Monday afternoon

2:05 p.m.

Rufus Wainwright gives me chills. "I don't know what it is" from Want One. This is not my favorite Rufus album, but... his voice is an instrument. This album has a high degree of chill-making moments.

"Give me heaven or hell, Calais or Dover..."

Weekend

On Saturday Ross and I did useful things. Bought plumbing material (copper is very expensive). Ran three miles. Had a delicious martini and went to see "Wall-E". Brilliant movie. Pixar, I worship at your feet. This movie choked me up, not only because of the wonderful and often poignant storyline, but also in a meta- way because the WHOLE thing is so amazingly good, every single aspect of it so superb that I cry at the idea of so many talented people coming together and creating something of such beauty.

Sunday. Leisurely morning of blueberry pancakes and bacon, and then I went climbing at Taylors Falls with Shawn while Ross stayed home and did plumbing. In a quest to meet up with Alicia and others Shawn and I parked on the MN side, walked to the strip, walked across the bridge to WI, walked past the WI strip and downriver eventually ending up at the Sentinel Area. Shawn led Lost Ego (5.8) and I followed. Then he led Sentinel Crack (5.10) and I followed. It felt really good, in control. Then I set up a toprope on Stay Hungry (5.10b) while Shawn talked to this old guy, Steve. Shawn climbed Stay Hungry and placed gear; I belayed and chatted with Steve. Steve climbed his Sentinel variation (with easier finish), and then I climbed it. Alicia and crew showed up. Shawn led (!) Stay Hungry with pre-placed gear.

Alicia and at least one of the guys she was with were talking about leading Sentinel Crack, but they were all occupied so then I geared up and led it! This was one of my goals for the summer (see earlier post), and I climbed it with authority and grace. The first section is more awkward than hard - just a matter of placing gear where necessary and continuing to move up. Then there's a huge rest ledge before the top section - double overhanging cracks. The left crack starts wide, fist jam size, and narrows to hand jam and then fingers. The right crack is good for finger-locks and laybacking. Gets harder and harder until it gets easier. I placed four cams, last one at the crux off a bomber hand jam. Then just pulled through. I felt like a stud.

Monday morning

Adrian Belew, "Inner Revolution".

Why I love Adrian: he's so relentlessly optimistic, and there's something refreshingly simple and almost naive about his lyrics, yet it's so delicious that someone (he) is willing to state these elemental truths.

"There's something wrong in your life, you gotta fix it"

"Hold tight to your faith, don't let no one give you hell. Your life is sacred - live it right, live it your way. This is what I believe in."

And I like his guitar sound. It is so his.

One more Doctor Who thing...

I nicked this from the TWOP forums, because it's so insightful and an example of how much people THINK about the Doctor.

"I posted this way back when on one of the Ten threads, after I watched "The Girl in the Fireplace" while listening to Steve Moffat's commentary. (Highly recommended, by the way.) Nobody picked up on it, so I'm repeating some of it here now that I've got an excuse.

• He said one of the tricky things about writing the Doctor is that he never expresses what he's feeling. He obviously has an inner life, but you have to reflect that in the lines of other people.
  
• He talked about the old idea that the Doctor is asexual. He said that's not the case--that the Doctor picks up on sexual tension and sexual situations and appreciates erotic beauty. But, despite "obviously being in love and fancying" Rose, he's made a very definite--and for some reason, easy--decision that he's not going anywhere near that with ANYbody right now. He (Moffat) sounded like he's not sure why, and that that's one of the intriguing things about the character.
• Finally, Moffat said there's an interesting contradiction in the way writers treat the Doctor and sex. He referred back to "The Doctor Dances," and said both he and other writers have written the Doctor as kind of shy and self-conscious and bumbling in sexual moments. On the other hand, RTD makes him an outrageous flirt, "possibly because RTD himself is such an outrageous flirt!" He said he hasn't figured out how, but it somehow works to have both versions show up in the same season."

Photos from New York

In the subway - look at my frickin' grey hair! Should I color it? Get it cut? What? Love it?

Our feet in the subway. I stuck mine out just to get in the photo.

Looking south as the rain comes our way. Walking east to a restaurant.

Noah and Holly at the Gunks.

Ah, the beautiful beautiful Gunks.

I've started to load the photos into flickr - click on my link to get to my flickr page - but I haven't done all of 'em yet because there are so many and I was having technical difficulties. I'd like to upload smaller files (they're quite big thanks to my 7.1 mp camera) so I think I'm going to create a photoshop script to save 'em as smaller files... It all takes time. Anyway, there are some up and I'll post a few here too.

A few more thoughts on Doctor Who

What makes the show for me is the emotional subtext. It's the adult bits in this very G-rated show that really trip my trigger - and clearly these are the bits that get to loads of other people, judging by the significant mature audience, the intelligent discussions on TWOP and the sophisticated fiction online.

People seem to label Nine as a depressive potential suicide because of his deep issues with the Time War, the death of his people and destruction of his planet, the genocide of the Daleks, etc. but to do so you have to ignore his very Doctorish zest for life. He has that immediate engagement with people; he's fascinated with people of all sorts. He has a childlike sense of wonder, the ability to continue to be surprised and pleased and amazed by the universe, even after 900 years of travelling through it. Certainly there is something new in him that we didn't see in previous Doctors; he NEEDS Rose. After she agrees to travel with him he goes to some lengths, really any length, to please her because he is kinda desperate for that kind of companionship - some new eyes to see the universe through.

Internet Loveliness

The sequence: went to Barnes and Noble at lunch, browsed the science fiction section. Was electrified by the discovery that "Player of Games" by Iain Banks has been reissued. Also he has a new novel, "Matter." Realized that there are quite a few books by him that I haven't read.

Iain Banks is a brilliant Scottish author, a SF novelist who has twisted the genre to suit his unique sensibilities. Also has a bunch of non-SF novels, only one of which I've read - "Complicity", which is a noir thriller sort of work. Very dark. Very tight writing.

When I got back to work I looked him up on wikipedia and discovered that his friends call him Banksie, he used to own quite a stablefull of performance automobilies but has sold them all and now owns a hybrid, and that he has written a nonfiction book called "Raw Spirit" about touring Scotland in search of the finest whiskeys.

My kinda man.
Now I really must buy "Raw Spirit".

Doctor Who update

We have started the third season. The second season had its ups and downs. There are many opinions about David Tennant vs. Christopher Eccleston - certainly one can find people at every point on the spectrum between the two of them. In general David seems to be considered more of a cutie - younger, sexier, more accessible. He was actually a fan of the series as a child, and as a registered fanboy he is undeniably enthusiastic about the role. It seemed like Chris, in interviews, was very careful to say the right thing... however he was not in love with the role like David is.

There's David - he's pretty cute. As the Doctor they've given him this great, kinda punk hairstyle.

To my eye the relationship between the Tenth Doctor and Rose felt forced in the earlier and even midseason episodes. It felt like they were working too hard at the gaiety, although the fact that David and Billie seemed to become great pals in real life probably helped; by the later episodes their closeness felt so true and their devotion to each other unquestionable.

Honestly, I think a big part of the success of the third season is the emotional subtext - the fact that the Doctor is in a lot of pain and doing his best to hide it.

From Television Without Pity recaps:
"Season 1 of Doctor Who is the Hero's Quest -- a retelling of that human tendency to reach for experience of the divine, and the human tendency to reach it. Season 2 of Doctor Who is the same story told fourteen ways: the human tendency to fuck it up and forget what we're here for, and the human requirement to fall away from God and enter the real world again. And Season 3 of Doctor Who is a lot of things, but what makes it stand apart is the lack of Rose, and its resistance to substituting Martha for her. Season 1 was Rose's story; Season 2 was the story of all Companions, which is to say all people who have seen or wished for miracles, which is to say, all people. But Season 3 is a story about Doctor himself, and that is I think key to the season as a whole: just because the Companion was designed to be our entry point doesn't mean the Whoniverse is restricted to that lens."

One of the threads that I've noticed in this season is the Doctor's very tangible pain every time he might lose someone - companion or acquaintance. Even though he can't fully commit to Martha he is desperate not to lose her.

Also watching the first season of Torchwood, or "the sturdy Welsh girl show" as Ross would say. Torchwood is a Doctor Who spinoff set in Cardiff - very X-Files-ish. So far I haven't been blown away by the plotting, but the characters are all intriguing and I want to keep watching them develop.

The final day in New York - a belated post

On our last day we got a late start, but took the subway to Central Park and walked across to the Guggenheim. It is undergoing restoration so all exhibits were down, but we stepped inside long enough to experience the ambiance.

Then we walked one block north to the Cooper Hewitt Museum. NICE building. I'm not up on my period architecture, but the interiors of this place are amazing. Probably as amazing as the art. They had a Rococo exhibit going on, which I found surprisingly enjoyable given that I am not a huge fan of the style. The best part was the sense of Rococo through history, including a room of modern-day items with Rococo elements. Unlike every other museum this one did not allow photography, so I can't wow you with the cool stuff.

Then we walked back across Central Park, hopped a train back to Noah and Holly's place, got our luggage and got back on the train for the interminable ride to JFK. Goodbye New York, hello air travel. And three hours later, hello Twin Cities, you beautiful sprawling metropolis, and hello gigantic Bouvier of destiny. Hello home, hello my very own bed.

Monday - Brooklyn Bridge and more

After another of our delightful slow mornings we took the A train to Brooklyn and walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was superb. An experience definitely heightened by the documentary on the building of the bridge that we had seen on PBS a while ago. From the bridge we walked to Pier 17 for some sightseeing at some tall ships (the last steel-hulled working sailing ship, the only iron-hulled schooner left in America, etc), and then walked south along the point of Manhattan to the Staten Island Ferry.

The ferry was another excellent experience; good views of the Statue of Liberty, and we got to hang out with some blonde Swedish women. After taking the return trip we walked again - north toward the World Trade Center site. Can't really see much there - just cranes and construction. After this we had some of the best walking of the trip - we walked north along West Broadway, passing through Tribeca and Soho. Wow. Amazing buildings, the details, the architecture. The hip restaurants and bars. The fashion statements. Should have taken more pictures, but didn't want to be overly touristy.

We made our way to the Temple Bar, recommended by the Rough Guide to New York for its serious martinis. What an atmosphere in the place - dark, dark wood and dramatic lighting. Some woman waved vigorously at us as we entered, and then said to the bartender, "I just waved at some total strangers."

Ross said, "It's OK, we're from the Midwest, we wave at everybody."

The bartender said, "We're from New York, we shoot at everybody."

But he made us some excellent martinis. I had a vesper (ala James Bond in Casino Royale) and it was delicious. Noah and Holly joined us here and when we finished our drinks we tried to go to one of Mario Batali's restaurants. It was insanely packed and it started raining, so we went to an unpretentious little Mexican place and devoured some tacos and such.

Noah had said that the Temple Bar reminded him of this place he had gone to once, and in the interests of having a unique New York experience we went to this place - The Pegu Club. If possible, it was even more striking than the Temple. Dark, perhaps even darker, with a supremely polite and courteous staff. We were seated at a table lit only by the light of two small candles, and huddled over the drink menus which we were just able to read. The Pegu Club is modelled after a West Indies bar that Hemingway used to frequent, and the drinks were sophisticated and complex.

I had an Earl Grey martini - Earl Grey infused vodka, lime, and a raw egg white. It was marvelous.

We left and made our way to the train, with stops for ice cream and gelato, and the rain held off. Another delightful day in the big apple.

Sunday is Gunks day

This was the day of the trip out of town, the trip that I both yearned for and was stressed out about... and there was plenty to be stressed out about. We decided to rent a car, which meant arranging for one, paying for it, picking it up. We had to get there on time. We had to find our way to the George Washington Bridge. We had to navigate through New Jersey without a decent map.

But the time came at which we were cruising along smoothly through green and lambent hills, and all was well. We stopped for coffee and water, and someone had a litter of puppies in a portable kennel for us to admire. Then on we drove to New Paltz. Charming town. Wish I could go to college there. Stopped at the climbing store in town, bought some webbing. Then on to the cliffs!

I led a very easy route (Dirty Chimney, 5.0) and set up a toprope on that and on Laurel (5.7). Ross, Holly and Noah all had a fun and challenging time climbing the chimney, and I had a blast on Laurel. Then we took the gear back to the car and went for a couple of delightful hikes - one along the top of the Near Trapps, following rock ridges and fields of wild blueberries, the other hike through the lower forests trending down toward a creek and then back up to the parking lot. It was a day with a great dose of nature in it.

The Met

On Friday we decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ross had declared that he could spend an entire day there, but we had another leisurely morning and decided to make a stop on the way at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine - the largest gothic cathedral in the WORLD. Yes, the entire world.

Pictures to follow. I have seen other amazing cathedrals, but this is something else. The size is so jaw-dropping. The columns soar to such a height. The space is really so vast that words fail me. The description in the Rough Guide to New York says that Notre Dame and Chartres would both fit inside this cathedral.

So then we hopped the train down to Central Park and had a lovely walk across to the Met. Then hours of gaping at astounding art. Feet got tired. Brain got overwhelmed. Camera got a workout.

Then an expedition to get to our dinner place - a very nice organic healthy restaurant where we enjoyed good food with vegetables, and lovely martinis. Then some evening walking in the rain in order to get back to the subway.

Friday in New York

Ross, Holly and I rode the train north toward the Cloisters, stopping along the way at a Dominican bakery for egg sandwiches, pastries, and hot, milky coffee. We wandered up and down wooded hills before finally coming up to the Cloisters. Pictures to be posted later - this was wonderful.

Hours later we found the train again and parted ways; Ross and I rode the train downtown to the Empire State Building and stood in at least seven different lines on the way to the top. So much of the original building is covered up with cheap facades! Just to efficiently shuttle tourists through. But still, kick-ass. Pictures to follow.

Then a celebratory beer, and a walk to the MoMA, which is free on Fridays between 4 and 8 p.m. It was very busy, but very amazing. Pictures later! How things have changed at museums - they all let you take pictures, but no flash, and no video. But people are using flash and video anyway. Ah well. Marvelous show of design - incredible display of chairs and objects. Light installations. Photography show is amazing. Also lots of modern art that makes me snort with disgust and think, "Why am I not doing that? Cause I could do way better!"

Holly and Noah joined us and we all went to an Italian place for dinner. By the time we got back to their apartment we were nearly ready for sleep - but first, sweet-potato pies and mango ice cream!

time passes... and suddenly we're in new york

Two weekends ago I climbed at Taylors with Shawn. We bouldered and climbed two 5.10s that we had never climbed before... amazing after all these years of climbing at this place! Then I was very sore. Then a week passed and I got a nasty cold that started in my chest. Then another half a week passed and now.... now...

We sit in Noah and Holly's apartment in Harlem. It's dark out, and warm. Cold gin in a glass, and pleasant talk... Chinese food on the way. Tomorrow, lots of museums. i might have forgotten to bring my camera cord, so no posting of pictures until after our return home. Toad is at Luka's house - sleepover. He was so excited, but nervous because he knew something was up.

More later.

Saturday hail storm!

Dimensions of Obsession

I think I need a livejournal account.

Don't get me wrong, I like blogger. I think it has a lovely interface and I will keep my blogs here, but I've gradually become aware of how incredibly active the SF/F fan community is on livejournal. Also a lot of authors I like have livejournal blogs. And there are loads, literally loads, of Doctor Who communities.

On itunes I discovered the world of Doctor Who podcasts. My favorite thus far is Doctor Who:podshock. Each "episode" is over an hour of loving Doctor Who commentary and discussion by three fellows (two Americans and a Brit) sometimes with additional guest commentary. Lots of episode analysis, character discussion, etc. Good stuff.