Life: Tybee Island Social Club...

Life: Tybee Island Social Club...
Originally uploaded by Sanctuary-Studio

We popped into Social for an early dinner and drinks. The veggie taco (with a flatbread style shell) was by far the best thing we've eaten on the Island thus far. The pesto dressing was a nice touch. Farilla opted for the salad version of the same dish and now looks forward to recreating this meal at home. We could not get enough sangria. Red for Farilla. White for me. The rustic decor was nice (see the insulator chandelier in the previous post) but I'm definitely not so crazy about all of the taxidermy. And I'm glad they had the fans cranking. It's pretty humid here, yo!

Travel: Yosemite Frazil Ice

Life: iPhone Maps FAIL!

Life: iPhone Maps FAIL!
Originally uploaded by Sanctuary-Studio

79 miles in 6 hours?! Well, I guess that's one way to get there....in walk mode, nonetheless!

Photos: Our Nor Cal Foothill Adventure :: September 2009

Last month I took Farilla on his inaugural trip to that place I called home for the first 18 years of my life. Rather than driving him around town to show off the many local strip malls my parents took us on a Nor Cal Foothill adventure which went a little something like this...

Knights Ferry, CA:

(The Mill)


(My nephew, Nicholas.)


(Longest covered bridge west of the Mississippi.)



Jamestown, CA:


Sonora, CA:

(Diamondback Grill)



Columbia State Historic Park:




Yosemite National Park:



(Half Done)

We had a great visit up north and we're very thankful for our my parents, our tireless tour guides. Our afternoon in Yosemite inspired us to immediately make reservations for a longer visit to The Park (which we did last week). Pics from our more recent Yosemite adventure to follow. For a more comprehensive look at our September Nor Cal trip click here.

Travel: Kuroshio Sea in the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is Please don't go by Barcelona) from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

Beautiful!

Photos: Anza Borrego & The Salton Sea

Last weekend Farilla and I set off for a day trip to Anza Borrego Desert State Park. The wildflowers were indeed reprezentin'! We found a stellar picnic spot near Coyote Canyon where we submerged ourselves in some of Mother Nature's finest work! Wow! Did I mention the weather was fantastic...low 70's and not a cloud in the sky. Beau-ti-ful!

We were lucky to catch these blooms. These were the first of their kind to pop in the section of the park we were exploring.

After lunch we decided to push on to The Salton Sea. Along the way we stopped to check out some of Richard Breceda's sculptures.

If you're not familiar with The Salton Sea it's a large lake that was formed about a hundred years ago when the Colorado River swelled during heavy rainfall. It's extremely salinated as well as polluted from all of the agricultural runoff. As such, it's pretty desolate. In fact, it was seriously eerie exploring the abandoned North Shore section of the lake....dead fish, gutted buildings, deserted AND sinking playground equipment!

North Shore barnacle beach:


The Yacht Club:


Inside the Yacht Club:

Abandoned Pool Inhabitants:


These were some local kids who claimed to spend a lot of time skating in the pool. I'm guessing there's not much else out here for them to do!

Such a great trek...about a two and a half hour drive each way from West LA. We'll definitely have to make another trip back to explore farther South. So much to see! Until then feel free to enjoy the rest of my snaps from our adventure.

Travel: Dubai Is For Suckas!

[Boing Boing]

People are literally fleeing this place, to date leaving 3000 cars stranded at the airport with keys still in the ignition. And the reason for this is that if you default on your Dubai mortgage, you can end up in a debtors prison.

Life: Yellow Bi-Plane Acrobatics!

Life: Yellow Bi-Plane Acrobatics!
Originally uploaded by Sanctuary-Studio

As I was driving to Nor Cal this morning I was treated to a pretty spectacular air show. The yellow bi-plane pictured above (used for crop dusting up in these here parts) was doing crazy-low figure eights right over the highway. When I first noticed the plane it was flying straight towards me as if the pilot was planning on bringing 'er down right on the 99. The plane quickly banked right and the aerial dance ensued. Such a spectacle!

Burning Man: The Break Down...

59 days until THE MAN BURNS!
54 days until the BRC gates open!!
50 days until Commander sets off in the Cube Truck!!!
48 days until Ops, Otter and I leave for the Playa!!!!
(3.3 seconds until I officially start panicking)

Participate
Hydrate
Create
Sizzle-ate

Travel: One Month And Counting...

Every Memorial Day weekend The Colonel heads off to Yosemite National Park with a group of old friends from High School.  Last year I had the pleasure of joining his crew.  Too much fun, indeed!  

I just received the above photo which he took this afternoon right before his final ascent to the top of Half Dome.  It's kind of tough to see but there are tiny little specks of people climbing the cables just beyond TC's head.

From TC:

"Left at 7:45, got up top about noon, back in camp at 5:00 -- and I was jamming the whole way. It's a long-long hike. And it was FREEZING up there! "

Congrats, Colonel!  TOTALLY inspiring!

In exactly one month I'll be heading up those same cables for the second time.  It's been too long...super excited, yo!!!

Travel: Palm Springs Weather

Could we ask for better weather this weekend? 

Hmm, I don't think so....

Photos: Granite Pass 5/2008

It's hard to believe that it was TWO YEARS AGO this month that I last (and first) set foot on Granite Pass.  And I seriously can't think of a better reintroduction to the place where the most incredible Makers of Magic come to converge.  

The Dark Elf-

Church-

Saturday Afternoon Mass-

The Making of Magic-

Liz-botics-

Twinkle Twinkle-

Thank you, thank you, thank you...to my new and old friends, alike.  Your magic will stay with me forever...

For 64 more shots (including this pano) from our stellar Granite Pass adventure click here.

Mad Love~

Travel: Totally Sane

(Thanks Catfish!)

"Originally built in 1901, this walkway now serves as an approach to makinodromo, the famous climbing sector of El Chorro."

Photos: Great Wall Of China & Happy Meal Toy Factory

During the summer of 2002 I flew to Beijing to meet up with Michael, Angie and G who were flying in from Singapore.

These particular photos highlight a ~7 mile trek along the Great Wall of China between Simatai and Jinshanling. Simatai is a 3 hour drive outside of Beijing so we hired a driver for the day (for only about $100USD) to drop us at this site. He then met us at the end of the day in Jinshanling. Thank goodness for cell phones and broken English!

The hike on the Great Wall still remains a life-highlight for me...totally AMAZING!

Because of the distance from major tourist attractions this section of the Wall isn't very popular. Aside from a couple of guards and a few locals from a small Mongolian Village (trying to sell us souvenirs) the only other tourists we encountered were a couple from Canada. We pretty much had the Wall to ourselves that entire day.

The last few photos in this set are some of the shots I took at one of the factories we toured (in Mainland China North of Hong Kong) where McDonald's Happy Meal Toys are made.  I had no idea those little pieces of plastic were hand painted to the extent shown in my photos!  

Note the oxygen masks worn by the workers...this factory was rated as an 'A' , top ranked facility, because they offered luxuries like oxygen and ventilation to their workers. In other words jobs at this facility are highly sought after.

Click here to see the rest of my Great Wall and Happy Meal Toy Factory photos.

Photos: Angles Two, Moment One

A very busy Jeremy finally found some time to get his photos posted from our adventure in Devil's Punchbowl a couple of weekends ago.

Photos: Devil's Punchbowl

Last Sunday, Jeremy and I ventured off to the Northern side of the snow-capped San Gabriel Mountains.  After about an hour (or so) drive from the Westside we ultimately wound up at Devil's Punchbowl way out Pearblossom Highway.

We prepared ourselves for cool snowy conditions but were quite surprised to find the climate to be perfect for an afternoon of trekking!  J and I strolled along the very easy one mile loop down into the Punchbowl while taking some detours along the way.  There were tons of impressive rock formations and on some North facing slopes we even ran across the occasional (albeit dirty) snow patch.

On the way home we encountered this 'little' gem:

Follow this link to see a few more shots from Devil's Punchbowl and to peep some of the craziness that can be found inside the Village of Gnomes (aka Charlie Brown Farms).  Trust me...it's like nothing you've ever seen before!

Travel: Another Virtual Trip

Charles Phoenix’s Disneyland Tour of Downtown Los Angeles:

Click the title link above for ticketing and tour info.

Travel: NYC Baby!

A few years back while in NYC I was fortunate enough to catch this De La Guarda show:

DLG was nothing short of stellar. It totally resonated with the Burner in me. As you can see from this video clip audience participation is highly encouraged. The performers fed off of the crowd members who exhibited the most openness to the show. Those hiding in the corner of the hall were left alone while those of us *hand raised* constantly jostling for a better vantage point were singled out and encouraged to play along. During different points throughout the evening I found myself dancing with multiple performers. I had a very yummy DLG'er (who apparently thought I was yummy too) literally suctioned to my neck. And yet the best part was when one of the cast members came up behind me, pulled the rubber band right out of my hair and started smelling and twirling my curly locks before dancing with me through the crowd. Seriously too much fun! It was so exciting to be a part of all of that creative energy! Wow!

Flash forward to a few months ago when I ran across a review of a new show opening in NYC called Fuerzabruta. The style of this performance sounded remarkably familiar and after a little research I found out that this show is also from the creators of De La Guarda!



Yep, I'm thinking a trip to NYC this Spring is in order!

Travel: Let's Take A Virtual Trip

Travel: When I Close My Eyes...

...this is where my mind takes me:

Huvanfen Fushi

I just hope to make it to the Maldives before they're all under water.