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The other night my daughter and I were playing Candyland and watching the Simpsons before bedtime.  After the game I went downstairs to put some laundry in and fish some clean pajamas out of the dryer.  When I came back upstairs the Simpsons had ended and what is she watching, but the opening scene of Jaws!  I quickly got her away from the tv and upstairs to bed before she realized what was really happening.  As far as she knows, the girl was only screaming because she was having such a good time swimming in the ocean.  The next day I was researching surf spots in New Zealand for my dream vacation, and came across this gnarly shot.  I couldn’t really tell what this had to do with the search I typed in, but can only imagine that this shark was caught somewhere near the surf spot I was trying to find pictures of.  Scary, but cool.

I sometimes wish I had become a scientist so I could make things that really benefit mankind.  Check out this story to learn about a huge breakthrough these MIT scientists made recently.  They have figured out a way to use solar power to separate water into oxygen and hydrogen gas.  The gases can then be stored and used to make electricity when needed.  A safe, clean and efficient way to store power from solar cells during the day for use at night is a major factor holding back the solar revolution.  This could be the answer.

Here’s one of the places I will never get bored with on the internet. The good old Fleet Numerical Meteorological and Oceanographic Center (FNMOC) public site. This is a projection of the ocean swell created by Hurricane Bertha which is churning up the Atlantic and still threatening to pummel Bermuda as we speak.

Discarded Engine; Deake’s Wharf, Portland, ME

Lewiston Bleachery and Dye Works; Lewiston, ME

It seems like forever since I’ve posted anything on this silly blog. I just haven’t felt like putting the time in lately. Actually, aside from checking the surf reports and wave forecasts I haven’t been online much at all lately. Frankly, I’m a little tired of and bored with the internet.

Every parent thinks their child is the cutest kid that ever lived. Thats just the way it is. So when you think that way, and you see all these print ads and commercials for baby products, you can’t help but think - “Hey, my kid is cuter than that kid. We should get her/him into modeling and start making some big bucks.” I was into the idea briefly until my wife knocked some sense into me. Peddling your child around to all these shady agencies, then immersing them in the fast paced, high pressure world of advertising production doesn’t quite fit my idea of a healthy upbringing.

With that said, we did bring her to one shoot for a small organic clothing line called Happy Green Bee. It was an open call situation where they photographed as many babies as they could in two days, then chose the best shots for their website. And we were excited when one of Izzy’s frames was chosen. We also happily agreed to take some shots of her for a friend who has a small label called Milo in Maine.  They make clothes for kids and adults using imagery that relates to life in Maine.  For now, that has been the extent of our daughter’s modeling career, and I’d be perfectly happy to leave it at that.

Last night I watched Into the Wild. Sean Penn wrote and directed this movie which is based on the book of the same name by Jon Krakauer. I read the book several years ago, and in my opinion the movie falls seriously short. It was a good try, but nothing about the film does justice to Krakauer’s tireless research or comes close to his obvious passion for the story.

With that said, the film did have it’s moments of glory, and the actors all played their respective characters very well. It also got me thinking about hitchhiking again and this story I’ve been meaning to write. Like I’ve said before, I have to start writing these things down before the details are lost from my memory forever. Already, I will have to dig up an eight year old journal in order to retrieve certain specifics for this one. Here goes…

Near dusk on a narrow rural route in eastern Oregon, just north of the town of Madras, I passed a lone hitchhiker in the fading light. Spotting the figure as I sped past, I came to a stop a couple hundred yards down the road, and the tall, middle aged man jogged toward my car as I reversed to meet him. He was thin, and several days growth of grayish brown scruff covered his face. His name was Vern, and Spokane, Washington was his destination. I agreed to take him as far as The Dalles, where I would be turning west toward Seattle, so he loaded his pack and bed roll into the back, and once settled into the passenger seat, began to tell his story.

Vern told me that his mother had recently died and he was traveling from his home in northern California up to Washington to have her buried and sort out her estate. He had left almost a week ago in his own car, which suffered a broken axle south of Madras. Lacking the funds to pay for the costly repair, he had gone to work doing carpentry at a local motel in order to earn bus fare to Spokane. After finishing the project, Vern was refused payment from the proprietor of the motel. They had no contract, and the manager simply stated that he didn’t have the money, and the room Vern stayed in while he worked was all the payment he would receive. I got a little frightened at this point in his story because Vern then told me that he was a veteran of the Viet Nam War - capable of killing a man with his hands, which he had considered doing to the motel manager. At a different time in his life he might have done just that he said. But, trying to live a more peaceful life now, he managed to stay calm, and took the matter to the Madras chief of police. The police couldn’t help Vern get his money (due to the lack of a legal contract), and divulged that the manager was already under surveillance for fraud and drug trafficking, and would get what was coming to him soon enough. That news seemed to give Vern a little comfort and satisfaction, but it didn’t change the fact that he was still broke and hundreds of miles away from Spokane. So the chief gave him his apologies and a ride out of town to the spot where I found him with his thumb pointed north.

More on Hitchhiker’s Guide II (Madras, OR to The Dalles)

I just found out my good old friend Seth Turner finally got a website up and running.  He’s been all over the world tramping and shooting in his signature good natured and formally perfect style.  Here’s to you Seth - Keep up the good work.

I was always a huge fan of the Price is Right when growing up. Still am. I think Drew Carrie is a great replacement for Bob. Of course no one can truly replace Bob Barker, but Drew has done a good job stepping in and making the show his own.

When I was young I always wanted to be on the show. When I graduated college and was planning a road trip to the west coast I didn’t hesitate to send in my SASE with a note giving the approximate dates that I would be in LA. Sure enough they sent me a ticket. Before leaving I designed this t-shirt and printed it out on that inkjet iron on media you can buy at the art supply store. As far as I was concerned it was a done deal. With this shirt and my winning smile I was bound to make it on stage.

Well, I got to Los Angeles the day before the taping, October 20th 1999. In the daytime I went to the Getty Museum, and my friend Rob worked at a comedy club on Sunset Blvd, so that night I went to the show then went out with him and a few others afterwards. We got to sleep around 4AM and if you read the fine print on the ticket it says priority numbers are given out at 7:30. I peeled myself off the futon around 7ish, pulled on my crumpled iron on t-shirt, got in my car in the blinding LA morning sunlight and drove to Television City. I must have been still out of it, because I can’t even remember if I was nervous or excited or what. But I remember thinking the parking lot was strangely empty, then walking up to the ticket window I noticed that the crowd of anxious midwesterners I had been expecting was no where to be seen.

Turns out that Bob Barker was in the hospital for some type of treatment or surgery or something, and the whole week of tapings had been canceled. When I expressed my disappointment to the girl at the window she acted like I was a total fool for not calling ahead. She was right though. If I had called they would have issued me a ticket for the next week and I could have explored southern Utah for another few days, or checked out Joshua Tree on my way to the coast. Instead, with the show date approaching I made a beeline for Hollywood only to find out Bob was out of commission and couldn’t perform. At that point I’d have been damned to spend seven to ten more days in that hell hole of a city. So I went back to my friend’s place, left him a note which I guess turned into more of a rant, then got on the road north to Big Sur and then onward to San Francisco, Portland and eventually Seattle and beyond.

To those who know me, it is no secret that I am not big fan of alternative processes. It is true that since my introduction to digital printing I have become much less of a photographic purist. But I still have little to no interest in extreme manipulation, or things like plastic cameras and such. I do however have a soft spot for pinhole. It is beautiful in it’s simplicity. Really good pinhole images have a kind of romantic quality about them that I love. Today, a friend at work showed me this site where you can choose from four designs, then download a pdf with all the patterns and instructions you need to make a 35mm pinhole camera. Check it out here.

Seen here is a Soothie brand pacifier made from medical grade silicone.  I am a little embarrassed to say this, but up until this weekend, my daughter relied on one of these to fall asleep at night.  Its not like she had to bring it every where she went, in fact for more than a year it hasn’t been allowed outside of the bedroom, but still enough was enough.

Perhaps even more embarrassing though, is the thing that prompted us to finally do away with it.  We happened to catch part of an episode of Super Nanny (I swear we don’t usually watch that garbage) and she said that a child shouldn’t have a pacifier past age two.  Well, our daughter is about to turn three, so not wanting to cross Super Nanny, we decided to put an end to the innocent habit.  We did this by explaining to her that the Pacifier Fairy had called and told us she was collecting pacifiers for little babies that needed them.  Our daughter bought it hook, line and sinker, and one twenty minute screaming fit later she was free from her addiction.  I still can’t believe it was that easy.