Bad news today. One of the most influential people I know passed away this week. A guy by the name of Chuck Morales; done in by cancer. He was one of my Rayado Rangers. For those of you who know Philmont and know how I feel about Rayado, Chuck is a big reason behind that.

For those of you who don't know of Philmont and Rayado, simply put, Rayado changed my life. To this day, only my family and myexperience studying in Glasgow has had a larger collective influence on me. Ask a person who knows Rayado and they will robotically chant that the three-week program the most physically, mentally and spiritually challenging program the Boy Scouts has to offer. The thing is, this is true.

Rayado is hard. I was looking back at some maps of Philmont over the holidays and I saw surprised to remember the insane distances we walked, some 15 to 20 plus miles a day. What's even more insane is that was not even the difficult part. The hard part was learning how to expect the unexpected. Seemingly every day, Chuck or his partner Tim would pull something out of their bag of surprises. All in the name of making you a stronger person.

Sit solo in the woods for a few days. Sleep in an old gold-mine's decrepit shack on top of a mountain. Convince a homesick over-weight hypochondriac that he can finish the day's hike, even if it means taking an additional six more hours to get to camp. Stay with the same homesick over-weight hypochondriac as he waits for the medics to pick him up for various preventable, yet still painful, injuries. And the list goes on and on.

I realize writing this that I may be drawing up a picture of a three-week trek I would rather forget than rejoice upon. Why would anyone want to be tested to their physical and mental limits, let alone recommend it afterwards to their friends? Rayado is designed to bring you a deeper understanding of yourself. Chuck, in his ever positive manner, showed me what I could be, and for that I am grateful.

I left Rayado a stronger and more confident person. Without Chuck and Tim in my life, without Rayado in my life, I can't say that I would have turned out the same person.

Thanks Chuck. For helping me realize who I am.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Clear skies today folks, so my quest for rain synonyms has abated like the clouds. Have no fear though; it’s still cold as a witches tit/coal miners daughter/shit. More snow is expected Monday. You can expect me to make another arctic journey to the park for sledding.

For those of you who caught my previous note about the fake VW ad (and laughed) it seems that someone at the New York Times saw the same thing and wrote a nice little story about it. Apparently, I am now viral marketer who may inadvertently destroy the advertising community. (insert evil laugh here) LINK

If there was just some way I could choose Super Bowl commercials. That would be cool.

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As per my mom's request, you can see Ford's funny but tasteless ad. LINK

Posted by Colin J Allen at 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The snow today looks like salt. How odd.

Maybe it is really true that the Inuit have twenty words for snow. I heard that this myth is a lie, but maybe there is some truth in it. Just think for example how may English synonyms we have for rain:

It’s raining
It’s pouring
It’s pissing
It’s foggy
It’s shitty out there
I heard it was supposed to shower today.
Are we expecting precipitation?
Is rainfall expected, doctor?
Look out the window, it’s drizzling.
Ah, nothing like a light mizzle.
Damn, look at that downpour.
I can’t see with all this fog.
It’s only misting.

That’s 13. Give me seven more and we’ll be on par.

Later Additions:

Ahh, liguid sunshine
Just a sprinkle
Aggh!! Hail!!
Aggh!! Sleet!!

Posted by Colin J Allen at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Further proof that the line between tasteless and hilarious is very thin.

A VW ad that goes too far?

I think it's funny.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

We have snow here!

It's time to pull out the sled and go down the hill.

Aw yeah. It's about time we got some real winter up here. Maybe I'll pull out my gaters.

Nothin' like little white flakes to bring out the kid in me.

I must play now.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 8:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi, Blossom has stolen my blog tonight:

I think it says a lot that Colin is presently out in the insanely freezing cold night, walking my dog Tico. For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to meet her, Tico is a brown dog with big big ears and a black racing stripe down her back. She fully adores Colin, who seems to have adopted her as partly his own. It is a nice surprise that someone else finds her as obsessively fascinating as I do. Many of you are probably not surprised that Colin volunteered to venture into the 10 degree weather, although I'm not sure which of us (that is dog or myself) this action compliments more. Suffice it to say that this man is just plain good - a recent quote describes him as "a gentle soul". Merci beaucoup to those of you who I haven't met yet that have had more than a hand in this....
Must go, I hear the pitter patter of paws and feet.
xo

Posted by Colin J Allen at 1:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First off, a quick shout out to my roommate for cleaning the bathroom. Thank you Eric.

Now, on to today’s issues. I’m a bit of a tabula rosa until the caffeine hits the system, but I wanted to keep you up to speed with my battle of technology progression verses regression.

Arty lo-fi camera shoots cool shots. Low-tech scores a touchdown. Laptop computer ignored in favor of dinner, dog walk and girlfriend. High-tech fumbles on last play of the day. Colin gets paycheck for running a website. High-tech wins in overtime. . . .

This only the wild card round. Low-tech and high-tech will face of again next week in the playoffs.

By the way, I’m getting a little excited about the Superbowl. For those who don’t read my trader website , here is the latest odds on the weekend games:

New York Jets at Pittsburgh SPREAD: Pittsburgh -8.5 O/U: 35.0
St Louis at Atlanta SPREAD: Atlanta -7.0 O/U: 48.5
Minnesota at Philadelphia SPREAD: Philadelphia -9.5 O/U: 48.0
Indianapolis at New England SPREAD: New England -2.0 O/U: 51.5

Just a part of the job. Really. I don’t bet, but it’s interesting to know who is expected to win.

Be well all ya.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Done. I have made a camera out of cardboard. Who knows if it will work, but after many days of glue-filled entertainment, I have a 35mm camera that, upon closer inspection is a fully-functioning cardboard pinhole obscura. I’ll know in a few days if I have any light leaks -- that would be a miracle -- once I waste a roll of fill on arty photos. But you never know, maybe it will all work perfectly. At least perfectly enough for that one super cool shot. I’ll be sure to share.

Let’s here it for technological regression. I’ll be making abacuses next year at this rate.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Happy New Years my readers. While I suspect that I have personally told you this before today, you may have slipped under the radar. I've been flying low.

The best thing about the New Years holiday is that you are allowed to wish your friends good tidings for the new year for at least two or three weeks. You can’t really do that for any other holiday (Happy week after Easter! – see it just doesn’t work.)

I realize with this job I have that I am a morning person. I run full steam till about noon, then it is all downhill from there. I can bang out stories, organize meetings, fix web problems before 12, but by 4 I'm good if I can put three sentences together. Mathematically, this equates to 3 morning hours equal about 6 afternoon hours.

Maybe all that talk about our natural need for an afternoon nap is not hogwash. Still, I can't think that my boss would be too pleased to find me crashed over my keyboard.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My resolutions for this year?

Write more. Write more blog, write more postcards, write more stories.

Make more stuff. T-shirts. Wine racks. Coffee Cake.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)