Pop Misery Blog

Photo Walk with Chase Jarvis and Robert Scoble

2009-08-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

7 days ago I drove up to Seattle, WA after work. I was drawn there by a Twitter invitation from Chase Jarvis to join him and Robert Scoble for a morning photo walk. The post said something to the affect of, "If you're tough enough to be at my studio at 7am on Friday, Robert and I are going to talk cameras and coffee." Not a direct quote but a pretty close paraphrase. I even sound like a huge dork on the video Chase made throughout the morning.

Here is a photo I snapped during the walk: (Scoble behind the lens and Jarvis on the phone)

I rolled in around 11:15pm and slept in my truck a few blocks from Chase's studio in a nice, quiet and dark neighborhood. Got up early and got took this with my iPhone of the Wollingford Steps:

Part of the walk was through Gas Works Park on Lake Union. The park offers really nice views of downtown Seattle and the Space Needle:

And because Chase is awesome, after the walk we all headed back to his studio where he did a Q&A for about 45 minutes before he had to return to his business as a working professional photographer:

There are some more photos from the morning in my Fotki albums.

Dog Days of Summer (6th Annual)

2009-08-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

Say "Hello" to Max.

Thanks to Tracey and friends for the late summer BBQ last Saturday. I had a great time hanging out on the Sandy River eating good food and making new friends.

Here are some old friends:

And a goat:

Youth Triathlon 2009

2009-08-25T14:51:00.000-07:00

I shot photos for the Nike Sports & Fitness Centers, 2009 Youth Triathlon. There were more than 275 competitors at this years event(ages 6-12):

Waiting for the rules meeting and event start:

All the little kids' bikes were waiting for their turn as well:

I would show you more photos, but they are kids and I don't know you that well. Here are a couple of photos from last year's event blog posting.

Joy Wilson Band - Photos from The Bite of Oregon

2009-08-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

I finally finished photos for The Joy Wilson Band last week. Here are a couple from the show she played at The Bite of Portland on August 9, 2009.

Joy Wilson doing what she does best.

This is Brud. He really gets into the drumming. I got to photograph him before when he played with Scott Gallegos at Mississippi Studios.

And here is a view of the full stage and band (OK Brud is behind Joy in this photo - sometimes that's the cost of being the drummer):

You can check out her music over at CD Baby (She is a very talented songwriter and singer).

The rest of the photos are are in on my Fotki Page.

The Bite of Oregon

2009-08-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

So I'm super excited to be taking photos of The Joy Wilson Band this Sunday at The Bite of Oregon. She plays from 12:15 to 1:00 p.m. on the Garden Stage. You really should check her out - very good and lots of fun.

And if you stick around all day my buddy Scott Gallegos plays on the same stage at 6:00 p.m. You can see some photos from Scott's show at the Live at Mississippi Studios post from June. And as a side note: The drummer with Scott is Brud Giles and the Guitarist is Robert PeArt. They will also be making-up half of the Joy Wilson Band on Sunday.

The Scott Gallegos Band from their live at Mississippi Studios show.

It Is HOT Here In PDX!

2009-07-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

Supposed to be rocking and rolling around the triple digits here for the next few days.

At least I got out and climbed some and shot some photos. My buddy Mark Or swiped my iPhone and took this (I tweaked it a bit with the CameraBbag App for the iPhone). This tree was the scariest thing I climbed all day.

You can see more of my iPhone photos and my other shots in my albums at my Fotki site.

More info about bouldering at Carver is at the Carver Bouldering Blog.

Carver Bouldering Guide is Close

2009-07-19T23:23:00.000-07:00

And I have created a blog for the bouldering at carver. The aptly named Carver Bouldering Blog. Check it out.

This photo was taken by my buddy Josh Muenster two summers ago.

An unnamed V3 behind the Yosemite Boulder.

Nike Six Point Zero

2009-07-17T16:40:00.000-07:00

So Nike is a great place to work and some days it even reaches the level of awesome. Last week was one of those awesome days. Nike 6.0 built some ramps and brought out some of their athletes to show us old people, that yes, we are old.

Here are some photos that demonstrate my point:

Fourth of July

2009-07-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

Hope yours was a good one!

The Alpenrose Velodrome is STEEP!

2009-07-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

Went and watched my buddy Mark Duff, owner of Veloforma Bicycles, out at the Alpenrose Velodrome. Other than being 95 degrees out yesterday it was pretty cool watching the racing.

All left turns:

Here's Mark:

And another one of Mister Duff just chillin' after the racing:

Live at Mississippi Studios

2009-06-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

So my good friend Scott Gallegos played and recorded at Mississippi Studios last Wednesday and he was kind enough to ask me to shoot photos for him and the band.

I'm not able to post any of those yet because final selections and editing hasn't been done (I shot almost 800 photos for about 2 hours worth of total time). I do have some I took with my iPhone and app'ed with CameraBag. Super cool application that I have to give props to Chase Jarvis for bring to my attention. He is a much better photographer than me, so you should check him out.

So, the following three shots all came out of my iPhone without anyother manipulation. First up is the front man himself, Scott Gallegos:

The next is Robert PeArt on lead guitar:

And last, but not least are Brud Giles on drums and Jeff Koch on bass:

If you want to see my other iPhone photos, the gallery is here. I plan on adding photos to this gallery regularly.

The show was awesome and assuming the recording turned out well, there will be a live album coming out sometime in the near future.

Leavenworth May 2008 part 2

2009-06-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

So after my lone scouting and cleaning trip to Leavenworth in early May, I went back. This time with a crew who was looking to climb on new stone.

So I did what I do best, brush holds and stay out of the way. These first two photos were taken by Kim.

Here is Jennifer showing much style and tenacity on the newly cleaned off Date Rock (about a tenth of a mile up Icicle from Tin Man.

And here's one of Josh on another new boulder, this one up on the 4th of July trail.

Here is one more photo. This is Kim on a V4 at the Egg Boulders.

The rest can be seen here.

I'm alive, but lame

2009-05-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

It has been many moons since my last post and I'm sorry. We launched our new intranet site for the department I work in and it took some wind out of my personal computing sails.

I have been out there doing stuff though. Been exploring for new boulders out in the Columbia River Gorge (no luck - yet) and spent a week in Leavenworth, WA doing the same (much better luck).

If you find yourself in Leavenworth and become overwhelmed by all the Bavarian vibe floating through that town or realize that the most of the German fare underperforms, then you have to go to South. The food is Mexican/Central American and it is awesome (not your typical strip-mall Mexican food . . . mole sauces and fried plantains, etc). They have live music on Wednesday and Fridays.

Hear are some photos for your viewing pleasure:

Old Boot - found when hiking a recent landslide area along the Wenatchee River, just west of Leavenworth, WA.

This is what I would pack-out everyday when I was exploring for boulders in Leavenworth.

I also stumbled upon this cool driftwood hut someone built on the Wenatchee.

Before cleaning the July Boulder.

July Boulder after cleaning.

Some Favorites from HorsePens 40

2009-02-26T09:14:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of photos of Carl that I really like from my trip to HP40.

HP40 2009

2009-02-25T19:26:00.000-08:00

So we've been to Alabama and back and were able to manage some scrapes, sore muscles, a little sickness and travel delays. But it was an awesome trip and Carolyn and Bernard at The Cove Cottage are the nicest folks ever.

Here's the gang on the porch with the Lucky the dog:

The rest of the photos are here.

Carver Bouldering Guide

2009-01-29T03:53:00.000-08:00

The guide is moving again and for more info I have started another blog just for it at here. Sorry for the short post, but if you are interested in the guide or bouldering at the CArver Bridge Cliff in Clackamas County near Portland, Oregon, then you should go to this blog.

But since you are here right now, here's a picture of Avery on One More after One More V4:

New Flash Triggers - Paul C. Buff CSRBs

2009-01-23T15:28:00.000-08:00

I upgraded my ebay remotes to the Paul C. Buff radio remotes. Since my Canon 580 EX doesn't have a PC input I also got PC to Flash Hotshoe Adapter and cords from Flash Zebra and so far I am stoked. I got to use them the other day and took the following photos of this cool kids tricycle and then Teagen was a sport and rocked the trike in her own way.

The Bathroom Is Almost Done

2009-01-23T14:52:00.000-08:00

Last week the ceiling got textured.

This week it got painted. 1st coat drying...2nd coat before day is out (I hope).

Dyno, the Ferocious!

2009-01-10T09:51:00.001-08:00

The Bathroom's New Ceiling

2009-01-10T09:47:00.000-08:00

Well the bathroom is still in progress, but at least we don't have a hole in the ceiling anymore.

Portland Photo Walk-about

2009-01-02T16:18:00.000-08:00

OK, I drove around more than I walked. The bench was up on SW Terwilliger Blvd. The rest are along the Willamette River.

Portland Oregon Headshots

2009-01-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

Looking to do a series of mask "headshots" and these are the first couple of them.

And a self-portrait for 2009.

Photos from the New Year's Eve

2009-01-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

So much fun they took 2 days to post.

The Jenga concentration is always high with our group.

Avery takes a moment.

2008 Is a Wrap

2008-12-31T18:10:00.000-08:00

The bathroom has been left in stasis.

Out With the Mold...I mean "Old"

2008-12-31T13:01:00.000-08:00

Well Happy New Year everyone. Hope the holidays were great for you and that 2009 is even better.

The bathroom saga continues:

Black Mold Bathroom

2008-12-29T20:46:00.000-08:00

So the bathroom ceiling started leaking sometime Saturday morning. I discovered it at 5:43am, because the cats were being all kinds of weird. Some handyman guy came in with the landlord today while Kim and I were at work and they left a mess and a hole in the ceiling.

They're supposed to come back on Wednesday to fix things - hopefully the leak included. Here is a photo of the hole and the black mold hiding inside.

Tilt-shift

2008-12-22T09:15:00.000-08:00

I've taken quite a few photos for work lately and here are some I did of swim lessons and the rock gym with a photoshopped Tilt-shift effect.

Winter Storm 2008

2008-12-22T09:04:00.000-08:00

Well it has been snowing in Portland for awhile now. Below are some pictures of the progression starting Saturday night around 5:30 pm until today at 9:00 am (and it is currently still snowing).

Family Visit 2008

2008-10-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

So I've been shooting more bikes for Veloforma and working on the guide book for Carver Bouldering and I've also recently been to NC and back visiting family.

Below are some shot from that trip. I didn't get to shoot what I wanted, because we were stuck in the house while it proceeded to rain over 2 inches in 2 days. So I did the "gold chair shoot" in the living room at my Dad's house and a small group shot outside at my Mom's.

The next photo is the set-up for the "Gold Chair Shoot." Canon 580ex reflected out of a closed down umbrella and a Vivitar 285hv behind the chair hitting on the curtain for background separation. Various family members took turns holding the white t-shirt to add a little bounce fill.

OK...I've been real busy.

2008-09-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

1st thing - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TINA!!!

Since last we spoke, I've done two photo shoots at work, been on vacation, did a product shoot for Veloforma and I've also done a ton of layout/design work for them as they were getting ready for Interbike. Not to mention my day job and working with Becky, who is awesome, on our group's intranet site redesign project.

First up was a shoot for an Aqua Exercise class for work. This was three flashes with one in the water on a stand (thanks to Dan for making sure it didn't fall over or get wet). 2 Vivitar 285HVs coming in at the sholders/back (wrapped in plastic bags) and the 3rd on a stand with homemade beauty dish (Canon 580EX).

The room underneath Chris (guy in photo) was used for text (finished sized was 2ft x 3ft).

The next photo is for a Flu Shot Promo still in production. The models are my boss's boss, Woody, and the nurse is Charlie.

I personally think it was too hot on Woody's shoulder, but he was in a hurry and just had to roll with it.

The next three are of two bike frames and one complete bike. I shot these last Thursday at around 8pm. Did the post, laid-out the postcards the photos went on and burned a disk at the bar for Duff, the owner. We were there until about 12:15am.

The bikes are really nice and I was really glad Duff asked me to shoot them. He was a little nervous about the complete bike, the Mille R, falling over while I was shooting it. But it was being solidly held-up by some chunks of PVC pipe and duct tape. The Mille R is a completely custom carbon fiber bike made with T1000 grade carbon (almost exclusively used for the military and aerospace). Please check them out if you are looking for a really sweet ride: Veloforma.

Last Week was the Kids Triathlon at work

2008-08-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

I spent most of my time at the finish line taking photos. The range of emotions on the kids' faces was what one would expect from adults after finishing a full length Triathlon.

Staying Busy

2008-08-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

I went to Zack Arias's One Light workshop two weeks ago and learned a lot of stuff about off camera flash. Thanks Zack.

THat is Zack on the left talking about how the light was going to hit Shannon.

Below are some other photos I took during the class of Shannon (from above) and Parrish.

Playing Photo Shoot

2008-08-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

I'm working on learning off camera flash things and I finally have the ability to fire two flashes, with a third flash in the wings waiting for a remote.

Since learning requires experimentation, my dear readers, you will probably see a lot of pictures of me. This post you get two of me. The first is a self-portrait using the camera's remote.

The second one Kim took in the backyard and we have titled the claw. It was her favorite.

My favorite from last night was this one of Kim in her hoodie.

Spencer out

Kim is Awesome

2008-07-26T23:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I'm an ass and you know, that's just the way it is and will be. I think it is just human nature. But Kim has and is being very supportive of my desire to get better with my photography. Se even tolerates me stopping her while she is flipping through magazines and going, "see that catch light there . . . they probably used a big softbox to camera right."

And she will even stand-in while I am trying some new lighting technique. So thank you.

Halloween Early

2008-07-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

I've started working on some political-themed Halloween costumes. This one is the "Right to Bear Arms" - self-portrait.

The Little Tug that Could

2008-07-08T12:08:00.001-07:00

For Kimmy.

Here is the Little Tug working:

Fifth of July

2008-07-05T12:30:00.000-07:00

So of course we went out and watched the fireworks around the house last night. We had fireworks just across the river at Oaks Park. The photo above is from that show. The next one is also from Oaks Park, but the smaller explosion is from a show farther down the river.

There was also a firework display downtown PDX, that we used to have a great view too as well... but that was before the South Waterfront development. I was shooting photos from just in front of the park bench they show on their home page. The photo below shows what our firework display looks like now.

Thanks PDC.

One Month

2008-07-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

Since my last post. Sorry about that. The summers get busy. I have been taking some photos and hanging with some different people. Kim and I were at the Strid farm this past SAturday for a very fun shin-dig. Knut from Paella Works was there to provide all of the cooking entertainment and goodness in the largest saute pan I have ever seen. He said he has one that can serve 120 people. THe food was gorgeous and great tasting. Thanks to Julius for hosting.

I also have one stock photo up at PhotoShelter Collection. It is the snail from an earlier post.

Hopefully I'll get some more approved.

Leavenworth May 2008

2008-06-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

Was out climbing with some friends between the raindrops in Leavenworth a week ago.

Here's the proof:

Cruising the Rail in my sneakers

Avery focused on Podracer

Mindy hanging on Toto

Davidson channelling the devil on Podracer

Kim demonstrating why it is called the Footless Traverse

Morning Commute

2008-05-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

I sometimes walk along the Willamette River on my way downtown to get to the max on my way to work. Yesterday I passed the rush hour on the river.

The Small Things

2008-04-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

With the rising gas prices, I have been walking and using Trimet to get to work for the past couple of weeks. The really nice part of commuting to work this way is it gives me a chance to take in the nature that can be found on the sidewalks and the sides of the roads.

I got to check this little guy or girl out the other day between rain showers on the walk to work from the Max station.

lighting

2008-04-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

A couple of photos actually taken with an off camera flash. They are from the same boulder at Carver called the Wave Boulder.

The first is of my very lovely Kimmy on a problem called Objection, V3. It would make a good shoe ad for Five Ten.

And this one is of the very photogenic Pirate Reverend Carl on Legal System, V2. The bare flash creates some hard shadows, but gives a skateboard mag look to the photo.

I'm using a Canon 580EX flash on manual and hand held with a Nikon D40 for the photo capture.

Cheerwine - WooHoo!

2008-04-15T17:38:00.001-07:00

So we went to breakfast on Sunday morning at his really cool, but tiny place called Pine State Biscuits. And even though they cost $2 a bottle, I finally found a place that has Cheerwine. The whole experience was being in Portland the only way you can be in Portland, but experiencing a little bit of the old home state of North Carolina.

And then we went out and bouldered at Carver - guide coming soon!

Carver Bouldering

2008-04-01T08:34:00.001-07:00

Jered Bernert and I have been working on a guide for Carver for quite awhile and we are actually almost done. Here is the overview map that Jered drew by hand and I tweaked and converted in Illustrator.

I'm not going to give any timeline for this guide to be out at your local gym or shop because so many things can delay it. But it s on its way.

There are over 300 problems at Carver and they need you to go out and scrub them.

spencer out

Illustrator Work

2008-03-27T13:28:00.001-07:00

I got really busy doing some work for my buddy, Mark Duff. He is manufacturing really nice bicycles. His company, Veloforma needed team kits, so I got to do all the layout stuff for them. Below is a sample of the short sleeve jersey and the shorts. I also did a skin-suit, sleeveless top and a long sleeve jersey.

You can keep up with more news at Veloforma's Blog.

AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8D

2008-02-29T05:01:00.000-08:00

I got a new camera lens last weekend. It is the AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8D.

Here are a couple of fotos I took the 1st day with it. On my Nikon D40 it is a manual focus lens - so that adds a bit of a challenge.

That is Ryan on his mandolin's maiden voyage outside the apartment and the next foto is the Pirate Reverend Carl.

Portland Oregon at Night

2008-02-28T21:16:00.000-08:00

So I've been busy working on some things for my friend Mark Duff, owner of Veloforma. One of those things was the decal set for the Ironclad Team Bikes, which Duff has some fotos of on his blog. I've also been working on the layout for the Veloforma Team Kits (jersey, vest, shorts and skinsuit). More on those later and at my real job i've been getting to take a lot of fotos for a brochure/booklet thing I am working on for a coworker.

I am really psyched with taking pictures right now and because of all the work stuff I've been doing I hadn't made the time for personal things. But the weather in Portland has been fantastic, so I went out tonight and got a couple of decent shots of downtown PDX. Here is one.

I hope to post some fotos soon using off camera flash. For inspiration I regularly read David Hobby's stuff at Strobist and Joe McNally who is a Nikon pro and an expert with flash work who shares his knowledge freely.

Happy Birthday Kim!

2008-02-12T09:26:00.001-08:00

I have been on a vacation from the blog and I will try and be better, but that's not why we are here today.

Today is Kim's Birthday...WOOHOO!

And this post is here because I shutdown the Birthday Blog because I didn't have time to walk and chew gum.

So over the weekend Kim did a Birthday Challenge that was really hard for her and made me sick. Crazy. She didn't post hers at Birthday Challenge, but here is what she did:

Ran 31k, biked 31k, climbed 31 boulder problems, drank 31 oz of wine and ate 3.1 pieces of cheesecake (well probably more than that the cheesecake was really good). So great job Kim!

You can Pownce if you want too

2008-01-30T13:36:00.000-08:00

After another look at Pownce with fresh eyes, I deleted my profile. I just don't feel cool enough. It was a way to gather you friends from all of your other profiles around the net - not my scene so I left.

I am however very stoked about this site Strobist which is all about off camera lighting set-ups. I hope to get back to taking more photos and putting them up on the old blog here soon. I have been using my camera quite a bit, but for work. Soon I will be able to take more non-work stuff.

Spencer out

Pownce

2008-01-24T07:27:00.000-08:00

I just signed-up at a site called Pownce. It looks pretty cool, but I dpn't know much about it yet. It feels llike a more grown-up version of MySpace without all of the clutter. Basically you can create a group of friends to send notes, invites, pictures, files, etc. to either one at a time or as a gang.

I'll see how it works, but if someone else signs-up, then you should be able to find me - my username is spencerwilliams.

I usually find cool thigs like Pownce from Clicked. It is an awesome little info blog that I check daily, but usually only updates 2-4 times a week. It is worth checking to at least feel like you're connected to web trends and other news that is fire-storming across the net and it is ahead of the "real news" curve most of the time.

Have a great day.

Routesetting

2008-01-17T07:52:00.000-08:00

A group of us started routesetting for the PNW regional championship yesterday. The comp is for the ABS and should be fun to watch and a little extra work for the setting crew.

Normally the setters get to relax day of and watch the climbers on the fruits of our labors. This time we will also be a pit crew - changing out problems between categories. So the problems will start at one grade and get harder as the day goes on and the categories work through them.

The format will move quickly and should give the spectators a better understanding of how routesetting works and what happens, normally before the comp.

Yesterday was a 9a - 7p day and who knows about today, but at least the problems getting easier to forerun.

I'm setting with Molly Beard, Mike Helt (routesetter.com fame) and Bob Dolan.

Good fun for all.

Spencer out

Seattle - passive aggressive?

2008-01-09T07:13:00.000-08:00

Last year we were in Seattle and in my walking around in the downtown areas, i happened past this little sidewalk embedded marker:

I don't remember which office building it was in front of, but it gave me the impression of being invited over to friends house when your kids to play. One minute things are going great and the next it is time for you to leave, because you offended your friend's limited 6-year old sensibilities.

So one day, some Seattle folks are going to be walking to work - down this sidewalk like they always do M-F and on this Tuesday in the future - some guy is going to be standing behind that little triangle enforcing its threat.

Silly, eh?

Side note: Is only the area of the triangle covered in the threat?

WOO HOO!

2008-01-04T07:08:00.000-08:00

I've been missing for awhile - sorry about that. My computer was comatose for about the past two weeks, which is better than dead as it turns out.

The story starts on X-mas eve morning...I was working away at some trivial thing, when i happened to knock over my pint glass full of coffee (yes a pint glass - i like the familiarity of it) onto the laptop :(

Turns out that a computer living in the NW doesn't like coffee as much as the rest of us do, go figure. I took it down to the Apple store at Pioneer Place mall and they took it away from me to let it dry on a shelf for a few days. After X-mas they called and said my computer was dead and would require their Tier 1 service repair which costs $1240.00. Not wanting to spend that I took my machine back supposedly still broken with a parts list for a logic board, optical drive, keyboard, topcase and an LVDS cable.

Kim and I spent a week debating the repair cost versus another machine, while her friend Joe held onto and checked around to see if he could get the parts cheaper and do the repairs (Thanks Joe). Turns out it wasn't necessary. My little macbook pro just needed some more time to rest before it wanted to go back to work.

But here I am typing up this little blog post on my laptop the same dining room table, but my coffee is sitting safely on the kitchen counter. And now I'm wondering if Apple was trying to rip me off or if the store techs didn't even look at my machine. I have certainly lost faith in their customer service, which before I thought was pretty good.

If this happens to you - REMOVE YOUR BATTERY FIRST! Do not push any keys or buttons. And even though none of my keys are really sticky - Joe said it wasn't a smart idea of me to run the computer under the kitchen tap to clean off the coffee.

So Happy New Year.

Morning Blogging with Dyno

2007-12-21T04:52:00.000-08:00

I haven't been nearly as consistent with my posting as I was. I've been doing so many other things on the computer at work, that I haven't really been that eager to do things at home.

Add the Portland rainy season and it makes it hard to go out and take photos. But Xmas is around the corner and after working today, I'll have 11 days off - WOOHOO!

I've been doing some fun things at work - making new flyers for classes in the rock gym and other parts of the Sports Centers. It is exciting for me and is making me a bit busy, which is nice for passing the time.

It is before 5am and only Dyno is up with me. It is probably his fault I'm awake anyway (always causing trouble early in the morning).

This is what he should be doing:

The Tree Has Landed

2007-12-13T08:09:00.000-08:00

Thanks to our very good friend Mindy, we have a lovely tree for our Christmasing Celebrations. She dropped it off on Tuesday and I made sure to have it inside before Kim got home. Kim loves decorations - the hioliday doesn't matter that much. Christmas and Halloween are probably her favorites, because they have the most decorations in general.

Thanks to Kim we have some really unique ornaments. Like this cat:

And that fish (have to keep the cat happy):

And here is the whole tree. If anyone has tips for photographing X-mas trees, please let me know.

Been Busy, But Here's Yam!

2007-12-05T07:57:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't posted in a few days. I got a little tired of doing things on the computer over the weekend. I was in a frenzy getting things together for my Dad's Birthday. And then we had a lazy day Saturday (watched 11 episodes of CSI) during the day and then went out that night to see our friend, Scott play down at Macadam's Bar and Grill.

Sunday turned into a pretty long climbing session and then having dinner with our friends, which was really great - hadn't all been together in awhile. And the last two days have just been working and some more climbing.

Oh and here is a picture of Kim's cat, Yam, that she took the other day.

Tomorrow is my dad's 60th Birthday!

2007-11-30T16:36:00.000-08:00

This is me and my dad. He is awesome and almost 60 (7 more hours his time). Happy Birthday!

Here is his b-day post.

Silhouetted Seagulls

2007-11-27T08:21:00.000-08:00

I enjoy watching birds in flight. Probably a throwback to childhood fantasies of wanting to fly mixed with the adult realizations that my home-made wings would melt and leave me mangled in a heap right where I started from anyway.

New Camera Lens

2007-11-26T08:21:00.000-08:00

I got a new lens for my D40. I got the 55-200mm zoom with vibration reduction. I only had a little time yesterday, but here are a couple of photos.

It was a really nice day yesterday - cold, but sunny. All of the mountains were out. From Council Crest Park, I could see Mt. Hood (photo below), Mt. Adams, St. Helens and just a bit of Mt. Rainier.

My Favorite Utah Photo

2007-11-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

So if you were here yesterday, then my photos might have been missing from the earlier posts, but I think I've fixed everything I messed up. So to make up for it, here is my favorite foto from the trip. It was taken at Zion National Park looking out from the top of the Hidden Canyon Trail. Enjoy.

Utah - Part 4

2007-11-21T07:53:00.001-08:00

OK, I know you've all been waiting to find out my favorite National Park in Utah and perhaps in the country at this point. The park is Zion National Park. The place is amazing and we'll go back just hike...and I don't hike.

We even hiked in the Virgin River a little way up the Narrows.

Utah - Part 3

2007-11-20T07:47:00.001-08:00

From Moab, we headed south to get to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We passed by Monument Valley in full moon light that was so bright you could make out features on the towers - it was like muted daylight and gorgeous. We split up the drive to the GC by staying a night in Kayenta, AZ and then drove up to the North Rim from there. Here is Kim, the Grand Canyon and the San Francisco Peaks in the far background. The sun was really bright.

We stayed a night at a campground just outside of the National Park and had our first really cold night. The water bottles froze and frost covered everything. So we split back to Utah and went to Bryce Canyon to see the crazy HooDoos Every new park we went to was more impressive than the last and each is so unique.

The other thing to consider is that the little newspaper style guide you get at the park entrance that has all of the main hiking trails, is written for the "average" tourist that would visit the park. Some of the recommendations the park service makes about time to hike, footwear reguired and other info is aimed (potentially) at the people in the parking lot standing around you.

The hiking is fantastic and the thing that was the hardest for me was the difference in elevations between Portland and everywhere else we went.

I'm going to save my favorite park for the next Utah post - stay tuned.

Utah - Part 2

2007-11-16T20:03:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Utah...again. So the last post was sort of a quick overview of most of the trip. The beginning starts at a climbing area called Joe's Valley. It is in coal mining country and very close to the mine where the miners lost their lives recently. They also pump natural gas here as well.

We only climbed here a little bit and then decided to leave for Moab, because Kim really wanted to go to Arches National Park to see Delicate Arch. We rolled into Moab on a Saturday and went to Arches first thing. We walked out to Landscape Arch to get a feel for the park and because it will most likely not be an arch for much longer.

The hike out to Delicate Arch was really hot, takes about 45 minutes, and it was surprising how many people didn't have water with them. Arches is a beautiful park and worth the visit to Moab, but pay attention to the weather. After taking in the view at Delicate we headed back towards the car and off in the distance it was clearly raining. And rain in the desert means flash floods. Half way back to the car we started getting sprinkles and people were still heading out to the arch with no water, across a wide and exposed expanse of sandstone slabs. Crazy.

I said earlier that we rolled into Moab on a Saturday. Well never do that unless you either have hotel reservations or you don't mind staying at the RV park. It also rained and rained hard for the next several hours - which all of the locals working at Pasta Jay's wanted to go outside and watch. Coming from Portland we were impressed by the ferocity of the run off, but not by the rain itself.

Utah - Part 1

2007-11-15T21:19:00.000-08:00

So, I got married 2 months ago today. And for our honeymoon, Kim and I went to Utah. When you tell people that they always seem so dissapointed for you, like, "You didn't go to a resort?" That resort link is to bouldering in Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands and if someone wants to pay for us to go, we accept.

No and yes - we spent most of our time sleeping in the truck, checking out national parks and when we needed showers we would get a hotel room, RV site, and we even stayed at a spa/resort our last couple of nights in St. George, UT.

The worst part about driving to Utah is getting through Idaho. We did drive past the Ore-Ida plant and had a fantastic sunset. We spent the first few days outside Castledale, where the Food Ranch is King, in the area around Joe's Valley Reservior, but that wil be Part 2.

Flat Tire Blues

2007-11-14T07:48:00.000-08:00

This is a true story that must have started sometime Saturday night. My friend Mindy picked Kim and I up Sunday around 2pm to go out and go climbing. When we went out I noticed that my passenger front tire was totally flat, sitting on the rim. So, you know, I was like, "that sucks, but I'll take care of it Monday morning." I thought I had a nail or screw stuck in it and would be able to take it up tp the Les Schwab and they would plug it and I would be done.

But NO - some jackass stuck a knife through the sidewall. Lucky for me the Les Schwab folks are awesome and came out and put my spare on for me. My truck has a lift with 32" tires and so my little bottle jack wasn't enough to get it off the ground for me to change myself.

After the Schwab guy left, it then took me 4 hours and 2 Les Schwabs later to get a matching replacement tire that cost me $220.00. That was my Monday Morning Flat Tire Blues and I've been recovering from that until now.

The picture is my truck parked next to the U.M.W.A. boulder along Cottonwood Canyon Rd. in the Joe's Valley area of Utah, just outside of Castledale and some cows (all open range land). I was to distraught to remember to take a picture of my poor flat tire.

Day Trip to Astoria via Cannon Beach

2007-11-11T10:10:00.000-08:00

My lovely wife, Kim, and I decided to drive to Astoria yesterday. We went for the purpose of visitiing the Lunar Boy Gallery because they were doing a themed group show on El Dia De Los Muertos and we are both fans. It is a good thing we went by way of Cannon Beach first and got to enjoy a very nice day at the beach, other wise we would have driven a long way to see just a few things at Lunar Boy.

But it was a great day for a drive and it was even sunny at the beach.

We had a lite lunch at Bill's Tavern in Cannon Beach which has tasty food and their own micro brews - next time I'll probably just have a Guinness. The pub is very nice and the food is good, so we stop there every time we're down that way. After Bill's we drove on up to Astoria, home of several movies - the most famous being Goonies.

Lunar Boy is a very cool little gallery that reminds me of some of the hip galleries here in Portland like Compound Gallery at Just Be Toys.

After we got back in town, Kim and I went and had a drink at a newer place, Thatch which is a Tiki bar on NE Broadway. Pretty cool place if you like the Tiki Bar theme. I especially liked the puffer fish lamps.

Willamette River

2007-11-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

I live near the Willamette River and the river front greenway trail is a major portion of my ride to and from work, certain bars, and fantastic views. I took this photo the other night just after sunset when the weather was still nice. I call it "A Long Walk Home".

Which came first?

2007-11-09T08:21:00.000-08:00

The misery or the pop music? Rob Gordon (John Cusack) from 'High Fidelity' says it best:

"What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"

And I feel that sums it up. It has been nice here in Portland, OR for the last couple of weeks, but today the rain is going to start again and it could very well rain until June. Talk about misery.

But the goal with this blog is not to espouse so much about misery and rain, but the place I live - Portland, and the places I go - work, bouldering, traveling, hanging with friends and river hiking (more on that later).

So that's it for now.

Spencer out