Rugged Stuff

Remembering Jerry Reed

Country music-maker Jerry Reed passed away recently. Rugged Stuff remembers the late Guitar Man, from his roles as an entertainer to his interesting, if convoluted, connections to the Rocky Mountain region.

Stumbling the Walk

What Did You Do This Summer?

There isn’t anything particularly glamorous about a van-based rock tour. Maybe the bigshots who have money behind them for a fancy bus have it pretty good, but for those of us in the trenches it is a gritty – and smelly – endeavor. Three words sum up the experience in order of time spent: driving, waiting, and rocking. Everything else, like eating and sleeping, you squeeze in as best you can.

Thyme To Travel with Rochael Teynor

Colorado Wine Country in the Grand Valley

When it comes to domestic wine, we often think of California, Washington, and Oregon as producers of some of the best. Grand Junction, Colorado is fast becoming one of the country’s premier regions for winemaking.

BorderWest

Sarah Palin: It’s Called Sassy

At the end of Sarah Palin's speech, the commentator on MSNBC searched for a word to describe it. He said that it wasn't all sarcasm and it wasn't bitter, it was. . . and his voice dropped off, searching for the word. I think we call it sassy.

Sarah Palin had to justify McCain's choice and rouse the crowd. Did she do it?

Discuss away.

The Dog Blog with Kathryn Socie

Big Lessons Learned from the Canine Trenches

Imagine yourself stumbling into a grocery store. Its 2 a.m. and though you wish you had a much better excuse as to why you are there, you don’t have one and you have not been out drinking. You are slightly disheveled having literally rolled out of bed; your eyes are straining to adjust to the terrible glare of those migraine inducing fluorescent lights. As you settle into the scene, you hum along to some off rendition of 'We are the World' while strolling down the aisles. You grab your much needed items and head for the checkout.

Of course, now, you are intercepted by your former employer who just recently had a baby and is driving around with his partner on a late night mission to get said baby to sleep. He is excited to see you, probably overly so because he doesn’t get out much these days, but his enthusiasm becomes buffered by his sudden realization. Once he finally comes to, notices your odd get-up and, finally, glances down to note the contents of your basket, he struggles to carry on any sort of coherent discussion. Your mind begins to race. Should you try to explain the situation?

BorderWest

Scenes from the Hatch Chile Festival

Hatch, New Mexico claims the title of Chile Capital of the World. As we drove through the town, every other business boasted chile or included a mention of chile in its name. Chile is more than a crop or a condiment in Hatch. It is the economic mainstay of their economy. A town of little over 1600, Hatch has been celebrating the chile harvest for over thirty-six years.

Missoula Notebook

Did Bristol Palin Get Abstinence-Only Sex Education?

First, let me make clear that I could care less about Bristol Palin’s pregnancy vis a vis the election.

However, there are some arguments going back and forth in various places on the ‘nets, concerning the case’s relevancy to ongoing debates over so-called abstinence-only sex education, and I became curious as to just what Alaska’s policy is.

Bob Wire Has a Point (It's Under His Cowboy Hat)

Cell Phone Novel: Wass^ Wit Dat?

Typing one-handed sucks. I’m used to getting words onto paper (all right, bits onto a hard drive) almost as fast as I can think, so this snail-paced communication is extremely maddening. It’s like washing your car with a toothbrush. (I actually did that this summer, by the way. I’d lost a bet with Rusty. I got him back, though—I used his toothbrush.)

I was sitting in the recliner this weekend, goofing around with my cell phone, and I realized that I can probably text faster than I can type. So while my frozen egg rolls were cooking, I stretched out to full recline and wrote a novel on my phone. Here’s the prologue:

Missoula Notebook

Palin’s Lack of Qualifications May Spell Doom for Obama

As I sifted through news reports about Palin this weekend, I seemed to find more and more evidence suggesting that — given the upside-down, Bizarro World that American political culture inhabits — Palin will not hurt McCain’s candidacy but might even help it and, indeed, might even find herself in the Oval Office one day. I’m already anticipating that Palin will “win” her debates with Joe Biden, not despite but because of a shaky grasp on the facts of foreign policy.