Snow and an Exciting Development Rolling In

It's been snowing for nearly 24 hours without pause and the totals are in feet, not inches.

Meanwhile I've begun work on a new project (secret for the next few days) and can't wait to start unveiling in within the coming days!

Stay tuned!

The Spicy Sauce

The Philipsburg Flags and Flowers Spaghetti Dinner.

Hard to go wrong.

Wild (and beautiful) Weather

Yesterday was snow, sun, snow, sun.

Today promises more of the same.

At the Movies

There was no movie more classically (modern) American than Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino to match the 1930's grandeur of the Washoe Theater in Anaconda, Montana.

Birthday Time

Not mine, but it's enough of a reason to hit the bars of Philipsburg on a snowy Tuesday evening.

Be back tomorrow!!

Bring on the Stimulus Money!

I'm planning some road-tripping and camping at some National Parts around the Northeast this coming summer. After finding what I thought was the best rural camping option in Upstate New York I was distraught to see that due to the financial crisis a number of NY state parks and campsites are closed for the 2009 season.

With hundreds of millions of dollars heading to New York and surrounding states for infrastructure improvements, I hope recreation areas get a nice slice of attention and funding.

4:02 AM

It took a night of fitful sleep and nightmares of missing out on the pre-sale window, but at 4:02 AM this morning I got my tickets for U2 in Dublin, Ireland this coming July 24th.

Breathing easy.

Snowed In

The snow keeps coming and coming. Frankly, I couldn't be happier.

The smell of shredded barbecued beef wafts through the lodge. 

Heaven on earth...well, actually in Montana. 

Weeks 1 + 2

27 miles from town. Philipsburg, Montana.

Some (Upcoming) Stressful Mornings

Looking to grab pre-sale tickets for three U2 dates in Europe this summer is going to be stressful.

My window of opportunity for tickets opens at 10AM on a few days over the coming week. 10AM...local to the country of the concert. For Dublin, Amsterdam, and Paris that will be VERY early in the morning out here in Montana.

But if anything was worth it...!!

Diving In

I started slowly last week with Schumman's Symphonies No. 1-4 and Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Now with Rough Guide's classical music reader I'm ready to take the sounds I'm interested in and explore them fully.


A similar decision to jump into opera last March has taken me from first-time listener to well-versed in works from Massenet to Adams to Wagner.


500 years of extraordinary compositions from around the globe can't be wrong. Here goes...

The Most Important Hour

Don't say another thing about the economic crisis (whether you're a fan of the Obama administration or not) until you spend 59 minutes learning about what's really going on.

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1285

There's the link. Use your lunch break. It's free.

Preparing for Summer

5 years between albums and five months until the shows begin in Europe.

With a Lonely Planet guide in my hand and Google Maps open and charting the distance between hotel and stadium the fun is just beginning.

Tour dates are announced tomorrow morning—an exciting day indeed—and I'm crossing my fingers that the time I've planned for U2 concerts in Europe takes me to some cool and new cities!! Crossing my fingers for Berlin or Dublin!

Applause for Sen. Dorgan (D-ND)

Update: And down it comes...and keeps coming!

With a steady wind out of the Southeast the flakes are starting to come down hard. There's no such thing as an accurate weather forecast for this area, but one website put the projected snow total between 2-9 inches.

I'm hoping for a lot--it would be a great weekend for some snowmobiling!

A Good Dusting

Two days in a row, hoping for a third.

Food

That's not me, but those are the ramen noodles that I loaded up on before arriving here on the ranch.

An easy lunch, but not healthy enough.

So, the goal for the next week is for me (the guy who can't cook at all) to start making my own meals and switching away from soups-in-a-can and instant noodles. Throw in working out 4-5 times a week and maybe I can move an occasionally unhealthy lifestyle to one much better.

The Land Out Here

I'm here outside of Philipsburg, Montana spending some quality time in a delightful library/cabin. There's no heat besides the wood-fired stove I've been feeding for the past few hours.

With me is "The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West" by the eminent western Historian Patricia Limerick. Her aim is to elevate Western history to a status alongside that of other regional studies of America. Southern history, she argues, has been long respected by historians and academics because of the gravity of events that occurred in the region—the legacy of slavery, the Civil War, emancipation, and reconstruction to chose highlights. Because "conquest," the primary force driving Western history is seen as more haphazard and much less relevant in a 21st century context, the study of the American West doesn't receive nearly enough attention. Limerick sees things differently.

Reading her thoughts alongside my own, it's easy to see that the expansion, culture, and present day condition of the West is indeed relevant. As much as the Eastern United States has been used as a case study for public policy, the West looks to hold just as many clues on how to create a better America for the future.


I kicked off my first full day here with a nice bird-watching hike down a cross-country skiing trail. After around two hours of wandering I stumbled across little more wildlife than one squirrel upset with my intrusion into his territory. With an unpretty warning noise no more intimidating than a squeaky door he let me know I wasn't welcome, so I let him be and moved on.

This evening I was warned of the risk of mountain lions in the area, so I doubt I'll head out again without a knife and bear mace, or at least not walk alone. There is some mean wildlife out there after all.

I can't wait to see it...from afar.