It's Bullet Sunday and I'm shooting blanks! My brain is so tired that I can only think of three points this week...
• Salmoni! When I got home from Portland, Animal Planet TV was running a 2003 special I hadn't seen before called Living with Tigers. Tigers have always been one of my favorite animals, and this documentary about the efforts to save them from extinction was fascinating. It follows two cubs, Ron & Julie, as they are raised in captivity and eventually trained to be released into the wild. The hope is that the dwindling tiger population can be bolstered in this manner before wild tigers disappear altogether.
But almost as interesting as the tigers, is one of the trainers who was working with them: Dave Salmoni. The bastard is just insane. He keeps saying things like "let's hope she doesn't realize that she's much bigger and stronger than I am so I don't get killed" as he walks up to a growling tiger to take her food away. And every time you see him, his clothes have holes all over from when he's been wrestling with the big cats. After Living With Tigers was over, they showed another program which had Salmoni working with Grizzly Bears (Predator vs. Prey)... and then aired previews of another where he was with lions (Into The Lion's Den). You can tell he has a passion for his work, but I have to wonder how long it will be before I'm reading that he's been killed by stampeding elephants (or whatever). Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin's tragic death is still very fresh in my mind, and something tells me it's only a matter of time. There's only so long you can keep exposing yourself to high-risk scenarios with dangerous animals like this before your number is up...
• Mappable! As a long-time lover of maps, I was delighted to stumble upon Transit Maps of The World while browsing at Powell's City of Books yesterday. This wondrous tome has maps of every rapid-transit system on earth... which is kind of like cartographic porn for people like me. The graphics are really too small to be functional, with the diagrams being treated more like works of art than actual maps (and they are!)...
This is very cool book for anybody interested in maps or rapid transit, and you can read more about it at Amazon. If you'd rather not spend the money, you can always take a look at the free transit maps online courtesy of Urban Rail.
• Majesty! No matter how many times I fly over The Cascades, I'm always amazed at how beautiful they are. The day I stop being awed by sights like this, it's time for me to stop traveling...
And now I'm off to bed, where I hope to lapse into a coma for seven hours or so...
UPDATE: Aaaaaaannnnnnd my blog seems to be refusing to accept my entry. Guess I'll give it a try in the morning and hope that the problem solves itself rather than requiring me to do any actual work.
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No bullets about the iPhone update?
Your pictures of the Cascades are gorgeous. I’ve been living in the mountains for a year now, and I’m constantly stunned by the beauty of the Tetons. My husband and I fight over the window seats now whenever we’re flying in and out because the view from above is unbelievable.
I love maps as art. Have you ever seen this site?
There are some pretty fantastic oddities there, tucked in among the more mundane stuff.
More than just a crazy bastard, Salmoni is one hot bastard. And I love the Transit book….I even told hubby about it after we finished at Powell’s. The Cascade’s? There’s no doubt about it. Amazing. Daily.
I’ve been eyeing that transit maps book for a while. Will try to add ‘cartographic porn’ to my active vocabulary…
I bought that transit book too! I just thumb through it for hours… I don’t understand why it fascinates me so much!
That tiger clip is insane, and yet I’m totally jealous. Tigers have always been a fave of mine too.
God I love the Cascades! That last one almost looks like the Enchantments — perhaps Colchuk Glacier? That settles it… next time I’m flying.
Avitable… iPhone update 1.1.4?? Wasn’t that a few weeks ago? To be honest, I didn’t notice anything different… though I’m sure they made a lot of fixes “under the hood.”
Tracy… I’ve seen those views of The Cascades over a hundred times, but it’s always worth fighting for the window seat!
Debora… Nope, but I’ve got it bookmarked now, thanks!
Lewis… Oh, sorry… I forgot to mention that Dave Salmoni is incredibly hot. I’ll try to do better next time! I love that book… love it. I’ve already read through it once, but keep looking at all the maps anyway. 🙂
SSP… I use “porn” as a descriptor for anything I like way too much to be healthy. 😀
Kilax… Isn’t it total magic? I’ve ridden on so many of those rail lines, that I’m just hypnotized by it all. And, of course, now all I want to do is ride the ones I haven’t ridden already!
Claire… You MUST watch that show if you like tigers. Amazing stuff! I just bought a combo DVD of “Living with Tigers” and “Into The Lion’s Den” for $10.44, so even if you don’t get Animal Planet, you can check it out on DVD pretty cheap.
Shari… I honestly don’t know… I’m very bad with associating names to stuff like this, even with a map. I’m lucky to recognize Mt. Rainier! 🙂
re: crazies working with wild animals — Salmoni reminds me of the “Grizzly Man” (as filmed by Werner Herzog) with the expected ending.
My son (age 7) is fascinated with maps. I really need to find him some cool ones from places he has never been (yet) so he can look at them. I bet that would be his favorite present ever. Or it would be even cooler if I gave him a map along with some plane tickets and surprised him with a trip.
Your pictures are always so beautiful!