I saw this and immediately saw visions of dudes in mulletts ripping off cheesy guitar solos. The Northwest is truly stuck in the 80s.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Mount St. Helens on a windy day
It often isn't this hazy, but there were fairly high winds in the valley that blew ash around like crazy. We are in the middle of the blast zone looking down the muzzle of the crater, as it were. It was still very desolate after 25+ years of regrowth.
Are those dots elk?
We stopped at several overlooks in the blast zone of the volcano. This valley was miles away from the crater, but was still fairly barren. This valley used to be a river valley, but the eruption filled it full of silt up to 200' deep in some places. Dad insisted that there were elk in the valley but I never saw any.
Bait
We stopped at a convenience store on the way to Mount St. Helens and found the most amazing refrigerator stocked full of tasty seafood. I
've never seen purple and red shrimp before.
've never seen purple and red shrimp before.
Mmmm Bacon
Mom cooked us the traditional light Reed breakfast which consisted of a mound of bacon, chocolate chip pancakes, and at least 5 pounds of potatoes.
Road to McMinnville
My parents bought a house 35 miles SW of Portland in a town named McMinnville. The town was named after the McMinnville in Tennessee by one of its early settlers because it reminded him of his home.
Jim always did like him best
Mattie is looking at me like I'm going to help her out or something. Dogs trust humans far too much.
Old'n'warty trumps cute'n'stoopid
There are pear trees lining Jill's driveway that provided endless amusement for the doggies. The dogs would carry the pears around in their mouths until Jim took one away and crushed it on the ground.
Arrival in Portland
Jill, Mom, and Dad picked me up at the Portland airport and took me back to Jill and Jim's house. I was instantly engulfed in a doggie swarm consisting of their three labs, Matildamesh, Muldoone, and Sherman.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Cat Power
Cat Power's latest SD performance was rather disappointing. Last year I stood five feet in front of her and was totally blown away despite the fact that she never looked up once from her guitar. However, this time she was not having a good night and kept stopping to fidgit with her guitar, the mic, or ask for a sound level change. She was making eye contact with the audience, but you see the panic and anxiety in her body language. Holly said that she will answer with a resounding "YES" the next time one of her autistic or obsessive compulsive kids asks if they can be a rock star when they grow up. Call me a fanboy, but Chan Marshall still has an amazing voice and is worth checking out no matter how awkward she is on stage.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Michael, the founder and organizer
Michael takes his role of official bocce referee seriously: Notice the belt mounted cigarette lighter and looong tape measure. You can't argue with the man in the bocce headband.
All Terrain Bocce
Saturday I went down to Mission Bay to compete in the All Terrain Bocce tournament. It was started by Michael and his girlfriend. He manages a Pat-n-Oscars and she is a rep for Skyy Vodka, so of course the food was top notch! For $20 you get to compete for the championship while enjoying all the food and beverages you can stand. There were something like 100 contestants sprawled out over most of the NE side of the bay. I had fun hurling bocce balls across the boardwalk while people jogged by. I made it as far as the second round, but was soon thrashed by the pro players.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Terrorism drill at Calit2
I spent most of this morning at work up on the roof of my building watching a terrorism drill being conducted nextdoor in the Calit2 building. They blew up a fake bomb in the alley and then had EMTs, the fire dept, the police, and the swat team come in to take care of the victims and apprehend the terrorists. Several of my coworkers volunteered to be victims along with about a hundred other people. They were told to fake injuries, were herded around by the rescuers, or were held hostage by the evil terrorists. The highlight of the drill was watching the helicopters drop off the swat team so they could rescue the hostages (requires RealPlayer). We were standing right next to the filmcrew that shot this footage.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Harbor Seal in the Lineup
On Saturday I saw a seal in the lineup while surfing at La Jolla Shores. I saw its head pop up about fifteen feet from my board and look around. It started swimming out to sea and a couple of surfers paddled after it. A girl next to me yelled at them and told them they were assholes, but I'm sure they knew that already.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Taste of Encinitas
I went to the Taste of Encinitas last night and had a blast. 31 restaurants along a one mile section of the 101 highway participated and I made it my mission to visit them all. I wasn't quite able to do, but I think that this was because I gave into the free hotdog and slushie at the 7-11. Other than that all of the samples were very good! It was much better thab the Taste of Hillcrest a few months ago.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
More Surfing Adventures
I went surfing again last night and saw dolphins for the first time in months. There were three of them swimming north together about 50' outside of the lineup. The waves were chest high and breaking very nicely. I've been used to the smaller stuff, so I pearled quite a few times before I remembered where to position myself on the board. I caught quite a few fun rides once I got used to the steeper waves.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Lobsters
Holly and I went surfing after work on Friday at La Jolla Shores. The surf was extremely small, but we saw some amazing wildlife. There were quite a few leopard sharks noodling around in the shallows with the stingrays. What was truly amazing, however, were the lobsters! There were four or five of the buggers walking on the sandy bottom towards La Jolla. Hopefully they were headed down to pinch the toes off of people swimming at seal beach.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Damned Bounty Hunters
I tried really hard to get a picture of a seven foot tall guy dressed as supergirl, but these guys got in my way. I saw quite a few dudes dressed as wonderwoman, so I can only assume that this is normal.
Goth Girls
I asked one of the goth girls if she could explain to me the difference between being goth and emo, but she just started crying and said, "No one understands me." Maybe that was an answer???
SCA Whackos
The temperature got up to arround 100 degrees on Saturday, but that didn't stop the SCA whackos from beating the hell out of each other in full armor.
Comic Con
I went to Comic Con this weekend with Holly and her friend Ivy. There were something like 100,000 people present and many of them were dressed like this. It was actually quite fun! I geeked out a little and went to panel discussions given by George RR Martin and by the guy who created Babylon 5.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Mom and Dad's visit
Mom and Dad seem to enjoy their whirlwind tour of San Diego. We managed to squeeze in the following in less than four days: Pt. Loma, O.B. Dog Beach, Sunset Cliffs, In-n-Out Burger, Shelter Island, driving around North Park, University Heights, Kensington, La Jolla, the seals, the Cove, the Shores, Mt. Soledad, the desert, the Tecate border crossing, the Acorn Indian Casino, In-n-Out Burger with Rufus, the dog park with Rufus, Balboa Park, the Chicken Pie Shop, El Zarape, shopping in Solana Beach, driving around Encinitas, Leukadia, and Carlsbad, Torrey Pines, driving through UCSD, Perry's Breakfast House, the Cafe on Park, flip-flop shopping for Dad, almost record-breaking heat, Dad dropping his drawers in front of two amused ladies at seal beach, and quite a few other things I've likely forgotten. I know I had fun!
Traffic? What traffic?
Mom and dad drove down from Portland last week and arrived Friday. We decided to drive out to the desert on Saturday to look at rocks. Dad would just stop in the middle of the highway while mom and I took pictures of... rocks. Mom and I convinced dad that the Acorn Indian Casino had nice bathrooms, so we abandoned the rocks for the glowing air-conditioned solace of the casino. Mom and I dropped about $30 while dad took a leak. I really don't understand the alure of the casino. Why waste money gambling when you can invest in lottery tickets?
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Kook Report
I went surfing yesterday after work at La Jolla Shores around 5:00. I hadn't checked the surf report beforehand and was a little suprised by how big it was, but I paddled out anyway. Once I got out in the lineup I noticed that there weren't too many people out and almost no longboarders. Then I noticed the lifeguard jetski. Then I noticed that the chest-high waves that I paddled out through happened to be part of one of the smaller sets. Almost everything else was head high. Eek! I caught a wave and rode it for a little while before falling. I was in the impact zone, waves were coming in, and the safest thing to do was to head back out to the lineup. I hung out for a while watching folks take off. I took what looked like a smaller wave and ended up falling again. This time the leash slipped off my foot and the board went to shore. I swam after it and decided that these conditions were really beyond my ability. I played in the white for quite a while, had fun, and practiced turning. The real waves would break further out and then the white would reform into peaks and break again close to shore. These were 2-3' high, were smooth, and were very rideable. When I got home I saw online that there was some freakish offshore storm that had caused unusually large surf starting Sunday. The swell was at its biggest today, so I'm glad I kooked out on Monday rather than today.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Hello Honda
For the second time now Akira has been stolen and recovered. The SDPD found my Accord somewhere in City Heights essentially intact. I think I'm going to just leave the keys in the ignition and put a Flexcar(tm) sign on it. Rufus will be pleased too. He he has spent many years shedding and drooling in the car and was upset at the prospect of having to start over again with a new vehicle.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Goodbye Honda
I needed to pick my friend Janet up at the airport tonight at 7:30, but decided to go for a run at 6:00 after I got off of work. I ran by where I parked the Accord on Saturday and noticed that... it wasn't there. So I proceeded to run around the neighborhood looking at all of the places where I've ever parked the car only to conclude that it was indeed gone. I rushed home only to find that I had forgotten to bring one of the three keys necessary to get me back into the church. I managed to get inside the gate, but couldn't get into the building. Of course Rufus heard me outside and started baying like the loveable hound he is. I pounded on doors and windows until one of my neighbors came out to rescue me (or quite possibly to see whos dog was barking). Holy crap, what an evening!
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Floating Market
The boats full of fruit were beautiful. It was really colorful despite the impending rainstorm. As soon as it started raining the vendors frantically covered their goods and our driver paddled us back to the dock. Oh well, at least I was able to grab a quick plate of noodles before we left for the gem factory.
Floating Market Traffic Jam
The floating market was really fun, but the prices for all of the touristy stuff were higher than any I had seen so far. I ordered a plate of noodles from one of the vendors from land, but purchased nothing else. The boat we are about to hit head-on here is the other half of the tour group. Banging into other boats was quite fun!
Driver of the Boat
I went to the floating market outside of Bangkok today. This is a picture of the lady who piloted the boat through the canals. She was talking to herself the whole time and seemed to enjoy paddling us into other boats. I felt like I was on a Roman war galleon.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Back in Bangkok
I'm now safely back in Bangkok, which seems very plush and western to me now. I'm going to do the touristy floating market tomorrow. Cambodia was a tremendously beautiful place and was such an intense experience for me. The horror, poverty, and pain that many of those people experienced was unbelieveable. But, the Cambodians were some of the nicest, most hospitable, and most sincere people I have ever encountered. There were people who resented foreigners or who looked at you as an ATM, but this was the exception and not the norm. I'm still puzzling over what I saw the last few days and am sure that it is going to take me a long time to make sense of it all.
Siem Reap Killing Field
This is a modest monument at a Buddhist temple outside of Siem Reap. Siem Reap province now has a population of about 1 million people. Between 1975 and 1979 the Khmer Rouge killed one million people in this province alone by means of torture, execution, forced labor, and starvation. That was more than half of the population of this area at the time. Much of it occurred at this temple where it became a prison and an execution ground. The people who survived torture were taken to a well and beaten to death or shot. This place is now again a temple, a memorial, a school, and an orphanage. I really couldn't bring myself to take too many pictures here because I was completely overwhelmed. Some of the teachers at the school that I talked to were orphaned during the genocide. They were all about my age and had survived horrific childhoods. Many of the kids here were orphaned by landmines, the civil war, and the conflicts with Thailand and Vietnam. I still can't get over the fact that one million people died in and around this place in less than four years.
Danger!! Mines!!
I saw this sign for real a couple of times. This one was in the landmine museum in Siem Reap.
Four Way Linga
Originally there was a linga where this post now stands. There are four channels with spouts at the end to distribute the linga water more efficiently. Water and agriculture was a very important part of these people's lives. The king was revered as a god and he controlled the water. There are enormous man-made moats around most of the temples that were used for defense, for agriculture, and as a symbol of the divine power of the king.
Linga
Ah, the linga. You just gotta love the Hindus for their fascination with the phallus. There were pedestals/receptacles in almost every temple. A linga was inserted into the opening and then water was poured over it. The water was then fertile, powerful, magical, reverse-osmosised, or whatever. It could then be used in rituals. People still poured water over these and sprinkled themselves with it. About 80 km outside of Siam Reap there is a river called the river of a thousand linga. 1000 linga were carved into the stone river bed to fertilize the water as it flows downstream. Now that is agriculture!
Consumed by Trees
This temple was being completely consumed by the jungle. These trees are massive and were everywhere in the complex.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Temple Madness
I visted a dozen or so temples in three days and took roughly 500 pictures just of the ruins. I was completely mesmerized by them and can't even begin to describe how beautiful they are in person. The pictures don't really do them justice. What added to the magic of the place was that the temples are still being used by buddhist monks. The statues are robed, there are people worshiping, and the smell of incense fills the air. There are also the ever present sounds of the jungle, musicians in the temples playing traditional music, and the chatter of the locals. I wish I could convey he presence and power of these places, but I cannot. You will just have to see it for yourself!
Bayon Faces
The faces of Bayon Temple are everywhere! They are identical and all have the same beatific smile. I met two students from Phnom Penh who were studying archeology. They enthusiastically explained a lot of things about the temple, about the carvings, and about the history of it. I am still amazed at how proud the Cambodians are of these temples.
Outside Bayon Temple
Bayon Temple was another spectacular place. It looks like a pile of rocks from a distance, but is covered in beautiful carvings and statues. There are 216 GIANT faces carved into the towers that either depict a Hindu god or the king who built it, depending on who you ask. Legend has it that the temple was originally covered in gold.
Inner Temple Stairs at Angkor Wat
These are the stairs that I climbed to get into the upper/inner temple. They are steeper than they look, heavily worn, and covered with sand. Fun! I met some monks at the top that I talked to for a while. We descended the stairs together and one of the monks asked me if I was afraid. I told him that I was afraid of heights and he replied with "It is no problem to fall. Don't you believe in reincarnation?" Funny guy.
Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat was one of if not the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It was HUGE. This is the postcard shot, but hopefully it gives some hint as to just how big this place is. I spent two half-days walking around the ruins and still didn't see all of it. I managed to get there during the absolute heat of the day and didn't run into too many tourists.
Roadside Country Restaurant
This was a roadside restaurant that my driver took me to while visiting the temples. The brown building with the dirt floor is the kitchen. :) You don't want to know about the toilets. The food kicked ass and the people were friendly. These were family friends of Chan, the guy who drove me around for three days. Chan was a super nice guy and was extremely friendly. He took me to a Cambodian wedding party, introduced me to his family, and took me to a party at one of his friend's house. This was defintely not the normal tourist experience. Almost every Cambodian that I met asked me where I came from, how long I was staying, what I liked about Cambodia, and about my family. This last question was the most important to them! I was constantly suprised by how friendly and sincere people are in Cambodia.
My First Khmer Meal
This was my first meal after arriving in Siem Reap. Tasty chicken curry Cambodian style. There was a Taiwanese couple at the next table that shared their pumpkin soup with me. Mmmm. The guy in front of the restaurant was one of the many, many landmine victims I saw. This is still a terrible problem and doesn't show any signs of abating anytime soon. In many ways this picture sums up what I experienced in Cambodia: A fantastic culture, generous hospitality, extreme poverty, and great personal tragedy.
Three Little Pigs
We passed this guy on the way into town. The pigs were still alive and were going to market. This was a common sight, but usually the pigs were inside wicker baskets on the back of the scooter. The local pork was quite tasty!
Gas Station
There were only a few western-style gas stations in Siem Reap. Most of them were roadside vendors selling gasoline out of liquor bottles. Your mileage may vary.
Special Muscle Wine
I almost fell out of the tuk-tuk when I saw this ad on the back of another tuk-tuk... I LOVE Asian marketing! The lady in the picture was the Cambodian national beauty queen for 2005 and I saw her in several other ads. What special muscle are they referring to anyway?
My Money is No Good Here
US dollars are an officially and universally accepted form of currency in Cambodia. The only time I ever saw local money was as change for things that were less than a dollar. It was a little odd getting back a handful of bills instead of a quarter. I brought two bills from the US that I couldn't spend because they were torn. Nobody would take this money. Welcome to Cambodia! Your money is no good here.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Off to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat
I'm leaving Bangkok early tomorrow to go to Siem Reap, Cambodia. I'm staying there for five days so I can spend a lot of time at Angkor Wat. I started the malaria meds today without ill effect, so we'll see how that goes.
Palace from the River
This is a view of the Royal Palace from the river. The spirit house was to the left, but I missed it. One of the cool things I noticed was that most of the houses along the river had a spirit house on the water and not on land. I asked the guide and he said that the river spirits would rather live in a house on stilts.
Suspension Bridge
I tried to get a good shot of this suspension bridge with the hopes of giving a framed picture to Frieder. But alas, the boat went the wrong way and I will be stuck forever as a lower minion in the Dean's office...
Fruit Tray from Hell
The trip included this amazing fruit tray and all the Mekong whiskey you could drink. The list of fruit was: Papaya, two types of lichee, Thai apples, pineapple, mangos, bananas, durian, watermelon, peanut brittle, and god knows what else. The Mekong whisky is a rice-based whiskey that tastes more like rum. Very nice!
Party Barge
We moved over to this party barge for the return trip. This guy with the dog owns a restaurant and comes down every day to feed scraps to the fish. He said it was good for Buddhist merit.
Catfish
We stopped along the way to feed catfish. They hang out behind a Wat along the river where the monks feed them once a day. When the boat stopped they went nuts! I could have easily reached out and grabbed one.
Water Vendors
This lady was kind enough to row out to sell us beer and fans. She had an amazing assortment of stuff crammed into a tiny boat.
Tour Boat
I just returned from a three hour boat tour of Bangkok. This was the boat I was on for the trip up the river. These things haul ass!
Friday, May 12, 2006
Back in Bangkok
I arrived back in Bangkok last night and am flying out to Cambodia tomorrow. I went for Indian food at this vegetarian place I noticed last week. They specialized in dosas, which are these savory crepes made of a light lentil/flour batter. It was an unusual place because they only had vegetarian dishes and they sold no alcohol. It was by far the largest and most expensive meal I've had so far, but only set me back $9. The Indian food here is amazing. I'm on my way over to Chinatown again because there is an Indian neighborhood near there. Mmmm.
Homesick
C'mon, how could I pass this up? The menu looked identical to any taco shop in San Diego. The carne asade burrito is my litmus test for any "real" Mexican food in California, but unfortunately these guys didn't cut the mustard. The salsa came from a jar and the tortillas were more like crackers. It's too bad because I might have just stayed in Chiang Mai for good if they had decent Mexican food.
Lottery Tickets!
I was really tempted to buy some of these for the office pool, but I wasn't sure how to play!
Flowers for Prayer
This vendor was selling prayer flowers. I saw these wreaths and flowers being carried around the Wats and being placed on shrines. Some of the larger shrines were literally buried with these wreaths.
Market for locals in Chiang Mai
This was the edge of the local market in old Chiang Mai. The Ping river is at the end of the block. The smells and colors were completely overwhelming.
Pedicab
This was one of the more ornate pedicabs I saw in Chiang Mai. This guys was waiting for fares in front of a temple. I wandered up to the non-tourist area of the old city and visited the local market there. A lot more of the traffic was pedestrian and bicycle as opposed to tuk tuk or taxi.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Tuk Tuk
Here is a picture of me defying death by Tuk Tuk. I lost my hat shortly after taking this shot. :( These three-wheeled gas powered scooters are driven by madmen. Most of my time walking around was spent either trying to avoid be killed by one or by trying to tell a persistent driver "no" to a ride.
Wat Umong
Wat Umong was the coolest of the temples I've visited so far. The atmosphere was neat because it was in the jungle outside of Chiang Mai, they had a prayer and sermon playing continuously over a PA system throughout compound, and much of the Wat consists of underground tunnels! These were built for a monk who was clairvoyant. The tunnels snake through the hillside and end in little shrines or deadend with blank walls. It was really creepy walking around underneath the jungle floor!
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