Just posted my photos of the historic ascent by wheelchair to the summit of 14,246ft (4342m) White Mountain in California by Bob Coomber.
I was on the support team.
Category: photos
photos – Chris in Beijing
Chris Baraniuk is a coach with Cirque du Soleil:
Beijing is bustling, getting ready for the Olympics.
It will be a bit challenge come time for the Games. While I think the venues will be ready, the pollution, transportation, weather, and local behaviour will be huge challenges.
There is ongoing education of the Beijing residents on being polite, to be more hygienic in public (no spitting), basic English lessons (most speak no English: ok, DVD, watch, bag, hello), and learning how to stand in a line and not push people over.
If anyone is planning on going during the Olympics, bring your patience, some valium, and have a good concierge at your hotel.
Most of the construction workers come from the country-side. They leave their families at home for most of the year and send money home. They average $ 100 per month, get housed 12 to a room, 3 meals a day (meat once per week), and have a bucket and cloth to wash with.
Walking on the Great Wall was a once in a lifetime achievement and well worth the trip. Just to think that it was over 5000 km long when built.
Coincidentally, Sunday night I finally watched the Jet Li movie Hero (2002). The cinematography is sumptuous. .
Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.
This film has faced criticism from abroad at a perceived pro-totalitarian and pro-Chinese reunification subtext. Critics also cited as evidence the approval that had been given to the film by the government of the People’s Republic of China.
These critics argued that the ulterior meaning of the film was triumph of security and stability over liberty and human rights and that the concept of “all under heaven” (translated in the English-subtitled release as “Our land”) was being used to justify the incorporation of areas such as Tibet and Xinjiang within the People’s Republic of China and to promote the reunification of Taiwan with China.
It’s just a movie guys. Lighten up.
Images That Changed The World
I caught up with an old friend recently, Michael Lemieux, who attended Kent State about 10yrs after 4 students were shot.
The news that Richard Nixon was sending troops to Cambodia caused a chain of protests in the U.S. colleges.
At Kent State the protest seemed more violent, some students even throwing rocks. In consequence, The Ohio National Guard was called to calm things down, but the events got out of hand and they started shooting. Some of the victims were simply walking to school. The photo shows 14-year-old Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the body of Jeffrey Miller who had been shot by the Ohio National Guard moments earlier.
By John Paul Filo
Check them all: Images That Changed The World
Kent State [1970]
beating the heat
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My friend Sasha has the right idea.
It’s been atypically hot and humid in Calgary this past week.
You must dress for the weather.
movie – Manufactured Landscapes
Scary beautiful.
Manufactured Landscapes is a film by photographer Edward Burtynsky and filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal.
The film shows the immense impact of of industrial growth and development in China. It is stunning in the way it shows the gross impact of humans upon the planet.
To see the trailer click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
photos from gym camp in Idaho
This was my 5th year helping out with Dave and Lisa Adlard’s FUNtastic gymnastics camp in Coeur d’Alene. (I spell that name differently every time.)
As usual, I posted photos of the kids and coaches.
hiking Snow Peak, Idaho
See photos of our hike / scramble on my hiking blog.
atop the fire tower
flickr new SLIDESHOW not intuitive
Fans of flickr like myself like to blame the parent company Yahoo! when things go wrong.
But I question this new innovation from the flickr team:
We’ve launched an improved version of the Slideshow.
Here’s the feature comparison:
Old Version — sucks
New Version – rules!You wanted bigger photos!
You wanted to see titles descriptions!
You wanted to see your photos on a black background!
If you look at photos on flickr, here’s an important tip: During slideshow mode, if you hover your mouse over the centre of any photo, an “i” should appear. Click that and you will get a text overlay on the pictures during the slideshow.
Invisible-until-you-hover links on photos and videos are becoming quite popular. But it’s definitely not intuitive.
Thanks George.
AFTER the gymnastics camp in Idaho
This was my 5th year at Adlard’s High Performance Training Camp. Another great event!
After the competition some of us headed out to the new lake cabin just purchased by Barbara Anne and Michael.
Here’s the view from the deck:
BEFORE the tree was chopped down
AFTER the tree was chopped down
Later we headed out to camp at a reservoir in Montana in celebration of the 4th of July.
more photos on flickr
Rick McCharles 