Tuesday, January 29, 2008

A 13-Page Spread in "The Light" Magazine

I got the email today that the on-line magazine that interviewed me last month (The Light) has been published. I was surprised to see my photo on the cover as well as a 13-page spread inside the magazine. Pretty exciting.

I was going to provide the link to the magazine, but to view the magazine, you have to create a log-in account with them, and then download the PDF file. So, instead, I have downloaded the file already, and put it on my public i-disk for you to download. The article is written in Indonesian, so most of you probably won't understand, but you can at least view the photos in the layout.

You can download the file (about 10mb) here.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Soeharto Buried Today

The big news in Indonesia lately has been about President Soeharto. He died yesterday at around 1:00 pm, and then was buried today near Solo.

There seems to be mixed reactions about his death, but most Indonesians are sad. Soeharto did a lot of good things for the country, but ruled with an iron fist. He was also very corrupt, and is responsible for thousands of deaths during the cold war and in Timor. He was never really brought to justice over his corruption or human rights abuses. Most likely he will have a positive legacy as people have short memories and are quick to forgive and forget...

He did rule the country for 32 years, and Indonesia is the way it is today because of him...not all bad...

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Dewey and Linda Visit

Dewey and Linda Paul arrived today to visit Jakarta. They came to see Gene's last basketball tournament at JIS. They taught here for a long time, and left for retirement in the states a few years ago. It is great to see them again, and I am sure they will have a good time this week seeing old friends, and watching basketball. They head to Bali next...

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Photo Shoot With Kayla

I am convinced now...my daughter was born to pose for her father's camera.
There must be some kind of genetic code at work here...no one taught her how to pose...she just naturally does it...unreal.


Friday, January 25, 2008

TGIF

On Friday's, a bunch of us usually get together for a beer at a local place called DeHooi's run by a local Dutch guy. Then, I leave at around 6:00 to meet Tika for a movie as Friday is also our Movie night. Well, the movie we saw tonight was In The Land of Women (not a great movie). At about 5 minutes into the movie, we realized we had seen it already on DVD months ago...arrrrrgh! That is the problem with our great technology and illegal DVD's. Ha!

The reason I posted this photo, is that it reminded me of our late afternoon beers in Kathmandu. We would find a place that had a rooftop, and then go there for beer. Great idea.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Photos I Forgot About

I was going through some of my old photos searching for a few to put on my new website, and came across these two. I remember taking them, but for some reason, I ignored them. The tree photo below was taken in Botswana while on safari a few years back, and the sunset below is in Aceh just a few months after the Tsunami...another good reason to hold onto ALL your photos...you never know if there is a hidden gem in there somewhere...


Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Shopping in Kathmandu

I am not a shopper, but I was amazed at the amount of stuff you could buy in Nepal. The most amazing thing is that the stuff you see below is put up and taken down every day. What a tedius job that must be...

By the way, I heard on the news that there were riots in the streets in Kathmandu lately because of the increase in fuel prices...looks like we visited just the right time...I wouldn't want to be in that city with angry students burning tires, etc...

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Everyone Loves Photos

Last week, I had an email exchange from another photographer at Pbase.com from Spain, and she visited my blog, and we shared photo techniques, etc. Her blog is very cool (very full of stuff), and I promised her I would mention her blog on my blog since she provided a link to my blog on her blog....So if you are reading this, MonneyPenny, thanks again for your kindness...

Click here to go to her blog...some great water polo photos..

Monday, January 21, 2008

Waiting Around

Not much to report today...it was a Monday.

I like this photo for some reason. Simple, but says a great deal. One of those photos that could have a million different captions...

More Baby Photos

Dad posted some of his photos while at my sister, Pam's house. He used the new web gallery that Mac's iPhoto has, and it is way cool. You can browse the photos as a slide show, a gallery, and can control how large the photos appear on screen...and the best part is you can download the original files...

So, below is a photo of the Lame family. From left to right is Pam, Colton, Ashlyn, Mike and Jackson. What a great looking family, heh?


...and here is GrandDad with his new grand daughter...

Sunday, January 20, 2008

House Update 2008

Here is a photo of the front of the house with a little "drama" added in Photoshop. I liked the effect, so decided to leave it in.

A great deal of little stuff has been done to the house. Nothing really awe inspiring, but little details that were finished that just makes everything a little bit closer to finishing.


The front walk way has been tiled, and is ready for lights to be installed...


The master bedroom bath now has a ceiling, and the rock wall was finished...


... and the largest project to finish is the tiling of the pool. They are now putting in the white caulking between all the tiles...what tedious work...


Overall, we are happy with the progress. Some walls were painted the wrong color, but that is being corrected. If all goes as planned (and I have enough money), we could be moving in as early as March, but we shall see.....lots more work to be done.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Colors, Colors, Colors

We went out to the house today to catch up on what has been going on out there...
When we arrived, we found that some of the walls had been painted the wrong color, so they have to be redone, and the bathroom tiles we wanted were not available. So, on the spot, the contractors wanted to know what color floor tiles, wall tiles, and cabinet and sink colors...arrrgh...you would think it would be simple, but they were tough decisions to make, and always causes stress.

The house is looking good. I will provide some photos on the next post...

Friday, January 18, 2008

Kayla Back to Being Kayla

Well, today was better than yesterday, but I can still just barely talk. I am pretty much caught up on this blog, though. There is a big gap of time between the trip to Nepal, and these recent posts, but not much happened on those days, so no loss. I will, from time to time, post more photos from Nepal as I am still going through them....it takes a lot of time.

I have been working on my new website. It is starting to look pretty good, but it is also a lot of work. I will let you know when it is live and ready to be viewed. I was able to obtain the domain name of scottygraham.com, so that is pretty cool. Hard to believe in this day in age, there is not another Scotty Graham out there somewhere with a website. Good for me.

Remember that on-line magazine The Light I was telling you about? Well, they sent me the article to proof read this week. It was all written in Indonesian, so I gave it to Tika to read, and she said it was excellent. The guy also told me that they want to put my photo on the cover of the magazine. It should be coming out soon, and I will provide the link so you can view it for yourself.

At home, it is Kayla being Kayla again...check out the photos below. This is Kayla putting on her own hairpins in her hair, then putting on a sticker on her face and lipstick.....and then running into our room to show off what she had done. What a ham...but a very cute ham...

By the way, for those of you who didn't see all my Nepal photos, you will have to click on my December posts or click on older posts at the bottom of the page. Or, you can click on the Pbase.com link to the right, and see most of my Nepal photos in my new Nepal gallery.



Thursday, January 17, 2008

Not a Good Day

This guy's face says it all about the way I feel today. I caught a nasty cold, and I mean really nasty. Today I woke up and could not speak, so had to take a sick day. Then I tried to do some computer work, and the connection kept cutting me off, and was super slow...which drives me insane, so it was me and the couch and the TV all day today. Argggggggh!!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Ashlyn Alexandra Lame

Today, on my Mom's birthday, we welcome into the world, Ashlyn Alexandra who was born at approximately 7:30 pm in Pennsylvania.

My Dad sent me the photo below, and promises more tomorrow....

Congrats to my sister, Pam and her family Mike, Jackson and Colton for their new baby girl (and sister)...

Happy Birthday, MOM!!

How about this? On my mom's birthday today, her new grand daughter, Ashlyn Alexandra was born!! I can't think of a better present than that!!

Happy birthday, Mom, and congratulations on your newest grand daughter!!

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Back in Pokhara

We were sitting at breakfast when a car drove by with loudspeakers announcing something. We asked the waiter what he was saying, and he said that there was a big soccer game between Nepal and Bangladesh. We asked the waiters if we could go with them to the game, and they were happy to escort us.

It was a pretty cool experience. The stands were packed. We thought we were going to see the two national teams play, but as it turns out, it was two clubs...the Nepalese Police club, and some club from Bangladesh. We started to cheer for Nepal, but then when the Bangladesh team came out to the field (shown below), everyone gave them a big cheer, and our waiters told us, "I think we will be cheering for Bangladesh because no-one likes the police"

Pretty funny...


Not your everyday concession stand...hotdogs? I don't think so...


I wonder what this kid is thinking...on the bus...



Friday, January 04, 2008

Last Day in the Mountains

Today we headed down...way down. Never the less, it was still a gorgeous walk. There were more people as well which is good too as it is facinating to see the way the Nepalese live.

The kids always strike me as amazing. In all my travels in third-world countries, the kids have the most incredible attitudes, and they are so much alike everywhere I travel. Rich or poor, they just want to laugh, be loved, and have fun. They are just great to stop and play with and to watch...

I remember my trip to Aceh after the horrible Tsunami. My sole purpose of the trip was to take photos of kids. Despite most of them losing everyone in their family, their homes, toys, EVERYTHING, they still managed to smile, say hello, and laugh. We can learn a great deal from them...





Thursday, January 03, 2008

Sunset at Chomrong

It was one of those real lucky moments. We were all sitting out on the deck talking. The clouds had moved in and covered the mountains. I was bummed. Then, for a period of only about 10 minutes, the clouds opened up just as the sun was setting. I couldn't believe my eyes what was lying in front of me. I had been bragging about our clear skies all along the trek, but the clouds for this sunset were so dramatic, they really made the photos. I quickly set up my tripod and took as many photos as I could. The light changed by the minute...what a spectacular sunset!!





Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Back to Chomrong

After the Base Camp, the trek was all downhill. Two days of downhill. I am glad I have good knees, as it was tough on the knees going down. Still, I prefer going down than up.





Tuesday, January 01, 2008

New Year's Day at Annapurna Base Camp

It is New Year's Day, and what a way to start the new year!! Maybe my Grand Mother's passing had something to do with it...but we saw the most amazing sunrise this morning!!

Happy New Year!!