Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Kenneth Lo
Spent the last couple of years capturing footage from my travels featuring Japan, Thailand, and China.
Website: https://www.opticarchive.com/
Monthly Archives: August 2019
Top RV Campgrounds: Silver Falls State Park In Oregon Is “A Standout Scenic Treasure”
From the Oregon State Parks website:
People call it the “crown jewel” of the Oregon State Parks system, and once you visit, you know why. Silver Falls State Park is the kind of standout scenic treasure that puts Oregon firmly onto the national—and international—stage. Its beauty, boundless recreational opportunities and historic presence keep it there.
Waterfalls: Where else can you walk behind a waterfall? Check out the famous South Falls and see what a 177-foot curtain of water looks like from behind. It’s part of the Trail of Ten Falls, a spectacular, nationally recognized hiking trail that weaves through a dense forested landscape. The trail passes a series of breathtaking waterfalls along a rocky canyon, and descends to a winding creek at the forest floor. This 7.2 mile loop is considered to be a moderate hike, with an overall elevation change of 800 feet. Several connecting trails with separate access points make shorter routes. For everyone’s safety— absolutely no pets allowed on the Canyon Trail. Pets on leash are allowed on all other trails.
Boots, bikes, paws, hooves: The park offers more than 35 miles of backcountry trails for mountain biking, hiking or horseback riding (see guided ride info below). Bears and cougars live in the more remote park areas.
To read more click on the following link: https://oregonstateparks.reserveamerica.com/camping/silver-falls-state-park/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=OR&parkId=402235
New European Art Books: “In Montparnasse – The Emergence Of Surrealism In Paris” By Sue Roe (2019)
From inside the book on Amazon website:
In Montparnasse begins on the eve of the First World War and ends with the 1936 unveiling of Dalí’s Lobster Telephone. As those extraordinary years unfolded, the Surrealists found ever more innovative ways of exploring the interior life, and asking new questions about how to define art. In Montparnasse recounts how this artistic revolution came to be amidst the salons and cafés of that vibrant neighborhood.
Sue Roe is both an incisive art critic of these pieces and a beguiling biographer with a fingertip feel for this compelling world. Beginning with Duchamp, Roe then takes us through the rise of the Dada movement, the birth of Surrealist photography with Man Ray, the creation of key works by Ernst, Cocteau, and others, through the arrival of Dalí. On canvas and in their readymades and other works these artists juxtaposed objects never before seen together to make the viewer marvel at the ordinary—and at the workings of the subconscious. We see both how this art came to be and how the artists of Montparnasse lived.
To find out more: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/533938/in-montparnasse-by-sue-roe/
Stories From The Road (Trip): “Big Bend Country”… “The Wild West Of Texas”
From a National Review Magazine online article by Heather Wilhelm:
Try to get to Big Bend National Park, a stunning mix of ecosystems perched on the Rio Grande. Sure, you can fly into El Paso — and then you’ve still got about 300 miles left to go. No matter which way you approach the heart of West Texas, it’s a long haul. (Well, unless you have a private jet. But then you’d be missing half the fun.)
As the writer S. C. Gwynne has pointed out, the American frontier didn’t end in California, but in the wild west of Texas. On the way out to Big Bend country, through hardscrabble landscapes, breathtaking canyons, and vast swathes of open sky, you can see why.
If you take my preferred route — it’s longer than necessary, on purpose — you’ll stumble across the former home of Judge Roy Bean, the hard-living, saloon-dwelling, 19th-century “law west of the Pecos,” who kept a black bear as a pet. You’ll pass through Marathon, a one-horse town with an impossibly lovely hotel — the Gage, built in 1927, famous for its White Buffalo Bar.
To read more click on the following link: https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2019/09/09/the-great-american-road-trip/
Future Of Smaller Homes: “Bumblebee Spaces” Stores Bed, Wardrobe On Ceiling Freeing Up Small Rooms
From an 1843.com online article:
A startup called Bumblebee Spaces is trying to make micro apartments more appealing by adding movable furniture. Beds, wardrobe and drawers are stored up on the ceiling, to be lowered quietly on white suspension cords at the touch of a tablet, like a scene change on a theatre stage. In theory this frees up floor space. Once he’s raised his bed in the morning, Dabdoub sometimes does yoga and meditation. In the evening, he can sit on the couch and project Netflix onto a blank wall, which would otherwise be occupied by the bed’s headboard.
Bumblebee is putting a new twist on the Murphy bed, a mattress that folds down from the wall. That bed was named after another inventor in San Francisco, William Lawrence Murphy, who was living in a tiny one-room apartment in the early 1900s. According to lore, he was trying to woo an opera singer who refused to come to his bedroom. So he devised a way to fold up his mattress into the wall and convert the bedroom into a lounge. Lust fuelled innovation.
https://www.bumblebeespaces.com/
To read more click on the following link: https://www.1843magazine.com/upfront/postcard-from-silicon-valley/how-robotic-furniture-will-improve-our-lives
Top Camping Vehicles: Overland Discovery Rents Fully Loaded 2020 Jeep Gladiator Camper
From a 303Magazine.com online article:
Overland Discovery currently owns six Jeeps and two campervans that are located here in Denver but are in the process of equipping more to offer the experience to those traveling to the Las Vegas area, a prime outdoor destination with 16 national parks within driving distance. The lineup currently includes two and four-door Wranglers and Rubicons, two RAM ProMaster campervans and a new 2020 Jeep Gladiator – a Rubicon truck with exemplary power, towing capability and a king-size rooftop tent for maximum comfort. 
Each vehicle is automatic with 4×4 capability and comes with a rooftop tent with a memory foam mattress, blankets, pillows, camping chairs, propane stove, YETI cooler, cookware, and two gallons of water. All you need to bring along is your food, an extra cooler for drinks and a sense of adventure. “Seeing people experience adventure and the look in their eyes when they get back is just as satisfying as experiencing it for myself,” said Ramirez.
https://www.overlanddiscovery.com/
To read more click on the following link: https://303magazine.com/2019/08/jeep-rental-camping-gear-overland-discovery/
Books Worth Reading: “The Trojan War Museum” By Ayşe Papatya Bucak
From an NPR book review:
That’s the kind of astonishing illumination you’ll find in The Trojan War Museum, Ayşe Papatya Bucak’s debut story collection. These are stories that reflect the author’s Turkish heritage and a curiosity about our human search for meaning as profound as it is lyrical. The stories are music. They beguile and illuminate with narratives about yearning and desire, circumstance and courage, resilience and discovery. Reading them, while the reading lasts, replaces seeing.
I found myself lingering as I read — Bucak’s prose has a sort of musical cadence to it; these are fables about enchantment, myth and actual history. Her subjects — schoolgirls stuck in the debris of a disaster, an art collector’s exotic oeuvre, a Trojan War Museum imagined and re-imagined by Zeus and his fellow deities, a widow’s chess match with her dead husband’s ghost — occupy a dreamscape of surprising encounters, art history, and Turkish culture. Each story is a vignette that has at its core a re-weaving of human relationships.
To read more click on the following link: https://www.npr.org/2019/08/22/753170034/the-trojan-war-museum-is-a-gorgeous-gallery-of-dreams
Top New Travel Videos: “Chile – Los Lagos To Atacama” By Martin Heck
Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Martin Heck
Explore the incredible diversity of Chile in Winter. From the northern end of Patagonia and Los Lagos region with its picture-perfect volcanoes, to the wild pacific coast, magical araucaria forests, towering peaks of the Andes all the way up to the Atacama Desert.
Shot in June and July 2019 traveling over 5000km from south to north.
Website: timestormfilms.com/
Music: “Skydance” by Kim Planert – kimplanert.com/
Special thanks to:
Angelbird Media – angelbird.com/
Wicked South America: – wickedsouthamerica.com/
Housing Market: Top Ten Destinations For Moving Companies In 2nd Quarter
From a Housing Wire online article:
…of the top ten most desired locations to move to, the share of out-of-state searches on realtor.com ranges from 48% to 59.8%.
Charleston, South Carolina, the No. 1 city on the list, was searched by homebuyers who live in Charlotte, New York and Atlanta. Second on the list was Boise, Idaho, which was sought out by Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Sacramento residents.
“Home prices have risen for seven consecutive years, far outpacing salary growth. Although interest rates are the lowest they have been in three years, cost has become a deal breaker for many buyers, especially in pricey West Coast metros,” said realtor.com Senior Economist, George Ratiu. “But instead of giving up on the American Dream, many buyers have decided to look for a home in medium-sized metros outside their state that offer price relief, and a similar lifestyle.”
To read more click on the following link: https://www.housingwire.com/articles/49903-here-are-the-top-destinations-for-movers-in-the-us?utm_campaign=Newsletter%20-%20HousingWire%20Daily&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=75991104&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9Dfy_tm0uUztBU-DX0yqQviGtal9Xe-xPeemrbFQeZ0nm5hWNDE0jb1Xak27NkRD_cBHwS9VBlcwV9QTb_21LqkPDQHw&_hsmi=75991104
New Travel Books: “Epic Bike Rides Of The Americas” From Lonely Planet (2019)
From inside the book as seen on Amazon.com:
This definitive companion for cycling enthusiasts showcases 200 of North, Central and South America’s best and most celebrated routes, from epic adventures off the beaten path to shorter urban rides. Go bikepacking in Baja, road riding in Colombia, mountain biking in Canada and gravel riding in Pennsylvania.
Each ride is accompanied by stunning photos and a map and toolkit of practical details – where to start and finish, how to get there, where to stay and more – to help you plan the perfect trip. Suggestions for similar rides around the world are also included.
Rides in Canada include:
- The Cabot Trail (Nova Scotia)
- Whistler Bike Park (British Columbia)
- The Whitehorse Trails (Yukon)
- Banff to Whitefish (Alberta)
Rides in the USA include:
- Mountain Biking in Moab (Utah)
- Great Allegheny Passage
- Colorado Beer Ride
- Glacier National Park Loop (Montana)
- The Covered Bridges of Vermont
Rides in Central America & Caribbean
- The Baja Divide (Mexico)
- Oaxaca to Zipolite (Mexico)
- Cuba’s Southern Rollercoaster (Cuba)
Rides in South America include:
- The Trans Ecuador Mountain Bike Route (Ecuador)
- Mendoza Wine Ride (Argentina)
- The Lagunas Route (Bolivia)
- To the Tip of Patagonia (Argentina)
- The Peru Divide
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