This is an amazing collection that offers a rare glimpse into the early days of mountaineering. Check it out at www.bentleybeetham.org

The Library of Congress has released a gang of historical photos on Flickr. You can easily waste a day or two sifting through the pile, but at least it is patriotic procrastination.

Collins, Marjory,, 1912-1985,, photographer.

Rockefeller Plaza, exhibit [for] United Nations by OWI, New York, N.Y. Between photographic displays is [the] Atlantic charter in frame with transmitters at each end and where voices of Roosevelt, Churchill and Chiang Kai-Shek are heard each half hour; surrounded by statues of the four freedoms.

www.flickr.com

for the second straight holiday season i headed south for a couple of weeks. somewhere down near venzuela there's a little island called bonaire.

never did find the damned rental car. pretty sure i was taken for the proverbial "ride."

on dec 27 cargo ships cruise over and unload shipping containers chocked full of fireworks; for which i have a slight penchant. so we roam through the neighborhoods perusing the wares.

sometimes i think i should go into the fireworks naming business. clearly china could use a little help.

somewhere in the middle of the evening we stopped off for a cold one. ladyfriend and i in the barrio enjoying what was easily the worst guinness i've ever tasted in my life. though i will grant it was ice cold.

last year my mother showed her skills at price negotiation. with $75 in her hand she asked the cost of her selection of fireworks. the clever bonairian behind the counter replied, "$75." this year she handed the cash to me.

while special lady and i laughed about the imaginative name of a pack of explosive chickens, mom added her choice to the ante.

i assume she didn't read the name.

setting for the pre-NYE festivies involving sparklers, a case of beer and champagne(not shown - but i'm sure you can imagine).

inhibitions lubed. armed to the teeth. let's blow something up. on with the show....

whatever you do, don't look directly into the trap

in fact it’s cold as hell.

don’t let the apparent supernova atop the hill mislead you.

think i caught a glimpse of will shatner yesterday. he was working the gears and levers behind the great oz curtain in my head imploring me to boldly go…somewhere. or maybe it was a trick of shadow and light cast from a looming lift tower.

either way my knack for getting into situations where i have little to no idea what i’m doing is at an all time high. in the last 6 months i moved in with a woman, have a pet cat and took my first ride down a slope on a board.

thinking back on last year, my PMW hopes were set pretty high. visions of a tour de midwest-podunk-icy sheety-river bluff ski areas - Iowa, Illinois, ‘Sconsin, Minnesota and the ever exotic “Show Me State,” Misery. my only day out amounted to saucer sledding down a playground snow plow pile with a 5 year old during StuporBowl halftime. i can’t recall standing on a decent hillside since somewhere in the 05 to 06 transition. what better time to do something stupid?

zero hour…9 am (though noon was more realistic)…rock…it…man. snow day at the middlebury college snow bowl. on borrowed time and borrowed equipment with an equally novice accomplice i made a stab at riding a board. Ffar too late for fresh fluff but i wouldn’t be able to handle it anyway. been a long time since i felt so uncoordinated. the taste of snow has always been overrated.

channeling the saguaro cactus staved off little cold

i’ll neither rant nor rave the experience. i’m sore. though not where advertised. i did catch air. but i doubt catching an edge and flying headlong toward a lift tower counts. there may have been applause from passers-by above.

all in all i’ll take the challenge again.

boards-eye view. boots and board courtesy becks