OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

Thanksgiving yields an extra long weekend as a result of Friday being a mandated furlough day. The celebration is held here at home with the wife's Mom visiting from Wyoming and her sister coming up from Littleton. A feast of scrumptious food cooked earlier in the day, so good that it is hard to not eat until bursting.

Thursday night found me outside standing in the cold with two CDs in hand. First up was Echo & Bunnymen's Porcupine, their third studio album released on February 4, 1983. In 1984 McCulloch said, "I think Porcupine was a classic autobiographical album, the most honest thing that I'd ever written or sung." Talking about how the album made him feel, he went on to say, "I found the material from it really heavy to play – like, really oppressive. That's the only reason why I didn't like the album. The songs were great but it didn't make me happy." He also said, "A lot of songs are about coming to terms with the opposites in me."

The edition I had was released in 2003 with 7 bonus tracks.

Earlier in the day I purchased their most recent studio album, The Fountain, released here in the US earlier this month. Although the quality of this latest effort has been hotly debated amongst fans of the Bunnymen, I do enjoy the majority of songs on the CD. More upbeat and with more of a "pop" flavor to it than their earlier releases. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found myself hitting "repeat" on the CD player, keeping me busy until 1 Am when I went into the darkened house and dropped into bed.

Finally arrives

His reunion with the past

Here in the present

One more year gone by

Time has taken its steep toll

On our small family

Out of the darkness

Into the bright lights

Pursued by shadows

Sits there all alone

A life that God's abandoned

Ponders the verdict

Siren's voice calling

Playing with our emotions
Hearts held in his hands

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

Oh boy, what a week. It all happens so fast and then before you know it, things have suddenly changed. I'm getting real tired of the challenges thrown my way. I certainly welcomed Friday night, but worries persisted until at least a quarter of the way through the flask.

First up this brisk late November evening was a Van Halen's bootleg 316, "recorded live during the USA tour in 1992". This recording is also known as Van Halen - Jump! An excellent collection of their best songs assembled in a manner to resemble one show, without all of Sammy's chatter with the crowd. It definitely gets one pumped up after such a shitty day.

Swept up by its lure

In greed's cold hearted embrace

Our love of having

In a far off place

Follows the Pied Pipers song

Heart led to the edge

Faces on the screen

A last look into their eyes

Fathers, sons, brothers

All the years gone by
The boy who wouldn’t grow up
Yearns for Neverland

Download it at the Soundboard:

http://soundaboard.blogspot.com/search/label/Van%20Halen

Echo & The Bunneymen took the stage next, performing live at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London on November 1, 2005, as played on the Me, I'm All Smiles live album, a celebration of their nearly 30 years together. Great sound that continues to send me into a misty mental state, oblivious to the cold night air. This is the same show found on the Dancing Horses DVD, a review of which states:

"The hair may be a bit flatter, and the voice has a bit more smokey character, but Ian McCulloch still exhibits supreme control over the microphone. The band start off somwhere between spacey and tribal with songs like Going Up and With A Hip, only to sedate the audience with the elegance of Bring On The Dancing Horses. On this early November night, the audience is treated to a selection of mostly Bunnymen classics. There are many highlights here, but the performances of Never Stop, The Back Of Love, and Villiers Terrace are all standouts. However, on this particular night, the vampy elongated version of Rescue may be the band’s greatest offering. The set closes with a stirring rendition of Ocean Rain."

"When I think of Echo & the Bunnymen, I think of atmosphere, inventive guitar, one of the greatest voices in rock music, and the first time I ever saw two girls make out. On their new dvd Dancing Horses, Echo and The Bunnymen present us with a solid display of their tunes proving that as of 2005 they were still relevant and a force to be reckoned with."

Can't see eye to eye

Stone walls rise around their hearts

Brothers divided

Years that have long passed

Compressed into a moment

Felt inside his head

Download it here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6JO46V16

Password: lagrimapsicodelica

SKI SEASON HAS ARRIVED: PARTY ON THE PASS

The weekend before I joined some friends to see the new Powder Whore movie Flakes at the Oriental Theater. While driving down Speer Boulevard on the way to the theater a truck pulled up next to me giving the thumbs up and pointing down the road ahead. It turns out it was the guys from Powder Whore, pulling their trailer, going to the theater as well. They spotted the PW sticker on the back window of the camper shell. I made it to the Oriental first to buy a ticket for the movie and I cheered them as they pulled into the parking space in front of the theater. Dinner with friends at Swing Tai was excellent, the movie even better, watching the skiers make sweet telemark turns in that Utah powder!

This past Friday was spent with friends, Warren Miller's new ski movie, Dynasty, being the occasion for us to get together. Dinner and beers at Lucky Strike, followed by another beer at the Paramount Cafe. The Paramount Theater was filled with enthusiastic skiers who had gathered for this annual event. We are a rowdy bunch, the chatter going on throughout the movie. Time was spent together at Earl's afterwards, eyeing the fine young ladies and enjoying a few more beers and celebratory shots of whisky.

These occasions are not about the movies, but simply being in the company of like minded friends. I wish we didn't have to wait a whole year to get together and have so much fun. We made commitments to get together on the slopes this season.

Saturday was spent hand printing this years Christmas block card/print, a shadowed scene of a Colorado winter landscape. Instead of spending a second day performing the mind-numbing task of inking and printing multiple blocks just to create a single print, I decided Sunday would be spent skiing. I had to go after hearing the news on the radio all afternoon about a winter storm advisory scheduled to go into effect beginning late that afternoon. To some that means hazardous driving, to me it means powder! Kids, want to go skiing? No? Adios!

It was snowing by the time I loaded the truck and headed out onto the highway. The roads were becoming treacherously slick by 7 PM. A pair of State Patrol cars blocked I-70 at the Morrison exit. They told me that access to the highway could be gained farther up the canyon by following highway 40. The eastbound lanes were jammed with stationary vehicles, probably the result of a crash or jack knifed truck while coming down the mountain on icy pavement. I got onto a nearly empty snow covered (unplowed) highway somewhere just beyond Lookout Mountain. I had it in 4-wheel drive the whole way. Another jam of vehicles in the eastbound lanes on the west side of Floyd Hill, vehicles unable to climb the steep, icy roadway. I pulled into an empty parking lot at Loveland ski area, covered in 6 to 8 inches of fresh snow. I would have preferred sleeping on a turn out just below the pass but a snow plow operator warned me that they would be gating off the road down below sometime that evening.

Party on the Pass! I scraped out a patch of ground outside the truck, opening the door to crank up the stereo. The flask and excellent music made it an unreal experience under the darkened, snowy sky. The new ski season begins tomorrow!

The lumbering snowcats plowing the parking lot did not wake me. I had breakfast in the lodge, savoring that cup of coffee, clearing the tequila from my head. This year I decided to buy a season pass to Loveland, committing to do most of my front side mountain skiing at one of the closest and one of my favorite ski areas. Light snow fell all day, the sun coming out occasionally to lend a bit of warmth to an otherwise cold day. Three lifts running with essentially a similar number of top to bottom runs open. After a few hours I had done it all several times over. The day was simply to get a feel for the ski legs and see how much I may have lost since last season. A new gouge in the ski means I've got to do a repair and tune up by next weekend. I departed early to avoid any traffic that jams the highway later in the afternoon, flying down to Denver and back home by mid afternoon where I resumed the dull task of printing out a few more block prints.

My first Party on the Pass got started on the drive up, popping Chickenfoot's first release into the stereo, their hard rocking sound booming in the truck cabs interior. Once I was parked and had uncorked the flask, my music of choice was a collection of singles released by Echo & The Bunnymen between 1992 (while Ian was performing solo) and 2001 (shortly after Flowers was released with Will). These "singles" are a collection of 3 or 4 songs released under separate cover in between their full length albums. They include some songs off the albums, but also include some live performances and unusual "mixes" that can't be found anywhere else. That's what I liked about this particular collection of songs: familiar songs played in unfamiliar ways. It was a special surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed, with Ian sounding so heavenly. I could not help but listen to some of the songs repeatedly, relishing the moment of such good music in such a beautiful environment. I crawled into my sleeping bag by 2AM. When I awoke at 7 the next morning I looked at my watch and simply rolled over for another hour of sleep.

Crossed over the line

Dreams become his reality

Sleepwalks to the beat

Find the downloads here:

http://moodyplaces.blogspot.com/search?q=bunnymen