Saturday, March 31, 2007

Hanauma, Underwater Camera

I finally got around to trying out an underwater "bag" for my camera. Ewa-marine makes these cramp-sealed plastic bags with a hard-mounted lens that keeps your camera dry. Very neat. The water was decently clear, and much better far out. I went with Sonnett, Dolphin, and Liz's Mom. It was really good because everybody wore wetsuits and felt comfortable in deeper water for over 2 hours..... Good stuff. I'm still figuring out how to use this camera in low-light settings though. Underwater shooting is a horrible combination of low light and rapid motion - it's dark down there and fish (and people) move. Not good for cameras which need light..... I think a lot of these were somewhat grainy. I guess I just have to go out more. Anyone want to pay me $20/hr to go take underwater pictures for them? (><)!





Friday, March 30, 2007

Gliding

I woke up (after 2 hours of sleep) early on Friday to go gliding with Billy. It's totally awesome. There were hardly any low clouds so we could fly really high. Great stuff out the window. The mosaics are pretty awesome too. They should be up here soon.

Proposal Time Again

This week, we all get down on our knees, prostrate, facing East, and beg like Jeezus the 2nd is on the throne before us.......... all for a few nights with big mirrors. 16 pages of justification later, maybe I'll get some.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

The Ticket from Heaven & Hell

I finally have all legs of my upcoming trek around everywhere purchased. It's a little ridiculous. Acutally, it's a lot ridiculous. I'll be away April 8th to May 10th, spending 69 hours in the air, 71 hours laid-over at various airports for a total of 32200 miles traveled. Damn. What was that magic tylenol Sean was talking about? Super-knockout, dead-for-hours, wonder drug? Get me some of that.....

The flight is Honolulu Chicago SaoPaulo Santiago LaSerena Santiago SaoPaulo Chicago Dulles Zurich Dulles Chicago Honolulu.

The Flight....

HNL - La Serena Sunday April 8th to Wednesday April 11th ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;


UNITED 2 HNL 415P APR 8TH CHICAGO-OHARE/ORD 510A APR 9TH
17A 7:55 ELAPSED 4243 MILES BUY FOOD

CONNECTION: 16 HRS

UNITED 843 CHICAGO-OHARE/ORD 932P APR 9TH SAO-PAULO/GRU 1005A APR 10TH
17G 10:33 ELAPSED 5222 MILES DINNER-SNACK

CONNECTION: 6.5 HRS

LAN CHILE 751 SAO PAULO/GRU 430P APR 10TH SANTIAGO/SCL 735P APR 10TH
4:05 ELAPSED 1626 MILES SNACK

CONNECTION: 15 HRS

LAN CHILE 302 SANTIAGO/SCL 1050A APR 11TH LA-SERENA 1150A APR 11TH
8L 1:00 ELAPSED 290ish MILES SNACK



;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
La Serena - Santiago 8:30pm to 9:20pm April 14th ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

LAN CHILE 309 LA-SERENA 830P APR 14TH SANTIAGO 920P APR 14TH
7A 0:50 ELAPSED 290ish MILES


;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Santiago - Zurich 2pm May 2nd TO 8am May 4th ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;


LAN CHILE 754 SANTIAGO/SCL 205P MAY 2ND SAO-PAULO/GRU 650P MAY 2ND
XXX 3:45 ELAPSED 1626 MILES SNACK-MOVIE

CONNECTION: 1:30 HR

UNITED 842 SAO PAULO/GRU 820P MAY 2ND CHICAGO-OHARE/ORD 506A MAY 3RD
17G 10:46 ELAPSED 5222 MILES DINNER-SNACK-MOVIE

CONNECTION: 8:00 HR

UNITED 950 CHICAGO-OHARE/ORD 110P MAY 3RD DULLES/IAD 411P MAY 3RD
18G 2:01 ELAPSED 580ish MILES

CONNECTION: 1:57 HR

UNITED 936 DULLES/IAD 608P MAY 3RD ZURICH/ZRH 820A MAY 4TH
30E 8:12 ELAPSED 4140ish MILES



;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Zurich - HNL 11:50am May 9th TO 2:08pm May 10th ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;


UNITED 937 ZURICH/ZHR 1150A MAY 9TH DULLES/IAD 307P MAY 9TH
19A 9:17 ELAPSED 4140ish MILES

CONNECTION: 2 HRS

UNITED 951 DULLES/IAD 515P MAY 9TH CHICAGO/ORD 631P MAY 9TH
26F 2:16 ELAPSED 580ish MILES

CONNECTION: 16 HRS

UNITED 1 CHICAGO/ORD 1010A MAY 10TH HNL 208P MAY 10TH
17G 8:58 ELAPSED 4243 MILES BUY FOOD

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Panza's Gone

No visit would be complete without jumping off a big rock and spinning fire. Panza left this morning, probably with lots of sand stuck all over......



Saturday, March 24, 2007

Northshore Mosaics

I spent some time making mosaics from the glider trip - and I got a website going.


Wednesday, March 21, 2007

4 Volcanoes (of 5)

The Big Island is 5 volcanoes. We had completely awesome weather and I got panaoramas of 4 of them.

Hualalai from Pu'u Wa'awa'a

Kohala from Pu'u Wa'awa'a

Mauna Kea from Waimea
Mauna Loa from the Saddle.

Last Day - Waipio, Kalopa, Hapuna

We started the day early and walked down to Waipio valley. The walk back up was intense. Nick wasn't breathing too hard, but I was......We then went to frolic in the jungle at Kalopa state park. Nick was very inspired.


The day ended at Hapuna beach. Packed, but very scenic. Maui was out.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Pololu Valley

We drove to Pololu valley today (Akoni Pule Hwy, Makapala, HI 96755). Awesome day. Nick and I hiked to the second ridge.



Monday, March 19, 2007

High Contrast Mauna Kea

From the Waipio Valley Overlook trailhead, I took 50 pictures (on a tripod) of Mauna Kea, then stacked & streched them. That got rid of the haze and made the topography and plant life come out. It's the same technique as this one.

Waipio Valley Hike

We hiked out to the Waipio valley overlook from Waimea (White Rd. Kamuela, HI 96743). It's a short hike with an awesome view at the end. Too bad you have to go past about 4 "trail closed - do not proceed", "DANGER Earthquake Damage", and "No Trespassing" signs....



Sunday, March 18, 2007

Mauna Kea Summit & Alpine Lake

We walked out to an alpine (permafrost-fed) lake up on the Mauna Kea summit. Nick puked 18 times this day. Mostly from St. Patty's day fun......

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Gliding, Skydiving

Today, Nick and I got up around 5am to go up to Dillingham. Nick went skydiving while I flew in the glider with billy. It was a very awesome morining. The mosaic's are looking totally insane.

A 7-shot mosiac: if you want the full, 60MB image, here it is

A zoom-in of the corner

Mokuleia from the glider
Me n Billy. Flyin.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Kailua Kayak

Panza and I took a rainy morining and got away from the island a little bit - the rain cleared up just as we left Lanikai. Awesome timing, cool clouds. Very good day.


Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Panza Visiting

Nick Panza is visiting for the next 10 days. Awesome guy, outdoors-crazy just like I am. I think I'm going to be sore for the next little while. We hiked Keolu and the Makapu'u lookout before heading to Jiu-Jitsu.


Tuesday, March 13, 2007

The Aerial Photographs!

Billy stopped by today and showed me his first run with "the pod". It looks like we're getting excellent shots with good resolution. Awesome! Here's Waimea Bay from the plane. Hopefully he (and me?) will get some good business out of it!


On Pluto

An article on Pluto from one of the best writers on the topic. The Jewitt.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Haiku

For the last day(s) there, we did a hike in the crater with a night out in Pa'ia. Judy was awesome company. The crater hike cooked Sonnett and I. That night at dinner, Laird Hamilton kept distracting Judy & female company. It was pretty funny. We went out to a nearby bar, supposedly brimming with Eurotrash. There was the usual mix of guys "too-cool to dance". The dj couldn't mix a song to save his life, but the songs picked were pretty random and enjoyable. J-Mac wanted to "put Sonnett to bed" at the end of the night, but we had to move along. I can't say I was anywhere near that lucky. We spent Saturday from 8-1 just hanging around Ha'iku. It was really chill, but awesome. A storm had moved in and made plans for the day somewhat pointless. It was nice just to talk and hang and flop around in blankets.