Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Coverage

Because I didn't know if I'd have much time today, I already had this Monday cover queued up, this is the White Stripes covering Tegan and Sarah's "Walking With a Ghost". I'll admit, I'm kind of obsessed with the original, so it's an uphill battle for the cover, but I think Jack White and his creepy weird sister do an ok job on this one.

Reason, I'm rushing this post is that I'm in a hurry to make it to this interrconnect tour. Never been more excited, nervous at the same time I don't think, wish me luck!

Monday, March 28, 2011

A lesson in planning

Since the earliest days of grade school I have always had someone telling me to get my life in order, to be better organized, to plan ahead. And these recommendations were not by accident. I have always been the kid waiting until the last second to start my end of the year project or the one printing his term paper and stapling it as he runs through the door five minutes late. I have no real excuse for this, it's just the way I'm programmed, it's "how I do".

Lately this lack of planning has taken shape in life outside of school in the form of narrowly making a flight or running to catch the last bus home after a late night. But while this may seem careless and slightly irresponsible, it also carries along advantages. For one I feel less tied down by a set schedule, free of time's shackles if you will. And two, flying by the seat of your pants (in moderation) allows for spontaneity and creativity, the spice of life.

Take my last Friday for instance. That particular day had a lot of seperate entities that somehow I had to make one. A responsible human being might have had a brain meltdown trying to piece it together, but I chose not to worry and ride the wave as long as I could without falling off (or getting barreled). It was hectic from the start. Get to work and perform all the menial tasks required of an intern at early hours, but then onto the big stuff. After programming the TV to a European cable feed (still don't know how I accomplished that one) I watched the Euro X Games halfpipe final in Tignes, France. After watching Louie Vito stomp his first ever gold medal run, I grabbed my cell phone, gave the dude a call and got a quote from 8 time zones away, something that always never gets old and always seems pretty cool.

Just after my quote collecting my boss runs into my office and grabs me for our company ski day at the Canyons. Not wanting to miss out, I grab my laptop and in the 10 minute ride over to the resort write up a full story with only minimal speed-bump induced typos. I posted the story on the website as I was throwing on my ski boots in the parking lot and then met my co-workers for some afternoon runs.

We grabbed some beers after and I was settling into a nice altitude buzz when my cousin Connor called me up saying he was in Utah en route to Tahoe and wanted to meet up. Now without a car out here I'm pretty much a sitting duck, but I was determined to make it work. I had my ski stuff, I had my work clothes, I had my wallet, screw it, I was going to wing it. I asked a co-worker for a ride to the edge of town and was able to catch Connor as he and his buddy were coming through from Colorado. With only my skis and backpack in tow I was informed that we'd be hitting up Brighton Resort for some nightskiing and didn't really have time to stop. Rolling with the punches I suited up for my second resort of the day, and found out that we could just walk on the lifts without being checked for lift tickets.

I was pretty psyched at my good fortune and figured that it must have been a late night exception. When we rolled up the next day and did the same thing I was kind of shocked. Three days of free skiing at Brighton with great snow! Now I'm not particularly proud of 'cheating the system', but for a college kid on an even more college budget, it was pretty awesome and it was great to ski with my cousin again. Connor and I grew up skiing in Maine together so it was pretty cool to meet up and take on some Utah powder. After skiing backcountry, using an avalanche beacon for the first time and hiking some of the wildest peaks I've challenged out here in the Wasatch Range I said goodbye to Connor and his friends as they headed West to Tahoe and the epic powder kingdom. Without a ride back I got dropped off at the airport, where after an hour of trying to bum a ride to Park City I finally settled on a taxi just in time to get to my work on time Sunday evening.

But you know that's what you get for not planning ahead..an epic weekend and a $40 cab ride. So to all of you "planners" out there, let go and just live a little, you might learn something...


PS to anyone who doubted that good looks and great moves didn't run in my gene pool, check out my cousin Connor killing it on the dancefloor...

March Madness Monday Covers (Alliteration aside..)

Well I was about to throw up my hands and claim Monday Cover defeat, but the great ones always find a way to persevere, and well, I persevered in a big way. What do Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer and Bob Marley have in common? Apparently they all sang "Redemption Song" as Bob Marley's original was covered in a pretty surreal cover by the Man in Black and the Clash's legendary frontman. Two icons covering another icon's greatest song? Yes please Monday Covers, yes please.

Anyways I'll keep this post short because I might have another one for you later today. Went to Jackson Hole this weekend, blew my mind, someday I'll be up to date on the vids but for now..TRUST ME. B EZ playas.


Not the first time a well-known artist has covered Mr. Marley, remember this little ditty by a Sr. Eric Clapton?

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

a step in my shoes..

Some people do not have to search, for they find their niche early in life and rest there seemingly contented and resigned. At times I envy them, but usually I don not understand them…and seldom do they understand me. I am one of the searchers. There are, I believe, millions of us. We are not unhappy, but neither are we completely content. We continue to explore life, hoping to uncover its ultimate secret. We continue to explore ourselves, hoping to understand. We like to walk along the beach, we are drawn by the ocean, taken by its power and unceasing motion, its mystery and unspeakable beauty. We like forests, mountains, deserts, hidden rivers, and lovely cities as well. Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as our laughter; to share our sadness with the ones we love is perhaps as great a joy as we know, unless it is to share our laughter. We searchers are ambitious only for life itself and for anything beautiful it can provide. Most of all, we want to love and be loved, to live in a relationship that will not impede our wanderance and prevent our search. We do not want to prove ourselves to others or compete for love. This passage is for wanderers, dreamers, and lovers who dare to ask of life everything which is good and beautiful.

-found on the door of a deserted store in Colorado by a NOLS instructor who memorized the passage because he had no pen and paper

Gringo Eyez




My dad was in Honduras a week ago on a mission trip to help build houses and snapped this photo of some Honduran wall graffiti. It was his first trip to a Latin American country, but I think this picture shows how well he absorbed the culture while he was down there. Besides the very Latin vibrant colors and smooth transitions between both warm and cool colors, the picture has some distinct mayan design elements in their that show the blend of cultures and strength of roots in the region. What a cool picture and I'm super stoked to see more from him. Incredibly jealoso of his adventures, but glad he documented!

PS right about now I wish that blogger would fix their friggin washed out photo uploads. The colors are amazing but this site doesn't do it justice!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Thugday Covers

A little cloud hangs over our Monday today, as someone that I really enjoyed passed on last week. Nate Dogg was one artist that was super unique in my eyes and with his passing at 41, I feel the gap he left in the hip-hop world will be a hard one to close. I actually wrote about Nate in a less serious light on a music blog I've tinkered with recently, check it out. Regardless I felt it fitting to not only pour out a 40 to the OG but to dedicate a cover to him as well. This cover of his and Warren G's "Regulators" is actually pretty awesome and proves once and for all that thugs come in all shapes and colors. Hope you enjoy this untitled cover while remembering a hip-hop legend. B EZ

More updates from my travels coming soon this week, I promise.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Woohoo I broke 2000 views! There's no way I've looked at this blog 2000 times, that means someone read it!

Monday Funday Couvairs

Jeeesh it's Monday again already! Time is flying, even though this week had so much going on. Greenwich Mean Time tried to pull a fast one on me and moved the clocks forward (apparently they do this every year?) and I didn't even notice because all of the electronics I rely on switched automatically. Wondering why I was so tired, it was the radio that finally informed me of Daylight Savings, good to know haha.

My little cousin Nick turned 7 this week, what?!? I feel like it was maybe a year ago that I went and saw him at the hospital on my way home from skiing on spring break. Amazing, and I hear he celebrated with his ski buddies, too cool.

On a sadder note, what a week for Japan, scary, scary stuff. You know it's devestating when you can get a pit in your stomach from behind a computer screen thousands of miles away. My mind and heart are with them as they endure the tough coming weeks and perhaps months.

With all of that going on my own personal goings-on seem kind of miniscule. Been working my two jobs non-stop for the past week since the AFTRBNGRZ departure. I have had an awesome time with my two roommates, it's really cool when we're all around, feel pretty blessed to have stumbled upon them. Oh and I hit up Snowbird for the first time this weekend, hitching a ride with my neighbor of all people, a 36-year old from Nantucket. Age is so relative out here it's awesome! I better be that energetic when I'm that age, I'm planning on it at least. Hopefully I'll finish some video updates this week, but with European X games coverage on my plate and with March Madness going on, no promises!

Oh yeah, and I have a cover. This is a throwback cover from freshman year, but still a great one. I know I've been doing a lot of acoustic covers lately, but sometimes you just have to follow the course and see where it takes you. This week it takes us to a cover of Rihanna's "Umbrella" by Boyce Avenue. Hope it finds you well, enjoy!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

as promised...

This is from two weekends ago. After skiing with my new roommate, Matt, for 2 days of heavy snow and deep powder, I went out to hike on Monday. Got a new backpack with ski straps so I can climb with my hands free and I must say it makes life a whole lot easier. I think I logged in close to 2000ft of climbing on this sunny Monday, and yeah I did it with a mustache bandana. Anyways decided to film a little bit and put together a little edit to give some perspective. Sometimes my ranting can get boring, so I'll let you just watch instead...



ps how awesome is this song? J Dilla RIP

Monday, March 7, 2011

Someday Cover

Lange and Derr visited me from Boston this past long weekend and after 4 days of hard skiing, harder hiking, and general debauchery I'm seeing them off back to the Ice Coast...bummer. It was a lot of fun and I'm hoping it won't be our last adventure out in west country. As their departure falls on a Monday I figured I'd throw that tidbit in there, but here's today's cover.

The feel is a little melancholy but the singer's voice is haunting and sticks with you. Javier Dunn covers Miike Snow's "Animal" a good sing in it of itself. Enjoy folks. Should have another ski edit for you this week and then another one with the boys from Aftrbngrz.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Remembering

I've been searching for inspiration in the sportswriting world recently, as my career track moves more and more down that road and was lucky enough to stumble upon one Jim Murray. Murray was a sports columnist for the LA Times for over 30 years and has some of the most clever, entertaining columns I've ever read. His sports knowledge is clear, but it's his ability to write and relate to a wider less sports-related audience that makes him so legendary. As famous SI writer Rick Reilly put it "Murray could write anything; sports just happened to get lucky."

I like to think I've fashioned myself in the same way. Sure I love writing about sports, but I want to be able to write about anything, so I'm glad to see that someone has followed a similar path and done so successfully.

The main topic of this article isn't about me though. It's about a beautiful memorial to Murray's late wife, a very non-sports topic. This is a beautiful read. I urge, no I IMPLORE you to read this and think about someone you care about. I've had to write about losing family and friends before and hope that I never have to again, but if I do, I hope that I can do it with even half of the eloquence, honesty and heart that Murray does. READ and see what I mean...

"This is the column I never wanted to write, the story I never wanted to tell.

I lost my lovely Gerry the other day. I lost the sunshine and roses, all right, the laughter in the other room. I lost the smile that lit up my life.

God loved Gerry. Everybody loved Gerry. She never went 40 seconds without smiling in her life. She smiled when she was dying. She smiled at life and all the people in it. When you thought of Gerry, you smiled.

She had these big gorgeous brown eyes and they were merry all the time and they looked at you with such trust and happiness. She never looked down or away. She never did anything to be ashamed of. Nothing. Never. She never did anything she didn't think God wanted her to do. She was in charge of smiling for Him.

She never grew old and now, she never will. She wouldn't have anyway. She had four children, this rogue husband, a loving family and this great wisdom and great heart, but I always saw her as this little girl running across a field with a swimming suit on her arm, on a summer day on the way to the gravel pit for an afternoon of swimming and laughing. Life just bubbled out of Gerry. We cry for ourselves. Wherever she is today, they can't believe their good luck.

I don't mean to inflict my grief on you, but she deserves to be known by anyone who knows me. She has a right to this space more than any athlete who ever lived. I would not be here if it weren't for her. I feel like half a person without Gerry. For once, I don't exaggerate. No hyperbole. If there was a Hall of Fame for people, she would be No. 1. She was a champion at living.

She never told a lie in her life. And she didn't think anyone else did. Deceit puzzled her. Dishonesty dismayed her. She thought people were good. Around her, surprisingly, they were. Her kindness was legendary.

She loved God. I mean, He made the trees, the flowers. He made children, didn't He? And color and song, and above all, babies. She knew He'd take care of her.

She loved babies. Anybody's. She played the piano like a dream. Ask any of the football coaches, the basketball players, baseball pitchers or just newspapermen who leaned across their drinks and implored her for one more chorus of "Melancholy Baby." She played "Galway Bay" every St. Patrick's Day for a maudlin husband who wept over a moonrise he'd never seen or a sunset that existed only in a glass and an ice cube. She was fun.

She wasn't afraid to die. She didn't want to. But she knew she'd see the mother she lost, the son she lost. In a place where she could never lose them again.

You have funny ways of remembering things. The thing I remember clearest today, for some reason, is the habit she had of leaving notes for the kids when she was only going to be gone for the shortest times, the briefest moments. She would leave these notes on a table in this huge lettering, for her handwriting was like her heart, large and overflowing and joyous. "Gone to store," it would say. "Be right back, Love, Mom." She didn't want the kids to think they were without her love for even a few minutes.

She has left no notes this time. But she has, as usual, left her love.

There is a line at the end of "Alice in Wonderland" that always hurt me to read because it reminded me of my Gerry. Alice's sister is dreaming of Alice: "Lastly, she pictures to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood; and how she would gather about her other little children, and make their eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even a dream of Wonderland of long ago; and how she would feel with all their simple joys, remembering her own child life, and the happy summer days."

Gerry took the magic and the summer with her. It wasn't supposed to be this way. I was supposed to die first. We would have been married for 39 years this year and we thought that was just the natural order of things. I had my speech all ready. I was going to look into her brown eyes and tell her something I should have long ago. I was going to tell her, "It was a privilege just to have known you."

I never got to say it. But it was too true."

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

kaPOW!!

Hey! Woops! I made this video last week after getting over two feet of snow in two days and forgot to upload it!

Incredible snow, too bad my camera died after about one run, so the actual ski footage is limited haha. I'm hoping the views make up for it. I tried to distress the video a little bit to give it a little 35mm feel, adding some noise (scratchiness) and deepening some shadows. The idea is to make it look natural, so if you don't notice anything I guess I did it right! I also REALLY like this song. Let me know what you think! (I have another one from this past weekend as well, it's on queue, so hold your horses gosh)