cyberhobo

Month: August 2005

  • Movie: Dirty Pretty Things

    If a movie can have a bad plot and still be good, this is one. This is a long look into the eyes of poor immigrants in London. The plot is not awful but definitely has some weak points and what felt to me like compromises. Ultimately, though, it’s just a canvas to paint the…

  • Name the wildflower

    I’ve been seeing these in the Northern Colorado foothills for a few weeks. They tend to appear in thick stands, usually not too far from water. Thanks again to Al Schneider from www.swcoloradowildflowers.com for the help identifiying this one, though I don’t think there’s an example on his site yet. He said it’s minty –…

  • Book: The Five People You Meet In Heaven / Mitch Albom

    The first book I’ve read in a while that fizzled for me – at least it’s short. This is a little fairy tale along the lines of A Christmas Carol, where people from the character’s life show it to him from different angles. Seemed to me like it’s been done already.

  • Bouldering at Elkhorn Creek

    I like this spot near Red Feather Lakes. It has solid, sharp, Vedauwoo-style granite boulders and formations in a more expansive feeling foothills setting. We did some fun problems, most too hard for us, but still quite enjoyable along with a night outdoors. We saw only one other climber, who told us there are trad…

  • Movie: Raising Arizona (1987)

    Very interesting to watch this Coen brothers’ movie again after seeing many others over the years. It’s absolutely chock full of stuff that I didn’t recognize the first time around, much of which I recognize from movies they made later. There are even direct references to subsequent Coen movies! The slapstick comedy takes place in…

  • Name the wild berry

    I guessed that these scrumptious-looking berries were probably edible, because when I broke one open the small round seed looked just like the ones in a big pile of bear scat we saw near Greyrock a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t try them, of course. There are a lot of berries in the upper…

  • Book: When Nietzsche Wept / Irvin D. Yalom

    A bold, inspiring piece of historical fiction. Having the guts to portray the likes of Friedrich Nietzsche, Josef Breuer, and Sigmund Freud is impressive enough, telling a story of the origins of psychoanalysis ups the ante again, and it just keeps going. Not only has Yalom pulled it off, his premise and subtext ring bright…

  • Shambhala Mountain Center

    We were curious about this Tibetan Buddhist center, and made the hike to the Great Stupa shrine. It’s a strange place, with a few really attractive buildings, this grandiose shrine, some construction trailers, and hordes of white and green canvas tents. We were going to leave with the impression that it’s something between a retreat…

  • Bouldering at the 420s

    A leisurely day with some leisurely bouldering in the Poudre Canyon. Ann and I both make our fingers pink and raw, arms exhausted. There are wild berries everywhere here, and I wonder if we’ll see more bear sign, but none appears. During the night, however, there is a loud huffing outside our tent that sends…

  • Finding a camp site in the Poudre Canyon on Friday night

    I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but after we passed our climbing destination for the following day we drove through every campground on the map, all full. Then Ann remembered, “Hey, I used to find a free spot to camp every night last summer.” She pulled out our map book and found some nearby forest…