We (Marc and I) knew the weather was coming but thought we could beat it.
It beat us but we won!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Devan's Boyfriend
Devan is good at riding horses.
Murphy knows it.
They finished 6th in the USEF Championships at the Colorado Horse Park.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Job Done, Camera Gone
Job done. It all seems like a blur now that the six weeks have passed. I have to hand it to the fabulous crew of fellows that I worked, travelled, lived, slept and ate with. Some of the guys I have known for more than a decade and others I just met for the first time. We worked like a well oiled machine. And we played well together too!
The final was a bit of a mad rush and crush. Our flight was delayed from Port Elizabeth and being behind schedule was the last thing we needed on the last day. We had all of our belongings at this point and needed to go from the airport to the Towers to swap out some clothes and gear and drop bags at our rooms. We actually crammed all of our bags into the nearest room and jumped back into the van and headed out to sit in traffic again on our way to Soccer City. It was going to be an unprecedented event because when our two teams come together we will have 17 photographers covering the final. It was great to see everyone as we rushed in with hours to spare. The adrenaline was pumping. It was a chilly night but the way we were crammed into our positions shoulder to shoulder there was a bit of heat conservation and the chill was kept off. Speaking of friends new and old I had the pleasure of sitting next to an old friend, David Leah. Not necessarily referring to his age, but I have known since the 1994 World Cup. The expatriated Brit took up residence in Mexico City and founded Allsport Mexico about 20 years ago and has now morphed his agency into Mexsport. After a flourish of yellow cards and a goal in the late minutes of extra time our crew got to toss back a couple of beers in the media center and catch up as we start to say farewell in the hours after the cup was hoisted by Spain.
After finally going to bed at 5:30AM all that was left was the LONG journey home. A little lie in and brunch at the mall found us on a 3:30PM bus to the airport. Stuck in traffic for an hour people were already found dozing off on the coach. Then to the queue for a group check in at the airport escorted by our travel agent to help avoid excess baggage fees. That gladly ate up most of the spare time before boarding the 8:00PM, 11 hour, redeye to London. I got to sit next to Clive Rose whom I hadn’t seen since Vancouver. We got to catch up a bit and fidget together trying to catch a little sleep and very little sleep is what I got. With a 6:00AM arrival I had a 7 hour layover before my flight to Denver. A few more welcomed distractions would help devour those 420 minutes. In addition to the lost time, the bigger loss was my snappy camera I left in the seat back pocket on the South Africa Airlines plane which had the last couple snaps from the trip on it. My first move was to have to go through customs as I was not able to check my bags through. Carlos and I were the only non EU residents so we headed for the long line on our own after we bid adieu to members of the crew again as they hit the express lane. As we reclaimed our luggage more time was spent filing the paperwork for Carl’s missing case of laptops. I now said so long to Carl who needed to catch a train to terminal four and a Continental flight to Newark. Under the recommendation of my daughter Devan who made the same layover a couple weeks earlier I headed to the Giraffe Café for a salmon and egg breakfast, where coincidentally I met Sandra and Lars my German peers. We had some coffee and chatting before they caught their flights to Germany. I then sat down to organize my expenses and before I could really get into them my flight was called for boarding! As I settled into my seat facing a 10 hours flight some dude in a CU Buffs hoodie showed up with the same seat number. The flight attendant (with angel wings) checked our tickets and matching seat numbers. She returned with a new boarding pass for ME! Off to Business Class! Sweet!
That took the sting out of the shin kicker that was going to wrap up my 32 hour journey. However with a kick in the crotch, 32 hours became 34 hours, as I was detained my US Customs for not having a Carnet for my camera gear. Everyone is looking for finances to bolster their budgets and the US Government is not too low to stoop to the tactics of thinking I would pay twice the US value for camera gear in South Africa and try and import it and thus collect taxes from me. After a great deal of probing and dismantling of my luggage and interrogation they let me go even after they couldn’t raise anyone at our Los Angeles and Seattle offices that could vouch for me. I finally rolled the trolley ladened with my nearly 200lbs of luggage through the doors to be greeted by my family and end my odyssey.
The final was a bit of a mad rush and crush. Our flight was delayed from Port Elizabeth and being behind schedule was the last thing we needed on the last day. We had all of our belongings at this point and needed to go from the airport to the Towers to swap out some clothes and gear and drop bags at our rooms. We actually crammed all of our bags into the nearest room and jumped back into the van and headed out to sit in traffic again on our way to Soccer City. It was going to be an unprecedented event because when our two teams come together we will have 17 photographers covering the final. It was great to see everyone as we rushed in with hours to spare. The adrenaline was pumping. It was a chilly night but the way we were crammed into our positions shoulder to shoulder there was a bit of heat conservation and the chill was kept off. Speaking of friends new and old I had the pleasure of sitting next to an old friend, David Leah. Not necessarily referring to his age, but I have known since the 1994 World Cup. The expatriated Brit took up residence in Mexico City and founded Allsport Mexico about 20 years ago and has now morphed his agency into Mexsport. After a flourish of yellow cards and a goal in the late minutes of extra time our crew got to toss back a couple of beers in the media center and catch up as we start to say farewell in the hours after the cup was hoisted by Spain.
After finally going to bed at 5:30AM all that was left was the LONG journey home. A little lie in and brunch at the mall found us on a 3:30PM bus to the airport. Stuck in traffic for an hour people were already found dozing off on the coach. Then to the queue for a group check in at the airport escorted by our travel agent to help avoid excess baggage fees. That gladly ate up most of the spare time before boarding the 8:00PM, 11 hour, redeye to London. I got to sit next to Clive Rose whom I hadn’t seen since Vancouver. We got to catch up a bit and fidget together trying to catch a little sleep and very little sleep is what I got. With a 6:00AM arrival I had a 7 hour layover before my flight to Denver. A few more welcomed distractions would help devour those 420 minutes. In addition to the lost time, the bigger loss was my snappy camera I left in the seat back pocket on the South Africa Airlines plane which had the last couple snaps from the trip on it. My first move was to have to go through customs as I was not able to check my bags through. Carlos and I were the only non EU residents so we headed for the long line on our own after we bid adieu to members of the crew again as they hit the express lane. As we reclaimed our luggage more time was spent filing the paperwork for Carl’s missing case of laptops. I now said so long to Carl who needed to catch a train to terminal four and a Continental flight to Newark. Under the recommendation of my daughter Devan who made the same layover a couple weeks earlier I headed to the Giraffe Café for a salmon and egg breakfast, where coincidentally I met Sandra and Lars my German peers. We had some coffee and chatting before they caught their flights to Germany. I then sat down to organize my expenses and before I could really get into them my flight was called for boarding! As I settled into my seat facing a 10 hours flight some dude in a CU Buffs hoodie showed up with the same seat number. The flight attendant (with angel wings) checked our tickets and matching seat numbers. She returned with a new boarding pass for ME! Off to Business Class! Sweet!
That took the sting out of the shin kicker that was going to wrap up my 32 hour journey. However with a kick in the crotch, 32 hours became 34 hours, as I was detained my US Customs for not having a Carnet for my camera gear. Everyone is looking for finances to bolster their budgets and the US Government is not too low to stoop to the tactics of thinking I would pay twice the US value for camera gear in South Africa and try and import it and thus collect taxes from me. After a great deal of probing and dismantling of my luggage and interrogation they let me go even after they couldn’t raise anyone at our Los Angeles and Seattle offices that could vouch for me. I finally rolled the trolley ladened with my nearly 200lbs of luggage through the doors to be greeted by my family and end my odyssey.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
The A Team
38 days, 18 flights, 23,000 Air Miles, 14 hotel nights, 20 games done and only ONE to go. Our A Team knocked off the third place match as Germany defeated Uruguay at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth last night in the rain, again. The King Edward Hotel didn't surprise us either as things did not go smoothly again. Our last visit there was punctuated on our arrival as we were greeted by chanting, sinking, STRIKING staff members. Go figure. First of all Quinn and I got a single room. We got is swapped for a double but it was on the second floor over the entrance. The room was flooded with the noise from the protesters and as we were in need of a nap before the game we asked to change rooms again. This all seemed to be more difficult than it should have been, which is standard operating procedure at the KEH as far as we can tell. We now move on to Johannesburg to finally join our other crew to photograph The Netherlands v Spain in the final at Soccer City. Our betting pool might be more suspenseful than the actual match as Laurence, Alex and and Lars are all still alive and can each win or tie give the outcome of the match. After one more night at the Sandton Towers I will finally head home on Monday night. It has been a long time coming and as much as I am not looking forward to the arduous journey, I am ready to be home.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A Three Hour Tour
Today we had a day off and we did something AMAZING! We took a three hour shark diving tour with Captain Brian McFarlane http://www.sharkcagediving.net in Gansbaai. Initiated, motivated and secured by our one and only Lars Baron. We set off this morning at 7:30AM for the 2 ½ hour drive around False Bay.
The waters of South Africa are renowned for their Great White Shark activity. It is especially intense during these winter months. Near where we are staying in False Bay guide Chris Fallows operates a tour out of Simonstown. He has gained notoriety as he is one of only two operators on the west side of the bay that have permits to do tours around Seal Island while towing decoys to entice breaching. This is also the only documented place in the world where Great Whites breach. This area was made famous by the super slow motion high definition footage of a Great White breaching and taking a seal from mid air in the Discovery Channel series Blue Planet. Fallows pictures populate the internet, clutter local post card stands and even adore the walls of McFarlane’s enterprise.
McFarlane’s boat can take 40 sightseers and a crew of eight. They have an eight person shark cage that is lowered into the water and then tied to the side of the boat. Like big tasty treats, eight ‘divers’ cram shoulder to shoulder into the length of the cage. The waterborne safari goers take a gasp of air and under the direction of the captain and crew plunge underwater to peer at the mighty creatures as they are lured toward the cage by a floating seal replica and dead fish used as bait.
5mm wetsuits, complete with booties and hood, protect you from the 14 degree C water and a dive mask provides a clear view. As the lures are pulled closer to the cage and ultimately away the prehistoric beasts thrash and bang into the side of the cage and at times when missing the bait grind their teeth on the bars of the cage. It was such a time warp I have no idea how long it took everything to happen, but I went in the cage twice. I would guess for 15 0r 20 minutes (my peers suspect longer) we saw 10-12 Great White Sharks from 2-4 meters long each time. Some were in the distance (3-4 meters away), some close (0 meters) and while we were told to not touch the sharks the sharks were obviously not instructed to not touch the tourists. As I looked
to my right and watched as one jutted its nose through the bars right at Quinn and Laurence, its pectoral fin had slid between the bars and brushed against my hands as they clutched the hand rail that I was using to hold myself under. As it brushed me I startled and let go of the bar and threw myself against the back of the cage out of harms way. IT WAS AWESOME!
But of course the nine of us, including eight photographers, had countless cameras but no underwater housings. As is the case all too often I have a camera stuck in front of my face as I plunge myself into all sorts of experiences in my life. But this time I relegated myself to consume the experience and absorb it and commit it to memory. It was such a surreal situation I can’t believe it happened. I considered it a once in a lifetime opportunity but if I ever find myself in the situation to do it again I would do it again in a heartbeat. I just hope it wouldn’t be my last.
The Seals are the ultimate lure for the Great Whites in the alley. Attribute it to the circle of life.
The waters of South Africa are renowned for their Great White Shark activity. It is especially intense during these winter months. Near where we are staying in False Bay guide Chris Fallows operates a tour out of Simonstown. He has gained notoriety as he is one of only two operators on the west side of the bay that have permits to do tours around Seal Island while towing decoys to entice breaching. This is also the only documented place in the world where Great Whites breach. This area was made famous by the super slow motion high definition footage of a Great White breaching and taking a seal from mid air in the Discovery Channel series Blue Planet. Fallows pictures populate the internet, clutter local post card stands and even adore the walls of McFarlane’s enterprise.
McFarlane’s boat can take 40 sightseers and a crew of eight. They have an eight person shark cage that is lowered into the water and then tied to the side of the boat. Like big tasty treats, eight ‘divers’ cram shoulder to shoulder into the length of the cage. The waterborne safari goers take a gasp of air and under the direction of the captain and crew plunge underwater to peer at the mighty creatures as they are lured toward the cage by a floating seal replica and dead fish used as bait.
5mm wetsuits, complete with booties and hood, protect you from the 14 degree C water and a dive mask provides a clear view. As the lures are pulled closer to the cage and ultimately away the prehistoric beasts thrash and bang into the side of the cage and at times when missing the bait grind their teeth on the bars of the cage. It was such a time warp I have no idea how long it took everything to happen, but I went in the cage twice. I would guess for 15 0r 20 minutes (my peers suspect longer) we saw 10-12 Great White Sharks from 2-4 meters long each time. Some were in the distance (3-4 meters away), some close (0 meters) and while we were told to not touch the sharks the sharks were obviously not instructed to not touch the tourists. As I looked
to my right and watched as one jutted its nose through the bars right at Quinn and Laurence, its pectoral fin had slid between the bars and brushed against my hands as they clutched the hand rail that I was using to hold myself under. As it brushed me I startled and let go of the bar and threw myself against the back of the cage out of harms way. IT WAS AWESOME!
But of course the nine of us, including eight photographers, had countless cameras but no underwater housings. As is the case all too often I have a camera stuck in front of my face as I plunge myself into all sorts of experiences in my life. But this time I relegated myself to consume the experience and absorb it and commit it to memory. It was such a surreal situation I can’t believe it happened. I considered it a once in a lifetime opportunity but if I ever find myself in the situation to do it again I would do it again in a heartbeat. I just hope it wouldn’t be my last.
The Seals are the ultimate lure for the Great Whites in the alley. Attribute it to the circle of life.
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