2064699
home,paged,page-template,page-template-blog-compound,page-template-blog-compound-php,page,page-id-2064699,page-parent,paged-113,page-paged-113,bridge-core-3.1.8,,qode-content-sidebar-responsive,qode-theme-ver-30.5,qode-theme-bridge,wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-7.6,vc_responsive

The Joy Trip Project

Bikes, Breaking News, Cycling, Travel, Video / 25.01.2011

Photojournalists Morrigan McCarthy and Alan Winslow are heading out on another great cycling adventure. On the heels of their 11,000-mile bike around America called Project Tandem, the two once again are riding and recording the ideas of the many people they meet along the way. Last time they collected the thoughts of average citizens in the United States on the issue of climate change. And this summer they’re going abroad to connect with young adults to get their view on life in our times. “We're leaving in July from Fairbanks, Alaska and cycling 30,000 miles around the world through more than 50 countries to document through photographs what life is like for twenty-somethings,” McCarthy wrote in an email. “We'll share the photographs and stories from the road through digital postcards on The Geography of Youth website.” Together known as the Restless Collective McCarthy and Winslow use still photography and audio recordings to tell the contemporary story of life on earth. By gathering the impressions of  young people this time they aim to paint a portrait from the perspective of  those who will shape the future. Making their way slowly across the land on bicycles they offer an intimate view of the world through the lives of ordinary people, each with a unique point of view.
Assignment Earth, Environmental Journalism, Video / 23.01.2011

Fossil Creek is a conservation success story. This river that flows through the Mazatzal Mountains of Central Arizona has been reclaimed for the preservation of species habitat and recreation for the residents of nearby Phoenix. The removal a dam built at the turn of the last century has made it possible for Fossil Creek to return to its natural state of pristine beauty. Unfortunately the influx of human visitors has put the newly restored Fossil Creek at risk. The impact of automobile and foot traffic, plus a proliferation of garbage could very well undo the scenic and ecological features that make this conservation land worth protecting.

Capital Region Business Journal, Charitable Giving, Madison, Magazines / 11.01.2011

[caption id="attachment_4509" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Rick Terrien of the Iowa County Economic Development Corporation"][/caption] A new local food processing business creates much-needed jobs for adults with disabilities. And while helping to serve people in need a model of horizontal supply management is emerging to also make opportunities for culinary entrepreneurs and area growers. Operated by the Hodan Center, a non-profit adult rehabilitation center in Mineral Point, the Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen provides a safe working environment and skills training to craft commercial grocery items from the produce of farmers throughout the Capital Region.
Adventure Activism, Climate Change, Environmental Journalism, Photography, Podcast / 10.01.2011

Any photographer will tell you, seeing is believing. But when it comes to climate change, a long slow process that occurs over time, its difficult to capture a single image that demonstrates the sheer magnitude of this global crisis. Even though the most obvious and apparent result of our warming planet is the recession of glacial ice, in some of the most remote places in the world it’s hard to truly show how relatively quickly and dramatically that ice is melting. So photographer James Balog came up with a plan to record the progress of climate change by taking a series of pictures from specific locations near glaciers over the course of several months. "We have time-lapse cameras installed permanently at these various glaciers in Greenland, Iceland, Montana, Alaska and soon to be around Mount Everest," Balog said. "And these cameras shoot every half hour around the clock as long as it’s daylight and they’re looking down on these glaciers that are changing and we make this visual record of the landscape in flux." Called the Extreme Ice Survey these images around the world shot on tripods show the cascade of glacial ice as it forms and then melts. The passage of time is quickly sped up to show the pace of change and its apparent progress.
Adventure Activism, Art, Breaking News, Charitable Giving / 04.01.2011

Why does anyone do anything? That's a hard enough question to ask someone who actually works for living. But those of us who make our way through life playing at the fringes of society really have to ask ourselves: What the hell am I doing here? As a professional journalist my answer is pretty simple. My job is to ask that same question, with a little less incredulity, to other people whose work in world of adventure I deeply admire. I get to tell the stories of giants, men and women at the very top of their fields. Whether it s mountaineering, backcountry skiing, paragliding, BASE jumping, or mountain biking I get to shadow the lives of people pushing the envelope of human experience. All I have to do is be fair, honest and accurate. And with the help of new media partners like Venture There.com I get to share these stories with a broad online audience through my blog and podcast series called the Joy Trip Project. The JTP is an aggregate of news and information I collect in reporting on the business, art and culture of what I like to call the sustainable active lifestyle. Exciting people in our modern world push their bodies and minds to engage the wild places of the planet in joyful pursuit of adventure. And I tell their stories.  Venture There.com is an adventure inspired web site operated by USAToday and they've graciously allowed me to occasionally post a few the stories you'll find here to their social media content feed online. But rather than gear reviews, athlete profiles and expedition summaries I'll take a slightly deeper look into the motivation behind the accomplishments of activists as well as explorers. Adventure is not limited to what Everest climber Peter Athans once called in an interview " young kids throwing themselves off cliffs for taco money." In my reporting, at play in the shadow of giants, I look to discover those people out there who dedicate their lives in adventure to not only exploring the unknown but toward the benefit of others.
Charitable Giving, philanthropy / 31.12.2010

[caption id="attachment_4476" align="aligncenter" width="453" caption="Para-Athlete Mark Wellman"][/caption] Before we all get too inebriated to make a rational decision, how about we take a few moments to think about those non-profits out there helping to make the world a better place. With less than 12 hours until the New Year time is running out. You only have until midnight tonight to make a non-profit tax-deductible contribution for 2010. I just made a cash donation to one of my favorite charities Paradox Sports. This organization provides equipment and training to make the...