Notable Quotables!!!

I've got some down time today here in the little village of Sawtry, so I thought I'd throw up a post I've been wanting to do for awhile...  Here's a short list of some of the quips and quotes that I draw inspiration from... I've always been a big fan of "quotes" because I think it's never a bad thing to get a leg up from the words of someone who has come before you and accomplished great things.  I hope you can draw inspiration or encouragement from some or all of these, as I have over the years... 

Enjoi!

-L

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the life you've imagined!" - Henry David Thoreau

 

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover." -Mark Twain

 

"Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage." -Theodore Roosevelt

"Get busy living, or get busy dying." -Andy Dufresne (Character played by Tim Robbins in the movie The Shawshank Redemption)

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -Lao Tzu

"People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime." -unknown

"You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas." -Davy Crockett

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -Helen Keller

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." -Marianne Williamson

"If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves." - Thomas Edison

"Do one thing every day that scares you." -Eleanor Roosevelt

"To laugh often and much.  To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children.  To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends.  To appreciate beauty.  To find the best in others!  To leave the world a bit better, weather by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition.  To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived... This is to have succeeded."  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Wassssuuuuuuppppp" -Budweiser commercials.  (I kid, I kid....)

2011 Teva Mountain Games

Teva - It's pronounced "teh-vuh" not "tee-vuh", contrary to what I've believed to be true for as many years as I have recognized the brand... For that matter, as many years as my friends have as well***... Is it my fault for the mispronunciation, theirs?  For this I am certain... I have clearly stated the correct way to pronounce it now, and as a result, my debt to society owed for the years of mispronunciation has hereby been paid...  But, I digress...

What an AMAZING experience the Teva Mountain Games was!!!  I've been wanting to attend this event for the better part of 7 years but work has always hindered my ability... Obviously, that was not a concern this year...  Jody was nice enough to come on the trip with me to keep me company and offer a TREMENDOUS amount of help carrying and setting up gear!  Now I understand how essential having a good assistant is if you're ever to be successful as a good photogrpher... At least one that has about 150 lbs. of gear to lug around... Just shooting was tiring enough!

Jody and Me On The Road Again! 

Besides the fact that I am an avid fan of all the sports that are part of The Games (i.e. mountain biking, bouldering, running, BMX, kayaking, etc.) the event is unique in itself for one reason... The organizers allow amateurs to compete alongside the best in the world at their chosen sport...  Fortunately for me, that includes the "Mountain Click Photo Competition", which granted me the same access given to the media.  In my case, the "pros" were made up of freelance photographers from all over the world, guys from Rock and Ice Magazine, Outside, Dirt Rag, and the Austrailian version of National Geographic Adventure. 

The point of the contest was to take the best photo and submit it for the competition.  Winners were to recieve money, prizes and their photo would be published in Outside Magazine...

For me, however, that would not be the case... After arriving at the games, I quickly learned that I was out of my league concerning knowledge, skill and proper gear for shooting events and sports such as these... I did win in a way though...  After meeting the people I did and speaking with them, as well as taking the opportunity to closely monitor their every move, I received an education in action sports photography that cannot be heard in a classroom or read in a book.  As a result, I will return next year better equipped and with the knowledge and skill to compete with the pros.  The student becomes the teacher, young grasshopper...

Ok, maybe not quite, but it is still gonna' be WAY more AWESOME from now on!  Gnarly!

I included a few of the photos below, and although they are substandard relative to the guys and girls actually competing in the competition, I'm pretty proud of them... They aren't too bad for a rookie from West Texas...

You've got my word that I'm going to keep chasing this thing until I've got what it takes to teach some other hopeful newbie something that he can use to compete with me the following year...

enjoi,
-L


Mee shooting some of the BMX Slopestyle... (Photo: J. Rickwartz)



Women's bouldering comp.

  

Shooting the freestyle kayaking comp.  (Photo: J. Rickwartz)



Freestyle Kayaking!



Freestyle Kayaking!



Dual Slalom freestyle bikes!



Xavier Rudd was amazing, especially from the pit!  He was one of the two free concerts we got to see!  (The other was the Dirty Heads) 


***Since writing this post, I've spoken with a friend that met the founder of Teva... Contrary to what everyone else thinks, he says there is no official pronunciation... Hmmm?  Well, I'm always a fan of something new, so I'm going to stick with "teh-vuh".

British Airways Flight 192

Few experiences in life unfold to be so profound they they seem truly surreal. I had heard about the excellent quality of British Airways flights before, and the fantasy that is the first class cabin, and had even seen a few amateur videos on You Tube about it, but it was impossible to truly comprehend for me... Until now.

I am not going to, nor would I ever lead on that I could under any circumstance, afford a flight in the first class cabin of any airline, much less British Airways. In fact, the retail cost for this flight, (which I did not pay) was around $13,000.00 (no, not Pesos, US Dollars!). Instead, I was fortunate enough to have enough American Airlines frequent flyer miles to supplement the cost of the flight, paying only the taxes and security fees... (BA and AA are partners in the "One World Alliance", making their services interchangeable with one another's frequent flyer programs. In the end, the flight cost me 125,000 miles and $970.41 (again, US Dollars)... It did not come so cheaply, however... The miles were earned over a 12 year period whilst toiling away from here to there, meeting to convention under the direction of corporate america (which, if you've been reading this blog for very long, you know I am no longer a member of). Oh, whoa is me! (if you're not good at sensing sarcasm in writing, that was a prime example of my best attempt). For the record, I was more than happy to purge the miles in order to fly first class to and from my European adventure...

All of the flight attendants are from Britain, (as their accents suggest) and they were amused to see me taking pictures of everything in my "cabin", which you will see momentarily. They giggled when I asked "what are these". Well, these turned out to be Macadamian nuts... But whole ones... I don't know if I should be embarrassed to admit that prior to this experience, I had only seen slices of them, mostly in the cookies at Subway... They are mistresses (isn't that the feminine for "masters"?) of fantastic customer service, they are as polite as anyone I've met and they call closets "wardrobes" and overhead bins "lockers". This just keeps getting better...

You must know that I have flown first class before... Mostly on American Airlines and always on domestic flights... That is important because I've noticed a difference in the way people act... On a normal AA first class flight, everyone seems to act entitled to be there, as if they've never flown coach... I've even caught myself acting that way from time to time, making the labored effort to peer up from my Blackberry just long enough to give that "I'm in first class and you're not" gaze to those "less fortunate" souls who have to sit in coach... Wait a minute... I've never felt like that... But it's almost impossible to avoid... When you've flown coach and been so unfortunate as to walk past the already seated first class passengers, you have no doubt been victim to the gaze from someone peering over their free copy of the Wall Street Journal at you as you pass by... The funny thing is, myself, like most of the other passengers up there, were given the seats for free as reward for flying a certain number of miles loyal to American Airlines... The sense of entitlement comes free with the flight... However, on this flight, there are no such attitudes, and the other 13 passengers in the cabin with me seem just as excited as I am about the seats that turn into beds, the pajamas and the gift baskets that we all received. I gave up very early on thinking that I could (or wanted to for that matter) fool anyone into thinking that this is something I do all the time on the way to my second home in London... I admitted to the attendants very quickly that I was a first timer, and that I was having as much fun as a Texas A&M alum at the Dixie Chicken... (they obviously didn't get that joke)

THE MENU (a small sample, as each course had 4-5 selections...)

Starters -
-Fig and goat's cheese tart with tomato tapenade and mache lettuce.
-Chilled gazpacho soup.

Main-
-Grilled fillet of beef with wild rice gallettes and black cherry Pinot Noir reduction.
-Roast halibut stuffed with marmalade and basil with roast potatoes, heirloom tomato, fennel and citrus cream sauce.

Bistro Selection-
-Chanterelle mushroom and cannelloni pasta with smoked aubergine cream sauce, sautéed chanterelle mushrooms and tomato.
-A selection of cheese and fruit.

Dessert-
-Strawberry tiramisu with raspberry and mint.
-Chocolate mudslide cake.

As I write this, I am only about 30 minutes into the flight... I don't think any number of descriptors or photos could make sense of this experience. So after adding a picture or two, I'm going to shut this down, recline my seat and enjoy one of the thirty or so "still in theaters" movies that I have to choose from... And oh yeah, my appetizer is almost here... Lobster with mango salsa and Thai sweet chili glaze... Whatever that is...

Cheers!
-L



All the stuff awaiting me in my "suite" when I got on board... A few nice pillows, plush blanket, a set of pajamas, slippers, a toiletry kit and some Bose headphones...



The contents of my first class toiletry kit, included this stuff as well as ear plugs, socks, slippers, and an eye cover...



My table setting for dinner...



My dinner appetizer. IT. WAS. FANTASTIC!



Best sleep I've ever had on a flight, thanks to my seat that turned into a bed and my Bose noise canceling headphones (which I had to give back when we landed...)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:DFW to LHR

The Man Trip - Camping Chevlon Canyon Lake...

Oh, the man trip... A concept employed by wives, girlfriends and mothers alike for centuries to rid themselves of the nuances of men and boys... We men like to think man trips are our idea and do our best to take ownership of the invention, but in some cases, the initiation is a suggestion of one of the women associated with one of the men... This trip was no different, and I'm not sure to say wether we acted more like men or boys...

Late into the night on Wednesday the 25th of May, four of us (65% of our six man group) set out from Amarillo, westward, toward Flagstaff, Arizona.  We were myself, Blake Henderson, Blaine Henderson (no relation) and Nate Dalke, who had recently arrived in Amarillo from his mission posting in Managua, Nicaragua.

"On The Road Again"... Heading out from Amarillo... (L to R, Blake, Nate, Blaine and Me)

Upon arriving in Flagstaff at around 5:30 a.m. local time, we all four collapsed onto the floor of a relative of a friend's house on sleeping palates they had set out for us...  After three hours of sleep and a delicious home cooked breakfast from our gracious hostess, we set about finishing the last minute details of our man trip by meeting up with the other two members of our expedition, local Flagstaffians Brian Tinder and Charlie McCallie, purchasing supplies and food and renting a canoe from a local shop in Flag.

Fast forward a few hours past some more organization, some driving and an hour long stop at Wal-Mart to purchase fishing licenses, more supplies, and, eh-hem a "little" beer, we were standing atop a mile long gravel road, impassible by vehicles larger than a four wheeler with around a half ton of gear, including our canoe.

So it began...

L to R, Me, Charlie, Brian, Blaine, Blake and Nate.  Just before our decent down a +/- 1 mile gravel road (on foot) to Chevlon Canyon Lake.

The stars and lake our fist night of camp (Photo: Charlie McCallie).

After my first night of sleeping outdoors, I needed some coffee (Photo: Charlie McCallie).

Blaine and Charlie went out in the canoe to find us a better camp site.  They were successful!

We had to haul all of our gear to the campsite for night 2 about 1/2 mile across the lake (Photo: Charlie McCallie)

Campsite 2

The View of Campsite 2 from a ridge above the site... (Photo: Charlie McCallie) 

My morning view when I woke up at campsite 2.

Nate had to borrow a tent from Blake.  Apparently, Blake brought the tent that his kids use.

On a ridge above campsite 2 (Photo: Charlie McCallie).

About to hump our gear back up the mile long gravel road... The smiles didn't last long (Photo: Charlie McCallie).

Camp 3.   

 

Our man trip, no matter who's idea it was, was indeed a great one. We were able to relax, re-charge, do man things like fish and paddle canoes (which this author may or may not have tipped over for no apparent reason 100 meters from shore in freezing cold water... It shall remain a mystery for those not present). We had great conversation, cooked fish pulled directly from the lake over an open flame, drank a beer "or two" and expressed our freedom to do things with our bodily functions that women hate and little boys and men alike think are hilarious...

Most importantly, we all picked up our friendships right where they left off the last time we saw one another.

On the morning of day 4, just before returning to Flagstaff... Left to Right, Bear (in the arms of Charlie), Charlie, Blaine, Blake, Petzl (in the arms of Brian), Brian, Me and Nate.

As it stands, we've promised to re-connect and return on a man trip at another time and place sometime in the next year. I've got my fingers crossed that it will work out for us all, as I will be willing to travel as far as possible to create new blogs about new trips with these guys for as long as I'm physically able. Check this blog throughout 2012 to see if we stayed true...

And, oh yeah... I think I can speak for all us men when I say we don't mind at all letting the ladies continue to think that the man trip was their idea...

Cheers,

-L