Georgia on my mind

In the wake of the tornadoes that hit the Southern U.S., my buddy Colin and I were dispatched to follow a crew of electric linesmen down to Georgia to capture their part in the relief efforts. In emergencies like these, linesmen from all over the country stream into the disaster areas to repair downed power lines and to get the electricity working in homes again. In fact, if you ever wander into areas recently hit by storms or hurricanes, all you'll find are linesmen and policemen (or, in some cases, the army/national guard). It's something I never really thought about or considered, but these guys are the lead-off hitters in breathing life back into flattened towns and cities.

It was an eye-opening experience, seeing that kind of devastation first hand. Despite all the damage, the Southern hospitality still showed through. There wasn't a day when we were out in the field where locals ranging from high school students to retired seniors didn't drive by to offer the crews food, drinks, and heartfelt words of thanks.

We were pretty busy everyday, but I managed to sneak in some shots during the occasional downtime:

Colin and I standing by while one of the linesmen crews goes over plans. These guys are all characters. It takes a particular breed to do this kind of job. When the displaced are evacuating storm-hit areas, these are the guys going in to turn the lights back on.

Despite the upturned tree, the house behind it was in surprisingly good condition.

Australia, Part III - Melbourne

Melbourne was the last city we stayed in for our trip down under. The urban culture is so diverse and rich and vibrant that it's hard not to find inspiration of some kind or other every time you turn a corner. Unfortunately, I was running out of film at this point, so I didn't get too many shots of the city and its many colorful offerings, so I can only point you to Ryan, our trip historian, for more complete coverage. Some of what I did get in Melbourne and from our road trip down the Surf Coast:

Of course, we had to cap things off with a trip to the Twelve Apostles (as promised earlier). We arrived a couple of hours before sunset, and stayed until about an hour after. Some of what we saw:

Great trip. Ridiculously friendly people, probably the most beautiful coastline I've ever seen with my own eyes, and a healthy appreciation for drinking the night away - what more could you want?

Australia, I'll be back.

Australia, Part II - Sydney

The second leg of our trip took us to Sydney, which, along with its beautiful beaches and sights and harbors, is home to an apparently inordinate amount of beautiful people. Seriously, you could turn a corner and fall in love.

Ryan and I met up Casey and Ed there, staying first in a Kings Cross hotel before moving down to an apartment right across the street from Bondi Beach. We ate poorly and drank excessively, which is to say we lived quite well; we climbed rocks, enjoyed long walks on the beach (hand-holding optional, and sometimes not-so-optional), nearly burned a store down, discovered the wonders of Chili Chicken prepackaged sandwiches at the Australian 7-11's, and Ryan and I even squeezed in a rainy hike in the Blue Mountains in between.

Piss take. Let's try again:

Ryan gets in some piano practice at the Queen Victoria Building.

This is Waverley Cemetary, which overlooks the coast along the Beach Walk from Bondi down to Coogee. Not a bad place to be buried.

Ryan and I spent a day up in Katoomba, at the Blue Mountains northwest of Sydney. It was a particularly gloomy day, and here you can see the divide between the forest floor and the fog that's sunk in to the canyon, right at an overlook of the Three Sisters rock formation (only one pictured here).

End of Part II.

Australia, Part I - Terrigal/Wamberal (Central Coast)

I'm back, America. Aussieland was awesome. Here are some of my adventures.

Our first stop was Terrigal, a Central Coast town about an hour and half north of Sydney by train. It's about as picturesque as you can get. The evidence:

It's obscene how beautiful it is.

We're here to meet up with our good friend Alicia. Here she is.

Don't let the smile fool you. She's absolutely mad.

Alicia was wonderful enough to put us up in her home in Wamberal. Reminds me of the Goleta days.

I need me a veranda.

This is Alicia's friend Sarah. She hung out with me and Ryan all day, despite her first hangover after a long spell on the wagon.

What a trooper.

I pulled a rookie move and didn't load my film properly, so I spent the first day shooting half a roll of memories before I realized my goof. These shots are all from the second day, after "brekkie," as they say down under. That's b-fast to the rest of you.

Ryan fulfilling his duties as trip historian.

Sarah and Ryan on our hike up the Skillion, the top of which is where that first shot of Terrigal was taken.

Saturday morning fishing.

Ryan doing his shutterbug thing.

Rugby. Not, as we later learned, nearly as fun as Footy.


Ryan and Sarah take in the game.

Before Ryan and I packed up and headed back down to Sydney, Alicia and Sarah took us down to Alicia's family home for afternoon tea.

That's Paul on the right, Alicia's mom Sherry in the bright blue, little sister Holly behind mum, and in pink, Alicia's nan, Nan. Oh, and there was cake, too!

Sherry saw me rocking the ol' Canon AE-1 I inherited (read: stole) from my dad, and she dug up her not-as-old-but-nearly AE-1P. There was much excitement over this. Even our sweet, sweet straps matched, just hers was a little pinker. Go figure.

I'm pretty sure Alicia's going to "inherit" this from her mom, too.

Paul showing us his classic Australian Holden Torana SLR 5000. She's partly on blocks at the moment as Paul works on her, but the engine still roars.

Vanity shot.

Alicia's brother Harrison tearing it up on his RipStik.

He's a prodigy on this thing. Ryan, not so much.

In retrospect, I would've loved to have stayed longer. That's probably a theme that repeats throughout the trip, but here more than most.

We definitely need to make our way back here someday.

End of Part I.

Oh, please just last

Oz-bound and down. Won't be back until I've conquered you:

When the sun come up, I'll be there to say

New music excites me. New music from a favorite band, even more so.

We're getting a brief reprieve from the rain here in Los Angeles, and the sudden gift of sun and mostly clear skies brings hope that the astronomical first day of Spring is actually going to pay practical dividends. When I left New York this past Friday, it was a gorgeous day. LA has been gloomy and wet since I've been here, culminating in yesterday's cold, cold rains and blustery winds. Appropriate for this particular trip home perhaps, though still disappointing. But this sun, and this sky? This feels like Spring.

The feeling of New is in the air. One of my favorite bands, Company of Thieves, has released their new lead single off their sophomore album Running From a Gamble, due out May 17th of this year. I got to see them twice in one weekend while in Chicago (their hometown) last August, and their exuberant performance brought the house down both times:

"Death of Communication." Yes, thank you, more please:

Death Of Communication by CompanyofThieves