(Chris)Topher - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Professionally I'm a Social and Cultural Anthropologist and former climbing guide. I initially studied and worked in China, Nepal and Tibet. Currently, I work with the Iroquois of eastern Ontario and the Plateau Native Americans of eastern Washington, Oregon and northern Idaho. I focus primarily on issues of sovereignty as articulated through linguistic practices, and filter the whole project through the theoretical lens of semiotics. Sounds more ambitious than it often is, but I have a good bit of fun.

My Interests

My dogs and cat. JHM. Family. Friends. MOUNTAINS. DESERTS. Rock and Ice Climbing (trad, sport, bouldering, alpine -- pretty much all of it). Sun, Sea, Sand, and Pacific surf. Skiing, Hiking, Trail Running. Mountain Bikes. Organic farming. Guitars.

Music:

2barkingpantingplayfulBorderColliesandonepurringfatTabby. That sound my apple trees make after a heavy rain. The sound of mountain water. The sound of desert silence. The sweet sound of a Les Paul dancin' with a Marshall tube. CF Martin and Co est 1833. Songs From the Iroquois Longhouse. Etc.

Movies:

Climbing vids. HK CINEMA - especially the Shaw Bros films of the 1980's: FIVE VENOMS FOREVER! Blade Runner, Brazil, Serenity, La Gloire De Mon Pere, Withnail and I, Clint Eastwood (Josie Wales, The Sergio Leone trilogy, etc.) Lauren Bacall, Humphrey Bogart, Paul Newman, The Thin Man.

Television:

March Madness. (Ask) This Old House, The New Yankee Workshop, The Desert Speaks, Red Green, Chefs Afield.

Books:

My First Summer in the Sierras. The Water Margin. Desert Solitaire. The Big Rock Candy Mountain. Angle of Repose. Freedom of the Hills. And others.

Heroes:

Me mum n da. John Muir. Edward Abbey. The Wilderness Act. The inventor(s) of 12 point crampons. Britt Miller: geonaturalist, SLC Union man, banjo player. Boone Speed. Yvonne Chouinard. Bachar, Croft, Gill, Long, etc. Ken Bradshaw.

My Blog

Sick Offwidth

Found this sick offwidth yesterday. Sent it in five minutes. Think I've got a first ascent. Well, actually it's just the space between an old oak that's grown right up against a four...
Posted by (Chris)Topher on Sat, 06 Jan 2007 08:42:00 PST

Ceiling Unlimited...

...is something that never happens in Chicago in the winter. Wish I was on some So Utah sandstone right now. Or makin turns on perfect Wasatch back country powder.
Posted by (Chris)Topher on Thu, 07 Dec 2006 01:26:00 PST

Melville

We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results. - Herman Melvill...
Posted by (Chris)Topher on Thu, 09 Nov 2006 01:55:00 PST

Viking Name Generator

While perusing the internet to learn more about my Nordic heritage, I found the following website, answered a few questions, and was amazed at the unquestionable accuracy of what emerged.Your Viking N...
Posted by (Chris)Topher on Sat, 21 Oct 2006 10:34:00 PST

Autumn

Sitting in my backyard. Yesterday. Looked up. Way up. Just above the treeline. Just below the dark limestone band that up close is full of fossilized sea life. And ...
Posted by (Chris)Topher on Mon, 28 Aug 2006 12:00:00 PST

Into the...

Last night I dreamed of slow red rivers, and yellow cottonwood leaves in wind, and petroglyphs and pictographs, and night sky so clear you can see the day the universe began, and sun so perfect you ha...
Posted by (Chris)Topher on Fri, 11 Aug 2006 01:26:00 PST

THE INFINITE BEAUTY OF PAIN

Those little slices in your fingertips from intimate and delicate caresses of sharp limestone edges. The burn in every muscle that testifies of a day spent in communion with a mountain that was ...
Posted by (Chris)Topher on Wed, 09 Aug 2006 01:04:00 PST

Sir Duke

The first song I ever performed live was "Iron Man", the second was "Paranoid", and the third was "Sir Duke". At the time I was in two different bands, obviously. Singing old vintage Black...
Posted by (Chris)Topher on Fri, 28 Jul 2006 11:56:00 PST

Imaginary Flies

My 19 1/2 pound tabby just jumped 5 feet in the air to catch a fly. Funny thing though, there are no flies anywhere in the room. Or the house. Is he trying to tell me something? ...
Posted by (Chris)Topher on Thu, 29 Jun 2006 11:17:00 PST

A SHORT AND INCOMPLETE LIST OF THE VERY VERY COOL IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER

1. Homegrown radishes2. Hermann Buhl3. La Sportiva4. Fenella Cannell5. My Mom!6. The Six Nations Iroquois protesters at "Douglas Creek Estates"7. JHM, Beans, Rat, Wobba, Poki. And their patience8. Ron...
Posted by (Chris)Topher on Wed, 31 May 2006 01:59:00 PST