Thumbs up: The Snowmass Recreation Center is one of the finest amenities in the village. I hate to tell people about it because it is so uncrowded. However, in a town so concerned with physical fitness, why wouldn't you use it? Unlike the Snowmass Club the Rec Center caters to locals with prices that are affordable to everyone. A lousy $600 a year for a local is downright cheap. The price is right, the machines are state-of-the-art, you get strong. Why wouldn't you?

Thumbs up: Summer is finally here, at least on paper. June marks the opening of businesses that have been shuttered since April and all the hopes and dreams that come with trying to stay in business in Snowmass Village during the trying summer months. Even if Aspen were to lose 10 percent of its summer traffic, it would still be sitting fairly pretty. Snowmass can't afford to lose even one dollar during the summer.

Thumbs down: What comes after the Renaissance? Let's hope it isn't the Dark Ages.

Thumbs whatever: It has been reported that the Skico is kicking the tires at the Base Village in preparation of buying a portion of it. I can't see this happening any time soon because, in my humble opinion, the bottom of the local real estate market is at least a year away. Related may want to sell now, but it likely wants way more than the Base is worth considering the business plan that it once used to justify the purchase price has gone the way of the dinosaur on its way to becoming an eyesore. As the Skico waits for the bottom, so do the owners of real estate in the village and that will hurt everyone. When Related finally goes bankrupt and the bank holds the note, then you will see the Skico step in. If Related owes you money, too bad for you.

Thumbs up: If you have a satellite dish and are sick and tired of the drivel that the corporate television media spews, tune into Link TV Monday through Friday for the only airing of Aljazeera News in America. It's been a long time since Donald Rumsfeld told us that Aljazeera was a propaganda station for al Qaeda and it turned out that Donald Rumsfeld was a propaganda channel for Dick Cheney. To watch Aljazeera is to understand the Middle East not to mention the 70 other countries it has reporters in. It's a gloomy world out there. Come to think of it you might be better off burying your head in the sand and continue watching American self-centered sensationalism.

Thumbs down: The corporate takeover of media has made us all stupid and destroyed the media to boot. A bottom line approach has focused on increased advertising and ad costs while streamlining the reporting with layoffs. It may come to pass that the media model will resemble NPR, the BBC, and Aljazeera with government funding augmenting whatever commercial advertising or private donations there is left in the world. As long as these news sources can retain some semblance of independence the new media model might work. We all need unbiased reporting to keep our government honest. As it stands now, the government and the media are joined at the hip, which is another reason media is failing. People aren't that stupid.

Thumbs down: Last week the Snowmass Sun celebrated its 30th anniversary by closing its office in Snowmass and moving its last full-time employee to the offices of The Aspen Times. After 30 years this paper hangs by a thread. That thread is our determined editor/GM who now mans all of the duties of head chef and bottle-washer. With only one person standing between you, gentle reader, and absolute anarchy in the Village, support of this newspaper is the only hope.

Advertise now and advertise often. Better yet, if you have a large fortune that you can't figure out how to invest, why not buy a newspaper? You get a harried editor and a couple of incoherent, disrespectful columnists and that's about it. Save the Sun so it can save you.

Johnny Boyd remains a columnist for the time being. Get a copy of his kid's book, First Tracks, at ResortWorks and Short Sport. E-mail: snomasokist@msn.com