live from d-town

Help Sponsor our Oyster-eating Team and Help The Gathering Place

2010-03-09T08:32:00.000-08:00

This Sunday March 14th, myself and 3 friends are going to be competing in Jax Fish House's annual Oyster Eating Competition to benefit The Gathering Place here in Denver. Besides the obvious fun to be had slurping as many oysters as we can in 2 minutes, we're raising money for a great local organization who's mission statement and various facts and figures are below.

If you've spent any time at all around me then you know I like a good competition as much as anyone. There is only one thing I would like more than to eat the most oysters, and that's to raise the most money. I hope you will consider a donation in any amount to help sponsor our team. In return I promise to share photos, videos and stories (none of which involve 'refunding', hopefully) with you after the event. At the very least you can feel good about your donation as it truly helps people in our community. And of course, spectators are definitely welcome and encouraged!

It would be easiest for you to paypal me (joebeauprez at gmail dot com) and I will write one check to Jax. But if you prefer to send me a check, that's cool too. Make it payable to Jax Fish House and mail it to me at

303 S.Broadway
#200-306
Denver CO 802029

Thanks and wish us luck!

Joe

http://www.the-gatheringplace.org/

MISSION STATEMENT: The Gathering Place exists to support women and their children who are experiencing homelessness or poverty by providing a safe daytime refuge and resources for self-sufficiency.
The Gathering Place is Denver's only daytime drop-in center for women and children who are experiencing homelessness and poverty in Denver.
Our emergency support services provide immediate relief to women and children in distress. Women who are able to meet their immediate and urgent needs can then collect their inner resources and make positive life changes for themselves and their children
The Gathering Place provides programming and services to an average of 365 women and children every day
On November 30, 2009, The Gathering Place served 649 women and children in a single day making this our busiest day since opening in 1986
In 2009…
The Gathering Place recorded over 84,500 visits by women
The Gathering Place recorded over 9,000 visits by children
3,503 women visited The Gathering Place for the first time
The Gathering Place served 63,347 nutritious meals in our kitchen
The Gathering Place distributed 406,158 bus tokens which is equivalent to 53,020 bus trips or $101,539.50
The Gathering Place distributed 4,560 toiletry and hygiene bags
The Gathering Place distributed 1,766 Infant Supply bags
The Gathering Place distributed 4,419 Food Boxes
287 different students attended GED classes and 13 achieved their diplomas
3,345 different women received clothing at Bridget’s Boutique
Total volunteer hours equated to more than 10 full-time staff positions

And here it is....for your listening pleasure

2008-12-22T10:06:00.000-08:00

click on this link right here and then download the zip file on that page. It should be a little down arrow on the right of the filename. email me if you have problems - PLEASE NOTE if you move the tracks into your itunes library after downloading, I recommend the following:

1) create a new playlist in itunes
2) move the files from the zip files into your playlist
3) the always-helpful DJ Bones tagged them so they should stay in the correct order, but do you and me both a favor - open the text file included in the zip file, to be sure before listening or burning. they're in the order they're in for a reason so please take a second to make sure they stay that way. trust me you'll enjoy it more if you listen to them this way, or at least I think you will so humor me. please. :)

A quick comment follows each song below, if you're interested. Overall it seemed like I was listening to a lot more rock this year, especially blues/country influenced, and more mellow/folky stuff too (although that's not really represented in this mix as much as the rock stuff). lots and lots of 80's influences this year too, with Prince showing up left right and center in other people's sounds. and hand claps - hand claps were EVERYWHERE this year. I honestly think I could have made an entire cd out of songs I liked that hand hand claps in them.

without further ado....

dj joey b
record party
december 2008

01. awesome color - come and dance
Great sound, these guys. like a garage rolling stones.

02. the black keys - strange times
the review of their 'rubber factory' cd on emusic starts "What hath the White Stripes wrought?" We saw them open for My Morning Jacket at red rocks this summer; great show. Song is ridiculously catchy.

03. people under the stairs - up yo spine (fishbucket pt.3)
Was listening to XM43 one random night this summer, and happened to catch these guys as guests on DOCs' underground hip hop show, and fell in love with their sound. 'Acid Raindrops' off their O.S.T album was actually what I remember hearing, and I like that album better overall than Fun DMC which this appears on, but this track is super catchy, like an indie hip hop version of a Will Smith joint or something.

04. vampire weekend - oxford comma
Anything to say about VW has been said 100x already so I won't really bother. Other than to say I wish this album had come out in the summer rather than January. I also like how somehow the profanity in the first line doesn't feel that profane when sung by Mass. preppies. Great tune. Points for rhyming Comma with Dharamshala.

05. dirty on purpose - audience in the room
Technically came out November 2007 but we'll let it slide. Shoegaze makes me happy. Been a big fan of these guys for a few years now and psyched to finally get one of their tracks on a mix. If you like their sound check out 'Kill our City." yummy.

06. the raveonettes - young and beautiful
I actually had 'Blush' from their Lust Lust Lust CD (one of the best CDs this year IMO) in this slot but then their 'Beauty Dies' EP came out and this track took its place. Probably because I'd listened to Lust x 3 about 100 times this year.

07. MGMT - time to pretend
This track OWNS. These guys were at the hi-dive one night this year, with YeaSayer opening, which was who I really wanted to see, for like 10 bucks, and I missed seeing them becuase I had an early flight to LA for work the next day. Now I'm laid off and I didn't see that show. The lesson here is, don't miss Yeasayer and MGMT for 10 dollars because you never know.

08. ra ra riot - can you tell
Love their sound; like Vampire Weekends slightly less clean cut friends. Maybe the Rolling Stones to VW's Beatles. Maybe I'm over thinking this. Great album.

09. the lonelyhearts - harlequin bands
One of a few tracks that made it on here at the last minute when I stumbled across a few albums on emusic that I fell in love with. The guitar in this track sounds like Eagle Eye Cherry's 'Save Tonight' with the guy from Tragically Hip singing over it (note: I later realized I meant to say They Might be Giants but I think Tragically Hip works here too), which should bug the hell out me but doesn't. This track gets stuck in my head for days.

10. sam champion - jealous shakes
Same as above; stumbled on it at the last minute. I like this album a lot. a rocker.

11. the knux - F!RE (put it in the air)
Holy out of nowhere; these guys came out of obscurity recently to start showing up on everyone's best albums of 2008 list. This is one of the more straightforward tracks on the album. Definitely recommend checking them out. hip hop rock electro dance stuff.

12. the hold steady - both crosses
Passed on these guys for years because I wasn't going to let myself like the 'springsteen' sound that these guys get press for. My mistake, these guys kick ass. I love everything about this song and Stay Positive (the album it appears on). I picked up like 2 more of their albums after hearing Stay Positive. If you like them then definitely check out The Gaslight Anthem's album too (The 59 sound)

13. fleet foxes - your protector
Another band out of nowhere this year and just blowing up; singer & songwriter is 22 years old with no formal music training. This album is required listening.

14. the fireman - dance 'til we're high
Paul McCartney side project - who knew? Not me. After the enormously disappointing 'Memory almost Full' last year I purposely ignored this for a while, to my own detriment. This album is freaking good; real freaking good. I had like 4 other tracks I was considering for this cd off of it. Check it out.

15. eagles of death metal - (i used to couldn't dance) tight pants
It's impossible not to like this band and this song. WHOO! CHECK IT! TIGHT PANTS - HUH!!!

16. kings of leon - crawl
Nice to see these guys exploding in the US finally after so many years, except it meant that they sold out the Fillmore and we couldn't get tickets to see them day of show. booooooooooooooooooooooooo. They bite Zep pretty hard on this track but that's OK because they do it so perfectly.

17. my morning jacket - i'm amazed
The show at red rocks this year was one of the 2 or 3 best shows I've seen in my life. They played for almost 3 full hours; this was one of many highlights. Good old fashioned beer-swillin yet contemplative southern rock n' roll.

18. frightened rabbit - the twist
Another album I had like 6 tracks picked out for and had a real hard time choosing. So much despondence and pain on this album but so hopeful and beautiful too. I also missed seeing these guys (with Oxford Collapse) at hi dive due to a flight the next morning to LA. gahhhhhrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh

19. TV on the radio - halfway home
Dear Science is my #1 album this year by a MILE. This track is 5 minutes of absolute gorgeous madness. When the synths come in during the chorus.....It's almost exhausting to listen to. You've been warned.

20. white denim - you can't say
I like these guys a lot. Most of their stuff is a lot harder than this, but there's plenty of rock on this CD.

there should be something on here for everyone; the only person I expect to like everything is me. I hope it does the trick for you!

Happy Holidays everyone!

I think it's done

2008-12-17T21:10:00.000-08:00

Just as I thought, it went through several iterations before it got to this point. I thought it was done and then had to cut two tracks out to make it fit on an audio CD (sorry Ladyhawke and The Jealous Girlfriends....it happens).

I think this is the final list. I don't usually do a full commentary about each track but maybe this year will be different. Since I have time on my hands and all.

01. awesome color - come and dance
02. the black keys - strange times
03. people under the stairs - up yo spine (fishbucket pt.3)
04. vampire weekend - oxford comma
05. dirty on purpose - audience in the room
06. the raveonettes - young and beautiful
07. MGMT - time to pretend
08. ra ra riot - can you tell
09. the lonelyhearts - harlequin bands
10. sam champion - jealous shakes
11. the knux - F!RE (put it in the air)
12. the hold steady - both crosses
13. fleet foxes - your protector
14. eagles of death metal - (i used to couldn't dance) tight pants
15. kings of leon - crawl
16. the fireman - dance 'til we're high
17. my morning jacket - i'm amazed
18. frightened rabbit - the twist
19. TV on the radio - halfway home
20. white denim - you can't say

2008 is almost over...

2008-12-11T21:42:00.001-08:00

And that means it's time for another 'best of' compilation. Here's the working tracklist....It's already gone through one round of revisions and probably will see at least another before the end of the year.

01. awesome color - come and dance
02. santogold - L.E.S. artistes
03. the black keys - strange times
04. people under the stairs - up yo spine (fishbucket pt.3)
05. vampire weekend - oxford comma
06. TV on the radio - golden age
07. dirty on purpose - audience in the room
08. the raveonettes - blush
09. MGMT - time to pretend
10. adele - make you feel my love
11. ra ra riot - can you tell
12. the jealous girlfriends - i quit
13. eagles of death metal - (i used to couldn't dance) tight pants
14. the knux - F!RE (put it in the air)
15. the hold steady - both crosses
16. kings of leon - crawl
17. fleet foxes - your protector
18. okkervil river - lost coastlines
19. my morning jacket - i'm amazed
20. frightened rabbit - the twist
21. TV on the radio - halfway home

Hike near Pacific Peak, outside Breck

2008-09-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/joebeauprez/PacificPeak26Sept2008#

I wasn't able to summit - the route proved trickier than anticipated and I ran out of time (and the weather turned sour) - but it was a great day for a hike! I even found an old mine that if I'd wanted to (and was dumb enough to do it) I could have explored. You could hear water dripping in it and everything.

Sunday 2-fer

2008-09-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

Not content to just climb one 14er, Marty and I bagged 2 yesterday - Bierstadt and Evans. We thought we were pretty tough but the mountains taught us a badly needed lesson in humility. After 9 hours (7 of which spent above 13K feet; hello there oxygen deprivation) of hiking we were pretty beat to say the least. What a way to conclude the hiking season! My goal this year was to climb at least one 14er; I ended up doing 3, plus Hagues which is 13,500 and almost 20 miles round trip. I can't wait for next year!!!!

View all of my pics here

Go buffs!

2008-08-31T17:37:00.000-07:00

Buffs rule :)

2008-08-31T17:36:00.000-07:00

Let's go buffaloes!

2008-08-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

The intro to this years TV broadcast of the Rocky Mountain Showdown (AKA CU's annual a$$kicking of CSU) is being broadcast from the top of the Buffulance AKA our new tailgating vehicle. GO BUFFS!

Last night

2008-08-29T09:05:00.001-07:00

It's hard to put into words what it was like in the stadium last night. the TV broadcast did a pretty good job showing the grandeur of the production - I've never seen so many spotlights in my life - but all the trappings were eclipsed by the sense of history being made. Seeing a black man standing on the podium accepting the nomination for president, and with a real chance at winning, made me believe maybe America CAN move past our human failings of the past and CAN continue to be a beacon of hope for the world and CAN solve any problem that is before us. Life can be pretty overwhelming and the thought of what lies ahead can be daunting but I love the message of dreaming big and finding a way - America is a place where anything is possible with hope, faith and hard work.

There were literally waves of energy rolling through the crowd all night. It was truly incredible.

btw what was with the music at the end of the speech?

2008-08-29T00:02:00.000-07:00

what you heard on TV was what we heard in the stadium. it was really odd. way too over the top. It was like they had something picked out and hit the wrong track on the CD.

wow....

2008-08-28T23:37:00.001-07:00

What an amazing night. finally home after a couple drinks with Erin and Clara at the Cruise Room after the speech. I'll write more tomorrow when I've got my head together better.

Obama

2008-08-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Man this guy can talk. It was louder than a broncos game in here when he accepted the nomination.

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Best line of the night

2008-08-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

Random guy from Indiana named Barney Smith talking about why he's voting Obama :

'I want a president who puts Barney Smith before Smith Barney'

Guy got a standing O. Hilarious. Crowd was chanting 'Barney! Barney!' And everything.

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The setup

2008-08-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

Those of you watching on TV might be getting lots of cool facts about the setup here. We are not getting any of those but I will tell you its incredible. I can't imagine what went into putting this all together but I REALLY can't imagine how they'll get this all torn down in 48 hours for the CU game.

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Union guy

2008-08-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

Pro union guy talking about unions. Not a fan of the whole union thing. This is when I'd go grab a beer, if of course they were selling beer. You'd think they could have made some good money to help pay for this gig.

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The weather

2008-08-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

Just to reiterate about the weather - this is the only night this summer (the concert at red rocks was the other one) where there isn't a cloud in the sky. The temp is low 70s and there's a slight breeze. Nights like this get people to move to CO permanently. :)

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Sen. Biden

2008-08-28T18:27:00.000-07:00

Big welcome for him. Camera bulbs starting to go off because its twilight - its really a perfect evening. The air is almost electric (sorry for the cliche but there's a lot of that going around. Its a convention after all :)

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Smooth music in the house!

2008-08-28T18:08:00.000-07:00

Michael freaking McDonald...let's sail away on the smooth sounds of 'America the Beautiful'! Its no Ray Charles but it'll do. If he plays 'what a fool believes' I'll just die. :). Keep the fire Mike...

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Al gore

2008-08-28T17:50:00.000-07:00

Some good one liners from the former VP and a massive standing O (as you might expect in this situation). I haven't heard him speak much before but he's talking pretty fast tonight. Slow down Al!

Its one big party here...

2008-08-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

Save for the fact that there's no beer sales. :( people were really fired up when Cheryl crow and Stevie wonder came out but gov. Richardson drew the biggest applause so far. Although now that I typed that, Stevie is playing 'signed sealed delivered' and the crowd's going nuts.

Also, all 70,000 people must be doing what I'm doing right now because email/internet has been real spotty.

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My battery died

2008-08-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

I was on my phone literally all day and then left for this and of course my phone was out of power and died. Luckily Erin has plenty of juice left if hers so you won't be without this riveting play by play analysis. :)
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Stevie wonder

2008-08-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

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Cheryl crow

2008-08-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

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We're 'special' :)

2008-08-28T16:53:00.000-07:00

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We're in our seats!

2008-08-28T16:29:00.000-07:00

Just north of south stands - section 135

Security line in the tent

2008-08-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

Outside East side of stadium

Trying to find our security line

2008-08-28T15:54:00.000-07:00

Almost there...

2008-08-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

Will we ever get there?

2008-08-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

Sitting (standing actually) on a bus waiting to get through traffic downtown. Its pretty stacked up - we're around 15th and wazee - nowhere near Invesco yet. Talking with Erin and Clara (our wonderful friend who sorted us out on the cred's) and enjoying it knowing that we'll be there soon enough! Our badges are supposed to get us on the 1st level too. Hope that's true!

Headed to Invesco....

2008-08-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

A friend just called with 2 extra VIP credentials for Obama's speech at Invesco tonight - so Erin and I are headed out! watch for more updates tonight.....pretty cool to be a part of history being made!

A perfect night at Red Rocks.....

2008-08-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

I had to share this view we had on the most perfect night for a concert. Red Rocks is a magical place inn any case but tonight was exceptional! If you haven't checked out My Morning Jacket you don't know what you're misssing! Black Keys played an awesome opening set too.

It begins.....

2008-08-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

4 days till the convention starts and it appears the madness is descending already...there is a tent at the corner near the office selling Obama souvenirs and then there's this 40 ft MSNBC banner on the Kacey building across the parking lot at the Pepsi Center....should be an interesting week!

2008-08-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

I guess you could say I have the bug....just 2 weeks after climbing my first 14'er (and really, my first mountain of any real significance) I summited Hauge's Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday with my friends Steve and Marty (l to r in the group photo). Don't be fooled by the mid-13K elevation - this is no 'walk in the park' (well, techically I guess it is) as it is ~15 miles round trip and a punishing 5,000 feet of vertical (up, and then down again!). The physical exercise, the fresh air, the mind-boggling natural beauty, and especially the reward of reaching the summit make all the aches and pains I'm feeling today well worth it. The last 1000 feet or so of the ascent was a lot more work (and a little hairier) than we'd expected; but I'll never forget pulling myself over the edge and onto the top of the mountain - what a feeling!

2008-07-27T20:11:00.001-07:00

It may not technically be the 'roof of the world' but it sure feels like it at 14,271 ft above sea level! Depsite having spent all but 2.5 years of my life in CO, I have never climbed, hiked, or otherwise ascended a 14'er. That streak ended today when I climbed Quandary Peak outside of Breckenridge, thus accomplishing one of the goals I set for myself this summer and affording me an awe-inspiring view. Class 1 (read: least technically demanding) rating to the contrary, this was still a pretty physically demanding hike and I was glad I'm in pretty good shape already. Even so I was stopping every 30 or 40 steps for the last hundred yards or so but MAN was it amazing once we got up to the top! We hung out with a family of goats who were munching on some vegetation (what little there is 3000 feet above timberline), ate some lunch and then high-tailed it back down once the weather turned. I've definitely got the bug now - I'm already thinking of my next ascent!

More music

2008-05-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, a post every 4 1/2 months; I am ON FIRE.

This year I'm trying to keep track of my favorite new bands/albums as I go rather than wait till the end of the year (and inevitably forgetting about some). Here's what's been doing it for me through the first 4 1/2 months of 2008 - rather than review each one (things are pretty busy around here!), I linked them to Amazon or emusic so you can hear them for yourself. It's well worth the time!

Black Mountain - In the Future
The Ravonettes - Lust Lust Lust
Pete and the Pirates - Little Death
The Whitsundays - The Whitsundays
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
Eric Lau - New Territories
Black Keys - Attack & Release
Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Foals - Antidotes
Panic at the Disco - Pretty. Odd.
Hysterics - Hysterics

New Year, New List

2008-01-09T15:16:00.000-08:00

I know I have been a total slacker about updating this thing, and after all that talk about how I was going to mobile blog whatever came into my head, wine food music blah blah blah....and then it turned out that my wife was the one to actually follow through on that (read hers here). Well, I'm going to be better this year. Really. Or maybe not, we'll see. In the meantime, here's my list of essential albums from 2007 (Bon Savants was actually mid-Dec 2006 but I'm not letting 2 weeks stop it from getting in. It's my list so I make the rules).

This is the list I've been keeping. Tier I is sort of a "damn this CD is good and indispensible; I can't imagine not having that album" Tier 2 has some albums that in theory might end up in that level but probably not, but I still really liked them.

There's also a couple other albums from 2007 I picked up today on emusic but they're on the quiet/mellow side and hard to tell if I like them at work volumes. Have to have a run on the headphones to figure those out but whatever; this list is already long enough.....

My favorite album by a mile:
The National - Boxer

Tier I

Interpol - Our Love to Admire
Film School - Hideout
Sloan - Never Hear the End of It
BRMC - Baby 81
The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
The Cave Singers - Invitation Songs
Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil
Matthew Dear - Asa Breed
Tinariwen - Aman Iman: Water is Life
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Oxford Collapse - A Good Ground
Warm in the Wake - American Prehistoric

Tier 2

The Ponys - Turn the Lights Out
Celebration - The Modern Tribe
White Stripes - Icky Thump
Emma Pollock - watch the fireworks
MIA - Kala
Rebekah Higgs - Rebekah Higgs
Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down the Mountain
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Caribou - Andorra
Bon Savants - Post Rock Defends the Nation
The Rakes - Ten New Messages
The Mother Hips - Kiss the Crystal Flake
Kathy Diamond - Miss Diamond to You
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Caribou - Andorra
Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Acadamy
Pela - Anytown Graffiti
International Karate - More of what we've heard before

I felt like this was overall a really good year for music. Felt like Indie has started to permeate the mainstream a bit too which can't be a bad thing. I've also noticed a lot of world/int'l styles creeping into otherwise 'normal' music and other genre-blurring, as well as a return to a 60's and 70's classic rock sound that is hitting a great note.

new mix for the holidays

2007-12-16T22:02:00.000-08:00

As you may or may not know, each year I put together a compilation of some of my favorite tracks by some of my favorite artists of the last year. I try to make most of the tracks stuff that was released in that year but there are always a few exceptions, and always for good reason (i.e. Joy Division - Atmosphere; since I was listening to a LOT of JD this year when Control came out). It's obviously not comprehensive since I pick up 10-15 new cds each month but it captures some of the best of what's out there right now (IMO) and really is just meant to be a celebration of good music!

download it by right click/save as'ing here

dj joey b
this is ridiculous
december 2007

01. Sloan - Flying High Again
02. Sloan - Who Taught You to Live Like That
03. Spoon - Don't You Evah
04. Howling Bells - Blessed Night
05. The National - Fake Empire
06. Black Lips - O Katrina!
07. Film School - Sick Hipster Nursed By Suicide Girl
08. LCD Soundsystem - Us V Them
09. Phoenix Foundation - Going Fishing
10. Bon Savants - Between the Moon and the Ocean
11. Radiohead - Reckoner
12. Matthew Dear - Shy
13. The White Stripes - I'm Slowly Turning Into You
14. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - American X
15. The National - Apartment Story
16. Yeasayer - Worms
17. Frightened Rabbit - Behave!
18. Joy Division - Atmosphere

Jake is even smarter than I thought

2007-12-15T17:20:00.001-08:00

Graduating at the age of 7, thus saving everyone lots of money! :)

Me and my best friend

2007-11-08T21:43:00.000-08:00

GO BUFFS!

Listen here, broncos.

2007-10-29T21:56:00.001-07:00

You start winning games. Or else.

Fires in CA

2007-10-23T12:06:00.001-07:00

Took these out the window of the plane today flying into LAX. This is directly East of LA on the other side of the mountains.

My son beatmatches better than your honor student

2007-09-21T08:47:00.001-07:00

These crabs are making me crazy!

2007-08-20T07:35:00.001-07:00

2001 Falesco Montiano Lazio

2007-08-17T18:54:00.001-07:00

Italian merlot. Inky dark like midnight. Light barely passes throug it. Nose relatively light and doesn't belie the hugeness to follow. HUGE wine. 30 second finish. Massive fruit (esp dark cherries), earth, leather, perhaps cocoa? tannins remain firm. Does NOT mess around. Could possibly have used another year or two to soften up or an additional hour or two of air (had 45 minutes before we started in on it; it did start to really get nice after it'd been open for a couple hours). Awesome.

Video from Paragliding

2007-08-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

I know how to do a lot of things but embedding a youtube video here isn't one of them. But you can see the video by clicking this link right here

Lunch in lionshead

2007-08-16T11:32:00.001-07:00

Ah what comfort, a french deli just minutes by foot from our hotel in vail. I had a pate sandwich - that's right; pate, dijon mustard, onions and cornichons with lettuce and tomato on french bread. The pate was firm, country style (not mousse) and wonderful. Along with the liver sausage I had in Munich this is going to be one of my more odd cravings when I'm back home.

I'm alive!

2007-08-16T09:04:00.001-07:00

Paragliding is amazing and not at all scary... Highly recommended 970.845.7321 www.vailvalleyparagliding.com

There is no chance something could go wrong....i think....

2007-08-16T07:58:00.001-07:00

The edge...

2007-08-16T07:42:00.001-07:00

I'm about to embark on a paragliding adventure over this ridge! More to follow ...

2003 Ch. Mont redon Chateauneuf du Pape

2007-08-11T15:25:00.001-07:00

A little split from the southern rhone; 2 glasses of extracted, pure and ripe juice. Really enjoyed this wine; was already drinking nicely after a little aeration; ripe tannins which need to soften a little bit bode for a good future ahead. Have 1 more bottle on the rack and doubt I'll wait long enough to find out. Have plenty of other CDPs on the rack for that. :)

I got crabs...

2007-08-11T14:32:00.001-07:00

My friend Charlie flew in Maryland blue crabs for a feast last weekend. This is my burial mound. The last remnants of 17 tasty morsels.

1999 Dry Creek Vineyard Cab Sauv

2007-08-11T14:23:00.001-07:00

bought this a year or so ago; bought 2 bottles and apparently had the other one without noticing at some point. In any event this wine was lovely; needed 45 minutes or so to come around but exploded out of the glass with ripe cassis and blackberry notes; included some leather and vanilla on the palate with a silky texture and medium to long finish. fresh and pure. lovely - wish I had more...

Updates to come...drivel or anti-drivel, depending on your perspective

2007-08-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

For anyone who cares to pay attention (and I know there's GOT to be someone out there) I'm going to make use of the ability to mobile-blog by posting up quick-hits when I see/eat/hear/taste/touch something i enjoy and think others might as well. All you'll need to do to experience this multi-sensory mini-update is throw this blog in your reader/feed machine and VOILA! instant vicarious living.

Recognizing that nobodys' life (especially and including mine) is really all THAT interesting and the only real reason to subscribe to this feed would be to satisfiy that modern need for a temporary, mildly entertaining and possibly educational distraction, I'm going to keep things pretty short. what is it, where is it, was it good, should you try it? that kind of thing.

Stay tuned....

Exhausted and tired but home.

2007-07-29T06:55:00.001-07:00

I am NEVER flying Alaska air again. Great to be home!

13 hours down 30 minutes to go

2007-07-29T00:07:00.001-07:00

Absolutely bored to tears.

2007-07-28T20:28:00.001-07:00

You know who sucks?

2007-07-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

Alaska Air, that's who. Flight delays on the way here cost us 4 hours of sitting in Seattle, but that's a picnic compared to what we're dealing with now.

Original Plan: wake up at 5:45AM, drive to Anchorage, return car, 11:15AM flight through Seattle, get into Denver at 9PM.

New Plan: wake up at 5:45AM, drive to Anchorage, return car, discover flight delayed 1hr 40min; realize we will miss our connection to Denver, spend almost 2 hours trying anything, on any airline, through anywhere, to get to Denver tonight, settle for the best option - midnight flight that gets in at 710AM tomorrow. :-O

At least its a non stop but that's the best thing you can say about it. In the meantime we're killing 10 or 11 hours at the palatial Upper One faux-sports-bar in Terminal A. Whoo Hoo. Good thing we had such an amazing trip or I'd probably be pretty cranky.

We're gonna need a bigger boat...

2007-07-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

So a guy on our boat (from Denver, coincidentally) caught a salmon shark quite on accident while we were in our first halibut spot. we knew he had something big on, and it took him 20 minutes or so to reel it in. It kept fighting, going deep, running, going under the boat, etc. Pretty amazing since it was about 365lbs and we were looking for fish 1/5th that size (or smaller)!

They had to kill it before bringing it on board; as you can imagine it's a pretty bad idea to haul a 6ft shark onto a ship of 16 people while it's still alive. Harpoon to the gills and a bat to head seemed to do the trick, and it was hauled on board by the deckhands. However once on board, and with the deckhand standing over it at the gills (which was smart of him to be behind his mouth), he started having pretty serious death spasms and thrashing around. The deckhand squeezed the shark and held on until he could get the bat back in his hand and well....remember the end of GoodFellas where Joe Pesci meets his end in the corn field? Well it was sort of like that.

In any event it was pretty amazing to see it that close. And when we got back into port it was quite the attraction. View all the pictures here

Our last day...

2007-07-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

What an amazing end to the trip....orcas, humpback whales, sea lions, porposies, a shark, sunshine (finally).....literally the perfect ending to the perfect week (except for Alaska Airlines, may it fall into bankruptcy and go out of business as soon as humanly possible). View all the pictures here

The day started out with another cloudy morning. although we quickly noticed what looked like patches of blue sky starting to break through. We headed out just past the limit of the bay into the Gulf to fish for salmon....we stopped in what looked like a parking lot full of boats all pulling salmon out of the water. things were slow at first but that didn't last long and within about 45 minutes we'd all caught our limit of 3 for the day - time to head out into deeper water for halibut!

The first stop found no halibut but a 6ft salmon shark (more on that later). 2nd stop was similarly slow; a couple halibut but mostly dogfish. Our 3rd stop (what the fisherman call a 'chicken ranch' since it's filled with plenty of small to average sized fish) was a halibut bonanza; everyone caught their limit of 2 within about an hour.

Since we had the extra time we moved on to another spot to troll for ling cod (what we called 'predators' - like the movie - since they're so freaky looking). You can only catch one per day; I dropped my line in the water and had a fish hooked in 30 seconds, so my ling cod experience was pretty short lived. I was psyched to get one though (37 inches, which believe it or not was the smallest one caught that day) since I'd had a couple on Wednesday that we had to throw back and I've heard they're quite tasty as fish n chips or fish tacos), and John got one too.

As you can see from the picture below we caught a MESS of fish.

All the fishing done, we headed back for the 2 1/2 hour trip back to port. On the way in we stopped at a rock to look at sealions.

We also passed this massive island that had a couple bunkers on the top which used to be manned year round to watch for illegal Japanese fishing vessels. Not a fun place to be stationed in the winter I'd imagine.

When we pulled into our slip a big tour boat had just let out and suddenly this mob of people developed around the boat to see the shark. Pretty funny stuff.

The sun was out all day as well; the first time we'd seen any sun at all this week. Although I have to admit, I'm going to be really glad to get back to seeing actual darkness and have my body on a regular sleep cycle!

Dinner was spectacular (as usual) at Rays Waterfront and we closed the evening with scotch (Clynelish 14yr) and cigars on the balcony. Spot on! View all the pictures here

2007-07-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

Went up to Exit Glacier today; so named because it proved to be a suitable 'exit' from the Harding Ice Field upon exploration. The Glacier has been receding historically about a mile every 90 years, but recently that pace has almost doubled, raising concerns about the impact on the surrounding ecosystem. As the glacier melts it flows down into this huge valley, with a massive riverbed running through it. When we were there the river was pretty low but you can tell that when it runs it's incredibly wide as there are no trees or any vegetation to be seen there - the force of the water must be really something when it's running that full. The hike was quite short and easy compared to what we're used to in CO but beautiful nonetheless; we had a little bit of drama when I stopped to get some pictures, figuring I'd catch up to the group, and took the wrong fork in the trail. We all found each other eventually and made it up there, and took a bunch of pictures. The area right around the glacier is like being on the moon, lots of flinty rock (some of it really sharp like an arrowhead) and no vegetation save for some lichens. According to the guide, after the glacier recedes it takes many years for vegetation to take hold, and you can really see it when you're up there looking back down the valley.

Had lunch at Chinooks' Waterfront restaurant; they brew their own beer which was probably the best thing about the place. We've been pretty spoiled by the restaurants here; surprisingly good and in fact Ray's (to be reveiwed later) and Yoly's have been terrific.

Back on the water tomorrow and hoping for a big finish to an awesome trip! Until later.....

View all the photos here

2007-07-25T18:43:00.000-07:00

A quick post from Seward, AK with some photos from our trip. Male bonding, fish guts, great meals, cigars, near-constant daylight, a sea captain straight out of central casting, good times! More to come.... view the entire album here

First Post

2007-07-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

....And so it begins.....