Blazers vs. Spurs – Blazers Win!
It’s been a great week!
Syracuse soundly beat Providence Tuesday night and are ranked #2 on espn over Villanova (sorry Janna). Feb 27th is going to be one hell of a game! Can’t wait for the big dance.
Had a great racquetball match on Wednesday. Squeak by for the win with the most point of three games.
Last nigh joined the crew for the Blazers vs. Spurs game. Blazers came back to win it!
After the half I was walking back to my seat and a guy came over and said….
“Are you Clay?”
I had no idea what he was talking about and I said, “No….”
Then he said, “Then you must be Aaron!”
It was slowly coming to me….
He continues, “I listen to your show Parallel Programming Talk all the time. Great information and damn funny!”
I was like, ”aaaah, Thank you!”
We chatted for a bit more and then my buddy sitting with me asks what that was all about.
I tell him about how Clay and I are the big fish in a little pond… but the pond is getting bigger.
Portland Auto Show 2010
After a long day of skiing on Saturday with my buddy Mark I was ready for a relaxing morning of Cars and Trucks. I’ve been going to the Portland Auto show for the past 5 years or so. It’s been fun to see the new cars all in one place. This years show can best be described as sparse. No Nissian, No BMW, No Range Rover, No Mercedes. No Audi A6 or A8. LOTS of room between cars. Not a big crowd. I really like the new Camaro, Touareg V6 TDI and am impressed to see Subaru getting better on the inside. Great reason to get together with the guys, eat a big breakfast and talk horse power!
Life is GOOD!
Had an amazing Saturday at Mt Hood Meadow with Mark, Josh, Zach and Jeff. It snowed a few times this past week so the conditions were fresh and packed powder. The weather was near perfect sunny, 28 degrees, with hardly any wind. Spent most of the day bounding down Heather Canyon. Took a few tumbles but the snow was very forgiving. Legs felt great all day as well. Sunday Jessica and I got up and headed up the Mountain to snowshoe the white river. Overcast and snowing the whole time we were there. In the middle of our hike were were passed by ~50 snowshoe racers doing 3 laps around the trail. Very exciting weekend on Mt. Hood. Can’t wait to go back next weekend. You should join us!
Thank you for a Fantastic Holiday, Christmas and New Year
Snowshoeing White River on Mt. Hood
with Amy, Saikat, Erika, Allison & Jessica
Originally uploaded by MediumTall
The past few weeks have been jam packed with delicious food, great friends, weekend parties, 6 weekend trips to Mt. Hood (skiing, boarding & snowshoeing), live music and 2 Blazers games.
Since kicking off the Ski/Boarding season on November 21st I have been lucky to get up to the mountain more than a few weekends.
After a day on the mountain I caught the Blazers game with Adam and the Syracuse alumni crew. We were super excited about getting to shoot free throw from the foul line after the game.
Since we spent the holidays at home we cut our own tree over Thanksgiving weekend and put up the colored lights outside the house.
German Feast Après-Ski Party
The week after Thanksgiving was packed with two live shows and an opportunity to do some good in the community. I caught a great Metric show at the Crystal Ball room with new friends Jessica and Brady and then later that week a mixed review show by Zero 7 with Lev. Mid week I was able to spend a morning volunteering at the Oregon Food Bank with some great people from Nike and Intel.
We went mad as a hatter at Rob & Nicole’s Holiday Hat Party, enjoyed a holiday Festival of meats at Mark & Janna’s. Christmas Eve soup & fish with Jessica and Brady. Traditional English Christmas Day feast at the Bakers. And then we got to act like kids again for the New Years Eve Jammie Jam at Mark and Janna’s with rice crispy treats, beer and twister.
New Years Eve Twister Game at Mark and Janna's Jammie Jam
With so many of our close friends traveling during the Christmas to New Years week we did two ski/board and eat parties at our place. Italian Après-Ski Party (a huge Antipasto with two trays of lasagna) the day after Christmas and then German Après-Ski Party (5 lb. Sauerbraten, Rouladen, Spätzle, Sauerkraut, German Chocolate Cake) the day after new years day.
Last night was Date Night with a great meal at South Park and seeing the China Design Now exhibit at the Portland Art Museum with my lovely wife. Got up early this morning for more time on Mount Hood snowshoeing White River valley with Amy, Saikat, Erika, Allison & Jessica. Good thing we did not forget to fuel up on Joe’s Donuts on your way to the mountain.
Second Week Skiing on Mt. Hood
I joined Josh, Nicora, Brady and Jessica for a day on the mountain after the day after Thanksgiving. The t-day football game took a lot out of me but I was able to get a few runs in before my legs totally gave out. I have a season pass so only getting a few runs in is not such a big deal. There are worse fates than sitting in the lodge on a couch, drinking a beer and watching the holiday football games. Here is the shot of my view out the window.
Thanksgiving at Jessica & Brady’s
Thanksgiving this year started out on a muddy field. I have to admit that I’ve not touched a football in years but it was great to get out and run, pass and just try to stay upright for a few hours with the guys. Good game and I was super sore for a few days but totally worth it. Thanks to Rob for organizing.
This year’s T-Day meal brought together good food, three Jessicas and great friends. Jessica and Brady hosted a simple delicious thanks giving that included a brine soak super moist turkey, the most stuffing I’ve ever seen on T-Day, yams, quash, mashed potatoes, cranberry salad, green beans, Apple-bacon pie, pumpkin pie, cranberry tart, marion berry pie and many more treats. One of my highlights was the pickled fish, veggies, dried meats and cheeses.
Them Crooked Vultures rocked the Roseland
I’ve been a fan of the Foo Fighters for years and really enjoy the charisma that Dave Grohl bring to his music. A few weeks ago a good friend of mine (and total Dave groupie) mentioned that Dave’s new band, Them Crooked Vultures was going to be playing a small gig in Portland. I check out the single they released (New Fang) and enthusiastically got a ticket to the show. I downloaded the album on Amazon and was even more impressed. Dave, Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and the legendary John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) mix 70’s classic rock, grunge and an alternative vibe into a solid set of great songs. The concert exceeded my expectations, but it did help that I was in the front about 8′ from the band. The sound was tight, big and well put together. When they introduced John Paul Jones the house, full of people from 10 to 50, went nuts. The guy is simply a Legand. Looking forward to seeing my next rock show! Metric is in Portland on Dec 8th. Should be a great show as well.
The ski season has started
I headed up to Mt. Hood Meadows this past weekend to kick of the ski season. The mountain opened up early on November 11th with a 30″ base. SInce then it has been dumping powder. I picked up a season pass with a few friends and am planning to head up as early and as often as I can this year. I outfitted the new SportWagen with a ski rack and picked up new chains (which worked great on Saturday) to make sure that I’m solid going up and back. The conditions were very good with lots of great packed powder. By mid day the sun came out and I could see the peek of Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson in the distance. Simply a wonderful way to kick off the season. Looking forward to heading up again this Friday. You are welcome to join me!
The Birthday Girl!
We went back to Marrakesh Moroccan Restaurant to celebrate my wife birthday. The restaurant is always an adventure and even more so with a great group of friends. Fun to see the belly dancers bouncing around and only have your finger to grab and eat your food. Great food followed by a few games of ping pong, darts and billiard down the street.
Belin Celebration with the family
In 1979 my father received the F. Lammot Belin Arts Award, one of the most prestigious awards given to regional Pennsylvania artists. This year was the 45th anniversary of the award and all past recipients were recognized in a weekend long celebration in Waverly. It was a blast to see my father and all amazing artist I knew growing up get recognized again and talk about their work. By brother also came back into town to participate in the celebration. Good time had by all.
