Tuesday, November 8, 2011

JUST SAVED A LIFE AND GOT HAIL FOR IT

What a day. Managed to coax a young man off of a bridge who was going to jump (he was on the wrong side of the railing too!) and then got pelted by hail during the same run.

http://www.wrjphoto.com/blog/just-saved-a-life-and-got-hail-for-it/

HORRIBLE MOVIE ALERT!

In short, AVOID three musketeers! Here is what I had to say about it... and a couple other notable reviews too!

http://www.wrjphoto.com/blog/horrible-movie-alert/

*The poster is there too... at least it is painted extremely well.

LANGARA SEMINAR

I had the pleasure of lecturing for the First Year students at Langara's Photography program again.
Here is a photo of the stragglers that hung out afterwards to chat :-)

http://www.wrjphoto.com/blog/langara-seminar/

INTENSE VIDEO... TOO MUCH TO HANDLE?

I posted two videos here. One that is pretty tame will freak you out and the other that was perceived as pretty wild seems pretty darn mild now.

http://www.wrjphoto.com/blog/intense-video-too-much-to-handle/

WORLDS COLLIDE... A NEW IMPOSSIBLE COINCIDENCE!

This is really trippy and yet another one of those crazy impossible things that, based on the odds, should NOT be able to happen...

http://www.wrjphoto.com/blog/worlds-collide/

Photos there too. As you can tell I have been blogging on my new website more, but will keep linking from here.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

WORST BUSINESS CARD TYPO EVER?

This is my favourite business card! I just love the size of this error! With so few words it is amazing to have a typo! And, to misspell a word so common as this is hilarious. It would be like writing a book called “My Trip to Idnia”

http://www.wrjphoto.com/blog/worst-business-card-typo/


Thursday, October 6, 2011

COFFEE TABLE OF THE GODS (CRAIGSLIST POSTING)

This is a very fun ad. The photo really helps sell the table too!

http://www.wrjphoto.com/blog/coffee-table-of-the-gods-craigslist/

Thursday, September 8, 2011

WELDING BY FULL MOON (REAL PHOTO I TOOK)


I had to get my excavator bucket welded and never expected it would be done with a full moon! Real photo from two days ago...

Thursday, August 11, 2011

GREAT CRAIGSLIST AD (FROM VANCOUVER TOO!)

Unconventional Offer for Adventurous Home Owner (Vancouver)


Date: 2011-06-26, 8:16PM PDT
Reply to: hous-wxb6b-2464265874@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

This offer is not for everyone. Those of you who have saved every penny for most of your life to afford a down payment and currently work around the clock to make mortgage payments, I commend you on your efforts, but this post is not for you.

Do you own more than one property? Do you have so many rental homes with no mortgage payments, yet you still feel unfulfilled? Tired of your illegal tenants whining that there are rats in the walls? Have you always wanted your own dinosaur? Now is your chance my friend.

In exchange for one of your properties, I will be your personal dinosaur for one year. I will be at your beck and call, 24 hours a day, wearing a dinosaur costume. The type of dinosaur is negotiable. I can babysit your children (references upon request), scare the mailman, wash dishes, entertain and impress your guests, and much more. (No sex stuff though, sorry.) I will make realistic dinosaur sounds, eat what the particular dinosaur eats and maybe even sit on a fake dinosaur egg, if you are so inclined. I am well educated, fluent in English and French (as well as dinosaur), can play several musical instruments and have no criminal record or outstanding warrants.

All this and more. This is the only way you will ever have your pet dinosaur, and the only way I will ever be able to acquire a house in Vancouver.
Serious offers only please.

Thank you.

here is the real ad: http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/van/rew/2464265874.html

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

DENTAL PORTRAIT

Just got another dental "portrait" taken but they would not let me smile. I tried to show off by using the word "frenectomy" in a sentence.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

KITTY LITTER...

I bought 150 pounds of kitty litter today! Really! - Big sale at Costco. I feel and equal amount of shame and satisfaction at the same time.

WHY DANGLE?

Testing out a new super "why dangle" lens (say it out loud and it will make sense... ha ha). This fish eye is wide enough you could see where you parked, who you were with and what was going on in every direction! Crazy!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

SIX VIALS OF BLOOD!

Holymoley! They pulled six of these from me to test me out after trip to china. I bet I am even lighter now ( already lost 14 pounds).

I can hardly wait to do the stool tests! Wahoo.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

CHECK OUT MY "OLDER POSTS" (BRAND NEW postings put under appropriate date) I can access blog now that I am out of China!

I am posting NEW images now that I am out of china (can access blog now). One post per day for last 2 month adventure - and I am dating them for the date they took place... More going up daily. Go to "older posts" if only to see the CRUCIFICTION Photos that you will not easily forget!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

I SLEPT ON THE GREAT WALL (NOT LEGAL BUT VERY COOL)!

Well it was really tough to get there on my own and the torrential rains and thunder as I arrived posed challenges to get on the wall, but once that stopped, it got nice and I was amazed to find I had about 10 km section of the Great Wall totally to myself for 2 days. Not a soul to be seen. In the photo where you see the run down sentry tower to the left you can see the wall snaking in the back. The middle tower (middle of photo) is the one I slept in.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

STREET MASSAGE IN BEIJING

I got rooked into a massage while traipsing around this little lake in Beijing. Little did I know I would get an eyelid massage too.
Was she trying to pop my eyes out? I was not sure, but she sure was "working it"


One small man with a bicycle can move anything!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

TIANANMEN SQUARE. PLEASE DONT POINT THAT AT ME.

Please dont point that thing at me! (see guy on right... he seems upset)? These guys are right outside of Chairman Mao's Mausoleum. Wait till you hear my story about visiting Mao in the show (under construction). * Make sure you are on my email list for show announcements.
You get used to being a moving photo op for chinese tourists who all want photos with the random foreigner (it will happen to you too), but this was the first guy who paid a professional Tiananmen photographer to shoot our photo and then he PAID for this print.

Monday, May 23, 2011

I ATE A SCORPION, A CATERPILLAR and A SILK WORM.

And I dont think I would order them again. Eee-yuk.

*The scorpion was the least iccky.

This centipede might be way smaller than the scorpion, but it packs a quite a punch of "flavour." I will likely never be found in a line up to order another.



Saturday, May 21, 2011

GREAT WALL MARATHON!

What a cool event. Capacity crowds and a really great day. I did the half marathon distance but now wish I did the full just for the pleasure of covering that section of the wall again.

People from 52 countries came to partake and everyone seemed to have had a good time. Not a fast time though since those walls are steep!)
This South American fellow raced it pretty much barefoot!

Friday, May 20, 2011

TRYING TO GET TO REMOTE HUANG HUA... FIASCO EXTRAORDINAIRE

It might seem easy enough, but getting basic transport to the small town where the marathon was taking place was just a crazy adventure... an array of subways, trains, buses, cabs, hitchiking, etc. A 3 hour trip took me SEVEN HOURS!
Little did i know the village I was asking for was SO tiny that no one really knew where it was and how to help me.
Fastest train in China. 339 km per hour... sadly NOT in the right direction.

A packed bus.

Thanks so much to these kind non english speaking strangers who threw me in their car and helped me SO much to get further along. They even helped find another car to get me to my final destination before 10 pm. I am so lucky!!


Monday, May 16, 2011

TREACHEROUS CLIFF CLIMB AND GREAT VIEWS

This is one of the main reasons I went to China... There are two really challenging pathways in mountains that I heard of about 6 years ago. One in Spain called Camino Del Rey, and this one in Hua Shan in China. I had such a grand adventure here and will have quite a story to tell in the show... meanwhile here are images of this amazing mountain.
West Peak. The most high traffic area of the mountain (15000 per day going up this!?) *but by tram... the cheesy easy way.
The scetchy part you can opt to do. Some less comfy on this...
And some just a bit too foolhardy (thats me!)
1600 meters down likely.
Lovely view.
South Peak
You may have seen a spam email that talks about free restaurant if you hike there... well...
This is the restaurant at West Peak (photographed from a challenging spot outside of the fence) and I can assure you it is certainly not free. It turns out I ran out of money and had to be shrewd for accomodation (see below)
Normal room costs here were $160 plus per night. I simply didnt have it. I only had $70 Kwai... and the folks here took it all to let me sleep in an attic. I guess I am lucky. That meant hiking all the way down next day with no money for food. What an adventure. More about this in the show when it is ready. Please make sure you are on the email notification list (register at wrjphoto.com)

Thursday, May 12, 2011

KANGDING - YOU COULD WHITEWATER KAYAK IN THE CITY.

This might be the only city where you could actually whitewater kayak right through town. The water is really moving and there are some white caps for sure.

THANKS TO A FRIEND FOR BYPASSING THE CEN SORS

Thanks so much to Mariska in Vancouver for posting some of my bl og stuffs from China. Cen sorship here means that FB, T wit, Yo utube and all Bl ogs are inacc essible in Ch ina. Intentional mispellings. I am sure you will figure it out.

(Location: William is in Kangding, Kham province, China - - pretty much Tibet really)

AMAZING CATARACT SURGERY RESTORES VISION (IN 10 MINUTES)

Ok, maybe 12 minutes. but totally amazing. These sisters had cataracts in both eyes and this is what they travelled 3 days (1200 km) for. Surgery on the first eye. Fascinating procedure and I was lucky to be witness to it all while in Kangding.

A weight is placed on the eye before surgery - I think to help freezing work best.

Me in surgery. Moving delicately. This is precise work.

Recovery is fast and she will be able to see immediately when patch removed in the morning That is a great "reveal" to witness! - Seeing someone regain their vision after many years is pretty powerful stuff!

This group of 17 was brought in on a Seva Provided bus and were pretty excited about arriving!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

BEST MONEY I HAVE EVER SPENT! I BOUGHT VISION FOR THREE TIBETANS




Seva (based in Vancouver) is a wonderful group that helps subsidize Cataract Surgeries for countless Tibetans (and people all over the world). I was lucky to get to Kangding to see this great hospital in action. I had planned to cover the cost of one person's surgery, but after meeting these three sisters who travelled THREE DAYS to cover the 1200 KMS to get here, I felt compelled to pay for all three. Best money I have ever spent. Not often you can say you really got to change someone's life with just a few dollars. Amazing experience.

Here is a link for SEVA if you might wish to find out more or helpout: www.seva.ca
Three sisters - all whom have cataracts. The sister closest to me could only recognize a pen light when waved in front of her eyes and could not even see fingers.
That is a cataract visible in ZHUO DUO's eye
Despite being normally squeamish about anything to with eyes, I found watching the surgeries both compelling and fascinating.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

CHALLENGING CHINESE ROADS?

On the way to Kangding, I saw this truck that went over the edge. Nasty accident.

You can see in the other photo that people pass like crazy too where there is not really too much room.




On the way to Kangding, I saw this truck that went over the edge. Nasty accident.

You can see in the other photo that people pass like crazy too where there is not really too much room.

Monday, May 9, 2011

MONKEYS ALWAYS WIN

Monkeys on the trail up Emei Shan are infamous for taking exactly what they want. Very Aggressive. Bringing up a plastic bag here!? Not a good idea at all. Great to watch the mayhem from silly tourists who ignored all warnings.
(Location: Emei Shan, Sichuan, China)


Sunday, May 8, 2011

HEY BIG EARS! (GIANT BUDDHA IN LESHAN)


The Giant Buddha in Leshan, Sichuan, China. At over 71 M tall this guy is the biggest. Each toe is 8.5 Meters. His ears are 7 m tall. I got a nice photo of the little sprig growing in his left ear that maybe you can see in this photo. This was taken on a Sunday... all are warned NOT to go on Sundays due to massive crowds, but as you can see that made it lucky for me since the packed stairwell looks very cool.

(Location: Leshan, Sichuan, China)

Saturday, May 7, 2011

20 HOURS IN BED. SICK SUCKS


I dont know what I got, but it was rough. Didn't really leave bed for 20 hours. Totally listless and in pain. Harsh yucckiness for days.

(Location: Chengdu, Sichuan, China)

Thursday, May 5, 2011

THIS DVD PLAYER DOES NOT PLAY ACTION FILMS


The first DVD player made that clearly prefers films to be less violent.

(Location: ZHAOXING, Guanxi, China)