I got back from my little White Mountain adventure on Wednesday evening. I would say it was a big success, both in terms of being a fun and challenging experience and raising some money to benefit Northeast Passage. Thanks to all of you who donated, I raised $125 more than my goal.
For the first leg of the ride, on Monday, we rode west from the base of Loon Mountain ski area, north through the town of Lincoln, and up some hills into Franconia Notch before stopping for lunch at the base of Cannon Mountain ski area. Then we rode through north through the town of Twin Mountain and east to the Appalachian Mountain Club's new lodge, the Highland Center — 38 miles in all. There's a pretty extensive network of paved bike paths running through the national forest in Franconia Notch, but riding them was unexpectedly much more tiring than riding on the road; since they're not graded for car traffic, they constantly dip up and down. You end up using short bursts of anaerobic energy rather than getting a long-term, controlled aerobic workout... although come to think of it, that's actually pretty optimal training for alpine ski racing.
The lodge at the Highland Center is a neat place. Unlike most of the AMC's network of mountain huts, it's just off a major road (Route 302), it's capable of housing hundreds of people, and it has such modern amenities as trash cans, flush toilets, numerous hot showers, comfy leather couches, and even an (i.e., one) Internet connection. And the bunk rooms are small, holding 2 to 6 people each rather than 20 or 30. But it's still a nice alternative to a hotel for people who want to experience the mountains in a somewhat traditional way: no TV, a strong emphasis on conservation, and good food served family-style at big, long tables. The building itself is beautifully designed, with a really high, barn-style beamed ceiling in the dining room. (Click here for a panoramic view if you have the Java plug-in.) And since it's so new (I think it was completed in 2004), it's fully ADA-compliant, which was nice for a group that included six wheelchair users. The other big group at the Center that night was the reunion of a dozen or so hikers in their 60s and 70s who come there from around the Eastern U.S. every year, having first met on a trip through the Presidentials 20 years ago. That's pretty damn cool.
I had met almost everyone on the trip for the first time on Monday morning. Seeing people out of their cycling clothes that evening, new sides of them seemed to emerge, and it was possible to see style differences within a group that had looked pretty uniform all decked out in Lycra. The only people I already knew were Craig, a retired wheelchair athlete in his 40s or early 50s who introduced me to handcycling years ago, and Jeff, a monoskier, downhill off-road wheelchair racer and ski instructor whom I vaguely new from past ski events. Jeff's roommate in Lincoln, N.H. happens to be Andy Parr, a visually impaired ski racer originally from Maine who has been on the U.S. Disabled Ski Team, on and off, for the past four or five years. Although he's only in his late twenties, is in very good athletic shape, and has some real ski racing talent, he just recently announced he was retiring from the team for good because he can't afford it. Expenses for visually impaired ski racers in the United States are essentially doubled because they have to pay for all their guides' expenses as well as their own. Andy showed up on his bike to join us for most of the ride on both Monday and Wednesday. He's a really strong rider and a hilarious, profane guy with short, bright-orange hair, which he sometimes wears in a black skull-and-crossbones 'do-rag. He bears a passing resemblance to a shorter, more compact Josh Homme with a Downeast Maine accent.
On the second day, we had an easy ride: about 25 miles east, and most of it downhill. We began with a gorgeous, breakneck descent through Crawford Notch and through towns like Bartlett before stopping for lunch at Story Land, which every New Hampshire resident knows for its cloying radio spots. The park was closed, so we couldn't get on any of the kiddie rides, but hey, they did give us free ice cream. From there it was a short ride into North Conway, where we checked into a bland new hotel adjoining a mega-complex of outlet stores.
After testing out the pool and Jacuzzi, a bunch of us congregated in the hotel's back yard, which features two horseshoe pits. Someone bought a bunch of light beer in plastic bottles and smuggled it past the glaring hotel staff, and we contented ourselves with playing horseshoes for a while. Dinner was pasta with the world's heaviest Alfredo sauce, served in a hotel conference room while the Northeast Passage staff and the event's sponsors thanked us for participating. It wasn't so bad.
The third day was certainly the most grueling ride. First we rode south a few miles, over back roads and two covered bridges, to the Kancamagus Highway. If you've lived in northern New England, you probably know the Kanc. (You probably don't know it's technically N.H. Rte. 112.) Beginning in Conway, near the Maine border, it runs west through one of the more rugged and remote sections of the White Mountains, climbs over the Kancamagus Pass, and passes by the base of Loon (where we began) before ending in Lincoln at Interstate 93. It's one of the only east-west routes through that part of New Hampshire, and driving it in winter can sometimes be quite sketchy. I'm happy to report that in mid-September, it's absolutely beautiful. After 10 or 15 rolling miles (one or two of them torn-up for repaving), we stopped for lunch. Shortly thereafter, the road started up a constant incline of about 7 or 8% grade — not ridiculously steep, but consistently challenging. The thing is, it seemed like it would never end. Most long hill climbs have dips and rises, but not the Kanc. Around the next curve is, inevitably, more of the same. It continues uphill like this for maybe 8 miles, and the last three were some of the toughest riding I've ever done. Even at a slow, consistent pace (try 3 m.p.h.), it was exhausting. I was determined to make it up without stopping to rest, so I had to resort to mental tricks like counting my revolutions, counting down from ten over and over again. After more than two hours, I made it to the top (second to arrive out of the four handcyclists), and I drank a lot of water and smiled a lot and took a lot of pictures of people. It sure was worth it — beautiful view up there, and a killer ride down the back side to Loon.
Pictures will be up on my Flickr page shortly.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
OTC, San Diego
I'm writing this post on a flight from Detroit to San Diego. The ski team is meeting at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Cal., for about a week for the quarterly testing and conditioning camp we usually do at the OTC in Colorado Springs. It was raining steadily in Maine this morning, but now the air below us looks hot and dry, and the land is brown, wrinkly, and mountainous. We must be crossing Arizona or New Mexico about now. I was looking at an aerial view of Chula Vista on Google Earth, and it looks like the place is really in the middle of the desert. This is pretty unfamiliar territory to me.
I just spent two days at home in Maine, moving my stuff out of our house in Cape Elizabeth for the last time. In case I haven't mentioned it, my parents have sold the house where I've lived since I was four and bought a new one just a couple of miles away, in South Portland. (For now, at least until I move back from Colorado at the end of next ski season, most of my stuff is residing in a storage unit. I'm going to refrain from speculating on whether that's an apt metaphor for anything else in my life.) Although our old house is gorgeous, I've been in favor of the move for some time. Now that my brother Will is away at Brandeis, neither of us will be living at home most of the time, so it hardly makes sense for my parents to occupy a house as big as the one in Cape. Besides, it will be so refreshing for my parents to live in a neighborhood (Knightville) where they can easily walk to a local grocery store, several restaurants and shops, and a post office. Downtown Portland is just a quick bike ride across the bridge. And the new house is right on the water — albeit more of a tidal backwater than the ocean proper. Its address is 3 D St., the terseness of which inspired my mom to ask me to try sending a postcard from New Zealand to "K.E. & N.B., 3D, S.P., ME 04106, U.S.A." It worked.
I just spent two days at home in Maine, moving my stuff out of our house in Cape Elizabeth for the last time. In case I haven't mentioned it, my parents have sold the house where I've lived since I was four and bought a new one just a couple of miles away, in South Portland. (For now, at least until I move back from Colorado at the end of next ski season, most of my stuff is residing in a storage unit. I'm going to refrain from speculating on whether that's an apt metaphor for anything else in my life.) Although our old house is gorgeous, I've been in favor of the move for some time. Now that my brother Will is away at Brandeis, neither of us will be living at home most of the time, so it hardly makes sense for my parents to occupy a house as big as the one in Cape. Besides, it will be so refreshing for my parents to live in a neighborhood (Knightville) where they can easily walk to a local grocery store, several restaurants and shops, and a post office. Downtown Portland is just a quick bike ride across the bridge. And the new house is right on the water — albeit more of a tidal backwater than the ocean proper. Its address is 3 D St., the terseness of which inspired my mom to ask me to try sending a postcard from New Zealand to "K.E. & N.B., 3D, S.P., ME 04106, U.S.A." It worked.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Three Notches ride
I just decided to take part in a really cool event next week, a cycling ride in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It's run by and for Northeast Passage, which is a nonprofit based at UNH that does some really great disabled sports and outdoor programs. Over three days (Sept. 12-14), we'll cover about 100 miles through Franconia Notch, Crawford Notch, and the Kancamagus Highway. There will be six or seven of us handcyclists and maybe a dozen able-bodied cyclists as well.
Northeast Passage provides us with meals, accommodations, the works — in exchange for us riders helping them raise some funds. Because I'm registering late (I just found out about this trip after I got back from New Zealand last week), they're cutting me some slack and I only need to raise $500 rather than the usual $1000. But I don't have much time to do it... less than a week! That, of course, is where you loyal blog-readers come in. Any amount you could donate toward helping me reach that goal would be huge. You can donate online and it only takes a minute or two. Just click on this link.
Finally, whether or not you can contribute anything, be sure to check out my photo gallery after the ride to see what it was like.
Northeast Passage provides us with meals, accommodations, the works — in exchange for us riders helping them raise some funds. Because I'm registering late (I just found out about this trip after I got back from New Zealand last week), they're cutting me some slack and I only need to raise $500 rather than the usual $1000. But I don't have much time to do it... less than a week! That, of course, is where you loyal blog-readers come in. Any amount you could donate toward helping me reach that goal would be huge. You can donate online and it only takes a minute or two. Just click on this link.
Finally, whether or not you can contribute anything, be sure to check out my photo gallery after the ride to see what it was like.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Friday, September 02, 2005
a good place to find free mp3s
is here. There's a new one every day, and they tend to be pretty well selected. Make sure to check out the "archive" link as well.
It's nice to see a judge help someone take a stand against one of the RIAA's more ridiculous lawsuits. (thanks to Sam)
Sunday, August 28, 2005
last post from NZ
Well, the guy at the internet cafe knows me by now, and the lifties at the Remarkables all know the drill when they see a monoskier coming (slow the chairlift) without us having to say anything. They've even set up a "US Ski Team only" liftline for us. But tomorrow after training we'll be leaving Queenstown for Christchurch, and then leaving New Zealand for good.
It's been a fantastic trip on more than one level. We've gotten in great training here despite low snow levels, we've had a lot of fun on our days off, we've eaten really well and seen a lot more of the region than we usually get to on these trips. I think two weeks was just about the perfect amount of time, too.
The coaches set up timing for today's slalom training, I think more out of their own curiosity than for our benefit, since they weren't telling us our times. But our ski tech Ben, who was recording the times, told me I was consistently the fastest mono-skier today, which is nice. Not that I don't still have a lot of work to do if I want to out-ski the Europeans and Japanese (not to mention Chris, Tyler and Bramble, who aren't here)... but hey, it's only August.
It's been a fantastic trip on more than one level. We've gotten in great training here despite low snow levels, we've had a lot of fun on our days off, we've eaten really well and seen a lot more of the region than we usually get to on these trips. I think two weeks was just about the perfect amount of time, too.
The coaches set up timing for today's slalom training, I think more out of their own curiosity than for our benefit, since they weren't telling us our times. But our ski tech Ben, who was recording the times, told me I was consistently the fastest mono-skier today, which is nice. Not that I don't still have a lot of work to do if I want to out-ski the Europeans and Japanese (not to mention Chris, Tyler and Bramble, who aren't here)... but hey, it's only August.
Friday, August 26, 2005
taking the plunge
Today I got to go bungee jumping. (Or "bungy jumping," as the Kiwis would have it, but to me that sounds like it should be pronounced like "bung" + y.)
In the mid-'80s a Kiwi named AJ Hackett pioneered the sport/activity (you decide) and launched the first commercial jump site at the Kawarau Bridge just outside Queenstown, NZ. That's where we went today. There are higher jump sites nearby, but it's hard to imagine a more beautiful setting.
I had been wanting to jump since we first drove past the bridge on our way into town. But surprisingly, given the nature of our sport, it was hard to find other people who wanted to go. Nick thought he might want to, and it sealed the deal when we met a Kiwi disabled skier at the race yesterday who said he had a voucher for a free jump sitting around that he could give us. We agreed we'd split the voucher so we each got to jump at half-price. (It is kind of expensive at NZ$140 a jump.) Nick made the arrangements for us to go around noon today, our second day off. I had no idea so many people would accompany us, but half the team ended up going up in a van driven by Ben, our ski tech -- and then four of them decided to jump as well: Monte, Allison, George, and Laurie. We made an afternoon out of watching & cheering on each other, and commenting on how scared each other looked.
You can watch a movie of some people (not me) jumping off the Kawarau Bridge here. As you can see, there's only a second or two of actual freefall, but man is that part crazy. It's weird to think that in 24 years of existance I had never experienced falling freely through space for more than a fraction of a second; now I have. Jumping off wasn't so terrifying for me, but those one or two seconds before the bungee started kicking in sure were. On the digital video that they took of me (and I decided not to pay $40 for), you can see me clawing at the air as I try to do... I'm not sure what. My mind was telling me that this was not what my body should be doing. Of course, as soon as I overrode that notion and the bungee began to slow my descent, exhilaration replaced terror as the dominant emotion, and goddamn it was fun.
I was the first of the wheelchair users to jump, but we had figured out a pretty good plan. In addition to the standard waist harness, I wore a chest harness instead of the standard ankle attachment, and I had them tie my legs together just so they didn't flop around too much. After the jump and subsequent bounces, they lowered me down to the crew members in an inflatable boat in the river, where they disconnected my harnesses. On shore, they helped me get up the stone stairs to the landing where my wheelchair was waiting for me. It worked out nicely.
In other news, yesterday was the slalom, the final day of racing at Cardrona. All I'm going to say is that if I was one of the best skiers on the hill in Tuesday's super G, I was definitely one of the worst yesterday! I love this sport; it keeps me humble.
In the mid-'80s a Kiwi named AJ Hackett pioneered the sport/activity (you decide) and launched the first commercial jump site at the Kawarau Bridge just outside Queenstown, NZ. That's where we went today. There are higher jump sites nearby, but it's hard to imagine a more beautiful setting.
I had been wanting to jump since we first drove past the bridge on our way into town. But surprisingly, given the nature of our sport, it was hard to find other people who wanted to go. Nick thought he might want to, and it sealed the deal when we met a Kiwi disabled skier at the race yesterday who said he had a voucher for a free jump sitting around that he could give us. We agreed we'd split the voucher so we each got to jump at half-price. (It is kind of expensive at NZ$140 a jump.) Nick made the arrangements for us to go around noon today, our second day off. I had no idea so many people would accompany us, but half the team ended up going up in a van driven by Ben, our ski tech -- and then four of them decided to jump as well: Monte, Allison, George, and Laurie. We made an afternoon out of watching & cheering on each other, and commenting on how scared each other looked.
You can watch a movie of some people (not me) jumping off the Kawarau Bridge here. As you can see, there's only a second or two of actual freefall, but man is that part crazy. It's weird to think that in 24 years of existance I had never experienced falling freely through space for more than a fraction of a second; now I have. Jumping off wasn't so terrifying for me, but those one or two seconds before the bungee started kicking in sure were. On the digital video that they took of me (and I decided not to pay $40 for), you can see me clawing at the air as I try to do... I'm not sure what. My mind was telling me that this was not what my body should be doing. Of course, as soon as I overrode that notion and the bungee began to slow my descent, exhilaration replaced terror as the dominant emotion, and goddamn it was fun.
I was the first of the wheelchair users to jump, but we had figured out a pretty good plan. In addition to the standard waist harness, I wore a chest harness instead of the standard ankle attachment, and I had them tie my legs together just so they didn't flop around too much. After the jump and subsequent bounces, they lowered me down to the crew members in an inflatable boat in the river, where they disconnected my harnesses. On shore, they helped me get up the stone stairs to the landing where my wheelchair was waiting for me. It worked out nicely.
In other news, yesterday was the slalom, the final day of racing at Cardrona. All I'm going to say is that if I was one of the best skiers on the hill in Tuesday's super G, I was definitely one of the worst yesterday! I love this sport; it keeps me humble.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
New Zealand national super G champion... oh yeah
So yesterday's news is that I won the super G race at the New Zealand Disabled Snowsports Championships in Cardrona. This is less of a big deal than it sounds, because the race basically consisted of our team plus a few aspiring racers from New Zealand, South Korea, and the UK. It is also less of a big deal because the weather conditions were so terrible and foggy, with really flat light and soft snow, that several people didn't even race. Basically, I had to beat about five people. However, the races were mentioned on CNN International (in the same breath as some cultural festival in Hong Kong) when I was watching the other day, and besides, it's the first race of any kind I've won since a really low-level Eastern race back in, like, 1996. So I'm milking it for all it's worth. Next time you see me, please address me as "Mr. New Zealand National Champion." ("Bro" will also suffice.)
In other news, when we were training slalom today at The Remarkables, they were blasting various aggressive music on some huge speakers at the top of the lift, when on came none other than Coolio's mid-nineties rap hit "Gangsta's Paradise." I was riding the chairlift with a Francophone couple who immediately started rapping along with him. When I commented on how long it had been since I'd heard that particular song, the Frenchman told me, "In my Eenglish class, we listen to zis song and lehrn ze words for practeece." It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud at the thought of someone teaching a bunch of French people the meaning of lines like "You better watch how you're talkin' and where you're walkin' / Or you and your homies might be lined in chalk."
(An interesting side note to this story is that the Frenchman was currently living on the island of New Caledonia, in the South Pacific, and his girlfriend was from the island of Reunion, in the Indian Ocean. As he pointed out, the French have island possessions everywhere, and most of them are obscure as hell. I defy you to find these two on a map; I pride myself on my geographical knowledge and yet I probably couldn't do it.)
This afternoon I read the first chapter of an old paperback I took from my mom's bookshelf, Dylan Thomas' "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog," an autobiography. As a kid growing up in Wales in the early 20th century, he uses a lot of strange words, of which I couldn't help but take note. For example, talking about leading a horse:
"He led the hollow, shappy statue towards the stable; clop, clop to the mice-house."
What does shappy mean? A quick perusal of online dictionaries revealed nothing -- anyone have access to the OED, or prior knowledge of this word?
In other news, when we were training slalom today at The Remarkables, they were blasting various aggressive music on some huge speakers at the top of the lift, when on came none other than Coolio's mid-nineties rap hit "Gangsta's Paradise." I was riding the chairlift with a Francophone couple who immediately started rapping along with him. When I commented on how long it had been since I'd heard that particular song, the Frenchman told me, "In my Eenglish class, we listen to zis song and lehrn ze words for practeece." It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud at the thought of someone teaching a bunch of French people the meaning of lines like "You better watch how you're talkin' and where you're walkin' / Or you and your homies might be lined in chalk."
(An interesting side note to this story is that the Frenchman was currently living on the island of New Caledonia, in the South Pacific, and his girlfriend was from the island of Reunion, in the Indian Ocean. As he pointed out, the French have island possessions everywhere, and most of them are obscure as hell. I defy you to find these two on a map; I pride myself on my geographical knowledge and yet I probably couldn't do it.)
This afternoon I read the first chapter of an old paperback I took from my mom's bookshelf, Dylan Thomas' "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog," an autobiography. As a kid growing up in Wales in the early 20th century, he uses a lot of strange words, of which I couldn't help but take note. For example, talking about leading a horse:
"He led the hollow, shappy statue towards the stable; clop, clop to the mice-house."
What does shappy mean? A quick perusal of online dictionaries revealed nothing -- anyone have access to the OED, or prior knowledge of this word?
Friday, August 19, 2005
Zew Nealand 2
Third day skiing today; we went to a ski area called The Remarkables. Like Coronet Peak and Treble Cone (where we skied yesterday), it's a long, windy drive up a sketchy dirt road to get to the base area, which is situated right at the snow line. The valleys really don't seem to get any snow; I guess the elevation is too low. (The top of these peaks is only about 1500 m/4800 ft, and yet they are totally treeless.)
After the morning GS training session and a quick lunch, Joe, Roger, Tyler, Lacey and I went up a different lift that services a high traverse with lots of really steep, ungroomed terrain. We made a couple of fantastic runs down a narrow chutes and a wide snowfield. The snow cover isn't great right now, so we sort of had to pick our way down in places, but it was so worth it -- got my heart racing.
Tomorrow we have the day off, and I'm hoping a couple of us will get in some bungee jumping.
After the morning GS training session and a quick lunch, Joe, Roger, Tyler, Lacey and I went up a different lift that services a high traverse with lots of really steep, ungroomed terrain. We made a couple of fantastic runs down a narrow chutes and a wide snowfield. The snow cover isn't great right now, so we sort of had to pick our way down in places, but it was so worth it -- got my heart racing.
Tomorrow we have the day off, and I'm hoping a couple of us will get in some bungee jumping.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Zew Nealand
So much to talk about... we flew into Christchurch, NZ two days ago, spent a day and a night there, and then drove to Queenstown yesterday. Today we had our first day of skiing here, at a place called Coronet Peak. So far, New Zealand is pretty much just as I expected: beautiful scenery and very laid-back, cool people. And it's even pretty warm, for midwinter. The only big minus so far is money... everything here is super-expensive, even with the favorable US/NZ exchange rate.
Christchurch, where we spent Tuesday, is called the Garden City and it's built around an enormous park with vast botanical gardens inside. Because it's winter, nothing was in bloom, but the trees there were really impressive, like some fantasy illustration. Tall & skinny or 6 feet thick or gnarled and vine-covered -- I didn't know trees came in so many different shapes. It's also a surprisingly diverse city; there are immigrants from just about every Asian country as well as native New Zealanders both white and Maori. I would say more than half of the restaurants in both Christchurch and Queenstown serve Asian cuisines.
On Tuesday afternoon, Roger, Lacey and I took a shuttle ride to New Brighton Beach, a sort of faded-glory summer beach town like Old Orchard Beach or Coney Island. The purpose of our trip was to ride something called the Sling Shot, which is basically a vertical or upward bungee jump. Roger and I ponied up our $40NZ each, and Lacey decided to stay on the ground and watch. It was a pretty exhilarating ride: from the ground to 50 meters in the air in under 1 second, then we bounced up and down maybe 10 times, spinning all the while. The view was incredible; we could see the sun setting to the north of us (strange) and the beach stretching for dozens of miles in either direction. The craziest part was plummeting downward as our seats were tilted forward, so we were looking straight down at the ground as we descended. It was so worth it.
Queenstown is known as the adventure-sports capital of NZ, and with good reason. You could spend hundreds of bucks a day going on various excursions: jetboating down rapids, bungee jumping, paragliding, four-wheeling, kayaking and a million other things besides skiing. The snow line is hundreds or even thousands of meters above the town, so during the day it's pretty warm here -- maybe 50-60 degress F. There are big lakes and rivers everywhere in this region (Central Otago), although I bet the water's pretty cold for swimming. We should have no trouble keeping occupied in the afternoons here.
On the hill today, a bunch of the US (able-bodied) ski team guys were training: Erik Schlopy, Ted Ligety, TJ Lanning... no Bode sightings though. There was also a FIS slalom race today, a crazy icy course. Roger and I skied a bunch off piste in between the groomed runs (it's all above treeline), and at one point we ended up on a short cat track with no snow on it. We had to very carefully pick our way through and around rocks and mud to get back onto the snow... I don't think our ski tech will be too happy when he sees the results of that little adventure.
OK, time to push back up from this internet cafe in town to our hotel, which is inconveniently located at the top of a huge-ass hill. Blah.
Christchurch, where we spent Tuesday, is called the Garden City and it's built around an enormous park with vast botanical gardens inside. Because it's winter, nothing was in bloom, but the trees there were really impressive, like some fantasy illustration. Tall & skinny or 6 feet thick or gnarled and vine-covered -- I didn't know trees came in so many different shapes. It's also a surprisingly diverse city; there are immigrants from just about every Asian country as well as native New Zealanders both white and Maori. I would say more than half of the restaurants in both Christchurch and Queenstown serve Asian cuisines.
On Tuesday afternoon, Roger, Lacey and I took a shuttle ride to New Brighton Beach, a sort of faded-glory summer beach town like Old Orchard Beach or Coney Island. The purpose of our trip was to ride something called the Sling Shot, which is basically a vertical or upward bungee jump. Roger and I ponied up our $40NZ each, and Lacey decided to stay on the ground and watch. It was a pretty exhilarating ride: from the ground to 50 meters in the air in under 1 second, then we bounced up and down maybe 10 times, spinning all the while. The view was incredible; we could see the sun setting to the north of us (strange) and the beach stretching for dozens of miles in either direction. The craziest part was plummeting downward as our seats were tilted forward, so we were looking straight down at the ground as we descended. It was so worth it.
Queenstown is known as the adventure-sports capital of NZ, and with good reason. You could spend hundreds of bucks a day going on various excursions: jetboating down rapids, bungee jumping, paragliding, four-wheeling, kayaking and a million other things besides skiing. The snow line is hundreds or even thousands of meters above the town, so during the day it's pretty warm here -- maybe 50-60 degress F. There are big lakes and rivers everywhere in this region (Central Otago), although I bet the water's pretty cold for swimming. We should have no trouble keeping occupied in the afternoons here.
On the hill today, a bunch of the US (able-bodied) ski team guys were training: Erik Schlopy, Ted Ligety, TJ Lanning... no Bode sightings though. There was also a FIS slalom race today, a crazy icy course. Roger and I skied a bunch off piste in between the groomed runs (it's all above treeline), and at one point we ended up on a short cat track with no snow on it. We had to very carefully pick our way through and around rocks and mud to get back onto the snow... I don't think our ski tech will be too happy when he sees the results of that little adventure.
OK, time to push back up from this internet cafe in town to our hotel, which is inconveniently located at the top of a huge-ass hill. Blah.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Part one of Memories now online
I finally got around to posting the first chapter of my translation on my other blog. In case I haven't told you yet, one of my summer projects has been an English translation of Gabriel García Márquez's latest novella, Memoria de mis putas tristes (Memories of My Melacholy Whores), which came out in Spanish last year and has not been published in English yet. With any luck I'll get the whole thing done and posted up there before the "real" translation comes out. Be sure to read my first post over there (at the bottom of the page) for my background notes on the project.
Monday, August 08, 2005
bike race
I competed in my first handcycling race yesterday, the Elgin Cycling Classic in Elgin, IL. (I'm out here in the Chicago area for like a week visiting my friends Abby and Shifra.) There were only three people entered in the handcycling division and I finished third, but it wasn't really a disappointment. It was harder than I thought it would be, though.
The race was a criterium, which is a short course around several city blocks. You ride lots and lots of laps along the course (this one was about 1 km long), and the winner is the rider who is ahead after a certain period of time has elapsed (in this case, 40 minutes plus four additional laps). The course was a little hillier than I thought I expected for Illinois, and some of the curves were really sharp for a three-wheeled handcycle. (Regular two-wheeled bikes have a much easier time since they can bank into the turns.) I definitely got better at riding the right line through the curves as the race progressed, and I also got better at finding the right gearing for the hill. About twenty minutes in, I started hitting my knee with the hand crank because my foot was sitting at the wrong angle. To fix the problem I had to yank off my shoe and toss it to Abby on the sidelines. On one lap my water bottle skittered across the pavement as I went around a corner, but the next time around a police officer was holding it out for me to grab back. I got lapped a few times by the leader and once by the second-place guy, but I was OK with it. They were nice guys and gave me some tips on riding better. I'd do it again sometime.
The race was a criterium, which is a short course around several city blocks. You ride lots and lots of laps along the course (this one was about 1 km long), and the winner is the rider who is ahead after a certain period of time has elapsed (in this case, 40 minutes plus four additional laps). The course was a little hillier than I thought I expected for Illinois, and some of the curves were really sharp for a three-wheeled handcycle. (Regular two-wheeled bikes have a much easier time since they can bank into the turns.) I definitely got better at riding the right line through the curves as the race progressed, and I also got better at finding the right gearing for the hill. About twenty minutes in, I started hitting my knee with the hand crank because my foot was sitting at the wrong angle. To fix the problem I had to yank off my shoe and toss it to Abby on the sidelines. On one lap my water bottle skittered across the pavement as I went around a corner, but the next time around a police officer was holding it out for me to grab back. I got lapped a few times by the leader and once by the second-place guy, but I was OK with it. They were nice guys and gave me some tips on riding better. I'd do it again sometime.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
why I love Sarah Vowell
Let me count the reasons:- She recently wrote a book chronicling her trips to various sites around the country that had to do with presidential murders and titled it Assassination Vacation.
- She talks so much like a 12-year-old girl that she was cast to do the voice for one (Violet) in The Incredibles.
- Writing in an op-ed in The New York Times earlier this week, she referred to herself as "a namby-pamby liberal writing for the most uppity newspaper in the world."
Thursday, July 21, 2005
couch surfing
I've not been a very productive member of society lately. Instead I've been chilling at my parents' house on Peaks Island, Maine, riding my handcycle, and volunteering a bit at STRIVE's BookWorks program. (Our eBay auctions are now online through a great website called MissionFish. You can view and bid on our currently listed books here.)
More recently, I've been on the road a bit. Las Saturday I went to my old friend Erik Messerschmidt's wedding in Connecticut. I got to see some friends I hadn't seen since middle school, and the ceremony was neat; it was performed by a friend of Erik and Melanie's. Rather than sitting down, the guests were standing around drinking cocktails during the ceremony. It was basically just a big party... I approved.
After that, I drove out to Quaker Lake, in north-central Pennsylvania, where Tracy's family has a summer place. We played a lot of Boggle, ate ridiculously well, and went swimming several times a day. It was rough.
Now I'm in Arlington, Va., at my friend Will's place. He's at work, so I think I'll head out to a library or a café and do some work on my translation. If I haven't told you about it yet, I'm translating a book by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, and I will be posting my translation in installments right here beginning very soon... keep checking that link.
Currently loving: Swearing by Geoffrey Hughes (thanks, Bonnie) and The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem (thanks, Finn).
More recently, I've been on the road a bit. Las Saturday I went to my old friend Erik Messerschmidt's wedding in Connecticut. I got to see some friends I hadn't seen since middle school, and the ceremony was neat; it was performed by a friend of Erik and Melanie's. Rather than sitting down, the guests were standing around drinking cocktails during the ceremony. It was basically just a big party... I approved.
After that, I drove out to Quaker Lake, in north-central Pennsylvania, where Tracy's family has a summer place. We played a lot of Boggle, ate ridiculously well, and went swimming several times a day. It was rough.
Now I'm in Arlington, Va., at my friend Will's place. He's at work, so I think I'll head out to a library or a café and do some work on my translation. If I haven't told you about it yet, I'm translating a book by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, and I will be posting my translation in installments right here beginning very soon... keep checking that link.
Currently loving: Swearing by Geoffrey Hughes (thanks, Bonnie) and The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem (thanks, Finn).
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
flaming lips weirdness
You know the White Stripes song "Seven Nation Army"? Well try singing along with it, substituting these lyrics:
I'm going to Florida
I'm gonna bowl me a perfect game
I'm going to Florida
I'm gonna cut off both my legs
And if Sidney Poitier is a blind man
And he made love to Chairman Mao
Then the world would be a whole lot of nothing
But an abortion when there ain't no child
I'm going to Florida
I'm gonna hold back the hands of time
I'm going to Florida
Where the lobbyists can change their minds
And if Colin Powell is a scarecrow
And John Ashcroft is a steely tin man
Then the Rumsfeld Donald can't go on lying
Cause Harry Potter's telling George who to slam, who to slam
(lyrics thanks to Emerald Wizard Radio)
Beyond the vague Bush-y references, I'm not sure what the hell this is supposed to mean. But then again, it's a Flaming Lips cover, so what else would you expect? You can find this version, which the Lips call "Seven Nation Army (Harry Potter and George W. Bush Severed Head Mix)," on the Flaming Lips' LateNightTales mix CD.
While we're on the topic of "Seven Nation Army" covers, how about this one? (link requires iTunes)
I'm going to Florida
I'm gonna bowl me a perfect game
I'm going to Florida
I'm gonna cut off both my legs
And if Sidney Poitier is a blind man
And he made love to Chairman Mao
Then the world would be a whole lot of nothing
But an abortion when there ain't no child
I'm going to Florida
I'm gonna hold back the hands of time
I'm going to Florida
Where the lobbyists can change their minds
And if Colin Powell is a scarecrow
And John Ashcroft is a steely tin man
Then the Rumsfeld Donald can't go on lying
Cause Harry Potter's telling George who to slam, who to slam
(lyrics thanks to Emerald Wizard Radio)
Beyond the vague Bush-y references, I'm not sure what the hell this is supposed to mean. But then again, it's a Flaming Lips cover, so what else would you expect? You can find this version, which the Lips call "Seven Nation Army (Harry Potter and George W. Bush Severed Head Mix)," on the Flaming Lips' LateNightTales mix CD.
While we're on the topic of "Seven Nation Army" covers, how about this one? (link requires iTunes)
Friday, July 01, 2005
Saturday, June 25, 2005
mt. hood, last day
I guess it's been a few days since I rapped at ya... sorry 'bout that. Training's been solid; basically I've just been doing drills for five days, some on my own and some with the Winter Park team. The second day, Winter Park had the day off but I went to the mountain on my own. It was pretty cold and windy up on the mountain, and it even snowed a bit. Kids were huddling in the building at the top of the lift to try and stay warm in their summer training clothes, and ski patrol kept shooing them out. I didn't have much winter clothing on that day either; it was raining lightly down in the town of Welches that morning, but usually on the drive up to Timberline we pass through the clouds and into the sun... not the case that day. The last three days have been nice and sunny and warm — by noon, it can even get downright hot up there. I just stumbled on this live cam of the view from Timberline Lodge on the mountain... wish I'd discovered that earlier. Tomorrow it's home to Maine for some more traditionally summery pursuits.
Currently listening to: the mid-'80s power-pop outfit Let's Active
Currently listening to: the mid-'80s power-pop outfit Let's Active
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
mt. hood, day 1
A few days ago, as the rest of the US Disabled Ski Team was leaving Mt. Hood, I decided I should probably make a trip out there myself. I missed the last two team training camps because of school and graduation, so I was feeling a little guilty — plus I just really felt like doing some skiing. I'm out here in Oregon for like 5 days of skiing, staying with the Winter Park team but just kind of doing my own thing, lots of drills and free skiing, no race courses. I'm gonna bring my camera up on the hill one of these days and take some pictures so you can see what Hood is like in the summer... there's really nothing else like it, a whole mountain full of racer kids and freestyle snowboarders. Usually really great, warm, sunny weather too, although today around midday it got so foggy it was pretty much a whiteout... kind of freaky!
Friday, June 17, 2005
post-graduation, post-DSNA
I'm back in Maine now at my parents' house, sitting in my bedroom with every surface covered with random clothes and books. But at least now I'm the proud owner of a $160,000 piece of paper that says, in a language I can't read, that I graduated from college. Tomorrow I'll begin volunteering with a service organization in South Portland called Strive. I'll be helping out with a fundraising program they have called BookWorks and helping them to extend it from just a bricks-and-mortar operation into an online operation as well, via eBay or Half.com. Later in the summer I will be pretty busy with skiing though; we're heading to New Zealand for a couple weeks in August, and I may even head out to Mt. Hood for a little training on my own next week.
Senior week, graduation, and the following couple of days were all really fun. Instead of sticking around campus for all of the final week (after exams), I went to the biennial Meeting of the Dictionary Society of North America in Boston for a couple of days. Apparently someone from the Phoenix was there on the first day, and they wrote this story... pretty funny. There were indeed lots of lectures on obscure and funny topics, and there were indeed lots of obscure and funny people in attendance, most of them a lot older than myself. I did, however, meet all the hip young lexicographers I had read about a while back in this article, and one of them (Grant Barrett of the HDAS and OUP USA) even offered me an internship, at least unofficially. So that may happen sometime next year.
When I got back from the DSNA Meeting, the family and friends began pouring into Hanover for graduation weekend. In all, 13 people came for the festivities, including six of my friends from the Dartmouth class of '03 (my official class year, even though I graduated two years late). It was a hot weekend but we enjoyed ourselves immensely in Hanover and up at Hinman Cabin in Lyme, N.H. My friends Abby and Tracy helped me get everything packed up, and we drove back to Maine and spent a few (much cooler and rainier, but still idyllic) days, including my birthday, in Cape Elizabeth and on Peaks Island. I got some fantastic graduation and birthday presents, including an issue of Playboy from the month and year of my birth and a beautiful photomicrograph of a snowflake taken by William Bentley, the guy who supposedly first hypothesized that — you guessed it — no two are alike. He called snowflakes "exquisite crystals from cloudland."
Senior week, graduation, and the following couple of days were all really fun. Instead of sticking around campus for all of the final week (after exams), I went to the biennial Meeting of the Dictionary Society of North America in Boston for a couple of days. Apparently someone from the Phoenix was there on the first day, and they wrote this story... pretty funny. There were indeed lots of lectures on obscure and funny topics, and there were indeed lots of obscure and funny people in attendance, most of them a lot older than myself. I did, however, meet all the hip young lexicographers I had read about a while back in this article, and one of them (Grant Barrett of the HDAS and OUP USA) even offered me an internship, at least unofficially. So that may happen sometime next year.
When I got back from the DSNA Meeting, the family and friends began pouring into Hanover for graduation weekend. In all, 13 people came for the festivities, including six of my friends from the Dartmouth class of '03 (my official class year, even though I graduated two years late). It was a hot weekend but we enjoyed ourselves immensely in Hanover and up at Hinman Cabin in Lyme, N.H. My friends Abby and Tracy helped me get everything packed up, and we drove back to Maine and spent a few (much cooler and rainier, but still idyllic) days, including my birthday, in Cape Elizabeth and on Peaks Island. I got some fantastic graduation and birthday presents, including an issue of Playboy from the month and year of my birth and a beautiful photomicrograph of a snowflake taken by William Bentley, the guy who supposedly first hypothesized that — you guessed it — no two are alike. He called snowflakes "exquisite crystals from cloudland."
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
boston
I left Hanover around noon today and drove down to Boston for the biennial meeting of the Dictionary Society of North America. I'll be here for the next two days listening to people talk about lexicography — not the most interesting topic to some of you, I know, but I love this stuff. I'm hoping to meet some people in the dictionary world and make some connections.
This afternoon after I registered for the conference, so I had some time to kill. I wandered around Comm Ave. in the 94-degree heat and bought an old paperback of Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls and a used copy of Bob Dylan's Infidels on vinyl for $4. (If you haven't heard it, I would say it's highly underrated. It came out in 1983 and includes some of his most lyrically challenging songs, like "I and I" and "Jokerman." Then I got my hair cut. I really should get that done more often...
This afternoon after I registered for the conference, so I had some time to kill. I wandered around Comm Ave. in the 94-degree heat and bought an old paperback of Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls and a used copy of Bob Dylan's Infidels on vinyl for $4. (If you haven't heard it, I would say it's highly underrated. It came out in 1983 and includes some of his most lyrically challenging songs, like "I and I" and "Jokerman." Then I got my hair cut. I really should get that done more often...
Friday, June 03, 2005
one more to go...
So I'm sitting in Collis Café right now, doing some research for my last paper, and what happens? Two girls wearing ski helmets, goggles, minskirts, fluorescent Spandex, and butterfly wings come Rollerblading into the room. One of them is holding a boombox playing "Centerfold" by the J. Geils Band, and the other is tossing out candy onto all the tables occupied by people studying. Some people roll their eyes; others smile; none are particularly surprised. A minute later, the girls leave and people resume studying. It's finals weekend at Dartmouth.
On a less upbeat note, there's some sad news in the disabled skiing world. Mike Goodman, who for many years ran Radventures, the company that builds Yetti monoskis, died on May 24 of prostate cancer. I just found out about it today when I sent the Goodmans an email about my upcoming graduation and change of e-mail accounts. Mike had been sick for quite a while now and I guess it was just a matter of time, but it was still a shock to learn the news. He was an immense help to me over the years, building and maintaining my monoskis for me from the time I was 11 or 12 until just a couple years ago. He and his family hosted me (and in the early years, my dad too) at their house in Oregon numerous times over the years while they fit me for new equipment or made modifications.
A dentist by trade, Mike bought one of the first American monoski companies, Fallon-Ski, from Dan Fallon in the early 1990s. From the beginning it was a family business, with Mike's wife Genie handling the business side of things and his son Jeff helping out in the shop. Their other son, Joel, has spina bifida and skis in a monoski himself. Jeff is the one who took over the main work of the business after Mike stopped spending much time in the shop a couple of years ago due to his illness. For most of the time that the Goodmans have been running the monoski business out of their basement workshop, Mike was also continuing to practice dentistry at his office in the Portland, Ore. suburbs.
Mike was a remarkably soft-spoken man who somehow never had anything bad to say about people, even those who probably deserved it. A wiry, gray-haired Montana native with a perpetual twinkle in his eye, he had that classic Western amiability without any cowboy bravado. I got the impression that beneath his quiet exterior he was a brilliant man, and that was reflected in his monoski designs, which were revolutionary for their time. For most of the mid-to-late '90s, when I think Mike's heart was most in his work, Yetti was the monoski to have if you were a serious skier or racer, and I would credit it with a big part of the success I had in first making the team in 1998. For now, the Goodman family continues to run Radventures in Mike's absence.
In her e-mail to me today, Mike's wife Genie wrote me the following:
Mike always had a special affection for you, Carl. He enjoyed working with you and your dad - we always looked forward to your visits here. He and I both regard you and your family as an extension of our own. I hope you'll stay in touch because I think of you often and love to hear what's happening with you.
In the end, Mike went very quickly. He was suffering a lot though so I was happy when he was freed of all that pain. In my most selfish moment, I couldn't wish that he would stay any longer. I will miss him every day that I have left. My wish for you is that you'll find someone to love and who will love you that much.
Jeff, Joel and I are holding each other up. We'll be ok. It was Mike's adamant request that there be no services, so please tell anyone that you talk to not to send flowers. If anyone wants to "do something," I have been suggesting that they make a contribution in his name to Prostate Cancer Research at OHSU. In doing that, they will be doing something to help themselves, their sons and grandsons as well as remember him — he would like that kind of sharing.
Take care of yourself, and enjoy this special time. I'll hope that the sun shines on your graduation. I have a feeling that Mike just might look in on you!
Love,
Genie
On a less upbeat note, there's some sad news in the disabled skiing world. Mike Goodman, who for many years ran Radventures, the company that builds Yetti monoskis, died on May 24 of prostate cancer. I just found out about it today when I sent the Goodmans an email about my upcoming graduation and change of e-mail accounts. Mike had been sick for quite a while now and I guess it was just a matter of time, but it was still a shock to learn the news. He was an immense help to me over the years, building and maintaining my monoskis for me from the time I was 11 or 12 until just a couple years ago. He and his family hosted me (and in the early years, my dad too) at their house in Oregon numerous times over the years while they fit me for new equipment or made modifications.
A dentist by trade, Mike bought one of the first American monoski companies, Fallon-Ski, from Dan Fallon in the early 1990s. From the beginning it was a family business, with Mike's wife Genie handling the business side of things and his son Jeff helping out in the shop. Their other son, Joel, has spina bifida and skis in a monoski himself. Jeff is the one who took over the main work of the business after Mike stopped spending much time in the shop a couple of years ago due to his illness. For most of the time that the Goodmans have been running the monoski business out of their basement workshop, Mike was also continuing to practice dentistry at his office in the Portland, Ore. suburbs.
Mike was a remarkably soft-spoken man who somehow never had anything bad to say about people, even those who probably deserved it. A wiry, gray-haired Montana native with a perpetual twinkle in his eye, he had that classic Western amiability without any cowboy bravado. I got the impression that beneath his quiet exterior he was a brilliant man, and that was reflected in his monoski designs, which were revolutionary for their time. For most of the mid-to-late '90s, when I think Mike's heart was most in his work, Yetti was the monoski to have if you were a serious skier or racer, and I would credit it with a big part of the success I had in first making the team in 1998. For now, the Goodman family continues to run Radventures in Mike's absence.
In her e-mail to me today, Mike's wife Genie wrote me the following:
Mike always had a special affection for you, Carl. He enjoyed working with you and your dad - we always looked forward to your visits here. He and I both regard you and your family as an extension of our own. I hope you'll stay in touch because I think of you often and love to hear what's happening with you.
In the end, Mike went very quickly. He was suffering a lot though so I was happy when he was freed of all that pain. In my most selfish moment, I couldn't wish that he would stay any longer. I will miss him every day that I have left. My wish for you is that you'll find someone to love and who will love you that much.
Jeff, Joel and I are holding each other up. We'll be ok. It was Mike's adamant request that there be no services, so please tell anyone that you talk to not to send flowers. If anyone wants to "do something," I have been suggesting that they make a contribution in his name to Prostate Cancer Research at OHSU. In doing that, they will be doing something to help themselves, their sons and grandsons as well as remember him — he would like that kind of sharing.
Take care of yourself, and enjoy this special time. I'll hope that the sun shines on your graduation. I have a feeling that Mike just might look in on you!
Love,
Genie
Monday, May 30, 2005
I've been up all night working on one of my final papers, which is due tomorrow morning... 4 or 5 pages to go in the next 26.75 hours should be doable. After that I have another paper due the next day (Wednesday), but fortunately I've already written the bulk of that one. That's the last day of classes. I have no exams this term, just these final papers, the third of which isn't due for another week or so. I could potentially get it done by this weekend and get to relax while everyone else stresses over exams... that would be nice! I'll try to keep y'all posted.
Barring catastrophe, I will finally graduate from Dartmouth on June 12. That's now less than two weeks away... whoa. If you're reading this and want to come to graduation but haven't heard from me yet, it's due to my not getting things together enough to send out invitations or anything, but please do e-mail me and you can get in on the posh digs [scroll down to Hinman Cabin] that we're renting for Commencement weekend.
Oh, that reminds me: my student BlitzMail account will be turned off pretty soon, so you have two options: (1) don't e-mail me, (2) start e-mailing me at my alumni account, carlb@alum.dartmouth.org (or Carl.N.E.Burnett.03@alum.dartmouth.org, if you're not into the whole brevity thing) inst—Three! You have three options. One, don't. Two, do. Three, I also have a Gmail account which I don't check very often: charolastra@gmail.com.
The paper I'm currently writing is on machine translation, and I just came across the following gem on one translation company's website:
Q: How does Logos assure finest quality in translation?
A: All translation will be reviewerd by a Senior Editor who is responsible for overall quality control
Barring catastrophe, I will finally graduate from Dartmouth on June 12. That's now less than two weeks away... whoa. If you're reading this and want to come to graduation but haven't heard from me yet, it's due to my not getting things together enough to send out invitations or anything, but please do e-mail me and you can get in on the posh digs [scroll down to Hinman Cabin] that we're renting for Commencement weekend.
Oh, that reminds me: my student BlitzMail account will be turned off pretty soon, so you have two options: (1) don't e-mail me, (2) start e-mailing me at my alumni account, carlb@alum.dartmouth.org (or Carl.N.E.Burnett.03@alum.dartmouth.org, if you're not into the whole brevity thing) inst—Three! You have three options. One, don't. Two, do. Three, I also have a Gmail account which I don't check very often: charolastra@gmail.com.
The paper I'm currently writing is on machine translation, and I just came across the following gem on one translation company's website:
Q: How does Logos assure finest quality in translation?
A: All translation will be reviewerd by a Senior Editor who is responsible for overall quality control
Sunday, May 22, 2005
a few random links
Here is a fantastic interview with a man whose company designed and built giant fiberglass roadside attractions in the 1960s and '70s.
Latest read: Harry Frankfurt's On Bullshit.
This new White Stripes song is pretty... different. I guess I like it though.
Latest read: Harry Frankfurt's On Bullshit.
This new White Stripes song is pretty... different. I guess I like it though.
Monday, May 16, 2005
Thursday, May 12, 2005
still the hardest-working man in show business?
My friend Lindsay and I drove down to Northampton, Mass. on Monday evening for a concert by the legendary Mr. James Brown, a.k.a. Soul Brother Number One, a.k.a. the Godfather of Soul, a.k.a. the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business, a.k.a. the Guy With the Most Semi-Official, Self-Congratulatory Nicknames.
Maybe you didn't know James Brown was still actively touring these days. He is 72, after all, so the hip-shaking and screaming and "unnnh!"s aren't as plentiful or as impressive as they used to be, but that's not to say that his stage show doesn't still kick some serious ass. Lindsay wrote all about it for yesterday's issue of The Dartmouth, but there are few more interesting things about the show that he didn't have the space to mention:
But it was still a great show.
Maybe you didn't know James Brown was still actively touring these days. He is 72, after all, so the hip-shaking and screaming and "unnnh!"s aren't as plentiful or as impressive as they used to be, but that's not to say that his stage show doesn't still kick some serious ass. Lindsay wrote all about it for yesterday's issue of The Dartmouth, but there are few more interesting things about the show that he didn't have the space to mention:
- Of the two quasi-pornographic stage dancers that were part of the show, one of them surprised pretty much everyone by approaching the mike during one song and rapping for a minute or so in very rapid Spanish.
- James Brown's head and body are amazingly well-preserved. He looks very fit, and he must have a good makeup person and a good plastic surgeon because his hair is so thick and jet-black and his face is so smooth and his teeth are so white that it's kind of creepy. He didn't even break a sweat until halfway through the show, and given the way he still moves, that's really strange.
- The band's uniforms are absolutely amazing. They are bright red and look straight out of the early '60s show-biz world that Mr. Brown obviously still holds in the highest regard.
- Jeff Watkins, one of Mr. Brown's two saxophone players, is one of the ugliest men ever to take the stage, and from his mustache and mullet he is apparently still living in the 1970s as well. (Here's another pic of the guy; he's on the right, apparently posing with a fan.) Even worse, he is apparently a graduate of the Annoying White Man School of Funk Saxophone Performance, which requires its students to take long, squealing solos that push the upper limits of the instrument's intended register.
- Not surprisingly (given that the audience's median age was probably around 52 and average complexion was Extra-Pasty), Mr. Brown did not play "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)."
- Mr. Brown did play the excellent song "Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother For Me)(Part 1)," but lamentably did not play any of his other popcorn-related hit singles, such as "The Popcorn," "Lowdown Popcorn," "Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn (Part One)," or my personal favorite, "Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn (Part Two)."
But it was still a great show.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
no two are alike — or are they?
So I was just wasting time as usual, instead of studying, and I decided to see if my blog showed up on a Google search. (Apparently, it does not.) I of course ran across a number of interesting sites along the way, such as this installment of "The Straight Dope," the venerable Chicago Reader column. The snowflake explanation is okay, but the ensuing argument about math is even better.
It's weeks like this one that are going to make me go broke: too many good albums being released. I just picked up the new Ben Folds album, and I'm intending to purchase the new Eels disc as soon as possible. In the meantime I am staying happy by listening to this online over and over again. This is a band I was really disappointed with on their last two albums, but they appear to be kicking it back up several notches. I approve. (I think iTunes needs to rethink their pricing policy for double-disc albums though. I was going to skip buying the CD edition and just download the album from them, but they charge $19.99, twice the price of a single album! The 2-disc CD edition is going for around 14 bucks.)
Ben Folds, on t'other hand, gets forty lashes for allowing his record label, Sony, to release his new album as a DualDisc. In theory it's not a bad idea — a normal audio CD on one side and some bonus DVD content on the other side — but it turns out that there's a little issue: "The audio side of this disc does not conform to CD specifications and therefore not all DVD and CD players will play the audio side of this disc." (That's verbatim from the back of the jewel case.) Turns out that my PowerBook's CD/DVD drive is one such player, so I can't import the disc onto my hard drive or my iPod. Boooooo.
It's weeks like this one that are going to make me go broke: too many good albums being released. I just picked up the new Ben Folds album, and I'm intending to purchase the new Eels disc as soon as possible. In the meantime I am staying happy by listening to this online over and over again. This is a band I was really disappointed with on their last two albums, but they appear to be kicking it back up several notches. I approve. (I think iTunes needs to rethink their pricing policy for double-disc albums though. I was going to skip buying the CD edition and just download the album from them, but they charge $19.99, twice the price of a single album! The 2-disc CD edition is going for around 14 bucks.)
Ben Folds, on t'other hand, gets forty lashes for allowing his record label, Sony, to release his new album as a DualDisc. In theory it's not a bad idea — a normal audio CD on one side and some bonus DVD content on the other side — but it turns out that there's a little issue: "The audio side of this disc does not conform to CD specifications and therefore not all DVD and CD players will play the audio side of this disc." (That's verbatim from the back of the jewel case.) Turns out that my PowerBook's CD/DVD drive is one such player, so I can't import the disc onto my hard drive or my iPod. Boooooo.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
latenite musings
I'm very excited to have found this link to Saul Steinberg's 1976 New Yorker cover drawing, "A View of the World from Ninth Avenue." My grandparents have a framed copy of it on their wall and it is one of the funniest things ever.
Just got done watching two music DVDs with my friend Lindsay. The first was a collection of musical performances from an old British TV show called The Old Grey Whistle Test that ran during the '70s, and some of them are absolutely fantastic. This must've been the real-life inspiration for stuff like This Is Spinal Tap. The second DVD was the Radiohead documentary Meeting People Is Easy, which is probably the weirdest concert/tour film ever made. At several points, filmmaker Grant Gee cuts away from the performance going on onstage to security cameras positioned outside the venue as people mill around and the band can be heard faintly in the background. He's more interested in what other people think of the band than in the band itself. This holds throughout the movie, as when we see clueless reporters asking the band members the same stupid questions over and over. It's a movie you could potentially enjoy even if you weren't a big fan of Radiohead but were a big fan of avant-garde documentary filmmaking — but then again, it's a hard to imagine there's anyone under 40 who fits into the latter category but not the former.
Just got done watching two music DVDs with my friend Lindsay. The first was a collection of musical performances from an old British TV show called The Old Grey Whistle Test that ran during the '70s, and some of them are absolutely fantastic. This must've been the real-life inspiration for stuff like This Is Spinal Tap. The second DVD was the Radiohead documentary Meeting People Is Easy, which is probably the weirdest concert/tour film ever made. At several points, filmmaker Grant Gee cuts away from the performance going on onstage to security cameras positioned outside the venue as people mill around and the band can be heard faintly in the background. He's more interested in what other people think of the band than in the band itself. This holds throughout the movie, as when we see clueless reporters asking the band members the same stupid questions over and over. It's a movie you could potentially enjoy even if you weren't a big fan of Radiohead but were a big fan of avant-garde documentary filmmaking — but then again, it's a hard to imagine there's anyone under 40 who fits into the latter category but not the former.
Monday, April 18, 2005
Patriots' Day
No skiing-related news to speak of these days, as I'm back at Dartmouth focusing mostly on classes these days. (OK, focusing occasionally on classes and more frequently on Red Sox games, music, handcycling, and generally enjoying the spring.)
If I do get around to posting here, then, it'll probably be to give you random links like these:
If I do get around to posting here, then, it'll probably be to give you random links like these:
- I really like this new Beck video.
- Some people are making a big deal about this new "people search," ZabaSearch, saying it represents an invasion of people's privacy. But it really doesn't provide any information about people that isn't already available elsewhere for free. More interesting (to me) is the site's connection to the Heaven's Gate cult.
- I'm very excited about the new White Stripes single, "Blue Orchid," which was released on iTunes this morning. It's a very rocking, Led Zep/blues kinda thing — totally worth your 99¢.
- If you're a Daily Show fan, you may have already caught this report about choosing a new Pope. If not, that clip is a pretty good introduction to the best show on TV.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
stranded
Arrrggh. There's a nasty little blizzard raging here in Denver, and all of today's flights out of town were cancelled. So here I am, stuck until Tuesday morning, at which time United Airlines has decided to allow me to fly to Boston, buy a bus ticket to Manchester, and drive myself back to Hanover. I'll miss two more days of class in addition to the three I missed last week for SkiTAM. This is no fun. At least my friend Charlie is very generously letting me stay at his place for a couple days until I can get a flight out of here. And at least tonight I might get to go see Electric Six and VHS Or Beta play the Larimer Lounge... heheh. Maybe every cloud does have a silver lining.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
SkiTAM, continued
It's been a reasonably fun weekend here in Vail. Last night at a great party, I had a long conversation with Jennifer Kennedy-Zanca (a former U.S. Disabled Ski Team coach), Mike Brown (a former USDST head coach and World Cup racer), and Steve Porino (former World Cup racer and current ski racing commentator for Outdoor Life Network). After a few drinks, they all opened up a lot about their experiences in ski racing over the years and their take on the current state of the sport.
I'm trying to get some reading done now before the closing dinner, and then I fly back to New Hampshire tomorrow.
I'm trying to get some reading done now before the closing dinner, and then I fly back to New Hampshire tomorrow.
SkiTAM, continued
It's been a reasonably fun weekend here in Vail. Last night at a great party, I had a long conversation with Jennifer Kennedy-Zanca (a former U.S. Disabled Ski Team coach), Mike Brown (a former USDST head coach and World Cup racer), and Steve Porino (former World Cup racer and current ski racing commentator for Outdoor Life Network). After a few drinks, they all opened up a lot about their experiences in ski racing over the years and their take on the current state of the sport.
I'm trying to get some reading done now before the closing dinner, and then I fly back to New Hampshire tomorrow.
I'm trying to get some reading done now before the closing dinner, and then I fly back to New Hampshire tomorrow.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
wow, it's been a while.
Sorry about that. As I had anticipated, it's much harder to make myself write a post on here when I'm at Dartmouth than when I'm doing the skiing thing... I guess it's just something about making myself write voluntarily when there are all kinds of other things I'm expected to write, too.
After Nationals, we went back to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for our quarterly physical testing regime. We do a Wingate Test one day and a full battery of strength, agility, power and balance tests in the gym the next day.
Last Wednesday, I flew from Colorado back to Manchester, N.H., where I picked up my van and drove up to Dartmouth. I was up until 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. unloading my stuff from my van into my dorm room, and then the next day I went to two 2-hour classes, one called "Computational Linguistics" and the other, "Mass Media in Latin America." The professor for the computational ling class is a little dry, but I decided to stick it out. The other prof was really dynamic and young and the subject matter seemed interesting, but the course was taught entirely in Spanish and I realized that I was going to have a hard time keeping up with all the native speakers in the class. 50 pages of nightly reading in English take me long enough as it is; in Spanish, I'd never have time to get anything else done. So I opted out of that class.
The next day I went to "History of the English Language," which I'm very excited about and which I like to abbreviate as HOTEL. Monika Otter is one of my favorite profs at Dartmouth. She is a native of Germany but has been teaching in the U.S. so long and is so interestied in the subtleties of language that she has a much better command of English, even idiomatically, than most other American college professors, let alone average Americans. I've been listening to her carefully the last couple of classes, and the only error I heard her make was pronouncing the word "circuit" as "ser-kwit," which is a pretty logical mistake to make. Right now the class is basically a quick synopsis of Ling 1 for the benefit of the non-majors in the class, of which there are many. But looking ahead, we'll be getting into some neat stuff about Old and Middle English that I know nothing about. Here, let me post a sample of some Middle English. This is from a translation of an early French travelogue about Africa:
"In Ethiope, whan the children ben yonge and lytill, thei ben all yalowe; and when that thei wexen of age, that yalownesse turneth to ben all blak."
Funny, huh?
I went home to Maine briefly last weekend to get the rest of my dorm room stuff, and my brother and I went to see Sin City. It's quite a bloodbath, but very beautifully rendered: all in sharp, deep black and white apart from the occasional flash of lurid color: red drops of blood, blue eyes, a pool of yellow ooze.
I wish I could've gone home this coming weekend instead, because my mom's a capella group, !zing, is performing then. I keep missing their concerts. But on Tuesday I had to pack up all my ski stuff again, and yesterday I left for Colorado yet again. We visited St. Anne's, an Episcopal primary school in Denver where we got to see all the kids we've been exchanging emails with from the road ever since October. Ralph gave me a ride up to Vail afterward and let me sleep on his couch, and today we checked into the really luxurious Vail Cascade Resort, where we're staying until Sunday. We're here for SkiTAM, the main annual fundraiser for our ski team. I really don't like schmoozing with people, but it's worthwhile for me to be here because our team really wouldn't have the money to do what we do without this event. Plus, you never know — maybe I can find a company here that's interested in sponsoring me.
OK, it's off to the opening reception for me...
After Nationals, we went back to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for our quarterly physical testing regime. We do a Wingate Test one day and a full battery of strength, agility, power and balance tests in the gym the next day.
Last Wednesday, I flew from Colorado back to Manchester, N.H., where I picked up my van and drove up to Dartmouth. I was up until 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. unloading my stuff from my van into my dorm room, and then the next day I went to two 2-hour classes, one called "Computational Linguistics" and the other, "Mass Media in Latin America." The professor for the computational ling class is a little dry, but I decided to stick it out. The other prof was really dynamic and young and the subject matter seemed interesting, but the course was taught entirely in Spanish and I realized that I was going to have a hard time keeping up with all the native speakers in the class. 50 pages of nightly reading in English take me long enough as it is; in Spanish, I'd never have time to get anything else done. So I opted out of that class.
The next day I went to "History of the English Language," which I'm very excited about and which I like to abbreviate as HOTEL. Monika Otter is one of my favorite profs at Dartmouth. She is a native of Germany but has been teaching in the U.S. so long and is so interestied in the subtleties of language that she has a much better command of English, even idiomatically, than most other American college professors, let alone average Americans. I've been listening to her carefully the last couple of classes, and the only error I heard her make was pronouncing the word "circuit" as "ser-kwit," which is a pretty logical mistake to make. Right now the class is basically a quick synopsis of Ling 1 for the benefit of the non-majors in the class, of which there are many. But looking ahead, we'll be getting into some neat stuff about Old and Middle English that I know nothing about. Here, let me post a sample of some Middle English. This is from a translation of an early French travelogue about Africa:
"In Ethiope, whan the children ben yonge and lytill, thei ben all yalowe; and when that thei wexen of age, that yalownesse turneth to ben all blak."
Funny, huh?
I went home to Maine briefly last weekend to get the rest of my dorm room stuff, and my brother and I went to see Sin City. It's quite a bloodbath, but very beautifully rendered: all in sharp, deep black and white apart from the occasional flash of lurid color: red drops of blood, blue eyes, a pool of yellow ooze.
I wish I could've gone home this coming weekend instead, because my mom's a capella group, !zing, is performing then. I keep missing their concerts. But on Tuesday I had to pack up all my ski stuff again, and yesterday I left for Colorado yet again. We visited St. Anne's, an Episcopal primary school in Denver where we got to see all the kids we've been exchanging emails with from the road ever since October. Ralph gave me a ride up to Vail afterward and let me sleep on his couch, and today we checked into the really luxurious Vail Cascade Resort, where we're staying until Sunday. We're here for SkiTAM, the main annual fundraiser for our ski team. I really don't like schmoozing with people, but it's worthwhile for me to be here because our team really wouldn't have the money to do what we do without this event. Plus, you never know — maybe I can find a company here that's interested in sponsoring me.
OK, it's off to the opening reception for me...
Thursday, March 31, 2005
"Uh, yeah... maybe I won't volunteer."
My friend Abby sent the following email to the volunteer coordinators for the 2006 Paralympics:
Hi-
Went to Noi2006.org to see about volunteering at the
paralympics in 06, but it's in italian and I am one of those
unenlightened people who can only guess at your beautiful
language. Also, when I click on essere voluntario, the page does
not load. Could someone send me info on being a volunteer? I'll
most likely be there to support a good friend on the US disabled
alpine ski team and I'm sure I could take some time to help out
in whatever way you need.
Thanks! Grazie!
Abby Drevs
Here's the response she got:
Hello,
we are with knowledge of some problems which located it has but
our techniquex is with work to improve the service, would advise
reprouver to him and of controller which it version to explore
which uses is not compatible with the Form Application, in this
case it is necessary to use PC with a version of Internt Explore
5.5. or superior. Thank you for interest.
Hi-
Went to Noi2006.org to see about volunteering at the
paralympics in 06, but it's in italian and I am one of those
unenlightened people who can only guess at your beautiful
language. Also, when I click on essere voluntario, the page does
not load. Could someone send me info on being a volunteer? I'll
most likely be there to support a good friend on the US disabled
alpine ski team and I'm sure I could take some time to help out
in whatever way you need.
Thanks! Grazie!
Abby Drevs
Here's the response she got:
Hello,
we are with knowledge of some problems which located it has but
our techniquex is with work to improve the service, would advise
reprouver to him and of controller which it version to explore
which uses is not compatible with the Form Application, in this
case it is necessary to use PC with a version of Internt Explore
5.5. or superior. Thank you for interest.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Aster the Snowflake!
In case you missed it (I did), the official mascot of the 2006 Winter Paralympics was unveiled earlier this month. Meet Aster! Apparently, he "comes directly from the sky, to represent, with his warm smile, the sports of the disabled." I laugh every time I look at the picture of this guy. If that was the idea, then well done, TOROC.
Whoa, I just discovered that there's a Windows Media video of Aster too! (highspeed) (dialup)
In other news, yesterday I completed a trifecta of third-place finishes at nationals with a bronze in the slalom. Sure, I had been hoping to move up a spot or two, but I skied two totally solid runs so I'm not really disappointed with the race at all. Chris won yet again, and Tyler took second. I made it into the Vail paper again with a pretty nice photo accompanying their story on the slalom race.
Here's the U.S. Ski Team's report on Saturday's GS. (They're a day or so behind in posting these.)
Whoa, I just discovered that there's a Windows Media video of Aster too! (highspeed) (dialup)
In other news, yesterday I completed a trifecta of third-place finishes at nationals with a bronze in the slalom. Sure, I had been hoping to move up a spot or two, but I skied two totally solid runs so I'm not really disappointed with the race at all. Chris won yet again, and Tyler took second. I made it into the Vail paper again with a pretty nice photo accompanying their story on the slalom race.
Here's the U.S. Ski Team's report on Saturday's GS. (They're a day or so behind in posting these.)
Saturday, March 26, 2005
GS day
Third place again today, although I was kind of lucky to even make the podium: Chris, Nick, and Roger all went down in the first run and failed to finish, leaving Tyler, Joe, Kevin Connolly (not yet a U.S. Ski Team member), and me to duke it out for the medals.
I had one big mistake on my first run, sliding on my hip for a second on the steepest part of the hill, and finished third: 5 seconds behind Tyler, 3 seconds ahead of Joe, and just 0.05 seconds behind Kevin. I figured I could easily beat Kevin on the second run with a decent run, but I decided to really attack the second course anyway. I had a good run with no big mistakes, just behind Tyler's time and well ahead of Joe's, but Kevin laid down the best run I've ever seen him ski and increased his lead over me by a second, keeping me in third. It was a fun race.
Here are some links to USSA's stories on the downhill and the super G. No story in today's Vail paper about yesterday's race, but they did run a pretty sweet photo of Nick on the cover.
I had one big mistake on my first run, sliding on my hip for a second on the steepest part of the hill, and finished third: 5 seconds behind Tyler, 3 seconds ahead of Joe, and just 0.05 seconds behind Kevin. I figured I could easily beat Kevin on the second run with a decent run, but I decided to really attack the second course anyway. I had a good run with no big mistakes, just behind Tyler's time and well ahead of Joe's, but Kevin laid down the best run I've ever seen him ski and increased his lead over me by a second, keeping me in third. It was a fun race.
Here are some links to USSA's stories on the downhill and the super G. No story in today's Vail paper about yesterday's race, but they did run a pretty sweet photo of Nick on the cover.
Friday, March 25, 2005
some redemption
After yesterday's disappointing 5th place, I made the podium today for only the second time this season — 3rd in the super G here in Vail. I am pretty happy with my run, especially one section that I skied well where almost everyone else messed up. Chris and Nick had outstanding runs, though, and they deserved to beat me.
Here's an article from today's Vail newspaper about yesterday's race. It included this pretty cool photo of me.
Here's an article from today's Vail newspaper about yesterday's race. It included this pretty cool photo of me.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
this is only a funny link
if you are easily amused by the poor quality of computer translation: a post from the blog of the Portland band Phantom Buffalo.
a bit of a disappointment
Well, the weather today ended up being just fine, alternating between sun, clouds, and light snow flurries. As a result, we were able to run today's 2-run downhill as scheduled. I had two totally decent runs, basically equal to my training runs over the past couple of days. Unfortunately for me, everyone else really stepped up their game. In the end I finished fifth, behind Chris, Roger Lee, Nick, and Joe. Definitely a disappointment after my string of second-place finishes in the training runs, but the first six of us were all pretty close, within a few seconds of each other after two runs. It's hard to be happy about my performance when I'm so bummed about my result, but I know I should be. I have three more chances this week to hit the podium.
Latest absolutely amazing song I've heard: "Maps of Egypt" by the Portland, Maine-based band Seekonk. (Listen to a sample on iTunes.)
Last incredibly depressing movie I've seen: Osama, a film about an Afghani girl living under Taliban rule who tries to pass as a boy in order to feed her family.
Latest absolutely amazing song I've heard: "Maps of Egypt" by the Portland, Maine-based band Seekonk. (Listen to a sample on iTunes.)
Last incredibly depressing movie I've seen: Osama, a film about an Afghani girl living under Taliban rule who tries to pass as a boy in order to feed her family.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
March in Colorado: sunny to snowy in 3 minutes flat
I don't think I've ever been in this position before: I might have won the silver medal in the downhill at nationals, or I might not have... yet. Today was supposed to be the second day of training for the downhill race, but this afternoon snow clouds moved in and quickly erased the sunny, warm weather we had yesterday and this morning. We got the training runs off in time, but if the snow keeps up tonight as forecasted, we may be unable to hold the race tomorrow as forecasted. If we still can't run it Friday or Saturday (in addition to the other races already scheduled for those days), the results of the last two runs of downhill training will count as the race, and I will be in second place. (A further complication: downhill races are usually just one run, but because the Vail race hill is fairly short, we are running a two-run "sprint downhill" where the times are combined, like in GS and slalom.)
In any case, I'm mostly pretty happy with how I've been skiing in training. In yesterday's run I was second behind Chris, and I was second and fourth in today's two runs. My second run today was actually my fastest yet, but Nick and Roger Lee of Winter Park stepped it up and snuck in between Chris and me. Still, my combined time from the two runs today was second-fastest.
I'm listening to the new album by Queens of the Stone Age. It rocks.
In any case, I'm mostly pretty happy with how I've been skiing in training. In yesterday's run I was second behind Chris, and I was second and fourth in today's two runs. My second run today was actually my fastest yet, but Nick and Roger Lee of Winter Park stepped it up and snuck in between Chris and me. Still, my combined time from the two runs today was second-fastest.
I'm listening to the new album by Queens of the Stone Age. It rocks.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Bode mania
Just some miscellaneous links today as I finish up packing the van for the drive east:
Even USA Today has jumped on the Bode bandwagon, running a cover story on him today. There's also a really cool photo gallery of him on their website.
According to the ornithologist quoted in a "Week In Review" article in Sunday's New York Times, an estimated one billion birds fly into buildings each year in the United States alone. My roommate, Josh, calculated that works out to 3.1 collisions per second. That sounds feasible enough to me, but Josh was skeptical, saying he has rarely seen it happen.
Even USA Today has jumped on the Bode bandwagon, running a cover story on him today. There's also a really cool photo gallery of him on their website.
According to the ornithologist quoted in a "Week In Review" article in Sunday's New York Times, an estimated one billion birds fly into buildings each year in the United States alone. My roommate, Josh, calculated that works out to 3.1 collisions per second. That sounds feasible enough to me, but Josh was skeptical, saying he has rarely seen it happen.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
March madness
So, my schedule for the rest of the month is finally starting to shape up...
The doc still says I can't ski until 3 weeks after my crash, so that would be just in time to for downhill training at nationals in Vail, which begin on the 22nd. That means I have like two weeks to kill however I please. I have to get my car back east during that time so I can fly straight back from nationals for the beginning of spring classes; I have decided to take the most circuitous route possible. This Thursday and Friday I'll drive from Colorado to Chicago and then spend the weekend with my friend Abby (and hopefully Shifra as well). Then on Monday and Tuesday I'll head down to Washington, D.C. and visit Will M. and Seth, and finally back up to Maine (with a possible stop in NYC). Then on Monday the 21st I'll fly back out to CO for nationals. Whew.
When is every airline going to have something like this? This is 2005, for Pete's sake; people need to get online. It should be free, even.
The doc still says I can't ski until 3 weeks after my crash, so that would be just in time to for downhill training at nationals in Vail, which begin on the 22nd. That means I have like two weeks to kill however I please. I have to get my car back east during that time so I can fly straight back from nationals for the beginning of spring classes; I have decided to take the most circuitous route possible. This Thursday and Friday I'll drive from Colorado to Chicago and then spend the weekend with my friend Abby (and hopefully Shifra as well). Then on Monday and Tuesday I'll head down to Washington, D.C. and visit Will M. and Seth, and finally back up to Maine (with a possible stop in NYC). Then on Monday the 21st I'll fly back out to CO for nationals. Whew.
When is every airline going to have something like this? This is 2005, for Pete's sake; people need to get online. It should be free, even.
Friday, March 04, 2005
last day in Europe
We're packing up now and getting ready to head out at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning and catch a flight from Zurich to Washington DC to Denver. Hannah and I visited Ben in the hospital today and he was in really good shape, considering that he basically broke his neck... no neurological damage, luckily. Monte won the slalom today in the men's standing category — his first win of the season, and he really deserved it. I'll close with a great quote from yesterday's Word-A-Day email:
A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation." -Stephen Crane, writer (1871-1900)
A man said to the universe: "Sir I exist!" "However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me a sense of obligation." -Stephen Crane, writer (1871-1900)
Thursday, March 03, 2005
off days (for me anyway)
Today was GS and yesterday was super G here in Klosters, and Hannah and I continued to sit out the races. Today we went up and watched the second run of the GS, which was a tricky course that claimed a number of the top skiers. Chris had problems but still held on to finish 3rd. Laurie improved her streak to an amazing 11 consecutive World Cup wins in GS, beginning last season with a win in her first-ever World Cup GS.
By now my face has turned a very interesting assortment of colors, and my cuts and scrapes have scabbed over. This morning my right eye was swollen almost shut, which made it really hard to get my contact lens in. It feels fine, but I wore sunglasses to breakfast. I think my vanity is injured worse than my face.
The injuries on the team just continue to pile up. In addition to Sandy, Hannah and me, one of our ski technicians, Ben Roberts, was injured today when he accidentally skied off a 5-foot drop and landed on his back. Good thing we only have one more race left — only one more chance for people to get injured.
By now my face has turned a very interesting assortment of colors, and my cuts and scrapes have scabbed over. This morning my right eye was swollen almost shut, which made it really hard to get my contact lens in. It feels fine, but I wore sunglasses to breakfast. I think my vanity is injured worse than my face.
The injuries on the team just continue to pile up. In addition to Sandy, Hannah and me, one of our ski technicians, Ben Roberts, was injured today when he accidentally skied off a 5-foot drop and landed on his back. Good thing we only have one more race left — only one more chance for people to get injured.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
yesterday
What a day... It started with me ready to have my best downhill run ever, and ended with me in the hospital. After inspection, I was warming up on the trail adjacent to the downhill. Suddenly I was lying on the ground with 15 or 20 people standing around me asking me in various languages if I was OK. I was really confused because I couldn't remember crashing. Thinking about it more, I could remember that I was in Klosters at a race, but I wasn't sure what time it was or whether today was a race day and, if so, what event we were skiing. At one point, Tyler skied by and asked if I was OK. I remember responding, "I can't remember shit." Ski patrol (or "SOS," as it's called here) showed up and asked me what happened. I was starting to piece it together. I remembered skiing down the final pitch on the hill, trying to carry a lot of speed down onto the flats. But on the far right-hand side of the trail, where I was skiing, there was a big compression at the bottom of the steep pitch, a sort of gully followed by a decent-sized roll. I was aware of the terrain, having crashed there during warm-up the day before when it caught me by surprise. This time I thought I was prepared for the compression and would be able to ski right through it by staying strong and deliberate. It didn't turn out that way. I remember staying upright as I hit the compression, but it must have thrown me off balance so that I flew off the next roll off-kilter and slammed into the ground face-first. Or so I can conjecture, based on the goggle-shaped pattern of the bruises on my face.
I felt fine apart from a little soreness in my neck and face. I asked if I could just ski down, but the toepiece of my binding had snapped off from the binding plate on my ski, so that was out of the question. (My watch snapped off my wrist too, but someone found it, luckily — it was a high school graduation present from my parents.) The ski patrollers must have gotten me out of my monoski and into their sled, but I don't remember that part. I just remember riding down in the toboggan — my first time ever — and looking up at the sky. By now I had realized that it was downhill race day and that I would miss the race. I got angry at myself for making such a stupid mistake and blowing my shot at what could have been my first World Cup podium. I think I started crying.
In the patrol room, Ralph stepped inside and asked how I was doing. I said I would be fine, and that he should "go get 'em." (He later told me it was like a scene in a bad movie. You know, like, "I'll be OK. Go win it for me!") A doctor showed up and introduced himself, and our team physio trainer Alison arrived too. They wanted to take me to the hospital in an ambulance since I'd obviously had a concussion. They also put a neck brace on me. At the time this seemed unnecessary, but as I'm writing this now my neck sure is sore. At the hospital, they let me get into my wheelchair. They X-rayed my neck and made me lie down in a bed for a couple hours for "observation." Alison left to go find our team doctor, Peter, who had been taking another injured athlete to the airport. A nice Australian-born nurse checked on me every so often; it was a comfort to talk to someone who spoke fluent English. A Swiss doctor arrived and introduced himself. My X-rays showed some stiffness in my neck but no fractures, he said. Even though I was showing none of the usual concussion symptoms like dizziness, nausea, or tingling in my hands, he wanted to keep me in the hospital overnight as a precaution. When Peter arrived, though, he convinced the other doctor to release me into his care and let me go back to the hotel for the night. By the time we sorted out all the paperwork and drove back to Klosters, it was 5:30 pm or so. (The accident had happened around 10:45 am.)
It turned out that there had been a lot of casualties at the race that day, with numerous holds to get injured racers out of the safety fencing. One guy even had to get airlifted to the hospital by helicopter. My teammate Hannah finished her run and then crashed into the fence in the finish area while trying to stop, injuring her knee. Nick crashed three gates from the finish, but was unhurt. Other than us three, it was a good day for our team, though. Laurie took second in her class, and Joe won the race in my category, the sitting men's. Chris took third. (results) In fact, the guys on the podium were the same three who had been fastest in training the day before, and in the same order. Since I had been fourth the day before, it was painful to realize that I certainly would have had a shot at a top-5 finish or even a podium.
Because of the concussion, I'm not allowed to ski for the rest of the trip, and maybe not for a week or two after that. There's just too much of a risk of a much more severe head injury if I were to crash again. So right now, the super G race is about to start and I'm chilling in the hotel for the day. I have plenty to do: books, music, DVDs, Internet, chatting with Hannah, getting my watch fixed. Tomorrow and the next day, I think I'll go up to the hill and watch the GS and slalom from the finish area. Then on Saturday, we'll fly home to Colorado.
My face is pretty bruised up — I should have someone take a picture — and my neck is sore, but I feel pretty much fine. I slept soundly last night except when Peter woke me up periodically to make sure I was OK. It's a huge bummer to miss these last four races, especially when I was skiing well and had a good chance of moving up to the B-team based on the final World Cup standings. But as everyone keeps reminding me, at least I'm not hurt worse.
If anyone else has any good concussion stories, post them in the comments section, would you?
I felt fine apart from a little soreness in my neck and face. I asked if I could just ski down, but the toepiece of my binding had snapped off from the binding plate on my ski, so that was out of the question. (My watch snapped off my wrist too, but someone found it, luckily — it was a high school graduation present from my parents.) The ski patrollers must have gotten me out of my monoski and into their sled, but I don't remember that part. I just remember riding down in the toboggan — my first time ever — and looking up at the sky. By now I had realized that it was downhill race day and that I would miss the race. I got angry at myself for making such a stupid mistake and blowing my shot at what could have been my first World Cup podium. I think I started crying.
In the patrol room, Ralph stepped inside and asked how I was doing. I said I would be fine, and that he should "go get 'em." (He later told me it was like a scene in a bad movie. You know, like, "I'll be OK. Go win it for me!") A doctor showed up and introduced himself, and our team physio trainer Alison arrived too. They wanted to take me to the hospital in an ambulance since I'd obviously had a concussion. They also put a neck brace on me. At the time this seemed unnecessary, but as I'm writing this now my neck sure is sore. At the hospital, they let me get into my wheelchair. They X-rayed my neck and made me lie down in a bed for a couple hours for "observation." Alison left to go find our team doctor, Peter, who had been taking another injured athlete to the airport. A nice Australian-born nurse checked on me every so often; it was a comfort to talk to someone who spoke fluent English. A Swiss doctor arrived and introduced himself. My X-rays showed some stiffness in my neck but no fractures, he said. Even though I was showing none of the usual concussion symptoms like dizziness, nausea, or tingling in my hands, he wanted to keep me in the hospital overnight as a precaution. When Peter arrived, though, he convinced the other doctor to release me into his care and let me go back to the hotel for the night. By the time we sorted out all the paperwork and drove back to Klosters, it was 5:30 pm or so. (The accident had happened around 10:45 am.)
It turned out that there had been a lot of casualties at the race that day, with numerous holds to get injured racers out of the safety fencing. One guy even had to get airlifted to the hospital by helicopter. My teammate Hannah finished her run and then crashed into the fence in the finish area while trying to stop, injuring her knee. Nick crashed three gates from the finish, but was unhurt. Other than us three, it was a good day for our team, though. Laurie took second in her class, and Joe won the race in my category, the sitting men's. Chris took third. (results) In fact, the guys on the podium were the same three who had been fastest in training the day before, and in the same order. Since I had been fourth the day before, it was painful to realize that I certainly would have had a shot at a top-5 finish or even a podium.
Because of the concussion, I'm not allowed to ski for the rest of the trip, and maybe not for a week or two after that. There's just too much of a risk of a much more severe head injury if I were to crash again. So right now, the super G race is about to start and I'm chilling in the hotel for the day. I have plenty to do: books, music, DVDs, Internet, chatting with Hannah, getting my watch fixed. Tomorrow and the next day, I think I'll go up to the hill and watch the GS and slalom from the finish area. Then on Saturday, we'll fly home to Colorado.
My face is pretty bruised up — I should have someone take a picture — and my neck is sore, but I feel pretty much fine. I slept soundly last night except when Peter woke me up periodically to make sure I was OK. It's a huge bummer to miss these last four races, especially when I was skiing well and had a good chance of moving up to the B-team based on the final World Cup standings. But as everyone keeps reminding me, at least I'm not hurt worse.
If anyone else has any good concussion stories, post them in the comments section, would you?
Monday, February 28, 2005
downhill training day #2
I just came in the door after today's downhill training run and I'm waiting for the snow on my tires to melt on the doormat, so I have some time to write about what we've been up to here in Klosters. Where to begin?
Klosters is a resort town near its more famous siblings of Davos and St. Moritz. It's not a cheap place, and it's full of tourists from all over Europe. We're staying in a really nice hotel that charges 9 francs (basically $9 these days) per half hour for internet access. At least I can write these posts offline and then paste them into a browser window. The breakfast spread is fantastic, the pool is large, and there are elevators!
Our dinners are served in a huge circus tent in the park across the street. The dinners are a source of no small amount of grumbling among the athletes because while the race organizers' intentions are good, their elaborate events kind of get in the way of the schedule we're trying to keep. Dinner is served at 8 and involves three courses served very far apart. By the time it's over, most of us would prefer to be in bed so we can get plenty of rest before getting up at 6 a.m. the next day. To be fair, though, it's pretty lavishly catered with gourmet food, a big screen showing disabled ski racing highlights, and live entertainment along the lines of a different theme every night.
Today's training run went as well as yesterday's. I'm not sure exactly what place I finished in, but seven of us monoskiers were all very close, within a second of today's leader, Joe. My run was about four seconds faster than yesterday, due in no small part to the much better visibility today. Tomorrow is going to be a great race. I'll be happy with my performance as long as I ski as well as I have the past two days, no matter what place I end up in.
For those of you who aren't so familiar with ski racing, downhill is the only event where you're allowed (required, in fact) to run the course prior to the actual race. The organizers are required to schedule at least two training runs over the course of one or two days before the race. The course is exactly the same for each training run and for the race run, although of course the weather and snow conditions often change, which can make the course faster or slower. Times are announced for training runs, although some people make a bigger deal about them than others. Most people use the first training run as a chance to familiarize themselves with the course and make sure they know where they're going. (Coming up to a blind knoll at 55 m.p.h. can be unnerving if you don't know where the next gate is going to be.) After each training run, we generally watch our runs on video and discuss with coaches what changes we'd like to make to our "line" for the next run. Downhill is all about finding the fastest line through the course, and often the person who wins will not be the one with the best technique but rather the best sense of how to use the shape of the hill to generate and maintain more speed. This is especially true on this downhill course, which is fairly fast but mostly flat and not very technical. There are only one or two difficult turns in the whole course, which means that even a small mistake can be costly because the winner will probably have a near-perfect run.
Anytime you make it to the finish of a downhill course is a pretty amazing feeling. The speed is such a rush, and when you realize you made it down under your own strength, control, and mental skills, it's hard not to feel good about yourself. (Having fast times doesn't hurt, either.)
Klosters is a resort town near its more famous siblings of Davos and St. Moritz. It's not a cheap place, and it's full of tourists from all over Europe. We're staying in a really nice hotel that charges 9 francs (basically $9 these days) per half hour for internet access. At least I can write these posts offline and then paste them into a browser window. The breakfast spread is fantastic, the pool is large, and there are elevators!
Our dinners are served in a huge circus tent in the park across the street. The dinners are a source of no small amount of grumbling among the athletes because while the race organizers' intentions are good, their elaborate events kind of get in the way of the schedule we're trying to keep. Dinner is served at 8 and involves three courses served very far apart. By the time it's over, most of us would prefer to be in bed so we can get plenty of rest before getting up at 6 a.m. the next day. To be fair, though, it's pretty lavishly catered with gourmet food, a big screen showing disabled ski racing highlights, and live entertainment along the lines of a different theme every night.
Today's training run went as well as yesterday's. I'm not sure exactly what place I finished in, but seven of us monoskiers were all very close, within a second of today's leader, Joe. My run was about four seconds faster than yesterday, due in no small part to the much better visibility today. Tomorrow is going to be a great race. I'll be happy with my performance as long as I ski as well as I have the past two days, no matter what place I end up in.
For those of you who aren't so familiar with ski racing, downhill is the only event where you're allowed (required, in fact) to run the course prior to the actual race. The organizers are required to schedule at least two training runs over the course of one or two days before the race. The course is exactly the same for each training run and for the race run, although of course the weather and snow conditions often change, which can make the course faster or slower. Times are announced for training runs, although some people make a bigger deal about them than others. Most people use the first training run as a chance to familiarize themselves with the course and make sure they know where they're going. (Coming up to a blind knoll at 55 m.p.h. can be unnerving if you don't know where the next gate is going to be.) After each training run, we generally watch our runs on video and discuss with coaches what changes we'd like to make to our "line" for the next run. Downhill is all about finding the fastest line through the course, and often the person who wins will not be the one with the best technique but rather the best sense of how to use the shape of the hill to generate and maintain more speed. This is especially true on this downhill course, which is fairly fast but mostly flat and not very technical. There are only one or two difficult turns in the whole course, which means that even a small mistake can be costly because the winner will probably have a near-perfect run.
Anytime you make it to the finish of a downhill course is a pretty amazing feeling. The speed is such a rush, and when you realize you made it down under your own strength, control, and mental skills, it's hard not to feel good about yourself. (Having fast times doesn't hurt, either.)
Sunday, February 27, 2005
world`s quickest post
It`ll have to be fast, because I only have a couple minutes left on this public computer. I`m in Switzerland for the world cup finals. Klosters is beautiful and very snowy. Today was the first downhill training run and I tied for second with Nick, behind Chris. If those were the results on race day we would all be ecstatic. Hopefully it won`t snow TOO much and we get more training in tomorrow. OK, more updates to follow when I`m not under such time pressure!
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
GS #1
Our first GS race was today. I made a big mistake in my first run and was 19th heading into the second run. I had a really solid run ended up... yup, 13th again. That's three days in a row. I'm not sure if that's good luck or bad. I'm also staying in room 13 of our hotel. Ralph thinks I should sleep somewhere else tonight, but I'm not that supertitious. I know if I ski both runs tomorrow the way I skied the second run today, I can be in the top 10, or at least not 13th again. (results)
Remember that cool radio station in Minnesota I mentioned a while back? Here's a link to a neat feature about it.
Remember that cool radio station in Minnesota I mentioned a while back? Here's a link to a neat feature about it.
Our first GS race was today. I made a big mistake in my first run and was 19th heading into the second run. I had a really solid run ended up... yup, 13th again. That's three days in a row. I'm not sure if that's good luck or bad. I'm also staying in room 13 of our hotel. Ralph thinks I should sleep somewhere else tonight, but I'm not that supertitious. I know if I ski both runs tomorrow the way I skied the second run today, I can be in the top 10, or at least not 13th again. (results)
Remember that cool radio station in Minnesota I mentioned a while back? Here's a link to a neat feature about it.
Remember that cool radio station in Minnesota I mentioned a while back? Here's a link to a neat feature about it.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
slalom days
We've been in Europe since Wednesday morning and racing for the past two days. We trained slalom a couple days beforehand and visited Innsbruck. Now we're in Fendels racing. The past two days we've been racing slalom, and I ended up 13th both days. I've been skiing pretty well, so it's a little frustrating coming in so far back, especially after I was 9th today after the first run. My second run was good (I thought), but so were a lot of other people's second runs, I guess. (Here are the full results from yesterday and today.)
Our hotel is well-furnished and has beautiful views of the Kaunertal valley, but it's not at all wheelchair accessible. Apparently the coaches didn't realize this when they booked it through the race organizing committee. CDY outlined a massive conspiracy theory, in which the Austrian race organizers assigned us to this hotel in hopes that it would negatively affect our performance in the races, letting the Austrian team win back the Nations' Cup. It's not bad, as conspiracy theories go.
In non-skiing news...
For sheer novelty value, small children and fans of indie music might want to check out these links to performances by the Fiery Furnaces and the Arcade Fire on a Washington, D.C.-area children's TV show. (Thanks to Lindsay for these.) As Caroline points out, the Fiery Furnaces interview posted on the show's site is also hilarious. I'm so jealous of little kids who get to watch TV shows like this. I bet my cousins Connor and Lucy know all about it.
Our hotel is well-furnished and has beautiful views of the Kaunertal valley, but it's not at all wheelchair accessible. Apparently the coaches didn't realize this when they booked it through the race organizing committee. CDY outlined a massive conspiracy theory, in which the Austrian race organizers assigned us to this hotel in hopes that it would negatively affect our performance in the races, letting the Austrian team win back the Nations' Cup. It's not bad, as conspiracy theories go.
In non-skiing news...
For sheer novelty value, small children and fans of indie music might want to check out these links to performances by the Fiery Furnaces and the Arcade Fire on a Washington, D.C.-area children's TV show. (Thanks to Lindsay for these.) As Caroline points out, the Fiery Furnaces interview posted on the show's site is also hilarious. I'm so jealous of little kids who get to watch TV shows like this. I bet my cousins Connor and Lucy know all about it.
Friday, February 18, 2005
gruss aus Oesterreich
I'm in my hotel room watching the Nordic Combined World Championships on TV. (For the uninitiated, that's ski jumping combined with cross-country skiing.) Before this, I caught the tail end of today's World Cup downhill from Garmisch, Germany. This kind of stuff is on all the time over here in Austria, and skiing is probably the most popular spectator sport here this time of year. They carry this stuff live on network TV, not some obscure cable channel.
OK, the ski jumping just ended, and on another channel I just caught a news broadcast about some nudists (or so I gathered — my German is almost nonexistent, but nudity is a universal language.) We also have a channel devoted to broadcasting fashion shows. It's like Vincent Vega says in Pulp Fiction: "They got the same shit over there we got here. It's just over there, it's a little different."
While I wait for the cross-country portion of the nordic combined to begin, I guess I should provide a little bit of an update. We're staying in a medieval town in Austria called Hall in Tirol, just a few km from Innsbruck. We got here two days ago after flying into Zurich and driving east a few hours through the mountains. Yesterday we went into Innsbruck and walked around downtown a bit. We visited an old cathedral, a store that sold absinthe, and a house where Mozart lived, but the highlight was finding a store that sold the Hermann Maier Ski Racing 2005 game. Last night half the team was locked in their rooms playing that thing.
This morning we drove over to Wildschönau to train some slalom. We had a bit of an adventure on the way there when our van got separated from the rest of the group. Alison, our trainer, was driving, and she didn't know the way there, and neither did Laurie or I. We ended up driving around 50 km in the wrong direction before we turned around. After a few more wrong turns, we got to the ski lift over an hour after everyone else. We still got in some good training there.
Tomorrow we might go over to Garmisch, Germany to watch the second of two able-bodied men's World Cup downhills being held there, and then we drive to Fendels, where our next World Cups will be held. We train there on Saturday and then race there for six days straight, beginning Sunday.
OK, the ski jumping just ended, and on another channel I just caught a news broadcast about some nudists (or so I gathered — my German is almost nonexistent, but nudity is a universal language.) We also have a channel devoted to broadcasting fashion shows. It's like Vincent Vega says in Pulp Fiction: "They got the same shit over there we got here. It's just over there, it's a little different."
While I wait for the cross-country portion of the nordic combined to begin, I guess I should provide a little bit of an update. We're staying in a medieval town in Austria called Hall in Tirol, just a few km from Innsbruck. We got here two days ago after flying into Zurich and driving east a few hours through the mountains. Yesterday we went into Innsbruck and walked around downtown a bit. We visited an old cathedral, a store that sold absinthe, and a house where Mozart lived, but the highlight was finding a store that sold the Hermann Maier Ski Racing 2005 game. Last night half the team was locked in their rooms playing that thing.
This morning we drove over to Wildschönau to train some slalom. We had a bit of an adventure on the way there when our van got separated from the rest of the group. Alison, our trainer, was driving, and she didn't know the way there, and neither did Laurie or I. We ended up driving around 50 km in the wrong direction before we turned around. After a few more wrong turns, we got to the ski lift over an hour after everyone else. We still got in some good training there.
Tomorrow we might go over to Garmisch, Germany to watch the second of two able-bodied men's World Cup downhills being held there, and then we drive to Fendels, where our next World Cups will be held. We train there on Saturday and then race there for six days straight, beginning Sunday.
Monday, February 14, 2005
'twas the night before europe...
Tomorrow I'll be on a plane to Zurich, Switzerland. We'll be staying near Innsbruck, Austria for a few days, training at nearby ski areas. This coming weekend we'll head over to a place called Fendels, Austria, for World Cup slalom, GS, and super G races. Then we move on to Klosters, Switzerland (near Davos) for the World Cup Finals, where we race all four events — assuming that the weather cooperates. I'm taking my new monoski because I'm feeling pretty comfortable in it these days. It will be a great trip.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
bode notes
So now Bode wants to start his own ski team. What's next — an announcement that he's quitting the sport to become a pro tennis player?
I got my iPod back from MacResQ with a new hard drive, just in time for my Europe trip. (We leave Tuesday.) Yay!
The Wells Fargo Bank Cup is this weekend, and a record-high 27 racers are said to be enrolled for the big money race on Sunday. I'm aiming for a top-16 finish so I can at least earn my race entry fee back. It'll be a fun weekend.
Great rock lyric of the day: "Any idiot can play a Greek for a day / And join a sorority or write a tragedy" (Rilo Kiley, "It's A Hit")
I got my iPod back from MacResQ with a new hard drive, just in time for my Europe trip. (We leave Tuesday.) Yay!
The Wells Fargo Bank Cup is this weekend, and a record-high 27 racers are said to be enrolled for the big money race on Sunday. I'm aiming for a top-16 finish so I can at least earn my race entry fee back. It'll be a fun weekend.
Great rock lyric of the day: "Any idiot can play a Greek for a day / And join a sorority or write a tragedy" (Rilo Kiley, "It's A Hit")
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
mardi gras, mon ami!
I've been waiting for a day like this. After making some more adjustments to my new rig last night, I'm finally starting to feel pretty comfortable in it. I free-skied for a while this morning with Nick, and then we trained slalom after lunch. Also, I'm pretty sure I was wrong last week when I thought I had blown out my shock, because it was working fine today. So in a nutshell, yesterday I was pretty sure I wouldn't be ready to take my new monoski to Europe, but today I'm pretty sure I will.
Let's see, what else has been going on... yesterday I was woken up at 7:30 a.m. (on my day off) by two USADA officials for a random drug test. This was only my second time being tested, and the first time out-of-competition. It's kind of scary because from the moment they inform you you're being tested until the moment you seal up your urine samples, you're not allowed to leave their sight. It's not like, "Here, go pee in this cup and bring it back when you're done"; it's more like, "I will now watch you pee into this cup." Then there's an elaborate procedure involving the unpacking and repacking of specimen bottles and the breaking of seals and the sealing of seals and the signing of declarations that everything was conducted in a kosher manner. They sure know how to cover their asses.
And now, some miscellany:
Let's see, what else has been going on... yesterday I was woken up at 7:30 a.m. (on my day off) by two USADA officials for a random drug test. This was only my second time being tested, and the first time out-of-competition. It's kind of scary because from the moment they inform you you're being tested until the moment you seal up your urine samples, you're not allowed to leave their sight. It's not like, "Here, go pee in this cup and bring it back when you're done"; it's more like, "I will now watch you pee into this cup." Then there's an elaborate procedure involving the unpacking and repacking of specimen bottles and the breaking of seals and the sealing of seals and the signing of declarations that everything was conducted in a kosher manner. They sure know how to cover their asses.
And now, some miscellany:
- A lot of Dartmouth alumni are total idiots. Take, for example, this guy. I'm sorry, but having a losing football team is not a "catastrophe." In fact, it could be an indication that the college's administration is focusing on more important things.
- Have you seen Jon Stewart's infamous appearance on Crossfire? It's about time someone called Tucker Carlson out.
- Right after Christmas, I bought myself a copy of Dylan's new memoir from an Amazon Marketplace seller. When I still hadn't received the book 3 weeks later, I emailed the seller and got no response. A week later I emailed them again, once more in vain. So the other day I filed for a refund from Amazon and left the seller a nasty comment on his profile. Out of curiosity, I checked out the comments other people had left him. Apparently this guy is just a scam artist posing as an actual bookseller. I hope I get my money back and he gets sent to jail.
- Don't even ask me how I stumbled upon this site... but I'm glad I did.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
mexican ski racers, british grammarians, etc.
First off, congratulations to Bode Miller and Daron Rahlves, 1st and 2nd in today's downhill at the World Championships in Bormio.
It's kind of fun to read the full result list from races at the World Championships or the Olympics and see all the people competing from obscure countries who are just there for fun and know they have no chance at a medal. One who did much better than most people expected was Scotland's Finlay Mickel, who finished 11th. But my favorite has got to be Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe, a 46-year-old Mexican-born aristocrat descended from German royalty. The guy has been racing internationally (for Mexico) since 1981 and also enjoys a career as a third-rate pop singer. In today's downhill, he finished last — 14 seconds behind Bode.
We trained GS this morning and slalom on the afternoon, and to be honest, I was kind of tired by the end. I think I need to get more sleep. I was up late last night reading Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves, the British bestseller about punctuation. Yes, there's a best-selling book about punctuation. At first I was turned off by how proudly she embraces her stickler-hood, but eventually her humor won me over.
Today's downhill was already on TV, but the USA network will be airing coverage of tomorrow's women's downhill and Thursday's men's combined at noon tomorrow, Eastern time.
It's kind of fun to read the full result list from races at the World Championships or the Olympics and see all the people competing from obscure countries who are just there for fun and know they have no chance at a medal. One who did much better than most people expected was Scotland's Finlay Mickel, who finished 11th. But my favorite has got to be Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe, a 46-year-old Mexican-born aristocrat descended from German royalty. The guy has been racing internationally (for Mexico) since 1981 and also enjoys a career as a third-rate pop singer. In today's downhill, he finished last — 14 seconds behind Bode.
We trained GS this morning and slalom on the afternoon, and to be honest, I was kind of tired by the end. I think I need to get more sleep. I was up late last night reading Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves, the British bestseller about punctuation. Yes, there's a best-selling book about punctuation. At first I was turned off by how proudly she embraces her stickler-hood, but eventually her humor won me over.
Today's downhill was already on TV, but the USA network will be airing coverage of tomorrow's women's downhill and Thursday's men's combined at noon tomorrow, Eastern time.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
X Games links
Originally it seemed as though there was no mention of the inaugural Monoskier X event in Aspen anywhere on the web, but in fact, there are some photos out there on ESPN's media site. And the Denver Post printed a nice story along with a great photo of Lacey and Laurie's crash.
I'll also post this email from Kevin Jardine, our team's head coach, who served as the organizer for the event:
Hi guys! How is everyone? Hopefully most of you are getting pumped up to go race in Europe. I wanted to send out an email to give everyone a little taste of what we experienced at the X games. It was incredible. So incredible that I can't talk. I lost my voice after the event Monday and still don't have it back so if you need to reach me do it through email for a few days.
We arrived on Saturday to take an early peek at what we had to do as far as
the course changes. What did I see? HOLY CRAP!!! The skier and boarder X
course was out of control. How in the world would we ever make that safe?
Well, we did it. In a team effort the staff made the final call on how to
change the course and make it scary and challenging but safe. Then I met
with the grooming crew that was the world's best. They arrived at 4:30 on
Sunday to do the impossible and right in front of our eyes. It took them 45
minutes. We made some serious changes but left a couple intense and scary
sections. For example: The cheese wedge as we called it was a 4.5 foot
ramp that launched the guys at least 10 feet in the air and 30 - 50 feet
down the hill.
We had a meeting on Monday morning with the athletes at 9:00 AM
as our staff worked on the hill from 6:30 - 10:00 to get the 4 inches of new
snow off the track. We had to do everything from putting in the start gates
to dying the track. But we got it done. After our meeting explaining the
rules and schedule we headed up for inspection and our training run. The
guys inspected the course and then headed down to watch Ben forerun for them (with no helmet or poles). Then it was back to the top for the first and
only training run of the day. This was a full non stop run down the track.
We had a few crashes in training and so we cut the women's field down to 4
and decided to move all of them right to the final. This ment the boys were
up first. 10 minutes before the race we announced the heats and off we
went. The first heat consisted of Joe, Tyler, and Scott Meyer. The second
heat was CDY, Dan Metivier and Kevin Connolly. The third heat was Bramble, Roger Lee and Sam Ferguson from Aspen. Tyler, Chris and Sam all moved on to the finals after a disappointing crash by Kevin. The Women's final was next with Laurie, Lacey, Sarah Will and Katy Orr in the race. Laurie and Sarah got off to a good start and Lacey quickly passed Sarah and went after Laurie. Laurie and Lacey both caught big air on the last jump coming into the finish and both crashed at the exact same time. Laurie was the first across the line with Lacey second and Sarah third. It was a very scary but exciting finish. Tyler had the best start in the Men's final but was eventually passed by Chris about 1/3 of the way down the course. Chris held that lead through with Tyler in a close second and Sam Ferguson third.
It was a fun day to say the least. Some of the most exciting racing I have
ever seen. We put on a great show and had tons of press coverage to follow.
I have attached a few pictures but if you want to see more go to
www.espneventmedia.com and check them out.
On another note. We leave on the 15th to go to Europe. I will be sending
out more info this week. Thanks again for everyone who came to Aspen to
compete, help and watch.
I'll also post this email from Kevin Jardine, our team's head coach, who served as the organizer for the event:
Hi guys! How is everyone? Hopefully most of you are getting pumped up to go race in Europe. I wanted to send out an email to give everyone a little taste of what we experienced at the X games. It was incredible. So incredible that I can't talk. I lost my voice after the event Monday and still don't have it back so if you need to reach me do it through email for a few days.
We arrived on Saturday to take an early peek at what we had to do as far as
the course changes. What did I see? HOLY CRAP!!! The skier and boarder X
course was out of control. How in the world would we ever make that safe?
Well, we did it. In a team effort the staff made the final call on how to
change the course and make it scary and challenging but safe. Then I met
with the grooming crew that was the world's best. They arrived at 4:30 on
Sunday to do the impossible and right in front of our eyes. It took them 45
minutes. We made some serious changes but left a couple intense and scary
sections. For example: The cheese wedge as we called it was a 4.5 foot
ramp that launched the guys at least 10 feet in the air and 30 - 50 feet
down the hill.
We had a meeting on Monday morning with the athletes at 9:00 AM
as our staff worked on the hill from 6:30 - 10:00 to get the 4 inches of new
snow off the track. We had to do everything from putting in the start gates
to dying the track. But we got it done. After our meeting explaining the
rules and schedule we headed up for inspection and our training run. The
guys inspected the course and then headed down to watch Ben forerun for them (with no helmet or poles). Then it was back to the top for the first and
only training run of the day. This was a full non stop run down the track.
We had a few crashes in training and so we cut the women's field down to 4
and decided to move all of them right to the final. This ment the boys were
up first. 10 minutes before the race we announced the heats and off we
went. The first heat consisted of Joe, Tyler, and Scott Meyer. The second
heat was CDY, Dan Metivier and Kevin Connolly. The third heat was Bramble, Roger Lee and Sam Ferguson from Aspen. Tyler, Chris and Sam all moved on to the finals after a disappointing crash by Kevin. The Women's final was next with Laurie, Lacey, Sarah Will and Katy Orr in the race. Laurie and Sarah got off to a good start and Lacey quickly passed Sarah and went after Laurie. Laurie and Lacey both caught big air on the last jump coming into the finish and both crashed at the exact same time. Laurie was the first across the line with Lacey second and Sarah third. It was a very scary but exciting finish. Tyler had the best start in the Men's final but was eventually passed by Chris about 1/3 of the way down the course. Chris held that lead through with Tyler in a close second and Sam Ferguson third.
It was a fun day to say the least. Some of the most exciting racing I have
ever seen. We put on a great show and had tons of press coverage to follow.
I have attached a few pictures but if you want to see more go to
www.espneventmedia.com and check them out.
On another note. We leave on the 15th to go to Europe. I will be sending
out more info this week. Thanks again for everyone who came to Aspen to
compete, help and watch.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
i almost forgot...
Last year's disabled nationals will be on TV tomorrow. If you have OLN (Outdoor Life Network), tune in from 4:00 to 5:00 ET and you might even catch a glimpse of yours truly.
miscellany
First, some links:
OK, now on to the news portion of the post... my friend Abby was in town from Thursday night until yesterday; hence the lack of updates recently. On Friday we drove George to Hot Sulphur Springs, the seat of Grand County, so he could get a new driver's license. Apparently when George rolled his truck last week, he forgot to get his license back from the cops, and they lost it. We skied on Saturday and Sunday, and yesterday we went to Aspen to watch the inaugural Monoskier X event at the X Games.
The event was similar to a regular skiercross race, but with a little less air. (For the uninitiated, skiercross consists of 3 to 6 racers all going down the same course at the same time, with lots of jumps, bumps, banked turns, etc.) There were 3 heats of 3 men and one heat of 4 women. The winners of the men's prelims were Tyler, CDY, and (surprisingly), an Aspen local named Sam Ferguson. (Sam won after Bramble, who should have won the whole thing, crashed.) CDY ended up edging out Tyler in the final by half a ski length — a great finish. In the women's race, Laurie edged out Lacey (who is engaged now, by the way), and they both had spectacular crashes on the last air and slid across the finish line. The crowd watching the race wasn't huge, but people were into it. Hopefully next year they'll make this an official event, move it to prime time, and put it on TV. That would be a huge step for disabled skiing.
Oh, by the way, I think I blew the shock absorber on my new monoski when I was in the terrain park on Wednesday.... d'oh. So it's back to the Yetti for a while until I can get it fixed.
- Here's some interesting insight into the TV show Austin City Limits.
- Here's the transcript of a really funny press conference with Bode Miller. (By the way, it sounds like Bode is kind of spacy.)
- I'm on a slooow connection, so I can't verify this, but my friend Will M. says this is a great radio station, and I trust him on such matters.
OK, now on to the news portion of the post... my friend Abby was in town from Thursday night until yesterday; hence the lack of updates recently. On Friday we drove George to Hot Sulphur Springs, the seat of Grand County, so he could get a new driver's license. Apparently when George rolled his truck last week, he forgot to get his license back from the cops, and they lost it. We skied on Saturday and Sunday, and yesterday we went to Aspen to watch the inaugural Monoskier X event at the X Games.
The event was similar to a regular skiercross race, but with a little less air. (For the uninitiated, skiercross consists of 3 to 6 racers all going down the same course at the same time, with lots of jumps, bumps, banked turns, etc.) There were 3 heats of 3 men and one heat of 4 women. The winners of the men's prelims were Tyler, CDY, and (surprisingly), an Aspen local named Sam Ferguson. (Sam won after Bramble, who should have won the whole thing, crashed.) CDY ended up edging out Tyler in the final by half a ski length — a great finish. In the women's race, Laurie edged out Lacey (who is engaged now, by the way), and they both had spectacular crashes on the last air and slid across the finish line. The crowd watching the race wasn't huge, but people were into it. Hopefully next year they'll make this an official event, move it to prime time, and put it on TV. That would be a huge step for disabled skiing.
Oh, by the way, I think I blew the shock absorber on my new monoski when I was in the terrain park on Wednesday.... d'oh. So it's back to the Yetti for a while until I can get it fixed.
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