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.

Summer Already

It's in the 90s here in Boise, and it's been that way all week. This weekend will dip back toward normal and into the 80s, which will be much better. All this means that summer has hit our doorsteps with all the force of the Sunday Times.

It's good. Winter has ended with a bang. Last weekend I spent all day Saturday riding the IF in the Danskin Mountains, a tough and vertical trail system mainly used by dirt bikes and ATVs. It was fun and challenging and just damned hard. When 4.5 hours on the trail yield you about 18 miles of terrain covered you know it's either tough going or you're taking too many breaks. We did both, but mostly it was tough going.

On Sunday the wife and I floated the Snake River through the Birds of Prey area. The water was moving at a good clip, though about 3000cfs less than the previous evening. Still, the whole 10-miler took us about 2.5 hours. Saw a mess of falcons along with a handful of hawks and a load of turkey vultures and a good number of waterfowl. Very sunny and hot but the up-river breeze kept us pretty cool.

Change in seasons usually means a change in hours and habits for me, and unfortunately the blogging has suffered. I'm re-engaging once again, though, and will be more regular with this. Again.

Happy Spring.

Round 3

And just when you think you're out of the woods, that the dark and gloomy canopy crowding out the sun of total recovery is behind you, there it is--another goddam forest.

Tony Pozeck is currently at St. Alphonsus hospital here in Boise getting prepped for what will be his third surgical procedure. Over the last week and a half he's been dealing with swelling in his head that his docs attributed to accumulation of cerebral spinal fluid. The solution? Wrap it tighter and keep at least a 30 degree angle at all times. When these conservative measures didn't help, he went back to the hospital and they determined he had an infection.

Infection at a surgical site is never anything to be scoffed at. Infection at a surgical site following brain surgery--nevermind multiple brain surgeries--is worrisome. We're worried. Tony's strong like bull, but now he's contending with some nasty invasive shit, and he'll need all the help and discipline he can get to sail through this one.

Tony's at St. Al's in Boise, room 660. If you read this, give a call and see how he is. Or send flowers. Or a postcard. He's been a trooper and a rock so far. We saw him last night and he had a few visitors, so his spirits were up, though it was not difficult to tell that this shit is starting to get to him.

Here's to a successful surgery and a quick and FULL recovery. It's time.

Weird Music

This weekend marks the first annual Boise Experimental Music Festival. It's being put on mostly by local mad scientist Krispen Hartung, and RadioBoise is one of the sponsors.

The lineup is pretty interesting, and though I don't know jack about most of them, I'm looking forward to finding out. Hell, just the fact that something like this is going on here in so-NOT-experimental Boise, ID, has me pretty damned excited.

One performance of note will be Art Hodge. Art's a guy I've met through the radio project. He played a big part in helping the webcast get up and running and in helping some of us figure out the finer points of the technology side of webcasting. He gave me a tutorial on ProTools, too. He's got a show called Break Me Off Some, all breakbeats, and also, he's one of the four rotating hosts of the JazzJoint show that I put together for RadioBoise (which runs Wednesdays from 11 to 1, mountain time). I knew the dude knew music, but I had no idea how deeply. Check out his site: http://www.arthodge.com/ His creds are pretty amazing. He produced fucking Santana and got a grammy for it? And he lives in Boise?! Weird. I'm looking forward to what he puts together for the stage.

We'll be webcasting the whole thing, so check it out here. Tonight, Friday 4/28, 7 to 10p MT, and Saturday 4/29, noon to 10 MT.

HORNER!!!

This one's got to be soooo sweet.



In year 2 of his return trip to European road racing, Chris Horner of Bend, OR, has come up with a big one. He won stage 2 of the Tour de Romandie, and I can't think of anyone who deserves it more or who I'd rather have seen win. He gets the V, he gets the yellow jersey. Beautiful.

Back to Spring

The Yellowstone bike trip is now in the history books, and that, along with the sunny blue skies and blustery winds that have settled onto Boise, means that it is indeed springtime. Sure, there was frost all over the city this morning, and the ride in this morning was colder than it's been in weeks, but still. It's spring, and you can't tell me any different.

Riding in Yellowstone was fantastic as ever. Little chilly, little rain, little snow, little sunshine, and lots and lots of buffalo. On day 1 we made it to the Norris Geyser overlook, about a 60-miler round trip with backtracking. Great ride. Our man AP was able to ride about a half hour in and back, which, coming off what he's come off of, is no mean feat. Nice to see him on the bike again--and it'll be even nicer having him ride along for the long haul. (So start logging them miles, boyo.)

Sunday, which was meant to be ski day, was ride day #2. Too warm and too much rain for skiing. So, we made it a bit shorter and faster of a deal, and I made it out to the 2nd junction before turning around and beating it back for the gate. Nice to spring off on my own, iPod engaged, and really open it up. Felt great. On the way back in Tim and I heard an eagle's screeching, over and over, but couldn't see it--until it flew directly overhead and then perched in a tree about 30 meters away from us. Amazing.

Oh, and we heard wolves, too. First day out, within a mile of the park gate, rolling slowly, we heard a good half-dozen of them howling and howling. First time I've ever heard this, and what a sound it is. Unmistakable, and unforgettable.

So, today I've got the mountain bike at work. Out the window the sun is shining, and the flags are fluttering in the spring breeze. It'll be 50s today, and 70 by Friday. No rain in sight.

Yep, it's springtime. Welcome back.

Jellystone

Well, it's that time again. The annual cycling trip to Yellowstone starts this afternoon. This means spring is truly on the way.

The weather's looking like it did last year--chilly, windy, and some chance of rain or snow. But the roads are clear, the room is booked, the beer is chilling, and my butt is ready for some long miles on the Pinarello.

Let's hope the bison are feeling agreeable.

So exciting.

Tapes n Tapes

I know, me and everybody else, right? Or maybe not.

I caught this band down in Austin during the big SXSW, and they hit and sped right on past my high expectations. Why high? First time I heard them, echoes of Pavement, probably my fave band in the whole wide world okay, bounced throughout my head. That doesn't happen.

This is no Pavement ripoff. That would blow. This is a new band, a young and hungry band from Minneapolis-eh, making killer indie rock with its own voice, separate from the shiteload of Britpop stuff and retro rocking knockoffs cramming up the Bitchfork archives. If you have yet to hear this record, please do. Or first, go to the official website and have a listen. There are 3 tracks available, and if any one of them doesn't sell you, forget it. You're dead. Or deaf. Or, I guess, maybe you just don't like this band. Which would be weird.

Anyway. Diggity.