monkey time

So as you should know, I recently went on a Caribbean cruise. Our first port of call was Bridgetown, Barbados. Now, if you're unfamiliar with the way cruises work, they have activities you can purchase for each port. Royal Caribbean calls them Excursions, or sometimes Explorations. Our excursion for Barbados was a 4x4 ride with a monkey encounter type thing. We weren't really sure what to expect, and the description didn't guarantee we'd see any monkey's on the trip, but we wanted to give it a shot.

So we got to the meeting point and there were these yellow jeep looking things, and some tour guides standing around. One of the guys was quite the character and started chatting with the crowd. It was clear to me that this guy was either going to be the best guide, or worst, but no in-between. So when they started dividing us up into smaller groups, we managed to get in his group. And thank goodness we did; he was a delight. The tour turned out to be unbelievably fun, and much of it was thanks to his guidance and commentary on Barbados.

And boy did we see some monkeys. In the preserve they were everywhere. They weren't necessarily afraid of humans, but they weren't to be treated as domesticated. You also had to be careful if you were standing for any period of time. They told us to look down at our feet before we took our first step, because more than likely there was a monkey down there now. One guy got chased a little by one when he accidentally stepped on a tail!

After the preserve, we got a tour of the island, which was very informational. On the drive back traffic was starting to get bad (relatively bad.. for Barbados), so they decided to take us on a shortcut. This shortcut was basically a dirt road through some fields, and although it was a lot of fun, we hit some pretty serious mud and everyone got all muddy. My shirt from that day might be salvageable, but only after 3 or 4 washes. I'd say it was worth it though.

1722 MPG

That’s the miles per gallon equivalent my dad’s electric bike gets, based on the EPA’s conversion calculation. Of course, the battery won’t actually last long enough to go that far on a charge, but that’s what the numbers say.

My dad built this bike this spring, basically from nothing. He put together all the components based on his research and it runs like a dream. It’s a blast to ride too. He used a relatively small motor, so the speed will max out at 20 mph, which is plenty for a bicycle and right where he wanted it (although it would be sweet to have it faster). After you hold the throttle where you want it for a number of seconds the cruise control kicks in and you’re really rollin’. He mainly uses this bike for running errands and really loves it.

The only thing he’s not sure about is the frame it’s on. He’s not all that comfortable on the mountain bike frame so he’s thinking of swapping all the components over to a classic 3 speed which would give him an upright riding position. I think it’s a great idea and would look really cool on that kind of frame. Maybe someday I’ll build one of these, but I need to build a fixie first. This is a really cool bike.

Lawrence Pt. 2: Jazzhaus

Guys, let me tell you about this band I like; they’re called Midnight Success. I don’t just like them because my friend Gus plays for them, nor because I’ve known some of the other members since high school. No, I like this band because they create good music. On top of that, they put on a good show live; lots of singing, and even a little choreographed dancing.

So anyway, a while back Gus told me they would be playing in Lawrence, so of course I wanted to take the short drive over for the show. I would have gone alone, but I asked my best friend Scott if he wanted to come with me. He didn’t disappoint and was eager to go. We both went to college there and I hadn’t been back to Lawrence in a while, so we went early and grabbed some dinner on Mass Street, and then met a few more friends who still live in Lawrence at the Jazzhaus for the show.

We were both a little nervous about going to the Jazzhaus, because last time we were there, we got thrown out for trying to burn the building down. Don't worry, it wasn't as intense as it sounds and there was no malice behind it, and there was no actual act of trying to burn the building down; just a concert flyer that somehow caught fire at our table. It was also over five years ago, so we weren't actually nervous, but we did have a good laugh about that time.

There were three bands playing that night. I don’t remember the order off the top of my head, but one of the bands sucked pretty bad; lead singer had no energy and really put the place to sleep. The other was pretty good, if I remember right. Midnight Success was great. I definitely want to see them again if I’m ever in Wichita for a show, or if they ever make it back to Lawrence or even to Kansas City.

Lawrence Pt. 1: Jefferson's

A while back, my friend Gus told me his band would be playing in Lawrence, Kansas, which is just a short drive up the highway from where I live. Of course I had to make the trip to see his show; I had only seen his band play once before and really wanted to check them out again. On top of that, I went to college in Lawrence, and it had been a couple of years since I had been back, on account of me living in California and all for a while. So I got my friend Scott, who also went to school at KU, and we headed off one Thursday evening.

We went pretty early so we could grab some food down on Mass Street, and look around a little before the show. I picked a little place called Jefferson’s, known for their buffalo wings and pretty waitresses (at least that’s what I knew them for). Oh how things have changed. Their buffalo sauce was good, but in the years since school I have found better; much better (yeah, I’m talking to you The Peanut). As for the waitresses, they weren’t anything to write home about; they used to have the cutest ladies working there! Oh well, it was still fun hanging out there with Scott, sort of like old times (I don’t think in the four years we went there he and I ever actually ate there together).

After dinner we made our way over to the Jazzhaus. Check back tomorrow for part two of this gripping tale!

Alaska... kinda smelly

Welcome to the view from the World’s Smelliest Rest Stop! Located somewhere outside of Denali National Park, this rest stop was seriously foul. It had a pretty view of Mt. McKinley, and of this river, but man, the odorous nature of the environment permitted us to stay only long enough to take the quick hike up to the lookout point and then back to the car. I don’t know what it was, but the consensus for the whole trip was that Alaska was, in general, “kinda smelly.” It didn’t detract at all from the trip, but did lend itself to our amusement.

Duplicates

Yikes! It’s been a while since I’ve posted on here. For that, I am regretful. And to make up for it, here’s some new content. And by new content I mean four pictures that are very similar to other pictures that I’ve already shared. BUT, they’re slightly different, AND those river pictures at the bottom are brand new. Not a similar one anywhere within my photostream! Uh, except for the ones right here. So good for me, and good for you!

I really need to post all of my Alaska shots soon. It’s going to be a year since the trip in just a few months. I should have had these all posted ages ago.


















I like how similar yet different these last two are.

man in the mirror?

I heard the most interesting Radio Lab a couple weeks ago. It was about symmetry in human life, and one of the segments told the story of a man who, simply by changing his hair from a right part to a left part, completely turned his life around. Jad interviewed the guy and he explained that while looking in the mirror, he had thought he was looking pretty fresh; however this was a backwards image and the rest of the world didn’t see him the same way. One day he realized this and decided to swap the side of his head the part was on, from the right side to the left, to see what happened. That night, he went out and met up with a big group of kids down by the aqueduct; a group that had previously ridiculed and even beaten him, most certainly for being a nerdlinger. Strangely the group welcomed him with open arms.

Jad and Robert went on to discuss this phenomenon and offered an interesting picture of President Lincoln. This is probably the most standard image of Lincoln you’ve ever seen, however they also showed it flipped horizontally, assumedly showing us what Lincoln would have seen in the mirror. It was a stark contrast to say the least.

Interested in this, I went back and looked at some pictures I’ve taken of myself in the mirror over the years. All pretty standard, but when I flipped them I nearly flipped out. OK, not really, but it was pretty surprising. “Wait a minute” I thought, “is this how people see me? How do I have any friends?!” Alright, so it wasn’t that bad, but I did wonder if that’s what I looked like to everyone else. Then I got to thinking about some of the pictures I’ve taken of myself using a tripod, so there isn’t any flipping going on. I looked at a few of these and was relieved to know that I don’t look all that much funnier than what I see in the mirror every day.

This got me thinking about how we perceive ourselves, and if a photographer who is prone to take a lot of self portraits using a tripod has a better idea of what they look like than someone who only looks at themselves in the mirror. Here are a few of me, taken using a tripod, so I assume this is how people see me. I think I look alright, and hopefully everyone else does too! Try the mirror trick out sometime; take a picture in the mirror, then flip it in a photo editing program. I think the result will surprise you, it sure did me. Although to be fair to myself, I only really looked at outtakes that I didn’t like in the first place.

Also check out that Radio Lab episode here. Look at that Lincoln picture too (just click the picture of Lincoln for it to flip).