The Beehive State

The Beehive State isn't my favorite but I enjoy visiting. I'm here to see my buddy get married (Congrats Taylor & Ana), catch a session of conference, spend some time with my brother and sister, and visit with some friends. This song is one of my old time favorites from a band called Limbeck. I've driven up and down Interstate 15 a bunch over the years and this song always comes to mind.

PS The picture you see is of the happy couple. I really liked the pic so I had to get it out there.

Imagine Dragons

A well made video for a well sung song.

CHIEF MOUNTAIN

Ever since I was a young child I've wanted to hike to the top of Chief Mountain. I remember as a little 9 or 10 year old, watching a group of my older cousins, a few uncles, and my grandpa heading out to hike to the top. I was pretty bummed about not being able to go with them. Well I finally got to the top this summer. It was worth the wait since the mid 90's. Totally worth it. It wasn't even that bad of a hike. The 45 minutes of traversing up the shale was the only difficult part but other than that it wasn't bad at all.

Two summers ago I had an opportunity to hike to the top of Old Chief but wasn't able to make it due to a couple reasons. One being the fact I invited a gal I was spending time with at the time to come and she forgot her passport (needed to get through the border and into the United States, in which the mountain is just barely located) and due to me not really explaining to her that it was a serious hike that requires more than just a pair of Keds (the only type of shoes she brought with her) and a granola bar. I ended up having to tell my buddies I wasn't going to make it, which bothered them considering we had planned the trip weeks in advance and were pumped to conquer it.

I ended up taking the gal on a date which included us canoeing and having a picnic on the other side of the lake we were on and having a really good time. Seriously, it was really fun... but it was not fulfilling my dream of hiking Old Chief. To make matters worse, I had to endure many taunts and various different kinds of verbal abuses, along with them making up a hand signal that mimics the face of the mountain that reminded me how I didn't make it up to the peak like they had (talk about humiliation).They still bring it up, no lie. All in all I learned my lesson and have vindicated myself from here and forever onward with my long overdue excursion.

I won't say anything else about the hike (I'll let the pictures do the talking) except that I'm grateful for Chanel for getting the group together and making things happen.

P.S. If you look at the header to my blog, it's pretty easy to tell which mountain is Old Chief. That's the view I have from my house. Not too shabby.

P.S.S. Here is a picture of Jeff and Ben making fun of me with their silly little hand gesture.

MINT JULEP

Neat technique with the video. You can read about it here. This group has been on my radar for several months now and I expect great things to come.

American Buffalo

Bison, also known as American Buffalo are in my top three as far as North American animals go. I had a chance to take a nice drive to go see some yesterday and snapped a few shots on my phone. It was quite the treat to just watch them wade through the water, tussle a bit, and run around with each other. One day I will own a pack of Bison. I'm not kidding.

Grouplove

Its my little brother Neal's birthday today. He enjoys this song and so do I. Here is to the big One-Six. 16 years old seems so young, but when I was that age I felt so big. Weird how that works.

LIFE

I came across this picture years ago and saved it on my computer. I don't know who deserves the credit. I'm sure it's nothing new, or could be a knock off of something more popular but I enjoy what it represents. It's sad, exciting, and happy all at the same time.

Townes Van Zandt & Uncle Seymour

This is just sorta neat.

Lana Del Rey

Talk about an infectious tune. Holy smokes. This song is somber, simple, and catchy. This Lana gal is pretty saucy too. She kinda has that jaded hipster aura about her that makes you bothered but not that much? The video has neat footage of California too, which I like. Super 8 is all the craze these days. Click here for more info.

Honda CM400

I'm using these pictures as inspiration for a new bike I'm getting. This make and model aren't my first choice but a great opportunity came my way and I get to take the bike off the previous owners hands for a mere two hundred and fifty bucks. Yep. I can't pass up a deal like that. I'll be going for the brat bike look (more like the top picture) but may take some ideas from the more rat bike looking bobber (bottom picture). I'm excited for the new project. I'll be working on it this winter to have it just the way I want it for next spring and summer.

YOUTH LAGOON

Youth Lagoon - Montana from Tyler T Williams on Vimeo.

I've been listening to Youth Lagoon a lot lately. One of my favorite songs just so happens to be "Montana". Considering I've grown quite fond of the state, this music, and now this video, I had to post it. Thier debut album called "The Year of Hibernation" is out September 27th. I've given it a listen and can tell you it's worth getting your hands on. This video is stunning in my opinion. Incredibly well crafted.

Family Reunions

The family reunions on my father's side are nuts. He was the middle of 11 kids so over the years the fam has grown exponentially. We had a reunion and had 129 people out of a total of 180 show up. Not too bad, especially since everyone is scattered around Canada and the Western United States. We had a great time going to 27 at Lee Creek (Its a family tradition, my great grandfather used to own it and we have been going to the same swimming hole for generations), having a talent show, and going to the Cardston Parade. I'm lucky to have such a rad family.
Picture 1: The Creek. Section 27. Fam fave.
Picture 2: Brad & Laurel singing their rendition of The Gardner by The Tallest Man On Earth
Picture 3: Rob singing a rendition of Johnny Cash with a tiny little bird.
Picture 4: The Cardston Parade. This is just part of the family, we took up quite a bit of space on the other side of the road too. The kids were pretty excited to pick up the candy the different floats passed out. Canadian parades are nice like that. I like how the Cahoon Hotel sign is in the back if you look close. I didn't even try to get that in. Cool.

Purity Ring

Belispeak by PURITY RING
Lofticries by PURITY RING
Get into this music. I think you'll be hearing a lot more about this band in the near future. I came across it a few months ago thanks to my friends Max, Jon, Jasmine, & Tayt (they are all siblings and happen to be cousins with the gal in the band). They introduced me to it and I'm glad they did. Check out this article in GQ right here and another one from pitchfork right http://pitchfork.com/news/43641-rising-purity-ring/.

Nike Air MAG 2015



The Back To The Future series are (all three) are some of my most favorite movies of all time. I can't get enough of Marty McFly's black Toyota pickup truck, the Delorean, flux capacitor, Doc Brown, or even the hover board in those movies. Maybe I had some sort of fascination because my next door neighbors growing up were extra's in the movies, which always made me jealous. One thing I know for sure is that I've always been fascinated about the shoes Marty wears when he heads to the future to take care of some business. Those Nike's were pretty slick. Luckily Nike decided to introduce those shoes in all their grandeur and glory. Read more here.

Audio, Video, Disco- Justice

Justice has a new album out soon. Pretty good song.

Horseback riding to Vimmy

I have procrastinated this post and it's high time I put it up already. Cristy took myself and a few lucky others up Vimmy Mountain a while ago on horseback. It was a perfect day. We didn't make it all the way to the top due to some stubborn horses (I don't blame them, they have people on their back going up a mountain, they deserve to stop when they want to) but it was great. We stopped for lunch at a nice little stream and made the most of the wonderful weather. I need to get some more horseback riding in before this summer is officially over for me.

Ryan Adams- Lucky Now

Ryan Adams - Lucky Now by theaudioperv
I'm eagerly awaiting this album to come out. It has been a while since he has released anything without the Cardinals and I tend to like his music a bit more without them. This is a good Jam. Click here for a neat video of it live.

Boundary Bay

This was taken on a calm evening at the border between Alberta & Montana in Waterton National Park. This could be my most favorite picture I've taken with my trusty Canon G9. Not that it's that great but I like it. You don't get calm nights like this very often where the moon reflects the mountains. Makes me wish I had a more powerful camera.