Thinker

I'll plug the Hen again.....so to speak. It's like Halloween there every night of the year. Hats, boots, and matching belts. It's almost like stepping out of Seattle and into a little bar in Wyoming when you walk in the door.

Man Thought He Was Running Over Bin Laden Wed Mar 17,10:15 AM ET MONTPELLIER, France - A French artist allegedly traumatized by last week's Spain bombings was convicted of trying to run over a pedestrian he mistook for Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and ordered to pay the man $615. The 35-year-old defendant, identified as Pierre, was sentenced Tuesday by a court in this southern France city to a three-month suspended prison term. The man he tried to run over was unharmed. Pierre's lawyer, David Mendel, said his client was the "victim of a hallucination" while driving Monday through Montpellier's historic center. The victim, a man in his 30s, was able to run from the oncoming car, which crashed along the side of a street. "If it was (bin Laden), we would have won $5 million," Mendel said, referring to a reward.

A friend of mine in Idaho packs goats. http://www.srv.net/~goatz/packgoat.html They sure are cute little things when they're young.... http://www.srv.net/~goatz/allfive2.jpeg

my 2 cents would be to live somewhere where it's easier to escape to Squamish rather than harder, i.e. north over south.

I find it ironic (and tragic) that many politically moderate Arab and/or Muslim nations are being targeted by Islamic extremists. Maybe we can learn a few lessons about how to deal with the problem by watching Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, and to a much smaller extent Spain, deal with these issues. And speaking of Spain, Spain was once THE model of tolerance. From roughly 723 to 1200, Moslems, Christians, and Jews lived in relative peace. As 'Children of the Book' Christians and Jews were largely protected under the moderate Moslem government. Though there were outbreaks of intolerance, esp in the later years, the system worked very well. In general, the Christians kept to themselves and degenerated into a very financially poor community, while the Jews integrated into society, held political office, and developed a rich heritage in Spain. Art, architecture, literature, and science flourished in that time period. Numerous Europeon 'scholars' went to the vast libraries in Spain and 'discovered' many astounding scientific facts, which they translated into their vernacular languages and published as their own discoveries. It wansn't until religiously radical Moroccan mercenaries were brought in to fight the northern Christian armies (and subsequently decided to stay) that the overall political climate started to become more radical in Spain...and finally the Islamic government suppressed both the christian and Jewish communities. Most people are only familiar with the ultimate outcome when the 'Moors' were driven out of Spain by the invading Europeon/Christian armies.

I fully expected to see a 'take THAT, you whiners' message from Jon when and if the site came back up.

I thought it was the IT guys here at work messing with me...

you have not been paying attention. i have been saying since my first post in this thread that terror has its roots in despair. stop predatorial policies enforced by the most powerful army/economy in the world and it'll take care of itself. I disagree. There will always be somebody or some group who is dissatisifed with the prevailing government, no matter how unbalanced their view may be. It's not always despair that drives these things, many times it's ego or pride, and stopping predatorial polices won't have any effect on these people. For instance, I don't really know much about the Basque separatist movement, but it seems that they really don't have much to complain about except that they don't want to be part of Spain. Domestic US terrorists typically don't like the federal government, but is anyone really being predatorial with them? To the contrary, their personal rights are probably the best protected in the world. There are many other examples.

I may have made 3 or 4 posts there, but mainly just lurked.

I was actually quite afraid to open this thread entitled "Spray Movement". I figured someone had posted a ratemypoo.com photo of the day here. I was pleasantly surprised..... I don't care WHERE the spray is, but I do think it's part of the character here.

I'm actually surprised that none of the big guns from rec.climbing haven't shown up here, or at least we haven't made the connection yet. Lord Slime and Mad Dog....where are you? Mike Garrison would give CBS a run for his money on some of the geeky science stuff....(said affectionately, as I count Mike as a friend.)

I posted this on last week's thread too, by mistake...damn. Hey, great job on getting this decided a few days beforehand! I think it can only serve to increase the number of people who show and the fun quotient. As I've stated before, when the destination is decided on Tuesday at 4 it essentially limits attendance to people who have internet access on Tuesdays at 4 to 6pm....which may eliminate some of the most colorful people reading the board. See you there! Squid, are you showing? btw, Squid's idea for The Little Red Hen in Greenlake would be an absolute hoot to have a pub club at. They have country dance lessons on Tuesday nights for and hour or so before the band starts (no cover on Tuesdays)...it would be some cheap entertainment to watch...or to participate in. Plenty of room, pool tables, a bit smoky, but I've never had the food there. http://littleredhen.com/pages/cal.htm

But if you do this, and get caught crossing the border, you're up shit creek. no problem....pick up the cams on your way to Squish, get em all scratched up good, and the border guards won't even raise an eyebrow on your way back home. ....unless Scotty tips them off!

to Will and his continuum description....it set me to thinkin' again... For some odd reason, most people like to organize everything into opposiong categories...black and white, sprot vs trad, up vs down, good/bad, democrat/republican, christian/muslim, etc. Being able to recognize and accept that lines blur or simply don't exist opens your mind up to a more complete perspective on life. The classic example for me is a group of people sitting in a circle who are looking at the same object. Because of varying perspecive, lighting, individual backgrounds, moods, and coutless other parameters, each person will likely give a very different description of the object when asked. Who has the RIGHT description? Is someone elses wrong if it contains contradicting information? It's easy to see in this context, but sometimes much harder when we have an emotional or social stake in the issues being considered in our everyday lives. Peace out!

an old climbing partner of mine had an interesting theory. He opined that cops usually drive cars and usually screw with other people driving cars, and that the way to avoid 90% of the typical legal problems is simply not to drive. Of course this guy, himself, had a suspended license and walked all over town in huge leather Scarpa mountaineering boots. He had much more time to think of those esoteric connections than most of us did. It makes sense to me, though. It's much easier to walk home undetected thru the back streets after the bar closes than it is to drive home without problems.

how many of you cartridge stove users would buy and use a pressure gauge that would work on cartridges to tell you how much fuel was left in them? Ever seen the shame on a person's face when he realized that his 'new' cartridge died on a climb because he'd confused it with the one he'd used in the car campground the night before?

they weren't THAT tough to find... web page1 web page2

Bushwacker 1/4 oz. each of: White Creme de Cacao, Cream of coconut, Kahlua, 151 Rum, & Half & Half Hand swirl over ice, Strain into a small Rocks glass

A police officer once told me that the visible empty beer bottles locked in the back of my pickup topper gave him enough probable cause to search the cab of my pickup. Those beers were consumed many hours before at the end of a day of climbing at Falling Rock, SD. We thought we were being good sports by taking those few bottles with us instead of throwing them over the edge. Never again will I leave empties visible in my vehicle....anywhere. edit: oh yeah, he told me he pulled me over because I drifted toward the center line as we met each other on outskirts of BFE, SD. Mind you, I wasn't speeding, nor did I cross the center line....just "drifted" toward the center line. So in answer to your question, YES, they can pull you over even if you're doing absolutely nothing wrong because they can easily make something up or cite some obscure technicality.

they DID credit these folks, though.

Many years ago I was faced with a dilema....I realized that I didn't have what it takes to climb routes with ratings high enough to impress ANYBODY. I was crushed! After a couple of weeks of kicking things around and wondering why I'd even bothered to start climbing, I realized that I really liked the movement, the focus, the exposure, the comraderie, and the physics behind the gear. Who cares what the route is rated, I realized, as long as I'm having fun and pushing myself. Obviously, there are people with a different focus....they like to quantify their performances, spit hairs about what qualifies as what, and attempt to define the experience in quantifiable parameters. GREAT...enjoy your gig! Enjoy your chestbeating...and above all, enjoy your accomplishments. I, for one, am unashamed about my occasional 'french free' moves, clipping fixed gear or pitions, being thankful for bomber bolted anchors, and enjoying the good people I climb with. Yes, I prefer trad routes some days....probably MOST days. But let me go out on a limb here and say that the vast majority of climbers don't really CARE if somebody preplaces gear on a route they've probably rehearsed over and over on toprope...if that's their thing then let's applaud them and then get off the couch and go do something meaningful to US! Btw, Alasidair, I'm not sure I ever thanked you for insisting I tie into your rope and try that 5.11 something route at Vantage that I thrashed my way up a few years back. It's one of those memorable experiences that makes the climbing and friendships memorable. I didn't lead the route, I TOPROPED it, I hung on the rope, I rested, but I made all the moves eventually. Did I actually climb the route? (rhetorical question) Who knows? Who cares besides me? (more rhetorical questions) But the fact remains that I ENJOYED it...that's my real priority in climbing...and here's my vote in the poll..."who cares, as long as they're enjoying themselves"

CBS's alter ego:

Robert Fisk wished the war on Iraq a happy first birthday, too. http://www.robert-fisk.com/articles368.htm

'The leader must not fall'....gear is irrelevant.

reminds me of this