pop culture is a disaster

Mendoza: varios fotos de joda

2007-11-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

mi casa

2007-10-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

So that's what u$s 158 a month buys in Argentina. The price includes cable and wireless internet (slow, but functions). I split the place with a 2o yr old girl from France that is here studying architecture.

worst. birthday. ever.

2007-10-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

Some things simply require an absolutist stance, I've decided. Take drunk driving, for example; it's just one of those things that you can't evaluate on a situation-to-situation basis. The best policy is to simply take an absolutist stance and say, "If I've had more than 2 drinks, I will under no circumstances operate a vehicle." Listo. Chau. A similar approach would be in order with respect to the removal of personal belongings from parked cars in Mendoza--as in, "Under no circumstances will I leave personal belongings in a car. " In spite of the fact that it is often a huge pain in the ass, I have generally been very good about this.

Last Saturday I walked with a backpack full of camping/mountaineering gear to some dude's house downtown. I had injured a tendon climbing the previous weekend and couldn't go on the rock climbing trip I had planned, so I had decided instead to go with the Club Andinista Mendoza (the local climbing club/gym that I am a member of) to climb a 5000 meter peak. The plan was to meet at this guy's place downtown, then leave from there in another guy's car. I arrived at the same time as the guy with the car. We knocked on the door and the other guy told us that he was still packing and would be out in a couple of minutes. While we waited on him, we made space in his small car for the backpacks. He put his in first, then we put mine on top, kind of smashed against the back glass of the car. The guy inside packing his bag said he wasn't ready yet and that we could come in if we wanted to. We locked the car and went inside. We hung out for a few minutes. When we went back outside, we saw that the back passenger window had been smashed out and that my backpack was gone. We had been literally less than 15 feet away from the car the whole time. Furthermore, we had left the house door open. We never heard the sound of breaking glass, and obviously the alarm never went off like I ought to have. We contacted the police, but they never turn up anything around here.

This is a list of the more important things in the backpack, with a more-or-less retail value:

Nikon Coolpix 800 digital camera ??? (>$500)
MacPac Sanctuary 700 xp sleeping bag $400
Dana Designs Glacier backpack $300
OR Exped 9 inflatable sleeping pad $150
North Face Spectrum 23 tent $275
Western Mountaineering down jacket $200
Mountain Hardwear Typhoon Gore-Tex jacket $200
Arc'Teryx Beta LT pant $225
Patagonia R1 pullover $115
Black Diamond RPM daypack $100
Patagonia cap 1 pants $35
Mountain Hardwear gloves $50
MSR Superfly stove $50
MSR Blacklite cookwear $50

Excluding the digital camera, to buy all the equipment again at full price would cost around $2150, not including taxes. Furthermore, a number of the stolen items (tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, gore tex jacket and pants) had very, very little mileage. Worse even, is that they are things that you don't replace often--you shouldn't have to buy a good down jacket and sleeping bag but once or twice in your lifetime. But fuck the stuff, and fuck the money. The important thing is that my mountain climbing days in South America are over. Without gear, it is simply not feasible to climb high-altitude peaks-- and that's all I really ever want to do.

A new web page for all things musical

2007-10-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

Mashups, Webmaster Disaster

2007-10-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

I made a couple of mashups for your listening pleasure. After 2 hours of trying to successfully embed the files on this web page, I am finally giving up and simply linking the URLs. I have no clue why, but with 2 different embedded players the file played at about 75 percent speed. If anyone had an answer, I would appreciate that they told me. Until then, the URLs are below. Remember (newbies): if you want to save the file on your computer, either right click the URL below and then choose "Save target as", or when you click on the link directly, Firefox (of course you wouldn't be dumb enough to use IE, right?) will ask you if you want to save or open; if you save, the file will be in your downloads folder, wherever that might be.

Booka Shade - In White Rooms (Fashionista's Honey Vocal Remix)

Digitalism - Idealistic (Fashionista's Girls Come Down Remix)

two thousand seven and music = not too shabby

2007-09-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

If you haven't noticed, some bangin' new albums have recently been released. Below are some albums that I recommend (Album - Artist). They by no means constitute a year-end list, but I do have my eye on them. Also, this is all very accessible stuff - no crazy electronic or experimental stuff, so enjoy.

Rock or Rock-ish - Recommended

Baby 81 - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Armchair Apocrypha - Andrew Bird
Andorra - Caribou
23 - Blonde Redhead
Wincing the Night Away - The Shins
Gulag Orkestar - Beirut
Autumn of the Seraphs - Pinback
The Magic Position - Patrick Wolf
Friend and Foe - Menomena
The Reminder - Feist
God Save the Clientele - The Clientele
Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem
Myth Takes - !!!

Electronic or Electronic-ish - Recommended

Future Rock - Strategy
Out of the Woods - Tracy Thorn
Walls - Apparat
Kala - M.I.A
Back to Mine (compilation) - Royksopp
Cross - Justice
Overpowered - Roisin Murphy
Chromophobia - Gui Boratto
Asa Breed - Matthew Dear
From Here We Go Sublime - The Field
Foley Room - Amon Tobin
Attack, Sustain, Decay, Release - Simian Mobile Disco
Pocket Symphony - Air

All - Disappointing, but still tolerable and at times even okay

We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank - Modest Mouse
Our Love to Admire - Interpol
Living with the Living - Ted Leo
Year Zero - Nine Inch Nails
With Lasers - Bonde Do Role
Ma Fleur - Cinematic Orchestra
Icky Thump - The White Stripes

All - Pretty Bad

Some Loud Thunder - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
A Weekend in the City - Bloc Party
Sky Blue Sky - Wilco

That should get you started. More to come in December with a year-end list.

T.E.A.M.W.O.R.K.

2007-09-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

So last night I DJ'ed at this happenin' club, right? But the owner didn't tell me that there was going to be another DJ, too. Instead of each doing 1 set, he wanted to switch back and forth. I said ok, not wanting to cause any drama. After a few songs, he decides he wants to mix in, which is fine, but instead of immediately doing so, he starts trying to collaborate with me, scratching his vinyl and fucking with EQ and effects on the board. All of this woud have been totally fine if we were partners, but we weren't. It sounded bad. He made me sound bad. Furthermore, he fucked up the cool, microhouse vibe I had worked so hard to establish by putting on some industrial sounding deep-house shit. I've been here before: "Aww dude, mind if I jam with you guys?" Cacophony ensues.

Four hands can be better than two. Simian Mobile Disco. M.A.N.D.Y. Booka Shade. Justice. Ellen Allien & Apparat. Not everyone can be a 6-armed Richard D. James or Ricardo Villalobos. After last night, though, I'm more likely to try.

Cerro Penitentes, 4300m

2007-09-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

The objective: cerro penitentes, named for it's spikey features seen above. The summit is actually above the rock formations, seen barely in the top-left part of the photo.

Basecamp

I'm glad I chose to read "Touching the Void" on a relatively easy mountaineering trip.

It's nice to have a little hot tang every once in awhile.

Caballeros y caballeras, les presento the south face of Aconcagua. That's right: 3000m of relief, and it ain't no day hike.

Morning glory

The prominent, glaciated peak on the left is Tupungato, a 6,650m volcano on the Argentine-Chilean border. One of these days...

Unfortunately, crampons were not needed.

La cumbre

Adventures in Karlorado

2007-08-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Park, Karl-Style.

Northwest Couliour of Crestone Peak.

Nikes in the snow.

Karl climbed a 14,294 ft. peak just to get cell phone service.

"Wait: you mean that reptile fin thingy over there?"

The Prow on Kit Carson, 5.8R. JB/TB 8/2007.

Sumpin' like that, at least.

"So that's what the 'R' in 5.8R stands for. Ufff."

Boo-ya ka shah.

Joel the Gallant.

GRUB 2007

2007-07-24T23:13:00.001-07:00

Eurotrash, Part Deux.

2007-07-24T22:43:00.000-07:00

Eurotrash Party, 7/7/07

2007-07-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

Ladies: this is good.

Guys: this is acceptable.
Couples: this is optimal.This is fine, too.

hace mucho tiempo...

2007-03-09T11:50:00.000-08:00

It's simply been too long since I've posted anything on what people now probably think is a travel-only blog. Not true--I've just been really busy/lazy/uninspired lately. My current goal with regards to this blog is to post a few random pictures every week. If I were wanted to aim high, I would write more than a few words about each picture, but that would be highly unlikely. I'm currently working on my honors undergraduate thesis, making electronic music, training to be a decent rock climber, and working at an outdoor store, so give me a fucking break. Hopefully I'll have a single out pretty soon (3 or 4 tracks), so you guys can make fun of me and how much I suck at making good music.

warninglabelgenerator.com

2006-12-01T13:15:00.000-08:00

2006-11-15T16:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't feel like dancin'.

true or false: sororities promote academics and sober driving

2006-11-09T14:54:00.000-08:00

just a couple of things (solo un par de cositas)

2006-09-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

First, Batwoman is a lesbian. This is old news, apparently, but important news nonetheless.

Primero, Batwoman es una lesbiana. No son noticias nuevas, pero no obstante, son noticias importantes.

Second, I will be on air at KXUA 88.3 FM, the University of Arkansas student-run radio from 3-6 every Monday this semester. I will be playing an eclectic mix of songs, but I can nonetheless assure you that they will mostly be good songs. You can go to www.kxua.com to see what I am playing during the show, make a request, or listen live (if you don't have a radio or don't live in Fayetteville).

Segundo, tengo un show de radio los lunes desde las 3 hasta 6. Si quieren escuchar, andense a www.kxua.com.

Third, I apologize for not updating the blog more frequently. As it turns out, I my classes are very demanding, timewise, and that means I have less time to rant and rave on the internet. Maybe next semester...

Tercero, perdón por no haber escrito mas en este blog. Estoy muy ocupado con la facultad y no tengo mucho tiempo para joder con esta pagina mucho. Quizás el semestre que viene...

Finally, welcome to the new, international version of the PCD blog.
*Internationality subject to change. Void where prohibited.

Finalmente, bienvenidos al nuevo blog internacional.
*Pues, a veces.

2006-08-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

Joel opted to let Cole lead the 5.10 crack on Bastille.

2006-08-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

Spicermaster over the cave in Eldorado Canyon.

2006-08-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

The Maiden. Arggh.

2006-08-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

Cole: "Rope? No thanks."

2006-08-08T19:29:00.000-07:00

Did I mention that there was a rap off?

people: two things

2006-07-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

First, upon finding out that I am from the States, people often say a word or two of English to me (usually something like "Hello," or, "How are you?"), to which I typically respond briefly and appropriately in English ("Hi," or, "Fine, thank you."), then follow up by asking if they speak the language. 95% of the time, their response will be - literally - "No, but I understand it," implying that although they cannot speak well, they understand pefectly when spoken to. To test this, I then proceed to speak slowly and simply in English. Yet the only response I get thereafterwards is a blank stare; they didn't understand a single word. I swear to God this happens all the time. Why can't these people just say "no", thereby admitting that they neither speak nor comprehend English? I mean sure, I understand Italian better than I speak it, but this is certainly not worth noting when I am asked if I speak Italian.

Second, regarding when the conversation inevitably arrives at religion and someone wants to know whether or not you believe in God: I love the response, "No, but I believe that there is something." Here's the deal: Christians invented this trick question, and the significance of the yes or no responses. Thanks to them, if you say you do, you are all but explicitly stating that you believe in their idea of God. If you don't, you are all but explicitly stating that you athiest. The question, rather, should be this: "Do you believe in the Christian idea of God?" or, if you know the person isn't a Christian, "Do you believe in a higher power?" This would eliminate 99% of premature judgements. If I know if someone buys into Christianity, I know quite a bit. Conversely, if I simply know that someone "believes in a higher power", I know exactly nothing, because they might believe in Feng-Shui, aliens, the devil, or something really freaked out that I don't even know about (and probably don't want to have to hear about, especially if coming from a person with spiritual tendencies). And "No, but....something"? What the fuck kind of cop-out, cover-your-bases response is that? Just leave it at a simple "yes" or "no" and don't feel bad about not explaining the utterly vast grey area of the subject of a ridiculously polarizing question. Or just don't respond, because casually bringing up the topic of religious beliefs in conversation with people that you don't know very well is rather out of style these days.

Yet here is the new multiple choice reponse, just in case:

"Do you believe in God?" - select one.

Yes, the one from the Bible that appears in the form of burning bushes and makes women out of rib cages.
Yes, but my concept does not pertain to the Christian mode of thought.
N/A, don't know/ don't care/ even if there were a God I wouldn't be able to grasp the concept/ etc.
No, I do not believe in the Christian idea of God, but I buy into the common philosopical idea of a God that is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omnitastic.
No, I believe in nothing, Lebowski.

One more thing, on a similar note: The question, "Are you religious?" and the response, "No, but I am spiritual." - comical.

2006-07-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

I have decided that The Fucking Champs no longer dserves the the title of "Best Band Name Ever," and until further notice, Shit Robot wears the crown. The music is better, too.

i will miss you, buenos aires

2006-06-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

2006 in music: a halfway perspective - pt. 1

2006-06-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

I had at one point decided that I would start reviewing new albums on this blog. Sometime shortly thereafter, however, it occurred to me that I would rather exchange time spent on such activities for things such as sleeping, and not writing album reviews on my blog. And now the World Cup is on (vamos Argentina!), finals are here, and I have less than a month to take advantage of everything that I have yet to take full advantage of, like, say, going out and getting drunk with my friends. And although it might appear that I have been doing such for quite some time now, as any expert knows, these things require a prolific amount of time and dedication. So, no full, coherent album reviews. Try the following, instead:

Band of Horses - Everything All the Time When I saw this band open for Iron & Wine in April of last year, I was immediately drawn by the power and range of the lead singer's voice. The vocals on the chorus of "Funeral" enveloped the venue swimming in reverb and made me forget that the stout, bearded drummer in the trucker hat looked as if he were, well, simply driving his drum kit across the plains in an 18-wheeler. I had to fight off the urge to throw some yellow jacket speed pills on the stage for him. Anways, being distracted by Ben Bridewell's commanding voice is probably a good thing, - aside from his vocal talent and the band's simple, yet solid songwriting, the band is fairly lackluster in their live performance. After the show I downloaded some demo tracks off of their website, and in spite of the obvious demo quality was quite pleased. "Funeral" and "Wicked Gil" were lo-fi masterpieces. After the first listen to the full length Sub Pop release, although I noted the improved production and sound quality, I unfortunately also felt overwhelmed by the distortioned electric guitars on both aforementioned, previously tranquil tracks. "Funeral" was made to feel slightly more epic, but not better, and "Wiked Gil" was completely transformed from the worn, leather cowboy hat it once was into a Neil Young's "Take this job and shove it" trucker piece. Maybe I had just hoped to watch this solid band with a charismatic frontman grow slowly out of its low-fi roots, via Built to Spill. And who doesn't like Built to Spill's major-label, heavily produced, studio sound more than their previous low-fi stuff? But I think if I had been there to see the slow progression into indie genius, I would like it even more.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium A huge disappointment. I really enjoyed the previous release, "By the Way", which I saw as a monumental album for the band in terms of songwriting progression. Maybe Anthony Kedis had finally grown up and decided to leave the early 90's cock rock for a touch of melody. Over the years, all the best Chili Peppers songs, after all, have been the ones that don't involve Kedis' incoherent chanting of thinly-veiled sexual metaphors, a la "Suck my Kiss" ( take "Could have lied" from BSSM, "My Friends" from One hot minute, "Other Side" from Californication, for examples). So I had hoped to watch the Chili Peppers age gracefully. Instead - not unlike now stadium joke acts U2 and The Rolling Stones - , they pulled a Who and adopted the "Hope I die before I get old" policy, putting out a double disc appropriate for their stadium-filled future. God I hope John Frusciante isn't the next Keith Richards.

Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Show Your Bones I am already labeling this album as 2006's slow grower of the year (Deerhoof's "The Runner's Four" was last year's, by the way) - you know, the album that you don't know what to think about at first, but somewhere between 25 and 30 complete listens it clicks, and suddenly you realize that all that time of listening with uncertainty made you like the album a little more each listen? If not, you ought to, at least. The slow-grow observation perhaps being a unique one on my part, the obvious thing to be said about this album is that it is significantly toned down from 2003's "Fever to Tell". I get the feeling that a lot of people are simply angry that Karen O isn't screaming the majority of the time. Don't get me wrong - I like a good Karen O scream from time to time like anyone else. But we are covering new vocal territory here, and to me it seems that it might be inhabitable; I'm talking about refinement here, folks. Maybe "Show Your Bones" lacks the quantity of window-shattering screams as its predecessor, but it when the scream finally does come on "Fancy", it stabs like a knife. A good knife. And it makes a good wound. In fact, almost as if YYYs wanted to slowly wean you off of their older material, the first 4 songs on the album leave you feeling a bit worked-over, especially after the siren-heavy climax of "phenomena". The following "Honeybear" remains on neutral ground, but nonetheless marks the transition into amibiguity . By the time "Cheated Hearts" arrives, you know you have left the yellow brick road of "Fever to Tell". Surely after the final 4 tracks - which, is worth noting are acoustic driven ballads - you are left with the feeling that you have recuperated too much since the brutality of the first 4 songs. You want the pain, but maybe after that 29th listen you'll realize that it is nonetheless good music.

Six Organs of Admittance - The Sun Awakens In spite of its relative immaturity (released last year), "School of the Flower" has crept its way into being one of my favorite albums. Ever. It was undoubtedly my favorite album from 2005 (last year I made a blog post that put higher on the list, but I have since changed my mind) and that had me in extremely high hopes for a 2006 release. That being said, I have a hard time talking about "The Sun Awakens" without whining about how I would rather hear "School: Pt. 2" but I dig the album, nonetheless. This time sees Ben Chasny returning to a "Compathia"-like orchestration and orientation, which is perhaps to say a return to a distinctly eastern feel. Really, the only song that doesn't fit into such a category is "The Desert is a Circle", which, strangely enough, would fit into the exact polar opposite category - western music. With a galloping acoustic strum and tremolo electric lead, this song would not feel so out of place on a Calexico record. The Eastern feel is maintained throughout the first half of the record on 5 songs, with 1 plus-20 minute meditation session in the second half to help hone the chi, er, whatever spiritual garb Ben Chasny is into. Although I wasn't disappointed with the new album, I was definitely sad to see that folky, western, fingerpicking ditties such as "Words for Two" and "Lisboa" would remain a thing of the past. Ben Chasny, however, is surely one of independent music's most creative and restless souls, so I will simply wait for his ADD to set in again and hope that he suddenly comes to focus on western folk. With any luck, he won't be getting into Asian synth-pop anytime soon.

Other 2006 releases I might review in the future with more than one sentence of description (but probably not):

Booka Shade - Movements Pretty good, although when I listen I can't decide if I want to get up and dance or sit down and smoke a j.
The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth A solid album, in spite of what anti-progressive hipsters might tell you.
Gnarls Barkley - s/t The Femmes cover is pretty bad, but overall a catchy album that will fill this year's Outkast void. I doubt anyone will be listening to it next year.
The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers Zeppelin rules. That's why I listen to the Raconteurs.
Built to Spill - You in Reverse I liked the hi-fi approach better.
Ellen Allien & Apparat - Orchestra of Bubbles I would review this, but no one would care because it is techno.
Artic Monkeys - I met an English guy in Chile who told me that the lyrics pretty much told the true story of the pretentious social scene in Sheffield. Well, okay. But how can you not like a not-dance single titled, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor"?

NEW JUNIOR BOYS IN AUGUST!!! This might be the first time this year that I actually pruchase an album....

grundle burner

2006-06-09T02:31:00.000-07:00

i just changed my major to marketing

2006-06-08T14:55:00.001-07:00

Dear college market research groups:

Excellent sleuth work on your latest findings. With the tens of thousands of dollars you spent on demographic research, now maybe you can come to some obvious conclusions that will help you target your selected audience. At first I was skeptical that things like beer and coffee might still be "in" with the youngsters these days - times are a changin', after all - but thanks to your polls my company can continue its advertising campaigns directed towards college students.

Sincerely,
Me

___________________________________________________________________

I have obtained a copy of the poll:

"In or Out"

Identify the dopest gear on the streets:

in out apple 60 gig video ipod w/ 12 hour, rechargable battery
in out sony cassette walkman, 4 hour battery life on AA disposables
in out notebook computers
in out desktop computers with dual 3.5 inch floppy drive, windows 3.0
in out beer
in out juicy juice
in out facebook.com
in out day planner, includes calendar, contacts, added pages for notes
in out coffee
in out truck stop speed pills
in out downloading free music off the 'net
in out paying upwards of 15 dollars+ tax for a single compact disc
in out breathing
in out holding your breath until the point of fainting
in out democracy
in out repressive dictatorship
in out casual sex
in out celibacy
in out rational, free thought
in out islam

Thanks for helping us help you, the college consumer! Each participant will receive a free copy of College Market Researcher Weekly and a compilation cd containing some of the freshest hits from The Angry Corporate Punks, Lesbian Sitcom Sisters, MC Black-but-Surprisingly-Coherent, Eurotrashcan, Pimp My Mom, The Faking Orgasms, and many, many more!

one big fiesta...

2006-06-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

Liberal media is not dead, after all. You just have to be able to be able to recognize the subtle, ironic form in which it tends to manifest itself.

From the Washington Post article, Bush Re-Enters Gay Marriage Fight:

The issue [gay marriage] has already emerged in some of this year's races.

In one North Carolina congressional district, for instance, Republican challenger Vernon Robinson has aired a radio ad attacking Democratic Rep. Brad Miller with mariachi music playing in the background: "Brad Miller supports gay marriage and sponsored a bill to let American homosexuals bring their foreign homosexual lovers to this country on a marriage visa. If Miller had his way, America would be nothing but one big fiesta for illegal aliens and homosexuals."

Cheers to the Post for including this particular instance to demonstrate the typical absurdity (read: mariachi music) that emerges when the issue of gay marriage is employed as a campaign tactic. And holy shit, this has to be the most tactful smear campaign ever if that is the case. Or maybe this guy actually envisions the future of America in the hands of his opponent as some sort of post-apoctolyptic scenario in which the conservatives are in a constant battle of survival against the gay, foreign zombies that roam the streets in constant orgy. And I would rather not even consider the reality of the fact that they are likely more than a few folks (think Reba McEntire and her husband that live in the trailer in Tremors) waiting for this exact day of political and spiritual anarchy when God will reveal his "salvation for good markmanship" apocolypse survival plan. Either way our man Vernon actually sees it, fostering a connection between two fear-based, conservative hot-button issues, September 11th/Saddam Hussein style, is a sure fire way to, well, fire up the conservative base. As a longstanding Washington County Militia member, Vernon Robinson would certainly be able to count on my political support if he were to campaign in my district.

My smear campaign:

[enter mash-up, "I Want Your Sex" vs. "Lowrider"]

"Brad Miller sponsored a bill to let gay, Jewish pro-lifers bring their bi-sexual, Islamic, flag burners into the country on a butt-sex visa. If Brad Miller had his way, child pornographers and heroin addicts would be given amnesty and there would be incessant orgy in streets, which would constantly reek of ethnic foods and anal lube."

Vernon, put me in charge of your campaign.

2006-05-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

"Dad, are you licking toads? "I'm not not licking toads"

2006-05-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

Scotland or Argentina?

2006-05-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

I still hurt.

2006-05-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

Team San Luis, sponsored by yerba buena.

2006-05-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

This cave has a road coming out of it

2006-04-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

I got famousized, bitches!

2006-04-25T18:19:00.000-07:00

�Vamos a shhile wacho? Sipo!

2006-04-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

Lagr?

what is reiki?

2006-04-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

Such is my question this morning shortly after discovering that I have unknowingly spent several hours in a spiritual zone. I wonder how after consuming so many alcoholic beverages - which had significantly lowered my life force energy, of course - I am still able to find my shoes, put them on, and lace them up with a double loop, all without vomiting on myself in the process. As I wonder around the house I am taken aback by the prolific amount of paintings and miniature rock shrines. And there are flowers - real flowers. Surely the residents are just artsy people, maybe organic hippies at worst. I enter a part of the house that has a strangely business-like feel, like the waiting room of a aging therapist, who, through post-modern furniture arrangement, wants it to be known that aging does not necessarily constitute losing edge.

"So, um, what goes on in here?"
"In here? Oh nothing really: Mayan calendar, Reiki."
"Oh, yeah, of course."
"My roommates are real maestros. I am just a level one."

I still don't know what Reiki is, but I already feel like it is in a large way responsible for the rock shrines and original art. I wonder how many years it will be before I can google shit like this on my cell phone while she is in the bathroom. I decide that it is surely already possible but I just don't have access to the technology. I still can't explain the painting of the green, 50's retro looking housewife with a large, red crustacean in the background The Reiki poster with FAQ that was obviously made for the public is a little easier.

"So, um, do people come here to do/make Reiki?"

I question with hacer instead of practicar or jugar to avoid any presuppositions that whatever goes on in the place is a practice or a game, like the 36 chambers of the Shaolin or Dungeons and Dragons. Although surely if she knew I was thinking "Master Killer" there is no way she could possibly be insulted - repeatedly ringing a bell with a 20 foot, flexible pole is no easy task, after all. A door is opened and inside is seen a padded doctor's (healer's?) table, a closed set of cabinets, undoubtedly filled with Reiki tools and potions, whatever those might be, and some blatantly spiritual paintings on the wall. Whatever goes on in this room is probably pretty low key, so I might as well not get any crazy ideas. I walk out the front door of the building and step into the cab that I have called. The cab driver immediately wants to know what goes on in the only bright orange building in Godoy Cruz, mumbling something about chinos, the Argentine term that means "Chinese" but is used to describe anything (or anyone) from Asia.

"In there? Oh nothing really: Mayan calendar, Reiki."

I can feel my life force energy plummeting as the cab drives further and further away from the spiritual center of the province. I decide that ibuprofen will be my healer.

___________________________________________________________________

The International Center for Reiki Training has a very informative webpage as to the nature of Reiki.

Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by "laying on hands" and is based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.

Fair enough. I am left wondering as to the nature of the seemingly excessive and unnecessary quotations (words in quotations = Reiki glossary terms, maybe?), and furthermore unable to treat the phrase "laying on hands" in an non-sexual manner, but other than that everything seems alright. I would probably call "life force energy" "pulse", and "healing" "modern medicine", but I'll roll with it for now.

A treatment feels like a wonderful glowing radiance that flows through and around you.

Awesome. Sounds like an orgasm. Laying on hands>orgasm>radiance. Sign me up.

While Reiki is spiritual in nature, it is not a religion. It has no dogma, and there is nothing you must believe in order to learn and use Reiki. In fact, Reiki is not dependent on belief at all and will work whether you believe in it or not. Because Reiki comes from God, many people find that using Reiki puts them more in touch with the experience of their religion rather than having only an intellectual concept of it.

Sometimes people ask, "Are you religious?" The proper response is always, "I'm not religious, I'm spiritual". Basically, when you employ this technique you are giving a big fuck you to organized religion for trying to make you feel guilty about the fact that your idea of spirituality consists of sleeping off a hangover instead of going to church. Spirituality is as personal as you God Damn want it to be, so you don't even have to believe in God to make it work, right? Here is the problem with Reiki, however,i from what I read in the above paragraph: although there is "nothing you must believe in", can you ignore the fact that "Reiki comes from God?". Interesting, no? If I believe that Reiki comes from the collective powers of my now deceased pets from my childhood and completely deny not only God's influence over Reiki but his existence as well, will Reiki still work for me?

and the trumpet is blown

2006-04-09T00:07:00.000-07:00

It is 4:08 in the morning, my sinus pressure is at about 40 psi, and I have one day left to study for an exam of, well, formidable size. Since I am apparently unable to sleep when my head feels like it is in a vice grip, a blog post seems like a good second alternative to not studying.

Let us go with this: top 5 trumpet songs. Naturally, Miles Davis and Fela Kuti are out. Hell, let's go ahead and throw out all jazz and make it pop music only. And I am having a hard time thinking classically here, so let's just keep it within the last decade or so.

1. Neutral Milk Hotel - The King of Carrot Flowers Pts. One, Two and Three
2. Cake - Friend is a Four-Letter Word
3. Sufjan Stevens - Jacksonville
4. Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek - African Dream
5. A.C. Newman - Come Crash
Runner Up: Us3 - Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)

What? I know that Carrot Flowers Pts. One, Two and Three are actually two songs. But don't even act like you don't listen to them consecutively, every single time - no one listens to Pt. One then skips over Pts. Two and Three. No one. "But Tanner, you said no jazz and clearly Us3 was released on Blue Note!" Yeah, well, they also played it on Power 105.7. New rule: if a song has been played on Power 105.7, it cannot be labeled as jazz. I know that sounds strange, but if sometime in the history of 105.7 (clueless as to if it still exists or not), somewhere between "I´ll Make Love to You", "Runaway Train", and "Waterfalls", no doubt, a DJ decided to mix it up a bit and played "Flamenco Sketches", that song will have forfeited its jazz status.

Dip trip, flip fantasia.

49 outta 50 states ain't bad, folks

2006-04-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

That is, if we were talking about the number of Miss America contestants one had slept with. Unfortunately, though, I am referring to the Arkansas public school test scores. Fact checking has never been a priority here at the PCD blog, but even if I am mistaken about our current rankings, I can nonetheless assure you all that we suck enough that a couple of rankings wouldn't make a difference anyways.

My good friend, Luddic Luddite, Jr.* recently left a comment in response to a previous post I made concerning our fantastic school system:

The real reason why we had such experiences with the TI-83, the coveted TI-83+, and/or the egregious TI-89 (if you were extremely lucky) was due to the lovely governing and administrating body of Arkansas that happened to be in charge of public education, along with their remarkable problem solving skills. Why, how else would you address the issue of being 49th out of 50 in terms of mathematical testing score averages of your state-wide public student population? Revamp the math curriculum to be interesting in any way, initiate a state wide teacher technique workshop, or maybe even pay the poor bastards more so that they can kill themselves with the decent tasting cigarettes instead of the absolute cheapest brand? No, just teach the monkeys (students; us) to punch it in on a caclulator. Fancier calculators = higher test scores, duh! Goooooo No child left behind, Yea!

(*Note to Luddic: Your comments from this point forth are to be limited to four sentences or less. Anything more and I will require you to post it as official PCD material.)

Once again, being factually correct has never been high on the priority list here at PCD (we all know what really sells blog views!), but I believe that my friend was mistaken in his connection between the debut of the Texas Instruments TI series calculators to the Arkansas public school system and the post 2000 George Bush "No Child Left Behind" legislation. Actually, LL Jr. may have been joking, as he has quite infrequenly been known to do, but I nonetheless would like to clarify that I think the "Calcs for Kids" act was actually a purely Arkansan brainchild, a product of our own Mikey "Ham and Beans" Huckabee.

And what a plan it was. It worked fairly well at FHS, where the 9 out of 10 kids drove cars models less than a half-decade old. Hell, most FHS parents were happy to spend 95 bucks on (what they perceived to be) bettering their child's education. There were only those one or two poor kids, the ones who had been identified early on in their FHS careers as such and were therefore already used to not being able to participate, eating dinner rolls and drinking chocolate milk in the cafeteria while the other kids rolled off-campus in their 4x4's and sports coupes, smoking weed all the way to any number of downtown eateries. As such, there was really no pretense as to their inability to purchase the calculators. I don't remember exactly what my algebra teacher said to our class, but I think I was something along the lines of, "If you can't afford a caculator, we have a couple for rent. You few poor children will have to fight amongst yourselves for them, and even if you do win the fist fight and get your poor, grubby little hands on one, you will not be able to download Tetris like the rest of the kids, as it will remain property of FHS."

After hearing about Tetris, I asked myself, "If this is a state-backed program, how come we have to buy these damn calculators?" Would this not be akin to Jimmy Carter solving the homeless epidemic by requiring homless people to buy building materials and build themselves houses (a program which would undoubtely have to be titled, "Houses for Homies")? I just assumed if the government were going to require something for the public school system, they would pay for it. I mean I never minded chipping in a few of my dollars here and there for things such as buying supplies for a science project, but 95 bucks was almost enough for a bag of dank, and enough to smoke for the entire month on my way to the sandwich joint during open campus at that.

And what about the rest of the state? What did they do over there in Batesville or El Dorado or any of those other places that we drive through on our way down to party in New Orleans? Consider this: 95 bucks could have bought 2 pairs of coveralls, 12 "Alan Jackson's Greatest Hits" casettes, or half a year's supply of meth ingredients. Seriously: I want to know if the kids in Deer (home of the Deer Antlers 1A football team, I shit you not) had to ride their mules 100 miles uphill in the snow to the clarksville Wal-Mart to be able to participate in algebra class. If anyone from podunk Arkansas reads this, please leave give me some information in the comments section. Until then, I'm filing this one under "unsolved".

Mikey, hard at work losing 120 pounds of biscuts n' gravy. Note the double-mohawked clone child directly behind, what all children in the state of Arkansas will look like after Huckabee´s "Kill All Fat People" legislation goes into effect.

if i were....

2006-04-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

...in the midst of a futuristic, life-or-death automobile race (think Speed Racer, not of that lame drainage ditch drag race in Grease where John "Scientology" Travolta barely escapes not getting a hand-job from Olivia Newton) and suddenly found myself at the mercy of some dirty racing techniques - switchblade hubcaps that, thanks to the foward motion of the wheels, turn into drill-bit like devices; oil slicks; red turtle shells; etc - I would hope that my on-board super computer would detect change in emotion and employ this song so that I might evade fatal dangers and win the race.

PS - this song is for employing dirty racing tricks, not evading them.

"official" pcd update (authorized by webmaster) [tb]

2006-03-27T07:51:00.000-08:00

That´s right kids: fill up your jansport with books, lunch food, and various warm clothing ( it´s totally cold out there on the playground, duh) and sling it over your shoulder (singular - two points of pack/body contact are totally lame, duh) because school days are here. After what felt to be a severly misplaced three and a half month reflection period (vacation) away from class (obligation) and the United States (reality), I now find myself in the third week of class, and, although I actually have way less tiempo libre than I did prior to the start of classes, I will probably update this blog (sorry excuse for communication) with more frequency. (It now appears to me that I have already employed a fair amount of parentheses [just an observation]). I make no promises, but consider this a official recommendation that you (all?) check for pcd (as if this blog were respectable enough for me to refer to it acronym-wise) updates more than once a month. And feel free to leave some comments, although, once again, I make no promises here, either - to respond kindly, or to respond at all (especially if I can´t come up with something good enough to ensure that I get in the last word on my own gd blog), or to not delete your comments that prove me wrong (I will not hesitate to censor you [all?] out of self-esteem concerns).

Hey: remember ([matrices]) ? All you had to do was plug that shit into one of those video game TI calculators for fast, easy results, but of course Mrs. I-didn´t-have-sex-until-I-was-in-grad-school-and-furthermore-it-was-math-related public high school lady made you do it by hand, seemingly only to deter you from having any future thoughts about a career with even the slightest math connection. Damn: and we wonder why all the American kids are dirtbag liberal arts majors. I was actually thinking about becoming an electrical engineer myself; at least until that high school alegebra class, when I decided on a grab-bag lib arts instead over fears that I would have to solve complex circuitry issues by hand instead of with a desktop PC program specifically designed for such activities. Why did we even have those TI robots, anyways? For the Seinfield quiz and the drug trade game, I suppose. Can you get extremely pixelated porn on those things yet?

So, yeah, ummm, updates and stuff, check back, er whatever.

PS - I always forget to log in to the English edition of blogger, which has a spell-check, and I don´t like proofreading things that weren´t worth writing in the first place, so bear with me hear.

PPS - Perhaps hypocritically, even though I am logged into the Spanish-language edition of Blogger, everytime I use the Spanish keyboard version of an apostrophe, or an accent over a vowel, among other things, Blogger chooses not to recognize it and instead replaces it with a ?. Just so you (all?) know.

2006-03-20T21:14:00.000-08:00

Super Chango I

2006-03-20T21:13:00.000-08:00

Super Chango II

2006-03-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

The Argentine goverment recently put a halt to the export of Argentine beef. And although this manuever seemingly defies most economic logic, it means I eat more cow, and that�s okay.

2006-03-20T21:04:00.000-08:00

�Qu� horas son mi coraz�n?

2006-03-15T17:22:00.000-08:00

Ehhhh wacho...

2006-03-15T16:58:00.000-08:00

Worrall, 2006 Palermo Invitational Fashion Champion.

2006-03-15T16:55:00.000-08:00

I got a new dig cam.

2006-03-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

"How to properly sit next to your friend while he is vomiting into a robotic-like contraption"

2006-03-15T16:48:00.000-08:00

Montevideo, Uruguay

2006-03-15T16:43:00.000-08:00

Can you pick out the North Americans?

Uruguay?

2006-03-05T17:51:00.000-08:00

Apparently it is a country: 3 million people. And máte. (More on this later).

the arkansas travesity

2006-03-01T11:08:00.000-08:00

Man I hate the University of Arkansas newspaper, The Traveler. After finding out about the existence of its website, I recently added it to my daily internet routine in order to help me keep up with that other place that I tend to forget about from time to time. I initially just looked at the headlines for important information, clicking on a story only if it really seemed to pertain to myself. But of course I got bored and started reading the whole god damn thing, and the poorly written articles remind me of how much I don't have in common with the majority of the student body.

The World Travler articles are inevitably a barrage of disconnected cultural observations (the people in Spain speak Spanish; the walls are made of mud, a watery, earthy substance; you can buy hot dogs on any street corner at all hours of the night!) and thinly-veiled attempts at expressing the constant party scene that is study abroad in Western Europe for small-town American kids.

The Opinion section, however, is the worst, usually consisting of the neverending partisan battle between the "I drive my Z-71 across campus playing loud, hard rap music at 7:30 A.M on Monday" business majors and the "I like to smoke weed and ponder the world's problems while listening to Bob Marley's Lengend" liberal arts majors, both of which are way too concerned with winning the pointless battle to write in a cohesive and coherent fashion.

Fortunately, Evan Billingsly contributes to the Lifestyles section with movie and tv reviews and such, adding a much-needed level of irony and thereby reminding readers that they are actually not reading an overly-censored junior high school publication. Ed Corcoran likewise does so with his occasional music reviews for KXUA. That is about it for the resonable stuff.

I am sick in Buenos Aires right now (supposedly with Giardi, a single-celled organism that attacks the digestive system), so, unfortunately for The Traveler, I have plently of internet time on my hands. After reading this letter to the editor, and this editorial rebuttal, I decided to take action, ultimately writing the following to the Traveler:

TO: The Traveler Online
SUBJECT: Keep personal vendettas out of The Traveler

"Between the Lines" - ironically, an attempt at defending the editorial process at the Traveler - is nothing more than an embarrasment to your (ostensible) University-level publication.
If The Traveler editors were truly confident in their editorial methodology, they would have printed Robbie Jones' letter free of the disclaimer and corresponding article.

"If readers think opinion is the most important part of the paper, they should learn the difference between a column, an editorial and a news article" - this is what you condescendingly tell your readers after receiving the inevitable letters of disagreement? A rebuttal, blaming the foundation of the criticism on fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the editorial? I will say, however, it is certainly much easier to label your readers as incapable of understanding the concept of opinion instead of having to ponder their criticisms and, therefore, the possibility that you might have been mistaken about certain aspects of your work.

Letters to the editor - believe it or not - are as much a part of the editorial process, as the editorials themselves. Before you arrogantly lecture your readers on why they shouldn't take offense to editorials, maybe someone should lecture your editorial
staff on how not to take offense to the letters they receive.

I don't know why I did this: trying to argue with this type of folk is like trying to wash the pubes off a bar of soap - it's just not worth the effort. But God help me if they choose to directly respond. I might not be able to write an informative, sarcastic-free article to save my life, but I can criticize anything.

vos

2006-02-07T19:43:00.000-08:00

No te extraño. No extraño quedarme en cama hasta la tarde, en el invierno cuando iba a levantarme para arreglar la cosa rota en la cocina o hacer la tarea para la semana que venía. Iba a hacerlo, pero no me permetías, argarrándome por un hombro y tirándome más cerca a tu cuerpo, que era siempre más caliente que el mio. No: no lo extraño - de esto estoy seguro.
Nunca quería quedarme en esa cama los fines de semana hasta el sol se fuera otra vez, perdiendo la luz caliente solamente para hablar de cualquier cosa, de cosas sin importancia. Y como niños eramos, haciendo esos juegos ridículos debajo las sábanas. Siempre nos reíamos, pero ahora me pregunto ¿Por qué? Mis amigos ya me habían llamado tres o cuatro veces así que hicieramos algo afuera, pero sabías que hay que llevantarse bien temprano para hacer estas tipas de cosas en enero.

Al mismo tiempo había la pregunta, ¿Qué ibas a hasta trabajar? Mejor, suponía, tener alguien con quien compartir un café y una película. Y esperándote en la noche yo siempre podía haber hecho la tarea para el lunes que venía, pero en esa casa sin luz y sin vos mi cuerpo corría con frío y era desmasiado difícil. Y cuando regresábas de trabajar diciendo que estábas listo para dormir, esto no me gustaba tampoco. En realidad nunca íbamos a dormir, sino quedarnos en cama hasta era tarde otra vez, con cuerpos pegados como las hojas morenas de los robles afuera de la ventana; como ellas, vos y yo, pegados por el viento frío.

No te extraño ahora con todo verde y la luz fuerte. Me levanto bien temprano para hacer algo en el aire libre con mis amigos, y duermo en la noche, sin pensando en ti. Pero ya no me río cuando no hay luz.

Que los cumplas feliz...

2006-02-06T12:42:00.000-08:00

2006-01-29T18:07:00.000-08:00

2006-01-29T18:04:00.000-08:00

2006-01-29T18:03:00.000-08:00

failed attempts at life and literature

2006-01-28T15:48:00.000-08:00

Not even a week after arriving in Mendoza after a month of serious trekking in the Patagonia region, Joel and I decided that we had not yet had enough of blisters, flavorless instant mashed potatoes, and the strange mix of bodily odors that accumulates after a couple of days in a tent, so we packed up and headed to the Cordon del Plata region, located not 2 hours outside of the Mendoza metropolitan area.

The plan was as such: get as high as possible. Although I had already attempted this on several occasions in high school, this time the risk (physically, at least) would be much higher and the goal much clearer. Being the optimists - or rather, arrogant bastards - that we are, we set our sights on the tallest peak in the region; at 6000m, we knew that it would be far from easy, but we also knew that women and old people did it on occasion, and that old people and women suck compared to us.

What we forgot to take into account, however, was the factor of acclimatization. After the first night at 3000 some-odd meters, we decided we had kicked that altitude's ass and moved on through the falling rain/snow to camp at 4200 meters, arriving sometime mid-day. I'm sure that same day we had both thought about storming the castle the next morning, but when daylight came around the next morning and our heads felt to be imploding from the outside in (wait: doesn't "implode" imply from outside in? So that's redundant, right?) , we decided a rest day would be in order.

The rest day, unfortunately, did little good, other than giving me time to finish this crappy, translated Gunter Grass novel about Neo-Nazism in Germany after the fall of the wall. Suffice to say it was a historical beat-off session disguised as a cautionary tale (or was it the other way around?), and possessed one of the most confusing narratives I've seen in a while. The title was, "Crabwalk", which did, in fact, have some significance with respect to the manner in which the author perceives Germany to be confronting its own history, but he tried some bullshit from time to time with trying to make the narrative also conform to said title: "Now before I go on, let me crabwalk a little, thereby disorienting a bit more those of you who are already bored with my unnecessary barrage of war names, events, and equipment, and cleverly inject a little more of the historical storyline right into the middle of the fragmented plot. Then, three-quarters of the way through, when you have finally navigated the quagmire of the double-narrative and only one remains, let me finish the novel by severely downplaying the climax so that you all might walk away from it thinking about what flavor ice cream is your favorite instead of the real world implications of the literature." The Nobel Prize wasn't for this one, I assure you.

Oh yeah: then the next day we got up at 5:00 and climbed up to about 5100 meters. Once there, since we had a good view of Aconcagua, got out of breath from scratching our nuts, and it was butt-ass cold and we already had on all of our clothing, we decided to head back down and eat some instant mashed potatoes. That's about it, I guess.

Maybe - perhaps not unlike a crocodile riding a bicycle disguised as a sheep - I just gave you all a book review disguised as story about mountain climbing. But before I touch on this, let me crabwalk a little...

2006-01-28T15:42:00.000-08:00

Fact: melting snow with a canister stove at high altitude takes approximately 4 times as long and sucks 20 times more than at lower altitudes.

2006-01-28T15:38:00.000-08:00

Joel described these rapidly upward building clouds as "ominous", and I was wont to agree.

2006-01-28T15:37:00.000-08:00

We managed to conjure up some smiles for the camera, but at 5100 meters of altitude, we had to catch our breathes immediately afterwards. That is Aconcagua in the background, by the way.

i feel obligated to do this

2006-01-19T16:35:00.000-08:00

So now that you have seen some of those pictures, you would probably like some stories to go with them, eh? Well, too bad, because stories take too long to type. What I give you all instead is generalized crap. If you really want to know more, come visit me in Argentina, or wait a few months and we can meet up in Ftown.

*Seriously, though* : I currently posess a large number of photos and have been considering downsizing them and putting them on one of those thumbnail pages like shutterfly or flickr. This act, however, would take time and wouldn't benefit me at all, so, naturally, I am inclined to not do it. But if enough people would like to see more photos, I would probably do it, so if you, the blog reader, are in fact interested, let me know.

I went to Patagonia to see if the mountains would actually look like the ones on the clothing logo. They do for the most part, except they are bigger. How could I best sum up this experience for you all? Well let's just say I am left with the urge to spend the next few years of my life training and buying equipment so that I can come back and see even more places - and by this I don't necessarily mean the top of Cerro Torre, but as a good deal of the area is encompassed by the massive glaciation of the hielo sur, it is very hard to cover much territory without glacier travel/mountaineering equipment. Basically, Patagonia rules my small, meaningless world.

Here are some topics:

Transportation: chupa la pija. From Mendoza to our furthest point south, we travelled some 46 hours in bus. Worse, we only broke this up into 2 bus rides, 1 of 18 and one of 28 hours. The bus chairs recline a little and they play movies, but the busses stop frequenly, food is not included, and good movies are often dubbed in Spanish (I understand nonetheless, of course but all the voices are absurd and the translations are often terrible). Domestic flights are infrequent and hard to book.

Weather: utterly unpredictable, and often horrendous. Out of a week, we had 3 nice days. And according to many people, that is really, really good luck. No electric storms, but plenty o'wind, snow, and rain.

People: white. Argentina pretty much killed-off all of its indigenous population, so no worries about diversity here. The majority of travellers seemed to be European (mainly Spanish or German) or Israeli, with a number of North Americans, a few Aussies, and very few Asians.

Israelis: nice folks, but I came away with the distinct impression that "environmental care" is not a major topic of concern in the mandantory military service that many travellers from this country have recently completed. I wish that it were not the case, but when things such as taking a shit literally 5 feet off-trail, washing dishes in the small stream that runs through camp from which people take water for drinking purposes, or considering tea bags and cigarette butts as not necessary to be packed-out happen, I become personally offended. Actually, people from all over the world are guilty of these seemingly common knowledge backpacking no no's, but citizens of some nations appear to be worse than others.

Christmas: in Puerto Natales, Chile with a family, who was also the owner of the hostel. Oven baked lamb, cheap box wine mixed with coca cola (nasty, need I not say), and a lot of making fun of Argentines.

New Years: in El Calafate, Argentina. 'twas a champagne jam, to say the least: the 80's music in the disco really got me moving (or was it the 3 bottles of Chandon?). Also, champagne goggles are a good deal thicker than beer goggles, as I unfortunately found out.

2006-01-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

Early season: the way to go, in my opinion.

2006-01-19T16:31:00.000-08:00

Fact: the hielo sur is the largest ice cap in the world outside of Anarctica.

2006-01-19T16:27:00.000-08:00

We rolled with Alien Baby Buslines, Inc. down south. (photo by Renata Shelton).

2006-01-19T16:26:00.000-08:00

"Fuck" - Joel and I upon seeing this climber and realizing that we have brought no climbing equipment to Nahuel Huapi National Park

2006-01-19T16:22:00.000-08:00

Afraid that snow bridge is going to collapse, thereby sending you a potentially ankle-breaking 10 feet into a crevasse? Just bail over it head first like Joel here.

2006-01-19T16:17:00.001-08:00

Transportation in Patagonia in a nutshell: having to go to the Atlantic Coast in order to get the Pacific Coast.

2006-01-19T16:17:00.000-08:00

Cumbre principal, Torres del Paine National Park.

2006-01-19T16:15:00.000-08:00

The Torres themselves.

2006-01-19T16:12:00.000-08:00

Torres del Paine National Park (Chile)

2006-01-19T16:10:00.000-08:00

S.P.L.I.F reminds, "Don't build fires outside of designated areas and always pass to the left."

2006-01-19T16:05:00.000-08:00

Clem was rambunctiously attacked by an utterly stupendous, yet audaciously voracious bicho, as seen from this particularly scenic aspect.

2006-01-19T16:03:00.000-08:00

Cerro Torre from Laguna Torre

2006-01-19T16:01:00.000-08:00

Those summer, niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhhhhhhhts ooooooooooooooooooooaaaaooooooo.

2006-01-19T16:00:00.000-08:00

Monte Fitz Roy as seen from Cerro El�ctrico

2006-01-19T15:55:00.000-08:00

"It's real easy: just follow the red markers."

2006-01-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

Breaking trail through waist deep snowdrifts helps builds character.

ange passe

2006-01-11T13:23:00.000-08:00

I admit, though, I have been guilty of reading the last sentence a book right off the bat more than once, so I kind of understand.

It has almost been a month since I left Mendoza for Patagonia, and since this is the first time I have had free internet access in quite awhile, I figure I owe it to my dedicated reader(s) to at least make a promise of better things to come.

I am still in Patagonia in a town called Bariloche (in the northern part, or for you real sticklers, the Lake District), hanging out in a hostel and recovering after a nearly devastating final day of hiking in Patagonia proper, immediately followed by a 30-hour bus trip to my current location. Let me just say this: never buy your bus tickets from a company whose logo appears to be a crocodile riding a bicycle diguised as a sheep, and whose language-defying slogan is "ange passe", which Joel and I later interpreted as truly meaning, "We pick you up when we damn well feel like it". Remaining still would be the mere 18-hour bus ride back to Mendoza, which will seem like a dream with paved road all the way and seats that obtusely recline to more than a 91.5 degree angle. Joel and Renata attempted the "Straight 48", as it is sometimes referred to, opting to take the bus back to Mendoza after a mere 4 hours of layover time in Bariloche. Renata has to go back to the states to graduate or something lame like that, I'm not really sure. I am meanwhile hoping to bag one last backpacking trip on a section of trail that was closed due to excessive amounts of snow last time I was there, and doing it solo should allow me to reflect on my recent adventures in the more southern regions, do some more reading, grow more beard, and perhaps talk to myself a lot, thereby giving other, sane hikers the (perhaps correct) impression that I am crazy.

So a picture update should be realized in the next 2 weeks or so, by which time I will have returned to the viscious heat of Mendoza but also the shelter of my laptop computer and fairly reliable internet connection. Don't expect too much diversity, howver, with the pictures: I used 97% of my memory card space on landscapes, with photos outside that category including a couple of pictures of beard progress (vain), a photo of Joel slicing up his jank-ass hiking boots with a swiss-army knife, and a huge woodpecker going to town on some juicy grubs. I seriously don't think I even have evidence that we slept in a tent, cooked food, swam in freezing meltwater glacier lakes, nor that we had a repectable champagne jam on New Year's, among other things. But if you like looking at rock and ice as much as I do, then you are in for a treat.

On the list of things to do before next semester begins:
-find a bed
-find a kitchen table
-repair fridge
-get higher (altitude, I mean) than Steve Miller on his trip to Peru, thereby proving I can be better than him in at least one respect.
-shave the beard into something utterly repulsive, yet strangely attractive
-más asados y vino
-bolivia

Chances are you just scanned this update as fast as possible so you could get back to your porn, games, whatever a.s.a.p., and if that is the case, THERE IS NOTHING WORTH READING IN THIS SENTENCE, GO BACK TO THE TOP.

today i kindly offer proof of my continued existence

2005-12-30T16:53:00.000-08:00

where in the world is carmen sandiego ?

2005-12-23T06:29:00.000-08:00

noticias

2005-12-14T20:52:00.000-08:00

Warning: personal update alert.

I am heading down to Patagonia tomorrow and plan to stay for about a month, so this might be the last blog update for awhile. On the agenda are Nahuel Huapi Nat´l Park, the Fitz Roy region (the peak that is featured on Patagonia´s logo), and Torres del Paine Nat´l Park in Chile, among some other less known things. Hopefully I´ll have some great photos and even better stories for you all when - and if - I get back.

I am going to try to make it back to Mendoza by the end of January to move my stuff (what very little of it I have, mind you) into my new apartment for next semester. Actually I am less worried about moving my few things than I am about finding a little bit of furniture, but I´m not really about that either - I´ll just use my camping gear until I find a mattress or something. It should be pretty sweet there because my apartment shares a courtyard with the house my Argentine friend, and we are already planning sweet house parties for next semester.

So everything is pretty good, except that I am sick again with some sort of strep type throat infection. My host family suggested that it was caused by me sleeping with the fan on, but I kindly told them that was fucking ludacris.

And oh yeah, happy holidays.

2005-12-11T11:53:00.000-08:00

This is what inevitably happens when you stay too long in Argentina.

the o'reilly risk factor

2005-12-08T10:23:00.000-08:00

I don't like Bill O' Reilly. Surely no one likes him. He truly is a big blubbering vagina. But in spite of his unprofessional, blatantly sensationalist tatics, I have always wanted to write him off as not being a real threat to anyone: he can lie his ass off all day long, but no one is going to listen to him. Maybe. Maybe not. Michael Moore says some crazy shit, too. But Michael Moore doesn't genuinely want people to be locked up indefinitely without access to a lawyer.

2005-12-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

Species: Argentine Churro-Mullet. Location: Churro stand, Alta Gracia, C�rdoba, Argentina.

remix this, hansen

2005-12-04T16:53:00.000-08:00

I like remixes. Sometimes I hear a song and think, "Wow this song sounds way better with that drumbeat," or even, "Wow this song sounds way better with no drum track at all." The remix idea is nothing new: electronic and hip-hop dj's have been doing it for who knows how long. Typically with rock artists, remixes come with singles and are not seen quite as often. A good new band, Bloc Party, however, put out an excellent debut album this year, Silent Alarm, only months later to have each song remixed by a different artist, re-releasing the album properly titled, Silent Alarm Remixed. The buzz on the internet was good, and many people even liked the remixes more than the original songs. But the songs really don't stray too much - they always keep at least 2 original tracks, and usually more.

And what happens when you stray too far from the original song, kids? You get a completely new song, not a remix. Enter Beck's new effort at remixdom, Guerolito, which includes a "remix" of each song from the orignal album by a new artist. And by "remix", I mean Beck has been generous to give enough up the vocal track for each song, but only that, allowing each artist to do whatever the fuck they want with the music. He had already done this with his 4 track Nintendo remix album, which was actually kind of entertaining in spite of the fact the songs beared little similarity to the ones on Guero (I will cut him some slack for using 8-bit sound clips), but this time around it is just lame - not only do the songs not sound anything like the originals, most of them suck, too. The only decent ones are the Boards of Canada remix (from a band from which, I'm sure, could salvage even a Creed song), and the Air remix. And although I like the Air song, the other remix by Royksopp included with the Guero special edition audio cd is gone. That is just weird. And don't go saying something like, "Why would he put that on there when he could present you with new material?" because included in Guerolito are the BOC remix from the special edition and the "Hell Yes" remix from the nintendo remixes. Lazy bastard.

If you will excuse me, I'm going to go listen to some Bloc Party now, or maybe that supertight Mirwais remix of "Never Win" by Fischerspooner. I don't need to need you...

2005-11-28T11:36:00.000-08:00

"You Can't Climb 6a Trad, so Stop Looking at Me as if You Were Going to Come Up Here."

2005-11-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

"Daily, I Tell You."

2005-11-28T11:32:00.000-08:00

".............."

2005-11-28T11:30:00.000-08:00

"Reflections on New Zealand"

2005-11-28T11:26:00.000-08:00

"I Use the Sun to Regulate My Body Temperature"

2005-11-28T11:23:00.000-08:00

"Flannel Pocket"

2005-11-28T11:22:00.000-08:00

"Happy Thanksgiving"

2005-11-28T11:19:00.000-08:00

"Glissade"

2005-11-22T18:44:00.000-08:00

Rory wants everyone to know the dangers of tourism, one of which is his snow white ass.

2005-11-22T18:37:00.000-08:00

"I think it's because I have a weak soul" - Sam, on why he is always cold.

tb's best of 2005

2005-11-19T15:23:00.000-08:00

I have been at a little bit of a disadvantage for the last half of the year because Argentina doesn't import smaller label albums so I have not bought anything since i left the states. I have, though, managed to find a good deal of the albums over the internet, but I still lack a few.

top 20

wolf parade - apologies to the queen mary
sufjan stevens - illinois
iron & wine - woman king
fischerspooner - odyssey
deerhoof - the runners four
out hud - let us never speak of it again
boards of canada - the campfire headphase
royksopp - the understanding
spoon - gimme fiction
lcd soundsystem - s/t
caribou - the milk of human kindness
junior senior - hey hey my my yo yo
nada surf - the weight is a gift
the go! team - thunder lightning strike
franz ferdinand - you could have it so much better
six organs of admittance - school of the flower
decemberists - picaresque
iron & wine and calexico - in the reins
my morning jacket - z
sigur ros - takk

Albums that would probably be in my top 20, given the nature of the songs I have heard from them, but aren't because i have not heard the whole alubms, and therefore wouldn't be fair for me to include them (download links for me, anyone?)

new pornographers - twin cinema
jason forrest - shamelessly exciting
goldfrapp - supernature

the new god is way more fun than the old one, at least for now

2005-11-09T12:21:00.000-08:00

Alex may or may not have been joking about Google having replaced God. I once read this book about this guy who finds out that God has blown himself into pieces of matter (I can't remember exactly why - I think because it was the only real way to test his ominpotence or something), and that these pieces of mattter are slowly reassembling themselves back into God. With the invention of something like say, the internet, matter could come into contact much more rapidly than before, and I figure with Google in charge we will probably assemble ourselves into a pretty functional God (not quite omnipotent, but at least omniscient) by the year 2015.

Search Egine
Google Homepage
Gmail
Google Earth
Google Print
Blogger
Picasso
Hello
Froogle
Google News
Google Scholar

(I am too lazy to link all these, so if you want them, go get them yourselves)

I use many of these programs on a regular basis, and they are far superior to the competition, and they are completely free. "What the fuck kind of Wizard of Oz scenario does Google have going?" you might ask yourself, wondering who is behind the curtain. They are obviously the biggest advertisers in the world, so surely they have to make a considerable amount of income in that respect. Also, they are a public company, with stock prices considerably high these days. But they have to be setting themselves up for something big (world domination, perhaps?) What if they just decided to make a new, better programming language that everyone had to conform to, or furthremore, a new internet? On the other hand, what if they have personal statistics on everyone on the internet and are planning some sort of mass mind control? I figure by 2015 we will either all be part of the God that is Google, or will all be worshiping six omnipresent, giant, multicolored letters like some Big Brother.

Conspiracy Theories Here