working progress

Grand Closing

2010-08-08T06:55:00.005-04:00

It's been a great ride, blogger. For the past 5 years I've been posting randomness to you, but it's time to shift gears and step it up.

RIP Plate-techtonics.blogspot.com......feel free to come check out www.benrussell.tv
Lot of bugs i'm still working out, but all the old posts from here are there now, and that's where im going to continue posting work+adventures.

It's definitely still a construction zone over there, so don't judge too harshly- html isn't my forte....

Benrussell.tv.
or
www.ben-russell.com

Mt Jefferson Loop

2010-07-28T12:37:00.003-04:00

With an inclination to get out of the Boston area and to go climb on some rocks is what led me up Mt Jefferson yesterday. Woke up at 6am and decided I wanted to get out, so I hit the road by 630, and 180 miles later, I was at the trailhead in Jefferson Notch.
The above shot is about a mile or so up the trail when you finally pass treeline. The parking area is the highest for a trailhead in NH, so it doesn't take very long.
This part of the hike was going up the Caps Ridge Trail, and it like a hiking highway- I'd hate to see it on a weekend day....

Even on this very used trail, there are some sections that require a little more than your average hiker may be expecting. Some easy scrambling over large boulders- I ran into a man who was pushing his 80's it looked like when I was about .4 miles to the top.

These are the castles that the hike refers to, going up the caps ridge trail. I thought that perhaps these were just caps, and the other ridge had the castles, but i haven't gotten a second opinion on that one yet. Since it was pretty busy on the way up, I didn't hang around and look at these as much as I would've liked to.

The above shot is a man working his way up the rock face. I was glad to be wearing my sneakers that have rock climbing soles on them, i find they grip more reliably on rocks then vibram soles do, which are on most hiking boots. I pretty much walked right up this face in the above shot.

This tower and building in the distance is the summit of Mt Washington.

Around this part of the hike my camera decided it was too tired to go on, which was a shame, because my descent on the Castle Trail was much more enjoyable than my ascent was. I scarcely saw any hikers, and the trail was much more challenging in some areas. I had a couple camera worthy moments when I sat ontop of one of the castles, but they'll be there next time i hike it.

Dogs Vs Cats

2010-07-17T08:09:00.003-04:00

After SLICED wrapped up/got cut off short, I moved onto a new project for Powderhouse called Dogs VS Cats. It's an hour long, one episode deal that premieres on July 24th at 8pm on Animal Planet. Here's the website link:
http://animal.discovery.com/tv/dogs-vs-cats/

I developed the graphic look for the show- the open, the logo, the lower thirds, the scoring. My friend and co-graphics worker named Dave Strand did some history animations as well that are pretty damn funny.

Did a lot of this in cinema4D, and outputted it to After Effects for all the score changes.

Presently I'm puppy sitting while my parents are off on a european vacation, and ive been brought back into Hasbro for some more graphics work.

Oh yeah- and i'm getting married next summer, so we're doing a lot of planning for that.

Also: The Playskool Webisodes (or Playskool VIgnettes, for a more eloquent term) received two Telly awards- one Silver for Online Content-Infomercial, and a Bronze for Online Content-Brand Campaign Identity. If anyone actually follows this blog, they would remember a post from last year about this project. Originally it was a pop-up book idea, and then it morphed into me doing medical animations and the graphics package for all the episodes. Found that out recently when I went back to hasbro. Interesting....

SLICED- Toilet Clip

2010-05-08T13:32:00.002-04:00

SLICED premiered on the History Channel on April 22nd, 2010. This clip is from the Bathrooms episodes, which I'm not sure if it's hit the air yet, but it's an example of some graphics I've done for the show. A lot of the early episodes- 1 through 3, were done before I got working on the show. This clip has a pretty quick and easy 3D earth fly around to show weather patterns change depending on if their in the northern or southern hemisphere. This episode has a lot more bathroom animations I worked my way through as well.

Right now I've been working on the Bowling episode, and came up with a pretty cool after effects animation of a pinsetter....

School Scrabble

2010-05-08T13:14:00.002-04:00

It's been a long time coming on this one. Links to the 4 video's live here. A little background: After the Playskool Webisodes concluded, I was eager to keep working in Cinema 4D and this was a perfect opportunity to do that with Scrabble as a subject. I did all the graphics on these four videos, all starting with the intro, then built the whole look from there. Working with an editor named Kevin Brewster, I supplied him backgrounds, transitions, wipes- the works, and he cut them all together.

These pieces feel like eons ago now- really I'm just glad though that they finally went online so I could do a post here on them, even for just archival purposes only. These videos also mark the beginning of Orphan Boy's rise to stardom (featured in these videos as the kid with the cabby hat on). In one of these videos he points at the camera and says "don't forget about those hot spots!" I put him in a starburst, laughing my ass off, totally expecting that to not make it into these. Well it did alright, and even though it probably won't make anyone laugh as much as it did us,

Boston: From My Roof

2010-04-18T15:05:00.003-04:00

Boston: From My Roof from ben russell on Vimeo.

This is something really simple I did a few weekends ago. The photo was taken from my roof. I duped it, put some distance between the two, added some fractal noise in between the two. Aside from that there's the burns and the film scratches, but not a lot to it really. Quick and easy.

Here's the photo I took and used below:

Reflective and Refractive Blocks Tutorial

2010-04-17T14:43:00.003-04:00

Reflective and Refractive Glass Blocks Tutorial from ben russell on Vimeo.

I found this tutorial at Grey Scale Gorilla's tutorial site and made one today. The playback on this is kinda choppy, might have to look into that.

http://greyscalegorilla.com/blog/2010/04/reflective-and-refractive-glass-block-tutorial-part-1-cinema-4d/

SLICED premieres this thursday at 10pm on the History Channel. I didn't do any of the graphics for that first episode, my contributions will begin on the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th i think- there's 20 altogether, and I've been working on about 5 in the last month.

I should probably look into getting the History Channel...

Playskool: More Than Play Webisodes

2010-04-03T10:13:00.004-04:00

This post is to finally acknowledge something that I started the end of last September, and finished sometime in January. Initially it was pitched by the executive producer as a pop-up book style, so my first 2 weeks on the project was working to R&D the look they wanted for the pop-up book, and the result was the above still image- part of an animation that's roughly 20 seconds long for an intro. Worked on that with another graphics guy, that I also happen to do a lot of snowboarding with, named Matt Armstrong. After the R&D period he left it up to me, and the meetings that followed turned into an ordeal/training of sorts to really figure out the best way to convey the message Playskool wanted. The project morphed into something else entirely- they wanted it faster paced, so we met those demands. I got with an editor named Kevin Brewster, and he went through the process of finding the absolute best pieces of footage, and worked it all into the moving frames look it has now. My role in this was now the intro/outro graphics, and all the medical animations.

A lot of the work I do I forget to post, because when it finally goes on air, or online, it's been awhile, and I'm always on to the next one by that point. Maybe I'm posting this for historical purposes then, just to have it down here as something I worked on. What it comes down to is that these vignettes were a bear to get right, but they were very informative in both how to convey things in a simplistic fashion without going too in detail, because truth be told I am not a medical animator, and didn't have time to do this as scientifically accurate as some of the animations definitely called for.

Still on my list of stuff to post when it becomes available- some School Scrabble videos (4 of them) I did with the same editor as the Playskool Webisodes (Kevin) and the project I'm working on now- SLICED for the History Channel.
Here's the link to the Playskool though,

http://www.hasbro.com/playskool/en_US/discover/more-than-play/vignette-videos.cfm>stuff

I'm Still Here...

2010-03-10T07:12:00.003-05:00

...Another update to my WTF cube. Playing with layering textures lately, trying to get some decent results. Doing all of this in Cinema 4D. Below is a screenshot test still i saved from my updated reel layout. Got a decent intro to it going, but haven't had a chance to finish it off and take it further. Starting some new work next week, so im sure by the time im looking to re-do my reel again ill be thinking of something totally different...

All those red screens in the monitors can be replaced in after effects pretty simply after the workflow is all figured out.
Everything gets simple once the workflow gets figured out actually.....

You Still Here?

2010-03-05T17:13:00.002-05:00

..because I sure wasn't.
Been doing the hasbro gfx thing a lot, about to start some new work for a history channel show.
here's some wtf cubes i made today while exploring texturing.

Exploding Rings Desktop

2009-11-07T05:25:00.002-05:00

Here's my latest desktops i made in c4d. They are stills from an animation of those rings spinning around and then shattering. The second one took like 25 minutes to render just that frame. The first one was a little faster, but not much. I opted not to render out the entire animation. At least not yet.

Working From Home

2009-11-01T05:48:00.002-05:00

It's been a long time coming that I've been working towards having an efficient working setup from home. The past 5 years or more I've been using the laptop on my desk for all my design and video work, and that made sense since I was moving around a lot back then. This new setup will allow me to take work home from time to time (especially of late since I've been sick off and on.)

Last weekend the nyc crew came up to see our new apt, go bowling, and eat bbq. The last day they were here we started making a music video. I think the video was cooler than the song, but neither was really finished, and perhaps maybe I'll post the whole thing. Until then, this still says more than enough.

Desktops, Snow, Sickness...

2009-10-21T11:56:00.003-04:00

An odd flu-like sickness has put me down the last couple days. Lotta couch time, and some illustrator when i'm in the mood. I've been working the last few months straight on these medical animations, so no time for anything to put online of my own, animation wise.

A second monitor arrived yesterday, and I should be getting a desktop in the next few weeks. In the future I might animate some of the desktops i've made, but as it is my laptop chokes to do as much that it already does.

Last weekend it snowed, big fluffy flakes, for most of the day. Being that it's october, it melts as soon as it hits. Still has me thinking on the winter though.

This one I did today. It was inspired from this lookout cabin trip i did. More shots from mountain biking on that mountain located here.

But Wait- There's More!

2009-09-20T16:45:00.002-04:00

Free desktops to fit a 1920x1080 monitor resolution, for anyone who's interested.

Changing my desktop has become routine, akin to vacuuming i suppose. Since I do this stuff for a living, making my own is the only way to go. Here are two recent desktops, and I suppose the last post of the photo from my roof falls into this same category.

I made the abstract one in illustrator, and the grass one in pshop.

It is what it is...

From the Roof

2009-09-20T13:37:00.002-04:00

New place, similar story.

4th of July Photos

2009-07-20T10:54:00.005-04:00

I used to come to Boston with the whole fam in my younger days for the 4th, and we'd hang out on the blanket all day waiting for the fireworks. So there was some reminiscent familiarity while walking through it all, but mostly after cruising through i was good to leave and stay away from all of it. Above is Storrow drive, closed for traffic, open to walking.

Although this makes perfect sense to advertise, too see it written out is kinda funny/odd...

The hatch shell is the hive of the nest/festivities. I ended up walking to it, and walking back subsequently after, wondering the whole time why i walked to see it in the first place. The journey was more the point of the trip, but I get anxious when I feel like human cattle, all moving at the same pace. There was a lot of interesting human activity going on that was worth photographing, but it was too busy to stop all that cattle and take photos.

Generally people find places next to the river and camp out for the day, roping off their sections and leaving one or two people there to hold down the spot while the others join the cattle in walking around. This rare section where no one was sitting was because the long stretch of porta-potties were next to this area. Who wants to watch fireworks and listen to 50+ people go to the bathroom?

But truthfully I was just killing time down there with my photo journey- my real aim was to meet up with my old college roomate Pooba and his wife Melissa. They were on a east coast bus roadtrip with the whole clan- both her and his families. They must all be very close and enjoy each others companies- how many people could swing that trip? I think the bus ride in itself is a lot to ask. So the graveyard above is in the Common, and it had always been locked in the past when I was taking classes down there, and I knew hundreds of people who were dug up when they built the subways through there had been buried in a mass grave in there, along with a lot of other wealthier denizens of old Boston. So I wasted some time here taking photos...

Eventually I met up with Pooba and Melissa, but we pretty much just went out to eat a lot and their trip was short, so no photos of all of us. Maybe next time- no, till next time....

Fresh Animations

2009-06-26T19:36:00.002-04:00

Random Animations from ben russell on Vimeo.

Working freelance provides both money and work in lumps at a time. On the flipside, there's the times, that also come in lumps, where you don't work, and money doesn't come in for awhile. That's how it goes, I suppose.

What do I do with myself during these off times? Well, I've found that some people use their time to get their business cards in order to better market themselves to potential job opportunities. I have no such interest in doing that kind of stuff, so I read tutorials online, and make animations, to get better at what I do...

Here's a random assortment of animations I've made in the last few weeks. Some were from tutorials, and there's a few random things I did for work in there- some roto jobs I did- the one at the end was a back to the future knock-off for some internal video, and the other is a car hitting a wall, but the walls/floor were the incorrect color.

I'll post more of these as they come up. Maybe eventually I can post some of the larger projects I've done, when they actually go public....

Happy Fathers Day

2009-06-22T08:39:00.003-04:00

It was nice to be around yesterday for Fathers Day, first time I have been in years...
Above is the card I gave to him, made it the morning before. Sometimes we work best under pressure...

Roadtrip Animation- Mass to Montana 2005

2009-06-06T07:31:00.002-04:00

Roadtrip 2005- Mass to Montana from ben russell on Vimeo.

Like a bird, I suppose, I used to seasonally migrate between summers out east in Mass and NYC to live out in Montana in the winter times. The drive used to be an endurance test, and generally I enjoyed them for the most part. I would go alone, drive straight from Mass to Chicago, which was around 24 hours, then hang out there for a few days. Then I'd go straight from Chicago to Montana, which is also around 24 hours. During the voyage, I would sleep in the back of my car at rest stops when I needed a couple hours of rest, but never in motels, because I knew I wouldn't sleep long anyways.

Those trips used to give me a chance to reconnect with old friends across the country twice a year, which was something I really enjoyed about them. Around here you can read my original post(s) about the trip.

The technique I used in animating these photos is the same one I used in the Morphing Hands video, using the pixel motion frame blending technique in after effects.

Mr. Lee comes for a Visit

2009-05-19T09:43:00.005-04:00

The last time I'd seen Mr. Lee was in Montana two years ago. He flew into Boston, a place he'd never been before, and we made the usual New England Tour. This is him on the cliff walk in Newport, RI.

Here's Mr. Lee again, taking a photo of a duck I think, or maybe it was a Canadian Geese?

We walked by the Museum of Fine Arts, but didn't stop in, because there's a really cool museum a little further down, that was unfortunately closed that day. Here is a massive baby head that's out front.

This is the two of us down in Newport. Lee was taking a photo of some thing, probably a boat, and I'm imitating his camera face. Everybody puts out their camera face when taking photos, I'm trying to bring attention to that with this photo.

The Barking Crab is such a cool name, I really wanted Lee to get a piece of memorabilia from this establishment, but he wasn't budging. Seafood really became the item of choice for consumption on Lee's trip, and I'm good with not eating any of it for awhile now that he's gone.

Two more shots of Newport here, one is of a mansion on the cliff walk, and the other is some random one that says "Lobsta & Crabs". I couldn't pass it up.

The Celtics were playing the night we got back from Newport, and while we were discussing which restaurant we wanted to go to to watch the game, we decided to just take a stroll down to the Bank North Garden and see if we could get tickets. The whole time we were doubtful, but there was still seats available. So the two of us got to sit with some seriously die hard Boston fans (who probably weren't even paying attention to basketball a few years ago) and eat some cheese dogs+drink some beers way above watching some NBA finals Bball. Too bad they lost the series, but not that game!

I unfortunately didn't get any pics from when the nyc crew came through at the beginning of Lee's trip, however I don't think photos or words could summarize that whole experience....

Search Bar

2009-04-21T12:08:00.001-04:00

"Search Bar: Imagine a not-too-distant future, where a person’s movements can be accessed via a search bar, and illustrated with current public mapping technologies."

This was a project I recently finished for my studies in digital media class. I was interested in topics surrounding surveillance.

East Coast Snowboarding

2009-03-29T14:57:00.002-04:00

It pales in comparison regarding number of days on the hill, but I've had a pretty good winter this year, taking my new location into account. Yesterday was my fifth day out this season, and all of the days have been fun ones out there. It's been a great mix of fun people to ride with and decent mountains. Nothing has compared to Big Sky in size or pow days, but I've had some fresh snow days out east here, along with some great warm sunny ones too.
Work has been busy. Every day I've been creating new projects at work that will be used either internally in the company or will get used on television at some point. Skills have been increasing, so work has stayed challenging + exciting.

These two photos are from a few weeks ago up at Jay Peak with a two co-workers and my lil cousin. I'd love to ride Jay on a pow day because they have a lot of tree runs, but this day out was pretty fun, aside from the packed bus ride up there.

Sometime in the not-too-distant future I'll post up another video- maybe something combining a few different small pieces I've been doing at home, and maybe even a few things I've done at work with that.

Camera Flies Around Lone Peak

2009-03-03T08:51:00.003-05:00

Big Sky- Camera Fly Around from ben russell on Vimeo.
This is the first installment of my work in computer animation for a class I'm taking right now. I built Lone Peak in Maya, then added the sky and intro titles at home in After Effects. Later versions of this project will include more of the mountains in the area.

Morphing Hands

2009-02-26T07:24:00.002-05:00

Morphing Hands from ben russell on Vimeo.

Late last night I was looking around online and came across this site and liked some of the hand gesture illustrations. I liked not only the gestures but the textures, and how they looked quickly drawn. Then I remembered this tutorial and wanted to see how fast I could complete this, sorta like a challenge for myself. Here's the results from my Morphing Hands project. After I morphed them, I looped it 6 times so it runs 12 seconds long, and also threw a starglow effect on it, but not too much...

Zero Gravity Terrain Park Video- Snippet

2009-02-23T11:48:00.002-05:00

Zero Gravity Terrain Park- Snippet from ben russell on Vimeo.
Earlier this past summer I posted an edit with some footage from the Zero Gravity Terrain Park at Moonlight Basin, in Big Sky Montana. Since I've been pushing my knowledge of motion graphics and I still had all that footage, I decided to contact the parks designer and re-use some of that footage to create...well...something like this.

This is just the end snippet, like 10 seconds long, but it's along the lines of what I'm doing for the video.

Mapping Project for Studies in Digital Media

2009-02-23T11:23:00.005-05:00

Studies in Digital Media is a class I'm taking this semester, and the group assignment is one utilizing google maps, where we pick an aspect of city life to map and then all compile the results. Our project is for public art, and on the map we're going to differentiate between active/passive sites where activity/participation is occurring with the sites.

One thing I realized while walking around taking these photos this morning is that summer may be a better time to really diagnose these sites as they are, since the winter/spring in which we're in may be a more dormant time for catching people interacting with these pieces.

Some are definitely corporate by nature/location, and others seem more forgotten about. That's the aspect of this project I'm really interested in- forgotten public arts that have awkward placement, or just seem to have been forgotten about. There are a lot of murals I can think of around the vicinity that are such that, but traveling to them requires a vehicle, so I hope to get those in before Thursday nights class.

After I add these into our google map I'll post an edit that links to the project.

Umbrellas In The Snow

2009-01-29T11:33:00.004-05:00

Transplanting from a mountain/resort town culture to an urban one has dealt a lot of curiosities my way this winter, especially in regards to snow. Big Sky Montana, to my knowledge, has never seen the likes of a city-goer using an umbrella as if it would assist in any way during a snow storm, yet around Boston this is a fairly common occurrence.

In searching for an appropriate image for this post, I also realized that other cities have this phenomenon occur as well, and even the new york times (where i found this image actually) wrote an article about this here.

Last night an umbrella would have served a solid purpose, however, since it was more of an ice-rain than anything else, and all the sidewalks were streams with frozen underbelly's. Treacherous, soaked walking was something similar to hiking in the spring time out in Montana...

More as things develop...

The Check is in the Mail!

2009-01-10T22:40:00.003-05:00

There's been a lot of downtime, with the holiday season going on. A lot of waiting for emails, waiting for phone calls, and waiting at the mailbox. This downtime has been increasingly productive, as I just now fixed the bathroom door so it won't creep shut slowly all the time. Other various things I'm occupied with also, like watching the snow fall, and the people digging their cars out.

It's been a pretty low-key holiday season in these parts. Not what I'm used too...

2008: Motion Graphics Reel

2008-12-16T16:36:00.004-05:00

2008 Reel: Motion Graphics from ben russell on Vimeo.
As 2008 draws to a conclusion, I put together a demo reel of the best couple seconds of a lot of projects i've done over the past few months. It's pretty amazing where I was a year ago, compared to now.

EDIT: On the last few days of the year I took suggestions to change the intro part to my reel. Same piece, new beginning+music.

The Tree Of Life

2008-12-09T16:09:00.003-05:00

Tree Of Life from ben russell on Vimeo.
This piece is along a thread of interest that began sometime in my undergraduate years and has carried through. I always knew I wanted to make some work that involved some of the metaphysical/spiritual aspects of religion, but with all the material it's hard to focus on one aspect. I did this piece, at this moment because I kind of wanted to get it off my chest in order to move forward and do some different things, but for now this will be what I'll submit as my final version for my motion graphics class.

1999-2008: Reel, 2 Minutes

2008-11-18T13:48:00.001-05:00

It's crazy, editing down pieces of longer works, then patching them all together. This version is about half the size of the one I originally posted here last week, and in truth it feels better, but still kind of dated. A lot of things I incorporated in this piece were done a long time ago, but aspects of which I still like. I think a better reel will be compiled after I get some of the things I've done at Hasbro on there, as well as projects I'm working on now.

Til then, here's a highlighted demo reel of what I've done over the last 9 years in motion graphics....

it's a new day

2008-11-13T17:33:00.002-05:00

Two nights ago I woke up in the middle of the night kinda hungry, and I also couldn't stop thinking about how I didn't like the demo/reel I came up with and posted here the day before. So I'm back to square one with it- cutting it down, and playing with different ways of presenting it all in a context that makes it come across the most appropriate way. Maybe I need to amass a little more recent material to put into it, also combining some pieces I've done at Hasbro. We'll see. So I deleted the video from the last post. In return, here is a little thing I made before I went to lunch today- about 7 seconds long, so it goes by quick, and the quality/colors on the web don't do the piece justice- it's very pretty to look at. When asked by co-workers: "weird- what are you going to do with that?" I told them I'd put it in the background of a dvd menu. "Oh! That's cool then...."

Quiet Nights

2008-11-07T11:28:00.003-05:00

The quality of this online is low unfortunately. This project was for a titling assignment in my motion graphics class.

My mom thinks this video is 'romantic', but maybe that's from the donald byrd song playing in the background.

For my next project, I'm working with ideas about myths- either illustrating one, or some type of narrative similar to myths. I found a craft book at borders for cheap, so i'm scanning those in and re-painting them. Then I'll lay them out in 3D and take it from there. We'll see how it turns out. I'm learning that good assets from the beginning really make a project that much better when it gets completed, and trying to backtrack later to clean them up isn't as successful- plus its a waste of time already spent.

And that's all I got.

visual (nouns)

2008-09-27T00:31:00.003-04:00

this was a class assignment i recently completed, minus the audio, which i will do at some point.
+more motion graphics to come...

"your mind may be somewhere else, but you are definitely here"

new things

2008-08-09T01:59:00.001-04:00

new things are everywhere!

Chicago - 2004

2008-08-05T20:04:00.003-04:00

My last semester in Chicago had me in a class that empathized composition in shooting video and film. The class was divided into teams to shoot, then edit together short pieces of life in the city of Chicago. It was taught by Daniel Eisenberg, and we had a very nice german artist assisting/visiting the class during the semester. I don't recall his name, or even the exact name of the class. I do, however, recall the concentration the class had on the physical art of shooting well, and waiting for action to happen within the frame. It was something I felt that I already knew going into the class, but then realized I didn't appreciate how to do it well, and striving to do it better has left a lasting impression on me.

This video was my own contribution to our groups footage. A few shots I believe made it into our final effort, but I truly can't recall. I had lost this tape since it's inception, and re-finding it recently has been a lot of fun to edit into something short.

The only audio is what was native to the shots occurring at the moment. Nothing ground breaking I suppose- just a time capsule of a city right before I moved away from it. So I guess it's here as a piece of personal documentation. So be it.

Smacktastic Loungin'

2008-07-30T12:17:00.007-04:00

I Feel a Song in My Heart - Bob James ft Patti Austen

King of Sorrow - Sade (Cottonbelly Mix)

High on Nothing - Unsung Heroes ft Karime Kendra

Passin' Me By - The Pharcyde (Fly As Pie Mix)

Passin' Me By (Instrumental) - The Pharcyde

People Like Me - Joyo Velarde

A Little Soul - Pete Rock

Montara - Bobby Hutcherson (Madlib Mix)

Online - Gnarls Barkley

Would You Believe In Me? - Jon Lucien

Right On For The Darkness - Curtis Mayfield

Peg - Steely Dan

Dazz - Brick

The Ghetto - Donny Hathaway

For The Love Of You - The Isley Brothers

All Night Long - Common ft. Erykah Badu

The Love Song - Bush Babees ft. Mos Def

Smacktastic Loungin'

Winter 2006 - 2007: Zero Gravity Terrain Park's First Year

2008-07-25T20:15:00.004-04:00

To someone living and riding out in Big Sky, Montana during the 2006 -2007 season, the anticipation of the new Moonlight Basin terrain park, designed by Chris Mountjoy, seemed almost palpable. The summer before it's opening was filled with rumors about what designs Chris was planning and working with, (a missile!?!?) and to most it felt like a day of reckoning for riders looking for a change of flavor from what Big Sky had offered in the years past. From the parks inception Chris faced an uphill battle between weather, naysayers, and grooming issues. Constantly aware of what he wanted his park to be like, I had never seen him more focused on a vision being achieved to their satisfaction, and frankly it was inspiring to hear him talk about it, and then to watch it all unfold. This video footage was given to me last winter, and only recently have I logged/edited it into something. To me, this footage, and any from that year in the park, serve as a cue point- not necessarily in the history of the resort, but for the actual riders out there every day. The excitement generated from that whole year on a park level was something really special to have been a part of, from taking runs through the different shapes and locations it took, to being a participant in the first rail jam/competition. Above is a photo from that day actually- everyone lined up, waiting to drop in. I would say that 90% of us up there all knew each other, and all were happy to be there at that moment. From past pow days, to jib runs at big sky, G rides, to shack parties, and now at a new terrain park- that was ours, brought to us by Chris Mountjoy...oh, and Moonlight Basin....lol

Moonlight Basin, 2006-2007.

EDIT: for the past few days i've been trying to upload the full-size, high-quality version to be viewed, but to no such luck. So, here is the mp4 compressed, tiny-sized version, with pixels and everything...if anyone want to use this for similiar ends and put music to it i'm happy to link up a file-sharing copy.

Playing the Harp In Tunisia

2008-07-22T17:33:00.004-04:00

Playing the Harp in Tunisia

The Superman Intro

It's A Love Thing- Pete Rock & CL Smooth

I Wanna Do It Good To Ya- Barry White

Love Junkie (Dilla Remix)- Dj Cam

Inside You- Eddie Henderson

People Make the World Go Round- The Stylistics

You Got What I Need- Freddie Scott

Keep Me Hangin On A String (Juggle) - Little Brother

Word...Life- O.C.

Fancy Clown- Madvillan

Evening News- Cee lo Green

Y (Be Like That) Dilla Remix- The Pharcyde

The Sweetest Taboo- Sade

Fly Like An Eagle- Steve Miller Band

Listen in a separate window, or download at the zshare link! This is an older mix from a few years ago, but it's pretty good, with only a few mess-ups....enjoy!

blend insomnia- a new mix...

2008-07-21T14:05:00.006-04:00

Last night I woke up at 2:30am and couldn't sleep for some reason, so I played records and put a mix together. Here's a zshare link to it: you can leave a separate window open and listen to it, or download the whole thing there.

1:01;49 trl, one take, no serato!

4 Moms- Ummah (Slum Village Remix)

Everyday is just an extension of yesterday- Troublemakers

Glowing- Pete Rock

Bounce (Club Mix) - Dj Cam

Who You Wit (Instrumental) - Ski

The Way You Do It (Instrumental) - 9th Wonder

Tinseltown to Boogiedown (Instrumental) - Ali Shaheed Muhammed

She Lives In My Lap- Andre Benjamin

Silent Treatment (Black Thought's 87' You and Yours Mix)- The Roots

Freestylin' - Greyboy

Check Tha Vibe (Instrumental) - Dred Scott

Nuthin' Ta Lose (Nuthin' but Sax Mix) - Dred Scott

Ring Ring Ring (Piles and Piles of Demo Tapes Mix) - De La Soul

Soul Flower (live) - Brand New Heavies ft The Pharcyde

A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturdays - De La Soul

Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run Mix) - Billy Ocean

Everything She Wants - Wham!

Power of Love (Extended) - Huey Lewis and the News

Boogie in Your Butt - Eddie Murphy

Don't Stop Til You Get Enough - Micheal Jackson

Express- Andres

The Comeback of the Average Joe - Nikolaj Bentzon

That Lady - The Isley Brothers

Plastic Dreams - Jaydee

The Way You Move - Big Boi ft Sleepy Brown

Generally I scratch more on these mixes I make, but for some reason I didn't almost at all on this one. I wanted it to mostly be long blends, some came out a little ehh, but a lot were good enough. I might use this as a demo to give to some places for some djing work, or not! We'll see how much I still like it in a few days.

a blend insomnia mix

100th Post

2008-07-17T19:12:00.005-04:00

100 Posts Old: From September 28th, 2005 to the Present, this blog has gone through a lot of states, jobs, living arrangements, and fun excursions. Above was from today: a sandy island I paddled to. No great white shark sightings. Good times....
S/P in the muddy sand. Lots of snails in my sandals from walking around there. No great white sharks here either...
There was an outdoor concert going on nearby when I took this photo, and at first it sounded like some sick brazillian funk or something of interest, but about the time i took this photo the band started singing that song that goes 'you know i wish that i had JESSIE'S GIRLLLL' and I thought about Full House, and subsequently lost interest.

This was across the street, from the last photo. I paddled around these boats a few days ago, also very cool. Lot of money, floating around (not literally; manifested in ship-form currency, which is of no use if you can't sail- like me)
The moon= Swish! Too obvious? I've been playing basketball at the lousiest hoops at the most dilapidated courts I can find around. Much more interesting. Swish!
Derek and I used to do our homework here before senior year in high school. I went there recently to finish Atlas Shrugged, which was pretty good, until the end, when it turned into a comic book of sorts.

I also took the GRE's recently, but signed my life away stating that I would not reveal anything about the test. (Graduate Readiness Exam- not like, a superhero test, or anything really worth being quiet about....)

Sleeveless Cardigans and Plaid Shorts...

2008-07-01T12:24:00.005-04:00

...is an outfit i don't ever plan on wearing, to be completely honest. Numerous people in the area certainly do, however, and that's- well, just fine I guess. But my cardigan isn't a sweater- it's a mountain; yet another hike i did up in New Hampshire yesterday. Above is another silouhette self-portrait, shot at horseneck beach a week or so ago....

Mount Cardigan rests in west central NH, and has over 50 miles of trails that one can loop going up the thing. I had the opportunity to do this hike with an old friend named Derek who I hadn't seen in a few years- since he last came out and visited me in Big Sky. The trip we took was a loop that was about 5 miles, and almost 2000 feet elevation gain. Above, you can see the upper peak, and the lookers-right side was the trail we took (the holt trail), which turned into more of a climb than a hike, as you can see...

The holt trail is 1.1 miles, 1500 feet elevation gain, so it stayed interesting! I would not like to be descending that route at all, unless it was covered in snow, and i had a board strapped to my feet....the views stayed impressive through the climb, with clouds but no rain, which helped keep traction on those rocks.

The lookout tower atop Mt Cardigan, with derek next to it, looking quite proud....the view was 360 around and impressive. Short trip, good time to play some catch up with an old friend, and no plaid shorts on that mountain whatsoever....

6 pack of Old Moosilaukee

2008-06-25T13:45:00.010-04:00

Trips to do something come first- almost always out of a certain necessity, and then the secondary step (generally the evening before) i decide to finally check out the weather. I've found that everywhere I've been in this country, I've always heard someone chime in the old saying "if you don't like the weather in _______, wait a minute." This, more often than not, always rings true- especially when you get stuck in some really lousy weather. New England in general seems to have had this phrase coined about the area, and I tend to agree, especially when you're standing on top of a mountain...

"40% Chance of Thunderstorms" sounds pretty damn ominous to be honest. What do you make of that the day before hand trying to do a hike? I guess most people would go to a mall instead. Well I still crossed more than a couple peoples paths yesterday, hiking up the beaver brook trail up Mt Moosilaukee. One could definitely make an argument than i'm much more partial to hikes with cool native american names, and I for one probably would not disagree with them.

...but what's better than this, really? Sure it required some effort (that's the trail, to the right of the waterfall) and it just kept going and going up the thing, but there's nothing like a tough hike that follows cool features the whole way- i mean taking breaks, at any point, always point out different details missed at first glance.

I was drenched in sweat climbing up this thing, but keeping a solid pace. I had read that this was a pretty challenging hike from the 2006 AMC WMNF book, and it was for the most part, but lots of maintenance and steps built into the slippery rock made it more challenging from an endurance perspective and less from a mountaineering/climbing one. I didn't care- I went up the mountain with a head thick of thoughts, walked right into the clouds, and cleared my head.

These photos do no justice to the constantly shifting weather that went on during the hike up- constantly becoming hot and sunny, to clouds whipping through the woods and turning everything much, much darker. I made good pace because I knew that the later in the day the more chance for severe weather to move in, and when the trees gave way to the last .4 miles of the summit, i knew that things could get interesting at a moments notice.

The head-high cairns stood like sleeping giants in these clouds that sprayed like a cold mist when it came by in large, sometimes dark patches. I made my way though and caught glimpses of an untold full view, which made what i did see all the more interesting. When I reached the summit there was a party of 4 celebrating...something, i didn't want to venture up that close to join- and certainly didn't want to take their photos (sorry!) There is a lot of rock piles up there indicating a foundation to a few different structures that once stood up there, and out of no where, someone said whats up to me from a Yoda-like position in the cover of one of these rock piles. "Where you coming from?" startled me, and i answered before i grasped the question (being most likely which trail i took up) "oh! uhm, er...montana" and that was the extent of that meeting. We exchanged something about the weather also, and he told me that this was the best the view was gonna get, and that the rain was coming. So I didn't even sit down when i got to the top, just said thanks, and kept going- making no eye contact with the ecstatic people taking photos of themselves next to the trailhead.

The grumbles from above began literally as I walked away from the summit. To my right something thunderous was happening, something i wanted no part of being up on that ridge. I began to think about similar circumstances and kept waiting for some imminent downfall to occur, expecting that as a prelude to the thunder and lightning. I got a little below treeline, but only felt totally confident when i was off the ridge that was flirting with the clouds the whole time. It did rain, but grumbles were the worst of the potential danger i was looking out for. Descending that trail in the rain, with wet rocks, is something i really don't recommend though, and had i not had on some climbing sneakers (which i use for biking and hiking) i would've certainly slipped a lot, and maybe even taken a ride down that waterfall....

The NH trip concluded with some pbr and some pool, laxodasical as ever. Now it's back to mass, shooting hoops at night and studying for the GRE test....

Movies I Almost Forgot About

2008-06-20T10:56:00.003-04:00

The past few weeks have been nothing short of the definition of hair-raising, with a lot of sarcasm intended. I've been a one-man army here in southern mass, holding myself down single-handedly by trips to the local beach (the ocean-the real deal!), biking trails, and kayaking with my dad. I've also been looking less at craigslist job opportunities and concentrating my efforts on getting into graduate school in the fall for new media at emerson in boston. This opportunity has provided me with a chance to take the GRE's- and all this time I thought I was done with taking tests.....well it's been a solid goal to work towards for me, and in that pursuit I've been compiling my digi-portfolio, and these two videos are some gems i've uncovered that I almost forgot about....

"Code Name:Agent Zero" was shot back in 2003 in a day of driving around Chi with Lu, then edited/adjusted to make it look like an action movie. I totally forgot about this video, and still like it for how funny (i think) it is, and for the treatment of the video images with the multi-layered delay, something i used to mess around with a lot.

"The Swedish Meatball" still makes me laugh- it was originally an idea in spanish class back in high school with andy wright (his photo has a cameo in it), and the trailer was as far as the idea ever got. Swede-sploitation was the idea behind it- like a swedish action figure that doesn't say a word, just kicks some ass. The fake jerry bruckheimer quote says it all, "This is one meatball you don't want over for dinnner..."

Mt Lafayette via the Skookumchuck Trail

2008-06-06T14:53:00.008-04:00

The clouds completely covered the sky yesterday morning, occasionally overflowing down in to the notches. A woman at the WMNF visitor center in Lincoln recited to me the very descriptive high-summit forcast for the day, complete with jargon in the entire range of pressure possibilities here and there- "So, you're saying it's not going to be sunny" i joked, really only being concerned if there was lightning to lookout for, which seemed a possibility in the look of the day. It had been a last minute decision the night before to drive up to New Hampshire to stay with a friend before doing this hike, and a rainy drive at that. Really, my only objective was to go on a lengthy walk in the woods. Keepin' it simple, right?

The lower forest was towering, old, and saturated. Birch trees shed bark like litter on the grounds while trail crew worked to clear channels so the trail wouldn't be washed out. I past 5 workers on the way up the Skookumchuck trail that morning, and made pretty decent time for what was described as a 5 mile/4 hour hike each way. Still had some snow to contend with in a few areas, and a lot of slippery rocks.

I had flashbacks of high school, hiking though the cloud forest in Costa Rica at times on this trip. The higher I got into these mountains the more the trees started to shorten, and look as if they were the only things holding the clouds away from the ground.

At 4.2 miles the Skookumchuck Trail summits onto Garfield Ridge, a section of the Appalachian Trail. From here I walked the ridge until hitting the top of Mt Lafayette, only 0.8 miles away. Looking at what the trail generally appears to be, from others photos online, gave yesterday's experience more appreciation from the ghostliness of it all. Visibility was short, understandbly, but it really made the ghostly bluffs more exciting. I guess imagination has something to do with that though....

Once there was an old building up atop Lafayette that's long since burned down. The old foundation was where I ate my lunch. Occasionally on the way down there would be breaks in the clouds, well enough to give small areas some definition in the distance, and by the bottom of the trail it was full-blown partly cloudy conditions, and with that warm enough to wake a few pesky bugs up. Really simple, fun and easy hike. Next time up there I'm taking a pack and going for a few days though, but i guess it's never 'long enough', for me at least. Started at 10:15, ate lunch up top at 12:45, went down from 1:45 to 3:15...10 miles, elevation gain of 3300 ft is what the gps told me...

Oh- and I saw a porcupine. But he kept moving, so the pictures were of a fuzzy porcupine, so no luck there....

When In Rome....

2008-06-04T08:26:00.007-04:00

Truth be told, I've never been to Rome. Give me the opportunity and I wouldn't pass on it, but that offer hasn't popped up on the radar quite yet. Nevertheless, while beating on with my boat against the current, I continue the search- and lately it feels like I'm searching for everything, yet again. Mainly for a job, but the infrastructure that goes along with ripping a plant out, roots and all, and waiting for the transplant to occur seamlessly in the new location.

"A Walk in the Woods" has been my early summer reading, and I swear that Bill Bryson has been subconsciously telling me to hike the Appalachian Trail. The 'keep going' mentality relates to me in a long-distance driving sense, something I'm very familiar with, except in a much more entertaining fashion. Plus there's no griz out here on the east coast, which makes me much more apt to do some solo backpacking excursions. Not to mention how cool/different the forests are around here....

"Ohh my gaawwwd, John Singah Saaawwwgent...." echoed through some of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts hallways, and less in others understandbly. I did correlate between supposed infidels first arriving in ancient rome and hearing the boarish language, and listening to massachusett's accents talk about art, but I really tried not to let it bother me. As with most things lately, these are things I just need to get more used to hearing, since one can't live in the woods forever. Plus they were enjoying it- which is better than no attendance at a museum i guess, but damn- this was not the most impressive museum i've been to. Wish I'd took a picture, but I seriously walked by a guy sleeping on a bench that was working there. Oh, and someone needs to teach these school groups the difference between a gymnasium and an art museum! I'm getting old- look at all this complaining i'm doing, jeez....

I once heard that time was cyclical, and I was interested in the concept and wrote about it, some time ago. I only bring it up because, looking back at what I wrote then seemed so premature compared to now. I guess in the future this will take the same position as that writing, because I suppose it's an ever-developing concept that becomes larger and larger as life goes on. That's the big point though, no matter what, life goes on. I guess i get a bigger definition of that the longer it does, if that makes any sense....

...and I keep playing the "Will it Float?" game, but in a more extended-metaphor fashion than a literal one, if that makes sense either....

Edit: I have to mention my friends in LA's new work, The Glorious Internet Presents.....Porn Star Insurance, featuring Ron Jeremy....hilarious...

Destruction Brook Woods and the Lincoln Park Comet (RIP)

2008-05-30T16:36:00.007-04:00

Finding leftover scraps of a dislocated and dilapidated history is, and may continue to be the theme for a minute here in Massachusetts. While I spend time pondering (and not soliciting) at this life-crossroad I've come to, there's a great opportunity to explore some places of interest- specifically to these leftover remnants of a much older past than I'm accustom to.

I stick to what I know, generally, as most do. Mountain biking is no exception. I'd walked through small parts of a town forest preserve here in Dartmouth called Destruction Brook Woods before, but I don't think I've biked it before. Well I did today. It sure wasn't the biking I was accustom to, but not much around here is. The tradeoff was the remnants of a foundation to two different houses, one of which I'd seen before, but the other had escaped me. The newer of the two foundations (to me) had a small stone shack behind it. Oh- and there was this water fountain that I didn't try pumping also.

But I couldn't find anything (online at least, didn't call shaggy) about the woods' history aside from when the town took it over to preserve it. Regardless, it was a fun local spot to ride, even though i could've pushed a wheel chair through most of the trails...

Here was another spot in the woods with another historical relic- this time from a more recent memory, but who knows why. This story probably is a less interesting one also, like how some guys ditched a car there and burned it, or something. Very random though....could be anything i guess.

Lincoln Park operated from 1894 to 1987, and all i knew about it before this afternoon was that there was a big dilapidated rollercoaster behind a fence near my parents house. After biking, and while eating a whopper (no relevance) I found a side road with a somewhat opened area to walk through. I could go into some detailed regurgitation of what i just read about this very interesting place, but anyone interested should just check it out where i did- The Lincoln Park Comet fansite. Lotta cool photos here and stories about the park. One thing I'll mention is that this rollercoaster was designed by the same guy who made the Cyclone at Coney Island, another ride I've been on.....

One Day It'll All Make Sense

2008-05-29T08:09:00.006-04:00

The feeling that urged me to pack my things up and leave Montana felt like a virtual inevitability. Peeling the bandage off quick was the only way I could see doing it- prolonging the whole experience felt like it would only make the exodus that more difficult. In turn with those difficult feelings, clouded with a whole lot of uncertainty, I had to leave an amazing relationship, a good paying job (for the area at least), and a couple friends that could rival friends in any location that I have.

It rained most of that evening that I left. Slept somewhere I don't remember at a pull off in Wyoming (i think) and kept it moving early the next morning. I was pulling a uhaul trailer, averaging about 11 miles per gallon of gas through Wyoming and onto the Badlands of South Dakota. One trade off about the abundant rainfall was that it gave a 'dentist's office poster' quality to the badlands- one which i hadn't seen before, lush green-ness everywhere. Generally I had made this drive in the past earlier in the spring, and everything was generally very brown.

I found Chicago later that second day. Tolls were a burden unexpected because of the extra axle I was dragging, not to mention the sheer ridiculous number of them going into the city (like 4?!?) But good friends and good weather prevailed, and I did a lot of biking around the city in the two days I spent there.

..and then I got back to my family's house yesterday. Gotta tear down the old in order to build the new; We'll see how the next chapter begins...

Hello Boston

2008-05-20T22:08:00.003-04:00

I'm going to estimate that it's been at least ten years since I've been to Boston, but it sometimes of late has felt like it's been ten years since I've done anything in New England. Regardless, all year-counts aside, I hopped onto a commuter train and went into the city by myself with the aim of checking out the Greco show at the MFA. Liking adventures as I do (that's the excuse i'm using?!?) I went with little information as to where the MFA exactly was. Sure, I'd been there, but it's been, like, ten years or something....

And it was such a nice morning in Boston. Great weather- the last thing I wanted to do, after riding that hour long commuter train in, was to go underground and take the T directly to the MFA. That would've been just way too simple to do. But in truth it really didn't matter, as getting lost in an unfamiliar city (with no schedule and beautiful weather) can be a great experience. So then what did I learn today? Boston has some really cool churches....

I was half lost in memories of field trips from elementary school with the sites while also taking in the very different architecture of how the city was built up. I was intrigued by the old, original base structures, then the towering newer ones- sometimes built into, next to, or even just on top. It reminded me of something i read the night before- something i'd learned in college but totally forgot....here...

Below is Buttonwood Park in New Bedford, Mass. I was glad to help walk my parents dogs with my moms there after I learned that the park was originally designed by the same person who designed Central Park. His name was Fredrick Law Olmsted. I guess money ran short and he never fully completed Buttonwood Park, but there's a lot of similarities between it and Central Park. He was also a main figure in the recent book Devil in a White City, which is a book about another city that I came to love for architecture after living there 4 years.

...And tomorrow I fly back to Montana...

The Return to New Hampshire

2008-05-18T13:18:00.004-04:00

What was I doing here again? Entering into the situation reminded me of John Cusack, but I am no where near being a contract killer for hire- furthermore there was no reunion going on, no distinct reason I would necessarily see anyone, and after around 5 or 6 years of not returning to a place, its odd to walk into a ghost town of sorts.

But there were no random encounters, no figures of the past hiding in the corners of bars that used to be frequented- in fact most of those bars were long gone, or renamed for that matter. What I did find, along with the one lone buddy i was looking forward to seeing up there, was the skeleton of a community that once was filled with people playing the roles i witnessed now. All the names and faces had changed, but the tactics and places all remained. This was the underwritten theme of the trip. The most interesting aspect was New Hampshire itself: a kaliedescope of deciduous trees with their deceased counterparts laying at their (and our) feet. So, to be concise (finally!) i went back to the woods. This was up in White Mountains National Forest at the Flume.

The forest immediately reminded me of my youth by the onslaught of black flies. Not that it was an overkill, but do i ever remember those little annoyances. Mosquito season had yet to hit, that's when it would've been simply too much I'd imagine. Below is the ice cream soda of New Hampshire summer tourist attractions- the covered bridge, in all it's glory.

Covered bridges never did a whole lot for me, to be honest, but I can recall maps for tourists to purchase that would lead them to every single covered bridge. Hopefully such a brochure came with a checklist, because theres a lot of those things all over New Hampshire. I drove over one, walked over another, and called it good for the trip. In hindsight I wished I'd found a NH COVERED BRIDGES t-shirt, because I'd wear it and it would make me laugh at least. Or a drink koozy for that matter...

I can recall the Kangamangus Highway from when I was very little, and all the natural water slides people would slide down. Back then the road was in awful shape, and it was very "Laissez Faire" national forest rules. Presently New Hampshire requires that all who park off the highway at these recreation sites pay a 3 dollar 'recreation fee'. Such things generally are handled by people paying taxes in my experience, but it's better to have these areas clean then trashed, so if 3 dollars is what it takes for those busy summer months then so be it. I, however, planned on packing out everything i brought in, and just parked off the road away from those ridiculous 3 dollar signs.

When it was all said and done the tried and true spots still remained, albeit changed in one way or another. A good sunset with a view is truly a thing to appreciate when had at the right spots. Below is at Ellacoya State Park, and above is a less-known spot (that has an open, empty house up there if anyone wants to go check it out/evaluate the purchase like we did) ill leave mysterious.

When will I go back to the lakes region? I can't say. It will be sooner than the last odyssey i spent away from it. Aside for a few friends still in the vicinity, there's not a lot up there for me anymore. Keeping these trips a good distance apart certainly makes them more interesting when looking at change, but staying away too long can be such a shock to return to- well, its like the area/memories violently put your life in perspective to where you are currently. Sometimes it's so powerful I think people purposely never want to return again.

There are places I definetly did not go back to on purpose, but maybe I just left that out for another adventure. Another time. Maybe...

The Big Picture Becomes Widescreen, with a Few Steps Back...

2008-05-15T18:18:00.007-04:00

It's hard to know sometimes if you're keeping things in the right perspective if you don't continually check back with where you came from. All fortune cookies aside, I hadn't been back to the east in a few years. Big Sky winters and summers with working at Moonlight swept my time away in an easy, laxidasical fashion that I grew accustom to....
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone National Park; My backyard in all sense of the term for the last few years. The last week I spent in Montana before my trip back east I camped out most of the time, hiked when the weather was decent, and went into Yellowstone twice- mainly because my all-parks pass doesn't expire until June...

My father used to live down the street from this garden behind a church in Barnstable, Massachusetts. He took me here on a rainy day that we toured the Cape, looking at old houses we lived in together when i was growing up before elementary school. I could see the large differences in my recollections of youth, but for the most part i hadn't been back there since...who knows....

I just returned this afternoon from New York, another place i called home for 3 summers, and a place where I still have some great friends. I took it all in yesterday by myself, or at what I was looking to take in- a visit to the MOMA and the Guggenheim, and a lot of walking around observing people and architecture.

I saw some paintings that have been on my laundry list to see since art school, like Starry Night, and some Gauguin's from when he was down in the caribbean painting the native inhabitants, also some George Braque early cubism pieces I always was fond of, but some of the installation pieces were my favorite surprise....

This tow behind camper exemplified modern art because it is function streamlined. A whole new reason to appreciate and want one of those little campers....

This simulated car bomb at the Guggenheim was beautiful, but i wasnt suppose to be taking photos i guess so i ceased doing so. There was some other work i really liked there, like a pack of 99 replica wolves running up the walkway with you, rising into the air, then hitting a clear plastic wall. And some clay, chinese workers, with amazing facial expressions, bodies cracking and falling apart.

Tomorrow I return to New Hampshire, for the first time in over ten years......stay tuned....

It Can All Be That Simple...

2008-05-07T23:40:00.002-04:00

Do Something Fun Today.

Closed Mountain

2008-05-04T10:41:00.003-04:00

We've been closed for three weeks now and the snow continues to hit us. I heard the other day that we'd received 60 inches since closing on april 13th, and since then we've definetly gotten more. Even though on the nice days I usually see people hiking the headwaters and getting epic lines, the overall feel the town has (aside from a general sleepiness from the offseason setting in) is that we are over it, and want to be outside in some summer warmth. Yesterday I couldn't believe the amount of people taking advantage of campsites in the canyon, most all that were accessible were occupied.

Cloi is Chelsey's new chocolate lab, and is a lot bigger now than when i took that photo last week.

I've been getting out and hiking a lot lately when its been good weather, and look forward to heading back east for a couple weeks in a few days from now.

Things Keepin' Me Busy

2008-02-01T19:06:00.001-05:00

Random images from the last few weeks up here in Big Sky...this would be my roomate Sky and his girl Lauren with myself in the background. What an embarrassing moment to capture!

That's me on the end of the lift, riding up with Chelsey and two of her friends. I don't know what hand motion I'm making, I guess I just didn't know what to do with my hands at the time....

Over at Big Sky, Justin and I return to the dead deer trees and reminsce, if only for a moment.....

I went on closing route down North Summit Snowfield with ski patrol. It was good in spots, but very rocky in between.

This is when i went on route with Ski Patrol to open up Headwaters bowl. They were chucking dynamite, and we were all freezing out butts off. Temp up there was -15 fareheit, without wind chill. This photo was taken a little before 7am.

And that's what I've been doing in a nutshell!

Once Again...No Subject

2008-01-13T19:58:00.000-05:00

What a beautiful winter it's been so far....

no subject

2007-10-16T20:06:00.000-04:00

Moving Across The Meadow

2007-09-21T12:30:00.001-04:00

Who can't empathize with the pains of moving from location to location? It only mildly helps when the distance isn't too far, it's still moving regardless....You have to pack up literally everything, then theres a pile of randomness in the middle of the old room you used to frequent, you know- the stuff that's just been elusive and hiding in your room for however long. Well that piles still in my old room, and im not looking forward to cleaning that place....

...But anyways, first shot was the old place, 2nd shot is the new place. Last few weeks have been, well, challenging i guess, but not in a way i imagine people like to feel challenged. It was the uncertainty of where we were moving, costs, then the actual physical effort of moving was delayed and i literally spent last weekend just waiting for the go-ahead word, frustrating!

It seems (as it always does in hindsight) that things happen for a reason, and things like this are much better in the long run but (for lack of a more appropriate terminology) suck in the short run game. When we got booted from the last place because of the condo assosciation disliking my roomates both having dogs we thought we were screwed. Now we have an indoor hot tub room, and our dogs are welcomed there, so even though its more money a month, things seem to be going better....

I spent a little money for the bare essentials to get my turntables spinning in stereo again, and have them set up in our large living room. If those trees moved out of the way you would see the peak, but who knows with that photo. Honestly, I woke up this morning and went upstairs to make coffee, and the bluebird day that it was inspired me to finally take some photos. Clearly these werent planned shots- this shot is hazy because the shot before was from the hot tub room, and my lens got foggy....so more photos to come i guess....eventually

Another promising development for us up here in Big Sky is the incurring seasonal shift. Off-season is only, uhm, 2 weeks away? wow...so stuff will become even slower as far as people in the area, but thats also when we start getting some snow finally, and we've all been ready for awhile for that. Above was from a couple weeks ago- i believe it was the first snow id seen this fall (summer to some still!) and since then we've had dustings on the peaks around here almost every morning. It
melts by noon, but its still lovely to see white caps with green forests below.

I also turn 27 in a couple weeks here, which kinda just makes me feel old more than anything....

The Flipside

2007-08-13T12:44:00.000-04:00

Flip the coin on a situation and you'll be in for a surprise- no matter what theres always another side to consider that you might've known about, but never took seriously. When those things creep up and kick you in the back when you aren't looking, that, my friends, comes at quite a surprise....

In what has been turning into a reoccurring theme, I took a solo hike in the Big Sky vicinity two days ago. Actually, to call this a vicinity hike is a somewhat understatement- for this is the zenith of Big Sky, the highest point around and taking a paramount identity over any other mountain in the Gallatin Range. Lone Mountain is the 11,133 foot mountain that makes up Big Sky Resort and Moonlight Basin. After living here for some time and never having climbed it in the summer (ive rode the tram up the top and snowboarded down countless times down most of the routes) my time had come.

The climb up was quiet, pensive. The top photo was roughly half way before the last major climb to the summit. I ran into a few folks on the ridge hike to that point, discussing random Lone Mountain trivia, and me being able to flex the knowledge that I saw from the video recording of the guys who built the tram over 10 years ago (they had to climb to work most days up the same way i went). That above shot is below from the bowl when i was hiking down later. The ridgeline to the left of the peak is the way i came up.

The peak, unsurprisingly, held similar views to those of the winter times. Regardless, it was summer, and without the snow different areas were a little more discernible. The amount of loose shale rock was pretty unsurprising also.

But the below shot is sweet- that is the Lost Lake backcountry area that ive rode and shot photos of in previous years. Seeing that beautiful green lake down there was very cool- i wanted to hike down there, but i knew my route out would be 3 times as long as it would be if i just went down and back to my car.

Good hike, took the scenic route back to my car. Next day my legs were trembling at times for no reason other than the workout from the day before. In other news I may be going on more solo hikes in the future than i thought.....til then

Cliff Lake Canoe Camping

2007-07-13T10:50:00.000-04:00

Fresh for 2007 is camping with a canoe at cliff lake. Anyone who may have looked at last summers photos on here can recognize cliff lake- i mean it looks like a lagoon in the sun, so taking a canoe only made too much sense. Above is how we got it done: all the gear in the canoe, all the food in the tube getting dragged behind tha boat.

That was the crew of us our first trip out there (minus my girl who took the picture.) It was a good night, great warm weather with a full moon that night.

That's Rob and I on the way back in the morning, paddling all the gear back to the car. This trip was the first one we took out to Cliff to canoe camp. We took it relatively easy as far as where we camped, but the second time wasn't quite the case- we kinda went for it....

There's an island, about 3 miles back into Cliff lake, which is small, but has one decent camp site for a tent. We camped right on the rocky beach and had a fire there, which was more than excellent the first night out there.

That's me, really soaking it all in....at least while I could. The second night out there we were caught in an aggressive windstorm that whipped all through dinner time, into the evening, and still wouldn't let up in the morning. We got virtually no sleep that evening. My tent kept collapsing from the wind blowing the poles out of their sockets. Every hour i was running out of the tent to fix it, then jumping back in, into my bag, just for a little sleep. By morning (proally 7am) we both wanted to just get outta there. The paddle back was ferocious though- wind blowing hard in the opposite direction.

On our way out to the island, without even a clue as to thinking if i should've brought more rope....oh yeah we tied that tent down with all the rope we had, the thing looked like a tent stuck in a cats cradle. Wish i had photos of that- for comedic purposes, not wistful ones- thats for sure....

Overall it was an excellent time, but damn if it wasn't taxing on us at points! Beautiful site though, and decent weather still made it a good time, despite setbacks on the last evening. I think i got my canoeing fix for awhile.....

What Goes On

2007-06-29T11:28:00.001-04:00

Floating the river has been a solid option of late. Went down the Madison last weekend and yesterday afternoon actually, really warm temperatures make the float a good time. Going yesterday was fairly impromptu, however, and plans kinda just got thrown together for it. My tube was all but flat by the end of the float, and i mostly swam the last stretch of river. Last weekends float was good times, and solid prep work makes a float much more enjoyable, instead of running out of beverages half way- or a leaky tube for that matter. Oh- and I dont know anyone from the above shot (well i might but i doubt it), but its definetly the same river, similar tubes.....

Dowhnill Mountain Biking is really what's been up lately though. Both these shots are from Kit's first day riding, that grassy field is in Keyhole and the bridge is in Yogi's. Big Sky's been running the Historic Gondola this year, and its been working well for the most part. I trashed my bike last time out, and bent the hell out of my derailleur and snapped a spoke on Buffalo Jump. So I've been outta the game for a little bit. It seeems a bit cooler today though, so I may go this afternoon.

This weekend the plan is shaping up to be floating down river again and some cliff lake camping (below-from last summer) Should be good times if we can all the prep work in order before hand. When it comes down to it it's all about the solid prep work, or you end up thinking about all the things you'd do different the next time.

That's it from this end....

Bear Basin Hike

2007-06-27T11:40:00.000-04:00

Off the North Fork trailhead in Big Sky lies Bear Basin, a hike that connects other hikes in Gallatin Canyon to Big Sky. I had been interested in hiking across the canyon through the mountains since I came out here, and Bear Basin looked to be the connection. I admit though, yesterdays aim was Wilson Peak, and not Bear Basin, I just went the wrong way and, well, kept going....Above: The Sphinx in the distance to the south.

This is coming into Bear Basin. I had vague ideas of distance coming into there, but the entire time I was underestimating how far I'd gone. This is close to 10 miles in I would say now in hindsight, when I first started coming into the Basin, with cliffs surrounding me and open grassy meadows. The Basin itself (which i contemplated swimming in) wasn't even worth going much closer to- very small....

I stopped and took a photo of this chute because I marvelled at riding it in the late winter when it had more snow on it.

These are the backsides of the spanish peaks, to be somewhat vague about it since i really am not exactly sure which peaks were which names. I knew i was behind Beehive, and somewhat close to Summit Lake, but how close I couldnt tell while up there. At this point I was so intrigued at where I was and what was around that I almost kept going. It's a good thing I turned back at this point because at it was I got back to my car around 7:30pm.

Click on the above image and you should be able to discern ski tracks. Snow has an odd way of recording history. In no way were these ski tracks recent, but they were from this season at some point- probably late season and we never got additional snow to fill them in. We kept receiving such late snow falls this year that someone must've gone up there fairly recently to ski. I remember thinking about the idea of having all my snowboard gear with me and laughing at getting 3 turns at this time of year, basically becoming the obigatory bar story about how gnar i get. No, im not carrying my stuff back up there for 3 turns, no sir.

There it is, Bear Basin from the top of the ridge. To look that far and not see a soul in either direction is pretty sweet, but then you just start looking for mountain lions harder. I listened to my ipod most of the hike, noises can mess with you when solo out in the wilderness.

I Got Friends And Stuff

2007-06-20T15:37:00.000-04:00

I don't even want to try to put all these into any kind of order....Above is from a ghost town/montana state park, called Bannack. Justing Lee (who took a lot of these photos) had the acute observation that you really didnt have to do a lot to get something into a historical site in Montana, just leave it. Very true, lot of echoes and empty buildings made Bannnack up.

This is me and Mr. Ree in the Lewis and Clark Caverns. They don't change those tours in the least- same jokes every time. Contrary to popular belief, water and time were the major players in building everything in these caves. Lewis and Clark came remotely near them, and there is a deeper history to who found them and all that, but thats what the tour is for.

This is probably the spot where Brian and Lee got the most out of the Montana experience, but who am i to say...well we all jumped off the bridge in the background and had a beer next to the river after. The river was pretty dirty (with actual dirt and not sewage or anything- montana dirty) and lots of deadfall was floating down. Refreshing was the key word here I guess. Wish it had been a month or so later those guys had come out- this river woulda been way warmer and clearer, plus we woulda floated down the river in tubes- the epitome of montana relaxation....

Brian and I hiked up to Golden Trout Lakes the day after Lee split back to LA. Had to deal with fording an icy swamp, crosssing a couple quick moving rivers, and jumped a ton of snowdrifts. Built a fire at the lake and day camped there, then hiked down. 8 miles...i was impressed with b's ability to keep going- especially since he was hiking in Air Force Ones....

The fire we built.

More edge of your seat bannack excitement, as Lee doses off in the church. One of the most appropriate Bannack shots we got of the place.

I think Lee misses home in that shot......

Tougher Than Leather!

This was lee, brooding over the enigmas and conundrums of Spiderman 3....

Lot's of Buffalo in Yellowstone......Yep....

Bannack again. We really had to make the most out of this stop....

Thats almost too honest of a shot of Mr. Ree, looking amazed at how clean the air is.....

This was a random collection of photos while those fellas were here, not too much order. In hindsight i wish they had come a month later so we coulda done some real summer stuff out here (one day it snowed/rained while lee was here) but its all good. Dowhill Mtn Biking started up right after they left, which is taking up any free time for me now.....oh and work and the lady, so in other words im not riding too much yet.....

Desktop Shot

2007-05-23T17:53:00.000-04:00

This was from riding Cinnamon two days ago, and i made it into my desktop!

Cinnamon Mtn- Bike Trip

2007-05-22T14:58:00.001-04:00

Cinnamon is more like a ridgeline than an actual peak. You follow a creek most of the way til the trail begins to ascend up to the ridge. We had heard it was a sweet downhill ride so since it was in out backyard we had to check it out. Even early on we noticed that it was one of the cooler hikes in the canyon, lots of open meadows, looked like some good camping. This shot above is at the top of the ridge, where the signs indicate which massive peaks surround you. It was absolutely freezing up there, and id say 40-50 mph winds made us want to leave after we showed up.

I'd heard there was a fire lookout tower atop this ridge, which sounded great from what ive seen from fire towers in this canyon. Well this place was really rundown, just trashed. Sky climbed up and looked inside to find a popurri of different animal crap covering the place. Damn!

Compared to other singletracks in Gallatin Canyon this one was fun as hell- fairly technical in spots but mostly fun and wider than the average trail. The upper part had some off-camber riding with lots of jagged rocks which turned into pine-needled forests with some good fast sections. Definetly a few spots were you had to hop over fallen trees, but nothing impassible. This turn was fairly close to the top.

I took as many photos as i could, but it was so unpleasant up there to not have gloves on i definetly missed some shots- not to mention the enjoyment of reaching the top. The ride down was so much fun that by the end it didnt really matter- im just glad i pushed a bike up instead of walking down- that's what really made it all worth the while.

We had a quick bear encounter on the push up pretty early on. Watched the bear (think it was a Cinnamon Bear, coincedentally enough) for a short bit then alerted it to our present, at that point the bear looked around, saw us and ran away quickly. Pretty cool though, don't usually see bears too often when mtn biking. Definetly gonna check this ride out again after more snow melts- we had a few spots up top the snow drifted too deep to pass.

Oh- right now it is DUMPING outside, been snowing since i got to work, hasn't let up and its lunchtime! Well it'll be gone quick anyways...

Neighborhood Photo Shoot

2007-04-22T09:43:00.000-04:00

Crusing around yesterday a little south of Big Sky at Hebgen Lake was a good excuse to shoot some photos i figured. Weather did all sorts of things though- Sunny, then cloudy, then snow; i definetly didnt dress appropriately but whatever.

Hebgen is a cool spot. Anyone familiar with lakes and communities living around lakes anywhere would remark at how little development Hebgen has around it, and for good reason- most of the year this lake is cold as hell. Another more prominent excuse is that most of the lake is surrounded by National Forest Land. "National Forest Land" you say? Well National Forests are, by definition, the sh*t! Not to be confused with National Parks, which are generally cool also, but posses a lot of restrictions with what you can do, and almost always charge a fee of at least 25$ a day.

This massive fellow above is some of the company I met with yesterday. Dealing with Buffalo, especially driving around them, is an acquired skill, mostly relating to timing. Yellowstone National Park is notorious for traffic backups caused by gaper-motorists who don't keep it movin past these humongous animals. They are also the most prone to having the side of their vehicles goured by these buffalo. Yesterday around Hebgen I must've seen over a hundred different buffalo all doing their thing (i dont really know THAT much about buffalo to be honest aside from A: Their size, B: Speed they can run (like 35 or some sh*t!) and C: That they can jump at least 5 feet high (dont ask me how i just read that once....in a book!)

Quake Lake was formed....damn, like 20 years ago I think. I have other shots of this lake on this blog somewhere, but it's still cool to see trees growing (or dead standing up straight) in this lake. On a semi-related note: Montana is notorious for naming every body of water a lake, even if it posses no water anymore.

That's Hebgen again, i got the photos in the wrong order.

I don't know the name of this mountain, all I saw is a forest service access sign, which led me here. But that brings me back to my original point, PRO NATIONAL FORESTS! It's great, all you go off is a brown sign with a name, and that means that this sketchy dirt road will lead to national forest access. So I took this one, off a road id never been on, and it read Mile Creek Rd. Undoubtebly, the creek is probably called "Mile Creek" but i cant verify that. There wasn't a lot of info at the trailhead, but it did say there was an old Mine at the end of this trail. I was intrigued....

This is the point on the hike when i decided to turn back. There was a fresh path of snow, and about a half mile in (i was alone also) i began to notice i was following a set of prints that rivaled my own in regards to size. Check out the sharp nails on that thing! I considered my options, and my interests in the Mine, then some heavy snow moved in and I decided going to a mine alone following Wolf tracks is a great beginning to my Montana demise. Maybe next time, Wolf!

This was Sheep Creek Rd, the next national forest sign I went to. This one proved less interesting, aside from the presence of birch trees, something you dont get everywhere in Montana. I deducted that this was mainly a horseback riding trail from the tracks, and pressed on. I went to another spot but didnt take photos. But the goods are out there. Did I mention that for the most part one can camp anywhere on National Forest land for up to 14 days straight without permit or paying anything? National Parks you need backcountry permits and theres a lot more restrictions, like no dogs! Anyways, that's it for todays post of National Forests, and my neighborhood in general....

More Rail Comp Photo's- Sky's the Man!

2007-03-22T18:44:00.000-04:00

This is my roomate, Sky, killing it! Really glad he came thru that day...

Spring Carnival Pt. 3

2007-03-22T17:40:00.000-04:00

That's the last good one i got- most all of us lined up that day at the top, waiting to drop...

Spring Carnival Photos Pt. 2

2007-03-22T12:50:00.000-04:00

This came from the photographer working that day- not sure who took it actually. But that's me, in the flesh. Later today I'm going to upload a few more shots someone else took that day. One of my fav days of the season this was....

Spring Carnival

2007-03-18T12:36:00.000-04:00

It's been hot here...no i'm serious- high of 56 yesterday for the first ever Moonlight Basin Spring Carnival. There was a whole slew of excitement going on from scavenger hunts to a 'stack the mac' contest, which involved macaroni boxes in a jenga-type event. I distanced myself from most of the events, with the exception of the rail jam.

Oh- that isn't me spinning in the above shot, i was behind that crowd sitting with sky drinking a beer.

This was a first for this resort- a rail jam you say? Moonlight still has the feelers out it seems for how to approach the jib-aspect of winter sports, but the park this year has been an amazing addition to our already amazing mountain, so theoretically we should be good. Well everything did go smooth for the most part, 45 contestants entered, with a 17 and under, 18+, and a pro rider division. Above is some little kid killing it on a long box that was tough as hell to clear.

My favorite part about the day though was that a bunch of heads i used to ride with from the Big Sky side came thru for the event. It was great to ride with that whole cru in the sun for the day, and everyone was pushing each other so good things went down. We all rode in the pro division, even though none of us get free shit from anyone, it just kinda worked out that way.

But I'm sunburnt as hell right now! Racoon eyes from wearing my goggles are there, but mainly all around my neck is just Red/Purple. Catching sympathy like a baseball glove today for it!

Ohyea- and a Happy St. Patty's Day to you too...

WWSRA Ski/Snowboard Testing- Snowbasin, Utah

2007-02-03T19:28:00.000-05:00

In no time whatsoever a trip was put together for myself and Brit to go down to Snowbasin, UT for Moonlight to test next years equipment. My roomate Sky was going down for another local shop, so the three of us road-tripped it down into Utah, the closest foreign country to Big Sky, MT.

With the idea of testing new equipment to give good recommendation on purchasing next year, our objectives were set. We all had experience at such events, and Brit had been down there two different occasions before, all with much better snow conditions.

We made the most out of what we were given though,and were able to get a better feel for how the boards perform- (everything rides excellent in powder) but by day 3 of the experience we were seriously over it...

It may sound like a sweeping generalization, but i can guarantee for more than one of those snowboard booths nothing was known about the products. Sales reps left these kids/adults for the lions of the industry (many whos bark is way worse than bite) to deal with, and for any new accounts i was checking out it was an absolute sh%t show, for lack of a better term. I mean i didnt want the world of info, but a general understanding wouldve presented a lot of peoples equipment much better. That and actually tuning the shit would've been a plus.

Snowbasin food service. The two lodges located at the tops of two different summit points on the ridge were just decked out. I wish i brought my camera to the bathroom there, i mean it was impressive. They pay food service people starting at 7 something though, which i thought was interesting....

The second night in town (ogden, ut...if anyones keeping score here) we decided to venture out beyond the experiences our highway-side hotel could present and head towards Park City....now if anyones been to Epcot or Newport (both prefferably) then you have a great concept of what to expect from Park City. We ate dinner there (the waiter was insane in a way only known to those passed through Utah and left safely) and left promptly after. The streets seemed like a condensed citystreet, but the stores yelled resort town and it was much too cold to notice anything else. We tried out luck in, well....the following

I'm told O'Shuck's is a widely town Park City spot, and the name held true when the pool table was short two balls (one being the 8). If I had seen this photo and you asked me where this could be i would say New York, and honestly i would probably tell you i got drunk in that bar and where it kinda was. But this was far from the east village, and a far cry from what i would expect from, well...my expectations. 3.2 percent beers, cover charges to non-locals, and patrons there just transparent. There was one guy there chain smoking cigarettes, drinking PBR in a goblet (actually i had one too) and just waiting to die, or at least that was my impression.

Apparently, Van Halen had been there, and so had Tony Hawk. Both signatures on the surfboards looked as real as id imagine. Did they play pool there though? Someone should ask them about the missing balls, and anyone else on that surfboards list possibly.

...and when it was all said and done, after 3 days in utah, we relished our return to Montana. This is Sky and I talking to a dog that was loungin in the sun. Til next roadtrip...

Jackin' For Photos....

2007-01-18T21:37:00.000-05:00

...i'll note right now that i just found all these photos over at my roomates blog site. They aren't particularly enthralling by any sense of the word, but i figured whatdahell, im at work for another 30 anyways......so ^^above^^ we see a wonderful shot of two moose who decided to roll up on our back yard. That enigmatic figure in the corner is none other than yours truly.
And what a moment to capture! im trying to get some short of clarity out of my cell phone so i can take a photo- forever cherishing the memory i suppose of the absolute uncanny...who woulda thunk a moose- no TWO in Montana of all places....

Now these two shots were from New Years, hence the booze in hand at night with snowboard gear still in the mix. We did a torchlight parade down Derringer, and like the two moose from above, it was nothing short of magical i must admit.

I don't think my face could say 'happy new years' any louder than it already is in this photo.

Above was from a truly excellent Grand Targhee trip we did....like a week ago? ive been saying everything lately happened about a week ago...what's really embarassing is when someone knows what im talking about and call me out on it- like 'that didnt happen a week ago!" Anyways the 'Gee was fantastic like....usual? its only sucked like once or twice ive gone, so thats pretty good.....

...In All of It's Glory...

2007-01-04T19:40:00.000-05:00

Yep, that's a Christmas tree alright....that time of year has come has gone once again, the whole thing...the xmas part, then the few days where you can't remember if New Years came yet, then New Years, then the hungover New Years Day...it all already happened! In some ways I am glad it's over. One of these years I do want to get back to having a family xmas, but until the bills start gettin paid easier....well.....

Make no mistake about it- this dog isn't a good dog, or wasn't shortly after that. True, one could make the argument that we have taught him to do all the wrong things he's doin now (actually it aint my dog so whutever...) but Howie has been jumping onto the counter lately whenever we go riding and literally kills any food left on there. Hawaiian Scando Pizza? Gone. Peanut M%M's? Yep....all of the above. So Howie's been in the cage chilling a lot lately.

Ahh Yes...Here we have Madison Ave on our first busy day of operation- or something like that. It may have been xmas day actually, i cant remember. Well this is typical of Ol' Madison Ave now, light traffic stopping by and some wandering around confused. Oh yeah I never mentioned my New Years....well, there was a torchlight parade that went down, me and the roomates got as crazy as possible with that....then New Years kinda ended- it wasnt quite midnight yet, all i remember is waking up in the morning. So, like most of you, something definetly went down on New Years but for me it's equally as faint as it probably is interesting....oh well theres always next year i guess...

...Oh yeah- so i updated this blog and saw how many people had left comments over the last few months that id never read before....what a treat, so to Lu, B, Pooba, Coach and Marcia- thanks! i will respond when i read them from now on.

"...but this is my world..."

2006-12-13T12:06:00.000-05:00

With regards to whomever might be stopping by this site on the rare occassion I figured an update was inorder. My last few weeks have been hectic to say the least, on all ends, so without further introduction let me say that these photos are the work in progress we like to call Madison Ave down here at Moonlight.

Above is our new Wintersteiger machine getting moved by the front end loader and put into our repair shop.

Madison Ave: Earlier on, over a week ago. Eventually snow will be groomed up flush with all the boardwalks.

So, we have a retail, a rental, and a repair shop making up our department thus far. My job has recently rotated (it didnt change a lot, it just shifted) from the retail supervisor to a sort-of backdoor retail maintenance position where im doing most of the computer work and tag printing. im hoping this will be a looser riding schedule, but who knows....with how our snow has been so far I haven't missed out on much. The bottom line for our dept. down here is that if we had opened on time (turkey day) we woulda been screwed- everything is becoming more and more streamlined the later it takes us to open, so hopefully things should go smoothly....

....and finally, this was from the other morning when i went out to start my car. Stay Tuned...

Keep Your Head To The Sky

2006-11-28T13:38:00.000-05:00

i can't sit still when my head is spinning lately. Getting nauseous from the fumes of expectancy and premonitions- feelings of regret like 'i could have definetly avoided that' are all too numerous. Don't get me wrong though- to this day i still regret no decision ive made, its just that....well, i guess with the good has to come the bad, or else the balance would be way off.

I believe in balance. I also believe that almost none of you reading this have any idea tangibly what im talking about, but thats ok. This uncommented tiny corner of the internet can for this post be just considered my vent space, because i no longer have someone to vent my frustrations/joys/pains/etc. to anymore.

But I do believe in balance, as my convenient astrological sign would suggest. And I sincerely do believe that 6 months from now I will look back at this cataclysmic blow to my life out here and understand it in some rhyme or reason- maybe not even 6 months but longer, or shorter. It will come though.

Nothing I can muster resembles any type of premonition as far as whats to come out of all of this. I do recognize the fact though that I have spent so much energy over the past 9 months making someone as happy as I could, maybe those energies could (and should) be directed to something more constructed and creative in my life, and perhaps in turn be a more fruitful endeavor? I can't say.

What I have and can say is though that I do sincerely regret nothing, and everything happens for a reason. The hardest thing for me personally however is letting things play themselves out. I remember starting college in Chicago, an excited 20 year old, walking by a wall outside my first classes. The energy of the city was so alive with potential- i was excited as to what the city could (and would) offer me, but moreso I was excited to see what the city would do to me- or better put my understanding and perspective in life. That period of my life felt like a horizon, where I could look on to infinity but the glare was so strong my eyes would squint to even catch a glimpse. Anyways, I walked by a wall outside my first class, to bear the words tagged in large and intrusive lettering, questioning the reader "have you ever forced it?" To be honest, at the time I was looking for the joke in it. After 4 years there I definetly began to understand what it meant, but now- i think 7 years since that moment.....well let's just say thats only one of the definitions ive read in the past to be learned in the future....

Moonlight Basin Bound

2006-10-12T12:56:00.000-04:00

Goodbye, Shipping & Receiving...we had some fun together this summer, lots of running with sharp objects and what-not....but, well, come Halloween IT's OVER. Had a good run, but hopefully things are getting betta. I'm moving over to Moonlight to help MJ run the retail op's snowboarding stuff...and with the other MJ doin the park over there this year should be a little more than interesting!

This is a good way to kill some time...

This track is on heavy rotation....well for the beat + ghost' verse at least.

I got a new cellphone...recently

Think me and jenny are gonna check out The Departed this afternoon...heard it was real good...

...and that's all i got right now....stay tuned...

Garnet Lookout Cabin

2006-10-09T12:27:00.000-04:00

After climbing four miles, 2 in the rain and 2 in the snow, wood heat has never felt better...

Seriously, the woodstove in this cabin is amazing. There's no water or electricity up there, but the view alone is enough to keep anyone entertained.

The 4 of us plus Howie relaxed and had a great evening. Around 4am I woke up and everything was in black and white- it felt like a lucid dream. When we all crashed around 1am a snow storm socked us in and nothing was visible, however after that passed the full moon came out and everything was visible around from the moonlight. I watched a cloud go by and had to ask myself if i was really awake....

this trip was ALL about relaxing when we got up there, and the trip was definetly worth it. I don't feel like these pictures capture very much of the experience, but i guess i can't expect them to, everything felt so much larger from up there.

On the hike down we did see a wolf from a distance away. besides a few deer that was the only animal encounter we had. Just a lot of views and booze....

this was the best 40 bucks ive spent in awhile....

...A Less Jaded Monday...

2006-09-18T10:04:00.000-04:00

Friday found me in a 'sick of it all' position i guess, im not sure exactly. Well after work Jenny and I rode up to Moonlight to check out the snow line and how much had fallen and poof! she spots 2 moose eating leaves off trees. The mom was BIG, and the calf was still large but not as big (understandbly...) That's mom up top, and below you can see both, but not well...

We thought about trying to go ride downhill up at the resort on Saturday but those lazy goons were taking the entire day off...what ridiculousness, a perfect day to ride mtn bikes in a couple inches of snow. We took matters into our own hands and did a 12 mile shuttle trip from Portal Creek over to Porcupine Creek. Almost half of the trip I would say we had to push, but when we got to the downhill it was amazin...fun and FAST.....

I think the whole excursion took about 4 or 5 hours. It was definetly the workout for the weekend, by the end of the push we all were losing serious confidence that the trail would ever go down.

Sunday we took a stroll into Bozeman and caught the flick Beerfest and it was, well, fun! Not the greatest movie ever made but who would be expecting that? A good time for sure though...

...and thats whats up up here....

Thoughts On A Friday In September

2006-09-15T14:40:00.000-04:00

I'm over it for sure. Summers been chill around here, with your general buffet line of activities previously mentioned, but like i said- i'm over it.

I was about to leave work, because-well, im over that too, and came out the loading dock to a cloud of freezing rain. Generally it doesn't rain for long up here, and whenever it does its a cheerful welcome to the dry conditions we usually see in early/mid september. True, theres been talk of snow today and tomorrow for this reason, and with all the wildfires going on thats a great thing. I'm also over the off-season, and that has yet to even begin....

My dad took the above photo almost exactly a month ago, around the same time snow first laced both lone and the spanish peaks. The photo to me represents any moment in time in this area, whether it be winter, summer, a month ago or 2 million years ago, the mountain has been here and continues despite the rising level of real estate being constructed around it. Which brings me to my next point, (youre going somewhere with this?!?!) Escramble is Volcom's newest flick that has been 2 years in the making and has recently debuted in my inexpensive dvd player from a viewing point on my free couch. At first take it's a beautiful mess- a snowboard flick with no names next to every shot, no english dialogue in the entire piece, basically none of your stock convention tactics film companies have set up in your traditional version of a snowboard flick. After watching it repeatedly there is a much more cohesive understanding of what goes on, ideas of how not only pros but snowboarders themselves feel such a connection with the mountains that they feel the need to coexist with them and push limitations. It isn't about who did that 5 off that 40 footer and where it was filmed- what im trying to say is that by eliminating the conventional snowboard film tactics they heighten awareness to other reasons these people are doing what they do.

Probably the same reasoning as to why Jaime Lynn returns to snowboard films with this project.

To note that is to point out the undeniable highlight of the film: the legends sesh with Iguchi, Hakonsen, and Lynn. Terje admits he's afraid of his own decisions in the mountains and Guch cooks up sushi. Did i mention theres claymation in this movie? Brilliant.

My last parting thoughts on this friday in september? there was an atrocious list created by someone at one of the major snowboard mags to conclude last seasons thoughts, things this person was sick of.
I would quote who said them and the mag+ the lists, but at this point it all blends together. Ridiculous quotes, like "Stop doing frontside boardslides! We are sick of them!" linger in my mind, so i figure I'd do my own list for this winter.

*If you are in northwestern WY on a pow filled morning, forget everything every ski/snowboard mag has ever told you and DO NOT GO TO JACKSON HOLE. Your magic pow day will be Chop-City starring You and Whoever You Brought Witcha. Go over teton pass (if you happen to be towing a sled just rock that sh!t instead) and go to Grand Targhee. You will, in return, receive more snow than Jackson gets+ less people! Doesn't that sound like what you're looking for now?

*If you read the recent issue of TWS' "Backcountry Gate Guide" and now feel like you are informed enough to go through these gates (god help you) I recommend buddying up with someone quick thats a local. Backcountry isn't something you are going to get better at this year like, say your backside 3's....it's more like a level you get to in Zelda after your older brother showed you how to get the dope boomerang. Guides are imperative to leaving controlled situations, especially at a new resort.
But...
If you feel you 'know' your b/c skills, then I recommend skipping the day at most of the resorts listed in TWS' 'guide' and going over to Moonlight Basin. Seriously, dudes who wrote that up woulda told you to do that but they still haven't even been.....

*When you get your new stick let somebody tune that thing for you please.
AND
*When you get your new bindings don't put them on backwards then get pissed because shopdude points it out to you.

Seriously thats all i got for now. Enough with the ramblings....

Summer Finale Roadtrip - Glacier National Park

2006-09-01T09:28:00.000-04:00

Glacier National Park has been on the list all summer, it was a place everyone told us we had to experience if we were in montana in the summer. It's about 7 hours away, so friday night when we left we stopped in Missoula for the night. Stayed at the Bel Aire Motel, went out for drinks and left early sat AM for Glacier.

None of us had been there before, so everything we went off was things learned from reading things online and books. Our first night was at Avalanche campground. It was a little tight as far as campsites cramped together, but we only were there to sleep. This very old cedar tree was something of a sight coming from SW montana.

Avalanche Lake. This was about a 2 mile hike up to this basin with a lake in the middle. All along the wall you can see waterfalls coming down that feed into the lake: those are coming from glaciers of snow and ice above. During the daytime it was hot though, so seeing snow was surreal.

That's Justin swimming around in Kintla Lake. Kintla lake is located waaaay up in the nortwest corner of the park. We were literally 10 miles from the border of Canada when we were up here. I went swimming in Kintla (jenny did too) but i mostly just got my knees wet. It was amazing how frigid the water was only a little ways from shore. This location was roughly a 4 mile hike in. On the way out at dusk we had an encounter with a large black bear which was very cool, and we heard an ENORMOUS tree fall in the woods- the whole forest just shook and echoed for a minute after. That doesnt happen very often, hearing trees fall in the woods, just reminded us how much different of a pace time moves when people aren't involved.

Left: Boundary Mountains/ Canada. These mountains were amazing, we chilled here for awhile.

Going to the Sun Road. We had already been in the park a few days and hadn't made this trip yet. It's a staple thing that you have to do in the park, the most notable feature in Glacier. The engineering that went into building this road is ridiculous, and you'll never find a crazier public road in this country. The views are spectacular, as you would imagine.

Below is the north west corner of the park called Many Glacier. We didnt get to spend too much time up there, but it looked sweet when we cruised up there.

On the way out of the park we spent the afternoon at Macdonald Creek, which reminded me of a spot in NH off the Kangamangus Highway called Lower Falls. This was even more crazy though, the rocks looked all carved out like they were from another planet.

This water is cold! Justin was going to jump in right there- he saw a spot that was about 3 feet wide that looked deep enough. Crazy kid.

Jenny didn't swim here, but it was so cold she probably had the right idea. We completely stumbled upon this spot also, a little more planning we would have spent more time here.

So a lot of car camping went down! Next time we definetly want to plan a backcountry trip and get away from all the people there, but for a first time trip Glacier was incredible!

And that's all I got right now....

What Yo Life Can Truly Be...

2006-08-06T16:07:00.000-04:00

"Saturday's are for you to see...."

In a real "Sure, why not?" way jenny and i went to the Patagonia Outlet store for some sweet deals, and they had that! Got some fresh drawers and a new shirt. From there we realized that the Lewis and Clark Caverns weren't that far away, so we went for it.

To go into these you gotta have a tour guide and listen to all of his lame jokes, but the caverns are very cool and worth the trip and cost (10$).

It was hard to get picts in there because of the light, and my flash wasn't playing with me well, so i went without the flash and just upped it later on the comp. Very cool, like I said.

After the tour we decided to go check The Descent for a horror movie version of what we did, kinda. Well it was crazy and these monsters showed up towards the end to wrap things up quicker. Its never really explained who or what these things are so I kinda lost interest in them. Overall it was cool to go see a movie about caves, but its proally fine to catch on HBO or rent sometime. That new Will Ferrell movie is like 50 minutes long?!?!? We opted for the descent instead....

That evening we got back to Big Sky late and car camped at the base of lone tree over at moonlight. Middle of the night it got cold, but it was great to wake up there early....I was hoping to see some animals just wandering around near the car, but nothing!

Sunday morning after some Coral breakfast we did the recently constructed new hiking/XC biking trail that zig zags andesite across wardance and elk park then back for a total around 4 miles or so. It was beautiful. Andesite is so much greener a mountain than Lone, mountain biking trails could litter this mountain and it would be amazing.....too bad that isn't even being considered as an option up here....

...and from what I can tell that'll be my weekend...Family is coming into town tomorrow for about a week so that should be great for them. I wanted to pass along to anyone passing by a Great new Outkast track from their new album/movie Idlewild....there has been like 4 or 5 leaks to this album, but for me this is the only one really worth mentioning thus far. I have much more anticipation for the movie than the album to be honest, but time will tell...

The Train - Outkast

And in case you haven't seen the trailer for it, check out.....
Idlewild- The Movie Trailer

A brilliant man once told me: "every day is a gift"....

The Heat is Off!

2006-08-04T14:34:00.000-04:00

Went to the the park a few days ago. That place is BUSY in the summer, we went into the mall-like area at Old Faithful and it was swamped with people. There was a few hundred foot line of people buying cinnamon buns- i thought i was in hell...

Damn- you can visit, but the Buffalo live there and act like it! Cars just back up, tourists get out of their cars to shoot photos, its crazy. These animals will gore you! they almost goured my bumper....

Smiling Billy Suite Pt. 2 - The Heath Brothers
^^^^^^^^^
Nas fans take note...vibe fans as well (the instrument, not the mag...)
canyahea'meinnthaback?

Hot Chicks with Douchebags!

Did The Jack Come Back?

2006-07-31T10:10:00.000-04:00

I'm still a little confused who this Jack person is, or if he ever came back on friday. I do know there were 30 local breweries that did show up on friday and brought a slew of IPA's to sample. It was a good time. I decided to pick up my side job of djing again for lucrative purposes and the idea of possibly catching this Jack guy. Well it was a hit/miss afternoon, but everything went together fine. Lotsa requests for "maiden" and a lady who had my drunk-a$$ yelling into my headphones as a microphone to announce the winner of some raffle. Good times.

Here's a mix for anyone to download I did a couple years ago when I first moved out here. Enjoy.

Pancakes! (1:05:40)

things i've been interested in lately...

2006-07-28T13:10:00.000-04:00

A lot of the biggest Parliament Funkadelic's hits were initially spawned from George Clinton's earlier group, The Parliaments.

I'll Wait-The Parliaments
I'll Stay Funkadelic
I'll Stay The RH Factor feat. D'Angelo

Copywrights and ideas of ownership on song titles, group titles, have always been a funny thing to me.
Speaking on that: Here's another example of someone who had to adjust his name with his career...

InterludeDj Honda feat. Common Sense

I played a show last night up here in Big Sky and had a great time with it. I had my camera in my pocket but never took any photos for some reason. Exhausted today though....

The incredible machine

YouTube is an amazing site....

I straightjacked this from NahRight but how could I not? Charles Barkley for Governor of Alabama? aight then......

If anyone from Big Sky is checking this: I'll be back out playing records this saturday at "The Jack is Back!" Brewfest at Whiskey Jacks in the Mountain Mall, right here at Big Sky Resort.....and tentatively Jon from Illsauce will be playing along with me, me with him, whatever way you wanna look at it. That above phtoe is me rockin da chucks on lu's roof in manhattan a few months ago...oeaceo!

Good Morning

2006-07-17T09:37:00.000-04:00

...my camera has been MIA for awhile, but weekends have consisted of floating down either the madison of the jefferson, and then a day of downhill riding. Work is work, and life is life, but it's monday- here's a great track...
Hung Up On My Baby - Isaac Hayes
Good Stuff.

Have a Good Day.

Cliff Lake Camping

2006-06-26T10:03:00.000-04:00

What an incredible lake- I had no idea such lakes existed in Montana. Formed in 1959 by an earthquake around 7 on the richter scale, this lake was formed in such a way. In has shallow sandy areas and is green, like a lagoon. I swore we were in a horror movie, finding such a pristine piece of montana that seemed out of place, just for the sake of irony. This is Justin, guarding the fire you could say, all night.

We were first going to camp in this cove shown above. There was an otter that lived down there who seemed playful and friendly enough, but there was a large nest of two osprey (you can see in the photo above) and when we arrived the male made a lot of noise and then circled us with a massive wingspan. We could see mosquitos hatching in the shallow water at this site, and determined there were better spots we could be at- or at least less buggy.

This site was about a mile hike from the car. We only made this trip an overnighter, but in the future have definite plans to go bigger with the trip- canoes and more food, more time spent being lazy next to the lake, floating time, the site demands more attention, and so does the lake. The water was so clear, and in the morning I saw a 13 inch trout cruise by in the shallows a half dozen times.

Like I said before: I didn't think a place like this existed in Montana....

Downhill Mountain Biking

2006-06-20T16:09:00.000-04:00

Garnet Mountain in the Gallatin Canyon is a about 4 miles to the top, and about 20 minutes to get down. We pushed up this last week and had an amazing ride down. These shots are from the hike up.

That above turn is literally on a cliff. There are some switchbacks on this trail that one could lose their bike on if going too fast.

It's beautiful exploring all the different angles of this area, and how they all connect though hiking and biking trails. It's always an adventure with exploration, and with the chance encounters with wildlife can make everything more interesting. Large moose move like dinosaurs i think...

A few days ago Rob and I built a bridge with our day off. It was great, just being outside building something on a sunny day. I got a great sunburn im still dealing with.

Just bought a new bike also, well new to me at least. Work is work, and the mountain just opened with lift service for downhill riding. It should be a good summer. I'm doing some research on some extended backpacking trips in the are to take a long weekend with. Anyone interested in visiting should get into it, because the weather is amazing, theres not too many bugs, and it doesnt get dark until around 10pm.

That's it for now....

The Glamorous Life

2006-06-09T11:30:00.000-04:00

Yep, this is it- my first office.

A whole world of cardboard and packing tape. Honestly I just took that photo and Im looking around my office now wondering how it looks so organized in there....right now im at my desk and there are boxes everywhere!

So this is where I'll be bakin' tha bread- so to speak....you know, making some money.....like the title of the post- The Glamorous Life....Hey Kiddies, no need to be calling Ben to come in to your career days at school just yet....

Camping and Hiking

2006-06-09T11:02:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we did some camping out in Taylor Fork. Jenny and I stayed the first night out there, and split in the morning the next day. Everyone else who planned on staying another night were persuaded otherwise by a Moose who wasn't afraid of charging people to protect her territory. There were 7 of us total. This was Grizzly Bear country out here, but we made so much noise we scared everything off. I wouldnt doubt things were watching us in the woods though, we were way out there.

Two days ago I took a half day from work and we hiked up to Lava Lake. This is Howie below....

So Lava Lake is a 3 mile hike up and 3 miles back down. It's an ice cold lake way up in the mountains. It's water level is dependent on the runoff from the snow melting on the peaks above it. Small fish live in the lake and there are camp sites around it. Theres no vehicle traffic up there, you gotta hoof it up.

Yeah, short afternoon hike. The trip was inspiring to think on larger trips, like multiple overnight hikes. We're also talking about a river trip combined with overnight camping. It's a lot of fun....

The Last Two Weeks

2006-06-02T18:03:00.000-04:00

...Got back in Big Sky, uhm....2 weeks ago.

I haven't posted picts in awhile because, well, because i've been trying to get all set up out here.

I am starting to get all settled out here for awhile.

I'm working shipping/recieving right now, checking in boxes of merchandise for the retail stores here at the resort. I have an office, but with no windows. The summer is beautiful out here and the weather has been amazing. It's been sunny, but it has also snowed. Crazy I'm saying.

Curtis I'm really sorry I never caught you on the way back thru Chi. The trip back became a race of sorts to get back here and start working to become financially stable again. I'll give you a call sometime soon.

To anyone else I missed- Sorry.

To everyone I miss- Take it EZ.

...Trying To Keep It Right

2006-05-15T07:27:00.000-04:00

Let's see...we got back from New York a few days ago to extreme torrential downpours in Massachusetts, unrivalved I'd say to my memory. 8-15 inches are numbers i'm familiar with for snowfall, but to get that in rain?!? Forget about that! Southern New Hampshire/north of Boston is getting an unfathomable amount of water and theres rampant flooding. Down at my parents house it hasn't been too bad, none of the usual spots had any water leakage. It's just felt like groundhogs day, every day it just rains and is dark outside....so it's a slightly depressing weather affair over here right now.

This is a photo I took of the Whitestone bridge. It's blurry and you can see the hood of my truck, but im not posting this for its beauty. First attempt at leaving NYC about at this same spot the 4runner I was driving just shut off in motion. I was in the middle lane goin around 40, and all of a sudden in heavy traffic I have no power steering and no juice in my battery. We coasted into that middle meridian thing and had to push the truck up to get outta the way. In no time an MTA truck was there to help me get the truck off the road by bumping me. A cop showed up really quick too for clearing a path thru the traffic. Even AAA showed up with a tow truck in no time- everything was fast. The whole incident left us with needing a new battery and alternator, about a 500 price tag in full. We had to waste time walking around College Point for the afternoon, or more like Target. For some reason this Target had red balls out front of it. I wanted to skate them but didn't have the board. Here's Jenny posing with one letting you know how life-size they are....

Jenny took the first photo also of the city skyline. That's from off the Whitestone bridge, the 2nd time around, which went smoothly....

The gameplan is Chicago this week, Minneapolis this weekend, Big Sky some time a week from now....I really need to start working again.....sigh...

"Hung Up On My Baby" - Isaac Hayes
"Elevators" OS Remix - Outkast
"Feelin'" - Kamaal the Abstract
"Feel Like Makin' Love" - Roberta Flack
"Locked Away" - N.E.R.D. (props to the OSN for that one!)

More NYC Ph.toes

2006-05-10T10:48:00.000-04:00

Last night at some dive bar: Suppose to go to a free promo party for a new cell phone coming out but the RSVP online didn't go thru, or some talk- either way the crowd was looking like we were all gonna go in and compete at something, staring each other down and people trying to cut to the front on some "excuse me im, uhm, important in my own world"....yea so the dive bar on 14th with buy 1 get 1 free any drink or beer, plus the 5 dollar burgers or chix finger proved worthwhile. Blue Moons with oranges in them. Usual suspects all around here...

What'sup with my hair flock-action in above pict? In addition: Whats'up with the Boss' Chook? Lu's roof a few days ago before the weather got blah.

Some are speculating that this is another elusive Brooklyn Sheriff sighting. I, however, still refute da shewiff's existence...

Below is a dark-phtoe of Jenny on the phone at the oldest bar in Manhattan, called McSorleys. The place is over 150 years old and theres things hanging on the walls that haven't been moved or touched since it's opening. The bartenders there look like what my imagination tells me an irish bare knuckle boxer would look like. They give you a light and a dark beer there and they brew it in the basement. If I were a critic of some sort id recommend checking this place out for the atmosphere alone.

For all this indian restaurant knew it was Zubbear's birthday a few nights ago, so we all got a scoop of this mango flavored ice cream. There's a tremendous over abundance of christmas lights up in there, and become a hazard if you are over 5'4. For some reason there are 3 very similar indian restaurants next door to each other, so they all fight for your business when you are approaching them, trying to throw deals at you.

Couple more days here and we are over the hump on this roadtrip.

What Goes On Pt. 3

2006-05-07T09:41:00.000-04:00

Back in NYC, first bar we went to after parking was Nectar for some beer pong...

Yesterday was lovely out so it was all about Coney Island. Here we have our mini-golf game, which got intense...

For some reason these photos are out of order, that doesnt mean they dont work tho! This is back at Nectar two days ago...

The water up here in both Mass at Horseneck beach and down here at Coney Island is way too cold to get down with unless your trying to prove something, so we did a lot of wave-watching...

I don't think the Boss ever connected with these pitches but hey we all can't be don mattingly now can we...

//...And it goes on....Few more days here and we'll keep it movin...

What Goes On, Pt. 2

2006-05-03T15:12:00.000-04:00

Here we have the last 2 weeks, Utah, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Mass.....
NYC this weekend....

What Goes On, April 19th

2006-05-03T10:57:00.000-04:00

...fixing up Big Sky's Skatepark...

...shooting photos of Justin's heelflips.....too bad he couldn't stick one...

...driving down to Utah with Danny and Sky...

...more driving...this time in Utah, a beautiful but crazy state...

...chilling on the ridge above Brighton....

I have a lot more photos but for now this is what this blogsite will let me upload.....staya tuned man!

Over It?

2006-04-09T15:52:00.000-04:00

Skateboarding is fun, but I'm slightly over it. I've put in over 100 days this season so i think I'm not insane for not being terribly hungry to get some this time of the year (for those who don't understand that don't worry about it), but I'm still having fun. Back to our original point, skateboarding; Now That's Fun! Actually it was slightly frustrating, being the first day back and all, but being outside skating with friends is hard to rival. Anyways...

I have decided that I need to give more links in my blogposts, since people are only interested in what you have to say when you give them something. Here I have for you:
A 9,000 year old dentist drill

The tragic Mammoth patrollers story

Ghostface's Best Album?

I also give you insane pictures, sometimes.

...but u dont hea'metho...

Yellowstone National Park, Boiling River

2006-04-09T10:31:00.000-04:00

Yellowstone National Park is an amazing place to check out. I've been neighbors with it for the past 3 winters and had yet to even go there until yesterday. Most of the park is closed in the winter because the roads are plowed, but some of it is opened. When you go into the park theres a huge arch to go under that Teddy Roosevelt dedicated in the early 1900's. I never liked Teddy that much personally, but his quote on the top of the arch preached certain relevance; "For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People." About 500 ft past that sign theres a man that wants 20 dollars per vehicle to get inside. I had to call a friend and make sure I didnt go the wrong way.

This is the Boiling River. Where it meets the Gardner River you can soak, and its amazing! It's a mixture of 180 degree volcanic-center of the earth water combining with cold mountain water, so it kinda feels like a really clean and shallow public pool in that respect- lots of different temperature pockets.

Jenny and I had never been to the river before. The whole experience was amazing just to step and think on because we were in this mountain river hotspot and there were bald eagles flying over us, bison on the horizon across the river, and lots of slippery rocks. Honestly I almost fell asleep on the drive home from too much relaxing.

The river was really photogenic....

This is a hot pool at Mammoth Hot Spings. These aren't the kind you want to jump into though.

I didn't stop to read much of the sign because all these pools wreak of sulpher, which smells like rotten eggs, but from what I caught these pools are hosts to millions of microscopic bacteria lifeforms in an entire eco-stratrosphere. That last part I made up. What I got out of it the most was that this was the place where National Geographic gets their shots of this kind of thing.

That's where we're at right now. Only 1 week of resort riding left....

The Return To Lost Lake

2006-03-31T17:54:00.000-05:00

A lot has gone down in Lost Lake since I last was there. Actually, in between the last time i did this run/hike there was a person who went missing for two nights back there. Word is he randomly followed a local back there through the access gate and under vertigo, no-vis conditions he decided to go his own way like stevie nicks and ended up a seriously confused (and proally hungry person). He ended up in Moonlight real estate property from what I gather, and in those two days everyone was talking about it. The police had helis up there with snowmobiles and moonlight patrol looking for this kid. Ends up that he had warrants out on his arrest, so as soon as he was dropped off by the helis the cops took him in. Howabout that- sleeping out in the woods for 2 nights then to sleeping in a jail cell?

Rob's checking out a line off this death-cornice. One person we were with broke off a huge slab of one cornice a little further down just by walking a little too close to it. Backcountry is real.

That's the way I came down this time. The snow was unbelievable compared to last time we did this.

The line out was so smooth, fresh, and long. In a few years there will be a lift at the bottom of this bowl I bet. For how good this area is and the amount of great riding to be done its only a matter of time.

That's crew from today. We hit the tram and this area at such a perfect time. Ski patrol thought the viz was sketch and to cut the chutes before we charged them, but everything was good to go.

...and thats all I got this time around. Enjoy? This season just won't let up it's still snowing- we do have heavier snow but its not rain yet!

It's That Time Of Year Again...

2006-03-25T18:12:00.000-05:00

...on the move again....

So it's that time of year again, which means to anyone unfamiliar with my yearly schedule means that I'm about to migrate for the season- or am I? Will this be my first Montana summer to go along with the epic Montana winter I just experienced? Is this the place to set down and try to make things happen- the age old impossible trick of creating the good ol' "sumthin' outta nuthin". Is this the place? I ponder these kind of questions sporadically on my days off, coincedentally shown above in this photo....

These rocks are on wave wall, and to the unexperienced eye I really dont know how big they look, but from my experience theyre a solid 25 ft, or more, or less- it doesnt matter in the least to this story, but its sets the stage slightly.

So this was the photo from a couple weeks ago on a solid 15 inch pow day, or something along those lines, all i know is that everything was totally socked in visibility wise and Challenger was riding unbelievable. Everything pretty much was actually. Earlier that day there was a chinese-downhill down the normally mogulled out Snake Pit that was a faceshot free-for-all. It took this resort way too long too get upper mountain open, but when things finally started opening it was on. This shot above is from the entrance to Upper Pinnacles. The hike up it was almost complete vertigo, but like most every other run that day it proved more than worth it. Where am I going with this besides just running Big Sky jargon? well lets take a step back to those rocks from 2 pictures ago...heres a shot of those rocks from far away, where people saw us going down. It's called the Wave Wall because its a long cornice that stretches down the ridge, as displayed below...

Take into account also that this above shot was 2 months earlier and who knows how much more snow. It's just to give someone an idea about the run we were on that pow day. Since everything was riding so well we charged off that cornice and down into it. The snow was the deepest there compared to everywhere else we had rode that day and immediately we sunk into it and everything was right in the world. Made about 2 turns down it before that rock patch- thats when I got confused.

Confused? Yeah I guess thats the way to put it. I saw a skinny chute thru the rocks but I wanted more- wanted to jump off something. Thought I had my landing spotted and I definetly didnt, because as I was flying at my destiny I immediately realized these rocks were significantly larger than I had expected. Threw a speed check at those rocks and then everything turned to a chaos of little rocks, powder, and the overlying question of which way was up.

I knew I was gonna take a few impacts, so as I tumbled I just waited for them. The first came directly onto my back and it was the most brutal of all of them. It hit me on my right side under my shoulder blade and next to my spine. I got a large fruit cocktail for that one. Other impacts affected lower muscles in my back, but that was the most noticeable for sure. Two days later I noticed a large mutli colored bruise under my butt, which shouldnt be too big a deal, since swimsuit season is still a few months away.

Friends of mine saw me tumble down those rocks on wave wall and were dialing ski patrol on their phones before I even landed. They said they didnt realize it was me, and thought I was dead for sure. I definetly could have been, that's for sure, but for what happened I don't see it as a lesson in safety equipment because that wouldnt have averted this from happening. Nah, no helmet lessons in this or wristguard/butt-guard/shovelpack for my spine- nah here I think I really learned about appreciating the task at hand- like respecting your goals and how dangerous things can be when done riskily. The bottom line is that I made a rash decision and should have known better.

I'm lucky I learned the lesson without getting too hurt. That's the bottom line- respect the mountain or you'll learn the hard way.

Lost Lake, Odie Sleeps Over, Derek Comes Thru

2006-03-23T18:20:00.000-05:00

Lost Lake is behind Big Sky and next to Moonlight Basin, accesible through a forest service access gate off the peak of Lone Mtn. Today we waited the 7 (or more) tram car wait to get back there and ride some untracked goodness. The run was a chute that I never caught the random name of (one chute back there was named 'Mullet") and the top was shark-finned rocks at times. After that though it the turns deepened up significantly and it was a solid fast runout. From there we chilled for a few, then prepared for the hike out.

The hike out was a solid 25 minutes, plus perhaps. This put us atop another ridge we could drop into that eventually funneled us back into moonlight basin terrain. In total, the experience took about two and a half hours, but the tram line can account for almost half of that. I was intrigued to see the area because I'd heard about it for so long, and theres always a desire to be familiar with the mountain entirely.

Today was a recon mission for future trips back there for sure. We tried to take on Wyoming Bowl at the end of the day but ski patrol advised against it due to the temps. It's on the list, and after that it would mean i've been around this mountain 360 degrees, which goes to show how big this resort has the potential of becoming. We talked about it before the hike out that there was a definite possibility a lift tower will be where we were sitting in the next few years. These resorts are racing to topple all US resorts in skiable acreage, but without improving the already existing issues going on here they'll be building a faulty foundation- as if they already haven't been.

...So I wake up a week or so ago to a dark living room, and its 6am so im up putting the coffee on. Making my way through the kitchen this large furry thigh high thing rushes by me and disappears. Yeah- soon i realized it was a dog, but my initial reaction was absolute shock, like "what was that!?!?" Flicked the lights on and I meet Odie, this pointy-nose collie with a phone number on his neck. Alright, well all of this doesnt change the fact it was 6am, and this dog was pretty chill it seemed so i went back to bed awhile. After roomates wake up I make my way out and the story came together that Odie was cold and nervous about being cold and outside, i guess, and my roomate justin was told by a cute girl down the hall "you should take that dog in for the night!" so in short thats how Odie crashed at our place one night. When Odie's owner came to pick him up he didn't want to go with her, now that was some funny stuff that you really couldn't laugh about till it was over.

Derek Doucette came into town for 4 nights and 5 days, something like that. He got to ride some pow, see bison, catch montana fish in a montana river, and experienced a sample of how a handful of people live their lives up here in the mountains. The first day he was here there was only slight sympathy for his acclamation to the whole place, and we had him deep in the trees riding up to cliff lines. He'd never rode out west before so we tried to give him a buffet line of montana stuff to do. I say 'we' because everyone threw down some time with derek.

...stay tuned...

Fam Visitation and Early March Madness

2006-03-08T13:04:00.000-05:00

Early March started well with some fresh snow to improve conditions, and milder temps settled in. A few early storms brought some suprising pow days, which helped everyones demeanor around this place.

I had Fam in town for the past 5 days. Dad and Cole, my little cousin, came out to see what I actually do in my winter life out here in Montana. Neither of them had been even remotely west- i mean dad visited me in chi a couple times but thats it. Both of them were dealing with some altitude issues in the first few days (getting winded easily)....
Early March started well with some fresh snow to improve conditions, and milder temps settled in.

Dad hadn't skied in 10+ years easy and Cole was used to waiting in lines at Okemo and riding Wachusetts, so both of them got more than they planned for. I gave a few days of mountain tours to the both of them, and in the off time dad took around 500 photos total.

Hectic times call for drastic measures; thats kinda what im on right now as far as work progress is going. Theres a lot of variables in the work right now so to anyone interested just stay tuned, we're trying to make March happen like February didn't, but so far its off to a solid snowfall start. Derek from DC is coming through in about a week also, so we'll see what March brings....