Link Dump

Last post before I head back to the states (more on that later). Here's some cool stuff:

How Many Americans Have Passports? (Grey's Blog via TBP) Hint: the percentages are higher than you would think and WAY higher than the europeans would have you think.

Fishing for Greenland Sharks (Adventure Journal) This is part of the BBC Human Planet series, which looks sweet.

The Coming War Between The Generations (Big Picture)

Peakery: Claiming the Peaks You Summit (Backcountry.com) Because in the age of YouTube and Facebook, if you don't post it, it might as well not have happened. Booooo

Video of Inside a Grocery Store During the Japan Earthquake (Reformed Broker)

Telemarkers get some love. Sweet video. (Backcountry.com)

Case of the Mondays

I picked up some sort of bug over the weekend which has had me at about 50% strength this weekend, even with Dad and Denise in town. Not fun. Here is some stuff that is fun:

What Does Oil Doubling in Two Years Mean? (Hint: every other time, it meant recession) (The Big Picture)

Short white guy makes his case for NCAA dunk contest. Wow. (Deadspin)

NFL and NFLPA gave themselves another week to hammer out a new labor agreement (Deadspin)

Trials bike stuff is always so cool (via Adventure Journal)


A Hill in Spain from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

Another sweet video from Early Ups (via AJ)



Late 2010 from Andrew Whiteford on Vimeo.

Random Stuff. All fun, no econ!

Woman on bike hit by cop car video (Deadspin)

My dream ride (Niner bikes RIP) just got better (Feed the Habit)

The EarlyUps have more fun skiing than you do (Adventure Journal)


Earlyups Takes Skiing. Seriously. from Earlyups on Vimeo.


Shake Weight is looking for a new model. Could be you (Outside blog)

The Art of Flight Will Blow Your Mind (Adventure Journal)

TGIF Links

Happy Friday. Mubarak being asinine and refusing to step down is pushing up the price of gold, which is costing me a bit of cash right now so I have my work cut out for me today. With that in mind, here are some quick links to cool stuff that I've had starred in Google Reader for awhile:

Picture via (Adventure Journal)

Michael Jordan suits up for practice (ESPN)

Mystery solved: Pat Burrell is Brian Wilson's 'The Machine' (Deadspin)

Mob mentality explored. Careful, its a long one (You Are Not So Smart)

Skiing with Mom (Adventure Journal)

I see your hammock and raise you one Nestrest Portable Shelter (Adventure Journal)

Eddie Bauer is moving into the ski industry hard. Here is their somewhat promo (Outside Mag Blog)

Community Supported Agriculture (Robb Wolf)

Candide Thovex goes off (Adventure Journal)

If Reagan were a GOP candidate today. Awesome. (TBP)

Last week's Weekend Cabin (Adventure Journal)

Speedflying Cable Grind. Ridiculous (AJ)

BBC: Human Planet

Planet Earth was one of my favorite series of all time. It looks like they took the same approach to capturing the human side. Not alot of doubt that I'm going to watch this at some point. Preview video after the jump (watch in beautiful 1080p!)

(Hat/tip Ritholtz)

Links (per Tinker's request)

Alberto Contador has been stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title after evidence of using PEDs. This all started when they found abnormally high levels of plastic in his blood. It's official, every cyclist is doing it. (Outside Mag)

Ray's MTB is an indoor mountain biking gym with terrain to please every style: freeride, bmx, or even XC (my favorite). Granted, is only economically feasible in certain areas that are too cold to ride 6+ months per year, but Cleveland and Milwaukee have their very own slice of mountain bike lore. (Adventure Journal)

Former NFL lineman and current creator/head of Crossfit Football (crossftfootball.com) on the 13 Iowa Hawkeyes who got rhabdo (Talk to Me Johnnie)

Best in bounds pass ever (Deadspin)

Apparently I'll be enjoying Meat Week here in London soon (Meat Week)

Remember the terrifying velociraptors in Jurassic Park? They were actually Deinonychus'. Surprised you didn't know that already (Smithsonian H/T TBP)

More troops lost in Iraq/Afghanistan to suicide than to combat (Congress.org H/T TBP)

Hulu looking at changing its business model (WSJ)

Mossberg: the road ahead for tablets (WSJ)

EU and UK face stagflation. Likely central bank tightening is strengthening the currencies against loose monetary policy in the US.  (WSJ). Reminds me of this video (thanks Blake)



IHOPs are ridiculous. I RIDE THE RIDE (Deadspin) NOT SAFE FOR WORK (some language at the end)


The Provo brothers go Snurfing (Hat tip backcountry.com blog) After the jump:

Amazing looking new MTB film coming: Life Cycles

Check out this trailer. I've watched it twice now. I've already bought the HD version on iTunes for $10. I'll probably watch it tonight or on my flight to Berlin Friday.

Life Cycles OFFICIAL Trailer from Life Cycles on Vimeo.

Upcoming Travel!

After a few weeks of getting back into the routine, my travel/adventure calendar is gearing back up a little bit. This weekend had some nightlife in London, indoor bouldering at The Arch Climbing Wall and was supposed to have some paragliding lessons today. Apparently the weather was particularly cold and windy today, so my paragliding lesson was cancelled. While I don't have a huge interest in paragliding alone, it is a good stepping stone to something I definitely want to try: speedflying. Check out a video below (watch in HD for full wow!)



This week I fly to Berlin on Friday (Jan 28) for a trade conference. Fly back Saturday night. Early the next morning, I'll catch a train towards Birmingham to participate in the Tough Guy race. That will be a long weekend. For more info about Tough Guy, check out the video below:





The weekend after that  (Feb 4-5), we have tentative plans to go to Norway (near Lillehamer) and do some winter sports and trekking.

Now you have an update on my itinerary for the near future. Knowledge is power.

Crowded Lineup at Jaws? Not at 2am

From Outside Magazine Blog

Morning Links

Here's what was on my iPad last night and this morning:

Sports Illustrated has new info in the case against Lance Armstrong

AAPL demolished earnings, but Steve Jobs is taking another leave (WSJ)

The road ahead for the Euro (WSJ)

Reason number 75176 why Montana is cooler than where you live (this is there anti-DUI ad). I posted video after the jump because I couldn't get it smaller.

Pillow Skiing Made Easy

I'm not sure where Mica Heliskiing is (ok, I looked it up, its in British Columbia of course), but wow does this video make me want to go. I've never even tried skiing the pillows like these guys do, but they make it look really easy. I was really glad to see the clips of them falling to prove they are mortal. (Hat tip Adventure Journal)



Deep - Mica Heliskiing from Switchback Entertainment on Vimeo.

Video Dump: Jackson Hole Powder, Homemade Luge and NASA

January Powder in Jackson Hole (thanks Adventure Journal)



Homemade Luge Track (Thanks Backountry.com blog)




Cool NASA video (Narrated by Carl Sagan I believe):

Low fly-bys

Slightly cheesy (but still kinda fun) Top Gun intro aside, this video of low fly-bys is pretty cool. For some reason number 4 is my favorite with the three different jets. Check it out:




Hat tip Comerford!

Two quick links: Ski sales and walking straight

Early season numbers indicate the ski industry is doing well this year (snow = $). Unfortunately telemark sales are down (Backcountry blog)

Why can't humans walk straight. Quick video from NPR (Via The Big Picture) about why humans can't walk straight:

A Mystery: Why Can't We Walk Straight? from NPR on Vimeo.

Links!

While perhaps less fun than my ski videos, there are a few worthwhile articles:

Can Banks Foreclose on mortgages they don't own? (i.e. loans were securitized and sold). This could prevent many homes from being foreclosed and would only prolong the excess supply in the housing market. (The Big Picture)

Team MacroMan's Non Predictions (Set 1 Commodities, Set 2 Equities, Set 3 Rates)

Check out this really cool MP3 experiment (H/T TBP)

aBradAbroad in Steamboat: the sequel

This second video is a little better edited and is a compilation of a few runs. Same caveats: chest-mount makes it look less steep and also makes it look like I'm sitting really far back.

Now I'm off to catch a flight back to London...

Steamboat Powder New Year's Eve 2010 from Brad Yates on Vimeo.

World Video Premiere: aBradAbroad in Steamboat

This is my first crack at the whole edit/upload thing. We'll call the first video a very rough cut, but I thought I should try to just get something posted. Also, please note that I shot this from a chest-mounted camera, not the helmet mount, which does two things:
1. My arms look like they are being held up awkwardly high
2. The pitch looks less steep than it actually was.

Enjoy!

aBradAbroad in Steamboat 1.2.2011 from Brad Yates on Vimeo.

Links and Video

Urban Meyer is Stepping Down? Again? (Deadspin and ESPN)

Sexiest Woman alive (according to one magazine: Roberta Mancino) says skydiving naked isn't that sexy (Outside Online). From her interview on the new Conan show.

Does travelling in and of itself add value? Also, the ideal commute time is apparently 16 minutes. I disagree. (Freakonomics at NYT)

The Daily Bike for yesterday's Adventure Journal is just a cool picture of the Dolomites. Just a cool picture (Adventure Journal)

AND the coolest rope swing of all time (Adventure Journal). See video below or click the link for back story.

Scotland: Oops! And more videos

Snow and ice here in London caused my airport-bound train to be redirected last night, so I missed my flight to Edinburgh. I'm pretty disappointed, but c'est la vie. Since I won't have any fun scottish/MovNat updates, here are some cool videos that were on my blogroll today:

And as the TSA stuff continues to grab everyone's attention, this is the strangest story I've heard yet: a 52 year old woman in a wheelchair showed up to the airport in only her underwear to simplify things. They still subjected her to a one hour pat down. Too strange to be made up. 

This wingsuit video is a little too long, but still amazing.




A climber in Canada had a rock fall on his head and crack his helmet. He was leading and his first piece of protection pulled out when he fell, so he fell about 60 feet or so I think. Broke his ankle and generally jacked him up. The Canadian Search and Rescue (SAR) team wears GoPro helmet cams. The result: you get to see a badass high elevation rescue on a cliff side. Rescuers are cool as a cucumber.

Cool, Short Backcountry Ski Movie

This is the third in a three episode series about traveling the world and skiing. The shots from the Canadian backcountry are breath-taking and definitely stoke that impulse to join them. Watch the fullscreen HD version on vimeo


Freshfield Icefield: A Skier's Journey Ep3 from Jordan Manley Photography on Vimeo.

Hat/tip Teton A/T Blog