Uppladdningen alltså. Så idag, eller åtminstone fram till efter träningen ikväll, lever jag på ägg och keso. Typ. Vispgrädde och hallon är också rätt frekvent förekommande. (Omelett, keso med hallon, kesoplättar med grädde och hallon, keso med hallon) Lite fascinerande att några deciliter hallon och lite mjölk i kaffet gör att energiprocenten för kolhydrater ändå hamnar på tretton procent. Men i vilket fall är det tur att jag bara ska äta såhär en dag (och inte ens en hel) för som vegetarian är det rätt svårt att komma på andra livsmedel. Eller så är det bara jag som har dålig fantasi och smaklökar som tycker det känns rätt ogott att äta tex quornfärssås och någon grönsak. Visserligen skulle jag kunna tänka mig ett mål bestående av kikärtor och bönor i någon god dressing, men det skulle ju ge rätt mycket kolhydrater så det "funkar" ju inte.

Jag bör nog öva mig på att se lite gladare ut när jag springer..

Round Mountain is without a doubt my favorite hill to time trial. Towers is all good and well, but it's a dirt road and that's not really my thing. Round has everything. It's got its grunts, some flats, some views along the way, mile markers, rocks, roots, tons of switchbacks, and speedy technical sections. Honestly, you couldn't ask for more from a mountain, and at 4.5-4.75 miles (unsure of exact distance) with 2,700 feet of vertical it has just about the right stats to make it a challenge, but not be too intimidating that the thought of it makes you want to roll over and go back to bed (Pikes).

This was to be the second installment of the Front Range time trial series, the first having taken place on much different terrain up the front side of Green. We had almost the same cast of characters in attendance minus Brandon, Cat, Victoria, Slush and Brownie, but plus Nick P (finally Boulder shows up), Cherilyn, Rick and Travis. The last time (July `09) I TT'd Round I ran 52:55, so that was floating out there as a fastest known time (FKT) and the morning's mark.

Rick had taken off up the mountain before I got there, while Cherilyn and Travis set off a few minutes before the rest of us, apparently tired of our mindless chatter. As usual, GZ got the ball rolling by taking a flier from the gate, while Lucho was busy waiting for a satellite signal from space. Undeterred, Lucho was on us within meters and much like on Green was soon out of sight with Eric not far behind and Bob making up the last of the podium positions. I was in a state of absolute oxygen debt after a cold (no warm-up) start, and my legs felt like bricks after a heavy weekend of miles and vertical. A couple of minutes in and I was still feeling terrible, so I just slotted in behind George and figured I'd tempo the hill.

Just before the first mile marker, I finally felt like I was hitting a bit of a rhythm and that I would be able to push out a solid effort. Half way into the second mile, I caught sight of Bob a couple of switchbacks up and was overtaking him by 2.5, just before the beginning of the technical flat section, which I hammered harder than I think I ever have. By the time I popped out past the three-mile marker, Eric was beginning to come into view, so I set about hunting him down although he was still a good couple of switchbacks up on me. I finally caught him shortly after the four-mile marker, and then concentrated on getting my head down for the remainder of the climb, confident that Lucho was still way up on me and uncatchable.

The split at four miles was just under 42 minutes, so I knew a PR was going to happen, but that the sub-50 was going to be touch and go. Apparently I didn't have enough left in the tank to dip under 50, but I got close, hitting the summit cairn in 50:24, which was good for a PR haircut of two and a half minutes. Considering I had 52 miles and over 12,000' in my legs from the prior two days, I'll take it.

Eric was next up (51 low), followed by Bob (53:30), George (55:47), Nick P (60 low), Cherilyn (60-61 - no watch, but best guess based on her start time and proximity to GZ at the finish), Rick (62 high, coming from sea level) and Travis (no watch). Pete was a DNF after puking two miles in. Lucho also puked at the top (Rick reportedly has video evidence) after registering a blistering 47:58. I think anyone who has run Round can attest to how fast that time is - damn, Lucho!

So, yeah, another fun morning with a great bunch of guys, some good BS'in, and perfect weather. George and I headed back up to the two-mile marker for 13 miles and 4,200' on the day, while Nick pushed out another summit as he builds back up for Hardrock in six weeks after five weeks on the DL.

Splits (versus previous PR):

9:58 (10:09)
11:33 (11:53)
9:43 (10:35)
10:25 (11:04)
8:43 (9:13)

Some action from the morning:

We had a Bronzer time on our trip to Normandy and the Somme. David was able to walk on Dog Sector of Omaha Beach and soak up some history. We also went to Pointe du Hoc and Arromanches and the American Cemetery which overlooks Omaha beach. This was my second trip to this cemetery but it was no less moving the second time and is a grim reminder of the cost of letting lunatics run countries.

Considering it is 65 years after the second world war it is astonishing that there are still so many lunatics at large - and that we have so far escaped being vaporized.

But I am sure it won’t be long before Hoo Flung Dung in North Korea or that nutter in Iran decide that it is time to go postal and give us a brief taste of nuclear fission before they and their spotty little band of assistant despots vanish from the face of the planet.

We are certainly not going to have to put up with this sort of childish rubbish from dictators when Sarah is President.

We stayed at Ouistreham in a delightful little hotel called the ‘Hotel de la Plage’ which was not at the beach but we made allowances for the slight exaggeration. Who knows - in 50 years it probably will be.

In the Somme we stayed in Albert - in the “Hotel de la Basilique’ which was indeed appropriately named and in the centre of the town facing the Cathedral.

The hotel had an astonishingly good restaurant - which is just as well because there did not seem to be many places to eat in Albert - so we ate there for three nights.

Melissa wanted to see if she could get us thrown out of The Corner Hotel but I dragged her back to the hotel. She was not terribly well the next day and spent a lot of time lying on the back seat of the car feigning death.

We went to Australian Memorial and to Ieper. We saw the most fabulous monument I have ever seen. It is the Vimy Ridge National Historic Site of Canada and is on scale I have not seen before in the Somme - and blitzes some of the gigantic Russian monuments I have encountered.

The only thing the Communists ever did for the people was to build railway stations for the live ones and monuments for the dead ones.

A memorable trip. Billy Benz covered 3,000 kilometers without missing a beat and David showed me how to use the car trip computer and a few other things.

We listened to lots of fabulous music of the type that would make Cate grit here ears - and played Kraftwerk and Rammstein when we got on to the German Autobahns.

Haven’t had so much fun since I played a guest spot with the Electric Snails in their debut at the South Steyne Surf Club in 1963.

The biggest, the most tragic and the most inspiring story of pop music without comparison is "SMiLE" by the Beach Boys.



What makes the album exceptionally relevant right now, is how these days you can hear the influence of the album and the group in general in most of the fresh stuff around in a big way.



PET SOUNDS



In 1966, Brian Wilson, his brothers Dennis and Carl and the mischievous cousin Mike Love and a childhood friend Al Jardine had gone through a lot as something called the Beach Boys. The group had released ten albums in just three years and been on the road touring basically all the time.



Eventually, Brian Wilson left touring completely and stayed on the studio to write and record "Pet Sounds" which basically became the most appreciated album of all time, along with the Beatles "Sgt. Pepper" a year later. The funny thing is that "Sgt. Pepper" was strongly influenced by "Pet Sounds" and then again, "Pet Sounds" was strongly influenced by "Rubber Soul" by the Beatles.



A STEP FURTHER



"Pet Sounds" never was a hit in sales, as the Capitol, the record label, never believed in the album and hardly marketed it.



The next step from "Pet Sounds" would have to be huge. The arrangements in that record are still something stellar and completely unique and the songs are classic as it gets.



The first step from there was the single we all know: "Good Vibrations". It was a starting point to the album and was to be a part of it too.



The next step was to make the album more of an experience, not just a collection of songs. The idea was to make almost a soundtrack around three themes, and the themes were big: the complete history of the United States along with pop cultural history, the four elements and also the relation between the father and the child.



THE FATHER



The father, Murry Wilson, had indeed a high influence on SMiLE's visions.



Murry "was a tyrant", quick to offer discouraging criticism and who "abused his sons psychologically and physically, creating wounds that never healed. Carl found comfort in food and Dennis rebelled against the world to express his anger. Brian would immerse himself in music to cope, but though he longed to learn piano as a child, he was too frightened to ask and even too scared to press the keys when his father was at work."



THE CHILD



Eventually Brian surprised his parents by showing he had learned how to play the piano by watching his father. Thereafter, "playing the piano... literally saved my ass. I recall playing one time while my dad flung Dennis against the wall... That was just one of many incidents when I didn't miss a note, supplying background music to the hell that often substituted for a family life..."



At first, Murry steered the Beach Boys' career, engineering their signing with Capitol Records in 1962. In 1964, Brian ousted his father after a violent confrontation in the studio. Over the next few years, they became increasingly estranged; when Murry died of a heart attack in June 1973, Brian and Dennis did not attend the funeral.







HARD TYMES



The recording process of "SMiLE" was hard and diverse. Only 24 old Brian Wilson began exhibit signs of depression and paranoia along with opposition from the band itself, mostly Mike Love rigidly resisting especially the lyrics of collaborator Van Dyke Parks. During the recording session for the "Fire" section of the "Elements Suite", Brian became irrationally concerned that the music had been responsible for starting several fires in the neighborhood of the studio.



THE DECLINE



Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles was released June 1st 1967 and just a few weeks before that the release of "SMiLE" was delayed. It soon became clear that Capitol would never release "SMiLE" in it's original form nor Brian Wilson in his state could finish the recording process with the group resisting it as a whole. Instead the group would release "Smiley Smile" instead which was based on the songs on "SMiLE" but done in three weeks and in a very different manner in it's intimateness at Brian's home studio.



GIVE A BIGGIE SMILEY SMILE



Soon after the decline of "SMiLE" and the poor reception of "Smiley Smile" Brian Wilson would pivot into major depression and cocane addiction and also lose his previously angelic, recognisable falsetto. He did make some new songs on the albums released later on, but it was clear that the golden days of the genius were over and that the group was to take a lead on it's own.



For decades would Brian Wilson battle his own demons by loathing on food and cocaine mostly by himself to the point of turning almost autistic.



BRIAN WILSON PRESENTS - SMiLE



2004 was a turning point in Wilson's life, as he finally could battle that biggie of a demon called "SMiLE" and got to record all over again the work that he had started almost 40 years ago.



The outcome is an amazing piece of work still after all these decades and the funny thing is that during that time, no one has done anything like it since.



The newly recorded "SMiLE" is honoured as the most appreciated album of the 2000's with it's approximate rate of 97/100 counted by Metacritic and the maestro did continue his fresh uprising with a completely new goodie of an album, the lovely "That Lucky Old Sun".



THE ORIGINAL



There's a lot of great bootlegs of the original "SMiLE" and the one that definitely captures the spirit and vibe of the masterpiece in all of it's smooth quirkyness is called "Alternate Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE".



The piece is divided in three 20 minute sections called "Americana", "Cycle of Life" and "Elements" and also to outro "You're Welcome".



You can listen to it below and you can also listen to the 2004 SMiLE with Spotify.



The Beach Boys - Americana

The Beach Boys - Cycle of Life

The Beach Boys - The Elements

The Beach Boys - You're Welcome



There's also a version of the original that's more similar to the new one, which is called "SMiLE (A Reconstruction) by Purple Chick". You can listen to that below.





You can also hear and watch the masterpiece done in a glorious manner at the time of the new "SMiLE" release starting from below. It's something of a miracle that Brian Wilson is still sitting there and performing all the complex arrangements in full glory.



There's someone that has the perfect right to finally smile. You can be sure that it's genuine as it gets.

Well, it has been a great climbing season in Red Rock. Thanks to everyone who has come out here to climb with us! I can speak for all the other guides that have worked here, in saying that it has been a pleasure climbing with you. Lots of excellent routes have been done, and many people have invested a lot of sweat and tears (and yes, some blood) in this winter season.

For all of those who were looking forward to Offwidth Part Two, I will have to apologize and have you wait until next season. Due to a fairly wet winter, most of my personal climbing was in the gym until April. Maybe this summer I’ll have the chance to do some OW’s with a camera around. That said, I was able to find a partner for Chrysler Crack (5.9), a classic old-school romp that begins with a #6 Camalot and gets bigger! If anyone is interested in learning some offwidth technique, I will be more than happy to accommodate that request in the fall. As it is, I’ve had more luck finding partners for scary runout face climbs – something Red Rock has in abundance.

Well, no matter where you are, here are a few pictures from this season to hopefully motivate and inspire you in your upcoming climbing season. I hope to see everyone again, either in Red Rock, the Cascades, or elsewhere.

Cheers!

Scott Massey, Red Rock Lead Guide

Scott on Armatron (III, 5.9) Photo by Chris Zink

Perfect rock on Armatron - Photo by Chris Zink

Scott on Kemosabe (5.10a) Photo by Sendi Kalcic

Don King on Cassondra's Chimney (5.7)

Scott in Cassondra's Chimney (5.7) Photo by Don King

Scott leading Jubilent Song (III, 5.8)

Meet Commonman, the ultimate working class hero.

Sevensheaven images and prints are for sale at sevensheaven.nl

Nu skulle jag egentligen vilja börja detta inlägg med en rolig bild som vi tog under gårdagens army. Men tyvärr är det något fel på sladden som ska skicka över bilden från mobilen till datorn, så jag får tåla mig tills jag kommer ill Stockholm (på torsdag!) och kan låna en annan sladd. Men du kan ju föreställa dig en mänsklig pyramid av armyhöga tjejer och killar. Ungefär så ser den ut ja.

Roligt hade jag hur som helst både under armyn och resten av helgen. Mest massa mys i olika former men även lite träning som sagt. Efter att ha strosat runt på stan och shoppat de där fina rosa sakerna plus en cykelkorg till mig, samt en kavaj och ett par skor åt Martin, tog vi en lunchfika och laddade kroppen för snabbdistans. Så när vi kom hem vilade vi bara fötterna en stund innan det bar iväg. Gemensam uppjogg upp till skatås där vi skiljdes åt för varsin snabbdistans. För min del skulle det bli 5km medan det för Martin stod 8km på schemat. Han dundrade iväg (I en fart jag bara kan drömma om.) på åttan medan jag valde två varv på den fina runt-härlandatjärn-rundan. 5,5km och 25:15 stoppade jag klockan på. Rejält trött men inte supermaxad. Joggade lite, stretchade lite och funderade precis på om jag skulle orka köra lite löpskolning medans jag väntade på Martin, men jag hann aldrig ta något beslut (Jag drog så klart ut på beslutet för egentligen var jag både för trött och för lat för att orka.) för just då dök han upp. Gemensam nedjogg hem igen innan vi fixade oss iordning och försvann på olika tillställningar. En fin lördag.



Jag tycker om rosa.. :)

One of my favourite rituals, apart from squeezing my face and sorting the Tupperware drawer, is to check this very cool blog.

Pamela Redmond Satran has developed this helpful list that I am going to use as my bible as I glide elegantly into my Naughty Forties. Thank god I have a few years up my sleeve to study up on How Not To Act Old.

My favourite advice from her?

• Stop covering up your underwear
• Don't fear porn
• Don't send greeting cards
• Don't listen to Springsteen
• Quit bossing everyone around
• Don't cyber-stalk your children
• Don't fear the waxer
• Screw the housework
• Don't be named Bob or Pat

I actually think I am too far gone. Mr Woog is ancient.

• Mr Woog and I watch the news to see what the weather will be like the following day
• Mr Woog and I enquire each morning how the other slept
• I take a few minutes each morning to stretch out all my kinks in this old body of mine
• I gargle with Listerine quite a bit
• I sometimes have to have a Quick-Eze
• My grey hair to brown hair ratio is diminishing
• A late night is 11pm
• Mr Woog rubs his hands with glee when presented with cherry strudel
• Sometimes I wake Mr Woog up on a Thursday night to gently enquire whether he has put the bins out
• I am friendly with the parking officers in our street
• I sometimes listen to 2UE and agree with the callers
• I actually own enough tupperware to have a dedicated drawer.

Please do not think ill of me. I am now aware of these disturbing behaviours and am going to do my best to correct them, goddammit. I am going to stop short of having a Horlicks before bed and will never ever buy Metamucil.

Mon - Noon: 6 miles easy on valley trails (500'). Legs felt okay after Jemez, but definitely sore and tired.

Tues - Noon: 8.5 miles easy (1,800'). Still some soreness in the quads, but legs felt strong other than that. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Sawmill - Loggers - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderburg - home long way
PM - 5 miles steady at Pineridge. Ran 7 min pace here just to stretch the legs out a bit. Despite the lingering aches in the quads, this was a nice cruise.

Weds - Noon: 11 miles easy (2,400'). Falls - SC - Stout - Sawmill - Loggers - Carey - Towers (to top) - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - home long way. Hamstring tight again, probably from the Pineridge cruise on Tuesday.
PM: 6 miles easy (500') on valley trails.

Thurs - Noon: 9 easy super easy (2,300'). Audra/Horsetooth long. Thutt (thigh/butt) area giving me some gyp, so went below even my usual easy effort. Seem to have shaken most of everything else from Jemez.
PM: 6.5 miles easy with Alex's FCTR social group at Pineridge. Good burgers, beer and conversation afterward.

Fri - Noon: 10 miles easy (1,200'). Soderberg to Well Gulch and back via Overlook/valley. Super easy again due to lingering thutt pain. Scoped out a rare .8 mile stretch of trail I had yet to see in Lory (Well Gulch).
PM: 2 miles easy. Jogged around the park to feel out my hamstring before picking up Alistair.

Sat - AM: 31 miles (7,100'). Met top American (Justin) and Nick P early in Boulder (out of bed at 4:45) for a run with my all-star crew for Western States. Justin, fresh off his 2:29 marathon in London, will be pacing me, while Nick will be whipping me through the aid stations at record pace. I don't know the trails particularly well down in Boulder, but I do know that we started on South Mesa and made our way through scenic Eldorado Canyon, with a spur climb/descent thrown in for good measure, over to Walker Ranch for about 3/4 of a lap before tying in to Flagstaff, which took us to the back side of Green/Bear from where we cruised downhill all the way back to Nick's gaff in south Boulder. After today's run, I have a new appreciation for the Boulder Mountain trails. It turns out that you can in fact piece together a decent run on singletrack that is actually worthy of the name, although the vert still racked up to make for a big climb day, despite no single ascent of much more than 1,000'. A solid outing, although my boys need to work on their climb a bit - Justin especially if he thinks he has any chance of beating me at Pikes this year ;) Bumped into a few Boulder Mountain Park regulars, with a double passing of the D-Rock and a single encounter with Team Shart and Jim P.

Sunday - AM: 21 miles (5,200'). Another 4:45 wake. Ouch. Double loop of Lumpy Ridge with Pete and Alex. This one begins and starts just outside of Estes Park. The 1-2 mile trail up to Gem Lake is obscenely popular with day-hikers (mostly Texans), but the rest of the loop is typically clear of traffic for the most part. Couple of good 1,000'+ climbs delivered on each loop with an altitude range of between 7,800' and 9,100', which has to make this one of the best training routes around. Not a drop of snow to be seen and even Longs was looking like it will be ready in a month or so. Twin Sisters (11,000'+) also looked to be clear, so a trip up there next weekend could well be in the cards.

Got bored trying to figure out how to edit the video footage from Lumpy below, so either don't watch or accept as is.


Total: 116 miles (21,000')

Felt like the recovery from Jemez went well, and I was able to keep things in gear for most of the week. Strong weekend with some good longer runs. These were more about time on feet than mileage or speed, and the run Sunday felt good - a little creaky to get going but for the most part my body responded when asked. Some more climb and mileage planned for tomorrow morning to cap out a heavy three-day stretch, then easy for a couple of days before reloading for next weekend.

Round Mountain, west of Loveland of Hwy 34 at 7:00 am for anyone interested. Slated as a time trial, but not personally expecting anything too miraculous.

Hope the film is better than the wardrobe.

Klaxons have finally something new out and it's a track called "Flashover".



It's been three years since any material from these guys, and a lot has happened. These incidental nu-rave pacemakers had their album basically done already a year ago, but Polydor rejected it as being "too experimental". Let's hope the outcome as a whole is not something of a total compromise.



You can listen to "Flashover" below.

I went to the Bentalls centre in Kingston this afternoon. I spent a good hour drooling over their extensive kitchen section and international food section. I only walked out with one box of Cap N' Crunch!

You could also dress them up and serve them as appetizers to guests. I don't think the photo shows them in the best way. They look ugly but they are addictive. They don't last long in our house so I didn't waste time making them look beautiful.

Simple Sausage Rolls
adapted from Delicious Dec 2009

Ingredients
500g block puff pastry (or sheet)
1 beaten egg
450g sausagemeat
50g breadcrumbs
50 ml apple juice
6 fresh sage leaves chopped finely (or a dash of dried sage)
2 small eating apples cored and grated

-- May 30 -- Bellingham, WA - Ski to Sea

-- May 29-30 -- Gunnison, CO -- 24 Hours of Gunnison Glory

--June 2 - 4 -- Italy -- UIAA Safety Commission plenary session

-- June 3-6 -- Vail, CO -- US World Bouldering Cup

--June 3 -- Boulder, CO -- Yosemite Project

--June 5-6 -- Washington State -- National Trail Day Projects

-- June 11-12 -- Colorado -- HERA Climb4Life

-- June 25-27 -- France -- Vibram Natural Games

-- June 25 (Application Deadline) -- WA -- Mountain Stewards Project, Mt. Baker

-- July 7 -- Golden, CO -- Climbing in China

--July 20 (Deadline) -- REEL ROCK Filmmaking Contest

Mys, middag, kramar, fika, shopping, snabbdistans, grillparty, långfrukost, loppmarknad, vännerfika, army training. Jag har en underbar helg tillsammans med Martin. Och jag har shoppat en rosa klocka. Och en rosa radio. Vi hörs ikväll efter älskade armyn.

Hur har Din helg sett ut?

Best audio quality (IPlayer)

Audio

Los Mirlos – Sonido Amazonica – Barbes
Lito Barrientos y su Orchestra – Cumbia en dor menor - Soundway
Niney – Skeng Skeng – Observer
RSD with Likkle Mai – Prophecy dub – DSK Records
T++ - Cropped – Honest John’s Records
Gemmy – Maroon chant – Earwax
Blundetto – Nautilus dub version – Heavenly Sweetness
The Drastics – Cosmic awareness – mp3
Dave Bartholomew – Shrimp gumbo – Jukebox Jam
Mehrpouya – Soul raga – Finders Keepers
Gotan Project - Tu misterio (radio edit) –Ya Basta Records
Ikonika – They are all losing the war – Hyperdub
Sigha – Shake – Hotflush
Moebius Plank – Two oldtimers – Bureau B
Shonen Knife - Barbaque Party - Damnably
Local Natives - World News - Infectious
Jah Mission Vibes - Money -
Steven Lindley - Line in the Sand
Hayseed Dixie - Holidays in the Sun - Cooking Vinyl
Tenny Ten - Swaggnificent - zy
Rusko - Raver's Spesh - Mad Decent
Extra Life - Head Shrinker (Remix by Tyondai Braxton) - Loaf
Faust - Karneval - Klangbad
Babyhead - Jungle Law (Lupo's Dub Mix) - Rockers Revolt

 
1. Heat oven to 350 F/180 C degrees. Grease and flour cupcake cake pan. Sift cocoa into a medium bowl, and whisk in 1 cup boiling water. Set aside to cool.
 
 
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on low speed until light and fluffy.
 
 
 
3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk milk into reserved cocoa mixture.
 
With mixer on low speed, alternately add flour and cocoa mixtures to the batter, a little of each at a time, starting and ending with flour mixture. 
 
 
 
4. Divide batter evenly among the 2 sections of cake mold. Leave some space at the top.
 
Bake until a cake tester inserted into center of each section comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes, rotating the pans for even baking. Transfer to wire racks; let cool, 15 minutes. Turn out cakes, and return to racks, tops up, until completely cool.
 
 
 
Combine cocoa and the boiling water, stirring until cocoa has dissolved. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add melted and cooled chocolate, beating until combined and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in the cocoa mixture.
 
I had a problem with this being a bit too liquid. I just added more sifted icing sugar until it was thick enough to spread without dripping. It came out really well.
 
Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream
from Martha Stewart Cupcakes