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Alright peeps.  My and about 6 people are rolling up to Keystone Colorado tonight.  We will be there from 28 Jan to 1 Feb.  we will have a condo, hot tub, all that shi*t.  We are looking for some party people, especially ladies.  We'll be hitting the mountain hard and will be looking for the hot spots afterwards.  We need suggestions.  Hit me up on here or message me your phone number.

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I am going to talk to you about affiliate marketing or what is most commonly know as MLM – Multi Level Marketing.

For those of you who have not heard of MLM it is considered the best way to make money online although I have to say this method has received a lot of stigma over the years namely from those people who never made money from them and quit.

 

The fact is that 70% of people that TRY MLM programs usually quit within 2 months of joining and are usually for the same reasons, that they never made any money.

Truthfully those people were probably told they would make a small fortune in a very short period of time but sadly the person that introduced them was only interested in signing them up and failed to explain how to build a successful business.

 

To build any business successfully will require hard work and should be treated as a full-time job although this is not permanent it is necessary to build a solid foundation in the early days.

Sadly most are not presented with these facts so I guess you cannot blame them for quitting or even giving the MLM opportunities a bad name.

 

There are 3 main reasons to be able to succeed in any MLM program which I am about to share with you and in my opinion are key to success.

 

• The Right Program - You need to find the right MLM program that is low cost and offers the best compensation plan.
• The Dream – This has to be one of the most important ingredients because if your dream is big enough you will do whatever it takes to achieve it.
• Support – You need support with anything that is new especially from those who are already successful and are willing to help you succeed.

 

 

Ok now let’s look at these 3 key reasons in more depth to help put things in perspective.

 

The Right Program

 

Now although there are a lot of MLM programs on the internet it is important that they are an established company, offer an excellent compensation plan, provide tools to help you build your business and have a product that most people want and need.

GDI or Global Domains International are in my opinion the only MLM company that offers all of this and for only $10 a month.

Now one thing you have to realise is that if you want to work online from home and be successful in any business there will be some cost attached to it. Although GDI offers you your own business, product and unlimited income opportunity for only $10 a month plus you can try it for 7 days free.

So lets break it down and see what you get for your hard earned $10 a month.

 

• Web Hosting
• Your own domain name
• 10 email addresses
• Web site building tool
• Access to the GDI Forum
• Tools to promote your business
• Unlimited income opportunity

 

 

As you can see you get your own website, the tools to build it and can be active online within a few short hours but what’s more incredible is you can earn money too.

 

So who are GDI and how do I make money?

 

Global Domains International, or GDI, was founded in 1999 by Michael Reed, CEO and Alan Ezeir, President who both recognized another opportunity that was largely ignored. The dot com boom that was so popular back in 1995 reached its peak around march of 2000. What Michael Reed and Alan Ezeir wondered was if there were other available extensions that businesses could use as a domain name. They ultimately focused on the domain extension .WS, which belonged to the tiny island nation of Samoa, deep in the South Pacific. They were able to execute a deal with Samoa stating they had to produce 15,000 registered domain .ws extensions in 3 years. Well they accomplished that goal in GDI’s 1st month of business and the rest as they say is history. In the 2002 Special issue of Inc. magazine, Global Domains International placed #37 on the Inc 500 magazine’s “List” of the USA’s 500 fastest growing private companies and #5 in the state of California. If you have come across any .ws adresses on the internet you can rest assured that they have been registered through Global Domains International, as GDI has single handedly captured the market share for the .ws extension. But what really puts the icing on the cake is the amazing business opportunity they have incorporated in to the equation.

 

So now let’s talk about how you earn money.

For every person that you refer to GDI you will earn $1 every month for as long as that person remains a member.

That person that you refer – for every person that they refer to GDI, you will earn $1 every month for as long as that person remains a member. This continues down for 5 levels.

So even if you only refer one person, but that one person referred 50 people, you would earn $1 for each of those 50 people. If those 50 people referred just 1 person each, that’s another $50 per month you’d earn.

Remember though, as I said earlier you only get out of a program what you put into it. You could very easily get someone in your downline that could refer 50 people and that would be great, but you might not, so don’t just rely completely on your downline, especially in the beginning, try to refer a few people.

Let’s look at an example of the sort of income you can earn with GDI.

If you referred 10 people and those 10 people referred just 5 people each, and those 5 people referred 5 people each, and so on for 5 levels. Your monthly income would be $7810.

Sound Good???

Well that’s not all, GDI also offer a weekly bonus scheme of $100 for every 5 people you personally introduce. So for example if 20 people joined your business you would be paid $400 for that week and best of all there is no limit to the amount of people you refer. If you were to do the same every week that would an average of $1600 a month which for a lot of people would replace their job salary.

You may be thinking it sounds too good to be true or how can I refer 10 people, I don’t know 10 people that would be interested in this.

Well its not too good to be true, there are people earning even more than that with GDI.

As far as referring people GDI offer the tools to help with this however as I mentioned previously support in this business is key to your success from those who are already successful.

 

The Dream

 

To be successful you need to have a reason or a dream this could be a few hundred dollars a month to begin with or a new car.

What I have found is that people fear to dream because they don’t believe it will happen. It has amazed me being around this business how quickly people underestimate themselves and what started out as being a dream of making a few hundred dollars a month turned into buying their dream home cash.

This business offers so much its about people helping people and the feeling of knowing you have helped others take back their lives is priceless.

 

 

Support

 

Most people that join MLM programs have little or no experience on how to build a successful business and sadly quit before they even get started.

Having support from those who are already successful in this type business is by far priceless and it amazes me that so many people do not grasp this when inviting people to join.

After all the core of all MLM businesses is helping others to succeed which in turn helps you succeed.

Failing to grasp this simple concept and not put in any effort will surely lead to failure and again these types of people will only end up hopping from one opportunity to another but never finding success.

 

 

So there you have it an honest opinion on Multi Level Marketing which I hope this article has helped you in your pursuit for financial freedom

 

Donna Fielding is a successful network marketer with GDI. Click the link below to watch a video presentation on the GDI opportunity and the 7 day FREE trial and see if Global Domains International is the right choice for you.

 

www.themoneyprospect.com

(copy and paste into your browser)

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Ski or Snowboard Rentals – Whistler

Renting skis used to be a dreaded experience, long line ups for poorly maintained out of date equipment provided by ski bums who didn’t care. Changes have swept across this industry with new companies competing in every resort worldwide.

With airlines charging extra for ski baggage, the inconvenience of carrying heavy equipment and an increased environmental awareness the number of skiers renting equipment has risen.

If you look at ski technology and ski branding a two year old ski can often look outdated, therefore before you leave home do a quick calculation of “how many days a year do you ski?” multiplied by the cost of renting against the cost of new skis. The average cost of renting top end gear is around $50 CDN for two days. If you average 10 days per year that works out at $250 per year. New skis with bindings range from $500 to $1100.

Factor in the cost of tuning, inconvenience, baggage fees and your environmental consciences and renting comes out the winner.

My family decided to test this theory with a visit to Whistler in January, we looked online and booked with a company called Affinity Sports. (www.affinityrentals.com)

After breezing through the airport and traveling the sea to sky highway we checked into our hotel around 9pm. Surprisingly the rental shop was still open so despite our jet lag we headed in to pick up our gear. The staff greeted us on the way in the door and our reservation was ready. We tried on the boots and with skis hanging on every wall I picked out a new Pair of Volkl AC50. The binding was adjusted and the staff answered all our tourist questions while helping us feel welcome in Whistler. The kids tried snowboarding had to choose from a selection kids gear.

On the third day the weather moved in so we took a rest day, I dropped the skis back at the store and was surprised to learn I would be credited back the days I didn’t use. I then took advantage of the best reason to rent, trying different equipment. The trend in skis is to have more specialized equipment to suit the conditions so I changed for a K2 Coomba, a powder ski. Each time I dropped into see the staff at Affinity they accommodated my every request without hesitation. The equipment was tuned, it was the latest model and the service was excellent.

Two weeks later back at my desk I thought about the old rent vs. buy argument. I will be renting skis, snowboards and maybe even snow blades every time I go. The image of ski rentals is changing and being driven by companies like Affinity, I hope to go back to Whistler for the Olympics and will be renting everytime.

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Online competitor registration is now open for the first-ever Burton Canadian Open, taking place from December 1-7, 2008 at the Calgary Olympic Development Association’s (CODA) Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, Alberta. CODA has been providing world-class sport facilities for Olympic development for 20 years and Canada Olympic Park is home to the exact duplicate of the halfpipe that will be built for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The third stop on the 2008/2009 Burton Global Open Series and a SWATCH TTR 5Star event, the Canadian Open will include slopestyle and halfpipe competitions, offering riders the chance to earn a piece of the $50,000 USD prize purse and gain valuable points towards Burton Global Open Series championship titles and the Swatch Ticket To Ride World Tour championship titles.

Here’s how to register to compete:

Head to www.opensnowboarding.com, go to the Canadian Open homepage and click on Registration in order to register online for the Registration Waitlist. Registration will be open until October 20, 2008. If we receive more registrations per format than the number of pre-qualification spots available, riders will be selected from the Registration Waitlist based on their BGOS standings/results and their TTR standings/results, with priority given to the riders with the best standings/results. On or before October 27th, you will be notified VIA EMAIL (and only email) if your registration has been successful and that your entry for the Canadian Open Halfpipe and/or Slopestyle Pre-Qualifiers is confirmed. At that time, your credit card will be charged a non-refundable $75CAD per discipline as applicable. If your name is not selected, you will automatically be added to the waitlist (which shall be selected at random). Top pros will receive special invites to compete. For complete details/rules on the registration process, visit the Canadian Open home page on opensnowboarding.com. 

With events scheduled year-round and in six countries, the Burton Global Open Series boasts the most lucrative cumulative prize purse in snowboarding – over $900,000 – with equal prize money to men and women. All six Burton Global Open Series events offer riders the chance to earn points towards a male and female championship title, each worth $100,000, currently the largest single payout in competitive snowboarding. Following this summer’s New Zealand and Australian Opens, Luke Mitrani (USA) and Jamie Anderson (USA) are in the lead for the $100,000 Burton Global Open Series Championship title.

The Burton Global Open Series is also part of the SWATCH Ticket To Ride (TTR) World Snowboard Tour, the largest group of independent freestyle snowboard events in the world. TTR ranks riders based on their results at participating competitions and crowns the TTR World Champions at the US Open. The current leaders for the TTR titles are Chas Guldemond (USA) and 2007/08 TTR world champion Jamie Anderson.

For more information on the Burton Global Open Series head to www.opensnowboarding.com  
For more information on TTR, visit www.ttrworldtour 

If you can’t make it to Canada, watch the semi-finals and finals live on Go211.com, where webcasts and highlights of the competitions will also be available for on-demand viewing once the event is over.

Burton would like to thank CODA, Red Bull, Go211.com, Coors Light, Alberta Snowboard Association and Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour for their support of the Canadian Open.

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dude, it’s been a rockstar few weeks in minnesnowta. the state fair just rolled through, the republicans had their little convention, and rage against the machine played. yeah, rage against the machine.

i usually tell people that minneapolis and saint paul are like big cities nobody has moved into, yet. they look like big cities, but traffic isn’t that bad (i’m looking at you, bay bridge), and it’s mostly just half-rich white kids getting bored and causing trouble. that safe feeling fully eroded after seeing what the police had done to our cities.

credit (required): http://flickr.com/photos/trevino/

since last saturday, 422 people have been arrested in association with the RNC, with like 280 of them happening on monday. some of those rowdy rousers were the anarchist type, and you know how dumb breeds dumb. a mini riot broke out on monday, and that set the tone for the rest of the week.

the rage concert was ok. i wish i could say it was great, but the acoustics sucked. not their fault, but at $72 a ticket, i want my f*cking acoustics. rage played a lot from the first album, a few less from evil empire, and even less from battle of la. i was ok with that. single encore, then a plea from the band to “leave peacefully, but not passively.” zach encouraged everyone to show discipline, to show the police that we can get down in peace while still saying “f*ck you, i won’t do whatchu tell me.” yeah, it’s ironic, but get over it. it’s still possible.

the papers said we were greeted outside the concert by about 50 riot police. unless they meant “per sidewalk,” that number was a bit low. whatever. point is, unless you’re insanely drunk (i wasn’t), there’s no way you can walk past that many armed and armored police and feel like sneezing won’t get you your sheat beat down.

it took about a half hour before any half-assed protest broke out. the loudest kids didn’t like being told they couldn’t sit in the middle of the street (me: let evolution do its thing). the rest of us just didn’t like the idea of being told you can’t stand on this sidewalk by police in riot gear (and now gas masks). the police stopped us about half way down the block.

credit: http://flickr.com/photos/diversey/

after some fat guy yelling through a loudspeaker about as clear as they do at the airport, the police blockade broke down. someone in the group said “walk that way” and everyone did. and we kept walking, probably about a few blocks, in the road, mostly because it was cleared. as soon as the block wasn’t cleared of traffic, these retired american gladiator cops on schwinns started riding people down, shoving them to the sidewalk, and almost getting a couple of the crowd to push back on them. dude, i know there are good cops, but some of the cops out that night had that look like “say what again mother f*cker.”

somewhere between the schwinns and the cops on super horses, 3 little piggies came riding up on one of those atv golf carts (didn’t see any segways) with that short stubby looking thing that usually shoots tear gas. after we heard the pop pop, we looked for the area with the least amount of cops, ran, and gtfo. police said it wasn’t tear gas, but, they were the ones wearing the gas masks.

hey man, there’s usually not shi*t to talk about in minnesota.

read more about the rage show post-party or the fun around the

##

matt albiniak is a sellout that traded days in tahoe for doing interwebs stuff for a route 29, a small candy company in minneapolis, mn. (http://www.route29.com)

www.porterstahoe.com

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Lets just say Steve has been enjoying the good life and has recently outgrown his pleasure craft. If anyone's interested in picking it up for a steal of a deal leave your number in the comment area below.

Hey look!



Yeah Sethy!

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Stylewars 2008 presented by Oakley.

August 24-28, 2008

Falls Creek Resort, Australia.

 

French Canadians Matts Kulisek and Charles Reid continue their dominance at Stylewars during day two of competition at Falls Creek Australia.

 

Strong winds, scattered clouds and a riders vote meant that today the Stylewars course was restricted to the bottom feature of the park – the gap jump. The jump had been re-shaped last night to give some more pop and allow the riders a little more hang time. The level of style and tricks definitely stepped up today at Stylewars with the help of the course fine-tuning from head park builders Rueben Cameron from Australia and Doug Mercer of Mammoth, California.

 

Matts Kulisek (CAN) was again throwing down all day with consistent incredible tricks over the gap like backside rodeo nines and frontside 1080’s. His slaying of the jump pushed him to first place today and number one in the overall standings of the three-day freestyle marathon.

 

Charles Reid (CAN) was bumped into 2nd position by his countryman Matts, but his slew of 1080’s, nines and smooth fives held him solidly in striking position for the win on the upcoming final day.

“Usually in a contest the guys who spin the most win, but I have been spinning some big three’s and seven’s and I was winning yesterday, so I think it’s a great comp - you don’t have to do a 1260 or something to win.” Reid said.

 

Tyler Chorlton (GBR) threw the most interesting trick of the day with a nollie front-flip nose grab but was not to be outdone by Kiwi Quentin Robbins who launched a one foot indy over the high-speed gap kicker.

 

In the hotly disputed Bledisnow Cup, which is an Australia v’s New Zealand comp within Stylewars. Australian riders took out day two, led by acting team captain Ryan Tiene and team mate Mitch Allan. New Zealand and Australia are now tied at one day each with New Zealand just ahead in the points.

 

Tonight at Stylewars the party continues with a special showing of Travis Rice’s new film That’s It That’s All followed by infamous Australian hip hop act Bliss&Eso who will no doubt tear the bloody roof off. Hangovers assured for all tomorrow.

 

The third day of Stylewars competition is planned for tomorrow, and includes the Volvo 28 Stair Rail Jam to be held in the evening under lights in Falls Creek Village.

 

For video highlights of yesterday go to: www.stylewars.com.au

 

The 2008 Stylewars is presented by Oakley and is supported by Falls Creek Resort, SilverSki Lodge, Corona, Red Bull, Volvo and New Era.

 

Overall rankings after Day 2:

 

RANK    NAME    Grand Total

1       Matts Kulisek   1498

2       Charles Reid    1464

3       Torstein Horgmo 1312

4       Ville Uotila            1199

5       Stef Zeestraten         1192

6       Shayne Pospisil         1191

7       Jacob Koia              1153

8       Mitch Allan     1151

9       Ryan Tiene      1147

10      Will Jackways   1132

11      Keiji Okamoto   1109

12      Tore Holvik             1099

13      Robbie Walker   1052

14      Clint Allan             1021

15      Nick Brown      919

16      Roland Morley Brown     867

17      Masaharu Nakao 861

18      Jye Kearney     837

19      Dustin Craven   722

20      Chas Guldemond   618

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Rider: Shayne Pospisil / Photo: Alex Roberts 

 

 

A perfect day with sunny blue skies today at Stylewars meant the first day of competition at Australia’s most notorious snowboarding event went down like a bowl full of delicious poutine. The 45 invited riders from around the globe were annihilating the course with a level of snowboarding never before seen in Australia.

 

Ripping all day and finishing in number 1 and 2 spots respectively was the French Canadian connection (ie: Canadian Club) of Charles Reid and Matts Kulisek who were both sending and stomping their runs all day. Matts was unleashing huge frontside 7 to backside 7 combinations amoung some super smooth 900s. While Charles Reid was dropping insane frontside 1080’s and massive 90-foot corked frontside 360’s that had everyone scratching their heads.

 

Sitting in third is a very consistent New Zealand rider Jacob Koia who looks poised to strike for the lead. NZ team captain Will Jackways had one of the most interesting lines of the day with a perfect 90 foot backside 900 melon followed by a method from the step-over kicker landing on the side of the landing 80-feet away, stomping a method perfectly amoungst the rubble and grooming debris.

 

The course is a 3 jump line that consists of a 15 foot flat cliff step-down, a 90 foot high speed step-down kicker and a 75 foot step up/over kicker.

 

Stylewars 2008 – the freestyle marathon continues tomorrow with sunny days again forecast and riders amping to step it up the rankings for a shot at the Grand Master Title.

 

Tonight the parties start, a free/private concert for the riders with Australian Producer KATALYST and MC RUCL ready to bring home the first day.

 

For video footage of the days event check out

www.stylewars.com.au

 

 

Stylewars Presented by Oakley

Top 20 after day 1 of 3.

 

1.      Charles Reid (CAN)      BURTON          722

2.      Matts Kulisek (CAN)     APO                     667

3.      Jacob Koia (NZ)         OAKLEY          618

4.      Torstein Horgmo (NOR)   DC/OAKLEY               602

5.      Roland-Morley Brown (NZ) ELECTRIC/FORUM 595

6.      Wille Uotila (FIN)      ATOMIC          593

7.      Shayne Pospisil (USA)   BILLABONG               570

8.      Stef Zeestraten (NZ)    K2/OAKLEY               568

9.      Robbie Walker (AUS)     BILLABONG               550

10.     Will Jackways (NZ)      BURTON/VOLCOM   529

11.     Mitch Allan (AUS)       BURTON/OAKLEY   525

12.     Tore Holvik (NOR)       BATALEON                505

13.     Clint Allan (AUS)       BILLABONG               484

14.     Mario Kappeli (SUI)     FORUM                   474

15.     Ryan Tiene (AUS)        DC/OAKLEY               467

16.     Keiji Okamoto (JPN)     VOLKL/FLUX              462

17.     Jye Kearney (AUS)       BURTON/OAKLEY   395

18.     Nick Brown (NZ)         BURTON/RPM              368

19.     Masaharu Nakao (JPN)    NP ATHLETICS/REVOLT 313

20.     Cohen Davies (AUS)      ROME                    292

 

The 2008 Stylewars is presented by Oakley and is supported by Falls Creek Resort, SilverSki Lodge, Corona, Red Bull, Volvo and New Era.

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I woke up the other morning to the realisation that it's already the month of June. Which means that winter is less than six months away. One reason I suspect the time seems to have gone by so quickly is that, by most standards, the weather this spring has been rather sub-par with cooler than usual temperatures and lots of rain (let's save that precipitation for the winter folks). In the spirit of making the best of it, the Snowboard.Com east coast crew decided to end the month of May with a bang (from a boom stick) by taking in a musical.

The city of Toronto has a rather vibrant theatre scene. Which is not something you would expect snowboarders to notice but we can be highbrow once in a while too. Of particular interest, the Diesel Playhouse was putting on an adaptation of a classic cult zombie movie Evil Dead throughout the spring. When I tell people about it, they usually give me a strange "it's a musical about zombies?" look. I'm quick to point out that It can't possibly be any worse than the opera adaptation of An Inconvenient Truth (an opera about a PowerPoint presentation? Really?) Besides, how often can you say you've been to a musical and left covered in fake blood (I assume it's fake). It's like Shakespeare meets Gwar, how can this possibly suck?

The Ottawa contingent of the crew stayed at the Holiday Inn on King street, only two blocks away from the playhouse. Upon arriving, we shared the elevator with some nice ladies who were in town to see the Dirty Dancing musical at the Princess, and they asked us if we were there for the same reason. Based on my general appearance, I found this question somewhat odd. The look on their face was priceless once we told them we were going to see Evil Dead, and it led me to the conclusion that we probably wouldn't to be going down with them (in the elevator you perverts).

The East Coast Crew waiting to get Evil

After scattering to track down food and beer for later, it was time to meet up with the rest of the crew. Since we were all coming from different directions, and not everyone had actually met in person prior to this meet, the logistics of meeting up were a slight bit difficult. In fact, one of my road trip companions, Chris, called my cell to tell me he was going to meet one of the other members of the crew, also named Chris, whom he had never met previously. I said "you don't know what he looks like, how are you going to spot him on a downtown Toronto street?" His response: "He's a snowboarder." That's when it occurred to me that we snowboarders do live at a different pace than most people (skiers too). Especially in a metropolitan area such as Toronto where people seem to be in much more of a hurry and much more concerned about their image than in most places. I actually had faith, due in no small part to Chris' response, that my shred pals would have no problems finding each other. I was not mistaken, I caught up with the rest of the group in front of the hotel and we made our way to the playhouse.

The musical itself was extremely entertaining. Since it's based on the Evil Dead series of movies (Evil Dead , Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness), we were expecting a certain amount of camp, and this stage show was certainly full of it. It was done in the perfect self-effacing way which rendered it amusing rather than annoying. The actors even joked about how Spider-Man 3 was a horrible movie (Sam Raimi directed the Evil Dead movie). The highlight of the musical was the final battle at where Ash slayed all the zombies (sorry for the spoiler). I have never seen so much fake blood used in my life. It was squirting out of the walls all over the crowd. Fun times.

After the show, stoked on being evil, the crew got up to some pre-drinking at the hotel in preparation for painting the town red (with blood?). After getting nicely warmed up, we were off to find establishments to consume refreshments. Yet somehow this feat could not be managed without a tree being transplanted into the hallway to our hotel. Apparently alcohol turns people into landscapers.

After walking around for a while and ducking into a number of pubs for refreshments, along with some other random shenanigans, it was time to call it a night since the bars were closing. On the way back to the hotel, I received a text message from Chris saying that apparently someone was shot behind the princess theatre. They were cleaning up the scene as he was walking to meet his ride to Whitby. All this time, I was expecting that our musical would prove more violent than Dirty Dancing, which our lovely friends from the elevator were attending. Clearly I was mistaken on that count.

Puppet Jesus sitting at the top of the Big Apple in Colborne.

The following morning, we decided to locate a Golden Griddle we had seen the night before to have breakfast before we left. After fueling up on the all you can eat buffet and omelet bar, it was time to hit the road. On the way home, we decided to stop at the Big Apple in Colborne to buy some pies. This is where our trip took on a whole new dimension of cool when picked up an itinerant puppet with long hair, a beard, and some crazy ideas. That puppet turned out to be Jesus (or at least a very striking likeness thereof). The irony in all this is that we found him at a Big Apple which, if memory serves, is the forbidden fruit of the Genesis. Jesus was quick to participate in our road games of "hot or not" and was surprisingly good at it. Although I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since he is the son of god. In any case, Jesus is dope and he's certainly a good road trip companion, a fan of metal and a darn good dancer. When we first picked him up, he was rather subdued. Nathan even thought he was dead but we knew not to worry, "he'll be full of life in three days." It certainly didn't take three days, especially after a can of Saskatoon Beaver Buzz.

The Beaver Buzz turned out to be a bit of a mistake. Although tasty, it must contain some kind of super diaretic because it made me have to pull off the highway to pee. I was going to wait for the gas station restrooms until Jesus pointed out that the world is my gas station rest room. He's so wise. We finally made it home satisfied with our road trip shenanigans and happy for having found Jesus.

In sticking with my usual modus operandi of never walking away from an experience without learning something, here's what I learned this past weekend:

• Snowboarders are recognisable everywhere. They seem to have a different gate about them.
• Apparently the Dirty Dancing musical, counter to conventional wisdom, was much more violent that the Evil Dead musical... go figure.
• Jesus Saves... road trips. Although ours didn't need saving by any stretch. He sure made it more interesting. Keep your eye open for him, you never know where you might find Jesus.

Phew! Those are important life lessons indeed. Now I'm looking forward to my next live theatre excursion. Rumour has it that Monty Python's Spamalot is coming to Toronto in the fall, maybe I'll check that out. I'll be staying away from the Dirty Dancing musical though, that's much do violent for my sensibilities. In the meantime, I'm rejoicing in the fact that there's less than six months until winter and you can bet that I'm counting down the days.

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Glacier Snowboard Camp is setting up to have its best year ever.

 

There is so much snow still left in Whistler it’s crazy. The temperatures have been so low and it just hasn’t let the snow melt. There is still over 230 cm or 91 inches of snow at mid mountain and way more on the glacier.

 

So that means more snow to make jumps this summer.

 

We are taking fewer campers than ever and expanding our terrain to include a park on the T-bar lap. So you can take multiple jumps and/or rails in a row without ever having to hike (unless you want to).  We are so excited about having such a bigger park than we have had in the past.

 

We take fewer campers than anyone and that directly translates to more coaching and personal attention. You are not just a number with us. You are a friend who has entrusted us to coach you to snowboard better and to show you a great time. We take that responsibility very serious.

 

If you want to snowboard better or just want to have the best time ever then Glacier Snowboard Camp is where you want to be.

Seriously.

 

Check out the website for all the information or give us a call at 604-935-7776.

 

www.glaciersnowboardcamp.com

 

 

Summer 2008 dates:

 

Session 1 June 27-July 4

Session 2 July 4-July 11

 

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The other day as I was minding my own business I got a curious invitation. A colleague asked me if I'd be interested in joining his group for dinner at the Rideau Club that night. So I brushed the hair away from my eyes and gave my beard a scratch (I haven't had a haircut in 2008 or shaved since I was in Whistler) before I said "will they even let me in the door?" It took a while to be convinced, but in the end I decided to accept the invitation. After all it seemed like a reasonable reason to skip yoga class.

The Rideau Club pre-dates canadian confederation and was established twenty-two months before Ottawa was chosen as the seat of government. The clubs first president was Sir John A. Macdonald who, two years later, became Canada's first prime minister. Those are some pretty lofty credentials for a club so when I was asked, first of all, if I owned a jacket and tie (apparently they won't let you in the door without them) and if I'd be interested in going, I was naturally a bit skeptical that I would even gain entry. Besides, the last time I went to one of these formal parties, I wound up across the desk of the Director of CSIS in Windsor two days later (being interviewed for a job oddly). "This could be interesting" I thought and accepted. It seemed like an opportunity that doesn't present itself too often, and besides I like to slum it every once in a while.

The Rideau Club is obviously quite old. The building where it's located, however, is not. The original building burned down in 1979 so they made a replica of its interior on the top floor of the Sun Life building in downtown Ottawa. In order to get to the club, there's an elevator which services it exclusively (how very elitist). As I got in the elevator, I found it odd that there were only two buttons: one for the lobby and one for the fifteenth floor. Secretly I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a retinal scan machine or some such thing. Nontheless, it was a neat feeling to be in a private elevator to an exclusive club which boasts heads of state as members. I felt like I was going to a Stone Cutters meeting. Maybe I'd get to participate in decisions on world policy, affect the course of human history, and witness historical keggers, beer blasts, beer bashes and steinhoists, followed by the regimented AA meetings. This evening was certainly looking up.

Once I arrived I was disappointed to discover that no one referred to themselves as numbers that were sequentially assigned in the order in which they joined. Once again the Simpsons had let me down. The coat room, however, did not. That thing was the size of my living room and dining room combined plus within it was the men's room which was equipped with shoe polishers and other gizmos that were cool and useless.

The view from the various windows in the club was quite spectacular. It was a great vantage point to see Parliament Hill, the Ottawa River, random high-rise living rooms (it gave me a bit of a voyeuristic feeling) and off in the distance, the Gatineau hills where my home resort, Mont Cascades, can be found (oh I miss the winter already). In spite of the majestic view, however, there seemed to be something missing. I realised what it was when reached into my breast pocket to adjust my hanky which I made out of a Spanky's Whistler trail map. It was the mountains that were missing. Having just been in British Columbia not two weeks before, I had grown accustomed to seeing large mountainous objects in the horizon; clearly these are missing in Ontario. In the time I spent in B.C. and Alberta, I had stopped noticing the giant masses of rock, earth and snow all around me. I was de-sensitized to their majesty and this thought disappointed me. It made me realise two things:

1. Never take what you have for granted. You'll miss it when its gone. This seems to be something that I have to be reminded of every once in a while and I'm now reminding all of you.
2. You can take the snowboarder off the mountain, but you can't take the mountain out of the snowboarder. I thought using a trail map as a hanky was a nice touch. None of my companions seemed at all surprised when they realised what I had done. A dirtbag in fancy clothes is still a dirtbag.

So if you ever get a chance to go to the Rideau Club, I highly recommend it. It's steeped in history and is a good place to take stock of who you are and what you have. Speaking of what you have, all you dwellers of the mountains out there, raise your glasses to them, they are precious indeed.

Keep Shreddin' the GNAR!

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The Superman Mythos

by Thyroros

The term superman first entered into modern usage through the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. This late nineteenth-century German philosopher was vehemently anti-Christian and never tired of condemning the faith as weak, absurd, even detrimental to human development. While Hitler admired him, and the Nazis are said to have made use of some of his ideas, Nietzsche did not actually share their racist and anti-Semitic views. (1) Thus it is not entirely incongruous that two young Jewish men from Cleveland, Ohio would have adopted the term for their own use. While many assume Superman is merely a work of science fiction, I do not believe this to be the case. I too grew up amid all the movies (the first film starring Christopher Reeve came out the year after I was born), cartoons, and TV shows, believing the Man of Steel to be nothing more than a slightly stale and out-dated comic book hero. However, after watching various episodes of Smallville, a very different interpretation of the American icon began to impress itself upon me.

As nonsensical or offensive as some people might think this to be, the tale of Superman represents an allegory of another well-known supernatural, extra-terrestrial being: Satan.

Before delving into some of the more specific correlations, and often glaring similarities, between these two legendary immortals, there is an important point which needs to be made regarding the nature of angels. Angels are extra-dimensional and other-worldly travellers who make infrequent appearances throughout the Bible and other related texts. They usually do not have wings, and they almost always appear just like men. The Seraphim and Cherubim are the only two celestial orders consistently described in the Bible which bear wings. While most angeaologies consider both orders to be angels, the highest orders in fact, neither the Old nor New Testaments refer to them as such. But this is really just a semantic argument that needn't be fully addressed here. Anyway, the English word angel is derived from the Greek angelos which simply means messenger, as does the Hebrew mal'ach, which is used in the Torah, the prophets, and other Hebrew writings. (2) These terms can be used to indicate human or divine beings. Many times the humans with whom angels communicate are not even aware of it until the supernatural visitors perform some act obviously beyond the capability of mere mortals. After closely examining all the Biblical references, I was forced to conclude that there is no overwhelming distinction between angels and what modern mythology refers to as aliens. Both are extra-terrestrial, and both seem to exhibit powers and/or technology beyond what might traditionally be considered human. Now, Satan, if standard Christian doctrine is correct, is a fallen angel, while Kal-El, or Superman, is a stranded, immigrant alien.

Objections may arise as angels are said to dwell in heaven while aliens inhabit the supposedly innumerable worlds located in the vast reaches of space. But again, the only difference between the concepts of heaven and space lie in the minds of people who refuse to acknowledge the simple facts. Both exist above and outside the earth, and both are impossible to visit for the majority of living human beings on this planet. Even now, after thirty-some years of manned space-flight, it still requires the pinnacle of human technology, and the availability of monumental resources, to even consider such undertakings. We haven't been to the moon in over thirty years according to official sources. Moreover, space remains extremely dangerous. It is a notoriously hostile environment; the slightest mistake or malfunction can bring about instantaneous death for even the most well-trained astronaut. So, heavenly realms and intergalactic space, not that different, right? Okay then, hopefully that matter is settled, and we can move on to Krypton.

As most of us know, Kal-El's homeworld, Krypton, was completely obliterated due to a nuclear reaction at its core, which resulted in the infant Kryptonian's emergency flight to earth. Now, some theorize that the asteroid belt in our solar system was created when a large, terrestrial planet located between Mars and Jupiter (often referred to as Astera/Astara) exploded some time in the past. (3) It's possible that this same cataclysm was also responsible for the destruction of the Red Planet's atmosphere and its civilization. Satan may also be connected with Mars and Astera, depending on one's interpretation of certain Old Testament books such as Ezekiel. Ezekiel states in chapter 28, verse 14 that the former anointed cherub, Satan, "walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire". It's not a very far stretch of the imagination to connect "the stones of fire" with planets. Please examine the following verses for more details:

Ezekiel 28:15-17 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground (Hebrew 'eretz is also often translated as land or earth), I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

So Satan may have ruled a physical civilization spanning Mars, Astara, and perhaps several moons as well. But he rebelled against his God and King, and was cast to the earth along with a third of the Heavenly Host (See Revelation 12:4).

The aforementioned information thus allows us to have a much clearer understanding of the scenario presented in Smallville 1961. While I don't disagree with Chloe about the possibility of genetic memory being stored in the DNA, I don't accept that this was necessarily true in Clark’s case. I believe it to be more likely that Jor-El and Kal-El are one person, not father and son. Here's how it works:

I. Jor-El is Satan. II. The father who exiled Jor-El/Satan to earth is actually the Father, as in Yahweh, the God of the Bible. III. Jor-El/Satan returns to space to continue the "War in Heaven" (See Revelation 12:7).. IV. In order to eventually assume the role of Anti-Christ, Satan devises a seemingly foolproof plan. Just as Yahweh/God limited himself in power when He assumed the form of Jesus/the Christ, Satan formulates a a similar device. He clones himself and denies this clone access to certain segments of his memory and powers. This way he will more easily deceive humans into believing that he is a righteous savior rather than evil incarnate. But he makes messages and recordings beforehand which will remind him of certain things at planned intervals. This will enable him to develop in the most ideal way in order to fit the role of the Christ more perfectly. V. Satan and his angels are defeated in the heavenly realms, Mars and Astera/Krypton is destroyed as a result. Satan transfers his consciousness/spirit from Jor-El to the infant clone, Kal-El and rockets off toward earth.

As additional support for this concept, let us explore the meanings of the principal character's names belonging to the Superman mythos:

Clark - Old English - Clergyman or learned man (4)

Kent - Welsh - Bright white, white or bright (5). Another interesting possible derivation of this name is from the Biblical Kenites (first mentioned in Genesis 15:19 as enemies of Israel), who may have been descended from Cain (for in Hebrew Cain is more accurately transliterated as Qayin, and Kenites as Qayini. Adding an "i" to the end of a name in Hebrew indicates the people or descendants of that personage. Israel/Israeli, Qayin/Qayini. See the pattern?) (6)

Kal-El - Can be translated as destruction or completion of God in Hebrew (or possibly 'all that is God/totality of God'). (7) El is the Hebrew word for God.*

Jor-El - J is actually pronounced Y (the letter Yod) in Hebrew. Possible translations are: Yare'-el - fear of God, Yarah-El - God teaches, taught of God, Yeru-El - God is a foundation, Yeri-El - founded of God; God will see. (8)

Krypton/Kryptonite - From the Greek words krypto - To hide; kryptos - hidden unseen, secret; krypte - hidden place (9)

Lex - Latin for law (Just in case 'Lex' is actually short for Alexander, Alexander is Greek for leader of men, alex (leader) + ander (men).10

Luthor (Luther) - Teutonic- famous warrior/ famous in war

Old German - Warring ones

German - warrior/famous people?. Martin Luther was a Catholic monk and theologian turned Protestant reformer (1483-1546). (11)

*If one is inclined to doubt that Kal-El and Jor-El may actually be Hebrew names, allow me to you remind you that both Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the original creators of Superman, were Jewish. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think it's highly unlikely they would give their characters Hebrew-sounding names by pure chance. (12)

There are just a few more items of interest which may possibly be connections between Kal-El and the Red Dragon/Satan. Since Superman derives his powers from the sun, that would make him a kind of 'sun god'. Satan has sometimes been compared with the sun gods of ancient mythology such as the Egyptian Ra, the Greek/Roman Apollo and the Persian Mithra. The 'infinity serpent' burned onto Clark's chest in the second season finale of Smallville is another fascinating correlation, as Satan is often recognized as being or controlling the serpent in the Garden of Eden (Genesis chapter 3), and one of his titles in Revelation (12:9) is that "that old serpent". Finally, it would be quite simple to draw a pentagram inside the five-pointed shield emblazoned on Superman's costume. Pentagrams are used in ceremonial magic and Satanism the world over. Not that such a detail is conclusive, but I just thought I'd include it for the sake of being thorough.

So what does all of this mean? The reader, of course, is free to draw his or her own conclusions But here's what I believe; Superman comics, movies, and TV shows (and everything else in between) are Satanic Propaganda. Superman is the Anti-Christ/Satan and Lex Luthor, representing Christianity, is desperately trying to defend the earth against him. As the story is told from Satan's perspective, Lex is falsely demonized and portrayed as an insane criminal. In the words of Friedrich Nietzsche from Thus Spake Zarathustra, "God is dead. I teach you the superman." This is the lie that the father of lies is eager for us all to swallow down between mouthfuls of French fries and jelly-filled breakfast pastries.

- Thyroros, December 2, 2003, Redlands, CA.

Endnotes:

1. See Friedrich Nietzsche's Biography.com
2. Information gathered by using the King James Bible (1611 Authorized Version) and The Strongest Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. James Strong, L.L.D., S.T.D. Fully Revised and Corrected by John R. Kohlenberger III and James A. Swanson. Grand Rapids Michigan. Zondervan. 2001
3. Click here for the standard line on the Asteroid Belt formation. Go here for more information on the possible link between Mars, Astara, and Satan, maybe even Venus?
4. Name definition for Clark (Any standard name/baby-name book should provide this information.)
5. Name meanings & Name origins (Any standard name/baby-name book should provide this information.)
6. See footnote 2. Most Biblical scholars don't make the connection between Cain and the Kenites. This is probably due to the long-held view that the Flood of Noah/The Great Deluge (as related in Genesis chapters 6-8) was worldwide and no one survived except Noah and his family. However, a gr owing number dispute that the Flood was regional rather than global (which is possible based on certain interpretations of the passages in Genesis), and therefore, Cain's progeny could have survived.
7. From the Strong's Concordance Hebrew Dictionary (contained within the same volume), Reference numbers 3605-3607, 3615-3617
8. From the Strong's Concordance Hebrew Dictionary (contained within the same volume), Reference numbers 3372, 3384, 3385, 3400. Incidentally, yerah is the Hebrew word for moon, ref. 3391.
9. From the Strong's Concordance Greek Dictionary (contained within the same volume), Reference numbers 2926-2928 10. (Any competent Latin-English and Greek-English dictionaries can be used to find these definitions. Also standard name/baby-name book should provide this information.) Here's a couple of websites just in case you want them. For Alexander. For Lex & another for Lex. Just for fun, here's website containing excerpts of Plutarch's Alexander the Great (who was not a good guy) bio.
11. "Luthor/Luther" name meaning.
12. "Jews are the true comic book heroes", article from the Chicago Sun Times and here's a History of Superman article from Superman.com.ar in case your interested.

End the words of Thyroros.

This article can be found at: http://www.supermanhomepage.com/comics/comics.php?topic=articles/superman-satan

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You all know the game. Lots of riding, sunshine, concerts, parties and pictures that help you piece together memories after the fact...
I'm also trying to undermine society and throw a little session for SB.commers during the partying on the mountain, so here it is.
Unofficial Snowboard.com Backcountry Jump Session
(also open to non-sb.com members if you want to bring them)
When: Wednesday April 16th, 2008
Where: Either at 8:20 am at the GBB patio (the one next to the Longhorn where lessons meet up, in the summer the place is called Garbanzo Bike and Bean);
or at 9 am in the back corner of Pikas at the Roundhouse on Whistler Mtn. (Pikas is the downstairs cafeteria area at the Roundhouse) for the folks that want to upload from Creekside and meet us there.
after we meet and rally the troops, we'll head for Flute Bowl and take a short groomed hike (about 600m or so I think) up to the top and cross onto the backside. We're not going far out of bounds so you don't need skins or snowshoes. I want everybody to be able to come so we're not doing anything crazy.
What to bring: All your riding gear, food for lunch, a shovel if you have one (keeping in mind the more shovels the easier it is to build a jump and the more time we get to spend sessioning it), cameras (I'll bring mine, but anybody with real photography skills would be even better), and whatever else you need for a day in the alpine - I strongly suggest a spare layer, a pair of sunglasses for hiking/digging, spare gloves since you'll get wet digging, and sunscreen to keep it to goggle tan and not burn (christ I sound like my mother). If you have avalanche gear, bring it if you want, but don't stress too much, the spot doesn't face exposure from above and is a mellow enough slope that it's not a serious slide risk (in fact the run back down to the lift once you get back into bounds is far worse then the out of bounds area where the spot is).
It's all for fun and we're not pro caliber riders or anything so don't be intimidated, we'll build something that everybody's able to hit and have fun with, plus it's going to be a good opportunity to meet members of the site in snowboarding (which is the main goal) while we take a momentary break from the partying that is Telus... You know, this is a snowboarding website so why not have a little fun on the mountain.

So if you're interested or want any information about this, give me a holler. Let me know if you're in so I get an idea of the numbers.



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I’m not gonna lie, I don’t remember the entire weekend. But one thing I can say is there was a good group, great snow, and never a dull moment! I’ll try and piece it together...

I get up around 9:30 Friday, March 14^th. I grab a shower, eat a pancake and head out the door. I get to Al and Brien’s house around 10:00, Brien’s still in bed and Al’s out shopping for trip supplies (I got mine the day before.) Which consists mostly of Booze and Energy Drinks. So he gets back with Arby, his sister’s soon to be husband. (A little Fun Fact: He proposed to her at PowderKing on an Earlier trip that year.) So Judy and Arby take off to Grand Prairie to pick up supplies and Mike and Ray for the trip. So we load up the truck and head to Donnelly for lunch at Kan’s Corner. Than we go and pick up Amanda and the rest of our shi*t, which we forgot but remembered on our way to lunch. We out of town by 1. So we get to Rycroft, buy some snacks and huge cans of Monster, 710ml! Wicked! We’re between Dawson Creek and Chetwyne, we hit a Check-stop, just after we literally molested a hot chick and her good-looking mom, with a sign that reads "Call Me! 1-780-837-8869" (Brien’s Cell Number! LoL.) Luckily we don’t get messed with, but the cop acted like Brien stole the truck, checking his plate and his tires/rims. Why the tire? We’ll never know. So we get to P.K., and our A-Frame accomadations. We unload and Start Socializing. We start drinking as we check the place out and its wicked! A total party house! A drum set, 3 Guitars, and a Gas Fireplace and huge windows, with a wicked view of the mountains! So far there is 7 of us, Me, Al, Brien, Amanda, Jody, Arby, Mike and Little Ray, the youngest of the group, a cool 10 years young. So we start playing 31... with drinks. So I suck at drinking game, and I lose hard since the have turned to shots. By the last couple rounds I was doing 4, 6 and 8 shot hands. The last hand of the game, I lose, 8 shots, I say, "f*ck It" and Chug half a bottle of Cherry Whiskey and go to bed. But not before Matt and Guss show up. Matt drinks 2 thirds of a 26 of J.D. and then has a beer and Pukes a huge puddle. I fix the toilet for the third time and finally go to bed.

Al and I awake to Matt Bangin’ on the drums and yelling "Wake up a**holes!" Its 7:00 in the Morning! f*ck! And I’m as drunk as I was when I went to bed! So we roll out of bed around 8, and Matt’s still drunk too! Wicked! We all eat breakfast, suit up, and head out. Me, Matt, and Al jump on the back of Arby and Jody’s Jeep. We get a lot of smiles as we roll into the P.K. parking lot. So we get out lift tickets and head up the Mountain. We get to the top of the T-bar, me , Matt, and Al are going to hike to the summit, to our surprise everyone is coming, even little Ray and Jody! So we hike to the top. I don’t know if anyone elsa felt as light headed and as drunk as me and Matt from the night before but hell did that make a harsh hike! Our group breaks up into two groups. Mellow group consists of Arby, Judy, Ray, Guss, Amanda, and Brien. The Gnar group is Me, Matt, Al, and Mike. We ride the trees all the way back to the A-Frame for lunch. So we eat and Bullshi*t for a bit than header back out. We meet up with the rest of the group and shred the rest of the day? We end the day back at the A-Frame, and we invent a new drinking game called "Spin Draw" you pick a card, and if your is the lowest you have to take a shot, spin on a stool 10 times around fast, and take another shot. I got screwed in this game as usual. Pulling the most low cards, thus taking the most shots and rides on the stool. After my last shot I head outside to cool down and spit a lot. So I’m buzzin’ pretty good now, cooking stakes on the BBQ, when Arby says, "Lets go hit that roof, lets just go and session something." So after supper all us guys go out and build a jump, but its so dark by the time its ready, that no one sticks anything, except landing on there asses (Good thing I was wearing my butt-pads, and it was slightly powdered up.) So we head in and watch some footage from the day on the TV, have some beers before we call it a night.

So we get up the next day, eat breakie, get geared up and head out the door. We jump on the back of the jeep again for the ride to the hill. So we go to the top of the T- bar and ride down to Satisfaction and have a beer for the trip like usual tradition. Than we ride the day, I’ve been filming most of the time with my Goggle-Cam, and got some rad footage of jumps and Tree-riding (2 GB worth! Probley only 10 minuets after editing.) The day ends with everyone back at the A-Frame having drinks, packing up, and watching the days footage. We all load into our Vehicles after saying our goodbyes and make our trips back home...

Wow, I remember quiet a bit! A damn good trip, with some damn fun people. I’m going back again, next chance I get!

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