IRP Post 5 - Link

http://classic.mountainzone.com/climbing/fischer/letters.html

This is one of the best website I've seen on this topic so far. This shows and outlines the climbers reactions and responses to Into Thin Air. Different people talk about who and what to blame and what really happened on that fateful climb. Surprisingly the book is nearly 100% accurate and not spiced up with hints of exaggeration. There are a couple parts, as witnesses point out, that Krakauer just didn't know about so he never added them into the book, or missed the little details about the climbers and exact conversations that happened.

IRP Post 5 - video

Can you see anything?.... neither can I, or anyone else on the mountain for that matter. This is a picture of Mt. Everest during a snow storm. After reading Krakauer tell us the story of him mistaking someone for someone else and losing part of his team, it is easy to tell why. This, to the best of my knowledge, is a moderate storm on the mountain. Being out there in a blizzard when you can barley see a foot in front of you is something that is scary beyond belief just to think of. Knowing this, I can sympathize with Krakauer and know his mistakes were not because of lack of concern, but because the conditions were so harsh and ruthless.

IRP Post 5 - Cited Passage

"I was stunned. For two months I'd been telling people that Harris had walked off the edge of the South Col to his death, when he hadn't done that at all. My error had greatly and unnecessarily compounded the pain of Fiona McPherson; Andy's parents, Ron and Mary Harris; his brother, David Harris; and his many friends." (pg. 288).

To me, this one passage sums up the whole Mt. Everest experience. There was just a lot of mistakes, simple as that. Mistakes on the way up, the decent, and even the after math of the disaster. People were misremembered and thought to be someone else. It was just one big mess that seemed like it would never play out the right way. This brings up the theme of guilt to me. Krakauer felt guilty because of everyone he had hurt telling people the wrong, misinformed story about what really happened that one dreadful day. He had thought his friend Andy had fell off the cliff when he had been thinking of Martin Adams the whole time, who was fine. This misunderstanding just goes to show how something so simple can effect so many other people's lives and branch out quickly. This idea leads off of those in previous posts.

IRP Post 4 - Video

Left To Die Video

This video gives the story of a man left to die (obviously) while climbing. This is a key part of the book because two of the climbers Beck Weathers and Yasuko Namba were left to die near the South Col, away from the main trail on Everest. This leads in to a major theme of the book which is friendship and trustworthiness. Climbing to the summit takes a lot of trust in the people around you, they are the ones essentially keeping you alive. Trustworthiness just comes along with it and you hold the lives of other people in your hands, just as you hold theirs.

IRP Post 4 - Link

Mt. Everest Sickness Stories/ Facts

This provided link shows the hidden dangers of climbing such a high and tough mountain. Usually a climber will feel some sort of bowel or stomach sickness and this can be hindering to even the most experienced mountaineers. It makes you dehydrated, exhausted, and literally wipes all of the energy from your system in just a matter of hours. All this relates to important events that went on in this 3rd section because the the root of all the problems was people getting sick and slowing down the whole climbing process.

IRP Post 4 - Cited Passage

"He'd already made special trips to assist Tim Meadows, Pete Schoening, and Dale Kruse. And now, on what should have been a badly needed day and a half of rest, Fischer had just been forced to make a hasty round-trip from Camp Two to Base Camp and back to help his good friend Kruse after he had came down with what appeared to be a relapse of HACE*." (192) *(High Altitude Cerebral Edema)

While they are all enduring the hardships of the climb, they are faced with having to go back and forth to make sure everyone is safe and on the same climbing schedule. Being sick as a dog is not even an unusual feeling when climbing Mt. Everest, which may be why it is one of the toughest things to do on this earth. Sickness/Illness is a ket symbol that I found throughout this third section. With a majority of the team feeling somewhat ill and many members having to stay behind, the treck up becomes even harder as the number deplete and the group feels weaker as a whole. One of the main questions that I can pull from this section is the simple one, why? Why would you put your life in danger and keep going on if you are ill? Why would they ignore the signs of an approaching storm? Why were they all so stubborn? The first two are legitimate and the last one is just my opinionated question. You have to be a pretty stubborn person to do anything just for the rush to be at the top, but maybe that is why they are there and I am here sitting at my desk writing about them.

IRP Post 3 - Link

How To: Climb Mount Everest

This link will show you just how painful and exhausting climbing the highest mountain in the world can be. In chapter 9 Krakauer became too cold to climb any further, at least for a little while. He had underdressed because he had accounted for more solar radiation. It simply amazes me how when you are under extreme conditions and circumstances, the slightest mistake or miscalculation can be the difference between life and death. Fortunately he was fine and recovered but the consequences could have been devastating.

IRP Post 3 - video

This is just an example of how something that someone does can have a great effect on everyone in the family. Because of this child unleashing on property and breaking things he was tazed and is getting national attention. This family will be greatly effected by this event just because people will recognize and possibly harass them.

IRP Post 3 - Cited Passage

"By the time Linda had drove me to the airport she had long since seen through my prevarications. She sensed the true dimensions of my desire, and it scared her. "If you get killed," she argued with a mix of dispair and anger, "it's not just you who will pay the price. I'll have to pay, too, you know, for the rest of my life. Doesn't that matter to you?""

"I'm not going to get killed," I answered. "Don't be melodramatic."" (110)

I chose this quote because it shows how much of a toll a risky life can have on other people. You never really think of the effect that actions will have on other people and how everything you do is greater that just you. I think that is an important theme in this section because he puts just not himself but his family at risk also. This is also a good connection point because I the family of someone who got arrested for robbing a liquor store and basically the family has suffered even though it is only the one person that is in jail. There was a news story about it and it was in all of the local newspapers so their family was questioned and ridiculed all because of something that is totally out of their control.

The Motorcycle Diaries: RAFT

Assignment:

5 twitter posts from me to Ernesto about Chile...

@ErnDog1128 to @Nick_S: Why do you people always think it is alright for you to come into other countries and just take over??

@ErnDog1128 to @Nick_S: So you guys are even taking over the copper mines even though that is all Chile has, disgusting...

@ErnDog1128 to @Nick_S: You guys are part of the imperialist gringo domination, leave us alone!

@ErnDog1128 to @Nick_S: People like you don't understand, all that is being done is repression of a communist way of life.

@ErnDog1128 to @Nick_S: I look out for the people that I care for and for the people that believe in what I believe!

IRP Post 2 - Video

Everest Disaster Video

- This video of the 1996 Everest disaster basically outlines the book I am reading and gives insights into the horrors of that tragedy. Some key questions come up when reading the first few chapters and within minutes of watching the video. Why did they not turn around? The guides knew of the pending weather and how extremely dangerous it would be to treck on. The book starts out with him on the top of Everest and at chapter 3 goes in chronological order from beginning to end. So we know that he made it but some didn't and others came back leaving a piece of them on the mountain.

IRP Post 2 - Image

-This view from the top of Mt. Everest is one of the most beautiful things in the world. My family and I went to Yosemite this summer and stood at the top of half dome which was one of the most amazing things I had ever experienced. Although standing on the top of Everest is probably 400 times better, I can still relate to the adrenaline rush and feeling of standing on top of the world, looking down upon everything else.

IRP Post 2 - Cited Passage

"Later-after six bodies had been located, after a search for two others had been abandoned, after surgeons had amputates the gangrenous right hand of my teammate Beck Weathers-people would ask why, if the weather had begun to deteriorate, had the climbers on the upper mountain not heeded the signs? Why did veteran Himalayan guides keep moving upward, ushering the gaggle of relatively inexperienced amateurs-each of whom had paid as much as $65,000 to be taken safely up Everest-into an apparent death trap?" (Krakauer 5).

-This is an important quote in the book because it brings up many questions and hits key points. First of all this brings up many key themes already in this book. A theme that comes to mind is, sometimes when you are faced with the greatest obstacle known to man all you can do is forget about the money and resources you have put toward the journey and just push through. For many of the people climbing money is not the object, the feeling at the top and knowing that you have done what few have is better than anything else. A key symbol that can be picked up from this passage is storms, signifying death and destruction (at least up to this point). A couple key people that we meet in this first section are Jon Krakauer who witnessed and wrote about all of the horor of this expedition, Rob Hall who is the head guide, and Andy Harris who helps guide alongside Rob. All three of these men play important roles of leadership and courageousness in this first section.

IRP Post 1 - Title/Author

Into Thin Air

By: Jon Krakauer

(same author as Into The Wild)

180˚ South Reflection

On your blog, please choose 1 of the following quotes from the documentary and compose a post in which you reflect on its meaning in terms of:
1. the film & Jeff Johnson's journey;
2. your own life and what journeys lie ahead beyond high school.

--"Books are a great start, but there is no substitute for just going there."--

This quote perfectly sums up the movie as a whole. Their quest to Patagonia was one of meaning and self enlightenment and they found everything they were looking for and more. Just reading about Patagonia and the various peaks and mountains may give you good perspective on the area, but going there gives you a chance for you to discover your true being and inner self. This can lead into our own lives because we may read about an event, a place, or even a college however, going there or experiencing the real thing is special. You get your own personal insight into this place or college and can create your own ideals and opinions based solely on your personal experiences. There isn't much better in life than just getting up close and personal with something of interest to you.

This is a picture taken this summer when my family went to California. Here we are at Yosemite National Park with Yosemite Falls directly infront of us and El Capitan directly to our left (out of the picture).

IR Blog Post 4 - First Details of New Irish Arts Festival in U.S. Are Unveiled

-This Irish Arts festival will be held in more than 40 states over the course of a full year. It consists of over 400 separate events and is back by $5.3 million from the Irish government. This is good for American culture because we are a melting pot and have always been fascinated to learn the way of life of people other than us. The world is always a better place when we understand one another so having a specific festival for the Irish really brings out the good in our society. Also, things like this are just plain fun; singing, dancing, and native foods bring people from all over the country to the events to enjoy and learn about the culture. These types of things are good for the soul of America.

-Why do we need festivals to become interested in culture?

Is there a set routine for an Irish festival?

-Festivals give insight into culture, religion, and just overall way of life. http://www.indian-festival.com/ If you read the link provided I can bet that most of you have never even heard of those terms or experienced those ways of life. Although this is from an Indian festival, you get the point.

IR Blog Post 4 - Studded tires may pose risks to your lungs, heart

-Studies are now showing that studded tired may directly lead to lung and heart problems. Although there are studies out there that will prove just about anything, this one does have some backing to it. Apparently the debris kicked up by the studs can end up in your lungs causing inflammation (but so can walking down the street in a city). It is not clear how big the studies are and if they were just of a controlled population, but anything dealing with our health or the health of loved ones makes us alarmed. Some states have even banned them from the roads because they say that the debris and particles can seep into nearby homes and have similar effects. This is just something to stay cautioned about, there shouldn't be an emergency alarm going off in your head.

-Why do people not just get snow tires instead?

I think these types of studies are basically meant to scare us. Agree, disagree? Why?

-I do not think that this is an issue. Largely because major road safety blogs (http://road-safety.blogspot.com/) don't even mention this issue. To have this published on MSNBC is kind of blowing it out of proportion.

IR Blog Post 4 - JVC announces the GS-TD1 full HD 3D consumer camcorder

-A couple years ago I thought 1080p HD TV was the best that we could do. I could never have guessed that we would evolve to the point of watching 3D television and movies in HD quality. But now we can even shoot in this amazing format. JVC offers the very first consumer 3D HD camera which will be a huge stepping stone in the home-technology age. Eventually we will get the the point where we won't even have to wear glasses to enjoy the 3D experience. The price is pegged at a high $2000 but some people will be buying this the second it hits the shelves. Just seeing the way technology is used and the rapid advancement infront of our eyes is simply amazing.

-Will it ever get to a point where there is nothing else we can do technology wise?

What do you think the next "big thing" is going to be?

-3D has so many applications that it's use will be regular for us in a couple of years. This website, http://www.3d-tec.info/, lists many of the applications and gives some ideas that are posted by consumers and people like us.