Music, Video Editing, and a lot more…

May 28, 2009 By 5 Comments

Hello out there and welcome (back)!

In the past couple days I’ve discovered some very good music.  I was surfing on vimeo the other day and found this jam!  It’s a sweet cover by the flaming lips.  I haven’t been listening to the lips much lately but this video reignited my appreciation for their music.  I saw them at Bonnaroo in 2003 and to this day it is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.  Check this video:

Very Cool Video by George Salisbury
Flaming Lips – Borderline (Madonna Cover)

So last night I was chilling with Les at my house.  We jammed for a little while and then youtube’d for a couple hours.  It is scary how similar our taste’s in music are!  It seems like every time we hang out, he introduces me to great music.  Here are a couple videos from last night that I liked:

Mercury Rev – Car Wash Hair

Mercury Rev is a sick band that still plays today.  They started in the late 1980′s.  This song was written in the early 90′s.  I can see that their music has influenced Death Cab, Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse and bands like that.  When I first heard this band last night, I instantly fell in love with them.

Tomahawk – God Hates a Coward

Tomahawk was formed by Mike Patton (Faith No More – Lead Singer) in 2001.  It was a “super group” which included Patton, Duane Denison (Jesus Lizard/Hank Williams III – Guitarist), John Stanier (Helmet – Drummer), and Kevin Rutmanis (Melvins – Bassist).  I really dig the energy of this band.  The vocal effects are sweet and the drummer is on point.

Radiohead – Fake Plastic Trees (Live at Glastonbury, 2003)

Radiohead – All I Need (Live From the Basement)

It has taken me a while to get into radiohead.  I know, I know, what the hell is wrong with me, I thought you had good taste in music, blah blah blah…  I always liked the more popular songs such as “Karma Police” , “Creep”, and “High and Dry” but I never got into their other stuff.  I always found them a little whiny.   Now that I delved into their music, I’ve realized what I’ve been missing.  Better now than never I guess!  Now I look at Radiohead in a completely new light.

Besides checking out music and rock climbing (or lack thereof considering the weather), I have A LOT of free time on my hands.  Recently I have discovered a passion for video editing.  “A picture is worth a thousand words” is a very true quote.  The art of videography is so interesting because of the control you have while creating the videos.  When you blend music, still images, video, and text together, it can be a very rewarding experience.  I have been working with Misty Mountain to create a promotional video they can use to show their clients.  I will post the video tomorrow when I have the finished product.  It’s been great hanging with Goose and Mike during this process.  The only way Misty Mountain has made is this far is because of their dedication to quality, comfort, and design.  Next time you’re thinking of buying some new climbing gear, consider Misty Mountain.  Remember, you get what you pay for ;-)

With all of that being said, I need to get back to the editing.  The weather this weekend looks very nice.  I will be climbing both days (Sat & Sun) for sure.  If you want to get out, give me a shout.  Thanks for checking the post and hope you liked the music.  I shall see you again.

Filed Under: Music, Videography

New River Gorge Trip

May 25, 2009 By 22 Comments

So we got back last night from the New River Gorge.  Here is the recap:

Friday morning I signed a lease for an apartment in Columbia, SC starting July 1st, 2009.  After that, my dad and I rolled back to Boone.  We arrived in Boone at about 3pm I unloaded all of my stuff for that trip and then got my climbing gear together.  I was able to leave my house by 5pm and headed down to Mt Airy to meet up with my buddy Kevin.  I was pretty worn out so we decided to chill at his place, drink some brews, and crash.  We woke up at 6:00am because we had to meet Erich, Drew, Lauren, and Ben (one of Lauren’s friends) at the Summersville parking lot at 9:45am.  Before we started climbing, Drew and I went down to Orange Oswald and there was literally 40 people camping under the routes!  After freaking out about how many people were there, we hiked back to the long wall.  It was killer because there was only a few pairs at the wall and after an hour or so, we had the wall to ourselves.

Drew, Ben, and Lauren at the Long Wall

Drew, Ben, and Lauren at the Long Wall

Erich is content.

Erich is content.

Erich onsighting "Jesus is my License Plate" (10.d)

Erich onsighting "Jesus is my License Plate" (10.d)

After we all got on four routes at the long wall, we headed to the Parrot Wall for a couple more routes.  These routes were short but slopey.  They had a good pump and tons of fun!  Next, we went over to the Coliseum.  Erich and Ben got on Tobacco Road (12.a).  Here is a quick video of them attempting the crux move:

Really cool line at Summersville Lake.

Although this route does not have any stars in the guidebook, don’t let that fool you.  It looked really fun!  I feel assured that these guys will send this soon!!

On Sunday, Kevin and I went to Gumbyville (I mean Junkyard Wall) and it was packed!  As we walked by the easier trad routes, we kept getting hit in the face with top ropes that were being thrown over the top.  There was not one route at the Junkyard that didn’t have a top rope setup.  If that was not enough, there were about 10 people camping out below each route.  Wow, what a fucking disaster!   So needless to say, we kept walking…

We ended up at some stuff down trail but we had to walk though a poison ivy jungle to get to the crag.  I ended up leading 2 trad routes which were probably among the dirtiest trad routes at the new.  One was a 5.6 and the other was a 5.8.  After that adventure, we said “fuck it” and went back to the tacoma and drank beer.  It seems like the second day is always a dud.  Oh well, you live and learn!

As always, I usually climb with Erich so if you would like another perspective on the trip, visit Erich’s World.

Coming up later this week: Monday – Rain, Tuesday – Rain, Wednesday – Rain, Thursday – Rain…  SWEET!

Filed Under: Rock Climbing

Poison Ivy

May 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

So I got back from the New River Gorge tonight around 9:00PM.  I was going to wait until the morning to get my camera out and post some pictures on here but….

I can’t sleep.  The reason I can’t sleep is because I have realized the undeniable truth.  I have poison ivy all over my body.  My feet, legs, knees, forearms, just to name a few spots.  I just went to the bathroom and rubbed CalaGel all over me and for the moment, it has dulled the itch.   From experience, I know that this is only a short mask of freedom.  I also found some benadryl and took it to hopefully help a little.  Honestly, the only good benadryl is going to do is help me pass out.    The itch will come back and the poison ivy patches will have grown exponentially in a few short hours.   This is what I get for going to the junkyard wall today.  It was so crowded, Kevin and I decided to head down the trail to the “less crowded” areas.  Well, “less crowded” means MORE poison ivy and a skinnier trail.  I might be the biggest gumby of all time.

Climbing Dictionary: Gumby – Term for a novice climber (sometimes derogatory).

Wow, the misery has arrived…

I will post new river pics and whatnot tomorrow.  (Plus, special poison ivy edition pictures!)

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Back from the New River Gorge

May 17, 2009 By 1 Comment

Whats up peeps?  I just got back into Boone around 2pm today.  I had a great time climbing. We got up there on Thursday and setup the booth and whatnot.  After that, we dropped our stuff off at the cabin and went climbing.  We got in 3 days of climbing.  Around 3 or 4 everyday, it would inevitably start raining.  With that being said, I had a great time and want to give a big thanks to Mike and Goose for letting me chill all weekend.  The hot tub at our little cabin was amazing after climbing.  The average day at the gorge was wake up, eat breakfast, chill, go climbing, hot tub & beers, go eat and/or check out the rendezvous, and more beer.  At the rendezvous, I met a lot of really cool people that I will hopefully climb with in the future.  All in all, it was a great experience.  I felt like I learned a lot about rock climbing in general.  I placed a little gear and realized that I really need better technique if I ever want to climb harder than 5.10.  This week looks like awesome weather so I’m psyched once again.

Here is a breakdown of what we climbed (if you’re interested):

Thursday (Bubba City): Shady Lady (5.7), The Good Book (5.10a), and Lie back and Enjoy it (5.10d) – Very fun routes (esp Lie back)

Friday (Endless-Snake Buttress): Discombobulated (5.11a), Aesthetica (5.11c), and Black & Tan (5.10a Trad) – Wow, I got crushed on everything there!  Damn Erich, after getting on Discombobulated, I realize just how strong you are!!!  Props on your on sight to that!  All three of these routes are super classic.

Saturday (Endless-Fern Point): Remission (5.10b Trad), Raging Waters (5.11a Trad), Strike a Scowl (5.10b), Fool Effect (5.9), and Exoduster (5.10b) – It seems like by Saturday we had figured the weather pattern out and we were able to crank a few more routes in.  It rained for a second after the 3rd route but we stuck it out and got worked…

Until next time, take it easy.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

New River Rendezvous

May 14, 2009 By 1 Comment

I’m so psyched right now I can’t stand it!  I’m heading up to the new this weekend for my first rendezvous experience.  Mike and I are leaving tomorrow morning and hauling all of his Misty shwag  up to the event.  We’ll probably get up there in the afternoon, set up as fast as we can, and try to get a few pitches in before nightfall.  We plan to check out Endless Wall on Friday for the entire day.  I can’t wait to try my luck on discombobulated and aesthetica.

I do have some new vids to post but I will wait until after the trip to put them up…

Also, I hope to get some good footage at the new!  Stay tuned…

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Back to the Basics is ONLINE!

May 11, 2009 By 35 Comments

So check it out…

Here is my first video that I have created.  2 months before I started working on this, I had no idea how to edit video in the least.  It’s about 37 minutes long and took me forever to complete.  The quality has been sacrificed because I had to shrink it to post online.  If you would like a DVD copy, let me know and I’d be happy to send you a legit copy.  I showed this at my premier, “A Night of Boudlering” at the Dragonfly Theater & Pub on 4-20-09.  It was a huge sucess considering about 125 people showed up.  We raised $200.00 for the Carolina Climbers Coalition as well.  A big thanks to everybody for volunteering and coming out to support BooneBoulders.com!

This is my first film I put together on the bouldering around Boone, NC.

Also, I went out to the “Backyard Boulders” yesterday and had a big time. Erich, Chase and myself went out to the “main area” and did a little climbing.  We top-roped a line that will go without ropes in the near future (30 feet, probably 5.11?). There are also a couple really cool lines that have already been established that I got on film too. I will post that jazz tomorrow. Hope you enjoy the video if you’ve haven’t seen it yet!

-MGD

Filed Under: Bouldering, Rock Climbing

Happy Mother’s Day!

May 10, 2009 By 1 Comment

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms!  They are the most special people in this world.  I love you mom (go cubs go)!

Cubs Game (Aunt Lynn, Me, Mom)

Cubs Game (Aunt Lynn, Me, Mom)

Filed Under: Family

Middle Hawksbill (Revisited)

May 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Despite the clouds, rain, humidity, odds, and depression, we took a ride out to middle hawksbill yesterday (5-9-09).  It was Mike, Cogie, Ben Sachs, and myself.  The further we got away from Boone, the better it looked and the more psyched we got.  About 10 minutes from the parking lot, I realized that I forgot my harness!  Ouch, what a rookie move.  Feeling like the biggest idiot, we drove to the parking lot to figure it out.  About 5  minutes after we got there, Mike and Cogie showed up and luckily, Cogie hooked me with an extra harness.  Thanks Cogie!!

Finally, we were at the crag.  It was dry (well, the wall with about five 5.12c or 5.12d routes).  Everything else was soaked, so those were our warm-ups/projects.  I got worked on everything, again.  We climbed until 3:00pm until the thunderstorms pushed us out.

After that, Ben and I went back on 221 to see if anything else was dry.  We checked the dump and although the roads were wet, the entire crag was dry as a bone.  Psyched again!  We got on Unwritten Law which I had never attempted.  I worked out the moves (except the crux dyno at the top).  This route is sick and doable!  It’s on the list…

Filed Under: Rock Climbing

The RE-POSTING

May 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Hello again.  I had some technical difficulties in the past couple of days.  Sorry about that…

Unfortunately, I lost my previous posts in the shuffle so here is a quick recap of what I deleted:

Erich Purpur onsighting the Spence Ridge Fin:

Awesome highball directly upstream from the bridge (Erich Purpur)

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Mike Grimm sending Line of Fire (12.c):

A spectacular line at middle hawksbill. (Mike Grimm)

Filed Under: Bouldering, Rock Climbing