Nov

Transitions: Efficiency Manifesto

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104302322″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]No one skins uphill to put together a splitboard efficiently. They do it to shred down. Making a transition at a belay is part of the process, not the main event. Transitions may not be sexy, but they make or break us. They are the difference between a cold night spent shivering on a ledge and walking out in perfect evening light. Almost five years after I wrote the Monoboard and started The Diaries, I find myself in a metaphorical transition. My passions run from the mountains to the Seattle music scene and I’ve become adept at moving between them. My life is about to change. My passions won’t. It’s time to refine the transition.

Music: NM2 by Drake • Snow Globe by Mezzanine Owls • Time Machine by Have Gun Will Travel • Boy by Ra Ra Riot

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Nov

The Shorts — Lifestyle Tips for the Committed

Lifestyle Tips for the Committed

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104301695″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]What have you given up for dirtbaggery? Regular car maintanence? Cable TV? Your favorite craft brew? Dean Fleming writes, “Like most rock climbers, I’m a control freak and I’m cheap. So I’ll share one lifestyle tip for the committed to put extra cash in your pocket.” DIY haircuts. Dean lays out 3 simple steps to keeping the dirtbag dream alive.

How committed are you?

Music: Animus Vox by The Glitch Mob • Mastermind by Del The Funky Homosapien, Dan the Automator

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Oct

Tales of Terror Vol. 2

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104301332″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]What frightful things get your heart racing? Ghosts? Unidentifiable sounds in the middle of the night? Or the person you might meet out in the woods? It can be difficult to separate an initial seed of fear from the growing tangle of possibility that can quickly emerge in your head, but sometimes that sprouting seed is very tangible. Today, we bring you stories from Sara Porterfield and Jeremy Allyn. They’ll make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. You’ll try to shudder them off. But the seed- the seed will remain. And isn’t that what scary stories are all about?

Music: Sizsahvirium – le Canticle pour Halloween by Black Buddha • The Nursery by Mind Movie • Chariots of Pumpkins by John Carpenter, Alan Howarth • Robots by Dan Mangan • The Diagram by Reigns • Woven Tears by This Will Destroy You

Music provided by IODA Promonet.

Oct

The Shorts — Wheels

Wheels

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104300818″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]The weekend ritual of loading up a car with gear, picking a destination, and watching out the window as the landscapes passes by is familiar to most of us. Whether it’s two days or a month long, there is a method to organizing and assessing. Kelly Wilder writes, “We need the car; it’s our ticket out of wherever we are in the world.” Yet when you’re trying to live by the ethos of local and low carbon, a car “saddles us with guilt.” We may have a love-hate relationship with our vehicles, but they are able to take us to the places that help clear our heads and restore our souls. Is that rationalization enough?

Music: Fire in the Cold by Dan Wilder • Tracking, North of 63° Latitude by Form and Fate • Sometimes You Lose, Sometimes You Win by Sarah MacDougall

Music provided by Dan Wilder and IODA Promonet.

Sep

The Way of the Underdog

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/104300412″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”300″ height=”300″ iframe=”true” /]The Underdog is the most potent myth in America. It pervades film, pop culture, music and sports. Politicians use it to frame their campaigns. Professional sports teams use it to psyche themselves up before big games. In theory, we’ve always liked the long shot. Is this special type of hero just a myth or is the underdog real? Contributor Brendan Leonard thinks it’s real because he’s seen it in person. Jayson Sime was a small town Iowa kid from the tough part of town. He was told he wouldn’t amount to much by his teachers and hazed by his peers. The greatest successes require the most difficult obstacles. From north of nowhere to a career in politics to Mount Shasta’s summit, Jayson has overcome. Maybe heroes are real. To be in their presence is a powerful thing. Can you learn how to emulate the underdog by watching one?

Music: Phantom Limb by Hospital Ships • Dead Letter by The Idle Hands • Gnomes by Sea of Bees • Love and Crashing by Oax

Music provided by IODA Promonet.