Friday, February 25, 2005

Sloooow on Idahoooo

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I promised the Idaho download and pics a few days ago. But, I'm lame - and slow. Hopefully, Sarah will post her thoughts on Idaho as well. Now that she's a blogger too, she'd better get in the game.

So, thoughts on Idaho:
  • Sun Valley was small. The mountain (Mt. Baldy) was small, the town (Ketchum) was tiny, the resort (Sun Valley) was small. That may be because my expectations were so high, but it was a really small town. I think that the population was in the 3,500 range, but I'm guessing that most of that is seasonal. If you've been to Holiday Valley in NY, or Hidden Valley in PA, it's about that size.
  • A funny thing about the town was that the people seemed to think that it was overwhelmingly busy. Compared with Tahoe, Sun Valley was very uncrowded, even for a holiday weekend. At most of the bars and restaurants the we visited, the waitstaff and bartenders seemed swamped, even though the places weren't really all that busy. I'd like to see it on a slow night! Sarah even had trouble trying to take a snowboarding lesson because they were "short handed." Didn't they know it was a holiday weekend?
  • Bruce Willis sucks as a singer.
  • Idaho was once a hotbed of volcanic activity. Something about the earth's crust being really thin in Idaho. Anway, we took some pics of lava beds south of Sun Valley, near Shoshone. Pretty cool, I'm sure you'll agree, once we finally post some pictures...
  • The people of Ketchum aren't very creative. There are probably 2o streets in the whole town, plotted like a grid. Well, running east to west, there's 1st through 8th Streets. Running north to south, there's 1st through 3rd AVENUE. Pretty lame. However, there is Leadville Avenue, to their credit.
  • Boise was nice. Small, but nice. Lots of non-chain restaurants and stores. One microbrewery downtown, The Bardenay, also made their own Rum, Vodka and Gin. Pretty cool! Although, still being on the wagon, I was unable to partake. :-(

Alright, I promise, pictures ASAP!

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Podcast Reviews

Alright! Well this podcasting thing is better than I thought!

On the plane this past weekend, I listened to the 5 podcasts that I downloaded last week. I really enjoyed 2 of them, thought 1 was pretty good but wasn't interested in the content, and decided that the last 2 really needed some work. All in all, these people take their podcasts seriously! I was expecting them to sound like someone recording their voice over their PCs built-in mic, with a lot of stammering, background noise, and general unprofessionalism. Man, was I wrong. All 5 were of great quality, both in DJ-ing ability and sound. It was like I was tuned into NPR!

Here's the rundown of my picks for last week:

Screwtops (www.screwtops.com) - It had the potential to be funny but never really hit the mark. It was basically a couple of guys sitting around and talking about wine and beer. Given that it was a bit over 60 minutes long, and that I couldn't take much more than 5 minutes of it, I'll rate it a "C -." I jumped around a bit, just to see if it got funnier as it went along, but it never happened. I'll have to give it another chance in a few weeks.

Wine Cast (www.winecast.net) - This guy is great. Definitely on my "favorites" list. I listened to his January 30th cast about Pinot Noir, along with a review of the movie "Sideways." Just a great, engaging personality, funny, and easy to listen to. Plus, some really good, really concise wine reviews.

Grape Radio (www.graperadio.com) - This was another good one! Basically, just a conversation with the owner of White Rose Wines. Very entertaining, light and funny. Although, the guest had a good presence, so that might have had something to do with its charm.

Talking About Wine (www.talkingaboutwine.com) - Well, the podcast was entitled "Chile Wine Tour Part 15," and I missed parts 1 through 14, so I guess that's why I wasn't too interested. But, it was only 3 or 4 minutes long, so short enough to tolerate. Again, I'll have to give it another chance.

Cooking on the Radio (www.cookingontheradio.com) - Um, I think I fell asleep after the first few minutes. Very monotone, and not really engaging.

Well, that's all for now. I'll try to review some others in the weeks ahead.

Look for pictures and posts from our trip to Sun Valley as well!

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Blogging, Podcasting and Idaho!

Blogging

So this blogging thing is really taking off. I don't mean my blog, because this is pretty lame. I mean the overall blogging revolution. OK, well maybe "revolution" is a bit of an overstatement. And maybe by my thinking that it's just now taking off makes me even more lame.

Anyway, the more I look around, the more blogs I find. It's like any swinging dick with an opinion on something has started their own blog! That pretty much includes everyone with an internet connection and some kind of tech/geek ability - even me! So, I'm finding that I need to specialize and find my niche. Should it be food? Wine? Quantum physics? Composting methods of pre-cambrian homo sapiens? Or, just my rants? I guess we'll see where it goes. In the meantime, look below for some blogs that I've recently stumbled upon...

Podcasting

Remember Adam Curry? You know, the long-haired VJ from '80s MTV. Anyway, I guess he's either bored or rich these days, so he decided to jump on the iPod Economy bandwagon and start a website called www.iPodder.org. iPodder is basically a directory for Podcasts. What's a Podcast? Well, a Podcast is a way for any swinging dick with an internet connection (and a sound card) and some tech/geek ability to record their musings to an mp3 file and then post them on the internet for people to download and listen to on their iPod.

It's like, all of a sudden, anyone can create their own quasi-radio-station on the internet. And, the best thing about it is that it's all pre-TiVo'd and waiting for you to have the time to listen to it. I've read quite a bit about it lately, and it seems to be pretty new, making blogs look like pencil and paper. So, being the geek that I am, I downloaded a few to listen to tonight on my flight to Idaho.

Idaho?

Idaho

That's right, baby! I - DA - HOE! Home of... Birthplace of... Um, home of potatoes? Yeah, potatoes. Um, home - or part-time home - of Ashton and Demi. And Bruce too. And, I think Hemingway was born there. Maybe.

Anyway (I like using that word), Sarah was stationed up in Boise this past week, so I'm heading up to meet her tonight. Tomorrow, we're heading off to Sun Valley! It should be fun. I'll fill in the details next week.

Wine Blogs/Podcasts:
www.screwtops.com
www.winecast.net
www.graperadio.com
www.talkingaboutwine.com

Food Blogs/Podcasts:
www.chezpim.com - this chick is getting a lot of press about being a new-wave restaurant and food critic - I'm undecided on her usefulness, but giving it a chance.
www.cookingontheradio.com


Later skater...

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

OK, so now it's been a full 7 days without alcohol or chocolate. Other than the bugs crawling all over me, I'm doing fine. Sarah has been taking it easy on the juice as well, but she's still drinking more than any 3 people I know! ;-)

So, here's the latest:

  1. Alcohol is good. Maker's Mark is good. Beer is good. The lack of alcohol makes my head hurt. I think I'm going through detox.
  2. Sarah is in Boise this week. She left on Sunday, so it's lonely here - especially with the rain. But, I'm flying up to meet her on Thursday night for a 4-day weekend! She's going to show me all around Boise, and then, 20 minutes later, we're heading to Sun Valley for a few days. We'll probably do some snowboarding, maybe hang out with Ashton and Demi, and hopefully see some spectacular views of the Sawtooth Range. Check back here for pictures next week.
  3. We took a walk along the Richardson Bay on Sunday, up in Mill Valley. It was a pretty dismal day, but as you can see below, Sarah made the best of it. (OK, so I tweaked the picture a little bit. I had to edit out the rain!)

That's all for now. I gotta get back to watching television...

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

On the Wagon

Ash Wednesday, so no alcohol or chocolate for 40 days! Can I do it? Well, it's only noon and it's going OK so far.


Thursday, February 03, 2005


Sarah goes down hard... Ouch!

Beautiful...

Riding the gondola to the top of Heavenly - 9,137' above sea level, about 3,000' above Lake Tahoe

Emerald Bay

Jay thinking, "I wish I could shred like that..."

Jay, getting some much-needed instruction!

Sarah takes the first of many falls...

Sarah all geared up for boarding!

Sarah shopping in Tahoe City

Sarah and Jason take snowboarding lessons!

Winter docks - no boating today!

The last day in Tahoe