Archive for February, 2007
As some of you know, Outdoorzy doesn’t advertise on other sites. At least at this point in time we don’t. Since we are a very small and very young company we don’t have many resources to draw on in the financial department. This is where blogs, forums, and email forwarding come in.
We spread the word on our site by asking our members to forward an email, use our invite a friend link, post on forums about us, post on their myspace/facebook/linkedin/tribe/etc. page, or blog about us if they like what they see here.
The latest viral word is being spread by one of our newest members, jmwetherington. He posted this great blog post about us on Suite101.com. Check the post out, he has some great information on backpacking and camping on his page there.
And thanks for continuing to spread the word for us!
February 28th, 2007
Cereal is easy. Cereal is healthy (usually). Cereal is good. This is why I have about 15 boxes of cereal in my pantry.
I was asked to review Nature Valley’s new Oats N Honey cereal. I already like their granola bars, so I thought I’d give the cereal a shot. It’s GOOD.
It has a cinnamon/honey flavor to it, and it’s very crunchy. I love crunchy. It consists of multi-grain flakes, rice flakes, and chunks of granola bar. The cereal is also pretty good for you as well. It doesn’t have alot of fat, and it is high in fiber. I’d give it a 9 out of 10. And if you throw some sliced banana in there with it, it’s a 10.
The one thing I ask is that they start making a cereal that is just chunks of granola bars, leave out the flakes. Then we can use that to make trail mix with peanuts and m&m’s. 
February 26th, 2007
Goose reported to me today that he’s headed to Poland for the Bergson Winter Challenge. It is the only winter race in the adventure racing world series.
He’ll be providing updated information on the event every day at Sleepmonsters.com You should check it out, it looks very interesting!
February 23rd, 2007
So the Tennessee Dept of Tourist Development used a picture of Alaska to advertise mountain biking in Tennessee. This was reported in the Tennessean yesterday.
The mistake happened when the department was creating an ad and needed a mountain biking scene. The leaves had fallen off the trees in Tennessee so they used a stock photo that had run in National Geographic a decade ago. Then someone who had been on that Alaskan trip saw the picture in Outside magazine and cried foul.
It’s a shame. Tennessee has so many beautiful vistas, there’s no need to be stealing scenery. In fairness, the shot is more of a lifestyle shot, and it doesn’t look like it’s meant to depict a specific place. But still, people, dig a little deeper, I’ve got photos of TN you could have used, and probably cheaper than the Alaska pic.
February 23rd, 2007
A few years back I did a whirlwind trip through Europe. Basically tagging several countries, countries that I need to get back to and explore more thoroughly. On that trip I stayed in Interlaken Switzerland for a few days. Interlaken means “between the lakes.” Whitewater rafting and drinking beer were the main two sports I participated in while staying in Interlaken. But there are quite a few more outdoor activities available, including some sort of roof jumping thing where you jump from roof to roof… never quite figured that one out.
Well this summer Interlaken will be hosting the 2007 Nissan outdoor Games by Columbia. Kayaking (boatercross and slalom), Mountain Biking, and Climbing are the events in the contest. They also hold a film competition.
Check out their web site for more information. If you’re going to be anywhere near Switzerland June 28th-July 1st of this year, I’d say check it out. And hang out for a few days. I’d recommend The Funny Farm for accommodations, if you’re into budget hostels with a laid back vibe. It used to be run by two brothers James, and James. (Swiss James and Aussie James as they called them then). Hopefully they are still there, because the showed our group a great time.
February 22nd, 2007
De Ja Vu?
No, this time the climbers had a Personal Locator Unit, cell phones, and enough gear to spend the night warmly. The drama unfolded over the last 24 hours, as the climbers fell 100 feet down the mountain. Two women, a man, and a black lab named Miss Velvet. The rest of their climbing party went for help and ended up digging snow caves until the weather let up. Rescue crews found the missing climbers and pooch by pinging their MLU and talking to them on their cell phones. All in all, it amounted to smart climbers, well trained rescuers, and good luck. The media scrambled to interview the climbers asking questions like, “What was it like spending all of that time waiting to be rescued?”
Who cares? I think the bigger question is, “Did Miss Velvet have dog booties on?” It was frikin cold. If you’re going to take your dog to the summit of an 11,000 foot mountain in the middle of Winter, even a thick coated lab, that dog had better have a coat and some booties on or else it’s just cruel.
February 20th, 2007
We’ve added yet a few more features here at Outdoorzy over the weekend.
- First off, you may have noticed something slightly different about the home page. Well, we’ve taken the “Newest Outdoorzies” that used to be on the right side of the page, and moved it to the left, where you used to see random Member Profiles. Now you see New Member Profiles. Same concept, just combining two things so that we aren’t redundant. Since you crazy kids are joining so fast, you’re always keeping that part of the page fresh, thanks!
- We’ve also moved the Current Outdoorzy Discussions up to the top of the right-hand column on the home page. This will hopefully help when you land on the home page, you can see the hottest topics on the forum.
- And finally, we added an “Invite a Friend” link in the top right-hand corner of the page. Now, if you think of a friend you would like to check out Outdoorzy.com you can just click that link and type their email address.
So, check the new features out, test them, and let us know what you think. There is more to come, so stay tuned.
February 19th, 2007
Just what you’ve been waiting for! The Outdoorzy team (namely, Lynn) has finished her latest round of updates to the site. Here are some of the fun new things you can do now!
- Email a Friend - You can now Email a trip report, gear review, or gear list to a friend if you would like to share it with them. Just look for the “Email to a Friend” link on the page you want to share.
- My Local Playground - This is a new setting in your “My Profile” area where you can add the name of the place you use locally for training and adventure. This will help others who are looking for people who might be an expert on that particular place.
- Print This Page - You can now print a trip report, gear review, or gear list in a nice format. Just look for the “Print This Page” link on the page you want to print. This will be an easy way to use Gear Lists and even share Trip Reports with friends offline.
And here are a few things we have coming soon...
- Business Profiles/Business Directory - Businesses will have their own corner of Outdoorzy to promote themselves, and a Business Directory will be created so that you Outdoorzies can find cool outfitters, gear manufacturers, hostels, etc. etc.
- Invite a Friend - this will be a button at the top of the home page that will allow you to click it and type a quick message to a friend you’d like to invite to join Outdoorzy
- My To-Do List - this will be a section on your profile where you can list the top ten things on your checklist… Climb a 14,000 foot mountain, Bike in Moab, Run a Marathon… etc. etc. And you’ll be able to check them off as you get them done for others to see!
And we’ll be polling you guys and gals to see what you want from us next. Check the forum today and vote on the next feature we start working on.
And thanks thanks thanks for your continued support. And don’t forget if you get someone to join Outdoorzy, just send me a personal message with the new members profile name and I’ll send you a bumper sticker.
February 15th, 2007
Well the old love-hate relationship with Americas biggest music festival has started again. There will no doubt be 100,000 of the finest music fans, old hippies, wannabes, druggies, frat boys, shady dudes, rastas, pushers, flower children, hotties, uglies, drunkards, and outdoorzies… (yep, us too) at the annual Bonnaroo event in Manchester, TN June 14-17th.
Here is the initial artist line-up. More artists will be added over the next few months, but judging from Bonnaroo’s past, this will be about 80% or so of the bands there. They normally add one or two more big names, and a surprise guest usually shows up.
The Police · Tool · Widespread Panic · The White Stripes · Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals · Wilco · The Flaming Lips · Manu Chao · The String Cheese Incident · Franz Ferdinand · Bob Weir & Ratdog · Damien Rice · Ween · Gov’t Mule · Ziggy Marley · The Decemberists · Kings of Leon · Michael Franti & Spearhead · Wolfmother · Regina Spektor · The Black Keys · Galactic · DJ Shadow · Gillian Welch · Spoon · Keller Williams (WMD’s) · Sasha & John Digweed · STS9 · Old Crow Medicine Show · The Hold Steady · North Mississippi Allstars · Fountains Of Wayne · Hot Tuna · Feist · Hot Chip · John Butler Trio · Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys · Aesop Rock · The Richard Thompson Band · Dierks Bentley · Xavier Rudd · Gogol Bordello · Junior Brown · Tortoise · T-Bone Burnett · Mavis Staples · Clutch · Cold War Kids · Dr. Dog · Paolo Nutini · Brazilian Girls · RX Bandits · The Nightwatchman · The Slip · Girl Talk · Railroad Earth · Martha Wainwright · Rodrigo y Gabriela · Annuals · Tea Leaf Green · Sam Roberts Band · Elvis Perkins in Dearland · Charlie Louvin · Sonya Kitchell · Mute Math · Apollo Sunshine · Uncle Earl · James Blood Ulmer · The National · The Little Ones · Black Angels · Ryan Shaw
Commedians - Lewis Black & Friends · David Cross · Dave Attell
February 14th, 2007
The phrase “napping on the job” has had a negative connotation to it from a historical perspective. But in some cultures it is accepted. A new study was released in Greece that followed people who take a mid-day nap as opposed to those who don’t. Those who napped once a day, or multiple times per week in the middle of the day for about half an hour had a 37% less liklihood of getting heart disease.
A quote from the doctor conducting the study; ”My advice is if you can take a nap, yes, do take a nap. If you have a sofa in your office, if you can relax, do it.”
I like this philosopy. I know when I’m on a multi-day hike it’s nice to take a nap during the lunch stop. Now to change the minds of our bosses…
February 13th, 2007
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