My Mini-Don Draper Experience

Last Thursday was my birthday. I got older and I am now old enough that this bothers me. I work 4 days a week 10 hours a day so Thursday is my Friday. I had a ton to do that, but I had dreams of leaving work early enough to go watch a movie by myself. I spent most of the morning working on an article for an Environmental Journal on carbon sequestration (I was also submitting this as a paper for a class), but at around 2:30 I was done. Not with the work I had to do, but with being in my office, so I made my escape.

For those of you who are not Mad Men fans you will likely not understand this, but I pulled a Don Draper. I sneaked out of the office to see an art house film in the middle of the day. I put on my black fedora and walked around downtown SLC for a while. I stopped in one of my favorite stores Misc. and was dismayed that she had no men's clothing that day. I then went to Jitterbug on 3rd South and may have bought a pair or two of vintage cuff links, may have. I then stepped into The Copper Onion and sat and the bar and had a drink(bitters and soda with an orange slice and a muddled cherry...I felt so inclined plus it resembled an Old Fashioned) before my show began.

I then sat in the back of an empty theater and watched Howl. The James Franco biography of Allen Ginsberg. The film itself was excellent, despite it's clumsy editing and disjointed story line, the animated sequences that illustrate Ginsberg's opus work would be compelling cinema on their own. It also had Jon Hamm in it which if you are pulling a "Draper" makes anything better.

There is something I love about seeing movies alone. It frees you from thinking about anything other than yourself and the celluloid. Seeing a movie like Howl that asks much of it's audience's imagination in total silence takes a movie to an even greater cerebral place. You allow yourself to become immersed in both the words written of a poem that shifted a generation and the artistic license that a filmmaker a generation removed attached to that work. There is a moment of magic that occures when the lights dim in a theater and images begin to flash on screen where the anticipation builds as you are about to enter a place you've never been before and will be able to escape your daily confines for 90 minutes (or 3 hours if its Kevin Costner and you may go back to back at work if its The Postman). Feeling that while you should be at work is even better.

That night was followed by dinner with friends at Moki's in Taylorsville and staying up till the wee small hours of the morning finishing my article (I'll let you know if it gets published, but I got a 97 on the paper).

The Good Thing About Ipods

On Maggie and I's first date one of the most cherished memories I have was her inviting me up to apartment at the end of the first 8 hours of our date (it was a grand total of 12 hours) to look at her CD Collection and talk music. She had a wide range of music from hard core punk to indie and Billie Holiday, this impressed. Sadly, once both of us were removed from the stores that were so formative to our musical taste (Maggie moved away from her Pittsburgh store and mine was shut down by the man...damn the man) our playlists grew stale. I had work harder to find stuff I liked and then introduce it to her. This is a tale of what happened.

I purchased the new Arcade Fire album "The Suburbs" and was enthralled with it. I left it in Maggie's car for her to listen to. When I asked her what she thought she told me "It's kinda boring they all sound the same." I calmly screamed "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?" In her car, two weeks later, I put the EELS album Hombre Lobo on. As we moved along I-15 on our way to meet the Schroeders for dinner the first song played twice, the CD player was set to Repeat. Maggie had been listening to the same Arcade Fire song on repeat for two weeks. This explained her apathy.

This story would be funny enough if it ended there, but it didn't. Maggie decided to give more than one song on the Arcade Fire album an ear. At some point during her more in depth listening of "The Suburbs" I borrowed Maggie's car and put in the EELs' album End Times. Maggie had no knowledge of my doing this and could not get over how much Arcade Fire sounded like the EELs. At one point she was convinced they had invited EELs front man Mark "E" Everett in for a compilation song.

This is a strong argument for both Ipods and getting music for yourself, not your husband.

Teen Wolf

I took a sick day. This may not seem remarkable to you, but this very rarely happens. I have on occasion taken a half day after coming in and getting some work done, but last week it was necessary to take an entire day. We were spending the weekend at a cabin with friends that have a small child, and I wanted to be healthy enough to go and not infect the "wee one" (I know, I'm a saint).

This resulted in my watching Sick Day Movies. I still don't sleep much when I am sick, so I was able to watch a lot of movies. I watched some of my normal sick day "go to films" like Superbad and The Big Lebowski (Apatow and the Coens are a standard), but then I went to my Netflix Instant Cue.

My Netflix Instant Cue is loaded with high brow arty crap that wouldn't play in the sticks. There are German films set in the post war era, Fredrico Fellini surrealism, independent documentaries (there is one there I can't wait to watch on the font Helvitica...no I'm not kidding), independent films that don't have Joseph Gordon Leavitt or Ellen Page in them and other movies that my mind would need to have less congestion surrounding it to be able to enjoy. So, I watched Teen Wolf.

Teen Wolf might be the greatest film ever, if we are judging solely on how a society would react to a strange phenomenon (Werner Herzog should be taking notes from Rob Daniel; the guy who directed Teen Wolf, Beethoven's 2nd and Home Alone 4 ) For those of you born under a rock or after 1988, Teen Wolf is the story of teenager Scott Howard (Michael J. Fox) who is on a terrible high school basketball team (The Beavers), who along with having the normal problems associated with puberty is also a werewolf. What makes this movie so grand is not the plot, but the realism the film casts on this conceit. In nearly every story the werewolf is seen as an outcast loner and is thus shunned by his peers. However, Teen Wolf the werewolf is nearly universally accepted. He has to do little more than score a single basket to be universally loved. This is what would actually happen to high school student if he was suddenly turned into a canine that could dunk. Being a teenager was all about being able to separate yourself from the pack and finding your own identity. Some people could do this easily by being rich, pretty, talented, tall or funny. Others had to struggle to find their niche in the adolescent ecosystem. Being a wolfman automatically makes you unique and special in the way that all teenagers are seeking.


In Teen Wolf Scott Howard is not a nerd who gains uber acceptance through magic; Scott Howard was a perfectly average teenager, readily accepted by most of his peers. His only real snub comes from the stuck up Pamela Wells (Lorie Griffith) and her boyfriend who goes to another school and appears to be 28 years old. It is not the ultimate rise to popularity from the depths of loserdom, but a bump in notoriety. Pamela Wells doesn't fall for him, but she is intrigued enough to play fetch with him in a dressing room. Scott ultimately realizes that he has to find out the time of person he wants to be, and not let one aspect become who he is.

This is what we all have to do. The person we seek out to be at 17 is not likely to be the same person we are at 23. In high school our personalities were still developing and not fully formed. I was known for being political, I still am, but I don't think its the overriding characteristic of my personality. Its why I enjoy some people now more than I enjoyed them in high school. The singular overriding characteristic has given way to a complex web of personality (in most cases, some people are as bland as they ever were/ and bore me even on Facebook). Scott Howard's wolf is still a part of him, but he moves toward becoming a more complete person.

Other Things that Make Teen Wolf Great

-Chubs, that fat guy plays basketball.
-Stiles'(Jerry Levine) t-shirts and his attempt to channel Judd Nelson and Ferris Bueller simultaneously.
-This might be on the short of list of 80's Films Geared Towards Men.
-Spiderman stole the line "with great power comes great responsibility from this movie." Harold Howard says it to Scott.
-It is just nice to see a werewolf that surfs on top of van instead of listening to Dashboard Confessional and being moody.
-The party scene really makes me lament how tame we were in high school.
-Also, this film shows genetics as the cause of Werewolfism and not a contagious disease. This has to be the more likely cause of Werewolfism.
-How much of this was inspired by an excess of cold medication?

Summer 2010

Summer is dying slowly. Its a sad tragic truth that summers end. Summers were once a time of discovery, a time freedom was not an expression but a lifestyle, a time when adventure was born. The older I get the farther those summers seem from me. In response to that gap I have created a list of things that make for a summer to great. These are things that I have done, wanted to do and will endeavor to do every summer for the rest of my life. Please comment on what should be added to the list or tell of experiences doing some of the items on the list.

-Go to a baseball game, eat a hot dog (drink a beer if you're so inclined).
-Drink a Coke from a glass bottle.
-Climb a mountain.
-Go to an outdoor concert.
-Picnic. Take good cheese, crusty bread and olives (and wine, if you're so inclined).
-Go to a beach, swim or surf. Build a sand castle
-Ride a roller coaster
-Go to a festival, carnival, fair or farmer's market.
-Eat Cotton Candy.
-Climb a tree.
-Drink a Slurpee(please make it a real Slurpee, not its pathetic half brother Icee)
-Barbecue, listen to Sublime, Bob Marley, The Beach Boys, Hepcat and The Buena Vista Social Club.
- See at least one person you have not seen in over a year.
-Write something. Put pen to paper and write in long hand; a short story, a poem, a letter just write something not on a computer.
-Walk barefoot on grass.
-Fall in love with a new band.
-Watch a movie that was made before you were born, preferably before your parents were born.
-Ride a horse.
-Swim at night.
-Play a team sport just for fun, softball is preferable.
-Go to a movie, try for a midnight showing.
-Compete in a race.
-See a play.
-Cross something off of your bucket list.
-Add something to your bucket list.
-Road trip.
-Camp.
-Eat at a new restaurant, and try something you have never had before.
-Watch fireworks.
-Do something stupid with your best friend.
-Go to a parade.
-Catch a bug...let it go.
-Go to a snow shack for a Tiger's blood snow cone. Its different than a Slurpee.
-Walk barefoot on grass.
-Go fishing.
-Read something just for fun, something non-fiction, a poem (out loud) and a literary classic.
-Make your own ice cream or sorbet.
-Make a new friend.
-Visit an National Park, Monument or Historic Site.
-Visit a museum.
-Roller skate.
-Build something, anything just make it your own.
-Watch a sunrise and set.
-Ride a bike.
-Remember what its like to be a child.

Trombone Shorty

This past Sunday Maggie and I attended a concert at Red Butte Garden featuring one of my all time favorite musicians. Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews is a New Orleans horn player who is masterful on both the trombone, as his name implies, but also the trumpet. He was the opening act for two New Orleans legends The Dirty Dozen Brass and Allen Toussaint. While I am familiar with the two headlining acts, I was there for Trombone Shorty. The guy blew me away, and I recommend all of my friends who like great fusion music to check him out. He blends elements of funk, second line jazz, rock and hip-hop seamlessly.

One of the best parts was that I was able to meet the band after the performance. They were signing copies of their new album Backatown. What was really cool is that I talked to them about their earlier stuff that I knew, and shows that I had watched them on. They all seemed really excited to meet a fan who had been listening to them for a while, and they made sure to shake my hand. It was was a memory making experience to be able to have followed a band for several years, have them get their major label record release and then meet them.

This conversation should illustrate Maggie's new found adoration for the Trombone Shorty.

Maggie: He's hot.
Colt: Is he?
Maggie: (Hold the album close to my face so I can see) Uh...yeah
Colt: laughs a little
Maggie: Yeah he may even go on my list of five
Colt: Really? Wow that is impressive
Maggie: Plus, he's not that famous yet so I might actually have a shot.
Colt: Wait...what?



PS: There will be a reunion blog coming soon. I just want to upload some pictures that I can post along with it, so please stay tuned.

Just a Small Town Girl

As the song Don't Stop Believing comes on the Ipod...

Maggie: This song is great. Why do people hate Journey?

Cue the next Journey song...

Maggie: Never mind I get it.

Tri-As He Might

Thoughts on my first Triathlon

*I now have even greater respect for superheros after wearing a wet suit, rubber is hot.

*Mobile bathrooms, become less gross the more you need one.

*Sorry Bobby Boucher Jr., Gatorade is better.

*Salem Springs' pond does not taste great.


*Red Vines are an excellent recovery food, Pay-Days are excellent race fuel.

*Triathlons are addictive.

*Racing around farms and having people bang cowbells at you on your bike, really allows you to pretend you are in the Tour de France. This is of course a very a happy delusion.

*Someone turned a giant piece of farm equipment into a dragon with a sign that says, "Don't Feed the Dragon". Neat.

*Look Llamas.

*Having people chant "BEARD, BEARD, BEARD" and "GO BEARD GO" is awesome.

*Only slightly more awesome is winning the prize of a high quality new bike bag solely because of your ability to grow facial hair like a Norse God.

*DZ Nuts is essential to success.

Musical Rundown
I only used music during the run portion of the race, and then I only started at the half way point. It made an enormous difference. I immediately felt energized, and picked up the pace instantly at the point I decided to turn on my the Ipod.

*Under Pressure-Queen
First song to come on is a perfect way to revive the lost energy. Queen as long been the band best associated with stadium soundtracks.

*NFL Films Soundtrack
The orchestra playing rousing music while John Facenda grizzled voice speaks of blitzing linebackers, Vince Lombardi and the gridiron as the floor of the ancient Roman coliseum even though you are not in anyway resembling football still manages to stir up all of the masculinity stored in your body and push you further.

*Stronger-Kanye West
I'll let all you haters finish in a minute, but I gotta say Kanye recorded one of the best work out songs of all time.

*Iron Man-Black Sabbath
Tommy Iommi's guitar and Ozzy's vocals...nuff said.

*Shipping Up to Boston-Dropkick Murpheys
Finding your wooden leg while being genuinely pissed off seem to echo the feeling during the last minutes of triathlon.

*Black Friday Rule-Flogging Molly
Again, when you are just needing to harness the anger to push yourself nothing beats Irish Punk.

*Blitzkrieg Bop-The Ramones
Fast and furious excellent for when you want to make a move and pass some fools.

*Beautiful Day-U2
The song I like to end all of my runs with with. It captures the zen feeling of seizing the day and experiencing life that running/biking/swimming on a perfect sunny day bring to pass. Beautiful Day encompasses the experience you are in the midst of because the rush of endorphins merged with weeks of training and sense of accomplishment all collide to great a day you don't want to let slip away.