Tribute to the M.S. Explorer

I found this link from the National Geographic Site. I thought it was a nice tribute to the M.S. Explorer which sank a month ago in the Antarctic Peninsula.

M.S. Explorer Tribute

National Geographic Article

There was an interesting article in the January 2008 National Geographic. It is about all of the computers, TVs and other high tech devices that are improperly disposed of all over the world. The amount of toxic chemicals that we release into the atmosphere is ridiculous. Not to mention all of the people in third world countries who are exposed to these toxins every day because they are trying to salvage materials from the discarded devices. I have provided the link below. I hope this strikes a chord with everyone because we are all effected by it.

High Tech Trash

iPhone vs. iPod touch

I have been an Apple supporter for a long time now. My relationship with the local Apple store has only gotten stronger over the years, as they have brought out one intriguing product after another. I have even been fortunate enough to be a beta tester for some of their products. Today, I finally opened the iPod touch that has been sitting on my desk for a week. To be honest, I didn't feel that I had the need for it, as my iPhone provides me with everything I need.
Now the box has been opened and what a wonderful surprise the iPod touch turned out to be. It is basically just a slimmer, sleeker version of the iPhone but without the phone and camera. The display is a bit wider. The interface is the same and the design is just as remarkable. I imagine that it will fit nicely into my family of Apple products. The best thing about the "iProducts" is the ability to carry around a portfolio of my work, in my pocket, all the time. I cannot tell you how many times I have been able to turn somebody on to my work at a social gathering by having a portable collection of my photography with me. It is a wonderful marketing tool. I could not be any happier with Apple products.

New York Times Links

Hello everyone,
Yesterday, the NY Times featured a very interesting article about Antarctica. In their article they gave two links pertaining specifically to Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica. I thought I would share them with you as well.

U.S. Geological Survey

NASA

Response to Antarctica posting

Shortly after my last posting, I received this response:

"Mort,
That was an amazing, amazing note. To be reminded of such an adventure, such a place and such a small group of people who were there at the time. It was like climbing Everest without oxygen.
Thanks for sharing this.

Best, John"

Correspondence from Antarctic traveling companion.

I recently received an email from a gentleman who also participated in the historic journey to the South Pole in 1957-58. As you may or may not know, I was part of "Operation Deep Freeze". It was an expedition through Antarctica, to the Pole and back again, ending at Scott Base, where we caught up with Sir Edmund Hillary and the Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Here is an excerpt from that email:

"G'day, Morton...

This is a voice from McMurdo Sound, 50 years ago -- I'm Geoffrey Lee Martin. You may remember we flew to the South Pole, Jan 18, 1958, with Rear Admiral George Dufek and Sir Edmund Hillary to meet Vivian Fuchs' party there on Jan 20.

I was attached to Operation Deep Freeze for that summer, representing both The Daily Telegraph, London, and the New Zealand Herald. I had been a field party member of Sir Edmund Hillary's expedition the previous summer, 1956-57, but had switched to USNavy accreditation for the 1957-58 summer to be able to report more freely for my newspapers.

I've just published a heavily illustrated (from 50-year-old Kodachrome transparancies) memoir "Hellbent for the Pole" (Random House in NZ, Allen & Unwin in Australia) which recounts what we were doing at that time. Extracts can be viewed on my website: www.hellbentforthepole.com There are two or three pix of you in the book -- including a rather handsome head-and-shoulders shot in dark glasses! I believe the Polar Times will be reviewing Hellbent in its upcoming issue.

We are all getting on a bit, now, of course (Ed Hillary, who is rather frail himself at 88, reminded me recently that "there are only eight of us left" of our original party that built Scott Base). You, I guess, would be one of the youngest survivors of those years.

Judging from your website, you've had a very interesting career after leaving the Navy. I left journalism early in the '70s to head up a medium-sized public relations firm in Sydney, but became bored and rejoined The Daily Telegraph as a foreign correspondent in the mid '80s, spending time in Italy and the Far East before establishing the Sydney bureau."

Limited Release of 2nd Edition

I would like to put the word out that there is a Limited Release of my book San Francisco (2nd Ed.) available now on Amazon.com. All books are personally signed by the author. This will be the last chance to get this best-selling book. For more information go to:

San Francisco on Amazon.com

Just look for the seller name: mortonbeebe

Get them before they are all gone!

New Links

I wanted to let everyone know about two of my new favorite links.
The first is the U.S. South Pole website. It has lots of very interesting information about the history of U.S. involvement in the South Pole. I myself have been involved since the 1957 when I was a PIO for Operation "Deep Freeze".
The other link is the Antarctica blog that I am also a contributer to. Here you will find postings by other Antarctica enthusiasts, including photography collections and interesting links.

Enjoy...

U.S. South Pole

Antarctica: Information About the Coolest Place On Earth

Hello everyone,

I have been very busy since my last posting and wanted to take a break to share with you what I have been up to recently.    

In 2006, I had the pleasure of staging a keynote presentation to a group of IBM executives from New York and a few months later for the Cascadia Center for Urban Development.  It was a wonderful opportunity to present a photographic history of the city of San Francisco as seen through my lens.  San Francisco is a city with which I have a deep connection.  Following is a link to an article about the presentation:

http://www.thebarbarycoastnews.com/index.php?itemid=162&catid=3

More recently, I have been involved in local events in connection with the Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association.  One of the most interesting projects was the "Bridging Communities" event which created a human chain across the Golden Gate Bridge to support the Bay Area United Way.

And most recently, I helped organize a weekend getaway to Calistoga, CA which was sponsored by the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and Bay Area Travel Writers (BATW).  As many of you know, I am a board member for the Northern California chapter of ASMP.  This trip was centered around the release of the new book Wine Across America - A Photographic Road Trip by Charles O'Rear and Daphne Larkin.  It was a wonderful event celebrating a beautiful new book.  For more information on the book you can visit:

http://www.wineviews.com

Thanks for taking the interest in my work and look forward to future postings about a limited release of my book San Francisco: City by the Bay.

Welcome to my Blog!

Look forward to more posts in the future.