holy thigh-high powder, batman

jamie and i were in the gondola line by ten 'til 8 (it opens at 8:30). what a crazy scene that is - a bunch of amped up powderhounds hollering and smiling all around.

b.c. liftline down to storm peak express wasn't bad. storm peak opened at 9, and we were one of the first 4o or so chairs up it. that first run down storm peak face to cyclone was absolutely outrageous - one of my best runs of the last 2 years.

a couple runs in 2:30 trees, a couple more down the nice tree pitches off of tomahawk that the beginners never manage to find, and we called it a day.

this isn't me, but the steamboat photo of the day gives you an idea of the conditions.

phenomenal.

link o' the day:

wanna see the runs we took? check it out.

mozilla firefox freakin rocks

open source software has come a long, long way. if you've never heard of mozilla firefox, it is a free internet browser you can download that will make you forget about the existence of an inferior product like internet explorer.

the coolest thing about mozilla firefox is that its users create extensions and add-ons that greatly improve your online browsing experience. i'm currently listening to matisyahu as i write this, and i'm controlling my volume, track selection, etc. with a little tiny interface embedded in the bottom corner of my firefox window. and how am i writing this, you might ask? from my new embedded blogging extension in my firefox window. i no longer have to go to blogger.com and log in. it's all right here.

i am such a geek for this kind of stuff.

link o' the day:

it is currently dumping in steamboat, so i don't know if we're going to leave on our trip early tomorrow morning. but whenever we leave, we're going to do this hike on the way into moab.

powered by performancing firefox

gonna buy five copies for my mother!

folks,

in preparation for our show tomorrow night (the first in 3 months), the advertising blitz has begun. feast your eyes on jebus's second fifteen minutes of fame.

in other news, the annual border war between the illini and mizzou takes place this tuesday, 12/19. my new friend, coworker, and bandmate kevin has his MLS from missouri. it's going to be a shame for him when the illini stomp missouri on national television (espn, 7pm mountain time). brett (our drummer, u of i grad, and also a champaign native) and i will do our best not to rub it in too badly.

link o' the day:

interested in how regional politics affect a little southwestern ski area?

ranchers

the day is gray. it looks and feels like a thick wool blanket in a cold house; like coming home from work late, a cold blanket wrapped around you as you get the fire going.

a coal train blows through town, whistling at crossings. it's a long one - 2 engines in the front, 2 in the middle, 2 in the rear. probably 200 coal cars or more.

pickups and sedans move up and down fish creek falls road; south of town around the curve on highway 40; like a trail of ants.

evergreens are black. white snow. brown scrub oak. rust red buildings downtown, left over from another era; now they're restaurants, salons, t-shirt shops.

this town deals in experience. its commerce is exhiliration. its end product is happy families.

but the ranchers, the holdouts, the 5th generation cowboys are its soul. they hole up in their houses 20 miles out, drop hay bales in the negative early morning cold, and come into town for groceries or prescriptions, only when they have to.

this valley is made of separate worlds.

jebus resurrected

folks, jebus finally has a winter gig. we'll be playing at pirates pub, across from the torian plum plaza, in the heart (well, really the left ventricle) of steamboat's base village, on saturday 12/16.

it's hopefully a chance for us to develop a relationship with this bar, and get a regular saturday thing going throughout the ski season. direct jet service from 3 major airlines starts next week, so hopefully it will be a great crowd full of drunk and rowdy vacationing skiers.

so, if you're a reader of this blog and a steamboat resident, please swing by. we'll start around 10 pm. the more people we can get out, the better chance we have at playing there again. if you haven't been to the pirates pub, it's above the jade summit restaurant, behind dos amigos, across from torian plum plaza.

see you there!