posted May 27th, 2009 by peter
Richard Bangs didn’t need to write Quest for the Kasbah, but I’m glad he did.
With 18 books under his belt and a National Outdoor Book Award for Literature, the author has nothing left to prove with his pen.
I would guess that his family is comfortable, his paychecks abundant in commas. And with his own TV show, “Adventures with Purpose,” taking up his time, I can see no reason why Bangs went to all the trouble of writing this book.
But oh what fun it is to read. Rarely do you find such imagination, honesty and potent observations in a collection of anecdotes about a place.
To wit, some really good writing:
At one point we… found ourselves face-to-face with a Nilotic buffalo, a mean-spirited beast, heavy of hoof and horn, which usually charges first and never asks questions. He glowered with almost tangible menace, pawed the ground and snorted short Hemingway sentences, resonant with ill will.
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posted May 15th, 2009 by peter
Some days, I wish I were a music writer. But the only descriptions I can find to adequately describe this Lal Meri album come straight from my outdoor exploits.
This album is smooth as a lake at sundown and diverse as the jungle canopy. I can’t name all the musical traditions that the three piece electronica, jazz, pop, reggae group samples, but it’s a lot. And the various styles work together, bridged by an unobtrusive, pattering background beat like rain on your tent. If aloe vera had a theme song, it would be from this album.
If these nature comparisons are a little vague for you, Lal Meri sounds a lot like the band Zero 7. But the amazing thing is that with the sleepy vocals and assertive beats, you could both fall asleep or take on twisting single track as it fills your earbuds. It’s flowy.
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posted April 24th, 2009 by anna
Scandinavian electronica? Unless you’re a committed music afficionado, you probably didn’t even know that such a thing existed. But any artist that’s represented by the label Astralwerks, who has big names like Air, Fatboy Slim and Chemical Brothers, deserves some respect, and Röyskopp has earned their spot on the list of electronic genuises.
Calling the fjord covered land of Norway home, Svein Berge and Torbjorn Brundtland’s latest album Junior is sure to please any devoted Röyksopp fan as well as newbies. The group might aim for a more international style with English lyrics, but they stick true to their Scandinavian roots; “The Girl and the Robot” employs the chords of Swedish songstress Robyn.
Röyksopp hit the scene in 2001 and soon thereafter songs like “Eple” and “Poor Leno” were making it big on the European sound waves, but since then there hans’t been more then a release and a special release MP3. Junior therefore marks a sort of Röyksopp return, and the album proves that the much awaited comeback was well worth the wait.
To get a taste of the new album, check out the video below for “Happy Up Here,” the first track off of Junior. A great song to kick off the album, but my favorite Junior track is “It’s What I Want.” Put it on repeat and if you’re not already a Röyksopp fan, you’re sure to fall in love.
posted April 8th, 2009 by peter
Books without authors make me nervous. When a human being isn’t willing to step up and say, “I wrote this,” it doesn’t bode well for the writing. Also, when half of the pages are devoted to inspirational quotes from famous environmentalists, authors and the World Health Organization rather than conveying information, that is generally strike two.
But You Can Save the Earth is not a book that you read simply to learn the details of specific threats facing far away locales (you read Wend for that). This book is more for empowering you to make everyday choices that positively affect the living things around us.
Equal parts manifesto and meditation, the book walks through (arguably) the top seven problems facing the Earth and human race and then gives seven ways that the average Joe can help solve them like walking to work, buying eco-friendly products, etc. Sounds pretty pedestrian, but spelling this stuff out never hurts, and the way the book delineates the power each of us has as a consumer is inspiring.
The chapters end with affirmations (I am connected to life and to our Earth) and exercises (Find a quiet place. Close your eyes for a moment and feel yourself connected to all living things) that may inspire some rolled eyes, but there can be a spirituality to environmentalism if you’re into to that sort of thing and this book does it without getting annoying.
Proceeds from the book go toward a long list of non-profit wilderness protection groups like the Waterkeeper Alliance, Save the Whales, Earth Corps and the Sierra Club and maybe publisher Andrew Flach’s foreword sums the book up best: ” We are at a watershed moment in the history of our world, when we must make the changes required to embrace a sustainable future. The good news is that it’s a choice we are free to make, and we should do so with a spirit of optimism.”
Click through to buy this book from Powells, our favorite local bookstore!
posted March 27th, 2009 by peter
During a storm cycle at Alpine Meadows ski resort, near Lake Tahoe, in March 1982, 14 feet of snow dropped into the mountains in ten days. That’s “close to half of the average snowfall for an entire winter in the Sierra Nevada,” writes author Jennifer Woodlief.
In a perfect confluence of conditions, the snow mounted continuously on the slopes of the ski resort, and the mountain eventually “unzipped itself all the way around,” writes Woodlief. The mass of snow 15 feet tall dropped down the mountain, picking up enough speed to glide over the existing snow on a cushion of air, reaching 200 mph and blowing apart buildings with nothing more than the force of the displaced air.
And there were people in those buildings.
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posted March 9th, 2009 by anna
Be it at home or at the office, it’s good to have a wanderlust inspiring book laying around; the kind of book that encourages you to get out, explore and push your boundaries. With listings of basically any outdoor location you can think of, and all kinds adventure — for everyone from the beginner to the skilled thrill seeker — Ultimate Adventures is that book.
This certainly isn’t a book of tour outfitter listings, in fact it’s more like a textbook for adventure travel, with 300 plus pages complete with historical anecdotes, tips on local guides and suggested reading for getting to know your selected destination just a little better.
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posted February 17th, 2009 by peter
It’s hard to tell whether this album is better suited for a spontaneous late night mambo session or bingo on a cruise ship. Although the album is built on quirky genre-crossings and each song is perfect for turning up loud in your basement, it’s also just earnest enough that I’m not sure the irony is intentional.
Senor Coconut and his Orchestra have put together 12 reinterpretations of classic songs such as the Eurythmics Sweet Dreams (are made of these) and Prince’s Kiss (you don’t have to be rich, to be my girl) and put them to a rumba, mambo, or merengue beats that are as catchy as they are cheesy. Intentionally ironic or not, these will end many a wallflower’s dancing embargo.
The album is called “Around the World” and not only do they sample from every continent, but several tracks are devoted to covering Daft Punk’s famous song of the same name. There is also the fact that this is a German DJ (Coconut) covering songs from the US and Europe in a style of music native to neither.
Just following the geography makes me dizzy enough to dance.
Their cover of “Smoke on the Water” is classic Coconut.
posted February 12th, 2009 by anna
As a tribute to Bob Marley’s 64th birthday (Feburary 6th), Putumayo World Music recently released African Reggae. Featuring artists from Côte d’Ivoire to South Africa, the cd is a great compilation of contemporary African musicians that have built upon the sounds of reggae and added their own traditional and modern rhythms.
Born in Jamaica, reggae has had an influence all over the world, but particularly so in Africa. Because of the Caribbean’s history of slavery, African elements find themselves in many parts of Caribbean culture, especially music. But in the 60s, with the rise in reggae popularity, the musical influence came full circle, with African musicians incorporating the sounds of Jamaica into their own beats. Even for those who aren’t usual fans of reggae, African Reggae will strike a chord because of its unique African roots, giving the album a distinct and fresh feel.
We’re personally digging “On Veut Se Marier” by Ba Cissoko with Tiken Jah Fakoly, featured in the video above.
A portion of the proceeds from African Reggae will be donated to HOPEHIV in the support of the organization’s efforts to strengthen the capacity of African children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Visit Putumayo’s website for more information.
posted January 14th, 2009 by kyle
Most people who have been over 25,000 feet off the ground have done so while eating peanuts and sipping from miniature bottles of Malibu Rum in the pressure-controlled fuselage of a commercial airline. But if a passenger happened to look up while flying through the Himalayas in Northern Pakistan at this height, they might be able to make out the red parkas and streaming ropes of mountaineers making their way towards the 28,251-foot summit of K2.
The risks for climbers at high altitudes are many. They must endure elements and extreme temperatures as well as battle exhaustion. And, if not properly acclimatized to the thin air and change in atmospheric pressure, climbers at high altitudes run the risk of succumbing to multiple ailments, including High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE), which may cause them to stumble around the cliffs as if they had downed several dozens bottles of Malibu Rum – or worse, cause them to hallucinate or fall into a coma.
On August 1, 2008, Mike Farriss, a professor of biology at Hamline University in St. Paul, was one of thirty climbers to attempt the summit of K2. Over the next 36 hours, eleven climbers were killed on the mountain. The tragedy inspired him to write The Altitude Experience: Successful Trekking and Climbing Above 8,000 Feet in hopes that aspiring mountaineers would have a guide to help them better anticipate the risks of climbing at high altitudes as well as serve as a source of information on how to prepare for them in order to avoid disaster.
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posted December 23rd, 2008 by kyle
Nineteenth-Century mountain climber Guido Lammer recognized that “a passionate involvement in the act of mountaineering, and the constant menace of danger disturbing the very depths of our being, are the source of powerful, moral or religious emotions which may be of the greatest spirituality.” It is the climber who braves the lonely menace of danger en route to the summit; however, if the conditions are right, an entire nation can share in the spiritual dividends of his or her triumph.
Following World War II, when France desperately needed successes to heal its wounds, Lionel Terray emerged as a source of national inspiration and heroism by making first ascents on some of the world’s highest mountains - from the Andes to the Himalaya. Conquistadors of the Useless is an autobiographical account of a man who, despite being venerated by an entire nation for his climbing prowess, defied egotism and self entitlement over nature — seeing the mountains he climbed as nothing more than a “magical kingdom where by some spell I felt happiness.”
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