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Closing Day at Vail

Closing day at Vail is always a big party. People come out dressed up in all sorts of costumes from bikinis (gender does not matter) to Taliban outfits. In addition to the general good mood, Vail puts on a Pond Skimming competition and a final concert as part of Spring Back to Vail. Last year I had to work the pond skimming from 5am to 5pm so I missed all of the festivities, especially 4 @ 4. Not this year though. I dressed myself up in some gaper gear for one last hurrah.

Trying on the onesie. Form fitting to say the least

4 @ 4 is a big party at the top of the mountain where lifts 4, 5, and 11 meet. Vail seems to hate that this happens every year, which is understandable since getting off the mountain in a crowd of people too drunk to stand can be sketchy. Still the tradition lives on, and this year was no different – huge crowds, lots of booze, and a giant afternoon snowstorm to top it all off. We rolled into Vail around 10, dropped some stuff off at work, suited up, and headed up the hill with Jessica, Brian, Hurley, and Bossart. As soon as we got to the top, we buried some of our beers to lighten the load for some mid-morning laps.

Avy gear comes in handy as Brian digs a beer pit.

Brian's racing outfit in its full glory.

Some of the crew

The weather held off for the morning, so we concentrated on taking some laps. Jessica and Hurley switched from riding to drinking pretty early, and Bossart got shuffled up after our first lap. We met up with Bill and Ben after our first “WFO” lap. They left their beer down in Lionshead, so after an hour or so of hanging out, they had to head all the way back to down to pick it up.

Ben and Bill met up with us.

Brian and Hurley

As Brian and I took a few laps through Northwoods to hit the sign jump, the weather started moving in. By the time 4 o’clock rolled around and the party was getting packed, it was dumping at about an inch or more per hour.

From the Vail Daily

Given that my onesie wasn’t waterproof, and Jessica was just wearing a Colorado flag, we headed back to the car to change around 4:30.

The day before closing was G.N.A.R. Day at Vail so there were point sheets to be found printed out around the village. The lines and bonus points are well thought out and hilarious.

Page 1

Page 2

I fully plan on using this next year. If you’ve never seen “G.N.A.R.“, check out that link. It’s the funniest damn ski movie I’ve ever seen and a very fitting tribute to Shane McConkey.

We ended up skipping the cluster that was the bar scene that night to drive back over to Breckenridge. Even though it would’ve been awesome to have more sun, Vail had just passed it’s season record for snowfall. As of Sunday morning they reported 524 inches for the season – you can’t complain about those conditions.

Monday Mixtape Vol. 1

While I’m gathering my resources from closing day at Vail yesterday (which was a ton of fun), I thought I’d try to implement a semi-regular mixtape posting. However, I reserve the right to make these as short or long as I like, so don’t expect a full album-worth of downloads every week. With that being said, let’s get started:

“I Don’t Blame You” by Cat Power
This song is off of Cat Power’s 2003 release You Are Free. I’m not a big Cat Power fan, but Jessica introduced me to this one and I love it.

 

 

“Heaven’s on Fire” by The Radio Dept.
Props to Jared for posting this one on Facebook. I have not been able to stop listening to it.

 

 

“Abducted” by Cults
I’ve been paying attention to this band since I first caught a wiff. So far, they’ve only released one song that I don’t love – “The Curse.” Their self-titled release is due out on June 7.

 

 

“Exile Vilify” by The National
Really strange that a band like The National would contribute music to Portal 2, but I’m not complaining – the song’s great.

 

 

“Impressions of a City Morning” by Brown Recluse
This song reminds me of Belle & Sebastian, but more poppy, if that’s possible.

 

 

 

“Bizness” by tUnE-yArDs
This has been my favorite song I’ve heard in the last few months. It’s a little all over the place, but it’s brilliant.

Lyricism in Action

I hate hearing people say that there’s no good music from our generation. Thanks to the internet, there is an abundance of awesome music out there. As the industry has become increasingly fragmented, it forces you to go out and make an effort to look for new music. Alternatively, you can follow music sites and blogs, and take a lot of the work out of it for yourself.

Needless to say, I hate it when I come across something like this:

The internets' opinion

It’s easy to hand pick a song from any artist at any time and say it’s good or bad. The 70′s had bad music, just like the 00′s do. Never mind the fact the relatively speaking Kashmir is a bad Zeppelin song, and the chosen verse is just a Lord of the Rings reference. Here’s another song that came out in ’75:

They were funky China men from funky Chinatown
They were chopping them up and they were chopping them down
It’s an ancient Chineese art and everybody knew their part
From a feint into a slip, and kicking from the hip

That song, Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting” sits at #14 on Billboard’s Top 100 of 1975. Still want to tell me that the music of yesteryear was superior?

And there are hundreds, probably thousands of examples of great lyricism in the last decade. For starters, comparing the lyrics of classic rock to today’s mainstream “rap” (I guess that’s what you’d call Far East Movement) is like an open mic night where George Carlin and a two-year-old are performing. One’s a genius, and one can barely speak English. You don’t even need to move far from the mainstream to see vast improvements. Hip-hop greats The Roots are the band on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night TV show. And they’ve been making great music for literally as long as I’ve been alive. Sample lyrics from their song “Star/Pointro” off 2004′s The Tipping Point:

Introducin the band you gotta see to believe
He got the mic in his hand, so keep the heat up your sleeve
It’s Black Thought, he rockin sharp so the speakers’ll bleed
I run a triathalon, you wouldn’t see me fatigued
I’m a star, and maybe y’all should cop somethin to be
Or trade some of y’all equipment in for somethin you need
Cause it’s a, lot of bullshit floodin the scene
Where e’rybody’s a star, and hot shit is few and far between
We lose the grip of what, garbage mean
Shorties wanna be theyself, I know it’s hard to be
Don’t wanna do the Ruben Studdard and come off less threatenin
Keepin it real’ll kill you if you end up lettin it
Ain’t it blowin your mind how the game all in line
Now the best, to the rest, we fin’ to end up settin it
I’d tell you that I was a veteran but it’s evident
You act like you want it, you gon’ end up gettin it

Same genre as “Like a G6,” only a million times better.

So next time you feel like there’s no good music in 2011, quit using such a lazy excuse, and go do some research.

Breck Spring Fever – Moe.

Breckenridge has been running “Spring Fever” all month, which consists of extended park hours, video contests, events, and musical performances. I’ve seen events going on the past few weeks, but until Saturday I hadn’t actually attended anything.

Drew and Brian came over to play some beer pong, and we hung out for a few hours before leaving for the show. We walked up to Peak 8, drank some beers, and listened to some tunes. Even though Moe isn’t my type of music, I had a good time and ran into damn near everyone I know.

The stage right after we showed up

Brian

A lot of people showed up. Ben and Drew groovin on the bottom edge of the frame.

Drew loves Moe.

Me and Jessica with Drew creepin' in the background.

The band via Breck's Facebook page (Thanks Bobry!).

Crowd view via Breck's Facebook page (Thanks Bobry!)

I missed DeVotchKa on Sunday due to it being so windy none of us wanted to leave the house.

Also up this week: The continuing search for a second Summer job, “Team-building” with my Vail job, and closing day at Vail.

Random pic of Vail closing day - 4 at 4 party