Dr_Flash_Amazing

The Ethiopians would probably get your head bobbing. Most of their stuff is in the form of compilations, as they no doubt released a lot of singles or maybe their material was released on now-defunct record labels. Anyway, it's kinda old-school, a little ska and rocksteady in there, maybe reminiscent of Desmond Dekker on the earlier stuff, but they've got that good vocal harmonizin' going on like the groups you mentioned. And speaking of box sets in the previous post, there are a couple of Trojan Records box sets that could give you some more options. Trojan was, if DFA recalls correctly, one of the foundational Jamaican reggae labels. Mek fe dance, yes I.

Ah, the Chantico (or as DFA calls it, the Chicano)! Had one of them on Friday night, and couldn't quite finish it. That's six ounces of pure chocolate evil right there. Next experiment: Chantico with two shots of Espr'o in it for a super-concentrated mocha of near lethal jitter-inducing power. *glug* *eep!* *oi-iddy-oi-iddy-oi-iddy*

This is pretty funny, people expecting their injuries to heal in ten days or a couple weeks. Unless you're really lucky, no tendon twang or joint ouch is going to be healing in any unit of time less than months. Happy recovery!

Smith Rock was incredibly good on Saturday; probably on Sunday, too. Aside from the wind, it was one of the best days in recent Smith memory. Perfect temp'ature, not too sunny or too cloudy, lots of friends there but not too crowded, T___ brought along some insanely good rum, got on a 'tard--er, trad--route (on TR), ran into Jonah on the trail out whilst passing the bottle, killer dinner at Martina's on the way home. The only thing that would've made the weekend better is if we had stayed for Sunday, too. And maybe if there had been some sending. For those who stayed home, you totally missed out, and also thanks for keeping the crowds down.

There's certainly a lot to be said for the balanced muscle work. Lot of climbing injuries could be prevented that way.

What's this? You're short, fat, AND old, now?

Word up. Especially since about half of those exercises look suspiciously similar to going climbing. Also, falling into a pushup and springing back out of it looks like a good way to blow your shoulders, pecs, biceps, etc. out very quickly, not to mention it looks impossible.

Looks F-ing perfect. Might be a bit muggy, but those are primo temps. Go!

What is this crap -- slabs? In the gym? People, the gym is for getting in shape; no one is going to get strong by climbing slabs. The only thing the slabs at the PRG are good for is keeping the gumbuses and noobers corralled in their own corner of the gym, away from the lead walls. A good gym has nice textured, contoured panels (note to PRG: flat, geometric plywood angles went out with Snowbird ca '89 -- you blew it bigtime on that one!), of varying angles, from vert to fearsome overhang, although given our proximity to Smith, more just off vertical terrain would be choice. The longer the routes, the better; 50' lead walls would be good, with enough width to allow long traversing/link-up routes for maximum mileage. No old holds! All those crappy, first-generation EP shapes with the sharp edges and tendon-tweaking pockets? To Goodwill! How about some decent hardware, too? The PRG, again, blows it with ancient steel 'biners you can barely clip, and often get your finger stuck in when you're making desperate clips, and don't even get DFA started on Gary's old, retired straight-gates and manky lockers showing up on the lead wall. Show that you give a shit about your own facility, and that you take it seriously, because junk hardware is a joke, and makes your facility one, too! Cardio equipment -- kudos to the PRG on this front!

Good advice on cheap and comfy, but don't sacrifice the latter for the former, and watch out for convenience, too. For example, Dr. Flash Amazing's first harness was the Black Diamond Alpine Bod, which was a steal at ~$25, but was rather uncomfortable, being made of unpadded webbing. Likewise, the Doctor tried on a number of harnesses recently, and one of the more budget models had a horrendously small, sharp-edged buckle that was hard enough to thread and double-back in the shop, let alone with cold or raw fingers ... food for thought. If it seems mildly annoying in the shop, it'll be 10x as annoying for the longer haul, so shop around! Oh, yeah, and have fun!

Who clicks the shutter with their pinky, huh? You just grasp the camera and hold the pinky out in the air like you're a Mike Clelland diagram!

If Tommy Caldwell can send without an index finger, you can send without use of a pinky. Buck up, little camper ... or "crimper," as it were.

Hot Water Music The New What Next They're from Gainesville, FL. They release an album a year just about, and tour constantly. They rock the progressive post-hardcore shit, and continue to improve, refine, and experiment with every record. Buy. Listen. Love. Less Than Jake 'B' is for B-sides Also from Gainesville, FL. Rocking the punk rock with the ska music, but less skanky oi-boy ska and more like punk rock with a good horn section. This album is the B-sides from their last album, Anthem, and it is better than the album, as well as being the best thing LTJ has released in the past few years. Short, rocking, righteous. Get stoked and rock out. Yes. Oh, and Against Me!'s As the Eternal Cowboy, even though it's from '03. 'cause DFA just heard it in '04. Note that Against Me! are also from Gainesville, FL. Notice a theme, here? Good. They are part acoustic, part electrified, all punk rocking goodness, with short songs, varied styles, good harmonizing, good lyrics, good energy, and good song titles (e.g. Cliche Guevara). You buy it, you love it, you thank Dr. Flash Amazing later for being such a fucking brilliant music recommendator. Word to your moms. Oh, and one more thing, which is that Fugazi began this year to release live albums of something like 20 of their shows dating back to their first. While the good Doctor has not heard any of these yet, it is safe to say that this will be good stuff. Oh yeah, and go see the Ramones movie, End of the Century. A swell portrait of an influential group of incredibly socially dysfunctional people who are responsible for making some good punk rock noises. Salud!

Four LPs (Monk, Mingus, Common Rider, The Clash, and one unknown still in the mail) 4 CDs (Bill Frisell, Coltrane, Against Me!, The Clash) DVDs (Alias season 3, Against Me!) Socks (cotton, 6 pair) Caig Audio/Video Survival Kit 4 #2 Vibrapods Music Millennium gift certificate Money for books for school Money for the hell of it Barbecue tools Port (1 bottle of Graham's 6 Grapes, 1 of Quinto do Noval Raven) Set of bar clamps 2 Metolius SuperChalk chalk balls 3 boxes of Mexican chocolate 2 boxes of shortbread Various chocolates, widgets, and knick-knacks That's about it.

Puge', All the reviews DFA has read about SACD indicate that it is far superior to CD, although SACD titles are somewhat limited and possibly more expensive. On the other hand, CD player technology has made great leaps and come down in price lately, so with goodies like upsampling and choice DAC's, CD's can sound pretty boss. Shop around and listen, and if you want to find a good-sounding CD player, you should probably stay out of the big box stores (eg Circuit City et al). NAD, Marantz, and Rotel are generally regarded as good bets for budget hi-fi that will likely blow any of the big box crap out of the water; check your local hi-fi stores. Oh, and to add to the confusion, there's DVD-A also, although this seems less common than SACD. On the new format front, conventional wisdom is that if you have a lot of software already, best to upgrade your CDP and wait out the format wars until the industry settles on a new standard. Or you can invest in a new universal player, or an SACD or DVD player that plays CD as well. Options, options ... Happy shoppin'!

What's really amazing is that someone can spend $150 on something and then be stupid enough to sit on it. Don't be a moron; you get what you pay for.

- Get fit - 5.13 - Embolden

The rumor (major emphasis on rumor) is ca. 10k square feet of bouldering gym in St. John's, but, as with all rumors, one must consider the source when evaluating the truth of the rumor.

Greatest hits compilations are generally lame, unless they offer something not available on a band's other albums. Why listen to a bunch of songs from a band if their albums aren't good enough to stand on their own? Exceptions would be discographies, especially bands that have broken up and whose releases are hard to find or contain a lot of singles (Minor Threat, OpIvy, and The Smiths come to mind). Bottom line, if you buy greatest hits-type albums, you're a wanker.

Dunno about its applicability for end-of-a-long-ass-alpine-beat-down relief, but you really ought to look into Bromelain as an alternative to the pharmaceutical crap. DFA and one of his associates have had excellent results using it as an anti-inflammatory (it's also used as a digestive aid). The Doctor wouldn't know about any of the claims made regarding cancer-fighting or other wonder-drug properties that have been attributed to bromelain, but it is definitely a worthy anti-inflammatory, and apparently helps in the absorption of glucosamine as well (apparently the mechanism by which it does this can increase the levels of other medications you may be taking in your bloodstream, so talk to your doc if you're taking anything else). More info: http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/fulltext/bromelain1-4.html http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/substances_view/1,1525,760,00.html

Word! DFA will bring the Red Bulls and a case of Budweiser Be for after!

Might want to bring a few to the gym for good measure, while you're at it. Just, you know, so people know that you're one of those rock climbers.

When in doubt, run it out!

What're you, Todd Skinner?