You know, move to Aspen, get a little house, walk to 1A on powder days, enjoy the blue sky.

Street monster takes downtown streets, citizenry stupified by industrial noise.

The meadow at Aspen's entrance

The view into Aspen this afternoon on what turned into a warm and gray day. As you can see, the grass in the meadow has dried out and turned brown and a few trees are starting to light up. The view provides an idea what coming into Aspen might have looked like years and years ago. No vehicles in sight today...at least when looking in this direction.

Sure, just a bridge...over a sparkling river in Western Colorado, on a sweet day, with no one around...

God, it’s a nice day. Really. The air is soft and crisp and the sun’s rays are hot. It’s amazing. Just closing your eyes and feeling the dry air on your skin is pleasant. Wow. Colorado is so nice in September. High of 74 forecast for Wednesday, with a lilting northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph. Maybe some clouds drifting in and out, but no rain yet. The rest of the week, through the weekend, looks like temps will be in the mid-70 and pretty sunny, especially over the weekend. Okay, we can deal with that. The hillsides starting to turn brown, gold, tan, yellow and orange. Slowly, subtly, but definitely, fall is on the march. It’s after Labor Day, as you know, so it is now officially okay to hope winter comes strong and early. Or at least right on cue for the Thanksgiving opening weekend.

Trout's eye view of a sublime September day. Few fishermen to be found.

Coasting into off-season

Another nice week of weather ahead of us, with temps in the mid-70s and no more than a 30 percent chance of showers. The California smoke is gone, the leaves are just starting to turn, town is quiet and it is a glorious time to be out and about in the Rockies. Cool. Labor Day is behind us and it is on to other pursuits and events and quiet off-season days.

Serving up the Motherlode volleyball tourney in Koch Park

Hot summer day in Aspen with a high of 75 and some blustery weather in the forecast. Maybe some thunderstorms this afternoon. Saturday said to be mostly cloudy with another high of 75. Sunday and Monday, still mostly cloudy with a high in the mid-70s.

An event weekend in Aspen with both a solid line-up of Jazz Aspen Snowmass shows and the Motherlode volleyball tournament. The v-ball tourney is a great boost to Aspen’s summer and is a huge reminder to all Aspenites to get to a beach, any beach, ASAP. In the meantime, the beach at Koch Park is gonna have to do. Welcome to all from far-flung shores.

New downtown fire station emerging on Hopkins Ave.

The Blue House, still a favorite Victorian in the West End, where first leaves are starting to fall.

Renovation underway at Paepcke Auditorium...

As a full moon rises in Aspen, a crowd gathers to watch a bear in a tree, in front of the courthouse. It has a "Jellystone Park" kind of feeling to it

It was kind of surreal, really. Driving down Main Street, and there it is, a Bear Crowd. A knot of people on the sidewalk rushing toward a rustling tree, pointing, laughing and smiling. The bears are delighting visitors who are not used to the site of large, furry and potentially dangerous mammals hanging out in their town. A photographer with a long lens got closer. The tree branches shook. The crowd moved across Main Street. They yelled at someone coming down the sidewalk to be careful. The dark spot in the branches came down and scampered off. The photographer followed. The people talked about the bear as the moon continued its climb.

Onward through the haze

WEATHER: Hot and hazy still, but at least no hillsides around have burst into towering walls of flames. High temps in the upper 70s today. The moon-set before dawn this morning included a huge orange moon dropping through the smoke in front of Sopris. We’re with you California, or at least, you are with us.

NEWS: SkiCo adjusts its season pass program to make it easier, perhaps, for people to choose between a full pass or a one-day-a-week pass with $49 lift tickets. The first deadline to buy “super-early” passes ends September 18. What are you going to do?

NOTES: WSJ reports that the DOW wants Aspenites to be mean to bears in town. Could be a rush on slingshots...

Hot and hazy over the upper Roaring Fork River Tuesday with CA smoke.

Hazy and lazy

WEATHER: Relatively hot and quite hazy today, with temps in the mid-70s. Tuesay should be sunny with temps in the upper 70s. Wednesday brings some clouds and still high temps. Biggest change in the weather is the smoke in the air, presumably from Southern California.

NEWS: The Wall Street Journal covered the upcoming renovation of The Little Nell in full detail, down to the color of chosen fabrics. At $18 million across 86 rooms (the six suites have already been re-done), the project comes to $209,000 a room. The renovation of the Nell, along with the opening of the Viceroy hotel in Snowmass, makes lodging the “what’s new” story of the winter for Aspen Skiing Co.

NOTES: It is that great time of year when town is a bit quieter but summer is still in full effect. Trails, fishing holes, etc. all a bit quieter now.

Well, well, if it isn't Highlands Bowl. Hello bowl....

...so good to see you again. You know, last time I saw you like this you were covered in deep snow. I look forward to the day when you look like that again. Soon, soon...

SkiCo says it will expand its marketing effort this winter.

Also rolling out series of promos through the season...here the luncheon crowd settles in.

Heading up for ski-season preview with ACRA and SkiCo. Very nice summer day.

Here comes ski season. What a wonderful thing to look forward to.

An august day

WEATHER: Tuesday was a little gray and drizzly, but Wednesday has blossomed into a very nice summer day. Forecast through the weekend calling for mostly sunny conditions with temps in the mid to high 70s. Well, that’s sweet.

NEWS: The Aspen Book Store, which has been in The Little Nell hotel since 1989, is closing the Tuesday after Labor Day. John Edwards, the dedicated owner, cites a combination of economics, his lease ending, the Nell being renovated and being closed from Sept. 8 until Dec. 1, and the fact that he is ready for a break. Aspen now is down to one bookstore, Explore, which is still a great store and getting better. Still, it was nice to have a book store at the Nell. GM John Speers said no new tenant has been named for the space, which is just under 300 square feet in size.

NOTES: Aspen does have a slight connection to Ted Kennedy, in that he and Bobbie and Jackie started coming to Aspen in the early 1960s on ski vacations. There is no record of JFK ever coming, but Ted came for at least a couple of Christmas holidays.

Whoa, rainbow upgrade: the shimmering double! Very nice.

Golden light and rainbow over Aspen end a cool Monday.

Bear buffet closed at Marolt just after 6 pm. Good work. Sorry bears, on to the next dumpstet.

Student transit vehicles...

What's the best thing about school in Aspen? Outdoor ed river trips!

Bear buffet open Monday afternoon at Marolt housing complex.

As the cafeteria gets cleaned out, as the music students depart, the dumpster gets filled to overflowing, to the potential short-term delight, and long-term, detriment, of the bears. Photo taken at 3:45 PM.

Cool day for bears

WEATHER: It is fitting that the day after the Music Festival ended, the weather turned gray and cool, offering the first hint of things to come. It is good weather to begin thinking about season passes, which went on sale here today. It is 62 degrees this afternoon and might reach 71. A few minutes ago, it actually felt good to stand close to the pizza ovens at NYP. Low around 44 tonight, following by a couple of cool days with temps just over 70. Good hiking and biking weather, to be sure.

NEWS: More news about problem bears in Aspen today. It may be time to update the bumpersticker to “garbarge doesn’t kill bears, people do.” We’ve got a corps of city bears who feed on unsecured garbage and also seem to know where the Hagen-Daz is kept. They know the calorie-rich ice cream is in the freezer, in the house, behind the easily breakable doors. One Aspen police officer said the bears are just like very large racoons.

NOTES: Other signs of the season change: Friday was the first day of school for grades 8 though 12 at the Aspen School District and the kids in K through 7 arrive Tuesday.

Big finish to 60th summer of music

Verdi’s “Requiem” closed the Aspen Music Festival this afternoon with wind, rain sprinkles, bracing air, thunder and commercial flights landing into the wind by circling over the tent en route to the runway.

The music as was beautiful and an ethereal full chorus gave the performance a glossy punch throughout.

It was sixty years ago this summer that a classic music audience was first given the chance to listen to music in a tent surrounded by the mountain air of Aspen.

The summer was a serendipitous success.

Walter Paepcke, who put the event together, looked back on the nascent festival in 1950 in the forward to “Goethe and the Modern Age, ” a collection of the speeches given at the Goethe Bicentennial Convocation and Music Festival, as the 1949 gathering was called.

Paepcke’s festival had been planned to cover the work of a German poet. And music, and then magic, was added.

“It was decided to add a musical program to offer Goethe ‘Lieder,’ compositions from the Goethe era, and other musical works of a monumental character, representative of the stature of the man,” Paepcke wrote. “While the meeting was a convocation to render earnest and solemn tribute to genius, it took place in an atmosphere of numerous quickly found friendships, of serenity, even of joie de vivre. So many new acquaintances created a lively stream of conversation; in the mountain fastness of Aspen, the cares and apprehensions of the plains were left behind.”

That spirit, that “mountain fastness,” was evident in Aspen today. Locals, seasonals and visitors were all sorry to see the summer season end, but the stirring air and swirling music will long be treasured.

Evening up in Castle Creek

Pretty up there. Busy, too, mostly. With lots of traffic up and down the road to Pearl Pass and back. Full trailhead parking lots. Plenty of bikes, campers, etc. .. But scenic? And cool? Yes, and yes.

Kettle drums ready for thundering Festival finale.

Cool temps, breezy air, as crowds gather to the sound of an encouraging french horn. Come now or come next summer!

Tent filling for summer's "Requiem"

The classics tend to bring 'em out. A good number of locals are taking their seats along with visitors and seasopnals.

Another overly pleasant August morn in the greater Aspen area

WEATHER: Love this time of year. Crisp nights and mornings. Hot and sunny during the day. A little less busy all around. Very nice. Saturday should be sunny in Aspen with a near 83. Sunday, also nice, with a high near 79.

NEWS: DOW shot the bear that broke into an Aspen home and mauled a woman. Compelling story. Our trash management still at the heart of the bear problem. Ski pass changes continues to offer good discussion and debate. Is the change good for you? Seems to go case by case. Other ski news now picking up steam. Casey Puckett is on the U.S. Ski Team skiercross “A” team and is heading for Vancouver. And “The Meeting,” a ski film trade show, again slated for late Sept. in Aspen. Will include movie premiere at the Sundeck. News of the coming ski season seems to come the same week as the first leaves daring to turn ...

NOTES: Went out yesterday on the street to talk with folks about the ski pass changes. Found it hard to stop and chat as so many folks were cruising around chatting on the cell phones. It was also interesting trying to discern between visitors and locals who might be pass buyers. You can’t always tell...

Pussy Paepcke once again lights up the Aspen Meadows...

On a perfect August morning, her spirit shines on. Photo is on a banner recognizing the 60th year since the 1949 Goethe convocation.

Working groups presenting in Doerr-Hosier.

"Can new models be profitable?" Big question for journalists... A lot of bold-face names in journalism were around the table peering toward a sustainable future. Most everyone agreed journalism was important, that how it was delivered and published would continue to change in the coming years, and that there were ways to help sustain it. One takeaway from the last morning session was that foundations had a larger role to play in helping the non-profit model grow from start-up to sustainability. And the Knight Foundation was recognized for its leading role so far. Conference included Marcus Brauchili, the executive editor of the Washington Post, Esther Dyson of EDventure Holdings, William Dean Singleton of the Denver Post and MediaNews Group, Bill Kling of American Public Media and Paul Steiger of ProPublica. The proceedings can be watched on aspeninstitute.tv.

Future of journalism discussed at Institute.

"We're really in a period of experimentation," said the Institute's Charlie Firestone, adding that it would likely be that way for the next five years.

Rope from the courthouse roof evoking Western heritage. Hanging justice?

Balooning toward the divide

It was a cool and clear morning in the valley. Several hot-air balloons were seen cruising along toward Watson Divide sometime before 8 a.m. this morning. The balloons, including a familiar unicorn balloon, haven't been seen as much locally as they once were. But the day seemed like a fine day for floating.

Like a classy variety show in the tent...Wallis Giunta sings tune from "Show Boat."

60th anniversary of Goethe Bicentennial celebrated in tent

First Walter Paepcke award given to Lester Crown and Dana Gioia reads Goethe poems in German and English. Paepcke would be proud...

Albert Schweitzer bust in Paepcke Park. It marks his visit here 60 years ago.

Schweitzer, who was 74 at the time, was convinced to come to Aspen by Walter Paepcke, who offered an appearance fee of $5,000 for Schweitzer's hospital in Africa.

"In accepting, Schweitzer was apparently unaware that Aspen was half continent away from Chicago, the origin of the cable," according to James Brabazon, writing in his biography, "Albert Schweitzer. "He was under the impression that it might a suburb of the city or a nearby town. 'Schweitzer would not have come to America in the first place,' said Mrs. Paepcke later, 'had the great doctor not laboured under an illusion."

When he did arrive, Schweitzer felt the attitude. He said to have noted that "Aspen is built too close to heaven."

Brabazon also recounts this story.

"Schweitzer did not stay long on the heights of Aspen, but while he did the reporters were around him in droves, wanting a good quote or two. One, who had been keeping him from his dinner, said to him, 'You're a great man, but what is this business of Reverence for Life?'

"'Do you want to practice it,' asked Schweitzer, 'or do you want me to explain it to you?'

"'You explain it first,' said the reporter, 'and I'll decide if I want to practice it.'

"Schweitzer liked that.

"'If you let me let go and eat my soup while it's warm,' he said, 'you've already practiced Reverence for Life.'

"It proved a successful and lasting quote."

Remote fishing hole

Think for a moment about how much time is spent looking for the perfect fishing hole. Here is one, perhaps. Was there proof that it was filled with feisty brook trout? Well ...

Time in the backcountry

If Aspen wasn't here, there would be a meadow in its place. It is good to remind yourself of that and escape the busyness and head out to the high country to find some serenity. While this looks serene, it does not show the horde of mosquitoes that greeted me at sunset. But the fish were rising along with a nearly-full moon.

A vintage Hunter rant

Was flipping through “Fear and Loathing in America,” one of Hunter S. Thompson’s collection of letters ,when I came across, yes, a shocking screed.

Hunter was writing to Mike Moore on May 30, 1970 about the publication, Aspen Wallposters, he was putting together with artist Tom Benton.

“If we can sell enough copies to make the Wallposter pay for itself we can give enough away to create some kind of working unity on Aspen’s political front. This Valley is full of people who came here for reasons other than to turn the whole place back into a nazi-thinking condominium-complex & make it a safe & saleable resort for the Texas Cavaliers & the Atlanta Ski Club. There is a hell of a huge difference between skiing as a sport — or even as a lifestyle — and skiing as an industry, a boom-time fad like golf or bowling. Or beating up Peace Freaks on your lunch hour.

“But fuck skiing. All it is, in Aspen, is a swollen sugar-tit for a gang of aging nazis who are not the local establishment. The Wallposter is the voice of Aspen’s counter-culture – the people who last fall came within six (6) votes of electing a 29-year-old bike racing head/lawyer as Mayor (The ’69 Joe Edwards campaign). And before 1970 is out they may — or may not — seize control of the town & the whole valley, or at least enough control to short-circuit the greedheads & land-rapers who’ve descended on the place like a plague of water rats. The conflict has already degenerated into dynamitings, street-violence and a sense of almost constant political crisis that never lets up, not even in the off-seasons. On one side are the cops and the Mayor and the County Commissioners, along with local realtors and corporate land developers from Chicago & LA & Texas — and even NY & Boston. These people see Aspen as a resort and they want to sell it. And they are. Indeed — for the past 20 years they’ve been selling harder than New Orleans street-pimps.

“The other side is a weird mix of locals, liberals, freaks, dropouts, ranchers, heads, geeks & other less commercially oriented types who see Aspen as a place to live — not to sell — a refuge, of sorts, from the same kind of rotten urban madness that these scum-sucking developers are trying to sell here in Aspen. The town is already faced with horrors like smog, parking-problems & sewage in the drinking water. The Aspen Ski Corp. has threatened to put a limit on lift tickets — raising the specter of $100 a day ski-tourists standing in the lift-lines from dawn until noon, then being turned away ‘because of the quota.’

“The summer looks more and more like Coney Island. A Holiday Inn is already here — right next to the route of the new 4-lane highway in town — and there’s also a Minnie Pearl Chicken Palace going up, just across the street from Stein Erickson’s ski shop. Selah.”

Sculpture of the modern economy stands tall in Aspen.

Aspen fantasy garage. Sign in back says "penthouse parking only," natch.

McNamara's lessons from Vietnam

When former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara passed away recently, I covered his passing because he had a long history in Aspen and Snowmass Village. (McNamara had strong ties to Aspen) Say what you will about McNamara, he had a lifelong love of the mountains.

More importantly he worked hard in his later years to try and share the lessons he learned about the failures of Vietnam. In his book, "In Retrospect," he devotes a chapter to “The Lessons of Vietnam.” The lessons go beyond Colin Powell’s doctrine of “if you go in, go big.”

Here is an abridged versions of the 11 main lessons McNamara cited about Vietnam. They are very relevant to the current U.S. experiences in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, etc., etc.

1. We misjudged then - as we have since - the geopolitical intentions of our adversaries ... and we exaggerated the dangers to the United States of our actions.

2. We viewed the people and leaders of (pick your country) in terms of our experience. We saw in them a thirst for - and a determination to fight for - freedom and democracy. We totally misjudged the political forces within the country.

3. We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a people to fight and die for their beliefs and values - and we continue to do so today in many parts of the world.

4. Or misjudgment of friend and foe alike reflected our profound ignorance of the history, culture, and politics of the people in the area, and the personalities and habits of their leaders.

5. We failed then - as we have since - to recognize the limitations of modern, high-technology military equipment, forces and doctrine in confronting unconventional, highly motivated people's movements. We failed as well to adapt our military tactics to the task of winning the hearts and minds people from a totally different culture.

6. We failed to draw Congress and the American people into a full and frank discussion and debate of the pros and cons of a large-scale U.S. military involvement in (pick your country) before we initiated the action.

7. After the action got under way and unanticipated events forced us off our planned course, we failed to retain popular support in part because we did not explain fully what was happening and why were doing what we did. We had not prepared the public to understand the complex events we faced and how to react constructively to the need for changes in course as the nation confronted uncharted seas and an alien environment. A nation's deepest strength lies not in its military prowess but, rather, in the unity of its people.

8. We did not recognize that neither our people nor our leaders are omniscient. Where are our own security is not directly at stake, our judgment of what is in the another peoples or country's best interests should be put to the test of open discussion in international forums. We do not have the God-given right to shape every nation in our own image or as we choose.

9. We did not hold to the principle that U.S. military action – other than in response to direct threats to our own security – should be carried out only in conjunction with multinational forces supported fully (and not merely cosmetically) by the international community.

10. We failed to recognize that in international affairs, as in other aspects of life, there may be problems for which there are no immediate solutions.

11. Underlying many of these errors lay our failure to organize the top echelons of the executive branch to deal effectively with the extraordinarily complex range of political and military issues, involving the great risks and costs – including above all else, loss of life – associated with the application of military force under substantial constraints over a long period of time.

Morning coffee stop in Woody Creek in the crisp morning air.

It was a crisp clear morning after Sunday evening's rain storm swept through the valley. It was a fine morning to stop at the Woody Creek Community Center for some coffee and pastry. Ran into an old friend and the mayor of Aspen stopped by during an upvalley bike ride. The community center has evolved into a great place to stop for morning coffee and sit on the shady patio for a bit. It is, as the sign advertises, a true "haven."

A stretch of the Fork, with a particularly nice (and cold) dipping hole.

Bear buffet open in Aspen.

City bears have returned to our fair city. Heard tales this morning of a mother standing guard outside a home while the cubs ransacked the kitchen. We’ve now got bear families with a history of dining on people food in Aspen going back several generations. Plus da bears have a powerful sense of smell and Aspen around cocktail/barbecue hour can probably be sniffed out by bears miles away, so we also probably have some recent immigrant bears delighted to have found the mother lode of sweet summer food. “Garbage kills bears” is an oft-sighted bumper sticker in Aspen and on this enclosure there is even a little notice to “be bear aware,” despite the dumpster’s normal “all you can eat” status. While walking home at night, if you hear what sounds like an alien thrashing around in a dumpster, that would be a bear, being a bear.

Confluence of Lincoln Creek and Roaring Fork in morning sun.

Sunday eve shower leaves double rainbow behind.

Ideas: Let's go outside!

Ideas: Syrian ambassador says U.S. only wants democracy in Mid-East if right people are elected.

Ideas: Sen. Feinstein says "Hamas is a problem" in reaching Palestinian statehood.

Ideas: Palestinian prime minister says PA finances now transparent.

Ideas: Greenspan says a straight carbon tax a better fix than cap/trade.

New ground for Ideas Festival

Thursday night's "The News Has No Clothes" event at the Aspen District Theater Thursday night definitely broke some new ground for the Aspen Ideas Festival. Produced with a potential TV show in mind, the event featured some straight-ahead adult stand-up comedy from D.L. Hughley, Lewis Black and Larry Wilmore, a panel discussion hosted by Kurt Anderson, and satiric video news reports from The Onion. The rowdy stand-up was appropriately rough on Aspen, with Hughley offering a one-word piece of advice to the Ideas Festival to make up for the lack of air in Aspen: "Vegas!" The mix of comedy with straight-laced guests was a tad awkward at times, but perhaps no more so than on Bill Mahr's HBO program. Former Bush press secretary Dana Perino was on the panel and came across as a tad uptight (she crossed her legs tightly exactly once, and never changed position) and defensive about the former administration, which was just completely abused by Hughley before he sat down next to her and made conversation. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff joined the panel and gamely tried to find the fine line between comedy, terrorism and a disgraced former administration. Andrea Mitchell and economist Vijay Vaitheeswaran fared better, but the evening might have been stronger with just Hughley, Black and Wilmore doing stand-up between the Onion clips. Still, it was a funny, direct and extraordinary evening for the Ideas Festival and especially for the often staid Aspen Institute. Would Mortimer Adler have approved? Probably not, but he might have still laughed.

Ideas: group opens with "Fanfare for the Common Man," for the few commoners in the tent.

Ideas: tent filling twenty minutes out as rain and thunder approach.

Ideas: lining up early for "Afternoon of Conversation" at Music Tent with Baker, Albright, Breyer, etc.

Lewis Black and Bob Schieffer take the stage in Doerr-Hosier...

Ideas: Huzzah! Huzzah! (Slightly surreal)

Ideas/not the security detail...

Lynda Resnick and Michael Chertoff prepare to take the stage for an event mixing the year in politics and passages from Shakespeare. Both Resnick and Chertoff did well with their lines, especially Chertoff. While the photo could clearly be better, it is at least a glimpse of Chertoff in what looks like in peasant garb. He was on crutches as he injured his foot while running.

Ideas:/the bard and the buck, and cast member

Fw: Ideas: non-proft community-funded journalism has strong potential, says panel.

-----Original Message-----
From: aspenjournal@gmail.com

Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 17:47:05
To: AAAhoboaterblog<bgardnersmith.hoboater@blogger.com>; AAspenJournaltwit<AspenJournal.6836@twitpic.com>
Subject: Ideas: non-proft community-funded journalism has strong potential, says panel.

Ideas/Jarvis: hyper-local bloggers can now make a real living covering local news. Really.

Frontline's Fanning: laid-off Colorado reporters should band together across mediums.

Ideas: session on sustaining investigative journalism with NPR's Wertheimer.

Ideas: is Tom Friedman the "special guest" on July 4?: his bio is in event book but he is not on schedule.

Ideas: Journalism is now more than a product, it is a process, says author Jeff Jarvis

Ideas: on blogging and tweeting=old school journalists have embraced tweeting.