Ursa_Eagle

the answer is always "c"

I spent some time SE of Bend this past weekend, and we were up above 5000 ft for lots of the trip. It looked like there was snow high on Paulina Peak, but that was about it. There was no snow on the east side of Santiam, but as soon as we passed over it to the west side, there was snow on the hills.

taken from: http://www.kgw.com/lifestyle/stories/kgw_050903_life_typing_monkeys.5034be.html Typing monkeys fail to produce Shakespeare 05/09/2003 By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer LONDON -- Give an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of typewriters, the theory goes, and they will eventually produce the works of Shakespeare. Give six monkeys one computer for a month, and they will make a mess. Researchers at Plymouth University in England reported this week that primates left alone with a computer attacked the machine and failed to produce a single word. "They pressed a lot of S's," researcher Mike Phillips said Friday. "Obviously, English isn't their first language." In a project intended more as performance art than scientific experiment, faculty and students in the university's media program left a computer in the monkey enclosure at Paignton Zoo in southwest England, home to six Sulawesi crested macaques. Then, they waited. At first, said Phillips, "the lead male got a stone and started bashing the hell out of it. "Another thing they were interested in was in defecating and urinating all over the keyboard," added Phillips, who runs the university's Institute of Digital Arts and Technologies. Eventually, monkeys Elmo, Gum, Heather, Holly, Mistletoe and Rowan produced five pages of text, composed primarily of the letter S. Later, the letters A, J, L and M crept in. The notion that monkeys typing at random will eventually produce literature is often attributed to Thomas Huxley, a 19th-century scientist who supported Charles Darwin's theories of evolution. Mathematicians have also used it to illustrate concepts of chance. The Plymouth experiment was funded by England's Arts Council and part of the Vivaria Project, which plans to install computers in zoos across Europe to study differences between animal and artificial life. Phillips said the results showed that monkeys "are not random generators. They're more complex than that. "They were quite interested in the screen, and they saw that when they typed a letter, something happened. There was a level of intention there."

I'll be there either before or after I see the Matrix

When and where? I'll go. If it's next Thursday though, I'll be watching the Matrix reloaded...

what if I want to vote for both??

So a more mature response would be to do what YOU think is right. Coming from Mr. Objective... "Mounties suck. I don't care what their excuses are for being stupid." "It's a distastefull combination of mediocre climbers trying to be cool by 'leading' classes full of wide eyed idiots that'd be better off if they stayed with their shiny cars." "Shouldn't they be golfing or something, climbing is dirty and dangerous. Waaaaaaaaay too scary for those suburbanites." "I wanted to climb and they were nice to me and let me, so I'm going to complain about it"

How many PM's from desparate guys have you gotten already? (you should be receiving one from me shortly )

those are just two of the MANY popular routes on that list. I was just using those as examples. A single group of mounties on lots of those routes ain't gonna make a bit of difference. If you don't climb DC (or any of those other routes) because you're afraid mounties are going to be there, I don't need to bash you, you've already done so yourself.

I haven't seen a guy take a blow like that since Hugh Grant!

I'm sure a mountie group will ruin your otherwise solitary presense on these routes...

some of my friends use clubphoto.com Prints are $0.25

When I teach newbies off the parking lot of Timberline, I wear clothes like that. I find that I will be standing around often, and I'll use my goretex. My feet get cold easily, so I wear plastic boots too. These people may very well have been thinking for themselves. If you're going to be standing around learning about snow anchors, what kind of clothes should you wear? Just because they have their goretex on doesn't mean they're mindless drones. If you don't have a problem with people learning skills in safe environments, why are you bashing these people? If you haven't used ropes before, it can be really confusing. I like to think that they would have learned about it in a warm, dry environment before doing it outside, but there is valuable learning experience to be had by doing ropework (even if it's on easy terrain) outside, preferably in bad weather. I would get into Guiding vs. Mounties, but that should be another thread entirely... (I don't have a problem with guiding)

I'm not seeing Alpinfox and Sloth_Man with a much different attitude

So Alpinfox, again, I'm sure you got off the couch and did Liberty Ridge safely. You never had to learn anything.

What bastards! I think we should slam them for not being climbing gods like us!

This is the original post I have a problem with. 1. You saw them coming off the ski area, not on the tooth. 2. You ridicule them for wearing gore-tex and plastic boots: If you're going to be learning basic snow techniques, you won't be moving all day long, so you need to wear more clothes. 3. A 70 lb pack? Did you weight it? Are you sure you didn't exaggerate at all? 4. You made the assumption they are the mounties, what proof do you have? In your defense: you did ask for confirmation, but not before bashing. Now this is my question for you Alpinfox: how many newbies have you taken up and shown how to climb?

Or large open areas outside of climbing routes (such as the gulleys near the lower parking lot at timberline.) Can someone please explain to me how this is getting in the way of everyone else climbing, or why learning should be ridiculed?

My problem here is that Alpinfox was making fun of them for practicing. I'm not trying to say that they should be out in large groups and taking over climbs, but don't bash them for practicing in large areas where they don't bother other people. You're a prick and an idiot if you do.

I'm sorry for my previous posts. Alpinfox and Sloth_Man are obviously much better than anyone who has ever joined the mounties. They are superior in every way, and they have never carried more than 5 lbs into the backcountry. They never used ropes until they were 1000 feet up El Cap. They have never done any conditioning hike, rather, they just go up to the mountain and climb Rainier in under 4 hours. Please accept my apologies oh great gods of climbing!

SIMPSONS!!!!

It's not that I don't like what I do, I just don't like my current job. Unfortunately, with this economy, finding another one either takes a lot of luck, or a lot of time and effort. I'm too busy getting outside whenever I'm not working to look for another job right now...

so what do you do that you love so much minx and trask?

Mothers? Bill?