A Pittsburgh Story

Recently, I've decided to write more for enjoyment. I've also decided I'm just going to start putting long-form essays/personal stories here. I'm 99.999% positive nobody reads this, but it is what it is.

A redesign will follow, with perhaps a new website/domain, should this prove a personally fulfilling and sustainable goal.

With much more to come,
-W

Cobwebbed blog...cobblogged?

(Clearing throat. Or, rather, the sound a long dormant web-log makes when it shakes the proverbial dust from its server.)

Well.

A Big Move, a New City (the 'burgh), some Great Happenings occur, and I quite frankly forget about this space.

Quick recap for posterity of the past few months/years: I moved around in Minot, made some great friends, formed and performed in a silly and extremely fun band, moved to Pittsburgh in the midst of the Minot Flood of 2011, joined a band, helped write an album, perform said album on New Years 2013 as part of the cultural districts' First Night Pittsburgh hooplah, and have spent the new year since enjoying wonderful new foods and amazing shows. I'll try to upload some pics from the recent shows. Once again, more for internet posterity and a time capsule of sorts for me, not for show-boating.

That was not a pun. Maybe.

As always, dutifully pledging to write/post more,
-W-

Sing it to me, Mr. Black.

Not my photograph, but still from the show I saw. Great pic, amazing show.
-w-

So, I should probably....

Start posting more? Yep. I think I will, but it'll take a bit. After falling in love with my typewriter, I've found it's just more fun to write on that machine. Reviews on headphones, albums (including a new addition to my top 5 of all-time), another few trips to upload some pics from, and much more coming soon. Wazee.
-w-

10 Albums you can't live without.

Well, I normally abstain from all sorts of "chain" letters on Facebook, but this one intrigued me. It begged to ask the age-old questions of your personal top ten list of albums that you "couldn't live without". I answered and posted in brief on that site, but I figured my choices screamed for some analysis. So, here they are, in no particular order, whatsoever.

1. Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles (1967)
Obvious choice. This was actually the first compact disc I ever listened to on my first CD boom box. My grandparents had purchased "Anthology 1" and the boom box for my Christmas present in 1995. Strangely enough that same night I listened to my parent's copy of Sgt Peppers, and honestly thought that the weird build-up at the end of "A Day in the Life" was my CD player going haywire and I stopped playback immediately. The next morning I listened to it again and was hooked. I generally go through a Beatles-phase at least once, maybe twice a year, and always begin with this disc.

2. The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd (1973)
Another obvious choice, and once again, one with roots in my childhood. I remember my brother buying this CD maybe his junior year of high school, in one of his CD buying stages. I made a tape of it (on that same aforementioned boom box) and wore it out. Granted it took a few years for me to listen to the whole thing ad nauseum, but I was immediately drawn to the big singles "Money" and "Time". Flash forward over ten years or so and I think I've purchased DSotM about 10 times, either to replace mine own sore and scratched up copies, or to give away as gifts. One of the albums (along with a few others on this list) that I immediately think of when someone asks for names of albums that everyone should own. Getting to see the whole thing performed in sequence by Roger Waters was a definite highlight.

3. Abbey Road - The Beatles (1969)
Just about my favorite Beatles album, if they hadn't made Sgt Pepper's. Perhaps it's because it's the last true Beatles album, and ends with perhaps one of their best lines (Her Majesty not included, it was supposed to be earlier in the album, was axed, and an intrepid recording tech, instructed to not throw anything away, left it on the album). Some of the Beatles' best moments, in my opinion come from this album. "Something", "Oh, Darling", and "Here Comes the Sun" have each suffered multiple plays every time I pull the album out. If you buy TWO Beatles albums, I think this should be the second.

4. Kind of Blue - Miles Davis (1959)
While not the album that introduced me to jazz as a genre (that title belongs to the Ray Brown Trio's Don't Get Sassy) Kind of Blue did introduce me to what a truly great jazz album could achieve. Nothing on the album feels forced in any way, the ambiance just sits heavy, evoking blue smokey dens, dimly lit. Probably greatest album to listen to while watching the first snow storm of the year, with a great beer handy.

5. Bach Cello Suites - Pablo Casals (recorded 1936-1939)
Not the first collection of my favorite cello literature I purchased, and far from the last, Casals' seminal recordings of a bygone era still manage to fascinate me every time I listen to them. With the suites, each cellist (and you don't have to be one to do this) finds particular cellists' versions that suit their particular taste. While I don't see eye to eye with Pau on every piece, the majority of his interpretations still make me smile. If I could play these like any cellist, it would be like Casals. Granted, every cellist on earth has probably made that claim at least once.

6. Beethoven: The Late Quartets - Emerson String Quartet
I don't think I should have to explain this one. Beethoven truly at his finest, writing quartets in his final years, not for fame or money, but seemingly just for his own amusement and contentment. Let alone that most musicologists agree that some of his best work is here, the fact that when they were premiered, no one really understood them! I like to think of Beethoven, having already perfected the music of his mentors and peers during his lifetime, wanted to show the world just a small hint of what lay in the future for classical music. Emerson, while not always the "best" interpretation (if such a thing exists) is just a good solid jumping off point.

**note, beyond this is where most people would give me the raised eyebrow, but I'm not making a greatest ever list, just my favorite. With that, I'll include my favorite tracks from each album, as each of the aforementioned albums deserve a complete listening every time they spin.

7. Rubberneck - Toadies (1996)
I've often described the Toadies as my "guilty pleasure" band. I say that because while I do love listening to all genres of music, and could quite easily be contented merely listening to all brands of "classical" or "classic rock", I always find myself back to the Toadies when I just want to have a good time, relieve some stress, or just plain drive around in the summer with the windows down. This album, while I don't consider it their best album as a band, is just solid. I can listen to it end to end, back to back, for hours (a feat I'm pretty sure I've done more than a few times). This was the album I listened to the most with my friends and by my lonesome in high school, but it still doesn't sound dated to me. One of the perks, I suppose, of the music not really falling into a sub-genre other than "Alternative Rock". Still one of the best live shows I've ever seen, and this album makes a valiant effort at conveying that. Favorite track: "I Burn"

8. The Battle of Los Angeles - Rage Against the Machine (1999)
This album changed a lot of what I thought about modern bands. I was still in middle school when this came out, and hadn't really ventured far into "modern" popular music. I'd mostly at that point listened to a bit of grunge/guitar pop, but still mostly stayed in my safety zone of Classical/Beatles/Dead/Foo Fighters. When I purchased this it popped that idea that all musicians were aloof from politics since the death of Lennon. Here was an immensely popular band, selling millions of records and seats, but with something to say on top. I hadn't really listened to hip-hop yet (still haven't to an extent), but I was impressed with the musical tightness of the band, Morello's incendiary guitar solos, and Zach De La Rocha's fiery delivery of socio-political propaganda. Now further on my journey I find myself agreeing with more of their lyrics, and once again, one of the best live shows I've seen. Favorite track: "Ashes in the Fall"

9. Rated "R" - Queens of the Stone Age (2000)
Once again, another concept album by a band at it's peak. Already a semi-fan of QotSA, I first heard this album playing on the P.A. just before the first time I saw the Toadies play. I picked up their first album initially, fell in love with their crunchy guitar "robot" rock, with smooth vocal lines, then unabashedly listened to this album constantly for a full summer. Still one of the albums that I can start at the beginning, play til the end, and repeat. Favorite track: "Better Living Through Chemistry"

10. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco (2001/2002)
Well, not all my choices entered my life pre-high school graduation. In fact, I was only introduced to this band and album within the past 6 months. It took a bit of work to listen to the whole thing as a complete concept album, but eventually I found I couldn't think of it as anything but. Basically, while I know that the other 9 have stood at least a relative test of time, I feel strongly that this will as well. Must thank Matt for getting me started. Favorite track: "I'm the Man Who Loves You"

Substitutes, in the event that one of the top ten get sick, or have to miss the line-up due to suspension.

*. The Beatles (White Album) - The Beatles
*. Frances The Mute - The Mars Volta
*. Bartok Quartets - Julliard String Quartet

-w-

"You've taken your first steps into a much larger world."

Alright, I'll apologize for the Star Wars title. It just felt necessary.

So, I've picked up a couple marvelous new toys this week. Numero uno (that's 'Number one' for those of you who don't speak Spanish) is a typewriter. Specifically, an early 1960's Remington Streamliner. Matt let me borrow his (a remarkable Olympia SM-9) for a few hours and I fell in love. It seems to add so much gravitas to the words you write...you really learn to appreciate spellcheck, the backspace key, and the immediacy of gramatical correction of the Personal Computing age. I sincerely think everyone should have to take their high school typing classes on manual typewriters...

Next up is my most recent purchase, a Denon DP-37F turntable. I got this used on consignment at the local audiophile shop down in Bismarck. I'll have to replace the cartridge (already have one picked out, a Shure M-97xe) and repair/replace the mounting bracket on the tonearm, but it's supposedly one of the best entry-level audiophile turntables out there, and I got it for a pretty amazingly low price. Something about pure analog music turns my bones.

Which made me think aloud today: Maybe I'm turning into a luddite. (technically speaking, a "neo-luddite" as I'm perfectly happy with the English textile processes of the early 19th century). Obviously since you're reading this on a blog, created from a computer, uploaded onto a network of connected computers and stored on server in some large city, I'm not anti-technology at all. In fact, I welcome technicological change. I think I'm just romantically drawn to technologies that I was not around to appreciate. I loved hearing my dad tell me how to care for my turntable and LPs...and opening a new LP has once again, that heafty feel to it. Somehow it feels more real and immediate than simply downloading a new album and having it portably stored on your iPod/Zune/Sansa/etc straight away. The smell of a new pressing of vinyl, the large and colorful artwork, the grooves of the record...it's just a much more gratifying experience in my opinion.
So far, I only have 3 albums but this number will soon inflate, as I'm now bound to checking out all used record shops/yard sales/vinyl dealers for the albums that I have to own. But I think I have a pretty good first three: Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, In Rainbows by Radiohead, and No Deliverance by the Toadies. I'm thinking of ordering Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and Imagine by John Lennon, both on 180g virgin vinyl later this week at that.

So, chances are within the next few weeks, should one of you pop on by my place for a cup, we'll have some great tunes to listen to, in their intended format!
Happy listening to me!
-w-

The best Beatles tune you've (probably) never heard.

So, if you know me (and if you're reading this, you more than likely do), you probably know that I'm a huge Beatles fan. The first Compact Disc I ever owned was a Beatles disc (Anthology 1- as a Christmas gift from my grandmother) and consequently the next 8 discs I purchased were Beatles discs. I've read countless books on the band, their lives, even the individual recording sessions. Somehow....well, not really somehow, I know exactly how it happened...I missed a track. (Not counting the *hopefully* forthcoming yet-unreleased avant-garde art track "Carnival of Light")

So during the same sessions where the band recorded "Lady Madonna" they also recorded a quick Lennon tune "Hey Bulldog"- The title was originally "Hey Bullfrog" but during recording Paul suddenly started barking like a dog, Lennon quickly changed the next verse to "Bulldog" and changed the title. This track is supposedly one of the last tunes in which the whole group was in the studio together, and recorded as a unit...a few days after the session, they left for their maligned trip to India. This track was then submitted for the animated "Yellow Submarine" but only made the UK version. So, when I was younger and forcing my parents to rent the VHS from the CashWise Supermarket video store ad nauseum, I never saw (or heard) the track. When I was purchasing the Beatles discography, I'd see the Yellow Submarine soundtrack and glance at the tracklisting...mentally skipping over the track and just seeing half a disc of George Martin scores from the film and previously released tracks (mostly from the best three albums, Revolver, Rubber Soul, and Sgt Pepper's - which I already owned and adored).

The other day, whilst ripping all my Beatles CD's into a higher quality bitrate (what's the use of good headphones if the source music sounds terrible?) I was randomly searching through Wiki and found that a particular artist had covered the "rare Beatles' gem Hey Bulldog". Jesus H. I've never heard of that! Quickly searched the Beatles Bible online for facts about it and stumbled upon what's now probably one of my favorite tracks. It's Lennon to a T, and the whole group just having a blast in the studio. What's even more astounding is they allowed footage of them recording the track to be shot....so Apple a few years back found this, realized that instead of the Promo-material for the Lady Madonna single, it was them recording Bulldog. Great video. I particularly like seeing John at the piano and George with a Gibson SG. Anyway, I've ameliorated my mistake, purchased the Yellow Submarine "Songtrack" (the remastered version from 1999) and fallen in love with my "new" Beatles track. Enjoy.

Lyrics:

Sheepdog
Standing in the rain
Bullfrog
Doing it again
Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles
What makes you think you're something special when you smile?

Child-like
No one understands
Jack knife
In your sweaty hands
Some kind of innocence is measured out in years
You don't know what it's like to listen to your fears

You can talk to me
You can talk to me
You can talk to me, if you're lonely you can talk to me.

Yeah hey, oh!
Ho, ho!
Yeah!
Ho, ho, ho, ho!
Ho, ho!

Big man (Yeah)
Walking in the park
Wigwam
Frightened of the dark
Some kind of solitude is measured out in you
You think you know me but you haven't got a clue.

You can talk to me
You can talk to me
You can talk to me, if you're lonely you can talk to me.
Hey!

Wahoo woof! Woof!

Hey bulldog! Hey bulldog!
Hey bulldog! Hey bulldog!

Youtube Video

-w-

As promised, the A/V section!

Once again, this is all in my own subjective opinion. (But most views are backed up vociferously online :D ) Keep in mind, low-bitrate mp3's will stick out even more on a good source/headphone. I basically re-ripped my entire collection in a higher bitrate after I tried listening to the standard 128Kbps rip I had of Dark Side of the Moon on a good pair of headphones. I recommend either ripping with LAME or Vorbis encoders at a decent bitrate. (read 256 kb/s or higher).

For MP3 players: The ubiquitous iPod is virtually laughed at in every respectable hi-fi corner. A few great versions came out - the first-gen Shuffle and the 5.5-gen Video (with the GUI replaced with RockBox) are the two biggies, but anything since then, including the gorgeous iPod Touch are pretty well substandard in terms of pure audio-quality. So, the big winners here (all in my opinion, mind you) are:

Sansa Clip - for $30-50, this veritable Shuffle killer is king, with pricing and one of the best sounding players available. A recent update allows for playback of lossless "Flac" encoded files and the lossy (albeit vastly better than mp3) Ogg Vorbis. I've seen pics of people using this little bastard with $1,000 headphones and portable amps. Seriously. Pick one of these up for the gym.

Sansa Fuze - A bit better than the clip in every way, but a bit pricier and bigger. This is my new DAP. Same sound signature as the Clip, but with a bigger screen, expandable memory via the microSD/SDHC port, and larger internal memory versions. Also supports playback of FLAC and Vorbis. Got mine on Black Friday from Radio Shack for $50 (reg. $99) along with an 8Gb Sandisk microSDHC card from amazon.com for $20. Want an iPod Nano killer? Here's the real deal and it will save you some cashmonies!

Cowon D2 - Haven't pulled the trigger on this one yet, but I'm seriously jonesing for one. A 2.5" touch screen with a sound-quality equal to that of the Sansas. Supposedly the GUI is a bit quirky, but if you can get past that, everyone who owns one raves about the SQ and infinitely changeable EQ. Also supports the widest array of audio codecs, FLAC and Vorbis, as well as expandable memory with miniSD/SDHC cards. Downside? At least $150 with less peripherals available.


Headphones.
All these great DAPs will do you exactly squat if you're listening through the earbuds that typically come packaged with them. Unfortunatley, most people don't know that, but a growing few do, and I've sifted the pages of head-fi.org and anythingbutipod.com and grabbed a few good nods.

IEMs - "In Ear Monitors". Sounds scary. But if you're serious about your hearing, your music, and isolation. This is probably the best solution for you. The fit can be kind of alarming at first, as IEMs (also dubbed "Canalphones") are designed to fit snuggly into your ear canal. Mind you, not painfully so. Foam tips, rubber/silicone tips, and others are usually packaged with them to let you find the best fitting and comfortable wear. Why's the fit so important? Because if you don't have them snuggly and tightly in place, you'll lose all concept of isolation and soundstage. Buy a cheap pair of IEMs to see if you don't mind the fit before jumping into the abyss.

JVC FX-33/34s "Marshmallows" - For 15 American Dollars or so, these are a great entry level canalphone. Do a little bit of modification to them to open up the sparkle of the highs, and these are affordable beauts after a bit of burn-in.

JLAudio J2's - These are remarkably new phones, and I haven't quite received the 2 pairs (B1G1!) I ordered from amazon.com, but by all accounts can be compared to the bigger players in the iem world, including some 10 times the price. 25 bucks isn't bad, if they're this good. I'll report back.

SoundMagic PL-30s - Same goes as above, though they've been around a bit longer. Some seem to prefer J2's to these, but it's all subjective. And at $20, they're a virtual steal and will blow the Marshmallows out of the water as well. My father ordered a pair of these, so I'll give them a listen and once again, report back.

Now, if you're doing the listening in a quiet area and don't need the isolation, and won't bother people with sound leakage, you may as well go with full sized "cans". For that, you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars, unless you want truly "audiophile-quality" sounds.

First off, the can that everyone should own.
Koss KSC-75 - For a really low cost headphone these things sound brilliant. Once again an inexpensive mod (The so-called "Kramer" mod after the most read and one of the first poster of the mod on head-fi.org) really opens these phones up. At 60 ohms, they're a little under-driven by the typical DAP, so an amp can really make these things sing. Granted, none is really needed, but you'll find battery power goes down drastically without a dedicated headphone amp. (More on that later!) Also, if you don't like the "sporty" clip-on styling or fit, the same drivers that push these is in the Koss "PortaPro's" with a headband, which also beefs up the bass a bit. Granted, an extra 20 bucks for a headband without much change in SQ doesn't appeal to me.

Sennheiser PX-100 - These are almost the next step up from the KSC-75s, although some (myself included) prefer the former. At $30 they're pretty inexpensive but with a great sound. A good alternative to the people biased against Koss. They are collapsible and quite portable. Sennheiser's virtually always won't disappoint.

Okay, for the things I haven't tried out yet......but will eventually ;)

Grado SR-60/SR-80 - Grado, an American maker of audiophile quality headphones and cartridges came out with the SR-60 as an affordable step into high quality cans 20 plus years back and haven't changed a thing. The look tells this (although I kind of like the old-school styling) , but if you aren't set back by this these are reputably some of the best price-point/performance cans available. The 80 model changes a little, with the same drivers, but a larger, more spacious earpad and increased bass-responsiveness. A bit forward sounding to some, these are suposedly deadly for rock.

Granted, now we're moving out of the "affordable-to-starving-music-student" price range so I'll stop there. Sennheiser makes great can's in this range too, the HD515 and HD555. But I haven't had the opportunity to sample these either, but I have a sneaking suspicion you can't go wrong with either choice.

With the bigger headphones, more power will be needed to fully take advantage of the sound. Portable headphone amps come in all shapes and sizes, but two styles stick out with price in mind. The hand-made "CMoy" amps vary from maker to maker, but are relatively cheap and in large avail on eBay. Or, a new affordable alternative has recently reared it's head. FiiO, a Chinese manufacturer has released extremely affordable and portable amps, the E3 and more recently, the E5. Google those for the best prices, but they both have garnered relative praise from among the good folk from head-fi.org. I'll post my review of the E3 as soon as they arrive!

Happy Solstice!

Live vid from PK!

Here's a vid, albeit not the one I promised (still trying to find a decent video editor for that one) from the First Annual Dia De Los Toadies that Ross and I went to.

Also, I promise to post more often!
-w-
Toadies "No Deliverance" Live

Apologies for the wait!

Wow. It's been a long time since I've posted on here. So, I guess I'll have to start doing so again.

First off, I saw the Toadies once again on the same tour, granted, this time there was no 50+ hours of driving involved. Just a mere 14, to Minneapolis. We surprised Andy with tickets a week after he returned from Europe, and he had a blast. Great show, but they didn't play Dollskin, always a favorite of mine live.

I'm helping out at a local video game store for the holiday season, or as I like to say, "I've rejoined the circus." Seriously. If another over-weight middle aged woman yells at me for not having the WiiFit in stock, I'll shoot myself.

It's strange. I really don't play any games anymore, much less anything on the three "next-gen" systems...so I kinda feel really old when people are asking me about games that game out "a long time ago" that I've never even heard of. Granted, in the game business, "a long time ago" typically refers to a few months back. But, I'm still amazed at the graphics these systems can push out. Also, I still find myself wanting to play the really old classics. After watching a particular episode of the British Channel 4 series "Spaced" I found myself looking up if we had in stock Resident Evil 2. I think I may check it out and borrow my ASM's GameCube and play it. I remember me and my brother staying up late to play that creepy game....It'll pass the time before Starcraft 2 comes out, anyway.

It's now getting close to officially being winter, so alas, there's no frolfing anywhere near Minot. I'm finding I miss my daily walks in the park. I suppose I could go walk in the park now, but losing frolf discs in the snow, not to mention personal extremities to the bitter cold, somehow doesn't sound appealing.

Also, I'm trying desperately not to become a de facto audiophile, for fear of my wallet. But I've become somewhat knowledgeable in the fields of MP3 players (of the non-fruity kind) and affordable audiophile-quality headphone gear. So, in a little bit of a winter solstice gift to you all, I'll share some links to some decent stuff which would make excellent gifts/stocking stuffers!

(in the next post, of course!)
-w-

Evidence.

Here are some assorted pictures from the trip, to hold you over until I have a bit of downtime to arrange a proper viewing. (plus a great video I have yet to edit!)
-w-

What's that?!

Yup, so, if you're reading this now, the new timer to the right of this post is counting down to the moment the gates open at the 1st annual "Dia De Los Toadies" festival in Graham, Texas. Actually, it's not in Graham per se, but instead on the shores of Possum Kingdom Lake. Ross and I are making the long drive to see this amazing show. Pictures and I'm sure a long-winded story are to follow this, on my journey to the heart of the American Dream. Rock on.
-w-

Back.

Well, since it's been a long time since the last post (argh, so busy) I figured I'd update this ol' wall.

I'm back in Minot.
After a uneventful yet successfully long drive, I got back up here on the 30th of July. Got a new job as a server at Up The Creek, and have, in my first week, pulled about 44+ hours, basically picking up every shift I could after the initial 4 days of training. It's strange, getting back the muscle memory of serving, after taking a 3 year hiatus from it. But, I haven't dropped any plates or anything, and I'm loving the restaurant thus far. By far the best run and cleanest joint I've worked at. Plus, the money is easily just as good, if not better then at the BrainSlopper. Getting ready for school to start and some insane concert trips with some close friends.
-w-

The moments that make up a dull day.

While I wait for laundry to finish I figured I'd post.
Long time coming, here's some pictures of Jeanette and I rock climbing. Whee!
First off, some pics of the gym, Inner Strength Rock Gym, where Jeanette goes every week, and took me a long this summer. It's where I honed my skills. Well, not really skills, but I did start out on a 5.5 my first climb, and went to 5.8s by the end. Didn't get any shots of me on the wall, as I didn't really want to plummet, but here are some pics from the bouldering wall. Eventually we went outside. And I looked like a real climber. It was intense.





Epic Fail!-------------->


(P.S. Bouldering is hard.)







-w-

Lay on the lawn, he's already home, when the morning ray hits his face.

Yup. MySpace actually pulled something pretty neat. Their latest "Secret Show" was Ween, at "Hodi's Half Note" in FtC. Amazing. My first time seeing a band that I've listened to since my junior year of High School. They are amazing live. Pics from climbing, throwing, and the drive-in are forthcoming. I must shower.


This is the hand-numbered limited to 400 litho we got as we left the 3 hour show.
-w-

Cause all I need to know is what I can see.

So I'm in love...

...with rock climbing. Jeanette took me to the local rock gym on Tuesday and showed me the ropes (literally!). Took the little test on the knots, belay, and commands, then hit the wall. Hard. As Jeanette put it, "You haven't really gone climbing until you leave some blood on the wall." Well, I didn't leave blood so much as the wall left a good sized bruise on my knee. We did a little bit of bouldering after my first two complete climbs (the first attempt was badly received by myself), or I should say that Jeanette did some bouldering and I really tried hard. But the good news is that we're going again today, and I'm psyched for it. It's probably one of the best workouts I've ever had. I'll see if Jeanette or someone can snag some photos today.

Also, I get to go to my first drive-in tonight! That's pretty neat. I think we're going to see "Hancock" and "Don't Mess with the Zohan" double-header, although the "Wall-E" and "Get Smart" appeal to me more, but I think Jeanette already saw "Wall-E". Anyway, that should be pretty cool.

I should go clean my windshield. I don't think the moviemakers intended for their craft to be viewed through 800 miles of bug splatter.

Frolf is starting to come to me more naturally. Beat my first group of FtC natives on Edora the other day, due to my drives really coming along. Granted, they aren't tourney players, but they live right next to Edora and throw it all the time. And, I still only beat them by parring most of the front nine, getting my first birds on the course, and solidly parring all of the back nine. Think I'll go throw in a little bit to loosen up the arms before a few solid hours of practicing Popper and Bach, then warping the forearms on a cement wall. Whoo!

Also, send me your addresses for some postcards from NBB!
-w-

Damn the man.

So, on our way down to Denver yesterday afternoon, my van died again. Methinks it's time to take it in again. Hopefully this won't be another 2300 down and out. But we still ended up having a good time anyway...Jeanette's friend picked us up, then we went down to Old Town and had a few drinks (my first good mojito since Pto Vallarta, mind you) and then over to another bar and had some of the local breweries finers....still having a hard time passing up draught 1554, but I really enjoyed Odell's 5 Barrel Pale Ale, as well as their IPA. Lovely bunch of coconuts. Then we travelled back, picked up the van (seems it doesn't like the heat), and went to watch the fireworks over at City Park Nine golf course. Best fireworks I've seen in a long while. Not saying much considering for the past two years I've been working in a bar with no windows on the fourth, and before that I was always playing with the BMSO during the capitol's fireworks down in Bismarck, but nonetheless, they were impressive. Except for the d-bags screaming behind us. Ugh.

Went out with a couple more of Jeanette's work friends today to Horsetooth Reservoir. That was a blast. Tubing, waterskiing, and just general sitting around having crappy beer on the water. Stupid "Can Only" rules. Next time I'll have to bring some of New Belgium's newest fare....Fat Tire in cans. That might make me weep openly inside when I drink it, but it's better than the other domestic drinkables.

Had a good practice today, as well. Starting to really blast through "Dance of the Elves", as well as getting some good mem work done on Bach 2. If only it weren't so damn hot in this condo.

Also, had to go buy another Neti pot. Can't believe I left mine in Mindrot.

The fuzzy picture is of Jeanette and I at the new d-bag bar in old town, the "Drunken Monkey". They have swings instead of barstools.


-w-

The 1/4th of Joo-lie.

Happy Fourth everyone. Remember, in order to be as patriotic and American as you possibly can, revolt and resist the powers at be. Happy revolution!

Jeanette and I are driving to Denver today to spend some time around the city and later hit up a party of a friend of hers. Should be fun. I woke up fairly early today and did some laundry, cleaned the room a little bit, ate some tasty cereal, and went for a throw.

Warmed up for 20 minutes on the practice green, then got through the first nine before heading back due to heat and exhaustion. This whole acclimation thing is terrible. Bike for 30 minutes, or carry boxes for 10, and you're winded, plus you're drinking water constantly. Plus, beer seems to affect you quicker, therefore, even though you've got the entire world of great selections in front of you, after one or two your tastebuds are dead to the world as your already semi-soused. Terrible, but I can deal with that!

My throws are starting to get better, getting some distance finally on the drives, and with no loss of control on the mid-ranges. I think I bogied 1 and 6, but parred the rest, including the brutal no. 7, with the huge bend in the river right before the hole (plus the hole is up a small but steep incline about 15 ft, oh yeah, and of course there's trees right before the river on the bank...)
But I'll be happy with +2 on the front nine, on my third real time throwing it.

Gonna practice cello for a bit and then I think Jeanette and I will be out. We got invited to a lake/boating thing tomorrow, so we'll probably do that. I'm starting to get pretty tan. So much so that Jeanette commented on it last night by saying that it makes my eyes look really blue. So blue, in fact, she said I look "demonic".....hehehe.


Updates on the beer:

Had the Alaskan Amber my first night here, instead of the planned Westie, but that was mostly due to the fact that I had no correct glassware here. That situation was ameliorated with a trip to Wilbur's Total Beverage last night. Anyway the Alaskan Amber, supposedly pretty new to the FtC area was a delightfully drinkable beer. Similar in style to Fat Tire, but with quite a bit less biscuit-y nose. Fair lacing, and a quickly receded head, but overall not a bad brew by any stretch of the imagination. Now, if we could get that in ND, I wouldn't pine for FT so much.

Last night I popped the Stone Ruination I.P.A. Such as the bottle says, "A liquid poem to the glory of the hop", this thing is a total hop bomb. Lovely. An almost reddish tinged gold colour, with a frothy, large head which leaves light transparent lacing, and a fruity nose. As well as small notes of hops, grapefruit comes through in the nose, in my opinion. Hops and more hops are almost all you taste, from beginning to end. Astounding, perfect for a warm summer night outside. I think I'll pick a few of these up for my friends back in ND.

Once again, safe blowing-shit-up day to all!

-w-

Second day. Exhaustion. Shoes.

Yesterday was fun. I went down to the closest mall and bought some shoes....finally a pair to replace the Chuck Taylors that fell to tiny bits a few months back....good frolf, erm, Frisbee Golfing shoes.
After making my purchase, I found my way down to Edora Park, and the course there. It's a blast. I met up with some older lady who throws all the time in the tournaments and knows all the guys from the Ft Collins Frisbee Golf Club, and she gave me a lot of tips on my technique. I still had a few great throws sneak in, and managed to par most of the back nine. Only a matter of time before I really start getting some great distance on my drives. Also, I managed to wear in my brand new shoes by having to jump into the river about waist deep and fish out my Ontario Roc (why didn't I throw the floatable Dragon on that hole??Argh!)

After that, I came back home, changed my shoes and socks, and went out to eat at a great little local deli/butcher shop, Choice City Deli. Let me tell you, the food was pretty damn good, but that place has things on tap that I haven't seen outside of Brussels. Chimay Tripel, St. Bernardus Abt 12, and all of the small FtCo-exclusive New Belgium brews are just a taste. So I ordered a nice Reuban, with a side of zesty potato salad, and a Bernardus. Ahhhhhhhhh........



Ahhhhh..........


Wow, that was delicious. Sat outside on the patio and people watched with one of the best beers around. Then I struck up a conversation with a guy who'd sat at the table next to mine about beer (He was drinking the New Belgium Jessica's Porter), and we chatted for almost 3 hours - ranging on topics from IT, beer, wine, music, life, his kid's going to college, biking, cooking, and a plethora of other topics. Moved on to a good glass of New Belgium's Old Cherry, then he introduced me to the owners of the deli, and we all chatted about good beers from Belgium, and we split a great bottle of Fantome, a Belgian Saison, with a remarkable nose and very drinkable mouthfeel.

After a meeting for volunteers for a local "Live at Lunch" show at the community radio, I went to Big City Burrito for the first time....that was awesome....
Basically, BCB is a homegrown version of Chipotle, only with better food and cheaper prices....Let me tell you, it hit the spot when your three sheets to the wind on good beer.

Passed out safe and sound at my place by 11:00 pm. I'm starting to get to know the city's layout a bit more. Love it.

More later.
-w-

Repost of first blog. (A new beginning)

To start off, I've moved to Fort Collins. This is more like a trial run than an actual move, just to see if I like it, and can bear not being around the good folk of Minot.

I left Minot about 10:00 am or so Monday, June 30 and spent a few hours in Bismarck bidding adieu to the parents, old friend Landon, and James, as even if I do return as originally scheduled in the third week of August, he'll have already moved to Minneapolis. Same reason for the week of inebriation/frolf with Matt and Andy (although they're going to Europe for 8 weeks or so. Jealousy!) prior to leaving.

On the way down here, three things immediately became apparent. One, I really should have gotten the AC checked out in my van. 87 degrees outside and not having any AC was hellish. And nekid. Two,I should've done more testing on the recently revived vehicle. 5 miles from the middle of nowhere, South Dakota, the van died. Granted, it started after it cooled down a bit, I think the fuel pump was going shitty, but it made for a few terse moments and choice words at that time....also happened outside of Spearfish, SD, twice. And lastly, frolf is a wonderful thing to do when you're on a long drive....it gets you out of the car and off your sore ass, walk for an hour or so, and loosen up the shoulders. Good times.

In Spearfish, there's a nice frolf course, on the Campus of Black Hills State University. Really, it's pretty great. I, for the first time in a couple of weeks, brought out the whole bag of discs and threw something other than the Ontario Roc Matt and I picked up in Bismarck. It was fun throwing a driver and putter again, and I can really tell that my skills have improved overall due to the vow of driver chastity we took after being humbled by the Mandan course. I had probably my best throw of the season, quite possibly my life on the course....close to 80-90 feet with my Ontario Roc, off of my drive, right in the basket. Nice bird on a long 300ft par 3. Threw the full 18 with a group of guys I met on the course in the putting practice area, and played some HORSE with them to warm up, good times.

I took the rest of the drive pretty easy, nothing over 65mph, to save on fuel. A two hour nap at the Dwyer Junction Rest Area in Wyoming helped me finish up the trip, as did some coffee and Visine in Cheyenne. I must say I had some pretty awesome timing, however, as when I was pulling into FtC, the sun had just risen and set the mountains alight. Astounding visual added to the quiet morning and Radiohead's "Nude" from In Rainbows playing.

Today was nothing big, just drove around while Jeanette was at work, and it's good to spend time with the sister. Ate some pretty decent food at a local brewpup and quasi-enjoyed their sub-par and overall disappointing Pujabi Pale Ale. I just now stopped at a local liquor store and picked up my first good batch of beers:

Avery "MEPHISTOPHELE'S Stout" (Name besides, it's supposed to be astounding)
Westmalle Tripel - my celebratory beer tonight, I'm happy.
Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti Stout
Alaskan Amber - Andy and Matt have waxed on about how drinkable this is too much for me to pass up....
Victory Storm King Imperial Stout
Stone Ruination IPA

The store was out of Rochefort 8 and 10, so I couldn't grab a bottle of that, but you have to love looking at a hundred feet of different beers. Seriously. It's fun.
I'm going to finish setting up my room and crack a beer or three. This is going to be a fun summer. Next up, bike the multitudes of trails around here, frolf at least one of the courses, and hit up New Belgium for the first time. Pics will be somewhere, shortly. On another note..."Frolf" doesn't seem to be an accepted term here. The damn puritan bastards all call it Frisbee Golf. Strange. I would think that compounding of words would've started in such a liberal area. It's still frolf to me. Or Disc Golf if it's a really hard course. (read: Mandan)

-w-