dbski

Listen to "Dark Side" today and it sounds as great now as it did in my dorm room in 1973! That is the mark of a classic album.

@6balls you are so right about SRV, he was the MAN! I was lucky to get to see him just before he passed. For you youngsters go to youtube and search the video of his soundcheck, badass fur coat, badass guitarist!

Go back to the roots of all music, the blues! The 3 kings, Muddy, Buddy, Luther, John Lee, and Howling Wolf. And the new kids on the block, Samantha Fish, Joe Bonamassa, Kingfish Inghram, Beth Hart, Kenny Wayne Sheppard, and many more. As Muddy said, the blues had a baby and they called it Rock and Roll!

The only things my labs would do is give you a big ol' lick and then roll on their backs!

My latest was Nov. 14 and the next day I was up north sitting in a deer blind in the snow!

Our lake opened up 2 days ago, I gave skiing a thought for about a millisecond. Figured there were some crazies somewhere who'd do it. Looked like fun!

The last time I went to Paradise I was in my mid-50's and skied the whole week with no problem. First couple days only 2 sets and after that 3. Another cool thing Gordon does is having a couple massage therapist show up at the ski site in the afternoon at the conclusion of skiing. Sun is not a big problem as there is a great palapa at the ski site that provides wonderful shade.

Depending on age and your shape it can be. A serious off season workout schedule really helps. One of the biggest problems are your hands. The water is very warm and I've seen peoples hands toast after 3 days, so bad they have to stop skiing. Gordon has Clinchers on hand that has allowed people to keep skiing. Do what ever you can to keep your hands toughened up. I did pull-ups with a handle attached to the wall and no gloves. The best solution is to not go crazy on the first couple days, easier said than done after not skiing for a couple of months. One word of caution, if you get a blister on your hands don't let anyone around you with a lemon!

I'll second Gordon's place, been fortunate to go there. The best low stress/high fun vacation you'll ever take!

@horton give me a call, I still owe you a ski!

What better gift for the holidays than ski-related gear! I have two options for that skier in your life or just for yourself if you've been particularly good this year. I have the phone/tablet stand in 3 woods, maple, cherry or walnut. The stands holds cell phones/tablets for both viewing and charging. Plus, when sitting on your desk at work with nothing on it, it lets your cohorts know what your passion is. The wall plaques come in the same 3 woods and in the 3 styles show. Cost are $30 for the stands, $20 for the plaques plus shipping. Also, you can still order a ski to be done by Christmas. E-mail me a contact number at DBski2@comcast.net and I'll give you a call to let you know what woods I have left. Thanks and Happy Holidays! Rick

 

@"76S&S" It's a 302 small block Ford. Pretty mild right now but I see "more power" in the future! I'm a big proponent of a Ford in a Ford.

No sweat, never gave it a thought! I love anything mechanical, my father actually built a jet-powered car in the 50's as a high school shop teacher.

Go White!

Looking at the upcoming weather forecast it looks like it's the end of roadster season. Went for a great drive today and if it's the last one, I'm bummed but it's been a great summer. I can't decide if I'm more dejected about the end of ski season or the last drive! Since getting the car legally on the road in May I've put almost 5000 miles on it. While building it one of my biggest concerns was, would I enjoy driving the car? It has performed well beyond my expectations! It is truly a blast to drive. I've driven it on a couple 300 mile trips with no problems. The only breakdown I had was on the initial drive, I popped a loose radiator hose. I drive it as my daily driver, weather permitting. The car handles great, is fast and cruises on the interstate straight as an arrow. 80MPH is 2100rpm's.

Not to say everything is perfect. The seats provided with the kit look nice but are kind of a joke. The seat bottoms have

1" of foam over steel bars. Every big bump was a shot of pain up the back. I was beginning to learn where all the big bumps were around my house. I put a set of Corbeaus in, what a difference. 4" of foam over springs makes a huge difference. The clutch is ridiculously stiff, time for a different pressure plate. The exhaust dumps in front of the rear tires right at earshot. It's fine for a short distance but tiring on a trip. I'm going to extend it to the rear and french it in the center of the rear pan. I bought the removable hardtop when I ordered the car, big mistake. I haven't owned a ragtop since high school, I forgot how much fun driving with no top is. I can't imagine driving it with a top. The only problem is getting caught in the elements with no top. I'm going to order the soft top that stores in the trunk when not in use. I drove most of the summer with no hood. I just recently installed it but I made it easily removable with hood pins as I really like it equally with or without.

As bummed as I am to end the driving season, it's now time to start working on it again. There is a ton of body work ahead of me. I see a lot of sanding in my future! I've been going back and forth about color, right now I'm thinking a med-dark metallic gray. One thing about a Hot Rod is that it will never be done!

 

I enjoy both immensely. Being a bit older one thing I like about snow is that I can still spend a long day on the slopes, water not so much. These days 1 set of 6-8 passes is plenty although its still fun to be in the boat BSing with my ski buds.

and she is the nicest, humble, classy kid you could ever meet!

Give me a close up and I can probably ID them.

It's just the perspective of the picture. They're the same size.

It's time for the annual posting of the pics! Here are the trophy skis for the Malibu Open. Hope to see

a bunch of you ballers this weekend, stop by my tent and say hey1

You should have heard the screaming and squealing when she rounded 6 ball! It didn't stop until she dropped at the end.

Big night last night, my wife ran the course!! The backstory is that in her forties she was a regular course skier, could make 4 out of 6 passes at 30mph -15 off. In her fifties she suffered through some serious back issues. There were years where she was barely able to ski, maybe 10-15 days a year. Not only was the pain she was suffering tough, she was really frustrated as she couldn't enjoy the sport she loved so much! A couple years ago I got her a Goode power vest for Christmas. It really helped reduce her back issues. (Thanks Dave!) She would still have occasional issues but was able to increase her days of skiing. The big problem is that all the back issues caused her to ski very tentativly. She still had a great wake crossing, but was riding the tail into the ball. As a result she had slow lazy turns and would get behind and get 3-4 balls. I tried everything to get her up on the ski coming into the ball. Believe it or not she was actually researching on the forum and read slowing down the boat might help. I was skiing her at 27.5 so we slowed her down to 26.5 and it really helped. In the spring I also had her do a bunch of free skiing to build up her strength before we went to the ski lake and run balls. Another problem she was having was the timing on when to initiate her turn. She had a heck of a time starting her turn before the ball so that she was finishing at the ball. Finally something clicked and she is back skiing like her old self! The pass she made looked easy and she backed it up with the next pass just skiing inside 5 ball. Not bad for one week before her 61st birthday! I'm a very lucky guy to have a wife that shares the addiction.

P.S. The water isn't cold, she wears a shorty in 85 degree water!

 

Michigan made it a state law that school starts after Labor day. It was in response to the tourism industry. Schools can apply for a waiver and more and more are.

If you can't die doing it , it's not a sport!

 

One year I'm in my booth at the Malibu in Milwaukee just killing time. I look up and holy shit it's Mike Babcock looking at my skis. This was when he just left as coach of the Red Wings and was going to Toronto. Being a life long Wings fan I have to admit I was a bit star struck but he was as nice as he could be. I think he was in town for one of his kids functions. We talked skiing a bit, he was super impressed with the pros!