T.G.I.F.@H.O.H.P. is A-ok

 If you’ve ever gone to a rave or hit the dubstep scene or just gone extreme clubbing, you know the drill. You head down town to an extremely unpretentious part of town, no neon, no flashing lights, no tell tail signs, you just know where to go. It's all prety much word of mouth. Friday night in Pittsburgh, we go out for the night. Down to a dark side of town and casually into a parking space that looks as though it was saved just for us. We walk to an old building that looks as though it is no longer in use. We head right in the front door (cause Teri’s playing tonight), onto the dimly lit elevator and up to the 3rd floor. As you exit the lift, it’s a tight hallway “L”, one more door, and we’re in. We are early so not much going on just yet. A few quick intros, a short stare down from the big fellow seated just inside the door and Teri is off collaborating with the sound and lighting people. I start people watching as the other musicians start rolling in and the audience follows shortly after. Let’s get this party started!   
      The music starts playing and the atmosphere is  more informal than I have ever seen. It’s like 50% standard routine and 50% open mike; lots of instruments up on the stage as well as open mikes. If you feel moved, you can grab a drum or bongo and play along. Step up to the microphone of you feel so moved and sing back up; it’s cool. Talk about hepcats? If you feel like reciting a favorite verse or unleashing your heart, let’er rip tater chip!      Teri does not start off playing, but after about an hour and a half, she eases on stage and right onto the key board as the whole idea is to not let the music stop. Her sister sits on a stool next to her and sings back up. The crowd is definitely into it: everybody is doing their own thing.

      As the night of non-stop music comes to an end, something strange and unexpected happens. Always on guard and constantly frosty when I'm in unfamiliar surroundings, I never saw it coming. As the musicians continue to play softly, the guy running the show wants to publicly thank Teri for coming many miles and setting time aside to come down to H.O.H.P.. It's not exactly C.B.G.B.s, in fact it's nothing like the famous punk scene. In fact, while I have been writing this story, the facts are correct but I have been painting a picture in your mind that lead you to "bob" when you should be "weaving". Allow me to retort.

  Friday night we headed to downtown Pittsburgh to minister to the homeless. We went to House of His Presence. (H.O.H.P) for an evening filled with worship in the form of music, song, prayer and love. I imagine for a few it might have been just a warm, dry place to sit. For some it could have been a place to get something to eat; but for all, it was a safe place in an otherwise busy world to rest, reflect and soak in the spirit. I enjoyed people watching the entire evening and was blessed because I could only imagine how some of those people got where they were in their lives. I truly delighted in all that I witnessed that night and was truly humbled before the evening was over. As Teri was called up to the front, to thank her for leading worship with them, I too was called to the front. Not wanting to leave me out, they prayed over us both. Not money, not hand shakes,but  prayers from their hearts. I had people, whom just minutes earlier I had been silently praying for, now praying over me. All very new for me. It was beautiful and humbling, and I felt the love. If you ever have the opportunity to step outside of your comfort zone, listen for the music and take a step through those doors. It's good for the SOUL.

Pirates, Steelers and....... Sushi?

If you've been tuning in and, as I like to say, been following "the Dash" you see I've been A.O.L.: I have been a victim of technology as well as lack, there of. Well, I've been in Pittsburgh. Summoned as if almost by the Bat Phone itself, I found myself sharing the lime lite, once again, with both super heroes and villans. It's true! The Andy Warhol Museum was hosting an exhibit by Alex Ross entitled; Heroes & Villans: The Comic Book Art of Alex Ross. Kind of like cops and firemen, we like to hang out at the same places. I did have the opportunity to extend some professional courtesy in spite of the fact they were all DC comics. With the ever so vigilant eyes of a hawk, I was however, able to catch a glimpse of Captain America.

    Even Super Heroes need to eat, so I hit the food scene a bit more laid back than normal. My first stop was Tokyo, sushibuffet&grill. I know what you're thinking, SUSHI BUFFET? It was great!  40 selections of sushi and sashimi, including hand rolls made to order. A talented staff and an overwhelming selection to choose from. If you have ever wondered just how much sushi it would take you to scream uncle (pronounced uncoe in Japanese), this is the place.

 

For lunch we stopped in at Primanti Bros. (Almost Famous since 1933) It's a sandwich place that is tall on atmosphere and short on taste. Perhaps it was my fault as I chose the cheese stake sandwich due to the fact that it had a disclaimer after it that read: our #2 seller. Maybe it's because I'm from Philly and my expectations are high or I'm so use to fighting for #1, that #2 is and will always be the first loser.   

 

On another day we headed down to the strip district. (Not the stripper district) where I pressed my nose against the glass and ogled..........fresh fish, at Wholey's Fish Market. If it swims in water, they got it!

My most memorable part was not the food but the lady hawking, freshly made lobster bisque. 100% totally addressing the women. It must have been as plain as the nose on my face that no man, EV ER (2 syllables) can cook. "Ladies (complete with strategic, pin point eye contact), put this on your pasta". "Girls, they'll love this on cold days". Me, well looks like I'm stuck with my tin of Hungry Man frozen dinners, ALSO LEFT OVER FROM THE 70'S! That was enough for me, I wasn't going to spend any of my hard earned, Susan B.Anthony's it that establishment.  

  

 

Across the street to the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company we went. Can you say "CHEESE"? You say it, they got it. You want more? They got it. You wanna tchro sumpin togedder f'lunch? G'head. O.k., I did. I got crazy with the olives; Coluccio Calabrese, Sharp Provelone stuffed and my own little baby sourdough and, bada boom, bada bing, lunch.

 

My time to hit the multitude of food stops was insufficient, but I will say this, "It ain't always about the food, sometimes it's about the company, sometimes it's about the journey, occasionally all things click and all you can say is wow." For those times when it just doesn't work out, just have one of the girls heat you up some delicious bisque. Cao

Goat Russlers

A few days ago, I found myself out on the prairie again. This time looking for some missing animals. I went up to a private 43,000 acre ranch to look for some missing goats; several hundred to be exact. I spent the entire day glassing and looking for clues. Miles of roads and nobody, anywhere around. No one to question, no one to talk to, no one, period! The day was not a total bust. There are lots of places on the property that have probably never seen a human foot print. Hard to believe in this day and age. Even I can't help but get distracted when the day gets long. When I was out where my favorite draw empties out off the plateau, I stumbled onto some cool stuff. I found what looks like a small cutting stone that's napped around the edges, like an Indian scraper. I also found some other cool rocks. They appear to be sand stone on the outside and either hollow on the inside or full of a different rock. They range in size from a small marble to a golf ball. Some look like petrified button mushrooms or petrified chestnuts. I'm headed of to a pals house that is into this sort of thing. If he doesn't know what they are, he'll find out. As for the disappearance of the goats, nothing to report, but I'll keep my eye out.  

My Heroe's Have Always Been Cowboys

I had a chance to meet one of my hero's a few days back. If I had to capture the experience and draw it in the form of a graph, it would look an awful lot like a giant check mark. I say giant because heroes are always larger than they seem. Growing up I was drawn to cowboys and super heroes. I new all the super heroes lived in New York and therefor all the cowboys lived out west. There I was, trapped in the Mid West, a virtual no mans land. I don't want to get into name calling, but as Bob Dylan sang it, I was stuck in the middle with you. I made quite a few contacts with more cowboys than I did super heroes. I established a friendship with western writer and artist, Bob Boze Bell, Mark McPherson and the wife of the Fastest Gun alive Becky Munden. (Bob and Becky by mail) Years later I had a chance to meet Bob Munden in person. I was headed out to his house in Butte,Montana. I was with a friend that was going to have some work done to a six shooter and for what he wanted, Bob was the man.

 

Bob had a house in town that served as an office. When we pulled up outside the address, it didn't look like a cowboy lived there. A quick nock on the door and there he was, in the flesh,Bob Munden. I had watched Bob on many of Saturdays on TV doing quick draws and trick shooting and I couldn't wait to see what would happen. After the initial introduction and 15 minutes into the conversation I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Bob was all business, PERIOD! What a gip! Bob talked softly, took my pals six shooter, worked on it while we both looked on in silence and that was it. I was heart broken, my hero was not so super after all. He finished the gun, handed it to my pal for inspection and brief small talk, cash exchanged hands and that was that.

 

Just as soon as the work was done, a switch got flipped. Bob came alive, as though he stepped into a phone booth or something. Before you know it we were laughing and listening to stories. Great stories! A few minutes later, Bob was dragging out pictures of famous celebs, sharing stories and then..................out came the hardware. Bob had two, matching gold colts with ivory handles. He drew them out of their leather holster, even as the rig rested inside a duffel bag. He gave them a quick twirl, flipped them around and handed them to me but first. "Check these out", he said. How cool was that? The big iron just kept coming out, from coach guns to lever actions. It just went on and on. Eventually some friends of Bob's came over, (all dressed as though they walked of the set of an old western). The outcome? More holes in the breeze. Bob turned out to be a great guy and still remained my hero. If you get a chance to see Bob on TV or in person I have one simple piece of advice,Don't Blink!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkViQc1KC-g       

 

I'll have a Grasshopper, on the rocks.

With summer seemingly coming to an end, it's time to get your last hikes in. When it's "Bloody Hot" out, you head up to the mountains to cool off. I know what you're think, "but Dash, arn't you closer to the sun?" Yes and no. The air is thinner but you are not and going up isn't always harder than going down.  Another thing to think about is; what ever someone brings to eat, always looks better than what you brought. Stop asking so many questions and start packing.  Hiking gets you away from day to day doldrums. (unless you work at a ranger station) Finding cool places to hike doesn't always pertain to temperature, but sometimes it does. I love having snowball fights in July just as much as the next guy.

 

  On of my favorite hikes is up to Hopper Glacier in the Crazy Mountains in Montana. Out of 150 original glaciers in the lower 48, only 2 dozen remain today and they are shrinking and thus great destinations! I believe there are a handful of glaciers in Montana and Wyoming named either Grasshopper or just Hopper Glacier. This one in the Crazies came under scrutiny in the early 90's (1990's) when it was discovered to contain hundreds of recently deposited grasshoppers representing 18 specific species. Kind of like how often they still keep finding dinosaurs around here. Big dinosaurs!

 

     Few things in life are certain, when it comes to hiking, here are a few: #1 Like the bear that went over the mountain, we just want to see what we can see, #2 If it gonna be easy, it's gonna be crowded, #3 If you pack warm, it's gonna be cold and vice verse, and most important, #4 You can't beat the view. Take time to enjoy it when you get there cause you never know if you're gonna get back and if you do, there's no guarantee it will still look the same if you do. 

 

 

1 Bike Ride, Two Falls.

I had a chance to go for a ride today and have lunch with the Christian Motorcycle Association in my area. We headed out to Natural Bridge State Park. (That's just a few miles down the road from Road Kill Saloon)

It was about a 120 mile round trip. Dave pulled a trailer with his bike, that took care of the grill and the coolers. Hamburgers and sausage and wonderful people.

Natural Bridge is a spectacular place to visit as it can change from day to day. It's a fun place to spend the day rock climbing, fishing,swimming, spelunking and there is even a hidden beach that's out of sight.

Constrained by a deeply cut chasm during high water, the Boulder River flows over a 100-foot precipice, creating the spectacular Natural Bridge Falls. At low water, the river used to flow under a natural rock bridge, but in July 1988, the bridge that gave the area its name, collapsed.

Some of the folks that have lived out in the area for 18 years had never been here. Funny, if you don't venture out, you can easily miss out on God's beauty. Sometimes that might mean waterfalls, sometimes it's people.

Food with Foodies

This morning started up bright and early; prepping for the dinner party. I had a special dish to prepare for 9 special friends and my beautiful bride. There's food you cook for company and food you cook for foodies and a third level too; food you hold in reserve for people who will appreciate and respect it. Today was one of those days. I had a whole hind quarter to cook and I did it long and slow. Lots of fresh veggies; carrots, onions, garlic, peppers, home grown apples. Fresh herbs; tarragon, sage, parsley sea salt and whole pepper corns. Pile it all up on a baking sheet and plunk it down on the grill. 7 hours on the grill at 300 F. Somewhere along the way it got soaked with an entire bottle of Merlot and one bottle of fat tire beer. Ah, the smell. A few crab apples placed directly on the grill to add flavor.

Along with dinner there was leek and roasted garlic soup, polenta and salami appetizers, wonderful cheese and olives that tasted like butter, a salad with super fresh veggies from the garden, corn bread that could have been for desert and to top it all off a tart cherry Demi Glace to pour over the meat. Lots of good wine and Flathead Cherry Coffee for a closer.

What a great group of people to share a special evening with. What made the evening so special? The last time I tried this, no women showed up! Why? The meat of choice for dinner? Bear, yes bear. If you were to poll all 11 people (I'm not counting myself), they loved it. Tender, juicy and full of flavor. Sometimes you like what's for dinner, sometimes what's for dinner likes you.