... in a few short minutes Eater of Souls will be here to finish up our packing, and I will go offline. See you spags in 11 days-ish!
(Except for Dok and Freeky, who I will see appreciably sooner in analog)
WATCH OUT
for those Arizona desert roaches (just keep yer boots on)
Have a great time, Nigel! Don't have too much fun without me. :D
YAY NIGEL AND EATER OF SOOOUUULS!
Fare thee well!
muhaha
Quote from: E.O.T. on August 08, 2010, 04:15:54 AM
WATCH OUT
for those Arizona desert roaches (just keep yer boots on)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs247.snc4/39697_422164634068_710084068_4875047_4608585_n.jpg)
Is that the saint himself?
This will be the briefest possible recounting of the trip, with pictures, because I am exhausted.
Still in Oregon, our first rest stop:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs149.ash2/40765_419935599068_710084068_4815982_6448736_n.jpg)
In search of food (Bears of various sorts were to become a theme for the rest of the trip):
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs212.snc4/38939_419960114068_710084068_4816485_7323971_n.jpg)
Then we stopped to moisten ourselves in the City of Shasta:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs227.snc4/38713_447846127921_635212921_6108185_4895904_n.jpg)
So far so good, right? We rolled into San Francisco around ten, and had a couple of drinks with my girl J before crashing in her generously-provided bed. We hit the road early the next morning, happily warming our lunch on the dashboard on our way through the Sierras:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs146.ash2/40645_420720604068_710084068_4839337_1417274_n.jpg)
Quote from: Pēleus on August 20, 2010, 06:07:44 AM
Is that the saint himself?
Live and in the flesh! He strolled up to us in the Meet Rack, which was delightful yet eerily deserted.
Quote from: Nigel on August 20, 2010, 06:15:11 AM
Quote from: Pēleus on August 20, 2010, 06:07:44 AM
Is that the saint himself?
Live and in the flesh! He strolled up to us in the Meet Rack, which was delightful yet eerily deserted.
EWGLAHBLEH
So, we made our way uneventfully through the Sierras, past the Hetch-Hetchy reservoir, and through the gateway to Yosemite:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs109.ash2/38777_420720634068_710084068_4839338_5824381_n.jpg)
Then, accellerating up hills, the car started knocking. That's about when we noticed that the oil light was on. Eeek! We pulled into one of Yosemite's two conveniently located gas stations:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs109.ash2/38777_420720639068_710084068_4839339_4551034_n.jpg)
There wasn't shit in that tank. Nothing. Dry as a fucking bone. We knew we were hosed, so Mr. Language/Eater of Souls struck a Pedobear pose:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs229.snc4/38777_420720644068_710084068_4839340_7646049_n.jpg)
We figured we might be able to re-oil it and make it out of the park, so we filled it up and headed on. Sadly, we were disappointed, as in an apparently unrelated failure all power simply cut off, leaving us coasting down the side of one of America's most majestic mountains without power brakes. Fortunately for us, Mr. Language is a fucking ninja, and he pulled that thing over onto the nonexistent shoulder without any deaths whatsoever. Then, we found that we just happened to be stranded right next to Yosemite's OTHER gas station, and we were able to get the car started again and drive it there, where we called AAA and proceeded to wait for a tow truck. I, personally, waited by drinking bourbon out of a flask:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs233.snc4/38986_448653957921_635212921_6132393_7509465_n.jpg)
The park ranger told us that if the bears bothered us, it was OK to throw rocks at them, as long as they were small rocks. We waited kind of a long time, and then the tow truck driver finally arrived after a magnificent sunset, and we rode the rest of the way down in the car behind the truck. It was awesome, and fucking terrifying. It was also dark. We spent the night in Lee Vining, at the tow truck driver's house. No shit. Nicest guy ever! The next morning, we got to ride up front as he towed us to the nearest town with a Toyota dealership; Bishop, California. If you happen to have a map of California, you will be able to note that Bishop is nestled between Yosemite and Death Valley, approximately nowhere near anything whatsoever. The nearest city is Las Vegas, five hours away. Lucky us!
After leaving the car at the dealership, we set off to find a motel. It's a one-drag town, and one of the first things we saw on the main drag was this guy in the window of a pawn shop:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs303.snc4/40484_448653687921_635212921_6132392_3132634_n.jpg)
"Why", we said, "It must be St. Gulik, sent to guide us!"
So we bought him, and then retired to the nearest hotel, the Thunderbird. We checked in on our car, and learned that it was fucking hosed. There was a bit of negotiation about whether to buy another car or rent one, and we brought all our crap into the motel room. That brings me to the next morning, when we decided to rent a car and continue our journey. We had just made arrangements and I was heading out the door to pick up the car when I happened to look at the disheveled bed, and noticed some suspicious black specks.
You may or may not be aware that a few years ago I formed a bit of an obsession with bedbugs. I had never seen one, but thanks to fanatical research, I know more about their habits and lifecycle than I have ever wished I knew, by a long shot. The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I investigated a little more closely. A tiny insect clung to the side of the mattress.
"Mr. Language," I said, "I think we have bedbugs."
A small frenzy ensued. The bed was pulled out from the wall and numerous (NUMEROUS) specimens captured with tweezers and placed in a ziploc bag, the motel owner was notified, phone calls were made. There is only one photo from that period:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs259.snc4/40275_421862934068_710084068_4866425_6908394_n.jpg)
Nigel went to SF and didn't say HI to Lizzay? :cry:
Quote from: BLARFINGARF on August 20, 2010, 06:55:09 AM
Nigel went to SF and didn't say HI to Lizzay? :cry:
I thought about it, but since we got in at around 10 and left again at the asscrack of dawn, I figured it would be more of a cruel tease than anything else. However, when we go down to Mexico we will stop and see you!
Good point :lol:
And YAY! I can't wait to see Nigel! :fap:
Advised by Mr. Language's bedbug expert friend, we then spent about four hours putting everything we owned into black plastic garbage bags and then putting all of our clothes in laundromat dryers at 160 degrees for an hour to kill all life. I was desperate to leave and spent some time standing in the motel room with my mouth open in a silent scream.
We drove through Death Valley. I should have pictures of this, but I don't. It wasn't the first time I've been through Death Valley and I'm sure it won't be the last; it's really pretty and rocky and hot. We stopped for an hour and put all of our possessions out in the sun. Later, we wandered around the ruins of an old borax mine. The extreme paucity of pictures reflects the desolation of our souls.
We had originally planned to spend the night in Las Vegas, but because of our exposure to bedbugs, we were social pariahs, unable to sleep anywhere. With the assistance of nominally legal pharmaceuticals, we decided to drive through the night to Tucson. On the way, we encountered such mysterious wonders as the Pahrump Nugget, Wickenburg, and a spectacular meteor shower that moved us to stop the car and stand at the side of the road for an hour, mouths agape. The sunrise was glorious as we approached Phoenix, and we finally arrived in Tucson in the late morning heat. In a surreal interlude, we met Roger at Eegees and ate terrible sandwiches, all fucked up on 25 hours of wakefulness. Three hours later, we finally managed to negotiate bedbug politics and got a few hours sleep in Mr. Language's mom's rec room.
Somewhere between Eegee's and Mom's, this picture was taken:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs298.snc4/41252_421863569068_710084068_4866434_6774545_n.jpg)
I am fuzzy on the details.
Time passed. We went out somewhere. We saw an abandoned mini-golf course:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs275.snc4/40069_421863849068_710084068_4866438_3468614_n.jpg)
We went to the Desert Museum:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs255.snc4/40064_450089392921_635212921_6164340_6639752_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs289.snc4/40777_450089702921_635212921_6164341_6876411_n.jpg)
We were a little tired the morning we headed into downtown to meet Roger and Freeky:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs268.snc4/39755_421864599068_710084068_4866456_751120_n.jpg)
We met them at the Epic Cafe, perfectly named for the day and the entire journey. After fueling up on caffiene, we headed to the Wall, first stopping for some liquor and other supplies. I didn't take pictures of the offering left, but trust me, it was appropriate. I did, however, take a picture of the Wall itself.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs282.snc4/40431_421934489068_710084068_4868678_1448162_n.jpg)
There was an eerie interlude at an absolutely amazing shrine called El Tiradito, for the ones who are beyond redemption.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs092.snc4/35938_422023289068_710084068_4871569_1970743_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs158.ash2/41222_421986614068_710084068_4870361_5325590_n.jpg)
Evening arrived far too quickly. Roger was starving and Freeky was suffering from overheating, so we went first to a Korean joint and then to the cafe at the Hotel Congress, where Freeky has much to say about the menu, particularly the duck confit tacos. I happen to agree with her. Then we went on to the famous Meet Rack, which, contrary to everything I've read and heard about it, which is considerable, was empty save for God, a bartender (God's niece, who actually owns the place), and two other patrons.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs295.snc4/41070_422163534068_710084068_4874999_3230061_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs307.snc4/40700_422163214068_710084068_4874991_2471880_n.jpg)
God disappeared after a while, and Freeky, Roger, Mr. Language and I retired to the heat of the patio. St. Gulik in the flesh made his appearance shortly afterward. My biggest regret of the trip is that I don't have more pics of the day we spent with Freeky and Roger! It was great; surreal, strange, funny, and wonderful.
The next day, we commenced a drive to Bisbee, Douglas, Agua Prieta, and northeast to Morenci.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs112.snc4/35974_422263954068_710084068_4879336_3428112_n.jpg)
We stopped at a gas station, and the weather was glorious!
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs155.ash2/41104_422291109068_710084068_4880464_6083161_n.jpg)
But then, the thunderstorms set in. I was excited! I'd wanted to see such a storm.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs156.ash2/41150_422296459068_710084068_4880580_7886518_n.jpg)
The picture doesn't do it justice. There were several storms, lovely, with lightning, all like perfect dark islands standing on columns of rain.
Bisbee was funny, and had a large abandoned copper mine. Douglas was meh. Agua Prieta was dark and closed, so we gave up on finding dinner there and went back to Douglas, then northward. And then, holy shit, and then, storms. I am from a place where there is rain and thunder and lightning and wind may snap off massive trees 30 feet up, but this was some fucking what the fuck holy shit motherfucking RAIN. Lightning like giant trees in discrete storms surrounding us, 10 or 12 of them, storms we couldn't get away from and which we would drive under, rumbling so loud we could feel it, hair on our arms standing up from the electricity. It wasn't the thunder or the lightning which alarmed me, though; not so much. Not even when a bolt struck our car; we felt it in front and heard it behind at the same moment. It was the water; the sheer insane volume of water. We slowed down to 30, and sometimes even then felt the car struggling through the skim covering the highway.
Then that was over, and we were in the hills, in the mining towns. I am going to wait, now, until tomorrow and being less tired, to talk about the strangeness of the mining towns and the rest of the trip.
:mittens:
The photographs and the narrative are superb. Looking forward to reading more.
what is it with your photographs btw, Nigel? all of them (except perhaps the last one of the storm) have the same look to them, very saturated/vibrant colours, vignetted, they look beautiful. Is it the camera, something with the lens, why do they all look like that? Is it that vintage camera that you were so jazzed about a while back, maybe?
Thanks! :)
Quote from: Triple Zero on August 20, 2010, 07:52:25 AM
what is it with your photographs btw, Nigel? all of them (except perhaps the last one of the storm) have the same look to them, very saturated/vibrant colours, vignetted, they look beautiful. Is it the camera, something with the lens, why do they all look like that? Is it that vintage camera that you were so jazzed about a while back, maybe?
Perhaps horribly, it's an iPhone app. It mimics the camera I bought (the Argus 40) especially if I use the John S "lens" and the Ina's 69 "film", which are my favorite settings.
Perhaps also delightfully, the thing I love about the app is that it mimics the use of a vintage camera to the point of taking forever to "warm up" and to "develop" the film, which leads to a sense of having to be careful with each shot, as there will be a significant delay before you can take another. The best thing is that I don't have to drive out to St. John's and spend a small fortune getting it developed!
Nice pics, looks and sounds like a fun trip.
I'm glad to hear you and Mr Language made it back from Arizona alive.
By the hair of our chinny chin chins! Thank you. :)
this is great! and I'm with zilch, I love that hipstamatic filter. So glad you had a great time, and I wish you had more pictures!
I find it really weird to enjoy other people's vacation photos so much, but I love you guys and I'm very glad you had a great time. :mrgreen:
VERY awesome! I love that hipstamatic too--makes all your photos look cherishable. Sounds like you had quite an adventure, Nigel, glad you are safe and sound, though!
FUCKING BEDBUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:fuckmittens: :emo: :mad: :fuckoff: :crackhead: :crankey: :crankey: :crankey: :scared: :tgrr: :box: :magick: :mind ray: :FFF: :rogpipe: :vom: :vom: :vom: :sadbanana: :sadbanana: :sadbanana: :hanging: :hanging: :troll: :troll: :zombie: :nuke: : :suu:
That whole day was awesome.
You think our big storms are big? :eek: Wow.
Oh, there are more pics... trying to get them all in order!
I'll talk a little about the mining towns. They are fucking bizarre. After making it through the storms (which were still going on to either side) we stopped at a little town called Safford: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safford,_Arizona.
(http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicv/vfiles33296.jpg)
The streets were broad, clean and eerily vacant, but we found a bar and ordered a drink. There was a guy sitting on the curb in front of the bar, and another guy standing near him. Inside, A few Apaches were shooting pool, and overall the vibe seemed pleasant enough. We decided to smoke, and asked the bartender if we could take our drinks outside; her vehemence startled us. "Are you CRAZY?? Of course not!" Aback, we put our drinks down and went out front to smoke. A minute or two later, three cops walked up the street toward the bar, and asked us if we knew a guy by the name of Sean Somethingorother. They went in the bar and called his name, then came back out. Meanwhile, a guy sidled up to us. "Pretend you're talking to me" he said. "I just broke up with my girlfriend today". He was obviously very, very drunk.
I am leaving a few details out here, but let me emphasize that this was all very, very strange. Very. Strange. We were relieved when the police discovered him and we were able to make an escape.
The one thing that stood out, to a remarkable degree, was how afraid the bartender was of the police, and, in fact, how terrified everyone seemed to be of the authorities. The reasons for that became more clear later on. We escaped the weird scene of Safford and drove on up to Morenci, which is not a town so much as a mine with a few houses around it, all of which are owned by the mining company.
This thing, Morenci, is impossible to describe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morenci,_Arizona. It's North America's largest copper and gold mine, and it is a vast machine, tearing rocks from the hillside and grinding them for ore. It is bright orange lights and noises and it runs all the time, all night long. The inhabitants sleep and wake to the noise of this machine, and they eat and fuck to the noise of this machine. Safford is not technically owned by the mining company, but I think it is owned in another sense, and the people know it. Everything, everyone is under the ultimate authority of the mining company, and the police are instruments of the mining company. We were stopped and questioned very thoroughly on the way out of Morenci, suspicious just by virtue of being there.
You may not be able to see this well, since it was taken in the dark:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs367.snc4/45054_451672172921_635212921_6209959_3822392_n.jpg)
The world's LARGEST leaching division!
None of the pictures I could find really convey what Morenci is like. There is the machine, which is many machines, and there is this:
(http://www.ritchiewiki.com/wiki/files/thumb/Morenci_Mine_-_Metcalf.jpg/370px-Morenci_Mine_-_Metcalf.jpg)
We didn't see it during the day, so the machine was what stood out with its lights and its noise, the pit being just a black space to one side. Google Earth gives us this: http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=morenci,+AZ&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=48.106236,95.097656&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Morenci,+Greenlee,+Arizona&ll=33.043637,-109.341516&spn=0.050076,0.092869&t=h&z=14
I'd like to return to it someday.
I believe it was the next morning that we went out to breakfast with some of the Language family, including Stepfather of Language, who I had not yet met.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs314.snc4/41044_1472659348745_1601515412_31139164_4590091_n.jpg)
Then it was time to say goodbye, and commence our return trip.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs275.snc4/40113_1472659428747_1601515412_31139166_536351_n.jpg)
We headed northwest toward Flagstaff:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs183.ash2/44621_422665294068_710084068_4890103_2055807_n.jpg)
Flagstaff was beautiful, and we dined with some old Friends of Language, but there are no pictures of that. The return was blessedly uneventful, though we did see some more shooting stars on the same road we'd seen them on before, on the way from Flagstaff to Las Vegas. We slept in a Motel 6, which was quite honestly the most awesome motel I've ever slept in because it was completely bedbug-proof; the floors were bamboo, there was no carpet, and the bed was a mattress on a platform connected to the wall. If a guest were to bring in bedbugs, they could simply replace the mattress; there was nowhere else for the damn things to hide.
In the morning, we headed to the Las Vegas airport to rent a second car, because we had to return the first one in Bishop. Then, onwards for a five-hour drive in separate cars (oh, the misery! The loneliness! The missed opportunities to share commentary!) to the terrifying bedbug-ridden hellhole that is Bishop, to complete our quest and beat the final boss. We had these goals in Bishop: to return the rental car, to retrieve the Feynman CD I'd left in the now-defunct original car, to somehow dispose of the original car (without a title), and to poop. Things could have become complicated at any one of those tasks, but somehow, almost miraculously, it all went smoothly and we were soon enough on our way to Reno. Before we left, we had a stranger take a picture of us in front of the laundromat which was our bedbug-free safe haven in that wretched little Stephen King town.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs277.snc4/40177_452466972921_635212921_6228185_441422_n.jpg)
Looks like you guys had a bitchin time :)
A side note; Mr. Eater of Language grew up and went to college in Tucson, and said he has NEVER seen storms of that magnitude, ever in his life.
Cram, perhaps one of these road trips will involve coming and harassing you, one of these days! I have family in Vermont I'd like to visit, and an East Coast Discordian Tour might be in order.
Arriving in Reno, we were pretty happy and relaxed. Nothing terrible had gone wrong the entire return trip, and we still liked each other after nine days in confined spaces... maybe even better than we'd liked each other before. Hungry and chronically sleep-deprived in the parking lot of the Reno Motel 6, Mr. Language took my hands and looked deeply into my eyes. "What if I was your boyfriend?" he said. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
We celebrated by going out to dinner at the Peppermill coffee shop, which looks like this:
(http://images.leonardo.com/imgs/1/122386/122386_EXT_01_J.jpg)
The inside is confusing, and the carpet is rainbows and planets, in a motif reminiscent of a small child's bedsheets.
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/31/244594555_79ebfd0c21.jpg)
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/240/457995905_5a875fbcd9.jpg)
The rest of the trip really only had one major highlight, although it seems wrong to say that considering how breathtaking and memorable the land in northern California and southern Oregon is. Oh, wait, it also had an inexplicable jello ring:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs253.snc4/40013_451921567921_635212921_6216113_309772_n.jpg)
And hours of talking about life and hopes and Important Relationship Stuff beside miles of train track winding up through amazing mountains and valleys.
OK, so. The major highlight. A ways north of Reno, wonderfully, inexplicably, was this:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs318.snc4/41259_423279239068_710084068_4904539_6944382_n.jpg)
A tree, you say? What's so interesting about a tree?
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs142.ash2/40423_423280904068_710084068_4904582_4263496_n.jpg)
What the hell? It's covered in shoes!
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs392.snc4/45569_423376929068_710084068_4906989_1527694_n.jpg)
SHOES!
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs376.snc4/45882_423377374068_710084068_4907019_2585553_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs307.snc4/40670_423377589068_710084068_4907020_8216578_n.jpg)
We looked it up when we got home, and apparently this is some kind of Americana. "Shoe trees" appear from time to time in various places. No one seems to really know exactly what the shoes mean, but in this case most of them had messages scrawled on them in Sharpie. Many messages were cryptic, but one stood out, "$23 tip on a $35 bill - bought me new shoes".
Some hours and a few stops later, we visited Crater Lake, which Mr. Language of Souls had never seen before, and then, worn out, took the final leg of the trip home, and slept.
The end.
Sounds like a hell of a time! Storms down there are fantastic.
Hm! Never heard of a Shoe Tree, except one of those you hang on the back of a door to hold 'em. VERY COOL!
I hadn't either! It was neat.
I want to emphasize the helplessness of being stuck in Bishop by sharing its location on Google Maps. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=bishop+CA&sll=36.808465,-116.776005&sspn=3.060859,5.943604&gl=us&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Bishop,+Inyo,+California&ll=37.162505,-118.271942&spn=0.761707,1.485901&t=h&z=10
Death Valley on one side, Yosemite on the other. The CLOSEST city, in terms of drive time, is Carson City 3.5 hours away, and it's not really a city. Reno is the closest city, a little over 4 hours away.
WOW!! :eek:
The best parts of CA are the ones in the middle of nowhere.
Quote from: The Great Bovinity on August 21, 2010, 10:47:47 AM
The best parts of CA are the ones in the middle of nowhere.
If you are talking about the parts with no people, I agree wholeheartedly.
Here are a few more pics of the trip from Mr. Language of Souls' camera:
Hey, there is a stain on my dress! I am dismayed.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs280.snc4/40339_452610262921_635212921_6232126_8148357_n.jpg)
Getting wet in the City of Shasta:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs280.snc4/40339_452610257921_635212921_6232125_177426_n.jpg)
Somewhere in California:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs292.snc4/40929_452610202921_635212921_6232120_2923402_n.jpg)
That fucking bedbug motel. As horrible as this place is, our night there was also the first time we had really bangin' flat-out awesome sex:
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs188.ash2/45164_452585062921_635212921_6231148_204816_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs300.snc4/41317_452585027921_635212921_6231146_8057607_n.jpg)
Bedbugs! AUUUUUGH!!!
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs195.ash2/45794_452610152921_635212921_6232116_193556_n.jpg)
Bishop Coins is where we found St. Gulik. Later, we had a couple drinks at Rusty's and watched some chick (who was hot but scary in a cracked-out way) dancing, all by herself, facing the wall.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs375.snc4/45794_452610157921_635212921_6232117_5818404_n.jpg)
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs292.snc4/40929_452610207921_635212921_6232121_7069257_n.jpg)
Admiring St. Gulik in the coffee shop, which was called the "Looney Bean". A few minutes later I went into the bathroom and found that someone had vomited into the sink.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs280.snc4/40339_452610272921_635212921_6232128_7554208_n.jpg)
The Church of Religious Science is SPOOKY.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs152.ash2/40929_452610217921_635212921_6232123_784549_n.jpg)
We found something unforgettable in a gift shop in Death Valley!
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs188.ash2/45164_452585067921_635212921_6231149_8294723_n.jpg)
Immediately after placing the offering at the Wall, I felt a strong urge to GTFO.
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs388.snc4/45164_452585052921_635212921_6231147_2577580_n.jpg)
At the Desert Museum, The TINIEST OWL IN THE WORLD!
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs395.snc4/45794_452610162921_635212921_6232118_6941452_n.jpg)
I just realized that I was wearing the same dress when we returned to Bishop after completing the trip.
Behind the Thunderbird (we should have heeded the warnings):
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs320.snc4/41318_452610127921_635212921_6232115_5037654_n.jpg)
Trying to get some random guy to take a picture of us in front of the laundromat. Commentary by Eater of Souls:
Look! We've completed our quest!
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs189.ash2/45207_452585102921_635212921_6231152_4659915_n.jpg)
Did you take it?
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs199.ash2/46204_452585117921_635212921_6231153_772173_n.jpg)
I don't think you're pressing the button...
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs197.ash2/45990_452585132921_635212921_6231154_2013177_n.jpg)
Hold on, let me check...
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs315.snc4/41067_452585137921_635212921_6231155_7959722_n.jpg)
All you have to do is press the button on the screen...
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs392.snc4/45563_452585152921_635212921_6231156_6460245_n.jpg)
<my boyfriend is a fool, and he's not even my boyfriend>
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs398.snc4/46149_452585172921_635212921_6231157_6558058_n.jpg)
ok, ready!
(http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs273.snc4/39984_452585187921_635212921_6231158_738795_n.jpg)
(We leveled up that night, if you know what I mean)
Quote from: Nigel on August 20, 2010, 07:59:32 AM
Quote from: Triple Zero on August 20, 2010, 07:52:25 AM
what is it with your photographs btw, Nigel? all of them (except perhaps the last one of the storm) have the same look to them, very saturated/vibrant colours, vignetted, they look beautiful. Is it the camera, something with the lens, why do they all look like that? Is it that vintage camera that you were so jazzed about a while back, maybe?
Perhaps horribly, it's an iPhone app. It mimics the camera I bought (the Argus 40) especially if I use the John S "lens" and the Ina's 69 "film", which are my favorite settings.
Perhaps also delightfully, the thing I love about the app is that it mimics the use of a vintage camera to the point of taking forever to "warm up" and to "develop" the film, which leads to a sense of having to be careful with each shot, as there will be a significant delay before you can take another. The best thing is that I don't have to drive out to St. John's and spend a small fortune getting it developed!
hihihi that's awesome, cause every time I saw those pics, I kept wondering how hard it would be to reproduce the effect with some computer graphics filters ;-) and every time I sort of figured "nah, there's probably something about the lens or photo paper that captures the colours in a way you couldn't possibly extract from a digital image cause it got lost between the bits"--which is probably true. in some sense.