Dear Ann...

Don't read this if NONI works for you...

Great site. I find the research conducted about Utah to be especially interesting.




Oh, and quit treating people like commodities. Its a quick way to lose friends.

BUY NOTHING DAY IS FLIPPIN' SWEET

A 24 hour moratorium on consumer spending - participate by not participating




This should be easy for po' folk like me. As for you fools with your expendable income, do you have the cojones to participate? Or is that killer deal on the Sony Bravia LCD just too "manifest destiny" to pass up?

props to SWOBO for doing this:

Hand-jammies...

I just had an interesting thought come to mind about the oft-frowned-upon invention known as Hand Jammies:

For those who are going "HUH?" I ganked this description from MGEAR just for you:

"Hand Jammies are a great skin-saving alternative to tape for when climbing those gritty, skin-shredding cracks.

• Thin, sticky rubber exterior will instantly improve your crack climbing with added grip
• Jammies also feature wide elastic finger loops and extra padding across the knuckles for added crack comfort..."

Now we all know that any climber worth anything would only climb solo and in the nude, because shoes and clothes and ropes and gear and tape are all considered cheating- but for the sake of argument, I'm wondering:

Would you consider a piece of equipment like this to be utterly lame and undesirable because you believe it qualifies as aid? i.e. By wearing them are you cheating because they add grip to your hands that wasn't otherwise there? (Don't forget that they look silly and that all the hardmen will laugh at you..)

If you'd asked me that question a week ago I would have given a resounding "YES! Aid I say! By God, you'd be mad to even consider donning those atrocities!" However, while thumbing through the L.M. catalog, I started to think about things, and another series of questions popped up:

How many climbers tape before climbing cracks?

In a place like Indian Creek, you'd be hard pressed to find somebody who didn't tape.

Exactly how much tape are these climbers going through? In a day? A season?

ROLLS. It takes nearly half of one just to tape for one day of righteous splitter.

So what about this question?

Over a lifetime of climbing, which is more environmentally responsible/sustainable? A few pairs of Hand-jammies, or a gazillion rolls of tape?

Just some of my thoughts. I'd like to hear some of yours.

Justification for an Elitist Attitude

WTF? Why do these noobs think its ok to do these things? Go back to pulling plastic, or better yet, grab a bag of cheetos and go watch Seacrest.

LINK

This is classic...

"They should have signs and stuff and trash cans outside," said Pham, who climbs regularly in the safety of a San Francisco gym. "I don't think they even clean your rocks off for you out there."

Via The Piton

**EDIT** Apparently the Daily Camera will only let you view their articles for a limited time before they make you register. It's free to sign up, so do it, or not... article is also on the Seattle Times Site

**EDIT AGAIN** All bitterness aside, I think its important for new climbers to recognize the impact that our sport has on the environment. Recognize that you are not master of this domain, it is not yours to use up and destroy. Understand that because you possess the ability to reason, and the power to disrupt the larger system of which you are but a part, the responsibility rests on your shoulders to be a steward of your environment. Preserve it for yourself, your progeny, and for the benefit of the entire system.

A The North Face Post

Yoink!

Stole this from Olivine's myspace bulletin:

"From Julia:


One of my company's clients, Horny Toad, which is based in southern California is having an online campaign to raise money for the victims of the fires.

Click on the link below and post a message of support to the victims and Horny Toad will donate $1 to the victim relief fund, up to $10K. Also, please feel free to pass on the link to everyone you know.

LINK

Thanks!"

Thanks Natalie and Julia

The F-System

Mr. Z (my regular climbing brah) and I have begun to develop a new rating system for gauging the difficulty of climbing route approaches while wearing flip-flops. We call this new system The F- SYSTEM or TFS. Sport climbers and boulderers should find this system particularly useful when making that difficult cragging/session footwear decision.

Now, firm grading is still in the works, but here's an example of how the system functions:

Each grade indicates the technical difficulty of the hardest section:

• F0 - Cushy. ie: Carpeted area between couch and beer. (May be more difficult depending upon the cleanliness of your apartment)
  
• F1 - Mild Annoyances. i.e.: Cracked sidewalk or pavement between your car and the gym door.
  
• F2- Getting more annoying. i.e.: Well maintained, relatively flat and debris-free dirt trail.
• F3- Who put these rocks here?
• F4- WTF!!!?!
  

..... etc. etc.

I'm working on an excel spreadsheet... look for it in about ten years. Also stay tuned for the DJS, a system that adjusts the difficulty rating for routes by considering the flexibility limitations of designer jeans.

A Great Re-Think

I subscribe to a number of podcasts. I like to listen to them and pretend to be intelligent while drafting away on whatever BS development project is currently an emergency in the office. Philosopher's Zone is one such p-cast. It's hosted by Alan Saunders and airs on ABC Radio National in Australia. One episode which aired a few months back was particularly resonant for me. I suggest a read of this transcript, its taken from a speech given by Val Plumwood @ the Melbourne Writers Festival in 2oo6.

Can environmental philosophy save the world?

Let me know what you think?