Tuesday Ride

I rode Orchard Gulch today for the first time in a while. Apparently, abundant Watchman Trail traffic = pristine untraveled Orchard Gulch? Those are my tracks. The only ones.

On a related note, I'm not sure what you out there have done to bring down upon us this plague of grasshoppers, but whatever it is, knock it off. There's always an upside, though, right? I've seen more lizards on and around the trails this year than in all other years here combined, it seems. Abundant grasshoppers = tons of lizards?


And though it might have looked like red rock desert up there, it ain't. That's flame retardant. It doesn't show so well in this picture, but there's a big swath of it across 3 Bears and Rocky Canyon Road. And signs of the burn that brought it on.

Theo Goes to Sun Valley

Had a great weekend in and around Ketchum with Cathy and Theo.


We went for walks with Henry, ate some great food, and relaxed a lot.



I even managed to sneak off and catch a few rainbows. Looking forward to the day when I spend as much time untangling the boy's lines as I do casting for trout. But that's a few years out yet.

Cathy's staying up there the rest of the week with her mom.

And the adventures continue.

Mavis and Tweedy

Mavis Staples is coming to Boise, touring on her brand new album, You Are Not Alone, which was produced by Jeff Tweedy, who also wrote a couple songs for it.

Staples' place in the gospel and soul canons cannot be overstated, and the fact that Idaho Live is bringing her here, touring on this record, is a pretty amazing thing. Get your tickets this Friday and do not miss this show on November 2.

Sunday Ride

With temperatures in the 70s--even more like 60 when we started, up off Bogus Basin Road--and the trails from East Side to Stack Rock pretty much to ourselves, it was tough to look at today as anything but a gift. An autumn day in mid-August.

And we took advantage. Me, Will, and Derek hitched a ride with Will's sister Thea up Bogus. We dropped into East Side (I won't say where, but it was cool!), then rode over and dropped Sinker Creek. Back up Mr. Big and out to the new loop around Stack Rock. Then back to the saddle and down Sweet Connie to town.

It was a great, great ride. Following on a night where Theo slept a lot and, thanks to Jan's sticking around and sitting with him, so did I, it's been a pretty good day.


Even though last night a huge limb sheared from our neighbor's tree and landed on our fence. Doesn't look like it damaged the fence or house. Just a mess.

Tour de Fat

For the first year in many years, we didn't ride in the parade. But we did go over to Camel's Back park and watch it go by. It was pretty cool to see--usually, riding in it, you don't get to see the whole thing. HUGE. Theo and Cathy enjoyed themselves.

Happy Friday

What a great thing for a Friday morning. Out of nowhere, Sufjan Stevens drops a new EP in our laps. It's available at his website for $5. I'm listening now.

Blonde Redhead

Check out this new track from Blonde Redhead, Oslo, from their upcoming record Penny Sparkle.

Blonde Redhead - "Oslo" by Some Kind of Awesome

Nap Time

Theo and Henry, future BFFs.

Hallowed Ground?

Interesting and illustrative blog post on the faux-debate over building a mosque near the WTC site. Perspective, folks. Plus, keep your noses out of other people's neighborhoods. This isn't a holy site, it's Manhattan. Gimme a friggin break.

New Days at the Home Office

New on the Range

Okay, Imma try this again tonight. I think it might work this time. Range Life's been in repeat mode for a good month+, and it's time to get back to it.

LOTS of great new stuff. So much that any attempt to throw it all at you will be a bit schizophrenic. So that's what we'll go with.

The Arcade Fire have a new album out, of course, and it's a sign of my daily schedule right now that I've yet to pick up a copy. But I'll hit the Record Exchange before showtime and come prepared.

Matthew Dear's new one is pretty amazing, and I've got an advance of that. What else? School of Seven Bells, Sin Ropas, Jon Hopkins, Mount Kimbie, To Rococo Rot, Department of Eagles, Pantha du Prince, and a whole lot more.

Tune in, 5 to 7, www.radioboise.org, and see if I can get myself out of the house and downtown for a few hours.

Sunday

The birthday ride.



The birthday tree.



The birthday pie.



Best gift ever.



Best birthday I can remember.

Happy Friday

The Arcade Fire played Madison Square Garden with Spoon opening. That would not have sucked. Thanks to PFork.

The Wife and Kid

Pretty nice, eh? Also, glad to see the boy seems comfortable in the kitchen.

The Claw Grip

Everyone needs some basic skills help once in a while. Cooking instructor Helen Rennie, on her blog Beyond Salmon (she had a former role as columnist for the awesome site Culinate), is producing videos to provide just that. This one is so basic most people don't think about it til it's too late.

Bath Time

Theo bath time again-in a tub this time from cathy fischer on Vimeo.

This is a long one, possibly of interest to grandma-types only. But it's pretty damn cute.

Lost Where I Belong

Andreya Triana's voice just kills me. Her debut album is out the end of this month, and if advance tracks are any indication it's gonna be something.



Here's Triana doing vocals on a track from Bonobo's newest, the first time I'd heard her voice (though her first big exposure was on a Flying Lotus EP that I missed at the time).