This image is from my last trip to the US, or maybe it was the 2nd last… either way it’s been a while since I was there. I’m now in the process of booking the flights so it’s all systems go prep wise. Given that I am heading back to see the family in Texas in July, I expect the conditions to be a touch warmer than they were in this image!
The last time I was in Washington DC was kind of weird. First it was during a government shutdown, so my plan to visit the Smithsonian was foiled… and then a snowstorm blew in and it got even quieter as most people stayed indoors keeping warm. There were a few brave souls who remained outdoors to have some snow based fun though…
Yep, this is just how people hang out at the airport. It’s really fun to see these anachronisms that abound all around Africa. And the best part is, everyone is super nice. People in Africa (at least in my experience) are some of the kindest and most lovely and happy people in the world. The whole place is just heartwarming.
Here’s another photo I got with my Pixel 4 while I was stuck for a few days without my big boy camera. Air Madagascar lost our luggage for a few days and I had forgotten to hand-carry my Sony. This sucked, but it also forced me to use my mobile phone to get as many photos as possible. The Pixel 4 has a really smart machine-learning tool to help blur out the background to make it look like I shot this with a Leica 50mm!
Check out the new podcast called “Molecules I’ve Ingested” at https://podcasts.treyratcliff.com/ ! We’ve actually recorded the first two episodes already… I got this idea from my friend Hanna in Scotland because she thought I had hilarious stories about trying different drugs, so I decided to turn it into a full podcast. Each episode is a different molecule. I teamed up with my friend and neighbor across the street, Harriett McDonald (who is also a voice actress) to be the storytellee. Is that a word? Not sure… either way, she’s awesome because she is straight as an arrow and more conservative than Pat Buchanan, so she asks all the obvious questions and rightly calls me out for being a moron. Anyway, each episode is focused on a different molecule and, beyond the wild stories, they are quite educational! So, yeah, Episode 1 is called Amazonian Giant Monkey Frog Poison aka The Cambo Ceremony and Episode 2 is Acid at Burning Man and the Asian Stalker – Enjoy and tell your friends! 🙂 I’m working on Episode 3 now… I think it’s gonna be called “Full Death Experience – Imbibing the Crystalized Poison of the Sonoran Desert Toad in the form of 5MEO-DMT.” Yeah, it’s kind of a long title, but that’s just what the master wordsmith ordered.
Daily Photo – Washington D.C. in the Snow
I went to DC last year to meet with my friends at the Ritz-Carlton (that’s where they are based). I got there a day early in the middle of a dramatic blizzard. I spent a few hours walking around and just taking photos with my Pixel phone… here is one of my favorites!
This is a great show to watch on Netflix… I’ve known about this stuff for a long time and wrote a lot about it in my book – and I’m glad this is going more mainstream now. Here’s the trailer for ya:
Daily Photo – Posing for Instagram in a snowstorm
I love watching people freeze off their fingers just to get the perfect shot for Instagram. It’s such a weird thing in a way… I guess it’s not the end of the world. At least she’s not in a bikini. Speaking of Instagram, be sure to check out the trailer above.
My friend invited me out to his ranch in Montana. It’s quite remote and you can either ride a horse in, which takes a bit over an hour, or you can hike in. I always choose the hike even though it takes an extra 3 or 4 hours. There’s also more excitement because we sometimes see bears! Usually, about halfway through, the wagons that have been loaded with all our luggage come rumbling by, and that’s when I took this photo.
I arrived in DC at about the same time as a giant snowstorm. It was great for me because I had most of the day free just to walk around and get photos. I didn’t have a lot of winter-gear with me, but I was able to stay out taking photos for a solid three hours before I retreated back inside to the warmth to process some photos.
About the middle of the day everyone starts bringing in their boats with their morning catches here on the beach on Madagascar. It’s cool to see all these guys carrying the boat while almost running full speed. I would have asked to help but they could probably just look me up and down and know I was useless.
