July 14, 2002
The Gunks, the Traps
So I went rock climbing this weekend. I brought my camera along, but I came to realize something on my my first pitch of Shockley's Ceiling -- if you want the view you should see it for yourself.
Anyway, I started off my Saturday in the Gunks with Shockley's Ceiling. Stephen's brother Tom lead, and we made it up the first two pitches without incident. The third pitch gave him some trouble though, and he took two falls. I caught him both times at the expense of my left hand, which got eaten up by the belay rope. He's a lot heavier than me, so when he fell it dragged me up and pinned my hand on the rock. But that was okay, at least I caught his fall and was tied in so he was fine.
He eventually made it up over the Ceiling, but I couldn't get it by the fourth try. I blame it on my puny arms. So I ended up having to rap down and meet up with Matt (one of Tom's friends) and Stephen cleaned out the rest of the route.
Tom and I then went on to do Minty next, and I actually finished that one. It has a few tough parts but nothing spectactular. After those two, it was about 6pm, so we went out for dinner. And sleeping in tents.
Sunday (today) we went up Gelsa, which took me a while. The second and third pitches on it were amazing. Two had almost no handholds to speak of, and three was a really tight corner with not a lot of anything, and a loose rock. I fell once on three and needed to take a breather. But I figured it out after some thinking. The rap down off Gelsa was beautiful...it was an overhang, so you're rapping down air the whole way.
If it isn't obvious, I really dig rock climbing after my first taste, and hope to be again Real Soon Now (tm).
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Previous Trips...
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Hiking Mount Whitney, 2007 
Spring Break in West Virginia, 2005
New Year's in Paris, 2003-2004
Coming to America, 2003
Protesting in Berlin, 2003
Prague Bier-Tour, 2002
Dresden, 2002
Recent Reading
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The Curve of Binding Energy
John McPhee follows famous physicist Ted Taylor in this piece that was -- and probably still -- ahead of its time.
Originally published in 1973, McPhee outlined the coming security and environmental issues surrounding the plutonium enrichment processes. For the most part, though, McPhee invites the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, although he does point out the ease with which any number of people could obtain the material (though not necessarily the manufacturing prowess) to make an atomic weapon.
The question still sits in my mind after reading -- are we being too paranoid, or not paranoid enough?
Rated 
by reid
on October 01, 2007
by reid
on October 01, 2007
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Zodiac
Zodiac touts itself as an 'eco-thriller,' and it is just that. Told from the first-person perspective of ST (or Sangamon Taylor), the book recounts a roughly six-month period of his life busting big corporations for violating environmental laws.
Not the tree-hugging political activist type, ST is equipped with chem labs, scuba divers, maps, and an organization (GEE International, the Group of Environmental Extremists) that masterfully brings the press into the fold to scare the public with the very real dangers posed by illegal dumping. It's sort of a Sierra Club member's wet dream -- a band of ecowarriors that actually get things done.
ST finds something odd happening in Boston Harbor during his tale: a new form of pollution that could poison everyone on the planet in a matter of weeks. His quest to uncover exactly who and what is causing the latest spike in toxins goes all the way up to the President of the United States, and could end up costing him his own life.
While a neat and fast-paced tale, the novel drags on a bit toward the end, begging disbelief from even the most forgiving sci-fi folk. While not as good as his latest offerings, it's still a great read for those that enjoy a good Stephenson novel (or even those who don't).
Rated 
by reid
on July 17, 2005
by reid
on July 17, 2005
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Cat's Cradle
A few years ago, I attempted to woo an online datee, and she immediately criticized me for my politics. I protested the war on Iraq, which was "a shame." She defended her position of complete noninvolvement by standing behind Vonnegut.
It may seem odd to open a review that way. My assumption is now not that she was an idiot, but that she had only read Cat's Cradle, and only with a rather odd viewpoint.
Cat's Cradle looks at a cold-war world where the personifications of religious, political, and scientific single-mindedness collide to destroy the world.
Vonnegut tells a masterful tale, but it makes me wonder what one person's indifference would do to prevent us from all dying? So for now I will continue to unblindly stop unjust wars, even while I'm only reading.
Rated by reid
on July 17, 2005
by reid
on July 17, 2005