A flashback to March 2010 when LA Friday Coffee visited the Griffith Observatory, Griffith Park, Los Angeles.
We are planning on taking this trip with Friends of the Island Fox, a group I have worked with on social media and podcasting for a number of years. We have always planned to take a trip to the Channel Islands, but never seemed to make it. This event sounds like the perfect excuse. Sign up soon to reserve your space! — Douglas
A Trip to Prisoner’s Harbor - Santa Cruz Island
Saturday, April 6, 2013
That’s right, this spring Friends of the Island Fox educators are leading a day-long adventure to look for both the island fox AND the island scrub-jay.
As the population of Santa Cruz Island foxes reaches recovery it is possible to observe them at more locations across the island. Santa Cruz is also the only home of the rare island scrub-jay. With its newly restored wetland area, Prisoner’s Harbor is one of the prime locations to encounter this unique bird as well as many other species.
On the trip over to Prisoner’s Harbor (about 1 and a half hours) there is the possibility of seeing many marine species as well.
Tickets will be $65.00 per person. A percentage of the fee will go to support island fox recovery efforts.
Read more about this trip on the Friends of the Island Fox web site
Fields of Plenty: A farmer’s journey in search of real food and the people who grow it
MIchael Ableman leaves his own farm in Canada in order to visit other organic farmers throughout the United States. He is on a search for “real food” among all the industrial agriculture that farming has become.
The people he visits are all quirky, but each in their own unique ways. They share one common concern, though, and that is the dilution of the term “organic” as it applies to food and agriculture. As with any popular trend, the organic movement is now in the domain of government and bureaucracy with all the costs and benefits that brings.
Reading this book was like returning to my childhood when I rode from farm to farm with my father as he repaired farm equipment for all our neighbors. In return, they would harvest our fields in the Fall. It was always interesting to see how each farmer found their own path through the wilderness…choosing different equipment, different crops, different methods. I found that Ableman’s experiences ring true to my own experiences growing up.
Like all good books about food, this book made me hungry as I moved from chapter to chapter. Even though I am a notoriously picky eater, the thought of tasting a ripe peach, fresh from the tree, or blackberries straight from the bush made my mouth water.
It is good to know that there are still farmers who hold to a smaller ideal in their farms — who nurture each plant with the care it deserves, coaxing out the best food possible. You should seek them out at your local farmer’s market. I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised.
More 2012 Gift Guide Items:
It seems like it was much more than just 2 years ago when we visited Wales and England on our trip. As I was flipping through our past videos I came across this “long picture” of Stonehenge on Summer Solstice 2010. We have some great memories of that trip and I know I am always wanting to go back to the UK whenever I can.
Can’t see the video above? Watch “Places UK – Stonehenge” on YouTube
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Our cousin, Marcello Malgeri, just got some of his footage up on YouTube from one of the 3 eruptions that took place during our visit to Sicily in late July-early August of 2011. You can hear us talking on the video as we watch it live and through the viewfinder of the camera.
It is now a family joke that Etna always erupts when we are visiting. I think it has erupted all 3 times we have been on the island.
Il nostro cugino, Marcello Malgeri, appena ricevuto alcuni dei suoi filmati su YouTube da uno dei 3 eruzioni che hanno avuto luogo durante la nostra visita in Sicilia, a fine luglio-inizio agosto del 2011. Potete ascoltarci parlare al video come vediamo dal vivo e attraverso il mirino della fotocamera.
Ora è uno scherzo famiglia che l’Etna erutta sempre quando stiamo visitando. Penso che ha eruttato tutte e 3 le volte siamo stati sull’isola.
I have been using Flickr to share my photos since 2004 and have over 5,300 photos there which have been viewed over 33,000 times. I’ll be re-visiting some of my favorite pictures and also those most popular with other Flickr users.
Malibu Sunset 2004
I think this photo captures the very essence of a California Summer sundown. I used my sunglasses in front of the lens in order to allow me to shoot directly in to the sun. The people on the beach came and went as I shot and produced several excellent silhouette tableaux naturally without any prompting from me. It was all about just being ready to shoot when the scene composed itself.
I noticed this recipe for Sally Lunn Bread from favfamilyrecipes.com pass through my Google+ stream today. It quickly reminded me of our trip to the UK back in 2010. We spent 2 days in Bath and had lunch at Sally Lunn’s. The food was very good, especially the buns. I can’t wait to try this one out here at home.
Here is a photo of my wife, Rosanne, outside the Sally Lunn shop, just before we headed in for lunch.
Click for a larger image
We really loved Bath and want to return there as soon as we can, hopefully with more time to explore more of the city and area. We took a 1/2 day out of town to visit Stonehenge and didn’t really have as much time as we wanted to explore. At least the fairly long drive to Stonehenge gave us a chance to see the surrounding countryside.
You can see all our pictures from Bath and Stonehenge in these two Flickr picture sets.
Click to see Bath Day 1 slideshow on Flickr
Click to see Bath Day 2 slideshow on Flickr
Having been to London twice now, I really liked this video. It gives a feeling of its people and character all from the window of the ubiquitous red bus.
London Bus Tour from moritz oberholzer on Vimeo.
It is always a bit cool seeing a real-world location you have visited pop up in a television show or movie. Living here in Los Angeles, that actually happens quite a bit. Imagine my surprise though when The Atrium in Cardiff, UK showed up in this episode of the Sarah Jane Adventures. We spent quite a bit of time in this building as this is where Rosanne presented her paper at a conference dedicated to the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood back in June 2010.
The Atrium is a really nice, modern designed building used by the media studies departments of the University of Glamorgan. Look for the shot down the spiral stairway. I have this same exact shot in my photos from the trip.
If you would like to take journey through the island of Sicily, dive into all the photos from out 3 weeks journey.
I originally released these each day while we were on the trip, but now all of them are collected on my Flickr account.
You can peruse the entire photostream or select each day’s “set” and run a slide show directly from Flickr.
I hope you enjoy the pictures — Douglas
View Sicily Slideshow on Flickr
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