Archive for March, 2008
#34 Scale the Lowest Highest Point in a State [podcast]
Mar 20th
Hey Team,
Here it is…let’s just pretend I cross the international dateline or something. I’d hate to have to admit I actually missed a deadline.
Okay, less talk more action. I hope this one is up to par, I didn’t have a lot of time this week that wasn’t taken up by either driving or sitting on a bus. BUT, here it is!
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player. var WT1_1 = { params : { wmode : "opaque", allowscriptaccess : "always", allownetworking : "all", allowfullscreen : "true"}, flashvars : { file : "http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amtrekker.com%2Findex.php%3Fxspf%3Dtrue%26id%3D20", volume : "80", bufferlength : "5", controlbar : "over", 'logo.hide' : "false", shuffle : "false", playlist : "bottom"}, attr : { id : "WT1", name : "WT1"}, start : function() { swfobject.embedSWF("http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/player.swf", "WT1_1", "437", "522", "9.0.0", false, this.flashvars, this.params , this.attr ); } } WT1_1.start();Okey Dokey, here’s that YouTube link.
I’m done.
Brett.
If you like the podcasts I found a button for you to click.
Thanks!
AKPC_IDS += "248,";
Delayed Gratification
Mar 19th
Hey Team,
It was bound to happen eventually. The week when travel manages to take so much time and effort that I miss out on getting the podcast up in time. Obviously I couldn’t edit while I was driving across country (but don’t think I didn’t try). And now I might have a chance if not for the outlet-less seats of your friendly neighborhood Greyhound.
I made the drive to San Francisco without incident and dropped off Murell’s truck (He had an ad on craigslist.org looking to pay for the gas if someone was willing to drive his truck from Atlanta to SF for him) but only had a few hours to kill before I had to hop on a bus for Salt Lake City.
Count on the video being awesome and appearing as soon as humanly possible (UPDATE: The editing is done it just has to compress and upload…but I’ll need to find a place to make that happen. Count on it being there first thing tomorrow morning at the latest!) AND tomorrow brings with it a whole new fly-fishing list-crossing adventure!
Stay Tuned, Team…I’ll be right back.
Brett.
AKPC_IDS += "247,";Swamptrekker
Mar 17th
Hey Team,
Turns out updating a website while frantically barreling across the country in someone else’s truck on a tight deadline is a little more difficult than one may think. Blame the long BORING road for the dearth of posts this week. I’ll make up for it by making this a good one!
When I was passing through Louisiana I had the opportunity to take someone up on their offer to take me on a swamp boat ride with gators (#45)! Not a fan boat…but I’ve had several people write in and tell me how notoriously bad fan boats are for the ecosystem and now that I’ve actually seen one in action I’m not sure my conscience could take riding in it.
SO, thanks to Coerte (pronounced Kurt) over at The Atchafalaya Experience I was able to do one better! Kurt and his crew (son and grandson) have a set of much smaller boats that they use for swamp tours outside Lafayette, LA rigged with outboard motors, one of which will even continue to operate in soft mud. As a result they can get deeper into the swamp AND these guys love what they do. (I love people that love what they do…it usually More >
Lowest Highest Point.
Mar 14th
Hey Team,
Here’s the skinny: I’m supposed to be in Utah by the 19th to go fly-fishing but getting across the country is expensive…so sometimes you have to get creative.
I was checking craigslist.org for rideshares a few days ago and came across an ad for a guy who is moving to San Francisco and needs his truck delivered. Shipping a car across the country is an even more expensive proposition than “shipping” a person. So Murell is paying for the gas and trusting me to get his car to SF by the 18th so I can hop over to SLC from there. Thanks Murell!
All I have to do is spend a MISERABLE amount of time alone in a truck staring at the road (not a book, don’t worry guys). But on the upside I decided to take the southern route across which means I can make a couple list crossing pit stops along the way!
Yesterday I stopped at a little thing I like to call the “Lowest Highest Point in a state” and…boy howdy am I dumb.
I don’t want to give too much away before Wednesday’s podcast but suffice it to say:
1. I got HORRIBLY lost and didn’t end up at More >
#24 Be Part of a Stage Illusion [podcast]
Mar 12th
Hey Team,
No more waiting! It’s Wednesday again and after almost a month long wait between objectives here it is…#24!
Thanks again to Terry Evanswood and Jay of Magic Beyond Belief and to Pat and Helen for getting in touch with them.
I had a blast! I hope the rest of you enjoy this week’s video half as much as I enjoyed being there.
(OH! Also this is the first week of a new compression setting to compliment the Apple TV and HOPEFULLY give a much clearer picture. Sadly, it also means longer download times. Let me know if it doesn’t work on any of your players. And just in case, I used the old settings for the youtube version. If I don’t hear any complaints that wont happen next week though.)
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player. var WT2_2 = { params : { wmode : "opaque", allowscriptaccess : "always", allownetworking : "all", allowfullscreen : "true"}, flashvars : { file : "http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amtrekker.com%2Findex.php%3Fxspf%3Dtrue%26id%3D21", volume : "80", bufferlength : "5", controlbar : "over", 'logo.hide' : "false", shuffle : "false", playlist : "bottom"}, attr : { id : "WT2", name : "WT2"}, start : function() { swfobject.embedSWF("http://www.amtrekker.com/wp-content/uploads/player.swf", "WT2_2", "437", "522", "9.0.0", false, this.flashvars, this.params More >Quarry On
Mar 11th
Hey Team,
I’m headed south now but I ended up staying in Knoxville for an extra day when it looked like some members of a Bluegrass band I was mysteriously hanging around with might know some moonshiners.
Sadly, things didn’t quite work out but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun times hanging out with a bluegrass playing guitarist from New Jersey, a banjo player fresh off the Appalachian Trail, a fiddle player/former Zen monastery resident, and an upright bassist with a propensity for turning Metallic into bluegrass.
And of course, my too (and two) cool couch surfing hosts, Rachel and Abbey, who not only showed me around the city but took me out to an old abandoned rock quarry complete with an old abandoned factory.
The Ijams Quarry was up there with the coolest sights I’ve seen on this trip. (But then again I’m a sucker for climbing around on things I probably shouldn’t.) Each portion of the Quarry was like a completely different world and it was all so shut off from the city despite its proximity.
A large portion of it had filled up with water and created a pretty clear (and sizable) pond, complete with fresh water jellyfish, that I was assured More >
Magically Ambitious
Mar 10th
Hey Team,
I’m sure I’ve said this a hundred times by now but I am continually blown away by how often people surpass my expectations of kindness. I spent most of yesterday in Pigeon Forge, TN thanks to Helen and her mom Pat’s connections to the Magic Beyond Belief show and Terry Evanswood. (Also…no such thing as the internet there, sorry for the delay on this post.)
But if I’m going to be honest (and that’s kind of what I strive for) when I spoke on the phone with Jay, one of the Magic Beyond Belief honchos, earlier in the week I started to get concerned that this was going to be yet another dead-end. Over the phone the situation didn’t sound super promising. I didn’t get the feeling that they were very excited to help out (not that I could fault anyone for a lack of excitement, like I said, it’s a complete surprise every time anyone offers to help out) over at the show and worse it didn’t look like I was going to have the opportunity to film ANY of it.
(Well, worse for you anyway…I still would have had the chance to do something I’ve always wanted to do More >
Magic is About to Happen
Mar 8th
Hey Team,
I made it to Pigeon Forge, TN today thanks Tommy, my Couch Surfing Host, Jessica’s, friend. Why would I come to a place called Pigeon Forge if I’ve already been to a place called Bald Knob? Sadly, I don’t just visit places based on how ridiculous their names sound. I’m actually here to cross a little something called #24 off the list today!
Despite the small town name it turns out Pigeon Forge is actually…well, a really small town. But at least it has delusions of grandeur. This may be one of the strangest “cities” I’ve ever been in.
It’s mostly just one street (but it’s a long street…so there’s that) but instead of the general store, the post office and the gas station they have thirteen miniature golf courses, twenty-eight pancake houses, eight comedy shows, shops and hotels galore, a building filled with singing mechanical bears and the Magic Beyond Belief Theater!
Which is why I’m here. They have my seat saved and the illusion all picked out all I have to do is show up at 8:15 and convince someone to be my cameraman!
I’m going to go wander down to the Fudge, Knives, Swimwear and Leather Shop (no joke, this More >
