Frosty vs The Walking Dead

The above video is from Sufjan Stevens' second Christmas Box Set Silver and Gold. The video can be summed up as Frosty the Snowman vs The Walking Dead. Based on Mr Frosty and the wonderful Christmas Unicorn that ends with the chorus from Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart Again; the second Christmas Box Set is looking a much darker than the first.

1700km and Winter Riding.

Hit the 1700km mark at the tail end of a ride on 22x.  While there was snow in the fields and sub zero temps, the roads where clear.  Today the streets are covered in snow, so winter riding is here.   I have a couple of 700 x 1.5 inch tires from our visit to Savary Island that I can use on my Lynskey, that should deal with the snow for now. 

The ride yesterday went well except for freezing my toes.  My bike shoes, shoe covers and warm socks were not enough.  Didn't get frost bite, but it was close.   Will have to figure out how to keep the toes warm.

To hit the 2000km mark by the end of Oct, I have ten days to do 300km while dealing with a week of winter.  Fun :)

Will post progress as it happen.

- Peace

Goat Creek & 1600km

Rode Goat Creek on Saturday with 10 friends.  Quite a large group for the October ride.

Hit the 1600 km mark while passing a group of horse riders.

Tracked the ride with my Garmin so you can see all the gory details and I've posted 23 pics to flickr.

- Peace

O How the Mighty Have Fallen

I've been a fan of the Choir since 86 and out of the 18 albums I have O How the Mighty Have Fallen is one of their best.  It has their all time most sublime song: Mercy Will Prevail. It deeply embraces doubt and pain:

I wanna swear it's true but it's hard to defend it
I know it comes from You and I don't comprehend it
Love never fails
Mercy will prevail
I wanna swear it's true but it's hard to defend it

In the chill of a cruel word
In the nest of a wounded bird
In the shadow of doubt
In the smoke
In the smoke of a torch blown out

The final line of the song puts that raw pain and doubt into the context of incarnational faith in way that is simply stunning.  Best to listen to the song via the Noise Trade Widget embeded above, but reading the full lyrics works too.

I highly recommend giving them your email & postal code and downloading the album.

- Peace