flashback: february 24, 2004

cerro chirripo, costa rica.

not the tallest mountain i submitted, but still one of the more rewarding. the previous day i had spent eight hours going straight up from 800m above sea level to just over 3300m. altitude sickness hit me at exactly 3km. the evening was spent cooking and eating pasta and listening to people scream in agony at how cold the shower was the the refuge.

that morning, everyone got up at 3am to make the sunrise. that morning was the first time i had been seen such a clear star field. it was amazing, shooting stars and everything.

for sunrise i was tucked in a sleeping bag. breakfast was frosted flakes, i had brought a box sporting tony the tiger on it. the other dozen of people who had made the hike with me couldn't get enough of it an each took a picture with their best "there grrrrreat" face.

the rest of the day past slowly, i hike around the sabana and got an early night. i was pooped and i knew i had a 8 hour hike straight down the next day to make it back to sea level.

shows over, nothing to see

this morning i took my show down from vanessa's dumpling house.

thanks to everyone who showed up to support oily dumplings and a local artist. thanks especially to the dumpling house and lmcc's manhattan community arts fund.

has anyone fainted up here?

the images are avaiable here.

off the lp

on recommendations from some other travelers who have been i picked up the bradt ethiopia book yesterday.

for many it lonely planet is the holy book of travel.

for the last 10 years, i've been on lonely planet. it's gotten very comfortable, i could find things lickity split and the maps were generally dead on. the problem was that everyone else was on the lonely planets also bringing hordes of tourist to one or two local eateries when there's food just as good or even better next door.

once before, for oaxaca, i brought a moon handbook with me. i couldn't find a thing, but i was staying in one place and all the other backpackers were toting the lp mexico book, it wasn't an issue.

as i flip through the bradt book, they have a full extensive series around africa which lp doesn't begin to cover, i find myself equally as lost. but i have trust in the travellers before me.

if lp comes out with a new lp:ethiopia before i leave, i'm going to buy that.

flashback: february 17, 2003

presidents day, it was cold that day. it had also dumped about 2 feet of snow on the ground. the assignment for a class i was TAing was to photograph for 8 hours on a single block, more than a mile away from home.

i chose flushing that day, i'm not really sure why. i remembered i only spent about four hours there before i gave up and took the train back into the city.

now shooting four hours at a time anywhere, even for no apparent reason has become quite simple for me. though i wish i would go back to just using one roll of film, over the average roll an hour i go through now.

flashback: february 10, 2008

last year's chinese new year parade going through chinatown. i swore last year i wouldn't shoot it again. two sundays ago i was right back on mott street, taking essentially the same pictures.

j-smantis asked me on sunday what will i do with all these chinese new years and lion dance pictures. i responded, "same as always, process the film, put them in boxes and wait until i break my leg so i can edit them down to a nice collection"

last night a-twobits, send me a request for artwork from apex, aim for art. i think i'll put together a retrospective on my chinese new year experiences. fetch the three images hanging up at panade and add two others. hopefully the panel will like them.

lions and dragons and unicorns, oh my.

another year another lion's day out in chinatown, typically the second sunday after chinese new years. it is the parade that the tourist generally don't plan to see. chaos hits the streets as lions go from shop to stop scaring away evil spirits.

a bit more chaos this year as some old world type bravado stopped the group i've been following from their finale.

though disappointing, the rest of the day was a balmy 10 degrees. the shots felt a bit the same, i'm working at finding light better (i hope). i'll drop off the film, 13 rolls, to be dropped off, processed and scanned tomorrow.

this year in addition i snuck into there celebration dinner where the martial arts group ring in the new year.

i've known about this dinner for since i started photographing the group five years ago. this was my first time there. though there was an overall empty feeling because the finale they practice for was stopped.

the new members are hazed, returning members were rewelcomed and the teachers were honored. it was an good look inside, but i was still on the outside.

sidenote: casuality of the day include a lens hood for my 28 that will be a pretty penny to replace.

groundhogs day

watching it again. ultimately the movie is about immortality. the amazing part is i doubt i would do anything differently.

falling slowly

falling slowly. it's the title song from the movie once, i'm watching the front man from the frames and the girl from the movie perform it on soundstage. it's a beautifully done song.

i'm, of course, watching one of the three pbs channels that come in on my five inch black and white television. this is my second b&w television, the first stopped working and i purchased this from y-uwinsomeudimsum for a discount price of $5.

it is next to my computer to so i have something to listen to and watch. it isn't as distracting as a full sized set.

the other thing i do with it is when i get bored is adjust the brightness and contrast to make interesting images from the signal. it is very akin to getting a good base print in the darkroom.

being a five inch black and white set, it obviously is on rabbit ears.

earlier this week, i thought the box would have a reprieve from the death sentence that is digital broadcast conversion. the senate approved a four month delay on the cold turkey change over. however i just discovered, it didn't make it through the house.

so february 17th, i plan to sit back and watch the signal go out.