Self Portrait, or My Hair Stylist is a Magician

I don't usually get in front of the lens of my camera. I'm much more comfortable on the other end, and, in all honesty, self-portraits usually require a tripod setup, and I'm pretty lazy. But last Saturday I got my hair cut, and my stylist (Rachel at House of Hair in North Park) took the time to not only blow-dry it - something I haven't done myself in months - but also straighten it with a flat-iron. The result was nothing short of magical, or so I thought. It was definitely worthy of documentation, if only because I'm also usually far too lazy to straighten my hair myself.

Official Word on Society for Neuroscience Conference

I got this response from the Society today. Hope it helps all those out there who found my site searching for information on the conference.

As Neuroscience 2007 approaches, SfN is monitoring the fires in the
greater San Diego County area very closely and we continue to be in
regular contact with area officials. While the situation is a tragedy
for the affected outlying communities, we have been assured that the
convention center, downtown areas, and airport remain open and are not
at risk, and that Neuroscience 2007 is not expected to be significantly
affected when it kicks off 10 days from now.

While no disruption of meeting activities or travel is anticipated,
media coverage has raised questions about potential health or safety
concerns. The well-being of our attendees is our highest priority.
Convention and tourism authorities are expanding their range of public
information to include up-to-date findings on air quality for the
downtown area and other issues that would impact safety or mobility. We
encourage you to check www.visitsandiego.com regularly for updates.
Based on the information from local authorities, anticipated improving
conditions by next week do not warrant altering plans for the
Neuroscience 2007 meeting.

The neuroscience community is on track to have another highly rewarding,
and safe, meeting. Local, state, and national authorities are working
aggressively to manage the situation and mitigate any effects. SfN
continues to prepare for a successful event while also monitoring any
changing events that would affect our members, and we will update this
notice daily, or more frequently, as needed. We look forward to seeing
you in San Diego!

Sincerely,
Meeting Services

So there you go.

Show Review: Two Gallants w/Blitzen Trapper @ Casbah, 10/17/2007

Photos: Two Gallants w/Blitzen Trapper @ Casbah

With all the crazy wildfires of the past few days, this show seems like it happened much more than a week ago. I probably should have gotten the review up sooner, but last week was just one of those weeks at work - one of those weeks where you don't have a spare minute to sit down during the days, and when you get home, all you want to do is veg on your couch until you fall asleep at a ridiculously early hour.

But even with all that going on last week, I dragged myself off of the couch on Wednesday night to head down to the Casbah. Blitzen Trapper really impressed me when they opened for the Hold Steady last spring, and I've been digging their Wild Mountain Nation album ever since. And Two Gallants? Well, let's just say I've been held captive by their sound ever since picking up a used copy of The Throes at M-Theory. I knew it wasn't a show to be missed.

Sadly, we missed Songs for Mom, an all-girls band that apparently earned their spot on the bill that night. But we had plenty of time while Blitzen Trapper set up, and I made sure to snag my usual spot front and center (I'm completely over that whole "leave five feet between the audience and the band" shyness by now).

Once Blitzen Trapper started playing, they had the full attention of everyone in the venue, even though it became apparent later on that most folks were there for Two Gallants. Their quirky songs veered through every different musical style known to man, and all the members of the band did a good job keeping the audience entertained, even if just by simply rocking out. Their songs were, of course, solely off of Wild Mountain Nation, and seeing them performed once again live, with the band coming off countless nights of touring, really made them stick.


Blitzen Trapper @ Casbah, shot by Natalie Kardos


Blitzen Trapper @ Casbah, shot by Natalie Kardos


Blitzen Trapper @ Casbah, shot by Natalie Kardos

The band played what seemed like a short set, but maybe it was just due to the tightness of the songs. Once they were done, they thanked us for listening, and then quickly cleared off the entire stage for Two Gallants.

Coming upon the heels of the six-person band that is Blitzen Trapper, it was quite a shock to see and hear the numerically-accurately named Two Gallants. They made just as much noise, and had just as much stage presence, as their predecessors on stage. Even knowing this ahead of time, and listening to their records while keeping this in mind, I was still blown away by how full their sound was. I was equally blown away by how many male fans were there, singing along to every word of every song. I've never seen such a show of male love for a band before. In my experience, it's usually been the females who sing along (for better or for worse). I'd wager a guess that males outnumbered females at least 3 to 1 at the Casbah that night. Strange indeed.


Two Gallants @ Casbah, shot by Natalie Kardos


Two Gallants @ Casbah, shot by Natalie Kardos

Standouts of the night were definitely the heartwrenching "Seems Like Home to Me," and the newer "Despite What You've Been Told," but really, it would be hard not to love all their songs. Adam sings in such an impassioned voice that would fill any room, no matter the size, and Tyson's drumming is, well, unbelievable. Even being front and center and watching him half the time, I never quite believe he'd be able to grab his cymbals in time to quiet the noise. But he always did - because if anything, their music is built on the stutter-stop of his drums, building up to an incredible climax, and then just dropping out completely. It parallels the way that Adam uses his voice, and even his guitar. It's amazing that the two of them can keep such perfect time with each other, with all the stops and starts and irregularities, but it works. It's also a clue as to why there are only two of them in the band - it's akin to the reason why the White Stripes can only be two people. Two people who intensely maintain eye-contact throughout their performance, and who just as intensely play the shit out of their respective instruments.


Two Gallants @ Casbah, shot by Natalie Kardos


Two Gallants @ Casbah, shot by Natalie Kardos


Two Gallants @ Casbah, shot by Natalie Kardos

I left the show exhausted, drained, and utterly worn-out - not because of my demanding week, but because of the emotional and physical catharsis that Two Gallants put me through. And for all that, I was happy.

Society for Neuroscience info?

I've gotten over 50 hits already today on this blog concerning the Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Deigo Nov 3-7. Unfortunately, at this time I have no information on whether or not it's happening. There is currently a Human Genetics Conference going on at the Convention Center downtown, so I would assume that the meeting is NOT cancelled. Downtown has not been affected by anything other than smoke at this point, and the fires are far away from downtown. Most evacuees were sent to Qualcomm Stadium, which is also a decent way away from downtown. As I said, the biggest concern would probably be smoke, and how long that sticks around is pretty much up to the weather at this point.

This is all just my speculation at this point - if anyone has concrete information regarding the conference, please email me at natkardos [at] gmail [dot] com. I sent an email to the Society already, but I'm guessing they are flooded with questions right now and are in the midst of figuring out what to do themselves at the moment.

Show Cancellations

The UT Street blog has got a list of show cancellations for the upcoming days. Unfortunately, included in that list is The Jesus and Mary Chain/Evan Dando show that I was supposed to be shooting for Pitchfork tonight. Bummer, but not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. If anyone hears about rescheduled events, let me know.

New Local Band: Hotel St. George

In some non-fire-related news, Matt, the singer from now-defunct local faves Vinyl Radio, has a new band called Hotel St. George.

They don't have any songs up on their myspace page yet, but they do have a show booked at the Casbah on November 30th with The Swedish Models - another band containing ex-members of Vinyl Radio.

Look forward to hearing the new tunes, Matt.

Update: UCSD cancels classes for the rest of the week

From Chancellor Fox:

Dear UC San Diego Campus Community and Friends,

After careful consideration and conferring with the Office of the
President and our Academic Affairs colleagues, we have decided to
cancel classes for the rest of the week. Due to the continuing
uncertainty of the fires and extremely poor air quality, we want
to put all precautionary measures in place. Many of our faculty
and staff and their families have been directly affected, and we
are certain that classes and standard operations will not be available
at full capacity this week.

Most non-essential personnel are asked not to come to campus, but
we know in some cases there are those who might be needed. All
personnel considering coming onto campus, should check with your
department.

UCSD Medical Center and Medical Group employees are expected to
report to their jobs as scheduled. ALL UCSD Healthcare clinics and
hospitals are open with the exception of Scripps Ranch Family
Medicine.

We want to assure parents and families that students on campus have
access to essential services and we have plans in place if the need
arises to take further measures. Residence, dining halls, and the
student health center are open and staffed to serve students.

Please note that the Chancellor's 5k scheduled for Friday, October
26, is canceled, as is the Preuss Classic Cars fundraiser.

At this point, we plan to resume a normal class and work schedule
on Monday, October 29. We ask that you check the website regularly
to make sure that all current plans are intact (www.ucsd.edu).

We will be determining the impact that these mandatory class closures
will have on required class time and will be providing additional
information at a later date.

Sincerely,

Marye Anne Fox Paul Drake
Chancellor Senior Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs

Well, that gives me plenty of time to work on this grant...

Breaking news: George W. coming to SD

Sign On San Diego just reported that President Bush is coming to San Diego on Thursday, at the request of our dear governor.

Because he's had such a good track record with natural disasters...

More Fire Info

UCSD has cancelled classes for tomorrow; San Diego Unified school district has closed schools for the remainder of the week.

People are urged to cut back on the use of electricity, and to stay indoors and avoid physical activity in order to reduce smoke inhalation. I'm currently at home with all my windows shut and all my lights off.

I talked to my boss earlier, who was evacuated from Del Mar last night. He's currently attending the Human Genetics conference that's going on downtown, so I guess that's still up and running. Several people have asked if I know if the Neuroscience conference is going to be canceled (it's scheduled to run Nov 3-7) - I really have no idea, and there are no updates on the Society for Neuroscience's website.

Estimates are that 1250 homes have been lost. Last I heard, 500,000 people have been evacuated, as compared to 50,000 in the 2003 Cedar fires. It seems like reverse 911 has been doing a great job of getting people out of danger in plenty of time, so kudos to them. The fact that that many people have been displaced with only 1 death and a handful of injuries is amazing. Keep up the good work, San Diego.

For more frequently updated coverage, check out CatDirtSez, Sign On San Diego's fireblog (finally working), and SD:Dialed In. As always, if anyone needs a place to crash, let me know. I'll be here all day, plugging away on a rough draft of a grant. That is, if I can tear myself away from the media.

San Diego Fire Info

With several wildfires raging and mandatory evacuations in place for several areas in San Diego County, the last thing on my mind is music right now. Went into work today (left before the notice went out that campus was closed, although it wouldn't have mattered anyway - I had cells to feed) and it was eerie, to say the least. Deserted, grey sky with the smell of smoke detectable on the wind - it smelled like a campfire in my lab. Took care of what I had to and then left. While I was there, a postdoc in my lab dropped in to get her computer and say that they had been evacuated from their place up north that morning. And she was all worried because she had a grant due today. I told her that I'm sure they'll give her some leeway for a campus closure and the worst fires California has ever seen. I also got a call from my boss, whose home is in Del Mar and potentially in the line of the fire. He told me to leave. So I did.

I'm chilling safe at home in North Park now, and if anyone needs a place to crash tonight, I've got a pull-out couch. It's not much, but it's yours if you need it. I also took advantage of the unplanned afternoon off and made some lasagna for dinner...

For updated info on the fire, you can try Sign on San Diego's fireblog, but it's been working on and off for me. CatDirt's blog might be a better (and slightly less heavily trafficked) site to check out. Rosey's also doing her best to bring you up-to-date info. My heart goes out to all of those displaced by these wildfires, and to all those fighting hard to contain them.

Show Review: The Roots w/The Prayers and Al Howard and the K23 Orchestra @ RIMAC, 10/12/2007

Pitchfork Photos of The Roots
Photos: The Roots w/The Prayers and Al Howard and the K23 Orchestra

This show was UCSD's Fall Fest - a free concert for the undergrads, with tickets unavailable to anyone else, even graduate students. But thanks to Pitchfork and The Prayers, P and I were able to get in and watch the whole show from sidestage.

The Prayers opened the show, as the unusual act on the bill. Nevertheless, the kiddies loved them. The crowd response was great, and I'm guessing this is one of the largest crowds these guys had played to yet. I even saw some crowd-surfing...





I've written about The Prayers enough times for any casual reader of this blog to realize that I dig them. This show was more of the same catchy tunes from them, and they made the transition to the big stage and crowd quite well. When I walked into the venue and saw them onstage, I got a huge grin on my face and a huge feeling of pride for them.





After The Prayers ended their set, Al Howard and the K23 Orchestra took the stage. I had heard of their band before, but had no idea what they sounded like. It quickly became apparent that their sound tended towards Saul Williams fronting a funk band. Pretty impressive, but after the first three songs, I ended up "backstage," aka the boy's locker room, to say hi to the boys in The Prayers.









Following a long-ish set change during which I stared wonderingly at a mic'ed sousaphone, The Roots were up. Their first song featured an unaccompanied monologue by Black Thought, who was shrouded in darkness. Towards the end of it, the rest of the band came onstage to massive cheers from the crowd. They then proceeded to crank the lights up and rock out.









Halfway though the set, all of the band members left the stage, save ?uestlove, the sousaphone player, and the guitarist. They then introduced their "side project" whose name I failed to catch, and launched into a 15 minute version of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War." The guitarist's vocals were mind-blowing throughout, and the whole song managed to keep my attention, even with multiple solos and tangents. Once they wrapped up the song, the rest of the members of The Roots came back onstage and teased the crowd with a medley of well-known hip-hop songs, old and new, before coming back full circle to their own material.









The night ended fairly early, but I was thankful for it, as I had to get my photos off to Pitchfork before hopping on a plane at 9:30 the next morning to attend a retreat for UCSF graduate students in Lake Tahoe. I'm starting to feel like I'm leading a double life here - backstage at a Roots concert one night, talking science with soon-to-be fellow students and faculty the next night.

Show Review: Rogue Wave w/Port O'Brien @ Casbah, 10/10/2007

Photos: Rogue Wave w/Port O'Brien @ Casbah

Last week was a busy week, and as such, my only venture to the Casbah was to see Rogue Wave with Port O'Brien (I arrived late and missed opener Manuok).

Port O'Brien started my night off with a strong set. All four members of the band contributed to the vocal lines, sometimes all at once in Modest Mouse-reminiscent shout-singing. One of the members played a banjo, which added a countrified element to their sound. In addition to the Modest Mouse-type sound, they reminded me of the Driftless Pony Club, whom I also thoroughly enjoy. Unfortunately, some of the members were underage, so they had to head outside to their van afterwards inside of hanging around in the venue.


Port O'Brien @ Casbah, shot by Natalie Kardos


Port O'Brien @ Casbah, shot by Natalie Kardos


Port O'Brien @ Casbah, shot by Natalie Kardos

Next up was Rogue Wave, and wow. I was having one of those nights where lots of other things were on my mind, such as work and sleep, so I didn't expect to get that much out of this show. Thank god I was wrong. The band put on a wonderful show that hit all the right emotional buttons. The first half of their set was especially powerful, as it was composed of songs from their new album, Asleep at Heaven's Gate. This is the album that I am most familiar with, as I got it a few weeks ago and haven't really stopped listening since. "Lake Michigan" was great, but it was really "Chicago x 12" that hit me at my core. Maybe it was listening to Zach tell Halloran earlier in the day on FM 94.9 that the song was about having a really bad day, a day that you will compare all future bad days to, and I had just had one of those recently. Whatever it was, it worked.


Rogue Wave @ Casbah, shot by Natalie Kardos


Rogue Wave @ Casbah, shot by Natalie Kardos


Rogue Wave setlist, shot by Natalie Kardos

The Roots: Pitchfork Photos

Pitchfork photos of The Roots

Sadly, I guess they weren't interested in the ones I sent them of The Prayers and Al Howard and the K23 Orchestra. Bastards! Ah, well.

Stay tuned for a review of the show, as well as more photos, assuming this scratchiness in my throat doesn't develop into anything more serious and that I successfully pull together a journal club presentation for 8AM tomorrow.

Show Review: Justice w/Midnight Juggernauts @ Canes, 10/7/2007

Pitchfork photos
Photos: Justice w/Midnight Juggernauts @ Canes

I don't normally "do" electronic music. It's just too cold and sterile for me on record - I like my music with a little more of a human element, with a little more warmth. This explains why I've never been to a live electronica show before.

And after witnessing one, I still hold to that statement. However, I did get to see and experience first hand what it is about the live shows that make people go crazy for it. The human element, that warmth that I feel is lacking in the recorded form, is present in the form of the live audience. Ecstacy-induced or not, there's a tangible happiness that flows from the crowd when the music starts playing.

Unfortunately, this "tangible happiness" made my job of taking photos rather more difficult than usual. Since this was my first assignment shooting for Pitchfork, I really really really didn't want to mess it up. But the giant glowing cross and the seething audience were doing their best to confound me. But, being who I am, I waded right on in.

Midnight Juggernauts are an Aussie band that were playing their first ever show in the US. They absolutely killed with their version of guitar-synth-drums music, trading vocals and instruments at will. The crowd was just as into them as they were into Justice - in fact some of the people I spoke to said that they were at the show for the opening band, not the headliner. Always nice to see that sort of support for an opener, as opposed to the usual lackluster "we're just killing time until the real show starts" vibe. Towards the end of their set, I worked my way through the packed crowd to get a spot front and center and capture these shots.







And by the way, this is what happens when someone sweats too much on stage:



During the break between sets, I got to talking to the guys next to me. They were excited to hear that I was shooting the show for Pitchfork, and even suggested that I stand up on the bass amp that was placed on the floor in front of the stage to take photos. I don't think security would have been too happy with that (more on the security later), but about 5 minutes into the show, as my shins were getting shoved into the edge of that amp, I ended up kneeling on it. However, I quickly realized that I couldn't get any decent shots from that position, as Justice's equipment was stacked too high, so I ended up running across the front of the stage, half-bent over, in order to get around to the stairwell towards the back of the venue. There was no way I was going to try to break through a rave crowd with all my camera equipment on me. But while I was up front, I did manage to get some crowd shots, as well as ones of the huge glowing cross and disco ball:









There was a lot more breathing room at the back of the venue, and since I had my photo wristband, security let me hang out on the stairwell for awhile.





I was thoroughly drained from my experience at the front of the crowd, so I ended up taking a short break to sit outside and look at the ocean while Justice wrapped up their set. There's not much I can say in words to describe what their set was like - but if you want a night of drug-induced dancing, or pure adrenaline-induced dancing, these are your guys.

I think security at this show was worse than any of the shows I've been to at Canes. They were incredibly strict about their camera policy, even making some people delete photos off their cameras when they got caught with them. I hope this isn't backlash from the Band of Horses affair. I had my wristband checked at least 3 times during the show - as if I've be idiotic enough to try to sneak a huge SLR camera into their venue with one. The thing that pissed me off the most, though, was that waiting in line to get, I took a photo of the line of people, because it was larger than any I've seen at a Canes show. A security guard immediately walked up to me and said, "Sweetie, you might want to go put that camera in your car," in an extremely condescending tone. I wasn't even on Canes' property at that point. I explained that I had a photo pass that I just hadn't picked up yet, and he told me to go get it and then double-checked it later when I was further on down the line.

In addition to this, the second anyone crowd-surfed or jumped up in the crowd, the security guards went after them. I don't really understand what it is about the place, but it's a bad situation where there is way too much hired muscle with not enough to do during shows, so they get bored and hassle anyone the least bit out of line. Ugh. Almost makes me not want to go to the Hold Steady/Art Brut show there next month...

Photos: Virgin River Gorge

Photos: Grand Canyon Trip 2007

The Virgin River Gorge was the area that I was itching to take photos of. On the way up, it marked the first really interesting landscape we passed through after the wasteland surrounding Las Vegas. On the way home, it represented the last bit of our adventure, with boring old "real life" waiting on the other side. As such, these are the last photos of our trip that I took.











All I can say about the rest of the drive home is that Riverside is hell on earth. Who decides to a) do construction on all the entrances and exits to the 215 in a 5-mile stretch; and b) who the fuck lives in Riverside? Why are there so many cars there all the time? Do people get paid to drive around and cause traffic jams?

Photos: Drive Home from the Grand Canyon

Photos: Grand Canyon Trip 2007

I made Pete drive for the first couple of hours, since I was driving this stretch on the way up and missed the opportunity to take photos of some really cool landscape. Eventually the land flattened out as we left the Kaibab National Forest, and we were left with mesas off in the distance.

Photos: Kaibab National Forest

Photos: Grand Canyon Trip 2007

We left our campsite at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon at 7AM on Monday morning, after grabbing coffee from the huge general store at the campground. We stopped at the "town" of Jacob Lake for breakfast, then continued on through the Kaibab National Forest, gradually losing elevation.

Photos: Grand Canyon Sunset

Photos: Grand Canyon Trip 2007

After driving into camp in the dark on Friday, and sleeping through sunset on Saturday (seriously, the wind storm was ridiculous and we were tired), I was determined to get some shots of the sunset on Sunday night, our last night at the canyon. So determined, in fact, that we ended up sitting on the edge of the canyon by our campsite a full half hour before the sun actually went down. As a result, we didn't hang out long enough after the sun went down to see the really awesome colors, but I did get this shot:

Photos: Angels Window at Grand Canyon

Photos: Grand Canyon Trip 2007

After hiking the Cliff Springs trail, we noticed that we could see Angel's Window from where our car was parked.





So we decided to follow the road we were on until it ended at a trail that went out on top of the cliff containing Angel's Window, which afforded a great view of the canyon. Unfortunately, it was a paved trail not far from a parking lot, so it was pretty crowded. There's something about nature that makes me hate having a lot of people around, so we took in the view and then headed back to camp in order to catch the sunset.

More Possible Christmas Gifts for Your Favorite Blogger

First, there was the Futurama straight-to-DVD movie. Now there's this news, via Pitchfork -

"...at 12 PM EST on the 15th (Monday), the White Stripes will begin taking orders for the his'n'hers cameras depicted above. There's the "Meg" Diana camera, which comes with a custom filter and a ringflash accessory (which produces a unique appearance of a 3D shadow on the images), or the "Jack" Holga camera, with custom filters and a fisheye lens accessory. What's more, the first 333 folks to order both cameras get a "mystery gift". Please say it's a lenscap!

Both cameras appear to be of the lomographic variety, a type of instrument which tends to produce images with particularly vivid colors, strange exposures, and a lot of weird unintended effects. They're really neat!"

I've been toying with the idea of getting into some more "experimental" photography, or whatever you want to call it, using different kinds of cameras. You know, with all that time that I have on my hands. (Note - that last sentence was the only one in this post intended to be read with a hint of sarcasm. I really do want the Futurama movie. And the cameras - though not necessarily the White Stripes' versions.)

Really Late Show Review: THE Fest @ Casbah, 10/5/2007

I have no photos for this show, because I made a last minute decision to take the night "off." I knew that the Justice show was coming up, and that I had a ton of Grand Canyon photos to deal with already, so it just didn't happen.

We showed up while The Sundelles were playing. I ran into Chuck and Brandon, who both seemed thrilled that it was actually happening. Understandably so, since the whole thing was their "baby." Props to them and everyone else involved in setting it up.

The Sundelles seemed a little more grown into themselves since the last time I saw them. I still think the singer comes off as a bit awkward, though. He tries to go for the whole engaging lead singer thing, but he doesn't quite make it. Own that stage, man - it's not something you can just make a stab at. You have to completely go for it.

Next up were The Sess, who pretty much killed. The vocals were kind of a little too screamy for my usual taste, but I'll deal as long as the rest of the musicians continue to be as tight as they were that night. Very high energy, very engaging.

They were followed, quite naturally, by The Vultures. I've said plenty about them here, about how Chuck absolutely owns the stage and how I get a kick out of the contrast between his normal personality and his stage persona. So I won't repeat myself here.

Next up were The Atoms, who I had only managed to see once before - at Sessions Fest, when I was super mellow and out of it thanks to a cold and the subsequent Dayquil I had ingested. Seeing them at the Casbah was a much better experience for me. They played some hyper-catchy punky music, and it sounded great, even if all their songs did sort of run together in the end. I think they probably had the shortest set of the evening, by far.

The second-to-last band on the bill were The Muslims, playing sans Emily but with a new bassist in her place. They sounded great, possibly one of their best shows so far. The new bassist fit right in, Matt is really finding his place as a singer and a frontman, and Matty was killing it on guitar. Super high energy and I couldn't stand still while they were playing - which might have also had something to do with the amount of alcohol I had imbibed at that point...

The final band of the evening was The Prayers. I was expecting to hear their usual set centered around the songs on their God Save the Prayers EP, but was instead treated to a preview of some new songs they've been working on. Much less straight-up catchy pop, and a little more guitar noise. I liked them, even though I was bummed that they didn't play "Loose Lips." It was good to hear new stuff from such a familiar band, and none too soon - they're off to England soon to play some dates in London and Manchester. Best of luck to them.

A big thanks to all the bands who played and all the people who managed to throw everything together. A bill with six bands takes a ton of coordination and cooperation to make sure that everyone plays a fair share of the time allotted and that no one gets screwed over because things are running too late. I think the Skull Kontrol boys have shown that they have their shit together enough to be able to handle things like this, so please, Tim Mays - give them more chances to do so.

It's About Damn Time

An Open Source Internet Stupidity Filter

StupidFliter

There's an open source software project in the works that can "detect rampant stupidity in written English." Too long have people ignored spell check and grammar rules. This time around, if you can't write/type in decent English, you will be ignored. At least by my Firefox browser.

And I love the fact that they're mostly using comments on Youtube for their database of stupid comments. Alpha code release date is set for this December.

Now if only they could come up with something like this for the non-virtual world...

Tonight! Rogue Wave @ the Casbah

Rogue Wave's new album Asleep at Heaven's Gate is gorgeous, one that I instantly liked on first listen. They sound somewhat like Nada Surf to me, with a few more layers to their sound. Not sure if this one's going to sell out, so just to be sure, I bought my tickets online earlier today. Be there!

Grand Canyon Photos - Cliff Springs Trail, 9/30/2007

Photos: Grand Canyon Trip 2007

In my opinion, the coolest hike that we did the whole trip was the Cliff Springs Trail. It was a short, two-mile jaunt with barely any elevation change that followed a stream bed as it widened and carved out a little side canyon. The coolest part was coming around a corner, realizing that the canyon had risen around you, and getting a breath-taking view of an inner canyon rock formation. Absolutely amazing.

Grand Canyon Photos - Cape Final Trail, 9/30/2007

Photos: Grand Canyon Trip 2007

On Sunday, my hip was still feeling sore (what am I, 85 years old?), so we didn't go for any long/strenuous trails and kept to the rim trails. We drove for awhile to get to the Cape Final trailhead, and on the way, we stopped at some scenic viewpoints and saw some mule deer.







Unfortunately, we also saw some huge tour buses, so we hightailed it away from there as fast as we could. Faster than the deer, actually, who were probably hanging around for a snack.

After parking at the Cape Final trailhead, we headed out into the thick of the Kaibab Forest. At first I thought that maybe it was a bad choice of a trail, because it was basically a walk through the forest without a view of the canyon. But finally we cleared a ridge and the canyon spread out below us. Quite a nice spot to stop and eat lunch, actually.





After we ate lunch, we continued on the trail for a bit, checking out all the ledges and cliffs that we came across.







After that, we headed back to the car to check out some other trails. It's interesting to note, though, that the park rangers used controlled burns in the Kaibab Forest to clear out vegetation and facilitate the life cycle of the Ponderosa Pine trees. You could tell just by driving by the forest or taking a short hike.

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