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Book: Incompleteness / Rebecca Goldstein
It was the perfect time for me to read about the life and work of Kurt Gödel, the mathematician who shook mathematics so violently at its foundations in 1931 that there is still widespread disagreement about where it has landed. Of course I encountered his name and theorems in my own investigations of the origins…
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Movie: Islam, Empire of Faith (2000)
An excellent and visually splendid historical account of Islamic empire. We were looking for some background on the Sunni/Shiite conflicts in the middle east, and it provides some of that. It clearly tries to present Islam in a good light, and the atrocities and brutalities inevitably involved in the building of empires are glossed over.…
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Crystal Wall Before the Rain
Inspired by some blue sky visible through the window when we wake up, we rally to Crystal Wall. We scope out the Palace too, but the river looks higher than we want to deal with. It’s a little windy and cold. Ann has some trouble with cold fingers, but manages to redpoint the 7-bolt 5.7…
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Movie: Time To Leave (2006)
Death approaches. Now and then a story reminds me that no other premise is needed, this is the engine of drama itself. When a story dispenses with the usual embellishments, though, it exposes itself to the pitfalls of cliché and sentimentality. This film avoids these traps with simplicity as well – with a believable character…
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Movie: How To Kill Your Neighbor’s Dog (2000)
A good enough amusement for a quiet evening, this story of a playwright confronting adulthood in LA doesn’t make quite as much fun of LA as I hoped for, but has it’s clever parts and some funny moments.
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Half day on the Nautilus
Camping near the road on the Saturday night of a giant Vedauwoo kegger somewhere further in is a noisy, dusty affair. We make a note to hunt down more remote camping next time. Nevertheless, we awake to another gorgeous morning. Today is my day to lead something wide. We park at The Nautilus and wander…
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Valiant attempts on Poland Hill
We wake up in Vedauwoo, the reward for punching through Friday night fatigue, packing the car, and meeting Kate and Mark in Wyoming. It’s well worth it. The tent never felt better, and the day greets us like a herald of summer sun and warmth. Eagerness for the day’s potential creeps in as water is…
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Barfy’s Favorite on Greyrock
It’s highly questionable whether we should be rock climbing today after we drive halfway to the crag with the hatch of our Subaru open, but these things happen to everyone, right? We also forget to drop our garbage off, so it will cook in the car all day. Hmm. The hike in to Greyrock goes…
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Palace Fun
We make it up to The Palace about the same time the rain clouds do. The river is 2 or 3 inches higher than our last crossing, and we hope a sudden downpour doesn’t raise the water level much more. We start on Churhill Rejects 5.9+, which is now my favorite starter route here, reminiscent…
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Lover’s Leap Multipitch
The cold, overcast morning does not encourage us to pursue our plans to do a local multipitch climb of Lover’s Leap. We go out for a leisurely breakfast, check out the now-closed crags at North Turkey Creek, realize we’ve lost our phones, and return to Dad’s where we don’t find them. We still don’t feel…