Rocktober!

This is a fun time to live in Denver - The Rockies are in the playoffs (I attended the wildcard-clinching day game vs. the Milwaukee Brewers with my co-workers - I love my job!) and the Broncos are looking strong, going 4-0 into today's game and exceeding everyone's preseason expectations - including mine. Further, as expatriate Gators, Julia and I were excited to watch a healthy-looking Tim Tebow and his Florida team beat LSU this weekend, their toughest opponent so far, to continue their undefeated record.

Also quite exciting, for me, is that I joined a new band (see cheesy photo left). I had played guitar and bass in various bands since high school, but since moving to Denver almost three years ago, I haven't played in anything consistent. As a musician, it's hard to go without a band for a prolonged time, so I was particularly psyched to get an email from our friend Cynthia (who is another Denver-dwelling Gator) asking if I was interested in playing bass in a new punk rock band. After playing with these women for one practice, I was impressed with their musical focus as well their fun, supportive attitudes - I'll post further news as we get gigs.

Julia is still working hard on her Master's thesis, while spearheading various projects at her corporate job. While I am working on a big project at work too, I simply can't complain when I look at her work and school load.

We are looking forward to a Christmas trip to Vail with some good friends, where we will rent a big house for a week; just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the ski lifts. It contains a hot tub and fire place, as well as comfy beds and an inviting, cozy communal area. The snow should be great, and the crowds should be manageable at that time of year. Other than that trip, we have plans to return to Gainesville, FL to see the big Gator game vs. Florda State in November. It should be a ton of fun - my first live UF Football game - and a chance to see our Florida friends and family!

Iceland! – check.

Drake and I LOVED Iceland - the people, the culture, the food, the music, and most importantly, the land.

Iceland, by far, has some of the most geologically interesting land I have ever seen. Immense, inland glaciers are sprinkled throughout the island and volcanoes are the ruling force encountered over ever knoll. Driving around southwest Iceland was an experience just unto itself. Highways cut through miles and miles of lava fields covered in green moss only to deliver us into miles of jutting grassland. Puffing peaks in the horizon is a common backdrop.

We took a beautiful hike up to Mt. Esja, one of the more popular volcanic mountain ranges. I was most impressed with the lichen-covered rocks.

Every day offered so many highlights, but my two favorite were Pingvellir and Landmannalaugar. Pingvillir is where the original parliament started. But it is also the place of the Mid-Atlantic ridge where the North American tectonic plates meets the Eurasian one. I felt as if I were standing at the inception point of the world as we know it.

Landmannalaugar is a region near Hekla, one of the more active volcanoes. It could have taken us days to cover that diverse region, so we only took a few hours to hike one section of it and boy was it worth it. The ground is made up of black lava stones so light you sink a bit when trekking through it. The plant life looks as though it belongs undersea. We made our way atop one mound to look across an expanse of gigantic rock clusters (probably rhyolite). If it weren’t for the occasionally squawking bird and grazing sheep I could have completely lost touch with earth – that’s how alien it is.

Other highlights were: Gullfoss the iconic, tiered waterfall with a rainbow; Geysir, the geyser for which all geysers are named and is also larger than Old Faithful; and Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa known to cure psoriasis with its unique mineral-rich makeup.

Oh, and I heart Reykjavik. The personalities are a pleasant dichotomy of political cynicism and pioneering fervor; much like their architecture. One of the four TV channels there is a 24-hour Christian, evangelism channel with the likes of Billy Graham and crew. Ironic since the majority of citizens consider themselves atheist and the prime minister is the first openly gay head of government.

We ate the rotten shark, we drank the Brennivin, we danced our way through the Runtur. Takk fyrir Island.

We uploaded the entire PHOTO album here. Just a warning, there are about 400! I think I deleted about 200 that were just sheep. We dug the sheep.

The Emkos' Summer Thus Far

I apologize for not updating this blog as often as we'd like. Julia, as ever, is maddeningly busy getting her Master's degree while working a full-time job. I am also balancing my work with a variety of outside activities, but mine tend to be things like beer-in-hand kickball and training co-workers for Man vs. Food competitions. I continue to be amazed that my resourceful wife can excel with her Sisyphean schedule, while remaining her vibrant and fun self, but I guess that's why I married her :).

Above, you can see us attending a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater, one of the Colorado's most beautiful outdoor treasures. As a teenager, I marveled at U2's legendary concert at this venue, and now as an adult I can go see a show there any time. Being grown up does have its advantages! We have seen one of our favorite shows of all time there - Arcade Fire with LCD Soundsystem - and this year we saw a pounding and eclectic electronica-themed lineup, including Paul Oakenfold and Disco Biscuits. It had amazing energy and was hands-down one of the most electrifying shows I've attended, which we were privileged to see with some of our great Denver friends.

We also had a fun-filled July 4th weekend in Aspen and Snowmass, CO, home of probably the most friendly and kind people we have ever met in our travels. During our dinner at Brunelleschi's Pizza, our waiter encouraged us to take some beers - on the house - outside to watch the city's beautiful fireworks display. We and our friends never ceased to be amazed at the trust and hospitality the locals bestowed on us, and it was the perfect place to celebrate our pride in this country, with nights of board games and bar crawls and days of immersing ourselves in expansive mountain country.

We hope all of you reading this are having a great summer too. While it's never easy being as busy as we are, it always helps to know we have our amazing friends and family, not to mention the beautiful Colorado backdrop and blue skies, to cheer us up on even the most stressful days.

Go Rockies! It's Great to be a Denverite

The Colorado Rockies have won 17 out of their last 18 games, an exhilarating, jaw-dropping streak that even beats their miraculous 2007 run going into the playoffs. So it's a bit befuddling, the day after their latest victory - trouncing the talented LA Angels 11-1 - to see such a dismissive piece on the Rockies on ESPN.

Truly the Rockies have never seemed to get respect as a baseball town on the national stage. Even in 2007 their amazing October and World series appearance was viewed largely as a fluke. But I think that's fine.

The mountain West is generally overlooked in national news coverage, movies, and television, which often act as if all the excitement in America occurs exclusively on one coast or the other. But who needs the attention? One of the reasons Julia and I moved to Denver is that it seemed like such an overlooked gem. Maybe we should count our blessings and be content that, for now, the hype and spotlight keep passing a mile over our heads.

Downtown Action

I was walking toward my gym downtown today, when I saw a formidable police cordon spanning at least two blocks surrounding the Denver Post building. Police yelled - rather viciously - at any bikers or pedestrians that got near the building (they put up yellow police tape around the building shortly after I took the picture to the left). I asked a police officer on the next block what was going on, but he refused to answer, saying only "Trust me, you don't want to be near that building."

What a mystery! After I returned to the office, I found an article in the Denver Post that likely explained this crazy scene. Apparently there was a bank robbery and suspected backpack bomb just blocks away from my office.

A Night Out - Bobby Lee!

Julia and I went on a date night this weekend to see Bobby Lee, of MadTV and Harold and Kumar fame, do his raunchy stand up comedy at the Improv. We speculated on whether he'd strip down to his skivvies (as he is wont to do), and as you can see from my camera phone picture, Bobby did not disappoint. The poor guy on the chair blushed through a comically aggressive lap dance while his niece watched from the audience.

As expected, Bobby Lee was hilarious; and we decided we should make it a point to check out more live stand up acts. Tons of great comedians come to Denver (Stapleton is just minutes from our neighborhood) and great deals can be had. This show was just $20 per ticket; not bad for a date night!

Old Friends from Florida

This post is a bit late, but I wanted to update our blog with photos from our friends Todd and Bethany's visit to Denver in April. My photos are posted in four parts, and Julia's (better) photos are on her site. We had a great time sampling a myriad of Colorado microbrews (our friends are quite the beer aficionados, and Todd taught us quite a bit about beer appreciation), watching the Rockies slog through a loss in the rain, hiking in mountain lion-infested snowy trails, and merrily touring historic Denver government institutions, among other adventures. Todd and I also nerded out over far too many hours at the Denver zoo, to the annoyance of our wives. It was a treat to have our good friends use their vacation time to visit us in our new home - thanks again guys!

Crazy Colorado

To say the least, the weather here in Denver has been topsy-turvy this Spring. I took the photo on the left last week when Julia and I drove home from work - it was sunny and cool on our morning commute, and then this happened by noon. Sliding buses and cars littered the streets, wheels spinning ineffectively. Visibility was hampered by blinding, high velocity gobs of snow. Thankfully Julia's car has excellent Blizzak snow tires - which I recommend to anyone who lives in this state - so we got home safely.

After a mostly dry and snowless winter, it's been pretty strange to be beset by the sporadic and intense snow we've seen in the last couple of weeks. Even today the snow in the mountains was so fierce, I-70 closed down, making it impossible for us to drive up for snowboarding until tomorrow. Ah well, it's all part of the adventure of living in Colorado!

Puerto Rico has better radio stations

As Drake notes we recently returned from our trip to Puerto Rico! It was a wonderful time as we explored San Juan, visited the Camuy Caves, trekked up the El Yunque rain forest, and made our way over to the island of Vieques where we drank fruity drinks and soaked up some rays for the remainder of the trip.
Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the U.S. but it is very much an entirely different culture. This was most apparent our first morning on Vieques. See, cockfighting is a popular sport in P.R. and every house in Vieques had a coop for their prize rooster. Most of us have experienced waking up to a rooster crowing but imagine waking up to hundreds of them competing for the alpha crow. It's absolutely frightening and after closing the window and putting earplugs in we determined the only way to sleep was to drown them out with the hum of the AC unit.
Another popular island animal is the horse. Horses run free on Vieques. The ones that end up domesticated serve as transportation for the locals. Imgaine the common teenage boy with baggy pants, gold chains, a wife beater on, and his cap tilted. Now imagine that same boy jumping bareback onto a horse, riding it with a group of friends to the local tavern, and tying it up as he goes inside for beer. Talk about low carbon emissions!
Oh, and did I mention that roadkill comes in the form of iguanas?
It was a wonderful trip and most importantly we had some quality time with our dear, northwestern friends Paul and Marilyn.

Puerto Rico Pics

Julia and I posted pictures from our adventure to Puerto Rico. As usual Julia's photo album is lushly high resolution and beautiful, while my pictures are a slushy distorted mess, taken with a children's camera.

The image on the left is one we hope to submit to the Denver Post - their travel section prints selected readers' vacation pictures if they are shown holding the Post's travel section. The native savage in the background is actually our friend Paul, who was apparently spear fishing for sand crabs.

The Emkos in Puerto Rico - Caliente!

This is a great week for our little family. Our old friends, the Huckanses, visited us in Denver and shared in a weekend of exhilarating snowboarding in Vail and Breckenridge. Then we all flew out to Puerto Rico for our long awaited vacation in the tropical sun (we went from ice and snow to blazing hot beach in a couple days - how often do you get to do that?).

Julia and I spent yesterday exploring Old San Juan, a beautiful peninsula that exudes Spanish-styled antiquity. Today we climbed through enormous natural caves in Camuy. Puerto Rico has some of the most lush, tropical vegetation, as well as some of the friendliest people I've encountered in a long time. We're trying to brush up on our Spanish, but luckily most of the people here seem to be bilingual. Tomorrow we plan to hike through the rain forest, and afterwards meet up with the Huckanses on the idylic resort island Vieques. So far, Puerto Rico is everything we could have hoped for. Hasta Luego!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow (But Just In the Mountains, Please)

One of the big reasons we moved to Denver is its proximity to the beautiful Rocky Mountains. This winter, Julia and I have been taking advantage of this, using our five mountain Colorado Pass to spend most weekends blissfully snowboarding. In support of our hobby, we even decided to rent a mountain house in Silverthorne with a bunch of people Julia found on Craigslist. Already this has saved us a lot of money and time (compared to getting hotel rooms or fighting I-70 traffic to and from Denver during peak hours).

I unfortunately had to take a couple weeks off, due to breaking my rib during an epic faceplant on Keystone, but I am almost back to normal. Julia and I took off from work Friday to take a trip to Vail, where we undertook the arduous journey to the snowboarding oasis known as Blue Sky Basin. It took us almost two hours to get there from the mountain base at Lionshead Village - there were surprisingly long lines for a weekday - but it was worth it. The vastness and sheer fun of the runs makes Blue Sky a destination we will definitely revisit (but only when we get an early enough start). I told Julia I felt like I was in a surreal snowboarding video game for most of the day.

I unfortunately forgot to bring my mini camera for the Vail trip, but I do have a few photos up from some of our previous snowboarding trips. As the season progresses, I will hopefully add more pictures to that gallery.

Obama Signs Stimulus Package... One Mile from our House!

I took this camera phone picture today on our way to work, as we turned from Montview Blvd. onto Colorado Blvd. There's not a whole lot to see, but notice the black SUV parked at the blockaded entrance to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It happens to contain a Secret Service agent - we know this because we saw her leap out of the vehicle and vigorously accost a car that was trying to enter the parking lot (She was decked out in a black suit and sunglasses, just as you might expect!).

Of course President Obama was here in Denver to sign the American Investment and Recovery Act today, but I thought it was pretty cool that he was literally performing this historic task in our neighborhood.

It's a New Day for America!

Julia and I woke up to the sweet, sweet sound of our radio alarm - something I would normally never say - but this time it was playing NPR's live coverage of the Presidential Inauguration, with the San Francisco boys' choir singing God Bless America. What a great mood that put us into!

Though I am now at work, I am watching the Inauguration on CNN's live webcast. It is awe-inspiring to view the sea of people, covering the entirety of the D.C. Mall, waving and cheering in the freezing morning cold. Julia and I couldn't be more proud of our new president, and most of all proud of our country for choosing change over fear, hope over cynicism, and service over selfishness.

I couldn't resist attaching a blurry photo of our honorary embossed invitation to the Inauguration that we received, completely by surprise, from the Presidential Inauguration Committee. While we are not traveling to Washington D.C., we will definitely be framing this beautiful piece of history. Today is a great day for America and indeed the world. Remember where you are, what you're seeing, what you're hearing, and savor it - this is the change we've been waiting
for!

Still Gators at heart

Even though we moved from the humid swamplands of Florida to the dry, mile high air of Colorado, Julia and I remain proud Gators (her through education and employer, and me as a UF UNIX administrator for a number of years). Tonight of course is the BCS championship football game, and we are looking forward to watching it at Jackson's, a large and fun sports bar where Rocky Mountain Gators hang out on game day, hopefully with one or more of our expatriate Gainesvillian friends.

Go Gators and destroy those pathetic Sooners! Incidentally I looked up today exactly what is a sooner, and it's just not very cool.

Happy 2009 from Arizona!

Happy New Year everybody! Even though we consider ourselves proud Coloradans, Julia and I decided to be adventurous and spend our Christmas and New Year's week on a trip to Arizona, in which neither of us has spent extended time before.

We climbed the Grand Canyon, explored the eerily beautiful Mojave Desert, hiked along the beautiful trails in scenic Sedona, and witnessed some awesome animals in the Phoenix Zoo (you haven't lived until you've seen the multicolored splendor of a baboon's ass!). To top things off we spent New Year's eve in a festive block party on Tempe's Mill Avenue, meeting some cool new friends and seeing Styx (yes they are still alive, and their big 80s hair hasn't changed a bit) kick off 2009 in classic rock and roll fashion.

Julia has posted her photo album of our trip. I have posted my pictures too, grouped by days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, though I use a pretty cheap and simple camera that only stores 26 pictures and can't handle low light conditions (but it is extremely portable, fun, and convenient, which is why I carry it around).

We hope you had a fun and safe New Year's, and let's all have a 2009 full of adventure, goodwill, and a sensible work/life balance!