polymania

I recently assisted the Fort Collins Audubon Society with a monthly bird census out at the Fossil Creek Reservoir Natural Area. As we saw and heard a few surprise species like Red-breasted Merganser, Long-tailed Duck, and Virginia Rail, the fellow who was leading the census told me he was keeping a year list. For some reason, the idea of keeping my own year list had never dawned on me, even after having read The Big Year by Mark Obmascik, which is all about hardcore birders keeping track of all their bird sightings in a calendar year. So, I decided to start my own year list for 2005, which of course is much smaller than those in Obmascik's book. The '600 Club'? Hell, for me, I'd be happy to be in the '300 Club'. So far in 2005, I have 176 species.

I also started a Colorado List when we first moved here in November. That list has 113 species. You can always check to see the current status of that list here.

In general I've been cautious about keeping track of so many lists. Of course I also have the most general of lists, a Life List, which includes all birds seen anywhere in the world. But I've hesitated on keeping a separate list for the localities where I've lived, until recently. I'm not sure how I suddenly overcame this reluctance, but listing has a new appeal to me. I think it's basically another manifestation of that 'pack-rat' mentality, where I want to keep track of everything and lose nothing. So be it. Bird lists are a way of ensuring my continuity of experiences, by connecting the past with the present. Until my photography really gets past rank amateur poseur status, lists will have to do.

Here's the scene from outside our front door just moments ago, today, on frickin' April 30th:



I don't think we're in Santa Cruz any more, Toto.

I have a long history with U2.

My interest with them began in 1983, with the release of their album War. I had heard New Year's Day on the radio, and even taped the whole album off the radio at one point. (Some of you may be old enough to remember that radio stations used to do that kind of thing back in those days.) I kept that tape for over 20 years, before it finally became impossible to listen to.

My concert history with U2 goes back a ways as well. I went to my first U2 show back in 1987, over 18 years ago. Since then I've seen them 3 other times - one other time on the Joshua Tree tour, once for Zoo TV, and once for Popmart. I missed their Elevation tour, mostly because of laziness, but partly because of disillusion after being somewhat underwhelmed by their Popmart appearance. But I had heard afterwards so much positive about their Elevation tour, much of it from my brother, that I resolved not to miss them the next time they came around.

This show in Denver last Wednesday had a lot to live up to. The two shows I saw on the Joshua Tree tour were excellent, and the Zoo TV show was unparalleled, and is perhaps my all-time favorite show from any band I've ever seen. Fortunately, I'm happy to say that this pricey Vertigo show (~$125 per ticket) was worth every penny, and I left wondering how I might be able to finagle a chance to see them again on this tour.

The stage set was simple yet elegant, featuring an elliptical runway surrounding a barebones stage and embracing a standing-only general admission area. Strings of computer-controlled lights forming a screen were dropped down on occasion, providing the right amount of ambience needed for the various songs. Above all this was a wide screen featuring views from fixed cameras on the band members - this turned out to be one of my favorite features, actually. In this day and age of fast edits and sensory overload, it was refreshing to see live shots that weren't all flashy and obnoxious, but simply let you see what each band member looked like at any time, even from the upper level.

Energy flowed virtually all the songs, which was something I was paying close attention to, knowing how the band is getting on in years and in tours. I was especially impressed and pleased with Where The Streets Have No Name, which bristled with life and hope. For me, the emotional peak of the show was Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, which Bono sang with a clarity and a soaring vocal that I can't recall ever hearing him do before. It's such a beautiful song, I admit that I welled up inside before the song's climax.

It was also a thrill to hear so much old material, like all the stuff from Boy. It was played very energetically, especially Electric Co., and it also melded very easily (and surprisingly) with the newer songs. The songs played were generally grouped by album, but not slavishly so. The band did a great job making segues between songs which highlighted similarities in theme which I hadn't previously noticed.

If I had any quibbles, I guess I would have liked to hear Bono chat just a little more with the crowd, because he is quite charming when he extemporizes. Zoo Station, the first song in the encore, felt a bit perfunctory, about a minute into it - odd, because I didn't get that feeling from any other song. I also wished we could have heard a few other songs which I think would have fit well with the overall feeling of the show, like Walk On, or Crumbs From Your Table. But I understand that the show can't go on forever, and if they had played those, I'd probably complain about their not having played a couple other songs as well!

Still, in spite of these small complaints, on its own merits, this was an excellent show. Cindy and I loved it a lot, and were quite abuzz afterwards during the drive home. The lights, the songs, the band members, the excited crowd, the passion for peace, the creativity that went into the show design, all these things which were conveyed confidently, maturely, and passionately - all that made for one of my favorite shows ever.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm beginning training for the Pikes Peak Ascent coming in mid-August. The Ascent is a race from Manitou Springs to the summit of Pikes Peak mostly along Barr Trail, going a half-marathon's distance of 13 miles. The total elevation gain is over 7,800 feet, and it is almost entirely uphill (I would hope so!). So what is my plan for getting myself ready?

Well, at this point, I'm simply trying to shed a little more weight. When I started working desk jobs back in 1998, I gained nearly 20 pounds in the first few months. Being sedentary and indulging in yummy but fatty lunches contributed equally to my bulging. After a few months I did finally start exercising seriously, and I also switched to healthier lunch fare at the office; but in all the time that I worked in the private sector, I never got my weight below about 150 and change. And in the late months of 2004, I found my weight going up again, topping out in January at nearly 165. Ugh.

Then came Gym of the Rockies to the rescue. 2 1/2 months of spinning, stairmaster, weights, and outdoor running (5 times a week of at least some type of exercise) have helped significantly, and today I weighed in at 153. I'm hoping to get trimmed down to the mid 140s or so, at which point I'll focus a little more on strength training. But in the meantime, all this is doing wonders for my endurance.

Certainly the best thing I'm doing so far is the trail running. Most of these outings consist of roundtrips between 4-7 miles, with elevation gains of 300-600 feet. Doing this kind of running at 5100+ ft. elevation here in the Front Range is fantastic, and I am finally beginning to feel like it's coming more easily now. (I was huffing quite a bit back in February.) I'll be doing a few more such runs around here, but shortly I plan on actually driving up to Estes Park at 7500 ft. and doing some extended training runs up there on nice long inclines.

Cindy and I are also doing weekend hikes to some of the local summits. We've done Horsetooth Rock twice now, including once this past Sunday. That tops out at 7255, with about a 1500 ft elevation gain. Our next couple hikes that I've scoped out are about 2000+ ft gains, rising to 8400 and 9000 ft respectively. But mid-summer, I think we'll do a few nice hikes in Rocky Mtn Natl Park, and time-permitting, maybe even a 14er or two.

And of course, to help with acclimatization, we'll be trekking in the Peruvian Andes in mid-May. Our trek starts at around 12,000 ft, and over the course of 4 days, we spend nearly all of it at or above that, topping out on day 3 as we cross Punta Union pass at 15,700 ft. Fortunately, before we get anywhere near that high we'll have spent over a week in Cuzco, which itself sits at over 11,000 ft. Cindy and I are definitely learning to live with less oxygen.

The big challenge for me though in the short term is shedding the next 5-8 pounds. The last few pounds are always the hardest. But I can see the fat on me in the mirror, and I know that I didn't always have it.

My buddy Keith is trying to find out, by listening continuously to www.rushradio.org at work. Everybody got to elevate from the norm.

Oh, and in case you're concerned, we're talking about the geeky Canadian progressive power rock trio, not the loudmouth pill-popping radio talk show host. Then again, for our wives, that probably doesn't provide much consolation.

My interest in Rush goes back all the way to 1981. The Signals tour was my first rock concert. Even after all these years, we still think the band rocks.

I do worry about Keith though. He's the only good friend I know anymore who is anywhere near the fan of the band that I am. If he gets too saturated with them, I'll be alone.

Wave after wave
Will flow with the tide
And bury the world as it does
Tide after tide
Will flow and recede
Leaving life to go on
As it was...