Fragile Flowers

Nature is my religion. It's my one true mainstream faith as real to me as Christianity or Judaism or Islamic beliefs are to others. When I observe the silent grace of a fragile flower sprouting through a rocky surface or the comforting glow of a full moon or the unexplained joy of a setting sun I'm lifted up spiritually. These images inspire and transforms me to feel compassionately and optomistically, despite living in a material world that abuses nature's wonders and heaps criticism on those who practice otherwise. My pilgrimmages include places like walking Mount Tamalpais with it's overgrown redwood trees and staring at the stars on a beach shore in Ogunquit, Maine and skiing the back country of Big Sky, Montana. When I've sat by the ocean on a cool autumn evening staring up at the stars listening to the waves crash there's a connection with something far greater and more powerful than sitting on cold pew in a hallow building. Why meditate in a yoga stance when the transcendent beauty of a thick jungle or spraying waterfall or even a Zen garden can provide for all the sensory overload one needs for the mind, body and soul? Even though I was raised Methodist who wouldn't agree that the equality of nature is so much more appealing than the inclusiveness of any one organized path.

Hats Off in Saratoga

"Saratoga makes the Hamptons look like Buffalo!" repeated a Long Island princess waiting for drinks at Gaffneys bar. I smiled proudly - it was the best complement I ever heard describe my favorite upstate horse town. I've never seen the city streets so crammed with fashionable fans and sporty chic millionaires (or so many of them claim to be). The beautiful weather gave me the confidence needed to donn a slim little silk number and parade around town like I owned the place - myself and 3 of my favorite sexy soul sisters. On every corner, bands belted out hot hits from blues to country to rock to folk to reggae. With a full moon keeping company Hats Off weekend couldn't have been brighter to kick-start a season of legendary horse racing.

Panama on my Mind

At the end of August last year I was happily roaming through the dense jungles of Sobernia National Park in Panama. My stops stretched from Panama City on the Pacific side, up the Panama Canal via the transcontinental railroad, concluding in the historic tourist town of Portobelo on the Caribbean Sea. By way of boat, canoe and foot, I explored the inner-workings of an ecological paradise that few travelers, outside of the U.S. military who once used the jungle as training grounds for the Vietnam war, have ever experienced. The hot and humid visit rates up there as one of my most favorite places because of the many preservation efforts taking place and the close friendships made. Friends like Skip and Jill Berger, card-carrying US transplants who stayed in Panama long after the Americans invaded in 1990 and/or relinquished control of the canal in 1999.

But crime and corruption is only a newpaper story away for poor Panama and old faces like former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega wants to come home. After serving 17 of a 30-year sentence on cocaine trafficking and racketeering charges in a Miami prison, the 71-year old flys free on Sept. 9. Once a friend of the US CIA then a foe (it gets very complicated) Noriega is being released on good behavior. But before he retires to his bungalow by the beach he's wanted by the France government for buying luxury apartments with drug money. Since he's already charged he still faces a 10-year jail term there. And since Panama has prospered greatly from democratic opportunities in the last 10 years the last thing that President Torrijos (I suspect) would want to concern his country with is a defacto dictator linked to murder and human rights violations.

It's a tug-of-war with a man who was flushed out from hiding by playing loud rock music (Van Halen's 'Panama') repeatedly until he surrendered. Politics aside nothing should discourage you from visiting Panama - especially this October when the annual feast for the senses - the Pilgrimmage to Portobelo - welcomes over 20,000 travelers.

USS Slater Resuscitated

For all you war buffs out there, did you know that the only WWII Destroyer Escort remaining afloat in the U.S. is parked right here in downtown Albany? After spending a couple years in NYC next to the Intrepid aircraft carrier, the ship found a permanent home underneath the 787 bypass just south of the Corning Preserve. With the help of aging veterans and volunteers she's undergone an extensive ten-year restoration. One of eight engines now runs and powers lights, sonar, the galley and all the bells and whistles to keep schoolkids at attention during tours.

"When she first sailed up the Hudson she was a pitiful sight for soar eyes, a true rust-bucket" describes Mike, a female volunteer guide who did a stint in the Navy in 1945. "But you'd be amazed what a new coat of paint and a whole lot of TLC can do."

She and dozens of saluting WWII heros relived their exploits and adventures for my cameras yesterday remembering how the USS Slater protected convoys of men and material from Nazi U-Boats in the North Atlantic. "The USS Slater has a soul that you can feel" explained the Captain and from stern to stern I wedged myself down every open shaft and small cavity feeling that soul in the smells and sounds of the yesterdays greatest generation.

Iron Men, Women and Dogs

...and the winners are 26-year-old Alex Mroszczyk-McDonald with a race time of 9:51:03 and Belinda Granger with 9:40:20. The energy of the crowd complemented by Mother Nature's finest made for an easy victory for Alex, who pushed through a 2.4 mile swim in 54:11, a 112 mile bike ride in 5:17 and then a complete marathon in 2:59 hours. Belinda did just as well, both are truly truly amazing professionals. And I was there, spraying fantastic footage of all 2500 tri-athletes as they biked and ran. Unfortunately, I could kick myself for not getting up early enough to see the initial swim meet at dawn.

This was the busiest weekend of the year for Lake Placid, drawing in at least 22,000 spectators from around the country including several license plates from Canada. The quaint little village ballooned into skinny man's paradise with gatorade and powerbars on every corner and no accumulated body mass indexes over 25. Spectators cheered on 2,500 super humans by handing out water, lending a cheer or a wave and donning posters that read "Nice Bunns"! That got the two 70 year old men competing smiling even after grueling climbs up and past several high peaks in the Adirondacks. Tomorrow I'll launch some youtube clips so you can enjoy the highlights.

Since nobody came to our dog-sitting rescue Rocco jumped aboard for the trip. He was a wonderful traveling companion sleeping peacefully in the back seat and holding his bladder better than my own. I anticipate more tales...err, I mean tails with my rescue mutt on future blogs!

Let the Games Begin

Tomorrow morning I'm taking off bright and early to witness the 9th annual Iron Man Triathlon Competition in Lake Placid, NY. Sis, me, pops and his wife are converging at our own staging point somewhere between the 1980 Olympic Stadium and the mammoth ski jump.

The weekend expects to pull in over 22,000 spectators and 2000 top athletes from around the world. An elite few will swim 2.4 miles in cold water, bike a grueling 112 miles up and down the Adirondack mountains and then wrap it up by running a complete marathon (26.2 miles). Oh my, I need an oxygen tank just thinking about the lung capacity needed to keep a body in motion for that long. Mirror Lake will be balmy so wetsuits are allowed.

Back in my twenties I used to watch female Norba races every chance I got marveling at the stamina needed to race. Norba was soley bike riding but doing so fast, furious and fanatically so that most of my photos ended up blurry. But the Iron Man Competition promises thrills, chills and excitement beyond compare even with the Olympics itself which I remember enjoying briefly in 1980. Check back next week for updates, bragging rights and mucho media coverage.

Climbing Higher with HD

This is the New York State Capital "Great Western Staircase" also known as the "Million Dollar Staircase." Following a rental of my new HD camera/lens on Monday to local musician extraordinaire, James Taylor and company, California artist extraordinaire Molly Corey requested 5 hours worth of footage of this impressive feat for her exhibit debuting this summer. I was psyched to break in the new gear and especially the new GlideCam 4000 Pro amidst a stonecarver's paradise, a staircase that was completed in 1896 and includes over 300 portraits of famous politicians. I'm officially a certified steadycam operator now but not before practicing like crazy to perfect the talent. Not only is manning a steadycam a complex game of balancing and stability, it's physically exhausting with beads of sweat pouring off my brow like Niagara Falls. But it's also the best time I've ever had running up 444 stairs a dozen times perfecting the countless angles and vantage points. When Molly finishes editing she'll pass along the 30 minute show to partially post at Pilotgirl Productions. Stop by often to see examples.

The Veggie Mobile

The Capital District Community Gardens, a nonprofit agency, has a colorful new vehicle to show off - it's called the Veggie Mobile. Much like the local Ding-A-Ling icecream truck it too plays music and sells something sweet but in this case it's blueberries, strawberries, mangos, bananas and a mess of fresh veggies that won't cause the dentist to cringe. It's a farmers mini-market on wheels with all the same green items you'd find at a supermarket but far cheaper and better tasting.

In the short time that it's been on the road, the Veggie Mobile has caught the attention of The New York Times, The Today Show and the local PBS station, WMHT, who hired PilotGirl Productions this week to shoot and edit the story for a weekly magazine show called "It's an Age Thing".

The Veggie Mobile is the brainchild of two environmentally-conscious idealists, Amy and E.J., who retrofited a half-ton diesel with photovoltaic cells to power the inside refrigerator and built a ramp for shoppers to get inside. And when Duke Ellington and Miles Davis are piped through 2 roof-top loudspeakers people flock to the Veggie Mobile like a returning migration. The van caters specifically to poor and elderly communities in Troy, Schenectady and Albany because none of the downtown areas have supermarkets. I'm not even sure if the Ding-A-Ling truck even cruises its city streets. Commuting to the suburbs can be a strain on the budget and a burden for older people to lug so the Veggie Mobile fills the gap by parking only doors away from low-income apartment complexes and elderly homes three days a week. It's a win-win for parents, kids, aging folk and even dentists.

Biking 50 Before Noon

I knew I was in trouble when Nola mentioned that we would be biking a short stint of only 50-60 miles before noon. As hungry vultures circled me from above I thought surely I was going to die, my carcass picked clean by scavenging birds. Miss Nola, my super-guru-biking-buddy, was kicking my butt again but biking so far out in front that she clearly didn't see the predicament I was in. I was growing weak from dehydration, had just narrowly escaped a rotweiller and the hills we climbed, I swear, were laughing at me!


.....to be continued (I'm falling asleep with exhaustion)

Okay, I'm back.

Our destination included a small pinprick of a town tucked away in the Helderberg mountains. Historical B&B's, equestrian farms, cow pastures and old grist mills border a village known as Rensselaerville, NY. While peddling up the steep terrain I balanced my camera in one hand and snapped up a bunch of beautifully unobstructed mountain views of the Catskills. The picturesque landscape took my mind off the seething respiratory pain in my left lung for at least a few seconds...

5 miles from Rensselaerville and I thought better of continueing out trek. I had a wedding/reception to shoot by 3pm and doubted if I'd have the energy needed to film Uncle Bob kicking up his heels on the dance floor at midnight if we continued. Besides, I was getting anxious for the return trip when we could kick back and left gravity take us home. The Holy Grail of hills extended for over 3 miles and Nola and I clocked in at 40 mph zipping our way past S-turns and potholes. Our 2 hour ascent culminated in a 10 minute descent ripping past picturesque photos I took that we were now just a blurrrrr. We even managed to break for the first barrel of fresh corn at Stanton's Farm Market and fill our rucksacks with lunch.

PT Boats and Stone Homes

Today I took a long ride through Ulster County discovering places like Kingston, Hurley, Stone Ridge and Phoenicia. I was on assignment to shoot historical community video with busy business districts, recreational boating on the Hudson and, if I could find any, some brave souls climbing the gunks.

I came across this rare find when an old crusty Marine, who claimed to work for CBS in his youth, escorted me to his favorite hangouts down by the banks. It's amazing how friendly and hospitable folk get when they see a film-like camera wanting to capture the best a town has in tourism.

This PT boat was getting a little facelift today. It relocated to Kingston from Key West, Florida last September. It dates back to 1945 and is the last Vosper Motor Torpedo Boat afloat in military configuration today. Currently, she has been refitted and restored and Certified by US Coast Guard to carry 49 passengers.

The second shot is of Du Mond House or the Spy House built in 1690. During October and November 1777 the house was used by the Continental army as a guard house for prisoners and a “spy” was held in the basement dungeon.

This weekend Hurley, NY showcases the oldest private homes (1690's-1790's) in America with tours through their 346 year old National Historic Landmark Dutch village. Some homes claim to have been an underground railroad stop while others have had unexplained ghost phenomenon.

Get Well Soon

Because National Grid Electricty still hadn't fixed the Capital Region power outage by 5pm I decided to escape the heat and head to the Spectrum Theater. My insured-teacher-friend, Mrs. Deb offered to treat me to my new favorite documentary "Sicko".

In the movie "Sicko", Moore drops his trademark self-aggrandizing and showboating and delivers the most powerful, persuasive and disturbing truths about our health care system. Instead of getting angry and upset, like when I watched Fahrenheit 9/11, I sat bemused and disappointed that one-time crusader Hillary was bought by big money to shut up and that Nixon actually kickstarted the legislative national profit-based HMO program and that the American Medical Association distributed a record featuring Ronald Reagan discussing the evils of socialized medicine. Of course, this is not a revelation by any stretch but obvious corruption in both parties leaves me hopeless.

Democrat or Republican, it doesn't matter - activist like Michael Moore discovers the truth behind our whole healthcare mess without pointing fingers at any one party but mergering the two equally. Governments and corporate media are guilty of creating xenophobia and fear among the masses morphing descent citizens into preachy savage bullies. Rather than learning from our European counterparts, political pundits and jaded journalists belittle universal health care and offer little hope of change.

Even an independent thinker I know running for office insists that universal health care wouldn't work because too many people would take advantage of it and taxes would soar. A cynical thought that fear-mongering pharmaceutical and insurance companies would want my friend to believe. But bashing Moore or France or universal health care is not going to make this problem go away.

And, just for chagrins, lets just suppose that everything in this film is embellished, fabricated, one-sided and outrageous. There's no argueing the fact that according to the World Health Organization, the United States comes in at No. 37 in health-care systems, just above Slovenia.

After watching "Sicko" I came to the realization that the only issue more important than the environment and ending our gazillion dollar war in Iraq is fixing our broken health-care system. A privitized health care system that many friends and family suffer through every day. I did some homework just now and found reason to support Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat from Ohio running for President in 2008. Time will tell if he can fight the powerful lobbists who represent rich pharmaceutical and insurance companies though. Regardless, make a pledge today to support universal health care in the next President of the U.S.

Lights Out in Delmar

Another crazy storm burst through my neighborhood yesterday knocking out power, toppling tree limbs and blowing over basketball hoops into the street. The hottest day of the year and National Grid doesn't expect to replenish my block until tomorrow. Uggh. Thank Goodness that Panera Bread just down the road offers free wi-fi with my Chicken Frontega. Mutti and I are sitting in air conditioned comfort as my poor dog lays panting in the basement of my dark colonial. It seems that everything had the same thought as tons of tables around me are filled with busy typing cell-phone-answering suits. As much the romance of candlelight and lanterns and bonding with my neighbors helps deflate the anxiety of the moment, I give myself one more day of this power outage and I'll be moving into Panera permanently!

Bobby's Basketball Hero

He's my stalkers favorite coach in the whole wide world (hi Bobby) but for me... well, I confess, I've never watched one Syracuse University Big East basketball game in my entire life. I know, I know, shame on me. Neither, have I ever been inside the University Carrier Dome, the largest domed stadium on a college campus. Still, I did my best to learn all about Coach Boeheim before filming him today for an interview high up in the bleachers of the old Manley Field House. This was another interview needed to flush out the extraordinary talents of a Swiss runner named Serge Roetheli. It's a documentary finally wrapping up this summer with editing.

Village Recreation

For 4th of July I spent a rainy day on a piece of private property converted into a turn-of-the-century family plantation with outhouses, old stone, brick and wooden buildings and even a dilapitated church. The owner decided 30 years ago to save seriously old buildings by dissembling them board by board and then transplanted them on his 5-acre farm near Troy, New York. The buildings are full of antique furniture, cracked paintings, barn tools, hanging lanterns and a reminiscent musty smell that clings to your clothes. It's a wonderful interactive learning center for kids though I'm not sure if the owner encourages school trips. Still, on July 4th there's no better place to enjoy fresh cobs of corn, a fashionable flag cake with raspberries and free Chardonnay with about 100 others who share my enthusiasm for history. Happy Independence Day everyone!

Meltdown for Millions

I've always wanted to journey to Greenland aboard a ski-equipped LC-130 with scientists from the Stratton National Guard. The Guard is only a few miles from where I live and they own a year-round research station funded in part by the National Science Foundation that perform daily atmospheric testing. Instead I've landed a chance to write about it for GoNomad come this August! Witnessing the last vestiges of glaciers splinter into the sea with thunderous fury will no doubt make for amazing footage but seeing the consequences of global warming will cause me even greater consternation than I already have. Times Union writer, Paul Grondahl, took a trip to Greenland last week to witness the more immediate effects of climate change like disappearing polar bears, Inuit traditions and icebergs floating dangerously close to fishing ports. He writes that "If the entire Greenland ice cap melted - which is unlikely with the next several hundred years - sea levels could rise by as much as 21 feet...displacing millions of people." This is scary stuff and likely to continue until our government (as wells as China, Russia, India and Australia) wake up and smell the coal, gas and diesel fumes themselves.

Soup Nazi in Kingston

On my way to Manhattan today Bob and I stopped off at Mariners Lobster House - billed as one of the finest seafood houses in the Hudson Valley.

We took our seats on the back deck overlooking the creek and enjoyed a fabulous lunch featuring a hearty portion of delicious New England clam chowder. This creamy concoction served up with a small bag of salty oyster crackers is as American as apple pie. In fact, Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, once wrote "Oh sweet friends! hearken to me. It (the soup) was made of small juicy clams, scarcely bigger than hazel nuts, mixed with pounded ship biscuit, and salted pork cut up into little flakes; the whole poached with butter, and plentifully seasoned with pepper and salt." He must have ate in Kingston where a chef akin to a soup Nazi makes the meanest bowl of bubbling white paste ever digested.

A little history about chowder: it's a culinary staple in the Northeast and if cooked properly the recipe enhances the flavors of the meal served after. I've never attempted to make my own but seeing that I can barely balance my check book I'll save my kitchen prowess for no-brainers like mac and cheese. I know this much though ~ after combining potatoes, clams, onions, flour, cream, milk, salt, bacon grease, clam juice you saute, season, steam, simmer and stir. Voila - done. There's no better taste to trumpet in a town where the Bill of Rights was written before the Brits burned the place to the ground in 1777. If only they had a sample of chowder beforehand they probably would have reconsidered.

Seen Sicko?

My poor family. Strokes, cancer, heart conditions, muscular dystrophy and psychological issues plague our DNA and that list applies to this week's ailments alone. Next week will include a whole new list of diseases and syndromes to worry about. The thing is we all eat healthy, we don't drink (not too much anyway), we exercise like crazy and yet... shit happens. I'm a fool to think I can go much longer without health insurance while so many relatives are sick and hospitalized. But I'm one in 50 million citizens in this country without insurance, 18,000 who will die this year because they're uninsured. Which brings me to the new Michael Moore movie - "Sicko." I'm anxious as ever to see what slams, stunts and attacks Moore can unleash on the abusers of this controversial topic. I read that health care workers and even the Nurse's Association are ralling in support of what many are saying is Moore's strongest film ever. They say that the American health-care system has been a sick joke for years and rather than the media to confront this problem, it takes an overweight, baseball cap-wearing filmmaker with no more than a highschool degree to bully the system. This is a movie that will stir the emotions of everyone, with or without insurance to take action, fix the hypocrisies and get well! Make sure you see it soon if you haven't already.