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Introduction: My Short History as a Skier
It took me decades to really care about skiing. Growing up in flat Ohio didn't help, but even on trips further afield the lift-served, in-area alpine skiing never resonated. I usually got bored before my legs gave out or the lifts stopped running. Cross-country skiing was more my style, but I inevitably wanted to venture away from golf courses and groomed trails, where the floppy boots and skinny, plastic edged skis made the steep and narrow woods exciting in a way only enjoyable by those young people yet to realize their own mortality. Hiking, mountain biking, and kayaking always seemed like a better use of my time outdoors. I went to college in Iowa, and after graduation escaped further west to Utah and Arizona. I skied occasionally, at both alpine and cross-country areas, but as before failed to see the possibility inherent in skiing which made so many so fanatical about it.
Three years ago, I moved to western Montana to attend graduate school.
Even before the move I knew I'd need to learn how to actually ski. The most interesting areas for a wilderness traveler – the mountains – are in western Montana under snow for over half the year. A wilderness traveler has three options: stay home or in the lowest and most civilized valleys, get snowshoes, or learn to ski. I wanted to learn to ski, not primarily as a means of exercise or of kinesthetic enjoyment, but as the most efficient way to move around the snowy wilderness. Snowshoes are easy to use, but if driven with a modicum of skill, skis are almost always a faster and more elegant way to travel. Or at least, that was what conventional wisdom had to share with me, the unstudied newbie.
So I bought some short alpine touring skis on closeout and got some telemark boots and bindings. I went skiing, a lot. I got new boots and new skis; Karhu Guides, then the widest metal-edged waxless (fishscaled) ski available. I skied more, flailed a lot, got frustrated, and had a lot of fun. It didn't take me long to realize that not only did none of the existing ski gear fit my needs particularly well, but that virtually all of the momentum in the market was concentrated on two distant ends of a spectrum. I wanted to ski along in the middle of that range, going from one point to another as I did on dirt during the summer, and there wasn't much gear at all suited to doing so.
Amber Steed enjoys some backcountry alpine skiing in western Montana. Steep, deep powder with fat, heavy skis, two miles from the car.
The ski market as it exists today largely caters to pure alpine skiing or pure Nordic skiing. Alpine skiing is, to steal one company's jingle, all about the down. Folks spend cataclysmic amounts of money to visit places to ride lifts so they can ski back downhill around lots of other people and then do it again and again. The equipment reflects this, being great for difficult, chopped up snow and knee-dislocatingly heavy. Virtually all backcountry skiing gear, be it alpine touring (heel fixed for downhill) or telemark (heel freed) is dedicated to doing what is in essence the same thing. The gear is lighter, increasingly much lighter, in order to make climbing slopes to ski down faster and more enjoyable, but skiing relatively steep terrain is still the raison d'etre. Even ski mountaineering race gear, where the application of technology has facilitated ski/boot/binding pairs which weigh less than a pair of alpine boots, is still circumscribed by the necessity of descending steep slopes quickly.
Cross-country skiing hasn't changed much, in focus or application, since my youthful golf course exploits. Even the heavier boots and wider, metal edged skis meant for "Nordic backcountry" or "rugged touring" look and ski like fat Nordic race gear. This gear can be quite light, and in the right hands and under the right conditions travel through the woods impressively fast, but the not-right conditions slow such gear to a crawl, and these conditions, namely weird snow, breakable crust, ice, and tight trees and brush are all too common if your winter interests involve approximating summer backpacking routes. What was good snow last night will be miserable in the morning, and sometimes you'll get all of the aforementioned in one place, together, a state of affairs which, in reasonable folks, engenders swearing and crying in equal measure. Quite simply, skis may be the best way to backpack in deep snow, but the skis and ski gear yet produced are not designed with such ends in mind, and their application in the arena of winter backpacking reflects this.
Fast Shoes Defined
The temptation for many winter hikers is to buy some quality snowshoes, warm boots, and powder baskets for their trekking poles, then call it good. Even the poshest of snowshoes are cheap compared to ski gear, snowshoeing can be learned via the infamous ten-step program (take ten steps and you're an expert), and their utility changes little from one snow condition to another. When deep snow combines with intense brush and deadfall, snowshoes and their compact maneuverability remain the most efficient option, but in most other conditions snowshoes are much slower than a well chosen set of skis, provided you have the skills to ski them. Snowshoes dig a crater with each step, and have to be lifted up and out before a step forward is taken. Skis apply their surface area more efficiently, and broad tips shove deep snow to the side as they slide forward with more effort applied purely to forward movement. When the snowpack is deep and the terrain is gentle and open, skiing is simple, and with practice almost automatic. You kick and glide forward with ample leisure to examine the splendor at hand. Once tasted, this ease is hard to give up for the ponderous gait, lower speed, and greater effort of snowshoeing.
So then, the obvious compromise is to combine the traits of a snowshoe and ski. A short, fat ski would keep the maneuverability, packability and hopefully light weight of a snowshoe as well as the glide and easy trail breaking of a ski. Many dedicated wilderness travelers who live and work in snowy, forested, steep regions have seen the need for such a tool. Jackson, Wyoming based adventurer Forrest McCarthy calls them fast shoes, while Nils Larsen and Francois Sylvain, designers of the Altai Hok, use the term skishoes. Messrs. Larsen and Sylvain are both long time ski industry insiders and were both involved with what is perhaps the Hok's most prominent predecessor, the Karver and Meta short skis produced by Karhu in the early oughts. Both were short (120 to 130 centimeters), fat (100 to 110 millimeters underfoot), had metal edges and a permanent skin inserted level with the ski base taking up a majority of the surface area. These both fell out of production some time ago, though according to correspondence with Mr. Larson, forces other than market demand were to blame.
Fast shoes can thus be defined as short, wide skis with some sort of permanent traction device in or on their base, with all these features striving to synergistically maximize overland travel in woods, rolling terrain, and moderate mountains.
Why short? Maneuverability, packability, and light weight. Most of the reasons both alpine and cross-country skiers use much longer skis are not relevant for a wilderness traveler. Longer skis are stable at speed downhill, but in the rare cases that terrain allows opening the throttle 20 miles from the road, safety probably dictates that such an impulse be limited. Cross-country skiers use longer skis because the length maintains momentum and direction better, but these factors are largely negated by the trail breaking which is almost always a part of over-snow backpacking.
Why fat? Surface area is necessary for float in deep, light snow, and if we place an arbitrary, yet functionally proven cap of 150 centimeters as the longest a fast shoe ought to be, the ski must be fairly wide to maintain float. Wider skis are harder to put on edge, all things being equal, and that becomes a factor when boots must be chosen, as is discussed below. Finally, wider skis, especially wider ski tips, break through and float over crust, logs, and other junk which is part and parcel to skiing the terrain presented by circumstance.
The packability of short skis is highly relevant in many situations. Here the author finds the Hoks easy to attach to a packraft, during the aforementioned Bob Marshall traverse, and to strap to a mountain bike, to access spring skiing in Glacier National Park.
Why a permanent traction device? The only way to move forward absent skating or double poling (both rare, wonderful conditions in the backcountry) is to have something for grip on the ski. Ideally this would provide perfect resistance to backward motion and no resistance to forward motion, and thankfully such a thing has existed for the better part of a century in the form of kick wax. Sadly, kick wax is an unforgiving creature that must be well matched to the snow temperature and type. Sometimes this is easy to do and thus magically effective, such as the consistently dry 10 F (-12 C) powder snow you might find in Yellowstone during February. Other times it is an impossible nightmare, such as late on a spring morning when transitioning from overnight shade to sun, when snow instantly increases 15 degrees in temperature and 20 percentage points in water content. Carrying and effectively applying and reapplying (and reapplying, and thoroughly cleaning off before starting over) the correct kick wax is not a realistic option in many wilderness conditions.
The other proven options for over-snow traction are fishscales and skins. Fishscales being an alteration in the base material of a ski for it to grip directionally, skins being typically synthetic fibers arranged to be not unlike a thick, close-shorn, directional carpet. The fibers lay flat sliding forward, yet stand up to grip and resist backwards motion. Fishscales come in different designs, with a strong inverse correlation between grip and glide being to a certain extent intractable. Fishscales also work much better in wet, dense snow types. Light, very dry powder makes fishscales drastically less effective. With these caveats arrayed before you, it is easy to see why Messrs. Larsen and Sylvain chose to put a permanent skinsert in the base of their new fast shoe, the Hok.
The test set of 125-centimeter Hoks, with X-Trace bindings in place, showing the substantial tip rise, subtle tail rise, and moderate camber: all elements of a predictable and utilitarian backcountry tool.
The Hok Examined
Nils Larsen is something of a ski anthropologist. Videos he has made of the Altai peoples of northern Asia skiing on handmade skis can be found online, as well as material concerning Mr. Larsen's own experiments with this most ancient of ski technologies. He named his new ski company after the Chinese mountains in which skiing may well have been born, and the company's first model after one such group's word for ski. Skiing evolved in this region of Asia, as it did in Scandinavia, for functional rather than recreational purposes. It is thus a fitting midwife for a backpacking ski. The Altai Ski website says that the Hok was designed for "pocket backcountry," the sort of woods and thickets and low snowpack many residents of snowy latitudes have out their back doors; convenient terrain poorly suited to conventional ski gear and mindset. This is no doubt true, but it is my contention that for a considerable range of rugged over-snow backcountry travel the Hok is the single best tool yet commercially produced.
That there is a growing demand for this sort of short ski is obvious, because the Hok is quite similar to another fast shoe introduced recently, the Marquette Backcountry ski. Unlike the Hok, which uses traditional ski construction with a p-tex base, wood core, and metal edges, the Marquettes are blow-molded out of plastic. Marquettes are also marketed at pocket backcountry, and they excel at skiing soft snow in tight places. Sadly, they are not good tools for unpredictable, remote backcountry adventures. They lack metal edges, making them quite terrifying on hard snow and, as the chart below demonstrates, they are very heavy.
|Weight (single)
|Dimensions (tip, waist, tail)
|Gear Tested
|125 Hok Ski, bare
|2 lb 5 oz (1.0 kg)
|123, 109, 123
|X-Trace Binding (w/ mounting hardware)
|1 lb 2.5 oz (0.5 kg)
|Voile Mountaineer (w/ anti ice tape)
|7 oz (175 g)
|Comparison Gear
|185cm Karhu Guide (w/ full hardware)
|3 lb 12 oz (1.7 kg)
|109, 78, 95
|Marquette Backcountry Ski (w/ full hardware)
|5 lb 5.5 oz (2.4 kg)
|150, 130, 140
|Atlas Run Snowshoe
|1 lb 5.5 oz (0.6 kg)
|MSR Lightning Ascent W's 25" Snowshoe
|1 lb 12 oz (0.8 kg)
|Tubbs Sierra 30" Snowshoe
|2 lb 6.5 oz (1.1 kg)
|Boots used
|Crispi CX4 (mondo size 28)
|3 lb 8 oz (1.6 kg)
|Scarpa T2 (modified, mondo size 28.5)
|2 lb 14 oz (1.3 kg)
That minimizing equipment weight is essential in maximizing efficiency and enjoyment in the backcountry is in these parts axiomatic (look at the current IP address). However, increasing weight in the name of efficiency can occasionally be the best option. For most hikers, shoes, even though they add weight when compared with bare feet, are faster and more fun. This weight versus functionality calculation is central in evaluating fast shoes versus snowshoes for types of trips, and is the question around which the final section of this review will orbit.
I obtained a test pair of 125 cm Hoks (they'll be available in 145 cm lengths as well, though the dimensions and weight are not yet finalized) in early May, and used them for various trips around my home in NW Montana for about a month in late May and early June. We had an exceptional snowpack in the winter of 2010-2011, and while there was thus no shortage of terrain for testing, the snow types I was able to ski were necessarily limited. No powder was skied in the testing of these skis, but I did ski a wide variety of spring snows, from bullet ice to foot-deep rain-rotted corn, as well as heavy 24-hour-old snow. I skied the Hoks with the X-Trace universal binding and my usual trail runners (LaSportiva Crossleathers and Inov8 OROC 280s), as well as Voile Mountaineer three-pin bindings and two different pairs of plastic boots. The first were my Crispi CX4s, a three-buckle telemark boot considered to be on the lower and softer end of the spectrum of plastic boots. (They can be seen mounted on my bike in the above photo.) The second are an older pair of Scarpa T2s which I have heavily modified into touring-only winter boots. By touring I mean primarily rolling terrain where making horizontal rather than vertical miles is the goal of the trip. To this end I removed the tongues entirely, cut down the uppers, and ground down the material on the back of the cuff, among other things. With thermo-moldable liners they are very warm, have a great range of fore-aft motion, and provide plenty of side-to-side rigidity. For wilderness touring, especially in cold temperatures, they work very well.
The author's touring-specific plastic telemark boots. Something comparable, such as the Garmont Excursion, would be a good match for the Hoks. Weights of the boots used in this test can be found in the above table.
I skied the Hoks on day trips to our local cross-country ski trails, closed ski resorts, and the rolling backcountry near both, all with both plastic boots as well as the X-Trace bindings. Mounted with Voile Mountaineers, I took them on easy ski mountaineering outings in the local mountains, and I used the Hoks with the universal bindings on the aforementioned Bob Marshall traverse, crossing miles of snow-bound terrain and passes over 7000 feet (2135 m) in elevation.
In short, I found the Hoks to be outstanding at all of these applications and to have no significant limitations other than those inherent to fast shoes. They are quite stiff both torsionally and over their length, the result being that they descend difficult terrain exceptionally well, provided that they are skied by a sufficiently stiff boot and are not pushed to excessive speeds. As a frame of reference, using both of the aforementioned plastic boots I skied the most difficult in-bounds terrain at Whitefish Mountain Resort (including North Bowl Chute, a double black) in funky half-melted conditions. The Hoks held an edge as well as any ski I've used, and the short length combined with the gradual curves and up-turned tip and tail made them extraordinarily easy to turn. I skied the X-Trace and trail runner combo at the resort as well, and found that, provided the snow was soft and fairly predictable, I could link turns down moderate runs (Toni Matt, top to bottom) with ease, though this did demand substantial attention from most of the muscles in my legs. At Mr. Larsen's encouragement I skied the X-Trace mounted Hoks with a lurk, in the style of the skis namesake. This method of skiing quickly became great fun, and while a lurk is an inferior substitute for conventional ski poles when forward motion or weight are considered, the lurk technique might be kept in mind as a way to add an extra margin of control to certain descents on backcountry trips with less-supportive boots.
The author at Whitefish Mountain Resort, six weeks after the lifts stopped turning, skiing the Hoks and X-Trace bindings with trail runners and a lurk (a 7-foot pole from an alder bush). This tripodal way of skiing predates any major recreational use of skis by western cultures and allows low cut footwear to turn the skis with much less effort than "traditional" alpine style.
The Future of Backcountry Ski Boots
The perfect boot for backcountry skiing does not yet exist. Boots designed for backcountry alpine skiing, be it telemark or alpine touring, are heavy and historically choose to restrict fore-aft motion (and thus touring efficiency) in favor of downhill performance. The heavier variants of NNN (new Nordic norm) boots are beefed up Nordic race boots, and while by design they provide excellent range of motion for the flats, the interface between boot and binding (a metal bar in the boot toe is held by a metal clip in the binding) is widely considered to be a liability for turning and more serious terrain. The interface has more flex and play than a three-pin binding, and the toe bars are known to rip out under the more severe forces applied by wider skiis, taller boots, and trying to turn and/or stop in rugged terrain.
The ideal backcountry boot for distance-oriented wilderness travel would provide the largely unrestricted fore-aft motion of a Nordic race boot with the side to side rigidity of a downhill boot, ideally at the same time and without flipping levers or tightening buckles. Unlike backcountry downhill, where laps of long slopes with extended transitions from up to down mode are common, the sort of backcountry travel I discuss here often has frequent transitions from flat striding to steep climbs and descents. As discussed in the body of the article, these descents often feature challenging snow and narrow trails. Efficient travel dictates that a complex gear transition not be needed to go downhill.
My modified T2s demonstrate that it's fairly easy to have good fore-aft ankle motion and sideways rigidity: a moderately tight upper buckle combines with a free flexing cuff to provide both at the same time. It does not ski like a big boot with a lean lock, but enough edge pressure can be applied, provided you stay centered on your skis, to make turns in very challenging terrain (albeit not at high speeds). The more exacting design element is sole flex. The ideal BC boot would flex with the ball of the foot like a lightweight hiking shoe, but resist torsion like a downhill boot. I'm unaware of any boot that comes close to balancing these well. A flaw of many fabric/leather NNN and three-pin boots is that they mate a fairly stiff plastic cuff with a flexible sole, and the latter prevents force from the legs being effectively transferred to the skis. This shortcoming can be addressed to a certain extent by excellent telemark technique and very strong legs, but has limited applicability to most users and does not point the way toward technical innovations. For the moment skiers are forced to compromise based on expected terrain and personal preference, favoring touring at the expense of turning, or vice versa.
I have not been content with the options provided by such compromises, and my modified boots are a result. They have some sole flexibility, excellent sole resistance to torsion, good fore-aft flex and decent sideways stiffness at the ankle. The fore-aft flex compensates to some extent for the stiff sole. The thermo-moldable foam liners are blister-free if molded correctly (lots of toe spacers), and warm enough for temperatures below zero (F).
Another approach was pioneered by Alaska endurance racers and detailed by Luc Mehl is his article Fast and Light Winter Travel. Luc used stripped down Dynafit rando race boots and the toe piece from a Dynafit alpine-touring binding. This system has a totally rigid sole, but the combination of good ankle flexibility and no resistance to forward rotation within the binding system makes this a reasonable option. Luc details the virtues at length in the aforementioned article.
All of this is to say that when the market does not provide adequate gear, ingenuity and power tools can provide a good solution.
Throughout the testing, on both downhill and rolling terrain, I was impressed with how little drag the skin insert provided. I had assumed it would be noticeably more so than the fishscaled skis I've used, but the additional resistance on all types of snow and all angles proved to be minimal. On one mountain descent I did notice that when transitioning snow types the skinsert tended to grab certain (wetter) snow types in a way which a well-waxed conventional ski would not have. On the whole, given the impressive grip of the skinsert and the minimal drag, I am quite sold on the idea. Compared with fishscales and even a good wax, the grip force per inch of the skins is very good, a particular asset when weird maneuvering over brush or melted out spots forces a skier to rely on a small patch of the ski for purchase. I do wonder about two potential downsides to the skinsert idea. The first is water absorption. Even skins rigorously treated with DWR and wax will get soaked in short order under many conditions, and while separate skins can be stored in your sleeping bag overnight, the possibility of a wet skinsert freezing into uselessness does occur to me. During the testing period I never had any nights much below freezing, so this must remain the territory of speculation. Vigilant use of skinwax to prevent icing of the skin should be considered a mandatory part of preventative gear maintenance.
Dirty and abrasive spring snow is hard on skis of any type. I was not responsible for all of the stains or lost skin hairs seen above, but this could prove to be an issue for long-term, intense users.
I also worry about the long term durability of the skinsert. Not so much its adhesion to the core of the ski, but the extent to which some abrasion-induced balding might occur over several seasons. It would take serious abuse to produce functional degradation, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention this as a possibility.
The Hoks come with threaded inserts built around the common three-bolt pattern used in all common three-pin bindings. Burly three-pin bindings are reliable, cheap, and simple, and thus the only choice for this application. NNN bindings can provide comparable performance, but have a well-documented history of failing under serious use (the toe bar rips out), and thus are not an appropriate choice for anything but the most mild backcountry skiing applications. Threaded inserts not only save the consumer the effort of drilling holes, they make mounting and changing bindings fast and easy (blue Loctite on the bolts proved essential). They also save weight, as the area of the ski which needs to be reinforced in order to support binding screws and prevent pull-out is much reduced. Of course, inserts are only as good as their location, and on a ski like the Hok trail breaking ease (which favors a forward mount) must be balanced with downhill turning (which favors a rearward mount, especially in deep or weird snow). Messrs. Larsen and Sylvain were still in the process of tweaking this when the prototype I skied was made, and the production version will feature inserts mounted 2 centimeters behind those of my pair. I skied this position using adapters and agreed that it will provide the most balanced compromise.
The tip rise of the 125 cm Hok. The green grid is in inches.
The tip of the Hok rises about 3.5 inches over 7 inches of run (8.9 and 17.8 cm, respectively) (when the camber is uncompressed, both increase somewhat when the ski is weighted), both a good bit more than conventional skis. It's not the fully rockered tip of the Marquette, but the added rise in the tip is a great aid in trailbreaking as well as in floating over irregularities when descending. Any more rocker would have likely had an adverse effect on the edge hold. The tail rise is much more subtle, just enough to allow some smear-turns but not enough to impede plunging the tail into the snow. The gentle sidecut is enough to allow for good turns on hard snow, but not enough that tracking is affected. All this and the light weight mean that insofar as the ski design is concerned, I cannot think of a single improvement. The Hok promises to float and break trail well, turn quickly, and deal with funky snow. It's light and durable, and it's simply a bargain at $200.
The Limits of Universal Bindings
The X-Trace universal binding is more of a mixed bag. I likely will not be buying myself a pair of these, for reasons which have partly to do with this binding in particular, and partly to do with universal bindings in general.
The X-Trace at home on my couch.
The first challenge with a universal binding is making it durable enough for the backcountry, and on that ground the X-Trace succeeds admirably. I ought to note here that Altai is importing, not producing, the binding. When a ski binding is paired with floppy shoes or boots, lots of emphatic forces are placed on it, and the plastic in the base and toe plate of the X-Trace manages to flex evenly and well while seeming quite bulletproof. If anything, the whole binding is overbuilt, resulting in the porky weight noted in the above table, which when paired with the very light Hoks makes them borderline too heavy for the benefit they provide. The bindings function well enough. The adjustment mechanism is easy to use and doesn't require tools, and the ratchet straps operate fluidly under all conditions. The forward motion is mediocre, and could be improved by moving the binding toe support back to place the end of the shoe closer to the pin line around which a ski boot pivots. This shortcoming is alleviated, but not eliminated, by using flexible footwear. The binding does a good job at holding the shoe stable within the binding, and a moderately good job at reducing diagonal or twisting flex. The pad under the toe buckle did display an annoying tendency to creep forward, and the geometry of the toe plate allows for ice to easily build up under the front of your toes, eventually requiring releasing the front strap to remove it.
The X-Trace in detail. Note the buckle misalignment during use, which created a pressure point. Also note the posts in front of the toes. The base plate slopes upwards there, trapping snow, which becomes ice under compression, eventually causing backwards toe pressure, which cannot be ignored.
Beyond all the details of the X-Trace, during the testing of it and the Hok I've developed deeper reservations about the extent to which universal bindings are appropriate in the weight to performance calculus all wilderness travelers ought to undertake. A look at table one reveals that the 125 cm Hok is a pound heavier than the Atlas Run snowshoe, one of the smaller and lighter snowshoes currently available. Even assuming a universal binding substantially lighter than the X-Trace, the weight gain with fast shoes would have to be made up by the efficiency of the setup. Whether this will be the case has much to do with the snow conditions and terrain expected on a given trip. The limitations of universal bindings are to a large extent tied to the footwear used, in my case trail runners. I do not think that rigidity and edge control will ever be anything but desperate with universal bindings and floppy shoes (even, I would imagine, lighter high-top hikers), and thus side hilling on harder snow and descending in anything but ideal conditions will be at best problematic. On my Bob Marshall trip I did not have anything close to ideal snow conditions, and found myself transitioning out of the Hoks and X-Traces to posthole on steep side slopes, crampon up hard snow, and even posthole down some slopes rather than crash and risk injury under the weight of the nasty wind-slabbed snow and my large pack. Small snowshoes would have been slower in many places, but would have been faster in others and would have saved me 51 ounces from my pack. Even with the Hoks at my disposal, I used the Atlas Run snowshoes on a similar trip two weeks later. It would take a lot of gentle terrain, and a distinct absence of steeper, more technical skiing, to justify the weight of the Hok and X-Trace combo over a pair of slower, lighter snowshoes.
I am, in short, skeptical about the breadth of application for universal bindings. For most spring trips where they'd be of use, that is to say when large sections of dry trail make hiking shoes a necessity, smaller snowshoes with an aggressive crampon may be the lightest and most efficient option in the grand scheme of a trip. A narrower ski could address some of the limitations here, but not in a comprehensive fashion.
Following black bear tracks in the Bob Marshall.
Conclusion and Applicability
It's difficult to compare the Hoks to other skis or snowshoes, or to evaluate them relative to other products, because the only close relatives are either out of production, like the aforementioned Karhu Sweeper skis, or built to different specifications and with inferior technology, like the Marquette Backcountry ski. The Hok defines its own category, using top of the line ski construction with a lightweight wood core, inserts, and metal edges to create a ski best suited to fundamentally different terrain than conventional backcountry skis. The Hoks are not the best tool for wide open, gentle terrain, like the plateaus of Yellowstone in winter. They're not designed for backcountry downhill skiing, though their ability in technical terrain will surpass expectations. They are best for deep-winter travel in wooded terrain and on unbroken trails, places where glide is not a salient attribute and maneuverability uphill and down is essential for safe passage.
The choice of a permanent skinsert has potential drawbacks. Care will need to be taken to avoid icing of the skins, with prophylactic application of a DWR and skin wax a prerequisite, and more aggressive skin-drying tactics being perhaps necessary under extraordinary circumstances. Given that both fishscales and glidewax are each largely useless under certain conditions, and that skins work in all of them, the use of a skinsert is the most versatile choice available given current technology.
The need for a heavy boot to support the wider Hok is also a disadvantage, though only when viewed through the blinkered vision of mild winter conditions which would not already require heavily insulated double boots. Modern thermo-moldable boot liners are not only warm and comfortable when fitted correctly, the close-celled foam out of which the best liners are made is also largely impermeable to water. The lining fabric of the boot liner can get wet, but the foam insulation itself is incapable of absorbing water, and thus the whole assemblage is easily dried out. Under conditions where insulation of a certain magnitude is already a necessity, the added weight of boots for the Hok becomes less of a weight penalty than a performance boost.
Finally, the skis themselves are flawlessly engineered. The gentle sidecut, rounded tips and tails, and subtle rise/rocker on both ends represents a synergy of the best of modern ski design. The Hoks' predictability in difficult snow conditions, and their applicability to a wide range of trips and terrains, is due above all else to solid design. A well designed and constructed fast shoe like the Hok, when paired with a set of burly three-pin bindings and light plastic or heavy fabric/leather boots should hit the sweet middle-of-the-road spot between light Nordic and heavy downhill gear. Such a set-up is the ski equivalent of a good light hardtail mountain bike: capable of making miles on smooth roads, difficult rocky trails, and everything in between. It is a ski rig focused on making distance in all backcountry conditions, and on doing so in an efficient and safe manner.
While exploring the narrow wooded valleys and buried trails of Glacier and the Bob, I won't have to futz with applying and removing skins, or flail and overexert my triceps when fishscale grip comes up short. I won't be wallowing in powder on showshoes, or quaking in terror 15 miles from the road at the top of a steep, fall line singletrack descent cut through dog-hair spruce. I'll have the perfect tool for single and multi-day trips into quiet places away from just about everything: other skiers, snowmachines, avalanche danger. As I write this, last winter's snow is a long way from melted, and much though I'll value dry trail backpacking, the Hoks are going a long way to get me excited for when the snow starts falling again.


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Stanford jolts Oregon and BCS race
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STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Stanford is a breeding ground for innovators and inventors, home to the ingenious and industrious.
So it's tempting to look at the Cardinal's 26-20 victory against No. 2 Oregon, their second straight victory against a team that has been otherwise unbeatable over the last two seasons, and credit No. 6 Stanford (8-1, 6-1 Pac-12) with coming up a with a blueprint to slow down the Ducks.
Stanford's plan is good, but its success against Oregon (8-1, 5-1) is built on talent and toughness as much as technique.
"I think they have a lot of good players. A lot of teams have played us very similar to how (Stanford) did and there have been different results," Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said Thursday night.
Stanford's powerful offensive line churned out yards in small to medium chunks. Tyler Gaffney ran 45 times for 157 yards. Stanford had 66 rushes for 274 yards, no gain longer than 16. The Cardinal held the ball for 42 1/2 minutes.
On defense, Stanford did a good job of limiting Oregon's big plays, got in the backfield, played off blocks well and stayed disciplined against the Ducks' option runs and play-action passes. The Cardinal caused two turnovers when Oregon was in Stanford territory. Linebacker Shayne Skov led the charge, along with defensive end Henry Anderson, who came back from a knee injury just in time to pick up the slack for the loss of senior Ben Gardner due to a chest injury. Defensive coordinator Derek Mason looks like a rising star.
"It's a combination of everything," Stanford coach David Shaw said. "I think we've got players that fit our scheme. We've got very, very good players. But you have to play. You have to play smart. These guys are good. They're dangerous, you know?"
Stanford led 26-0 early in the fourth quarter and seemed on the way to a dominating victory, but Oregon scored the final 20 to make Stanford sweat.
For team that seemed to be dominated for 50 minutes, Oregon was a handful of plays away for making this a very different game. Heisman Trophy contender Marcus Mariota underthrew a sure TD pass in the first quarter. A fourth-and-goal on the next drive resulted in no points. De'Anthony Thomas fumbled at the Stanford 2.
"We were close in so many regards whether it was an offensive mistake or special teams," Helfrich said. "So many things that added up to more points for them."
Stanford's win means as much to some other teams in the national championship race as it does to the Cardinal.
Here are five things to know about the BCS chase after Oregon's loss.
SEMINOLES SITTING PRETTY: No. 3 Florida State is looking good. The Seminoles were second in the BCS standings behind Alabama, but conventional wisdom was that Oregon, thanks to a Pac-12 schedule that is tougher than Florida State's Atlantic Coast Conference slate, would pass FSU. With Oregon out of the undefeated mix the race becomes between Florida State, Ohio State and Baylor. That's a race the Seminoles have a much better chance to win.
BEARS IN HUNT: Baylor isn't going away. That was not exactly a vintage Oklahoma team the Bears beat 41-12 in Waco, Texas, in Thursday's other spotlight game, but the Sooners are solid and Bryce Petty and high-scoring Baylor overwhelmed them. The Bears still have games against Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Texas. If they can get through unbeaten and do so with more lopsided victories, they'll have a nice resume to matchup against Florida State's.
BUCKEYES IN A BIND: Ohio State needs more help. The Buckeyes can blowout all the Big Ten foes they can, and it's still going to be hard for them to draw poll votes away from Florida State. It's not that the Big Ten is any worse than the ACC, but Florida State's impressive and easy victories against ranked Clemson and Miami, compared to Ohio State's close win against ranked Wisconsin will likely keep the Buckeyes behind the 'Noles if both keeping winning.
TOUGH ROAD: What about Stanford? The Pac-12 from top to bottom is very good, but losing to Utah will make it tough for the Cardinal to work their way into a BCS title game even if three of the top-four (Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State and Baylor) lose.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: And Alabama? Just win, baby. The Crimson Tide have no one to worry about but themselves, starting with No. 10 LSU on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa.
Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP


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A peek at the Greenwich market under $1 million
When looking for a house below the million-dollar mark in Greenwich, buyers have to act fast and confidently.
As of mid-April, there were 53 homes listed below the seven-figure mark in Greenwich, Weichert agent Drew Peterson said as he stood in the living room of one such house he is representing: a 1,700-square-foot three-bedroom ranch at 6 Buena Vista Drive.
The home listed for $875,000 just over a week ago and Peterson said it's already commanded a lot of interest. After an open house on Sunday, Peterson has a second showing lined up for late Tuesday afternoon, and said he expects the home to see a closing sometime in June. It may seem optimistic, given that it's usually about 45 days from an accepted offer to a closing, but that's the way Greenwich's "entry-level" market has been trending lately.
"The ones that are priced well and show well, they move very, very quickly," said Jennifer O'Connell of Raveis. She noted that her firm recently represented a home in that price range on Prospect Street, which received several offers after only a week on the market.
"Sometimes these gems do come up, and you just have to have an agent that keeps you aware of everything as it comes on the market," she said, running through a list of tips to help buyers land one of these unicorn properties. "It's good to be fast. The main thing is to be prepared and that's why your financing has to already be in line, ready to go. And of course, cash is king."
On Buena Vista, Peterson said the most likely buyer is a first-time buyer, possibly with a young family, or an empty-nester downsizing from a larger home.
"We have a lot of buyers that grew up in Greenwich and now they want to buy in town," said Peterson.
But while $1 million can buy something closer to a dream home in nearby places like Stamford, the dollars don't dance that way in Greenwich.
"The least expensive house on the market right now is in Pemberwick, and it's listed for $375,000," Peterson said. "It's 596 square feet. And when you look at what you can buy on a golf course in Myrtle Beach for $375,000 that's quite different. But you're not just buying a house; you're buying a community here."
He noted that people choose Greenwich on purpose, favoring low taxes, good schools and the brand name the town offers. So while someone could get a four-bedroom home in Stamford that's more than three times as large as the two-bedroom, one-bathroom at 28 Pemberwick Road for the same price, people often continue their hunt in Greenwich.
Across town, there's a lot of variation among the single-family homes listed below $1 million. The Pemberwick house is both the cheapest on the market and the smallest, but when all 53 homes are factored in, the average house size is 1,711 square feet and the average price falls at $754,000, according to data from Weichert.
And affordability and size shift significantly depending on what part of town you're looking in. Byram, with 10, has the most houses listed for less than $1 million; Glenville, Cos Cob, Central Greenwich and Pemberwick follow with nine each; in Riverside there are only two properties, and in Old Greenwich there are five.
"A lot of the market below $1 million, the better values are on the west side of town, versus Riverside or Old Greenwich, where the average price point is a little higher," Peterson said.
The average price of a six-figure home in Riverside is $704,000, compared to $610,000 in Pemberwick. But regardless of where someone is able to find a six-figure home in town, Peterson said the best plan of action is to act quickly.
"They don't stay on the market for long at all," he said.
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text:
1. VPL 'Stripe b stretch cotton soft cup bra and briefs'
2. Aubin & Wills 'Linwood striped cotton tank'
i love stripes.
3. Current/ Elliott 'The boyfriend mid-rise rigid denim shorts'
awesome color shorts.
4. Oliver Peoples 'Emelita frame acetate sunglasses'
oliver peoples sure knows how to make some banging sunnies.
5. Masterpiece 'Backpack'
reminds me of those mexican ponchos. love the backpack version.
6. Modcloth 'Thoroughly modern musician headphones in pool'
how cool are these?!
7. Nars 'Nail polish in schiap'
the perfect fuschia.
8. Forever 21 'Polka dot brush set'
9. Basil Bangs 'Le pixel umbrella'
i'd be the coolest girl on the beach for sure.
10. Forever 21 'Blotting paper with stripe case'
such a cute case for blotting paper. oily skin = no no. this = yes yes.
11. H&M 'Hair comb headband in black'
day at the beach = crazy hair day. let's tame it with this!
12. Benefit 'High beam highlighter'
my most favorite thing in the world ever!!! gives you the most awesome dewy-glowy skin.
13. Forever 21 'Hydrating lipstick in rose'
i've never seen this in the store - but such a pretty color.
14. Forever 21 'Rhinestone crowded gem ring'
faux costume rings = win.
15. Portel Etsy Shop 'iPhone/ iPod touch retro modern pearl leather wallet sleeve'
love this! perfect for the beach when you don't want to carry too much.
party town. gorgeous party town. sounds like my deal.
so massively gorgeous.
wow, i can totally understand why elizabeth gilbert had an 'eat, pray, love' moment here!
planning a trip to miami this year. white sand beaches ftw!
no, i don't only want to go here because the ladies of 'the real housewives of new york' went here. also, please don't mock me for watching 'the real housewives of new york.'
gosh, i'd love to explore egypt. such awesome history!
what is this?!!? can't help but stare at it forever!
picturesque doesn't begin to describe this...
sure looks lover-ly.


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The License fee is $30 payable by cash, check, debit or credit card ($1.50 service fee will apply if using a card). Visa, MasterCard and Discover cards are accepted.
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1. Cable-ready TV that has a "clear qam" tuner built in.
2. Coaxial Video Cable: Coax cables are available for purchase at many stores that sell electronics. Buy a cable that has a screw-on connector. Cables that utilize push-on connectors often do not make good connections and can cause "breakups" in your TV programs.
1. Screw one end of your video cable into the threaded coax jack on the cable television wall plate. Screw the other end into the appropriate coax connector on your TV. If your set-up only includes a TV, make sure your video cable runs from the wall jack to the IN or ANTENNA jack on your TV.
If your set-up consists of a TV and a DVD/VCR, make sure your video cable runs between the wall jack and the IN or ANTENNA jack on your DVD/VCR. Next, make sure you have a second cable running from the OUT jack on the DVD/VCR to the IN or ANTENNA jack on your TV. Please see the manufacturer's instructions for proper set-up, as ResNet will only provide support for the connection between a TV and the wall jack.
2.Your TV tuner should be set to CABLE or CATV. You can check this by accessing the setup menu on your TV.
Make sure you have run the auto-program feature in order for your TV to search for and memorize all of the available cable channels.
We recommend that you bring the manual and any remote controls that came with your TV since the setup menus on many TV's can only be accessed via the remote control.
Can't receive anything above channel 13 OR you only receive channels 2-36.Your TV may not be configured to receive a CATV signal (review set-up notes above). You should also run the auto-program feature on your TV to search for all available cable channels.
Snowy or no picture on all channels.Cable is connected to the wrong connector on your TV (review set-up notes above). Plug your coax cable into another jack in your room. If this solves the problem, contact the GSU HelpDesk 708.534.HELP (4357) to arrange for repairs of the defective jack. If this doesn't solve the problem, try using a different coax cable and test your connection.
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text:
I've left this blog sit in silence for longer than I intended.
I can't even begin to tell you how many times I sat on the couch with computer on my lap hoping for the words to float from my head to the screen. And they could very well have if there were any words in my head.
You see, my dear loyal readers, I am a very tired girl. Summer, as with many people, is a VERY busy time for us. My husband is a wedding photographer (a very fine one I might add) and seeing that in this beautifully green part of the world where I reside only has about 3 months of sunny weather – the wedding season is short – that is if you want the sun to be a guest at your wedding.
So he is gone a lot and I am left to be the other knight in my 3 year old son's sword fights or the constant book reader to my adorably sweet 1 year old. We have fun but at the end of the day, when they've gone to bed, I plop on the couch, let out a sigh and only get up to crawl into bed – and sometimes not even then.
Oh yeah and then there is the other draining/exciting matter of house buying. We are mere days away from closing on a new home then the madness of the move begins. And I couldn't be more excited to set up my home, unpack my dishes, roast a chicken in my oven, plan a new garden (a very small one) and eat pizza at Delancey which is just a hop, skip and a jump away.
My silence has nothing to do with lack of great recipes to share with you. In fact today I couldn't be more excited to talk about Creamed Corn. But really I just need to get right to it because corn is fleeting and Fall is coming.
Creamed Corn was a delightful and welcomed addition to our dinner plates growing up. To this day my oldest brother drools at the mention of this sweet and creamy side dish. Our creamed corn, like many, always came from a can. We didn't care. It was a vegetable that was as sweet as dessert.
I haven't had creamed corn since the days when Ken and Barbie were my best friends but inspiration hit in the form of a New York Times article on a non-canned version of a childhood favorite.
Begin with six ears of fresh corn. Remove their hair and give them a shave using a corn zipper – a one purpose tool that I never thought I would have in my kitchen until it was given to me, but I have to say I a new found respect for this tool as it has come in handy on many occasions. If you don't have a corn zipper you can use a vegetable peeler. You'll have to make several passes to get all the kernels off but you'll get more of the sweet "milk" of the corn this way as opposed to using a pairing knife.
Place your shaved corn in a pot with 1/2 cup heavy cream, 2 cloves sliced garlic and salt and pepper. Let this simmer until the corn is tender and the cream has reduced by about half – this will take about 10 minutes.
At this point I used an immersion blender to break up the kernels a bit to give it a similar texture to that of what I remember was served to me from the can.
Just before serving I added finely sliced fresh basil.
If this were a cooking show this would be the point where I would take a bite, close my eyes and make nearly pornographic noises to illustrate to you exactly how ridiculously good this dish is. Something to the affect of mmmmm, ohhhhh, mmhmmm. Yes.
I think you get my point.
Without any sugar this corn was as sweet as the canned version but the richness of the cream and the fresh taste of the basil matured this classic comfort dish.
Please try it. Quick before the corn is gone and squash takes its place.


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checking sonication using chelex and agarose gel (View forum version)
Posted 16 November 2010 - 03:13 AM
I have a basic fundamental question relating to checking the size of shearing using the chelex purification method described in the fast ChIP protocol.
If the DNA purified by this method is mostly single stranded DNA will this not run differently on an agarose gel? Is it not difficult to tell the size of the shearing in samples prepared this way? Any help understanding this would be extremely well received.
Posted 16 November 2010 - 07:39 AM
Posted 16 November 2010 - 08:28 AM
I am looking to do ChIP-seq, but only want to use the chelex method to speed up my quantification of shearing step. So, if it cannot acurately tell me the size of my sonicated chromatin it is pretty useless to me. From what you say I guess I'll have to try traditional and chelex in parallel and work out what size smear with chelex coresponds to the correct smear determined with o/n cross-link reversal.
Posted 16 November 2010 - 08:42 AM
Spin sheared chromatin down at 14,000xg for 10min
Take 100ul of sheared sample & combine with 200ul 1.5X Szak's Crosslink Reversal Buffer
Incubate 1hr @ 100C
Let cool and add 20ug ProK, incubate at 57C for 1hr
Extract once with Phenol:Chloroform. Transfer 250ul to a new tube
Add 10ug glycogen, 1/10vol NaAcetate, and 2.5vol ice cold EtOH
Spin at max speed at 4C for 20min
Wash pellet with ice cold 70%EtOH
Resuspend pellet in 60ul Tris pH8
Load 40 and 20ul on a 1.2% agarose gel
Posted 16 November 2010 - 08:45 AM
Posted 17 November 2010 - 01:59 AM
I'll give it a try. Dont want to appear ignorant but what is Szak's crosslink reversal buffer? Do you have the recipe by any chance?
Posted 17 November 2010 - 04:28 AM
Posted 17 November 2010 - 09:31 AM
the semi-fast (faster than traditional) reverse cross-link I perform may help combine speed and accuracy:
Spin sheared chromatin down at 14,000xg for 10min
Take 100ul of sheared sample & combine with 200ul 1.5X Szak's Crosslink Reversal Buffer
Incubate 1hr @ 100C
Let cool and add 20ug ProK, incubate at 57C for 1hr
Extract once with Phenol:Chloroform. Transfer 250ul to a new tube
Add 10ug glycogen, 1/10vol NaAcetate, and 2.5vol ice cold EtOH
Spin at max speed at 4C for 20min
Wash pellet with ice cold 70%EtOH
Resuspend pellet in 60ul Tris pH8
Load 40 and 20ul on a 1.2% agarose gel
Now that I'm using different cell types I'm noticing the same thing you did, that boiling in chelex is insufficient for reversal of crosslinking if you want to check sizes of DNA fragments on a gel, even though it still works fine for PCR.
I just looked at the reverse crosslinking buffer in Szak's paper and I'm curious what your yield is using it. I would have expected the low pH (6.8) would cause nicking of the DNA. We were never able to get amplifiable PCR product when boiling in pHs below 8-8.5 and didn't get anywhere near 100% yield unless the pH was above 9.8. I always assumed this was because the DNA was getting badly nicked.
Posted 18 November 2010 - 12:32 PM
I have seen a difference in a side by side comparison using Chelex vs. regular de-crosslinking and extraction. THe Chelex method usually gives me larger fragment sizes than when I use the more traditional method, but it doesn't worry me, ChIP using the Chelexed material works great for qPCR and since I did a side by side comparison I know for example that a 1-2kb Chelex smear = a 300-1000bp traditional smear. I am not exactly sure why though. Maybe you get partially hybridized DNA concatamers so your DNA length looks longer than it actually is? Or it could be that the reverse cross-linking just leaves a greater peptide content in the sample and that abrogates the DNA migration in the gel? I'm not really sure though.
Posted 18 November 2010 - 01:32 PM
I agree that the DNA is probably being nicked during using Szak's reverse crosslink buffer. I wouldn't be inclined to use that buffer on ChIPed DNA, just solely for checking the DNA fragment length. I wonder if the Beta-ME in the buffer can protect from the nicking? Nevertheless, the Chelex works great for ChIP and I will continue to use it for that but using Szaks Buffer is a nice compromise for me to get the speed and accuracy for DNA fragment analysis. I am using MEFs in my ChIPs right now.......just thought I'd throw that in for comparison since you were experiencing the Chelex issue in other cell types. As far as the DNA yield it's hard to compare since I only use around 20ul when i was using Chelex to check the DNA fragment size. But with Szaks I get plenty of DNA to check the fragment sizes.......I always load 40 and 20ul on a gel just to make sure i don't overload the gel.
Posted 18 November 2010 - 01:49 PM
side by side is always the way to go and it sounds like you don't have to much of a discrepancy in size so I wouldn't worry too much........unless you have to have small fragments. I am surprised that you get frags below 200bp.......I can never seem to get mine below 300 unless I really blast my chromatin during the shearing step. From what KPDE says it seems like Chelex may be more sensitive to certain cell types. MEFs, which I work with, have high DNA density, so maybe the DNA is associated to a greater degree with protein that makes it resistant to traditional ProK/Chelex treatment..........maybe if I ProK treated or chelexed my DNA for an hour as opposed to 30 min for the ProK and 20 min for the Chelex I would see the same results as I see using Szaks.
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text: Greetings, Following some work at hac-phi, I've finally put together a new release of vector-algorithms. It should now be available via hackage, or you can pull from code.haskell.org if you prefer: hackage: http://hackage.haskell.org/package/vector-algorithms/ latest: darcs get http://code.haskell.org/~dolio/vector-algorithms/ The highlights of the new release are as follows: - Some bit rot in the test suite has been fixed - Some strictness has been added to the merge sort to improve unboxing on current GHCs - A couple out-of-bounds errors have been caught and fixed - An entirely new sort---American flag sort---has been added to the line-up * American flag sort is an in-place bucket sort, which only uses a constant amount of auxiliary heap space (determined by the element type). And unlike a typical radix sort, it is actually suitable for sorting arrays of variable-length (O(1) lookup) strings. To this end, there is a (strict) ByteString instance for the relevant class, and possibly more such instances to come. Bug reports, patches, requests, etc. can be sent to me at this address. Enjoy, -- Dan


text:
December 30
The Circumference of Peace 2007
By Marsh Chapel
Sounds of Nativity
If we listen with the ears of the heart, the sounds of Christmas may just envelop us. And heal us.
A cough, Joseph turning.
A shuffle, Shepherds moving.
A murmur, a shudder, a shake.
Cattle, lowing.
The crisp crackle of hard soil, snow and ice, under foot.
Distant laughter, ribald and rough, out from the inn.
And Mary. Mary. Her yawn, her sigh, her song, her cry.
If we listen with the ears of the heart, the whole creation sings in ecumenical chorus, and the sounds of Christmas heal us by enveloping us in a circle of peace, whose circumference is without measure. Without measure…
You know, our time, and world and culture are fixed on limits. We lean more on what we can count, than on what we can count on. Christmas inquires about our sense of limits.
Limited Atonement
For instance, one great old Christian teacher was John Calvin. He produced no carols, by the way. For the Songs of Christmas we depend on others, like John and Charles Wesley. Yet while Calvin may not have capaciously explored the nativity, and while we may object to his narrowed and straitened theological perspective (total depravity, unmerited salvation, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints), he may have provided us with a distant mirror in which to see ourselves. Especially his thought about limited peace, limited salvation, health, mercy, atonement.
Oh, we talk a good game about God's limitless love…Yet…
Our lips may not acclaim limited atonement, but our habits of being do. Health care, for all or for some? Limited medical atonement. Good education (with books, safety, discipline, respect), for all or for some? Limited educational atonement. Employment (most people just need a job and a home), for all or for some? Limited vocational atonement. Heavenly hope, for all or for some? Limited spiritual atonement. We do tend to live and move and have our being as if the very temporary distinctions we so prize had, somehow, a lasting life.
A Broad Peace
Here is a Christmas pronouncement of a broad peace, on earth. On earth. With Ghandi along the Ganges. Beside Tutu on the southern cape. Along the path of the Dalai Lama in farthest Tibet. In Tegucigalpa with Lynn Baker. This is no Calvinist quietism, which so suddenly has taken over non-Catholic American Christianity, from its seedbeds in the Orthodox Presbyterian and Anabaptist communions: cold, careful, efficient, first mile, changeless, fearsome, depressed. No, this is Christmas: warm, open, effective, second mile, free, growing, angry, and hopeful! I remember Augustine's proverb. Hope has two beautiful daughters: anger and courage.
A Tale of Two Tales
The early church told two stories about Jesus. The first about his death. The second about his life. The first, about the cross, is the older and more fundamental. The second, about the manger, is the key to the meaning of the first, the eyeglasses which open full sight of the first, the code with which to decipher the first.
Jesus died on a cross for our sin according to the Scripture. That is the first story. How we handle this story, later in the year, come Lent and Easter, is a perilous and serious responsibility, given the myth of redemptive violence in which so much of our national and global thinking is now enmeshed. This morning, wee do light a candle, light a candle, for our Pakistani siblings, in the hour of Ms. Bhutto's tragic, unnecessary death. We wail with them, even as Rachel and others wailed long ago. Peace and preemption have no common ground. Violence that is preemptive, unilateral, reckless and unforeseeable, in any direction, by any hand, has no lasting future. You cannot make a world on such a premise. Global warming is indeed a threat. But so, and more so, is global arming. Especially this week we have every reason to recall that we will have no world, no world worthy of the name, if I legitimately may attack you merely on the basis of what I imagine or fear you might do.
The first story, the death story, the story of Jesus' death, another season's work, needs careful, careful handling. Today I might briefly say again what I have said to you recently: Remember that it is not the passion of Christ that defines the Person of Christ, but the Person who defines the passion. Remember that it is not the suffering that bears the meaning, but the meaning that bears the suffering…that it is not the cross that carries the love but the love that carries the cross…that it is not crucifixion that encompasses salvation, but salvation that encompasses even the tragedy of crucifixion… and that it is not the long sentence of Holy week, with all its phrases, dependent clauses and semi-colons that completes the gospel, but it is the punctuation after seven days, the last mark of the week to come in 168 hours, whether it be the exclamation point of Peter, the full stop period of Paul or the question mark of Mary—Easter defines Holy Week, and not the other way around. The resurrection follows but not replace the cross, for sure. Still, it is also true that the cross precedes but does not overshadow the resurrection. It is Life that has the last word.
Later in the year we shall return to story one. At Christmas, we listen for story two, the stor
y of Jesus' life, the story of Jesus.
Who was Jesus? What life did his death complete? How does his word heal our hurt? And how does all this accord with Scripture? One leads to the other.
This second, second level story begins at Christmas, and is told among us to interpret the first. Christmas is meant to make sure that the divine love is not left only to the cross, or only to heaven. Christmas in a violent world is meant to remind us, all of us, that you do not need to hate the world in order to love God. Here is the single greatest divide between liberalism and fundamentalism. Alf Landon said, "I can be a liberal and not be a spendthrift". We might say, "I can be a Christian and not hate the world around". Christmas is meant to open out a whole range of Jesus, as brother, teacher, healer, young man, all. Christmas is meant to provide the mid-course correction that might be needed if all we had was Lent. And the Christmas images are the worker bees in this theological hive. Easter may announce the power of peace, but Christmas names the place of peace. Jesus died the way he did because he lived the way he did. Jesus lived the way he did so that he could die the way he did. That is, it is not only the Passion of Christ, but the Peace of Christ, too, which Christians like you affirm. What good news for us at the end of 2007! Such a passionate year we have had. Theologically, culturally, politically, militarily, ecclesiastically —we have exuded passion this year. Now comes Christmas again to announce that there is more to Jesus than passion. There is the matter of peace as well.
New Creation
With great effort, the ancient writers join the God of Creation with the God of Redemption. The coming of the Savior does not limit the divine care to the story of redemption, but weaves the account of redemption into the fabric of creation. There is more to the Gospel than the cross. The ancient writers sense this and say it with gusto: angels to locate heavenly peace on earth; shepherds to locate peace on ordinary earth; kings to empower the sense of peace on earth; a poor mother to locate physically the Prince of Peace in the womb of earth. The location of peace is earth, and its circumference is without limit. God's Christ is without limit.
There are many rooms in this mansion. In the OT, as translated into Greek long ago, Christ referred to Cyrus the King of Persia, who at last freed the Jews from their bondage in Babylon. 'The Christ of God' later Isaiah calls King Cyrus.
Then Christ meant the messianic conqueror who would bring apocalyptic cataclysm, the end of things as we know it, the reconstitution of Israel, and the reign of God–the main wellspring of hope for those breathing and sweating in Jesus' day, including Jesus.
Christians then began to use the term to refer to Jesus, as sometimes we do, meaning that man who spoke Aramaic, rode a donkey, recited the Psalms thinking David wrote them all, walked only in Palestine, never married, and was crucified for blasphemy or treason or both.
A while later Christ, in Paul, becomes the instrument of God's incursion into the world, to recreate the world, and is known in the cross and the resurrection.
Still later, when the Gospel writers pick up the story, Christ is the Risen Lord, preached by Paul, and narrated by unknown silent ghost writers who somehow put together the story of his earthly ministry, always spoken as a resurrection account, and always seen, if seen, in light of Easter.
John takes another trail, in the telling of the Christ, because for John none of the above really matters at all, save that Christ reveals God–wherever and whenever there is way, truth or life, there is Christ.
Still later, and drawing on all the above and more, the church fathers–early Christian writers–painstakingly and painfully tried to fit all this into neo-platonic thought, involving natures and persons, the human and the divine, the seen and the unseen, and described Christ in creeds, perhaps best and for sure first in the Apostles' Creed–only Son, Lord. Most of the options then have been laid out by 325ad or so, to be regularly and fitfully retried and rehearsed into our time.
Even John Calvin, God bless his unhappy being, could write that we really can't say, definitively, where Christ, as Lord, begins or ends. Is Christ only in the Methodist Church? Or only in the south? Or only in Christianity? Or only in America? Or only in religion? Or only in this world? Or only in the church of Rome? Or only in Bible believing churches? Or only in worship? Let us allow all the absolutists their absolute Absolution–absolutely!–Christ is the Absolute. Story one. But then, in the end, we also have to ask, Where is Christ? Leo Tolstoy wrote a Christmas Story about this once. "Where Love is, Christ is". Story two.
The lovely decorated Christmas tree in your living room, with its natural grace adorned by symbolic beauty, is meant to connect the God of Creation with the God of Redemption. The story of Jesus the Christ is as wide and large and limitless, limitless, as the story of light throughout all creation.
Once we visited in the home of a friend whose lovely tree sported a particularly wonderful ornamentation. Oh, he had placed upon the boughs the more usual collection of angels, bulbs, lights, tinsel and all. But here and there, slowly illuminating and slowly darkening, there were five lighthouses. I had never seen a lighthouse as an ornament. As we shared life and faith in the living room, the slowly illuminating and slowly darkening lighthouses, all five, caught my imagination. With Wesley we affirm five means of grace, ever available, and savingly so, amid
the branches and brambles of life. Prayer: as close as breath. Sacraments: in the closest church, weekday and Sunday. Scripture: take and read, read and remember, remember and recite. Fasting: we might say walking, exercise, attention to discipline and diet. Christian conversation: a word spoken and heard that just may be healing enough to be true, or true enough to bring healing. Even in a sermon on the Sunday after Christmas.
An Invitation
At Christmas we can remember. We are humans before we are lovers. We are lovers before we are Christians. We are Christians before we are Protestants. We are Protestants before we are lovers. Are we lovers anymore? Where love is, Christ is.
If we listen with the ear of faith, the whole creation sings in ecumenical chorus, and the sounds of Christmas heal us by enveloping us in a circle of peace, whose circumference is without measure.
A circle with an unlimited circumference inevitably includes…you. You may decide today to lead a Christian life. To worship every Sunday. To pray every morning. To tithe every dollar. To take up the way of peace, by loving and giving. You may decide upon this path this morning. Do.
The birth of Christ is for you.
His way of life is for you.
His manner of obedience is for you.
His church is open to you.
His happiness is for you.
His love is for you.
His death is for you.
His life is for you.
His discipline is for you .
You see, you really did get a special gift this Christmas!
If we listen with imaginative ears, the sounds of Christmas envelop us and heal us.
A cough, Joseph turning.
A shuffle, Shepherds moving.
A murmur, a shudder, a shake.
Cattle, lowing.
The crisp crackle of hard soil, snow and ice, under foot.
Distant laughter, ribald and rough, out from the inn.
And Mary. Her yawn, her sigh, her song, her cry.


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Posted: Sun, 2017-03-12 01:36
Let's do a reality check
Who's here and from where?
I'm here, from Odense in Denmark.
Posted: Sun, 2017-03-12 01:36
Let's do a reality check
Who's here and from where?
I'm here, from Odense in Denmark.
Posted: Sun, 2017-03-12 19:06
I'm on board as well from Aarhus! I still check the good old website frequently.
- Rasmus
Today I woke up screaming...!
Posted: Sun, 2017-03-19 13:52
Still here, still my startpage.
Because love cools and friends drift apart
Too old to be shy but I wonder what to say
- After I said: Hi!
Posted: Thu, 2017-03-23 04:30
Still here in Brisbane Australia. Cheers.
I went for the police
but they were all over town..
Posted: Tue, 2017-03-28 17:47
Here.. From Struer
Posted: Fri, 2017-03-31 18:44
Still alive and well...
Greets from Kiel,Germany
Tina,we met years ago at the Roxy in Flensburg,what a hot and sweaty show!
Hoping that it brings a smile
on everybody´s vacant face
Posted: Sun, 2017-04-02 13:45
Still alive after almost 18 years of on/off activity.
From Pederstrup, Denmark
If you want to be missed - then go away...
And some very wise words:
Man with feet on ground, cannot put on shoes
...I'm a GoldFish on a table..
Posted: Fri, 2017-04-21 08:29
Hi everybody.
I'm from Moscow, Russia.
I don't check this section so often because of little activity in here.
Posted: Wed, 2017-05-17 05:07
I'm here from time to time. Hello from the US.
Posted: Mon, 2017-05-22 13:04
"They call you faumos, and people think you're insane.."
Posted: Thu, 2017-05-25 16:14
Still here.
Life in canaD-A-D
Posted: Mon, 2017-06-12 20:21
No other place to go.
Tampere, Finland.
Posted: Mon, 2017-07-17 18:59
I'm still here! From Århus.
Fan since christmas 2004.
Fav. song - Evil Twin
Fav. album - Scare Yourself


text:
D'von Marks (Feat. Samir's Theme) - Tell The Massive [Unsigned Hype]
": A possessed-deranged D'von Marks tells the
massive on Suzie's prostitutional ways.
Booking Contact: Richie Bucks - 646.719.3020
Twitter: @dvonmarks"
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


text:
How I was Murdered by a Fox Monster, by M.C.Queen
Daisuke Matsumoto here! I see you picked up my book. I knew you would because its awesome, inspirational, life changing, and its all about me!
Let's start from the beginning. I was adopted by an old man who named me after his dead son, creepy right? He used to tell me stories of monsters who pose and animals and attack humans, also known as Obake. I thought he made it all up to scare me, but I just met a group of exorcists who confirmed my worst fear, Obake are real! If that wasn't enough to freak me out I discovered Grandpa was up to some shady stuff, Sis has secrets stashed away, and any hot chick could be a monster plotting to rip my insides out.
God must hate me, because I don't know my own past, my real name, and……Akito? Hey, what's up with the knife Akito?


text:
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text:
Jimmie Johnson
Sponsored By
NASCAR's Jimmie Johnson Set For Final Fontana Start SundayThe seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion is hoping to add one more incredible memory in his final start at Fontana.
Musicians + Sports: Chase Rice On NFL Dreams And NASCAR Victories With Jimmie Johnson"The NFL was a very, very attainable goal," the country music star and former North Carolina Tar Heels linebacker revealed during the exclusive video interview.
15 Hottest NASCAR Wives And GirlfriendsESPN/ABC is coming under fire this week after using a split screen during the nail-biting end of the Indy 500 showing Helio Castroneves' galpal instead of the race. He, um, ultimately lost by the way. So that got us thinking which NASCAR Drivers have WAGs who are split screen worthy?
Sports Verdict: Should NASCAR Drivers Be Considered True Athletes?In the wake of Jimmie Johnson securing his 6th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship, Donovan McNabb expressed his belief that NASCAR drivers are not true athletes. Is he out of line, or is this type of racing in no way a sport?
NASCAR Preview: Don't Give Jimmie Johnson The Title Just YetBefore anyone engraves Johnson's name on the Sprint Cup, a little history lesson is needed. While it has been proven that Johnson can win titles, he has also shown that he can lose them.
Harvick Passes J.J. On Final Turn To Win At FontanaKevin Harvick passed California king Jimmie Johnson on the final turn to win his first race of the season Sunday at Auto Club Speedway.


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There are the acupressure points for relieving High Blood Pressure. Working on these points can help you get better quicker. You do not have to use all of these points. Using just one or two of them whenever you have a free hand can be effective.
It's important to drink plenty of warm water after the massage, to help clear away toxic substances in our body.
Caution: If you have a serious illness, or life-threatening illness such as heart disease, or cancer, please consult with your physician before practicing Acupressure.


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Those tuned into the Golden Globes Sunday night may have noticed that host Ricky Gervais mysteriously disappeared for about an hour during the awards ceremony.
No, the British "Office" star was not fired midway through show, despite his harsh witticisms. But that didn't stop rumors from spreading on Twitter as viewers mocked his lengthy absence.
"I did every single introduction I was meant to," Gervais said in a statement to Mediaite after speculation about his absence in the press. "There just happened to be a long gap. This is because I was allowed to choose who I would introduce in advance. I obviously chose presenters who I had the best jokes for. (And who I knew had a good sense of humour). Everyone took it well and the atmosphere backstage and at the after show was great."
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
New CNN host Piers Morgan set the tune to a conversation during the Golden Globes on Twitter, writing "Gervais not seen for an hour now. #whatthehellhappened."
Others speculated that the outspoken Golden Globes host got drunk, was kidnapped by Scientologists after mocking them onstage, or was fired before the show concluded. Some went so far to begin hashtag "#RIPRickyGervais."
"Others have joked but I think it is getting to the point where it may be true... did HFPA fire Gervais midway through the show??" tweeted Hollywood publicist Lewis Kay.
Gervais had teased the past few weeks that his last year hosting the 'Globes was going to end with a bang. But many of his quips had celebrities shocked and gaping.
"It's going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking," began Gervais in the show. "Or, as Charlie Sheen calls it, breakfast."
No one was immune to Gervais' scathing tongue. The actor took stabs at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for allegedly accepting bribes, called Bruce Willis "Ashton Kutcher's dad," and was relentless in attacking the "Sex and the City" leading ladies.
"There were a lot of big films that didn't get nominated this year, nothing for 'Sex and the City 2.'" Gervais quipped. "No, I was sure the Golden Globe for special effects would go to the team that airbrushed that poster. Girls, we know how old you are."
But after that mysterious hour, Gervais did come back. Morgan said that he looked "haunted" upon his return and already had his first question ready for his CNN interview scheduled to air 9 p.m. this Thursday.
"1st question when Gervais appears on @pierstonight on Thurs -- what the hell did they do to you backstage for an hour?" Morgan tweeted.
But the British comic batted down the rumors and came out with a response early.
Selected Reading: The Hollywood Reporter, Mediaite, Piers Morgan Twitter Page


text:
Barbour Testifies, July 24, 1997
27 min VXtreme streaming video
Former Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour appears before the Senate Governmental Affairs committee to testify on his role in Republican fund-raising.
The Barbour testimony:
VXtreme plug-ins for Windows 95, Windows NT, Power Macintosh, and Solaris are currently available. A helper app for Windows 3.1 will be available soon.
Copyright © 1997 AllPolitics All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this information is provided to you.


text:
Dear Journalists, Donations Are Not 'State Money'
Oklahoma has just joined the ranks of a half‐dozen other states by enacting a K-12 education tax credit program. Under the new program, individuals or businesses that donate to non‐profit School Tuition Organizations receive a tax cut worth 50 percent of the donation. STOs then use the funds to help low income families afford private schooling.
Journalists for the Associated Press and countless other media outlets routinely refer to donations made under education tax credit programs as "state money." According to the United States Supreme Court's recent ACSTO v. Winn decision, "that is incorrect." This is a matter of settled law. To call these private donations "state money" is to misrepresent the facts and mislead readers.
It would be bad enough if the journalists and wire services misrepresenting these programs were simply unaware that they were distorting the facts, but in at least some cases they continue to do so even after having been apprized of their error. Brandon Dutcher, vice president for policy at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, wrote to the AP last week to correct their earlier erroneous coverage. He received no reply and the errors continue.
I never cease to be amazed by this kind of behavior from an industry that is clinging for its life. The purpose of journalism is to apprize customers of the facts. Demonstrating indifference to the facts cannot be good for business.


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- Film Release Date : 2012-10-18
- Languages spoken : English
- Film Note : -movie_rating-
- Duration of movie : 101
- Movie Genre : Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller,
- Status : Released
- Original title : Alex Cross
- Vote Count : 98
- Societies of production : QED International
- Tagline : Don't Ever Cross Alex Cross
- Youtube Id : -youtube_id-
- Average rate : 5.5
- Tyler Perry Character (Dr. Alex Cross)
- Rachel Nichols Character (Monica Ashe)
- Jean Reno Character (Leon Mercier)
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- John C. McGinley Character (Richard Brookwell)
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- Stephanie Jacobsen Character (Fan Yau)
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What the Heart wants – and what the Heart needs- can be found in each Fabio Napoleoni painting. Nostalgia, sorrow and moments that lift the soul are all there for the world to see and experience along with him. The vivid colors and captivating characters invite you into an emotional ride that is welcomed by the mind and the heart all created by Fabio Napoleoni. Simple landscapes set the stage to the value of emotional attachment that can be compared to no other. Influences from some of this century's greatest artists are hard to find in his pieces, but are drenched deep in the fabric of what puts a Fabio Napoleoni painting together.
Many events influenced Fabios' artwork but none more than the traumatic events that followed the birth of his second child. His daughter, born with major heart abnormalities, had to face several surgeries to correct issues that could prevent her from having a future. Overwhelmed with his daughter's issues and surrounded by an emotional sea of sorrow from other parents in the same situation, Fabio grew. While his wife and daughter slept, Fabio wondered the halls of the Children's Care Unit looking for a spot where he could sketch out his personal thoughts. From these thoughts a new form of creativity was born. The doors to Fabio Napoleoni's heart were now opened for the world to experience.
It took a traumatic experience for Fabio Napoleoni to realize what he was missing in his work . . . emotion. He had all the ingredients to create but none that captivated the soul. With his new ideas and old sketches in hand Fabio added the last ingredient needed . . . emotional experience.
You can add Napoleoni's heart-tugging art work to your collection by contacting our local art galleries, located in both Irvine and Laguna Beach. Featuring the work of dozens of today's artists, Village Gallery is the top choice for art among California art collectors.