Nature, F*ck yeah!

Oh my god, it's quiet!

Nothing exciting going on this week, really...so here's an awesome story to pass the time. I had to go to the dentist yesterday for a cleaning. While they were in there, they found that the cap on one of my fillings had cracked, so they cleaned it out and fixed it. When I picked Jaime up from the bus stop, I relayed my story of getting the filling repaired, and she said to me, "Oh, they had to put a bit of fixin' on it."

I love my wife! (That would be a reference to the new Pearl Jam song "The Fixer")

A compiled list of things that ARE and ARE NOT Rock and Roll

(Photo by Karen Loria)

Welcoming a new niece on the day your favorite band releases a new album...VERY rock and roll.

Traveling out of town to see your favorite band...rock and roll.

Ripped jeans...rock and roll.

Pre funking...rock and roll.

Spending 45 minutes in traffic trying to get to the venue...not rock and roll.

(Ninja edit - The Zipper move...totally rock and roll!)

Geoff almost having a Lake Tahoe episode with his bladder (ask him for the story sometime)...VERY not rock and roll.

14th row seats...rock and roll.

7 foot tall dude in the row in front of you (and his wife/girlfriend the USC fan)...decidedly not rock and roll.

Forgetting ear plugs...quite rock and roll.

Ordering lemonade (and thinking it's "quite reasonably priced") from a vendor inside the amphitheater...not really rock and roll.

Admittedly texting for the Husky score during the set...not rock and roll.

Learning the Huskies lost...not rock and roll either.

Hearing "In Hiding" for the first time in 9 years...INCREDIBLY rock and roll!

Hearing the three songs that are your favorites off the new album...rock and roll.

Playing the guitar behind your head like it was designed to be played that way...way more rock and roll than I'll ever be.

In fact,
Mr. Mike McCready...probably IS rock and roll!

Spending over an hour trying to exit the venue...totally not rock and roll.

Well folks, that's it for now. Thanks to Josh and Liisa for hosting me in Portland. Sorry I didn't stay for breakfast (but I DID get the lawn mowed!) Next time...

What a weekend!

While Geoff was rockin' out to Backspacer and helping to welcome our newest niece into the world, I was on the other side of the country in Miami spending time with my parents and sister.

To start the weekend off my Dad was able to snag some time with one of the flight instructors at PolarAir Cargo in a 747-400 simulator. The four of us and Bill (our flight instructor) spent two hours taking off and landing a plane out of SFO airport in all sorts of conditions. (Folks when its foggy in San Francisco, thank goodness for autopilot). Most amazing flight experience ever. It was so real feeling that I'm pretty sure my mom had miniature heart-attack when we stalled out on our first take-off. Wanna get freaked out? Experience the feeling and sound of a 800,000 pound aircraft stalling... yikes!

I was able to stick two landings (bad landings and not without taking out a couple of baggage handlers)! Kinda proud of myself. Thanks to Bill for all his time and to PolarAir Cargo for a little time in their $40 Million Simulator. It was amazing!

The next day we spent the morning by the pool and beach. Water on Miami beach is nice! We went up to the room for a little lunch and I tried to watch the Husky game. Tried was the main word... ESPN was broadcasting the Ducks game. Really, the Ducks? So, I watched the ducks game, but was really watching the ticker at the bottom of the screen for the updates and score. My dad and I were jumping and yelling everytime the ticker would show UW. Also Geoff was sending me minute by minute text updates. For those of you who have not been tuned into college football, UW (unranked) beat USC (ranked #3) 16-13. Luckily ABC switched to the UW game for the last 30 seconds so I got to see the sea of purple storm the field after the winning field goal. Seriously amazing! I hope you enjoyed being at the game Brad!

The rest of the time was walking around Miami Beach, eating out, having a few cocktails and enjoying the "scene". Really an interesting place, all that old time Art Deco architecture was amazing and the people are fun to watch! It was really wonderful to spend some time with the family in a nice relaxed setting. The only non-relaxing thing about the weekend was the 2:30am fire alarm at the hotel... seriously? Also, the fire department took at least 15 minutes to respond... a little scary.

Now I'm on my way home, literally. Wi-Fi on the airplane (free trial run). Makes the flight go by way faster. Now if only the power outlet worked.... stupid battery.

It was a great weekend, but I cannot wait to meet our new niece on Tuesday and join Geoff for some quality Pearl Jam this week.

Backspacer

Oh mailman,
Thank you for delivering Backspacer yesterday!

It rocks! Kind of sad that it's only 36 minutes, but at the same time, that's one of the things that makes it so good - precise and to the point. Oh yeah, and totally frickin' awesome! Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. I'll update when I've had some time to get into it and figure out what my favorite tracks are thus far (seriously, they're all good; and you KNOW I'm not biased!)...

Calm before the storm...

So it's quiet this week. Jaime's out of town on business. I don't have any grand plans. I'm rather enjoying it. But it won't last. It never does.

Friday night is the start of Oktoberfest in Fremont. Yummy.
Saturday night is the pre-release of Backspacer, for which I have been waiting months. I'll be down at Easy Street rocking out with all my Pearl Jam brethren.
SUNDAY - We will be welcoming our 3rd niece (Ryan and Michal's 2nd daughter) into the world! This will be a grand event. I'd also like to mention that Ryan and Michal are two for two - Pearl Jam's last album (Self Titled) was released - can you guess? Do you know Kendal's birthday? That's right - May 2nd, 2006! Sunday is the official release date of Backspacer. I will officially have two totally rockin' nieces! (and a niece and nephew in England whom I miss dearly!)
Oh, also, Jaime gets home from traveling.
Monday - Night 1 at Key Arena - Ben Harper and the Relentless 7 are opening. We're going to pre-funk with neighbors Chris and Yvonne.
Tuesday - Night 2 at the Key. Same plan, except this time we'll be prefunking with Regan and Lindsey!
Saturday - I'm driving to Portland to rock out some more. Josh has never seen Pearl Jam live. We're taking care of that!
Finally, on Tuesday the 29th, Jaime and I are going to see Wicked at the Paramount. Word on the street is it's pretty good. And afterall, she's endulging my musical love, so I can only return the favor. Should be a good time!
I think October starts after that...

***Oh, also - begin ranting now - Seriously, Seattle Public Schools? You're ACTUALLY considering lowering the graduation requirements? SERIOUSLY? A D average? I mean, I was never a perfect student, but come on, that's absolutely absurd! Where's the f*cking motivation for that?

Boys will be Boys!!!

So this past weekend I left Jaime at home and headed down to Sisters, Oregon with brother Ryan. I figured before he has his second daughter and finds himself with more important responsibilities, I better get one last weekend of (slight) debauchery in for him. Really, we just wanted to visit Dave and Regan and have a few beers at the Deschutes brewery. The weekend was a grand success. We arrived in Sisters Friday night after a 6 hour drive, met up with Dave and Regan (and daughter Colby) and had a nice dinner at Three Creeks brewing. This was followed by several games of poker back at Dave and Regs. The next morning, moving at a leisurely pace, we first made our way up to Three Creeks lake in the Sportwagen. After a hike around the lake, we headed back to meet up with Dave and after some impromptu irrigation work, we headed out for a hike on Tumalo mountain.

(The view of Three Creeks lake and the surrounding mountains)

The web page that I found the hike on had said that it was a 1.5 mile hike with a 1200' elevation gain, and that it was rated moderate to difficult. Doesn't sound too bad...
However - the start of the hike was at 6500', and it ended up being more like 2-2.5 miles, in loose sand (think of walking on the beach, except at a steep incline). Dave, the resident of Sisters at 3000' quickly took the lead. Ryan kept up. About halfway through, I was breathing heavily through my mouth, and fell back a bit. Everytime I thought I could see the top of the ridge, I'd round a corner, or come out of the trees and be sorely disappointed. That and whoever designed the trail apparently thought switchbacks are overrated. We go straight up, or we don't go up at all!

But I am no quitter! I managed to (mostly) keep pace, and we made it to the top. With a few minutes of catching my breath, now over 7700' above sea level, I had time to take in the view. Any lingering fatigue that I might have been feeling was quickly gone from my mind. We had a 360 degree view of the Central Oregon Cascades - Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top, and Three Sisters. To the east was the flat lands and lava fields that comprise the geology of Eastern Oregon. It was simply stunning!

(South Sister, Middle Sister, and Broken Top; North Sister barely visible behind Middle Sister)

(Dave and Ryan toast a successful ascent)

After our descent, our reward for the evening was dinner/drinks at the Deschutes brewhouse in downtown Bend. I don't think a cheeseburger and a cold beer have EVER tasted so good! Another night of poker and good conversation followed. Waking Sunday morning, we packed our bags, hopped in the car, stopped for a quick breakfast, and were on our way back to Seattle via Santium pass (the Sportwagen is an awesome road trip car, btw!)

MAJOR thanks to Dave and Regan for hosting us! We had an awesome time! Hopefully we can come back soon. I know Jaime wants to visit!