Adventures: November 2012

Friday, November 30, 2012

Vestas Sailrocket 2 light wind practice...

Tentativi di record.

Awesome Pictures of the Alps on Website Gallery

This website was just posted on Personal Websites on Summitpost (narration in French)

http://www.lumieresdaltitude.com/gallery.php?lang=en&gallery_id=3

Colin Haley is back in Patagonia
http://colinhaley.blogspot.com

The world's most dangerous terrain
http://www.buzzfeed.com/bic/the-most-dangerous-terrains-in-the-world

http://news.alpine-photography.com/2012/10/long-exposure-night-photography-across-mont-blanc-let-there-be-light.html

Arete des Cosmiques

Please visit my website
http://www.hiking4health.com

Middle Eastern Film Posters Digitization Initiative

Middle Eastern Film Posters Digitization Initiative

from Princeton University Digital Library (PUDL)

"Princeton University Library’s Arabic Movie Posters and Lobby Cards Collection was acquired in Lebanon in 2008 and is comprised of 1,748 posters and 768 lobby cards. Egyptian posters predominate with 1,474, reflecting the unchallenged prominence of Egypt in the production of Arabic feature films. Some 150 posters are for Lebanese films, 113 Syrian and 11 Iraqi. The purpose of the posters was to advertize coming attractions, and they represent films produced from 1935 to 2007. Most of the posters are on standard Arab single-sheet size paper. However, many are on non-standard sheets. Similarly, there are posters that are composed on multiple sheets, including some on twenty-four sheets meant for display on the side of multi-story buildings. The lobbies cards, also for coming attractions and meant for display in theater lobbies, are composed of multiple still shots taken on movie sets and affixed to standard–sized cardboard. They represent 172 films produced in Egypt (145), Lebanon (13) and Syria (14) from 1964 to 2007."

Why we're excited for the holidays!

Seeing as how it's December tomorrow (crazy!) we thought we would dedicate this Friday's post to things that we're looking forward to this holiday season!

1. Trying out some new recipes to give as gifts this season.

This caramel peanut butter fudge is one recipe we're going to have to try.

2. Curling up with a favorite holiday movie. These are some of our favorites!

3. Decorating! We love Rachel from Smile & Wave's collection of vintage ornaments, and can't wait to pull ours up from our basements and decorate our trees as well as the rest of our homes!

4. Doing some holiday baking and trying not to eat it all along the way!

These sugar cookies look picture perfect!

5. After the tree is up, and the cookies are out of the oven, there's nothing like getting cozy!

We love throwing on a favorite hoodie, some sweats and a trusty old pair of slippers!

What are you guys most looking forward to in December?

Silent Running (1972)

Special-effects mastermind Douglas Trumbull has only directed two features in his long career, and they’re both fascinating. His first picture, Silent Running, is one of the most deeply felt statements within the small but noteworthy genre of ecology-themed sci-fi dramas, and his sophomore effort, Brainstorm (1983), is a problematic but provocative examination of what might happen if technology allowed us to experience other people’s thoughts. Obviously, the fact that both films are rooted in man’s complicated relationship with machines means that Trumbull didn’t stray far from his strong suit of special effects and technological themes—but there’s a lot to be said for any artist operating within the idiom he or she finds most comfortable.

Silent Running takes place entirely in space, specifically aboard the scientific vessel Valley Forge. The setting is a future date when plant life has disappeared from the surface of the Earth, so the Valley Forge tugs geodesic domes in which the planet’s last forests are lovingly maintained by botanist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern). Lowell has a tough time getting along with the other humans aboard the Valley Forge, partially because of his antisocial nature and partially because they don’t share his passion for preserving plant life. Instead, his main companions are three robots, whom he dubs Huey, Duey, and Louie (borrowing the names of Disney cartoon character Scrooge McDuck’s nephews). When the Valley Forgereceives orders to destroy the geodesic domes (including their precious cargo) and then return to Earth—a decision’s been made that greenery isn’t worth sustaining anymore—Lowell takes extreme measures to protect as many of the plants as he can.

Some viewers might find this storyline bizarre, either because they can’t imagine anyone prioritizing plants over people or because the film’s conservation message is too overt, but the perfect casting of Dern in the lead role both accentuates and justifies the strange premise. On the most obvious level, Dern built his career playing unstable characters, so it’s not hard to accept his drift into idiosyncratic behavior. And yet on a deeper level, Dern’s intensity underscores Freeman Lowell’s self-perception as a reluctant savior—he sees the prevention of plant extinction as a higher calling. This aspect of the film pays off wonderfully in the finale, which has a strong emotional hit that’s grounded in the offbeat colorations of Dern’s exceptional performance. And though the most memorable quality of Silent Running is the humane nature of Dern’s acting—ironic, given Trumbull’s background and directorial inexperience—the special effects don’t disappoint. Using some of the same technology he brought to bear on 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Trumbull creates outer-space environments with genuine dimension, all the while ensuring that visual gimmicks never overwhelm the offbeat story.

Silent Running: RIGHT ON

Thursday, November 29, 2012

SPLIT OF A SECOND - A film about wingsuit flying

Fantastico.

Living in One Dimension

I like big holds. I like deep cut crimp rails. I like power problems that consist of caveman-style, simplistic, grunting, chest-thumping, me tarzan you jane style moves. I think there is nothing wrong that. Which is why I'm so in love with this latest send from Bishop, the vapid, dumb-blonde, lonely in a deserted corner, puke stained shirt boulder, Solitaire. I don't really care what anyone else thinks (which is why I'm a dirt bag climber), but this is probably my favorite climb in Bishop. It's beautiful. It puts the lotion on the skin. It's everything I look for in a straightforward interaction between man and monzonite.

STORE LOCATOR - FRANS BOONE, SLUIS

Tucked away at the border between Belgium and The Netherlands you can find Frans Boone, Sluis

Frans wasn't in today, he was in Italy on a business trip selecting some products and brands which can fine tune the collection for Fall 2013. I was welcomed by Menno with a hot coffee and a nice chat. The store is separated by a big red cabinet into two different rooms. At the entrance you feel the rough outdoors with collections like RRL, Pendleton blankets, Red Wing, Gitman Vintage, & Howlin'. The other room has a yellow sofa as a great eye-catcher, here you find a Salvatore Picolo shirts, Boglioli, Alden, Tricker's just to name a few brands. Frans Boone is cherry picking in every collection, and create special editions as well. You may call it "Very Frans Boone"

My Closet/Work Room was featured on A Beautiful Mess!

I was so honored when A Beautiful Mess contacted me to share one of the rooms in my home with their readers! To see all of the photos, and to read the interview, go and check it out over at A Beautiful Mess!

A big thanks to Tristan Fast for taking these photos!

Underground (1970)

While the prospect of a tough World War II thriller starring velvet-voiced Broadway and TV star Robert Goulet might not be enticing in the abstract, Underground is actually quite palatable. Featuring a clear story, a handful of decent surprises, and a steady stream of effective suspense scenes, the picture gives Goulet all the ammunition he needs to deliver a respectable performance, and while it’s true he does a bit of preening here and there, he makes an okay (if somewhat wooden) action hero. When the story begins, mysterious American commando Lt. Dawson (Goulet) breaks into an airbase and slips onto a plane that’s departing for a secret mission. He then subdues the man who’s supposed to jump from the plane into enemy territory and makes the jump himself, joining up with a group of French resistance fighters led by the chrome-domed Boule (Lawrence Dobkin). It seems the American whose place Dawson took was slated to attack a convoy delivering Nazi Gen. Stryker (Carl Deuring) through France. Further, not only does Dawson have history with Stryker, but Dawson’s task is to kidnap rather than kill the German officer.

While executing his mission, Dawson engages in a battle of wills with Boule, who doubts the American’s credibility from the moment they meet, and has a steamy tryst with Yvonne (Danièle Gaubert), a member of Boule’s team. Although the basic story of Underground is uncomplicated, a few unexpected dimensions give the film texture. For instance, Stryker is in disgrace following a major strategic error, so he’s on a de facto suicide watch by his fellow members of the Third Reich; similarly, Dawson’s haunted by nightmares stemming from a past episode of imprisonment and torture. Since Goulet is the definition of a whitebread entertainer, it’s a kick to see him playing rough, though another actor could have done more with the role. (Dobkin and Gaubert are well-cast and efficient.) Still, TV-trained hack director Arhtur H. Nadel presents the story without adornment, giving the movie a grungy edge even though the production values are slick, and reliable composer Stanley Myers puts some blood in the flick’s veins. (Available as part of the MGM Limited Collection on Amazon.com)

Underground: FUNKY