thedude.com

I was looking through my old blog entries today and discovered that the good folks at Google Earth have added high-resolution images of Diego Garcia. Check it out! Have a look around - you can clearly see the well-stocked ships in the lagoon, B-52’s on the tarmac, the (nuclear?) weapons storage bunkers and if you click this link, you will fly directly to the barracks I lived in for a year. I was on the lagoon side - as you can see, just a few feet from the Indian Ocean. I fell asleep to the sound of gentle ocean waves every night. Fantastic!

I’ll let you know when they finally add high-resolution imagery of Thule, Greenland.

After looking at about a thousand pictures from previous Love Fests, I almost didn’t go. The pictures are so lame that they only occasionally hint at a good time. Then I decided that it was my duty to attend and get a few decent shots of what probably is a pretty good event. So, armed with a single 80-400 mm lens and my faithful D2X, I headed out to the city. It turns out that Love Fest IS a pretty cool event in the coolest city in the country. And I did fall in love at the Love Fest once or twice - OK, maybe three times.

You could easily get the idea from my pictures that only gorgeous women attend the Love Fest, but that’s not entirely true. In fact, there were way more totally naked dudes (at least 6) than women (0), and some naked women that may have been guys - or something - but I’ll spare you the gruesome details. I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea or swear off thedude.com forever.

What you don’t see in my shots are the thousands of people bumping and grinding to bone-rattling drum and bass from a dozen sound stages set up smack in the middle of San Francisco’s Civic Center plaza. God, I love this place!

Happy Birthday, Dear. Seeing your fabulous smile in the office every day has been one of the best things about going to work these last six years. Lots of love to you!

More party photos here.

A huge thanks to our incredibly gracious hosts Joe and Jeff who made us feel welcome in one of the most beautiful homes we’ve ever seen. Wow!

I spotted this dust-covered vehicle parked on the street a block away, and just happened to have my trusty Nikon. My pal Andrew told me that there was a whole fleet of these on the playa this year.

We just got home from another weekend at the truly spectacular Terramare in Gualala, California. Our friends Chris and Ben love the house and its stunning views as much as we do. The ever-changing views are even more awesome with a cool martini. :)

Chris, the ultimate weather fanatic, said the only thing that could have made for a better weekend is if a huge Pacific storm had moved in. Go figure. :)

My best guess is that this image of best friends Bruce Hagen, Jim Davidson and Scott Wolbers was made in 1971 or 1972, when I would have been 15 or 16 years old. I borrowed a Yashica 124 twin-lens-reflex from my high school, and shot this image at the top of the hill near Church Street in Burlington. (Looks like I made a perfect exposure. :) I probably developed the film in the darkroom at my high school, but I do not remember ever printing this wonderful shot.

I’m positively thrilled to find these old negatives in such good shape. You can imagine that to me, a shot like this is absolutely priceless.