Friday, January 29, 2010

Sunny Day. Empty Mountain

I went skiing earlier this week for the first time this year. It's been a pretty crappy snow year, here in Utah but we finally got some decent storms last week and let me tell ya, Monday was one hell of a day to hit the mountain.



I filmed a few clips from the chair lift and a few of the easier trails with my iPhone. Then I downloaded an free video editing app and spliced it together with some music (which I also didn't pay for, thank you very much bit torrent). In total, it took me about fifteen minutes and zero dollars to put this thing together.

The future kicks ass.

Not only did I not have a lift line, I averaged two or three empty chairs ahead of me. This was especially nice since I ended up going alone. Now I have no issue at all with skiing by myself. It's like hitting a matinee movie on a Saturday afternoon by myself.* Neither skiing or watching a movie is an inherently social experience and by being alone, I can do exactly what I want to do. See whatever weirdo movie that catches my eye without feeling like I'm dragging a buddy along. Or hit whatever blue square suits my fancy without feeling like I'm holding people back. But I am not a big fan of sharing the chair lift with strangers. It's not that I'm not friendly. I like talking to people. I just don't like feeling obligated to talk to people. Forced conversation always sucks, no matter how polite and pleasant it may be. So an empty lift line is a double bonus. Plus, you don't have to take your glove off to stop your iPod or take out your headphones.

By the way, skiing with headphones rules. You get the right playlist and it enhances the experience tremendously. A standard I like to enjoy while shushing down the mountain is Tom Petty. Specifically Full Moon Fever, Into The Great Wide Open (totally underrated album) and Wildflowers. Just stick it on random between those three albums and you got yourself three hours of perfect music. But Tom Petty goes with everything. He's like blue jeans. Or bacon. Petty always works. Road trips, mowing the lawn, doing your taxes, preforming a root canal; any activity is complimented by the small town angst of Thomas Earl Petty.**

So, in an effort to be a little more original, you can see I used a clip from the song "First Breath After a Coma" by Explosions In the Sky. I think it worked nicely.

* I'm all about the solo movie, but eating in a restaurant alone sucks. I've worked on the road enough to know that a big expense account doesn't make up for feeling like a loser while reading a book in a resteraunt.

** I have absolutely no idea what Tom Petty's middle name is. But Earl seems to work.

7 comments:

BusterBluth52 said...

Sorry about the vertical picture. I didn't know how to film in landscape. Turns out you just turn the phone on its side. It's best not to out think these things.

Chris M. G said...

I always thought Tom was the middle name, as in L. Tom Petty.

BusterBluth52 said...

Glause, I like it. That's Tom petty's name from now on.

Unknown said...

http://www.tvchannelsfree.com/tcfcrawler/thumbs/000/004/4731.jpg

Gregg said...

I freakin hate it when I am about to get on an empty chairlift, and some dude hurries and gets on the same chair as me. The forced conversation is typically unbearable. Even worse if I am wearing my ski school jacket, and it's someone wanting tips and advice.

Ramsey said...

I kissed a girl to Tom Petty once. I'd have to say that it did enhance the experience. She turned out to be kindof a biatch, but I don't hold it against Tom. Skiing with you and Steve last week was great by the way.

Jared said...

I'll never forget my first L. Tom Petty BJ...way better!

My favorite part of the video is when you turn the camera to that beautiful mug of yours.