as the town blacksmith. News traveled from town to town via travelers or traders and was inconsistent and outdated at best. With the advent of the Industrial Revolution machines made businesses more efficient, money became more readily available and people began to communicate across vast distances with new forms of media, primarily the printing press. However with the increased production, people were no longer needed for the occupations they once served. Town blacksmiths were replaced with machines which could turn out multiple times more products at higher qualities. Profits were soaring and individuality was transforming into a collective unit serving to better society. People began to assemble the parts that would serve to build modern society, and in doing so they were overcome with the sentiment that they were no longer important. A new sentiment emerged, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau perhaps encapsulates the entire problem with modern society in that one sentence.

Society needed news. People wanted to be informed how the world was advancing and the beginning forms of print journalism exploited this hunger for information.

The newspaper of 1897 was the sole purveyor of news until the advent of newsreels in the 1910s (Hearst was a pioneer, by the way) and radio in the 1920s. Its comics, fiction, and features made it the home-entertainment center. Ample advertisements made it the shopping bazaar and wish book, too, both of which explain why so many homes consumed more than one daily each day. The competition for readers in New York was intensified, writes Campbell, by the decline of the previously dominant newspapers—Pulitzer's World, Charles A. Dana's New York Sun, James Gordon Bennett Jr.'s New York Herald, and Whitelaw Reid's New York Tribune. Even so, Pulitzer sensed enough of the crisis to order his business manager to recruit a spy within Hearst's Journal to find the source of the paper's ideas and identify what dissatisfied talent might be willing to leave Hearst and join him. – Shafer, Jack The Great Press War of 1897, Slate 2006

After the Industrial Revolution was in full gear, mass merchandising came into place and people soon discovered there were many things available to them to buy. With more things to spend money on people started situating themselves into jobs that would provide more money, while not necessarily providing personal satisfaction. More places to spend money lead to more companies competing to win money; less personal satisfaction lead people to try and fill the void with material possessions. The competition between corporations lead to mass commercialism. Commercialism then found its roots within media and the proliferation of new products was sent to the masses. People were reading about products that would make their lives better, help them keep up with the Jones’s. “For consumers as a whole, Boss sees a collective psychology prevailing. "We ask, 'What are others doing, and what can I get for myself?' Nobody wants to admit that there's anybody they're keeping up with, but we do collectively keep up with one another." – Gardner, Marylin A penny earned is a penny spent, The Christian Science Monitor 2006. With all of society consuming bigger and better products, innovation was at a peak. Soon two new technologies came into the spotlight that would forever change the way society gained information from Mass Media, radio and television.

In 1859 Oliver Wendell Holmes described photography as the most remarkable achievement of his time because it allowed human beings to separate an experience or a texture or an emotion or a likeness from a particular time and place — and still remain real, visible, and permanent. He described it as a "conquest over matter" and predicted it would alter the physics of perception, changing forever the way people would see and understand the world around them. Holmes precisely observed that the emergence of this new technology marked the beginning of a time when the "image would become more important than the object itself and would in fact make the object disposable." Contemporary advertising critic Stuart Ewen describes the photographic process as "skinning" the world of its visible images, then marketing those images inexpensively to the public. – Thoman, Elizabeth Rise of the Image Culture, Center for Media Literacy 2003 See: Elizabeth's article here: http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article79.html

Radio became a mainstream technology and transformed once distant social activities into every household. Radio also introduced new forms of marketing and more vibrant sources for news and information. The spectacle was now starting to take shape and people began to distract themselves from reality every night through a hypnosis of sorts from this speaking box. The success of the radio fostered the birth of television, which rapidly transformed the world. The masses became enamored with television and the stars it created. TV shows become commonplace, and commercials become as important as the show content. Television starts shrinking the world introducing celebrity fame and furthering the loss of identity.

When I heard the mellifluous voice of Ronald Reagan announce on GE Theatre that "Progress is our most important product," little did I realize that the big box in our living room was not just entertaining me. At a deeper level, it was stimulating an "image" in my head of how the world should work: that anything new was better than something old; that science and technology were the greatest of all human achievements and that in the near future — and certainly by the time I grew up — the power of technology would make it possible for everyone to live and work in a world free of war, poverty, drudgery and ignorance. – Thoman, Elizabeth Rise of the Image Culture, Center for Media Literacy 2003

People became so interested in fame they began to wonder if anyone would ever recognize them as an individual. This furthered loss of individuality and started molding society to emulate importance modeling the lives of the people they see on TV and read about in beauty and tabloid magazines. Commercials interlaced with biased news networks sponsored by media conglomerations started broadcasting stereotypical personalities; the people society wanted to become. Furthermore television moved from information based news shows to more entertainment based productions.

The rise in these types of magazines has everything to do with pent-up demand, said Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture and television at Syracuse University. Because our society has no aristocracy, Americans have always been obsessed with celebrity. In its earliest incarnation, according to Thompson, celebrity worship translated into bragging that George Washington slept here. “On a fundamental level, it is appealing to something deep in the American soul,” he said. –Davies, Jennifer Gluttons For Gossip, The San Diego Union Tribune, 2005

In fact, we currently have shows composed of nothing but celebrity entertainment “news”. To reiterate “Entertainment News”, people have become so hypnotized by television that they can’t even distinguish the fact that the news they are watching is for their entertainment not to inform them of real problems they face. That same entertainment news is filled with celebrities talking about face creams or diet programs they themselves buy and or recommend. This substance free programming leaves the viewer with a thirty minute show about nothing of any real consequence. Laced within the thirty minutes are various commercials selling products that more or less add no real value to anyone’s life and are repeated ad nauseam. So in essence, our mainstream television has now become a box broadcasting nothing of any substance, selling valueless products and indoctrinating our “individual” opinions. People start to see beauty which is defined by these companies trying to sell products that will make people beautiful. People start to believe news that will effect how they vote and place people into office to make news and control their lives. People start to see these “beautiful” television and movie stars and do everything in their power to bring any bit of that fame into their own lives. “’There’s a real hunger for this,’ said Steven Cohn, editor-in-chief of Media Industry Newsletter, which tracks industry trends. ‘There’s not a hunger for newsmagazines. There’s not a hunger for business newsmagazines. But there is a hunger for celebrity newsmagazines’.” –Davies, Jennifer Gluttons For Gossip, The San Diego Union Tribune, 2005

The overwhelming tragedy of it all can be seen by what society has become today, an entertainment consuming, distracted, bland mixture of subtleties and indifference. Individuals are few and far between as the masses consume not just information, but free thinkers. People are so desperate to be unique that they look to other people for inspiration, the problem being that our media broadcasts and highlights the same models of individuality to the masses creating nothing more than a sea of clones constantly trying to keep up and follow the newest trend. Joe Smith the blacksmith is no longer the blacksmith, now he is the accountant, he is the taxi driver, he is the software engineer; Joe Smith is now one of three hundred other Smiths in the phone book, none of which actually blacksmith anything. How is Joe Smith any different than Bill Smith? What individual characteristics or value can he use to separate himself from anyone else? Who will notice that he is gone if and when he is gone? The loss of individuality is a terrifying proposition that most men lead lives of quiet desperation fighting.

Perhaps Thoreau was correct; people need self value and worth. Perhaps the spectacle resultant from the Industrial Revolution is not so much the distraction from real life, but the cheap ideal that we aren’t worth anything as an individual. The irony of the spectacle is in it inescapable appeal to the masses; for the spectacle is nothing more than a reflection of society at its best and worst, more often the latter. The understanding that the viewer is in a sense watching themselves seems to escape most, which is arguable the reason the spectacle is so amusing. We want to be distracted and entertained, Shakespeare perfected it, Hitler took advantage of it, and the media whores it out to any one willing to buy it. Our daily grind revolves around the spectacle, the idle water cooler conversation about last night’s police chase, the latest Fox prime time TV show. It’s as though the grim reality that our lives could be boring without spectacle, and that fear of status-quo drives the masses insane with commercialism and capitalistic endeavors to desperately try to become part of the spectacle.

-David

Dreaming of Blogging

2007-09-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

Blogging has become more of an idea than an activity, at least for me.

It's just after noon on a Tuesday and I'm trying to escape the rest of the work day at my desk. Dreaming of a time when I'll have the time to grab my Macbook and battle the blogging grounds in style.

This post-it covered desk in the middle of white collar suburbia hell really negates a lot of the positive energy in my life. I suppose though, it could be argued, that its through those same frustrations all of this began. My desires of escapism peeked and sent me typing away through cyber-space trying to occupy my idle time. I really couldn't resent this place more. The ominous, life draining fluorescent ceiling tile sky above me; the padded psych-wardesque cubicle walls around me; the neutral colors, the bland smiles, the idle chat about American Idol, it all rips out my soul piece by piece, day by day.

If only this were some hip, urban cafe with a bunch of 20 somethings. Maybe some nice mellow jazzy tunes mixed with the soft murmur of private conversations. The fresh aromas of some fresh brews, the clank of dishes and silverware being washed in the back kitchen. I'd be tucked away in the corner absorbed by my new home. Outside the city lights would be on, but the autumn's night sky would still be glowing with the remnants of daylight. Clicking away, surfing the web, getting some inspiration for new graphic layouts, new website ideas, slowly drifting away into this altogether non-tangible yet always present virtual world.

My life would slow down as the world sped up around me. Outside the white and red headlights from passing cars would blur together into streaks of light. Inside the busy hustle and bustle would meld together into a ghostly image of people coming and going, eating and drinking, talking, laughing, waiting, watching...living.

But for now, it's back to reality. Trying to figure out whats more real, the virtual escape brought on by a virtual community connected randomly throughout the world, or this drab corner desk, in this suburban office tower, surrounded by people willing to walk all over one another in order to make their payment on their brand new E-Class Sedan.

Ohh Blogging....how I love thee.

My new website/portfolio

2007-09-08T16:50:00.000-07:00

After about 50+ hours of design and conceptualization, it is done. I've posted the basic framework for my portfolio. See: www.davidhgatley.com As if that weren't plastered on this blog enough ;) Which I'm also using to bounce traffic to the site.

The basic framework is up, nothing to scream about, but it's potential is huge. I've started messing around with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). A big industry term people throw around to sound smart. In essence I'm trying to manipulate Google and Yahoo, etc. into indexing my site above anyone else with the same info on their site...trouble is I'm in San Diego home to ohhh...10,000+ graphic designing photographers who dabble in web design. But hey, if you search...davidhgatley I'm number one!....of one ;) But, there is hope. I've started to understand how Google crawls the web and ranks sites. If you're interested in such things there is an incredibly informative site at www.kingsleygraphics.net.
They really pointed me in the right direction and offered incredible steps in Lehman's terms.

I suppose this project (davidhgatley.com) is really more of a creative outlet than it is a portfolio. But shhhh.... no telling;) There are so many incredible tools and information available out there. And well, using free software to build a site map for google, gsitecrawler.com then installing free code from StatCounter to check the site traffic coming in and out of all my sites, not to mention all the other free tools at my disposal got me to thinking; I should try and return the favor. I should try to share whatever knowledge I have (assuming its worth sharing) and make it available to anyone who cares to read it...

Hence...here we are.

Right Now I've had about 3 people visit my site, My girlfriend and my Mom ;) But as of 10:30am this morning it was officially made public and indexed in Google's directory...so I'm expecting at least 12,034 hits by tonight... ok maybe not, but I'm interested to see how traffic flows in and out of websites; where the most random site traffic can be found, and if all of this actually generates anything tangible (i.e. dollar bills in my wallet) in the near future. I'm going to stay away from website advertising, at least for now anyways. I can't stand annoying, distracting, flashey adds that make information hard to display, and read. I also think advertising on Blogs ruins any chance of credibility or trust the author can have. But that's beyond the point, I need readers before I can get rich from their mouse clicks =)

Here's to a productive use of the past week and a half of my life =)

-David

The Freedom of the Internet

2007-09-07T16:33:00.000-07:00

The freedom of internet access and use is at risk. In the near future you will not be able to access most of the websites you visit daily, unless these websites pay a premium to Internet Service providers, such as AT&T, Time-Warner and Comcast. Your high speed internet will not apply to any site you go to, but only those chosen by your Cable Company or Internet Service Provider (ISP). What does that mean? Myspace might not be accessible, or become very slow unless you pay for service from the News Corporation. This is not a warning, this is already happening, and the Internet needs our help.

If you are not yet familiar with the term "Net-Neutrality" this is nothing new; bloggers, active citizens, websites, and activists have been trying to bring attention to the topic for years. According to www.savetheinternet.com "When we log onto the Internet, we take lots of things for granted. We assume that we'll be able to access whatever website we want, whenever we want to go there. We assume that we can use any feature we like; watching videos online, listening to podcasts, searching for information, emailing, and instant messaging, anytime we choose. We also assume that we can attach devices like wireless routers, game controllers, or extra hard drives to make our online experience better.
What makes all these assumptions possible is "Network Neutrality," the guiding principle that ensures the Internet remains free and unrestricted. Net Neutrality prevents the companies that control the wires bringing you the Internet from discriminating against content based on its ownership or source. But that could all change.

The biggest cable and telephone companies would like to charge money for smooth access to Web sites, speed to run applications, and permission to plug in external devices. These network conglomerates believe they should be able to charge website operators, application providers, and device manufacturers for the right to use the network. Those who don't make a deal and pay up will experience discrimination: Their sites won't load as quickly, their applications and devices won't work as well. Without legal protection, consumers could find that a network operator has blocked the website of a competitor, or slowed it down so much that it's unusable.
The network owners say they want a "tiered" Internet. If you pay to get in the top tier, your site and your service will run fast. If you don't, you'll be in the slow lane."
What does all this mean? Well, say for instance you hate Myspace and prefer Facebook. If you are a Cox Cable subscriber and Facebook doesn't pay Cox money to host the site, you won't be able to access the site from your home computer. Or perhaps Fox News (The News Corp.) and Time-Warner have a partnership, if you have internet access from Time-Warner (Roadrunner) you won't be able to go to ABC, The New York Times, or NBC for news. Basically your Internet will become limited, and you will be restricted access to the sites you want to go to.

"The nation's largest telephone and cable companies, including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner, want to be Internet gatekeepers, deciding which websites go fast or slow and which won't load at all.
They want to tax content providers to guarantee speedy delivery of their data. They want to discriminate in favor of their own search engines, Internet phone services, and streaming video, while slowing down or blocking their competitors.

These companies have a new vision for the Internet. Instead of an even playing field, they want to reserve express lanes for their own content and services, or those from big corporations that can afford the steep tolls, and leave the rest of us on a winding dirt road. Congress is now considering a major overhaul of the Telecommunications Act. The telephone and cable companies are filling up congressional campaign coffers and hiring high-priced lobbyists. They've set up "Astroturf" groups like "Hands Off the Internet" to confuse the issue and give the appearance of grassroots support.

On June 8, the House of Representatives passed the "Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006," or COPE Act (H.R. 5252) -- a bill that offers no meaningful protections for Net Neutrality. An amendment offered by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), which would have instituted real Net Neutrality requirements, was defeated by intense industry lobbying.
It now falls to the Senate to save the free and open Internet. Fortunately, Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) have introduced a bipartisan measure, the "Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2006" (S. 2917), that would provide meaningful protection for Net Neutrality.
On June 28, the Snowe-Dorgan bill was introduced as an amendment to Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-Alaska) major rewrite of the Telecom Act (S.2686) [now HR.5252]. The committee split down the middle on the measure, casting a tie vote of 11-11.
Though meaningful Net Neutrality protections were not added to Stevens' bill, the fight for Internet freedom is gaining serious momentum as the bill moves toward the full Senate later this year. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has threatened to place a "hold" on the entire legislation unless it reinstates Net Neutrality and prevents discrimination on the Internet.

What can you do? Like any other important issue, you can write your congressman, and hope they read it, you can go to hundreds of informational sites such as www.savetheinternet.com and sign Internet petitions and hope that your name does something. Or perhaps more realistic, you can talk about it. Ask your friends if they have heard about it. Bring up net-neutrality in random discussions, be a net nerd. We are a generation defined by electronic, available, and most importantly, free media.

-David

How to take better photos

2007-09-07T10:52:00.001-07:00

First off, I don't care what you say...you are NOT a horrible photographer. ANYONE with a camera can take incredible photographs of their friends, scenery, sunsets, whatever...all you need to do is pick up the camera, keep a couple basics in mind, and shoot as many shots as you can.

First off, before I go any further. If you read nothing more than this paragraph, remember this one thing, take more pictures. Wether you're shooting a group shot of 5 of your best friends, or a beautiful sunset, always take at least 2-3 more photos than you think you should. Granted popping the flash inside some restaurant 6 times will inevitably make the entire place hate you, and blind your friends....but... well you get the point, its better to take 10 shots and get one good one, than to take 3 shots and have nothing worth keeping. So many great photos can be ruined by the smallest changes in light, the blink of an eye, etc...SO TAKE MORE PHOTOS than you think you should.

Alright, that being said, here are a few simple steps that will change the way you compose your photos, improve your existing pictures and impress your friends.

When you look at a photo you, for the most part, like it or hate it instantly. You may not even realize how much you dislike a photo at first glance, but try this; look through your own gallery right now (or after you're done reading this) =), and take note of the photos you have to squint at to see better, or the ones you just breeze through without a second glance, and focus on the ones that just seem pleasing for no apparent reason. There are a lot of reasons why you don't really like the image, and if you have the time, and understand why, you can generally fix each one of them or prevent repeating that photo in the future.
Compositional factors are at work in every image on a subconscious level, the most powerful is the rule of thirds.

The Rule of Thirds
If you split every image into three sections (top to bottom or side to side) you'll start to find that the photos that are most pleasing to the eye have excluded the subject from the middle third and moved it to the outer thirds: see below: ( this rule doesn't always apply, centering your subjects can still be powerful and moving, but for the most part you want to avoid centering)

Notice that the tree is the main subject and it's located in the right 3rd portion of the photo.
Where as a centered subject isn't as aesthetically pleasing:

Most people don't realize the brain interprets negative space and positive space when looking at a photo. Balance and weight are added to subjects as your eye moves from point to point on the photo. Your brain typically interprets this data in distinct patterns. Photos that go against the natural flow of eye movement break that pattern and are less pleasing to the eye.

The Diagonal Rule
Following the principle behind the rule of thirds, comes the diagonal rule. And like it sounds it has to do with the natural diagonal lines found in a photo. When you look at a photo your eyes naturally want to be guided towards the center of the image. Diagonal lines in the photo will direct your attention in that order, if there aren't any, it becomes distracting to the brain and less aesthetically pleasing. For example:

Notice how the natural lines in these photos grab your attention and constantly pull your eyes back to the center of the photo.
I often find this to be more difficult to be conscious of while taking a photo. I generally have to edit photos after the fact to follow the rule of diagonals, but keeping it in mind while composing the photo will definitely improve your shots.

EYE LEVEL and CAMERA ANGLE
Probably the most common problem in boring/unflattering photos is the angle at which the picture is taken and the position of the subjects eyes in the photo. The worst and most unflattering way to take a picture of someone if from a low point of view (kneeling with a camera taking a picture of a person standing up). Unless double chins are your thing, you generally want to raise the camera a little taller than feels normal, and position the eye level of the subject in the top third of the photo. Following the rule of thirds.
For example:

In this photo the eye level is such that it positions the subject in most of the frame. Something you want to stay away from would be this for example:

The average eye level is towards the middle of the photo, leaving too much open space above the group of guys. Had the picture been angled down slightly, exposing more of the body and using less of the empty dark space above, the photo would be nice to look at. This is that same photo cropped:

Notice here that while the same amount of the guys bodies are in the picture, they fill more of the frame. The eye level has been moved to the upper third portion of the frame, and its more pleasing to the eye. That is of course if you find a photo of 7 drunk guys pleasing to the eye, I think its difficult to look at the photo either way, but it illustrates my point nicely =)

(It's also a good practice to take pictures of subjects (not people) from an unnatural perspective. Don't just stand straight up, bring the camera to your eye level and shoot something. Get close to your subject, put the camera on the ground, or directly above your subject and take a picture of it in a way you normally wouldn't view it.)

There are a lot of editing techniques you can use to correct most compositional problems with photos, but in doing so you lose a lot of the original image. I will go over some basic photo editing techniques in another blog soon.

Hope this helps,

-David

Why you need gmail and ...

2007-09-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

The future of the web is starting at Google, if you aren't familiar with it now, you will be playing catch up rather soon.

If you already have a gmail account, you should have come to terms with a plethora of new features. The web based applications similar to Microsoft's Excel and Word, not to mention the Blogger apps. (shameless plug, I know) are all testing grounds hinting at a major shift in the world of computing.

Aside from the power of Google search, and the web based applications, gmail, is by far, the most powerful email provider available on the web. The virtually limitless
storage and the infinite saving capabilities make this email effortless in it's use.

Back to the point. Web Based Applications. These are programs that are run on the internet, not on your computer. This is the future of computing. Entire urban cities (Portland, DC, NY) are creating free wireless networks for all citizens. Soon, you'll be able to connect wirelessly anywhere you go. With this connectivity, and the advent of web-based applications, the need for a notebook computer will be replaced with notebooks made of nothing but monitors and keyboards. When you log onto the web you'll be able to do any one of a number of things, from online banking, to word processing, to photo editing all on a remote server. Your new "laptop" will cost nothing compared to the powerful laptops of today and will be able to do 90% of the work you are currently using them for.

Examples:
Right now there is a great site available as a FREE alternative to Microsoft office:

www.thinkfree.com

A completely free “online alternative to Microsoft Office”, ThinkFree lets you create, collaborate on and store documents and files. Creating and storing files on the web, for remote access and retrieval....SWEET!

Resources

2007-09-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

I'll get into further detail about each of these sites in later blogs, but for now here's a list of some of the best the web has to offer: Enjoy,

-David

Email: Google Mail
www.gmail.com

News: The New York Times
www.nytimes.com

Online Stores: Craigslist
www.craigslist.org

Surf Reports: Surfline
www.surfline.com

WebHosting: BlueHost
www.bluehost.com

WebUsability Testing: WebExact
www.webexact.com

FTP Client: SmartFTP
www.smartftp.com

Movies by Mail: Netflix
www.netflix.com

Online Banking: INGDirect
www.ingdirect.com

Ineternet Radio: fm949 San Diego
www.fm949sd.com

City Guide/Reviews: YELP
www.yelp.com

Blogging: delicious
www.del.icio.us