ATL-SEA

Today I leave from Atlanta and fly to Seattle to begin the journey to the West Coast Trail. There has been a flurry of activity over email between the eight men setting off on this trip. Some of the discussion was humorous other parts analytical, but hopefully we're all set mentally and materially for the hike. I have finally begun to research a bit about just what it is I've signed up for and the more you look into it the more you fear. At first you hear miles of British Columbia coastline in late July and beautiful panoramas appear in your head. Then you begin to read about the trials of the others who have gone before you and you instinctively second guess your initial leanings.

Seriously, it is rumored to be difficult but everyone says that it's well worth it. Stay tuned for updates upon my return. I've created a new label (WCT) for all the posts relating to the West Coast Trail so you can read the whole story start to finish if you like.

Mudhounds - a good diary with pictures from some folks who have been there and done that

House of Cards

Thanks to Chad for passing along this video, and thanks for the vote of coolness in thinking that I had already seen it. In fact, I had not and had no idea what was going on with it until I investigated further.

The whole video was shot without cameras or lights, which in passing sounds slightly unimpressive and takes some time to digest. This is not a digital recreation of the actors in the video characteristic of the Pixar productions we are all now accostomed to. Instead, the shapes and movements are literaly recorded using 3D scanning technologies at two scales: one that uses structured light(?) to small movements and fine grain topography, and a second to get record landscapes.

Radiohead has not only (again) embraced technology for its own expression but has taken steps to allow fans to use play with the technology themselves. There is a full google-hosted section of a site with info about the video, the technology and the code and an app that allow you to manipulate the data (the video) and create. There is also a making of the video (if we can call it that) that should be checked out. This follows their previous experiment with the song Nude, where they released snippets of the song to the world and asked for remixes.

Pitchfork says it all better and with much longer wind than me

Trips Abound

A week from today I head to Seattle and immediately on to Vancouver to hike the West Coast Trail. I have not been keeping up with a training regimen the way I would have hoped but I think I am in good shape for the trip. It will help that it is not 90 with 95% humidity out there, not to mention the break from the ground-level ozone. There'll be another hike on Sunday to warm up and then its all learning-by-doing. I appreciate any advice/suggestions for the trip people want to offer up.

Speaking of taking a trip, Jorge has returned home but not without his fair share of harrowing culture shock. First he forgot a bag containing passport, hard drive digital camera, books, etc. in a cab. But, as it goes in much of the world, there were many sets of eyes on the street and someone saw the the cab's number. He narrowed it down to two cabs and found the drivers before the police. The driver's were angry about the possible police attention and the accusations and didn't produce any reclamations. This all happened on his vacation on the coast and he had to move on, so he hired a guy there to stay on the case and low and behold the bag turned up, less camera, hard drive and some books. But he got his passport back and safely returned to Bogotá. But he wasn't done paying a second time for his own possessions. The bike he packed and mailed to himself from Atlanta was deemed an import and charged taxes. Is this an import? I am not sure. It was not in the condition that it is usually shipped from the company and sold, but there is surely a market for it as it was. In any event he's home and reminiscing his time here already.

And then there's the honeymooners. Paul and Hilary are somewhere still, hopefully not Bermuda, and soon Ben and Katy will be returning from their trip to Europe which sounded amazing. Their advice: drop what you're doing and go to Slovenia immediately. Finally, our friends Dave and Liza have taken a trip (one-way) out west to Salt Lake City. They've gone there to live and work as Dave continues his education/professional program. We'll miss them and wish them the best of luck.

Garden Update

The last time I told you anything about the garden it was just two boxes of dirt. Since then we've learned a lot and even have a couple things to show for it. We started with a variety of herbs from seeds, but a late frost hurt our efforts. Lauren then brought home a number of plants ready to be planted in the ground. These were tomatoes, squash, zucchini, eggplant, onions and arugala. At the same time we started some beans, peas, and carrots from seeds. Right now I have to say that the plants from seeds have been doing better than the plants we bought, but I think it may also be due to the types of plants. The beans, peas and carrots are producing, but the squash may be getting too much sun and heat to survive.

The tomatoes have started to produce and the arugala is going gangbusters but is getting too big and bitter before we can pick it. About a month after that first planting I planted more bean, pea and re-tried basil from seeds. We also picked up a few pepper plants. The basil is looking good now and we just picked the first chilli pepper. One important thing I learned which I think made a difference was pruning. This is taking some of the plant parts off in order to guide the growth of the plant, for example steering the plant to put more energy and nutrients into fruits. Another thing that we've had to do was provide plant food once and awhile, including worm poop and amending the soil further with compost. We also put down some pine needles in the bed as a sort of mulch to retain moisture. Now I'm trying to deal with some pests on the green peppers.

In addition to the garden proper I've transplanted some of the basil into separate pots and am keeping them around the deck to keep mosquitoes away (possibly?). We've also added some rhododendrons in the back as well as a honey crisp apple tree and a blackberry bush. Finally I spit around 6 watermelon seeds into a planter and they are starting to sprout. This week we're also getting some rain so it looks like everything's coming up roses. My biggest challenges at the moment are trying to save the squash and green peppers and possibly getting the eggplants to produce.

What to do with all the Boxes from Wedding Gifts

Just back from San Francisco for the wedding of Paul and Hilary I found a few ideas worthy of pulling me out of my blogging slump. The first is obviously the wedding. It all went down in the Presidio on a beautifully clear July day. The whole weekend was a unprecedented success for which the couple deserves much of the credit.

The second thing to really capture my attention is a far more public matter to which I can provide more information. On Sunday during some free time I wandered down to Dolores Park with Lauren and Peter. We found great people watching and were content to just pick a spot on the side of a hill and relax for an hour but as we entered the park a gathering on the far side caught our eye. At first glance we thought it was a fight or maybe some performance art. We could see one man on stilts but no juggling and so we decided to go have a look for ourselves.

We found that many of the people were dressed in cardboard armor adorned with superhero logos or medieval flavor. In the center of the circle were two children doing battle with swords which were actually the remains of a roll of wrapping paper. It was a tournament that we watched in it's entirety. Then, when we thought we could get on with our frisbeeing and people watching, the whole thing was taken up a level. Adults with wristbands of different colors were allowed to get their own tubes and do some battle and eventually the sides formed at opposite ends of the field to do Braveheart-style battle. We were standing near the person who took this video. Notice the guy in battle garb (red plume) riding a play horse. He was on the team at the far end and flanked the charging team to appear right behind them, wonderful strategy.



Looking into this further I found that what we witnessed has happened before in Seattle and Sydney and is called the Cardboard Tube Fighting League. Interesting enough. What I was surprised to find out was that there is a formal declaration of war from the Government of Box Wars against the CTFL.

Declaring that a state of war exists between the Government of Box Wars and the government and the people of the Cardboard Tube Fighting League and making provision to prosecute the same.

Whereas the Government of Box Wars has formally declared war against the government and the people of the Cardboard Tube Fighting League:

Therefore, be it Resolved by the Representatives of the Cardboard Tube Fighting League, that the state of war between the Cardboard Tube Fighting League and the Government of Box Wars which has thus been thrust upon the Cardboard Tube Fighting League is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the Cardboard Tube Fighting League to carry on war against the Government of Box Wars; and to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all of the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Cardboard Tube Fighting League.

This group also meets in Dolores Park but appears to be less formal with fewer rules. Box Wars sells itself as an art movement or an edgy-eco-sensitive motivation to recycle. Both make the point that people need to get out and have simple fun more often.

I did find some LARP in Atlanta called Nero, but it looks a little too scripted. Until my next trip to San Francisco I'll be waiting for the CTFL or another classically quirky phenomenon to make its way to Atlanta and wishing I had the energy to make it happen here sooner rather than later.