So, its Friday, and although this by no means the end of my work week, definitely feeling like a bit of music is needed to carry through today.
First we got a bit of Rusko (thanks John for posting on facebook)
And backing up Rusko we got a bit of David Guetta with Kid Cudi.
-added-
We all need cheesy songs sometimes. Pandora has been on a roll lately. I guess I can only blame myself as I keep giving these thumbs up. So here is another from my latest channel.
Although I am rather content with climbing rocks, I have to admit that after watching this video clip I really wanted to go climb a tree. Climbing a GIANT champion tree, and see the ecosystem change as you get higher and higher, would be amazing!
Sometimes Pandora surprises me with the music they suggest, and when this song cut in after a fast paced one, I was caught off guard. The song however turned out to be just what I needed to hear at the time, so I figured it was worth sharing.
I was lucky enough to just get back from one week of climbing in Tuolumne, Yosemite. I hope to write a few posts about the trip this coming week. I was lucky enough to briefly meet Ron Kauk. Ron is a major figure in the Yosemite climbing world. This is a video of him talking about nature and the spirit of climbing. If you are a climber who enjoys going after good climbs (rather than grade chasing) then I think this is something you can relate to.
Ron was incredibly friendly and great to meet. He was the most calm, confident and ernest man I have ever met.
I love climbing videos, and I love good cinematography. This climbing video has some of the best cinematography I have ever seen and it is just a teaser. I am really looking forward to this thing releasing. Alias Cinema is shooting it and I am totally stoked to see it go live. If you don’t know will stanhope yet, get to know him. His climbing is strong, and his good friend Sonny Trotter are bound to continue making waves in the industry.
On a recent climbing trip up to Tahquitz I ran across one of these fellows. I was surprised at first to see a blue tailed skink in Southern California (even in the mountains) but after doing some research online, it turns out that the western skink can be found in Southern California. Although it is also known as the Colorado skink, this blue tailed skink keeps its bright blue tail through juvenile stages.
I was sad that I didn’t get a chance to take a pictures (as my camera phone was left at the base of the hill). None the less it was cool to see such a bright colored reptile in our generally brown hills.
** warning – this post is nerdy **
On November 23rd, 2004, I was in line with over 10 thousand people at a fry’s electronics store in Orange county for the release of the world of warcraft. I played that game for a couple years. Although I started with a large group of friends, my then girlfriend and I found ourselves making new friends through the game.
The concept of making friends online is more common now than it was back then. However, anyone who has played an MMO for an extended period of time knows that you spend so much time talking to these people over the internet that you form actual friendships.
Pani and Bimcha (character references for anyone who played with us) ended up in the guild “afterlight” and we became good friends with a dwarf named Frozz. As the years passed, one by one we left the game to pursue “the real world”. I graduated from college and started a web design company in Riverside, the girl completed law school and through the beauty of facebook, I now know that Matt (the dwarf friend of ours) is a bee keeper who not only keeps bees but has a whole business around bee keeping supplies.
I asked Matt what a top bar hive (the product he sells) is, and he explained it as such.
A top bar hive is a horizontal or vertical box or set of boxes in which the bees build their comb as they desire from simple top bars laid across the top. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but the two most common designs are the Kenyan Top Bar Hive and the Warre hive. They are a cost-effective alternative to the most common design known as the Langstroth hive, as they don’t require costly extracting machines or a myriad of other tools and accessories to manage. They also require little to no heavy lifting of honey-laden boxes. The bees build their own, natural comb without any assistance from the beekeeper, unlike the Langstroth hive in which machine-fabricated foundation and wires are used to direct the bees comb construction.
Although I am not a bee keeper and will never fully understand how important this kind of hive vs other kinds are, finding out about the offline “real” adventures of someone I had run around dungeons with is really exciting. Although I have not had a chance to visit Matt in Portland yet, It has been really cool getting to know the player behind the character.
Most of the time when I tell people I was addicted to an online game, the reaction is a combination of surprise and sympathy. Yes, I did spend hundreds of hours playing a game, but I made some awesome friends in the process. How many of you can say you know a bee keeper who sells top bar hives?
That’s what I though!
If you have every climbed a crack, then you can understand this picture in a whole different way. I saw this photo a few months ago either on Will’s website or on Sonny Trotters, not sure. Either way, the photo is awesome, and I think every crack climber can appreciate this.
Leatherman NOT good for Raccoon knife fights
Okay, so I was looking at an REI leatherman today, see image below (of leatherman, not of me looking at it).
The top review caught my attention. Apparently this is NOT good for knife fights. Crap, looks like I am out of luck. Regardless, I might have to get it in order to increase my “chic magnet” arsenal.
Also, if you are reading this and work at REI as an affiliate manager, please review the email I sent you, and see that I would make a GREAT affiliate!
So can anyone recommend a better raccoon knife? I might just have to stick to the peanut butter jar defense.