J. Jason Lazarus Blog

I am alive.

I know that I assured you all that blogposts would become more regular with the last couple posts but it has obviously not faired so well.  For the last week I’ve been pretty much off the grid at my In-laws house.  Albeit, there is a suitable internet connection available at the house, something is keeping me from wanting to go through the hassle of setting it up (requires login info, etc).  I think it’s a silent protest of sorts - being that I do so much tech-related work on a day-to-day basis that on my vacations the last thing I want to spend any time doing is tech debugging.  That being said, my connection to the outside world has been limited to twitter updates from an unreliable EDGE connection via my iPhone - apparently down on the Kenai the wind is so hard it disrupts cell service.  A signal will spike at 3 bars and immediately disappear without any movement or fair warning/cause.

I have done Photography on my trip, though.  I found an abandoned house and broken-down boat in Homer to photograph - I’d like to share the results if I had a card reader with me right now.  See, this is exactly what I mean - blogs manage to be so darned complicated! I’m am using my Rollei more - I assure you.  Yes, indeed, I am using my $500 investment into professional-level medium format cameras.  Although a small part of me still lusts after a Hasselblad, my pocket screams in agony at its prospective price.  Now I just need to actually get around to developing the film from my Rollei!

Aidan is doing fine.  He’s talking more and more each day - managing to put words together more and more each day.  We’ll be starting potty training soon enough - something that the doc suggests we wait on until his second birthday - it’s amazing just thinking that its just around the corner!

I hope to have more soon.  This just serves as a quick update only - try to hold me to that.  I’ll leave you with a few pictures of Aidan & Santa this year that, if you follow me on Twitter, you’ve already seen - either way, the results were much better than they were last year! <link>

Those of you that frequent this blog over the past few years know that I absolutely love going out to Cleary Hill Mine north of Fairbanks.  Lately, however, I haven’t made too many trips - part of me says it’s because I’ve done all I can with the site and part of me blames the additional restrictions inherit whenever there’s active mining going on in the area.  For the most part, technically “tresspassing” or not, without any signs or activity, most places in the woods in Alaska are safe to visit.  Note the two qualifiers - no signs or activity.  There’s far too many anedotial stories that I’ve heard about semi-automatic machine guns being pulled on photographers when they wander onto active property that isn’t their own.  There’s far too many old kooks out there in the Fairbanks area that are some odd mixture of sourdoughs still lusting for the “simplier” days during territorial rule and a middle-aged man trying out that over-coined phrase “get off my lawn!” for the first time - but with an Uzi.

That being said, I tread lighter than I’ve before.  I don’t tempt the fates anymore - being constantly reminded of my own mortality whenever I look into my son’s eyes.  I ask for permission, find out who owns land rights and, at times, only track down the thread of what may become a lede.  That being said, two of my photo trips this year alone have been the product of me handing out such ledes to prior students hoping that they’ll be less apathetic to the entire procedure of getting official permission.  It’s worked out splendidly so far - and this last trip to Cleary Hill was courtesy of such a procedure.

Going out there I was pleased to see that the mining operation above the historical mine hadn’t disturbed much, if at all, of what there was inside the buildings. I have to give the local operators, as well as Freegold Ventures, major thanks for that.

I did, however, come back with a keen appreciation for the few friends I have out there willing to work with a photographer like me.

Out of the thousands of things that make a photographer, patience and the amount of time spent on their work ends up being paramount.  Its one thing to be uninterested with the subject matter - its quite another to presume that you’ve completed your study of it within a couple shots.  Hours should easily melt away with whatever subject matter you’re passionate about - whether that’s portraiture or landscapes or industrial decay.  Composition cannot be rushed. Perfect moments do not answer you on command.  Level of expertise and swiftness are not directly relatable.

After about two hours out there, out of the group that I was with, I was one of only two people willing to stay in the +10F weather for more shots.  Although it was more about the freezing temps and interest (subject wise) and unrelated to the above rant on “throughness” - and I’ll admit, you have to *like* industrial decay to appreciate spending ours photographing it.  I think that we both left unsatisfied - I’ve easily stayed at Cleary for 4-5 hours (each time) before and even knowing that I’ve seen everything it can offer half a dozen times before, I still wanted to stay longer.  I appreciate all of you that have had patience to not only put up with my lazy and comfortable way of shooting but that you still have accompanied me to these places time and again.

I feel the need to explain myself further as to not insult anyone on this particular trip or anyone out there that’s quicker at the shutter than I am - time spent on photography remains important in the way that I shoot and teach - you can still get outstanding results from quick photography - but those looking to improve should first look at how much time they spend per frame.  My words are by no means meant to insult - in fact, in this particular situation, I think it just ended up that not too many people really knew what to expect out of the mine and figured out fairly quickly that it wasn’t their gig. That, and of coarse, the freezing temps.  Although as unrelated as the two may be, the experience made me appreciate those that deal with me and all my nutty long-winded photography trips.

I haven’t worked on any of these images - what paltry few I got, but here’s a small sample.  The first one has got to be the best natural lighting I’ve ever gotten on that particular subject (for some reason, one of my favorite at the mine) while the second one is lacking from the horrid overcast that followed us for most of the time out there.

Aidan in Dragon Suit

Gosh.  Has this last couple of months been busy - or should I say that I’ve been keeping myself busy enough to where blogging hasn’t exactly been my idea of a good use of free time.  In fact, the last 2-3 weeks, I’ve been fighting something really nasty - somewhere between the flu, strep and an overall lack of energy.

That being said, while I was downloading my most recent pictures off of our three digital cameras this morning I noticed that I hadn’t done an update on Aidan for any of you good folks out in the cyberether.  In fact, I was shocked to find that a few of my cameras haven’t been updated in the gallery of Aidan pictures in over six months - and I know that there are a select few out there that get through the day with adorably cute pictures of my son.

Aidan at Tanana Valley Fair

It’s been a month since Aidan’s 18 month checkup and he’s been meeting or exceeding each goal developmentally as well as height/weight wise.  Last month he measured up at 29lbs (80th percentile) - which explains all too much why our arms are so tired - it’s surprising we don’t both have amazing pectorial muscles!  He also measured up to 33 inches long (75%!) and he keeps on getting taller and taller each day.  That head of his is still uncontrollably massive at 19.5 inches (95%!!!) which consistantly makes me wonder when it’s going to inflate more, don massive blodd vessels on the side and go completely bald ala Star Trek’s telepathic beings from another world.

Developmentally, he keeps on adding more and more words to his vocabulary.  He’s gotten down “Mama” and “Da” quite profeciently but also signs both “Please” (rubbing his belly) and “Thank You” (which he does by blowing a kiss and saying “Muh!”).  He’s got “Juice”, “Car”, “Train” down, knows where his Nose, Mouth, Belly and Feet are (points at them) - and he’s also got several noises down as well.  This week we’ve gotten him answering questions like “What sound does a Dragon make?” (Rawr!), “What sound does a Vampire make?” (Hiiiissss!) and “What sound does a Train make?” (Choo-Choo!).  Overall, he’s adorable and loves learning more.

Aidan playing with trains

As you can probably guess from the photos, he’s slated to be the most adorable dragon in all of creation this Halloween.  Since we picked up his dragon suit at Old Navy about two weeks ago, he’s already worn it twice and had a blast running around in it acting like a Dragon.  He’s also a rabid Thomas the Tank Engine fan.  As much as I was hoping to completely keep him away from hyper-commericalized characters and let him enjoy more classic toys, this has been my one slip-up in that department.  And given how wholesome Thomas is, the fact that it plays into my own interests to do model railroading later on with him - I see little harm in it.  We have been trying to avoid spoiling him, though.  With little else to splurge on in our lives and no other kids to spoil, it’s hard not to - but we’re maintaining the high ground on this one.  He doesn’t randomly get to point at something in the stores and get it - and he also realizes that fussing won’t get him anything. We have been frequenting the local toy stores rather than the box stores and have gotten him interested in quite a few non-licensed classic toys - from foam swords covered in ornate silk that he uses at SCA events to little wooden people much like Playmobil toys - he loves what both Enchanted Forest and Toy Quest has to offer.

Aidan eating mom's cake in Anchorage

We’ve got him into quite a routine now and he’s pretty aimiable about all parts of the day - to waking up on time each morning to going to bed by 9-9:30 each night - he’s got a pattern that he follows with little fuss at all.  In fact, really the only time that he fusses is when he’s either sick or recovering from being sick.  Right now he’s got Croup Cough which sent us to the emergency room at Fairbanks Memorial at 3am on last Friday morning - but now he’s doing much better and has almost fully recovered.

Don’t know what else to say - hopefully I’ll get back into the habit of blogging once a week here soon.  We’ll see, enjoy all the new photos in the gallery - going all the way back to March of this year!

I’ll skip the details of the weekend until the end of the post - even though the Brewery Tour was a major success, I don’t have many pictures of it nor do I think that it was nearly as much as a highlight to the entire trip as the Reed Lakes Hike that Harlan and I went on during our Labor Day celebrations.

Click to see all of the pictures of the hike right here!

I’ve been wanting to go on this trip for quite a while at this point - three years ago I had heard about this trail and about the amazing little piece of history past the end of the traditional trail - a World War II era bomber that had crashed on the glacier (named after the incident as “Bomber Glacier”) during a mail delivery.  Apparently many bombers were repurposed for such services after the war and this one didn’t meet much of a happy end.  I had hoped, about two years ago, to go up there myself and managed to get consistently rained, sleeted and hailed out of the entire valley on several occasions over the past two years.  Hatcher’s Pass, in its entirety, manages to be one of those places that if, from Anchorage, you look north and manage to not see a frightfully stormy sky, you gun it for your car and race up into the valley, in a desperate hope that inclimate weather won’t move toward the valley in the interim.  In other words, nine times out of ten, you’ll end up leaving the valley depressed and moody, once again bested by mother nature.

This time I got extremely lucky.  I rushed, as fast as I could, up from Anchorage with Harlan in tow as my mandatory hiking-friend for what managed to become one of the longest one-day hikes I’ve ever gone on.  Arriving around 12:30 in Archangel Valley (part of Hatcher’s Pass), we started hiking briskly through the tamed underbrush and wide, gently sloping trail.  By the time that we got to the trail split near the mine, we hadn’t even stopped for water or to catch our breath - something that would dramatically change soon after.  The trail immediately turned closer towards the vertical, challenging both of our fairly well-fed frames. To put it another way, about halfway through the hike we were both talking about the absolute nesscessity for both of us to start a significant workout program and diet after the hike.

That being said, the hike was awe-inspiring.  We passed several irredescent blue-green glacial lakes and ponds as well as streams so crystal clear they looked surreal.  We climbed through three major boulder fields with rocks ranging in size from full-size office desks to Volkwagen vans.  The boulders obscured the trail so much it was impossible to do anything but make your own path - something that was fairly trecherous being that most rocks were perched directly above the rushing headwaters of the Little Susitna River.  At times, when the sounds of the river were muffled by a wall of boulders, there was such an absolute silence that the lack of noise almost seemed strangely deafening.  I’ve got to say, there’s a few times that I’ve truly felt this but - out there, up in those isolated mountains - I felt in tune with God during those quiet moments.

We didn’t get anywhere near the Bomber, unfortunately.  I’m convinced that its impossible to do within one day without being in peak shape (and starting at 5am).  We did, however, get less than a mile away from Upper Reed Lake, climbed the additional 300 feet worth of mountain to see the tops of the waterfalls that fell into Lower Reed Lake, and turned around. Coming down I had to deal with my fear of falling as the light was beginning to fail and my fatigue began to show - but I’m certain that navigating boulders to any inexperienced person is frightening.  That being said, I wrapped up the trip and consider it a massive success - especially personally, proving to myself, once again, that I am capable of pushing myself far beyond what people expect out of me.  Although a good portion of the online community calls this hike “moderately difficult”, I see it as a personal triumph that’s far beyond “moderate” and the mundane.

There is no doubt in my mind that I’m going back - I fully intend to do this hike again, hopefully, next summer.  The next time, though, I’ll plan to spend the night near Upper Reed Lakes so that I actually do see Bomber Glacier.

So what happened with the rest of the weekend?  Here’s the deets:

My weekend with the guys hitting up most of the breweries in the state was a complete success - we managed to hit up six breweries in two days.  Friday was a hectic, whirlwind trip from Fairbanks to Anchorage after a full day worth of work - only to be followed by a trip to one of my favorite clubs in Anchorage - Chilkoot Charlies.  After that, Harlan (my FBX-based friend) hung up our hats and took a less-than six hour rest only to get up and start the day as early as possible.  Picking up Brian in Anchorage, we quickly headed down to the Kenai - hitting up Kassik’s Brew Stop, Kenai River Brewery & St. Elias all before lunch.  Another 80 miles in front of us was Homer Brewery and where we’d stay for the night - Homer Spit Beach.  Making camp at about 9pm, we sipped on a few of our brews and then quickly found out how old we were - giving up quickly on the evening, we were in bed before 1am.  By 3am, Harlan broke the tent.  In a vain attempt to get out of the tent, the zipper completely failed (ripped asunder) and left us exposed to the cold & wet weather.  Giving up, we started driving back to Anchorage with next to nothing for sleep - crashing at Brian’s until the day could be started at a decent hour.  We shopped a bit, took another series of naps as we were all rediciously dead tired, and then checked out Midnight Sun Brewery & Moose’s Tooth (via Bear Tooth Grille) for dinner.  Had a few of our brews for dinner while watching one hell of an amazing movie out of Brian’s collection.  The next morning we said our goodbyes while Harlan and I made off for our hike up in Hatcher’s Pass.  All total, I came home with five growlers - one of Root Beer for Deanna.  I mark it as a successful weekend trip.

I recently completed a weekend venture to Anchorage and had, pretty hastily, made reservations for a hotel about a day before our arrival.  After searching a couple of places online, I ended up settling on Priceline - for reasons unknown (my guess is my personal liking of their spokesperson, Will Shatner).  The price nipped me a bit in the rear - all total, over $400 for a two-day stay in Anchorage.  Understanding that Anchorage, of all towns, milks the fact that it can do rediculous overpricing duirng the summer, I’m pretty used to these prices even if I don’t like them.

After our six-hour drive down to Anchorage, I was met with a shocking revealation - the clerk at the front counter of the Hampton Inn, where we had booked our stay, presented me with a daily rate that was significantly different than what Priceline had quoted me.  Assuring me that it was their error, the clerk went further to tell me that the excess would be reimbursed once Priceline got their invoice - after all, I wasn’t paying Hampton directly - Priceline was doing it for me.

So what was the quoted daily charge for the room?  $147 according to Hampton - yet Priceline was charging me $179.  Priceline’s site even said they had worked on “slashing” fees - but according to Hampton, Fees per day made up only $18 of the bill while Priceline charged me $22/day.  So all in all, there was a pretty hefty $73 difference in charges.

I was, however, assured by their staff that a refund was in order and so I washed my concerns away - until this week when, after a week of being back, I hadn’t gotten my refund.  I called up Priceline - and apparently Hampton was in error for ever giving me a reciept in the first place for the amount charged.  The rate of $147/day is a “bulk” rate that discount travel companies like Priceline get - whilst individuals booking directly through Hampton still have to pay the $179/day.

I agreed, understood their captialistic intent and dealt with the fact that I just paid a company $73 for what I could’ve done myself - gone to the company’s direct website and purchased my rooms directly from them.  In fact, what frustrates me is that kicking the middleman out doesn’t manage to save you any cash and, in fact, this is one of the few industries surviving in the US that operate under such a ridiculous concept - kicking the middleman out doesn’t, in fact, help you at all.  Sure, they say sometimes they can give you a deal but in this case, I received no better deal than what I could’ve gotten off of the company’s website - now does this make me the idiot or them for being so greedy not to pass along any of their savings onto me?

So, all in all, consider this on for size - in this instance, Priceline made $73 off of me for a 2-day stay.  That’s $36 a day - which translates to being a 18% profit for them.  Forgive me for not being up on economics, but last time I remember discussing profit margins in a retail setting, 10% was outstanding - and that normally 5-7% was expected.  Sure, inital markup can be upwards to 40% without considering expenses (source) but Priceline isn’t your traditional retail store - it doesn’t need brick-and-mortar locations and thousands of employees - it needs customer service, IT’s and servers - not much else. I understand I’m not considering employee charges and other business overhead, but 18%?  Seriously?  On something that’s practically automated by now?  In my own opinion, this is a ripoff.  I’ll be going directly through the companies from now on if I see no dramatic difference in savings - stupid me for thinking Priceline would actually “pass along” the savings.