ScottP

Looks more like Frank Zappa, or the Zig Zag man.

El Capitan

Great for any season.

From the PoopReport...

I'm in the Edmonds SD. The district is rolling out the beginnings of the new system this year...mostly an intro to what is coming. I wish it was going to include district admins.

I am just about to start my 21st year teaching in the public school system. In that time I have had 5 different principals, and even more assistant principals. Without exception, it has been clear from the beginning that these admins primary goal was to further their careers, and improving the pedagogy in the building was secondary. As for the district level admins, they are politicians. They have no real accountability, other than "test scores" (which is about as bogus a measure of success as there is). Given that these scores are the default measure of the success or failure of a school's ability to provide a good education, teaching to the test is the focus of these admins, and many teachers who buy into the programs coming from the top. We are asked to focus our attention on those students who scored 2's on the test, in the hope that they can be moved up to 3's, which is passing. Those who score 1's aren't mentioned. In discussions with my last principal about how to support struggling students, he side-stepped the issue, finishing the conversation with, "They wouldn't pass the test anyway." As Jim said, reduce class sizes is a huge goal for improving student learning. On a daily basis, I can't help Saul, who has processing delays and still keep borderline-genius Kelsey fully engaged due to her ADHD, while making sure the 30 other students in the room get what they need to gain the skills, knowledge and understanding of what we are studying,in a 50-minute period. It's an untenable situation. Improving the lot of education in this country is a very complex issue, with many variables, but making those at the top as accountable as everyone seems to believe the teachers should be, and reducing the number of students in each class is where I'd start.

My kids used the Kindercones for two years for a total of about 7 nights late spring into fall. They were warm and comfortable every night they spent in them.

God admits humans are not His most impressive creation.

The remains of three climbers emerge from the ice in Switzerland. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2169731/British-climbers-remains-brothers-went-missing-1926-melting-Swiss-glaciers-secrets.html#comments

Killen Creek TH info in this post: http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7999250

When was it not?

It sure was for me.

That's funny because I have always thought that buckles seemed so sketchy compared to the old tie-a-knot system.

It's the former. I climbed with one of their prototypes for years that had the "dipshit webbign closure system" and it was really not a hassle once it became part of the routine. It's a really secure system that pretty much assures you won't fuck it up.

"...the 100 percent certainty that you will not fall off is what keeps you from ever falling off..." -Alex Honnold

Sea Bass.

D-Day Wrecks

Well, there was this little affair at a shopping mall in Maryland...

Would that be vertical, or linear, or both?

That was fun to watch. Thanks for sharing.

Sounds like a modern iteration of a Sterno cocktail, with a bread filter.

[video:youtube]

As does smoking toad venom.

[video:youtube]