Video Friday: Reveal the Path Trailer

It's Friday, and I sit alone in my little corner of the office. My boss took the day off, and most of my coworkers have taken a half day. The weekly staff meeting has been canceled because so few people are here. So let's stop pretending. I'm not going to get anything accomplished this afternoon. My eyes have glossed over, and my mind is in the pre-weekend haze. Although my body is still in the office; my mind is defnintely already gone. So at this point, I'm really just biding my time till the clock hits five. To help the afternoon go a little bit faster, I think I'll distract myself with another Video Friday.

This weeks installment is a trailer for Reveal the Path, another movie that I hope shows up on netflix. I have hope that it will, since as mentioned in the trailer, the makers of this movie also made Ride the Divide, which was on Netflix. So without further ado, here it is.


Reveal the Path Trailer from Mike Dion on Vimeo.

Oh five o;clock. Please hurry up and get here.

PS. I'm starting to run out of cool/unique/interesting/thought provoking videos to post here. So if you know of any that you think should be shared, let me know. PLEASE....

Farm Fresh Photos

Every once in a while, I'll get this strong urge that I have to go out and take some photos. This usually happens when it has been a while since I've picked up my camera. A few weeks back, I had such an urge. So, I quick ran out and snapped a few shots of the fields around our house. Here's a few of what I got.

So yeah, that's pretty much it.

Video Friday: Industrial Revolutions - Danny MacAskill

Excited for Friday and the Weekend!

So I'm slacking off with another Video Friday. I've shared this video on my facebook before, but I still find it amazing. So I thought I'd share it here.

 

Video Friday: DamNation Trailer

It's another Video Friday here at the Focal Point. This weeks video is a trailer for a movie that is being put out by Patagonia: DamNation. It looks pretty interesting.

 I'm not exactly sure what my stance on the whole subject is. I've always believed that hydro power was "clean" energy, since there is no air pollutants released by hydroelectic dams. However, as I've learned a little more, dams probably have some of the largest impacts on the environment in comparison to other electical generating facilities. From the the acres upon acres that are flooded, to the changing of water temperatures, to the siltation of the reservoirs, to the increased evaporation related to the reservoirs, to the blocking of fish migration, and destruction of habitat, to causing rivers to run dry before they reach their terminus, dams have a huge impact. Yet we need energy, and dams are a source of cheap energy. At the very least, I am in support of removing nonfunctional dams and trying to restore those rivers to their original state.

So what do you all think? Leave a comment after you see the trailer.

Jonah sees the world

I don't know why, but I get a strange satisfaction from taking my son Jonah along on little adventures. I know he has no idea where he is getting dragged to. Nevertheless, I still get a kick out of it. So far, Jonah has....

Gone to the trestle bridge

Gone to the beach

Gone on a hike

 

 

Gone to Big Red

 



And hung out in the hammock with Dad (hammock review coming soon)

 

 

And as you can tell, he has pretty much been a sleep for all of these adventures. Definitely exicted for all the adventures I have to look forward to with this little guy, especially the adventures that he'll be awake for.

 



 

Video Friday: 10 Things I have learned about Mountain Biking

It Video Friday here on the Focal Point, so sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy.




10 Things I have learned about Mountainbiking from Filme von Draussen on Vimeo.

Senior Portraits: Trevor

A few weekends back, I had the opportunity to do another senior portrait session. It seems like it has been a while since I've done one of these (probably because it has been a while). Either way, I think senior photo sessions are some of my favorite to do. That is likely because the senior is typically excited about getting them done. Even the guys, who try to pretend like they are too cool to get their picture taken, usually end up having a fun time. I think that was how Trevor was. At first, he was a little hesitant. But then he started to relax, and we were able to get some really good shots.

So without further a do, here is a preview of Trevor's senior portraits.

So we were taking photos by this old abandoned factory (location undisclosed). When suddenly Trevor says he wants to check something out on the other side of the building. The next thing I know, Trevor is on top of the factory, sitting on the ledge. Pretty Crazy. Fun picture though.

So those are some of my favorites of Trevor's senior photos. Hopefully, he likes them.

The Longest Mile

The other night, I ran a mile. I know that a mile isn't a long distance, and I didn't run this mile particularly fast. But, this mile was still an accomplishment for me. An accomplishment that took me all summer to reach.

This mile was an accomplishment because I ran without shoes, completely barefoot.

I ran one mile on pavement with nothing between my feet and the ground!

At the beginning of the summer, I decided that I wanted to try to give barefoot running a try. I had been previously running in "minimalist" shoes, but wasn't keeping up with it regularly. So I figured it would be the perfect time to start trying to run barefoot. If you didn't know, when you start running barefoot, you basically have to start from scratch. You need to take it VERY, VERY SLOWLY. You need to give your feet time to build muscles that have atrophied from years of being trapt in shoes. You have to give the bottoms of your feet time to toughen up. You have to learn to constantly scan the ground in front of you for small stones and pebbles. You have to change the way your foot lands. You have to be constantly on the watch for the first sign of blisters. OH, did I get a lot of blisters. Basically, you need to completely re-learn how to run. When you first start, you can only go about a 10th of a mile at a time, and slowly add distance as you figure out the correct form.

That is why it took me an entire summer to build up to a mile. It was very frustrating at times. Sometimes I would think I had my form down, and then the next run I would get a huge blister. But I accomplished my goal. I ran 1 mile completely barefoot.

So what am I going to do next? I'm actually going to switch back and start running again in my Merrell Trail Gloves again. Although I enjoyed the idea of running completely barefoot, I was never able to get the form quite right. Instead of being able to enjoy the run, I had to be constantly thinking about my form. Generally, I just find running in my Merrells more enjoyable.

I know that running barefoot is defnitely not right for everyone. In the end, it proved to not be right for me. But that being said, I would highly suggest giving it a try. There is an exhilartion that comes from running and having nothing between you and the ground.

So go out and give it a try. Just be sure to take it slow at first.