Travel & Adventure

I’m CERTifitied

3634886148_d567760e30Seven weeks ago I began taking Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) classes with a few friends here in Los Angeles. Last night I graduated and got a fancy green helmet and vest and an official certificate with near realistic signatures (photo after the jump) that is almost suitable for framing to prove it. I wrote some thoughts about the class last week but all in all I’m glad I took it. It dragged at points but the info I got out of it was well worth it.

My biggest disappointment is that the class took place in Silver Lake so all of the community building aspects of it didn’t really apply to me since I no longer live in Silver Lake. There doesn’t seem to be an as active group in Venice and the one CERT coordinator I met who is active in my area explained it’s more of a larger area of coverage and less frequent group events. Of course I’m complaining about something I could volunteer to help change but I don’t know if that is a role I really want to take on at this point. Who knows. Anyway, my point is the class was worth it and I’m very glad I took it and I’m looking forward to the next levels and steps on this crazy journey.

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Ghost Hunting Equipment

I was (un)lucky enough to receive and invite to join some friends on a bit of a different excursion this evening. See there’s this house, it’s abandoned and during some recent renovations some things started happening. Strange things. Unexplained things. The kind of things that go bump in the night and are picked up on EVPs and leave trails of ectoplasm. OK maybe not so much with the ectoplasm but you get the idea – weird things are going on, people are creeped out so we’re going ghost hunting.

Having never been on a real ghost hunt I’m of course doing double duty to make sure I have the right supplies and equipment. Both to experience what is going on, and make sure whatever is going on there doesn’t follow me home. So this is inventory for the evening:

Ghost hunting gear

  • Flashlight(s) – While I don’t want to scare the ghosts away with blinding lights, I also don’t want to trip or walk into walls. These torches should help ensure that even in the darkest night I can see the light. Specifically I’m bringing a Surefire E2D, Surefire L4, Streamlight MicroStream, and a generic LED UV light, a small red light and a laser pointer.
  • Compass(es) – I found this article which claims a basic compass is better at measuring EMF changes than some fairly expensive electronic equipment. That works for me, so I’m bringing two. One attached to a carabiner and a smaller one on a zipper pull.
  • Camera(s) – For recording anything that goes down of course. I’m bringing my Kodak Zi6 HD flip cam for video, my Cannon TX1 for high res stills and back up video if needed, and my iPhone for random low res stills and I’m bringing an ultrapod in case I need to leave a camera set up somewhere. Tara has a PowerShot she’ll probably bring as well. I’ve been brushing up on my ghost photography skills too.
  • Pen + Paper – For notes and observations. I’m opting for a reporter style lined Moleskine and a space pen (in case I need to write something after being slimmed).
  • Water – You know, to wet my whistle. Being the eco-conscious dude that I am I’ll be transporting that liquidy goodness in a SIGG bottle with a carabiner on the lid for easy transport
  • Whistle – Speaking of whistles, I’m bringing one of those too. Not that I think I’ll particularly need it, but if I get lost or separated from the group and scared it might come in handy. Plus I just picked up this super loud Fox40 and want an excuse to show it off.
  • Snacks – We’ll be eating dinner before hand, but I don’t know what kind of energy ghost hunting takes out of you. Plus, the last thing I need is to get shot with a Ghostbusters photon pack because someone mistook my stomach grumbling for some kind of paranormal threat. A Pro-bar or two should do the trick. Also bringing a 5 hour energy shot just in case the ghosts turn out to be boring as all get out.

Not pictured but obviously included are comfortable shoes and a sweatshirt I can put on or take off depending on the temperature and a bag to carry all this in. I’ll be twittering all this as well, so stay tuned later tonight for a role call of my cohorts.

The Chronicles of Nomia: NYC

Last week I saw flights from LA to NYC were hovering around $200 round trip so I grabbed one on a moments notice and took off for a whirlwind tour. The following is a mostly true account of what went down. Mostly.

Within minutes of touchdown I was already making plans with Bre for evening feasts and scheming at Red Bamboo and less than 2 hours later we were there enjoying some of the best fake meat dishes available anywhere. I usually stay with my friends Kathleen and Atom when in town, and Atom joined us for dinner as well. In addition talk about secret societies and robots, we also discussed Lula’s and how it was a moral imperative for us to head over there for dessert. Unfortunately this was Monday night, and Lula’s is closed on Mondays – a fact we learned upon arrival. Never one to accept defeat, especially not in the way of dessert, we doubled back to Atlas for a stack of Vegan Treats. You can see why:

Atlas cafe

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Changing the world in 5 easy steps – Visit a Different Country

[This is part four of the changing the world in 5 easy steps series]

I’ve come to the conclusion that a great deal of the worlds problems come from people making assumptions about other people’s motives and opinions. And when those people are entire populations of countries that problem compounds quite a bit. A while ago I was talking to a guy, an American, who had a hell of a lot to say about what Europeans thought about Americans, and thus even more about how Americans should act towards and treat Europeans as a whole. This guy fancied himself quite the expert on global relations because he’d been stationed in Germany while in the military and had lived there for about 3 years. Here’s the thing – that was almost 30 years ago and he hadn’t left the US since. However, in his circle of friends he was the most traveled of them all so naturally he was the authority and knew what he was talking about. The only problem is that I, an American who has spent a lot of time in the last 2 years outside of the US, knew he was wrong on just about every single point.

I don’t consider myself an authority on any kind of international relations, but I’ve been places and met people and at least have some first hand experience. Unfortunately a lot of people don’t have that and so it makes it very easy for someone – a biased friend, a news agency with an agenda, or a government trying to push policies – to put forth bad info as truth and people eat it up. When you’ve been somewhere and seen it with your own eyes and talked to the people it makes it much harder for you to swallow an ill informed stance about it. And this doesn’t just apply to Americans – I know Europeans who have traveled to every country that borders theirs but never been on a plane and yet consider themselves well traveled. The world is a big place and there’s a hell of a lot of it most of us have never seen. That’s why I think one of the best things you can do for you, and for the rest of us, is pick a place you haven’t been and go there.

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On two BoingBoing episodes today, woot!

I’m fortunate enough to have two episodes of BoingBoing that I was apart of going live today. A few weeks ago I went with Xeni and the crew to Shepard Fairey’s gallery to talk to him and Glen E. Friedman about the exhibition of his that was about to open. It turned out to be an eventful trip and the first part of that footage, focusing on news Shepard had just gotten is live today.

Also as you probably know I’ve been in DC this week and I’ve been filming some of the inauguration related goings on and BoingBoing wipped up an episode with some of that footage. More coming soon!