KaskadskyjKozak

He's not too picky. And with the decapitations, he's got an extra orifice.

I'm sure the Rooster would love to join that hot tub party.

I see you're suffering from HACE as a part of your recent high-altitude expedition.

Where will it all end!!! linky

The only traitor is Baghdad McDillhole.

SS didn't just come back from an epic multiday climb, where he could weather out storms reading damning reports on global warming junk science by headlamp.

SEAHAWKS PLEASE TURN ON YOUR OVEN AND STICK YOUR HEAD IN IT.

We are no longer at war with Eurasia, people!!!

Hey, Seahawks is back! Must have been an epic climb, dude - it's been so long. Post a TR!!!!!

Goddamnit! I posted an objective response that established that one of the premises (Taliban leaders visited Texas) is true, the other not true (Bush hosted them...although a conservative blog I searched indicated he "gave approval for the visit"); I passed no judgment otherwise! The fact that is was in 1998--pre 9/11 and pre GWB as prez--is also relevant, don't you think? What, were the Taliban our friends until 9/11? The mujahedin were

zee best klucker iz zee von havink zee most fak

There's oil in Canada? Invade!

Cool! Now we can buy even larger Hummers!

As I said, WE don't put fatwas on people for writing offensive cartoons. I'm not gonna start shitting all over what Americans do, when those nuts over there are so far worse in their (over)reactions than we are.

As if cartoonists - or cc.com posters - don't do exactly the respect w/r/t to Jesus and Christianity.

My 6 year old is going skiing with me tomorrow. Screw baseball!

When I bought my boots back in '04 REI (flagship) had like 15 pairs of different $400 technical ice climbing boots, and only about 3-4 types of mountaineering boots. A total WTF... Now I think they've just got a very small selection of climbing boots. Cascade Crags used to be a cool place to check out to (in Everett). They don't sell all the climbing stuff that they used to now that they were bought by VW.

It's snowing in downtown Seattle right now. Freshiez!

The flagship store is better than the other stores, that is for sure. I never take a chance anymore going to Redmond or Issaquah if I am going to buy some climbing gear. I go to Seattle. More recently I have bought biking and skiing stuff at REI, not climbing gear, and I order for in-store delivery. I got my kids' skiing boots cheap in off-season sales. And you are right the selection in general sucks and is limited. Before a big purchase, I always check out Marmot and FF because they care different brands and models of stuff. I also search for sales online, but don't order stuff I have to try on.

We don't put Fatwa's on people for writing a book (Rushdie), or drawing cartoons.

Sounds about the same to me.

I bought my Marmot Helium at REI with a 20% coupon and dividend. I still remember the salesman trying to tell me I needed a 0 degree bag for 3-season mountaineering, and I should get a 6'6" length "to keep a warm bottle by my feet" (I am 5'10"). Finally I couldn't take it anymore and asked him: "do you climb... or backpack". Err, well, actually no. Fucking putz.

Right on the money for best tone. For Unlawful is not bad either (Poundcake)

Several years ago I wanted a new pack. Something smaller than a 5000 cu in megapack. REI had a sale going on - 20% off coupon, etc. I went in to the flagship store. It was packed. I had to wait in line just to talk with the salesman. He was totally rude. I wanted to try 2-4 packs on with simulated weight, run up and down the stairs, etc, and get feedback from him. He looked more annoyed. I said "fuck it" and walked over to Feathered Friends. It was almost empty in there. A guy was very helpful. He didn't pressure me or bother me. I tried on 3-4 packs, and left without buying anything. I went to Marmot Mountain Works. They didn't have anything different/better than FF's selection. Next day, I went back to FF and bought one of the packs I had tried. It was 20% more expensive than REI. That was my middle finger to REI and thumbs up to FF.

Favorite tone? That's tough. For straight up metal, that would be Metallica's tone. For something lighter, something straightforward like AC/DC (Back in Black) or ZZTop (Eliminator). If I want something a little more "refined" (with chorus) I'd go with a Rush sound (Moving Pictures) or Van Hagar (5150). For a clean tone, I prefer some compression and chorus effects. I don't fiddle with amps/effects etc. Just have a Crate half rack with celestion speakers and an effects rack (Roland). The latter gives me some of the tones I like, but sucks at higher volume.