Picture of the Week

This one is from Rocky Mountain National Park on the way to Chasm Lake. Brooke and I did this hike early this summer (yes, there was still lots snow up there at the time and we were still in shorts). RMNP is incredible...definitely my fave place to hike that I've been to. In this picture you can sort of grasp just how awesome and amazing those mountains when you're that close to them.

Avs game

It's been a crazy busy week and I'm behind on my blogging. Brooke and I went to the Avs game on Tuesday against the Oilers. Very fun. The Avs were down 3-2 going in the 3rd period, but then scored 3 goals (the last two in the final :48 of the game) to win it 5-3. So awesome.

Cosmic ice hockey!

Normal ice hockey. Pepsi Center is a way nice venue.

Somebody's speeding!

And I promise you it wasn't me! (I just took the picture.) I'll protect the identity of the lawbreaker, but you know who you are!!

Counting Hits

I just added a counter to the blog (see the sidebar). Now I'll be able to tell how many times I read my own blog!! (All 5 hits on the site are from me so far.)

Scaredy-cat

Did you know that's a real word? I had no idea until I tried spelling it to Cheryl and had to look it up because it looked weird. From webster.com:

Main Entry: scaredy-cat
Pronunciation: 'sker-dE-"kat, 'skar-
Function: noun
Etymology: scared (past participle of scare) + 1-y + cat: an unduly fearful person

Everything's on eBay!

Anybody want a piece of Lindsay Lohan's car from her last accident? Hurry, you still have a chance! Click here see the auction.

Picture of the Week

Brady's here! He'll be my temporary roomie until sometime in Feb before him and Annie get hitched. We went to UVA together and he's been out to visit a few times. Because of his arrival, the Pic of the Week will be dedicated to one of our Colorado adventures. I'm sure there will be many more in the next few months.

Over July 4th weekend in 2003, Brady, Joe, and Kyle made a stop in csprings on their western road trip. It was a crazy weekend. In less than a 72 hour span, we did the incline, hiked and camped at Great Sand Dunes National Park, and then we hiked all 6.5 hours of Pikes Peak. This picture is of the four of us on top of the highest sand dune. Totally awesome. Sand was blowing all up in our face, but we stayed to watch an unbelievable sunset.

Brady, Joe, Kyle, me

Movie Review: Domino

My name is Domino Harvey. I am a bounty hunter.

Yeah dog! Forget all those movie snob critics, I really liked this one a lot. Between this and A History of Violence, I am officially never listening to a movie review again.

Domino is loosely based on the real-life story of a model-turned-bounty hunter named Domino Harvey (who died this summer of accidental drug overdose). It's pretty cool...it's a got a good story with a lot of dark humor and climaxes at the Stratosphere casino/hotel in Vegas, and the movie pulls it all off pretty well. It reminded me of Snatch with the way the story is told and how there's a bunch of different stuff happening all at once. The movie is kind of long (127 min), but I enjoyed it all for the most part. If you're up for an entertaining action story, this is a good one! Dan, JB, and Hinds all enjoyed it too, so it's not just me. (MJ was there too but it doesn't count because she just took a 2 hour nap.)

Keira Knightly is awesome, and you can't beat the performance of 90210's, Ian timeout Ziering and Brian timeout Austin Green. Lucy Liu (my fellow high school alum and fave Angel) is also in this.

Chinegro!

My Boy sings the National Anthem

My boy with the beautiful voice, Josh Groban, sang the National Anthem before Game 1 of the World Series. Click the link and find the "Groban sings anthem" link to watch it.

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/ps/y2005/video.jsp?view=ws

Book Review: The Historian

by Elizabeth Kostova

Awesome. It's a big book especially for a slow reader like myself, but I had a great time reading it. I'm all about books that mix in a bit of history (my all-time faves are The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas), and this book fits right in there...I guess most people call that "historical fiction". In any case, I'm all about it. If you read the DaVinci Code, this is a more sophisticated and better version in my opinion.

The book is centered around Dracula, the mystery surrounding his legend, and the search for his grave in order to take him down that has spanned centuries. It's not a horror book, like my sterotype of a vampire story...it's more of an adventure, suspense, thriller that takes you on a journey throughout Europe and its history. My interest was definitely peaked even more having just been in Turkey this summer, and with much of the book taking place there. And I was definitely kept awake a little longer than usual each night by this book because I'm a big baby, but that's no secret.

I'd recommend it highly. I thought it was really well-written, but what do I know about good writing...I'm an engineer!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0316011770?v=glance

World's Largest Prairie Dog

Driving to and from Kansas City two weeks ago, we had the opportunity to stop and see the World's Largest Prairie Dog. Fortunately, our curiosity did not get the best of us because it's A HUGE SHAM!!! So if you're ever on I-70 between Colorado and Kansas, don't stop and waste precious minutes of your life!

http://soar.boulder.co.us/IsItaRat/tributetotheprariedog.htm

Picture of the Week

I've got two for you this week just because these are so fun (just look at Che!). Memorial Day weekend 2004, my bro and sis came out here and we went camping/rafting with Mary, Brandon, Stacey, and Nick. It was FREEZING that day (when we woke up at the campsite that morning, there was definitely ice all around us) but you probably can't tell by the crazy excited looks we have on our faces. (The dude in the back was our hardcore guide named Tramer...he lived in teepee and didn't have a cell phone or an email address!!)

New CD copy-protection

I read in Rolling Stone that Sony BMG and EMI music labels have put a new copy-protection on some of their new CD's that isn't compatible with importing songs with iTunes. CD's include DMB's Stand Up, Foo Fighter's In Your Honor, and Switchfoot's new release.

DMB has posted instructions on how to get around this on their website: http://www.dmband.com/news/news_popup_IPod.asp

Pez mp3 player

Yeah dog. Video ipod or pez mp3 player. That's a tough choice. Check this out: http://www.pezmp3.com/index.php

Picture of the Week

Brady and I biked down to Garden of the Gods when he came out to visit once and I decided to do a little climbing there. Boys and girls, don't try this at home!! jk. This really isn't far up or very dangerous at all...just some good camera action from Brady.

(btw, it snowed here today. It's October 10!! Crazy Colorado weather.)

Movie Review: Lords of Dogtown

A good rental. It was slow getting started and for a little while, I was thinking that I'm good at picking bad movies and we should have gone with our other rental option "Mindhunters" instead. But the movie definitely picked up and got more enjoyable as it went on. I'm all about stories of comradery and loyalty, and that's one of the things it develops into. There was definitely some Oscar-worthy acting/writing at times (sarcasm), but JB, Grant, and I were definitely entertained and satisfied. Don't miss the Tony Hawk cameo!

Inspired by a true story, the movie's about a group of young and unruly surfer kids who form a skateboard team that revolutionizes the sport with their skill, flashiness, and charisma. The kids develop a following, and struggle dealing with fame, fortune, and commercialism - testing their character and friendship.

Fun times in KC

No, that's not a fruit punch fountain. That fountain was dyed red for the Chiefs Monday Night Football game last week.

We had a great time just hangin out in KC with GMess. In addition to taking in the town and meeting Grant's crazy dogs, a bunch of boys were given out.

Russell - Anthony Young (former Mets pitcher who had a record 27 straight losses)
Grant - Ted Kaczynski, Rod Stewart
JB - Richard Simmons

Russell, Kansas

This weekend, JB and I went roadtrippin' to Kansas City to visit our boy Grant. The drive through Kansas is not the most eventful, but it did give us the opportunity to make a quick stop to the great town of Russell, KS! Russell happens to be the hometown of senators Bob Dole and Arlen Specter.

Bob Dole is JB's boy. Perfect photo opp!

Picture of the Week

Monday = Picture of the Week

This week's pic is one of my faves. This is me, Susan, and Brooke at Red Rock Canyon last January.

Hike: Green Mountain Falls - Catamount Trail

Definitely my fave local hike and one of my overall faves too. Just 20 min away from csprings, it's got everything I love...rushing water, physical challenge, lots of trees, and a great pay-off at the end. Never a dull moment. The beginning part is tough and you definitely have to use your hands to climb a little, but then it flattens out, opens up to a meadow, and then you end up at a reservoir on the western side of Pikes Peak. It's usually about a 3 hour trek (including breaks).

Today I went with JB, Brooke, and Melissa and her dog. Beautiful day out and the Aspens made the hike even better. One of the best parts of this hike is that you can do it at different times of the year and it's a totally different trail. I take everyone that can do it on this hike because it's so awesome. I've got some good stories from this trail.

JB crossing a stream

South Catamount Reservoir

Snack time...Pikes Peak on the left

Walkin through the Aspens

Movie Review: A History of Violence

Wait till it comes out on DVD or in the $1 theater! Unless you want to see two random sex scenes and some people getting shot in the head. I don't think this movie was meant to be funny, but there were definitely points where everyone in the theater was laughing a little because some of it was just not really believable or there were lines that just didn't fit the mood. There was also a point in the movie where two guys who were supposed to be brothers looked like they were going to start making out...would have been an interesting twist. I thought the plot looked awesome in the trailers, but I was never sold on it in the theater. I went with JB, and she felt the same way as I did about the whole deal.

I went to go see it because it sounded cool, the commercials look great and it had a good review (4 stars!) in Rolling Stone. what a sham! I'm not pissed that I went, but not worth 4 stars. The movie takes place in small town Indiana, where a dude kills two guys trying to rob his restaurant. It hits the press, and some mobsters think they recognize him as a former mobster and want to bring him back. The family struggles with this confusion and a bunch of people will die before it's resolved. Along the way, there is an almost comical sex scene and a sort of unrealistic one...both kind of random though. So that's that. Trust me on this one. Somebody comment if they hear otherwise about this movie.

A movie you should see is MURDERBALL. It just opened up here at the theater downtown, and it's a winner. I got to see a screening a few months ago and it was super great. A great sports movie and just entertaining all around. Check it out for sure!!