Off_White

Thanks for the link, that was a great in-depth article.

I've kept it in my heart for over twenty fucking years And all that time washing away With the stench of my spilt tears I've lingered on the amorous Transformed into something hideous With the love of life felt to new extents And reaching new heights of ugliness The Stooge Stool pigeon of idiots King of jesters, pawn of comediennes A pillar that supports my own demise Believing all that’s seen Through my vacant eyes I'm rewriting paragraphs In my life that don't read well Once opposed to editing my regrets I've grown sick of this denial Tempted every hour By the benefits of being a liar Turning my back at what's at hand And writing stupid verse to make it all seem grand Some say there's something to strife That serves those grieving spineless artists Transforms shit into a masterpiece And makes their vain attempt at pain So fucking romantic And I'm certain that someday my time will come I'll crash and burn like everyone I'm certain that someday my time will come I'll crash and burn Like everyone The Stooge by the Swingin' Utters.

I've got a pair of Sportiva Trangos (Is that the Trango Lambone is talking about?) and they're a great cascade boot, very light (a little over 3 pounds), but good for crampons, nice block of solid rubber in the edging sweet spot. Sierra Trading Post has them on sale for $157.00 (I think they've been discontinued) Here's a link: Sierra Trading Post: Trango Boots There's also an identical model called the Baltoro that's about 10 bucks cheaper and come with leather uppers rather than Nubuck. Means they are tan instead of euro-stylee light green.

You're right Z, I hate it when folks engage in racial profiling. Just because its usually an angry white guy who goes postal is no reason to assume that's what it always is.

Gack! You're making me doubt my liberal credentials! I managed to scan that site without a twitch of guilt or sympathy.

If you screw up, isn't it even faster than skiing? Not such a great outcome.... I know, granted, you can go faster on skis than sliding on any part of your body, but most of those steep types seem to do a lot of hopping and turning as compared to making a frightful mach two beeline.

When the season really gets going, they gate things at the Crystal turnoff (when Cayuse Pass is closed). Its probably still too early to be paranoid about avalanches on the Chinook road, but parts of that thing are worth worrying about.

PP, you might try sending him a PM, I don't know how much he frequents this forum. I agree that Lowell has a delightful grasp of history and good way with words, I've enjoyed his input to this board.

Greg Said: Damn, I was under the impression you relished that stuff just like a pig loves mud! Yeah, its mostly a waste of time since you won't often change anyone's mind, but it does push you to sharpen your own reasoning, and the other day you did make me reconsider my position, though since I can't recall what it was, it can't have been all that deep. Anyway, I like reading your input on the political jive.

I hear ya buddy, that kind of shit tends to take all the charm out of happy-go-lucky drinking.

Arm in yak? What are you now, some kind of Tibetan veterinarian?

Sisu, did you perform all this whilst dangling from a hand jam on one of the ski tracks? What a hoot!

Well, ya'll have drifted quite nicely, but I'm gonna be a bonehead and post on the original topic. I actually think the whole freighter thing was rather masterful. I'm sure it was some US intelligence agency that had an idea of what was on board. Getting the Spanish to do the initial stop and search was brilliant, not a usual suspect or major US policy booster, they added a distinct multilateral flavor to the operation. Sounds like the search was fully legal under international law, given the ship was unflagged and had obscured its name. Selling arms is not in fact illegal, even if you are North Korea, unless you're selling to Iraq (whom I believe is interdicted via UN resolution), so they let the freighter go. This suggests that the US will play by the rules and respect international law, which is a welcome reassurance to many. Yemen is forced to admit publicly that they're breaking promises, and I'll wager the public relations bit was what the actual point of the whole exercise was. We manage to do the whole thing while retaining Yemen as a semi-ally. Maybe it just lucked out that way, but it makes me more comfortable to think that someone had a plan with this as the outcome. The whole issue of arms sales though is a different kettle of fish. Its a big piece of world economy, and the US has a large slice of that pie, which is in the interests of our defense contractors but not necessarily our national security. I'd like to see that examined by the world at large (as compared to just our little fishbowl), and this hubub just might be the starting point.

Did you write that Trask? Reads just like Dave Barry but a tad more colorful than he publishes in the papers.

Now that's a fine rant indeed. Did it help?

Yeah, I like my weather a little over the top too, but that one did result in a seven day power outage for me, and after a couple days all that charm goes out of that experience.

I think she prefers the term "tushy"

I always thought a "gob" was a wad of phlegm and mucous expelled from the mouth, as in the old punk custom of "gobbing" or spitting on the band.

Well, I got my first deer. Good size four point buck. But dammit GregW, you're going to have to teach me to shoot, cuz its just too damned expensive using my Vanagon.

Where's Mojo Nixon touring these days? Does he still call his back up band The Toad Liquors?

Awww man, next thing you know Trask is gonna be on with the Lube Report.

Since you are the numerical posting king, I'd say your inner introvert is a little conflicted.

New on the bestseller list SISU: the sequel to Sybil Naw, just joking. Your friends and family would let you know if you had some personality disorder, not some self administered test you might find in Vanity Fair. Its essentially just a fun parlor game. It does seem like a certain percentage of psychologists/psychiatrists/therapists are good candidates to be patients. I've always assumed that its the same sort thing like firebugs becoming firemen, and we've all encountered cops who didn't take that job because they wanted to be public servants. How many marriage counselors are divorced? I was just at a conference that had several failed contractors giving talks on how to run your business.

Slab: Like you, when I saw the subject I assumed it was addressed to Mitch, aka Retrosaurus. After I read the post, I came to the conlusion it referred to retro-bolting, and its merely circumstance that the activity and the person are syntactically related. Thats not to say it isn't at least partly a troll, since this is a hot button topic around here. There's no denying the route would be more popular with a thought-free well protected crux, but the route would also mean more as an accomplishment to the leader without the bolt. If it were my route, I'd be inclined to leave it as is and make sure the guide notes the need for sliders (which aren't standard on many people's racks around here). If I had rapped, cleaned, and top-roped the route before leading it, I'd make sure a couple people with the appropriate experience led it as an onsight before I assigned the grade: familiarity can make a huge difference.

You'd have to file me in the ENTJ column too.