Blah blogging

Sorry for the silence of late. No, the city council overlords have not kidnapped me. I've just been busy. Oh, and I also seem to be fighting some sort of bug. I figure it's The Plague. Nah, I honestly figure it's just one of those bugs, but who knows?

So I can't really work up the outrage for a juicy blog rant, but I did want to mention a couple of cool things I've noticed of late.

1. The World Series starts tonight. I have no animus against the Indians, but I think I'm pulling for the Rockies. First, they're the National League team and MLB hasn't completely destroyed "league loyalty" in baseball yet. They're trying, but not yet. Second, the Rockies are pretty big underdogs and you've got to love that. Third, I believe most people (even baseball fans) would have been hard pressed to name more than 2 Rockies players before the playoffs started. They are the ultimate "Who are those guys?" team.
2. I recently found a new cool backpacking book. I love most all backpacking/hiking books, but this one promises to be better than most. It's short, simple, and illustrated. It gives you the nuts and bolts of backpacking issues without forcing you to wade through all the tedious detail. Basically it seems like two really experienced backpackers sat down and jotted down a list of tips on bar napkins. Highly recommended.
3. On the subject of backpacking/hiking, here's the coolest new product I've seen in a while. I always thought "hands free" lighting would be a cool thing for day hikes that run a little late or for those after dark campsite activities, but I've never really been keen on those "strap on" headlamps. I'm a ball cap guy when hiking, so headlamps didn't seem practical. I've considered those "clip on" LED lights, but they didn't excite me either. This one, though, has LED lights built into the cap's bill. I haven't seen one in person yet, but the lights look very unobtrusive. Furthermore, I really can't imagine they'd add much weight to the cap. Hence, I really can't see a drawback to this approach to hands free lighting. I'll let you know when/if I actually buy one.

Okay, that's about it. Hopefully I'll be back in the "sharing" mood soon.