Through the Window

January 30, 2010 By 2 Comments
Through the Window

Through the Window

Today I was driving around with a tune in my head that I made up yesterday.  I saw some ice on the trees and I had to double check and make sure I was still in South Carolina.  I recorded this song just a few moments ago because I have nothing better to do. I like to play around with the built in effects in garageband, especially the distortion.  This is not as fun as actually playing an electric guitar, but since I live in an apartment complex, this is as close as I get.  This summer I’ll be looking to get a house around Columbia so I can bring my gear from Boone and setup some type of music rig.  I’ve been listening to a lot of Mogwai lately and I’d say they have a big influence on my music right now.

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Filed Under: Music

Adopt-A-Crag: Rumbling Bald

January 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Hey yall,

I just put a little video together with footage from last Saturday at the adopt-a-crag event. Ryan, Sarah, and her little brother and I road up to Lake Lure from Columbia. We were psyched because the weather was giving a 10% change of rain, high of 50, and cloudy. Well, as we got closer and closer, the roads got wetter and wetter. By the time we got there, it was misting and continued for the majority of the afternoon. Although we didn’t get to climb (although heard some people found some roofs), we did a lot of much needed cleanup at Rumbling Bald. It always feels good to get out and do some manual labor, especially after sitting at a cube all day. If you haven’t yet, help out the CCC at carolinaclimbers.org

Carolina Climbers Coalition out to make a difference!

Filed Under: Bouldering

Mogwai is God

January 19, 2010 By 2 Comments

I love this song. Thought I’d share it with you.

-Matt

Filed Under: Music

Food Poison

January 19, 2010 By 1 Comment
Good Ol' Emergency Room

Good Ol' Emergency Room

So yes, as you might of guessed from the title, I got food poison last night.  This is my second time getting in since I’ve moved down to Columbia.  Not very good luck.  Anyways, I went to Hunter Gatherer (local brewery/restaurant) and got a pizza.  How I regret that now!  I woke up  at 1:30am and puked my brains out.  Ugh, I’ve never been so sick in my life.  This picture is from the ER this morning at about 6:00am when I finally decided that I needed some relief.  Although I’m trying to save up my vacation time, there was no way I could make it to work today.  Although this post isn’t that interesting, I figured I’d post it just to warn folks about that restaurant.  So, that’s it for now.  I think I’m going to eat a graham cracker (aka dinner).

Cheers,

-Matt

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Sesquicentennial State Park

January 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Sesqui State Park

Sesqui State Park

So today was a productive day minus the rock climbing. I had a bunch of stuff to do around the house so I couldn’t make it to the bald. It was a beautiful day in Columbia with sunny skies and a temperature of 65 degrees. I decided to go out mountain biking at Sesqui which is in north east Columbia. I’d never been to that trail before and was surprised how good it was. It’s known for being pretty sandy but since it’s been rainy for the past couple days, the trail was ideal. The terrain is easy to moderate in some areas with nice surroundings. I think it’s about a 6 mile loop or so.  I’m still renting bikes from the cycle center in Columbia.  They have a great deal where all of the money you spend on rentals goes towards the purchase of a bike.  They are very friendly and have a nice bike selection.  Anyways, MLK is almost over and work starts tomorrow.  It will be a while before we have another holiday :(   Good news is that it’s going to be a short week! Looking like I’ll be at the bald for adopt-a-crag this Saturday.  As of right now, the weather looks splitter.

-Matt

Filed Under: Mountain Biking

Rumbling Bald Project Part II

January 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Check it out:

Super classic problem at the bald that the CCC just saved. Donate at www.caronlinaclimbers.org

Filed Under: Bouldering

Rumble in the Jungle

January 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Beautiful Lake Lure

Beautiful Lake Lure

Yes, it is finally Rumbling Bald time.  Well, it’s probably been that time for a little while now but I recently got to enjoy the good temps.  I went out to the bald hoping to get some good bouldering in and maybe some video.  The bouldering was excellent but the filming was just not there.  Some times it seems like everybody is sending at the right moment while other times everybody is just punting.

Sunday:

I got up pretty early and was out the door by 8:30am heading up 26W.  I got to the bald at 10:30 exactly with the temperature probably around 32 or so.  I went up to the main area to warm up for a while.  Although it was pretty cold, I was very surprised how much I warmed up.  After 30 minutes, I was stripping layers off!  I got on Lewis’ Lunge for the first time.  The quality of that problem is mind blowing!  I didn’t send but I will be back to clean up my mess soon.  I did get one video of Les climbing Basketball Mantle (aka Shady Grove) and I’ll be posting that up soon.  I’m having some issues getting everything just right in fcp…it’s always something.

This week has been pretty good so far.  I’m off for MLK day coming up on Monday so I want to take advantage of the long weekend.  I was going to go up to Boone but the weather is shit, split, and then back to shit.  Instead, I think I’ll ride down to the bald on Sunday and climb for a couple days.  If you are going to be around, give me a shout.  Hopefully the weather will hold out.  Damn, I just checked the weather and Sunday is looking like 60% rain right now.  Hmm…what to do, what to do.

Adopt a Bald is next weekend (Jan-23) and we need as many people to come out as possible.  You can find out more at CarolinaClimbers and the AccessFund.  It’s always a good time to get out with fellow climbers and give back to the crags and boulderfields we love so much.

Lastly, Erich and I are planning a climbing trip this fall.  We are not set on a destination yet but will probably go for 2-3 weeks.  Check out the poll on the right and let me know where you would go.  Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.  Thanks!

-Matt

Filed Under: Bouldering

A little song for you…

January 7, 2010 By 1 Comment

I’ve been on my computer a lot lately.  I just started messing around with garage band and this is what I came up with.  It’s a song I made called “Run”.  Cut me a little slack, it’s my first one ;-)

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Hope you dig it.

——————-

A little about what’s been going on lately.

  • Doing some cardio trying to stay in shape b/c my finger is still tweaky.
  • Messing around with my music server and whatnot.
  • I went to Dixon School Rd Boulders the other day but it was so damn cold, we climbed for just a minute, looked around, and went to inner peaks.
  • Wanting the temps to level out for some nice winter climbing.
  • I just discovered how amazing skype is.  You can find me on there pretty much 24/7 now.

And that sums it up.  It’s not that entertaining but it’s what I got for ya.

Take it easy,

-Matt

Filed Under: Music