In one of the most entertaining NCAA tournament games I can remember, upstart, tiny Davidson took monster Kansas to the wire and almost won the game with a last second shot. This is Davidson, a tiny school without much a basketball pedigree against one of the legendary schools of college hoops-Kansas-the university of Wilt Chamberlain and Danny Manning.

You got the sense watching the game that Davidson was overmatched. Kansas looked like they were going to tear the Wildcats limb from limb. Every time Kansas looked like they were going to pull away, Davidson would get a loose ball, play tight D and hold the Jayhawks to one shot, or hit a big three.

And Stephan Curry was simply amazing, a one man gang against a superior team. He'd been so fun to watch through the early games of the tourney. Against Kansas, he didn't exactly shoot well, only 9 for 25, but the shots he did hit were wicked, raining threes coming off screens and zipping through the trees in the lane on the way to the hoop. He just up one shot short.

It would have been great for Davidson to crash the party at the Final Four. Instead, we've got 4 number seeds. It would probably make for great games though.

You can watch the highlights of Kansas/Davidson on You Tube, at least until the NCAA and CBS discover that they are online.

Posted by andrew at 09:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the great discoveries of living in Melbourne was the music. Everyone knows INXS, Midnight Oil and AC/DC. But the there are many lesser lights in the Australian rock diaspora that never escape from the shores of Oz. I've been listening to this music for years. Now, with the help of Muxtape, I'm going to share some of it with you. Enjoy the Forgotten Legends of Aussie Rock:

• The Badloves - Green Limousine
• Cruel Sea - Woman with Soul
• Weddings Parties Anything - If You Were A Cloud
• Things Of Stone And Wood - Single Perfect Raindrop
• Baby Animals - At the End Of The Day
• Meanies - Emulator
• Hoodoo Gurus - Death Ship
• Tumbleweed - Rainbow Waterwillow
• Spiderbait - ShaShaVaGlava
• Cosmic Psychos - Dead Roo
• TISM - Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me
• Hunters & Collectors - Throw Your Arms Around Me

With the notable exception of The Cruel Sea and Hunters & Collectors, I saw each of these bands live at least once. TISM and Hoodoo Gurus at the Push Over. Cosmic Psychos at the Prince of Wales in St. Kilda and the Punter's Club on Bruncwick Street in Fitzroy. Spiderbait numerous times including recording their live album at the Great Britain in Richmond. Tumbleweed, The Meanies, The Badloves, and the Baby Animals at the Big Day Out. And finally, Weddings Parties Anything at the Push Over and on campus at Melbourne University.

Never before or since have I had access to such great music. It was a (fucking) glorious time for me and I don't even like live music that much.

Posted by andrew at 12:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Okay, Okay. I know you're unlikely to see any movies about fonts in your lifetime, but if you see one (is there more than one?), it should be Helvetica. The film is an in depth look not only into the history and origins of the font in a type foundry in Switzerland, but also about it's pervasive ubquity in the corporate world. Experts in the history and design of fonts are featured discussing their feeling about Helvetica which break down intto essentially two schools.

One is that fonts are simply a vehicle for carrying a message. The other is that the font is the message. Helvetica is the quinteiseential for the former, while just about every other font in existence takes up camp in defense of the latter. Personally, I fall somwhere in the middle. I think the font you use should be determined by context. Sometimes an invisible, clean and generic font like Helvetica is called so that the copy arrives unfiltered through the subtle meaning of a font to the viewers eyes. Other times, a compelling font face is called for to provide subtle shades of meaning that compliment the message. Either way, the film is really instructive on a topic that most people don't think about much, but are bombared with on a daily basis, affecting their subconscious at really fundamental levels. Netflix it.

Posted by andrew at 09:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I can't remember the last time I made a mixed tape. For that matter, I can't remember the last time I owned a cassette player that could record. Must have been in high school and I need some serious hypnotherapy to remember most of what went on there.

But no matter. Don't need any of that analag shit to make a mixed tape these days. Just need Muxtape. It's as simple as you can imagine. Open an account. Upload MP3's. Share. When I get home tonight, I'll set one up and share it will ya'll. In the mean time, check out the Resurrection of Cool on Pandora if you want to hear some cool jazz.

Posted by andrew at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just started a started a job in the city (SF) and I notice that just about every working age male carries some sort of messenger bag. Where younger men used to carrry backpacks and white collar guys, brief cases, now everyone has a Timbut2 orJack Spade or Frietag or whatever. To me, this is just an excuse for men to carry a purse. Do I carry one? Of course. I need to a place to store my umbrella (weather in the city is notorious unpredictable, my book (I need something to do on the bu, right?), my ipod, keys, gloves, etc. etc.

Posted by andrew at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

..at Zombo.com. It's like virtual soma. It's makes it all good.

Posted by andrew at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the unfortunate side effects of skiing at places like Vail and Beaver Creek is people like this:

We arrived at the Eagle/Vail airport just before them and watched as ten of them decamped from two vehciles, one for them and one for their luggage. There were 18 pieces, many the same sickly pink color as the bismuth I had bought for my lower GI issues apres Mexican food in Edwards. You can see the color better here.

Amongst these bags were not a single ski bag. Not one. What the fuck were these people doing here, clogging up our infrastructure with their damnable fur-covered bodies if they weren't even skiing? By the way, I love the look of absolute horror on the face of the young girl in the middle of the frame. She of the waist length fur. She'll probably graduate to full length when she hits 18.

Posted by andrew at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...or was someone in town for surgery?

Posted by andrew at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, I managed to get through a week of flinging myself around Vail and Beaver Creek with nary a scratch. I skied hard and i skied fast and I had tons of fun. I almost got away unscathed, but on get away day (a day we didn't even ski), I almost managed to destroy myself.

We were playing around and taking photos on the pirate ship that sits at the base of Vail Village. The deck of the ship is covered with snow and it's super slick, but I got it in my head anyway that I was going to take the slide that escapes from the bow and I managed to slip off the side of the ship where the webbing leads up to the deck. Fuck that hurt. I jammed my left thumb trying to keep myself from going ass over tea-kettle, which I did, but I scraped the shit out of my left calf along the gunwhale, or what there was of one.

I felt like a fool. It's a good thing very few people were around to see it.

Posted by andrew at 08:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by andrew at 08:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Like none other

Posted by andrew at 05:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On the flight back from Eagle to Denver, Russell and I got this unmarked plane. I felt like we should have been running drugs or something. I've never seen anything like it. There were not markings, not numbers, logos, colors, insignia, nothing. Very strange.

Posted by andrew at 04:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's Russ jamming down a virgin powder slope in Vail's Legendary Back Bowls(TM). This is probably on Ricky's Ridge in Sundown Bowl right behind Game Creek. Sometime it's hard to tell exactly where you are in the Back Bowls--they are so wide open. This the was out first visit to the Back Bowls on this trip (other than several visits to Blue Sky Basin. The sun was shinning. The was 6-8 inches of fresh powder on the ground. It was about as close to perfect as you could hope for.

Posted by andrew at 08:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I can't believe I was complaining about this. Those were the good ole days.

Posted by andrew at 06:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not everyone can say they met Hitler, but I can.

Back when I worked for Sharpshooters, our psycho manager, Kurt, had a staffing problem. He was stuck dealing mostly with spoiled J-1 Argies who didn't like to show up for work when the snow was good. He did everything he could to keep the staff full and our sales numbers up. In midseason, he hired this Brazilian guy. His name was Hitler. I am not shitting you. Hitler. In fact, I know I have a picture of him somewhere. I'll have to scare it up. Naturally, Hitler is snowboader.

Now Kurt had a bit of a wicked sense of humor. On afternoons when the store when the store full of super rich Vail skiers dropping huge $$$$ on really bad photographs, Kurt liked to shout at the top of his lungs, "Hey Hitler, get over here!" You can imagine the reaction.

The other day when we were at the French Deli for lunch, I was telling this story to Russell and Brian and we were all cracking up about it. When we finished our lunch, this woman came over to clear our plates. She looked so familiar, like one of the Argie managers at Sharphooters, only quite a bit heavier - I guess working at a French Deli will do that to you. Anyway, so we had one of the oddest conversations ever (recorded by Russell):

Andrew: Didn't you used to work for Sharpshooters?
Girl: Yeah
Andrew: Are you from Argentina?
Girl: Yup
Andrew: What's your name again?
Girl: Liza
Andrew: Oh, right. You probably don't remember me but I worked at Sharpshooters four years ago.
Liza: (nods)
Andrew: Do you remember Kurt Warner?
Liza: Sure
Andrew: Do you know Hitler?
Liza: (less sure) Yeah

She smirked, I think, walked away, and then avoided us for the remainder of our lunch. Hard to imagine why. :)

Posted by andrew at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by andrew at 09:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I shredded Beaver Creek. In the morning I dragged my brother all over the mountain. In the afternoon, I dragged Jean Claude, er Ryan, around. It was incredible. The place the empty. My new Elan 888s just ate up the snow. It was cold, but that just kept the piste in great shape. Even though at times, the visibility wasn't great, it was good enough to fly down the hill.

The day started off with not the best of omens. We didn't make breakfast at the condo, instead deciding to grab it at the hill. We parked at Arrowhead (free parking and close to the lift) but the Broken Arrow Restaurant at the base wasn't serving anything but pastries and coffee. We scrounged up a few breakfast burritos at the Ritz Carlton cafe (it really isn't exactly roughing it). My brother's girlfriend Isabel, fresh off three days of lessons at Vail, had a rough go with the greens at The Beav until Russell, a former instructor at Sugarbush and all around wicked awesome skier, took over her training for an hour before lunch. It couldn't have gotten ugly, but it didn't. Russell took off to challenge the Birds of Prey Downhill after lunch at the Red Tail. Brian went off with Isabel. And I toured Ryan around.

Photos from the amazing day are here.

Posted by andrew at 09:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok, so I stole the headline, but I did take the pic.

Posted by andrew at 09:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, on the 4th day, in the interest of not blowing our their legs, they rested. It was beautiful, blue sky day, and I had a tough time not saying anything about how nice it would to be on the slopes today, but I held my tongue.

We went to Edwards for lunch. Found a little Mexican place in Riverwalk called Fiesta Jalisco. I had this dish called Carnitas de Res. Basically it was a concoction of grilled sirloin and peppers in a red enchillada sauce with rice and refried beans. It was delicious, but it struck back with monster truck force. Maybe 20 minutes after lunch, I was in the bathroom at the The Bookworm re-enacting the campfire/beans scene from Blazing Saddles. It was out of control. We stopped at Safeway on the way home and I picked up some pepto. It helped out, but not before I had a reprise of The Bookworm pyrotechnic flatulence event. I was farting so hard, and so long, I couldn't stop laughing. It's a damn good thing we have two bathrooms in the condo.

Posted by andrew at 09:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From left to right, Russell, Jean Claude (er Ryan), Andrew & Brian in front of Belle's Camp in Blue Sky Basin, the furthest reaches of Vail.

Posted by andrew at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by andrew at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't know why I go through these periods of not having the energy to write. This has been a stupidly long hiatus. I haven't written anything since I went to Boston to work last May. It's not like nothing has happened. Just off the top of my head, I went to Europe for 3 weeks for work, bought my first road bike, the ski season started, I went to Hanoi for a week for work and then traveled down to Saigon, I paid off my car, I started a new job. I'm sure there's a few important events I'm missing. That's the problem when you don't write and you have the memory of a deranged flea. I will try to backfill with my limited recollection and then try my best to move forward, blogging with some kind of regularity.

Posted by andrew at 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I probably should be blogging, but I can't stop laughing about this and this

Posted by andrew at 09:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

in 2004, I worked at Vail Lionshead Sharpshooters for about 4 months. Since then, Lionshead has gotten a massive facelift. It really needed to updated. The village was built in the 60s and looked it. I was just worried that my favorite restaurants in Vail, DJ's and Les Delices de France (aka The French Deli) wouldn't survive the facelift. DJ's sadly seems to be MIA, but the French Deli is alive and kicking.

It was good to see Daniel Bouvier, the curmudgeonly yet pleasantly gregarious proprietor, working behind the counter. He used to give all Sharpshooters a generous discount, so I was a regular. I told him how glad I was see that the Deli was still around and that I had been fantasizing about his pate sandwiches.

He said that business couldn't be better. The construction at Lionshead was way behind schedule and he's been feeding all the workers. He hoped that it would take another two years the finish the work. I wished him good luck, then devoured my scrumptious pate sandwich.

Posted by andrew at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the last for years, I've had a season pass at Heavenly. It's one of the best bargains in skiing. 329 bucks for the season at a place that charges 78 bucks a day. You do the math. The pass also includes three free days at Vail or Beaver Creek. For each of the last four years, I've wanted to make the pilgrimage back to Vail, but it just hasn't happened until this week. We're going to ski 5 days, three of which are paid for. The other two days are going to cost me 92 dollars. That's not for the two days, that for each fucking day. 92 dollars. Get your head around that. I can't. Granted, the US dollar isn't worth shit, but 92 fucking dollars? The only good thing about is that it means, in effect, I only paid 53 dollars to ski at Heavenly for the season.

Posted by andrew at 08:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm headed off to Vail to ski for a week with Russell, my brother Brian and his new girlfriend Isabel. Flying into Eagle/Vail, got a crash pad in East Vail. It's supposed to snow a ton. I haven't been back to Vail since I lived there in 2004, so it should be awesome!

Posted by andrew at 09:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)