You've arrived here at my webpage. You'll find out a little bit about me if you read the text here. One of my main goals in life is to work with and around tigers, and also to do everything in my power to help save them from extinction.
Sometime in early Fall I stumbled across a link to Kaze - Ghost Warrior. I was impressed with what I saw and purchased the DVD. Since watching it I've given considerable thought to working hard to learn how to do this myself, and have purchased a copy of Lightwave 8. If you haven't heard of or seen the movie, go here -->(click on the image of Kaze below)
I suppose I can't really put into words what it means for me to work around big cats. Before I actually got some hands-on experience with big cats, the desire was there, but I didn't know how much was invovled or how deeply I would become attatched to these animals. It is now, after gaining some exposure and experience, very difficult to think of myself doing anything else with my life other then working with big cats, so it is my intention to make it my lifes' work. If you want to discuss why I'm so deeply convicted to doing so,drop me an email and I'll try and explain.
These magnificent cats can't be allowed to vanish. They are wonderful, beautiful creatures. It is a shame that there are so many who do not see that all creatures have a place and that place should be respected. Much work needs to be done.
I've started to really concentrate on producing professional quality video using Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5. In the interests of brushing up my skills, and partly because I was bored, I took roughly 9 minutes of video from our trip to Yellowstone and created a movie from it, then posted it to YouTube.com
I'm an amateur radio operator, callsign KI6JPE. I've purchased a small HF/VHF/UHF transciever, a Yaesu FT857D, for use in the RV. It's a small full featured all mode rig. I also opted for the MD200A8X microphone. It's wide dynamic response (30 hertz to 17,000 hertz) makes for a very full sound, and it can also be adjusted via the side pressure control to optimize the microphone for SSB audio punch, great for contesting. Since I have space limitations I opted for the Yaesu ATAS-120 active tuning antenna system, and I have that connected to the top of the ladder on the rear of the RV. Running the coax to the outside without creating a leak or other problem was the most significant challenge. I decided against the Outbacker. While the Outbacker would have given me more band options, who wants to climb up and change the band tap on a rainy day? Rather that the antenna tuned itself while I stay inside, warm and dry.
Sometimes I surf the web to try and find things I've never seen before. I am by nature a very curious-about-the-world type of person. It hadn't occured to me before thaat there might be pictures of the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) on the 'Net before last night. I did a search. Not only are there still images, but there are "movie clips" in the form of animated GIF's on one site I ran across. Living in the NorthEast - first Massachusetts and now Mid New Hampshire means that on occasion I'd had chances to see them. They are quite beautiful even from this lattitude. I'd seen artists renderings of the Lights before, in paintings and such, and had also seen what Don Bluth studios did with them in the movie Balto. I'd thought that perhaps they were exxagerations, the artists taking license with the images and jazzing them up.
Then I ran across This Site that's all about the Lights, I wish I could put an example image here, but due to copyrights to the images there, you'll have to Visit The Site. After watching some of the video clips I know now that what I have seen of artists renderings, while they looked fanciful and unreal in the animations, they were close to or exactly like the real thing. I'm in awe of the beauty of them. So much so that a trip to Alaska when the Lights are at their peak is definately in the itinerary. Like I said before I'd seen them at this lattitude but what I've seen is nothing in comparison to what they look like in Alaska at the far northern lattitudes. Just amazing. I sit here and say to myself I'd never want to become accustomed to seeing them in the night sky, and I wonder if Alaskans ever do become accustomed to such a thing. I can't see how anyone could. They fill me with the type of wonder I've not felt since I was a little kid looking up at the stars...
One winter a long time ago I expressed to a good friend of mine how much I was disliking the cold, the dark grey days, how my hands would ache and get wickedly cold because of carpal tunnel syndrome, how depressing winter could seem sometimes, and how much I yearned for spring. He wrote me an email later that day that contained a short paragraph set off from the others. I've always considered this to be a little something special he shared with me.
"In winter, it is a time without hope ... for everything has died, and even the time of mourning has passed ... deep within the winter, there is nothing to see forward, for the spring is so far away, and the rebirth of Pan is only a distant
hope for the future ... it is the time where the great mother must be there for us all ... as she is the only one left to care and
provide for us during the long, cold winter of our soul"
©1995 Kati Tiger
I'm also an amateur photographer. I've been working on my skills with a camera for a while, and I intend to become as good a photographer as I possibly can. If you want to see some of the photos I've taken, click on the link below to my photography pages.
So, you want to know what I do with my spare time, other then working with big cats? I am a semi-professional photographer. Have a look at my most recent work in my photo gallery on Photo.Net, they are of various subjects. Recently I have concentrated on photographing animals, big cats in particular. As much as I had said in the past that I would remain a photography purist and stick to conventional 35mm film, I have made the break and gone digital, purchasing a used Canon EOS 10D. It's on a par with the Elan 7E I own, but there are still some image fuzziness issues when viewed highly magnified. It's got a 6.2 megapixel CCD. I think eventually (once I start making a fortune with my work) I'll upgrade to the highest MPXL rating I can buy, right now that's 16.7 Megapixels.
My heart and soul is with the animals I work with - and
with my hope that what I do to save tigers - along with what others do - will
make a difference. I do what I can for tigers, and do not wish to
see them vanish.
I also have read up alot on buddhism, and one film I enjoy watching, and recommend is
"Little Buddha" - I wrote an essay on it you might find interesting - after you watch
the movie that is - you can read it from
Little Buddha Essay
Please, do what you can to save tigers from extinction!
Here's a collection of short stories
Tiger and exotic animal links
End Tiger Trade
WildAid - Dedicated to saving endangered species
Eric "Kuba" Ash's Save the Tigers website and blog
The Phoenix Exotic Wildlife Association - Working to
protect and maintain the rights of private ownership through
responsible behavior.
Long Island Ocelot Club - Non-profit Washington corporation devoted to all
non-domestic cat species.
Animal and plant health and inspection service -
Branch of the USDA governing animal care standards.
The American Zoo and Aquarium Organization - AZA's vision: Work cooperatively to save and protect the
wonders of the living natural world.
The North American Altaica Association - Conservation - Preservation - Keeping the Siberian Tiger Alive.
TigerTouch - Dedicated to the search for alternatives in the struggle to preserve endangered felines.
World Wildlife Funds' Conservation Action Network -
free membership
The Discovery
Channel!
The
National Geographic
Kids
Planet!
Africam - live camera feeds from the
African bush
The Electronic Zoo
Cat House - Exotic Feline Breeding Compound's
Feline Conservation Center
Cat Tales -
Endangered Species Conservation Park
Wild About Cats
International Tiger Information Center
All for Tigers!
- information, pictures, links, and more concerning the
endangered tiger .
Bengal Tiger
Carnivore Preservation Trust -
tigers are some of our many residents .
Global
Tiger Patrol - conservation agency prioritising protection
of the tiger in the wild .
International Year of the Tiger Foundation (IYTF)
- dedicated to saving the wild tiger .
National Geographic's Cyber Tiger
- you're the zookeeper in this interactive learning
experience.
Realm of the Bengal Tiger -
includes information, sounds, pictures, wallpapers, and much more .
Riverglen Feline Conservation Park
- Our objective is to prevent abandonment and abuse of
tigers .
Saving Wild Tigers - project
of the Sierra Club Volunteers focused on saving the wild tigers in India .
Tammy's Tiger Temple
Tiger Foundation - working to
save tigers from extinction through practical programs .
Tiger Missing Link Foundation
- purpose of the Foundation is to save tigers from
extinction .
Tiger Time
Tiger
Town - view a gallery of tiger pictures and learn about
tiger preservation .
Tiger Watch - dedicated to the
survival of the remaining 5 species of the tiger. Gives up-to-date info .
Tigers in Crisis - describes
problems which have led to declining numbers of tigers and discusses
conservation efforts .
Tigers in the Wild - includes
information on the tiger in history and conservation info .
The Zoe Foundation - dedicated to helping the
endangered tiger survive through the development of a new tiger facility .