Oh Ned!!1 Sunday 5-28-06

Big thanks to Jamie for showing me the Dot System Trails and the other trails along West Mag that I haven't ridden. It was a great day for a ride especially nice for above 8500 feet this time of year.

Beer-run rain-out!!!

Lighting and a few rain drops postponed last nights game. Instead some of the team went over to the Fox & Hound Smokehouse and Tavern. Yup it was a Smokehouse alright. That was the first time I've been in a bar in Colorado and they allowed smoking in a long time. Otherwise the bar was a really cool place with lots of beer on tap and great tables for large parties.

Heil Ranch 5-24-06

At Heil Ranch you just need to remember 2 things: up... and then... down. The Heil Ranch ride is a fun 8+/- mile lollipop ride which goes up, around a loop, then back down. Oh yeah, and I almost forgot about all the loose rock and the one amazing view over looking Hall Ranch.

My ride posing for the camera...

Pete and his ride...

Turbo on the final home stretch...

The Avocado Album

Track listing:

1. Life Wasted
2. World Wide Suicide
3. Comatose
4. Severed Hand
5. Marker In The Sand
6. Parachutes
7. Unemployable
8. Big Wave
9. Gone
10. Wasted Reprise
11. Army Reserve
12. Come Back
13. Inside Job


Its too bad Eddie claimed that "there ain'g gonna be any middle anymore" because that's exactly where The Avocado album fits. Right smack dab in the middle of nowhere, with a few exceptions of course. To me PJ is at its best when the lyrics are about personal struggles. Whether it be love lost or personal conflict with one's past there is no better songwriter than Ed. No one. But Ed's lyrics lack substance and are not convincing when his lyrics step into the ring of social and world politics. I'll take the internal conflict songs like Inside Job, Life Wasted, Unemployable, Gone, and Severed Hand over Ed's political mumbo jumbo.

Since I can make up my own mind about war and social issues, let's not talk about them here. Instead let's get back to the best songs of the new album. The one song I just can't stop listening to is Inside Job. Mike and Eddie nailed this one. A song like Inside Job is what makes Pearl Jam one of my favorite bands. The lyrics are literally about Mike's internal struggles with Crohn's disease over the past decade. Ed knows how to convey the pain and sacrifice of the words into positive light. Amazing.

My other favs are Life Wasted - great opener, Unemployable, and Severed Hand. Gone is another fantastic song which is getting a bad rap. Gone is an amazing mixture of influences directly from Pete Townshend and even more obviously from Bruce Springsteen. Ed describes the loneliness and desolation of driving alone in such gambling towns as Atlantic City.

I'm not one to rank albums. Thankfully or otherwise I might have to rank this one near the bottom. Instead I tend to seek out songs on albums that I like. And on the other hand I'm not afraid to discard songs I dislike. Unfortunately, this has been the trend with PJ's last two albums, Riot Act and The Avocado album. Luckily for me, Ed still has a way to connect to my inner feelings which is the reason I've loved this band for so long. Hopefully by the next album the war will be over and PJ can get back to being PJ and not some sortof half full political band.

Beer-run wins BIG!!!

Team Beer-run exploded for 12 runs all with 2 outs in the top of the 5th to beat the old damn Sandosers. Congrats Beer-run. Last night was the best game we played in the last 5 years. w00t, w00t!!!

Pearl Jam...on tour now

Yes its that time of the year...PJ is on tour again. Here are a few pics from recent shows.

Can't wait until July 2nd...PJ & Tom Petty...w00t, w00t.

i want to breathe

follow the scene

i want to taste

everyone i see

i want to run when i'm up high

i want to run into the sea

i only want life to be...

i just want to be...

i will feel alive as long as i am free...

what it is - the beginning

what it is, is what it is!!

Anywhooaaa, "what it is" is a celebration of adventures and journeys throughout this life and who knows maybe even the next one.

Here's a few pics from recent places to kick things off.


Surfing in Maui...what an amazing trip...

...skiing in Winter Park on a perfect blue bird day after 12" of powder...

...more to come. Be still.