Anyhow, this is a clip taken at Whaler’s Bay on Deception Island. The fur seals here are a bit ornery to say the least.

[flashvideo filename=http://www.vagabumming.com/video/sealchase.flv image=http://www.vagabumming.com/video/sealchase.jpg viral.functions=embed /]

let me know, do you want to see more video?

I learned from my ski trip to Kashmir that the more dodgy a place is, the less crowded it is. Something about concertina wire and unexploded ordinance keeps people off the slopes. For this reason, and the fact that ski areas in Iran get heaps of snow I am seriously considering a ski trip to Iran next winter. Soon I will be committing to a season pass at Jackson Hole and I’m extremely excited about the new tram, dubbed tramsformation so that is my primary “travel” destination for the upcoming winter and if the snow is good I’ll stay but one wonderful advantage of living the life of a nomad is that I’m not tied down to any one place. I have no possessions or domicile linking me to any particular piece of land so if the snow in Jackson Hole disappoints – it’s off to Tehran for me.

Iran has 14 ski areas. Most foreign visitors to Iran are drawn to one of two of Iran’s main ski resorts. Dizin is described as being suitable for beginning to intermediate level skiers. Dizin is approximately 1 1/2 hours (condition dependent) outside of Tehran and boasts the best facilities of any ski resort in Iran and 3117 vertical feet of skiing. Shemshak, with a less vertical (1641 ft.) is described as challenging and suitable for expert skiers. It has fewer lifts and is a smaller area than Dizin but closer to Tehran (about 45 minutes).

There are a few hotels near both areas and ground transport is readily available to both resorts from Tehran. So if you’re tired of the comfort of Chamonix or the party scene in St. Anton or the ski traffic in Colorado – why not join me on a ski trip to Iran?

Approximately 30 minutes west of Quebec City, Quebec is this stunningly gorgeous hotel. Rebuilt every year with about 500 tons of ice, 15,000 tons of snow and covering approximately 30,000 square feet and elevating the thought of “seasonal” to a whole new plane, this is an attraction not to be missed if you happen to be in the area between January and March.

If you wish to spend a night or more, you can reserve one of the 36 rooms or themed suites at the Ice Hotel. The public is also welcome to visit on a more casual basis. The Quebec Ice Hotel opens to the public daily between the hours of 10:00 am and midnight. Guided tours are available from 10:30 am through 4:30 pm. English tours are given on the hour and tours for French speakers are given on the half hour. A shuttle is also available from Quebec City and offers the possibility to combine shuttle fare with admissin/tour fees.

There is no shortage of activities to engage in during your stay or day trip to the Quebec Ice Hotel. Everything you would expect in a Canada such as cross country skiing, snowmobiling (motoneige), a spa, ski plane tours, ice fishing and dog sledding. The Ice Hotel also offers corporate events and team building. The Ice Hotel is also available for weddings and other special occasions.

If your travel plans will be taking you through Quebec a visit or even a stay at the Quebec Ice Hotel could be a nice addition to you itinerary. The 2009 opening is scheduled for January 4th and the Ice Hotel is scheduled to remain open through March 29th.

Just click to see who this douchebag is

Mister wannabe hacker,
You should know that anybody who is anybody who uses wordpress (which you tried to exploit) will also be using some kind of stat tracking. Most of us use statcounter. Regardless of which suite we use, it is most likely cookie based – so for the love of Jeebus turn off cookies before you try this stupid crap.

Also, everybody knows that real h4x0rs use linux…nobody is EVAR going to use Vista to try to hack somebody’s site – at least use lynx to test it. Your daddy will be so pissed when he finds out you were using his computer for this. The irony is thick with you young grasshopper! The only step that you took that elevates you above “super lamer” status is that you are coming from a comcast server – rather than the expected aol (are they even still in business?…sadly, I know the answer…my mom uses aol…no shit)

Since the only people who seem to read my site (as verified by my statcounter stats) are fellow bloggers/webmasters with similar sites…if you are using an older version of wordpress…it may have a security vulnerability that this dork tried to exploit…you might want to see about fixing it, or I hope you are backing up both your website and database at regular intervals – on the off chance that something this stupid actually works.

Now for some boring background stuff on me. Once upon a time I suffered a horrible injury which kept me at home for several weeks. I became bored. At that same time a spectacular hacking group released one of their most famous pieces of software – it was the Cult of the Dead Cow and the software was Back Orifice. It made “hacking” easy. As bored as I was, I was all over it. I had done some real hacking before that, but this made it easy…and it has only gotten easier for the brainless millions who would try to use published exploits. Anyhow, point is, wannabe h4x0r – you’re lame and I’m not!

In a press release from the International Air Transport Association, Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani, was quoted:

The paper ticket has served us well, but its time is over. After four years of hard work by airlines around the world, tomorrow marks the beginning of a new, more convenient and more efficient era for air travel.

I don’t think this comes as a surprise to anyone really. The surprise might actually be that there were places that still used paper tickets. I am probably one of the last Americans to have seen paper tickets used. On my yearly flight from Riverton, WY to Antarctica I am issued a paper ticket for the Riverton to Denver leg of my flight. In fact, in 2007 when I did this flight, the baggage tag and boarding pass were both hand written.

The only other place that I can recall having seen a paper ticket was from Srinagar (Kashmir) to Delhi. I guess you have to have electricity to run your computers – whoda thunk it?

Anyhow, I’m really glad to see paper tickets going away but I fear for the future…will we all have to have micro chips implanted under our scalps to be able to fly? Probably, and if the fine folks that brought us the Taser and companies of their ilk have their way the micro chip will be able to deliver a nearly lethal electric shock at the whim of some under-trained, over-zealous TSA agent.

Ahhh…the measure of progress.

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