Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Local Access TV Interview

I was interviewed on a local access TV show that plays in the San Jose area called "Darlene Carman Presents".  They interviewed me on kayaking and my starting California Kayaker Magazine.  Neither of the interviewers had ever kayaked, which made it both challenging and good.  Challenging in that the questions seemed to come out of the blue, but good in that it forced me to talk about kayaking at a level of someone who doesn't, which is really what their viewers likely are.  Interview can be seen below:


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Friday, July 16, 2010

More whales from kayak

Heard reports of lots of ways out in Monterey Bay chasing huge quantities of krill, so decided to check it out. Matt K. was nice enough to join me, which was good, as we would be going very far out (over 5 miles from shore - see track in picture to the right).

Two videos I took are below. The videos are of different individuals, so may not even be the same type of whale.





Some conversations going around as to what type of whale they are - blue, humpback, or fin are the most common mentioned. The first video (showing the fluke) looks to be a blue). The second video has a larger dorsal fin than would be expected for a blue, so perhaps is a fin whale. But fin whales don't normally show their flukes when they dive, and this guy did. And no reports of fins in the area from the whale watch boats. Maybe a humpback? But I got some shots of a humpback in the same area a few years ago, and there were much smaller than this (video clip at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2CQeeX9mqQ).

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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Boring job for a cop

Sometimes a cop has to hang out and wait until someone comes along to arrest. Even on Christmas Eve, this is an important job to do.


This spot provides a good view of a stop sign that I guess people run too often. And it is likely a 25 mph zone, so speeders may be common also. Thankfully, I made a full stop at the sign, and didn't speed, as I biked by today.


It helps to have a supply of coffee and donuts for the wait until the next speed demon decides to blow through the stop sign...


But, mannequins don't get bored in jobs like this...


Of course, not everyone is happy with the jobs the cops are doing. Maybe this gentleman has gotten one too many tickets from the mannequin?

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Tuesday, December 08, 2009

shinto lights?

Saw this a few blocks over - a "torii" gate covered with Christmas lights. The gate is a Japanese shinto symbol, where the lights are from Christian roots. Does that make it "shintian" or "chrinto"?
私のうちの近くにある店は鳥居がある。その店は鳥居の上にクリスマスのイルミネーションを置いた。辺だろうか?鳥居は神道だ、でもクリスマスはキリスト教だろう。

I don't fully comprehend the sign on the middle. The main character looks like "憩", which means rest. But it is 1 stroke different, so probably not that.
間中な物の意味をあまり分からない。漢字は「憩」 だろうか?



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Friday, November 06, 2009

Adrenaline side of sea kayaking

Kayaking is much like mountain biking - you get out an enjoy nature, but there is also a challenge side of it. My last post showed part of the nature side of kayaking, with lots of animals. But many of those pictures were taken from flat water - be like seeing animals from the paved bike path in Yosemite.

So, to show that other side, I made a similar video of the more adrenaline side of kayaking - basically, where the water is not flat.



As with the animal video, there are many more exciting times I was not able to get on video, not for the least reason that I couldn't stay upright while filming in some of the conditions...

A few pics also:

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Video of Animals seen while Kayaking

I have posted short clips of animal videos in the past, and some (like the 4 second video of Mobulas/Manta Rays jumping) were very popular. Figured it was worth compiling them into a single video.



There are many more animals I have seen, but did not get on video. A prime example being that I have seen literally dozens of gray whales, but don't have any decent video clips (actually, not even any decent photos) of them taken while kayaking.

Here are some photos of animals...

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Thursday, October 08, 2009

View out my window today

Sometimes interesting stuff passes by while you are working at your desk. I am glad I have a window to look out of.

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Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Legalize Pot?

It was interesting to hear Governor Schwarzenegger call for talks on legalizing pot in California. Not something I expected to hear from a Republican's mouth. And a poll makes it seem like the majority of voters agree with this, so maybe it will come true.

Truthfully, the medical marijuana system that is in place is a mess. And I blame the Republicans for this. They have for years insisted that there is no medical benefit to marijuana. But this insistence has also meant they have suppressed or stopped medical studies on the drug.

The population in California has not believed the Republican stance - it was plainly obvious to them that it is a drug that does have an impact on the body. So they have voted in place medical marijuana rules allowing its use. But because it is a kluged together system, it isn't as strongly enforced as drugs purchased from pharmacies. And I think most expect that many are getting pot from the medical marijuana sites for recreational purposes.

If Republicans didn't try the "just say no" response to marijuana, perhaps it would be classified and controlled as a real medical drug, rather than the system we have now.

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Saturday, March 14, 2009

Unintended consequences

I have been thinking about unintended consequences recently. First came up with this government stimulus plan, which includes a lot of road work. Roads generally have finite lives (let's say 20 years, for easy math), at which time major repair work would be needed. I wonder if 20 years from now there will all of a sudden be a lot of roads needing repairs, which undoubtedly we wouldn't have budgeted for?

This also came to another one of Obama's goal - universal health care. I seem to have many friends who would love to retire, have saved a bit of money and all, but aren't retired. When asked, the limiting factor appears to be there need for health coverage. So, if Obama does get universal health care of some sort in place, will we have a sudden surge of folks in their 40s and 50s retiring? Will there be so many that it would impact the economic output of the economy?

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Friday, January 02, 2009

Testicles bring money?

I do work for a small Japanese company that imports hand made ceramic soaking tubs to the States. The last time the guy in Japan came to visit, he brought me a gift of a small ceramic statue of a tanuki, an animal in Japan often called a raccoon dog. It was made of ceramic in the same area as the tubs, and came with a description of the 7 lessons of the raccoon dog (describing why it looks like it does):

  • Sedge Hat - be always careful not to become bankrupt
  • Charming Face - affability is important to a merchant
  • Big Paunch - be quick in a decision
  • Sake Bottle - being satisfied with a simple mean calls virtue
  • Account Book - trust first
  • Testicles - money will come and multiple by a wise use of it
  • Large Tail - the end crowns all


Interesting reasoning.

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Saturday, December 13, 2008

Met a local celebrity

I went for a paddle on Friday with folks from the local sea kayak club. As we were launching from Jack London Square, Doug McConnell showed up and started filming segments for a future episode of the outdoors show he has. Watch his show on NBC11 after the Super Bowl (so on Super Bowl Sunday), and you may see me amongst the kayaks in the background at some point during his show (where he is talking about some discount card or something).

I didn't feel so bad about asking for a photo after another kayaker asked to borrow his shirt to clean their glasses (kayaking clothes are made of materials that aren't good to use to clean glasses, but cotton is great for this).


Below is a picture of him as he did one of the takes required to film the shot segment.

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Thursday, October 09, 2008

They are back

A year ago, I posted about the Blue Angels being in town. Well they are back... I took a break and watched one of their practice runs.
1年前にブルー・エンジェルス(アメリカ合衆国海軍所属のアクロバット飛行隊)の事をブログで書いた。また来た。今日休んで、予行演習見た。

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Monday, August 04, 2008

Gray Whales presentation / コククジラプレゼンテーション

I had to do a presentation for my Japanese class, and I decided to do it on Gray Whales
プレゼンテーションさせた。カヤックから見えるコククジラの事にする。

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コククジラはカリフォルニアの海岸沿いから見られます。写真を見てください。大きいですね。でもちょっとみにく醜いと思います。その瘤は皮膚に亀の手です。
Gray whales are one of the whales that can sometimes be seen off of California’s coasts. As you can see in the pictures, they are pretty large. They are also kind of ugly, as these bumps on their skin are barnacles.

回遊ルートは長いです。アラスカ州のベーリング海からメキシコのバハまでです。
Their annual migration route is long. It goes from the Bering Sea near Alaska down to Baja, Mexico.

夏にベーリング海はコククジラの餌場です。コククジラはヒゲクジラで、エビやカニを食べます。
In the summer, they are up in their feeding grounds near Alaska in the Bering Sea. They are baleen whales, and feed on small animals, like shrimp and crab.

11月ぐらい、子鯨のためにメキシコのバハに行きます。その時、カリフォルニアの海岸のそばを通ります。
Then around November, they swim past us on their way to Baja, Mexico, where they breed.

2月か3月に雄鯨と子鯨がいない雌鯨は北の餌場に戻ります。
Then in February and March, the males and non-breeding females head back north to feed.

そのクジラは海岸沿いから1マイル以上なので、見にくいです。
These whales are generally about 1 to 3 miles from shore, so can be hard to see.

でも子鯨がいる雌鯨は4月ぐらい戻ります。オルカから子鯨の守りなので海岸沿いの近くで泳ぎます。オルカは時々子鯨を食べます。
The females with calves return around April. The females and babies stay very close to the shore, to protect the babies. Killer Whales often will try to eat the babies.

だから海岸と舟から4月に見やすいです。私はこの数年コククジラを見にカヤックに乗りました。
This makes them relatively easy for people to see in April, both from shore and from boat. So the past few Aprils, I have gone kayaking in areas where we may see Gray Whales.

一番いいところはSan Mateo郡のPigeon Pointでしょう。1号線からライトハウスを見えるところです。一番上の写真は私です。写真は私とライトハウスです。
The best place seems to be off of Pigeon Point, which is on the San Mateo Coast. It is at the lighthouse that you can see from Highway 1. The picture shows me and the lighthouse.

風がない日がいいです。そして波が低い日もいいです。
You also want to go at a time when there is not much wind nor waves.

クジラを見つけるにはクジラの潮吹きを探します。たまには潮吹きの音を聞けます。
To find a whale, you would look for the whale’s spout. Sometimes, you can also hear their breaths.

この写真はライトハウスから取った。カヤックの人は私と彼女です。
This picture was taken from the lighthouse, and shows my girlfriend and I watching a whale surface.

この写真は近くで取りました。
This picture is a close up picture.

クジラは4,5回息吹きのために浮上しています。最後の浮上にクジラの尾びれを見せて深く潜ります。その後10分以上水中で過ごします。
Whales will surface about 4 or 5 times for air. On the last time, they will sometime show their fluke as they dive deep. Then they stay underwater for over 10 minutes.

あの霧はクジラの潮吹きです。
The mist you see in the picture is the whale’s breath.

下の写真はTomales Bayにいる探索浮上しているクジラです。英語で「spy hopping」です。そのクジラは辺りの様子を調べています。
The bottom shows a whale “spy hopping” in Tomales Bay. He is checking out his surroundings.

その写真よく亀の手を見られます。
You can really see the barnacles in this picture.

4月に海岸にいったら、クジラを探してください。
If you are near the ocean in April, look out and see if you can see whales.

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Sunday, June 15, 2008

Military buildup

There is a military buildup going on in the quiet little town of Portola Valley, and few people know about it. A gentleman named Jacques Littlefieled decided to start restoring armored military vehicles a while back, and has compiled quite a collection. Actually, this is the largest personal collection of vehicles in the world. It is not a museum, and they can be viewed only on special tours, which a friend arranged.

Actually, I first heard about this during the first Gulf War. There was a newspaper article about a person who was having trouble getting a SCUD missile through customs. The article then went on to talk about how this person lives in Portola Valley and collects military equipment.

We viewed the collection in 4 of his warehouses, which turns out to be maybe half of his collection. Amazing! It is a good thing he is rich, as he has a staff of 6 who restores them to new condition (many of them come in as little more than scrap metal, often requiring that they piece together a few different ones, plus manufacture a lot of replacement parts, in order to get 1 complete unit).

Oh, the picture below does show a SCUD missile in a launcher, so he did get it through customs. He actually has 2 of them.



Last picture was taken by a friend - though, how much of a friend could he be if I am willing to aim 4 machine guns at him! 8-)

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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Who is it? だれですか?

A friend sent me this photo - quite interesting. Who do you think it is? Click here to see the result.
友達がEメールした写真だ。面白い。だれだろうか? ここでクリックして、本当のを見る。

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Recent sighting

About 2 weeks ago I was biking across the Golden Gate Bridge and saw something interesting. Happened to have a camera with me...
約2週間前に自転車でゴールデンゲートブリッジを渡りつつ、面白いものを見た。デジカメをたまたま手元にあった。

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Friday, May 02, 2008

Short walk for peace

I went for a bike ride today. Had 2 goals - to get a long ride in (was on a scale at my doctor's last week, and decided I could use to lose a few lbs.) and to see if I could see any migrating gray whales (I looked, but they hid). So I biked to Stinson Beach and back.
今日Stinson Beachへ自転車に乗った。体重のために運動しなければならないと思う。そして今鯨は北方へ移動するので、見たかった(でもあいにく見なかった)。

While I was stopped and watching for whales, a guy walked up to me pushing a cart. He stopped and chatted for a while. Seems he is walking from Mexico to Canada to "build bridges of understanding, love, and compassion with non-violence, global peace, and unity at the core." If you want to follow his travels, he has a Blog at http://peacesteps.net/.
鯨を探す間に人は歩いて来て、話した。大義名分の下でメキシコからカナダへ行っている。すごい!http://peacesteps.net/

Before this, I did see a turkey with her brood on the side of a road in Mill Valley. Wasn't sure how defensive she would be when I biked past her (I've known geese to attack), but she let me pass.
前にMill Valleyに野生のシチメンチョウとシチメンチョウの子を見た。

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Monday, March 17, 2008

Do The Test

Interesting awareness test - can you pass?
面白い気付いていることのテスト-合格できる?

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Sunday, February 10, 2008

Sylvia did good!

We use various types of water bags when we kayak camp, but prefer ones that are flexible so they can fit in the odd spaces of a kayak. The top of the line one is the MSR Dromedary line of water bags. But they are expensive - a 6 liter one is some $35.
カヤックのキャンプする時色々な水袋を使う、でも曲げやすい形のはいいだろう。一番いい水袋はMSR Dromedaryだ。でもとても高い(普通1つは$35ぐらい)。

Sylvia was up in Canada a few weeks back and saw a sale of 2 for $10. The catch was they were missing part of their cap. She bought them figuring we could find some way to fix it.
2,3週間前にSylviaさんはカナダにいた。2つは$10の安売りを見た。でも水袋の栓がなかった。2つ買った。

My first step was to contact the manufacture and see if they do sell them. They say they do, and the part is only $0.25 per piece (we need 2), but they have a minimum order of $10. Rather than going through the hassle of doing an oder, they just sent me out the parts for free! Yeah - 2 Dromedaries for $10!
MSRの会社をメールした。その栓を売る。とても安いー1つは$0.25だ。でも注文は$10以上から受け付ける。だから会社は無料で送ってもらった。すばらしい!

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Fox or Coyote?

Saw this guy in the Presidio last weekend - I think it is a coyote, where Sylvia thinks it is a fox. What do you think?





He looked at us for a minute, and then went back to looking for food (ignoring us). He definitely didn't mind us at all, though once another person came along walking a dog, he paid a lot of attention to them. And as the dog approached, he decided to run away pretty quickly. Felt like we didn't disturb him, but the dog did.

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