tvashtarkatena

Don't hate; appreciate, in double oh eight.

At least AIPAC doesn't seek to turn all Americans into Jews nor all of America into "One Nation, Under God", as does the the evangelical movement. And remember, moderate Christianity has never been under attack here, only it's fascist, evangelical form.

I have it on good authority that red wine will begin to freeze in the mid to low teens.

How do you know I'm sneering? Is there a hidden camera on this thing? Hello? Is this thing on? "Patronizing" to The Professor? To paraphrase Don Corlione; "Some men go through life begging to be patronized."

We lit off "flaming ballz with sharp reports" last night until the cops showed up. No problem officer, we were out of ammo anyway. One tonic water and two Perriers, properly consumed with pinky aloft, doth not a hangover bring, but I'm still tired from that stupid snowshoe trip.

Don't taze me, bro.

I am dealing with it....I am providing awareness to him, you and whoever. You think that everyone should sit passively back and just "take it" without commenting??? No riots, no threats, no censorship advocated here....just offering a perspective. A number of participants on cc.com had a jolly time peeing all over Christianity in that Denali Expedition topic....It was probably inevitable that Judaism's turn would come up. No, Judaism doesn't seek to hijack our political system to impose their cult on the rest of us; a pretty obvious conclusion to the layman, but apparently not to a self described expert. Judaism, in its less fundamentalist form, is a living tradition which welcomes questioning one's beliefs. Evangelical Christianity is a cult of zombie zealots who believe the earth will soon come to a violent end. I don't know about you, but the rest of us here seem to be able to discern a slight difference.

hahaha...exactly what i thought of when i saw that. that or dukakis in that tank. That's a Filson Outfitter tin cloth coat he's sporting there, MFers. I just snagged one of those on Craigslist, so don't be making fun of it. The thing could stop a shotgun blast, which, as we all know, is a pretty useful feature when hunting with politicos. What's this about me wanting somebody to put a couple of rounds in Bush's head? Why would any assassin worth their salt do that? I would think any professional would aim for a more vital organ. Besides, my wishes for Mr. Bush include a protacted, extremely inconveniencing case of prostate cancer which will require very invasive surgery.

that's funny man. by the way, i'm jewish and i eat pork. That's not the point. To some, (maybe not you), "DeChristo"'s comments are about on the same level as the so-called "N-word". Now ain't that a funny quote, "TREETOAD"? Whatever. I'm offended by pompous old drunks who won't just STFU.

Trip: Bigelow denial - A wallow up Crater Creek Date: 12/28/2007 Trip Report: Crater Lake (near the Sawtooth Wilderness), December 28-30 2007 Sunset on the first day of the two day approach “FUCK! FUUUUUCK!” “Ras Tafari is not feeling irie” Jess and I turned to see Ivan chest deep in a tree well. “It’s like standing in a fucking elevator going down! How can the trail be at fucking eye level, for Christ’s sake!” I resigned myself to his fate. “Increase the voltage. Continue the experiment.” At 140 lbs, Jess never experienced the buried layer that was giving the slightly larger Ivan such a thorough yoga workout. My pack was lighter than usual by about 4 lbs; the weight of the lunch food bag I'd forgotten in the car, so I was staying afloat (which meant only sinking 2 to 4 feet) as well. No, I didn't miss the fresh black forest ham, mayo packs, home made mint/white chocolate brittle, and Tim's Cascade potato chips I'd left behind one bit. Ten hours of hard trail breaking up Crater Creek (Gold Creek Road) had moved our party of three only four miles. An approach I’d thought we could do in one day had taken two. We finally reached the elevation of Crater Lake after dark, sans lake, and threw down our packs in disgust. I would have blown a senator for a pair of skis, but neither Jess nor Ivan used that mode of transport, so it was snowshoes all around. In any case, snow that deep would have confounded any attempt with any technology to move at even a sloth’s pace. At least we were able to enjoy bluebird skies during the day’s flogging. The following morning, our “summit day” for Bigelow and Raven Ridge, Ivan peeked out of the tent and reported “Well, it’s snowing like a MF, but at least it’s windy, too”. Temperatures had remained in the mid teens; his remaining half liter of red wine was now part slush. Adhering to our new battle cry “Crater Lake is our Everest!” we soon found the lake itself, which served as a rink for the dancing snow devils that blew down from the obscured, wind blasted ridges above. We never actually saw any of our objectives. Jess: “Do people actually climb in this shit?” Ivan: “If God exists, he must be one mean-assed MF” Jess and I inscribed the lake with an ‘FU’ big enough to be legible from space; our mini-version of the Nazca Plains. The more motivated Jess attempted to extend our message to its unabbreviated wording, but, running out of lake room, had to be content with a final “FUCK YO”. Jess tags Crater Lake The underfoot plate on Ivan’s snowshoe sheared at the pivot point. We repaired it with a toe clip strap I’d been using to hold my water bottle on. That afternoon we decided to descend to our first nights camp at the end of the logging road, a pleasant spot with a fire pit, picnic table, and, most importantly, a bathroom. Ah, winter sublime Boulder field, lower Raven Ridge Methow country Once we’d regained the logging road, however, none of us could stomach the thought of messing with the tent another night, so we continued to the car under the Milky Way and a reclining Orion. Fortunately, we were able eat up the final seven plus miles of fresh snowmobile tracks in just over two hours. After a sloppy Mexican dinner in Brewster, we scrapped our plan for a motel and continued home over a very snowy, unplowed Steven’s Pass. “You know what I liked most about this trip? Leaving a day early.” Well, that’s winter for you; the smith that lures both bold and bored onto a cold anvil. There’s nothing like a Donner Party forecast to recalibrate expectations from ‘getting up something’ to ‘getting up off the couch’. A few more abstracts: Gear Notes: Bring a sasquatch to break trail Approach Notes: 7+ miles up Gold Creek Road (high clearance 4x4 required to make it past the Snopark to that point), then 4 miles up Crater Creek to Crater Lake

I climb because my dad always told me that I threw like a girl.

Cueing FW or KKK to repost the Goode/gorilla montage in 3, 2, 1...

Don't forget the details here! You also gotta have a few $$$$ for the McHale. I think it starts at $500, and goes up from there. I don't have the $$$ for a McHale but I have heard that a McHale pack is the final word in packs. Again, if you have the $$$$ for it. For $500 I can get a lifetime supply of Golite Jams, put them in a giant tissue dispenser, and just throw them away when they blow out. Or spend 5 minutes repairing minor tears as they happen. Having said that, mine's been durable. Did the McHales ever come down in weight? They used to be pretty heavy. I don't carry my sleeping bag, pad, and bivvy sack around with me on day climbs, so I don't see the point of an extra 3 to 4 lbs of pack weight around unless I'm hauling the solar powered mini-fridge up to base camp. Granite Gear also makes good, light packs. I recently bought a Marmot pack, and it's got MADE IN CHINA BY PRISONERS written all over it. Gregory has also gone the prison labor route, although their pack weight has come way down. Expect immediate seam blowouts, though. Mountain Smith still has that anvil for a logo...and it's still apropos.

Plastics suck ass. They come into their own only when it's really cold. You can get a very cheap used pair of plastics for the rare times when you'll use them, but unless you're going to be out in really cold temperatures (10 F or below for extended periods for me), don't bother getting a pair of frankenboots. If you're going for only one pair of boots, the Trangos, Garmont Charmoz, or similar type of light mountaineering boot will be the most versatile for high season cascade climbing. Buy some supergaitors and you can use them on Rainier, even in winter, too. These light weight boots work well on trail, snow, and rock. As always, the most important feature of any boot is how well it fits your foot. If you want a stiffer, more insulated boot to climb more technical ice, and extended winter conditions etc, the Trango Ice Evo, Asolo Cholatse, and competing 3/4 - full shank boots will all leave plastics in the dust on any terrain. Pro Mountain Sports in the U district is a good shop to check out climbing gear selected by experienced alpinists.

Pakistan is not an arab country, anyway.

Gear karma continues. Picked up a brand spanking pair of perfectly fitting Garmont Charmoz in the REI basement (paradise, if visited on the right day) for half price. Perhaps I will be struck down for wearing them (they do look plenty ghey), but hey, I've got til late spring before that happens. Manga takk, Jebus.

MLK too. Stuff like this doesn't happen in this country. Conflating Bobby Kennedy, MLK and Benazir Bhutto makes me sad and wonder about the educmakatinal sistem. Oklahoma City? 911? JFK? Nah, never happens. Uh, 'stuff like' exactly WHAT never happens here?

Had my Sub up to like, 95 a couple of days ago. Fuck'n picket fence posts were thwippin by like telephone poles.

Yeah, well, my mountain bike's got paddle shifters, too. They don't work worth a damn at the bike's top speed of 120 mph (after going over a cliff).

The popular wisdom is that the word is derived from the Arabic 'haschishin', or 'hashish user'. This is probably false. The most supported etymology for the word is from the Persian 'Hassassin', which means 'follower of Hassan' (an infamous Persian leader of a violent band in the 1200's). Hassan was a prohibitionist who did not allow his followers to use hashish. It's pretty unlikely, as many of us already know, that hashish would produce the desired affects for a band of assassins anyway. Google 'etymology assassin' and check it out. There are articles supporting both etymologies.

??? PS We've enslaved ourselves.

Well, I don't get too many cavities. If your child takes care of her teeth and she still gets gets too many cavities, she's eating way too much sugar. Perhaps The State should provide helpful nutrition consultants to help you make better choices at the grocery store. My plug for personal responsibility.

Just for fun... Second Thoughts on Fluoridation(Scientific American)

Mrs. T got me a new Thermarest. Why? The old one only has 12 patches, and I'm still confident I can find the last remaining leaks.