Listen all a yall

Choose Your Own Adventure - Sabotage.

Suckers they be sayin they can take out Adam Horovitz.

Lifted from Ignored Prayers.

Weekend of Fun

Well it was a weekend of warm temperatures, firsts, and dead presidents.  Saturday we decided to keep the skiing momentum up and the family headed to the mountains.  Temps were in the 30s, the snow was soft, and the kids were feeling adventurous. They were loving the beginners terrain park again and this time with much more control and style.  Log rides were hit. Air was caught. Smiles were big.

Then on Sunday A--, the sassy lassie, decided it was time to start riding her bike on two wheels not four and we went on a little ride to show friends, E----- and S-----, how we roll.  Photos to come but here is our route.

Then on Monday Ry and I set out on our first ride of 2012.  A-- wasn't quite up for a big ride.  But she and I are going to start with some baby steps toward adventure.  The course was mostly frozen with a few soft spots where the sun had all day access.  Not bad for mid February.

ridin' with confidence

sunset beauty ruined by bad photography

Friday Music from the Other Elvis

So I've been on a Elvis Costello kick lately.  Well last night I was overwhelmed with a nostalgia for a mid-90s performance that I wanted to do a post about.  The clip in question was from Saturday Night Live where the Beastie Boys and Elvis Costello kicked out "Radio Radio" as an homage to EC's 79 performance of the same song.  Well I couldn't find the clip on You Tube but did find it elsewhere. It's grainy, cuts off at the end, and the performance isn't as good as the original or as my 18 year old self believed it to be, but it ain't all bad.

I couldn't figure out how to imbed the video so the link is here: Elvis Costello and the Beastie Boys.

As I was searching I found this and it tickled my fancy enough to include it here. 

 

I like Bruce.  His early stuff is deeply important to me but there is definetly something that sticks in my craw about him charging $80+ for concert tickets...That shit ain't right.  Anyway, the Boss, EC, Dave Grohl and well I could do with out little steven or whatever he calls himself, but the other three in a tribute to Joe Strummer after he died?  Chills.

Thanks for listening.  That is all.

This week's music is brought to you...

 by the letters R....A.....and D!

This was a fun find.  I could have spent hours watching classics like these.  I'll probably do this again.

Getting in with the outlaws

Well damn, it's Friday already and I haven't posted about last weekend's adventures.  We've been trying to keep the fire burning through this crappy, snow-less, soggy winter and this weekend we succeeded, big time.  First of all, big thanks goes out to my cousin S---, or as we like to call him, Big Oun the Red Baboon.  S--- was up in the north country to go skiing with his father in law, B---, and other in/out-laws. B--- is a post all in him self, and I'll tell that story at another time but let me say that the man was hit by a car while riding his bike just before Thanksgiving, he fractured his pelvis and broke some vertebrae, and this weekend he was putting in 7 hours of top to bottom runs.  Tough as nails!
We met up with the whole gang in Burlington on Saturday afternoon to enjoy some pizza and beers, at American Flatbread.  Significantly buzzed at 3 in the after noon is a great start to any adventure.  We parted ways and the kids and I got ready for an early morning departure for Smuggs to meet up with the outlaw crew.  Checking the weather we saw that it was going to be a bit brisk with highs below 10 F.

Sunday morning came and T--- left for that thing she had to do which would keep her from skiing today but she was surely going to meet us for skiing on Monday.  The kids and I eat breakfast and got ready, well I got ready the kids farted around, thwarting my every attempt to get them dressed and out the door.  I was starting to get frustrated with their dawdling and the crumbling expectation of my early start, but as I checked the weather I saw that they had the right idea.  It was 3 F on the mountain! What the hell was I rushing for when I had coffee, tunes, and a book.  We finally got up to the mountain around 1 p.m. and after a grand total of one run we were back in to warm up. One more attempt reviled that this was a fools errand and making the kids endure this boarded on abuse.  We headed back to outlaws hideout (condo) and proceeded to drink beer, slap hands, eat pizza, do puzzles, play with hand warmers, and tell fart jokes.  Anyhoo, many thanks go out to Mark (the time-share's owner and Bill's brother) for graciously letting us invade their party.

The kids and I spend the night in hopes we could get an early start at kickin ass and takin names the next day.  And on Monday that is just what we did.  The weather did a 180 reversal and at 8:30 am once we made the grueling 100 yard hike from the front door to the slopes it was in the mid-20s, the sun was shinning, and the snow was soft.  T--- joined us bright and early and the family had a great day on the slopes! The kids took their game to the next level and we finally made it to the top of the Mountain.  Eventually we found our way to the Morse Highlands side of things and the kids had a blast in the deserted beginners terrain park.  I was pretty laid back about the kids going into the park at first, thinking that they would be tentative about it and would just poke around.  Little did I know that they would tear ass down the park with little to no attempt to turn or check speed.  I had to tear after R-- and didn't catch him until we got to the bottom.  I was worried, knowing that his skills aren't developed for him to be gaining that type of speed and the thought of the concequences of a fall or running off the trail at that speed turns my stomach.  Needless to say I felt the need to rip into him and tell him he needed more control, but when I saw the smile on his face and he said, "did you see me dad?" I softened a little bit.  I still gave him the, "better slow down son" speech though.

Not to make this post any longer than it already is but it must be said that T--- is skilled at getting rad on the skis. She has improved 200% and it's been a pleasure being on the mountain with her.  I can't wait for February break when the kids go to visit the grand-rents and we get to have a little adult ski time together.  More beers followed apres. But sadly it was time to rejoin the real world.  Good times were had and led to this long rant.  Thanks for tuning in...That is all.

Friday Tunes: We're Closed!

For today's installment of Friday Tunes I give you Blue Button's We're Closed. I found this video on James Kochalka's cartoon diary, American Elf and I instantly fell in love with this tune. This bit of low-fi, high-energy rock took root in my soul and won't let go, and the video is pretty awesome too. I'm not sure if it's grainy feel is due to some effect of if it was actually shot on film but I love it none the less. I'll admit I've never heard of them before, but I haven't been paying attention to the local music scene that closely since the kids have come around. I'm guessing they are local since the video is obviously shot in Burlington. Anyway....Enjoy!

Skills

There are some skills that are important to learn no matter how infrequently you think you will use them.  Starting a fire is certainly one of them.  Doing laundry comes to mind.  The Pythagorean theorem is another.  Tying a tie is certainly one of these skills for a man.  I don't ware ties often but there are usually 3-4 occasions a year when I will, as they say, dress up.  When I was younger this meant pulling a wrinkly pair of khakis out of the drawer and throwing on a shirt with a collar.  As I get older I have learned to embrace these opportunities to class it up.  Tying the tie is something I learned from my dad and I can't help but think of him, and feel a touch of pride whenever I do it.  Without further ado, I give you the Windsor: