Pacific Star by Colin Rich

Pacific Star II from Colin Rich on Vimeo.

Pacific Star I from Colin Rich on Vimeo.

Timelapse Video of Yosemite and White Mountains

Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light from Tom Lowe @ Timescapes on Vimeo.

2010 Photo Winners of the EBRPD

These are a few of my favorite photos from the East Bay Regional Park District's annual photo contest:
(1) view of Mt. Diablo from Mission Peak
(2) Berkeley Marina
(3) between storms, Berkeley Hills, Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve

Lots of great pics, but my three favorites (shown above) are all by photographer Fred Rowe. See links to all 50 finalists here.

Problems Quotation

"If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back."

Strangers in the Mirror

"Everything in my work is determined by my learning disabilities. So, I'm sure I was driven to paint portraits by my face blindness."
- Chuck Close

In this episode of Radiolab, Oliver Sachs and Chuck Close discuss a condition they both have, face blindness.

"Tightrope" by Janelle Monae

Delightfully old school.

Balloon Shot

Balloon flight, shot with an HD HERO camera from GoPro. from Francois Brahic on Vimeo.

Reflective Pants Cuff

Clever.

Century of the Self

[After WWI, corporations] were frightened of the dangers of overproduction, that there would come a point where people had enough goods and would simply stop buying. Up until that point, the majority of products were still sold to the masses on the basis of need...What the corporations realized they had to do was transform the way the majority of Americans thought about products. One leading Wall Street banker Paul Mazur of Lehman Brothers was clear about what was necessary. "We must shift America," he wrote, "from a needs to a desires culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things even before the old have been entirely consumed. We must shape a new mentality in America: man's desires must overshadow his needs."

- from the BBC documentary, Century of the Self. See the film here on Youtube.

Trip Report: Young Lakes via Dog Lake

This weekend, Jess and I went on our first backpacking trip together in Yosemite National Park. It was a casual three-day, two-night 12 mile loop to Young Lakes from Tuloumne Meadows. Our friend Alexis had reserved a Wilderness Permit a few months earlier, and the three of us set out from Oakland on Friday morning.

We ended up at the trail head later that afternoon. Unfortunately, we started our hike right in the middle of an afternoon thunderstorm. For a few minutes, we were pelted by hail the size of Gopstoppers. Luckily, the storm quickly passed and we were left with fine weather for the rest of the trip.

We only hiked four miles before we stopped to make camp since we couldn't find the trail spur to Young Lakes, we only had an hour or two of sunlight left, and we were pretty tired. I was especially winded, given the high elevation at Tuolumne Meadows and not drinking enough water. We ended pitching our tent near the southern edge of Ragged Peak, with a perfect view of the Cathedral Mountains. Before heading into the tent for a well-deserved night of sleep, we stared out at the clear night sky, and Jess even located the Big Dipper constellation.


The next day we wandered around the wilderness without our heavy packs until we found the trail again. We marked the correct trail with cairns, so others following the trail wouldn't get lost like we did.

We ended up at beautiful Lower Young Lake later that morning, with enough time to scramble up to a waterfall and visit Middle and Upper Young Lake as well. We set up camp near the lake -- which we ended up regretting, because we were harrassed by mosquitoes all day. The three of us coated our skin with an entire bottle of bug spray, and still ended up bitten up from head to toe. Even though we had a beautiful view of the lake that night, we decided to spend the night in the tent playing cards, away from the mosquitoes.

On the third day, we headed back to Tuluomne Meadows. It was a sunny hike back, so we took a quick dip in the icy waters of the Tuluomne River. We left Yosemite later that afternoon and made it back home a little after night fall.

Three Minute Philosophy: David Hume

See also Aristotle, Galileo, Descartes, Locke, and Kant. (via Kottke.org)

Grr! Listen to me now!

(via FFFFound!)

Samuel Johnson Quote

He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.

Oakland Needs to Come Together

At about 10:30 PM last night, forty or fifty high-school age kids descended upon the Whole Foods store across the street from my apartment. Most of the kids stood by and watched as three or four used a trash can, a store sign, and rocks to smash the windows of the store front. Three security guards quickly came out of a side entrance with guns raised at the crowd. They yelled loudly and repeatedly to back up. The group moved away but did not leave the scene. One or two resumed breaking windows on the other side of the store. It was a tense five to ten minutes before a police van arrived, causing the crowd to immediately disperse.

The scene reminded me of my mischievous days in high school, when the freshman soccer team went out and toilet papered a neighbor's house before a big game. I thought the same sort of thing happened last night, with the kids using the verdict of the Mehserle trial as a similar excuse to stir up trouble. We both picked out a clear target, leaving the other stores, residences, and cars relatively unscathed. But when someone with authority showed up, we scattered. Who knows what we would have done if the neighbors hadn't woken up and unleashed their dog on the soccer team, or if the police hadn't shown up at Whole Foods last night?

It is sad to witness the destruction of property, but it's even more sad to see people bury their heads in the sand. When the news media announced that the verdict was to be read yesterday at 4 PM, the responsible workers of our city left Oakland in droves. Since then, much of the city has been shut down, due to a collective fear being spread from the top down. But, the best thing for this community is to come together and to face our troubles collectively. How can we run away from the kids that we are supposed to care for and teach?