Toast

So... my guess is, your pack weighs something closer to 25 maybe 30 lbs. Phew, now I don't feel so bad.

Pass on the secrets, dude. How do you get down to a 15lb overnight pack?

Dang, that seems like a lot! Is this for the Army or something? Well, for an overnighter on snow (tent, stove, food, sleping bag, pads, climbing gear...) I know my pack weighs more than 40 lbs... more if I have my snowboard strapped on.

Oops, I guess the Colonel is serious. My bad.

I think we're all kinda kidding here, Icegirl. Just play along

You, me and the rest of the skinny folks'll be walkin' a bit funny by the end.

I've got a bare essentials rack of passive pro and slings. If you were to pare down your rack to just the most essential 3 or 4 cams, which would they be?

Phuck the Nerf ammo, insert pens and pencils.

I suggest we identify some "routes." Here's a few: - The Ave: Starts at the Knarr Tavern, go South, extra points for making it to the College Inn - Wallingford: Starts at Al's, go West, double points for a stop at the Moon Temple - Wedgewood: Starts at the Wedgewood Broiler - gold star for avoiding the Fiddler's Inn (Fuck Bob and the Bedlington Corporation!) - Fremont: Starts at the El Camino - go counter clockwise, extra points for variations up Fremont Ave, Fremont Pl N, and North 36th. - Herpese Triangle: Start at the Blue Water, traverse Left, extra points for making it all the way to China Harbor - Ballard: Starts at Connor Byrnes - go North, extra points for making it to the Sunset. - Wallinglake: Start at the Luau, proceed West, finish at the soon to open new Elysian place (yet to be named, but I call it Wasabear)

I can't seem to get any further than the Time Out Tavern. I must not be a hardman

TG would be nice, but we could prob get a nice keg of Winthrop IPA too.

We went to EMP. That place is a lot cooler that I ever thought it'd be, and she dug it. She's just starting to get into music... a bit pop, albeit, but she'll learn the "way" soon enough. Anyway, she said she was into Hip Hop, so I figured we'd catch a free all ages show that goes on at SAM on Thursdays. This week it was Oldominion. We rode the monorail to the bus tunnel and Metro to the art museum. She hasn't ridden a lot of public transit, so this was eye opening for her Anyway, we caught the show, which was a bit more hard core urban rap that Nellie Furtado and Aliya, but I had the pleasure of taking her to see her very first Hip Hop show.

So what's cooler, EMP or the Science Center? I like the idea of the tide pools, but I don't have boots and rain gear for her. I'll have to work on that one. Thanks for the tips

Yeah, those are good one's for a rainy day.

Thanks Eric. I woulda said the zoo, but i took her out there the last time. C'mon, I see the views. Somebody's got to have a suggestion.

I have my niece for the day today. Originally I thought I'd take her out snowshoeing, but the weather seems to have screwed that plan up. Next I thought I'd score tix to the Shaolin Monks, but they're sold out and seats are going for $100 in the aftermarket. So I figured a movie, but most of the movies out are lame and it looks like slim pickins. Any recommendations on how I should spend the day with an 11 year old kid?

That the fuck? They used to be fitty cents.

I was joking chucK. While I do have a soft spot for the Blue Moon (it was the first tavern I ever snuck into underage)... it is a stinky, smoke filled tavern with no food service, a skanky set of bathrooms, and dope peddlers, drunks and homeless folks for patrons. Sunday nights ain't what it used to be, and buskers, artisans and bar dogs are scarce these days. Aaaah, memories...

Way to go Erden

Hey, if you like the Alki, you'll love the Blue Moon.

I'd stay away from the Mountain Hardware stuff if it's mad of their Conduit stuff. It doesn't breath anywhere near as well as it needs to. I had a MH Conduit bivvy last year, and I got soaked in it every night. Swapped it out for an OR Basic Bivvy made of plain vanilla GoreTex. I stay dry in that. I suspect there'll be significantly higher humidity in your pants than my bivvy.

For that matter, there's always Martin Volkin and his company Pro Guide Service. While the Mountaineers Basic Climbing classes have started, I do remember something about a scout troop that bailed on the BSA that was later adoped by the Mountaineers Youth Committee. You might check with them to see if they have anything going.

Hey NEWSTIPS, How come Jim Foreman alwasy gets stuck with the shitty assignments? I swear, when somethings breaking that requires a 300 mile drive in the middle of the night... it's always Jim Foreman that's sent out. I could swear during the WTO protests, Foreman got stuck manning one of the I-5 overpasses Reporting Live as he got biffed in the head by passing punks. I kinda giggled about it then, but years later I kinda like that Jim Foreman guy. Here's to you, Jim.

If they are experienced, they'd know there's not much the outside can do at the moment and that they need to hunker down till conditions improve. Hopefully they're knowledgeable enough to know this and equipped to do so. My empathy to the families and hope to the two on the mountain.

C'mon dude, pull your head out of your ass. There's a bit of a difference between Clinton finally giving in to our collective conscience to stop genocide on that kind of magnitude and Dubya's fishing for any excuse to wage a war that nobody wants. I'm not sure there's ever a right war, but there's certainly are wrong ones. We're about to step into the middle of the latter. By the way, there were protesters back then. They tended to be Republican voices whining about why we'd want to step into a fight where we had nothing to gain.