Over Ridiculously Priced Pair of Rainbow Sandals Update

I wrote a post Over Ridiculously Priced Pair of Rainbow Sandals back in July 2007 and  it has been my second most popular posts. I feel guilty that I didn’t offer any review but mostly ranting about the price of the Rainbow sandals, and calculating the cost value like most bean counters do. If you were to ask me today the investment was well worth it.

I was skeptical at the time but made my purchase anyway. I visited Laos and Thailand a year later and took my Rainbow sandals with me and absolutely loved it. It’s so comfortable to wear and I haven’t found any sandals as comfortable as the Rainbow sandals. Since I was the beginner photographer at the time, I didn’t have many photos of myself wearing the Rainbow sandals except for this one at Patuxay Monument in Vientiane, Laos. This photo was taken by a fellow tourist, can’t say that he knew my camera better than me at the time but I’m thankful for the photo.

As you can see that I wore it so much that I left a footprint, this photo was taken at one of the temples in Thailand.

It is a custom to take off your shoes before entering the temple.

This year I bought myself a second pair of the Rainbow sandals and absolutely love it.

Photos behind the scene of Tuff-N-Lite Showdown of the Unbeatables

Showdown of the Unbeatables on National Geographic Channel features the very best American Companies competing with their prized products for performance grades.Tuff-N-Lite is a division of Supreme Corporation that manufactures patented life saving cut, slash, and abrasion-resistant safety clothing went up against an Ohio-based company Cold Jet, a manufacturer of ice blasting technology. When I was asked to photograph behind the scene for Tuff-N-Lite last October when NatGeo came to film in Conover, North Carolina I was thrilled beyond belief. I also shot behind the scene video and didn’t have time to edit the video yet.

The cut and slash test was filmed in the morning of October 10, 2013 at Supreme Corporation.

This Keel Jacket used in a cut and slash test below is a cut level 4 and 5 on the ASTM-1790 scale, so the Mashadi knife is no match for the Tuff-N-Lite garment. If you watched the show you will see that the Mashadi knife couldn’t cut through the jacket fabric, David Nerman slashed the Keel Jacket several times and no compromise at all.

The Glass Guillotine test was next.

It’s nice to see a Mark II being used as one of the filming cameras.

We had a surprised visit flying above during the Glass Guillotine test, I think the helicopter was checking the power lines.

This was also a cut and slash test, the Tuff-N-Lite garments worn in Glass Industry have saved lives and the Glass Guillotine test mimics real life situation.  This dummy was carried away without a single scratch.

All Tuff-N-Lite products are created with Supreme Corporation’s innovative composite yarns at their manufacturing facility in Conover, North Carolina.

The abrasion test was done the next morning at the Hickory Motor Speedway.

The Tuff-N-Lite truck dragged the two dummies, one wearing street clothing, and the other wearing the tuff-N-Lite garments for 1/3 of a mile at 60 MPH.

The result is unbelievable, below are photos that I photographed of the NatGeo Showdown of the Unbeatables TV show.

And seeing it in person is unbelievable.

The showdown first aired on National Geographic Channels on April 11, 2014. If you missed the show it will air again Saturday April 19 at 1 AM ET, and Friday April 25 at 4 PM ET. I photographed these photos below from the TV show.

Tuff-N-Lite was asked to make their cut, slash, and abrasion resistant fabric for the Showdown. From left to right, David Nerman, Matt Kolmes, and Bill Bowling.

A piano was hoisted into the air, and the ropes were being protected by the Tuff-N-Lite fabric. The photo below is from NatGeo, source.

Cold-Jet has a cool technology, they can remove and cut through almost anything.

The challenge was to cut the ropes behind the Tuff-N-Lite fabric, this should be an easy job for Cold Jet if the fabric is a hard surface and since it is not, they have met their match.

Within the first minute this was all the damage that Cold Jet could do to the Tuff-N-Lite fabric, you can barely see the tiny hole.

After Tuff-N-Lite had won, the producer allowed Cold Jet to continue cutting the Tuff-N-Lite fabric. Cold Jet had to fill 2 loads of dry ice and after 15 minutes of cutting they were able to cut the first rope. If you watched the show, you would get the impression that Cold Jet was able to cut through this much in 1 minute, but in reality it was 15 minutes of cutting.

I am not surprised that Tuff-N-Lite won, Supreme Corporation is a leader in innovation in textile, yarn and protective apparel products and the company is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. I am extremely proud of what we do at Supreme Corporation.

It looks like Cold Jet got frustrated and went straight to the ropes above the Tuff-N-Lite fabric.

Down came the piano, and congratulation to the Tuff-N-Lite team.

Rice Paddy August 12, 2011

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/27657476 w=515&h=290]

Click here to view this video on YouTube

This is going into the twelve week of rice planting. The rice paddy sits near a busy road and the sound of cars passing by was real loud that I had to mute the video clips this time. I was on my way to work Friday morning and saw that they were already out there harvesting and worked late into the evening.

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/11, 1/100sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, evaluative metering

It is the second week of harvesting, and the aroma of the rice crops are so nice.

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/8, 1/200sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, evaluative metering

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/5.6, 1/250sec, ISO 400, focal length 109mm, evaluative metering

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/8, 1/125sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, evaluative metering

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/5.6, 1/320sec, ISO 400, focal length 159mm, evaluative metering

Some sections are still too young to harvest.

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/8, 1/125sec, ISO 400, focal length 94mm, evaluative metering

They have a huge garden in their backyard and also raise their own chicken.

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/8, 1/125sec, ISO 400, focal length 70mm, evaluative metering

The rice paddy is a healthy habitat for the little critters and it’s a bug life out there.

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/6.3, 1/400sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, closeup cropped, evaluative metering

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/7.1, 1/125sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, closeup cropped, evaluative metering

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/7.1, 1/125sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, closeup cropped, evaluative metering

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/8, 1/160sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, evaluative metering

This one is a strange looking grasshopper.

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/5.6, 1/125sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, cropped, evaluative metering

The garden spider is still there from last week.

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/5.6, 1/320sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, cropped, evaluative metering

The damselflies normally come out late evening and they are so tiny and could easily be missed.

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/5.6, 1/125sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, cropped, evaluative metering

I almost didn’t see this one.

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/5.6, 1/250sec, ISO 400, focal length 118mm, evaluative metering

I Google for the name of this moth and couldn’t find any that would ID it.  I think it is an orange leopard moth and has a beautiful burnt orange color.

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/8, 1/160sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, cropped, evaluative metering

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/8, 1/160sec, ISO 400, focal length 180mm, cropped, evaluative metering

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/8, 1/160sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, closeup cropped, evaluative metering

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/8, 1/160sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, cropped, evaluative metering

Canon T2i, EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens, Manual, f/8, 1/160sec, ISO 400, focal length 200mm, cropped, evaluative metering