After A Bath

This is Stormy. He was yawning after getting the spa treatment. I gave him a good bath. He looked so shiny and cute.

The Coming Storm

Here's another cool cloud image... this one was taken late yesterday afternoon as the first of several fast-moving thunderstorms came over the tip of Minnesota's Arrowhead region. Not more than two minutes after I made this shot, the rain was coming down so hard that visibility was minimal at best. The wipers on my truck could hardly keep up with it!

Viennese Cyclists

I have finally gotten up the nerve to go beyond photographing parked bicycles, and to capture cyclists in actions. Here they are, on the streets of Vienna.

These photos were taken over the course of several days, along my normal walking routes.

Looking at these now, I am struck by how distinctly un-picturesque the surroundings are -- something that is actually quite difficult to achieve when photographing Vienna! But the cyclists sure look nice.

I did not have a chance to be selective and pretty much photographed whomever my camera was quick enough to capture. So this is a good sampling of what commuters here look like.

As you can see, the bicycles are mostly hybrids and comfort bikes, fitted with fenders, racks, baskets, etc. Lights are mandatory, so all bicycles here have them.

It is pretty common to see elderly persons cycling, often faster and more skillfully than younger ones.

Bicycles are allowed into most parks and courtyards including inside the Museum Quartier (a maze of court yards where many of Vienna's museums are located, as well as outdoor cafes and small gardens).

So there it is; my first bout of cyclist stealth photography. Granted, cycling culture in Vienna is not as dramatically stylish as in Amsterdam or Copenhagen, but overall still pretty cool -- at least compared to the US, where hunched over lycra-clad cyclists remain the norm.

Duomatic on the Danube: the Sturmey Archer 2-Speed Kick Shift Hub

Over the weekend I rode a bicycle with a Sturmey Archer Duomatic hub - complemented with a front SAhub, which I thought looked rather nice.

You may recognise the bicycle as a Bella Ciao - It is a Neorealista model in "Sabbia Frizzante," which is a sort of sparkly champagne colour that just stops short of being gold.



Matthias Maier, one of the persons behind Bella Ciao, came down from Berlin and brought the bike to their Vienna dealer, Citybiker, where I was able to try it. Here is a nice picture of Matthias at one of my favourite cafes; it was nice to finally meet.



The unusual 2-speed hub is becoming popular for city cycling, and I was curious to try it. Vienna and Boston are both mostly flat until you get to the outskirts, but sometimes a single speed does not feel quite enough - making the Duomatic an appealing option.



The hub works via coaster-brake action: You push back with your feet lightly to shift gears (both to upshift and to downshift), and you push back harder to brake.



The thing that confused me initially, is that there appears to be no way to engage the coaster brake without first shifting to a different gear. That means that if you're in the lower gear already and want to brake, you will be switching into a higher gear right beforehand - and then starting in a high gear from a stop. However, I soon realised that I can simply switch back to the lower gear while stopped by tapping the pedal backwards gently with my foot. The bike does not have to be rolling in order to shift, and it takes very little pressure to do it.



While cycling, shifting gears with my feet did take some getting used to. It's very easy to do - just a little backward tap - which is actually the problem. Those who've been riding coaster brake bikes for some time are accustomed to "feathering" the brake with their feet, and this has become an automatic motion for me. However, with the Duomatic hub that feathering motion is what shifts gears, so initially I found myself constantly switching gears without meaning to. I'd try to slow down, only to find myself in a different gear, and would then have to quickly back-tap again to regain my previous rhythm.



Having said that, I would describe learning how to operate the Duomatic hub as fun, rather than annoying. The fact that I was able to actually ride the bike through the very busy city center and intersections while navigating around tourists and cars made that clear. It was like nothing I'd experienced before, and of course it was disconcerting to find myself switching gears by accident - but also rather exciting to be able to both brake and shift with my feet.



I did make liberal use of the front brake at first, which, thankfully works very well on this bike.



It took me about an hour to get comfortable with the drivetrain. I decided to ride on the Danube Canal bikepath for a while, which would allow plenty of room to accelerate. I cycled all the way to the edge of Vienna and back, and by the time I returned to the center I felt like a Duomatic "expert." Of course when I got on my own bike later, I kept trying to shift gears with my feet - but never mind!



While I found the Duomatic fun, the real question is whether it's plausible as an actual everyday system. Overall, I'd give it a conditional yes, the conditions being that (1) you like bikes with coaster brakes. If you dislike them, then you will hate this hub, since it requires using your feet constantly. And (2) you are willing to accept a learning curve. No matter what system you're currently using, it will take your brain a little while to adjust to this one.In addition, I suggest that you consider the gearing carefully. Since the hub offers only two speeds, you can set it up as standard and low, or standard and high. The bicycle I rode had the latter setup, which I thought would be optimal for me - but wasn't. In practice, I would have found it more convenient to have a standard gear and a lower gear - but perhaps with the gearing slightly higher overall. That should be as simple as replacing a cog.



I know that some are considering the Sturmey ArcherDuomatic for fixed gear frames that do not have a rear brake bridge. Personally I would only do this if you are planning to set up the bike with upright handlebars, as a roadbike position is very awkward with a coaster brake. It's up to you of course, but at least try it first. For myself, I see the Duomatic as very feasible for an upright city bike, and the lack of shifters on the handlebars is appealing. My feet are stronger than my hands, so this work nicely for me. But there is no doubt that this is an eccentric drivetrain, and not the sort of thing I'd enthusiastically recommend to everyone. Find a way to try it, if at all possible: You might love it - but if not, you'll at least experience something new. Many thanks to Bella Ciao and Citybiker in Vienna for making it possible for me to try the Duomatic.

Through the Valley of Fire

Wednesday, November 30th - - The road led me south from Zion National Park. My destination for the night was the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada about 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas.



I arrived about an hour before sunset and the sun was casting a warming glow over the landscape. The park's website (link above) tells us that “The Valley of Fire derives its name from red sandstone formations, formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs, 150 million years ago. Complex uplifting and faulting of the region, followed by extensive erosion, have created the present landscape.”





As you drive around the park, numerous formations jut out above the desert floor.



The formations were piles of swirling rock. It was like Mother Nature had dipped her hand into a bowl of whipped cream and mixed it up to form these incredible rocks.







Wind and rain have added their “artistic touch” to the formations to produce a dazzling display.



Thursday, December 1st - - High winds and rain came through the valley last night. The van was buffeted around quite a bit and if there had been room in the campsite I would have turned the van so that it was facing into the wind. It wouldn't have been quite so bad then. But, from what I've heard, the winds through the Valley of Fire were not nearly as bad as those in California. I've been through a few other bad storms and this compares to some of the worst. I was glad to see the sun come out in the morning, but that didn't last long either.



Rather than stay and be miserable in the wind, rain, and cold air I continued on my drive south.

How will climate change affect our National Parks?

The topic of climate change took exceptional relevance here at Mount Rainier after the floods and wind in November of 2006 caused significant damage throughout the park(check out the Mt. Rainier N.P. report documenting the flood's damage), forcing our gates to close. This was not the first storm that hit this park hard, nor will it be the last. There is a high likelihood that future storms will cause similar damage (if not worse) and climate change will have as-of-yet even greater undetermined impacts on the park's resources. The result of this event and uncertainty brings into question the ability of the federal government to sustain long term access to places such as Mount Rainier from an economic and ecological standpoint. Obviously, this issue has implications for us all - recreationalists, admirers, climbers, skiiers, and just anyone living in a town near the park.

How will climate change affect Mount Rainier National Park? Well, this is the question that many are beginning to ask. You can be a part of this discussion on Wednesday, September 3, along with a panel of experts in climate change, outdoor recreation, economics, wildlife and roads and trail construction (among others). The evening's event, co-hosted by the Washington Parks and Forests Coalition, is titled, "The Way In: The Future of Access to Northwest National Parks". Panelists will focus on global climate change and how it will affect our national parks, especially Olympic, Mount Rainier, and North Cascades National Parks. This panel discussion is free and open to the public.

This event is co-hosted by the organizations from the Washington Parks and Forests Coalition, which include National Parks Conservation Association, Washington Trails Association, and the Student Conservation Association. For more information, contact David Graves at dgraves@npca.org or 206.903.1444 x25.

Ice Cave at Hollow Rock

This "window" of ice is looking out on the little island known as "Hollow Rock", which has been the subject of more than a few of my previous blog entries. I feel very fortunate that I now have this image in my portfolio, since the decision to head out and shoot that morning could have easily gone the other way. We had spent 5 hours snowshoeing the previous day over some very rugged terrain, and our bodies really didn't feel like going out early in the morning and shooting again so soon after the snowshoe workout. The decision was made to head out, however, and boy am I glad that we did as several good images were made on this morning.
The sunrise over Hollow Rock was very nice, with some interesting clouds to spice things up. The real treat, though, was finding two small ice caves to photograph. This particular image is of the second ice cave that I found, and when I stuck my head into this little cave I couldn't believe the view I found with Hollow Rock visible through the hole. It was as though mother nature had tailor-made this ice formation for a curious photographer to stumble upon. There wasn't much room to work inside the cave to get this image. It required crawling into the cave head-first on my stomach then propping my elbows on the rocky ground to brace the camera for this shot. There was no room at this angle to use my tripod. I shot this hand-held with my Canon EF 17-40mm lens, shutter speed 1/60, aperture f16, ISO 200.

Fuji "Vent Léger": a Vintage Mystery

I spotted this unusual bicycle near Union Square in Somerville.

It is imprinted with the romantic name Vent Léger (which means "light wind" in French).

Every part of the bicycle is branded, even the handlebar basket.

Apparently, it was made by Fuji: There is a Fuji headbadge and headset, as well as a sprung Fuji saddle.

The interesting thing, is that I cannot find any information what so ever on this bicycle. It has what looks like a Japanese registration sticker on the downtube. It may have been made exclusively for the Far-Eastern market.

Underneath the dirt and rust, the lugged steel frame is a very nice shade of dark blue-gray.

There are two brake levers on the handlebars, but the lever for the rear brake is not connected to a cable. There could be an after-market coasterbrake hub on the rear wheel - Or could it be that the bike is a fixed gear conversion? It is a single speed, so technically that is possible - though I shudder to think of anyone climbing hills on a bike like this in fixed gear.

In any case, the enclosed chaincase protected Vent Léger's privacy, so I will never know what was up with the rear brake.

A close-up of the Sanden dynamo light.

And a close-up of the rear rack and wire dressguard.

I can see no dates on the bicycle, but by the degree of wear I would estimate 1970s. I know that not everyone will find this "mystery bike" fascinating, but I am intrigued by the complete lack of information about it and drawn to the very logistics of its presence here. I mean, someone must have actually flown this bicycle here from Japan. God knows how many years later, it now stands in the overgrow grass next to a chainlink fence in Somerville. But at some point, someone must have carried flowers in the basket and groceries on the rack. Someone must have loved it and cared enough to want it with them.

There's Bugis for cheap shopping thrills and souvenirs in Singapore

I have been back in the Netherlands and currently suffering a light jet lag. I slept straight for 14 hours but was awakened when the Dutchman joined me in bed. I was startled at first. I did not know where I was? And I did not know who this man is beside me in bed! Oh dear me, lol.



Then I remembered I am home. I am with the Dutchman. This is what happens when you travel to different countries and staying in hotel rooms and other people's houses.



My last leg of my South East Asian trip was Singapore, and since this city was the most fresh in my mind, I have decided to post an entry about our shopping afternoon there, just the day before I left.



Bugis Street or Bugis Village

Website: Bugis Street









Singapore is a multi-cultural city and country. Everywhere you go they have signs in 4 languages like this at a construction site in front of Bugis: English (so everyone can understand each other, glad its not written in Singlish though!), Mandarin Chinese (74% of Singaporeans are Chinese, although other Chinese dialects are also spoken), Malay (well, Singapore was once a part of Malaysia) and Indian Tamil (another rich history from the past of Indian traders coming to Asia).











It is easy to get to Bugis by car, bus or MRT. Check the website link above for more information.



Some Bugis information and history



Bugis Village is the answer to all our cheap shopping thrills and souvenirs in Singapore. There are more than 800 shops here and is the largest shopping location in Singapore.



The area used to be frequented by hookers and transvestites in the 50's through the 80's. It's near Geylang, another area popularly known as the haven for the other darker side of night life. Things have changed since here at Geylang and Bugis, the area is now home to Singapore's biggest retail happening sans the upmarket signature brands unless you do not mind the quite looking very real work of imitations.



Interestingly, the place is also very local. There were some tourists shopping and passing through, I noticed, but not in big numbers. Bugis is clearly a local thing. Now you have been tipped off!



Trivia: Did you know that Bugis name came from the Buginese people of South Sulawesi, Indonesia? They are a seafaring people who moored their boats in the area and traded with Singaporean merchants.











The mother bought some stuff for the employees back home whilst the father acting as the poor shopping bags carrier, haha. But other than that, my mother likes markets like these. Like mother, like daughter I guess.











Okay, someone was brave enough (not me!) to come to Bugis shopping in flowered blue pants and towering high heels! Respect.









A conundrum!



I can't figure this out, but I simply love to browse and take pictures of local markets, especially if they are outdoor markets, farmers markets, street markets and markets housed in traditional buildings. Modern malls and expensive shopping centres do not interest me that much, although I do go there to buy stuff, sometimes to eat and meet people, but the excitement to visit a local traditional and sometimes kitschy market and partake in the experience is just different. I cannot compare the joy and contentment I get from this than going to a modern shopping mall.



Its a conundrum I suppose because I do rarely buy stuff at these markets, and when I do, I buy just one or two, while at malls and shopping centres, I do buy most of my stuff that I, for example, will really wear or use.



And if you have no appetite for shopping? Bugis have takeaway food and 'hawker' food stalls too! =)







They are selling fresh fruit juices but my favourite is chilled soya milk =)









Got so curious so bought a stick. They are fried chicken fingers wrapped in seaweed wrappers. They were... mwah.







From the same store we bought egg tarts but they were not near to the egg tarts in Macau. The Macau egg tarts were also not as par as the real egg tarts (Pastel de Nata's) in Portugal. At least I can say, I have tried them and can compare them to the original ones.



When you are in Singapore, do check Bugis Village or Bugis Street out!