TBA: 2007

Birth of the Photoblog: 2007

Monday, Dec 31

My my, it's been a while since anything's happened around here hasn't it? Since my trip to Japan, I haven't done much of anything, in fact, since that time I haven't even touched my camera once. I lost all motivation to be creative. A waste, considering I picked up a brand new 40D to replace my old cam that died out in Japan.

My trip to Puerto Vallarta over Christmas inspired me to take some photos again. After sifting through my shots there were a few that had the potential to be interesting, so the site lives once more. I keep coming back to the questions: what is the purpose of this space and who is it for? If all I want is a place to display my pics, I can do that on countless other photo sites. Perhaps it's time to retire this space permanently and give Bryan back his web property. I'll think on it and decide in the new year.

Happy New Year to all.

Monday, Oct 29

When I was in Takayama (Japan) I was restless one night and couldn't sleep. I went wandering around town and came upon this temple. I liked how quiet it was (compared to the massive press of people you could find there during the day) and the way the streetlight lit it up. I think I sat there watching the temple for a good half hour before I went wandering on.

Saturday, Oct 27

At the very end of our Xian tour, they took us to a tea shop for the "tupperware" part of the tour. The tour guide told us that the train station was busy and crowded so instead of waiting there, why don't we try some local tea? Of course it's all just one big sales pitch to part stupid tourists from their money, but seeing as she's the one telling the tour bus where to go, we didn't have much choice. As I wasn't about to buy any tea, I took pictures of the tea girls instead.

Thursday, Oct 25

Tuesday, Oct 23

Bikes, bikes everywhere. Shiny ones, red ones, but mostly rusty, ridiculously overloaded ones.

Monday, Oct 22

A beautiful park, Yuan Ming Yuan, was about 5 minutes away from our campus in Beijing. It was a vast park that contained three serene lakes. If memory serves, this used to be the location of the old summer palace before it was destroyed. The day we went there it was just perfect, it was warm, but not unpleasantly so, and there was a slight breeze blowing through all the greenery. It felt slightly strange to be removed from the chaos and the hordes of Beijing. What made the experience better was that Yuan Ming Yuan lacked the press of humanity one usually finds in these kinds of places. All in all, I think we saw less that 30 people wandering around this park. It was really a shame we didn't discover this place earlier in our stay (we found it the last week we were in Beijing) as I could have easily spent many a day studying and relaxing there.

Sunday, Oct 21

There were a few "touristy sights" in China where I thought I would be less than impressed. The Great Wall and Tiananmen Square fell into this category. Everybody has seen pictures of the Wall and Tiananmen, at least I know I have. I have to confess, I wasn't terribly excited to go see either of them, after all, I already knew what they look like from the pictures. However, seeing something in a picture and standing there, being a physical part of the place, taking in the sights and sounds, the atmosphere, is completely different. I have to say I was nothing less than awed standing on the Great Wall and in Tiananmen Square.

I think the thing that struck me most about Tiananmen Square is the history of the place. I remember watching the Tiananmen Square protests on TV when I was a kid and knowing that where I stood, thousands of people died was a sobering thought. Today Tiananmen Square is truly a place for the people. There are thousands of tourists there, merchants hawking their wares, and families out enjoying their day. It was incredible to sit in Tiananmen Square and watch a little boy flying his kite without a care in the world.

This particular picture is one of the hundreds of soldiers patrolling the square, looking out at the monument to the people's heros.

Friday, Oct 19

I have returned.

After much procrastination, the mountain of pictures have finally been downloaded and I'm working my way through sorting them. Pictures and commentary from the trip will dribble it's way onto here as I go. For now, the two people who still frequent this site will have to be content with another tiger.

While I was happy with the variety of animals I saw at the Beijing Zoo, I was appalled with their living conditions. There was literally mountains of garbage in the enclosures thrown in by spectators trying to inspire the animals to move and "perform". While I would have been ecstatic if the animals were more active, considering it was 30 plus degrees outside, I understand their lethargy. When I saw people throwing bottles at the tigers, I had an uncontrollable urge to toss that person into the enclosure head first. One smart fellow was even baiting the tiger by dangling things into the enclosure. I'm not sure if I was relieved or disappointed that the tiger just missed taking said moron's arm off at the shoulder. The lack of respect for the animals was truly a shocking thing to see. I imagine that if someone tried things like that here, they would be swiftly ejected from the zoo at the very least.

Saturday, Sept 8

Sunset overlooking Tokyo from Mori Tower in Roppongi.