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

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

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

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

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

Me and my best friend

GO BUFFS!

Listen here, broncos.

You start winning games. Or else.

Fires in CA

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

These crabs are making me crazy!

2001 Falesco Montiano Lazio

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

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

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!

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....

The edge...

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

2003 Ch. Mont redon Chateauneuf du Pape

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...

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

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

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....