Metallica Inspired Art

 Metallica recently attended an art show that was all art work that was inspired by their music. Here are three of my favorites from the show. This first on is is "Frayed Ends of Sanity". I really liked the way the demon was working his finger tips into his victim. It's a pretty good song too.

This one is "No Remorse". It was a song off of their Kill Em All album. True thrash metal. 

This one was my favorite. It's called "Nothing Else Matters". The song was off the Black album, and in my opinion kind of the last real Metallica album. It definately marked a turn in their music (for the worse). I thought these three paintings were truly quality works. A little dark maybe, but thought provoking if nothing else. It would be tough to hang one of these in the living room. I don't think Amy would dig it. I would be better off buying one of Vivian's paintings.
http://www.vivianhutchins.com/

IDs

IDs are a funny thing. They can be used to identify yourself whether it is to purchase something, gain access to a physical location, or gain access to a virtual location. I have had a few Broken, Beat & Scarred readers say they have had trouble with access to the blog, or that it is just a pain to have to log in. I am going to make it open with no password to log on. If I have posted anything about you that you would not want just anyone having access to let me know and I will remove it. So to keep out the riff raff please don't link this blog to anything where it might be shared to the general public (not that I think that I have anything that the world is just waiting to find, but I don't want any of you to be outed as being a reader of this blog).

B,B&S started out with about five subscribers three years ago. I just keep making more good friends that I want to share the goings on in my life with. I hope you enjoy reading these posts half as much as I enjoy coming up with them, and that you  will visit more often now that access will be easier.

Now, on with the show. As most of you probably already know I had my wallet, keys, and phone accidentally borrowed without permission a couple of weeks ago at the climbing gym. I am quite sure they will be returned as soon as the person who mistakenly took them notices their unintentional mistake.

Amy says they were stolen, and that I am being silly. She says that climbers steal too. I don't buy it. Those people at the gym are like extended family. I may not know them all personally, but I know the type. It was an honest mistake, and I will be vindicated in my faith of the good people of the Tucson climbing community. I mean some of these people are like family to me, and some of them I like much more.

Anyway, I had to cancel the two credit cards I carry, get a duplicate license, and get a new phone. Did I mention it is an iPhone? Yes, I really do like it. Caitlin is helping me set it up. It's a good thing because I could never get that done on my own.

Losing my phone really was the worst part of the ordeal, besides thinking that a climber had stolen from me, was not having a phone for four or five days. I felt really isolated from all of my friends, and was worried I might be missing important messages from them. You know, climbing trips, trips to the gym (where I now have a locker), maybe a trail run, or the multiple daily text messages I look forward to from Amy.

In the end I am happy to have an iPhone, glad I didn't lose much more than the teenage girl phone, the cost of the iPhone, and a $50 gift card. I guess it is not that big of a deal since my stuff will be returned any day now (that will show Amy who's a Pollyanna).

Resolutions Old and New

I made some goals at the beginning of the year last year. I thought we could take a look and see how I did. I think that some of my goals were a little vague last year so this year I am trying to do a little better.

2011
1. Red point Steve's Arete (5.11a). Ryan and I gave it a go, but neither of us were able to clip the chains without a fall.
2. Get good at placing gear. The gear I placed last week kept me off the deck, but I still find myself fumbling while trying to find the right piece sometimes. Half credit I think.
3. Save for and buy a new mt. bike. I bought one, but I am still working on paying the savings account back. What do you think? Quarter credit?
4. Climb at Red Rocks. Full credit.
5. Climb at J-Tree. Full credit.
6. Publish writing. Not only no credit, but I will give myself an Epic Fail (in the words of my son). Truth of the matter is that I hardly wrote anything at all.
7. Run Regularly. Vague at best, but I did do a decent amount of running last year. My two let down times were summer and December. Half credit I think.

2012
1. Steve's Arete, and 10 routes that I want to get done. I am still working on my the list. Ryan has his. I think we can get this done this year.
2. Get Better at placing gear. I know it's not terribly specific, but as long as I am working on it I think that will suffice.
3. Finish paying for mt. bike. Pretty specific I think.
4. Publish writing. Sounds familiar.
5. Run hard and far. I have an idea for that one. We'll see if I don't wimp out on it again.
6. Write and record a short for The Dirt Bag Diaries pod cast. My friend Steve did one a few years ago that was awesome. I still listen to it for motivation sometimes. In fact that is how I met him. I think I can make that happen.
7. Get Gus on the road. This is one that is just going to take a little money like the mt. bike. Fortunately I shouldn't need to build a chicken coop again this year.
8. Take drum lessons. I used to play the guitar, and thought I would take it back up when one of the kids got interested in it. Philip is getting pretty good for being self taught, but climbing has made my fingers to stiff for some cord shapes. Drums are cool, and I've always wanted to drum too.
9. Make a significant dent in my honey do list. Self explainatory.
10. Eat better. Shouldn't be to hard.
11. Raise money for charity to help others by exploiting my friends.

What are some of your goals for 2012? How do you plan to achieve them? Leave a comment with your ideas on the subject.

New Year's Run 2011-2012

 We had a good local turnout for our run this year. We met at Reid Park, and ran around the golf course on the paved path. This was the first year we planned to meet up and run together. Brett, Mike, Terry, Bella, Shaun, Amy, Philip and I all showed up to run out 1.55 miles before midnight, and 1.55 miles after midnight. I had a great time, and I hope everyone else did too. The Leonard clan brought hot chocolate that was so good I could have drunk gallons of it, and Amy brought gingerbread cookies.

 Here is the group coming into the finish.

Here are the finisher's awards, and a few of the Payless gift cards that were donated. If you participated your award is on the way. Special thanks to Lara at Rainbow signs for making them so professional looking. To all of you who donated to the Walter Douglas Elementary Family Resource Center we really appreciate your generous donations. There will be a few less kids in need of shoes.

We would like to make this event bigger and better next year, and possibly do something during the year to help someone in need. If you have any ideas we would love to hear them.

So consider this fair warning that it is going to happen again next year (Ann). That is of course if the world doesn't end on December 21.