iloomanated trails

CG humor

2011-12-27T13:06:00.002-05:00

i have been encouraged to blog more by a few different people.

here it goes..

starting with this video.

its worth a look n a laugh.

http://www.flixxy.com/3d-animation-ladybug-spider-fly.htm

danny hart !!!

2011-11-26T13:10:00.002-05:00

this has made my ab's hurt the last few days..

i have never heard commentators get into something like this..

you should listen/watch it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqYgAX6D43Q&sns=em

not just any game!

2011-08-18T22:44:00.004-04:00

a saturday night baseball game.

now before you x out of the page and think.. "who wants to read about baseball?!!", give my words a chance.

it started out at the pyramid beer garden across the street from mariners "safeco" field where we enjoyed a cold one on one of the nicest days of the year. cold 1 led to 2 when some vancouver guy decided he ordered 6 too many beers for his crew. cold 1 on the canadian? ummm, okay. one of my buddies, TJ, recently decided to start hosting people at his house via couchsurfers.com. Markin, his first couch surfer, was fresh off the plane from czech republic. his skinny build, piercing blue eyes, euro accent and small afro fit his personality to a T. (what is "T" anyway ?) this was Markins first taste of the united states. he was all smiles and loving it already. for good reason. after reading the report and watching the video highlights you'll see why.

when we got into the ball park, things were a buzz. the boston red sox were in town and they were supported by what seemed to be half of the crowd. i have to believe a lot of them were bandwagoners. it was a mere sellout at 41 thousand people. i had read on espn.com that it would be a low scoring affair as Beckett and Felix Hernandez were pitching. these are 2 of the best pitcher's in the majors.

the five run first inning by seattle was capped with homers by Ichiro and Casper Wells, whom i like to call casper. he was the "unfriendly ghost" to the red sox fans. people were still finding their seats and the mariners were splittin wood. the mariners crowd was going ballistic and the red sox fans were hunched back in their chairs in disbelief. a lot of mariners fans, myself included, were rubbing it in while we could. anyone with a red sox hat in the near vicinity was gifted with a "hey, how 'bout those mariners?!!". the fourth inning brought all the fun. by this time the two couples in front of us clad with red sox attire were more than a few beers to the good and seemingly done talking trash about the mariners. they were deliberating between hot dogs or peanuts. i think they ended up with both.

then came the fourth inning. the red sox had Ellsbury on 3rd base. a pop fly to right was caught by Ichiro. the runner tagged and started for home. the throw by Ichiro was a laser. laser. the catcher for the mariners, Bard (which is a fun name to say anytime you can), caught the ball in his mitt, switched it to his bare hand and took a flying knee to the chin by the runner and was knocked completely over on his back. the call on the field was "safe!". the red sox fans were jumping out of their seats and loving it. the mariners fans were spilling popcorn and yelling profanities at the umpires, or at anyone near their seats that could hear them. before anything else could happen the mariners manager was at home plate arguing the call and the "boo's" that filled the air were as loud as i have heard at a baseball game. the 3rd base umpire came to the plate and began talking with the home plate umpire, all the while "Bard" is on his back and looks like he took a haymaker from Mike Tyson. Felix, the pitcher for the M's is hot. he is yelling at the ump and showing the ump Bard still had the ball in his hand. chaos everywhere. after a minute of chatting, the home plate umpire reverses the call; "out!" and signals so with his arm and fist in the air. the mariners fans cheer and all yell "yeah, thats right" while the red sox fans are complaining "you cant change the call.. what?!!". this out ended up being crucial to the outcome of the game. after the call was reversed, Francona, the red sox manager (notorious for chewing 60 pieces of gum a game.. (who does that?!!).. wait, all baseball players do is chew gum, seeds or tobacco and constantly adjust their nut cup).. where was i? oh, Francona. he storms out of the red sox dug out and gets in the grille of the home plate umpire. after only 15 seconds of yelling, the mariners fans were all ill-advisely requesting the departure of the manager; "throw him out.. throw him out of the game!!". the umpire did just that, which got even more applause, cheers and whistles than the overturned call. you could see the blood boiling in the red sox fans. it's only the fourth inning and we lost our voices already.

i had enough peanut shells at my feet at this point in the game to fill a shopping bag. aside from the peanuts, garlic fries and kettle corn were making the rounds in our section. after giving up 5 runs in the first, Beckett settled down and pitched well for the red sox. Felix gave up two 2-run homers in the six and the red sox fans were pointing fingers and taunting. now it's 5-4 mariners. at this point, i think i remember standing up, looking at a few red sox fans and loudly saying "it's about time!".

by now, the guy in front of me had his share of beers in him, and i thought for some reason it would be fun to continue heckling. anytime i had the chance i was saying "easy out" when one of the boston hitters came up. or "keep him honest" when Felix threw to first to keep the base runner close. at one point, the red sox sent the runner from first and was thrown out at second by none other than "Bard". "thats what you get", i yelled. the guy in front of me raises his arms in disbelief dropping a few F-bombs. "what the F***?!" an older fellow ushering didn't care for these words and came marching up the stairs. "listen buddy.. this is a family friendly park and we don't need you talking or acting like an idiot. now, enough with the cursing or i'm kicking you out of the game." we laughed under our breath and held back a few choice words. you can bet he would've put his fist through something if he could have, but his desire to see the rest of the game won, and he shut up and sat down. Francona had already been kicked out of the game, so i suppose he could've bought him a beer.

the mariners sealed the game by bringing in Brandon League, capable of throwing at what seemed like the speed of sound. his entrance was appropriate. each player gets to choose what song they want played when they are introduced during the game. Brandon League's song? "legacy of blood" by the metal group "Consume the Fire". think skulls and metal filling all the big screens at the field. the guy in the media room at the mariners field was loving it, because they replayed the loop over and over again as League walked in from the outfield bullpen. the song continued as he threw 12 pitches to warm up on the mound. once the 9th inning began, most of the balls he threw were fastballs. we saw one hit 99mph. he retired the side and the mariners won. red sox will probably win the world series, but we had our night of mariners glory taking them down and it all went out with death metal!

check out the video links below to see the home run's and laser that Ichiro threw from right field to get Ellsbury out.

listen to Brandon League's introduction song (legacy of blood) here by Consume the Fire: http://www.reverbnation.com/consumethefire

http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_08_13_bosmlb_seamlb_1&mode=wrap&c_id=mlb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XId_UqPOAAU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

2011-06-25T00:45:00.004-04:00

no, it's not a twitter feed.

im not feeding a twitter.

i was hiking recently on Mount SI here in Washington state.

at one point i was the only person on the peak.

i turned around and there was a bird sitting on a lone evergreen, not 3 feet off my shoulder.

munchin' on some beef jerky, i decided to rip off a super small piece and hold my hand way

up in the air. he flew over and landed on my hand almost instantly. after he took his treat

to the trees a few hundred yards off, i began to wonder if there were other birds watching

me from a distance. i ripped off another small piece of jerky and stood there with my arm

raised. i could see him flying up from a long distance off... and all the way to my hand.

within 20 minutes, i made 4 new friends.

photo's attached of the view of mount rainier and some of my new peeps.

seattle skyline with olympic mtn's

wide angle looking towards seattle

takin' it all in

mt rainier

take off

landing

approach

get out there

2011-04-05T21:27:00.005-04:00

there are things that boys and girls absolutely need in life. things that make you feel alive. things that refresh, recharge, renew something inside you. they make you feel as though life is more than just work and "getting by". they bring on emotion in the form of tears, laughter, admiration, joy, etc. a lot of times these experiences happen when we get off our duff and get outside and do something. and more times than not, these are shared with people close to us. people we respect. people that encourage us. people that love us the way we are, whether we're at our best or worst.

recently i was invited to go snowboarding with some old friends and some guys i hadn't met yet. new friends. we spent one day at steven's pass, a ski/snowboard resort with lift access to some fun terrain. the following 2.5 days would involve accessing backcountry with a snowcat and riding untracked powder. words cannot express how it felt to snowboard in this part of the woods. or this part of the world if you will. at the end of each run there would be heads shaking side to side. no one could put it in words. "did you see.." "you know when i made that turn and snow went all over the place.. including my face..?". face-shots! "ahhhhhhhhhhh.. yesssss!" words of joy.. feelings of elation.. smiles.. laughs.. shouts.. all amidst burning muscles in legs from making so many turns in the fresh powder. the burning of muscles couldn't overshadow the feelings/emotions we were all experiencing. the adrenalin had taken over. you had to express something.. a yell, a word.. a half of a sentence.. it didn't matter. we were all experiencing it. no words could describe it, but we all felt it.

aside from our riding gear, we brought food and beverages for the short adventure. we stayed in a yurt powered by generator, complete with wood stove for heating and bunk beds for sleeping. i don't think i realized the severity of riding in the backcountry until our guide described a guy that got caught in an avalanche only weeks before. when they found him buried in the snow, he had his leg completely ripped off. he had died from trauma. riding with an avalanche beacon, probe and shovel in your backpack was mandatory. disappearing in 12 foot tree wells was not out of the question; you fall into one and your friends could ride right by you and never see you. needless to say, we were riding with a little more caution and keeping an eye on each other. the heart beats. the adrenalin flows. the powder flies. it was epic.

the food seemed to taste better. the beer finer. the reminder of the previous days epic powder turns cancelled out any hurts or pains in the body and if that didn't suffice, a couple ibuprofen did the trick. there wasn't anything that would keep us from getting out there to enjoy more powder runs. in my case, not even feeling horribly sick and congested. it snowed hard virtually the entire time, yet for a while one night, the clouds parted and the sky lit up with stars and moon. the kind of stars where it looks like a ceiling of astronomy you can reach out and touch with your hands.

many stories, high-fives, yells, adrenalin rushes, and good times were shared getting away in the woods. Gods country.

its always worth it and charges you up to head back into the "not-so-real world".

get out there.

the orb

2010-09-27T13:32:00.003-04:00

these last couple years ive begun delving into a creative side i knew existed, i just hadn't uncorked it..

most of my work is behind a lens, but after completing a homemade cribbage board for my good friend dave last year, i decided that 'side' of me was indeed underexposed. i believe everyone has a creative side, it's only a matter of uncorking it.

my most recent work is entitled 'the orb'.

it is inspired by a lamp i saw at a friends workplace and my love for mountain biking.

enjoi

the goodness

2010-08-20T18:19:00.005-04:00

every year.. around this time.. my mom makes homemade salsa.

we wait till our local farmer harvests the roma tomatoes and then it's on.

i call it "the goodness".. because thats what it is.

when i am around these parts.. Michigan, i join her and my dad to help out..

this year we did 300 pints.

nice.

they are for sale if you're interested.. $6/pint.

this year we did a few different things to mix it up.. including:

the "normal goodness"

banana pepper batch

black bean/corn/lime batch

and

a mango batch.

the photos tell the rest of the story.

i think i'll go and crack open summa the goodness..

put a lid on it

g for green.. g for goodness

roma.. the best.

peel n process

"stir it up"

the goodness in a jar

ladelin'

a case of goodness. 10 jalepeños, 5 with seeds per batch.

grip n seal. i'm convinced this is why my mom had wrist surgery last year.

cubed mango

first attempt at mango salsa

SUP classic

2010-07-19T11:18:00.005-04:00

this past saturday was the 1st annual stand up paddleboard race in holland, MI.

many thanks to the people from outpost for putting on a great event.

great people = a great time.

bigger waves and wind on lake michigan forced the race to lake macatawa, which proved to be a great venue for the event. cool to have people show up from Illinois, Pennsylvania, California, and Hawaii.

for those of you interested in photos, please email me which race you were in, your bib #, board color, and any other info that would be helpful in identifying you and i will email you low resolution photos. if you like the photos, you can purchase them via paypal/check and i will mail a CD with full resolution photos. here's a sample of some of the photos.

cheers !

mitten state

2010-06-11T13:48:00.005-04:00

Michigan map

pileated woodpecker

kestrel

golden eagle

lightning strike

tall hardwoods

fall colors

snow lines

big red lighthouse (holland, MI)

lake superior

big M trail

sandbowl, lake MI in background

yankee springs trail

self portrait

marquette, MI trails

it was recently recommended that i write a blog on Michigan, the mitten state, and include some photos.

i would be honored.

Michigan. Just like Johnny Cash, i was born here. 4 seasons, 3 of which i like.. the other one i like only when there is enough snow to snowshoe the hills along lake Michigan or do donuts in the car. i happily moved away at age 18. a place ive always come back for visiting family and friends; ive lived away from this state for many years. over the last few years ive really come to appreciate this great lakes state. after all, if you can hold up your hand as the state map to show people precisely where you live, it already has 1 darn good thing going for it. powerful thunderstorms rock the area during spring month's dumping mass amounts of rain. getting to lake Michigan during one of these storms is pretty sweet. there is usually a 'front' of clouds, followed by rain and lightning that will make your tongue go numb. no joke. about 10 years ago, i was running from the car to the front door at my friends house when lightning hit somewhere really close... my tongue was electrified and i ran in the house talking like i just got back from the dentist when your tongue feels like its 3x its normal size.

the hardwood trees that decorate the landscape here are tall, lush, and green... until fall, when they reveal a display of yellows, oranges, and reds that bring people from all over to see. being a surfer and snowboarder the for the last 10 years, ive concentrated my efforts on riding the mountain bike more and more. ive ridden bikes a lot of places around the U.S. and Michigan has some of the best singletrack trails. i cant seem to understand why i cant get any of my CA friends to bring their bikes over. having the great lakes, which collectively between the 5 of them, account for 1/5 of the world's fresh water, is amazing. if you don't think these lakes or waves are big, take into account the deepest part of lake superior is over 1300 feet and the song "Edmund Fitzgerald" is a song about one of many freighters taken down by storms on the great lakes.

many of the people living in the midwest frequent michigan for their summer vacations, and for good reason. the lakes and trails offer some of the best outdoor activities; boating, fishing, waterskiing, and the motorcycles, bikes, campers and hikers visit the parks and trails.

let me know when you're coming.

upcoming blogs: 1. da yoopers (people and places in the upper peninsula of Michigan).

2. crystal lake cottage

for those of you that take the time...this is to you... cheers!

i amsterdam

2010-05-13T10:25:00.008-04:00

amsterdam.

if you read my first portugal blog, you remember my friend Riemer from the Netherlands. unfortunately, my layover in amsterdam was before he returned from Portugal, so i wasn't able to see him in his home country.

being a photographer, my 'mission' was to walk around the city full of canal's and shoot at will. that i did. i came home with a few shots that i was happy with.

a place visited by many hippies indulging in marijuana cafe's, amsterdam offers up something for everyone; buskers, museums, historical architecture, anne frank house, pubs, and the red-light district. the red-light district is something you have to see to believe. at night, men (and some women) walk an area within the city marked by red lights where scantily clad women sell themselves from a store window. sickening.

overall, it was worth a train ride into the city to walk around, grab a sandwich and a belgian ale on tap and walk 10 miles shooting photos.

the images below are from my few hours there. and don't worry Reimer, ill be back to see you my friend.

pigeon flight

building reflection

ever heard of a square ?

my thoughts exactly

you are ?

goodness

heiny design

netherlands flowerpot

night vibe

swan amidst sin

local transport

Portugal blog 2

2010-04-22T11:20:00.003-04:00

Portugal, a place where people drive faster than you. im told Portugal is the poorest country in Europe, but that doesn't show by the cars people drive. new audi's, porsches, and other exotic cars blur the highway. it doesnt take long to notice there are not many SUV's scattering the roads. this is one thing that bothers me about the U.S. people think they need to drive around these huge vehicles. if you're using them for farm work, thats one thing. if you're not, you're likely on the "well, in case of an accident, i want to be in a 'safe' vehicle" bandwagon. my two cents on the issue. i do believe it is an issue that needs rethinking. emissions and gas consumption alone is enough to talk about. the intent of a hummer is to drive through the woods and over trees. if you want a demonstration, i will volunteer to drive your vehicle off road, where SUV's are meant to be driven.

alternative energy is easily noticeable in Portugal by all the wind turbines scattered on the tops of hills. aesthetically 'cool' if you asked me. side note: in Michigan there is currently a proposal (with artist renditions) to place wind turbines in Lake Michigan, 4 miles offshore. this stretch of land along the lake produces some of the strongest and most consistent wind in the United States. why SHOULDNT we be using it for and alternative energy source?! the first people to put up a stink were landowners that think it's aesthetically ugly. give me a break. think outside of your small box you live in for once. just once. this would produce some 1500 jobs locally and that is something our state needs more than any other right now and thats aside from the energy the wind alone would produce.

read story on wind turbines in Michigan here: http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2010/03/revised_offshore_wind_farm_pro.html

on a tangent there.. back to Portugal.

castles that date back to the 1200's when the Moro's ruled; the walled city of Obidos was one of my favorite stops. a place where you enter through the large 800 year old arched walls and walk through small skinny cobblestone streets. it was here i met Reimer. a man wise in his years stood against a bright yellow wall donning suspenders, a golfers cap and ray ban aviators drawing from a cigar. i already liked him. not knowing if he even spoke english, i asked, "how you doin' ?". a deep foreign voice responded with a puff of smoke; "pretty good, and you?". i learned that Reimer is from the Netherlands. after only a few minutes i was invited to come and stay with he and his family in the his homeland, the Netherlands. for those of you whom are americans, i think you can agree, this is something not really done in our country; inviting strangers to come to our home, stay with us, and show us around. i was taken back. immediately i started trying to figure out in my head how much it would cost to change my air tickets and who was this nice guy? for those of you that dont know me, my ancestors came over to holland, Michigan from the Netherlands many years ago. it has been a goal of mine to "return to the homeland" and see what my roots are really all about. although i didn't have the money to visit Reimer on this trip, ill return. its too good an offer not to and i owe it to my ancestors and my friend Reimer. Reimer, thanks for being a great friend. i will see you someday. you have my word.

wind turbines dot the hills of Portugal providing an alternative energy source.

fisherman by the sea.

water movement.

coastal town in Portugal.

98% Catholics in Portugal. For most it runs no deeper than a religion practiced by previous generations.

i hated geology in high school. its places like this that make me love it.

Portugal street sign.

Obidos (Oh-bih-Doh-sh) castle.

walkin' the streets of Obidos.

Obidos, the walled city.

Riemer !!

portugal life

2010-04-09T18:15:00.006-04:00

closing days in morocco went just fine with pastries in my belly. the french pastry influence has made its way around different parts of europe and even into morocco. eating something like an almond croissant in a slow manner is out of the question.

took a large prop plane from casablanca to lisbon. i had an aisle seat. the 13 year old kid next to me recognized i was looking intently at the waves that splashed the cliff's towering over the ocean just outside Lisbon. he leaned his chair back and gave me a nod, as if thats what local portugese kids do. we flew in over the river, past the Christ statue and multiple futbol stadiums. the clay tile roof's of white houses left little to no room for trees to grow. touchdown.

why haven't i heard much about Portugal before? the coastline is amazing; rugged. having visited other european cities, Lisbon is what i imagined. stone patterned narrow streets and sidewalks, old cable cars, old architecture, graffiti art, skateboarders filling the center square, tourist donning large shopping bags, and good seafood.

last year the pro surfing circuit held an event here. the waves delivered for the contest and more people, surfers included, are checking their bags.

as stated on the plaque, this is the most western point in europe. the view over the ocean below.

Morro ruins above Sintra, a small mountain town. the Morro's (Moroccan's) used to rule this area in the 1200's and were overtaken by the Portugese.

Cascais at sundown

one 'tag' of graffiti i have enjoyed seeing in a few different places around Lisbon.

self portrait in front of lightbox (Cascais).

sk8 lisbon

old cable cars in city

Lisbon on the river

flight attendents.. . prepare for arrival

old catholic church in Lisbon

peacocks in Lisbon ?

surf trip south

2010-03-31T16:13:00.002-04:00

2 americans, 1 chilean, and 2 moroccans in a land rover going on a road trip... guaranteed laugh's and good times on the open road. our crew headed south for 2 days of surfing and photography. the conditions were shaping up nicely according to weather charts we had followed for days. the waves were going to be good sized, the sun out and the wind favorable. when there are waves approaching any coast in the world, surfers are probably better meteorologists than most that hold the job at the local tv news station.

we ended up leaving late, so a good nights rest went out the window with the need to get up early for good waves and good light for photos. on the ride south, mark and i played a game of 'would you rather?', a game the two of us had started in the maldives on a previous trip. 1 example: would you rather drink 4 red bulls in succession or have to eat a jar of warm mayonaise? if any of you know mark bale or myself, you know they got much worse (or better depending on how you look at it) than this, but you get the idea. needless to say, our stomach's were hurting from laughing so hard. the drive down wasn't without a few close calls. anytime you drive here, something crazy is bound to happen. what is 'crazy' to westerners is 'normal' to local moroccans. single lane roads at night, no streetlights, and 80% of vehicles drive with their brights on. being blinded, there are times you need to guess where the road is. passing on the right is always an option (yes, regardless of if there is a lane or not). stopping in the middle of the road for no apparent reason is always an option here. somehow, we made it to the 'hotel'. i question whether this place should be called a hotel.

530am came quickly, and we forced down a local fried treat called 'psimmen'; a fried bread with honey, then washed it down with the local mint tea, which has enough sugar added to kickstart a cadaver. once to the surf spot, we were perched up on a cliff overlooking the waves reeling off the point. 'ants in the pants' took on a whole new meaning. no one could wait to get their wetsuits on and get in the water.

3 surf sessions in a day and a half and the boys could hardly move their arms.

this world class wave offered up some of her finest. big grins and shaking heads side to side is all you can do when everything comes together like this. ill let the photos tell the rest of the story.

creating

2010-03-24T15:47:00.002-04:00

i appreciate people that work well with their hands and the work they do even more. both my grandpa Ed and father Jim were/are amazingly talented with their hands. unfortunately, most of the people that work so well with their hands, artists included, aren't rewarded financially. on the flip side, most of these artists find their work gratifying enough, the $ isn't important; just as long as they can support themselves and their family. if you are doing what you love, the money probably doesn't seem as important.

we took a 5 minute drive down the road in the landcruiser to kai shapes, where my friend Mark, a gifted craftsman, has begun shaping surfboards. starting with a block of foam that has a wooden stringer down the middle, it takes an artist to finish a well shaped surfboard. each surfer likes their boards a different length, width, thickness, and shape. also, understanding the physics of how water moves under/around a surfboard, a persons body type, their athletic ability, and surf style are all important when shaping a board.

i clicked the shutter on my camera a few times of Mark working on a board for Abdel (photos attached). Kai shapes are hoping to get a great surfer like Abdel (mentioned in previous blog) to ride their boards. this is smart marketing. kids see the best surfer in morocco on a Kai shapes surfboard and want one. being meticulous is important in shaping if you want to keep the best surfers happy. establishing a relationship with them, conversing with them, knowing what they like in a board and what they don't like and then being able to produce that specific board. but, ultimately it comes down to doing something enough times and learning from your mistakes. crafting. creating. mastering.

surf trip north

2010-03-19T07:28:00.002-04:00

an early morning.. before light.. fog.. loaded up the toyota landcruiser with surfboards and camera gear to head north to a 'slab' one of the locals insisted we come visit. surfers will know a slab is a 'shelf' of reef/rock under the water that creates a barreling wave. Abdel El Harim, the #1 surfer in morocco, invited us up to surf, take some photos and hang out for the day. this is not a wave for beginners. your first time to a place like this is intimidating.. getting in the water was the first task. you need to jump in amongst rocks and paddle out (swim out if you're the photographer). mission accomplished, but not without fear of cleaning rock out of my teeth. thats apparently what makes this stuff 'fun'. at one point i was thrown to and held down on the bottom by a large wave, only to arise with cuts and a slightly damaged water housing. i could've cared less about the blood on me.. i was looking the water housing over to see if water was leaking in and if i had indeed drown another camera and lens. nope.. minor scrapes on the housing was it. next thought? "time to swim your ass off out of the impact zone".

surfers and bodyboarders fought for every wave like vultures on a dead animal. i was left to fend for myself and try and get a few photos of Abdel, the guy we came with. the attached image was the best of the surf session.

after, we entered the medina (walled city) to his house for lunch which his mom had already prepared for us. a feast. saying they eat a big lunch is an understatement. Abdel told us stories of his debut with pro surfers at the pipemasters in hawaii in '05. as he began winning heats in the contest, no one knew who he was. the contest announcer asked where he was from, not knowing what MOR stood for next to his name. Abdel's response? i came in on a camel from Morocco. the rest of the contest he was the talk of the island of Oahu. he made it to the quarterfinals ousting top pro's, like shane dorian. a likable, humorous guy with a huge smile, Abdel is liked by everyone. in this area, he is treated like a star and is the only reason we were surfing at his local beach. we exchanged travel stories over lunch, met his family and hit the surf again in the afternoon. exhaustion set in later and everything seemed funny. mark and i laughed at old high school stories and SNL skits of Chris Farley. we capped off the night with an avocado/almond/walnut/soy milk smoothie (trust me, you'll want one), and then nearly killed a woman negotiating 60mph traffic on the highway.. are you serious ? ladie, this isn't frogger.

salam alikum

2010-03-17T16:00:00.004-04:00

aboard delta flight 7549 from NY to Casablanca, Morocco when a huge explosion and burst of purple/white light outside the plane window shoots adrenalin through my veins. a short thought races through my mind.. "is this it?". panic is written over every persons face in the airplane. the stewardists are frantic, running around the plane while we're left wondering what's happening. my second thought? we lost an engine. not the case. "nothing to worry about" says the french stewardist to the guy next to me; "just a bolt of lightning.. no damage.. we'll continue towards morocco". my 3rd thought? yeah, great.. only 7 hours to go and we just took a hit of lightning. "no problem".

salam alikum

a greeting here in morocco, meaning, 'peace be with you'.

yeah, like never before, after getting off 'that' airplane.

1st day after getting here, i got situated and made a visit to the local mosque called Hassan II. it's the second largest mosque in the world behind only the mosque of mecca, where many muslims trek for their 'haj', a pillar of the islamic religion. Hassan II is architecturally incredible.

2nd full day we drove toward toward Marakech to get some photos and visit a market. we headed straight into the Atlas mountains and visited some of the Berber people. amazing views as you drive centimeters from dropping off the side of the mountain. a people that live off the land in so many ways; berbers collect rocks off the mountainside in front of their house that make for the primary "building block" of their homes. the "go green" campaign has been here since the beginning of time. the locals up in these parts live a life of simplicity. we, as westerner's, should take a few notes.

attaching a few images to go along with the text above:

2010-02-27T12:16:00.000-05:00

welcome to iLOOMANation photography !!

For those of you that are interested, im having a photography show saturday, march 6 from 5-7pm at butch's dry dock downtown holland, michigan.

see postcard above.

the images at the show will be from 11 different locations; including michigan, chicago, colorado, costa rica, hawaii, indonesia, maldives, taiwan, china, malaysia, and south africa.

all the images at the show are available in different sizes and shapes. they are all printed on high quality paper and adhered to a rigid foam backing with matte black finish. the images are also sprayed to protect from UV rays and minor fingerprinting/scratching, so you can hang them as is, or, if you desire, you may have them framed.

thanks for stopping by and please check back for updates, articles and photos.

cheers

daniel

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