Spiderman!

Spiderman is real. And, he's French. I know that is a blow to some of you, but you're just going to have to deal with it. His name is Alain Robert. He climbs tall buildings with the greatest of ease and he doesn't even need web junk spewing out of his palms. He uses a chalk bag on occasion instead.


Alain Robert has been climbing the world's tallest buildings for some time now. He does not ask permission (because he's Spiderman) and when wants to climb one he simply goes to the city that has the building, finds the building, and up he goes. He generates quite a spectacle, and people tend to gather down below, or stop working to watch him climb from a nearby office building. Typically when he reaches the top the police are waiting there for him. However, to date, no one has prosecuted him (you can't prosecute Spiderman).


So a couple days ago he climbed the New York Times building carrying a banner about global warming, and our impending doom if we didn't do something. The banner read, "Global warming kills more people than 9/11 every week." Well, it's one thing if Spiderman is saving Mary Jane and attacking Doctor Octopus, but when he starts going political I start to lose respect, especially when you start comparing global warming to terrorism. The only way he's going to gain it back is if he carries my banner about global cooling to the top of the Petronas Towers in Malaysia (which, consequently, he has already climbed).

Bouldering at Twin Lakes

How many times in your life have you been out-witted by a rock? If it's more than one you might suffer from serious mental issues. Or, you could be me (which is not really a distinction). As I live the high life here in the Sierra Nevadas at my family's cabin we have good times doing crazy things. One such thing was bouldering.

This morning. It looked like an easy enough rock, covered in a sweet and supple layer of lichen and with a few decent grips. My brothers and I had brought a camera, music and a crash pad along with chalk and shoes. My brother Freddy* was the first to try. After the rock ripped up his hands, and the crash pad was covered with lichen and iron wood twigs, he conquered the granite beast. However, I was not so successful. After chalking up and scrambling for grips, yelling things at the rock and surrounding vicinity that would not be appropriate for children under 17, I left in disgust and anguish. I was outsmarted by a rock.


*Name changed