Pavlov's Bowels

Last week, the cat peed on my bed twice. I bought her a new cat box and new fancy kitty litter and have been rewarding her with food whenever she uses said box.


She is now going to the bathroom four times a day.

WILT: GypsyRogueHillMusic

I was born in Boston and live now in Boulder but my family hails from the coal mines of Ohio and the clay hills of Appalachia. As a child, I grew up eating collard greens, catfish, cornbread, and just about everything you can throw in a fryer (po' boys, okra, chicken, steak, etc.) But when it comes to appreciating music, location is neither here nor there.

You don't have to be from high country or back alley to dig a soulful sound. A little pain in your life, a little fire, a little whiskey. These are what's needed.

You already know about my late breaking man crush on Tom Waits. Here are three other artists I've recently discovered. If Kings of Leon is the annointed son, these three are the backward black eyed cousins. Thanks to AkercByVolume, GNightMoon, and a certain girl who done me wrong for these:



Kevin Quain - Thief of Dances (some random dude painting KQ and the Mad Bastards on YouTube)
When I heard this guy drop the accordion, rear back his head and howl like one of Mowgli's brothers, I was already two bourbons deep and still digging. Kevin Quain wouldn't have it any other way. He doesn't get out of Toronto much but to hear him sing, you'd think he'd raised ghosts, stolen senoritas, and dropped hammers in OK Corrals all over the world. He is a Louis L'amour short story in your ears. He is Kevin Quain.

Gillian Welch - Lowlands (relatively decent youtube version)
At first listen, there isn't much to Lowlands. But play it again. And maybe another time. Like long hours in a smokehouse, the repetitive bass line, lonely vocals, and subtle guitar start coating listeners with soft soulful flavor. If they tasted the way she sounds, there'd be a line out the door.



JJ Grey and Mofro - Blackwater (iTunes)
The recipe for this group? Mix equal parts Lynyrd Skynyrd, B.B. King, Jimmie Hendrix and (more recently) Motown. I really don't know anything about these guys but if the song Blackwater doesn't stir something within you, then you've already died so killing yourself will just accomplish a little tidying up. Honorable mention to Brighter Days and Lochloosa.

Served

The CU Jitterbuffs came second tonight to BLAM! the CSU swing team. I was warming up so I actually didn't see their piece but I heard it was innovative and tight. As for our piece, overall I was very happy with Rachel's and my performance. We were one count early on one move, and I forgot to check lines at one spot. Other than that, I can't think of any mistakes. It was definitely worth the effort.

Congratulations to CSU. See you next year!

The Big Dance

It's on the hardwood.
It's all college.

It's the Intercollegiate Swing Battle!!! Facebook page

Tomorrow night at 9pm at the Glenn Miller Ballroom, The CU Jitterbuffs will take on dance teams from eight other schools for swing dance bragging rights. It's free and there is a lesson at 7pm. Come support your school or your favorite blogger!

Blockbuster

I am actually a huge fan of the Chicago Bears future for Jay Cutler trade. The Broncos get two firsts, a third, and an underrated Kyle Orton for a fifth and a big armed big baby? Cutler has all the talent in the world but the NFL is full of talented players who desTrOy teams by putting themselves first. Don't be surprised to see Chicago's finest doing situps in his new windy city driveway.

It takes stones to pull the trigger on a trade like this. Both sides will profit. The biggest losers are the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are football's America. In giving up massive draft picks for Jared Allen last year, they had already mortgaged their future. The only way out of the hole would have been to spend their last dollar in the Cutler sweepstakes. They will be reminded of their gutless inaction twice a year for years to come.

It should never have come to this but I believe the Broncos made out like Burt Reynolds.

Dark Canyon 2 of 2: The photos

From Dark Canyon

Day 03 was our first morning in canyon. Spring in the desert is an unpredictable thing. Temperatures reached 75 degrees but the nights hovered around 30. Walker had the foresight to pack in Lapsang Suchong, a smokey tea perfect for brisk spring mornings.

From Dark Canyon

Our itinerary called for day hikes through Lean-to and Lost Canyons. The older adult gamely tried to keep up for an hour but then headed back to camp. This crew was one of the fastest I've been a part of, which suited Walker and me. With no "adults" to hold us back, the nine of us fairly flew up spillways and between boulders. I channeled a little Big Daddy and let the scouts climb virtually anything they wanted.

From Dark Canyon

It was in this first canyon (Lean-To) that Walker began the first of many economics related lectures. Over the next four days, he covered health insurance, sugar quotas, bailouts, gasoline subsidies, stimulus packages and other intricacies with U.S. democracy.

From Dark Canyon

Believe it or not, I'm actually the quiet one when Walker and I both lead trips. I often feel that he has a better rapport with the scouts, something I usually don't earn until a few days have elapsed. This is me crossing a creek in Young's Canyon, which was choked with elephant grass. The weather was cold enough that I didn't think snakes would be out yet but the grass made me nervous because it was dry and crackly, meaning I'd never hear a rattle.

From Dark Canyon

Some parents of new scouts often are concerned that their children will starve. They say things like, "My son is a picky eater." I try to assure them that I will force march their little darling so far that at the end of the day he'd eat his boot leather if that's what was for dinner.

From Spring Break 2009 - High Adventure (Walker B.)

On the third day, we all loaded packs and headed up Dark Canyon toward the mouth of Young's Canyon, a hike that turned out to be over 7 miles long. Walker and I had encouraged the other adult to take some food and chill out at our original base camp while we took the scouts up canyon. He insisted he'd be fine. He made it 20 minutes before deciding he could go no further. At this point however, the forward-most boys and I were at least 45 minutes ahead of him. At this point only Walker and the adult's son ____ remained. Walker left the adult with four cheese sticks, five fruit by the foots, four packs of oatmeal, and a cup and a half of granola. Guess he did lose some weight. :)

From Dark Canyon

From Dark Canyon

The next two days were great. The boys were ready to hike and hike fast. Walker taught them how to navigate using topos, how to sauté vegetables and how to master use of the spice wheel. I taught them how to play Chinese Poker. We arrived back at base camp the following afternoon.

From Dark Canyon

This might be the archetypical scout crew photo. Here you have the crew chief and veteran, the computer programmer, the slightly chubby kid, and the jock. In high school, most of these guys would never hang out in the same clique. Yet on Scout trips, they work together, laugh together, and struggle together, and learn that we aren't as different as we all might seem.

From Dark Canyon

After 5 days in canyon, we climbed back out the way we'd entered: via the towering screefield. On a climb like this, everyone faces their own demons.

From Dark Canyon

Demons demolished.

WTF?

ESPN has just reported that the Broncos are trying to trade Jay Cutler because he no longer appears interested in playing for them.

Big ups to the brash new coach and the big baby quarterback. Great job all around people. Seriously, well played.

My fan allegiance is now also on the market.

#28

Today is my birthday. I am very content. My life is going swimmingly. I really am happy with all aspects of my life.

Year 29 began somewhat inauspiciously. I came home two nights ago to discover that Roxy the cat had unleashed roughly 500 gallons of urine onto my bed, soaking my comforter, sheets, mattress pad, and a good sized section of my pillow-top mattress. Walker washed everything and the comforter went to the dry cleaners. I spent the night on the futon bundled in warm camping clothes. Problem solved.



Then last night, 15 minutes into my birthday, I discovered two other older (yes, it was cat) pee stains on the mattress! These smelled horribly. Apparently I have been sleeping on a mattress saturated with cat pee for quite some time.

Although three of my last four significant others told me they loved the way I smelled, clearly this situation had to change. I Febreezed the $#!! out of the mattress and hit the futon again. I woke up early to take Roxy to the Vet to see if her now empty bladder was inflamed.

That's when everything began to turn around. The cute-ish Vet Tech reduced Roxy's bill estimate by $90, Walker made me breakfast, and then my roomates presented me with a much needed, extremely light weight insulated air mattress. Perhaps if the pee smells continue, I'll just use my awesome new pad.

The morning has been spent blogging, lounging, and waiting for Jess's cake to cool.

Plan for the day: Study, Shave, Shower, and buy a nice bottle of whiskey for those late spring winter storms I keep hearing about.

Dark Canyon 1: The beginning

From Dark Canyon

all my pics here.

I'd already been gone from Boulder for what felt like three weeks straight but I jumped at the chance to help lead a crew of seven Boy Scouts aged 13-15 years through Dark Canyon. Poker tournaments in San Jose and Las Vegas had forced me to miss the equipment shakedown and the always chaotic food buying session (where we unleash multiple crews of cash flush scouts at King Soopers to hunt down every package of available fruit snacks), while a subsequent tournament meant that I'd be leaving the trip early and driving to Vegas.

But I made it for the important part: 6 days and nights in the Utah desert, which this year proved to be windier than Chicago. As we made our way from Boulder to Green River, Utah where I'd be stashing my car before we headed south for the backpacking portion of the trip, I fielded an array of questions: "How do you play poker?" "Will you teach me how to win millions?" "Why don't your car windows stay up?" "What's college like?"

After ditching the car, I grabbed a ride with Mr. ________, a dour but surprisingly knowledgeable old man who told me that he was on some sort of medication that made it so he couldn't taste anything at all. Between handfuls of Cheese Puffs, he relayed that his doctors had advised him to "use this as an opportunity to lose a little weight." Conversation faltered so we retreated to the static-y fm dial offering exactly two selections either sleepy big band arrangements or "Neeeeeeeewwwww Country!!!!".

From Dark Canyon

Two crews spent one night at Goblin Valley State Park before splitting up. Walker, Mr. ______, and I took the seven older scouts and left my dad and a few bright eyed, overly enthusiastic fathers with the younger crew.

The Dark Canyon trailhead is actually on the wrong side of the canyon so we strapped on packs and began the 3 mile trek around to the other side. This canyon garners scant mention in any guidebooks, so Walker and I were relying for info on topos and a trip report by a group of 50 year olds from 2007. Rumor had it that we'd be descending 1,300 feet down a 50 degree sloped scree field to get into the canyon.

From Spring Break 2009 - High Adventure (Walker B.)

From Spring Break 2009 - High Adventure (Truman B.)

The rumors were accurate.

The scouts couldn't wait to start scrambling down. I let them go but told them that if they got careless and broke an ankle, I'd make their passage to the top as jarring as possible. I didn't have to say anything to Mr. _____ to slow his progress; His body accomplished that. He has no menisci in his knee so a descent like this one in high winds and with a full pack must have been excruciating. He fell a few times but managed to jab a walking stick into the rocks each time, thus ensuring that he fell uphill. Some choices are easy. About halfway down the slope, hiship decided that it was through compensating for his knee. This slowed him down further. Before the trip, three adults had advised him to go with the younger boys but he refused, wanting to spend a week camping with his youngest son.

Resting at the bottom I took my pack off, and laid on a rock looking up at the old man 400 feet above me, his son sticking by his side. I was about to turn 28 and I realized that someday that old man would be me. I would be in a canyon or on a mountain somewhere and I'd be cursing my way up or down, refusing to acknowledge that in every person's life there comes a time when the body says no more.

From Spring Break 2009 - High Adventure (Walker B.)

But today was not that day for me. Leaving my pack, I jogged back up to the duo and offered to take his pack. He told me that every part of his body said he should give it up but that I could have it when he died. As the shadows began to lengthen, we made our way into camp where Walker and six eager scouts had dinner cooking on a sandy beach inside Dark Canyon.

Electronic Toothbrush

I have heard these are good. Many people I know use them. Which one do you have? Do you like it? What should I know before I buy one?

Breathless

I know this blog has been sucking recently. I have been busier than usual which says a lot. I promise to get something decent up stat.

(At least one of these will be) COMING SOON!!!!


Dating and Economics
Dark Canyon
3 for 3
Authenticity and the Upcoming Tat
Dinner with Mom and Dad (and why my social life is in shambles).

Heartless

Paul is deep in another tourney. This back to back to back cash has made 2009 incredibly exciting.

What I see is an extremely focused Paul, one not worried about what other people think of his play anymore. Yesterday he began the day with 23k chips. He ended the day with 297k. It was one of the most clear examples of raw aggression I've witnessed.

Here is a hand as best as I can remember it:

An extremely short stacked Hoyt Corkins pushes his stack in from the Hijack (whoever eliminates Hoyt will get $5000 in cash on the spot). The button raises, the small blind calls, and Paul in the big blind thinks for a while and casually slides out a stack of the largest chips. Hoyt is already all-in but the other two have a decision to make. They need the $5k bounty that Hoyt represents. But they are afraid of Paul. They twist for a while and then reluctantly fold. Paul turns over K, 4 offsuit. Unfortunately Hoyt has a higher K but since Hoyt was only eligible for a small pot, Paul is freerolling. Hoyt wins the hand, quadrupling up, while Paul breaks even. The other two players look at Paul in absolute disgust.

Hoyt is a friend but there are no friends at the table. Plain and simply put poker is not for the emotional. The cards have no conscience. No one apologizes for suckouts anymore. This game requires that any advantage be pushed as far as allowed. Last night, shortly before the money bubble burst, Paul had absolute control of his table. With 46 left in the tournament and 45 getting paid, he heartlessly raised every single hand, stealing 9000 chips each time. Because he had everyone outchipped they didn't dare raise.

It's not an exact parallel but I can't get Kanye out of my head.