Tag: usa

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general

sprung

Well, it’s comparitively warm, and quite definitely wet. I think Spring has definitely sprung in DC.

Cherry blossoms that remembered to blossom.

Flags outside the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building in DC.

“… and of course we’ll have a flag out the front of the building.”
“How about two flags? One at either end? That would create a bit of a statement wouldn’t it?”
“Well, it would certainly demonstrate the patriotism of the FBI.”
“You know, I think it would be even more patriotic if we had more flags…”

There’s a thunderstorm rolling in at the moment (accompanied by a downpour that started as I was walking home with my groceries). All I need now is a verandah to sit on and watch it from.

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general

in slightly geekier news..

I just watched the first of the new series of Doctor Who and loved it (when shop dummies and wheelie bins go bad).

The weather isn’t looking particularly nice for climbing this weekend. It keeps looking like turning to Spring here (a nice sunny afternoon, some blue skies), then going “HAHA, FOOLED YOU AGAIN!” and being gloomy and raining for a week straight. All of the rain has led to flood warnings, and the Potomac River has been enroaching on the edges of Alexandria. I went for a ride along the bike path the other morning and several sections were under a few inches of water – there was no putting my feet up on the handlebars to get through either, I never would have made it out the other side just by cruising (although that would have created an amusing spectacle for passers-by).

blossomI was hoping to go and look at some of the Cherry Blossom Festival festivities as well this weekend (DC has a Cherry Blossom Festival thanks to a gift of 3000 cherry trees from the Mayor of Tokyo in 1912), but the cherry trees seem to be determined not to bloom. And although I’m sure the festivities will be nice, I don’t think it will be quite the same if we’re just wandering around dead trees.

Categories
climbing general

sorry, but we’re fresh out of waldorfs

The woody warming night kicked off with some climbing/bouldering DVD watching – the one with bouldering in Nova Scotia was good, but The Australia Project was fairly rubbish (well it was nice to see some of my home crags, but they hardly made the most of it). Then warming of woody, photos below. It needs more roof holds, and more extensions are in the planning.

woody warming
Categories
climbing general

franklin super crag

Saturday was spent clipping bolts and avoiding the special detachable holds at Franklin River Gorge. Photo snappage ensued.

jumpstart

Jumpstart, 5.8.

castaways

Study in blue – on Castaways 5.8.

contemplation on boulder

Vegas auditioning for a role in our climbing mockumentary as ‘constanty stoned, introspective and spiritual new-age hippy sports climber’.

Lessons from the day – At Franklin they mark the loose blocks and holds with an X; some climbs would be well served with a huge X across the whole damn thing – While wandering from cliff to cliff, always attach my down jacket to myself if it’s in its stuff sack, otherwise I will drop it and it will roll all the way down to the bottom of the gorge, where I will run into a southern fisherman who will think I’m a crazy person – Saigon Cafe in Harrisonburg VA has really really yummy Vietnamese food.

This is what my friends were up to back home over the Easter long weekend. I lament the fact that we don’t have the long weekend over here.

EDIT – Oh, and I was just reminded of the other thing I learnt. Americans call canyoning ‘canyoneering’, which tends to remind me of the Canyonero, from the Simpsons…

Can you name the truck with four wheel drive,
smells like a steak and seats thirty-five..
Canyonero! Canyonero!

Categories
climbing general

governor stable 2005 roundup

Governor Stable bouldering comp photos are up here, here, here, and here. Final results are up here.

And argh! Trying to do some cooking tonight – spent forever trying to track down beef stock, pastry sheets and mixed herbs (I gave up on the mixed herbs and got something called Italian seasoning in the end – it looked right at least). Plain flour is ‘all-purpose flour’. Cooking choc bits are called ‘semi-sweet morsels’. Castor sugar is ‘fine granulated sugar’. Argh, the culture shock.

Edit – And the pastry I got (the only stuff they actually had) was those thin sheets instead of normal pastry. So my meat pies are looking fully gourmet (pronounced ‘gormett’).