What's Up Doc?

I have proof! Looney Tunes were not lying! In the red desert lands of Arizona, scurying amongst the mesas, buttes and bluffs, we spotted Wily Coyote, Road Runner and Bugs Bunny. Here is a pic of the rabbit to prove it... but these are not in the "cartoon" versions of course, they are real. We have seen many bunnies, a couple of coyotes, and a road-runner sped by during a tour of Monument Valley. Everyone got excited, someone yelled "meep meep".

Today we tried canyoning for the first time, and thouroughly enjoyed it. Tomorrow, we are going on a full-day canyoning trip. should be fun!

Gaston

Freezing Arizona

Greetings from Arizona!

Who knew that it could get cold here? Really cold! When we packed, we only stuffed our winter jackets in our suitcases because Accuweather.com kept threatening us with under 0'F weather. We didn't believe it, and even in Phoenix, it was warm enough to just go out with a windbreaker.

But as we drove North, hooo-wee! Blinding snowstorms, winds that slice through you like a million daggers, and ice that threathens to shorten your trip at ever turn of the road. I am happy to report that we have survived, and are very glad to have our parkas on hand.

The sun has been out for the last few days, illuminating all of the marvels that northern Arizona has to offer. Today was especially beautiful. We drove around Monument Valley and visited other spectacular natural wonders. The snow actually turns out to be a good thing - it highlights every ragged feature of this intricate landscape.

Lars was philosophizing a while today about how small and fleating human lives are compared to the incredible geological history of this area. I think the third of the three pictures I attach here symbolizes that well...

We had a memorable meal today in the blink-and-you-will-miss-it town of Mexican Hat, Utah. Everything on the table, without exception, bubbled in the same grease of the same fryer. And to season it all, we had six different types of sauces to choose from: ketchup, sour cream, salsa, ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, and something new called "fry sauce." Locals here sure have a knack to make their fry-ups palatable!

Accuweather.com now promises that it will get warmer in the next few days, and we are sure looking forwards to it. We are now heading towards a few days of hiking in slot canyons, and then greeting the New Year on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Wish us more sun and blue skies!

Happy New Year! - Gaston

Obama Fashions

In Eastern Europe in the 1990's, and to some extent, still now, it seemed Calvin Klein designed everything anyone wore. His logo was plastered on anything from cheap baseball caps to plastic shopping bags. Bootleggers had deduced that anything bearing the prestigious CK logo had more chances of selling, and for more money. None of it was real of course. All of these dubious Calvin Klein fashions and accessories had probably originated in a Siberian warehouse or a Chinese sweatshop.

Well, nowadays in DC, I feel almost as if we are going back to those years, but the popular name plastering everything now is not Calvin Klein anymore, but Barack Obama. All types of new products appear everyday, and the trend just seems to grow. There are of course the ubiquitous Obama shirts, which every third person seems to be wearing. Their numbers multiply the closer one gets to a university campus. I saw a man on the street with an Obama tuque yesterday. On the metro, a young woman had an embroidered Obama backpack. On television, the gaudiest product anyone could imagine - plates, coins, figurines - are up for sale, all bearing the president-elect's smiling face. Already all souvenir shops in DC have huge window displays of all their Obama wares, ready for the giant profits of inauguration day. If Obama could copyright his name and his image, there's not telling the amount of revenue he could rake in!

Color on Paper

Hi everyone - I've been drawing a lot lately. Maybe the darker days of winter trigger a need in my brain for more color. I am particularly proud of these three pieces. They are quite large, 14"X 17", took a lot of time and patience, but it was all worth it. I really like them, and enjoyed making them. Maybe a big-time art dealer will see these pieces here and offer me a million dollars for them... or at least space in a gallery? ;-)

Interesting fact - Before moving to Latvia in 1997, I used to draw often. But somehow, that part of me disappeared in Latvia, and I barely drew or painted anything at all, just a few odd pieces. However, as soon as I returned to North America this May, I picked up my colors again. In the evening, while watching TV, I sit with my box of 125 markers, and draw away.

Hope you enjoy these pieces too. - Gaston

Website under renovation

I am in the process of giving my website, www.gastonlacombe.com, a new look and a new direction. I've added new galleries and deleted many old ones. I'd be interested in hearing what others think about the new orientation of my site. If anyone feels like it, drop me a comment!

Thanks - Gaston

DC Sleeps

I learned something important yesterday evening - taking night pictures from a bridge is a bad idea! I am working on a series of pics right now which I want to call DC Sleeps. The inspiration comes from a song by "The Postal Service", called The District Sleeps Alone Tonight. If you don't know the song, I'm sure there are a million places on the internet where you can download it. Anyway, yesterday evening I was on Francis Scott Key Bridge in Georgetown, trying to take pictures of the city lights over the Potomac, but, even with a tripod, 98% of my pictures ended up blurry. See, to get good pictures at night the camera has to expose for a long time; long enough to be affected by any movement. The bridge was shaking! Constantly! Just one car crossing the bridge was enough to destroy any attempt at a picture. The attached pic, even if overexposed anyway, can show you what all my pictures turned out like. So, frustrated, I headed back for terra firma, and pointed my camera elsewhere. All of this to say, keep an eye on my website, I am planning a complete revamping soon... - Gaston

First Prize!

Hurray! I won my first photography prize! I belong to the World Bank/IMF International Photographic Society, which holds monthly photo competitions. The theme for November was "Details", and I won the FIRST prize in Category B! By the way, Category B is nothing lower or lesser, it's just the category designated for newer members of the club. Here is my pic below. It's a close-up view of a glass paperweight.

I need to thank photographer Judy Reisman, since I was at her house doing a workshop on Macro Photography when I took this picture. It's her paperweight after all! Thank you Judy!

Gaston

Inauguration Aberration

Already, we are getting indications here in Washington, D.C., that Obama's inauguration week will unimaginably insane. 4 million people are expected to make the pilgrimage, and hotels as far away as Richmond VA, and Baltimore MD, are already all booked up. It's hard to even imagine how that will affect our peaceful everyday life in our little District of Columbia with its 500 000 inhabitants.

This morning by my metro station, loud-mouth entrepreneurs were trying to recruit people willing to sacrifice their housing to tourists, for gargantuan bucks! They were yelling: "Make a month's salary by renting your apartment for 2 days!" ; "Go on vacation and make some money while you're away!" ; "People are willing to pay thousands of dollars to stay in your house!" And they were not joking! Talking to a few friends, I am hearing rumors of houses on Capitol Hill ALREADY rented for more than 20 000$. Another person I met said he was putting his small student apartment up for 5000, for 2 nights$ I just checked Craig's List, and houses located about an hour away from Washington's centre are listed for 10 000$ or 12 000$. That is simply insane!

But, we will be staying home, sleeping in our own bed, and nobody has asked us yet to crash on our sofa (don't try it, this is not an invitation!). One thing though, I think we should stock up on food, water, and toilet paper (hey, three essentials!) before the inauguration, as 4 million additional people here might just cause the whole infrastructure to collapse! And, thankfully, we are close enough to walk over to the Mall, and will not have to suffer in overstuffed metro trains. Maybe, even with 4 million other people around, we will still get a mini glimpse of Barack and Michelle... but one way or the other, I am certain it will be worth all the trouble to be there!

Gaston

Free Jeans!

I went to Macy's today, since they were having a sale (woo-hoo!) I chose a pair of jeans, then walked around the store to get some socks and a pair of shoes. At the register, the cashier could not find any tags on the jeans. He removed the security button, handed me the jeans, and said: "If you don't mind, could you pay for them in the denim department, since I don't have the info here to ring them up." He basically handed me a free pair of jeans! Without any tags or security devices, I could have walked out of that store and nobody would have ever noticed that a pair of jeans had disappeared! But, I am an honest little Canadian after all, I was raised better than that. So, I did pay for the jeans, and chose not to shoplift. But I kept on thinking: 'Man, these Americans are so damn trusting!"

Gaston

Gotta Do More Gotta Be More

The air in DC today felt like it had drifted straight down from Canada. It smelt of Ottawa in the Fall. The sun cast a cool yellow glow on everything, the atmosphere was crisp and uplifting, and the cold wind came at you like a slap in the face. Not the kind of slap though that would come from an angry lover – rather the kind that urges you to wake up, and injects you with energy. It made me want to jump up on the nearest Washington Post box and scream “Gotta do more, gotta be more!” (Funny how “Dead Poets' Society” still has an influence even twenty years later).

(Pic from the movie Dead "Poets' Society", taken from the Internet, not my own, of course)
Speaking of young over-achievers, I met a most inspiring photographer last night, Jeff Hutchens. DC Photo Week is on right now and the town in saturated with opportunities to meet top professionals in the field. Jeff Hutchens’ pictures really convey strong feelings, a definite sense of place, and I was really captured by them. It makes me want to think of everything differently when looking though my camera’s view finder. You can see his stuff at http://www.jeffhutchens.com/

So, continue checking my website http://www.gastonlacombe.com/ to see if my photography style will eventually get more refined!

By the way - Happy 90th Birthday Latvia! Even if you've pushed me out, I still wish you the best. Hope your next few years won't be as dark as the last three.

Gaston