Caleb Caudle and the Bayonets play for Caleb’s birthday. Austin and his Redeemer Crew opened (including NJB), followed by Sunlips. All of this was featured at Krankies in WInston-Salem, NC.

Now while I’m not much for hanging from sheer walls of rock while relying on my puny brawn, the good will of some friends, and a seemingly woefully inadequate ‘crash-pad.’ But my friends love the stuff.

I just take the pictures. (Okay, and attempt a basic move or two).

Unlike normal rock climbing, it’s not all about heights. Instead its a free climb where skill and strength turn even a meager 10 foot boulder into a never ending challenge. Different routes are planed, new economies of movement attempted, and quickly rejected with a thud. Thankfully for Brian in this sequence he made it through his route with ease.

But this whole adventure has got me thinking, as I’ve been reading someone who’s reading Derrida. I’ve been left thinking how language is such a peculiar thing. It’s often so inadequate for expressing those raw emotions we feel. Like when falling in love, or taking in that cliched perfect sunset.

So we just re-invent the whole thing.

I guess that’s what language has always been – a (futile?) attempt to express and communicate ideas, thoughts and realities much bigger than us.

But we keep inventing. Case in point: bouldering (and rock climbing in general). There is a whole world of language that imbues this sport. Dyno, layback, crimp, sit down start.

Ok, some of them are more self-evident than I let on. But they’re strung together interspersed with normal language. “You’ll have to dyno up to that hold, but try to match first.” And until you start to pick up on the context clues (or plead ignorance and just ask), your stuck on the outside of some magically clear and concise world where you could climb mountains.

So we’re coming up on our one-month in Georgetown, KY. What can I say? With the recent addition of an AC unit to our kitchen, I’ll finally be able to run that oven at 550 F and bake some killer Margherita pizza.

In other recent news, I had the opportunity to show off my acting skills during a Behind Closed Doors session as part of Georgetown College Resident Director training. While it sounds a bit like an SVU episode, it was pretty tame. Although Bryan Langlands and I did try to use the tiny bunk bed ladders to climb out the window.

Really freaked the new RDs out.

Here’s Bryan practicing his ladder surfing¹. I must say, he’s a lot better than me.

¹ ladder surfing – verb, an invention of the Phi Mus. One attempts to climb a stairway to nowhere, ie climbing up a ladder until it falls out from under you and you break your neck or teeth.

Man. What a guy. Philip Pledger (or Pleasure, if it’s your pleasure) is a guitar virtuoso.

He’s part of the band Caleb Caudle and the Bayonets (cue compulsory myspace linkage).

When he’s not playing, though, he’s posing on colorful walls for my new (DIY) ringflash. I needed some test subjects, and Philip is just the kind of guy who will stand in front of a bright yellow wall. He was even so kind as to post some photos from a recent show.

Oh, and if you like what you see, there’s more of the man at his all-things-mediasmic blog, phuzzmedia.

Could you ask for more than a sense of style and a well groomed mustache.