Off_White

Goggles takes it, and I believe Ryland was first.

quote: Originally posted by mikeadam: No, I'm not *stirring the pot for my amusement*. Its a reasonable question given past posts of yours in which you've fessed up to doing just that, and I thought your post had a whiff of Eau de Troll around it.

You took those Dru? Great shots, I've seen weasels (martens maybe? I dunno, in that family) a couple times in the mountains but have never been that close (even assuming you were using a telephoto). They are awesome little predators.

We're not discussing what other countries are doing or saying Mike, we're talking about this one. You might believe that the curtailment of freedom and liberty is justified by the need to protect said privleges, or you might just be stirring the pot for your own amusmement, but either way you are wrong. This situation reminds me of the scene in the Mel Brooks' movie "Blazing Saddles" where the black sheriff, when beset by the townpeople, throws his own arm around his neck, pulls his revolver, points it at his own head, and bellows out to the crowd: "Everybody back or the * gets it." Fairweather, I appreciate your post. The question is do we trust government with this much power, and I know I'd be no more comfortable with it in the hands of my "side" than yours, and it would alarm me just as much if Al Gore was at the helm right now as George Walker Bush.

Its not exactly on topic, but hey, this is spray, and I couldn't see starting yet another thread just for this little joke courtesy of Mad Magazine

I think Rick's rant puts a name to some of my anxiety, and I'd agree that its a non-partisan issue. Even if you're a die-hard Bush supporter, those same tools pass to the next idiot to occupy that office, and you might not think of them as your friend. Its of equal concern to right wing gun owners, libertarian free marketeers, disenfranchised lefties, paranoid black helicopter conspiracy theorists, and though they might not be aware of it, that great doughy mass in the middle too.

I don't think so, I think Scottish Wanker was likely a brief visitation from Dennis Harmon. Regardless though, I gotta say I vote with Toast, though I'd phrase it as "puerile childish fantasy." I found it about as clever as the sex jokes told in boy scouts.

quote: Originally posted by North by Northwest: [QBIf you're trolling, like you did in your Scottish vs. U.S. climbers thread, and just trying to start a liberal/conservative war, fuck you anyway cause I'm neither.[/QB] I believe that was Scottish Wanker's thread, not Scotch-a-go-go.

1) NE Buttress on Dragontail swinging leads with my son Ben (in his first season leading) in a minor epic. 2) Five days in five areas this October around Bishop (CA) with old buddies. 3) Having a regular partner at home (the aforementioned Ben) and getting out cragging as often as 4 times in 3 days. 4) Rediscovering my love affair with Darrington. 5) Getting to put some faces to names at the Rope-Up, making friends, and doing a little climbing to boot. Disappointments: Well, aside from the old "never enough" woes and not getting to lead a route after I bolted it, life's pretty damn good.

Gawd Trask, lets get your "real" moniker up and running so you can drop this sycophantic "pretty please I wanna be in your posse" nom de plume. Do you honestly belive Clinton was the worst president ever? You listen to too much talk radio. How about Gerald Ford (with Henry Kissinger) who gave the green light to Suharto to invade the newly independent East Timor and kill 500,000 civilians. At least he didn't lie about getting blow jobs.

TimL said: "Alpine climbing seems to be so the "in" thing on this funny site. And its not that I almost always prefer climbing in the mountains to climbing at the crags, but I think crag pitches should be included. Even bolted crag pitches. I would by far consider some of the harder Index pitches to be hardman test pieces. I would also think that some of the hard bolted pitches at Smith to be hard man routes" I think that if you want to be quintessential NW hardman, you have to think in terms of Alpine. Face it, the cragging here just doesn't rate in terms of the big picture. Would you drive 3000 miles to climb at Index? Me either. Don't get me wrong, I think there is good cragging here, but its not the major component of the vision of NW Climbing, If you're after recognition as a hard sport climber, you go elsewhere to make a name for yourself. Come to think of it, if you're after recognition as an alpine climber, you go elsewhere too. Its not as if Jim Donini made his name on the basis of his regional ascents. Perhaps the quintessential NW hardman is content with obscurity, hence the indifference to the nomenclature. Tex, reading your latest post, you're there already, looking for the next adventure just a little beyond what you can see. DBerdinka's list sure resembles my personal wish list. [ 11-19-2002, 08:43 PM: Message edited by: Off White ]

DFA, I think it does have to be an alpine route. Smith does have some seriously hard sport stuff, but its not quintessential NW, which historically speaking must involve more fear and suffering. Some of the suggested unrepeated routes might meet the requirements, but I almost think the measure is one of volume rather than difficulty. Technical routes, sure, but lots of them over time. Repeating NF of Inspiration might make you a one hit wonder, but it wouldn't put you at the same level as Beckey, Doorish, or those darn Skoogs. I think its a certain boneheaded insistence in the face of all the obstacles the mountains of the NW have to offer. One things for sure though, if you care about about being a NW hardman, you're probably automatically disqualified.

Originally posted by Poseur: How about this though - require corporations to pay ALL taxes, and indivudals don't have to so we can avoid double taxation? Well, yeah Poseur, that makes sense, I get taxed on my income, then I give it to corporations via retail purchases, and it gets taxed several more times. What a racket! Tax the power, not the people.

Captions would be nice for the climbing shots. I don't know Index very well, which route is this? Great shot.

Nice photos Mike. Jordop, you seem to be playing out in left field today. What exactly was it in that post that got you so stirred?

quote: Originally posted by trask: [QB#3 Now I vote so I can bitch. [/QB] Exactly! If you didn't vote in the last election, you can't bitch about anything the government does, you have to give back your American flags, and you have to have "JERK" tattooed on your forehead. Whaddya say we suggest it to Tim Eyeman for his next initiative? Its at least as constitutional as most of what he floats out there...

This is not what you're looking for, but I noticed a good deal and thought I'd throw it out here. As a 3 season Cascade leather boot I have a pair of Sportiva Trango's, lightweight stiff leather single boots. Of course, the most charming thing about them is that they fit my foot, but I've been most pleased. They have a solid block of rubber in the edging sweet spot, but not quite enough lip on the front for a set of clip on crampons. The deal is that they were discontinued, and Sierra Trading Post has them for cheap. Last time I looked at a catalog they had a number of decent climbing items, including straight shaft Black Prophets & some other seasonal goodies.

that was fun, thanks for sharing.

You got that right Beck, only you don't go far enough. Its clearly a part of the Republican's secret agenda to make the entire country safe for snowmobiles. A pasty pudgy wheezing vibrating populace will think mechanized snow travel is the only way to fly, assuming the manufacturers can make a cup holder for those things that will actually work.

quote: Originally posted by philfort:

Well, for old time's sake, what about Solo? The bit with the frog is so cute,

The cartoon is actually apropos of nothing, I just thought it was funny and needed a political thread to drop it into. The snowmobile piece ties into lots of other discussions around here too. I know Rob, the truth is much more complex than stereotypes, neither left nor right is really monolithic, and the choice is not just heartless land raper or fuzzy thinking hippy. But where's the joke in that?

I remember watching Cliffhanger in the theater, and you could identify the other climbers in the audience as the ones who laughed out loud at seemingly inappropriate moments. Gea Phipps' screamer was pretty good and she tells a pretty good story about it, she's a former Greener as is Brooke Sandahl who's made some good bank rigging on these flicks. I seem to recall Black Diamond wasn't very happy about the buckle failure on the harness that resulted in that opening scene big whipper, the filmmakers had to make one out of lead to get it to deform and shred like that. Vertical Limit took the suspension of disbelief even one step further. Pity they waxed the drunken Australians, they were my favorite part, aside from the Prestone Anti-Freeze as nitro, or the explosive crevasse rescue, or any of the creative bits that would make Sir Isaac Newton howl with laughter. Its been a long time, but I recall Eiger Sanction has a few of those too, from the "leading" scene with the clear top rope, to the grim belay on the Eiger, as Clint is struggling to hold his fallen follower, and the single pin belay quivers, and the hand reaches out, to help? to kill? no, to grab Clint's collar as the pin pulls, but no fear, one guy with a steady grip is better than a belay any day. Based on a Trevanian novel, at least this one had good source material. What about The Mountain, oldie with Spencer Tracy and a young Robert Wagner engaged in a rescue attempt at a plane crash? Spencer wants to help the survivor (the girl, of course) but Robert just wants to loot the wreckage. Guess who doesn't make it back down? Seeing all those errors in climbing movies has made me wonder at the egregious violations ther must be in movies around other disciplines about which I know nothing. I've had a friend who's a potter confirm some in her field. You gun aficianados out there must have an endless roster..

Am I out of the loop? I'd thought vol. one was already out as a 3rd edition awhile back. 1st edition was the dark brown pebble cover, 2nd was the beige pebble cover, and 3rd was a slick dark brown with the goofy Beckey-with-flowers photo on the back. Maybe it was brand new when I saw it (5 weeks ago I think) and I failed to grasp the recent vintage. I only casually glanced at it, and noticed that the NE Buttress of Dragontail had a much better picture, but the line drawn was still in error. Somewhere on the back burner I have a TR from this summer simmering which needs a little more research on other lines on the buttress and some more doctoring of photos with the circles and arrows on the front and the paragraph on the back to be used as evidence against us.