Coming soon....

I've been working on a composition that relates to all of my experiences in the bush, searching for answers. In addition, there are some theories and conversations with those who have been a part of the discovery and learning process when it comes to the search for the elusive species we refer to as Sasquatch or Bigfoot. Yes, I do know there are many other names, but for brevity, I think we can leave it at that for now. 

As one of my friends pointed out to me (with permission to quote);

"It is refreshing to see how effectively you can paint a scene in your mind, as you move forward, you come to realize that the story has pleasantly grown the way you expected it to."

He was commenting on a section that I sent to him to review for accuracy, should I have left out any parts or misrepresented anything.

I should have a firm date soon, publishing efforts are already in progress for print and electronic distribution. Just awaiting the ISBN clarification and distribution channel once it is obtained.

Reviving a weathered camera.

Took a lesson from my own books and decided to be patient - really patient with a trail camera. So much so that when I went to retrieve it I really felt that it was going to be a wasted trip. Inside the cam there were obvious signs of moisture. A mess. The external battery was still intact, buried in the battery box under a mountain of leaves. The solar panel was still attached to the tree, mind you, it looked like something was playing with it. It was angled in a funny way. Maybe a raccoon or squirrel.
The memory card had green fuzz on some of the contacts. I have not tried to read it yet. It's currently in a sealed container with rice and silica gel packs.

This camera has been out for almost 2 year. Yes, 2 years. Why did I wait so long? What was the point?

Having used this camera before (I have a 2-pack of them) I knew that with the right setup these things can go pretty much forever, using renewable energy and a good external battery.

The display was still on, mind you some of the elements in the LCD were flickering and some were not even showing up at all. I thought it might have been because of a low voltage situation but the low battery LED was not on. Maybe it was beyond that or burnt out.

Not being able to read the display very well, I can only guess that the picture count said 1248. Now if that is the case, then the memory card is still able to be "read" by the camera, meaning we might have a good chance of downloading the photos. It will stay in the dehydration setup for a while, then I will try and communicate with the card.

Wish me luck!

No to techno.

A chat with a friend, adamant to remain disconnected from technology so he gets his 24 hours of "life" per day, only recently started carry a cell phone because of health issues.
Never touched a computer except for when he worked for a few months at a gas bar, quipped that the Lottery machine was about as close he came to operating one.

Having worked with him several years ago, I took an interest in his carpentry skills and always tried to keep in touch, albeit few and far between when we would actually be able to hookup and chit-chat.

It was not until recently that we chatted, I asked him why technology does not work to his advantage. Banking online, staying in touch, being able to say "I'm ok" or "Happy Birthday". No, he still goes to the bank, never been online. Fumbles to text message when his kids bug him to do so. Snail mail is the preferred choice of communication. I'm left scratching my head - how can this be efficient and give you your 24 hour day?

He merely replied "I don't need to count the hours in a day. If I do, I'm on a schedule. I'm retired, I do not have a schedule. People are dying far too early because they need to pack that extra hour into their day."
"If a cell phone or computer buys me an hour of time, what did I push aside to gain that?"

I told him he should be a philosopher. So true.

Camp - Just a nice camp. Refreshing....Relaxing!!!

Take a peek at the pic below:

Looks pretty good, right? Yeah, it was fantastic. Great week out at camp. 

We bought a new barbecue with a propane feed hose to the tank you see in the pic (below). It worked great the first night. Thereafter, nothing. I feared the tank was empty but the weight did not seem to be at that point. I know what a 20lb empty propane tank weighs. Hooking up our stove confirmed that the tank still had gas. Believe it or not, it was a defective hose. That is disturbing but mind you, could be as simple as a grain of sand plugging the valve.

We had two tents setup, one for storage (the one on the left) - and on the picnic table is the BBQ and hose

Bikes were brought up on a "Allen" bike rack and it really is fantastic. $~50 on Amazon.ca and this thing carried two mountain bikes for the whole 400+ km trip. No problem and highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.ca/Allen-Sports-Deluxe-2-Bike-Carrier/dp/B00ASSQYK4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1378610084&sr=8-2&keywords=allen+bike+rack

Site was fantastic. Private. Quiet. Could you ask for anything more?

And why pay for a hydro site? Don't want to have to keep starting the car to charge the battery because you are using the cig. lighter. Don't want to have to start the car at all.

So.....this is all we used and it worked perfect. iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, lanterns, etc. All were powered by a battery and solar cell.

5 watt panel into a utility battery.

Coleman 7w foldable solar panel. 12 v and USB output

Now, can I ask about lighting? We have two LED lanterns, crank or USB chargeable. They offer both features. They work well, provide ample light,  but last for a far shorter period of time than expected. Mind you, given the fact it was a rechargeable resource, I know that capacity becomes lower the more that you charge the battery pack. I have used these lanterns for several years and maybe that is the reason.

I would love to see a solar area lamp with a replaceable battery pack, sure, proprietary battery pack, which seems to be the norm now, but preferably, just AA or AAA batteries. Enough to light up a picnic table to the point where you could read a book but not be overwhelming.

This post will be updated a few times as I have video and other pics to send but I tell you, it was refreshing. Very refreshing.

Those who have read through and said "Ok, where the heck did you stay??????"

Six Mile Lake Provincial Park. Great place. Great Time. Great People and a great setup. 

Are we going back again? Indeed. 

J

Routine

I have not used an alarm clock for several years now. I get up at the same time, give or take 10 minutes, every day. It's the same routine. Pack my lunch, catch up on email and news, have breakfast, etc....then out the door.

Habitual behavior gets to the point where you don't even have to think about a lot of things that you do. It is like your body is driving you on autopilot. You are aware of your activities but accept it as a daily routine of what you are supposed to do.

Now you throw in variables. Let's take something that you do not do everyday but it needs to be done. Like taking garbage and recycling to the curb every Thursday. Does the time gap catch you off guard? It's been a week since the last time you did it, is your mind trained well enough to make that trip to the curb part of your routine?

In some cases yes, but we are in the age of information overload. More often, it takes trigger points to make pull us back into our element and get us on track. Simple things, like looking at a calendar, "oh it's Thursday", or a simple conversation "Can you bring the kitchen garbage out?" - things start to kick in and you are again reminded of what you are supposed to do.

It is said that everything you experience is stored in your memory. It's just a matter of being able to recall it.
Which brings me to the point of why I am posting this.
If you do something with repetition, a daily task, a daily routine, you are probably not as prone to remember exactly what you did.
For example, Do your daily routine. For me, I end up being at work for the day after my routine is done at home. At lunchtime, think back about what you did in the morning - you can easily recall. Now put some detail into it. Try it - were there dishes in the sink? Where was the cat? What did you pack for lunch? How much toothpaste is left?

Some can answer. Some cannot. Yet it is a daily task. Your body is on autopilot, just doing it's thing.

Now take a situation that is out of this world. You see a horrific accident as you drive to work. You vividly remember it, for days, months or years to come. On that day, think back about your regiment. How much toothpaste do you have left? Did you empty the dishwasher? At that point it might be a blur. Your "routine" was thrown off.

Or was it?

You still did what you had to do in the morning. You still made it to work. You are doing what you always did yet something remains that is the focus of your attention - the accident.

Things sometimes happen fast. I see a lot of accidents and unusual things on the way to work. I have been trying this theory that you can build your memory by viewing something that you do not see every day, then recalling something that you do every day. Some detail about it. Then refer back to it later. Even if it's something as simple as a license plate number from a hot looking sports car, then referring back to what is on the topshelf of your fridge, what you had for dinner the night before. When was the last time you vacuumed.

In time, I think it has helped me remember details. Why is this important? Well the benefits are obvious but just think about those reports we have seen from people who cannot remember much about their experience(s).
Have you ever seen a newscast - "suspect was driving a silver sedan heading northbound on Main St."
Great. That accounts for about 1600 residents who live on Main St. It's the details that count.

Happy Friday!

Quiet...

Thank you to those who have written in about my recent silence with the Blog and Simply Sasquatch Radio. It was not intentional. There is a time and place for everything and sometimes the timing just doesn't work in your favour - your are caught off guard with things and before you know it months have past.

Simply Sasquatch Radio is not dead. No, in fact, it is coming back very shortly.
As for the blog - well, here I am posting!

My last trip took me to a place just outside of Sudbury back in May. It was a good trip and comfortable, since we had a pair of motorhomes to stay in. Could have roughed it and do the tent thing, or sleep in the truck, but the convenience was to appetizing to pass up.

This past trip taught me a lot about the dangers of being alone, especially when using a ATV. Never drive alone. Always have someone with you on another machine. And make sure at least one vehicle has a winch. We learned that. Several times over.

This trip also taught me that trails are not maintained by anyone in particular, at least where we were. They are just groomed by the traffic that passes through. Large obstacles, such as fallen trees, are typically pushed or pulled aside but nothing really more than that. ATV's are quite capable of navigating some pretty intense terrain.

What I really enjoyed was the fact that is was very private and quiet. We did not see one person, except for traffic on the road, which at best, was minimal. We covered a lot of ground and took in the sights. A great trip.

Happy Summer!

J

Back to Simple

Over the past several months I have logged quite a few miles travelling. Whether it be work related (Montreal) or heading to sunshine and surf, I have enjoyed the paces of learning what works and what doesn't when it comes to the convenience and quality of digital cameras and camcorders.

Some of you might have just paused for a moment and said "what about field trips and bush camping?"

Yes, they are also pertinent, yet not as prevalent as what they have been in the past. It was supposed to be a year of exploration but alas, that year, good 'ol 2012, came and went so quickly that it feels like we lost it. 

Getting sidetracked....but here we go. Have you ever "fumbled"? I call it that - specifically when you want or need to take a picture or video and you have the equipment but it needs to be set to "this" or "that" or the lens is not the best so you have to stand back and compose. Maybe it just takes a while for the darn thing to turn on and focus?

Those "my god! - that's awesome, I need a picture!!" moments. By the time you drag out your SLR or video cam, the moment is over. 

Well, technology is certainly working in our favor. Imagine, being able to pull a camera out, aim and shoot. No prep, just set it on AUTO and that's it. Smart enough to figure out the scene, the action, set the best capture method and there you have it. A great pic, with the camera waiting for the next one to be taken.

RAC, or Rapid Action Cams are basically point and shoot cameras that offer great resolution, fantastic image quality, image stabilization plus a boat load of other features. RAC is a term that I made up because I can think of no other way to describe such a camera. How about maybe just a simple "Point & Shoot" ? Sure, but in my case, I am a little bit more picky with the features that I want.

This might seem like an odd post, given that I have not posted for some time, but hear me out. With Christmas holidays, New Years, Some vacation time that I took, there was one thing in common. People were taking pictures. There were some with SLR's - No doubt some fantastic photos and those cameras certainly have their place. Some had video cameras (Sticking my hand up in the air - I did photo and video with a JVC-HM1 HD camcorder). Some had a simple point & shoot. 

When I was in the Dominican Republic I noticed a couple that were reviewing pictures on a small camera that had a beautiful large screen. Excellent photos. Standing beside them waiting for the bartender to attend to our thirsts, I turned and looked - before I could inquire they left, and I was left with "What type of camera was that?" It was only by fluke that they happened to be in the line to get into the New Years buffet,I  noticed it was a Canon PowerShot Elph 320HS. (cont'd below)

I was impressed with the size. The lack of buttons (in lieu of a larger screen, turns out all the controls are touch-screen based).

Impressed with the fact that it was a 16.1mp camera with full 1080 HD movie recording capabilites (albeit at 24fps, with 30fps on lower resolution),  5x zoom (not that 5x is a lot but given the size of the camera, that's pretty good).

Built in WiFi to transmit your photos to Facebook, Email, Canon Image Gateway. What a nice little camera.

I forgot about this camera up until a few weeks ago. I did a technical survey that was quite long in duration. In return for my time, I was to receive a gift of some nature, which I did - A Canon Elph 320HS camera. Go figure. 

Cameras like a lot of light. This camera is no different. It makes the best of the situation in good lighting conditions but makes up for less than ample scenes where you just can't make it any better. 

I recall a photo I took many years ago, with a digital SLR - my Olympus Evolt. Hard shot, poor lighting. It was my backstop, having the ability to rest my shoulders against something and I ended up with very minimal blur. Fast forward to today, I don't know how it does it but this camera works great with the image stabilization and lighting situations. And, it starts up fast.

Convenience? Yes. Good image quality? Yes. Video - Yes. Tiny size, very tiny. In the end, is it back to simple? Just a point and shoot? Yes, in some cases, it just works. Canon. Nikon, Pentax - They have been in the business for some time now. Yeah, true, the have put out a few lemons but you are not going to know until you try. 

In very few steps, I have a 16 mp camera locked, loaded and ready to shoot even some pretty challenging scenes and it does so quite well. And I tell you, if you do not want to take my word for it, but it, try it, if your not happy, just return the darn thing.

I don't feel like I am as "ill-prepared" when I am out now and it's my own darn fault for not being ready to take that million dollar pic.

(For those who have inquired about the iPhone - yes, it takes great pics and video. The case, on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired, as does the compression codec and lack of image stabilization.)

If you get a chance to try out this camera, you might be impressed. And if you come across one that really strikes your fancy, don't be silent about it. Let us know!!!