State of Mine

Exasperation is OK! Breathe. Exhale. These are things you can forget to do when you are wrapped up in all that life is dishing out. I stumbled upon this old photo and thought "this is how I wish to feel". Like Beckett's Hamm (from Endgame) exclaiming violently "Use your head, can't you, use your head, you're on earth, there's no cure for that!" And then there was Juliana's recent blog about "No Answer", as I split open and melt to the outro..."da-doo-doo do-da-dooh". It's all OK, says my Estragonic half - my yelp validated, if not complete.

My state of Mine

ACME, hold the OJ

ACME and OJ are two rival manufacturers of propellers for tournament ski boats. The OJ prop was the OEM spec on our very special 1997 Nautique. The ACME prop is used on contemporary Nautiques. The opportunity presented itself, so instead of hunting for vintage OJ, or worse, rolling the dice on the hydrodynamics of a rebuild, I acquired a new ACME prop. Craig, Gina, and Fred at NECC took care of me, and we were back on the water in no time.

Fred spins on the castle nut

Drama-free smiles!

40mm across, 25mm deep

While I was on the dock stretching, our perfectly-balanced OJ prop was essentially destroyed by the 3-ball magnet. The leading edge of one blade lost 2-3 mm at the tip; but the trailing edge lost perhaps a full square inch of surface-area in a gouge running 40mm across and 25mm deep. To repair this prop and restore balance requires removing an equal mass from the other three blades; an action that would irrevocably alter the prop's hydrodynamics. No way for our vintage `97 Nautique, otherwise in excellent condition with less than 500 hours. New OEM OJ prop on the way.

Trailing Edge Damage

Stentorian Tone

“It’s OK to do that in this genre”, I said to my wife about STS9’s gratuitous use of female vocal samples in their live performance. I guess the taper behind me heard it too. Surprising, as I thought that my head, about 1m away and 45 degrees off-axis from his stereo pair, would be attenuating the acoustic output from my mouth directed into Susan’s ear. His remark had me whispering the rest of the show. Later when Umphree’s got up, a couple carried on this elaborate chitty-chat right in front of the mics, making me far less concerned about my stentorian tone.




STS9 at BoA Pavilion Boston (July 2008)

Lean Like This

One pleasant side-effect of my summer hiatus has been my water skiing. This evening, a big smile for sure, as I get into -28 for the first time this year. And I won't be writing about how my knee feels! Boo-yah!

Cindy at -32

The Early 1990s

Lori likes Chris

Nice Cell Phone, Steve!

Rangeley Days

An 80's Wedding

Another batch of negatives scanned, and with some surprise, I notice that styles really haven't changed that much in two decades. Taken from medium format film, the images are crispy-sharp. Check out the originals on your high-res display. Many more after the jumps...

Camp Bisco Seven

Punctuation of this slow, hot summer was provided by Camp Bisco this past weekend. It was an unexpected pleasure to hear Lotus. And an expected pleasure to hear The New Deal. ... The future: Camp Bisco Nine.

Jeff Inverted

My Knee, One Year After

Here I am about a year after at least doubling the number of bone segments that comprise my patella. The funny thing is that although I had very little pain with my telemark fun last winter; I have chronic pain following two or more waterski sets. It is interesting in that the pain seems to lag the activity by two to four hours. Inflammation where the bone is damaged? Maybe, but I'm no doctor. "Everything in Moderation", is my plan - and so only one set for me at times. Still having a blast and skiing well.

Shimmer

I like the way memories of the past shimmer. It is the uncertainty or "noise" which sets them apart and makes them sparkle.

Shawn and Debby, Post Lake, Wisconsin, July 4, 1975

Missing Smith Mountain

Friends called from SML to say "hi" while I cope with juggling kittens. I've always wanted to juggle kittens, like Steve Martin; so I suppose all is well. A few strong t-storms blew through. A weak bolt nailed a unwitting sacrificial while pine fifty feet from the house. Poor Mr. Pine.

Camp Meadowlark

We took the "silver bullet" on a weekend journey up to Camp Meadowlark on Maidstone Lake. Pics and vids are here. Beyond the friends and fun, a little forestry...

Dube's Pond Slalom Festival 2008

It has been three years since I skied DPSF; three years at Bonnaroo will do that. But we had a splendid day today, sunny and warm, and the occasional breeze to keep Dave on his toes. Videos and pics if you click through or go here.

Those aren't Kayaks, They're Turn Balls...

A breezy Memorial Day ski...

Lean, don't Pull

Brooke takes instruction from Dave.

Just Run Some Buoys

Brian is just going to run some buoys. Smile!

On the Water

Dave removes an obstacle from the course.

Eight Bells Folly

Uggh. I hate horse racing. Went out for drinks to watch a the carnage at the Kentucky track. Like-named Mardsen Hartly memorial to Hart Crane below.

Dos de Mayo 2008

A party for Patti's birthday, and the gang comes out to celebrate.

Spring in April

A (water) ski day, a dinner party, and then a warm lazy sunday to embrace the spring vibe.

Dubes 2008

Only nine days after ice-out, and Brian, Brooke, and I took the water.

Stanford

Stanford is a nice school. I've been there a couple of times recently for conferences. I suspect I'll be back.

Shep and Helia

Ice Out 2008

Yesterday's wind led to the demise of the ice cap atop Massabesic. April 10 is about average; so more snowfall doesn't always mean a later ice out. Still some drift remnants on the hill. Must venture up to Dubes soon. New NOAA product looks to be just the thing for forecasting waterski winds.

More Dogs of Spring

Winter hasn't given up yet; but the sun came out and we so took the dogs on culvert survey.

Linus and Liona

Spring on the Calendar

Spring is here and the snow is melting. There remain drifts several feet deep, but there is also evidence of the season cycle turning.

Waterville Appreciation Day

Morning ski at Loon today reminded us how much we appreciate Waterville. Had hoped to hook up with Tina; but it was not to be.

On Guard

Now that she's aware there are deer outside, Leona keeps a vigilant watch over her domain.

Oh Deer

A small heard of about seven deer have been ranging on the hill. We noticed this one with an injured front right leg. It's limping, but otherwise behaving normally. Hoping that with the melting snowpack it will heal. Also hoping for world peace.

Injured Deer (foreground)

Cotton

After some travel for work and play, it feels great to be back home again.

Patti and David

Telluride 2008 Day 6

Six days, 120K feet of vertical. I'm tired. Today I had some kind of personal record for yo-yo-ing chair 9 (13 runs, 26K vertical). I wasn't trying - just skiing. Tonight we limp to 221 for dinner. Tomorrow I fly home.

Hamerheads on Tuas upon Cordaroy at Lift 8

Telluride 2008 Day 5

A little fatigue sets in after five days of tele bliss. Took it a bit easier today. Sunny and cold, with much of the mountain covered with the ungroomed remnants from yesterday's storm.

Telluride 2008 Interlude

Between all the skiing, the twenty thousand vertical feet per day of skiing, there is precious time for food and rest. The gang tries their best to pass this time while conserving precious energy for the day ahead.


Photos by Reed (2008)

Telluride 2008 Day 4

Snow! After three days of near-spring conditions, Telluride returned to winter. We stumbled home from La Marmotte last night around midnight, singing Zappa's "Lucille", while the snow had yet to fall. Woke this morning to four inches in town, more on the mountain. Day 4 was a powder day - plain and simple. My retro 178cm M3 Tua's, although thin in the shovel, served me well.

Almost on 9

Fresh Pow'

Telluride 2008 Day 3

Lots of skiing and little time to blog. Pictures tell the story and some video here.

Telluride 2008 Day 2

I was surprised that two days have gone by so quickly. Probably the excellent snow condtions have something to do with this. Started the day chair 8 to 9. Then Lookout, Plunge, Bushwhacker. Another 21K feet of vertical. Blue and crew arrive and we have drinks at New Sheridan and then dinner at Siam.

Dog in Telluride (2008)

Telluride 2008 Day 1

Telluride received over 300 inches of snow in town so far this year. So that the conditions on the mountain were stellar was no surpirse. I took it easy and cruised 22K vertical - or so Steve says. Tonight we head to the New Sheridan Chop House for dinner.

Mark and Karen at the top of Lift 9

Telluride 2008 Arrival

Steve met me at the airport with his Suburau welcome wagon and we dodged potholes on the way into town.

Enroute DEN/KTEX

B52 Retrospective

I did a quick SFO turnaround to attend a conference in Monterey. Here is something that was a bit of a drag: Getting up at 3AM to catch a 6AM flight out of SFO.

I had my own, private B-52 retrospective running in my mind. In 1978 artists I liked a lot included Talking Heads, Richard Hell, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Nick Lowe, Patti Smith, Graham Parker, Television, and so on. When the first B52 album came out and I heard “Dance This Mess Around”, I was there. That Chris Blackwell minimalist-yet-slick production knocked it out of the park. I discovered the groove. While noodling around at Bearsville, the second album brought “Dirty Back Road”, which reached life-anthem status for me to the degree that later, while living in San Francisco, I’d have the lyrics (entered as UNIX nroff source and then printed) taped on my office door at Ampex. Around `81 David Byrne produced “Mesopotamia” and led off with “Loveland”. Loveland, 60 Central and driving around the city in my stupid 5L Capri with the unbounded optimism of youth is a fond nexus of memories from that great time.

Wayne's World (FPGA2008 Monterey)

Heather and Shep (FPGA2008 Monterey)

Night at the Rover

The original plan dating back to last year was to see moe. at the Orpheum. But when primary and secondary "jam pals" fell through, I began to have second thoughts. By the time I got down to 128, I pulled a move reminiscent of John Belushi from "Continental Divide" and "Animal House", that being the tentative, then committed turnaround. I knew Ron and Faith would be at the `rover, so met up with them and good times were had by all.
The Bushmills Girls

Tina and Friends