Into the Woods

I’ll start with the Chili Peppers concert because my ears are still ringing from it.  I can really think of one point to illustrate how good the concert was and how fantastic the band is.  Of the roughly 20 songs they played, possibly 6 were on my top 20 Chili Peppers songs list, and the concert was still amazing.  Songs that I have enjoyed but not loved such as “Throw Away Your Television” on By The Way sounded amazing when played live.  Even the newer stuff off Stadium Arcadium, a relatively weak album by Chili Pepper standards sounded full and powerful.  Flea and Frusciante had some fantastic solos.  Toward the end of the show, they did an extended guitar-base duette, showcasing the progression of funk/alternative/metal rock that they have developed and pioneered over the past 15+ years.   The duette blended into an exhilarating performance of “Californication”.  Anthony Kiedis’s vocals were superb and his voice filled the Boston Garden magnificently.  I’m extremely pleased I went to the show and it was well worth the 89 bucks for a good Loge seat. I only wish RCHP could have played for 5 hours and just run through all their albums.

Thursday night I went to the Matchstick Productions (MSP) premiere of their 2006 ski film “Push”.  Ski films, at least decent ones, demonstrate the progression of the sport and the passion of the best skiers in the world.  MSP films are among the best.  Most people have generally heard of Warren Miller and associate his film’s with skiing, but he is no longer involved in the commercialized abominations that merely bare his name.
“Push” had a remarkable introduction, taking the audience through the anticpation, stress, excitement and ultimate gratification of getting first tracks on an epic powder day, a day of skiing right after a storm.  My stomach was filled with the same feeling as it was New Year’s Day 2006 in Park City, Utah where I woke up next to Lauren with 16 inches of the fluffy stuff outside, waiting at the top of the mountain for the ski patrol to let us down, and charged the powder with every other mad Park City local.

The movie had an excellent mix of big-mountain heli skiing, terrain park skiing, and exotic location footage.  One great segment focused on Simon Dumont, a halfpipe skier who won the event in the X-Games.  The segment showed Dumont boosting 20+ feed out of the pipe both in his competiion run on ESPN and on a mint-condition pipe groomed first thing in the morning.  Even though the movie took the high road and didn’t state the obvious, it was impossible to not get the message that skiing is quickly beating snowboarding at it’s own game.
The theme of “Push” was just that: pushing the limits of the body and mind, dealing with injury, and achieving goals every season of skiing.  While not everyone should strive to end up in the hospital as most of the athletes did at least once over the course of 2006, one can take away the message the you should push yourself every year, whether it’s skiing your first black diamond well, landing a 30 foot cliff drop, or adding an extra 180 degrees of rotaion or a new grab to your best spin in the terrain park.
The music in the film was quite good with a few great songs popping up early.  After I watch the DVD a few times I’m sure I’ll discover a few others I really like, as is usually the case.  If weren’t at the premiere with me on Thursday, you’ll probably see it up at Killington this winter, or on the projector at the office.