Jonathan Biddle - Made in Taiwan

Yosemite is Awesome

Jonathan Biddle — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 03:33:34 +0000

The only way to sense the scale is to look at the trees on the left, and realise that they are ... trees.

Language is funny. You spend the year throwing around superlatives, describing new features on Facebook or the texture of your new favourite Burrito, and are then totally disarmed when you go somewhere like Yosemite, and faced with things that really are ‘awesome’ (in the base sense of the word), ‘massive’ (as in, unimaginably heavy’?) and ‘amazing’ (oh come on). Without the ability to describe anything in a meaningful way, all you can gawp and try in vain to compare it to other places that you have been, and mostly failing.

Yosemite is ridiculously, completely unnecessarily gorgeous. Like a set from a Star Trek movie (perhaps one of the pleasure planets where people run around in togas and seduce secondary members of crew into a life of endless procreation), there is forever a CGI waterfall in the background and vistas stretching off into the distance.

Four days of unbroken sun above our heads, snow underfoot, and yet weather warm enough for t-shirts was a perfect backdrop for enjoying a birthday with my family. Great food, wonderful company, and an awesome location; literally.

Entrance to the valley, on some of the finest roads in California (not saying too much, there).

Mum and Dad enjoy the vista. It's impossible to stop yourself from screeching to a halt in each siding to enjoy the views on offer.

El Capitan rock - a genius of naming.

Incredible arcs of rock look like an impressionist; the brain is not capable of dealing with such scale for more than a few minutes.

A good day to fly overhead

First major hike of the weekend, up past the snow line.

The same waterfall features in most of the images.

Switchbacks - ah for my mountain bike.

Don't look down!

Oh look.

Half dome on the left, and more waterfalls on the right - we hiked up to the first one the next day.

Attempting to link up with the previous day's hike ... we turned back after we decided it was getting a bit hairy ... it's hard to appreciate, but there was a substantial cliff to the direct left side of this.

Instagram delivering the goods again the next day in our hike up to the falls.

One thing I love about my Mum is that we notice the same things at the same time.

Back to the house for the most delicious possible artichokes. Mum & Dad drove through the 'Artichoke Capital of the World', and we spent the weekend laughing about it until we actually tasted the things.

Take Me Out to the Ballpark

Jonathan Biddle — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:23:12 +0000

Loonies inhabit all corners of the city. The baseball stadium is no different.

One of my minor ambitions during my stay in the USA was obviously to head to baseball game. It was extra-special to go there with my old man, and reminisce about all the other baseball games he didn’t take me to as a child while not growing up in America.

Sell-out crowd

I spent much of the match trying to remember the rules, and then recount them to Dad with some semblance of sense. The guy in front of us almost caught a ball, though, and the crowd around him berated him for the rest of the game for having dropped it. Good times.

Bleachers.

The rush to get home.

Marin Weekender

Jonathan Biddle — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 03:37:07 +0000

Mum & Dad, having completed their main tour from San Diego back up to San Francisco, now have a couple of weeks with me in the Bay Area. We took the opportunity of having good weather to cross the Golden Gate and spend the weekend in Marin. Day 1: antique shopping in Petaluma, and Day 2: a fantastic walk in the sun, retracing our steps to Alamere Falls. After the manufactured saccharine charms of SoCal, I think it was a breath of fresh air.

Dad navigates the streets of San Francisco, to the accompaniment of the Bullett theme tune

Crossing the bridge never gets old - it's stunning.

Objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are

Hold onto your hats!

Dad, clearly enjoying the Mustang

What a team.

We retraced the steps we made in the summer hike to Alamera Falls, back in July

Even though 99% of people make the detour to the beach, the rangers seem to ignore this fact, and mark it unmaintained.

View out to Point Reyes - very much need to go there some time soon.

Dad negotiates the frankly slightly scary cliff down to the beach

Unconventional team photo

Don't go chasing waterfalls

Dad and I, standing above the cliffs

One more for good measure

The trip back ... and you are reminded that you are in Marin - the wackiest collection of individuals this side of, well, San Francisco

Sunset Strip

The breathtaking return through the tunnel back to the city

Alcatraz in the Sun

Jonathan Biddle — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 03:24:54 +0000

Leaving the Rock, and thinking of the ROC

I am lucky enough to have my parents visiting at the moment; here for a few days before heading down to San Diego, and taking a leisurely drive up the coast. While the first Saturday was a wash-out, the sun came out to play on Sunday, and we counted ourselves lucky to have such a pleasant day to visit one of the most famous tourist destinations in America; Alcatraz.

It certainly is a tourist trap, but the constricted numbers (book ahead in the summer, folks) and unbelievable location make it a must-see attraction. The audio tour – usual a gimmick – adds tremendous depth and atmosphere to the experience … very much recommended, and even better followed-up with hot clam chowder.

STOP

Mum, in the spotlight

Beautiful decay on the old buildings; it's just a shame so many of them were being left to rot. Sea air, concrete, and steel are not a good mix.

Jail birds

The audio tour exceeded my expectations ... I am looking forward to going back to do the tour at night next time I have visitors.

What must it have been like, to look out and see this? Apparently, if the wind was right, you could hear the sounds of party revellers in San Francisco wafted across on the breeze.

Thoughtful moments

The sun was pouring in through the windows; I am glad we went on Sunday, instead of the rather wetter and colder Saturday.

Atmospherics

Looking across at my adopted home

Zebra doors

There are swimming races each year, but the of legends inmates not being able to swim across alive stand.

Original signage, combined with the 1969 Indian protester signs, during the Nixon era.

Bird on the breeze

I wonder as well how long the piers are going to last - the concrete pillars not looking too strong at the moment.

Shutters, and back on dry land we are.

Squaw Rush Hour

Jonathan Biddle — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 04:25:17 +0000

The pleasures of living in California … while it is a bit of an effort to get up to the slopes, it’s worth it. This time, it’s Squaw; a much larger, almost European resort, and host to the 1960 Winter Olympics. Super amazing (if cold) conditions were marred only by having ski boots that were a size too big … something to add to the shopping list.

Gregg, ruggedly eating a chocolate bar

Serious weather this time!

Nicole, rocking the board

Team Squaw!

Great posse to get lost in the mountains with

Sadly, a ridiculous 10 hour drive back ... we think as a result of a jack-knifed truck. The car did really amazingly well all weekend, outperforming a few 4x4 show-offs on the way.

Ken in San Francisco

Jonathan Biddle — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 05:57:12 +0000

My first house guest!

Ken was in town to take care of activities at the hand-built bike show over in Sacramento, and managed to set aside some good time to hang out at the house, and with the Sitzer clan. Good times.

Hannah and Mia fully mature in the back of the car.

Ken's ride; the ridiculous Dodge Charger / cop car. It made satisfying 'whaaarrrrr' sounds while pretending to accelerate.

Classic Alameda Flea Market Chaos ... I came away with a couple of lamp bases, a vase, some egg cups (thanks to Hannah), and basically none of the stuff that I originally went to purchase.

Flea market purgatory (these are Ken's pics, by the way ... I rather like this one)

Instagram - "Feets"

Adjusting the stereo?

Feeling a little more energetic on the way home.

Noe Night Vision

Jonathan Biddle — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 04:30:45 +0000

It’s odd, for the last few months in the USA I have not felt the urge to grab my SLR to take photos. But, last night I suddenly felt the urge to use a real camera, so on the way to dinner with a friend I grabbed my 5D and rattled off a few shots. More to come.

Looking through the door of the local laundromat - they always feel like such lonely places.

The star of the local community - the corner shop.

Piled high with great fruit, veg, and other delicate comestibles.

Gone Skiin’

Jonathan Biddle — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 06:55:13 +0000

More used to 2m slalom skis, it was fun to use shorter parabolic carving skis.

In the last fourteen years, I have only managed a scant week of skiing, and in that week (back in 2004) I managed to break my wrist while trying to snowboard.

In moving to California, I was rather excited about the prospect of living within shooting distance of some serious mountains, so when a team of designers, architects and webby people invited me along, I immediately bit their hand off.

Located to the south of the main Tahoe areas, Kirkwood has some of the best snowfall in the region, and while not quite waist-deep in powder, we at least had some pretty soapy white stuff to mess around on, with minimal ice.

I was pleasantly surprised by the difference in experience between skiing in Europe and America. The super resorts in France are huge in comparison and really set up for a solid week of action; this is in contrast to here, where people get less vacation and want a weekend get-away.

Skiing with a couple of Dutch people, it was interesting to discover just how many of the cultural references we shared from family holidays in the Alps; the Raclette and Fondue, the mixtures of European nations vying to be first onto the ski lift, and the uniform ridicule of mono skiers and their strange sense of fashion. I would also argue that, since people are only going for the weekend a few times a year – instead of saving for six months and going for 9 days – that people don’t invest to the same amount in lessons. You do see plenty of groups of ‘roll-ons’ though (we dubbed the wee kids in the helmets by this name, since they look like cans of roll-on deodorant) and the skills of some of the snowboarders, in particular, was breathtaking.

But I ain’t complaining; skiing and hotdogs is a fine combination, and one I shall be partaking in again at the earliest possible convenience.

Mister Ryan Gosling joined us for the weekend too.

While trying to use my waterproof Pentax camera (the worst piece of product design ever?), I didn't quite manage to set up a proper group shot ... but it's better when looking natural, right?

Marieke, who is on the Dutch national synchronised skiing squad

EXPERTS ONLY. WE ARE EXPERTS.

You can kind of see that the hills here are a bit more rolly than the Alps, but I ain't complaining.

Restart

Jonathan Biddle — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:22:29 +0000

View over the bay from Mt. Diablo.

Isn’t it odd that one of the most exciting periods of my life (moving from Taiwan, to the USA) has gone virtually undocumented on this blog? Talking to Markus, I wondered if it was simply that it was not strange enough to warrant writing about at length. My Dad even wondered if this phase of the blog, or maybe even my life, was drawing to a close. I think instead that I just needed a little break from it, and to return with some new-found energy, and fresh focus.

I believe so. Hold that thought – normal programming will resume soon.

Local Cars for Local People

Jonathan Biddle — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:46:28 +0000

One of the pleasures of walking around the neighbourhood is checking out the exotic (and not so exotic) machinery on display. Everything from immaculately-prepared hotrods, through to European rust-buckets.

Gorgeous slices of Detroit iron are all over the place. I find it funny that although I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about cars, I could not name most of them at a glance.

'Patina' is what I think it is called.

Except for the questionable alloys, there are quite a few older European classics as well. Inexplicably, there are Alfa Romeos everywhere; how they have not rusted into a pile of oxides by now I will never know.

Whether it is the authentic colour or not matters not a jot (if that colour is bright orange, at least).

There is a line of modified mid-90s luxe-barges over here, but that does not explain why you would want a graffiti mural on your Caddy.

... and every so often you come across something utterly cute.