Yo to all of you out there in cyberland. Have you recovered from Thanksgiving yet? A quick diet before the Christmas holidays hit? Well, I hope all your Thanksgiving dreams came true.

I am finally reading a book that a friend of mine lent to me, oh, easily a couple months ago. The book is "Wild at Heart" and has this great quote of Teddy Roosevelts (why does the pronunciation of the beginning of their last name rhyme with hose as opposed to moose?):

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly ... who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory or defeat.
- Teddy Roosevelt

In case you are wonder, I ain't the guy in the arena! I'm just a little chicken shit. ;)

A confidential FBI memo (111kb pdf file) confirms that the federal government is targeting innocent Americans engaged in nothing more than lawful protest and dissent.

In the memo the FBI advocates spying on peaceful protesters and indicates that protesters who engage in civil disobedience or other disruptive acts should be treated like potential terrorists. It confirms that the government has monitored the actions of peaceful protestors and wants intelligence about protestors to be reported to the nearest FBI field office or terrorism task force.

Peaceful protestors should not be treated as potential terrorists nor spied upon by federal government agents. Not only is this a misuse of public funds that could be used to find real terrorists, it chills free speech activities and inhibits the public debate on important issues.

Take Action! Let Attorney General Ashcroft know that you oppose government surveillance of peaceful protests.

Click here for more information and to send a free fax

I am currently re-copying all my cd's to my computer at a higher kbsp. This has given me a chance to listen to some tunage I havn't in quite some time. Anyway, I love this connection between two songs. Can you name that band that sings it?

High green chilly winds and windy vines in loops around the twined shafts of lavender, they're crawling to the sun
Underfoot the ground is parched with climbing arms of ivy wrapped around the manzenita stark and shiny in the breeze
Wonder who will water all the children of the garden when they sigh about the barren lack of rain and droop so hungry neath the sky
William Tell has stretched his bow till it won't strech no ruthermore and/or it may require a change that hasn't come before

The Colorado Avalanche continued their hot streak on Monday night with a 4-1 victory over the lowly Washington Capitals.

Rob Blake and Teemu Selanne both had a goal and an assist to lead the Avalanche to the win at the Pepsi Center.

Andrei Nikolishin and Alex Tanguay also posted goals for the Avalanche, who extended their unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2). David Aebischer made 22 saves and Joe Sakic notched three assists in the win.

The Avs have recorded a point in 15 of their last 17 games (11-2-3-1).

Colorado leads the Western Conference with 36 points and visits GM Place to face the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. The Canucks are just two points behind the Avs for first place in the Northwest Division.

The Avs return to the ice on Thursday playing in Vancouver at 8 PM MST and then travel to Calgary for a game on Saturday at 8 PM again. Could be an interesting couple of games.

Well, I have not been keeping up with my blogabilties as evident by the total lack of postings recently. So let's see if we can do a quick catchup.

I did a kind of new ride last Sunday. We hit Deer Creek Canyon (map)for an early afternoon pedal. After starting up the trail I remembered being there a couple of years ago and not being able to make it up the climb to the loops. Hence, it was erased from my memory. Well, I still needed to get out of the clips twice for some ugly rocky terrain, but I made it up to the loops and road both of them. There are some killer overlooks up on these trails and it is definitely worth the climbing to see them.

A week ago last Sunday I hit Green Mountain (map, doesn't show all the trails) for a good ride. I just looped around the place a few times doing different climbs and descents to get a decent two hour ride without really going in the same direction on any one trail any of the time.

Denver received a nice snow storm this past Monday. A good few inches hit in the afternoon. After a tricky ride home in the snow I broke down and bought some Studded Cyclo-Cross Tires from bike nashbar. They arrived today and I get to try them out tomorrow morning for what could be a chilly ride into work. Hey, at least I won't slip and slide!

I received this quote from a friend the other day:

What you do when others are not looking is what defines character.

So, what do you do when others are not looking?

I finished re-copying all my CD's to a hard drive the other day and now I am having fun creating new disks for my listening pleasure. The first ones are taken from the Miles Davis collection The Complete Columbia Studio Sessions, 1965-68. There are four complete albums (E.S.P., Miles Smiles, Nefertiti and Miles In The Sky) and one partial (Filles De Kilimanjaro) plus alternates and other takes on this set. The group of musicians playing with Miles at the time makes up one of the greatest jazz quintets of all time.

Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams

I also have The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions and thus made the Bitches Brew CD's. I guess I am just in a jazz state of mind these days.

If you're stuck for a last-minute Christmas present for a loved one, they could do worse than to receive this almost-life-size Homer Simpson replica. His outstretched hand holds a can of beer (you provide a can of your choice) - great if you need a cupholder.

Its maker, Sean Kenney, has been creating things out of little plastic blocks since 1998. His Web site, BrickApple.com, is a wacky journey through his constructions, many of which are inspired by the Big Apple - New York City. He's assembled a lot of urban scenes, and his site is also rife with convertible Beetles, taxis, and other stuff that's an incredible hoot.

Well, I have sitting on my ass doing nothing as of late so I figured I might as well go through all the pictures I have from my 40th birthday and create a slideshow. So, here it is:

Pedros 40th - The Slideshow

Hope you enjoy, Peter

I saw this one this morning and just started laughing:



Now, ain't that funny.

Ho Ho Holy Shit is the site of Santa's Blog. Ah, this ain't the Santa's Workshop of my childhood!

Enjoy and have a Merry Christmas,
Pedro

Found this interesting collection of information about Saddam Hussein today. It is a collection of declassified documents the Nation Security Archives just released. It includes the famous handshake between Saddam and Donald Rumsfeld that took place twenty years ago today!

You know, the more things change, the more they stay the same. I can't wait to see who America tries to get into bed with next, give them money and support and then have to go in and clean up the mess we created in the first place.

I was turned onto this by Matt Bivens Daily Outrage blog.

Happy Holidays, Pedro

There is a school teacher from Hanover, Va. and his students who are trying to get the U.S. Constitution put on the back of the $1 bill. It is probably an up hill battle, but you have to give them credit for trying.

Here is there web site and here is an article in USAToday about it.



Pretty Cool, Huh?

Peter Forsberg took part in his first full workout on Monday. This is some good news for us in Avalanche land as the Avs have been slipping these past 5 games (0-2-3). Still, Forsberg is saying he is not 100% and is being vague about when he may return. So far he has missed 18 consecutive games and 21 of the past 23.

"It's good, a step in the right direction," Forsberg said after the 90-minute workout. "We'll see how long it takes, but it definitely feels better."

Wishing You and Yours,
A Merry Christmas,
Happy New Year,
Peace, Love, Laughter,
And A Great Good Cheer!

I love how things get perverted on the internet.

I was sent an email today by a friend of mine with one of those chain letters "That must stay in circulation". Anyway it is this great article that is attributed to a General Hawley of the Air Force. It says that since he recently retired he can write what he actually feels and thus be politically incorrect. It goes on to say that he was able to write this because of his insite from his job with the Air Combat Command. I think the part I liked the best was that writing this made him a great patriot of our country.

First, I think serving in your country's armed forces and rising to a 4 star general makes you a great patriot.

Second, the article was actually written by Larry Miller who happens to be a writer, comedian and actor who writes a bi-weekly column for the Daily Standard.

I am baffled as to why somebody had to change the author to make the article "better". Can't people of this country just read something and decide whether it is good or not based on the words and not who wrote it? Are we really that stupid that we need information "jazzed" up so it is more appealing? Have we really become that simple? I truly hope not.