Damn!, Double Damn!, these guys were awesome! You can check out their website at www.auktyon.com . Friggin awesome! Best show since Robert Randolph in Lincoln and I've seen some good ones since. I'm not sure how to describe it really; jam band, surreal, melodic, punk and all the lyrics are in Russian. Wild. Just what I needed. Went out with the Westside mafia, short Bockenheimer. Soandso brought her new fella. Seemed like a nice guy, was confident and intelligent and he rides so that's pretty good qualifications, but he had this kind of half-assed, limp-wristed handshake. What the fuck is up with that nowadays? Seems like every guy I meet has some puss-ass hand shake. Personally, if you don't give me a firm hand shake and look me in the eye when we meet, then I feel pretty insulted. If anybody's got some more insight into why this kind of thing is more common, I've got open ears.
Anyway, great show. Bought a CD. They're not on Pandora yet, but maybe soon. These guys are apparently huge in Russia, obviously, and eastern Europe. The opening band was good to: The Tanukis out of Fort Collins, CO. Also very fluent in Russian. Seems like it's a requirement for the place we were at. The girl on the piano could wail! I thought she was going to pull a muscle she was so into it! Totally captivating. The rest of the band was good, and thier solos showed it, but she stole the show.
Ultimate didn't start again today. For some reason it always snows Saturday night? Beers!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
lemons and lemonade
So, at the end of the day Friday the Tacoma office called. Denied. I knew the competition would be stiff, but I thought I'd at least make the first cut. S'what I get for tink'n. I didn't think I'd be as disappointed as I was; made me realize things in Colorado are more shitty than I thought. With Tacoma out of the picture it looks like I'll have to buckle down again to get myself out. Getting out of this hole could be a long time coming. I would just go, but I'm stuck with the damn house, which's already lost about $10K. Sometimes I think debt is the only thing that keeps me going. At least its Colorado. I definitely have enough passtimes to escape my laughable work environment and even more sadly, hilarious social life. One of these days Ultimate season will acutally start and hopefully that'll make things better. Of course that'll force me to be social with a whole different group of folks, but I definitely need the practice. The catch-22 of addressing the things that limit you in life is that focusing on them brings you down a lot quicker than if you just let your ego run rampant with things you're good at and failed. Somehow ego seems a lot more rubber-like than confidence. I'm definitely rambling now, on to something else.
Training for the Sea Otter Classic is picking up. Went for a 2 hour ride with Eight the other day, put in about 25 miles of running this week, and did a couple leg workouts at the gym in addition to the normal pilates and yoga classes. Psycho yoga teacher was there Tues. and I was glad I skipped class to lift when I saw the faces of the other regulars when the walked out. The climbing continues; rat climbed monday and weds. we went out and I lead a hole 5.6. I would've done it in the old earth shoes, but was denied a belay until donning the proper footwear. I later tried to lead a 5.9+, but it was pretty exposed and the wind was ripping so I bagged it one bolt in. Definitely need some bigger pro if I'm ever going to get more into trad.
I'm really wishing Hillary would drop out. One of my biggest beefs with ol'gdumbya is he preached unity over division and somehow managed the exact opposite. Seems to me old Hillary is capable of exactly the same. If I wasn't leaning hard for Obama before I definitely am now! I was also forwarded a link to http://www.thestoryofstuff.com/ for a 20 min. video on the problems associated with, and propagated by, throwing all the things away we do. I think the message is good and the information provided on the website is great, but the girl in the video is WAY to full of herself. Admittedly, I haven't watched the entire movie, but there were so many random comments initially that had nothing to do with what she was trying to say that I couldn't watch it anymore. She starts off and says something like, "I've been working on this kind of stuff for 10 years so I know what I'm talking about." When someone says that kind of crap to me I reach for the closest shovel and get ready to start shoveling shit. It's liberals like her, that make being liberal so hard to justify to people living conservatively. I've lately wondered which is worse for their political group: a dumb, redneck blindly following GOP policy or a self-righteous, independent person who doesn't know when and where to open their mouth. So, these kind of things are going through my head and Eight tells me I should see this movie called "The Secret". I was warned beforehand that it might seem a little preachy, but damn, it's practically an informercial. Again, I think they were trying to present a good message, but how is somebody whose professional title is Philosopher or Visionary supposed to convince me they're anything, but looney. Generally there are only two ways someone earns my respect: I meet them or someone I respect tells me they make the grade. Joe Schmoe on the street; sorry buddy you could be the beezneez and I don't give a rats ass. I'm very bitter today it turns out. This one always wears on me though. It probably started in the military where people would demand respect or maybe on a sports team with the one arrogant guy who says, "OK this is what we're doing" without a clue in the fucking world whether it's a good decision.
Well, I had fun today. Hope you did to. I'm off to see some Russian thingy that I know nothing about. My friend called and conned me to go. At first he thought it would be a night out with this girl he likes. Then he found out her boyfriend is coming and didn't want to be a third wheel. I said, "Dude, at least she doesn't know you like her. I'll invite a girl who knows I like her, won't have me, but still wants to hang out a lot, yeah, if you think your situation's messy check mine out." (She's actually super fun, so I just have to remember that hot chicks shouldn't have less friends just because most guys can't turn off their other brain). Se la vie
Training for the Sea Otter Classic is picking up. Went for a 2 hour ride with Eight the other day, put in about 25 miles of running this week, and did a couple leg workouts at the gym in addition to the normal pilates and yoga classes. Psycho yoga teacher was there Tues. and I was glad I skipped class to lift when I saw the faces of the other regulars when the walked out. The climbing continues; rat climbed monday and weds. we went out and I lead a hole 5.6. I would've done it in the old earth shoes, but was denied a belay until donning the proper footwear. I later tried to lead a 5.9+, but it was pretty exposed and the wind was ripping so I bagged it one bolt in. Definitely need some bigger pro if I'm ever going to get more into trad.
I'm really wishing Hillary would drop out. One of my biggest beefs with ol'gdumbya is he preached unity over division and somehow managed the exact opposite. Seems to me old Hillary is capable of exactly the same. If I wasn't leaning hard for Obama before I definitely am now! I was also forwarded a link to http://www.thestoryofstuff.com/ for a 20 min. video on the problems associated with, and propagated by, throwing all the things away we do. I think the message is good and the information provided on the website is great, but the girl in the video is WAY to full of herself. Admittedly, I haven't watched the entire movie, but there were so many random comments initially that had nothing to do with what she was trying to say that I couldn't watch it anymore. She starts off and says something like, "I've been working on this kind of stuff for 10 years so I know what I'm talking about." When someone says that kind of crap to me I reach for the closest shovel and get ready to start shoveling shit. It's liberals like her, that make being liberal so hard to justify to people living conservatively. I've lately wondered which is worse for their political group: a dumb, redneck blindly following GOP policy or a self-righteous, independent person who doesn't know when and where to open their mouth. So, these kind of things are going through my head and Eight tells me I should see this movie called "The Secret". I was warned beforehand that it might seem a little preachy, but damn, it's practically an informercial. Again, I think they were trying to present a good message, but how is somebody whose professional title is Philosopher or Visionary supposed to convince me they're anything, but looney. Generally there are only two ways someone earns my respect: I meet them or someone I respect tells me they make the grade. Joe Schmoe on the street; sorry buddy you could be the beezneez and I don't give a rats ass. I'm very bitter today it turns out. This one always wears on me though. It probably started in the military where people would demand respect or maybe on a sports team with the one arrogant guy who says, "OK this is what we're doing" without a clue in the fucking world whether it's a good decision.
Well, I had fun today. Hope you did to. I'm off to see some Russian thingy that I know nothing about. My friend called and conned me to go. At first he thought it would be a night out with this girl he likes. Then he found out her boyfriend is coming and didn't want to be a third wheel. I said, "Dude, at least she doesn't know you like her. I'll invite a girl who knows I like her, won't have me, but still wants to hang out a lot, yeah, if you think your situation's messy check mine out." (She's actually super fun, so I just have to remember that hot chicks shouldn't have less friends just because most guys can't turn off their other brain). Se la vie
Saturday, March 15, 2008
beer:30
Given the time of year I thought it a very apt time to discuss my affection for malty, adult beverages. It all started in the place we're celebrating Monday. I had never drank a drop until Ireland and even then not until after the first 5 months. I broke my arm on a ski trip and with no sport to occupy my time my irish friend was able to convince me to go to the uni-bar for a drink. It's a very nice thing learning to drink in Ireland. They've been doing it since they were at most 15 and by the time I got there drinking was a lot like now when drinking with friends. No competition. Just out, a beer an hour, good conversation, good times. The bitterness of the beer over there put me off at first. I couldn't even finish a half-pint of Guinness! At the end of my year there I forced (yes, pretty sad) myself to put down a whole pint.
Back in the states suddenly it was an entirely different world. As I'm sure I've told most of my friends, U.S. Guinness is way, way different than real Guinness. On my 21st, back in the states, I had a pint and it went down surprisingly smooth. From then on a great new world was opened to me. Amber's, brown's and porter's, oh my. I was of course pampered by all the fantastic brew pubs of the northwest. I was really into the flavor and after a few the uniqueness wore off and it was time to be done. I was really self-conscious about drinking too much because my pop had issues with alcholism. He was never mean, or loud, or any of the stereotypes associated with alcoholics, but I remember going to AA meetings as a kid, knew the problem was hereditary, and was a little freaked out. To his credit I totally attribute my seemingly inability to get a hangover to heredity. I'm not saying I never got drunk, but I was conscious of how much I had and the effects it had on me. With my paranoia, I found I couldn't drink at home. Even if people were over, just couldn't do it. I never could figure it out, in the end Nebraksa ridded me of this ailment.
In Nebraska there wasn't a great selection, but the brew pub they had put out some quality brews. I haven't found a vanilla porter yet that tops theirs. In Nebraska I was introduced to The Traveller, not that I've ever done it, but I've never felt unsafe with the folks who did. It was always something light and they'd not had more than a beer before we went. Since they could drink like fish I wasn't worried. Course this brings about the topic of driving drunk. I won't lie and say I've never done it. According to Eight, who wasn't there, I did it last night. For me drunk is way different than buzzing and the level of each is definitely a function of consumption over time. I'm sure (I hope) everybody's got their little checklist of things to make a smart decision (course if you're using the checklist at all you're probably already wrong). I have no trouble with handing over my keys, have taken the bus home, and one dumb night walked 6 miles in sub-20 degree weather. I don't think there's any good logic for driving after drinking, but it's a risk I'm willing to take now and again. In the end we can only try to be better.
What to drink. Personally, my general rule is that I won't drink anything I can see through (Goes for the hard stuff as well). In the Northwest there was no reason to drink light beer. In Nebraska the debate could get a little heated. Most prevalent was the Hobstar and his affinity for the Champagne of Beers. His arguments: better taste (to each his own), more bang for the buck (definitively true), and you could drink it year round (dark stuff just isn't as tasty when it 95 degrees and 90% humidity). Being the good sport I am I willingly tried some classics; the Champagne, PBR, probably a Busch, a Coors, and God forbid a Bud. For the verdict I'll rely on a story (which most've probably heard) posted at the recently gone Rattlesnake brewery in Kennewick, WA, "At a brewers convention a waiter went around the table asking what each brewer would like to drink. The guy from Coors asks for a Coors, when asked, the guy from Miller asks for a Miller, blah, blah, blah. When asked what he'd like the Rattlesnake brewer says, " water, since that what everyone else is having"." The light stuff just doesn't do it for me. to the credit of light beer brewers, they're supposed to be much harder to make and harder to make consistently palatable. With that said I commonly will drink Corona and this winter found that Foster's is very nice after a day on the ice. Generally thouigh, I like my beer malty, heavy bodied, and clean finishing. I'm not a huge fan of hops, but there's a few out there that'll do you right.
Okay, I'm bored, probably you too, if you got this far. Ultimate league starts tomorrow. Yeah!
For St. Paddies, drink tons and be safe. Find Green Beer. If not, make your own. Warn your boss: Tuesday will be a late start at work
Back in the states suddenly it was an entirely different world. As I'm sure I've told most of my friends, U.S. Guinness is way, way different than real Guinness. On my 21st, back in the states, I had a pint and it went down surprisingly smooth. From then on a great new world was opened to me. Amber's, brown's and porter's, oh my. I was of course pampered by all the fantastic brew pubs of the northwest. I was really into the flavor and after a few the uniqueness wore off and it was time to be done. I was really self-conscious about drinking too much because my pop had issues with alcholism. He was never mean, or loud, or any of the stereotypes associated with alcoholics, but I remember going to AA meetings as a kid, knew the problem was hereditary, and was a little freaked out. To his credit I totally attribute my seemingly inability to get a hangover to heredity. I'm not saying I never got drunk, but I was conscious of how much I had and the effects it had on me. With my paranoia, I found I couldn't drink at home. Even if people were over, just couldn't do it. I never could figure it out, in the end Nebraksa ridded me of this ailment.
In Nebraska there wasn't a great selection, but the brew pub they had put out some quality brews. I haven't found a vanilla porter yet that tops theirs. In Nebraska I was introduced to The Traveller, not that I've ever done it, but I've never felt unsafe with the folks who did. It was always something light and they'd not had more than a beer before we went. Since they could drink like fish I wasn't worried. Course this brings about the topic of driving drunk. I won't lie and say I've never done it. According to Eight, who wasn't there, I did it last night. For me drunk is way different than buzzing and the level of each is definitely a function of consumption over time. I'm sure (I hope) everybody's got their little checklist of things to make a smart decision (course if you're using the checklist at all you're probably already wrong). I have no trouble with handing over my keys, have taken the bus home, and one dumb night walked 6 miles in sub-20 degree weather. I don't think there's any good logic for driving after drinking, but it's a risk I'm willing to take now and again. In the end we can only try to be better.
What to drink. Personally, my general rule is that I won't drink anything I can see through (Goes for the hard stuff as well). In the Northwest there was no reason to drink light beer. In Nebraska the debate could get a little heated. Most prevalent was the Hobstar and his affinity for the Champagne of Beers. His arguments: better taste (to each his own), more bang for the buck (definitively true), and you could drink it year round (dark stuff just isn't as tasty when it 95 degrees and 90% humidity). Being the good sport I am I willingly tried some classics; the Champagne, PBR, probably a Busch, a Coors, and God forbid a Bud. For the verdict I'll rely on a story (which most've probably heard) posted at the recently gone Rattlesnake brewery in Kennewick, WA, "At a brewers convention a waiter went around the table asking what each brewer would like to drink. The guy from Coors asks for a Coors, when asked, the guy from Miller asks for a Miller, blah, blah, blah. When asked what he'd like the Rattlesnake brewer says, " water, since that what everyone else is having"." The light stuff just doesn't do it for me. to the credit of light beer brewers, they're supposed to be much harder to make and harder to make consistently palatable. With that said I commonly will drink Corona and this winter found that Foster's is very nice after a day on the ice. Generally thouigh, I like my beer malty, heavy bodied, and clean finishing. I'm not a huge fan of hops, but there's a few out there that'll do you right.
Okay, I'm bored, probably you too, if you got this far. Ultimate league starts tomorrow. Yeah!
For St. Paddies, drink tons and be safe. Find Green Beer. If not, make your own. Warn your boss: Tuesday will be a late start at work
Sunday, March 9, 2008
I'm a liar
I said this entry would be a review of The mismeasurement of Science, yeah, that's not going to happen. It's a great article though. Here's the reference: P.A. Lawrence. (2007) The mismeasurement of science. Current Biology, v 17, no. 5.
There's just been too many things that've happened, happening, and will happen. First, the ice climbing season is pretty much over, which should make some readers happy. It was capped off by an awesome weekend down in Ouray, CO. Check out the pictures at this photoworks page
Sementi made for an awesome partner and we climbed some STEEP stuff. I also found a good rock climbing partner here in town; heretofore known as Eight. My finger strength is gone from years past, but slowly it's coming back. We've gone to the gym a few times and once outside on a gorgeous day a couple weeks ago. I'll pick up my lead certification Monday because Eight wants to hang from the ceiling. If that weren't enough, training for the Sea Otter classic has officially begun. Yesterday I rode a 9 mile time trial and between the ride there and back clocked in about 25 miles. I'm in bad shape. Was a little tight today so did a 4 mile run with Sarama. Nah, let's say an easy jog, with brief stops for sniffing. She figured out what prairie dogs are; the last mile we must've stopped every 15 yards to check out the next new hole.
Busy, busy, busy at work. Somehow this week I've got to finish up a model, get another working, and learn about another and review two papers. There's also the Calc exam and my interview for the Tacoma job to prepare for. Things are hopping. It feels good to be busy. Back to work.
There's just been too many things that've happened, happening, and will happen. First, the ice climbing season is pretty much over, which should make some readers happy. It was capped off by an awesome weekend down in Ouray, CO. Check out the pictures at this photoworks page
Sementi made for an awesome partner and we climbed some STEEP stuff. I also found a good rock climbing partner here in town; heretofore known as Eight. My finger strength is gone from years past, but slowly it's coming back. We've gone to the gym a few times and once outside on a gorgeous day a couple weeks ago. I'll pick up my lead certification Monday because Eight wants to hang from the ceiling. If that weren't enough, training for the Sea Otter classic has officially begun. Yesterday I rode a 9 mile time trial and between the ride there and back clocked in about 25 miles. I'm in bad shape. Was a little tight today so did a 4 mile run with Sarama. Nah, let's say an easy jog, with brief stops for sniffing. She figured out what prairie dogs are; the last mile we must've stopped every 15 yards to check out the next new hole.
Busy, busy, busy at work. Somehow this week I've got to finish up a model, get another working, and learn about another and review two papers. There's also the Calc exam and my interview for the Tacoma job to prepare for. Things are hopping. It feels good to be busy. Back to work.
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