Encyclopedia of Taste

I'm back!

2011-02-05T20:53:00.000-08:00

It's been a while. I think maybe I'll start updating with photos from skiing, since I'm taking pictures again. Here's one from today, bootpacking up Rector's Couloir in Thompson Pass, AK.

Here's another of Aaron on the next couloir over to the right.
My inclinometer only goes to 50 degrees, and here's proof.

DMCA takedowns

2010-07-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

I've been getting some emails lately from Blogger about some of my posts, specifically the "Anarchy Breakfast Returns!" post, which is no longer online. Some organization called the IFPI alleges that my post contains copywrited material.

Although that page is no longer around, the Anarchy Breakfast podcasts are still hosted online. These downloads contain no individual tracks, just radio-style 30-minute playlists.

In the meantime, I will probably not post any more podcasts. Stay tuned for the fall, when I hope to be hosting the Anarchy Breakfast on KGLT, and will potentially re-start the podcast.

Enjoy the rest of the summer.

It's funny!

2010-06-01T17:36:00.001-07:00

On a side note, Schlitz is impossible to find in Bozeman these days. We just have to settle for Old Milwaukee, or drive to the Midwest.

More blogs to come.

Leaving France

2010-05-17T01:28:00.000-07:00

My sejour in France is coming to a close.

I don't have a ton of time, so I'll give a recap of my weekend in Esterel a little bit later. In brief, I went rock climbing on Rhiolyte (the volcanic form of granite) which climbed somewhere in between limestone and granite. I met a cool dude named Mika, who works as a "cordiste", that is to say he works at heights on a rope. He's a slackliner and has set up highlines professionally for outdoor sports festivals, among other things. Mika was excited to do some easy gear climbing, so I did that with him instead of trying hard stuff. He showed me (briefly) how to set up a really long slackline with pulleys and ascenders, and fun was had by all.

As a way of saying goodbye to this place, here's a list of French contributions to the world:

1 Wine
2 Stinky cheese
3 Baguettes
4 Sport climbing
5 2-hour lunches, even for high school students! (See #1)
6 The bic lighter
7 Reserved courtesy (as in "Bonjour Monsieur" every time you go into a bakery, followed by "Au revoir, passez une bonne journée!)
8 Bureaucracy
9 Universal Health Care
10 Electronic music (Daft Punk, Vitalic, M83, Justice, Team Ghost, Air, et cetera)

Tomorrow I'm heading towards Millau to do some rock climbing with Alfred, Kassy, Stu, and Guillem. There's a folk festival that we'll try to get to as well. It promises to be an excellent time.

As for the Anarchy Breakfast, I won't be able to put up a playlist before I leave. The podcasts may continue from Montana, but if I get a radio show things might change a bit.

It's been a lovely year. The sun is shining, like it has been for the better part of nine months, and it will be sad to leave the "gastronomie française" and all of the bulletproof limestone behind. But that land of milk and honey is calling me: The West. It's time for The Journey Home.

Au revoir, France.

Music!

2010-05-03T00:43:00.001-07:00

2010 is turning out to be an exceptional year in music. Here are some records that I've been gushing about recently, in no particular order:

Josh Ritter - So Runs The World Away
Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me
Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
The National - High Violet

Tracks from these were all on my latest podcast, and they're all Amazing, with a capital A.

Also worth mentioning are Caribou's "Swim", a fantastic electronic record full of dancy rhythms and fun surprises, and Team Ghost's "You Never Did Anything Wrong To Me".

Team Ghost is one half of the French electronic duo M83, and every review points out that this EP logically follows M83's "Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts". This is a good thing, and it's a great EP full of atmospheric sounds and the rare pop-hook.

Titus Andronicus, a rather fatalist outfit from New Jersey, came out with "The Monitor" earlier this year. It explores everything that is difficult about life through the filter of the American civil war. It's harsh at times and the lyrics are frequently obscure. The record is interspersed with anthems about the futility of trying and laments for a style of life long gone. It's worth several listens, and at the end of each you'll feel like opening a beer and giving up.

These are all bands that I've been following in some form or another, and it's really gratifying to be so pleasantly surprised by the quality of these new releases. But this year has not been without a few disappointments.

The Hold Steady released a new record this year called "Heaven is Now". Their first four records followed a reasonably clear theme, mostly dealing with Catholicism and lost faith, put to the sounds of 80's rock and singer Craig Finn's barked "singing". It was raw on first listen and lyrically very interesting. But with their newest record the band has all but abandoned this theme and moved on to more personal (read: less interesting) topics. Finn honestly tries to sing, and the music has become more polished. The result is a derivative, boring, 80's rock record twenty-five years too late. And it's a shame.

Frightened Rabbit, a Scottish band, put out a record this year called "The Winter of Mixed Drinks". Their first effort, called "The Midnight Organ Fight", was like so many great records fueled by a nasty breakup and all of the emotions that come with it. It was honest, sometimes stripped down, and poignant. The most striking moments were the quieter ones. But the latest record comes from a much happier place. The band has packed in as much sound as possible into each track, and it shows. The poignant lyrics are gone and what is left is mostly obscured by the over-enthusiastic instrumentation. The record is draining to listen to and disappointing to finish.

As far as new (to me) music, I've recently been exploring and enjoying records by Groundation, an American reggae outfit, and I finally got around to checking out Crystal Castles. Their latest record (their second self-titled) got some good reviews, being labeled as more accessible than their debut. Crystal Castles makes abrasive electronic music filled with surprising twists, and in the right mood it can be amazing. For me, though, it definitely falls into the category of "music to listen to infrequently". Not something I'd put on before noon.

So far, however, the disappointments have been far outweighed by great output from established bands. We'll see what the rest of 2010 looks like, but so far it seems that the heavyweights of indie rock are striking back in a big way.

The Anarchy Breakfast returns!

2010-04-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, so today I bring you two playlists. Instead of the (by now) usual narrative, both playlists consist exclusively of music. The first is a collection of new music that I'm really excited about. Hence the title:

"New Music Makes Me Weak In The Knees"

1 Kolniður - Jónsi - Go
2 Sentimental X's - Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
3 Relief - Sam Amidon - I See The Sign
4 Conversation 16 - The National - High Violet
5 The Arrangement - Beach House - Zebra
6 The Curse - Josh Ritter - So Runs The World Away
7 Occident - Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me

Download removed because of the DMCA

But I do feel like I frequently (read: consistently, without fail) fall into the standard college-radio, All-Songs-Considered, pitchfork-media trap of "indie rock". So recently, just for kicks, I've been trying to expand just a tiny bit and I've gotten my hands on some reggae. It's fun to explore another genre. So this week, the "bonus" playlist is "The Anarchy Breakfast, Reggae Edition!" Listen to it if you're interested, as I certainly am.

"The Anarchy Breakfast, Reggae Edition!"

1 Pagan, Pay Gone - Midnite - Ras Mek Peace (Before Reverb and Without Delay)
2 Roman Soldiers of Babylon - Jacob Miller - Collector's Classics
3 Ça Va Faire Mal - Tiken Jak Fakoly - Coup de Geule
4 Ball of Fire - Israel Vibration - The Same Song
5 80,000 Careless Ethiopians - Jacob Miller - Collector's Classics
6 Far Beyond - Israel Vibration - Stamina
7 Fierce Fast and Low Dub - Midnite - Intense Pressure

Download Removed

Saint Guilhem to La Jonte

2010-04-23T03:53:00.000-07:00

Saint Guilhem le Dèsert

Saint Guilhem le Désert is a rather particular area, as far as crags go. The medieval village is classified as a UNESCO world heritage site, and the area surrounding is is similarly protected. The village sees millions of tourists each year, and more than half of the surrounding cliffs are forbidden for climbing. Perhaps because of this delicate situation, there is no existing guidebook for the permitted climbing in the area. Luckily, Adrien has compiled his own topos and knows the area reasonably well. We went to a crag with mostly hard stuff. While Florent and Adrien wore themselves out on some of these overhanging monsters, Florence and I rappelled down to another cliff to try a longish traversing 6a. What I thought was a sport route, however, had only about six bolts in 40 meters. I threw the two slings I had over some bushes for extra (psychological?) protection, climbed carefully, and made a mental note to correct Adrien's topo sheet.

La Jonte

That night we made it to La Jonte rather late and set up our "bivouac". What the French called "bivouac" is basically what we think of as camping. As Adrien explained it to me, bivouac means you set up the tent after dark and break down the tent at daybreak. "Camping" entails leaving the tent pitched, and usually means paying for a site. When we woke up the next morning we noticed signs nailed to trees that said, "camping - feux interdits". Oops. We weren't sure whether that meant no camping, no campfires, or neither, but we decided to sleep somewhere else the next night.

Les Gorges de la Jonte consist mostly of multi-pitch climbs on the 100-150 meter walls. The rock is Dolomite, a special type of limestone founds mostly in, you guessed it, the Dolomites of Italy. Dolomite forms cool, sharp pockets and irregular edges, and it's quite fun to climb on. The first Day Adrien and I did "Gallo Loco" a beautiful, well-bolted and over graded 100m climb, in about an hour. Then we attacked "Fais Caf c'est Dur", a slightly harder line of the same length and quality. We found a different "bivouac" spot by a picnic area and settled in.

The next day, my confidence boosted by the soft grades and large number of bolts on "Gallo Loco", I wanted to try "l'Arète Ouest". "L'Arète Ouest", graded 5c-6a-5c, is the local sandbag. With a bolt every six meters and sustained, steep climbing on pockets, it's a lot harder than it seems on paper. I took a 15 meter fall on the crux pitch and bailed. L'Arète Ouest: 1, William: 0.

Wanting to do something a little less physical, I joined up with Adrien the next day to do an easier gear climb called "Démons et Merveilles". The crack protected well and went smoothly.
At the top, we met a couple of Belgians named Thom and Stephane, also on vacation. They invited us back to their car for some beers. Florence and Florent went to do another climb, but Adrien and I decided to follow the Belgians. A climber has to know when to climb and when to drink. Our choice turned out to be a good one, as the Belgians were traveling with a cooler full of top-shelf Belgian beer. The four of us sat in the parking lot, talking half in English, half in French, for the better part of two hours.

Eventually the Belgians left for the long drive to go bouldering in Fontainbleau, and Adrien and I finished the day at a boulder called "Body Building", a 45 degree overhanging monster of a crag. After sufficiently destroying our forearms, we went to a spot suggested by the Belgians in the neighboring Gorges du Tarn (Lots of climbing there, also) which was perfect for our purposes. We slept hard.

Saturday, we were all beat. Adrien and I climbed at Body Building again, but quickly realized that there was no way we were going to send anything and gave up. Bodies aching, all four of us returned to Montpellier for some much-needed rest.

Coming soon: an Anarchy Breakfast double-header, with a twist.

Verdon!

2010-04-23T03:15:00.000-07:00

"Let's go to Verdon this weekend!" Said the email in my inbox. It came from Adrien, from my climbing club.

Verdon is a 3.5 hour drive from Montpellier and a world-renowned climbing area. "The most beautiful limestone," Jacques told me.
"The most beautiful limestone...?" I probed.
"In the world." He insisted. "It's incredible."

That Thursday, at the bar, I signed on. Three of us would leave the next morning at 8, to be joined that evening by seven more.

The three early risers (Adrien, Fabrice, and myself) decided to do "À tout cœur" Friday afternoon. It consisted of 150 meters of mostly 6a+, with a significantly harder crux pitch of 6b+. Adrien led the whole thing, with Fabrice and I following "en flèche", each one of us tied into one strand of a half rope.

The route is well traveled, being a gorgeous line at a world-famous "crag", and this fact combined with the rather sandbagged grade meant that a lot of the key holds were polished. It was still a gorgeous climb, and a lovely introduction to the area.

That night, we settled in at a neat little "camping" with all of the amenities. Running (hot!) water, toilets, showers, a fireplace, and most importantly, perfect slacklining trees.

The next day I climbed with Anaïs. We did "Cocoluche" and the second half of "Les Dalles Grises", both about 150 meters. The weather was perfect, and these climbs were less demanding and less technically difficult that that of the previous day. "Tranqil."

That evening I brought out the slackline. A few climbers had tried it before and were reasonably confident, but when I pulled the webbing out of it's bag, they were all a little surprised. "It's so thin!" They said. I guess they're used to walking on 2" webbing, which, it would seem, is significantly easier. A good time was had by all.

The next day I climbed with Joseph at a cliff called "le Dent d'aire", on a climb called "Le Petit Chat". This one was relatively short, just over 100 meters, which we had chosen because the weather for Sunday afternoon was predicted to be "variable". We moved rapidly, which is always fun, and quickly finished the climb. The first half was uncharacteristically loose, but the second half was magnificent. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing tourist.

Sunday night the less dedicated (read: employed) among us returned to Montpellier. Adrien, Florence, Florent, Anaïs, and myself remained, to see what the weather would do.

As it turned out, Monday was rainy. We entertained ourselves by doing the classic "sentier Martel", a hike which goes from one end of the gorge to the other, passing a couple of kilometers of tunnel (headlamp required!). The signs mentioned an estimated time of 7.5 hours from one end to the other, but we did it in 4.5 including lunch. Soaked by the rain, we hit the bar and looked for positive weather predictions.

But the weather was looking miserable all week, and as we debated what to do it started snowing. "C'est mort," said Adrien. We discussed La Jonte, on the other side of Montpellier. "C'est super loin," one of us said. Also mentioned were Les Calanques, by Marseilles, and St. Victoire by Aix-en-Provence. But the weather wasn't looking much better in that direction either. After hours of debate, we gave up and returned to Montpellier, getting in well after midnight. The next day we got in touch. It was still break, after all. Adrien, Florent, Florence and myself decided that day to go to La Jonte, an hour and a half north of Montpellier, with a stop at St. Guillem le Desert to do some cragging on the way. We would stay in La Jonte all week.

Sunday

2010-04-07T06:27:00.000-07:00

We wake up late on Easter Sunday, after a late night of spaghetti and beer. The plan is a lazy afternoon at the tiny local crag of Mosset, in the Pyrenees. It's a large granite block, maybe 30 meters tall at its peak. A handful of routes are equipped, and Sebastien is intent on making a guidebook. Towards this goal, we try to climb everything. It is refreshing to climb on something other than limestone, and despite intermittent storms we climb a lot of routes. In the afternoon, after a particularly violent pocket of rain, I make what I think is probably the first ascent of a decidedly not-magnificent chimney on the back side of the rock. It's wide at the start, with honest-to-goodness, do-the-splits stemming before gaining a series of large chockstones and a crack about the right size to jam a fist in. It goes for about 20 meters, and I place some good nuts and a cam on the way up.

It storms some more, we drink some wine, and we call it a day.

Saturday

2010-04-07T05:58:00.000-07:00

Monday is a holiday, so for the weekend some climbers have planned a trip towards the Pyrenees. The first stop is Vingrau, about an hour and a half from Montpellier.

Well known for its improbable slabs, Vingrau also has a host of short multi-pitch routes and some of what the French call "terrain d'aventure". Depending on the location, "terrain d'av" can mean anything from a route with absolutely no equipment, requiring a full rack of traditional protection, to old pitons, to a mostly bolted route with a level of commitment maybe slightly higher than your average French sport route. After a couple routes to warm up and a full French lunch, Adrien proposes "Le plan incliné". It's a 70 meter route, mostly on gear, with two pitches and a bolted belay. I'm game, so we rack up and go for it.

Adrien is a very strong climber, but as I'm seconding his first pitch I'm pretty skeptical of the quality of his gear placements. I finally get to a cam that I think might hold a fall about 25 meters off the ground and about 5 meters from the belay.

"It's a good thing you're so strong," I tell him, "because until just now you were soloing."

I grab the rack and start off on my pitch. The climbing is not too hard, the crack takes good gear, and about 40 meters later I'm at the top, belaying Adrien. We rappel down and chat with some French people at the base about Montana and "A River Runs Through It."

"That's where I live," I tell them, and Adrien and I walk back to where our friends are, around the corner.

We here a loud rumble of rocks falling. We pause for a second and don't think about it.

But while I'm belaying Adrien on the next route, the road below is blocked off and filled with rescue vans. As I'm lowering Adrien we hear the unmistakable noise of a helicopter.

It's a rescue.

"I'm done." I tell Adrien. "Two helicopters in two days is too much."

The wall we had been climbing on just before had apparently lost a large block, injuring two climbers. We had been there 10 minutes before it happened, on the route just to the right.

The climbers were alive, but seriously hurt, and were whisked off rapidly to the hospital.

The drive to Sebastien's parents house, our lodging for the weekend, is done in silence.

Friday

2010-04-07T05:33:00.000-07:00

Thursday night I get a text message: "I'm free tomorrow, let me know if you want to go climbing. - Baptiste"

Some other friends will be climbing the next day at Thaurac, the local crag, but they're leaving at 9:30. Baptiste and I decide instead to leave at the very reasonable hour of 11AM, and when we meet the next morning we decide to climb a "grande voie". Baptiste has never done any multi-pitch, so we go to a clean, well-protected wall at Thaurac for his first time. I briefly show him how to make an anchor and how to tie in with a clove hitch, and we cast off. It goes pretty quickly, and he's hooked.

"At first I was nervous, but as soon as I started the second pitch on lead everything was fine."
"Next time we'll go to L'Hortus," I tell him.

We decide to spend the rest of the day cragging, which involves driving a few minutes down the canyon to another wall. But as we round the corner, we see a number of rescue vehicles and a helicopter overhead. We pass, slowly, and my heart jumps as I see my friend's car, the one who left at 9:30, parked just ahead.

"I hope it's not Adrien." I say, and then we're silent as we make our way away from the scene. "Jeez, that's scary."

We climb all afternoon through slowly deteriorating conditions, but despite the accident's morale-lowering effect and the gray sky, both Baptiste and I manage to climb some hard routes that had previously eluded us.

That night I send Adrien a message, to see if he's okay.

"I'm fine" he tells me. "The accident was on the via ferrata, right next to us. I don't have any more details."

The Journey Home (Part III)

2010-03-27T18:10:00.001-07:00

And with this installment, this particular story is over.

The Journey Home (Part III)

1 The Mansion - The Microphones - The Glow Pt. 2
2 Neahkahnie - Le Loup - Family
3 Sleeping In - The Morning Benders - Big Echo
4 Daisy - Fang Island - Fang Island
5 Be My Girl - Smith Westerns - Smith Westerns
6 She Gone - Gonjasufi - A Sufi And A Killer
7 A Pot In Which To Piss - Titus Andronicus - The Monitor

Download here

Lately I've been thinking about some very important questions

2010-03-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

Just kidding. I haven't been doing anything of the sort.

Instead, I've been writing papers and itching to get outside. I've been slacklining in a park more and more frequently, now that the weather is starting to be downright estival. The park has two playgrounds, soft grass and a number of well-spaced trees. It's calm and shady and frequently filled with mothers and their young children, especially on Wednesday when elementary school does not meet. So I go to this park when I have an hour or two and set up a slackline. The not-so-subtle gawking starts as soon as I start rigging up the line.

"Look!" One kid might whisper.
"What's he doing?"

And after I've walked back and forth a few times, there's a crowd, about three deep and five wide, of small, smiling children watching me intently. I fall off.

"Are you with the circus?" One would ask.
"Nope. I just do this for fun. Wanna try?" I offer.
"Oh! no...."
"You sure? It's easy. I'll hold your hand."
And after a shake of the head from the kid, I return to the line and walk a few more laps.

I like the idea of the child at play. In the park, I feel like I'm witness to the best moments. The whiny, tired, crying and irritating child does not appear - instead, I only see the smiles. The mothers chat with each other while gently rocking their strollers back and forth, old people make slow laps around the park punctuated by the sound of canes and heavy breathing. The atmosphere is overwhelmingly positive.

It's a nice reminder, thinking about children in the context of park, non-park. A metaphor, if you like.

Go to the park, play, be happy. Pick up a stick and pretend it's a fishing pole. Watch the circus guy walk his tightrope. Kick the soccer ball around with dad, play on the monkey bars while grandmother worries that you're going to hurt yourself. Leave the discomfort and the whining at home.

All you have to do, really, is find a park that's fun to play in and go there as often as possible.

A return to form: The Journey Home (Part II)

2010-03-10T04:53:00.001-08:00

This puts a tentative end to real blogging here at The Encyclopedia of Taste. Instead, we're back to your regularly scheduled Wednesday programming: The Anarchy Breakfast podcast.

I was really feeling the post-rock this week. As a result, this podcast is full of post-rock and falls squarely in the category of "music to listen to while waking up".

The Journey Home (Part II)

1 Settler - Balmorhea - Daytrotter Session
2 Travel is Dangerous - Mogwai - Mr Beast
3 Radio Swan is Down (Part II) - Laura - Radio Swan is Down
4 The Adjustor - The Octopus Project - One Ten Hundred Thousand Million
5 What Do You Go Home To? - Explosions in the Sky - All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
6 They Move On Tracks Of Never-ending Light - This Will Destroy You - This Will Destroy You

Download here.

Enjoy.

Les Calanques: Day 4

2010-03-08T05:37:00.000-08:00

Day - Wednesday - Le Bec de Sormiou
I wake up, toasty warm and surprisingly comfortable. The bed of rocks seems to have conformed to my body in the night and makes a perfect mattress. I look over at Aaron, who has his emergency blanket wrapped around his feet and the hood of my puffy coat on his head. The tent is starting to feel like home. I get out and pee and note that it has rained overnight. In our perfect spot under the overhang we hardly noticed.

The sky is still a little grey, but I can feel the sun making an effort to appear. We make no effort to hurry, but by a little before nine everything is packed away, our bags are hidden in the bushes, and we are making our way towards Le Bec de Sormiou with only what we will need to climb. The day before I had shown Aaron how to coil the climbing rope into a backpack. He wears it now and I carry the small second's pack with the topo, a bottle of water and some cashews.

It takes longer than we expect to get to Le Bec, and after a bit of downclimbing we find ourselves meters from the ocean on a strange sort of beach, looking at the departures of the first climbs.

"Do you see any bolts?"
"Not really."
"I saw one way up there," I point about fifteen meters above us.

Between us and the first bolt is a series of steep pockets and cavernous holes. We see old, tattered bits of climbing rope threaded through some of the tunnels, and I deduce that this must be the beginning of "Antecime". It looks wet and greasy. The pitches above look slightly cleaner, but not amazing.

"Wanna keep going?" Aaron asks me.
"Sure."
"This doesn't look too great to me."

To get to the beginning of the other routes, we will have to traverse out left and climb a short approach pitch graded somewhere around 4+.

We traverse the rocky "beach" and arrive at the approach pitches.
"I'll go." I say. The pitch is quick and easy, though a little bit wet, and at the anchors at the top I put Aaron on belay.

"Uh, it's gonna take me a few minutes to get ready." He informs me. I watch the waves.

Once begun, it doesn't take Aaron more than half a minute to climb to where I am, and he continues around to the left, still on belay, to find our route.

He finds some anchors and I join him, and though we are still unsure about our location, we decide to go for it. Aaron leads the first pitch, which should be 4+. It feels about right.

At the top of the first pitch, I look up at the next one. It should be 5c, and it looks like another steep, greasy flake. The movements are neat, despite the slime-covered rock, and it's quickly over. I look to the right of our route and see some scary pitons protecting a thin 6c. I decide we're on the right route. The next pitch is a long 5b, and Aaron takes it. Seconding, I am impressed with Aaron's lead. For a 5b, it's exceptionally thin and very balancey. The bolts are adequate, but not generous. As I arrive the belay, I look up and examine the 5c above. It's soaked.

"Why do I always get the wet pitches?" I demand.
"Just lucky, I guess."

After some scary slab moves on wet limestone and an airy traverse to the anchors, I belay Aaron up to the large ledge. By this time, we're more than 100 meters above the ocean and the exposure is amazing. We're one pitch from the top and I'm thrilled.

"You're up!" I say to Aaron as he arrives.
"I think you better take this last pitch. I'm beginning to feel the effects of climbing more in the last week than I'm used to."
"Come on, it's only 5a. It looks great." I tell him.
"You sure it's only 5a?"
"Pretty sure. We could check the topo."

We do, and it's not.

"Shit, it's 5c. Good thing we checked."

I drink some water and give the pack back to Aaron.

The last pitch is amazing, if a little sparsely bolted. Near the top where it gets steep I see a maillon rapide hanging from a bolt. Somebody had to escape the route, by the looks of it, only about 10 meters from the top. Must be the crux, I think to myself.

I get to the bolt, clip it, and look at my options. The holds are all there, but they're a little far apart. I stretch and grab the jug, excited to have made it, and sprint for the finish.

As I top out, the wind blasts me in the face. It's coming from the West, and we've been sheltered the entire climb. I'm thrilled and let out a yell. I put Aaron on belay and bring him up.

"Welcome to the top!" I say.

We put on some extra clothes, drink some water, and eat some cashews above the Mediterranean.

"Perfect belay ledges!" I exclaim. "Perfect belay ledges on every pitch."
"Classic."

"Did you see that quick link?" Aaron asks me.
"Yeah! I guess somebody had to rappel off. I tried to take the thing off, but it was fused shut."
"Must've been the crux."

We walk down, and as we're discussing our options for the afternoon, a storm rolls in fast and hard. The blue skies are replaced by angry storm clouds, and as we huddle under a trash shelter sorting out gear in the village, a woman offers us a ride back to Marseille. An exceptionally nice offer, but our tent and all of our gear are still in the bushes.

"Non, merci. Mais c'est très gentil!" I tell the woman, and she shake her head and gets in her car.

Instead, we walk back to the overhang, pitch the tent and take refuge for the afternoon. The storm clears as quickly as it arrived, and we decided to walk to Marseille, to see what kind of exit we're in for the next morning. It only takes an hour to get to town, what looks like a predominantly North-African suburb. We laugh as a sports car skids around the corner with the sign marked "Mosquée" and shake our heads at the teenagers riding wheelies on their mopeds. Suddenly, we find ourselves in front of a shopping center.

"Let's go the the mall!" Aaron says.
"Okay."
"If we were 13, this would be AWESOME."

But we do go in, and it turns out to be a supermarket. After picking up more cheese and bread and a glass from which to drink Pastis, we head back towards camp. In front of the store we see an advertisement for a magazine called "Votre Beauté". The cover features a redheaded model, and she's topless.

"Hold on a second." Aaron says. He's surprised by the public nudity, and no doubt interested in the feature article.

"It's our second muse!"

Our prophecy seems to be coming true, and we make our way back to the tent.

Tomorrow we leave.

Les Calanques: Day 3

2010-03-07T08:04:00.000-08:00

Day 3 - Tuesday - La Paroi Noire to Sourmiou

I wake up, drier than expected. As I get out of the tent and walk around, I note that despite its flaws our campsite is extremely well hidden. We hang wet clothes on the bushes in anticipation of the sun and take stock. The cliff is wet from the rain but looks amazing. The rock is a dark grey, compact and beautiful.

The sun makes a tentative appearance and we decide to climb. The tent is so well hidden that we leave it pitched to dry, surrounded by our wet clothes.

"What do you want to do?" Aaron asked me.
"Let's start with this one, nice and easy" I say, pointing at a route on the topo. It's the original route, called La Paroi Noire. It consists of four easy pitches following the most obvious weakness right up the middle of the face.
"Let's bring the little backpack with an empty water bottle," says Aaron, "and I'll walk from the top back to the trailhead to get more water."

The line was first climbed in 1941. While France was occupied, notes Aaron. But not the South, I correct him.

Maybe this is why the French army gets such a bad rap: all of the brave Frenchmen were in the South, putting up rock climbs over the Mediterranean with pitons and hob-nailed boots.

After we finish Aaron goes for water and I relax at the tent. It is hot now, just as predicted, and I'm sweating in my t-shirt. Perfect. While we climbed it seems that the cliff has become crowded.

Our goal for the afternoon is another four-pitch line called "La Chaloupée". The name means "The Swaying". But at the base we see a pair of serious-looking Frenchmen gearing up.
"Excusez-moi. Vous faites laquelle?" I ask.
"La Chaloupée."
"They're on our route," I tell Aaron.
A quick glance at the guidebook reveals a line to the right.
"Looks like a 4b, then two long pitches of 5c."
"Beauty. Let's do it." He looks at the guidebook again. "I'll probably give the last two pitches to you."
"Okay."
We gear up, tie in, and start off. The first pitch goes quickly, but the the party to our left seems to be having some trouble. I'm not listening to their conversation, but there seems to be some question as to whether or not they are at the right belay.

At the anchor, I'm not totally sure that we're on route either. I start off on the only obvious options for a second pitch. It's a steep, greasy flake with horrible feet, and feels pretty stiff for 5c. I get to the belay, breathing hard, and belay Aaron up the pitch. I look up, and the next pitch looks a little easier, the line of bolts following a weakness up and left.

But as Aaron puts me on belay and I start up, I note with dismay that the line does not follow the weakness, but instead follows a rather spaced-out line of bolts directly up the clean face. It's beautiful, following small but positive face holds and technical footwork for 35 meters on amazing rock, almost to the top of the cliff.

I arrived at the next belay, surprised. If we had been on route, this should have been the last pitch. Instead I find myself on a huge belay ledge with what looks like a short pitch of relatively easy climbing above. I bring up Aaron and inform him that the last pitch is his.
"Your turn." I say.

It turns out to be short, as expected. There is only one bolt, at the 5.9 crux, and the rest is super easy all the way to the top.

We walk off, I retrieve the topo from the base of the climb, and we pack up our things. I look at the topo one more time, and discover that the party who was doing "La Chaloupée" ended up off route and at the belay of the climb we had decided to do, "L'eperon de droite." Instead we had done the first two pitches of "La Bavaroise" (a 4b for Aaron followed by a 6a for me) and the last two pitches of "Andromede" (a long 6b for me and a short 5c for Aaron). No wonder it felt stiff.

We've decided to go to Sormiou tonight, with the objective tomorrow of climbing one of many long routes over the ocean. It takes all evening to get to the next calanque, and as we descend towards the village we note that the cave I had spotted in the topo is fairly removed from anywhere we want to climb. From a vantage point we scan the large cave and decide that it does not appear hospitable. Our adventure the night before has instilled a certain urgency in finding a good spot, and we begin to scan frantically. We examine a few options and find nothing, but just before the village I see a small side trail. I check it out, and it's perfect. There is a mostly-level bed of pebbles underneath an overhanging cliff and a wall of bushes about shoulder height hiding the perfect rectangle of pebbles from the trail. It seems to be exactly the dimensions of my tent.

"Hey, check this out." I say to Aaron. "Is this good enough for you?"
"Does the pope shit in the woods?"
"What?"
"It's a mixed metaphor. Is the pope Catholic, does a bear shit in the woods."
"Oh."
"It means yes."

We hide our packs and make our way to the village. It's not quite dark, and we decide to check out the beach.

The beach is mostly rock and the ocean pounds rhythmically against the boat ramp. We sit down nearby and look at the waves. As I look at the photos that Aaron has taken on the trip, I notice one of a painting in the Louvre. It depicts three women, naked. One, a redhead, is turned away from the viewer and has especially rosy cheeks. I ask Aaron about it.

"It's the three graces." He tells me. "There were a million paintings of the three graces, but I really liked this one because one is blonde, one is brunette, and one is a redhead."
"And they're naked," I add.

To our right three people come down a rocky trail carrying large packs. There is a man and two women, one blond, one brunette, and the brunette appears much younger.

"That's totally mom, dad, and daughter out for a hike." I tell Aaron.

But as they get closer we notice that they are wearing harnesses.

"Cool. Other climbers."

They pass behind us and I think we've seen the last of them, but in a few moments they return without the harnesses, instead carrying soap and towels. They approach the beach and begin to strip.

The man is first. He's built like a climber, maybe a little short, and once down to his underwear he goes in the water with what looks like body wash. He starts to scrub, obviously cold. The brunette seems to be shy, though she has no reason to be, but the blonde, unreasonably thin and wearing dreadlocks, takes everything off and jumps headfirst into the water.

"I love that. Take a bath in the Mediterranean."
"I wonder if they're camping?"
"I saw a VW van in the parking lot." Aaron tells me.
"That must be it."

They continue to bathe, and it occurs to one of us: "That's the first muse!"
"We're totally gonna see all three on this trip."

"Cool."

Les Calanques: Day 2

2010-03-04T05:40:00.000-08:00

Here's the report from day 2, and the usual disclaimer applies: what follows is mostly true, and I certainly haven't made up anything except for the dialogue or the story.

Day 2 - Monday - Les Goudes to Morgiou, or "le bivouac de secours"
Motivation is low. I wake up early, as I tend to in a tent, to the tranquil sounds of the cave. I walk around the rock face. The sky is cloudy, it's humid and windy. The South face that I had hoped to climb is blasted by fierce sea winds, and the three-pitch moderate following a crack system is oozing with wet, black, calciferous scum.

It is the first day without coffee.

We climb a few single pitches, mostly 6a, dodging rain drops and trying not to be blown off the rock.

"I'll just keep this warm for you," Aaron says, putting on my coat as I tie in.
"Tomorrow is going to be beautiful. It's going to be hot." I tell Aaron and myself.

I'm hoping to climb a formation called "Cret St. Michel" the next day. Specifically, a face called "La Paroi Noire". According to the guidebook, the face is covered in four-pitch sport climbs with pitches graded between about 4c and 6c. Perfect. And what's better, I'm pretty sure that in the photo of the cliff I spot a cave.

So at the end of our feeble climbing day we make our way towards the village of Morgiou, the location of "Cret St. Michel", by way of Marseille and its bus system. I elect the Reseau de transport de Marseille for several reasons. First, I know that we will get there. The alternative is a faith-guided 15km hike over rough and unknown trails in the general direction of our destination. Second, it is 4pm, and we have almost no water. Third, I want to go to a grocery store for bread, cheese, and candy.

We get off the 19 at Rond-Point-de-Prado, in central Marseille, and wait at the cross walk. My climbing shoes are strapped to my backpack.
"Vous escaladiez dans les Goudes?" a woman asks.
"Oui, c'est ça." She must have seen us get off the bus. "C'était bien, mais il y avait du pluie."
"Quoi?"
"De la pluie?" I try again.
"Ah. C'est Luminy où il faut aller."
"Oui, on y va maintenant." I assure her.
She looks at her watch, almost disgusted. "Ça va être la galère. Prenez le 21, après il faut marcher."

I buy some cheese and bread and Haribo gummy bears, which I am thrilled to find, and we get on the 21 for Luminy. At the trailhead we go on a thirty minute detour into a university to find water, only to discover upon returning to the trailhead that there is a large water fountain marked "eau potable" that we didn't notice the first time. It is rapidly getting dark and starting to rain.

As we begin our march I explain to Aaron, "That woman told me 'ca va être la galère', which means 'that is going to be the galley.' Galley, like a Greek ship rowed by slaves. It's the strangest bit of modern slang, but basically she said that this was going to be a pain in the ass."

"She was right."

It is getting colder and wetter by the minute.

We make good time and find the cliff quickly. The guidebook says 30 minutes of approach, it has been 20. But as we approach the cliff in the dark it becomes clear that what appeared to be a cave in the guidebook is only water-stained overhang. The rocky ground beneath is is too steep for a tent.

It is well into the night now and raining harder. The cave vision will not be fulfilled tonight, and as our priorities change so do our criteria. I dash along the base of the cliff, looking for any clear spot that might be big enough for our tent. In some bushes, I find something. It's too small, the ground is rocky and sloping at least fifteen degrees, and the foliage enveloping the miniscule space will pose problems with the fly.

"I think I've got something" I holler at Aaron. He comes up to where I'm standing.
"You think we can fit the tent in there?" He asks.
"It's either this or we keep walking around looking for something else."
"I'm getting pretty wet."

We set up the tent with amazing rapidity. The fly goes on, we get in, and in the foggy dampness of the inside I see that the fly is already sticking to the walls.
"That's not good." I note.
"It's going to be stinky in here." Aaron warns me. "I just want to make sure that we're going into this with our eyes open."
"I know."
I go back into the storm and stake out the fly to the best of my ability. I cut holes where I feel I need to in order to place a stake or tie an edge to a bush.

I get back in the tent where we are both oriented sideways in order to keep our heads uphill. We remove wet clothing and try to get comfortable.
"This might be the closest this thing will get to its designated purpose." Aaron says, breaking out his emergency blanket. I break out the bag of wine and the gummy bears, and we prepare to feast.

"What do you think it's gonna be like in the morning?" I ask.
"I think it's gonna be wet."

Les Calanques: Day 1

2010-03-03T05:16:00.000-08:00

I'm back, but The Anarchy Breakfast is still on vacation. Look for Part II of "The Journey Home" next week. Instead, I thought I'd do some actual blogging between now and then, with a little trip report from climbing with Aaron in Les Calanques. It's mostly true.

Day 1 - Sunday Morning - Montpellier

We are looking for a grocery store.
"I forgot about Sunday mornings in France. There's actually a law against big stores being open on Sunday, except by government approval. Hey, look at that, Monoprix's open."
We go in. "What do you need?" I ask Aaron.
"I dunno. Some sandwich cookies. Whatever strikes my fancy."
We left with four packages of sandwich cookies, two baguettes, a box of wine, a bottle of Pastis, some cashews, dry sausage, and a hunk of Roquefort. "This stuff is like $50 a pound in the states!" Aaron exclaimed, holding up the 2 Euro package. We were ready for adventure.

The train ride to Marseille went quickly and shortly after noon we are navigating the Marseille public transit system. I'm squinting at a map at the bus stop, trying to discern whether or not we're on the right sight of the street.
"Where are you headed?" A gentle and very American voice asks me. I turn and it's a short blond girl who looks like she might blow away.
"I think we're going to Callelongue."
"Are you guys hikers?" She looks at my backpack.
"Climbers."
"Oh! The climbing there is really amazing!"
"Are you a climber?"
"No." She apologizes. "You should take the 21 to Luminy, though. I think Luminy goes the farthest south."

We plan to, in a couple of days.

"You must be American." I insist.
"No, Canadian."
"Where in Canada?"
"It's kind of a small town, you might not know it. It's called Nelson?"
"No way!" Aaron pipes up. "I lived there for a few months. Nelson's great."
"You must be a student, then." I say.
"No, a nanny."

I'm clearly not very good at this.

"Well, have a good climb!" She says, walking away. I turn to Aaron.
"That's the tightest pair of Carhartt's I've ever seen."
"Yeah. I didn't know they made 'em like that."

On bus #19, an old man sees me squinting at the list of stops.
"Vous déscendez où?"
"Au terminus, je pense."
"Madgregue de Montredon." He assures me.
"Oui. Et après on va prendre le 20 pour Callelongue."
"Vous allez dans les Goudes, c'est ça?"
"Oui, c'est ça."
"Le 20, il va très peu les Dimanches. À peu près toutes les heures."
"S'il y a pas de bus, on marche."
He rolls his eyes, wishes us, "Bon courage," and gets off at his stop.

We have no trouble getting on the 20 and started our hike from Callelongue into the rocky hillsides covered in cliffs. In one, a large cave is prominent.

"There's our hotel." I say. "I got the beta from one of my climbing friends. Fabrice told me, 'Là, tu peux dormir tranquil.'"

Our first climb is the four-pitch Arete Victor Martin above a couple enjoying a romantic lunch. "Man, that looks great." Aaron says. "They've got a bottle of wine, some nice food. They worked up a little sweat getting up here, now they're enjoying a great view. I hope they do it twice tonight."

The climb had been re-equipped in the early nineties and we find the bolts to be in good condition. The rock is far from perfect, but serves as a nice introduction to the climbing in Les Calanques and it's cool to be able to summit a formation on the first day. We do one more pitch of 6a and call it a good afternoon.

We set up camp in the cave. With a roof, lots of space, and a relatively flat and soft dirt floor, and an opening pointing away from town and well-hidden from any passers-by, this would prove to be our best camping spot of the trip.

Stay tuned for day 2 tomorrow.

Vingrau / Tautavel

2010-02-17T03:47:00.000-08:00

The original plan for the weekend was to climb at Vingrau, a huge cliff known for its bulletproof slabs and classic multipitch. However, though Vingrau gets sun in the afternoon, it is also exposed to the wind that rips down the Pyrénées, and the comination of 3* temperatures and 35km wind made climbing there, at least in February, impossible. Instead, we went across the valley and climbed at Tautavel. The first day we climbed in a neat gorge, the second day on a lovely south-facing slab. We stayed at a rural "gite" that took us hours to find in the dark.

Thanks to Fabrice for all of the pictures of me.

This is a few of us on Saturday morning in Montpellier, getting ready to take off:

Here are some pictures from the gorge on the first day. We did some climbing here, but it was on easy slabs in the shade. This place must be an amazing summer crag.
And here are a few photos from the gorgeous slab on Sunday. Fabrice took a cool sequence of photos of me making an accidental attempt at 7a+. I made it to the third bolt before I called it quits.
And here's the view from the crag, looking down the valley.

It was a magnificent area, and I'd love to go back when the weather is a little more favorable at Vingrau proper.

I'll be out of town next Wednesday, so this is the last blog post for two weeks. I'll be back in March with more news and photos and part II of this week's playlist.

Speaking of which:

"The Journey Home, Part I"

1 These Old Shoes - Deer Tick
2 Love Me Through - Port O'Brien
3 This Wind - The Tallest Man On Earth
4 That Western Skyline - Dawes
5 Mona And Emmy - Frontier Ruckus
6 Ticket Taker - The Low Anthem
7 Re: Stacks - Bon Iver
8 Ancient Questions - Mount Eerie

Download here.

Every one of these recordings comes from a Daytrotter session. Daytrotter has been putting up some amazing stuff lately, notably sessions from Frontier Ruckus and Mount Eerie, both of which are featured here. Check it out.

See you in two weeks!

Ready To Listen

2010-02-09T22:49:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, as planned, I went climbing. I even took some pictures! Saturday was at La Clape and it rained on and off all day until about 4, when the weather decided to chase us off for good. Sunday at Seynes was brilliant, though. It was sunny and probably in the 60's. Turns out that sometimes February in France is about like July in Montana.

Here's Adrien, warming up on a 6b that would be one of my better climbs that day.

Here's Fabrice, making his way out of the muscly start of a 7a+ onto the impossibly blank "slab" to the chains. Behind him a shirtless hardman is working a famous 8a+ called "dinosaure".

Here's Fabrice again, making the second clip of a two pitch 7b/7a+ called "Masculin Feminin". 35m of madness linked together.The rock at Seynes is absolutely impeccable. Seamless, bulletproof, overhanging limestone that seems to have been crafted with French sport climbers in mind. We were super lucky to have good weather, and I'm hoping the sun will be back today (I'm going climbing at Thaurac this afternoon) and this weekend, for the Pyrénées Orientales.

In other news, this week's playlist is called "Ready To Listen". Two new tracks bookmark the playlist, and as per usual there's a story going on in there.

"Ready To Listen"

1 Harmonix - Surfer Blood - Astrocoast
2 Fever Brooks - Other Girls - Perfect Cities
3 Water Turns Back - Cloud Nothings - Turning On
4 Obstacle 1 - Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights
5 Oh What A Feeling - The Organ - Thieves
6 This Modern Love - Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
7 Goodnight Laura - Spoon - Transference

Download here.

Enjoy!

Edit: Fixed link. Sorry! Mediafire's been flaky lately, I'll make sure to do more testing next week before I post the link.

The Moment

2010-02-05T02:41:00.000-08:00

A few points of news:
- On Wednesday I was finally able to get my "Carte de Sejour", meaning that after living in France for approximately five months, I'm legally allowed to be here. Valid beginning the 20th of August, 2009. In other news, the ID photo is great.

- It was sunny all weekend and I went climbing at Saint Bauzille de Montmel, ticking off a couple of 6b's. I would have liked to climb Wednesday afternoon, but I had to get the card. I have found a partner for Wednesdays, though, and I'm excited to get out and climb during the week.

- It rained yesterday, and today the sky is clear and blue. I might go to the Zoo. I am generally in good spirits.

- On Saturday I am going to La Clape, which is a massif of limestone near Narbonne, an hour to the South. On Sunday I'll be at Seynes, another nice area about an hour to the Northeast. On Wednesday I'll be climbing with Florence, and the next weekend I hope to be in Les Pyrenées Orientales, climbing some multipitch. I'll try to take some photos.

- Despite my bloggy tardiness, I did make a playlist the week. This week's show is even more narrative and a little less music, somewhere in between college radio and "The News From Lake Wobegon". I'm not sure how I like it, and I think maybe next week I'll be a little heavier on the music. Let me know what you think.

The Moment

1 Love Cry - Four Tet - There Is Love In You
2 Giving Up The Gun - Vampire Weekend - Contra
3 Osaka Loop Line - Discovery - LP
4 Little Secrets - Passion Pit - Manners
5 Lover Of Mine - Beach House - Teen Dream

Download here.

-Edit: fixed link

Quiet Night, Noisy Head

2010-01-27T03:22:00.000-08:00

"We'll see what happens."

I wrote that more than a month ago, and we have seen what has happened: nothing, as far as blogging is concerned. I have discovered a magical relationship in which the awesomeness of my life is inversely proportional to the amount of time I spend staring at computer screen. The less time I spend on the computer, the more awesome my life is, and the less awesome my life is, the more likely I am to sit down in front of a computer. Suffice it to say that my vacation was perfect, and I was too busy having a great time with great people to update my blog.

But no more! I'm back in France, and while I wouldn't say that my life is not awesome, there's definitely less on the schedule. As a result I present to you the latest Anarchy Breakfast, the first of the new year:

"Quiet Night, Noisy Head"

1 Animals Need Animals - Frontier Ruckus - The Orion Songbook
2 The Latter Days - Frontier Ruckus - The Orion Songbook
3 Wall Around Baghdad - Anthony Da Costa - Typical American Tragedy
4 A Thousand Men - Joe Pug - In The Meantime EP
5 Wings - Josh Ritter - Hello Starling
6 Hell On Earth - Deer Tick - Born on Flag Day
7 The Gardener - The Tallest Man On Earth - Shallow Graves
8 When The Ship Comes In - Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin'

Download here.

The sun is shining, and according to my formula I need to get off of my computer and go enjoy it. Expect another Anarchy Breakfast next week, and be sure to get on my case if I forget!

Somewhere Between Very Late and Very Early

2009-12-16T15:26:00.000-08:00

In France in the wintertime, eight out of ten people wear black wool peacoats. The ninth person wears a black leather jacket, and the tenth person is me.

No real news this week, other than I'm finished with semester one in France and am headed back to Bozeman for the holidays. There may or may not be a show next week. We'll see what happens.

This weeks show:

"Somewhere Between Very Late and Very Early"

1 Roads - Portishead - Dummy
2 Let's Make This A Moment To Remember - Chromatics - Night Drive
3 Universal Traveler - Air - Talkie Walkie
4 You Are Here - Nathan Fake - Drowning In A Sea Of Love
5 Tuxedo Hat - The Octopus Project - On Ten Hundred Thousand Million
6 Couleurs - M83 - Saturdays = Youth

Download here.

It's another pseudo-narrative. I prefer doing them this way. What do you think?

Fresh wild rosemary!

2009-12-12T11:58:00.000-08:00

Went climbing in Les Alpilles today, well to the East of Montpellier. It was cold (for France, anyway - almost 0* Celsius), windy, and sunny. Therefore, we went in search of south facing cliffs in the shade of the wind. Found some, and did some climbing. The rock was extremely clean limestone covered in little pockets. Most pockets were not very deep, leading to a style of climbing that was at the same time very technical and precise, and also a little bit physical. Warmed up (fell) on a 6b that I thought was a 6a, French freed up another 6b (when in France...), then did a 5+ to boost my ego. Belayed my partner on a couple 6c's then climbed (poorly) a couple slabby 6a's. I like slabs. It was a very cool location and surprisingly agreeable in the middle of December. The real kicker was the lack of other climbers and the abundance of fresh rosemary all along the crag! I trimmed a bunch and am now drinking some rosemary "tea". Not a bad final 2009 trip with Vertigo. No pictures, because I forgot my camera like a dunce.

I'll be back next Wednesdayish with another blog and some music.

I saw a magnificent landscape. It might have been a dream.

2009-12-10T01:58:00.000-08:00

Speaking of magnificent landscapes, here are two photos of Seynes. This is an incredible limestone cliff about an hour from Montpellier. We simply don't have rock like this in the states. My photos are about as mediocre as the weather was that day, but basically it's a huge, slightly overhanging cliff littered with colonettes (basically stalactites that are attached to the wall because it's not steep enough for them to be free hanging) and neat colored rock. Great friction on the limestone and cool (hard!) climbing. There were a few climbs in the 5, a few in the 6, and the rest were from about 7a-8b or 8c (5.11d-5.14b). I don't climb that hard, so my options were a little bit more limited, but I did have the pleasure of onsighting a 6b and falling off of a couple 6b+'s (.10d and .11a, respectively). If you look closely at the second photo you might see a climber working on a route a little farther down the cliff.

This week's show is another pseudo-narrative:

"I saw a magnificent landscape. It might have been a dream"

1 On A Highway - Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind EP
2 Vanity Suite, Part A (One By One, The Lights Burn Out) - The Modern Electric - The Modern Electric
3 Vanity Suite, Part B (Divine, Starving, And Sleepless) - The Modern Electric - The Modern Electric
4 Comforted Full Version - Snowglobe - No Need To Light A Night Light On A Night Like Tonight
5 Ms June Remastered - Snowglobe - No Need To Light A Night Light On A Night Like Tonight
6 Simplest Love - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes - From Below
7 Pretend - LIGHTS - Daytrotter Session 12/3/2009
8 Turning On - Cloud Nothings - Turning On
9 Hurts So Bad - Digital Leather - Warm Brother

Download the show here.

In music notes, I'd like to mention two artists. The first is Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes. They're a newish band with a record out called "From Below", and if you haven't already heard these guys you probably should. NPR has been all over this band's music, and for good reason: it's feel-good, sing-along folky radness. Buy the record, or download it using your favorite illicit method. Here's a concert they did with NPR.

Secondly, The Cloud Nothings. I just discovered these guys, and was pleasantly surprised on my first listen. I'd describe their sound as Lo-Fi, kind of a cross between Micachu and That Ghost. It's catchy, and you might like it. The record is called "Turning On".

That's it for this week. Check back around next Wednesday(ish) for more goodies.

Wednesday came WAY too fast this week.

2009-12-03T02:05:00.001-08:00

And I don't have a playlist. For a change of pace I present you with some pictures.

This one is from the hike in the Cevennes about a month ago. I think it's pretty funny because everybody looks very irritable, which couldn't be farther from the truth.
Looking out over the "mountains."
The fog was cool, and this hike gave me the impression that everything in France is just a little bit softer and more user-friendly. We stopped for an hour and a half for lunch, which involved an appetizer, entrée (literally translated, "entrance" or pre-main course), main course, a desert and no less than three (3!) kinds of alcohol, cheese, chocolate, and coffee. Then somebody blew up an empty bag of wine, placed it on the ground for a pillow, and promptly took a nap.This is a view down the street from the balcony of a "gite" (pronounced [jeet]). A gite, as far as I can tell, is a house that you can rent. We (the climbing club Vertigo) were there to eat and party and ostensibly climb the next day.
On this: This is the awesome tower of limestone that dominates the landscape surrounding St. Jean de Buèges. There are multipitch climbs on the far left face and on the pillar right in the center. There are also a number of south-facing single pitch routes on the right side.Which is where I took this picture. This is Sebastien, a skinny, chain-smoking, number-crushing stereotype-fulfiller of a Frenchman, and he's climbing something hard. He did it pretty fast, probably because he started craving another cigarette right around the third bolt.That's it for now. I might put up some music this week, but given my record, it's pretty likely that I'll just wait until next Wednesday.

Gas Station Coffee

2009-11-26T23:14:00.000-08:00

"Gas Station Coffee"

1 The Boys Are Leaving Town - Japandroids - Post-Nothing
2 Refuse Angels - Crocodiles - Summer Of Hate
3 Teen Creeps - No Age - Nouns
4 Get In Or Get Out - Hot Hot Heat - Make Up The Breakdown
5 Golden Touch - Razorlight - Up All Night
6 Keep Yourself Warm - Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
7 Cactus - The Pixies - Surfer Rosa
8 Close Behind - Calexico - A Feast Of Wire
9 Providence - The Love Language - The Love Language

download

This one is more of a narrative, a fictional journey illustrated with music. I'm pleased with how the progression turned out, and I hope you enjoy it.

As far as proper blog posts, I'm sorry. I'll get right on it. I have pictures from the Cevennes and from St. Jean de Buèges and stories from both to share soon. In the meantime enjoy the music.

"Don't say it's hopeless! Nothing is hopeless!"

2009-11-18T09:26:00.000-08:00

This week's show:

1 Down By The Water - The Drums - Summertime!
2 Lauren Marie - Girls - Album
3 Ultimate Satisfaction - Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
4 Fake Blues - Real Estate - Real Estate
5 Moon And Moon - Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
6 Higher Than The Stars - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
7 Last Day - Other Girls - Perfect Cities

Here's the link. Enjoy!

I've got other things to say, but they'll have to wait. Expect at least a miniature trip report about hiking in the Cévennes and maybe a record review between now and next Wednesday.

Weekly Podcast!

2009-11-11T22:24:00.000-08:00

Well, here it is.

This weeks theme:

"It's late, and if I hear an emotional song I might get emotional"

1 Broke - Woods - How To Survive In The Woods
2 Matthew 25:21 - The Mountain Goats - The Life Of The World To Come
3 Hymn # 101 - Joe Pug - Daytrotter Session
4 Overdue - The Get Up Kids - " "
5 Dong We Sang Away - Low vs. Diamond - " "
6 Goodbye - Fourth Of July - " "
7 Faces In The Dark - Generationals - " "

Download

Music comments

2009-11-10T00:40:00.001-08:00

Chances are that if you talk to me on a regular basis I've already told you how amazing the new Mountain Goats record is. If I haven't told you yet, well, I'm telling you now. It's amazing.

All of the key ingredients are here: biblical themes, poignant lyrics, cancer, death, and that unique sense of sparseness and lyrical efficiency that John Darnielle seems to have completely mastered. It's called "The Life of the World to Come", and you should listen to it. Here's a link. [Fixed]

In other news, apparently Digital Leather is coming out with a new record. Their old one, "Sorcerer", was great. I thought it sounded like a perverse and violent Joy Division: Deep, flat, dark-sounding vocals and tinny drums were present, just like Joy Division, but also a heavy layer of fuzz and hyperactive synthesizers. The hooks were all there, too, but wrapped thickly in the meaty noise that made up the rest of record and evenly spaced between audio-violence ("Pleasurebot") and flat out trickery ("Hologram"). If this sounds interesting, it is. Here's a link.

So what about the new record? I haven't heard the whole thing yet, but found a few tracks to download on this blog. It's called Warm Brother, which according to Pitchfork is supposed to be offensive. Read into that if you want.

My first impression upon listening to these two tracks?

Frankly, I was a bit let down. The hyperactivity and tension that made "Sorcerer" stand out from all of the other Joy Division-influenced fuzz-bands seems to be largely missing. In their place are (relatively) clear vocals and a much friendlier approach. The first record was engaging, but these two new tracks seem immediately ready to fade into the background.

I haven't heard the whole record yet, though, so don't consider this a review. I'll let you know my complete opinion after I've heard the whole thing.

Also, The Antlers did a session over on Daytrotter last month. Check it out if you like The Antlers.

In the meantime, stay tuned. The podcast will update this week as usual, but it might be a day or two late. Don't panic.

Pleasure Island

2009-11-04T03:10:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was Halloween, as I'm sure everybody in the States already knows. After all, you had to find a costume, attend a party or two, and maybe get some candy from the neighbors. In France Halloween is not that big of a deal. There were some costumes, but in general the holiday was just another reason to go downtown, drink a lot, and stumble around medieval streets all night. Which brings me to my next point: this place is like Pleasure Island. Remember Pinocchio, the Disney film? Remember the part where all of the boys were smoking cigars, drinking huge mugs of beer, and throwing bricks through church windows? That's Southern France, except instead of throwing bricks they pee on buildings, and instead of being boys they're grown men in designer jeans.

I have seen police officers here. But I've only seen about six, and they never seem to be doing anything. For a semi-socialist state, I certainly haven't noticed any real social controls in France. Nothing like in Bozeman, anyway. Not that I'm complaining.

In other news, I went climbing this past weekend, first at Collias on Saturday then at Thaurac on Sunday.

On Saturday I was one of the stronger climbers and ended up setting up topropes. Here's an awful picture of one of the cliffs:
If you look kind of close you can see a Parisian joker scrubbing his way up the cliff on toprope. I set that rope up, because Dominique decided he wasn't up to leading the last two bolts of a 4b. What you can't see is another toprope about four meters to the right with a hot-shit gym climber flailing around the first bolt, behind the trees. I set that one up too, for the same reason. To be fair, it was pretty sandbagged. The topo said 5a, I say 5c+, 6a. That's basically the same as calling a 5.10a/b a 5.7.

On Sunday, however, I went climbing with a number of stronger climbers, many of them women, which was humbling. Climbing 6a is only a big deal when surrounded by new climbers. When everybody around you climbs 6c (5.11b-ish) hacking your way up a mid 5.10 isn't so impressive anymore.

Here's some extra photos from a bike camping/squatting trip in September:

Montferrier:

No fires allowed:
Sleeping arrangements in a paintball bunker:

And finally, music.

This week on the Anarchy Breakfast podcast,

Songs About Jesus That Don't Suck

1 Head Rolls Off - Frightened Rabbit - Midnight Organ Fight
2 Jesus - The Welcome Wagon - Welcome To The Welcome Wagon
3 To Be Alone With You - Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
4 Jesus - Page France - Hello, Dear Wind
5 Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam - The Vaselines - The Way Of The Vaselines
6 Jesus Wrote A Blank Check - Cake - Motorcade Of Generosity
7 Christ For President - Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue
8 Jesus And Tequila - The Minutemen - Double Nickels On The Dime
9 I Saw God - The Black Lips - 200 Million Thousand

Link here

More news & music next Wednesday.

Children are cuter in France

2009-10-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

It's the truth. Maybe it's the language, spoken clearly and simply. Maybe it's the kiddie fashion. Maybe it's the guessing games on the tram. In any case, the children are cuter here.

That's all I have to say, really. Maybe later I'll put up some more words. In the meantime, music.

This week's playlist is called

"Songs to Listen to When You've Been Left All Alone"

1 Traveling Salesman's Young Wife Home Alone On Christmas Day In Montpellier, VT - Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Vs. Children
2 I Lost You - The Walkmen - You & Me
3 Things Fall Apart - Built To Spill - There Is No Enemy
4 Genesis 30:3 - The Mountain Goats - The Life Of The World To Come
5 Colorado - Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
6 Plain Material - Memory Tapes - Seek Magic
7 The Darkest Side - The Middle East - Recordings Of The Middle East

link here

2009-10-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

I've been slacklining a lot. For one, it's easy; there is a pair of perfect trees directly in front of my room and it takes me approximately fifteen seconds to get to them. It is also quite fun and I mentally connect it with climbing. But unlike climbing, I can do it alone. This is the principle virtue of slacklining: it allows me to feel active while simultaneously relieving me of the pressures of communicating.

So I have made a habit of it, in the same way that I have made a habit of hanging out in my room, reading about climbing on the internet and wishing I had somebody to go with. To my credit, I tried to meet some climbers at the local gym. I did meet some "climbers", but none of them actually climbed outside.

Last week, though, I did something about it. I joined a climbing club and went climbing outside on Saturday. After a cursory check to be sure that I was safe and knew how to tie myself in and belay, I took off on a fairly easy lead while the Frenchies watched from the ground to make sure I knew what I was doing.

When I got down a few minutes later, Sébastien told me, "tu as galopé cette voie!" (you galloped up that route). After one more check to be sure that I could lead belay everybody was pretty satisfied. I spend the rest of the day swapping leads with Sébastien on harder climbs.

The limestone in France is great, and there's an almost infinite amount of it. I can't wait to get out and sample some more French rock, hopefully in the form of some multi pitch routes (grandes voies). I forgot to take pictures, mostly because I was busy climbing. I'll see what I can do about that next time I go out.

In other news, more music! I'm trying something new this week, instead of simply uploading all the songs in a folder I've synthesized them all into a podcast of sorts. It's about about 30 minutes long and 15mb. It's in .m4a format, which should work fine with iTunes, and this way it's more like a radio show. I'm still hosting my files with Mediafire because I haven't found anything easier and I'm not sure I'm up to the technical challenge of setting up a feed podcast (the kind that you can subscribe to). Let me know if the format and host are working okay.

Track List:

"Every Time I See You I Get a Funny Feeling in my Stomach"

1 Falling In - Ha Ha Tonka - Daytrotter Session
2 Home - Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes - Daytrotter
3 In The Summertime - The Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
4 Have I Told You? - Dreamdate - Patience
5 She's Fantastic - Sondre Lerche - Phantom Punch
6 Stockholm Syndrome - Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
7 Since You Stole My Heart - Saturday Looks Good To Me - Every Night
8 God Made The Automobile - Iron & Wine - Around The Well
9 Undeclared - The Dodos - Visiter
10 After Hours - The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground

Download here.

Autumn and More Music!

2009-10-14T05:22:00.000-07:00

After three years in Bozeman, I'd forgotten how to enjoy Autumn. Don't get me wrong, Bozeman is a magical place, but mostly in those other three seasons. Fall in South West Montana is generally wet, muddy, and gray.

Not so in the South of France.

It's gorgeous outside. The sky is clear, the temperatures hover in the high teens Celsius, and the healthy trees shudder in "Le Mistral".

The French, of course, are well bundled for the moderate conditions, mostly in black. I've been reveling in the temperatures. Autumn is nice, as it turns out.

In other news, I've made another playlist. This one is shorter and based on a theme. And fair warning, it's louder and more abrasive than last week. The Tracklist follows:

"I Love You but it's Easier to Insult You Than Tell You the Truth"

1 The Ideal Weight - GoGoGo Airheart - Love My Life...Hate My Friends
2 Friends In Quotations - That Ghost - Young Fridays
3 Gentle Violence - Black Lips - Let It Bloom
4 Barbed Wire Love - Stiff Little Fingers - Inflammable Material
5 Modern Girl - Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
6 Sometimes I Can't Stand You, But That Doesn't Mean I Don't Want You Around - Icarus Himself - Coffins
7 Emotion Is Cancer and I Got No Cash For Chemo - O Pioneers!!! - ...Like We Care About The Wolves
8 Expelled From Love - The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
9 Everything Always Goes Wrong - A Place To Bury Strangers - Exploding Head

Download here

Keep checking back - I'll try to put something up every week. At best, you'll get some news and maybe (gasp!) some photos. At the very least, a playlist.

Oh yeah. Music

2009-10-08T07:14:00.000-07:00

So the last blog was a little cheesy. It also happened a month and a half ago. Anyways, I'm back.

First order of business: Music

I miss The Anarchy Breakfast. In place of creating a playlist and subsequently putting in on the air, I've created a playlist you can download instead.

For your listening pleasure: Nothing To Hide

It's an even mix of (slightly) older stuff and brand-new music.

Track - Artist - Album - Year
1 Blood On The Motorway - DJ Shadow - The Private Press - 2002
2 Man Next Door - Massive Attack - Mezzanine - 1998
3 Princess Bride - Cloud Cult - Aurora Borealis - 2003
4 Unspoken - Four Tet - Rounds - 2003
5 Angels - Wax Poetic - NuBlu Sessions - 2000
6 Two Dancers - Wild Beasts - Two Dancers - 2009
7 Crystalized - The XX - XX - 2009
8 Bear - The Antlers - Hospice - 2009
9 Thirteen - The Antlers - Hospice - 2009
10 You Have My Eyes Now - The Clues - Clues - 2009
11 Nightingale / December Song - Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer - 2009

I hope you enjoy it.

À la récherche du temps perdu, òu à la récherce du temps trouvé?

2009-08-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

So. It's been an awesome summer, but that is coming to an end. You wouldn't know that summer is ending by the heat in the South of France, but it's true. For pictures of climbing and summer adventures, I would refer you to Facebook. But I'm in France now, and the time has come to talk about that. Below I present you with some of what I have written. I talked to my parents today, as well as Kassy and Sierra. If you're reading this and I haven't talked to you, send me an email, because I would like to hear from you.

You would think that loneliness would come slowly, a gradual realization that creeps up like an incoming tide. You wouldn't think that the intensity would commence within hours of the realization that this is it: just you, by yourself with no means of communication save old-fashioned "talking", and that only to unwilling strangers who may speak your language but are much more wiling to listen to you struggle through theirs. It would also seem that a sudden, insense and disheartening loneliness would occur most plausibly in the complete absence of people; that simply the proximity of other breathing, loving bodies would somehow dampen the discomfort of your own inability to connect.

This is not true. I have felt most loneley in the midst of my struggling interactions. My bag was lost in the process of my travels to Montpellier, and I tried desperately to find it that first night, speaking French. I failed.

But the next day I found my bag. It was lost, of course; my plane out of illings was delayed, causing me to miss my short connection in Minneapolis. The speech-impeded woman at the Minneapolis ticket counter was apologetic; she put me up for the night at the Day's Inn (Bloomington, close to the airport) and gave me some food vouchers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I ate at Chili's that night, on account of it being close to the hotel, and talked to Kassy and Sierra.

I drank with Stu the next day, my 21st birthday, at a classy joint called the C C Club. I was carded, which was gratifying, and we drank draft Schlitz (the beer that made Milwaukee famous). Stu is a hell of a man, bursting with life. He is from Milwaukee, and looks it. Although he wears a moustache now, I always think of him as a bearded man, because he was such when I first met him and it (his beard) made such an impression on me that I subconsciously marked it as his distinguising feature. We only had two beers each, but in such a hurry that honesty erupted from our mouths. We talked about music, about Bozeman, and aout the remarkable circumstances of our meeting (The french word, "réconnaissance" seems most appropriate here). My flight left at 5:30, and after a delayed departure from the bar and hellish (Midwestern deluge) driving conditions, I made it to the airport (aeroport) one hour after I had hoped to be there. I made my flight, however, and my bag made it to Paris.

That was it. The original plan, before my flight was delayed out of Billings, was that I would pick up my bag in Charles De Gaule, take it to Paris-Orly, and then check it to Montpellier. What actually happened was tedious and stressful, but the simple conclusion was that I ended up in Montpellier with my carry-on and a baggage claim that simply said "Il doit nous téléphoner".

I make an unconscious point of getting lost on the bus system in every new city I visit. I did it in San Francisco, I did it in Minneapolis, and I did it in Montpellier. After a couple round-trip rides to and from "Place de l'Europe" (where the airport shuttle dropped me off) I discovered that the blue line on my map was for the tram, not the bus. I made my way to the central train station and after three attempts found a place to sleep in "Hôtel Nova".

One learns a lote from being in a place where he knows little. I learned that "complet" means "no vacancy", and in my desperate search for food that night learned that "Thom avec colignons" means tuna with pickles.

The next day I bought a phone, some nice beer, and a baguette. I also needed a power adapter (adapteur universal pour la France) and fingernail clippers, but I forgot about the latter and Carrefour did not have the former. I went to a "parc" (also known here as an "espace verte") to drink my "bière" and call "service baggage" and after a few moments the woman on the phone told me that my bag was at the airport.

Now I had a problem: namely, a huge, mostly full bottle of great "bière". I approached a likely candidate.

"Bonjour. Je dois partir, voulliez-vous le reste de ma biére?"
"Non, merci. Proposez-ça à la groupe-la."

"La groupe-la" gave me similar response. Apparently beer is not that big of a deal in France, or maybe drinking after a stranger is. Whatever the case, I threw away the rest of my beer (a horrible waste) and hoofed it to the tram and the the bus station for the airport. The shuttle did not leave for another two hours, so I went to a local "Bar-tabac" (a fantastic French concept, the tobacco shop with beer on tap) and drank and read Edward Abbey.

I retrieved my bag from the airport, and with my large "sac-à-dos" I began the search for a place to sleep, beginning around the train station where I had found lodging the previous night. All of the hotels in the immediate vicinity were "complet". The night before I had found lodging in the third place I looked, this time it would take seven tries. But armed with a map I went down the list of the lowest-rated hotels, and armed with a phone I learned one by one that my chances on a Feriday night were looking slim. I trieds Hotels Majestic, des Étuves, Nova, Abysse (Hotel of the Abyss, I couldn't make this shit up), des Alizes, the "Auberge de jeunesses" (youth hostel), and finally found a bet at "Hôtel les fauvettes", which I think means "Hotel of the wild ones." It's a nice place. My room is across a courtyard from the receptions on the third floor, just off of a glass-walled corridor. It was hot last night, and will be tonight, but quiet and the couryard is great. This is where I now sit, eating my dinner of a baguette, some camembert (du Normandie) and a large bottle of Belgium's best distributed "premium" beer called Goudale (bière blonde à l'ancienne).

I chat with the staff here. The assistant was born in Paris and tells me about the wonders that lie beneath the Louvre. The owner is from Strausbourg, on the German border, and speaks casual (but very good) French and excellent German, the assistant tells me.

"Tu écrires touts les jours?" the owner asks me.
"Non. J'essaye, mais..." I reply.

I write, however, primarily because I want to, and secondarily because I fear that if I don't write frequently I will lose my comfortable fluency in English. I already fin myself thinking in French, which is good for living in France, but I also find myself desperately searching for words in English that only a week ago would have come to me like an obedient dog.

The owner has a dog, a small, black, curly-haired monster, and it is not obedient. It barks at every visitor (probably not a desireable trait for a dog that lives at a hotel) and doesn't stop.

"Tiens-toi!" The clerks yell, but the dog doesn't listen.
"Il n'écoute pas, hien?" I remark.

"Hien" is a conjunction rarely seen in textbooks, sometimes recorded in written diologue, but used frequently and indiscriminately by all but the classiest "Français". Its pronunciation is somewhere between "eh" (Canadian) and "uh" (Midwestern), but nasal and fluid. And I find myself using it.

"C'est tout, hien?"

And.... we're back!

2009-05-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

I present for your consideration some tracks (in no particular order) that I have been enjoying lately:

The Thermals - Now We Can See
This track comes from the album of the same name, and I swear it's the best summer record I've yet heard. The Thermals make power pop with a Pacific Northwest flavor, and are responsible for some of the best hooks in the business. Music video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJu611UdfxA

Phoenix - 1901
This comes from the new record Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Phoenix is French electro-rock-pop and they're great. Go ahead and try to listen to this while standing still. I bet you can't do it. The song is here (not a music video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSLbW1S5gHA

The Vaselines - Son Of A Gun
Okay, so this isn't new. But Sub Pop just released a new compilation called Enter The Vaselines, and this track is still great. Check it out, and the rest of the Vaselines catalog as well. Recommended if you like Beat Happening, sweaters, or apple pie. Song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0qIARknhMg

Bat For Lashes - Glass
Bat For Lashes' record Two Suns has gotten some very positive and well-deserved press from the indie-rock tastemaker that is Pitchfork Media. That aside, this record (and especially this opener) is eerily fantastic and unmissable. Best heard in the dark. Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnYJykzBseI

Akron/Family - Many Ghosts
The new one from Akron/Family is called Set 'em Wild, Set 'em Free, and it's all over the place: sometimes noisy, sometimes eerie, sometimes hooky. This is my favorite track, but the rest of the record is worth hearing as well.

An Horse - Postcards
I was looking for some girl-rock last week, and this track hit the spot like a frosty American lager after yard work. It's fun, and if you're a sucker for a good pop hook like I am, check it out.

There has been some great stuff on Daytrotter.com in the past few weeks as well. My favorites are Immaculate Machine, Low vs. Diamond, Joe Pug, and Generationals. Check out the aforementioned website and look around.

Corn!

2009-04-13T08:59:00.001-07:00

Spring is here: Campus is littered with goggle tans, the bikes have come out of the garage, and the resorts are closing. It's time for the "second season", that lovely time of year when skiing in shirtsleeves and wearing sunblock are mandatory. Kerstin, Kassy and I went out to Beehive yesterday for our traditional Sunday Sabbath in the Church of The White Dome and did some beacon drills (find your buddy, not an Easter egg) and skied some lovely, silky, velvety corn.

Skiing is like a drug that you try to get your friends addicted to. Here's Kassy, I think we might have her hooked.
Kerstin decided to try the telemark thing today, I think there's potential here. But for goodness sake, shorten those poles!
Unfortunately, telemarking is difficult. Half the binding, twice the work. Just ask Kerstin.
Here I am, enjoying the heck out of spring in Montana and avoiding sketchy pockets of snow like the one that broke on the opposite slope.
Oh, it's fun.
This was just a fun trip into the mountains for a little beacon practice and some sun. There were no objectives, just nice skiing. We'll keep milking the snow until its gone.

Alaska!

2009-04-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

I used to live in Valdez, but unfortunately during my time there I was not a backcountry skier and almost completely missed out on the epic Chugach mountains. Imagine my excitement upon returning with a pair of telemark skis and skins. We spent two days at Alyseska, but I didn't take any pictures because, well, I don't feel like bragging about skiing a at resort.

The snow was classically Alaskan, by which I mean variable. Sun crust, a little corn, some stiff windblown powder, and bulletproof sastrugi. The weather was fantastic, which is somewhat rare in Alaska, so we were lucky on that front even though it didn't snow while we were there. The avalanche danger was also fairly reasonable, another nice bonus. A big wind event happened right before we arrived, explaining the conditions. Here are some pictures:

Alaska is a wild place where almost all of the skiing happens above treeline. The snow can be either the best or the worst in the world, and the weather is, in a word, unpredictable. The views are not to be missed, and when it's great, it's outstanding. There's a reason that Valdez is the home of no fewer than four heli-skiing outfits and is featured in just about every ski movie since the mid-nineties. At the same time, epic days require epic patience and the ability to wait for the right conditions. If you have time and the opportunity, don't miss Alaska. And don't be fooled into thinking that the only way to ski it is from a helicopter.

Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers - Songs in the Night

2009-03-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

Samantha Crain & The Midnight Shivers - Songs in the Night

Samantha Crain is remarkably and irritatingly young. Her new record, Songs in the Night, is American folk-pop, and it's phenomenal. This is where the irritation comes in. If you are much older than 22 and you haven't yet created something marvelous, get to work - this girl is running circles around you. Her croon is somewhere between Feist and Basia Bulat and more bouncy than ambient. The obvious single of Songs in the Night is the title track, with a catchy chorus and instrumentation that highlights Crain's knack for optimistic melody. "Cross our fingers/ towards the strong/ 'cause my baby's gonna be alright/ I got songs in the night for you" sings Crain, with a comforting sort of confidence and an optimism that is convincing in its simple delivery. But Crain is not limited only to cheerful pop tunes, and the convincing optimism is soon replaced by an anxiety of independence and the grimly suicidal Bananafish Revolution. "It's a perfect day for dying/ it's a perfect day for them to start crying" she belts out, prepared to contradict those who simply say "She'll be alright/ like she always is." The eerie beauty and melodic artistry with which Crain delivers these bleak words is what sets Songs in the Night apart.

Crain's debut full-length feels like the surprisingly gratifying fulfillment of a promise. The Confiscation EP, Crain's previous release, told stories and whet the appetite for more. Instead of stories, however, Songs in the Night tells feelings. Closer The Dam Song methaphorically demands catharsis, and it works beautifully as a final tombstone for the record: "I wish the dam would break/ 'least then there'd be some moving/ 'least then there'd be some destruction/ 'least then there'd be a famine, a coffin, a tear."

I'm outta here.

2009-03-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

I'm headed for a springtime break in the Great White North. Trip report to follow.

Crystal Antlers - Tentacles (2009)

2009-02-25T09:30:00.001-08:00

Crystal Antlers - Tentacles

That's right, another album review.

Here's the test for this one: Are loud guitars and histrionic vocals a deal-breaker for you?

If the answer is yes, ignore this record. It comes out on April 7th, and it's full of histrionic vocals and loud guitars.

The music is busy, with plenty of chugging rhythms and high pitched guitars, not to mention the vocalist's scratched and abused screams. Sound rough? It is, to an extent. The beauty of Crystal Antlers is in the synthesis of noise. Individually, the instrument tracks would likely sound like a musician in his bedroom expunging some excess angst. But the band weaves these sounds together to form a cohesive and textured and, surprisingly enough, heavily melodic sound. The melodies are lovely but disguised, and the hooks are intensely gratifying. I'd love to comment on the lyrical content, but I'll be damned if I can understand the guy. Instead, his voice becomes a particularly scratched and bloody thread in the tapestry of Tentacles, and taken as another instrument it fits very well into the context of the music.

So do I recommend this record? The short answer is yes, but with reservation. If you failed the first test, you should still ignore this record. But if you happen to be a fan of prog-metal, noise, or Titus Andronicus, this could be your favorite album of 2009. Look for it in April.

Backcountry skiing

2009-02-24T09:01:00.000-08:00

First off, complaints:

This has been an exceptionally poor snow year in the northern Rockies. We got maybe 8" total in all of January, and only a little more than that so far in February.

That said, there is still plenty of skiing to be had, it's just not waist deep powder. We found nice powder a couple weeks ago in Middle Basin, but all three skiers had camera troubles. If the cameras had been working the snow probably would not have been as good. Last weekend Kerstin and I skied the same area and found some very maritime "powder", as it was pushing 50 degrees farenheit. Sloppy and soggy were the adjectives of the day, but it was still pretty fun.

Superbowl Sunday I went up Blackmore with Kerstin, where we found everything from corn snow to bulletproof wind crust to breakable sun crust. Blackmore is a beautiful mountain, though, and a good skin. We started very early and were able to get three laps in before we saw any other groups, which is always nice.

Kerstin and I skied up Bradley's Meadows the Sunday before that and found 4 of the 8 inches of snow we got in January. It was super light champagne powder, the real "cold smoke" on top of frozen crust. That was fun too.

This week is looking extremely hot, and I won't be surprised to find spring-style skiing this weekend.

That said, here are some pictures of skiing this year.

Kerstin in and around Bradley's Meadow:

Early start at the Blackmore trailhead:
Ridge up to the peak of Blackmore:
Negotiating the crust:
Soft and wet in Middle Basin:Mid turn, farther down the same slope:

More crust on the Western Exposure:
We're getting pretty good at this crust thing by now:
Flat eastern exposure, soft and wet:All things considered, any skiing is good skiing, especially you're sharing the slope with only one or two other people. So we'll keep heading out, and one of these days we'll find some soft and deep.

Private Dancer - Trouble Eyes

2009-01-15T19:29:00.000-08:00

Private Dancer - Trouble Eyes

This is not a music blog. This blogger, however, is a DJ and therefore listens to music. This is a review of a record by a band called "Private Dancer".

There are a few ways that records are reviewed, and these methods I feel can be summed up in questions: How do I feel about this record? What does this record mean/Why is this record important? What does this record sound like?/How original is this record? Do I reccomend this record?

This is, of course, a ridiculous way to approach a "review", but here's the plan: I'm going to answer the aforementioned questions.

How do I feel about his record?

I feel pretty good. Listening to it, I'm interested. The sound is fairly dense, and I suspect my mother would not like it. She doesn't like music with "muddled" sounds. However, there are some cleverly hidden hooks within the "sonic collage". I love clichés.

What does this record mean/Why is this record important?

Short answer: Who knows.
Long answer: This is rock music, no doubt. Rock music is not necessarily meaningful, but sometimes it is. This is the beauty of the genre. Like literature, it can be entertaining, it can be thought provoking, and it can be both. I have done absolutely no research on this band, so I don't know who they are or where they're from. If I had to guess, I'd say they're late-twenties white men, with beards and book collections. Probably more than two college degrees between them, and definitely some wit. So what does this record mean? Who knows. But I like it, it makes me feel cool.

What does this record sound like/How original is this record?

The first song and many others on the record sound like proto-metal, very much like Detroit's Awesome Color. That shouldn't mean anything to most people, so imagine MC5-style rock played by a bunch of white college graduates, only less militant. The musicianship is good, however, not sloppy, and not everything on the record sounds like raw meat. Track number second, "1000 year wave" is a slower cut, still with a little fuzz but also a clear, melodic and very pleasing lead guitar. It's somewhere between instrumental rock (like Unwed Sailor) and I-don't-know-what. I like this track very much, though. The rest of the record is not uniform, dancing between hooks and noise and clever lyrics. The last track, "Do You Like To Read?" strongly evokes The Hold Steady with its lyrical delivery, and the words suggest to me that Private Dancer does, indeed, like to read. Original? Not particularly. Private Dancer, like The Hold Steady, plays sometimes abrasive rock music that seems to draw on seventies arena rock. But unlike The Hold Steady, they are also capable of toning things down. This record is a new take on a well established genre (noisy rock), but the hooks are pleasing and the lyrics are interesting enough to warrant a close look.

Do I recommend this record?

Yes. If you like rock music, you might like this band. I do.

Ski Discovery

2009-01-02T11:10:00.000-08:00

So there's this ski area called Discovery just west of Anaconda, MT. It's about a two and a half hour drive from Bozeman, and lift tickets are $35. I'd never been there, so Alfred and I decided to "explore the West" and check out this area, since backcountry skiing right now is exceptionally shady. That turned out to be a good idea. Discovery got 6" the night before we went, and it snowed probably 4" during the day. So while there were fresh tracks to be had in the morning, there were more fresh tracks to be had in the afternoon. Very cool. Discovery has three faces, which are roughly geared towards beginner, intermediate, and expert skiers. The front side had greens, blues, and some black diamond runs that were really fun. The "intermediate side" was mostly black diamond with one lone blue cruiser. The "backside" is almost entirely double black diamond, with some slopes steeper than 40 degrees and almost nothing mellower than about 30-35 degrees. Lots of snow, no lift lines, plenty of room on the slopes, and a super low-key vibe means we'll be back in the future.

Some pictures:

We left Bozeman around 7AM

We're almost in Anaconda.
Alfred, finding some soft snow on the mid-difficulty side.

More turns on the very nice (and mellow) single blacks.
Me, trying to maintain my composure in the softness that accumulated throughout the day. This run was not opened until mid-afternoon, so it hadn't been skied much yet.
All things considered, Discovery is awesome.

December, huh?

2008-12-31T20:47:00.000-08:00

Okay, here we are.

Winter break is here, that's nice. The family came up and joined Alfred and I for a few days, while we skied, sledded, and ate. Bridger Bowl is nice, Benjamin is sort-of turning on his snowboard, and I'm starting to get the hang of this telemark thing. But not really.

Tomorrow the plan is an adventurous journey to Discovery Ski area West of Anaconda. No reason, except that I haven't been there and I'm not working.

Sometime in the recent past I went up Mount Ellis with Alfred and Zach for some skiing. The snow was soft, but only about a foot deep with no base, so the skiing was slightly hazardous.

The avalanche conditions in the Gallatin area are currently horrendous, so backcountry skiing is probably out of the question until things settle down a little.

Here are some pictures from the Mount Ellis trip:

Potentially following: Photos from Discovery.

Skiing, yo.

2008-11-23T17:42:00.000-08:00

Skiing is awesome. Alfred, Zach, and Kerstin skied with me today. We went up towards Sacagawea Peak and skied some mellow, low-angle stuff. I went halfway off the road on the way up (operator error, not particularly treacherous roads) but Alfred, Zach, and Kerstin pushed the car back on the road while I floored the gas, a feat that was only possible because they are as strong as oxen. Then I got a flat. I fixed that and drove the rest of the road with non-full-size donut spare. We started skinning at about nine, which is a little late considering that we left the house at seven, but not bad considering that I had already gotten pseudo-stuck and changed a tire. The snow was variable, but the coverage was sufficient, and it was great to get back on skis. I'm still horrible at making telemark turns. Horrible meaning almost incapable. It was fun, and we found a protected gully full of soft snow which made everything okay. We got back into town a couple of minutes past noon, after driving back at about 35 with the hazard lights on. The world looks different at 35. Here are some lifestyle shots:

Hm

2008-11-17T19:55:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I updated this blog with anything worth saying. But that sentence is useless.

What I've been up to:
Reading a bunch of British novels and Western Literature, and a French novel about a North African immigrant living in Paris and the trials of her life. I've been thinking about these books, talking about these books, and writing analytical essays about these books. I'm really enjoying my classes, but they're somewhat demanding, so I haven't had time for much else other than work and school. Mountain biking season is officially over, but the snow isn't sincerely here yet. My brother skied last weekend in variable snow, which made me jealous. I went to a cabin with the French club, which was fun.

The plan is to go to the East coast over Thanksgiving to see my entire extended family on my mother's side. I'm looking forward to it, but expect the event to be chaotic.

The literature I'm reading is stimulating, and I'm sure I'll never think or write the same way again, which is encouraging. I'm at a point of development, I hope. It's a little like being adolescent and feeling intense pains in limbs that are growing, except it's my brain. The old adage holds true: the more we learn, the more we realize that we can never know. It is a horrible anxiety of confusion, a complete lack of understanding that can only come with understanding something.

I've started writing more, which makes me think even more about who I am and where I fit and what I want to do. I don't think these problems of identity and place have solutions, but what else is there to do but search them out?

I'm still doing my radio show, which is a lovely little part of my life that I enjoy furiously. I'm on this Wednesday at 6AM MST.

That's it, I guess, a short summary of where I think I am right now, without really summarizing anything. I'm not sure what the purpose of this blog is. It started as a place to brag about my exploits, but rapidly devolved into a place to dump words and pictures every month or so. Now I'm not so sure. It feels more like a diary, the type of blog that used to repulse me.

It is what it is, and this is it.

VOTE!

2008-11-04T07:38:00.000-08:00

Seriously.

We live in a Democratic Republic, and the only opportunity we have to voice our opinions is on the ballot.

Don't cast a vote based on your own personal insecurities. Don't vote based on misgivings or on character attacks. Vote for the candidate that represents you, vote in the way the drafters of our constitution intended. Vote for a person who will make the decisions you would like to see made. Vote for the candidate who will do what you want done in Iraq, in our Economy. Vote for the candidate who will make the social policy changes you'd like to see made, for the candidate who will appoint supreme court justices that you would like to see appointed. Vote based on careful analysis of policy. Vote.

Creek Crossings

2008-10-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

Since most (if not all) of the trails around Bozeman follow drainages up into the hills, creek crossings are abundant. This post is about them.

Here's Katie preparing to navigate a rocky crossing, on the way back down South Cottonwood.

This is Evan, braving the cold meltwater about a mile from Emerald Lake

Here's pat, ambitiously attempting a creek crossing on South Cottonwood. I've never seen anybody clean this. To be fair, there was an awful lot of water.

Here's me, on a log crossing in Big Sky's North Fork.

Also, random notes:

Helmet Hair is awesome:

Bike rack stability testing:

It shames me to say it, but I'm starting to get excited for snow. I'm still going mountain biking about twice a week, and will continue until the weather forbids it.

Oops again.

2008-09-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

I keep forgetting about this thing.

News:
-My radio showtime has changed. I am now doing a show every other week from 6-9AM Mountain Standard Time, starting September 24.

This past month or so:

-I celebrated a birthday (by combining road biking and hiking to create an 8-hour psuedo-adventure)
-Mountain biked (more) including The North Fork in Big Sky and Lost Cabin Lake in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge area (pictures follow), as well as the more local haunts.
-Participated in another alleycat (2nd place, same day as Lost Cabin Lake)
-Set up a home shop area in the garage (for bicycle repairs, of course)
-Helped my brother build a mountain bike.
-Developed a crippling addiction to parentheses and dashes.

Not particularly noteworthy, but pretty fun stuff. Excellent summer, all around.

Pictures to follow when my internet connection stops being a pain.

Why Montana?

2008-08-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

Everytime I find myself in a conversation with somebody that I have either just met or don't know that well but feel obliged to talk to, my choice of University is always a topic. I have finally developed the perfect answer to this question.

[Person I don't know that well]: Why did you choose to go to school in Montana?

[Me]:

Oops.

2008-08-11T08:17:00.001-07:00

It's been over a month since I updated this blog, which I don't feel so guilty about since I've probably got about two readers.

I don't have photos, because lately I've been making a habit of forgetting to bring important things on my adventures (like cameras), but here's a short list of stuff that I've done in the past month:

-Visited my parents in Texas
-Applied for a daytime radio slot (fingers crossed)
-Gone mountain biking every Saturday and Sunday without fail, and also some weekdays. Trails included:
*Emerald Lake
*Truman Gulch
*History Rock to South Cottonwood
*The Bangtail Divide
*Little Wapiti Creek
*Hood Creek
*Mystic Lake
-Bruised my thigh (guess how)
-Employed the services of a plumber to fix a broken hose bib
-Contacted the tech guys at MSU to figure out why my school email was disabled (it's fixed)
-Met Kassy's Parents
-Gone yardsale-ing most every Saturday morning, and even found some treasures like a waffle iron and a three-piece suit
-Painted my room
-Built a new bicycle (yes, another one)

Kassy's Father (Dr. Bill Lynass): You sure tie up a lot of money in bikes.
Me: Well, I've been saving since February for this one, but yes, it's kind of a priority.

It's a Surly Cross Check built very much like an older road bike, with modern conveniences. I had the opportunity to ride a bike that wasn't perfect for me for about two years, and in doing so learned what I wanted and didn't want in a bike. The first issue was the size - my old bike was far to big for me. The skinny tires gave a harsh ride, and only a rear fender left my feet soggy and filthy. The fixed gear was fun for cruising around town, but extremely impractical for longer distances. I loved the feel of the steel frame, the Brooks Saddle, and the shape of the handlebars, so those are the things I carried over to this bike. Every other component choice was a strategic decision made to eliminate past problems. This is the result:

The cranks, pedals, derailleurs, handlebars, and saddle were all either on my previous bike or spare parts that I had lying around. I chose downtube shifters because they're simple, reliable, and they look good. The full length fenders were chosen for near-perfectly dry riding in the rain, and wide tires for maximum comfort on bumpy roads and maximum control on gravel & dirt. Most of the components are sensible and Japanese.

I've been getting more comments on the handlebar tape than anything else about the bike. The tape looks like leather, and while Brooks does make leather tape, it costs $70 a roll, and it wasn't in the budget. The tape is Cinelli natural cork tape ($12-$15) coated with three coats of amber shellac. I learned about this trick from Rivendell bicycle works - a bunch of retrogrouch cyclists who advocate high handlebars, wide tires, full fenders, and a leisurely pace. The shellac keeps the tape from getting grimy, repels water, and makes the tape look like glowing leather.

Needless to say, I'm thrilled about it.

Also, I've been listening to a shameful amount of new music. My favorite over these past few weeks has been a band called Meho Plaza. They play electro-noise punk, similar to No Age and HEALTH, but with incredible melodies. Their new album is self titled, only about 35 minutes long, and great.

Music - Best Of

2008-07-07T12:55:00.000-07:00

I promised music reviews when I started this blog, but so far I haven't even mentioned music. I thought I'd give my top five records of 2006, 2007, and 2008, so you can get an idea of what I like.

Best of 2008 (so far)

5. Black Angels - Directions To See A Ghost
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
My take: Hypnotic, droning, awesome rock 'n roll, complete with a sitar.

4. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Genre: Folk, Pyschedelic Folk
My take: Hymn-like voices meet pop hooks to create this wonderful pseudo-folk record.

3. No Age - Nouns
Genre: Noise, Punk
My take: Addicting, experimental and fun noise-punk.

2. Born Ruffians - Red, Yellow & Blue
Genre: Indie Pop
My take: The hookiest, catchiest, most wonderful pop in a long time

1. The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
Genre: Lo-Fi, Indie Pop
My take: Funny songwriting, hooky choruses, awesome guitar.

Best of 2007

5. Fiest - The Reminder
Genre: Pop, Singer/Songwriter
My take: Brilliant pop - no more, no less.

4. Radiohead - In Rainbows
Genre: Rock, Electronic
My take: Some of Radiohead's best songs, and an intriguing business model to boot.

3. The National - Boxer
Genre: Indie Rock, Post-Punk
My take: Following in the footsteps of Interpol, this is Joy Division for Generation Y.

2. Yeasayer - All Hours Cymbals
Genre: Indie Rock, Experimental
My take: So many influences, this is pop music of the future.

1. A Place To Bury Strangers - A Place To Bury Strangers
Genre: Shoegaze, Noise, Post-Punk
My take: The Jesus & Mary Chain had a rock battle with Joy Division, and it sounds like this. It's loud and great.

Best of 2006

5. Ratatat - Classics
Genre: Electronic, Rock
My take: Catchy & original, it's party music in the best sense.

4. Okkervil River - Overboard and Down EP
Genre: Indie Rock
My take: Literary songwriting and a haunting version of one of Okkervil River's best songs.
3. The Drones - Gala Mill
Genre: Rock, Psychedelic Rock
My take: This is regional, delightfully droning (ha) Australian rock. Recorded in a ancient mill, the sound is as expansive as the storytelling. Like nothing else.

2. Ghost Mice - Europe
Genre: Folk, Punk
My take: Purely acoustic, it's a folk sound with punk lyrics and sensibilities. More integrity than most any other band out there, and killer songwriting as well.
1. Joanna Newsom - Ys
Genre: Folk, Classical
My take: This is, in my opinion, one of the most important and best albums released in my lifetime. Incredibly intricate storytelling backed by a brilliant symphonic arrangement and Newsom's unique harping. It blows my mind at least once a week.

Hyalite Peak

2008-07-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

Friday the fourth was Kassy's birthday, and we wanted to do something cool. Enter Hyalite Peak. It's 10,298 feet tall, making it one of the higher peaks in the area. It's a a 7 1/2 mile hike (one way), making it a day-long adventure. It's still pretty snowy up there, which made the ascent and descent somewhat adventurous.

Here are some pictures:

This is near the beginning - We're still in the temperate forest.
A few miles up the trail, and it's no longer July.This is the basin and the top of the valley. This picture was taken looking Northeast, from the beginning of the hike up to Hyalite Peak.
Here we are on a rocky outcropping, planning our assault of the peak.The assault. The trail goes straight up the middle of the bowl (to the right of the image pictured), which would make a lot of sense if there weren't any snow. There was still a cornice at the top and the snow was softening quickly, so we thought being smack in the middle of a snowy, melty bowl would be irresponsible move. We instead decided to go (almost) straight up. We minimized our on-snow travel, mostly scrambling up the rocky patches that you see. Here we are, spaced out.Spenser leading the way.
Looking down the valley from the peak. You can see the reservoir from here, which is pretty much where we started. In the background lies the rest of the Gallatin Valley and a glimpse of the Bridgers. It was a little hazy, which we blamed on California.Here we all are at the peak. The camera is looking Northish.Also, wildlife is awesome. These were both on the peak.Alfred giving a perfect example of the proper way to descend a snow-covered slope when skis are absent. Note the avalanche shovel, for safety. We descended in this manner almost all the way down to the lake (not the reservoir).When we got home we made a delicious pizza, but unfortunately couldn't find candles to put in it.
Happy Birthday, Kassy.

Awesome Weekend

2008-06-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

Friday - Gooch Hill Rd. Loop

This was a cruisy, mellow, and relaxing road ride that I did with Kassy after work. Great evening ride, about 30 miles.

Pictures:

This is the land of milk and honey.
Coming back on Cottonwood, looking North/Northeast towards Bozeman.

Map

Saturday - Fairy Lake Rd.

Kyle, Kyle and Sam were camping up at Fairy Lake. I thought it would be a great thing to show up on bikes and say hi. I dragged Kassy along as soon as I got off work. We only made it out to the beginning of the Fairy Lake Rd., at which point we faced seven miles of reasonably steep, loose, gravelly mess. We were tired at this point, didn't have enough light to make it up and back to town in time, and our bikes had skinny tires, which would have made the ride hellish. We turned back and stopped for lunch at Battle Ridge campground. All told, it was 46 miles of fairly hilly highway riding that completely destroyed me on my fixed gear.

Pictures:

Lunchtime at Battle Ridge.Fast.

Map

Sunday Morning - Hike: Arch Falls

As a sort of cool down, I agreed to go on a hike (instead of a bike ride, which is rare) with Kassy. We went up Hyalite Canyon, the road to which recently opened, and saw more people than I would have expected to see at a movie theater. Once we got past Grotto Falls (the main attraction and only about a mile in) the crowd thinned, but it wasn't until we got past Arch Falls at about 2.2 miles that we felt like we had the trail to ourselves. We turned back at around 3 miles since I wanted to be back by early afternoon to grill meat with Sam, Kyle and Kyle. We picked up some beef on the way home and grilled up some tasty burgers, I wished Kyle a happy birthday, and they promptly left.

Pictures of the hike:

Grotto Falls.

The rare photograph of me, standing in front of Arch Falls.

Sunday Afternoon - Alleycat

For the uninitiated, an alleycat is a bicycle race involving (usually) fixed gear bikes and beer. It's like a scavenger hunt. The rider is given a list of stops that he will have to visit about fifteen minutes before the start of the race, and he must first figure out where they all are, and then decide in which order he will visit them. A map is invaluable.

Alfred was out of town, so I went solo on this one. I forgot to bring a map, so I teamed up with a guy named Tom who had a phone book with a bunch of maps in the back of it. We figured out our route, and we rode it.

Map

Tom and I were second and first, respectively. I won a cool watch and thirty dollars.

We then proceeded to eat pizza and watch monster trucks at the finish line, which was conveniently located at a bar directly opposite a pizza shop. I didn't get any photos.

Monday - Bozeman Creek to Leverich Canyon

I wanted to do a good loop mountain bike ride today, and I wanted to see how reasonable it would be to mountain bike from my home, instead of driving to a trailhead.

The original plan was to go up to Mystic Lake via the Wall of Death, loop around the back side of Mount Ellis, and come down New World Gulch into Bear Canyon. I ran into a nice guy who's name I forget (sorry) on the way up. We got to talking, and he recommended against New World Gulch. He said that it was blown out (the sign at the base of the trail in Bear Canyon says the same thing), and he said that his buddy ruined his bike trying to ride it. Lots of sloppy mud and downed trees. It's been warm, but sunshine doesn't remove trees.

I had a map, a lunch, and plenty of water, so I decided to try to connect to Leverich Canyon from Bozeman Creek, which was what the guy I met said he was planning on doing. He was long gone in search of his riding partner, so when I got to the bridge at about five miles, I checked out the map to see how feasible the ride was.

Turns out that it's pretty feasible. I rode about fifteen miles (best guestimate, based on mile markers and my map) of fire roads, abandoned 4x4 roads, and improved dirt roads, all of which gradually went up. As I was getting towards the end, I started wondering when the road was going to start heading downhill. It didn't, really, until the junction with the Leverich Canyon trail, where I lost all of the elevation I had just gained in about two miles. It was steep, sheer, and scary, but surprisingly well maintained. I was on the brakes the whole time and it was still one of the faster descents I've taken. I coasted away from the trailhead with my heart and adrenaline pumping. I didn't get any pictures of this part because, well, I was holding on pretty tight.

Anyway, here are some pictures.

The bridge over Bozeman Creek. This is about 4-5 miles up
Then another five or so miles of this.

This is on the ridge between the Hyalite and the Bozeman Creek drainages. Those peaks are in the Gallatin range, I think.

A few more miles of this improved dirt road, complete with a shooting range and many 4x4 trails jutting from the main road.Aha. Here's where it starts going downhill. This ride was awesome.

Truman Gulch

2008-06-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

Today I went or a bike ride up Truman Gulch. It was clear and wonderful, and because it's a Monday, there was very little traffic.

Here are some photos:

The beginning - smooth, fast, mellow.

Getting farther up - the trail becomes steeper and bumpier.

Here the trail is fairly steep and narrow, and the drainage is opening up.

Getting higher.
Almost at the top. This photo was not taken from the main trail, but from a steep side trail that gave some great vistas.

The alpine meadow, complete with waterfall. This is the top of my ride. From here one can continue North towards Ross Pass or South towards Mount Baldy.

Persepolis

2008-06-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

I just watched this movie, and I'm impressed. With a few exceptions, most recent films suck. I was pleased and surprised to find this one. It's animated, it's in French, and it's set mostly in Iran.

Watch it.

Bear Canyon

2008-06-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I rode Sypes Canyon in the evening. Sunday I rode the Olsen-Grassy Mountain loop with Katie, which was great. Saturday I rode Truman Gulch. Today, I went for a swift jaunt out to Bear Canyon with Kassy.

Heading East, getting passed:
At the top of Bear Canyon, looking at the New World Gulch trailhead in the rainshine:
Kassy heading back into town at the beginning of a series of fast rolling hills:
Bikes are good. Ride them.

2008-06-17T11:49:00.000-07:00

Morning.

I'm going to (maybe) start posting here. Look for music reviews, the occasional movie review, and documentation of my accomplishments/exploits.

This will be starting.... later.