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Great ride today. 6 miles solo, including a section named Hillzilla, which is challenging as hell! http://www.runtastic.com/en/users/ian-bodwell/sport-sessions/83839745

Aoife O'Donovan - Fossils Fantastic. Strong folk. Anyone who was a fan of her with Crooked Still will enjoy.

http://pitchfork.com/news/51125-listen-new-neko-case-single-man-ft-m-ward/ Listening now... Very different from the music that accompanied the teaser trailer, but very good. Looking forward to September 3rd!

Bit of a mixed bag on my solo ride today. Conditions were les dry than I hoped. But all was good until a quick trip over the handle bars left the bars twisted enough to pull the cable out. And my tools never made it over to the new bike. So the 2nd half of the ride was interesting with no front brakes. http://share.gps.motionxlive.com/shr/x/track/f9648a4c27fd0e9fdb8a88bfacea68c7?fb_action_ids=10201201255934692&fb_action_types=motionx-gps%3Arecord&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B507695672629912%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22motionx-gps%3Arecord%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

Lauren is off shooting her forst wedding solo, so I figured I'd surprise her and take care of a few things around the house. I replaced both strainers in my farmer's sink, and while I had everything apart, redid the waste line, trap, etc, to take care of some lingering issues. I also changed out a light fixture in a closet and put the handle on the barn door that leads to the nursury. It was definitely a nice productive day.

I don't have the words to describe how excited I am after hearing this... Sounds new and fresh and I can't f'ing wait!

Lights - Siberia Acoustic Siberia was one of my favorite albums from last year. Acoustic is a bit of a shock, but her vocals and choices on phrasing are great in this setting.

I'm trying really hard to not listen to the single and to wait for the full album release. It's been out a while, but I'm still enjoying Year Zero, as well as the sountrack work, so I'm really looking forward to something new.

Enjoying Insurgent, the follow-up to Divergent. Saw a movie was coming out and figured I'd give them a read. Third one due this fall. Distopian YA novels are easy, mindless fun.

I can only imagine the shock there... I really like the Knife Party you were expecting.

Mini for sure. The lack of retina display doesn't bother me at all for video viewing, web/Flipboard browsing or reading. And I'd imagine there will have to be either some significant advance in battery tech or compromise on battery life or the form factor (thickness or weight) to add the retina display. Ultimately that's why I felt comfortable getting the first generation of the Mini.

I, on the other hand, was not surprised by my complete lack of fitness. Nate's patience for my frequent stops was much appreciated. On the other hand, the new bike performed amazingly well. I came away very impressed. Well, right up to the last climb to the parking lot when my chain broke. Regardless, it was very, very good to get out!

We had a year trial when I bought the Jeep. We had just come off our 3,000 mile honeymoon road trip and liked it quite a bit. It's definitely nice and easy for trips around town, and helps break up longer trips. We got some gift cards for Christmas to re-up. 4 months later I had finally swapped head units in the Jeep, so I wanted to renew my subscription. Turns out they "deactivate" gift cards that haven't been used within a certain window. They deactviated them, but can't reactivate them without proof of purchase. Their customer service is absolutely horrible, and each call threatening to cancel until this is sorted out has resulted in months of free service. But they're very difficult to deal with. With any luck, we'll get things squared away and have another year to enjoy, but I'm definitely hesitant to deal with them after that. That said, the 80's and 90's stations can be fun depending on the rotation, Lauren likes Pulse which is a fairly light mix and I tend to really enjoy Outlaw Country, depsite despising most country, and Bluegrass. The mediocre sound quality is offset by the road and wind noise in the Jeep. I know it really bothers some, and might bother me in a more refined vehicle. But it's not an issue for us.

Lauren rented the newer Nikon 105mm macro lens and shared some of the documented issues others have found with it. I think she said her primary issue was it was slow or unwilling to AF with VR on. Not a deal breaker, but it's a significant annoyance at that price point none the less, and since it's a well documented issue, it's tough to swallow on a long-term investment. It's nice to see there's another option that's held in high regard.

CHVRCHES - Recover EP

I know some others have taken to Rykarda Parasol's previous efforts I've posted about before. I just found out that her latest, Against the Sun, came out today. I've downloaded it and am giving it a first pass right now, and I have to say that initial impressions are that it does not disappoint. If anyone enjoyed Our Hearts First Meet or For Blood or Wine, it's definitely worth checking out. Her voice is phenomenal as always, and the songs are very strong.

Between the GoPro & the goggles I use for skiing with its integrated camera, Nate and I should be able to properly document all sorts of stupidity. Though my crash (seen here) may slow me down a little. Aw, who am I kidding? I'll be raising hell out in the woods as soon as the tires hit the dirt!

Still getting back to full strength after breaking my hand in 2 places in a crash in a giant slalom race a few months back. I'm going to be out of town next weekend, so I'm targeting the weekend of May 11th to get out for the first time on the new (to me) mountain bike. I really can't wait... After having my ski season cut short, having to wait to get out on the bike is driving me crazy!

My folks have run this a few times, and I've been at the finish... It's such an amazing atmosphere. And I had two friends running today, both of whom had already finished and were thankfully away from the finish area, as were others I know who live a few blocks away and were not there at the time. I'm sickened by this, and my thoughts are with those who were injured, killed and their families.

Thanks for this post... I didn't realize he had a new album out. Just gave it a listen and really liked it!

Stray - Abuse by Proxy

Grimes - Visions

The Fifty Year Sword by Mark Z. Danielewski Quite entertaining, and a much easier read than the unorthodox formatting would leave you to believe (provided you don't get lost in it). It definitely makes me want to re-read House of Leaves.

Not the exact same shot, but it does paint the picture... Before, taken Wednesday afternoon: After cleaning up today:

We had around 27" at 8 am, and its still snowing. It's crazy... The pup's head barely stuck up over the snow!