It may be difficult to think about snowboarding right now with the record high temperatures and lack of natural snow but i have been thinking about it. i have even put together an iPod playlist for the next time i hit the trails (both open and closed).
i already have a skateboarding playlist but there is a difference between the appropriate music for each of these two activities. When skating i prefer fast, high energy songs that get you going. Aggressive and hard just like the terrain, angular and sudden as one needs to be prepared for anything: a rock on the ground or an unfriendly security guard.
Snowboarding, on the other hand, still lends itself to high energy but where the surface is smoother and flows i prefer to snowboard to music that reflects and conforms to that feeling of exciting flow. Rhythm is so important out on the snow and the right song can help you find and keep that rhythm. That is why i have selected the songs that i have. i also set the playlist at exactly 1 hour to help keep track of time while out on the slopes. You don't want to find yourself going in for lunch at 12 and battling it out with ski moms for table space.
Here's the playlist, with explanation of course:
1. "Gun's Blazing" U.N.K.L.E. : This album has been a snowboarding staple for me. This song starts out with a launching satellite of sounds as you unload from the chairlift and buckle in to prepare for launch, then erupts into a driven DJ Shadow rhythm with fierce lyrics to get you going as you first attack those slopes. The audacity to blasphemy...
2. "Mass Destruction (P-nut & Sister Bliss mix)" Faithless : This amped up version of a great song keeps the energy up and the beats strong as you get your legs back. Mellow Buddhist rapping over sweet techno beats - you will have an easier time finding this weapon of mass destruction in iTunes than in iRaq.
3. "Of Dust And Nations" Thrice : This whole album is one of the most underrated albums of 2006. i got hooked on this album while snowboarding last year... i could listen to it over and over on the slopes. It has the right mix of energy and flow. This song is my personal favorite off the album.
4. "Gratitude" Beastie Boys : How can you have a snowboarding mix without something from the Beastie's? These next few songs are slightly higher in energy because with a run or two in you it's time for the park. This bass groove is simultaneously energetic and laid back. Thanks MCA!
5. "I Feel So" Boxcar Racer : This almost made my over-inflated skate mix but i put it here instead. The energy just keeps you from sitting still and i think it came out at the end of the winter a few years back, which is why i seem to still associate it with snow. Travis is one of the best drummers out there and this song reminds me of good olde post-hardcore stuff.
6. "Fall Back Down" Rancid : Could there be a more perfect concept for a snowboarding song? You know you're going to fall at some point, this reminds you to get back up again (before you realize just how much that fall hurt).
7. "Don't Stay Home" 311 : Another snowboarding staple band for me. This mid-set reminder is to make you feel good about getting out today, no matter how warm and comfortable that bed may have seemed in the wee hours of the morn' which is when you had to get up to make it to the slopes at a decent hour.
8. "Nobody Weird Like Me" Red Hot Chili Peppers : Back when most resorts wouldn't let you snowboard there this song became a bit of an anthem for the gang of us that would meet up evenings at McIntyre with boards that weighed more than we did. Nostalgia strikes again.
9. "She Wants to Move" N*E*R*D : A little groove to get you back in the groove. Her ass is a spaceship that I want to ride. What else could follow up a RHCP song?
10. "Southbound Pachyderm" Primus : Again this band is another snowboarding staple for me. This song starts a slightly mellower flowing segment of the playlist for those powder runs (if you're lucky).
11. "Everlong" Foo Fighters : Again keeping with some smooth powder flow this comes off the Foo's best album - lots of Sunny Day Real Estate influence.
12. "Breakfast of Champions" Rainer Maria : Recently broken up this song made both my skate and snow mixes. Driving verses flowing into wide open, trip-o-let driven choruses. You can't not flow to this.
13. "L Train" Shootyz Groove : Back in the groove... riding the love train.
14. "That Bug Bit Me" The Mighty Mighty Bosstones : Again, how can you snowboard without a Bosstones song? With the exception of this cd all my other Bosstone stuff is on tape so my selection was limited as tape to iPod lovin' does not exist. Tapes are like the mules of the music world. It gets the job done though.
15. "Eons" 311 : Yes, another 311 song. i've listened to this cd so many times snowboarding it had to be represented. It also serves as a nice decrescendo into the last song of the mix. The science geek in me also likes the use of this geologic time scale term.
16 "December" Weezer : Rivers singing about rain in December. A must as the Coupe De Gra of the snowboarding playlist. Bringing you comfortably down. Only love.
If you've got a good snowboarding mix let me know (in comments section) as i still have time to kill on the slopes beyond this playlist.
Jan 3, 2007
Jan 2, 2007
Day After Tomorrow
Anyone who may have gotten an iTunes gift card for Christmas please do yourself a favor and buy the song "Day After Tomorrow" by Tom Waits. It is worth more than the $0.99 (when did they take the cents sign off of keyboards?) it will cost you.
This song has made my "Beautiful" songs playlist and makes me cry like a baby. Alright, i've got to go do something ubber manly like beat my wife* to counteract that wussy statement now.
*(This website in no way condones the beating of wives/husbands for any reason, unless it involves whips and they are into that kind of thing)
This song has made my "Beautiful" songs playlist and makes me cry like a baby. Alright, i've got to go do something ubber manly like beat my wife* to counteract that wussy statement now.
*(This website in no way condones the beating of wives/husbands for any reason, unless it involves whips and they are into that kind of thing)
Punishment
Holy shit i am so fucking done with everybody getting punished because of a hand full of assholes who can't keep their shit together.
This was a petty trick used by the nuns as i was in grade school in hopes of keeping everyone in line by turning us on each other. i understand that this is also used at boot camp (which is significantly shorter than Catholic grammar school). In the adult world one would hope that we would no longer be exposed to such idiocies. One might even think that as adults we may have progressed above such tactics. WRONG!
In my place of work and in the places of employment that others i talk to happen to dwell for 8 plus hours a day, this ridiculously short minded management technique seems to constantly sprout up. Unfortunately kids, the adult world is not that much different than your own child world. The punishment for hitting other people, however, is a little more severe.
To those in management positions everywhere: when someone does something wrong - handle it. Just because you are put through a bit of inconvenience does not mean you should spinelessly put the rest of us through a long period of inconvenience. WE were doing what WE were supposed to be doing so why don't YOU do what YOU are supposed to and take care of those jack-offs not doing their jobs. Grow a pair.
This was a petty trick used by the nuns as i was in grade school in hopes of keeping everyone in line by turning us on each other. i understand that this is also used at boot camp (which is significantly shorter than Catholic grammar school). In the adult world one would hope that we would no longer be exposed to such idiocies. One might even think that as adults we may have progressed above such tactics. WRONG!
In my place of work and in the places of employment that others i talk to happen to dwell for 8 plus hours a day, this ridiculously short minded management technique seems to constantly sprout up. Unfortunately kids, the adult world is not that much different than your own child world. The punishment for hitting other people, however, is a little more severe.
To those in management positions everywhere: when someone does something wrong - handle it. Just because you are put through a bit of inconvenience does not mean you should spinelessly put the rest of us through a long period of inconvenience. WE were doing what WE were supposed to be doing so why don't YOU do what YOU are supposed to and take care of those jack-offs not doing their jobs. Grow a pair.
Automatic Starters for the People
This topic idea is not my own but she would not agree to do a 'guest post' so i am going off on it myself... much less polite than she would have.
The ultimate showing of gluttony in these winter months has got to be the car automatic starter. Let's uselessly burn fossils fuels and send ever more pollution into our atmosphere so that your ass is warm the moment you get into your automobile. It gets cold in the winter. Deal with it or move to a different climate (although i'm sure these mass consumers would need to auto-start their cars in warmer climates as well to get their air conditioners going).
Going out in the winter time means warm jackets, stocking hats, and gloves (pants are optional). If you can't handle 5 minutes in your car with these appropriate items of clothing on, driving towards your desired location as the car warms up, then you are a weakling within our species and your genes should probably not be passed to the next generation. Survival of the fittest and all. Why should the rest of us be exposed to the idling exhaust your auto spews out as your car goes NOWHERE.
If that's not bad enough, at the grocery store, etc. i frequently see these poor excuse for warm blooded creatures hitting their auto-start as they leave the store. This does not allow ample time before entering said vehicle to warm it up so what you are left with is STILL a cold vehicle and unnecessary exhaust all while no motion towards ultimate destination is gained.
Every time i see people using automatic starters for their cars i can't help but think of how people around the world would laugh/cry at the absolutely wasteful creature comforts that oh so many in this country deem necessary. And we wonder why 2006 will be the warmest year on record (at least until next year).
The ultimate showing of gluttony in these winter months has got to be the car automatic starter. Let's uselessly burn fossils fuels and send ever more pollution into our atmosphere so that your ass is warm the moment you get into your automobile. It gets cold in the winter. Deal with it or move to a different climate (although i'm sure these mass consumers would need to auto-start their cars in warmer climates as well to get their air conditioners going).
Going out in the winter time means warm jackets, stocking hats, and gloves (pants are optional). If you can't handle 5 minutes in your car with these appropriate items of clothing on, driving towards your desired location as the car warms up, then you are a weakling within our species and your genes should probably not be passed to the next generation. Survival of the fittest and all. Why should the rest of us be exposed to the idling exhaust your auto spews out as your car goes NOWHERE.
If that's not bad enough, at the grocery store, etc. i frequently see these poor excuse for warm blooded creatures hitting their auto-start as they leave the store. This does not allow ample time before entering said vehicle to warm it up so what you are left with is STILL a cold vehicle and unnecessary exhaust all while no motion towards ultimate destination is gained.
Every time i see people using automatic starters for their cars i can't help but think of how people around the world would laugh/cry at the absolutely wasteful creature comforts that oh so many in this country deem necessary. And we wonder why 2006 will be the warmest year on record (at least until next year).
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