Buffalo Sunset

Outside Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2010)

Ice Crystals

Bohart Ranch, Montana (Winter 2010)

Elk Sunset

Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2008)

Cattails In Winter

Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2010)

Chess Pieces

Near Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2008)

Taking Flight

Near Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2009)

Frozen Bridgers

Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2010)

Destroyed

Bozeman, Montana (Spring 2011)

High Traverse

High Traverse, Bridger Bowl, Montana (Winter 2008)

Morning Gossip

Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2009)

Icy Rush

Near Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2010)

Icy Rush II

Near Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2010)

I Know Very Little Of Why

Bozeman, Montana (Spring 2011)

Reflections

Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2008)

Icicles

Near Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2009)

River Bending Winter

Near Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2010)

Rising Over The Bridgers

Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2011)

Tracks

Bohart Ranch, Montana (Winter 2010)

Triple Tree Panorama

Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2012)

Spring Snow Cranes

Bozeman, Montana (Spring 2010)

Winter Barn

Near Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2010)

Winter By The Fence

Near Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2010)

Winter Trees

Bozeman, Montana (Winter 2010)

JSWISS is repping NY in a big way, but why have I never heard of him until now? I say who gives a care, let’s embrace him now. The kid has skill and not to mention loads of music he’s done to check out so do like I did and catch up. Here’s where to start. Visuals for his joint Four Corners.

Want more? Here’s more to feast on, your welcome

Read this, love this, spread this.

@jswisshere

Police say a suspect about five-foot-three and 50 to 60 years old entered the bank on foot,   implied he had a weapon and demanded money.  He fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.   Police searched on the ground, with dogs, and from the air.

The suspect,  who has a mustache, was wearing blue jeans,  a blue denim jacket with brown collar, white sneakers, a tan baseball cap, gray gloves.

Police released security camera photos of the suspect,  and asked anyone who may have information to call them at (860) 537-7500.

We’re in Navajoland now, an area bigger, I am told, than ten of the 50 US states.

A day’s drive from Santa Fe, right near the Four Corners, where New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona meet, we criss-cross states to explore the strange, magnificent rock formations of Monument Valley.

Monument Valley Dunes by Joel Greene – painted in the same spot we are standing in!

The combination of the shapes and the scale plays with my head. The rocks rise out of the valley floor like over-sized sculptures that might be playthings of giants or gods. My brain insists on assigning meaning and familiarity, so triangular rocks become fins of giant fish turning the plains into a misty sea, the mesa where the top of the mountain was once the ocean floor becomes a temple, and I see horsemen, giant mittens, pyramids and other shapes I want to name.

And, of course, it is familiar; a score of westerns have been filmed here. I expect to see covered wagons coming round the bend, Indians on horses on the mesa, bows and arrows poised… At John Ford Point tourists spoil the illusion!

A three mile hike around one of the mittens in the sub-zero desert is bracing and literally breath-taking. The snow on the red dirt is impossible for my brain to compute; I keep thinking it has to be salt or sand. But it is really snow, and even though it looks as though it should be hot out there, it’s not!

We see tracks in the snow and the dirt. Jack rabbits? Cougars? Mountain lions? Bob cats? We know they’re out there…

It’s official: I’m a wuss. Driving up the steep, icy hairpin bends of the Moki Dugway, one alarmed eye on enormous boulders that look ready to tumble onto the road, the other on the precipice, I barely register the magnificent outlook over the Valley of the Gods. I re-name the Dugway the f@#k way, making use of every expletive I know as we climb up this ridiculous road, and I cannot repeat what I say when we get to the top and find that the road forward is impassable, so we have to come back down it! Why are M and Steph laughing so much?!?  (And yes, Rob and Pam, this is WORSE than the road through Dinali!)

The view from the hotel, aptly named The View, is stunning. The building clings to the mesa as though it was meant to be there, and from a distance is almost invisible. It also happens to be full of Aussies.  We meet people from Albury and Cooma, and hear other Aussie accents across the dining room!The Navajo own this land and live here. Their homes are flat-roofed and humble, in isolated clusters that blend into the landscape, often no more than one timber house and one yurt-shaped adobe structure known as a Hogan, and a rough timber corral for the horses. We encounter horses on our hike, stumbling upon them at the last minute because they, too, are almost invisible in this landscape.

On the drive home I am struck by the way mountain ranges loom in the far distance like other lands, and it seems like some fairy tale. The snow-topped Collegiate Peaks (in Colorado) appear behind a flat red rock outcrop and it is like seeing the Himalayas pop up behind Uluru.

In town after town, casinos and pawn shops go hand in hand, and the sign on one shop says “Guns, Ammo, Tools, Pawn”. In Canyon Largo, the Apache Nugget is an inflatable casino with two bright yellow plastic teepees out the front.

We drive though seven different Indian reservations on the way back to Santa Fe. The snow disappears then reappears as we hit the high country again. We turn into Calle Lucero and it doesn’t take long to unload the car, rug up again and head out for Maria’s Bar and what we are reliably told is one of Santa Fe’s best margaritas!

I’ve been on the land all my life. I love it, I live it and the welfare of my livestock is my number one priority. From sun up to sun down running a cattle property is all about animal welfare. Even if you are just driving around to fix a fence or check a bore, you are constantly checking your stock and the surrounding environment. You are proactive. When you see a mob of cattle you don’t just drive by without giving them a second glance. You look each one over as thoroughly as you can. Looking for ailments or injuries, where is that cow’s calf?, why is that steer standing right over there on his own?, is he ok?, why is that cow lying down over there by herself?. You then drive over to make sure that they’re not ill with 3 day or having calving problems or have an injury of some sort. Get my gist… and I haven’t even scratched the surface.

For me personally I try to make everything I do as stress free as possible. Whether that be working with people, horses, cattle or dogs. Being kind doesn’t cost a thing. We are in an extremely fortunate position geography wise where we base our beef cattle breeding and fattening business. We are located in the Central Highlands in Queenlsand, Australia and it is some of the most productive country around. We have the luxury of being able to grow pretty much anything we want to in our deep, fertile black soil as long as we get enough rain. We also have the luxury of being able to grow out and fatten our bullocks just on our buffel grass pastures without the need for any supplements or hormones. We are lucky that four generations ago my ancestors settled here. We are accredited organic with Australian Certified Organic and all our stock is sold straight to the meatworks in prime finished, fattened condition. That is our market.

Your market and how you run your cattle operation/business is structured solely around your geographical location. Northern producers have a totally different landscape to work with and a great deal of it is lighter, less fertile country that lends itself to running breeders. Breeders do not need to be in finished, fat condition to produce healthy calves. In fact if cows and in particular maiden heifers are too fat very often that leads to fertility problems with them being too fat to get in calf. If you run a breeder block you are limited as to your options with their progeny. Remembering that it is a business, yes please remember a cattle station is a business not just a romanticised version of McLeod’s Daughter’s ,and it must be run accordingly. When you do the figures there are two optimum times to sell cattle for the most profit margin. The first being when they are younger at weaner time, at fairly light weaner weights, and the second time being as fully fattened, finished and prime for meatworks.

Enter the live export market. Northern producers have another buyer for their weaners and lighter stock that they have no way of fattening through to finished meatworks weights unless they a) buy another station with softer, more fertile, fattening country (only a cool $5 – $10 plus million) or b) pay to have them fattened in a feedlot themselves (which is an extremely costly risk dependent on grain prices & the Aussie dollar and can sometimes result in massive losses). Indonesia is another buyer for northern stock in the market place. As we know in business if you’re in the business of selling, the greater the number of interested buyers the better and the greater the amount you can ask for your product. After northern cattle are bought for Indonesia they are then shipped via large, comfortable, vetted ships for a short boat ride to their next destination. Once there they are fattened in feedlots until they are in finished prime condition suitable to head to the meatworks.

Now this is where the proverbial hit the fan! Four Corners mislead viewers into believing that the horrific footage that they were being shown was standard practice in ALL ABBATOIRS. It was not. It was only a few. Yes a few is still too many but it was not the ENTIRE INDONESIAN MEATWORKS INDUSTRY. Our government bowed to misinformed pressures and insulted Indonesia and Australian graziers by placing a complete ban on live exports. Smart business people do not respond to such events without seeking as much unbiased information as they can about the topic before making such rash, devastating decisions. Unfortunately for rural Australians especially the current government is far from business savvy as our current economic status can attest.

If you take Australia out of the Live Export Industry you aren’t helping animal welfare worldwide. In fact you are doing the complete opposite. Standards and accreditation processes are now in place to ensure that Australian stock are only sold to feedlotters and abbatoirs that meet these strict standards. For countries that aren’t up to standard, by having these standards in place we are helping educate and improve animal welfare in areas that would otherwise be in the dark as to “Best Practice” measures. Once a plant is accredited and up to scratch it’s not just our own livestock that benefit, all stock processed through those facilities benefit.

Well that is just the start of my thoughts on the matter. Just to recap Yes I do support live export. Yes I applaud the new standards and accreditations that have been put in place and No I do not condone animal cruelty in any shape or form.

I believe in PRO ACTIVE ANIMAL WELFARE!.

Justice,Daddy,Misses,Junior,Mya,Loki

well another play day at our house, we had Mya and Abby playing with the boys and loving every minute of it! It goes to show you that no matter if your a human or a dog but if you are a male, that a woman ( or two ) in the mix makes you boys do some pretty silly things to get their attention!! Normally my dogs go out in the yard, walk around, pee on the four corners, stare at the ducks in the water and then come in! Well when the girls are here, we jump and bark and  wrestle to see who is going to be the first to bring them a gift, which may include a half eaten bone or what may be left from the rabbit that was caught earlier that day all of which are appealing to the ladies or so I’m told! There has to be some truth to the dead rabbit being a valuable prize because the girls who five minutes earlier wanted nothing to do with my boys, now are prancing and bowing to get their attention! Mya ans Abby have brought sheer bliss to a pack of boys and for the record my boxer Junior presented Mya with the rabbits head! Mya accepted!!  For us as humans that is equivalent to an engagement ring! Funny, Funny!!

Red Rock Canyon In Route To Laughlin

Year-end stories are always interesting to me.

Publications around the world rate stories, detail online traffic numbers, select the best leaders and generally give readers a special year in review.

On the national stage here are a few of my more notables:

We had what I’d call the best supporting furniture award…that went to the empty chair that actor Clint Eastwood spoke to throughout his speech at the Republican National Convention.  We narrowly re-elected a president.  John Edwards and Roger Clemens, both escaped conviction.  There was the epic fall of Lance Armstrong.  There was the Korean pop singer, Psy and that Gangnam Style video which skyrocketed a catchy tune into YouTube superstardom.  We bought more than 48 million iPads, weathered a couple of hurricanes, and cheered for the Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner who, broke the sound barrier from 24 miles up.

Baker City at HCMR

When I look back on the motorcycle rides there was:

LAUGHLIN RIVER RUN – in April the Road Glide was shipped to the Las Vegas desert.  Then it’s a short 100 mile jaunt through the desert to Laughlin, NV and it’s a great way to escape the Oregon monsoon rain to enjoy the heat of the canyons.  And being close to the Colorado River and between two mountain ranges in the Mojave Desert there are a lot of scenic rides with panoramic views to enjoy.  Not to mention the motorcycle rally itself.

HELLS CANYON MOTORCYCLE RALLY - in June, some riding buddies took off on 3-days of enjoying nature’s perfume – the sweet smell of rain showers on the cedar and pine forest – into the Cuprum-Sheep Rock country.  At times, the cold rain made us wish for a fishing lure and then there were other times the motorcycle tires were inches from the edge of a 1,000-foot drop-off while in the next instant the left-view mirror came pretty close to scraping a craggy rock wall on the grade coming up from Hells Canyon Reservoir into the mountains…  it’s always an exciting adventure in Baker City!  But hey, that rain is a “summer” adventure in Oregon.

On top of Bear Tooth Pass

FOUR-CORNERS MOTORCYCLE LOOP – in late August the posse set out for the mystical 4-corners.  It turned into a 4000-miles epic journey over a couple weeks that led us through Eastern Oregon, Southern Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota/Sturgis, Montana, Northern Idaho, Washington and then back home.  Moab, the 4-corners and Bear Tooth Pass were the highlights.  It was amazing scenery and viewing it all from back-roads on a motorcycle made it all the more fun.  The trip was much more than just a motorcycle ride.  We were exposed to searing heat, dodged wildfires and rode through mud-flows so deep on Colorado’s Million Dollar Highway that we could have caught trout with the right fishing gear!  The gist of the ride was exploring Moab and 4-corners, but the searing summer heat kept us from really getting to know the area well, and it gave me lots of ideas for future trips.

STREET VIBRATIONS –  One of my favorite ways to end the Northwest riding year is this late September trip to Reno.  The drive is pretty quick and it always guarantee’s the heat of the valley inter-mixed with cool mountain meadows and panoramic views of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The crux of the ride is of course the rally and wide assortment of builders and vendor booths along with coming back with a to-do laundry list of possible winter projects for the motorcycle.  It’s not like we’re going to be loafing around on the couch this winter, right?!

Street Vibrations 2012

That was my look back and it helps to motivate me to plan for 2013.  A couple of rides already blocked out on the calendar are the Harley-Davidson 110th Anniversary in Milwaukee and “Shark Week” in Utah.

In looking back on 2012, we also need to keep in our thoughts and prayers those who were met with tragedy this year, whether from storms or gunfire here at home, or on a battlefield on foreign soil.  May 2013 be safer, healthier and happier for all of us.

Photos taken by author.

All Rights Reserved © Northwest Harley Blog

Below is a montage of some of the footage that we have for Lasso The Sun.

Thank you for your email.

While there was a brief reference to the earlier program in “Another Bloody Business”, it was essentially a completely new and separate story and not a sequel. As I wrote to you earlier, the original program was carefully investigated by Audience and Consumer Affairs following complaints received after its broadcast and its production was found to be in accordance with the ABC Code of Practice. Consequently, there was no need to make any apologies or corrections in relation to that program.

Subsequent to the broadcast of “A Bloody Business” there was, as you know, significant coverage of the issue and its ramifications by both the ABC and other media. There was no need for “Another Bloody Business” to revisit all those developments in its story. It did, however, report the introduction of the ESCAS system and quoted Phillip Gylde saying:

“What that [the Indonesian revelations] led to was the introduction of what’s known as ESCAS, the Exporters Supply Chain Assurance System, which for the first time enables the Australian exporter to control what happens to animals from the moment they leave the farm till the point of slaughter.”

In relation to your questions specific to “A Bloody Business, Four Corners advises that:

• Not showing “A Bloody Business” footage to all interviewees. The footage was shown to Cameron Hall, CEO of LiveCorp, the body responsible for overseeing conditions for cattle when they are exported from Australia to Indonesia. All other interviewees were given a detailed description of the footage showed.
• Rohan Sullivan’s complaint was dealt with last year by the ABC. Luke Bowen never made a formal complaint to the ABC about “his comments being taken out of context”.
• The 60 Minutes footage related to cattle in Egypt and was filmed more than a decade ago. This was made clear in the program and was used to introduce Lyn White and her ongoing activities representing Animals Australia.
• There was no footage in “A Bloody Business” of the abattoirs located in Taliwang, West Nusa Tengarra, Lombok and Terpadu, Bogar, West Java.
• It is normal film-making practice to shoot more material than what is shown in the final, edited product.
• The program acknowledged that Greg Pankhurst’s company had done much to encourage the acceptance of stunning in local abattoirs. In particular, the Z-Beef abattoir in Sumutra; an abattoir in Bandar Lumpung and two abattoirs in Medan. Since the program was broadcast, we understand that stunning is now more widespread.
• Four Corners does not have an agenda to ban live exports. Its job is to report on issues of public policy and interest and to present the facts in a fair and balanced way and this is exactly what “A Bloody Business” did. When the program was first broadcast, most of the live cattle export industry condemned the practices shown in the Indonesian abattoirs. The attitude changed once the Australian Government introduced its temporary ban on the trade.

In accordance with our procedures, Four Corners referred your complaint to Audience and Consumer Affairs; they will not be replying separately to you.

Accordingly, while noting your concerns, Audience and Consumer Affairs are satisfied the broadcasts were in keeping with the ABC’s editorial standards for impartiality.

Thank you for taking the time to write; your feedback is appreciated.

For your reference, the ABC Code of Practice is available online at http://about.abc.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/CodeOfPractice2011.pdf

Should you be dissatisfied with this response to your complaint, you may be able to pursue your complaint with the Australian Communications and Media Authority, http://www.acma.gov.au .

Yours sincerely

Mark Maley
Audience & Consumer Affairs

This year we decided to take in the Holiday Lights show at the Del Mar Fair Grounds. I was nice. They had lights of every shape and form on the infield of the racetrack and  you got to drive around the track to view them. My favorites were the train and Santa playing basketball. They were animated lights….always a big hit with me. 

After the lights we came home and attempted to stay awake until midnight. We were expecting to watch a West Coast celebration of NYE but instead got a recorded NYC East Coast version…kinda silly if you ask me. But we managed to stay awake…were joined by P1 and P3 and then promptly went to bed. Party animals, I know!

Looking back at 2012, it was a fairly quiet year…we waited almost half the year for orders and then BAM! It was time to move! I went on my first cruise with my wonderful NY friend, where I met a few other ladies…we drove cross country from NY to CA. I got to see 14 states, Niagra Falls, Churchill Downs, St. Louis Arch, The Grand Canyon, stood on 4 states at once at Four Corners, crossed the Continental Divide and the Great Plains. I saw the deserts of Arizona….HUGE farms, lots of nothing, the Mexican Border, and now we are settled in San Diego. Within a week here my husband got hit by a car (on his bike) and broke his pinky. The kids started karate. Sibylla started Kindergarten and several months after we arrived we welcomed P4 (Kiran)! There have been up’s (Kiran) and there have been downs (hubby’s accident, car getting broken into) but all in all it’s been a good year. And, again, the weather in San Diego is perfect. We are enjoying our time on the West Coast and look forward to exploring it more in 2013….starting with LA and Hollywood today!

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/102085768/Q%201-30.%20Questions%20to%20Lee%20Rhiannon%2C%20Greens.docx

This morning when we woke up in Flagstaff it was 10 degrees outside. We grabbed some Dunkin Donuts coffee and headed for the Four Corners Monument, where New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado meet. From Flagstaff, it was about a three and a half hour drive.

We considered heading south to Sedona (Thanks Whitney!), but given the many hours we would be on the road to get to my friend’s house in Woodland Park, Colorado for dinner it wasn’t possible (this time). It is one of the many casualties of spontaneous road trips – lack of planning and time.

So we hopped in our frozen car and drove north through Navajo Nation. We stopped in Tuba City by luck and were so excited! If you are a fan of running films, you’ll know that the Tuba City High School cross country team is very good. A documentary called Racing the Rez was recently made of two rival high school teams in Navajo Nation. It was so serendipitous! What was even better is that as we were driving into town, we saw some high school aged girls running together. How cool!

We soon left Arizona and entered Colorado. We drove through the most scenic mountain snow and arrived at my friend Robyn’s house late tonight where she made us hot tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. We stayed up for a little bit catching up (Robyn and I attended grad school together) and talking about her new baby and what Choy and I should do in Colorado tomorrow.

We don’t have that much time, but I think we have a plan. Tomorrow’s destination is Kansas City, Missouri where we will eat Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ because Whitney recommended it. Hopefully, my friend Lina and I can meet up in St. Louis before Choy and I head back to Indianapolis.

Read about Day 1 here.

The call was for a Serena, who I called on the cell. She answered, crying and blubbering and I waited 5 minutes for her to get to the cab, opened the door for her (from the inside), and she got in still crying.

As I pulled out of the lot I commented on how lovely her brown eyes were . . . and “well-hydrated.” The flirt caught her attention for a moment and she almost laughed, but her eyes were extraordinarily crystalline and the brown a rich, almost indescribable color; the iris muscles making a beautiful pattern so lovely that I just had to comment.

“Now, you know it is a scientific fact that you can’t laugh and cry at the same time,” I added. “But, I want to cry,” she said. “Go ahead then,” I conceded. “Have a good one.”

By the time we reached Lomas she was opening up to me, telling me she had a panic attack that night and wanted help with her meds, Lorazepam I think she said. “But no-one would help me,” she cried. I suggested that adding meds upon her existing prescription wasn’t something they would want to do, and asked, “Why the attacks?”

“I have endometriosis and require surgery, and I’m scared,” she answered. “Well,” I said, “the doctors at UNM are the best and I am sure you are going to be just fine. Maybe all you needed today was some hand-holding.”

She sobbed and nodded. “Look,” I quipped, “just to prove my point, here is my hand.” I reached behind the front passenger seat and she took my hand and held it as we drove to her apartment.

By the time we got there, she had pretty much stopped crying and I suggested she clean house or do other menial chores until her boyfriend came home and give him a big hug. “You’d be surprised how well housework takes your mind off your problems, and the benefit is that when you’re done, you can sit down in a clean, neat room, which just makes everything seem better.”

I didn’t charge her the $8.66 fare and told her it was my pleasure to help such a lovely young woman, and that I was certain others felt the same way, especially her doctors.

As I drove off, I savored how smooth and comfortable her hand was in mine . . . God I love women . . . too bad my love interest was now sleeping with another man, crying that she had “gotten over” me.

A few calls later, and I mean few . . . business has been horrible . . . in fact, I only made money one week the past month . . . I got a call at Hotel Blue downtown and picked up a Navajo man, in his twenties, and took him round trip to Walgreens for a booze run and a cell phone charger at the Radio Shack next door.

We stopped at an ATM and getting back in the cab he counted out four twenties for a roundtrip, which I had quoted $20, but he offered $40 and I didn’t argue with him; but now was paying me $80! After he made his purchases and heading back to the hotel, he wanted me to stop back at another ATM so he could give me more money, but $80 was quite enough and I was worried about him. Earlier that day, a man had stolen his luggage, bus ticket, and $500 in cash . . . this young man did NOT belong in the city. The sooner he got back to Four Corners, the better!

I know I did a good deed earlier in my shift, but I never saw Karma work that fast, and I needed it. If not for that generous payment, I would have had to work the entire 12-hour shift just to break even!

Ruffalo surveys the historic Route 66.

So today we woke up at 5 am, loaded the car and drove the historic Route 66 through San Bernardino, Barstow, Kingman, and Flagstaff. Switching every two hours or so we made a few side visits, as was the intention of our trip, to enjoy the road, see the country. The day’s end goal was to visit the Grand Canyon.

We first stopped in Lake Havasu City, Arizona to see London Bridge. That’s right. London Bridge. It never fell down, it was just relocated to Arizona. Why? I don’t know.

After Lake Havasu City, we got back on the road to try to make it to the Grand Canyon before the sunset. We weren’t sure we were going to make especially since Choy told me about the Flintstones Bedrock City just outside of Williams, AZ. A tiny amusement park of Bedrock and the Flintstones? Yes, please. You can’t say no to that! Luckily, it was on the way to the Grand Canyon and we could prioritize our visits and get to the canyon first.

We took US 40 E and then AZ 64 N all the way to the Grand Canyon. It was so cold! One of the downsides of a spontaneous road trip through the US headed northeast is that, coming from southern California, you aren’t exactly prepared for the cold! The sun warmed things up pretty good, but I still had to put on extra socks, my trail running shoes (per Choy’s suggestion which was brilliant because there was ice and snow everywhere), my scarf and sweater. I probably would have done well to wear a hat, gloves and a jacket, but alas, they were in Indianapolis.

A view of the Grand Canyon from Mather’s Point.

We arrived at the park at about 3 pm and went out to Mather’s Point. The vistas were in Choy’s words, invigorating. It was so incredible. I mean the Grand Canyon IS just a giant hole in the Earth, but geez louise is it breathtaking. It was a little nerve-wracking to be that close to a humongous hole in the Earth and have ice and snow everywhere in addition to crowds and crowds of people. I was a little nervous, but it ended fine. Choy and I bought national park passports at the gift shop and christened the book with its first stamp: the Grand Canyon. You take these passports to national and regional parks and you can stamp them and collect them all! Choy said it was the first Four Square.

Speaking of Four Square, Choy has recently taken to the game and has a single week high score of 427 points because of these recent check-ins in multiple states and landmarks. My iPhone lost service (AT&T!) while driving up to the Grand Canyon and luckily I’ve been using Choy’s to check in when this happens, but it’s become a little bit of a competition between the two of us. He’s still a new user and you Four Square users know that the game hooks you at the beginning and then it becomes harder to get high points and badges. I’m letting him enjoy this time.

After the Grand Canyon, we drove to Flagstaff to stay the night. Tomorrow we will be driving to Colorado to visit with my friend Robyn and enjoying the beauty of the Rockies. Never having spent more than a layover in Colorado, I’m excited to just take in the landscape.

Two things we wanted to mention: 1. All of this planning is being done on the road via our iPhones. It is so amazing that we can research driving routes, find out information about each of our visits, compare prices, book hotels and finds Starbucks all with our phone. 2. We will write more about this later, but our rental car is a new Ford Focus. We want to know – who designed this blasted car? It is awwwwful. More on that later.

We’ll be writing again tomorrow after our visit to the Four Corners!

(This article originally appeared in upstart magazine, as part of a series of top ten lists from 2012. Follow the upstart link to access all the media).

10. David Speers asking Bill Shorten about Peter Slipper

When Sky News journalist David Speers interviewed Bill Shorten in April, it appeared the Workplace Relations Minister had received a gagging order from the party and/or the PM. Mr. Shorten did a remarkably poor job of weaselling his way out of Speers’s very straightforward question: ‘do you think Mr. Slipper should return to the chair while these civil claims (of sexual harassment against James Ashby) are being played out?’ As mUmbrella’s Tim Burrowes so neatly put it (borrowing a line from the BBC comedy series The Thick of It),it was ‘like watching a lion rape a sheep. But in a bad way.’

9. Jonathan Holmes saying he’s sorry (or did he really?)

‘The biter bit. The critic castigated. The pontificator pwned.’ 

There is something enticing about seeing the moral high ground humbled. Therefore, it was with a degree of anticipation and schadenfreude as we awaited this year’s 35^th episode of Media Watch. The watchdog who watches the watchdog had been corrected by the ACMA for breaching standard 5.3 of the ABC’s code of practice. More specifically, the broadcast regulator found Media Watch had not offered the Daily Telegraph’s Anthony Clennell appropriate opportunity to respond to criticism against his piece on pokie reforms in 2011. On the program, Jonathan Holmes responded to the ACMA’s ruling by offering his apology. However, as noted by Crikey’s David Salter, there was a ‘rather bizarre and Alice in Wonderland flavour to this whole episode.’

8. Four Corners: The Comeback Kid?

The ABC‘s investigation into Julia Gillard’s leadership coup in 2010 presented a detailed timeline of events that led to the fall of Kevin Rudd. The topic never left the news agenda, even after Gillard’s re-election. It was becoming all too obvious that Kevin Rudd was not the ‘happy little Vegemite’ he claimed to be as the Foreign Minister of Australia. After months of widespread media speculation about another pending leadership battle, was perhaps this the report that finally set it in motion? The program can be viewed in its entirety on Four Corners’ web site. Below is a small excerpt for the purpose of this review, featuring Labor campaigner Bruce Hawker, Four Corners reporter Andrew Fowler, and KRudd starring in the role as the not-so-happy Vegemite).

7. Maxine McKew’s Tales from the political trenches

Defying the expected outcome of the 2007 election, Maxine McKew ousted John Howard in the seat of Bennelong. The long-time journalist, who for three decades had worked with the ABC as a presenter on the 7.30 report and Lateline, became part of the Labor caucus, only to lose her seat three years later. Amongst other things, Maxine McKew’s controversial insider-exposé blames Gillard for the poor election in 2010, labelling her an ‘ambitious and impatient deputy.’ As she tells Radio National’s Fran Kelly in the clip below, dirty tricks and ‘selective research’ were put to use ‘to soften up a move away from Rudd.’

6. Jonathan Marshall’s outing of Alan Jones’ ‘died of shame’ comment

Did Sunday Telegraph journalist Jonathan Marshall deceive the organisers by not identifying himself as journalist when he bought a student-price ticket for the dinner? Should the Sydney University Liberal Club dinner be regarded a private or public event? Was the party under the Chatham House Rule? Did the organisers specifically ask journalists to identify themselves at the event or not? Was it appropriate to report on Alan Jones speech in the first place? And, in the end, if the circumstances were such that Marshall should not have reported from the event – were Jones’s comments about the PM of such a nature that the public interest in having them published would override any other obligations on the journalist’s behalf?

5. Newspaper shakeups

Job cuts, broadsheets becoming tabloids, erecting digital paywalls, shutting down printing presses, outsourcing subbing duties, and more editorial changes. While, perhaps, not ‘a moment’ as such, newspapers have been in a constant state of turmoil throughout 2012. While the job losses alone are gravely concerning, the impact that the cuts could have on quality journalism is equally worrying. Despite the restructures in organisation and business models, circulation is declining for both Fairfax and News Ltd. In the case of the latter, online audiences have also waned since the introduction of the paywall in April. So far we have barely seen the start, and little of the effect, of the changes. So what will 2013 bring?

4. The Oz‘s apology to Julia Gillard, and the story that won’t go away

Source: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/apology-to-the-prime-minister/story-e6frg6n6-1226456413608

Whether a real scandal or a media beat-up, chances are we are far from a conclusion of the inquiry into the PM’s past with law firm Slater and Gordon. There has been an abundance of reporting and speculation, and as with most such large scale investigations come unfortunate errors. Writing that the PM had set up a ‘trust fund’ rather than a ‘slush fund,’ did The Australian produce this year’s most unfortunate typo, or was it a potentially defamatory factual error? And, how significant is the distinction there, anyway? (It should be noted that also Barrie Cassidy got this confused on Insiders, without it causing much fuss at all).

Perhaps we should rather stop and think about the point at which the number of reports drowns out the important details in a story, and at what point a story should be put on the back burner unless there really are significant details to report on. Pondering the public interest of all the details that had been published in The Oz’s extensive investigation, Media Watch’s Jonathan Holmes asserted the following in August:

‘You can question the motive of The Australian, as it filled page after page with detail that few will read. But Hedley Thomas’s articles were for the most part sober and meticulous – and for the first time, perhaps, showed how much of the ranting in the blogosphere had substance, and how much did not.’

Recently new information has emerged, including a claim that Julia Gillard at one point received $5,000 from her then-boyfriend and fraudster Bruce Wilson. Whether or not that (or anything else that’s come up) constitutes a wrongdoing or a deficiency in the PM’s character, it has certainly provided enough fuel to keep fire burning…

3. The Hamster Wheel: media coverage of the muslim riots

Satire can be a powerful and important tool in unraveling stereotypes in reportage and pre-scripted coverage of violence involving minority groups. That’s all that’s necessary to say about this – now watch the clip below.

2.  RAP NEWS XIII: A NEWS HOPE: Julian Assange v Rupert Murdoch (feat. Kristinn Hrafnsson)

While we’re in the satirical corner… Rap news may be well left of centre and far away from the mainstream. But that’s exactly the point, too. We could not resist the temptation to include this commentary on mainstream media’s reporting on (and condemning of) Julian Assange and Wikileaks. Reinventing the news? More, please.

Today’s story: As a shadowy specter hangs
over our ability to access and assess the facts,
is an honest media The Force that can free,
and restore balance and peace in this far reach of the Galaxy? 

The battle has shifted at light speed to cyberspace,
where rebel journalists have made the jump to hyperspace,
challenging the Establishment’s grip on information
and are now being pursued by its sinister agents. 

1. Leigh Sales vs Tony Abbott

Cartoon by Hayden Morris.

Being a politician must be a tough job when you’re facing one of Australian journalism’s finest, unprepared. What was arguably Tony Abbott’s toughest week in the media in 2012 came to a head when he faced Walkley-winner Leigh Sales on 7.30 in late August. Abbott was on the programto discuss BHP’s announcement to put the Olympic Dam project on hold and brought his usual (and only) ammunition: ‘It’s the carbon tax’s fault.’ The 12-minute interview was a rollercoaster of sorts, as an emotional Sales tore strips off the leader of the opposition, who repeatedly failed to provide straight answers to her questions. Below is a small excerpt of the interview for the purpose of this review, but if you haven’t yet seen it in its entirety, make sure you do.

The full list of upstart’s top ten can be found here.

Steinar Ellingsen is a Norwegian journalist and photographer, and a Journalism lecturer at La Trobe University. He’s currently making a documentary webseries chronicling a ten-week odyssey in Australia, as part of a practice-based PhD at La Trobe University. You can follow him on Twitter: @SEllingsen.

Josiah sings out of the speakers of my car, and I sing along with him.

“Must have passed at least a million homes,
Can’t but help and wonder which one’s mine”

I got two hours of sleep last night. No, this morning. I went to bed at 5:55am, got up at 8 to finish that paper I had stayed up all night working on. I feel so tired – so tired that I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep. Not the giddy tired, either. Just tired. Bone tired.

“Half of the moon is all that we get this time.” 

I drive down my road, towards home. It’s the middle of december, almost Christmas, really, and there’s no snow. No snow in Michigan in December. I wonder if we’ll ever have a white Christmas again. That’s all snow’s good for, anyway.

“Blink twice, it’s never real.”

I keep thinking about you. I want to hang out with you again. I think about how I’ve seen you more than I’ve seen any of my other friends in the past two weeks. I wonder if that means anything. Maybe I just like you because I like things when they’re new, when I haven’t gotten tired of them yet.

“I wish that my heart could eat away my brain,
‘Cause it swings in front of me and makes me insane.”

When I get home I curl up in a ball on the newish purple rug in my room. It’s comfy. Slowly I come to realize that I’m laying on the floor in my bedroom. I don’t care, though. Sometimes being a girl is painful. Sometimes being alive is painful.

“Four corners make a whole,
And the holes will drag you under.”

Our balcony was covered in snow. The monuments were covered in snow. Consuela was covered in snow.

It was stunning. Just standing there watching it snow it was peaceful and breathtaking. Tim on the other hand, was being the sensible one and freaking out about driving. But the roads were cleared and seeing as there wasn’t much to see around the monuments, we took what photos we could and headed off for the day.

On our way, Tim was extremely excited to see these oil pumps, and just had to get a photo with one!

We made it to Four Corners, officially the coldest place we have been so far. We then star jumped over four states, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.

As we left four corners, the weather became worse, and rain picked up and the snow started to fall again. By the time we had lunch in a town called Cortez, it was full blown snowing and the streets were covered. Being the first time we had ever driven while it was snowing, the customers ans staff at Wendy’s gave us some helpful trip advice and we went the road more travelled. Luckily we listened, since the other road was chain travel only! We were behind a snow plow for awhile which was great, but still ended up driving through icy conditions. Tim did a fantastic job.

Thankfully the snow stopped and the conditions got a bit better as we made it into Moab. We were considering driving further onto Grand Junction, and tried to drive through arches national park to see some sights but it was too dark. We decided to call it a night and got another great hotel. We went to a fun local pub for pulled pork sandwiches and local beer.

Now we are back in the warmth, have found the hangover on tv and are preparing for hopefully good conditions tomorrow for the final leg to Denver!

Night night all
tvw xx

Road from Tuba City to Four Corners has nothing but great scenery!

Near Monument Valley on Hwy 160 East

This is exactly what Monument Valley looks like! So cool seeing these remaining vestiges of another time.

My BFF, Pat standing on the Four Corners.

THE Four Corners

Montana was so upset over this sign. She couldn’t believe they would keep her from this most historic site. She’s been allowed everywhere else!

Montana losing her pose because Aunt Patty is walking toward her. It’s like Montana was saying, “Hey, Grandma! I forgot Aunt Patty is here!”

Dusk at the Four Corners

Santa Fe tomorrow!

Happy Trails!

Dear Ms Bloomfield

Thank you for your emails of November 4th and 13th concerning Four Corners.

As your correspondence raised concerns of a lack of accuracy and a failure to provide an opportunity to respond to allegations, your email was referred to Audience and Consumer Affairs for consideration and response. The unit is separate and independent from ABC program areas and is responsible for investigating complaints alleging a broadcast or publication was in contravention of the ABC’s editorial standards.

Your substantive complaint seems to be in relation to “A Bloody Business’ which was broadcast in 2011. The ABC does not generally investigate complaints that are received more than six weeks after broadcast, unless there is a compelling reason to do so. In this case, complaints were received at the time and investigated. The program was found to have been in keeping with the ABC Code of Practice.

If you believe that the program, “Another Bloody Business” was not in keeping with the Code, please identify what specific aspect of the program you are concerned about and the relevant section of the Code it relates to.

Thank you for taking the time to write; your feedback has been noted.

For your reference, the ABC Code of Practice is available online at http://about.abc.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/CodeOfPractice2011.pdf

Yours sincerely

Mark Maley
Audience & Consumer Affairs

Audience and Consumer Affairs

ABC Corporate

Dear

Thankyou for your reply dated 26th November 2012.

The complaints I raised in my original letter (dated 4th November 2012) are still relevant now to both programs, ‘A Bloody Business’ and ‘Another Bloody Business’.  I will add to them as the second program confirms the concerns I have regarding ABC Four Corners adherence to policy and editorial policy.

I did not realise there was a time limit on making complaints regarding broadcasted programs. Sixty days seems to be rather an inadequate time period considering the long term affects this program has had on the live export industry, which would not have been realised 60 days from the date of broadcast.

‘Another Bloody Business’ was essentially a sequel to ‘A Bloody Business’. ‘Another Bloody Business’ was advertised by the ABC, referred to by Four Corners on their website and Facebook pages as another instalment of’ A Bloody Business’. It was even named in direct reference to the original. It also used footage from the original.

When 4 Corners aired ‘Another Bloody Business’ referring to ‘A Bloody Business’, the time limit within which to submit a complaint therefore restarted on 5 November 2012. It has taken ABC over three weeks to reply to the original letter I wrote. I had to continually ask for simple acknowledgement that it was received. At one point the  Four Corners Facebook page administration told me that the letter wouldn’t be recognised at all unless sent through formal channels (6 November 2012). I had sent it to Four Corners through their own website and email contact portal on 4 November 2012. There is no postal address advertised as a contact point on the Four Corners website.

I posted my letter to Four Corners on the Four Corners Facebook page as a point of interest to others. I intend to do the same with this one.

Four Corners are obligated to answer my questions, they produced the program, and my questions are directly aimed at their actions. If a broadcaster is able to refer to programs broadcast past 60 days, then they should also be able to be questioned beyond that period by viewers

The journalist Sarah Ferguson who was responsible for both these broadcasts, is aware of this letter as I communicated with her on twitter, and she responded to my query regarding when I could receive an answer via twitter on  19th November 2012.

In reference to the ‘A Bloody Business’ aired 30 May 2011.

I am still awaiting a response from ABC Four Corners to my questions sent on  4 November 2012.

In reference to the ‘Another Bloody Business’ aired 5th November 2012

ABC Editorial Policies and Standards, 2.1 & 2.2. Accuracy of information.

The errors broadcast in the program aired in the original program were not publicly corrected. Particularly the 60 Minutes footage and the assumption that it was an Australian animal.

ABC Editorial Policies and Standards Principle 3. Acknowledge and Clarification.

Four Corners intentionally misled the viewing audience to believe that the majority of animals viewed in Indonesia in ‘A Bloody Business’ were animals from Australia. Footage taken by Animals Australia from abattoirs in Tailwang, West Nusa Tengarra and Lombok was shown. This footage later came under scrutiny for its authenticity and that the animals were not Australian animals.

There was no clarification in ‘Another Bloody Business’ that the animals shown in the original footage taken by Animals Australia were not Australian animals.

Footage from ‘A Bloody Business’ was used in ‘Another Bloody Business’ to show the slaughter processes used in Indonesia. However, by November 2012, two of these abattoirs were ESCAS compliant, using 100% stunning prior to slaughter and providing food and water for the animals right up to point of slaughter. The standards in Indonesia at those abattoirs provide higher levels of animal welfare than those standards required within Australia.

Four Corners have misled the public as there was no mention of these improvements in Indonesia. This gave viewers the impression that standards have not improved. In fact if they had contacted the Northern Territory Cattleman’s Association and asked about these abattoirs they would have found a recent delegation had visited  and inspected the improvements of the abattoirs shown in ‘A Bloody Business’.

Four Corners  did not mention that Indonesia has increased its rate of stunning for pre-slaughter and are now using the ESCAS processes for some of their own cattle slaughter lines.

I still hold to my original allegations, that ABC Four Corners have breached independence, integrity, honesty , correctness, clarification and distinguish of content   in both ‘A Bloody Business’ and ‘Another Bloody Business’.

Yours Sincerely

Joanne Bloomfield.

The campground within Mesa Verde National Park as well as all private campgrounds in the surrounding area are closed for the season.  I locate a boondock spot for us just outside the National Park but all the information says the road is rough.  Rough road and impending cold front with snow are enough to keep us moving west.  As much as I am disappointed about not stopping at this highly anticipated location, I would be more disappointed getting unintentionally stuck in the backcountry.

this rock formation looks familiar, but can’t place

We forego stop number two (Mesa Verde NP) and proceed directly to planned stop number three, but not without a famous stop along the way; the Four Corners.  The Four Corners is a region of the United States consisting of the southwest corner of Colorado, the northwest corner of New Mexico, the northeast corner of Arizona, and the southeast corner of Utah.  It is named after the quadripoint where the boundaries of these four states meet.  It is the only location of its kind in the United States and is administered by the Navajo Nation.

each limb in a different state….anyone for a game of twister?

Al’s one foot is in four different states

Although this is a popular tourist stop, it certainly is NOT worth a special trip.  It is located in the middle of nowhere and offers nothing but a ground marker and the right to say, “I was in four states at the same time”.  After fifteen minutes of photo ops, we’re back on the road heading toward the small town of Mexican Hat, Utah.

Our spot high above the San Juan River – Gooseneck SP

Al and I have always wanted to see Monument Valley; the scenic backdrop to many Western Films.  After a little internet and map research, I find a place to park for the night; Gooseneck State Park, Utah.  And it’s free!  Our four-hour travel day turned into eight hours as we traveled from the Great Sand Dunes National Park to Mexican Hat, Utah.  Eight hours filled with plenty of beautiful scenery and more excitement than we would have liked.

San Juan River

Gooseneck State Park, Utah, sits on a Mesa/Plateau high above the San Juan River.  The Monument Valley rock formations can be seen in the far distance.  The area consists of a parking lot, picnic tables, vault toilet, and amazing 360 degree views.  Great place to spend the night.

In the morning we’ll drive SLOWLY through Monument Valley.