Today’s Dose will focus on capturing nature at its most magnificent. We’ll start off with John King and his friends, who had an incredible chance encounter with a band of wild Mountain Gorillas. John and his group were walking on a cement pathway through Uganda’s Bwindi National Park when the Gorillas came through and decided they were interested in John. When you’re watching John during the action, keep in mind that he’s just seen the park info and signs and read the placards and pamphlets, so he knows that silverback can reach 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) in height, with an arm span of 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) and weigh 220 kg (490 lb). More imp0rtantly, there was once an experiment where a 160 lb man and a 160 lb gorilla were both given the handle of a cable that lead to a dynamometer. The 160 lb man pulled 200 lbs. The 160 lb gorilla pulled 847 lbs. John’s a brave guy:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2H7zcqjplc]
If you found that to be as amazing as most people, you may want to check out this National Geographic article on Mountain Gorillas. Enjoy:
National Geographic – Mountain Gorillas
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And finally we’ll finish off with my good friend Frank Grisdale. You might have noticed Frank’s gorgeous photography as the background on many of my cover pages, on my sites, and in many of the quotes I post. I remember an interview with Kurt Vonnegut where he was asked what he would be if he wasn’t a writer. He explained that he couldn’t have been anything else, and that he only knew two kinds of writers: the ones like him who could only write and who couldn’t imagine themselves as anything else, and the ones that were good at virtually everything they did. Frank’s in that last group. In business, in art and in life, Frank’s made a lot of cool, interesting and smart choices.
He’s done album covers, his work hangs in the Waldorf Astoria in New York and in the collections of Presidents and other leaders around the world. Arab Princes invited him to photograph their raptors. And he didn’t start off as some technical master either. He’s learned all that over time. What he does have is vision. I remember his wife once telling me that they were driving down a road in Alberta when Frank suddenly hit the brakes, pulled over, grabbed his camera and jumped out of the car. She looked around thoroughly confused about what he wanted to shoot. And even when she saw him shoot it, it didn’t look like anything special to her. But when she saw Frank’s final print of it—and how his artist’s mind was able to see the world, she was once again amazed by his ability.
I’m proud to have him as a friend and I look forward to seeing all of his future work. I’m a tiny bit of an art collector and I have a few of Frank’s pieces now. I’m also happy to report that, after seeing my pieces, I’ve turned a few friends into collectors of his as well. I’ve included a few of my favourites below, but I would highly recommend checking out his website and browsing through the collections. It’s very peaceful and it’s always an enjoyable experience to share space with Frank’s work. I’ll be very surprised if you don’t find several that you absolutely love. I’ll include the link below. Enjoy and you’re welcome. 😉
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The Grace of Light by Frank Grisdale
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Horseshoe Lake Study #2 by Frank Grisdale
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Going to the Sun by Frank Grisdale
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Golden Eagle’s Chest by Frank Gisdale
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Goldfish in Bamboo Stream by Frank Grisdale
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Horseshoe Lake by Frank Grisdale
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Photographic Artistry by Frank Grisdale
peace. s
The Friday Dose is a collection of cool, interesting and surprising things that are chosen for their potential to distract you away from any painful thought loops that may currently be disrupting your sense of perspective. Save these for when you’re feeling low and you want to change your perspective. They’ll help Enjoy. And please let me know if you bump into any broken links. Thanks!
A serious childhood brain injury lead Scott to spend his entire life meditating on the concepts of thought, consciousness, reality and identity. It made others as strange to him as he was to them. When he realized people were confused by their own over-thinking, Scott began teaching others to understand reality. He is currently CBC Radio Active’s Wellness Columnist, as well as a writer, speaker and mindfulness instructor based in Edmonton, AB where he still finds it strange to write about himself in the third person.