Blog of Batman

End of Wolraad Woltemade

batman — Sat, 01 May 2010 09:08:36 +0000

The Beginning

Wolraad Woltemade and her sister ship John Ross were in their time the most powerful of their kind on the planet. This pair of South African tugs, or salvage vessels, patrolled the seas around Cape Point and further afield. According to contract, one of them was required to remain in port to handle any emergency, while the other was free to roam the high seas competing for international salvalge prizes. And work there certainly was – with the constant traffic of overweight supertankers going around the point there was almost always someone in trouble.

Wolraad Woltemade was built by Robb Caledon Shipbuilders in Scotland and delivered to Safmarine in Cape Town during 1976, while her sister ship John Ross was built by the Durban shipyards of Elgin Brown & Hamer. These immensely powerful vessels were powered by two Mirrlees-Blackstone type KVMR16 diesels with 19,200 bhp (14,132 kW) – providing unmatched pulling power. They were 94.6 metres long. Ownership of these two sisters has been transferred between Safmarine, Pentow Marine and Smit Marine Cape Town. Current owners have renamed John Ross to Smit Amandla.

The End

Wolraad Woltemade’s time has unfortunately run out. The ‘Standby Tug Contract’ requires the presence of one tug in a South African port at any given time, a duty that has for some years been taken up by her sister tug Smit Amandla. This contract was due for renewal in November 2009, but the South African goverment decided not to renew – leaving our coast unprotected for the first time in 30 years. She was unable to find a buyer, and her somewhat ignomius end is that she has been sold as scrap.

As can be seen from the accompanying photograph, she is riding high, and showing signs of her age. All insignia have been removed in preparation for the breakers. She has since sailed from Cape Town, appropriately her last port of call, and is now awaiting her fate at the hands of the breakers.

Rest in peace, WW.

The Legend

Wolraad Woltemade (c.1708 – June 1, 1773) was a South African dairy farmer, who died while rescuing sailors from the wreck of the ship De Jonge Thomas in Table Bay on 1 June 1773. Read about the legend of the man here on Wikipedia

Technorati : John Ross, Smit Amandla, salvage, sea, tug
Del.icio.us : John Ross, Smit Amandla, salvage, sea, tug
Zooomr : John Ross, Smit Amandla, salvage, sea, tug
Flickr : John Ross, Smit Amandla, salvage, sea, tug

My Photographic Efforts #3 – Fish River Canyon, Namibia

batman — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:41:00 +0000

I took these photo’s while doing the Fish River Canyon hike in Namibia

I have a Canon EOS 350D, with standard 18-55mm lens.

Technorati : desert, fish river, hike, namibia
Del.icio.us : desert, fish river, hike, namibia
Zooomr : desert, fish river, hike, namibia
Flickr : desert, fish river, hike, namibia

Buddy, the amazing talking dog

batman — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:12:26 +0000

Buddy, the charismatic brindle Boxer brought to the small screen by Toyota South Africa and its marketing partner of nearly half a centurys’ standing, Draftfcb Johannesburg, has featured in a few television commercials. These commercials are amongst the few that I really don’t mind watching – over and over and over again.

Sophistication in a Toyota Corolla

Buddy is introduced to the South African public as a sophisticated, aristocratic beast of pedigree who disassocates himself with any lower form of life.

What a chop

In this commercial the canine star is off to a dry Karoo farm for the Toyota Hilux. Buddy abandons any attempts to behave with sophistication and grace. Instead, he has fun on the farm mocking the sheep he encounters and making bad jokes, while recognising the Hilux’s toughness. This is my favourite “Buddy” commercial – “what a chop”!

Game Park with the Wild Dogs

In this commercial he is on a game drive, once again pulling up his nose at the “lesser” elements of the animal kingdom.

Automark Used Cars – I don’t do tricks

Here Buddy is strolling through a used car lot, quite adamant that he “doesn’t do tricks!!!”.

If you have any other links to share of really classic commercials that have been made, please post a link – I would love to hear about them. (Please note – this is NOT an invitation for you to market your own product – regardless of how good you think it is, or of how important you think your miracle pharmaceutical product might be – I will not approve/moderate your post)

Technorati : boxer, brindle, commercial, corolla, hilux, motoring, toyota, youtube
Del.icio.us : boxer, brindle, commercial, corolla, hilux, motoring, toyota, youtube
Zooomr : boxer, brindle, commercial, corolla, hilux, motoring, toyota, youtube
Flickr : boxer, brindle, commercial, corolla, hilux, motoring, toyota, youtube

Road of Death, Bolivia

batman — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:45:10 +0000

The North Yungas Road in the Bolivian Andes has been officially declared as the “world’s most dangerous road” – for motorists! Mountain bike enthusiasts however, are cut from a different cloth, and it has become a favorite destination for downhill racing – now that has got to be a serious adrenalin rush!

It is just short of 70 km long and runs from La Paz to Coroico, descending over 3,500 metres and regular occurrences of 800 metre abysses and impossibly narrow hairpin curves. One wouldn’t expect a road leaving one of the highest cities on the planet to go uphill – but in fact it does – almost five kilometres above sea level, where even a normal internal combustion engine struggles to ‘breathe’.

On average between 200 – 300 fatalities are recorded every year. This is freakish – that is (playing with statistics) – one person dying every 3 days! The route is littered with the remnants of many, many accidents, with many trucks and buses lying wrecked, at the bottom. They will probably never be recovered.

The buses and heavy trucks navigate this road, as this is the only route available in the area. Buses crowded with locals go in any weather, and try to beat the incoming traffic to the curves. One of the local road rules specifies that the downhill driver never has the right of way and must move to the outer edge of the road. This forces fast vehicles to stop so that passing can be negotiated safely.

Because of the extreme dropoffs, single-lane width, and lack of guardrails, the road is extremely dangerous. Further still, rain and fog can make visibility precarious, the road surface muddy, and loosen rocks from the hillsides above. On July 24, 1983, a bus veered off the Yungas Road and into a canyon, killing more than 100 passengers in what is said to be Bolivia’s worst road accident.

High in the Andes, they are building a new road, a bypass to replace the old one. But this is Bolivia, and already it has been 20 years in the making. Who knows when it will be complete? Until it is, people will have to continue offering up their prayers, and taking their lives in their hands on the most dangerous road in the world.

Highest definition picture ever taken of Cape Town

batman — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:42:37 +0000

Virtual Tours are an organization that provide virtual, often 360º views of various sites, amongst them Nelson Mandela’s jail cell on Robben Island.

One of their most spectacular creations is the so-called “Highest definition picture ever taken of Cape Town” – click here to view. It really is a mind-blowing photographic achievement. Since this photo (the word ‘photo’ somehow seems so inadequate), they have been commissioned to do similar projects of scenes in Gautend and Durban – the start of great things i feel.

Some details as to the size of this image (taken directly from their site):

It was created by stitching 1850,fully zoomed (x 20 optical zoom), 10 MegaPixel images together.
The time it took from the first shot (top left) and last shot (lower right) being taken, was about 3 hours.
It’s 205 000 pixels wide.
That equates to a printout of about 90 m x 15 m!
The end result was a 25 GigaBytes RAW file which takes about an hour to open on my Macbook Pro.

Enjoy – I certainly did. It just reminds me once again why Cape Town is considered one of the most scenic cities in the world!

Technorati : panorama, stitch
Del.icio.us : panorama, stitch
Zooomr : panorama, stitch
Flickr : panorama, stitch

Birth of ‘Batman @ Work’

batman — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:14:33 +0000

I have decided to split this blog into two blogs (each with the same look & feel, but with a different target audience).

Blog of Batman

This blog will remain as is, focussing on photography, unusual places or events, sports and humour (above the belt). I shall transfer (and remove from this blog) all articles that would otherwise rather belong in the other blog.

Batman @ Work

I develop software using Java (and Linux where the client allows). Currently I am forced to use Windows XP, but certainly not by choice – Ubuntu KDE would be my first choice. This blog contains articles of a technical nature, that migth otherwise be uninteresting for “the other blog’s audience”

I hope to see you at both of these blogs.

My Photographic Efforts #2 – Eastern Cape, South Africa

batman — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:20:00 +0000

I took these photo’s while on vacation on the South Wild Coast, South Africa.

I have a Canon EOS 350D, with standard 18-55mm lens.

Technorati : coastal, marine
Del.icio.us : coastal, marine
Zooomr : coastal, marine
Flickr : coastal, marine

Grand Canyon Skywalk

batman — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:15:29 +0000

Extract from the Official Site

The Grand Canyon Skywalk is an architectural marvel. The Skywalk was completed in March 2007 after 2.5 years and 30 million dollars worth of hard work and engineering. This structure weighs an astonishing 1.571 million pounds, and was built to withstand an excess of 71 million pounds in weight on top of it. (That’s the equivalent of 71 fully-loaded 747 airliners piled one on top of the other!)

This amazing ability to withstand weight as well as the forces of nature is due to the Skywalk’s 2 inch thick steel frame which is designed specifically to flex in the heat, cold, and wind. This frame is anchored to the Grand Canyon by casens and micro piles measuring 46 feet down into the solid bedrock.

The specially-made German glass which forms the platform for our guests to walk the experience also plays a big part in the durability and beauty of Skywalk. Each of the 46 panes forming the walkway are constructed of 5-layers of glass bonded together and laminated, weighing in at 1,200 lbs a piece, and making the glass incredibly strong while still providing a crystal-clear view of the canyon below.

Extract from Wikipedia

The Skywalk protrudes 20 metres beyond the edge of the canyon. The walls and floor are built from glass 50.8 mm thick. The glass appears tinted on both edges; however, this is a protective cushioning for the glass. This running along the sides can be used as a sort of safe zone by nervous visitors. While the Skywalk is capable of holding 70 tons of weight (the equivalent of 800 people weighing 80 kg each), the permitted capacity is limited to 200 persons. Visitors are provided with shoe covers to protect them from slipping and to prevent the glass floor from being scratched.

Construction began in March 2004. It was rolled onto the edge of the canyon on March 7, 2007, after passing several days of testing to replicate weather, strength, and endurance conditions of its final destination. The structure was built to withstand up to 160 km/h winds and a magnitude 8 earthquake. Tuned mass dampers were used to minimize vibration from wind and pedestrians.

High Definition Image

View this extraordinary image of the Skywalk – 14,647 × 6,001 pixels, file size: 43.43 MB

References:

http://www.grandcanyonskywalk.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_Skywalk

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Grandcanyon_skywalk_hd.jpg

Technorati : colorado, grand canyon
Del.icio.us : colorado, grand canyon
Zooomr : colorado, grand canyon
Flickr : colorado, grand canyon

Canon EOS 350D Kit Lens upgrade

batman — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:48:40 +0000

I have had my Canon EOS 350D for some years now, and have finally decided to upgrade my standard “kit” lens – the 18-55 mm cheap, plastic one that many wouldn’t want if you gave it to them. It has given me many good photo’s, but I must admit to looking longingly at those exquisite photo’s in the glossy travel mags, and wish that mine could look a little more professional, and a little less entry-level.

So far it seems that my upgrade options are the following:

Canon EFS 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM (ZAR 6,200)
Canon EF 17-40mm f4.0 L USM (ZAR 9,300)
Canon EFS 17-55 mm f 2.8 IS USM (ZAR 11,800)

To put this into perspective – photography is a hobby. I try to take photo’s that are interesting, unusual and “correct” – if there is such a thing. But I get no remuneration for my hobby (I can’t call it my work if I don’t get paid for it) – and from this point of view spending almost ZAR 12,000 (which in South Africa can get you a small, second-hand car) is difficult to justify, if not downright unaffordable.

I first started considering the 17-85 mm (because it is the cheapest “proper” lens). I am not yet considering Sigma and Tamron options, because I would dearly like to have a Canon lens, especially if I am paying a significant amount on it.

I would be prepared to pay the ZAR 6,200 for the 17-85 mm, but would really like to hear from fellow photographers if it would be worth my while spending this money to replace an 18-55 mm with a 17-85 mm lens – in other words since I am not gaining anything in lens length, I would need to see the results in quality of picture alone – would I get that with the 17-85 mm?

Although a lot of people love this lens, almost as many don’t. Many would suggest spending the extra money to get the 17-40 mm, but I need to find justification in spending an additional ZAR 3,000. This is an “L” lens, so has extremely top quality glass, but then again doesn’t have Image Stabilization.

The 17-55 mm is admittedly the cream of (this) crop – fast, with IS, USM and incredibly clear pictures – few would dispute this. But it is perhaps too expensive for me.

Would someone like me – an amateur photographer – be happy with and enjoy the 17-85 mm? It would be my walkabout lens, i.e. the lens that I would leave on the camera, and use it for kids birthday parties, the occasional sunsets and as often as possible – wide-angle landscapes? I have also dabbled with portraits, and so would use this lens for that as well.

Any comments would really be appreciated.

Technorati : 350D, canon, rebel
Del.icio.us : 350D, canon, rebel
Zooomr : 350D, canon, rebel
Flickr : 350D, canon, rebel

Sailing Stones, Death Valley, California

batman — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:27:00 +0000

Deep in the heart of the California desert lies one of the natural world’s most puzzling mysteries: the moving rocks of Racetrack Playa, Death Valley. These are not ordinary moving rocks that tumble down mountainsides in avalanches, are carried along riverbeds by flowing water, or are tossed aside by animals. These rocks, some as heavy as 700 pounds, are inexplicably transported across a virtually flat desert plain, leaving erratic trails in the hard mud behind them, some hundreds of yards long. They move by some mysterious force, and in the nine decades since we have known about them, no one has ever seen them move.

The floor of the playa is dried, scorched mud which has broken into perfect little octagons and pentagons and mosaic. This is as “desert” as you can get in America. It’s as flat as flat can be. With rocks which seem to move on their own. They break off the hills you see in the background. Their tracks vary in length, going every which way from zig-zags to loops; some double back on themselves. Some travel only a few feet; others go for hundreds of yards, yet they can be right next to each other, and right next to some that don’t move at all.

These sailing stones, also referred to as sliding rocks or moving rocks, are assumed to slowly move across the surface of the playa, inferred from the long tracks behind them, without human or animal intervention. They have neither been seen nor filmed in motion and are not unique to The Racetrack. Similar rock travel patterns have been recorded in several other playas in the region but the number and length of travel grooves on The Racetrack are notable.

Racetrack stones only move once every two or three years and most tracks last for just three or four years. Stones with rough bottoms leave straight striated tracks while those with smooth bottoms wander. Stones sometimes turn over, exposing another edge to the ground and leaving a different-sized track in the stone’s wake.

A balance of specific conditions are thought to be needed for stones to move:

A saturated yet non-flooded surface,
Thin layer of clay,
Very strong gusts as initiating force,
Strong sustained wind to keep stones going.

Technorati : california, death valley, racetrack playa
Del.icio.us : california, death valley, racetrack playa
Zooomr : california, death valley, racetrack playa
Flickr : california, death valley, racetrack playa