this today - the virgins and the lake were yesterday.Monday, June 29, 2009
Photo of the day
Queenstown a pretty popular intergalactic tourist destination – people from all over the universe come here in hopes of having a good time and maybe meeting someone special. Unfortunately for this Clone Trooper and Imperial Guard it didn’t go so well, alas they could find no metal bikini clad Princess Leia’s and were left to play Star Wars in the park all by themselves…
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
so close to going so far
So why did I buy a little laptop? Well it would be easy to think that I’d just fallen into the trap of bandwagon consumerism. Yes, it’s true these little beauties have become the techno accessory de-jour for cyber geeks, teenage girls and those who profess to be on the cutting edge of whatever. There is reasoning behind the purchase. The first part is the fact that they are desperately cool. My Asus Eee PC is slightly larger then a hardcover book, weighs about 1.5kg has 1GB of ram, 160GB hard drive, 6hrs of battery life and cost me about $400 US. It’s amazing how far computers have come in the last year – forget the last decade. While all this is cool – the reason why I bought it has more to do with what I do then anything. As a travel writer and adventurer having a portable laptop is worth its weight in gold. This little guy will swim in my daypack and is sure to ride shotgun on every overseas foray for the foreseeable future.
So why now? What am I not saying? It’s true; I’ve been keeping pretty quiet about plans as of late. The reason being was that I didn’t want to jinx things as details were still being ironed out. But seeing as I have the flights booked and the trip is happening whether I want it to or not – it’s time to come clean.
On July 16th I’m headed to San Francisco and then quickly onward to Toronto. In Toronto I’ll get on my bike and start riding west. The plan is to ride either to Calgary (where I grew up) or all the way to Vancouver. Though it may sound like a cop-out to stop at Calgary, it is still a 3000km ride – Vancouver is another 1000km beyond. I’m planning on going super light - crazy, ill advised light actually. I’ll have a change of clothes, rain jacket, iPod, this laptop, a micro sleeping bag and an emergency tarp and that’s it. I’ll be on my road bike, with a rack and arrow bars – and going as fast as I can. I’m planning on averaging 140km per day arriving in Calgary in about 4 weeks. It’s going to be huge. It’ll be an awesome adventure to say the least – which I’ll be blogging about the whole way, and shooting a photo of the day too, of course.
So is that it? Nope, there is still another month in North America after that filled with and even crazier adventure… but that’s a whole different post!
Watch this space…
So why now? What am I not saying? It’s true; I’ve been keeping pretty quiet about plans as of late. The reason being was that I didn’t want to jinx things as details were still being ironed out. But seeing as I have the flights booked and the trip is happening whether I want it to or not – it’s time to come clean.
On July 16th I’m headed to San Francisco and then quickly onward to Toronto. In Toronto I’ll get on my bike and start riding west. The plan is to ride either to Calgary (where I grew up) or all the way to Vancouver. Though it may sound like a cop-out to stop at Calgary, it is still a 3000km ride – Vancouver is another 1000km beyond. I’m planning on going super light - crazy, ill advised light actually. I’ll have a change of clothes, rain jacket, iPod, this laptop, a micro sleeping bag and an emergency tarp and that’s it. I’ll be on my road bike, with a rack and arrow bars – and going as fast as I can. I’m planning on averaging 140km per day arriving in Calgary in about 4 weeks. It’s going to be huge. It’ll be an awesome adventure to say the least – which I’ll be blogging about the whole way, and shooting a photo of the day too, of course.
So is that it? Nope, there is still another month in North America after that filled with and even crazier adventure… but that’s a whole different post!
Watch this space…
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
This is the end of her world as she knows it – and I feel fine.
This is either a sign of the apocalypse or just the funniest thing I’ve seen in ages. To put it into context, here is some teenager watching the results of American Idol – apparently her horse didn’t come in…
Tele-rail
Here is a video of me having a bit of fun on opening day of the ski season. We had a great tour into the backcountry, found some nice steep lines, heaps of fresh tracks all bathed in glorious sunshine. Heading home, we cut through the resort and I spied this rail sitting perfectly above the inversion layer in the valley – I couldn’t resist. Sliding rails on telemark skis is always good fun and never without nerves on the in-run. Happily my first go of the year went off without a hitch.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Adventureskope Art Exhibition
For those readers in New Zealand, this one is for you. The New Zealand Mountain Film Festival is only a couple weeks away – this yearly showcase of the best mountain film from around the world kicks of in Wanaka, NZ on the 3rd of July and runs until the 7th. It’s a great festival and I encourage everyone to come and have a look – for more info on tickets and the festival click HERE. Every year as part of the festival they have a selection of outdoor and adventure themed art on display in the foyer of the convention center where the festival is held. This year, along with a few other artists I’ve been asked to show some work. It’s a huge honor and a great event – so I’m stoked that I’m going to get to take part. If you’re coming to the festival be sure to have a look for my stuff and if you like what you see, why not buy a print! It’s never too early to shop for Christmas! Come say hello – I’ll be there for the weekend checking out the films. See you there!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
It Might Get Loud
Today I came across two trailers for music documentaries that I really wanted to share. This first one, It Might Get Loud looks awesome – three guitar legends – Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White all talking about their love affair with the electric guitar. I really can’t wait to see this one, it looks brilliant. Next up is One Nine Nine Four – the story of punk rock in the 90’s. Looks really interesting too – I remember the time well. Like so many my hair was died, my wallet was chained to my belt and my trousers were way too big. Looks like a fun retrospective into a cool era. The third is for a film I’ve blogged about before – Hard Core Logo. This uber-classic film is about 15 years old now, but shows no sign of aging. It’s an absolute classic (as will soon be echoed by Hinterlands) and is well worth tracking down – if you can.
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Photo of the day
They just tore down a building downtown. Behind it was this old wall that pre-dated the now erased structure. The graffiti with the anarchy symbol and the faded reference to the 80’s band Hunters & Collectors is like a time capsule into a bygone era of cultural identity…Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Cycle2Learn
On the Tour d’Afrique I had the pleasure of riding with lots of really inspirational people. Adventurers from all walks of life with as diverse a backgrounds as you could imagine. Two guys, Bruce and Tim really broke the mold. These guys, both in their late twenty’s, didn’t just decide to raise money for charity while riding the TDA – they stared their own charity! Both native South Africans they were keenly aware of the dichotomy of resources that exist in their homeland. They set out with a simple goal – build two new classrooms for a school badly in need on the Eastern Cape of SA. Their plan was ambitious and bold – they would raise 180,000 SA Rand (roughly $22,000 USD). Not content to simply pony up to big corporations and ask for big handouts – they decided to go decidedly grass-roots. They asked for individual donations of R100 (about $12.50USD) so how did they go? It was a massive success! They raised, at last tally, R172,000, or 1720 individual partners who have donated and done their bit. Really inspirational stuff!
I’m hugely impressed by what these guys have done – but they’re not done quite yet. They are still R8000 ($1000USD) short of their goal – tantalizingly close! It’s a great cause and well worth the modest donation they are asking for. These guys put in HUGE effort to ride the length of Africa; both Bruce and Tim were EFI (every fucking inch of the way from Cairo to Cape Town) and managed to come in second and third place in the race. So why did they put all this effort in? One simple reason - to raise the cash to help out these kids who really need it!
I’ve done my bit and I hope some of you will have a look at what they are doing and get involved too! I’d appreciate it, Bruce and Tim would really appreciate it and words can’t describe how much the kids will appreciate it!
For more on Cycle2Learn and to donate click HERE.
I’m hugely impressed by what these guys have done – but they’re not done quite yet. They are still R8000 ($1000USD) short of their goal – tantalizingly close! It’s a great cause and well worth the modest donation they are asking for. These guys put in HUGE effort to ride the length of Africa; both Bruce and Tim were EFI (every fucking inch of the way from Cairo to Cape Town) and managed to come in second and third place in the race. So why did they put all this effort in? One simple reason - to raise the cash to help out these kids who really need it!
I’ve done my bit and I hope some of you will have a look at what they are doing and get involved too! I’d appreciate it, Bruce and Tim would really appreciate it and words can’t describe how much the kids will appreciate it!
For more on Cycle2Learn and to donate click HERE.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
A most enjoyable waste of time
Here in EN-Zed it’s a long weekend – we’re taking Monday off to celebrate the Queens birthday. Ironically this holiday isn’t observed in England, who you’d think would be all up with the times with old Royals. No matter, it’s the sort of day where precious little work gets done – with that in mind I thought I’d share this absolutely brilliant video. I don’t have the foggiest how to describe it with the gravitas for which it deserves – best to just sit back and take it all in…
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