Nearly uneventful

In an effort to keep up my "forced journaling" (BTW that's the primary reason I keep this blog) I thought I would do an update.

I finished shooting the Jazz Festival the weekend before last, overall it was a lot of hard work, but a great time. I've bolstered my portfolio, made some industry contacts, and seen some pretty amazing music (there was also a frightening large chunk of rubbish though).

During my day job I have been swallowed with the design of our new data centre and the planning of moving hundreds of servers into this facility over two months from our two Wellington offices. Despite myself, I am really enjoying the work. We're building one of the 10 largest facilities in Wellington and I'm getting some fantastic experience that seldom comes up. 34 Kilometers of data cabling, 7 thousand liters of air/second through our process coolers, and now we're having to swing things onto the floor from a helicopter because they won't fit in the lift are are about 600 Kilos too heavy to carry. ;-) All in all we are spending nearly a million dollars on room that is not that big, and only holds computers (just lots of them with highly redundant cooling, power, etc. etc.) I am truly "geeking-out".


Otherwise, indoor soccer, touch rugby, and rock climbing are keeping me busy as spring looks like it might FINALLY arrive. We've actually had 3 or 4 days of sunshine - the fact that this stands out is indicative of how atrocious the weather has been for the past few months.

BTW, Here's a picture I took this Sunday when the weather turned "amazing":



I think the larger version gives the day some justice.

And I think I've actually managed to max out my flickr account until the end of the calendar month - until which time their won't be anything new.

Walking to the supermarket this morning I had a bit of a realization. As I walk everywhere, all the time, it takes me sometime to get places, big surprise I know. (E.g. my French class is about a 30 minute walk from my house) This forces me to do two things: 1) Give myself time to get places, or more importantly just give myself time and 2) Not rush around too much - as it's pretty much impossible to "walk in a rush" without realizing what a nutter you're being. Back in the States I used to book my days assuming no travel time so that I was always behind, and I double booked, and I spent most of my waking hours on a smart phone simultaneously talking and emailing. Little did I know how little it gained me and how much it cost me - so for showing me that - cheers New Zealand.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I've invited some friends to a French restaurant for nice meal. No one is American, the French girl confirming the booking on the phone asked "What is this Thanks-Giving you speak of?" and I'm afraid my mates are expecting some type of song and dance. Soon they'll learn it's mostly about just getting together and enjoying each others company... of course glutenous consumption never hurts. ;-)

This Thanksgiving I do have something in particular to be thankful for - in addition to wonderful people, fabulous luck, and an amazing family in my life - I'm going to have a nephew come April (Colin just found out what the next Guinn is going to be today - on his birthday! Happy Birthday, Bro!)

Wishing everyone a great Thanksgiving (whether it's a holiday where you are or not), your mate - Trey.

Damn, another month!

It's been a month since I've written so here's a very quick update:

My last post created some fantastic discussion which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I must say I am personally most interested in what set of circumstances morally justifies one nation invading another.

To this I love some of the points in "The Fog of War", a documentary discussing eleven lessons from the life of Robert S. McNamara. If you haven't seen it, it's time for a visit to the video store. Beautifully made and great discussion. It came out before Iraq and we (the U.S) have broken some of these "rules".

In particular (this rule is expanded in the special features), I think this rule is quite applicable:

"We are the most powerful nation in the world — economically, politically, and militarily — and we are likely to remain so for decades ahead. But we are not omniscient. If we cannot persuade other nations with similar interests and similar values of the merits of the proposed use of that power, we should not proceed unilaterally except in the unlikely requirement to defend the continental US, Alaska and Hawaii."

So is the "War on Terror" a defense of our land, given that Sept. 11 happened in the US? Even if the answer is yes to that and I find that more than a small stretch. How could Iraq be justified through the same logic? In my view it definitely isn't - nonetheless it was a brilliant campaign strategy for the republicans to symbolically link the two. Albeit reprehensibly misleading.

I wanted to chat with the girl from Iraq about the discussion from my last post, yet she was definitely not interested. At the very least I can appreciate the fact that she is probably sick and tired of being objectified.


Other than that: I've gotten certified as an Fortinet Certified Network Security Professional - which I was stoked for my employer to pay for! Yeah Intergen.

And I've landed the job as the official photographer for the 10th Annual Wellington International Jazz Festival. It's been a hell of a lot of work - and continues to be. But it's a blast, there are some fantastic bands (as well as some real shockers), and a great opportunity to meet tons of people in the creative community.

Here are some sample shots from the last 4 days (6 more to go!):

Lisa Tomlins & Twinset of Wellington:



Twinset of Wellington:



Trio Boeren-deJoode-Vatcher of the Netherlands:



Alda Rezende of Brazil:



The Eggs, a bloody fantastic funk band from Wellington:



Even had some quite artsy light shows, like Robin Fox out of Australia:

American, even Texan sized guilt

En route to my French class tonight I swung by the New World Metro to grab a panini. A lovely girl in her early twenties helped me with a big smile. Being the talkative guy that I am I asked her about her accent because I couldn't place it. (English was a second language, but it was excellent). She bantered back with "guess". I started thinking, looking to the ceiling... then she interjected with "Iraqi".

Now I've met a number of Iraqis here that came over during the war with Iran. They are always quick make some distinction I can't even remember now that lets me know they were part of a group that left ages ago. So I ask this girl, when did you leave Iraq?

She smiles, "About 2 years".
"How do you like it?"
"I love it here, great country."
"I really like it here as well."
"Oh yeah, where are you from?"

...hummm.

"I'm from the US... err Texas"

Then the gut shot - "I guess were not supposed to get along?" she tries to keep the smile friendly.

She tells me "I've lived through too many wars", "It's hell when you don't know if you will live through the day", "I got into Jordan during the start of the war, and then came here... I'm one of the lucky ones."

I pathetically retort "I didn't vote for *him*". The guilt has contorted my face. She tells me not to worry about it, "I'm over it" she tells me.

How can anyone be "over it"? How does someone young and beautiful stay young and beautiful when they deal with what she has?

So much of the pain she has dealt with is the result of my country, particularly my state's most famous... err infamous export. damn. I think to myself, "maybe I should invite her for a coffee?" Yeah, that'll do, I'll by you a coffee to assuage my guilt for my country destroying your country, home, and probably causing the death of your family members...

So I tell her she has all of my respect and I take my panini and walk back into my ridiculously comfortable lifestyle that has never been threatened or needed me to fight for it.

Independent of who I vote for, I am still responsible for what America does. It has a government "for the people, *by* the people". And I believe the last few years will leave a stain on all Americans' conscience when history begins to judge... as it has begun to do already.

Mas Kiwiana!

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Originally uploaded by treyguinn.

Photos from this past weekend. Card games, Mt. Ruapeu, roadtrip, and south coast of Welli sunset - killer weekend.

Spring and love is in the air...

No, not a woman, or any other option for that matter! Wellington and New Zealand. A weekend filled with good friends, hiking, reading, beautiful snow-capped mountains and a perfect ending.

Monique (a great new friend) and I headed out to the south coast of Welli, climbed all over the rocks, watched the sunset, and ate authentic fish and chips. Cruised through a beautiful part of the city I never see, which reminding me over and over of San Francisco. The harsh winter really is losing it's grip. The orange light of the sunsets warm my face and radiate into my heart.

This weekend was great as it re-engendered that "I love being here" feeling in my chest.

Only a couple snamps, but the photos are forthcoming.

Kiwiana

Kiwiana
Originally uploaded by treyguinn.

Spring is poking her head up again... Will she decide to stick with us?

Soul, baby!

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Originally uploaded by treyguinn.

Shot a great show with one hell of a singer, Lisa Tomlins. She gets a thumbs up.

Ass-end of the world...

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Originally uploaded by treyguinn.

I love the public art around Wellington, especially a series of concrete poetry and prose - this one in particular is a favorite.

Spoiling myself.

Nobody can spoil you like yourself! I've gone out and purchased a new lens, a Nikkor 28-70 f/2.8, which kicks serious photo butt.

Here are some photos I took with it this weekend (added to my views of wellington set on flickr):

Cool game

I spend entirely too much time looking at stuff on the ol' inter-web we have, but this has to be my favorite game yet: Line Rider

Giver 'er a spin.

Runnin' the rat race...

stationfacade.jpg
Originally uploaded by treyguinn.

Working, learning a bit of french, rock climbing again, and snapping a some photos. Pics available on my flickr site including Mattafix and some new shots from around wellington.

Nothing new but a novel definition of spring, 42 degrees (or 6 for other Celsius users) as the southerlies whale on this wee town.

Spring is threatening

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Originally uploaded by treyguinn.

According to the tulips in the botanical gardens near my house - spring is upon us here in NZ. According to my friend the thermometer... not even close. Pics Here

Sporty Photos

Here's a grouping (I shrink from saying portfolio as I have so few in this category) of old photos I submitted for some "outdoorsy" work.

Speaking of being 28

Trey scaling the outdoor rock climbing wall
Originally uploaded by jen&mike.

I'm the one on the wall... in my work clothes.

Green with envy...

Damn, hearing stories of this year's ACL Fest makes me miss Austin!

I hope everyone had a blast, you lucky dogs.