THE KILL: Cheetahs

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What can I say, I have not been blogging for a very long time. For me, blogging has always been a pastime where I post up random thoughts, photos and observations as a way of taking 30 minutes each day to reflect.

Over the last year my time has been very focused, leaving little spare room. In the Sales Transformation framework, the year has been consumed moving through the first 3 stages – Learning, Vision & Planning and Transformation. I look forward to moving from the Transformation to Adjustment Stage in the coming months/weeks.

In the meantime, I will be editing the photos from our safari in Africa over the coming weeks (I have deleted down to 4K excluding Istanbul. I have a lot to sort).

As these pictures suggests, there were more than a few stories to share.

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Look closely at their noses …

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My new Canon 5D Mark IV took time to get accustomed too. In part because I am SO incredibly out of practice, but once I got the settings right – specifically, C1-3, wow. I love the internal GPS, was surprised by the battery life, and while I should have spent a lot more time learning the video before leaving – got a few good movies (Need to work on that).

And yes, objects are as close as they appear. In this case, perhaps 2m away from an open sided Range Rover in the middle of God’s country (The Serengeti reminded me of where I grew up in Alberta, wide open plains).

CUBAN CARS

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No time to post. Just two photos. Havana is a very interesting place – a mix of old American cars, friendly people and old Spanish architecture (that is falling apart).

I hope that as the new wave of investment hits the island that they preserve the architecture (I doubt it).

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This is my favorite car shot of the trip, in the parking lot of Hemingway’s estate.

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INSECTS, BORNEO

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There are huge bugs in Borneo. Touch this insect and you get the following result.

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It really isn’t the type of place that you go to if you are don’t like insects. There are a LOT of them.

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I am sad to say that there is one place I FAILED as a photographer, and that is the leeches. We went during leech season and it was nasty. There is no other way to describe it than nasty. They are everywhere, they are heat seekers and they are aggressive. I did not get a single clean shot, even with a lens that could go to 300mm because I was too worried about stopping and having 10 other leeches drop down on me. Enjoy this fuzz shot.

Why is it stretching? Because it is seeking a host. It is crazy – you put your hand a few inches away and it will wriggle around in a frenzy. They are everywhere – under every branch, on the path, in the canopy above waiting to drop down on you. Everywhere.

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This fellow eats insects. I almost put my hand where he/she was sitting on the log as I climbed up the trail.

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Did I mentioned the leaches? EVERYWHERE.

BABY, BORNEO

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We travelled to Borneo with one primary goal, orangutans. We saw them every day, in different spots. Every time we came upon them I was always left wondering – who is watching who?

This baby was tough to shoot. He was 10m up in the air and I seemed to always be shooting into the sun no matter where I moved. Very difficult. The only advantage was my Canon 28-300mm which allowed me to get close.

He dropped that lime on us.

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I am not sure what an Orangutan laugh sounds like but ….

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A perspective on how far away he was. The mother and son kept their distance/height.

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Shooting into the sun again. A shot of mom.

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At the sanctuary it was much easier to see and shoot the Orangutans.

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Wonderful experience.

PRIMARY JUNGLE, BORNEO

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It is difficult to get a feel for just how magnificent a primary jungle is (Primary: meaning that it has never been logged). These are very old trees. These two provide perspective.

This first shot, I am shooting downward from high up in the tree on the walkway. There is still a very long way “down”.

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The second provides a “human” reference point.

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BORNEO, THE OLD JUNGLE

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This probably should have been my first post on Borneo. On our trip there we stayed at the Borneo Rainforest Lodge – deep in the primary rainforest – which is a rainforest that has not been logged.

It was a remarkable and remote place, with trees that are only rivaled in size by the redwoods of California.

It had a very Jurassic feel to it, with the swirling mists, wild animal calls and abundance of wildlife. Definitely not the kind of place that you want to get lost in, vast and unyielding to the untrained Canadian.

A few shots.

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Magnificent. One hopes that tourism can sustain and protect it.

APPLE WATCH

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Like a few others, despite my early adopter gene calling out to me, I will not be buying a 1st gen Apple watch. Not because it is ridiculous (Insert Google glass joke here) but probably because of battery life. The notion of having to plug it in every night is not appealing. Plus it just has to be buggy. HAS TO BE.

It seems like I might not be the only one with reports of sales tailing off significantly after that initial pop, via.

As with all new technology I am sure there is a maturation phase. There are a host of write-ups that the apps will need to mature before they are really usable. That being said …. this golf app is really, really cool, and as we just moved back to a golf course and reopened our membership …. tempting.

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I will ignore the fact that most GPSs are only accurate to 3 meters as a 2 year golf hiatus while in Tokyo will make 3 meters one way or the other irrelevant to my score.

HIROO, TOKYO

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A few Tokyo black and whites, around Hiroo.

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Police on pretty much every corner.

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Cartoon figures of some type, on every corner.

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The 100 Yen Shop – why are all of their signs in English?

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A snow shovel for 100 Yen ($1). It snowed 2 times in 2 years when we lived in Tokyo .. not sure it is a good investment?

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TOKYO BIKES, HIROO

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Millions, if not 10s of millions of bikes. This one got a ticket – how they knew who to make it out to is beyond me? Not broadly known, but there is no identification system in Tokyo (i.e. Social Insurance number).

As a testament to the Japanese and their honor/honesty – without a name – one can expect that the owner of the bike will go to the police station and pay the fine, despite being anonymous because that is what the culture dictates.

Rules make this city of 40M the most unique in the world.

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TOKYO SUNRISE

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This time of year, due to their refusing to implement daylight savings time, the sun rises in Japan around 5:30am and gets earlier and earlier. At it’s peak, the sun will come up at 4:40am. It does not matter how good your blackout blinds are – when you have a full on tropical sun shining down on you (Tokyo “feels like” 40-50C in July and August), you are waking up.

The sunrises are beautiful, but I do not miss 4:40am sunrises.

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ANCIENT REPTILE, GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

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The marine iguana of the Galapagos Islands. This iguana was quite comfortable posing for me.

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They are big.

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Note the evolved nostrils. These creatures feed off of the algae on the rocks in the ocean, able to hold their breathe for up to 30 minutes. But while they eat the ingest sea water and salt. The nostrils are specially developed to expel salt.

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It is a life and death type environment, as they are cold blooded as they swim – the ocean saps the heat from their bodies weakening them. To survive, they spend hours basking in the sun, building up the warmth to go swimming again.

Charles Darwin took a step down in my mind when our guide told us that he tied one of these magnificent creatures to a rock under water to see how long it could survive. He came back an hour later and it was still alive. A reflection of the callous approach and values with regard to the world in those days.

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Beautiful creature. I highly recommend watching BBC Galapagos. Great insight into the islands.

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PIT 2, UNDER EXCAVATION

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Pit 2, located 20 meters north of Pit 1 is very different. Smaller (but still 6,000 meters square), and shaped in an “L” it contains mixed military forces of archers, charioteers, cavalry and infantry. At present, a large portion remains unexcavated.

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I would think that when deciding if you wish to be an archaeologist, the first question you should ask yourself is “Do I like jigsaw puzzles?”

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Well preserved charioteers.

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TERRACOTTA ARMY, PIT 1

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A few more shots from Pit 1. The front of the pit is all assembled in neat rows.

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The back is still under excavation with the soldiers being excavated and assembled.

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Saran wrap, not just for keeping your produce fresh.

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If you look closely, you can see remnants of the original paint.

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An army partly assembled. Note how each horse is different.

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A chariot partially recovered.

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One last shot from Pit 1, to give you a sense of scale.

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They still have lots to uncover.

Office365 FINALLY GOT ME

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I have been wondering when I would upgrade to a new version of Office but never felt compelled. Of interest, I would go to the MS site every 6 month – wanting to upgrade, ultimately being disappointed. Why would I when the current version of Office for Mac is still 2011?

While on the beach this holiday, it finally became worthwhile for 3 reasons:

  • If you buy Office Home you get it across 5 machines, 5 iPads and 5 iPhones.
  • You get a new version of Outlook for Mac that actually works with GMAIL. Why Microsoft is not marketing this far and wide is beyond me? I had to dig to find that information. It should be front and center on their marketing.
  • The clincher – 1TB of online storage PER USER. No more backing up any machine at that level.
    How Dropbox, Box or the others will compete is beyond me? At that size I can put my entire finished photo library into the cloud and still have lots of room.

I am impressed. This is the first Microsoft product I have bought in 3 years as our XBOXs have been relegated to the archives – replaced by Steam and a PC lives on, in the basement, fighting off viruses with good old reliable Windows 7.

Microsoft is fortunate that Windows (7) is the best platform for Steam or that basement PC would be lonely. Although those days are numbered, IF (big IF) the Linux based Steam OS matures.