Spring Road Trip: Teton adventures and local trail building

Posted inOutside

Spring Road Trip: Teton adventures and local trail building

Mike Bookey

trekking the tetons over spring break. Jackson, Wyoming
Spring break is always a great time for a road trip and a good excuse to sample outdoor adventures in other areas. With that in mind, my wife, Molly, and I headed east to Jackson, Wyoming for a week of outdoor adventure. Arriving in Jackson Friday afternoon, we went straight to Teton Village to register for the Randonee Rally Race to be held the next day at the Jackson Hole resort. I signed up for the race division that was set to climb a total of 6185 feet. We woke Saturday morning to clear, cold, sunny skies, which was a shock to the locals after a near record breaking snow year. Driving out of town to the race, the Teton Range lit up in a glorious alpenglow. Nez Perce, Buck Mountain, Coudveil Dome, Teewinot, and the South, Middle, and Grand Tetons were all out in full beauty. After a brief warm-up, the race started with a mixture of mostly alpine touring skiers, a few telemark skiers, and one split boarder trekking up a groomed slope.

Posted inCulture

Army of Two is better than one: Get cooperative with “Army of Two”

Shawn Wallbaum

cool stuff happens in the future. "Army of Two" for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 shows that the buddy genre is alive and well. Published by Electronic Arts (EA) and using the Unreal 3 Engine, this third-person shooter is a nice change from all the first-person shooters out there. The story is about two fictionalized military contractors who are more or less mercenaries and are given missions that take place in different parts of the world, spanning from the years 1993 to 2009. In an age of macho, testosterone-inducing shooters, this game seems to top them all. Throw in some swearing and over-the-top blood theatrics followed by air guitar antics, and guys might worship this game.
 
Still, it's a complex game that co-op fans will appreciate as one of the best multi-player games of its generation. Despite its cartoon action elements, "Army of Two" is more a thinking man's game. Those who play strategically will be rewarded with more money and glory. The game takes the basic idea of shooting alongside a friend and adds welcome complexity. What makes the game work is what's called the Aggro system. Essentially, the more attention you create for yourself, the more Aggro you have. This helps your partner become somewhat invisible and free to move about. Switching the Aggro back and forth between the partners helps you progress through levels.

Posted inCulture

Just Run Away, Please: Run, Fat Boy, Run never leaves the starting line

Mike Bookey

No, that's not your spin class.The funniest thing about this movie is its title. Other than that, the talents of Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton and Hank Azaria are totally wasted. It is corny from the second it starts, and the corn never stops. Fat Boy is schmaltzy, poorly written, not-so-well acted and just plain BORING! This movie is insidious and not in a good way. It is vapidly tedious to the hilt.
From the first minute, you know exactly how it will end. The main character Dennis (Pegg) leaves his pregnant girlfriend Libby (Newton) at the altar, literally running away. Cut to five years later and Dennis is out of shape, smokes a lot and has unexplained visitation rights to see his son. Enter Libby's new boyfriend Whit (Azaria) who's rich, successful and runs marathons. In order to win back his girlfriend, Dennis decides to run a marathon. Maybe this looked good on paper; on screen it's unbearable.

Posted inFood & Drink

New Eats In the Old Mill: Fireside Red brings tapas to the riverbank

Mike Bookey

Sublime Richness At Fireside RedLocated in the upper Old Mill area, Fireside Red bills itself as featuring “American Tapas with global influences.” The menu is chock full of eclectic eats served as small portions or as “family style” dishes designed to share.
The space is upbeat and lively, with an open kitchen and six-seat chef’s counter, a large bar stretching across one wall and an area that can be screened off and used as a private dining room. The south wall is solid windows, over looking the twists and turns in the Deschutes River that gave our fair town its name.
Executive Chef Jeremy Baumgartner has created dishes that are as different in origin and flavor as they are in presentation. The “Fire and Ice” salad in served on a long rectangular plate covered in thinly sliced cucumbers and dappled with lime granita, pickled onion, habañero macerated tomato and mint froth. The mac and cheese is served in a simple ramekin with crusty breadcrumbs and paper-thin slices of fragrant truffles crowning the dish.

Posted inFood & Drink

New Eats In the Old Mill: Fireside Red brings tapas to the riverbank

Mike Bookey

Sublime Richness At Fireside RedLocated in the upper Old Mill area, Fireside Red bills itself as featuring "American Tapas with global influences." The menu is chock full of eclectic eats served as small portions or as "family style" dishes designed to share.
The space is upbeat and lively, with an open kitchen and six-seat chef's counter, a large bar stretching across one wall and an area that can be screened off and used as a private dining room. The south wall is solid windows, over looking the twists and turns in the Deschutes River that gave our fair town its name.
Executive Chef Jeremy Baumgartner has created dishes that are as different in origin and flavor as they are in presentation. The "Fire and Ice" salad in served on a long rectangular plate covered in thinly sliced cucumbers and dappled with lime granita, pickled onion, habañero macerated tomato and mint froth. The mac and cheese is served in a simple ramekin with crusty breadcrumbs and paper-thin slices of fragrant truffles crowning the dish.

Posted inCulture

After the (Wind)fall: How MIT math nerds beat the House in 21

Mike Bookey

Kenny Rogers was a much better gambler.Greed and need fuel our hero's intoxication with Las Vegas. And director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) sets up a house of cards in the film adaptation of Ben Mezrich's best-selling book, Bringing Down the House, which follows the true-life adventure of several MIT braniacs - led by math whiz Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess, Across the Universe) - as they rake in millions by outsmarting casinos.
 
Smarmy but brilliant MIT math professor, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) first recognizes Ben's aptitude for gaming when Ben gives an inspired answer to a challenging question during a class. Ben has been accepted to Harvard Medical School but needs to come up with cash for the $300,000 education. The powerful Professor Rosa lures Ben into a supposedly legal card-counting scheme with a group of gifted young math scholars. The result is a fortune made at the Vegas blackjack tables. At various intervals over a two-year period, they escape a drab, wintry-looking Boston to live like high-stakes rock stars in Sin City. Ben's original goal is to make just enough money to pay for Harvard and then stop. As fate would have it, greed and his own ego get the best of him. But, for a guy in the grip of temptation, Ben's understated character seems kind of flat.

Posted inMusic

From the Brain of a Rock Star Genious

Mike Bookey

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Real Emotional Trash
Matador Records
I've been pondering for a week if we have reached a place in time where we can discuss Stephen Malkmus without mentioning his long-time 1990s band Pavement. OK, we haven't. For two decades Malkmus has contributed dozens of unique recordings to our collective ears. But what has gone less noticed is his work as a solo artist, in particular The Silver Jews (listen to the band's phenomenal LP, The Natural Bridge.)

Posted inMusic

Still Stirring It Up: The Subhumans’ Three Decades of Fury

Mike Bookey

You don't see punk faces like that these days.The Subhumans have been pushing buttons for a quarter century, letting their frustrations with the world loose on stage while challenging audiences to rethink their values. The guitar riffs are infectious, the bass lines are distinctive, and the beats are furious, keeping new generations interested in the band's music. Singer and lyricist Dick Lucas (although he prefers just Dick), with his thick accent and British slang, still has something to say that's worth hearing - a rarity in punk rock these days.
 
The band has taken its share of time off from the music scene, twelve years in fact. But almost a decade since recording their last full-length studio album, Dick, Bruce, Phil, and Trotsky kicked out another disc, fittingly dubbed Internal Riot. The sound on the album is the continuation of the youthful energy and political discontent that fueled the Subhumans more than twenty years ago. Though the entire new album was recorded last year in a matter of 10 days, much of that music was written a good 20 years ago. The West Coast tour promoting the new album, which was released just this past August on the band's D.I.Y. label, Blurrg, stops Saturday night at the Domino Room. But before they show up, we thought we'd get a few words from Dick.

Posted inMusic

Power of Youth: Jackie Greene talks about playing the Dead and the tides of change

Mike Bookey

Such a nice looking boy, that Jackie Greene.Jackie Greene's electrified Americana sound has led many listeners to assume that the music is being made by a man much older than Greene's 27 years. It's been that way since he snuck onto the scene about a half decade ago. His music incorporates styles that became popular long before his birth, and his new association with the Grateful Dead empire suggests deeply rooted associations with legendary musicians.
 
A few days before his new record, Giving up the Ghost, hit the streets, Greene shied away from remarks about his age, which he's faced most of his career. But he doesn't mind talking about his new album - a record that's receiving warm reviews and being hailed as a positive step forward for the emerging star. Tracks from Ghost, like "Shaken" have a modern, Ryan Adams-like feel that are at the same time wrapped in a classic Jackson Browne model. Greene doesn't see the inclusion of these 1970s tastes as intentional or a conscious departure from his earlier work.

Posted inNews

Slick Willy on the Stump: After all these years, the big guy still has it

Mike Bookey

Notes? He don't need no stikin' notes. Hillary's husband looks quite a lot older than when he left the White House nearly eight long, long, long years ago. The hair is snow-white now and the gray suit fits a little snugly around the waistline.
 
But, damn, Slick Willy has still got it.
Bill Clinton showed up to Bend High an hour late, predictably, and spoke for 15 minutes longer than he was supposed to - also predictably. No matter. The crowd, which filled the upper bleachers and packed the gym floor, ate it all up.

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