Best One Yet

Excuse me for a moment while I brag about our garden.

The pics don't do it justice, but you'll get the idea. This is by far the best garden we've had since moving to Boise. The raspberry crop was staggering, and the strawberries gave us the best yield yet. Now we just have to figure out a way to keep the damned roly-polys out of them. (Who knew those cute little buggers could be so terrible?)

We had fresh greens for months, through two early crops.

The herbs grew like weeds, and we've still got more basil than we know what to do with.



And now, for the prime gardening time: Chiles and tomatoes and tomatillos. I picked 5 of the biggest, most fragrant and tasty poblano peppers off a single plant the other day. I made some enchiladas with poblanos and mushrooms and cotija cheese, topped with a pureed poblano and tomatillo salsa, and it was out of this world. The flavor those things kick out is amazing.

The jalapenos are coming along, as are the serranos, though more slowly.

We're getting the initial trickle of tomatoes, and we expect to be drowning in them soon.

And maybe most exciting of all, our 3 tomatillo plants are absolutely covered with the little paper lanterns that turn into fruit. I'd say inside a week we'll be pulling about a half pound a day off the plants. And they're GOOD.

A Lazarus Taxon

The new box set from Chicago post-rock killers Tortoise does what I've not been able to do on my own: It collects all the singles and rarities and remixes that have scattered like pearls off a broken string through the path of their career.

Some of this band's best stuff has come out on imports or limited pressings, and a few pieces of the puzzle have become near impossible to come by.

Lucky for us, then, that they've done the work and delivered the goods in a gorgeous and shockingly affordable package. For less than $20, you get 3 CDs full of music plus a DVD of videos and live performances.

Better yet, order it from e-music.

While I haven't got to the DVD yet, I can say that the music is as fantastic as I knew it'd be. I mean, there's nothing terribly new here, but what is here reaches back a ways into the 90s and yet is as forward-thinking and remarkably played as anything else out there.

Gamera is a classic Tortoise track, going from minimal meditation to surging, gliding instrumental anthem, grand and beautiful.

Mike Watt adds a loose and jangly bass line to Cornpone Brunch on the final CD, for a moment if not of musical genius than of pure fun and joy.

Nobukazu Takemura's take on TNT is another highlight of the set, as are Tin Cans (Puerto Rican remix) and Your New Rod. But picking highlights is tough business here, as the pieces are so disparate, the sounds so unique and varied, that by the time you hit the remix heavy 3rd CD it's like the world's exploded.

Of course, if you're already familiar with their work, none of this will be too shocking to you. If that's the case, don't hesitate to grab this set. There's enough great stuff on here to satisfy you even if you have all the studio releases. And that's rare.

US Open Cup

It's awfully easy to not know this, but there's a very cool little tournament going on right here in the States called the US Open Cup. And as of last night, the field is down to 4 teams. One to survive is the Chicago Fire, a great team with a rabid fanbase who will meet up with DC United in the semifinals. The other matchup is the LA Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo.

If this interests you, check out this blog, Eleven Devils, a great site my buddy Dan Oko connected me to. Great information, solid editorializing.

The Fire match is on 9/6, and were I there in the windy city, I'd be going. Unfortunately my only option is to watch it online, which I will likely do.

I'm Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass

While I'm getting googly-eyed about new music that's not out yet, let me also mention Yo La Tengo's upcoming release. It's called I'm Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, and early reports are promising--the perfect balance of their more recent soft balladry and their former long-form guitar freakouts with the middle range of perfect pop songs holding it all together.

If these reports are accurate and not just the work of some hysterical fanboys like myself, this could be the release of the year.

I've pre-ordered, and I'm supposed to be getting some super secret access to a player that streams the record, but I can't get the goddam thing to work and it's really pissing me off. So I might, actually, beat your ass.

Box Tortoise

Tortoise has released a box set. It's called A Lazarus Taxon, and really I can't think of many things more exciting than this. Remixes and singles and all the hard to find shit is here.

It comes out tomorrow. I pre-ordered weeks ago.

It's like Christmas in August.

Photoblog

Oh yeah, I bought a cool little digital camera. It's the Panasonic® Lumix® DMC-FX7 5MP. Very nice camera, about the size of a cassette tape case. So I'll be able to post more pics. Like this one, of Henry in his new favorite spot.



King of all he surveys.

Summer Creeps

And just like that, it's the middle of August. Since I've been so remiss in keeping this thing current, I'll take this opportunity to file an all-purpose update.

First, and most importantly, our man Tony has successfully come through what we are certain will be the final installment of his Brain Surgery Odyssey. It's been a long road and, much like the hero of this namesake adventure, he's come through it alive, strong, and a bit wiser, though not at all unscathed. It's obvious that his spirits are up, and that he's chomping at the bit to get back to active life, and I think that attitude will go a long way. I predict a remarkable recovery and metamorphosis from surgical patient Tony to bike-riding music-loving complete-cranium Tony.

As for the BCRP, the show version of Range Life is moving along quite nicely. I've not had a chance to set up my playlist blog yet, but I hope to get to that this weekend and get it up and running soon. Meantime, keep your ears on the webcast, as I'm putting new stuff in every single week. Recent arrivals include Erase Errata, Sonic Youth, some old Four Tet and Underworld I've just discovered, and some Austin goodies like Octopus Project and Voxtrot. Coming soon, and I'm so excited I may crap 'em, the new Tortoise box set, and the new release from Yo La Tengo. Wa-hoo.

The bikes are getting some miles put on them, but not as many as I'd hoped by this point in the year. Part of that is just because work and life have kept me from it, but part of it is my recent foray into flyfishing. A wonderful sport that I fully intend to pursue for the rest of my life. I'll get up to Stack Rock this weekend, and am planning a trip for Labor Day, so this will improve. Plus, I'm committed to doing the Leadville Trail 100 race, or the weeklong Crested Butte trip with brother Eric, or both, next year. So training will start in November.

What else?

The house is good, the garden exploding, and we're enjoying the fact that it's not above 100F here every day any more.

We're still distraught about Floyd, though not yet ready to pronounce him guilty.

I've yet to float the Main Payette this year, but I've spent good hours on the SF Boise, along with the MF Boise and the Snake. Nothing big, but to be honest that's ok with me. Last year's SF Boise debacle left more a mental scar on me than I'd suspected, so slow re-entry is appropriate.

The dogs are doing well.

Things are good.

Thanks for checking in. I'll bring this baby back to life very soon.

No News Is Proper News

Unlike every other shmohawk with a keyboard and a connection, I'm not revealing or discussing ongoing allegations into possible use of preformance enhancing substances until something is confirmed.

I can think of a few organizations who would do well to follow my lead.

The Return of the Floyd

Amazing. Just unbelieveable. There is no other way to describe what Floyd Landis did in the 17th stage of the Tour de France, coming back from what certainly looked like death to shatter the field and gain back most of an 8+ minute deficit.

He went from broken and done to the likely victor in Paris.

Amazing.

Metal So Hard

Rock fans, rejoice. The Sword is coming to Idaho.

I admit to a musical past filled with vicious guitar licks, at least one major time change per track, and images of Nordic mythology. I thought it was all behind me. The Sword, a band from Austin, TX, has thankfully proven me quite wrong. The metal resurgence in the last few years has not entirely missed me, but it took Age of Winters, this band's debut record, to make it mean anything.

Check out this short piece on them from The Austin Chronicle. Or their MySpace page, with music.

Sunday, July 16th, The Sword will play at the Bouquet here in Boise, ID. I'm not sure how they landed this show, but good-goddam for them, and for us. If you've got any traces of love for hard hard music left in your soul, don't miss this. "Metal so hard that it holds a razor sharpness even after repeated use in battle," indeed.

Butt Head

What an ending. Strange and disconcerting. Unfortunate, to say the least.

Zizou left the championship match under a cloud of confusion, anger, and sadness. We still don't know what Materazzi did or said to provoke the likely Man of the Match (and eventual and odd winner of the Golden Ball award) to drive his head into the Italian's chest, knocking him off his feet and to the turf. But it must have been something terrible.

Regarldess, the Cup has come to an end, with the Italians the victors. That in itself is enough to make this a sad ending, but to see Zidane go off the field as he did, not able to return for the medals, not able to wave goodbye to his legions of fans, is a crying shame. It was stupid for him to do what he did. Hopefully we'll find out what Materazzi said, because my hunch is that he acted shamefully. But still. Zidane should have risen above it and ended his career with the nobility it deserved.

Hey, isn't there a bike race going on?

Montany

It's tough to describe how wonderful our 4th of July weekend was. We spent it in the mountains around Livingston, Montana, at the cabin of John Works, boyfriend of our Austin friend Kimberly. The entire weekend--the fishing, the eating, the drinking, the boating, the hours of sitting and reading and staring at a view up the valley that warranted charging by the hour--was beyond any of our wildest expectations.

It was great to see Kimberly and John and to be able to hang out with them in such a relaxing, striking setting. We were up in the area of the West Boulder River, or one of the West Boulder forks or drainages, in the Absaroka Mountains just north of Yellowstone. We spent our days on or by or in the river, whether the West Boulder across the road from the cabin, or the same waterway further down where it widened out and rushed white over the rocks, or way further up, above a beautiful meadow and a set of waterfalls, in a stretch of pools that seem out of a fisherman's dream.

And we fished, too. I can see why people get into this flyfishing thing. I was lucky enough for my first experience to be in this setting with a guide and tutor as capable as John. He was insanely patient, giving up the good spots to both Kimberly and I, walking the banks and the water with me to point out the good spots, to teach me to read the water and to know where the fish tend to be, to know how to work my way through a stretch of water to catch fish.



The movements of casting, the silent flow of it all, combined with spending the day hip deep in a gorgeous river focusing insistently on the water and this looping line proved too much for my defenses. I fear I have yet another addiction. Time will tell, but John has seeded the cloud, as it were, handing over a gorgeous deep green fly rod, handmade in Fort Worth, TX, along with a very nice reel and a silver metal rod case. A business proposition, he called it, giving me the gear in exchange for my showing him the good spots when he comes to Idaho.



There was no refusing. A magnificent gesture.

So, besides the fishing and the hiking to fish and the constant play of the dogs in the water and the fields and the great meals full of wine and talk and relaxing...


...we attended a 4th of July picnic among other residents of the valley that made it truly feel like the 4th. I had a hot dog and a hamburger, plenty of beer, and then sat and listened to a couple of the folks pick out traditional tunes on guitars and sing. We joined in when we could. It was so America, so nice an experience.



All in all a wonderful trip. Relaxing and energizing. Sad to leave, excited to fish. On with the summer!

4th of July Weekend in Montana

This holiday weekend, Cathy and I are headed to Montana. We'll be staying with our friends Kimberly and John, the latter of whom has a cabin outside of Livingston. Livingston is a small town on the edge of the Absaroka range, on the northern border of Yellowstone NP.

We're excited for many reasons.

Obviously, it's beautiful there. They're situated right on the Yellowstone River, and both are avid fly fishermen. Fisherpersons. So this weekend I get to learn to flyfish in one of the most beautiful flyfishing settings this country affords.

Lucky as hell.

We'll also do some floating and paddling of the river in raft and ducky. The dogs get to come along, so we'll see if they're river worthy or not. (Likely not.)

La Copa

Also, as the quarterfinals and semifinals of the World Cup take place while we're en route, we've planned well. We'll get to follow the Germany/Argentina in the morning, and we're not sure if we'll stay here in town long enough to catch Italy/Ukraine. Probably. We've got a 9+ hour drive ahead of us, but we've decided to stop for Friday night in Bozeman. That way, we can catch England/Portugal in the morning on hotel ESPN before we take off for the final leg into Livingston. There's a small chance we can coerce our hosts into town for that afternoon's Brazil/France matchup, but that remains to be seen. So, we'll get there a little late, but it'll be worth it.

Done and Gone

We out.

There's lots of chatter and criticism about the US performance in the World Cup, some of it justified, some of it not. Everyone's an expert, as a quick perusal of the 'Fan Chat' function of the FIFA website will tell you. But, as ever, the chatter don't mean squat.

At times, the US side played well. At times, dismally. At the bottom of it all, we had a solid team, a mostly solid coach, and a pretty questionable strategy. In the end, it was this overall solidity, or adequateness, if you like, that did it. Solid is good, but without something extra tacked on (see MJ and any Bulls team he played on, or the Ghana side in their match against the Czechs in this tournament), solid doesn't get you far against the best in the world.

The team that wins La Copa will not only have this solidity, they will have greatness as well. The US lacks greatness, so it makes sense that we are going home when we are.

Really, the unfortunate thing for my own experience of this World Cup is the change in the way Ghana played. They seem to have adapted to the Euro tactics all too well, as evidenced by the number of casualties littering the pitch at any point in the second half yesterday. Dudes were flopping so often and for so long that I'd bet even the Italian squad would have been a bit perturbed at it. You'd have thought the US were playing with brass knuckles and spikey shoes. It was ridiculous, and an aspect of this team that hadn't yet reared its ugly head.

At the start of the match, I had it in my head that if we lost, Ghana would be my team, the one I'd hope to cheer through the championship. So much for that.

Though the US-Ghana match leaves many question marks, as the penalty Ghana scored the go-ahead on was most definitely not a penalty, none of them would have likely changed anything going forward for the US. We needed more than just a single goal, as a win was all to keep us alive. And frankly, penalty or not, I don't think we had them in us.

What this match does change is the perception of the Ghana side. They are not beyond the European ritual of histrionic displays of false agony. They do it, and they do it well, and that's most unfortunate. Welcome to the world stage.

So, what? C'mon Brazil? Let's go Argentina? Where's the fun in that?

Perhaps Portugal, though the whispers of primadonnatude are worrisome.

I guess I'll have to hold my allegiance until further notice and until then just hope for quality matches. And whoever foregoes the flops will get my vote.

Still Alive

Bloodied and exhausted, the US team put on a stellar performance to tie Italy and keep hope of advancing alive. The odds are against us, but then, in soccer, aren't they always?

As if playing the Azzuri weren't enough to handle, the US men had to fend off a card-happy fleet of officials in Saturday's match. Shortly after half, the US found themselves playing Italy 9 against 10, a sure mismatch.

But they rose to the occasion. McBride returned from a disgustingly flagrant elbow to the face by Italian shithead DeRossi to play a strong second half. Grit, plain and simple, kept us in this game.

This was a US team that did not show up to play the Czechs last week. They passed beautifully, they were aggressive, and they took no shit. The Italians didn't know what to do, as evinced by their inability to put the game away.

Keeper Keller had a big day too, stopping a couple very tough shots as time wound down. He showed us why he's one of the best in the world.

Thursday we've got Ghana, which to my mind could be tougher than either match we've yet played. If we win and Italy loses, we're in. A couple other scenarios can keep us alive as well.

GO USA.

In the Spirit, but Stomped

It's a coincidence that the World Cup has come at the exact same time as my foray back into the world of soccer, but it sure does make it more enjoyable.

Last night I played in my first matches since a short-lived intramural stint at EIU back in 1990. Needless to say, the body feels it. My knees, my ankles, my right hip, and every single tiny bone in both my feet ache. And it's wonderful.

I grew up playing this game, from when I was about 5 until I graduated from high school. I loved it, and then I just stopped playing and paying attention. Now, of course, I wish I'd have stuck with it.

But better late than never. So, I'm back to it. I'm playing with a team made up largely of co-workers, but we've recruited some friends to play with us as well. We're not so good, but just by the end of the second match yesterday (yes, I returned from about 15 years off to start with a double header!) we were definitely doing better. If only we could practice.

So, yesterday we lost both matches. But really, we did fairly well. We were starting to pass more, to maintain possession, and to put shots on goal. Our lack of subs hurts us, but hopefully the ranks will swell.

More to come on this for sure.

US Side Gets Gut-Czech

Czech Republic: 3
USA: 0

Well, we knew this would be a tough match, but who knew we just wouldn't show up? There were no bright spots that I could see, nothing to take to the Italy matchup this weekend. Except for this: We've burned our loss, now we need a tie and a win to stay alive. Play well or go home from here on out.

Levi Takes Dauphine!

Our man Levi Leipheimer has taken the Dauphine-Libere race! This is a week-long stage race in France that is a traditional lead-up to the Tour de France. It's a proving ground, a testing race that tells riders how their form is going into the Tour. Levi's form seems to indicate he's right on.

He performed well in the time trials and tore everyone's legs off in the mountains--everyone except for Iban Mayo, that is, who got a win of his own to signal a possible return to form for the Basque.

Leipheimer, who hails from Montana, has been working his ass off for this year's tour and I'm hopeful that he's got himself into position for good things there.

WORLD CUP

The US team has its first match today, against 2nd seeded Czech Republic. Should be a great start.

We'll be watching at Parill Grill, 10am to noon on Monday.

Trail Work

Saturday was the first day of trail work for the year. National Trails Day. The good news is I put the IF on the Stack Rock trail system for the first time. Man it felt good to get up there--pine tree canopy, skinny trail littered with the refuse of the winter, flowers pushing through the floor to grab at the sun. It was beautiful as I'd expected it to be, and it felt great to be up there.

The bad news is that the actual trail work felt like a total waste. Not total--me and Will and Leo Hennessey did some good work on water diversion on a nice fast downhill that was seeing some serious erosion. And we cleared some brush that needed clearing.

But then we started in on Chris Cook's projects. We rerouted a trail that did not need rerouting. And we built a new trail that, while fun for about a dozen people who will ride it, is nothing but a circus attraction when it comes down to it. A big long stunt trail with nasty rock drops and a long long log ride. Cool stuff, nice freeride options, and a total waste of the time and energy of the people who showed up for legitimate trail work. I feel we were taken advantage of.

When I left this work site, at long last, and went for a ride on trail we hadn't visited, I found loads of logs down and blocking the trial, rerouting traffic around them and damaging the trail. I found lots of brush that was getting so overgrown it was rerouting traffic and damaging the trail. Banks along Sinker Creek were caving in under the weight of down trees, trail junctions and turnoffs were nearly invisible due to overgrowth and down trees, and there was just a lot of cleaning up to do.

With the manpower we had up there, we could have done all the little stuff and a good deal of the big stuff. But, instead, we cleared the first mile or so and spent the rest of the day dicking around on freeride bullshit. This is a good example of why Cook's tenure as SWIMBA president has to end. He works hard and means well, but his efforts are almost totally misguided and, in the end, counterproductive. Hopefully this month's elections will get this organization back on track.

Meantime, at least Stack Rock season has begun again.