Bill Murray's Blog, page 166
November 28, 2011
Free Books
The winners have been selected in the Common Sense and Whiskey (Amazon, Kindle) book giveaway at Goodreads. Congratulations to James, Amy, Joslane, Heather, Amanda, Ashley, Lisa and Jeremy, whose books are in the mail today.
We've set up a discussion group on Goodreads for December 10 - 20. We'll be discussing the book and anything else off-the-beaten-path travel related you can think of.
All you'll need is a Goodreads account. It's free and easy to sign up. You'll only need your email...
November 27, 2011
Another Election, Nobody Wins
Evocative description of Goma (photo above, from Gisenyi, Rwanda, across Lake Kivu), Democratic Republic of Congo, on the eve of another election with depressing prospects.
Seeking to Photograph the Aurora
A month from today we'll arrive inside the Arctic Circle, in Finnish Lapland.
Maps suggest our chosen village of Saariselka is a little more than 200 kilometers from the Arctic Sea at the Norwegian coast and maybe about 300 k from Murmansk, Russia.
The little village calls itself the northernmost ski resort in the world, but in Lapland, beware the use of the term "ski resort," at least in the sense of Alpine or Rockies destinations. Lapland is a land of much more gentle topography, and it...
November 23, 2011
Wednesday HDR - Hands
This shot was taken on a day's hike through the really pretty countryside outside Sa Pa, Vietnam, up in the extreme north of the country, by the Chinese border.
This lady is a member of a hill tribe. She was selling homemade trinkets, like the one she's holding, at a pretty little spot where we stopped for water and a rest. The HDR is from a single photo, re-exposed and then combined and tonemapped in Photomatix, and, obviously, further processed in Photoshop.
Click it to make it bigger...
November 22, 2011
Great Quotes Collection
"The last time I saw Jack the Whipper it was ten a.m. and he was picking a fight with a one-armed clown. "
- Possibly apocryphal, but attributed to Mick the Whip. From a very funny story about purveyors of leather goods who clashed in titanic whip competitions (like Two-Handed Whip Pyrotechnics and Synchronized Whipping) in the 1990s in Darwin, Australia. Heard on safari in Zambia, as told by Denis and Georgina, whose further identity, since they're still running a safari camp at an...
November 21, 2011
New Travel Gear
We're headed to the far north next month. I'm not one to miss an excuse to buy travel gear, need it or not, so in preparation for our visit to the Arctic, I ordered a pair of these for handling cameras in the cold. They came today. They're kind of fun.
November 18, 2011
Friday Photo Quiz #133 - Where in the World?
This is a national capital city. Not a particularly vibrant one, but hey, it's really really hot in this place.
Can you guess the city? The country?
The answer is after the jump.
And a good weekend to all from Common Sense and Whiskey and EarthPhotos.com.
And the answer is ..................................................... it's Muscat, Oman.
See the Oman Gallery at EarthPhotos.com, and there are almost a thousand photos of cities all around the world in the Cities...
November 17, 2011
Get Yer Free Books
Here's some fun: I'm giving away eight copies of my book Common Sense and Whiskey on Goodreads, between now and next weekend. U.S. residents can sign up here to win a copy.
Then, after the winners have had a chance to read the book, I'll be hosting a discussion about adventure travel in general and the book specifically, also on Goodreads, between 10 & 20 December. Drop by here and sign up to join in the discussion, then suggest some cool topics for discussion.
You'll need to sign up for a...
November 16, 2011
Wednesday HDR: The Ortakoy Mosque, Istanbul
Istanbul is such an unparalelled location. Europe on the left, Asia across the bridge. You just can't beat it.
Click it to make it bigger. See hundreds more HDRs in the HDR Gallery and lots more of Turkey in the Turkey Gallery at EarthPhotos.com.
