May 31, 2011

Aboard the Moku Pahu


Had a very exciting adventure/tour today aboard the Moku Pahu.




Through my buddies Jenna Tower and Karl Neilsen, I met Pete Spencer, Third Mate on the Moku Pahu, currently docked at the C&H refinery in Crockett, just below the Carquinez Bridge.


Though we couldn't photograph inside the refinery, on a quick walk-thru en route to the ship, we passed huge bins of sugar, along with sugar literally falling from the sky along pipelines... AAAHHHmazing! On the ship, we had a chance to see first hand where all the sugar was coming from, and saw it unload into the C&H refinery.



The ship transported coal from Stockton to Maui, then in Maui loaded up with harvested sugar, and then came back to C&H. But there are still evidence of previous loads, like wheat, here.


The crazy thing about the sugar, it's technically not considered a food product until after it's processed through the refinery. We were able to try a bit.. still pretty tasty to me despite it coming straight from Pete's working-man hands.


I love tours and I LOVE tours on factories, so this was super exciting to me.



We toured every part of the ship that we were permitted to access, peaking at valves, gauges, engines, ropes, everything.






And I sat in the captains chair =)


One really exciting piece of the Moku Pahu is the Ecochlor system. Installed on only two ships in the world (Moku Pahu and an Atlantic Container's M/V Atlantic Compass cargo ship) the Ecochlor system is designed for ballast water treatment technologies. Using cholorine dioxide, a biocide which has been used in industrial and municipal water treatment applications for decades but never before applied to seawater, the system is specifically designed to "safely and economically eliminate the worldwide transfer of aquatic invasive species. Pretty clever!


At the end of our grand tour we saw a pretty bay area sunset. Which I'm sure was nothing compared to the guys aboard who had stories of once seeing three green flashes in one trip! But was still beautiful to me.


Huge thanks to Pete for being a great host and tour guide and another thanks to the rest of the crew who were so kind to let us roam around their ship.


Thankfully we weren't pirates, and the ship is still in their safekeeping.

May 27, 2011

Oakland A's defeat the Baltimore Orioles 6-2


Headed over the Oakland Coliseum (apparently it's the O.co Coliseum now?) for the game between the Oakland A's and the Baltimore Orioles.



Coco Crisp and first base coach Tye Waller, were all smiles before the game.


And the smiles stuck as the A's defeated the Orioles 6-2.


Though it might have looked like the A's were just standing around with their hands in the pockets ;-)


They put out a great effort.


And Mark Ellis ran full speed from first, rounded second and headed for third. Only to be called back for a foul ball... twice. But he laughed it off with Orioles third basemen Mark Reynolds.


Mike Gonzalez couldn't hold it down.


And Michael Wuertz finished the game. A great win for the A's.

Shout Out - Rico Ramírez

Quick shout out to one of my buddies at "the Buck" - Buck Shaw Stadium. Been working with Rico Ramírez since I started shooting the Earthquakes. He shoots for Area Chica, has always been a good friend along with his partner in crime, Jesus Ibáñez.

Rico hosts a sports radio show broadcast live for El Mirador Paraguay in DC, Maryland and Virginia at 12pm (ET) but you can listen to it streaming at 9AM (PT) online: http://www.desdeparaguay.com/elmirador

Tune in and check it out =)

May 25, 2011

Florida Marlins defeat the San Francisco Giants 7-6


Well today's game started like any other Giants game.



Pitchers pitching, couple runs, Giants down, change of pitchers




Pat Burrell at bat, missed pitch allows Nate Shierholtz to run home. Then a single RBI as Tejada scores.


Aubrey Huff getting a hit to send home both Burrell and Freddy Sanchez. And the comeback kids Giants tied this game up into extra innings.





Can you guess who Giants put on the mound next?


Here's another hint.


Yup, Brian Wilson, who held it scoreless. Let's go Giants.


Then it all went horribly wrong. Top of the 12th, Nate Sheirholtz makes the catch for the out, and a one-hop throw to home plate.


Buster Posey didn't get the out and took a hard collision with Scott Cousins running full speed to score the Marlins 7th run for the 7-6 win over the Giants.





Posey was down with a leg injury and trainers had to escort him off the field in what so far looks like a leg fracture. Let's hope all the ligaments are alright and Giants Fan Favorite and Rookie of the Year isn't out for the season!


Cal Women's Basketball - Player Development Video

Here's another piece for my women's basketball project with Cal Women's Basketball Head Coach Lindsay Gottlieb speaking on player development. Really getting some use out of my 7D with the video feature! I still have a lot to learn about filming and even more about post processing. But it's a fun learning process and I'm excited/thankful Cal Women's Basketball has given me this opportunity and creative license to get my feet wet in multimedia. Enjoy! =)


May 24, 2011

Chicago Fire defeat the San Jose Earthquakes 5-4 in Penalty Kicks


Headed over to Buck Shaw Stadium for the US Open Cup game between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Chicago Fire.


Quakes came out with a quick score from Ellis McCloughin... he's now 2-2 in the MLS. Not a bad record! Unfortunately the small weekday, not regular season crowd, didn't make this celebration as dramatic as I'd hope.


But the Ultras and the Casbah fans were definitely in full support. Going hyphy during the game. They are crazy, but you can't question their loyalty and support of the Quakes!


Justin Morrow netted another one and I thought Quakes were smooth sailing.




Chicago Fire came back and tied it in the second half, 2-2.



Quite a tumultuous second half which ALMOST got out of hand.



Regulation whistle blew and being a cup game, couldn't end with a tie, so two 15minute overtimes, still tied, then penalty kicks.


Penalty kicks are always such an intense way to end a game. It puts so much pressure on the goalkeeper to try and block the shot, and a lot of pressure on the players to not misfire or hit the crossbar.


Unfortunately for the Quakes, Fire won 5-4 on penalty kicks.


My heart goes out to Andrew Weber, as Quakes regular starter Jon Busch consoled him. 


Everybody has rough nights man, keep your chin up!


It was great to see all the Quakes players come together as a team, including another Cal Alum rookie David Bingham! 



Haven't got any game action of him yet, but fun to get him in his Quakes gear after following him as a college player... Feeling old, twice in one week!


My highlight of the night, was undoubtedly youngster hecklers in training. Shouting things like "quit being a sissy" when a Fire player went down. 


"I take back what I said about getting your eyes checked" when the referee issued a red card to Gonzalo Segares of the Chicago Fire. And my favorite, as the Quakes players ran drills along the sideline preparing to sub in he screamed "you're awesome! you're awesome! you're awesome!" every time the player ran by them.