Greater than, less than

Dirt>packed snow>mud>pavement>shitloads of un-packed snow

Visitors: Tipi tales chapter two

After a month of tipi life we have had some visitors. First and foremost big aust came up for almost 5 days and got right into the swing of things; shoveling, scraping, moving wood, cooking, running, and even meeting out neighbors. He did some great work on the campsite by widening the entry exit path and helping unload wood from connors truck. we paid him in food and lodging. he was enthusiastic and independent figuring out what needed doin. i know we will see more of him this winter.

me pouncing onto jesse

barefeet, guitars, cookies, friends, buffalo hides: all that is tipi

bedmates

666

minus jessica

The second visitors were more short term but highly entertaining. We managed to sleep 6 ppl in the tipi! all reported being warm come morning. Thr group included jesse and jessica who stopped over on the first leg of their road trip to new orleans that includes time in utahs zion national park. gotta say it sounds like a great trip. also we had the pleasure of hosting tay and monte. They, along with connor had spent the day down in the foothills getting some good ol' ink on themselves. It was great to have so many friends under one roof or tent or whatever you wanna call it. The evening events included a night hike with tree climbing, snow bounding, and pouncing. Also included were some guitar jams back at the tipi, slushy milk and pb oreo's, and of course i cant leave out the good smokey finale to the night. Sorry pics will be put up soon-ish

Metal Record of 2010

DAATH

Living raw with your own two hands is one thing humans have for the most part abandoned.

frigid fire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0UsdW91IN0

1 timers.

Here's a list of side projects by respected musicians, side projects that only lasted for one record. I guess these dudes got it out of their systems with just one shot. i'd like to see new material from all these projects.
Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio: Heavens. (Joy Division rip off)
Chino Moreno from Deftones: Team Sleep. (Coked up Chino greatness)
Connor Oberst from every indie/folk band created in the past 5 years: Desaperacidos. (way better than ANYTHING Bright Eyes has ever done, post punkish).
Jade and Dave from AFI: Blaqk Audio. (Depeche Mode rip off)
Todd weinstock from Glassjaw: Men Women & Children. (Disco dance groove pop, they technically released a limited 7 inch latter on, but that was remixed tracks)
Ben Gibbard from Death Cab/All time quarterback: The Postal Service. (Best electronica Winter record ever)
Ean Elliot from Pipedown/D4D: Rape Fantasy (!)

I'm in finals and working two jobs right now so my mind is dryer than an 80yr old grandma in death valley, so there's probably alot more that I just can't recall right now. if you have any you know of add em to the list. REMEMBER keep the list to side projects that only released one record.

tTt

tTt.....tipi Truckee trek 
the title about sums up the last week but more importantly whats to come through this winter. first the tipi.
the tipi is really impressing me. it has been a combination of rain with some snow really early in the morning meaning that were dealing with in my mind some of the grossest conditions. about the coldest it can be and still be wet rather than frozen. that being said i have no complaints because i am more than happy to get used to the stove and tipi environment when its only in the high 20's at night compared with what was happening over thanksgiving week when temps were dropping to -17f. that wouldve been rough.

fuel for the fire

connor sleeping heavily under the warm blankets

light snow. pre-work beard.

Truckee is the second part of this.  although i have worked up here the past three winters and lived in my tent in the summers i have never even remotely integrated into the into the town. as i write this i am sitting in the newly opened coffeebar in old town truckee where baby casey works. i like the location and atmosphere and see myself spending a lot of time here this winter. the fact that the tipi has no power and coffeebar does is enough, and i have plenty of free time away from work i will be looking to do more in the area. granted a lot of this will be getting out and enjoying the natural beauty that surrounds the area. running, climbing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and all that jazz. which brings me to part number three, trek.

some steep and deep trail breaking

thigh high in that fresh peruvian shit

looking east: northstar off to the left. cliffs in bottom left corner

looking west: ridge line north of alpine and and south of squaw

maybe the more appropriate word is trekking or hiking or running, really i was trying to stay with the theme of t words. although after today's bout with the snow and mountain i should call it slogging or better yet trudging. the temps were nice and it even felt good in the sun if the wind could be avoided. i was exhausted! my stabilizer muscles in my legs seemed to go shortly after the feeling in my toes was lost and by the end the big muscles were feeling pretty fatigued too and i stumbled and plowed the final icy golf ball-esque set of switchbacks before making the tipi. my choice of attire consisted of running tights, a short and long sleeve t, gloves, and my blown out (quite literally there are 5 significant holes, more than one finger, on these bad boys) mt100's. the resulting gap between my shoes and tights has me sitting hear feeling as if rabid rats had attacked my ankles, albeit very old dull toothed rats. nonetheless i had a feeling of accomplishment and was happy to be out for more than just a mere meander but instead a concerted effort to get to a high point of some kind where i could see the surrounding area. plus the fatigue in my legs now feels good and my face still feels warm from the increased body temp earlier in the day.  im gunna have to go up again tomorrow to break the trail a lil more but also so that i can bring a cam and take pics.
with that a toast for the three t's, shit lets make it four t's and toss my name in there as well. 
alright check back for photos soon.
 

TIPI TALES CHAPTER I

Tyler and I spent our first night in the tipi last night. It wasn't particularly cold for Truckee, and downright toasty inside our portable mansion due to the Finkbeiner donated wood stove and the layers of down. More pictures and tales to come...

Where is your god now.

Proof of extra dimensions possible next year: CERN

fall has essentially reached its end and winter is coming on strong. the return of the winter season means i will finally be goin back to work up in truckee. ive been away long enough that i am actually looking to getting back into the mountains and seeing friends and also having a lil cash in my pocket. i chose not to work this fall because i still had some left over funds after my summer travels and felt like there were better places i could be rather than at a job. i cant express how grateful i have been for this time off but also for the opportunity to do so. this entire year has really been a whirlwind that when looked back on is hard to imagine. more adventures are knocking on my door though and cannot wait to get them started. here are some pics from the last couple weeks. they were filled with the closest of friends and wonderful family. it is so reassuring to have a network that is supportive and encouraging towards my decisions. ohhhh and one last thing...i went out and hiked and added in some up hill and flat sprints on saturday. felt good. im tight and weak but the idea of being able to get some running miles back on my legs is exciting.

PROUD.

People regard metal as the "evil" or "satanic" medium of music. I believe this to be true in the sense that it is the freethinking, intelligent man's music. people that have enough thought to decide for themselves what is enjoyable. metal is the genre of people who do not follow the norm or subscribe to music they are told to enjoy i.e. pop music. Pop music represents the other side of the spectrum; blind faith and following of music you are told to like, music with no intellectual depth. Pop music takes the place of Christianity and faux spirituality in this example. so the next time someone asks you if you listen to the devils music, say yes, and be proud.

hi hi hiya

Last couple weeks

Ladies and gentlemen. Mark Dahl.

Grant ripped some curl.

This man is 6'5.

Beach Goths.

These kids showed up.

18 degree car sleep sesh.

Hard Woods & Soft Goods

Some recent projects to emerge from the dungeon-

These tool handles used to be wood grain...



DCLXVI
Shirts for sale. I made less than a handful of random sized short and longsleeve shirts with a definite old school feel.

FRONT


BACK

Hell in the West

Greater than, less than

Coyote serenade > Ambulance sirens

"Humans are animals, true, but a special kind of animal, one that has expanded the standard definition of evolutionary fitness. And no, I’m not trying to imbue our species with some sort of cosmic or spiritual significance; we create our own significance, our own meaning, by virtue of our massive brains"(Mark Sisson).

Well said Mark.

Let the arms pooling begin

Britian and France strike defense deal
Let the arms pooling begin. The European union has done a lot in the past decade to ensure the stability of Europe internationally and domestically. The goal of the union has been to, in a sense, tie Europe together economically so much that fighting became out of the question. So far it has worked. Of course with all this tying together and joining together sovereignty must not be lost. This has been a tricky course to follow since the more integrated and efficient the nations become the more efficiency is strived for. And democracy is not the most efficient of governments especially when it has a weak federal government trying to appease many strong states. Since many economic barriers have been broken down; common currency, federal trade trade agreements, open borders, and a wider spread work force, it has been stated that financially the most efficient use of money and resources for the EU would be to pool the defense departments together. Instead of all working and independently funding essentially the same programs where redundancy will burn money faster than gasoline soaked late-summer prairie. This would of course almost eliminate any possibility of war between member states since it would be far too integrated to do so it would end up lookin like a a civil war. Well today as stated in the linked article the arms pooling has begun. Despite the assertions by both countries that sovereignty will be maintained this seems short sighted in my view and I see it setting precedence for much further and far reaching military integration in Europe. Especially if there continues to be more economic difficulties, countries will be forced to streamline their operations. So while it might not happen in the next 10 years, slowly I see a European army in the works that will be created to co tend with and scare off the ever-growing Chinese PLA and the insatiable mercenary army of the USA. It seems orewellian as I write that and think of the large three in the book 1986 ever locked in a arms struggle and ever changing ally arangment. Who knows we'll see how it all works out because we all know that when we stand together and pool our resources we are stronger ie WWII.
I'm trying to go through and fix the typos but my browser inst letting me. Maybe later til then hope it was food for thought.
-tyler

Goin back

mountain time

i am here in montana or as i prefer to call it as mountain time. yaak and the surrounding areas have provided me with wonderful scenery and landscapes that seem to be the most fitting for this time of year. here are some.

patchwork of green and golds. yaak river, mt

forest fire. outside bend, or

the clouds hung to the mountains like they might fall off the sides. creston bc

speckeld landscape unknown peak on horizon. hensley peak yaak, mt

hopefully the photos are able to capture some of the breathtaking views i have seen on this trip.

-Tyler

YUP

PHILIP

This man is writing an autobiography.

BREAK YOUR NECK-IN THE AIR!

And this just came up on metalinjecton


The new DAATH record is the year's best in my opinion.

"Energy is not created or destroyed", reverberated in my mind during Aviation Weather class. I started thinking about energy being transfered from person to person, mountain to hill, or-food-body-trail. The energy in my body while running is transferred through to the trail, to the canyons. Its a constant loop of energy, i give mine to the canyon to help support its life, while in return i receive its energy giving me a more efficient body in terms of fitness, hardiness, and a healthy mind. I am reminded that its what you put into something that you get out.

Recap

Big ups to Austin for following through on his plan to run rockin river 50 miler. Took a lot of mental strength on his part to overcome the discomfort and lack of preparation needed. Also it is overcast today and I'm excited! We have not had a taste of fall until now. Gunna get out on the slackline today with BK, should be fun. As of tomorrow I will be hitting the road and aiming for Yaak Montana to visit my cousin. The idea of driving through the mountains and forests of the west at this time of year really has me itching to go. I'm hoping to get dusted with snow at least once, if not a few times. Cold crisp air, dripping dark grey skies, mountain tops being engulfed, empty roads sleeping bags and campfire smoke.

Heavier than the Euros

do what you want and say its from the divine...... so hahaaha

Just a thought

Ok so I was reading an article earlier that was discussing the record amount of deportations that have occured so far this year. The number was just shy of 400k ppl. Of this group 195k were considered criminal offenders, and of those a solid one third were serious offenders ie. Rape murder drug trafficking and arms dealing. That one third constitutes just over 60,000 individuals that have been sent back to their respective home country south of the border. Havent we done this before? Sounds very similar to our actions in the 80's when we sent the worst gangbangers from la back el Salvador which resulted in them preying on the weaker government infastructure and forming ms13 a slowly advancing northward until they were back in the us and stronger than before. I don't have the answer with how to deal with the illegal immigrants in our country and understand that their time in our court rooms and jails is eating away at our tax dollars but sending them back seems to be just prolonging a problem that will become worse. Like I said just a thought, not a solution.

SHARING WATER!

Mexico: Donkeys and Dings from RVCA on Vimeo.

GAAHL

Into the depths

Gotta big 50 mi race coming up in 12 days. Till then- get more tough mentally, physically, physically, and physically. Previously had my sights set on Sierra Nevada 50 mi in late Sep until a freak achilles tendinitis deal surfaced. Im just back into the mediumish mileage needed to compete in one of these events and just in the nick of time. The last time i ran 50 miles i was 16, so this time around at the ripe age of 19 should be....easier? Lookin forward to pushin the mind and body at Rock'n River 50 and reconnecting with an inner animal that's craving to be unleashed.

wawona sleep in the RV

 my expectations of yosemite during the first weekend of october were different than the reality i was presented. not a problem tho. i had in my mind a vibrant explosion of oranges and reds and browns in patches around the valley and the surrounding hills capped with giant blue skies that seemed endless to the imagination. instead i was presented with rain. this is not as bad as it sounds. the weekend started off extremely warm during our drive into the park on fri. the rain did not start til we hit the valley floor and started getting sprinkled on. i guess all the greenery needs something to sustain it while the rest of california looks as if it is ready to self-combust. 

couldn't resist. somewhere along highway 49

 due to our lack of preparation and foresight we discovered the valley floor campgrounds to be completely full. no worries because wawona (we wanna) sleep at higher elevations anyways. so to wawona we headed.

the next day the skies had cleared and we were treated to warm sunshine and clear skies with artistic thunderheads looming far off to the south east. in attempt to "carpe" not the day, but rather just to seize as if pouncing like a mountain tiger upon prey, we started hiking up. and up. and up some more until we were treated to the classic yosemite and greater sierra nevada favorite, GLACIAL GRANITE.

we laid around showered and explored the waterway and granite terraces until our hearts were content. on the way back down connor and i saw a black bear taking a run thru the woods rather than fear the bear we embraced the chance encounter and were un-alarmed, (this sighting can/should serve as foreshadowing for events later that evening). back at camp we settled into our late afternoon activities of choice: cooking, eating, reading, nothing, ect... the evening followed with rain falling on us for solid blocks of time while trying to cook dinner and start a fire. determined nonetheless to feel the warmth of fire joey and fong got a fire going so that we could all warm up and dry off a bit before bed. bedtime this night brought a surprise visit from an unexpected guest. of course i mean a bear. or do i? compelling arguments for a bear encounter included the sighting of a big fury creature, rummaging sounds, heavy breathing, tent swatting, wild animal elusiveness, and fear and anxiety felt by most, even other campsites were included, and the phrase "'wawona' sleep in the the RV" was uttered. even the next morning possible prints were found around campsite and a recount of the action the night before took place. after a poor night of sleep and an active imagination, stories had been confirmed by "eye witnesses" and everything seemed to make sense. fear was justified and life was valued all the more. of course all of the previous was tossed on its head when it was revealed that said "bear" was nothing more than myself dressed up in a gorilla suit. with connor being my inside man among the humans to help coax them into believing that a bear really was attacking the campsite. this prank turned out to be my best practical joke/scare/surprise to date. it got strangers involved, altered sleep patterns, caused the instinctual fight or flight response, and will be remembered by those involved for many years to come.

DARKHAUS

been thinkin bout startin a band. like if leo and frank joined converge type band. put out a craigslist musicians ad haha. no response. i think people just wanna play computer music. need someone to bring the JCM 800 down. hayden and bren are comin down tomorrow. stoked on that. i dont feel like writing right now so i got some pics instead. went to the comune tea party with niki and keith. saw some rad bikes. surfs been good. been hot. party on saturday night for gareth stehrs art. super pumped. school started. commute isnt bad, its auburn to sac stateish. classes rock, i just want to graduate and start helping people already. empathy is the key to life. not taking yourself seriously is the key to livin.

oh ya customer brought in a brand new white diamond for trade. thing is so ridiculously sweet.

TALK HELLA TRASH

What you should listen to

right now

LEGION OF THE DAMNED
Apparently they have a newish record out.

dark music.

GET TOUGHER

red canoe

i am the proud owner of a red canoe. of course it will not be red for long, dark boat for dark waters. i stumbled upon this gem of a vessel in the search of finding boat rentals on lake tahoe so that big aust connor and myself could celebrate big aust's bday with some canoeing on emerald bay. after raelizing that renting a boat for just the day would cost as much as a used canoe on craigslist, the hunt was on. so, for a 100 dollars plus a couple of straps picked up at the hardware store we were in business.

 

the (born again) maiden voyage went surprisingly well. i was uncertain whether the canoe, which looked pretty haggard, and even had a contained leak that could take on water near the prow of the boat when charging  wake or swell head on, would keep us afloat. the day's voyage took us from bliss state park beach launch on the westside of lake tahoe. from there we paddled, slowly, for about 2 hours into emerald bay until we landed on the little island. after some relaxation on warm granite and in cool water we headed into the headwind and back to bliss beach. of course the goin was slower than the comin since one of the our paddles snapped while we arriving to the bay earlier in the day. this did not hamper the spirits of the trip tho. feeling more comfortable on the water and with a good sense of how long the paddle back would take we ventured further from shore and took a straighter line to our destination. in the end our trip was a success and we have plans that include paint, hot springs, rivers and new paddles. in the mean time tho i just need to take it off my car.

Who wants to move.

I'm sick of driving to sac three days a week. who wants to move down there with me. everyone on this blog. lets move to midtown. plus clayton benge

Corpse Paint

FANTASTIC

Confucius Says...

With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow; I have still joy in the midst of these things. Riches and honors acquired by unrighteousness, are to me as a floating cloud.

checking in

hey there

i have been back in the states for 9 days after my two month stint in asia. somehow it already seems like months ago, although i guess portions of it are. since ive been home ive gotten the chance to catch up with a lot of friends and family. it is something that i always enjoy when i do come back after being gone for awhile. last weekend was near perfection or at least some sort of bliss. i hung out with friends, got outta town, bbq'd exotic meats, slept in a sleeping bag, enjoyed the comforts of a wooden floor, ran in auburn and reno, and got my headbang goin on a night drive. during the week i have been entertaining myself and doin a whole lot of nothing. of course during this nothing i found myself wondering the through the internet dreaming of material goods that i cannot afford. granted with some hard work during the winter spring and summer i might well be on my way to changing that. well in mean time im off to do some car camping and enjoy the wonderful sulfuric odors of lassen.
-tyler

Black Castle.

----------------------zombie jesus

i finally moved into a new apartment. the 2 hour comute every morning was getting kinda old, but i was really able to enjoy myself. having 6 hours to burn after work and no place to go gave me alot of time to just do random shit, and go random places. i got in some good sessions on the shop ramp the past 2 weeks. havent surfed in to long, had to put my stick in storage while we were homeless. anyway, we grabbed the uhaul for the second time and headed to the storage unit to pick up our stuff. somewhere between opening the back of the truck and finishing loading, niki misplaced her car keys...in the goddamn moving truck. i closed the back, and said "alright, finally lets go move into our new apartment!" she looked at me and said "wheres my keys?". i yelled "niki are you serious, now we're gonna hafta unload all this shit!" anger and frustration quickly turned to hilarity, we both laughed uncontrollably, then i made her climb in and search through the whole truck, the keys were buried underneath the couch cushion of our new couch, at the back of the truck.

all moved in now and stoked. il post pics soon, i got some funiture ready to be picked up tomorrow. after tomorrow got 2 days off. il do a surf post or somethin.

hail satan.

-tay