red rocks amphitheater

we have the good fortune of being a mere 25 miles from one of the world's finest natural amphitheaters, red rocks in beautiful morrison, colorado.

each year, we try to get out for at least one concert in the 9,000 person venue.  it is truly like being on mars--the geology is truly awesome and confounding to the mind.  being a scuba-diver, i have no question in my mind that this place was once under a large body of water.  we had a great time last night, seeing our old athens, ga band, widespread panic.  i need to count up my ticket stubs for how many times i've seen wsp, but know that i am well into the 30s.  love me some good southern, funky rock.

design: mindful and simple

there is something humbling, something enlightening, something troubling about being out of your mundane experience and being in someone(s) else's everyday life.  one can find thrill and enjoyment in a thing so simple as a public wash basin.

happy new year

spent new year's in a remote hut, tucked away near salida, co with some fantastic friends.

the weather was fine, snow playful and challenging, and the glowing full moon on the 31st was amazing.

happy 2010 to you and yours!

charlie brown christmas, full-length vid

charles shultz's 1965 classic.
a charlie brown christmas

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rudolph the red nosed reindeer, full length

the 1964 classic with burl ives, in full puppet animation!

"my feelings regenerate at twice the speed of a normal man..."

started following rainn wilson's blog.  quite entertaining.

i bike a good deal

in the past 5 years, i have cycled over 23,000 miles.

a good portion of which is bike commuting to and from work, and to and from meetings.

my trusty steed, a '98 gary fischer mountain bike, is a chunky beast that can take the daily beatings and still maintain solid time in the finesse shifting needs.

a couple of weeks ago, i starting having some issues unlocking my kryptonite u-lock.

occasionally, this is due to a wee bit of precipitation getting into the tumbler and either freezing in the cold months or corroding the moving parts a tad--therefore needing a shot of oil.

so i oiled and the remedy did not take. humph.

by deductive reasoning, i started to think that the tumbler itself may be broken or dislodged, as i found that if the key were shimmied back and forth while attempting to turn the lock it would take on occasion. perhaps i dropped the lock and it hit the pavement, causing the dislocation of the tumbler, i thought.

i traced my memory and did not recall any such event that was out of the ordinary to cause such a malfunction.

so, i then started to think about the key itself. maybe it was the culprit to the dilemma.

i dunno, upon inspection, it still had teeth and the appearance of a key. it did have a bit of wear, but could this really be the problem?

i located the spare key for the lock and made a comparison...

eeigh! the key was indeed the problem-maker. and the whittling down of this steel served as a small feather of merit in my cycling cap. i love wearing out gear, due to use. a very satisfying feeling.

islay scotches

i enjoy the über peaty, tobacco, and leather goodness of single malt scotch.
in particular, i have found a great love for the fine crafts that hail from the aisle of islay.

i actually own two 1'x1' plots of land from laphroaig.
my new bottle of earthy pleasure is from the ardbeg distillery.
absolutely fantastic. 

just a wee bit of water in a glass two-fingers full
sends me to a sensory heaven.  deelish.

haunted corn maze

i've been in a huge kick for haunted this-and-thats this year.
in many ways it follows suit for my fascination with classic americana
and the enterprizes that our culture supports--bowling alleys, bingo parlors,
pancake breakfasts, minigolf...the list goes on.

on saturday, i went off the beaten path in rural colorado to take in
the fritzler corn maize (yes, maize).  it was nothing less than fantastic.

scares, frights, cheeziness, and a good 2+ hour haunted corn maze
that from high above is patterned in a different configuration each year.

i will not hesitate to go back next year, and encourage everyone i know to join
in one of the iconic experiences of our halloween expressions, the corn maze.

80s hair bands on pandora

a while back, i mentioned the fuel and joy that pandora provides me with.

well, i've been rocking out on a journey, survivor, def leopard, poision, and other assorted 80s hair bands on my pandora station in recent months. 

for all transparrency, i sported a fashionable mullet in the late 80s/early 90s, a la the guy below.

perhaps i still have a bit of residual phantom mullet that provokes my love for the poppy, cheese rock.

steamboat brunch

spent the weekend in steamboat springs the other weekend. among sleeping in, enjoying 9,000 feet, and soaking in the strawberry hot springs, we enjoyed a nice sunday brunch. pictured here is the vegan tofu scramble from a small restaurant called winona's, on the main drag. 7.2 out of 10 on the deelish-scale.

zombieland

i laughed, i snorted, i was giddy and entertained by this silverscreen unlikely...zombieland! woody harrelson is at the apex of his career in this performance. a redneck with an urban edge and undercurrent of humanity, harrelson's presence, tenor, and delivery are spot-on throughout this rumpus delight.

the protagonist, jesse eisenbergis a fantastic balance to the gruff harrelson. emma stone, from superbad fame, and little miss sunshine, abigail breslin, play a sister duo that balances out the cast.

enough over the top gore to satisfy even the dark humorist inside of us all. don't hesitate, get thee to thy theatre today.

36,000 degrees fahrenheit

nearly 4,000 light years away, the butterfly nebula.

lakeside

a joyous time at lakeside amusement park last weekend. this entertainment venue has been operating for over a century and once passing through the gates was like a throwback in time. a wonderful experience.

phish at red rocks

live streaming.

super hike

dave, jen, a, & i hiked mt. grays and mt. torreys.

 

we set foot on the trail at about 8:30am. the trailhead sits at right around 11,000 ft above sea level. meandering through a set of trees, right at the peak of treeline, then fields of shrubs, alpine flowers, babbling mountain streams, and up up up. around 13,000 feet life begins to peter out and the landscape turns to boulders and shards of different rocks.

the air becomes so thin and the steep climb warrents taking a breather about once every 10 minutes of climbing. the pit stops allowed for absorbing the breathtaking views. at about noon-thirty, we reached the summit of grays and soaked it in, munching on peanut butter and banana sandwiches before heading down the valley and starting up to peak torreys.

it took about another hour to get to the top of the second 14er of the day. torreys has a fantastic view as well. then comes the hike back down.

where the traverse up was a muscle and lung challenge, the walk back down is a bit of a controlled fall and you can feel it most in your joints.

the landscape gently erupts in a reverse order from which it had disappeared just a few hours before. tiny, ground-hugging mosses and small flowers get larger the further you go down. it as if they grow before your eyes and the groves get thicker and thicker, until they become fields of beauty amongst the rocks, then the streams got wider and the shrubs stood taller. into the thicket of trees and back to the trailhead, arriving back at about 4:30pm.

exhilarating, satisfying, joy.

ahh, yes...peaty goodness

my quest for understanding the complexities of single malt scotch has brought me back to revisit an old friend, laphroaig. after deliberation and analysis, i have decided that this is one of the finer single malts for my palate.

in particular, i relish the leathery, earthy, pungent richness of this cask strength whisky. the smokey peat deliciousness fills my senses with warmth and satisfies many a sensory cell.

in addition, i have now become an international land owner once again.

slippers

i like to wear house slippers. it was a commonplace practice around my house as a kid, but fell out of standard practice after moving out. a couple of years back, i rekindled the love for cushy foot comfort and procured a pair of indoor footware on sale after the winter season.

i usually stow my slippers once spring comes and there is always a bit of surprise when i re-discover them when the seasons begin to change for the cooler each fall.

i park my slippers by the door, awaiting the retreat from work each day. at night, i unsheathe my feet and leave the cushy pair resting at the foot of the bed. each morning, sliding my sleepy feet back into the friendly treads with a soothing sensation washing over me through the seemingly mundane experience.

thank you, dear slippers, for the joy you bring.

jug head

growler for the growler. :)

voodoo vegan donuts

went to portland last weekend. had a good visit with all. it was fantastic to be back in the grey and wet with the old friends.

nhut quang vegan vietnamese restaurant was a belly-stuffer, a trip to food fight vegan grocery, and major highlight was a midnight trip to voodoo donuts in downtown pdx.

we scored 3.5 dozen vegan donuts from the a.m. baking cycle for a mere $7. smiles and sugar comas punctuated the remainder of the trip.