Month: April 2008

Random Reviews

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The Commitments – good flow, believable characters, good music.

The Kingdom – rented this cause the chase scene was filmed on the 202 near our house, and turned out to really enjoy it. Believable plot and use of technology, understated violence and characters, i found myself very engrossed in the story. I never thought i’d say this, but the movie was better not getting to see Jennifer Garner in read leather lingerie.

The Last King of Scotland – Forest Whitaker was great. The suggestions of what was going on were very scary. The director did a good job of not having to show too much violence but piggy-backing on the impressions left by Black Hawk Down, Hotel Rwanda and similar African disaster movies.

Miami Vice – I caught like 20 minutes of this on cable one night, and it struck me as capturing the incredible feel of the original but still being current. A guilty little pleasure i still hold from the 80’s when me and my friends would watch Miami Vice every week together. It was just as much fun! I watched it twice, and the soundtrack kicks ass too with great mood songs by Mogwai, and the instrumental mashup of NumbEncore by Jay-Z and Linkin Park. Nonpoint’s cover of the original “In the Air Tonight” brought the movie together just like Phil Collins’ in the original pilot.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry –

Gone Baby Gone – Low key, excellent acting, excellent texture.

Lit

i don’t have as many books, because the library does ont let me review my old queue like Netflix.

The Futurist by James P. Othmer – We actually listened to this as a book on tape, and it was very funny and entertaining and smart for 9 whole CDs! I was hanging out in parking lots wanting to know what happened next.

The Patron Saint of Plagues – Barth Anderson – This describes it well “a page turner that is at once a medical thriller, cyberpunk romp and provocative tease…a novel about race and class, science and faith.”—Salon.com

Tunage

Hustle & Flow Soundtrak – really good, lots of hot songs, complements the movie which was also quite good.

Dropkick Murphys – Blackout – i’ve been on this big time Dropkick Murphy’s kick and got like 4 of their albums recently, but this one i like best. it may be the most commercial, it may be the tightest, it certainly feels sincere — you tell me?!??! but its hard to vote against “Kiss Me I’m Shitfaced.”

Finger Eleven – Them vs You vs Me – Punk, nu metal, catchy – i’m a whore and like it. Lots of good tunes for the mp3 player.

Tonight on Cinemax

/ chollaball / 3 Comments

It was like a porn flick. Complete with sex, danger, and intrigue!

A man turns on the tv, and he sees this chick taking it from this dude. And the dude is just giving it to her. really giving it her! wham wham wham! and she’s loving it. screaming and moaning. hair wild and sweaty, shoulders thrown back. she’s getting pounded and pounded and pounded and she’s throwing herself into this for all she’s got. And the man can’t stop staring at the tv, he’s totally captivated watching this girl howling and sweating and convulsing like this is the best she has ever gotten it, like she’s been waiting all her life for someone to fuck her like she’s being fucked right now. And then he recognizes her face, and its his wife.

It was just like that.

Helimech told me about a Hawes NR, and it sounded just about perfect after a week of going hard on the road and throwing myself against the rocks at National – a familiar ride out my back door, some guys who would do things differently than I’m used to, some good company, all neatly tied into the time I’d normally spend working out. So i made my way comfortably home from work, comfortably got myself ready, and rolled comfortably up to the Walgreens at 6:30.

This is where things became dramatic.

Mike and Aaron (Lostboyz) have Aaron’s rear brake spread out in the Walgreens parking lot. Tony is killing time jumping off curbs. 5 minutes go by, 10…I lend Aaron the brake spacer I carry…he’s got his shifter off so he can bleed it, but Mike points out he took off the wrong shifter…the wheel finally goes back on and the brake rotor is totally frozen inside the caliper. I say c’mon dude we’re about the same size you can ride my Heckler, beats driving all the way out here and not riding. So its back to my house, a quick swap of the pedals, and we are off. Its actually only about 7:10 now, really not that bad for getting a group night ride together.

This is where things became pornographic.

It was like the Heckler lost 5 pounds and had helium in the tires. From the moment he started spinning it, the Heckler floated under Aaron. Not even out of the cul-de-sac, he rode a wheelie 50 yards. He flew a foot off curbs effortlessly. Did I mention that Aaron is an expert-class DH racer? He is also not slow. I was hauling ass down the CAP trail keeping up with him, and watching him pump the turns and glide the bike all with no big ring filled me at once with joy and sadness. The bike was getting ridden like it needed, deep down in that sensitive spot that would make it cream, but it was not by me. But it was titillating watching what it could do. I needed a cigarette.

This is where things became cinematic.

We blew back out onto Power road and crested the hill, and Mike and Aaron picked up speed and hit the drop-in faster than I normally do. I am not slow on Hawes, but decided i would catch them on the climbs and not let my ego about Hawes get the best of me riding with two very strong DH’rs. By the first turn near the first split 200 yards in, I had lost sight of them round the bend, and was just thinking about getting comfortable with getting dropped by Mike on a 575 and Aaron on the Heckler when I rounded the turn and saw Mike splashed on the middle of the trail. It was an angled swooping downhill right turn with kitty litter spread out over a slab of rockface.   Not all that hard, but like 100 other spots on Hawes, could bite you if you hit wrong.   I usually drift through it cautiously, and have almost slid out there before.

This is where things became melodramatic.

Mike wasn’t badly injured, but he was done for the night. A bunch of cuts and gashes on his arm, back and knee. One or two of them appeared stitches-worthy. So barely 10 minutes into the ride, we headed back to the house. Mike toughed it out, hosed himself down, chagriningly accepted some peroxide and neosporin and a road beer, and set off towards a possible visit to the ER. I agreed not to laugh at his XC crash if he and Aaron agreed not to laugh the next time I rode something gnarly with them. My mojo was fading now at 8pm, but i could at least take out Kila and get some easy mileage in. So we went to sneak onto Longbow, and were meandering our way around the golf course when a maintenance worker in a small ATV drives right by me. SHIT! He had no lights and I did not hear him over my headphones, but he didn’t even stop to look at me. I decided his disinterest was not a valid argument for sticking around, so slipped through the desert sections to the nearest part of the fence, lifted my bike over, lifted Kila on top of one of the 4 foot tall support pillars while she made a face as painful as Mike’s, jumped the fence, got Kila down the other side, and hammered for a quarter mile into the desert.

This night was cursed. It would only become more cinemelodramatic from here, undoubtedly ending with a money-shot to my face. I went home and rode the trainer.

Less Bombast More Biking!

/ chollaball / Leave a comment

when fatigue and stress make a genuine effort beyond me, an exercise in discipline is sometimes the best choice. fundamentals and base will carry you a lot further than talent. rote repetition can yield gems in the unlikeliest of places, or, hard work pays off.

Ahem… … This week I did some cool things on my bike. Give me a moment to think of what some of them were…

I rode Usery loop twice on the roadie and National twice on the Heckler. I did 1:03 and then 1:01 on the loop. I felt slow slow slow on the Heckler, but made it up Javalina and to BV in 1:15. I am very very confused. . I need to keep riding my roadie.

Sometimes you have to go out of control into something and trust that the momentum will let you gain control and pull through it. Sometimes you have to be in control and trust that it will stay that way despite what you throw yourself into. I’ve ridden 24th St. twice more in the the last ~week. I get better at it each time, things are slowing down and I am seeing safe lines. This is scary; it is scary.

I am talking to Eric Shunk, his buddies Sean and Justin who I know from Moab trips, about a Fruita\Moab combo this year. It looks like it will happen, leaving Tuesday mid-day for a few days in Fruita then Al’s Moab trip and home Sunday night. I rode with them and a few other guys from their crew that I know from the Moab trips – Jake and JW and one or two others. It was the first time I’ve done Somo on a weekend in a long time, and i felt awkward every time our big group rolled by some hikers and sounded like a fucking missionary to my group I am sure: “thank you, have a nice day! thank you have a nice day!” I should invent a button that sits on the handlebars and says that. The ride was long and frequently-delayed. and while it was good to see everyone, it was good to see that the guys on the trip will be a bit faster than our group, and sort out the trip and confirm we would all be more-or-less on the same page and compatible. Having a fun ride with some guys is a very different level of commitment than 6 days on the road and on the bike with them. I’m psyched that it should be a good time.

A woman turning left on Recker as we were crossing the street north on Thomas decided to pull her car right up to the crosswalk and stare at us. I shouted at her. she said “you’re wearing dark clothes.” A convenient excuse at just past 7pm for not seeing a pasty rider in shorts, a shiny bike, a dog, and a reflective trailer staring at you for a full minute waiting for the light to change. Idiot! Fat, stupid, dunderheaded, lying, self-centered, un-aware, bad-driving-skills, idiot! i wish there had been a cop around.

I was supposed to ride National with JB, but first i forgot my camelback, and then i got held up at work. So i missed him, i rode afraid and alone, and took no chances since i had no tools. The bike was working well, or i wouldn’t have tried it. And i know i can ride National and have no problems, or i wouldn’t have tried it. I wish i could bring that attitude to wearing pads now that summer is coming.

Less Bombast More Baby!

/ chollaball / Leave a comment

when fatigue and stress make a genuine effort beyond me, an exercise in discipline is sometimes the best choice. fundamentals and base will carry you a lot further than talent. rote repetition can yield gems in the unlikeliest of places, or, hard work pays off.

Ahem… … This week Genevieve did some cool things. Give me a moment to think of what some of them were…

She re-remembered very quickly how to blow bubbles in the pool. It was too cold to benchmark any more of her progress entering Season 3. Though she is quite eager to climb on the rocks by the pool.

I believe i can count on Kila to assist in keeping G out of trouble at least as well as a 5-year old sibling . We were at the park the other day and it was too crowded to let Kila run, so I tied her to our bike 50 feet from where G and I were on the swings. the dog drug the bike halfway across the playground stressing over being close to G. the dog nearly started a fight with another dog who got too close to G. When G won’t listen to me, I have Kila run by her in the opposite direction so she chases Kila back towards me. Kila has G’s best interests in mind, sorta.

G would rather take the monkey bars or similar climbing apparatus down from the top of the playground than slide down. She has not developed fear of heights, because I ave not dropped her, but she has yet to master the actual process of climbing down. but i have no doubt she will master it as soon as it is possible.

Genevieve is an over-achiever in using the potty. All the teachers at daycare say so. It is depressing to talk to tasty younger women and have them eager to discuss how efficiently my daughter does a number 2.

Kila likes to hide and sneaky.

G likes me to read to her in the mornings before we get out of bed. She brings books to me and insists i recite. If she could get herself some milk, me some coffee, and take a piss for me this would be lovely. now its just awkward. i feel bad blowing her off but once i’m up sometimes the mood is ruined. but sometimes once i’m up i can bring her milk, me coffee, and take a piss and we can read in bed! It is by far one of the best things i have ever experienced in bed.

We were out at Las Sendas park during bunny hour. Seriously…5:45pm…bunny hour. We looked up and saw 4 bunnies which I sent her after but Kila drove them off before she and staring into the setting sun could make out the brown hump and streak of motion to be an actual bunny. Then we moved on to the big field, and a better view, and she counted to eight bunnies (though there were actually only 6) and watched them slowly retreat one-by-one hippity-hop. I think she figured it out by the end, heretofore only having known bunnies from books and puzzles.

European History

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Thinking about some of the historical reasons that contributed to Jewish culture evolving quite as it did, i started thinking about how history is taught, what is important, and the political correctness that surrounds it all. cause it was pissing me off another blah blah blah about how my kind does not get enough time on the curriculum. Rest assured, this will be another rant.

IIRC, a lot of why Jews evolved into some of the cultural roles (and stereotypes) they have, particularly in the financial industries, has to do with Catholicism having laws against usury but there still being an economic need for lenders in the marketplace. Jews had to become lenders to find jobs in a society where people did not otherwise support their businesses.

How important is this little bit of knowledge? How wrong is it that children everywhere do not know this, and I only am so knowledgeable thanks to the benefit of special secret hebrew training (during which they grow horns and plot the Zionist takeover)?

In the broad scheme of democracy, and oil kingdoms, and 10 million people in Beijing having their city shut down so the pollution is not broadcast during Olympic telecasts…this tidbit doesn’t mean shit. And it doesn’t bother me that this fact is actual European history and it wasn’t even taught commonly. There is a difference between happened, noteworthy and significant. Jews specialized in banking – that happened. The Battle of Hastings was noteworthy, but did it in itself fundamentally move history forward? Did the Crusades eliminate 1000 years of intellectual stagnation, or did they just uplift a lot of power and re-arrange it into the same paradigm? The French Revolution, however, was significant – a paradigm that had lasted 1000 years was overturned and rearranged.

These tidbits of history roll off my tongue because i was brought up in a euro-centric culture. All but maybe the French Revoluation are, today, small blips and would not make a list of top 50 event in history. And because i know them at the expense of several weeks spent on African history or Chinese history does not necessarily make some other history as significant to me. The perfection of a vase is not as important as the invention of democracy. The mobilization of half a billion farmers into a world superpower is. They should not be taught equally, just as the War of 1812 gets 1 day and WWII gets covered in bloody detail for at least 2 weeks.

I find some flaws in the phrase he who controls the present controls the past. It assumes such a complete Orwellian view of communications. He who controls the present is part of the past, and it makes sense to tell the story this way. Assuming the past can be monolithically erased assumes that people can not act currently for their own well-being, and will allow their future to be controlled. Bitching about not having the curriculum include a food-court of histories proves that this is not the case. It doesn’t mean insignificant details should be given stage time, just that we appreciate your application and a representative will contact you if your skill set meets our future needs. Meanwhile, take that energy and go teach a class or write a book, since no one has erased you for bitching yet.

Illegal brain candy

/ chollaball / 2 Comments

I have been having a lot of heavy thoughts on the subject lately. I never thought the whole “illegals are bankrupting us” carried much weight, or figured if it did they we’re sure as hell making it up in the cost of affordable maid service. But a series of articles have changes my mind. A hospital in downtown Mesa recently closed – it was an old hospital and allegedly not that good. However, the overtone of the article was that in part serving illegals caused the hospital to shut down since it could not make budget. I bet it was partly both, based on its location. This came not long after i read about an illegal who was hit by a car and was finally sent home to Mexico in a nearly vegetative state after wracking up over half a million in medical bills. In all the racism and paranoia over illegals and the money they cost us, rarely do you see just how that money is broken down, and that is a shame because it allows the racism and paranoia to dictate the discussion. Should we care about protesting a privately-funded day-labor center, or stress that much about the cost of school and teaching any kid to read, if the simplest and least painful area to focus is in medical care denial? Yesterday I read about a van with 32 people in it that crashed outside of Benson, and a bunch of the victims were airlifted to Tucson. AIRLIFTED TO TUCSON!!!! I think it goes against their mission to ask a rescue worker to realistically identify someone’s immigration status before providing them service, but its even more crazy to ask the taxpayers to pay for helicopter rescue. Sometime in this M*A*S*H* episode not a single officer asked any of the 26 other people to provide ID and a story for the 6 people who got airlifted?!?! Aint no damn airlift for me when i’m in Rocky Point and paying Mexican taxes! We are the richest nation on earth, we should provided an ambulance, but not a helicopter. My health insurance would make a similar decision about me.

When I say this i sound like a Minuteman.

The unintentional effect of a house in Rocky Point has been a lot more empathy for the people trying to come here to work. They are coming to Rocky Point too, and bringing their crime and their trash and their vagrancy and their loitering and their run on public services. They may be legal, but they are using my grill and my water and leaving trash in my yard. But then I see up close on my bike guys working all day in the heat loading buckets of bricks and then walking 3 miles home. Its hard to resent someone trying to work and improve their quality of life.

When I say this i sound like a bleeding heart.

Maybe AZ Prop 200 isn’t so bad after all. Except that it is entirely too blunt and stupid in its attempt to protect the citizens from the black hole of medical bills. You shouldn’t be able to sue the cop who didn’t cancel the helicopter, but there had to be 10 people involved who could have stopped that helicopter. There had to be dozens who could have stopped the half-million dollar fiasco. It has to be part of their policy to evaluate the citizenship, at least if its feasible. Sometimes it may not be feasible, and you can’t blame the rescue worker in the middle of that decision, just review it and learn from it as part of your ongoing training. Doctors have evaluation boards, police have reviews, is that so hard?

Rock Fairies on Geronimo

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some rock fairies dropped some fairly large rocks into a couple blind corners on Geronimo. a couple people spilled or beat up their bikes as a result. Oddly enough, this has raised an incredibly contentious debate on mtbr between xc’rs vs dh’rs, trail changes to Geronimo, and just about any other ad hoc topic that people seem to want to yammer on about. Sometimes i get drawn into this shit, but i sat this one out.

I find myself oddly conflicted about this latest situation.

the rock fairy bullshit is a no-brainer – some fucking coward is trying to booby trap the trail and the results could seriously hurt someone. I’m sure its some ne’er-do-well hiker who is offended by one-too-many downhillers going by them too fast, or what they in their infinite wisdom to perceive as too fast. it may not have even been that someone did anything specifically wrong, just another damn hiker who thinks the presence of guys on big bikes and full-face helmets has alienated him enough from “his” trail that he needs to take justice into his own hands. Likely a combination of both. irregardless. but likely a combination of both. it could have been me taken out as I creep slowly down that hill after climbing for an hour and a half and saying hello to every hiker i see. Pussy motherfucking self-righteous coward.

I have never had a problem on Geronimo with hikers, but i usually ride it by myself on weekday afternoons. I have tons of friends who dh that trail on weekends, and i’m sure they are being courteous and doing their best to share. unfortunately, the fact is that some hikers get pissed off losing their cadence stepping off the trail and think that just because they are hikers they should be allowed to maintain the perfect uninterupted cadence – the same people who would get pissed if there were twice as many hikers on the same trail. also unfortunately, even safely passing someone on a bike at speed in a group is going to make most people a bit on edge — even me when i’ve got G with me. I think dh’rs have a constant uphill issue of perception, that they will never be able to shake. I also think if you have a problem with traffic you need to go on weekdays or have some attitude adjustment. I am likely riding Somo this weekend with some friends, and my entire mindset is going to get into hanging out with friends and having a good day on the trail. Yesterday i hammered up from the office to BV in 1:15 and sessioned everything i wanted – the priviledge of a weekday. the reality of an enormous city.

I don’t consider myself a downhiller, cause i go too damn slow and i don’t shuttle and i don’t ride the same trails over and over in one day. but i don’t like being hated on for no good reason other than following the rules while on my bike and enjoying gnarly descents. Some XC-types a-little-too-quickly pointed out that the rock in the blind turn could be a kid and you must always be in control and able to stop. True, if the kid was 18 inches tall and hiding in the rut; true, if the kid was alone and you saw neither him nor the people he was with; true, if he happened to be wearing camoflage; true, if he and his invisible companions paid no attention to his own surroundings so could give a warning or step himself off the trail. It will happen someday, but it will be 1 in 10,000, and it won’t be me cause i go too slow. the priviledge of a weekday. the reality of an enormous city.

Riders and hikers come to have expectations of the trail, and what will be in it. For your own safety, you should always maintain the attitude that you need to be in control and able to stop at all times no matter what. And if you can do that you are a machine. Trails are all about what they offer and their feel and their views and their touch and their flow. And they are awesome because they are not treadmills. But trails change, and you must be able to handle obstacles. But obstacles do not jut out like pungi sticks in blind turns. But sometimes they do and you must ride it.

Fortunately i go slow, and ride on weekdays.

a missed educational opportunity

/ chollaball / Leave a comment

we were walking the dog this evening below Red Mountain Park. G was in the backpack, generally tired and grumpy and just a bit cold.   blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda we’re heading back when in the dark about 10 feet ahead of me I hear rattle rattle rattle.   I stopped so fast G’s head bonked into the back of my head.   another smooth move in parenting! Then i backed up while she bitched about us no longer heading home.   in my haste to get the fuck out of there, i neglected to stop and point out the sound to her, and it would have been quite easy to do as the damn rattler would NOT STOP RATTLING!   it was quite the cacophony.   Kila’s learned all about caution around snakes this way; its an amazingly distinct sound once you have heard it.   grrr…another smooth move in parenting!   the topper is on the way home she starts pointing at sticks and going “snake snake sssss sssss sssss.”   oh if only i had been on the ball to impart my wisdom unto my tinyHuman.

Does this purse match my shoes?

/ beckie / Leave a comment

Genevieve has a purse.   It’s red, and small, and fits nicely over her shoulder.   She keeps her keys, wallet, and cell phone in it, as anyone would.   When we went to a restaurant the other night, she wouldn’t go in without her purse.   As I watched her sling it over her shoulder and walk into the restaurant, I was struck with how old she looked.  

I can now almost see the person she will be; the little girl is emerging from the baby that we knew for so long.   It’s odd watching this process, sometimes so gradual you hardly notice the differences, then so fast you can’t believe how time flies.   Pretty soon the purse, keys and phone will be real, and the fear I feel now when we are crossing the parking lot and she has torn her hand out of mine so she can run to the door will just be the tip of the iceburg compared to the way I will feel when it’s midnight and she’s still not home.