Commercial/music video director Wiland Pinsdorf’s SAMPARKOUR is “a short that reveals the city of São Paulo (Brazil) under the look of Parkour. Where people see obstacles, Zico Corrêa visualizes new possibilities.”
Shot in HD with a 35mm lens adapter, the short is simultaneously dizzying and becalming, presenting Corrêa’s death-defying feats in a breathtaking rush of carefully framed shots and well-paced edits. Today –perhaps more than most days– it is deeply satisfying to witness a collaboration (between filmmaker and athlete, city and gravity) so vital, immediate, and perfectly alive.
I wasn’t going to post this here, but I read this a couple days ago and am still thinking about it:
The charge was the attempted theft of a 707 jumbo jet and he was facing 20 years to life. The jet in question belonged to a Caribbean tour company that went bust. After a few missed payments, the bank had called Popovich, who had tracked the plane from the Dominican Republic to Haiti. The gig promised to be simple. Popovich even spotted the battered silver-and-blue jet on the tarmac as he taxied into Port Au Prince’s Toussaint L’Ouverture airport on a sweltering February afternoon. All he needed was an hour to check the avionics, an open runway and a flight plan. It hadn’t worked out that way.
By the third day of his imprisonment — sometime after the American embassy politely informed him that the bank employing him wouldn’t put up $100,000 in bail — details started to come back. The tracer fire pinging the plane’s wings like popcorn kernels. Men with bayonets slamming on the fuselage. A police cruiser skidding to a halt right in front of the jet, blocking the runway and preventing Nick from taking off. The cops beating him senseless and throwing him in Penitentier National prison. And now, here he was. [...]
“I landed in Paris and contacted Arpels to see if we could work something out,” says Popovich. “Arpels tells me, ‘I’m Francois Arpels and this is Paris. You will never find the planes.’ I looked him right in the eye and told him, ‘Frankie, they are all but gone. Trust me.’ He hated the fact that I called him Frankie. That really got under his skin.”
I don’t know if I have an “obsessive compulsive disorder”, as I’ve read somewhere, but I know that when I do something, I try to do it as best as possible (I don’t like to make things “half”).
I wear all this each time I go outside my home (unless I go to the swimming pool or to the beach of course, or unless I go out only 3 mn to drop a letter in the post box down the street (boring ancient times snail mail !)).
There are many things useful for travelling, I use to travel a lot, sometimes I leave for 3 or 4 days, without knowing where I will go ; I like adventure (but with prepareness it’s more fun ! I like adventure and discovery, not struggling all day against problems (I’ve seen too many tourists with painful stories, nothing in head)).
I live in a big city in France and my job has nothing to do with my special clothing, although I use quite often my things at my job (instead of wasting “hours” searching for things there, never placed where they should be) ; I learnt electricity at school, which explains that it is natural for me to use some tools like a digital multimeter, soldering iron, and so on…
My job allows me 4 days of weekend, which explains why I can easily make some small adventure escapades.
“Parahawking is a unique activity combining paragliding with elements of falconry. Birds of prey are trained to fly with paragliders, guiding them to thermals for in-flight rewards and performing aerobatic manoeuvres.
Parahawking was developed by British falconer Scott Mason in 2001. Mason began a round-the-world trip in Pokhara, Nepal, where many birds of prey – such as the griffon vulture, steppe eagle and black kite – can be found. While taking a tandem paragliding flight with British paraglider Adam Hill, he had the opportunity to see raptors in flight, and realized that combining the sport of paragliding with his skills as a falconer could offer others the same experience. He has been based in Pokhara ever since, training and flying birds during the dry season between September and March.
The team started by training two black kites, but have since added an Egyptian vulture and a Mountain hawk-eagle to the team. Only rescued birds are used – none of the birds has been taken from the wild.”
Above: Edward Wilson at Technoccult International HQ
Jonathan Blake and Edward Wilson (who some of you might have known as Squink and Fenris 23 on Irreality) are in the planning stages of an ambitious trek across Asia. Making small steps first, they visited Portland for a gear collecting mission, and made time to stop by and visit my partner and me at our apartment.
“A voyage to fabled Timbuktu in a flying car may sound like a magical childhood fantasy. But this week a British adventurer will set off from London on an incredible journey through Europe and Africa in a souped-up sand buggy, travelling by road – and air.
With the help of a parachute and a giant fan-motor, Neil Laughton plans to soar over the Pyrenees near Andorra, before taking to the skies again to hop across the 14-km (nine-mile) Straits of Gibraltar. The ex-SAS officer then aims to fly over the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, above stretches of the Sahara desert and, well, wherever else the road runs out. But forget Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – this flying machine is based on proven technology.”
“Todd Carmichael has officially set a new solo and unsupported world speed record to the South Pole. His time of 39 days, 7 hours, and 33 minutes bested former world record holder Hannah McKeand’s time of 39 days, 9 hours, and 33 minutes set back in 2006. This is an official time coming from Todd’s tracking equipment and being reported by ExplorersWeb. How close was it? The difference between Todd and Hannah is 1 hour and 44 minutes – or less than 0.2% of the time on the ice. If the same difference was applied to a 100 meter dash, it would equal less than 0.02 seconds – just barely measurable with modern time keeping.
Along with gaining the new official solo and unsupported world speed record, Todd Carmichael has also become the first American to go solo and unsupported to the South Pole. It is still undecided if Todd will gain the record for going the longest distance on foot. When I first interviewed Todd before this journey, becoming the first American to go solo and unsupported was his biggest priority. A week before he set foot on the ice, I got an email that nonchalently stated “I might as well go for the world speed record while I’m at it. What do you think?” Todd felt that his conditioning and preparation for this journey were miles ahead of where he was with his unsuccessful South Pole expedition last year. Obviously, we can now see how far ahead Todd was.”
Well, why not? How about some glow-in-the-dark signs to find it at night?
On a serious note, there are a lot of stories about mountaineers getting sick from drinking melted snow contaminated by human waste. Having some portable toilets in some designated areas might alieviate the sickness suffered by those who depend on melted snow for a water source. As a nature lover and avid hiker I’m disgusted by the amount of trash and graffiti I find in our national parks. Please take your trash with you. Let’s leave our wild areas clean for all to enjoy.
“A young Nepali climber is seeking to popularize a toilet fashioned from a plastic bucket with a lid to promote eco-friendly climbing on Mount Everest.Hundreds of climbers flock to the world’s tallest peak at 8,850 meters (29,035 feet) every year, with many simply squatting in the open or hunching behind rocks as the Everest base camp has no proper toilet facilities. Dawa Steven Sherpa, who led an eco-Everest expedition in May to collect trash dumped by previous climbers, said his team used a plastic bucket as well as a gas-impervious bag designed to safely contain and neutralize human waste and keep in odor.
“It is portable and very secure,” Sherpa, 25, told Reuters. “I want to promote anything that manages human waste on the mountain.” Sherpa’s team, during its month-long expedition, picked up 965 kg (2,100 pounds) of cans, gas canisters, kitchen waste, tents, parts of an Italian helicopter that crashed 35 years ago and remains of the body of a British climber who died in 1972. In addition, his team also brought down 65 kg of human waste produced by its 18 members, which it handed over to a local environment group at the base camp for management. “To date, no other container designed for human waste exists in this size, weight or strength,” Sherpa said of the U.S.-designed bucket, which is 11 inches tall and weighs 2.4 pounds, and has an opening that is eight inches in diameter.”
Amazing true story of survival and the strength of the human will. Two mountaineers, Simon Yates and Joe Simpson climb the Suila Grande in Peru. They reach the summit, and on the descent (where about 80% of all fatalities happen) Joe breaks his leg. Simon attempts to help him down the mountain when Joe is left hanging over an icy cliff by a rope with no ability to climb it. Simon realizes that if doesn’t cut the rope they both will die, and he cuts the rope. Joe falls into a crevice, and is given up for dead. The story then focuses on Joe’s journey, injured and alone, but determined to make it back to base camp alive. With the mountain as a metaphor for life and death, this movie is an inspirational testament for the indomitableness of the human body and spirit.
“In part one of an exclusive interview, Sir Ranulph Fiennes discusses his recent attempt on Mt Everest in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care with Trail Magazine’s Simon Ingram. Here, Sir Ran reveals what it was like going back to Everest, what happened in the last 24 hours, and why he turned back.”
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