Wubshet (left) and Habiba, the husband and wife team that run Global Hope Network’s Kenya operation on the ground are both amazing people.  Wubshet, the self-proclaimed bush man, is full of random quips telling us basically to man up.  His better half Habiba organizes the womens groups in the village and keeps everything running smoothly.  We have been staying in the Sandavy Guest House in Nairobi for the past couple days getting ourselves organized, picking up the mosquito nets we are going to distribute in Gambella, and adjusting to the local time after (at least for me) flying for about 26 hours straight, not including stop-overs.  More info at http://www.globalhopenetwork.org

I get by with a little help from my friends. Definitely not from their singing abilities, but from their ability to have a kick-ass sing-along down at the beach. I had a bunch of people over for a July birthdays/going away party, I kicked everyone out and after getting a noise complaint due to everyone’s rendition of Tom Petty’s “Free Falling” and we continued the party down at the Third Beach. Hello from Nairobi, more shots and updates in the next few days, just dealing with slow internet. We will be going out to the village tomorrow and I expect to be shooting a ton in the next few days.

I leave for Kenya tomorrow, but I wanted to throw this up before I take off. I had a big dinner party at my new apartment on Saturday and there was some interest from people asking for prints of these that I just put up on my walls. I spent most of Friday looking for a font that would work with an idea I had for some of my photos, and I am really happy how they worked out. If you are interested in either of these two, I’ll charge $40 bucks for a printed and mailed (or personally delivered) 12×18 print of it. $60 for the both of them. Email me at brettbeadle@gmail.com if you are interested.

Liam, Train Bridge, 2008.

Tristan & Victoria, Cannon Beach, 2009.

I celebrated Canada Day with 350 Kms on the Sea to Sky highway, this photo taken just past Pemberton when I turned around.  God, it is beautiful up there. 

I head off to Africa in about a week to go shoot for about a month. I’ll be celebrating my 25th birthday somewhere in between Ethiopia and Tanzania. (Hopefully) I was looking through some old footage yesterday from my last trip and come across this, and it put a smile on my face. Yup, people cheer for a successful landing as we drop in to Kigali, Rwanda.

A growing obsession with all that have an engine and two wheels…

And not surprisingly, current reading material:

http://www.amazon.com/Shop-Class-Soulcraft-Inquiry-Value/dp/1594202230

Only into the first little bit, but I am really enjoying it so far.

Tristan, Victoria and I were walking down 1st Avenue in downtown Seattle after we had fled the country on New Year’s Eve in search of adventure and spotted this place packed to the gills with people who looked to be having a great time. So, after picking up Tara from Sea-Tac from an incredibly tiring 2.5 hour drive to Seattle, I had to stop in for a pint to check it out. If you are ever in Seattle, stop in for a drink, the bar staff is great, there are books everywhere, one of those old ladder bookcases, great Scotch and Bourbon varieties, and it is kind of fun browsing through all of the random books. (The waitress named Stop the Insanity by Susan Powder and a random set of 70’s encyclopedias with faded photos as her favourite browing material.) I am definately lifting a few ideas for the future when I make my own bar. (A guy can dream, right?)

I started off my Friday by running into Elli, an old high school who I hadn’t seen forever.  Yeah Elli! The last time I had seen her was before I had gone off to Africa, and she and husband Brad got married while I was away. What a lucky guy.  Congrats Mr. and Mrs. MacDonald.

Then Saturday it was off to Point Roberts, Washinton for a 40K bike ride from Vancouver. It is such a beautiful spot and there were many laughs to be had during our long rounds of sing-along around the campfire. Classic summertime good times.  Old friends and new friends came out and had a great time.

New clubman handlebars, fork gaiters go on soon.

Got to play with my new 5d Mark II this weekend and threw a bit of random video footage together….I’ve been spending the past few days organizing how to deal with the huge beautiful files this camera puts out.