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hang on little buddy, spring is coming

Another Saturday and another giant snow storm.  Fortunately this time around the accumulation was not 22″, but a much more manageable 6-7″.  Just like before it snowed all day on Saturday so I was stuck in my house trying to keep myself busy.  On Sunday the snow was easy to remove thanks to my new shovel, no more bucket for me!  After a lazy morning I decided to go for a hike at Prince William Forest while the snow was still hanging in the trees and the ground was not to disturbed.  I also thought it would be a great opportunity to take some pictures.  I have been to the park in spring, summer and fall of course, but never after a winter snow fall.

Compare the same bridge as seen during Spring and Winter.

When I arrived I found the park was indeed open but the visitor center was closed and the gate leading into the park interior was closed.  It made sense, who knows what the roads looked like inside the park, near the entrance they where at least plowed.  My bright idea of visiting the park was shared by many others that day as the lots had over a dozen cars.  I expected some people to be there, just not this many.  While hiking I ran into several people on the trail, most of them on cross country skies.  We don’t get much good snow fall in the area so they where taking every opportunity to get some skiing in.  Getting a relatively late start, the skiers and other hikers packed the snow pretty well so I didn’t have to hike through 6″ of virgin snow.  I was actually hoping to find a little that I could hike through, but as far as I went into the park someone had always been there before me.

great shot of the river, trail, trees and sky

For a couple of hours I walked several miles through the park.  I was amazed at just how quite the park was, very tranquil and serene.  There was no noise form other people, or cars and most of the animals were hunkered down for the day because of the snow.  Actually it was kinda fun at times I would see loops of animal tracks in the snow, but for the most part there was no sign of life.  The trails I took eventually dumped me off at the main road.  I thought taking the road back to my truck would be easier and shorter than walking back through the forest.  When I was able to look at a map it was the furthest from the truth.  I should have just backtracked on the trail.  It would have been much better scenery and I could have avoided all the cars that started to flood into the park when the main gate was opened.  Most of these genius didn’t take the time to drive slowly on the icy roads.

Having hiked in the snow only once before, this was definitely a lot of fun.  The last time there was only a dusting on the top of Robertson Mountain.  Sunday in Prince William Forest was 6″ of wonderful snow and a heck of a lot closers to my house.

copyright: UVA

The very weekend after I got back from Panama, I was traveling again. Staying home and getting things done around the house would have been nice, but I had a concert to see. Heck I needed to unpack my suite case and do a mound of laundry. But that didn’t matter, Phish was on their winter tour. Every time they tour I try to catch as many shows as possible. For winter the closest show to my house, and the tour closer, was happening at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. I have seen several tour closers by Phish and they are always good, in fact this past summer I saw the summer closer in Saratoga Springs and it was fantastic.

The night before was spent at Nancy’s house so it would be a slightly longer drive to get to the stadium. I was giving myself what I thought was plenty of time because of the pretty heavy snow all morning long. When I actually left Nancy’s house there were a couple inches on the road already and very slow going to my house. Once at my house I got a few things done and headed out about 4 hours before the show for what is normally a 2 hour drive. Leaving from my house I cut through the state on a route I have never taken. The whole time I was driving it was snowing, thankfully it got lighter the further south I got, but that didn’t make traffic any easier.

After getting lost in Charlottesville, I was coming from a different direction than normally, I found the arena and it was smashed. Fans littered the streets and where slowly filtering in past security. Some hard core people where tailgating, I just wanted to find a place to park and get to my seat. I skipped the $20 cash lot next to the stadium and instead parked in a garage right next door for half price.

it snowed most of the way to Charlottesville

When I got through security and to my seat it was about 7:30pm so I could relax for a few minutes before the show started. My seat was stage right, almost parallel to the band. Not the best seat in the house, but it was a different view, allowed me to get a good view of the arena. My seat was the first row behind handicap seating which was nice. If my ankle started to bother me I could always sit down and still see.

When the show started the set started off pretty good with a few standards and Stealing Time from their new album. When Ya Mar started I quickly looked down at my iPod to scribble the song tittle. (As an aside, I remember writing set lists by hand many years ago.) All of a sudden I hear the crowd start to cheer, nothing to unusual, but it only gets louder. When I look up to my surprise I see a naked guy running around the stage. First time I have seen someone rush the stage at a Phish show. The crowd loved it and the band didn’t seem to phased by the act. All through the night they made references to the naked guy.

Other set 1 highlights included Divided Sky (because of the snow) with a super long break in the middle. Trey is just looking around the arena and the crowd volume went up and down, building to a crescendo when they finally started the song back up again. A good bluesy version of Sneakin’, something I don’t think I have heard since my first show over 10 years ago at Merriweather. Cavern, David Bowie with a mighty jam, and the Wedge were all great versions. I thought the closers of Bold as Love was lame. I hate it when they close a set with slow and melancholy songs. Set closers should be upbeat, leaving the audience wanting more.

Intermission was a time to rest and get off my ankle. I was standing for the entire first set and I could use the break. As the crowd around me thinned out I also spread out some. I always look around at every show during the set break. You see nothing but tired, yet happy people milling around. They might be headed to the restroom, talking with friends, smoking, what ever. But they all have smiles on their faces and are just having a great time.

Set two was much more of a jam session with the first four songs flowing one after another. Tweezer was a great start and jammed for a long time. When it lead into Light I could tell the song changed, but I didn’t know what it was. The guy next to me provided the song title. We actually traded songs a few times, he was really good with the new stuff and I was nailing the old stuff. Near the end of Light the jam turned very dark and cosmic. It just blew my mind away, especially with the transition into Piper, I was floored. The guy next to me also caught the transition too and we both agreed it was stellar.

Once you build it you must sometimes destroy what you love and start all over. That’s what I thought of Sweet Virginia. Yeah it was great to have a song reference the state, but I thought it completely killed the mood by slowing things down. Moving on. Harry Hood had a pretty decent glow stick war and Golgi was good but way to short. By the end of the show Antelope was a great choice. When they eventually walked off the stage the crowd went nuts. After what seemed like an eternity they came back for Loving Cup (bah) and a Tweezer Reprise (no surprise there). All things considered it was a very memorable night, lest of all because of the naked guy.

I was not planning on staying the night in Charlottesville so that meant a 3 hour drive home. Because of the snow on the way down I decided to stick to the highways. Longer distance but safety out weighted the extra time I would spend driving. Bleary eyed, I arrived home well after 3am and went straight to bed with visions of naked woman dancing on stage.

Set 1: 7:58pm start
01. AC/DC Bag
02. Chalk Dust Torture
03. Stealing Time from the Faulty Plan
04. The Divided Sky
05. Ya Mar
06. Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley
07. The Old Home Place
08. Cavern
09. Funky Bitch
10. David Bowie
11. The Wedge
12. Bold as Love

set 1 ends at 9:24pm

Set 2: 10:00pm start
01. Tweezer >
02. Light >
03. Piper >
04. Free
05. Sweet Virginia
06. Harry Hood >
07. Suzy Greenberg
08. Golgi Apparatus
09. Run Like an Antelope

set 2 ends at 11:18pm

encore: 11:20 start
10. Loving Cup >
11. Tweezer Reprise

show ends at 11:31pm

Notes:
• At the start of Ya Mar, a naked guy jumped onstage and ran around for a bit before being rounded up by security, prompting Trey to observe that “Naked Guy’s” antics “took a lot of balls.” During Ya Mar, Mike changed the lyrics to “he was a naked pa.”
• Sneakin’ Sally contained a vocal jam.
• Trey sang the verses to Light out of order.
• The sound for Mike’s bass dropped out during Golgi leading Trey to label it the “trio version.”
• During the ensuing Antelope, Mike took a bass solo to make up for the bass everyone missed in Golgi.
• Antelope also contained several lyric changes referencing the naked stage crasher.

The New Mastersounds marquee

I was very excited when I found out the New Mastersounds were coming back to town.  I saw them in early January up at the 8×10 and it was a great show.  A small club nicely packed with people that danced the night away to rhythmic beats.  So when I saw they where playing a slew of shows in the area I jumped at the chance to see them at the State Theatre.  They were playing the 8×10 the following night, but I decided to hedge my beats and catch the show closer to home on a Thursday.

Just like the first show at the 8×10, tickets were only $12 (playbill), a steel for any show, and with that ticket price it didn’t take much arm twisting to get Jeremy interested.  After the show in Baltimore I got a few albums and let him listen, he was hooked.  Then when I found the set posted on the Archive I gave him a copy to enjoy and for me to reminisce.

After a long week I was looking forward to the Thursday night show to let loose and have a little fun.  We arrived at what turned out to be real early.  The website and ticket both said music started at 8:30, but when we walked in the venue it was completely empty.  Obviously others new something we didn’t at the time.  The opening act, Higher Hands, was not even close to taking the stage when we arrived.  So it was already late before the show even began.  I felt bad that we arrived so early and had to sit and wait but there was nothing I could do about it.  There was no one else to talk to and my limited reserve of cash quickly plowed through the $6 Guinness I was drinking.  We did however spent a lot of time joking on the DJ spinning before the show started.  I thought the first guy was pretty good at time, there was a good 20 minutes during his set that was banging.  At times his buddy would jump in and twist a knob, literally that was all he would do.  We joked “Thanks for saving the day, you really had my back with that knob twist.”

The New Mastersounds

When Higher Hands finally took the stage at 9:40, the venue started to fill in, at least now people were on the dance floor and not just milling around the bar.  I have seen them several times before and they are……well, alright.  They need to refine their sound a little more, work on some new songs, and ditch the singer.  If they can do that they would be much better.  But to their credit they got the audience energized for a night full of funk.  After a short intermission and some more music by the DJ’s, this time by DJ JMack’s partner.  Finally the house lights went dead and the band walked on the stage.

There was not to a whole lot of fan fair.  Of course the audience cheered, I for one was all to happy to get the beats rolling and bring me back to life.  There was just no pomp and circumstance.  Each member casually walked over to their instrument, greeted the crowd and it was on after that.  For the first few songs I was sitting at our table on the side, tapping my foot.  By the third song I couldn’t take it any longer and I needed to get up and dance.  Their shows are filled with such energy it just makes you want to get on your feet.  For about the next hour and a half I danced my ass off into the wee hours of the morning.

The band didn’t take the stage till about 10:40 so

I was expecting a late show, just didn’t think it would go as late as it did.  As the night went on they played several of their hits and a few from their new album Ten Years On that is not yet available in the states.  By the end of the night I was ampped and ready for more.  The show didn’t end till 12:40 but I didn’t care, even if it was a school night and I had to be up early the next morning for work.  I could have danced for another hour easy.

This is the second time I have seen New Mastersounds and I will continue to see them because of their high energy levels.  They have this driving beat that makes you want to get up and dance to some funky stuff.  I am hoping they will return early next year for another US tour.

The New Mastersounds
State Theatre – Falls Church, VA
November 5th 2009

show start 10:40pm
show ends at 12:40am

Great Falls

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It has been months since my last hike and I was eagerly looking forward to getting outside in the peak of the Fall colors.  With the variety of parks in the area I wanted to hike a new place and explore the splendor of Fall in Virginia.  Last week I tried to get out, but got sick again so it couldn’t happen.  Then this past weekend I was determined more than ever to get out before all the leaves are gone and the cold winds blow down from Canada bringing with it freezing temperatures.  Saturday was a complete wash out with almost 16 hours of rain throughout the area, but Sunday was looking pretty good.  After a little searching on the web I decided on Great Falls for a Sunday afternoon hike.

We got a late start, but on a Sunday who wants to be up early?  We slept in, made breakfast, and watched CBS’s Sunday Morning.  Once we finally got out of the house it was only a thirty minute drive to the park entrance.  Actually, getting into the park seemed to take longer than getting there.  I knew the place would be packed with people.  It’s very close to DC and of course the Fall colors bring people out.  There is a single lane of traffic and only one person working the both makes for some slow going.

pond w/ algae

After walking around the park and experiencing the falls close up I understand what others have talked about and why the large line of cars getting in.  The heavy rain on Saturday pushed the water level up and emphasized the power of the falls.  The narrow gap and steep decent make the falls very impressive.  While walking up to one of the over looks there is a pole with various flood levels.  About 10′ above the ground is a mark for 1936, I couldn’t imagine that much water in the area.  While walking down path there was another sign with a picture during a flood state in the narrow gap of the river, at least 50′ above what it was today.  Just a tremendous amount of water in each case.

As Nancy and I walked along the bank of the river the cliffs offer many great views of the falls and river.  As long as you are not squeamish, exploring off the trail is very popular, almost encouraged.  Every time we could get off the beaten path we did, hoping to find a little solitude.  However every time we rounded the corner someone was already there.  Even as I looked over the cliff down toward the river bank, rock climbers were repelling down or climbing up.  The number of people just shocked me, but then it was a perfect day in Fall with the changing leaves.

Several times we saw kayakers braving the churning waters for a little fun.  Two managed to paddle all the way up to the falls to enjoy some of the ferocious rapids at the base of the falls.  Kayaking is not the only thrill seeking sport available at the park.  As I mentioned earlier there are giant cliffs that people love to climb.  We saw several professionals tackling some pretty hairy spots and large groups of new climbers out for the first time.  Seeing them all made me want to buy some climbing gear and join them.

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Once we got down to the end of the trail we decided to take a break and have a picnic.  This time we brought a bottle of wine to enjoy with our sandwiches.  The view across the water was great and made the whole trip worth taking.  We also rediscovered how addictive pistachios are, almost tore through the entire bag, yum.

On the way back to the car we took a different path through the woods instead of along the river bank.  Along the path are the ruins of the old town of Matildaville.  Not much is left of this town dedicated to the canal and locks.  Mostly just pills of rocks that once were house.  The visitor center has a great display of the old town in it’s heyday.  When we got back to the parking lot I wanted to check out two of the overlooks to the falls.  There are in fact three places with observation decks with views of the falls.  This is why everyone comes to the park.  Today the observations decks where packed with people taking pictures.  In the open fields near the observation decks people were enjoying picnics and the beautiful weather too.

climbers and their gear

By this time Nancy had had enough and headed back to the car.  I wanted to make a quick stop by the visitor center to check out the “new exhibits” signs around the park kept referring to.  Few people stopped by the visitor center which was odd to me.  The place was fantastic with the history of the are, not only of the human history but the geological history as well.  The even have a short video that plays on a regular rotation.  I couldn’t see it as my time here was short and I needed to get back to the car.

Late in the afternoon Nancy and I finally left this gem of a park in the shadows of DC.  When we left people were still streaming in and I am pretty sure the line was longer at 4pm than when we came in just before noon.  Everyone wanted a glimpse of what nature had to offer before all the leaves fall and things become nasty outside.

a whole lot of man

A couple of months ago Nancy asked if I wanted to go to the Toby Keith concert at Nissan Pavilion.  I was shocked see asked.  I certainly am not a fan of either Toby or country music and neither is she.  But she said her sister was getting tickets for Greg and was looking for others to come along.  With that in mind I told her I would go under one condition, I had to be drunk when I walked in.  Oh what we do for love.

The previous week we planned it out to meet at Greg’s house at 4 to carpool to the venue for a little pre-show tailgating.  Fortunately this allowed me enough time to see the Spanish Harlem Orchestra at the Rosslyn Jazz Festival earlier in the afternoon.  I would have loved to stay the whole day, but I had to get to a country concert.

I arrived right on time at Greg’s house and helped him load the Durango with supplies.  I was in charge of bringing the grill and hot dogs, check.  We waited a few minutes for Marty and Malissa to arrive and we were off.  I already felt a little out of place.  Everyone had jeans on, most had boots, and “southern” shirts on.  I came in shorts and sneakers, I did grab my Phish “High Geere” shirt which is the closest things to country I have.  Oh and my car-wont-start-and-its-cold-as-balls-outside emergency flannel jacket I keep in my truck.  My t-shirt actually fooled a state representative from Illinois and it gets a lot of people.  If you quickly look at it you associate it with John Deere, but if you look closely it is anything but.  Damn hippies!

rock out dude!

Any how we headed to the venue and got there in pretty good time taking a lot of back roads from Centreville.  We lucked out and were able to park right on the access road leading into the lots.  When it was time to leave there was no wait getting out, just jumped off the curb and away we went.  Once parked we broke out the goods and setup quick so the parking attendants couldn’t get anyone behind us.  We got the table out and filled with food and I immediately started getting the grill fired up for to cook some meet.  We also made nice with two couples next to us, they had a cooler full of shots and jello shooters, good people.

I love talking to people.  At this show it was a whole new experience talking to rednecks.  I talked with the minivan next to us, later a Land Rover with three older woman pull up behind us and I chatted with them.  One of the times I headed off to the forest to pee I spoke to a couple for about 10 minutes.  I eventually ran back to the party just when they started to wonder were I was.  It was such a different group of people I stood along the access road and just watched the constant flood of people coming into the show, chatting with some now and again.  Two guys asked for Dixie Cups and I was happy to oblige them.  Saw a lot of rednecks, and trucks, and cowboy hats, etc…  The cliches are absolutely true.  But they are friendly people who love to talk.  I made the mistake of telling one lady that I went to the Obama inauguration and how many port-o-pots on there were on the Mall.  I quickly realized I probably should not have mentioned that trip.  But it was so cool just interacting with a different people than I am use to.

As the sun set across the lot the time came for us to break camp and head into the show.  We all grabbed one last beer and started walking toward the entrance.  Getting in this night was much easier than the Buffett show a few weeks earlier.  Much shorter lines and security didn’t seem to care as much about patting everyone down.  Another round of beers once we got in and we settled in for a long night of country music at the top of the lawn.  Once nice thing about having fewer people was the amount of space we had to ourselves.  There was some pre-opening band on that played for a few minutes, not bad.  Next was Trace Adkins for his one hour set and finally the headliner Toby Keith came out for an hour and a half or so.  Not much to say about the music, it’s country, not my thing.

Trace Adkins

Because of this I didn’t mind talking with fellow concert goers and I got beer a couple of times for everyone too.  That walk up the hill is a bitch however, I made it one to many times that night and I was soar the next morning.  On one of my excursions to the bathroom I decided to slide down the railing.  It’s fun, quick and easy, or so I thought.  I forgot that I was completely drunk and had no balance.  Halfway down the railing I realized I was going over.  To the left of me was the conreat stairs and the right was the grass.  I quickly weighed my options and fell over into the grass.  I was surprised my brain process all this information so quickly.  Scraped my left wrist and right knee.  The worst of the fall was taken by my right wrist.  I didn’t know it at the time, but I sprained it pretty bad.  About 2:30am when I finally went to bed it hurt horrible, I could hardly move it.  Here it is a week later and it still hurts.  Crazy people do crazy things when they are drunk.

After the show we immediately left the lot and were home in 20 minutes.  I was hoping to do a little post-concert tailgating but with our rock star parking there was no need to wait around.  We decided to do the after party at the house where we drank some more, smoked cigars and talked a lot of politics.  The politics got a little heavy by about 2am, but it was fun.  I was the only “liberal” in the group so it was a good debate from my perspective.  I didn’t plan on changing any opinion that night, but I hope I got them to think.

As much as I hate country, it was a great concert.  I can now say I have at least been to a country concert.  Hell I went to Watkins Glen to see a NASCAR race back in August 2008.  Anyone who knows me, knows I absolutely HATE NASCAR, but I did it for the experience.  I think I will stick with Formula 1.  To summarize the Keith/Adkins concert: the people are nice, the tailgating kicked ass and even in the venue it was fun hanging out with everyone.  Not saying I would do it again, pretty sure I have had my fill of country for a lifetime.