Give a listen!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Day 1 at Gaiam: We were supposed to have a mixer with our be-Dockered counterparts. We ended up getting there a half hour early, they got there a half hour late so the end result: I met two janitors and the guy who waters the plants (yes, that's his only job. He also talks to the plants).
It's not the worst setting in the world but at the same time, I miss my 5 minute bike commute and views of the flatirons. Luckily, I haven't had to break out the dockers just yet.
At some day in the distant future, museums will have mock-ups of the cubicle office world and amazed visitors will ponder how humans ever existed in such confining elements for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I still carry cube-scars from my netLibrary days, where we were stuffed into stimulus reversing, gray-walled closets and told to shut up and work (essentially). I vowed to avoid cubes at all cost in the future because they are bad for soul.
However, with our economy steadily circling the crapper, so to speak, the gravity of the cube overwhelms the freedom of an open work space.
While I'm not privy to the details, the bottom line is my company is moving from our awesome office here in Boulder to the cube world of far-away Louisville (roughly a 30-40 min commute with traffic). Yesterday we got the tour of our space, which is everything you don't want in an office: high-walled cubes, garish lighting, bland colors and lots and lots of unsmiling people in dockers. My space is in a storage closet.
While I'm not complaining about my job or even my co-workers, I'm not thrilled to be taking a step back into corporate America. I think back to the summer I wrote my book and how awesome that all was... writing in a tent, burning the midnightoil Jones Soda. But we'll see how it all goes... updates to come.
In other news:
* - Doesn't cubicle sound like one of the friendly allies of Q*Bert? Man, Q*Bert rules... I even had a plush Q*Bert as a kid!
* - Yesterday was a wash as I had the first migraine I've had in many, many moons. The move, work and the crazy heat out here don't help the cause. All I could do was pop Advil like candy and wait for sleep.
* - In gaming news, I'm almost done with Castlevania 3 expert mode. The later stages aren't drastically different and the boss battles are exactly the same (as far as I can tell). One cool change is the zombie monks that replace the classic wraiths that inhabit the first hallway of the Castlevania entrance. In CV3, the game reproduces the first level of Castlevania; in expert mode the wraiths are replace with zombie monks, who take two hits to destroy instead of one. They might actually be the same sprites used in CV 2 as the zombies in villages at night. I have two stages left to go, maybe I'll get to it tonight.
* - There was some drama with the guys who moved into my old apartment over the last few months, the worst being unleashed pit bulls and weird creeps visiting the place at all hours. After all is said and done, they are getting evicted today. I can't say I'm sad to see them go, especially since I've had to be extra careful with Xanadu and Mystic with their dogs off leash.
Well, I have ultimate frisbee tonight in the 100 degree heat (ugh) and I'm getting flat out cranky. Hopefully, I'll get out and play somewhere fun this weekend!
It's not the worst setting in the world but at the same time, I miss my 5 minute bike commute and views of the flatirons. Luckily, I haven't had to break out the dockers just yet.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
At some day in the distant future, museums will have mock-ups of the cubicle office world and amazed visitors will ponder how humans ever existed in such confining elements for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I still carry cube-scars from my netLibrary days, where we were stuffed into stimulus reversing, gray-walled closets and told to shut up and work (essentially). I vowed to avoid cubes at all cost in the future because they are bad for soul. However, with our economy steadily circling the crapper, so to speak, the gravity of the cube overwhelms the freedom of an open work space.
While I'm not privy to the details, the bottom line is my company is moving from our awesome office here in Boulder to the cube world of far-away Louisville (roughly a 30-40 min commute with traffic). Yesterday we got the tour of our space, which is everything you don't want in an office: high-walled cubes, garish lighting, bland colors and lots and lots of unsmiling people in dockers. My space is in a storage closet.
While I'm not complaining about my job or even my co-workers, I'm not thrilled to be taking a step back into corporate America. I think back to the summer I wrote my book and how awesome that all was... writing in a tent, burning the midnight
In other news:
* - Doesn't cubicle sound like one of the friendly allies of Q*Bert? Man, Q*Bert rules... I even had a plush Q*Bert as a kid!
* - Yesterday was a wash as I had the first migraine I've had in many, many moons. The move, work and the crazy heat out here don't help the cause. All I could do was pop Advil like candy and wait for sleep.
* - In gaming news, I'm almost done with Castlevania 3 expert mode. The later stages aren't drastically different and the boss battles are exactly the same (as far as I can tell). One cool change is the zombie monks that replace the classic wraiths that inhabit the first hallway of the Castlevania entrance. In CV3, the game reproduces the first level of Castlevania; in expert mode the wraiths are replace with zombie monks, who take two hits to destroy instead of one. They might actually be the same sprites used in CV 2 as the zombies in villages at night. I have two stages left to go, maybe I'll get to it tonight.
* - There was some drama with the guys who moved into my old apartment over the last few months, the worst being unleashed pit bulls and weird creeps visiting the place at all hours. After all is said and done, they are getting evicted today. I can't say I'm sad to see them go, especially since I've had to be extra careful with Xanadu and Mystic with their dogs off leash.
Well, I have ultimate frisbee tonight in the 100 degree heat (ugh) and I'm getting flat out cranky. Hopefully, I'll get out and play somewhere fun this weekend!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Some of you know of my interested in World War One history (modernist lit. with a focus on war lit. was my major in college) I present: So Quiet on the Canine Front!
Not much to report this week... just been busy with a whole bunch of little things. That's the way it goes sometimes! I'm not sure what's afoot for this weekend yet... mountain biking or something fun I'm sure. I'll have to recharge my witty batteries this weekend.
Check out my Mount Massive slideshow here!
Despite an imposing name and high profile, Colorado's Mount Massive is a friendly bloke of a mountain with a modest (but long) trail leading to its scenic summit. At 14,421 ft. Massive is the second highest mountain in Colorado behind Mount Elbert and the third highest mountain in the lower 48 states. I've been wanting to hike it ever since I first laid eyes on its impressive profile from the nearby town of Leadville. It's not a difficult hike; there's no technical parts on the standard trail and the route is well-signed. At roughly 14 miles round trip with about 4,400 feet of elevation gain, you're in for a long day (it took me just under 6 hours to complete the loop at a quick hiking pace).
Since I'm writing up a separate little piece on the experience, I'll limit the blog post and link to the big story when it's done.
Oh and when you check out the pictures, look at the cute little ptarmagin chicks! The mom was sitting on them like an umbrella and I didn't see the little ones till she got up and wobbled off the trail.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Not much to report this week... just been busy with a whole bunch of little things. That's the way it goes sometimes! I'm not sure what's afoot for this weekend yet... mountain biking or something fun I'm sure. I'll have to recharge my witty batteries this weekend.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Check out my Mount Massive slideshow here!
Despite an imposing name and high profile, Colorado's Mount Massive is a friendly bloke of a mountain with a modest (but long) trail leading to its scenic summit. At 14,421 ft. Massive is the second highest mountain in Colorado behind Mount Elbert and the third highest mountain in the lower 48 states. I've been wanting to hike it ever since I first laid eyes on its impressive profile from the nearby town of Leadville. It's not a difficult hike; there's no technical parts on the standard trail and the route is well-signed. At roughly 14 miles round trip with about 4,400 feet of elevation gain, you're in for a long day (it took me just under 6 hours to complete the loop at a quick hiking pace).
Since I'm writing up a separate little piece on the experience, I'll limit the blog post and link to the big story when it's done.
Oh and when you check out the pictures, look at the cute little ptarmagin chicks! The mom was sitting on them like an umbrella and I didn't see the little ones till she got up and wobbled off the trail.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
I had an impromptu book show in Denver at the REI Flagship last night. I was called upon to fill in for another Wilderness Press (my publisher) author who bailed on this show. I'm not sure why he bailed but missing out on the strongest demographic in the state of Colorado seems like a poor move! Because it was last minute, there was only about 8 people at the show AND the projector was broken but I was able to give it a go. All in all a good time, though the drive up to Denver in 94 degrees and no AC in the car was brutal.
So if you're like me, nothing is funnier than mascot bloopers (not mascot antics, which are generally lame). I often cite an erratically dancing Baltimore Oriole mascot eating it off the top of a dug out as an example of grade-A comedy. Without further adieu:
So if you're like me, nothing is funnier than mascot bloopers (not mascot antics, which are generally lame). I often cite an erratically dancing Baltimore Oriole mascot eating it off the top of a dug out as an example of grade-A comedy. Without further adieu:
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Well my Castlevania 3 progress update: cleared the game with Trevor (which essentially is the same thing I'll do with the other companions in tow). I noticed there is an expert mode as well, I may just give it a shot. There are different enemies and some stage variations but I think you get the same endings. There's only two ways to find out: actually do it or the refer to the Interwebz!!
Tonight is frisbee--this may be the first game in 5 weeks that we have close to a full roster. Because we always seem to have just enough players (or less) we haven't won yet but we do have a good team when we show up (in fact, the only game we were winning was when we had 5 on 7 deficit--as soon as two more people came and it was 7 on 7 we began losing). One thing to note: our team color is green. I think we should change it to red. It's more aggressive not to mention being easier to see on green fields.
Also, I'm hoping to get out and do something great this weekend: any ideas? :)
Tonight is frisbee--this may be the first game in 5 weeks that we have close to a full roster. Because we always seem to have just enough players (or less) we haven't won yet but we do have a good team when we show up (in fact, the only game we were winning was when we had 5 on 7 deficit--as soon as two more people came and it was 7 on 7 we began losing). One thing to note: our team color is green. I think we should change it to red. It's more aggressive not to mention being easier to see on green fields.
Also, I'm hoping to get out and do something great this weekend: any ideas? :)
Monday, July 07, 2008
As far back as I can remember, this 3-day holiday weekend was the first time I've had no work obligations in years! No freelance work, no big assignments for the office, just 3 free days to follow my fancy. I can tell it was long overdue because despite not doing anything "big" in my free time, it feels like I've been off for a month.
The only black cloud, literally, was the fact the weather in the mountains wasn't great for any hiking or mountain climbing. Originally I had planned on heading to Kenosha Pass to mountain bike and then hike Mount Massive but both Saturday and Sunday had storms forecast in the early morning. Thunderstorms are a daily occurrence in the mountains but usually don't roll in until around 1:30-2:00 PM. I decided to nix my high country aspirations, which ended up being the right move (though had I shlumped it down to Aspen/Crested Butte area I probably would have been ok).
Friday was the glorious 4th of July, the say where we celebrate the Declaration of Independence being signed for two days. I started off by hitting up the huge network of mountain bike trails in Nederland. The West Magnolia Trailhead opens up tons of fun rides, mostly fast singletrack with a few mixed technical aspects and lots of steep dirt roads to climb. There's also abandoned mines, ghost towns and hippie communes hiding in the woods so there's always something to see. One can easily enjoy 4-5 hours of riding without encountering the same trail twice. I rode well but felt I wasn't on my A-game (more on this later).
On the drive back to Boulder, I had one of those moments we all secretly hope for; summoning a cop on demand to deal with an idiot motorist. A jerk motorcycle rider was honking his horn at me as I drove 25 MPH through town-- the posted speed limit. Anyone who has been to Nederland knows the cops enforce this with ridiculous efficiency (plus it's only a short section of town) so I wasn't about to speed up for some punk on a crotch rocket. Predictably, the dude decides to pass me on a double-yellow and catch up to his other motorcycle friend in front of me. Bad call--because of course, the cops were waiting (and on the 4th of July weekend, what worse time to try an illegal maneuver!) As the cop pulled up to the two bikers, the guy who hadn't done ANYTHING wrong shot away at about 80 MPH up the canyon and the cop followed him. His buddy (the guy who passed me) did the honorable thing and sped away in the opposite direction. I don't know what happened in the end, but both bikes had license plates that the cop had more than enough time to get down--plus the cop cars have cameras in them in Nederland. I don't care either way but it was sort of fun to watch the drama unfold.
On the night of the 4th, Sheila came over to watch fireworks from my balcony and enjoy some good and relatively healthy food. As the ultimate guy sacrifice, I allowed Sheila to watch as much "What Not to Wear" as she liked, since I don't think she has whatever cable station it is on at her house (Lifetime?) When the fireworks finally started, we migrated out to a field near my apartment since trees were blocking the balcony view. Good stuff with the exception of the 600 mosquito bites.
When the sun goes down, the nerds come out. I've been working on my fun little NES completion project at night. Thursday and Friday saw me take care of Bionic Commando, a game that is actually much better than I remember. Not only does it have unique and intuitive gameplay, the "light-action RPG" elements give it something of an epic feel. And how can you not love a game where your final enemy is a towering, shirtless Adolf Hitler whom you defeat by shooting in the face with a bazooka? The graphic description of watching Hitler's face "explod", complete with bloody gore, is probably the most graphic display of violence on the normally family-friendly NES.
Next on the gaming hit-list was Castlevania 3, a big project since fully completing the game requires one to playthrough it all with 4 different character set-ups. As much of a classic as CV3 is, the spirit companions are mostly extraneous except for a few rare instances. It's also a tough game, more difficult than the previous two NES games in the series. After a weekend of playing here and there, I'm at the next-to-last stage with all four possible scenarios (solo and paired with either Syfa, Grant or Alucard). Outside of a few tedious stage sections (IE waiting for blocks to drop from the sky to form a staircase) it's an excellent game.
Saturday was ultra-productive. I changed the oil in my car, cleaned up a bit around the house, took Xanadu for a long walk and deep-cleaned my bike. I headed out to Heil Ranch for a ride in the evening but heavy rain hit just as I got to the trailhead. I'm not opposed to riding in the rain but here in the dry climate, riding wet trails really trashes them. I headed home, played a little Castlevania 3 and relaxed.
Sunday I got an early start by riding Walker Ranch in the morning. I was excited to get out because I've been reading a book called Mastering Mountain Bike Skills that has really helped my riding. This time I was armed with my A game as well as an awareness of improvements I need to make in my riding style. Don't hit the brakes in a turn, it makes the bike stand up. Lay off the brakes and let the bike flow and only brake on straight sections. Keep the upper body relaxed and hit jumps with more speed. Go back and re-try sections you don't get through cleanly. Lean forward a bit on steep, rocky climbs if your front tire is getting bounced. And so on.
Overall, I was very happy with my riding--I was more aggressive and relaxed at the same time. I retried some sections to get them faster or with more finesse. The only hiccup was flubbing a tricky drop that I had nailed for first time the last time I rode Walker. The drop in question has two main lines, a "chicken line" to the left which I had done dozens of times and a more gutsy "right-down-the-middle" line (which I've gotten down once). It was starting to rain and the rock was slick so before I could even set up the line, my bike slid off-line and I had a minor wipeout. No big deal though, since any technical riding in the rain isn't a great idea. As I finished the mile-long climb out, lightning began to close in and the bellows of thunder were a great motivator. The rain was getting heavy and I felt bad for the dozens of people I had seen out on the trail who were still in it.
I got back home to Boulder, where it was sunny and bright despite the storms raging just above town. I caught the end of the impressive Nadal-Federererererer match at Wimbledon, then spent the rest of the evening organizing my gear and watching Manny Ramirez and the Red Sox sit there with their bats on their shoulders while a weak Yankees team made 'em look bad. I noodled a bit on the guitar, enjoyed some quality Jones soda and called it a night.
It makes me look forward to that moment in time when I have a "real" vacation!
The only black cloud, literally, was the fact the weather in the mountains wasn't great for any hiking or mountain climbing. Originally I had planned on heading to Kenosha Pass to mountain bike and then hike Mount Massive but both Saturday and Sunday had storms forecast in the early morning. Thunderstorms are a daily occurrence in the mountains but usually don't roll in until around 1:30-2:00 PM. I decided to nix my high country aspirations, which ended up being the right move (though had I shlumped it down to Aspen/Crested Butte area I probably would have been ok).
Friday was the glorious 4th of July, the say where we celebrate the Declaration of Independence being signed for two days. I started off by hitting up the huge network of mountain bike trails in Nederland. The West Magnolia Trailhead opens up tons of fun rides, mostly fast singletrack with a few mixed technical aspects and lots of steep dirt roads to climb. There's also abandoned mines, ghost towns and hippie communes hiding in the woods so there's always something to see. One can easily enjoy 4-5 hours of riding without encountering the same trail twice. I rode well but felt I wasn't on my A-game (more on this later).On the drive back to Boulder, I had one of those moments we all secretly hope for; summoning a cop on demand to deal with an idiot motorist. A jerk motorcycle rider was honking his horn at me as I drove 25 MPH through town-- the posted speed limit. Anyone who has been to Nederland knows the cops enforce this with ridiculous efficiency (plus it's only a short section of town) so I wasn't about to speed up for some punk on a crotch rocket. Predictably, the dude decides to pass me on a double-yellow and catch up to his other motorcycle friend in front of me. Bad call--because of course, the cops were waiting (and on the 4th of July weekend, what worse time to try an illegal maneuver!) As the cop pulled up to the two bikers, the guy who hadn't done ANYTHING wrong shot away at about 80 MPH up the canyon and the cop followed him. His buddy (the guy who passed me) did the honorable thing and sped away in the opposite direction. I don't know what happened in the end, but both bikes had license plates that the cop had more than enough time to get down--plus the cop cars have cameras in them in Nederland. I don't care either way but it was sort of fun to watch the drama unfold.
On the night of the 4th, Sheila came over to watch fireworks from my balcony and enjoy some good and relatively healthy food. As the ultimate guy sacrifice, I allowed Sheila to watch as much "What Not to Wear" as she liked, since I don't think she has whatever cable station it is on at her house (Lifetime?) When the fireworks finally started, we migrated out to a field near my apartment since trees were blocking the balcony view. Good stuff with the exception of the 600 mosquito bites.
When the sun goes down, the nerds come out. I've been working on my fun little NES completion project at night. Thursday and Friday saw me take care of Bionic Commando, a game that is actually much better than I remember. Not only does it have unique and intuitive gameplay, the "light-action RPG" elements give it something of an epic feel. And how can you not love a game where your final enemy is a towering, shirtless Adolf Hitler whom you defeat by shooting in the face with a bazooka? The graphic description of watching Hitler's face "explod", complete with bloody gore, is probably the most graphic display of violence on the normally family-friendly NES.
Next on the gaming hit-list was Castlevania 3, a big project since fully completing the game requires one to playthrough it all with 4 different character set-ups. As much of a classic as CV3 is, the spirit companions are mostly extraneous except for a few rare instances. It's also a tough game, more difficult than the previous two NES games in the series. After a weekend of playing here and there, I'm at the next-to-last stage with all four possible scenarios (solo and paired with either Syfa, Grant or Alucard). Outside of a few tedious stage sections (IE waiting for blocks to drop from the sky to form a staircase) it's an excellent game. Saturday was ultra-productive. I changed the oil in my car, cleaned up a bit around the house, took Xanadu for a long walk and deep-cleaned my bike. I headed out to Heil Ranch for a ride in the evening but heavy rain hit just as I got to the trailhead. I'm not opposed to riding in the rain but here in the dry climate, riding wet trails really trashes them. I headed home, played a little Castlevania 3 and relaxed.
Sunday I got an early start by riding Walker Ranch in the morning. I was excited to get out because I've been reading a book called Mastering Mountain Bike Skills that has really helped my riding. This time I was armed with my A game as well as an awareness of improvements I need to make in my riding style. Don't hit the brakes in a turn, it makes the bike stand up. Lay off the brakes and let the bike flow and only brake on straight sections. Keep the upper body relaxed and hit jumps with more speed. Go back and re-try sections you don't get through cleanly. Lean forward a bit on steep, rocky climbs if your front tire is getting bounced. And so on. Overall, I was very happy with my riding--I was more aggressive and relaxed at the same time. I retried some sections to get them faster or with more finesse. The only hiccup was flubbing a tricky drop that I had nailed for first time the last time I rode Walker. The drop in question has two main lines, a "chicken line" to the left which I had done dozens of times and a more gutsy "right-down-the-middle" line (which I've gotten down once). It was starting to rain and the rock was slick so before I could even set up the line, my bike slid off-line and I had a minor wipeout. No big deal though, since any technical riding in the rain isn't a great idea. As I finished the mile-long climb out, lightning began to close in and the bellows of thunder were a great motivator. The rain was getting heavy and I felt bad for the dozens of people I had seen out on the trail who were still in it.
I got back home to Boulder, where it was sunny and bright despite the storms raging just above town. I caught the end of the impressive Nadal-Federererererer match at Wimbledon, then spent the rest of the evening organizing my gear and watching Manny Ramirez and the Red Sox sit there with their bats on their shoulders while a weak Yankees team made 'em look bad. I noodled a bit on the guitar, enjoyed some quality Jones soda and called it a night.
It makes me look forward to that moment in time when I have a "real" vacation!
Thursday, July 03, 2008
First off, congrats to Paul Bartok for scaling the imposing (flat) summit of Mount Sunflower, the highest point in Kansas! Despite the intimidating name and umm, plain-ness, he's added another state highpoint to his tally. If I'm not mistaken, I think Mount Sunflower is the only highpoint I've actually camped upon. Paul Lenhart joined me on that trip; I'll have to hunt for a picture (note the hippo shot below is NOT Paul Lenhart in Kansas).
Speaking of Paul Lenhart and his Colombian heritage, if you get a chance to do some reading online check out the latest version of Good Nature (the online news mag I have editorial duties for). I wrote the piece on Pablo's Hippos, a fascinating tale of African pygmy hippos that were brought to drug lord Pablo Escobar's private zoo in the 1980s. After he was brought down and his palatial estate fell into ruin, most of the zoo animals were reclaimed by local zoos or perished, but the hippos evaded capture and began to flourish--and they are still there today!
Plus going to Good Nature increases traffic and makes me look good!
Finally, I hope everyone has a fun holiday weekend! I'm not 100% sure what I have going on yet but hopefully something awesome in the mountains.
Speaking of Paul Lenhart and his Colombian heritage, if you get a chance to do some reading online check out the latest version of Good Nature (the online news mag I have editorial duties for). I wrote the piece on Pablo's Hippos, a fascinating tale of African pygmy hippos that were brought to drug lord Pablo Escobar's private zoo in the 1980s. After he was brought down and his palatial estate fell into ruin, most of the zoo animals were reclaimed by local zoos or perished, but the hippos evaded capture and began to flourish--and they are still there today! Plus going to Good Nature increases traffic and makes me look good!
Finally, I hope everyone has a fun holiday weekend! I'm not 100% sure what I have going on yet but hopefully something awesome in the mountains.
