Apologies to @newtboy and others for possibly ramping up a leetle too quickly and harshly. (Edit: Never mind.) There's just a certain type of nuttery and flight from logic that immediately gets me up in arms. It is, imnsho, the kind of buffoonery and dangerous dogma that can only become the self-fulfilling prophecy of those who embrace it.



Ok... going hiking tomorrow. Eagle Creek. Tunnel Falls. I hope to return relaxed. and less abrasive. (Edit: not healthy to deny one's nature)

I've only been in an indoor version of this here in Denmark. Though I did once take a dip while helping another person out of a creek in Montana. There was nothing enjoyable about that. Cold temperatures + heavy clothes takes away all the fun.

Let's see...

Everything Disney (obviously)(and that's quite a lot, I must say)
Lucasfilm
The Muppets Studio
Marvel
Nightmare Before Christmas
Pixar
Touchstone Pictures
ESPN
A+E Networks
ABC Entertainment
Silver Creek Pictures, Inc.
Hollywood Records
Hulu
Club Penguin
Pirates of the Caribbean
Hyperion Books
Baby Einstein
And they sold off Power Rangers (but who cares anymore)

A more complete list is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assets_owned_by_Disney

We got to see a dry-weather creek start running when we were in Austin. Looked just like this, on a 1/20th scale. Instead of trees, it was reeds and twigs on the front surge, the creek being about 5-8 foot across in full flow. Still a pretty amazing sight.

Asswipes like this is why I can't get cops to respond to shots fired in the creek behind my condo. They're too busy dealing with dumb fuckers like this.

The source I got this from is here: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/124084

The video itself, I may be wrong, but looks like one of the VH1 Classic Album shows. It just has the same look and feel as the other Classic Album shows.

>> ^therealblankman:

@critical_d What's this from?! I must see more- please provide links!

Ok, I know this is not going to come across well but I'm not really that impressed with a 4th grader going down a ski jump. Between 2nd and 9th grade. I really did not know much fear. Really, none of the kids I hung out with did. Scraps, cuts and bruises were badges of we had fun. Hell at the little clinic/Doc's office in the area almost all of us knew the doctors and nurses on a first name bases. The 9th grade was the big learning experience. Misjudged a table top jump that went in to a 40 foot drop in to a bowl.(BMX) I personally do not remember what happened but what I was told is I clipped a tree, spun, bounced off several more, went through a heavy thicket of dead wood 30 something feet in to a dried up creek. I woke up 2 weeks later and was told I had had a compound fracture left arm, broken collar bone, punctured lung and broken ankle. I'll tell you I damn well learned to fear after that. But, then Got a car not to long after that and forgot everything had to learn fear again. Of course the hard way.

But the POV camera was cool.

Makes me think of just how much drinking water must be diverted every day to go to Vegas. I think I now understand why some of our greatest rivers of yesterday have become bare creeks that only run a few months a year. It's damn unnatural to build a city in the desert like that.

http://lyrics.wikia.com/Sage_Francis:The_Best_Of_Times

It's been a long and lonely trip but I'm glad that I took it because it was well worth it.
I got to read a couple books and do some research before I reached my verdict.
Never thought that I was perfect. Always thought that I had a purpose.
Used to wonder if I'd live to see my first kiss.

The most difficult thing I ever did was recite my own words at a service
Realizing the person I was addressing probably wasn't looking down from heaven.
Or cooking up something in hell's kitchen, trying to listen in or eaves drop from some another dimension.
It was self serving just like this is.

Conveniently religious on Easter Sunday and on Christmas.
The television went from being a babysitter to a mistress.
Technology made it easy for us to stay in touch while keeping a distance,
'til we just stayed distant and never touched. Now all we do is text too much.

I don't remember much from my youth. Maybe my memory is repressed.
Or I just spent too much time wondering if I'd live to have sex.
Fell in love for the first time in 4th grade but I didn't have the courage to talk to her.
In 8th grade I wrote her the note but I slipped it in someone else's locker.

Considered killing myself 'cause of that.
It was a big deal. It was a blown cover.
It was over for me. My goose was cooked.
Stick a fork in me. The jig is up.
I blew my chances, the rest is history, our future was torn asunder.
It became abundantly clear that I was only brought here to suffer.

At least I didn't include my name.
Thankfully I wrote the whole note in code
And it had 10 layers of scotch tape safety seal making it impossible to open.
Plus, it was set to self destruct.
Whoever read it probably died…laughing.
I wonder if they lived long enough to realize what happened.

A year later, I came to understand that wasn't love that I was feeling for her.
I had someone else to obsess over.
I was older. I was very mature.
I forged my time signature while practicing my parents autograph 'cause I was failing math.
Disconnected the phone when I thought the teacher would call my home.

I checked the mailbox twice a day at the end of a long dirt road.
Steamed open a couple envelopes like I was in private detective mode.
If you snoop around long enough for something in particular you're guaranteed to find it.
For better or worse that's how I learned that it's best to just keep some things private.

It was the best of times. It was the end of times.

It was the best of times. It was the end of times.
I was always on deck, I was next in line.
An only child with a pen and pad writing a list of things that I could never have.
The walls in my house were paper thin.
Every squabble seemed to get deafening.
If my memory serves me correctly I made it a point to void and forget some things.
Probably to keep from being embarrassed.
Never meant to upset or give grief to my parents.
Kept my secrets…hid my talents…
In my head, never under the mattress.

Therapy couldn't break me.
Never learned a word that would insure safety.
So I spoke softly and I tip toed often.
The door to my room was like a big old coffin.
The way that it creeked when I closed it shut.
Anxieties peaked when it opened up.
As if everything that I was thinking would be exposed.
I still sleep fully clothed.

It was the best of times.

It was beautiful.
It was brutal.
It was cruel.
It was business as usual.

Heaven. It was hell.
Used to wonder if I'd live to see 12.

When I did I figured that I was immortal.
Loved to dance but couldn't make it to the formal.
Couldn't bear watching my imaginary girlfriend
Bust a move with any other dudes.

Tone Loc was talking bout a "Wild Thang"
But I was still caught up in some child thangs.
Scared of a God who couldn't spare the rod.
It was clearly a brimstone and fire thang.

Pyromaniac. Kleptomaniac.
Couldn't explain my desire to steal that fire.
Now I add it to my rider.
Like "Please oh please don't throw me in that patch of brier!"

It was the best of times. It was the end of times.

The school counselor was clueless 'cause I never skipped classes.
Perfect attendance. Imperfect accent.
Speech impediment they could never really fix
And I faked bad eyesight so I could wear glasses.

Considered doing something that would cripple me.
I wanted a wheelchair. I wanted the sympathy.
I wanted straight teeth so then came braces.
4 years of head gear helped me change faces.

It was the best of times. It was the end of times.

Now I wonder if I'll live to see marriage.
Wonder if I'll live long enough to have kids.
Wonder if I'll live to see my kids have kids.
If I do I'm gonna tell 'em how it is.

"Don't listen when they tell you that these are your best years.
Don't let anybody protect your ears.
It's best that you hear what they don't want you to hear.
It's better to have pressure from peers than not have peers.
Beer won't give you chest hair. Spicy food won't make it curl.
When you think you've got it all figured out and then everything collapses…
Trust me, kid…it's not the end of the world."

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't
Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.

I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike
and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!

If you guys enjoy Chris Thile (the mandolin player for Nickel Creek), I'd highly recommend his new group, Punch Brothers. Very different from NC, but UNBELIEVABLE. Worth a listen.

The Punch Brothers Pandora station is awesome too.

LOL @ dude afraid of a cat. I would have chased it, scratched its belly and then given it a bath in the nearby creek. OMG its SO CUTE!

>> ^wax66:

I counted 2. One would be where they are in that nasty brown water in the first place, and the second was when I nearly died watching that dude strip.
Other than that, it just looked like a HELLUVA lotta fun. I wanna party with these folks.


Actually, brown != nasty. This little creek is at flood stage and the brown is mud from the banks.

I ran the Beaver Creek Tough Mudder. Was a lot of fun. Is true that its much more demanding physically and much different experience than a Warrior Dash. A couple of the obstacles can be gimmicky, but others truly are a challenge (I think the water temp when I ran was 38) and some are just damn fun (ie giant slip n' slide down the side of the mountain).

Its much more fun if you get a group and do it as a team. They seem to be well run events from the one I did and as others have pointed out, its for a good cause.