whiskey bowling

2012-01-27T17:26:00.008-05:00

Congratulations 'old city' San Juan, you have been added to our list of "places we might have babies in".

Your narrow cobble stone streets, out door markets and classic European feel creates an environment that puts a skip in our step.

Here are some testaments to your beauty:

15 foot thick Spanish fort walls surround the city

Extensive parks and trails

Wonderful views of the ocean

Plazas every other block

Birds

San Juanito

2012-01-25T20:51:00.001-05:00

Chopped puerto Rico

2012-01-23T21:28:00.001-05:00

From these ingredients: found rice, found curry powder,found creme de coco, and bought tomato, garlic and tofu. It tasted better than it looks, especially with a little lime juice.

Dengue Feva!

2012-01-22T19:41:00.003-05:00

Josh, our co- worker at the hostel, was sick when we arrived. We thought that he was just over exhausted, he had been running the hostel by himself for the last week. A few days passed and he didn't seem to be getting better. Getting paler, even as a redhead. He slept a lot and spoke of not having any energy.
Yesterday josh woke up around 10am and was commenting how he felt better. I, Jameson was sweeping in the hall and talking to Josh in the kitchen just out of my sight. I suddenly heard a loud thud and ran to find Josh collapsed in the corner, shaking and gargling his own spit. I pulled him off the wall and tried to get a response, after a few seconds I grabbed the phone and called 911. All the while thinking 'Is 911 what I call in Puerto Rico?' It turns out to be correct and I detail the events and our address in broken, scared Spanish. Josh comes to and I help him to the couch and wait for the ambulance.

I, Laney, met Josh at the emergency hospital down the street. It was a tad sub-par but at least he was there. They did a blood test and determines that he did have a virus and wanted to transfer him to the large public hospital. I went in the ambulance with him. The driver talked on his phone the entire ride.
The new hospital room was painted bright blue, an old cracking coat of bright blue. It was frigid and valentines decorations hung from the ceiling. The old man next to is was dying. Josh said he felt much better, but Jameson told not to believe that. They asked him a series of questions and quickly concluded that indeed it was Dengue. The nurse laughed and said "Welcome to Puerto Rico". There are 4 types of dengue and all 4 can be contracted in Puerto Rico. Although it sounds scary, dengue only has a 1% mortality rate. There also is not an antidote, just rest and fluids. Josh got an IV and rehydrated. We were discharged at 11pm. Josh had been very concerned about the cost of his visit. We asked nurse after nurse to do the bare minimum because of his lack of health insurance. Each person assured us not to worry. At the end of it all, after 2 blood tests, 2 ambulance rides, one CT scan, half a dozen blood pressure tests and an IV his bill came to the grand total of $85.

Forts

2012-01-22T14:10:00.005-05:00

Settled in 1521 by Spanish conquistadors 'old city' San Juan is a small island just off the main land surrounded by stone fortress walls.
It has the classic Spanish fort look but its what lays inside the walls that determines the vibe of the neighborhood.

This is the third 'Spanish fort' we have spent time in and San Juan's may be the most chill. We found it easy to navigate and though it thrived on tourism it didn't come across as too over baring as long as you avoided sight of the cruise ships.
There are many small plazas that sprinkle the streets which contain artisan markets, busking musicians and devote Catholics.

The beauty of the giant stonewalls are stunning. Though this wonder is met with equal realization that its roots lay in the notion of conquest and colonization, an unfortunate result of all human historic sites.
We find it's best not to think about the flawed reasons behind exploration and just enjoy the byproduct of the artist inclusion of building and decorating.

Skipping Winter Round 4

2012-01-19T10:43:00.000-05:00

Before leaving the cold for warmer grounds I found myself pondering the concept of skipping winter. This is our fourth year doing so, either missing it entirely or partially.

Typically autumn welcomes us home. There is nothing quite as beautiful as a Virginia fall. Toothpick trees bursting earth tone colors, the harvest atmosphere. The holidays are close by and seeing our family and friends makes it easy to return to the old dominion.

Then christmas and the solstice pass with the first post holiday frost and my mental state starts to panic. Somehow the frosts don't bother me during holidays, it is only when I'm expected to carry on as if everything were normal that my biological instincts ignite. This is not normal it is cold. I am a mammal, and as such when it is cold I want a home, I want to hibernate while storing up fat and food.

So every year, sometime after December 25th I start dreaming of setting up a business or buying some property to store my things and create a home. But we current humans are a different kind of mammal, we have a choice to be a bird. We have the power to ride a giant metal hawk without flapping wings south to warmer climate and ignore our natural responses. This is the ability of being human during a time of technological advances, hell, me sharing this thought on the internet is proof.

So rather than build a home in a hurry I wait and consider the alternatives and subject each location to consideration. The world is large and I can see it, I live in a time where that is possible. So for now I am a bird.

Perhaps next year I will be a fish.

-whiskey

How we eat for cheap.

2012-01-18T18:46:00.003-05:00

It's not always easy to find healthy, balanced vegetarian food abroad, especially when you're on a budget. One of the glories of working at youth hostels is that travelers leave behind food everyday; spices, oil, bags of rice, fruit...

We arrive at our new locations, assess what people have left behind, go buy some veggies and make some food.

Here is what we made tonight. Rice and beans to the next level with salad. It does the job for sure and there are leftovers for tomorrow.

Day 1

2012-01-17T18:47:00.002-05:00

On the bus today on our way to the hostel in miramar. Ten different people on the bus were trying to help us with directions... None of them knew what they were talking about, except maybe one. A homeless seeming man asked to play my accordion and then an old man told me I shouldn't let homeless people play my accordion.
We finally found the hostel and took a stroll around the neighborhood. The beach pictures below are some of the the nearby sights. The ocean was strong today and it rained for about an hour. Now there is a lovely breeze and trumpets and voices lofting from a nearby window.

Away we go

2012-01-17T16:07:00.001-05:00

Weeeeee!

2012-01-16T19:40:00.003-05:00

I just hosted my final Silent Music Revival which will now be on a little hiatus as Laney and I travel to Puerto Rico and beyond.

Here is a clip from the event:

Next Puerto Rico....

Laney's old travel blog from before she knew Jameson

2012-01-11T18:51:00.002-05:00

I just thought that it might be interesting to show all you people out there a link to a blog that I kept in 2007 while I was studying Buddhism in Asia. It has both photos and little narratives on what was happening in my life.

Laney's old travel blog

Jameson and I leave for Puerto Rico in less than a week now. We are just packing up our room, saying goodbye to our friends and family, and soon we will be on our way!

Happy Bearth Day

2012-01-01T23:51:00.009-05:00

We spent New Years weekend at our friend Patrick's house on the Chesapeake Bay.
It was wonderful to start the new year with salt water near by.

I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be a great year!

Christmas time was here

2011-12-30T23:26:00.007-05:00

If you really think about it, we have been celebrating Christmas since we returned to Richmond November 7th and began our job as holiday "elves", working for a company which sets up all the Christmas displays in Richmond's malls and big businesses. Oh the joys of burnt out light strands and giant plastic pine trees, I could not have fathomed before these past few months. You would not believe how mad people get when you but up a tree in their office building before Thanksgiving.

Fortunately, our temp job awarded me a bit of free time before christmas which gave me time to make terrariums for some of my family members. It was a big project and caused me to make a mess of dirt, rocks and moss all over the kitchen.

Jameson and I also made a Children's counting book for our Niece Ella. It is titled "Ella's Magical Counting Adventure". In the book, she feasts on too many cookies and falls into a deep psychedelic sleep where Nana is a super robot saving one planet and pop pop is a friendly dragon with two heads.... so on. Jameson authored the book and we co-illustrated it pasting the heads of each family member onto it's corresponding magical body. Jameson is #6, "Uncle Jameson dances with 6 laughing trees" and "Aunt Laney finds 7 orphans under the couch." It was very exciting to open that gift together at the Price family Christmas December 23rd.

This year we celebrated for 4 days! It was wonderful, we got to spend time with our lovely family and do all different kinds of things. One of Jameson's favorite Price family traditions is having a nerf gun battle in his Dad's church. His mom made a feast the next morning with breakfast casserole and pecan pancakes. After breakfast made our way to Alexandria where my father lives. It's a good 4 hour drive and we were a bit frazzled when we arrived after so many hours staring at the road. My stepmother made a delicious lasagna and Dad made a fire and all was well at the Sullivan household. The next day we spent with my Mom. Every Christmas that I have been alive on this earth I have spent Christmas day at my grandparents house. In the morning we drink mimosa and open gifts and at night we eat a big feast with the whole family. This year in between those two events we went into the woods and had quite time by the river. My mother, grandfather, and his dog Jolly came with us. Jameson found a nice rock to sit upon.

New Traditions

2011-12-26T11:17:00.011-05:00

We have always wanted to create our own traditions for our future family.
We knew that we wanted to incorporate the solstices and equinox so we decided to start this year with the Winter Solstice.

Every Winter Solstice we will go outside during the day and raise our hands to the sky and say to the sun,
"Thank you sun, for all the food that you helped grow, see you more in the spring."

Then we will go buy or find a cactus, decorate it, name it and add it to our cactus collection.
This ones name is "Plantain"

Then we will snack on Pistachios before our friends come over for a soup potluck and tell each others fortune with the shells.

Of course we know pistachio shells don't tell fortunes, but it is still lots of fun.

These new traditions are adaptations of ancient solstice traditions:
1) Thanking the sun for the light and heat which helped grow fall crops (like root vegetables and gourds).

2) Decorating a tree that stays green during the winter. This is what lead to the tradition of the christmas tree. We will decorate a cactus, which also stays green during the winter.

3) Gather friends and family and tell each others good fortune over a fest. We will have a soup potluck.

Let the Juice Fast Begin

2011-12-06T11:37:00.004-05:00

Homemade ornaments

2011-12-06T11:21:00.009-05:00

We recently went to an "ornament out of clay" craft party

We tried our hands at it, and this is what we came up with.

NOTE: The ornaments have a hint of brown around them because Laney made the oven too hot. We didn't really know what we were doing.

X-mas Novempus by Jameson

X-mas Snail by Jameson

Wine Bottle with lights by Jameson

Lord Ganesha with fungi by Laney

Quiet Time

2011-12-06T11:10:00.017-05:00

Some friends of ours have started a "quiet time" meditation by the James river every Sunday.
The concept is simple, sit by the water for over an hour in silence.
It is absolutely refreshing.

Adventures in Face Cutouts: Atascadero, California

2011-09-27T19:01:00.006-04:00

Adventures in Face Cutouts: Santa Barbara, California

2011-09-27T18:56:00.003-04:00

2011-09-19T18:43:00.013-04:00

Atop of Beech Mountain, NC lies an abandoned amusement park themed after The Wizard of Oz, called: Land of OZ

It opened in the 1970's and only thrived for ten years, shutting down in the 80's.
It has recently been revived by having an annual festival to celebrate it's magical spot within the forest.

Still it remains, for the most part, abandoned. Containing rusted metal carousels and empty pools of dried water rides. This feeling of abandonment adds to its forgotten allure.

It is a very striking to see and has such a surreal presence.

I would love to go back one day for their festival.
If you are interested check out:
http://autumnatoz.com/

oh St. Pete, you're a treat!

2011-09-14T18:08:00.013-04:00

Congratulations St. Petersburg, Florida, you have been added to our list of "places we might have babies in".
Now I know that may come as a shock to some of our readers, but St. Pete is a happening place.

It has an active nightlife with its main road full of hip bars, cute little galleries and clothing Boutiques with DJs.

Continue down the road towards the bay and you will reach the fishing pier and marina, which is full of fish, begging birds and house boat neighborhoods.

This is St. Pete's official bird, the pelican.

Also along the Tampa Bay is the Dali Museum, which is, absolutely, one of the best museums I have ever experienced.

If you had decided to walk away from the bay, going west then you would eventually run into the Gulf of Mexico and all of its glory.

A sunset over the ocean on the east coast. What more could you ask for.

Adventures in Face Cutouts: Ybor City, Florida

2011-09-14T17:13:00.004-04:00

Right near da beach... BooooOOOY!

2011-08-31T09:29:00.020-04:00

We were in Bethany Beach, Delaware for the past few weeks.

We had our friends Andrea and Kevin come visit, so we went..

Canoeing:

To an Amusement Park:

Inside a Haunted House:

On a DogFish Head brewery tour:

It was all very relaxing.

Until Irene showed up, and the town was asked to evacuate.

Sun, Moon, and Traffic Tour

2011-08-03T11:47:00.017-04:00

I know that I haven't said anything about our tour yet.
We've been running around ever since we got back, a little more gracefully than chickens with their heads cut off. I (Laney) have somehow contracted some kind of summertime cold since returning to VA and today am just well enough to sing for the WRIR 97.3 Radio gig we have tonight.
Tour... tour was profitable, which was a great gift. After our two month tour across country earlier this year, this two week tour seemed to fly by. The first few days we spent in the DC- Baltimore area, wading through hours of traffic on 95 and the beltway.
Our tire blew out on 95 North from DC to Wilmington DE. It was the first time that we have used our membership to AAA that my stepfather Reilly so kindly gifted us last Christmas.

This made our arrival in PA a godsend. After staring at 18 wheelers in gridlock for hours and hours we were breezing through Amish country, counting little roadside shops with homemade rootbeer. It also happens to be the home of the world oldest Goodyear dealership.

Our experience in Philly was pretty amazing. We played this venue called the Bookspace. It's a giant warehouse full of seemingly unorganized books, art, couches, and lamps.

On a more serious note;
my eyes were opened to the poverty that Northern Ohio has been left in by the shifts of industry. The people were lovely in Youngstown and Toledo, the community close knit and strong, like struggle makes a society. These post-industrial towns have a beautiful glowing light of hope and inspiration growing from their center.

We also ventured in West Virginia. What a beautiful state it is! Rivers, Mountians, Green pastures, waterfalls, and wonderful hospitable people who love live music. We hiked by the Potomac in Shepardstown WV.

We visited Jameson beloved family in Indiana. It was a nice rest, they fed us and we slept in a big comfy bed. They even had a swimming pool which we played in with their youngest sons Simon and Jude.

When we returned to Richmond, we were not all that road
weary. I think that we may be getting used to all the chaos of tour. Slowly we are learning how to stay balanced and healthy while on the road. The more we do it the easier it gets... mostly because we make more and more friends who take care of us when we pass through. It's been a great gift to be able to travel the country in this way!

DC jumbo slice pizzas

2011-06-28T22:51:00.004-04:00

Indiana thunderstorms

2011-06-28T22:49:00.001-04:00

2011-05-30T11:46:00.003-04:00

On our way east, headed to Indiana for a Price family reunion.
We broke the trip up into a five day journey to help shorten the drives.

After Reno we stayed in Salt Lake City which besides the Mormon headquarters,

is a pretty cool city with a fairly strong subculture.

We were given a tour of the grounds around the Tabernacle by two foreign mormons (you're not allowed to go into the Temple if your not mormon).

They asked us repeatedly if we were interested in joining the church and if we wanted to sign up today.
We declined.

2011-05-29T12:52:00.002-04:00

Blog Window: Isis Oasis exotic birds

2011-05-25T00:23:00.020-04:00

Poison Oak Update: Part 2

2011-05-25T00:13:00.005-04:00

Before:
That's right the poison oak was in my eye lid.

After:
Because of Laney's adventure in poison oak, mine was able to be cured much faster. Almost gone.

2011-05-23T12:20:00.002-04:00

This is how peaches the bird raises the roof.

I (jameson) just started working with the birds, feeding and general care. They are very fun to work with.

2011-05-21T12:44:00.006-04:00

Part 1:

Part 2:

The Youth Minister

The Motorcyclist

The 1990's

Baby Face

Poison Oak Update

2011-05-20T14:37:00.003-04:00

So Laney's poison oak has gotten much better.

Even though our camera is busted, you can see how it is disappearing on her neck. It barely itches now.

Jameson on the other hand.

Temple at Noon

2011-05-19T21:53:00.006-04:00

Everyday at noon Lorean, the high priestess and founder of Isis Oasis, leads the community in a noon service. It entails singing songs, offering praises to Isis, lighting candles, ringing bells, breathing in "inner sanctum" and out "infinite space" (that spells ISIS, by the way) then looking in a mirror to ask yourself for three things to get you through the day (for example: kindness, patience and reality, were my requests for the day).

This is a video of the "noon song" sung by Lorean.
It was raining today so only four people showed up to service, Lorean, Laney and I being three of those four.
People around here, really hate the rain.

Laney's adventures in Poison Oak

2011-05-15T01:29:00.005-04:00

I don't know when or how it happened but somehow I am covered with poison oak. From my chin to my legs, itchy, bumpy, nasty red poison oak has taken over.
I was always so proud thinking that I was immune to poisonous plants, until now I'd never had a case of poison ivy, oak, sumac, nothing! So last week, when I found a weird rash on my neck and one Californian friend says, "oh yea! looks like you've got poison oak!" I felt betrayed by mother nature.

It's horrible. It looks bad, it feels bad, it generally sucks. I would put it in the same category as being bitten by a hundred mosquitoes. Not fun.

The internet has led me to all sorts of ideas as to how to treat poison oak; baking soda and vinegar, oat meal mask, oat meal bath, cornstarch, tea tree oil, calamine lotion, lukewarm baths, cold compresses, and on and on. I faithfully tried almost every single one and none of them healed me.
A friend mentioned that often right next to where the poison oak grows there grows another plant called Manzanita which carries the antidote to the poison.

You see in the photo above the manzanita is the red barked tree.
Jameson and I had to go on an adventure driving along the country roads searching for this manzanita. We finally encountered the thing, chopped off a few branches and brought them home where we made pots and pots of tea out of the leaves and bark.

That night I took a bath in cold manzanita tea.
According to Native American legend, the poison oak should be cleared up in three days.
I'll let you all know what happens on Monday.

2011-05-13T18:51:00.004-04:00

This is Roy and Dale, the two gay turkeys that live on Isis Oasis.
When they were first introduced to the property they were thought to be of opposite genders. Large fairly flightless birds end up working pretty well as either male/female or female/female, but most of the time two males will compete for dominance.

This is not the case with Roy and Dale, who are both male and are in love with each other. In fact they will get in quite a panic if one turkey finds himself on the other side of a fence or barrier without the other.

So instead of running the risk of loosing one another they typically avoid much roaming and just sit together beside a window so they can look at each others reflection.

That is until either a new car drives up, because they insist on greeting people and checking to see if the car is reflective enough to sit by it, or when Laney chases them around with her accordion. Both happen, regularly.

Oh my Goddess!

2011-05-08T00:11:00.022-04:00

We have found a beautiful and bazaar spot to rest and work for the month of May.

Isis Oasis!

Temple by day

Temple by night

Here’s the run down. The high Priestess that founded the church (The Church of Isis is legally recognized) moved her animal sanctuary and worship center out of San Francisco in the 70’s to Geyserville, after the city passed laws prohibiting exotic animals as pets.
Before that law, Loreon (the high priestess) used to take her pet Ocelots on walks around the city.

So now a very large resort/Isis worship center rests just outside downtown Geyserville, and by downtown I mean two blocks of mini marts and one stoplight.

A giant ancient tree sits in the middle of the property. The tree is believed to harness wise energy so white Peacock feathers are attached to its branches.

Geyserville is a place of constant tectonic plate activity. In other words there are earthquakes here, ALL THE TIME! But not movie earthquakes where everyone almost dies until Superman, or Wonder Woman, holds the earth together with super human strength. These earthquakes are very subtle and you may not even notice it until someone points it out to you and you think to yourself, “have I been sort of drunk this whole time?” Because that is what you think, you feel off balance the majority of the time you are walking or working and you begin to wonder what’s in the water (vodka?) Nope earthquakes.

The regular “shake” though just adds to the wonder of this place. It is very striking and has a very distinct energy. The facilities are colorful and warm and you’re surrounded by exotic animals, which I know is what you want me to get to.

Some of the Birds:

This is Peaches (above), very talkative bird who also knows how to raise the roof. Video footage soon.

Now we know Turkeys aren't exactly "exotic" birds, but these dudes are HILARIOUS! Again video footage soon.

We got to know these Emus pretty well after building a gate beside their cage and having them spit water at us, laugh, then peck at our tools.

The birds, by the way, squawk just before every earthquake, so they squawk a lot.

The Ocelots and large cats:

While most of the Ocelots are friendly, this large cat, who's species I forget, is rather angry most of the time.

Most of these animals are rescue animals from owners who could no longer handle them. Isis Oasis is a place they can live out the rest of their lives.

We have been working with retreat groups (We just had a Shamanic Tantra group have a retreat here, family be careful when googling that), cooking meals for groups, building cages for animals and working in the garden.

For more photos and information we strongly encourage you to visit their very “early internet” website.
www.isisoasis.org

Adventures in California Fruit: Part 1

2011-05-05T02:11:00.008-04:00

This is a Rangpur Lime.

A few weeks ago we went gorilla fruitin with our friends from SLO and came across this little gem.

Don't be fooled by its sweet looks, this is no mandarin. In fact it is a mandarin crossed with a lemon, giving it a VERY tangy taste.
It ends up working out great for mixed drinks or lemonade with a hint of orange flavor.
It is also a classic central California joke; friend wants a mandarin and you toss them one of these. If they aren't paying to much attention to the subtle difference in smell then it makes for quite the sour face experience.

Also in case you were wondering, Gorilla Fruitin is when you pick fruit from trees that aren't yours. Don't worry karma, "it grows on trees" is an expression on abundance for a reason.

Here is a picture of our final loot.

Laney's Birthday

2011-05-01T12:11:00.009-04:00

After leaving Orr Hot Springs, we drove a few miles down the road to an amazingly majestic Redwood grove named Montgomery woods. I keep referring to it as a Cathedral in nature. It was one of the most serene and awe inspiring places that I have ever been. In that grove there are some of the tallest trees on earth.
Here are some pictures below.
The camera is broken again, because it is being held together by electrical tape it has a sort of blurry "fish-eye" effect now... it works for this series though, i think it helps express the dreaminess of the place.

Working at Orr Springs

2011-04-30T14:43:00.010-04:00

The four days before my birthday we spent doing a work exchange at a little northern California mountain cove called Orr Hot Springs. It's a beautiful little rustic retreat center with three thermal pools, a sauna, steam rooms, and private baths. We worked six hours a day digging ditches, pruning ferns, and clearing fallen trees from the hillsides and in exchange were given full access to all of the pools and were housed a cozy little private "yurt" with a heater and a skylight. All the manual labor made the hot springs always appreciated. I feel like Jameson and I really benefited from no internet of cell phone for four days, just us and the woods and the water, and of course the hippies naked and blissful, soaking their worries away. I wasn't allowed to take any photos of the springs due to the "clothing optional" policy of Orr, but I did snap a few of us working on clearing paths and eating breakfast.

N Street Cohousing project: Davis, Ca

2011-04-23T17:02:00.006-04:00

Established in 1986, the N Street CoHousing is one of the more interesting community things in Davis. Years ago, about 10-12 houses on N Street all agreed to remove their backyard fences to create a private community area. They now have a community house and lots of gardens and play structures for their children.

We stayed here in Davis for two nights. A friend of a friend from Virginia had relocated to the Davis a few years ago and welcomed us into his home full of very cool interested and laid back roommates and nightly family dinners. They had built a loft bed over the washing machine and dryer where Jameson slept.

The community produced a lot of it's own food, each home had a little patch of garden which at this time of year was full of beets, arugula, spinach, and swiss chard. There were about 10 egg laying hens that I saw roaming around and eating bugs. They even had a bunch of bee boxes and the whole time we were visiting we ate from this massive mason jar full of crystlized honey.

In the back yard there were several giant citrus trees. The one pictured below was grapefruit tree. I made a really delicious honey and grapefruit dressing one night for dinner.

Jameson and I were both really inspired by the project and have been brainstorming how something like this could be possible to copy in Richmond. It seems like the perfect fusion of life in the country and life in the city.
To find out more about N Street Co housing visit: http://www.nstreetcohousing.org/

Our San Francisco treat

2011-04-20T01:54:00.006-04:00

Santa Cruz Sea Lions

2011-04-16T15:26:00.003-04:00

Don't worry friends, these sea lions aren't injured or dead. They are just chillin and listening to the coastal music, the California way.

Santa Cruz rulez!

2011-04-15T02:10:00.010-04:00

Santa Cruz, California I know we just met, but you have been added to our list of "places we might have babies in".

Here are some reasons why:

Santa Cruz is on the coast. That means there is surfing, volleyball, swimming and seagulls.

Santa Cruz has a decent amount of ALL vegetarian restaurants. Including a Space Diner themed one. This goes hand and hand with this city having a pretty good indie crowd.

People grow these in their yard! Yeah its and artichoke..no artijoke.

There is an amusement park on the boardwalk. You can ride a roller coaster 20 yards from the ocean.

There are LOBO MARINOS (Sea Lions) here!

It looks like this.

IT HAS AN OCEAN!

Central California

2011-04-12T02:10:00.013-04:00

American Mail Boxes

2011-02-26T12:45:00.008-05:00

After driving by this mailbox we decided to take some research pictures our selves in a series we are calling:
American Mail Boxes: A Study of Culture.

Now we see A LOT of strange mail boxes, but don't exactly have time to grab a camera and document them. We are on tour, not collecting photos for a new coffee table book.
But here are some that came out.

The Classic: without a face.

This mail box stood approximately 12 feet taller than the regular sized mail box beside it.
The side of the box read "Air Mail"

You know you're at the beach when you see cheesy mail boxes. After passing dozens of Lighthouse mail boxes this "homemade" delight caught our eye.

I don't even know what to say about this one.

Our going away/ EP release show at Sprout 2/8/2011

2011-02-11T16:48:00.003-05:00

Thanks Jack & Holly for doing the shadow puppets. It was a show to remember.

Lobo Marino Sweat Shop

2011-01-29T01:37:00.008-05:00

We love giving that "homemade" ascetic to every piece of merchandise we sell.
So we make our own band merchandise.
Pretty much all of our merch has an aspect that is either hand sewn, stamped, stuffed, colored, dyed or written.

2010-09-28T10:39:00.003-04:00

My sister and her baby.
Which makes us an Aunt and Uncle.
First time life experience.
Expect weird toys Ella

2010-09-27T00:11:00.001-04:00

It's starting to feel a lot more like Fall.

2010-09-12T03:34:00.004-04:00

Finally.

2010-09-03T09:04:00.003-04:00

I miss you.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)

2010-08-22T03:43:00.013-04:00

_______________________
The next Silent Music Revival
__________________________________

good beer.

2010-08-20T17:43:00.012-04:00

A co-worker recently bought me a Thomas Creek "Deep Water DoppleBock Lager", as payment over a bet as to who would win the World Cup.
Although the game was a boarder-line disgrace to the name of "futball", full of bad passes and penalty cards. This tasty beer did come out of it.

I must say, it certainly shocked me.

When you see the word "lager" on the bottle you aren't expecting what you taste. Thick, dark Lagers like this "DoppleBock" are hard to come by in the US.

If you see one around, you should give it a try.

I enjoyed it.
_____________________
just a few of these and I am the background man
6.25% ABV
______________________________

2010-08-03T16:21:00.005-04:00

I started doing something recently that I had been planning on doing for a long time.

I became a bicycle helmet enthusiast.
______________
think about it.
____________________

2010-07-26T00:52:00.006-04:00

How strange it must have been during the time of Prohibition. Tonight I (whiskey) had my monthly Silent Film event called Silent Music Revival. Before the feature film, I projected a cartoon short comedy about then-current events, as was done almost one hundred year ago, today.

The film was Breath of a Nation (1919), an obvious pun on the 1915 classic Birth of a Nation, and although this film had nothing to do with what it pays homage, it still, similarly, offers commentary on the social situation of its time.

Breath of a Nation is a more lighthearted Prohibition-mocking film that shows the openly-underground use of alcohol during a time that it was illegal.

While watching this film I couldn’t help but hysterically wonder whether films like Half Baked or Dazed and Confused would find itself in the same strange category with substances that were “at one point illegal, openly used until the government gave up and made them legal” category. I am not just saying this because I am an advocate for the legalization of marijuana (now conservative relatives don’t be upset, your party is headed this direction as well, just check the conservative opinion on the matter). I say this as a silent film enthusiast, who wonders, “what about our society will change?”

Silent Films are wonderful because they allow you to view a culture from the past that you are completely disconnected from. You can see how we have stayed the same and how we have changed. Call me an old fashioned progressive, but we can’t go forward without getting a glimpse of the past.
__________________
the glimpse
________________________

Adventures in American Diners: Bethany Beach Fire Station

2010-06-22T18:44:00.008-04:00

Bethany Beach, Delaware.

oK, so admittedly this is not an actual "diner" per say, but rather a fire station doing a fundraiser breakfast. We will let this detail slide for the sake of breakfast exploration. Seeing as Bethany Beach is usually a very tourist oriented area, it was kind of nice to see the settled side of the small town. You could tell that most of the guests recognized each other, but certainly did not recognize us.

The food was set up as a buffet line with Bethany's finest serving the plates. At first we noticed that the eggs were kind of, dark. Turns out they were cooked in bacon grease, but after a mention of us being vegetarians they scrabbled us up some non-bacon ones.

Over all it was a pretty standard American breakfast: eggs, miniature muffins, pancakes, hash browns, toast, fruit and juice.
Though it seemed better in the company of firefighters.

There's been a delay!

2010-06-05T20:00:00.018-04:00

There has been a blog update delay because Laney lost the cable to connect the camera to the computer. We have found a way around it in the meantime.

So much has happened in the past weeks. We spent memorial day at Bethany beach where Jameson learned how to go crabbing. It took some persuasion to convince him that it, in no way, harmed the crab. It's not like fishing where even if you throw them back they still are left with a gaping wound in their head. Jameson has this deeply indescribable tie to crustaceans. You can see it in his eyes when he's playing with out pet hermit crab. But I think that he enjoyed crabbing, despite an emotional dilemma, when one got caught in the net for a minute.

Very entertaining, seeing the little things in their natural habitat.
We learned how to tell if you've caught a male or she-crab.

After Crabbing we strolled the beach where numerous Horseshoe Crabs (technically not actual crabs) had washed to shore, dead. It was a sad and confusing sight. What caused all of these aquatic spiders to wash on shore dead?

...

It was great to break away from the city for a bit to spend some time with the ocean. It seems to be calling us more and more often these days.

Gigs

2010-05-23T18:43:00.007-04:00

Jameson and I have both have been making some money modeling for painters. Not nude, Moms, don't have a heart attack. Last Friday, a well known artist in Richmond put the pieces he painted of us in his Gallery opening.

and this is a drawing an artist, in a class I modeled for, did of me with my accordion. Pretty trippy, huh?

I liked it so much, he let me keep it.

In the Studio

2010-05-20T23:50:00.006-04:00

We finally recorded the music written while living in South America for the past year and so of our lives.
We spent two days at Minimum Wadge Recording Studio in Oregon Hill.
The final 20 some odd minute journey of an album ended up better than any of us anticipated and we hope to be fine tuning and mastering it in the weeks to come.

Jameson's Art Instalation

2010-05-13T16:54:00.008-04:00

Jameson and I both worked on this piece all week to get it ready for the First Friday when all the Galleries in Richmond open their new exhibits to the public.
It was exhausting hauling all the massive televisions and the over-sized wooden table up the 200 year old flight of gallery stairs, but we made it work.
And the product was a very drawing interactive sculpture. Jameson meant it to be a commentary on war and the influence of media, religion, and industry on politics.
The three of us sat there all night playing cards, letting the cards roll off the table and on to a mess on the floor.

Adventures in American Diners: Jean's Country Diner

2010-05-10T12:24:00.010-04:00

Providence Forge, VA

Sandwiched between two gas stations, Jean's Country Diner shows you what the Virginia country side really cares about: America and Buttermilk Biscuits, and God bless um for it.

We felt a bit out of place when we first walked in, seeing as I was the only male with out a camo or flag bandana, while Laney was the only Female without frizzy, maybe dyed blonde hair. But this is what American Diners are all about. The culture, the environment and the food. A diner in the city is different from a diner in the country is different from a diner on the waterfront. That is what this series plans to explore, and so we started with Jean's.

Decorated with old Christmas lights that are unlit and televising a church service in the corner, Jean's has character. You walk up to small window next to the kitchen to place your order from a paper menu tacked to a cork board. The menu is standard breakfast and lunch items, eggs, pancakes, hamburgers and BLT's, all at a budget price.

We had a silver dollar plate, 2 eggs w/ grits and a biscuit, an egg, cheese and tomato biscuit sandwich w/ a side hashbrowns, coffee and tea for about $10. Though the portions weren't sizable it was a good value for sure.

We ate our food off of the served paper plates, with the provided plastic utensils.
It was good, all very satisfying, except the hashbrowns, they were dry and sort of "blah". The biscuits though, in contrast, were great.
Jean's Country Diner was a perfect first selection to this continuing series.

Finally! Photos of the notorious shed.

2010-05-06T12:20:00.003-04:00

A letter from corporate

2010-05-02T13:01:00.006-04:00

Here at WhiskeyBowling we are committed to bringing YOU the most comprehensible navigation we can provide. So that YOU can follow our adventures as they occur. YOU may have noticed some small changes here at WhiskeyBowling, and are maybe wondering, "Hey, am I still going to get the quality commentary I have come to expect from this professional site?" The answer, of course, is yes. We here at WhiskeyBowling are still committed to bringing YOU the most comprehensible navigation we can provide.

That is why we at WhiskeyBowling have added new features to better manage YOUR archive searches. We have also added a new adventure so YOU can laugh and cry along with us and our great adventures!

Below the WhiskeyBowling icon at our home page YOU will now find a Super Hyper Link Feature Bar, that will take YOU to such adventures as our music, photos, videos and series.
So go ahead, click a feature, such as SERIES or FEED (whatever that is), and follow us on our magical journey through life!
Is that magic I feel as I read your blog, YOU may ask?
No friend, that is the internet draining YOUR soul.

Sincerely,

President and CEO
WhiskeyBowling

36ish hours in New York City

2010-04-27T17:20:00.010-04:00

For me, the strangest part about being back to life in the US is watching my calendar fill up three months ahead of whatever I'm doing today. Last weekend, since we didn't have any pressing obligations, Jameson and I had planned to spend the weekend camping to celebrate my birthday...but weather forecasts predicted rainfall over the entire south east of the continent. I decided on a whim that I wanted to take the overnight Chinatown bus from Richmond to New York. So, Jameson though exhausted, consented. It was a nice little 35 hour escape. We stayed with my friend Julia, who I met while studying in Asia. We spent Saturday walking around the city. When we first arrived Julia greeted us outside the gate of her apartment wearing a bath robe and an eye mask on her head. She rather quickly woke up, threw on some jogging shorts and led us all to prospect park where we were still managing to make the designated "dog off the leash" time of day. Never before in my life have I seen such a sea of kanines, and all different shapes and sizes. Silly New York City dogs who didn't seem to know what to do with their new found freedom. Most seemed to loiter around their owner and cautiously sniff on-coming dogs, making sure to maintain proper spacial limitation. Our representative pug/pomeranian was happy rolling around in the muddy spots of grass.

Mid-day, we met a friend at the Union Square farmers market. Oh what wonders there are to see! A man with a monkey head, lost in the crowd, a lady with a parrot sitting on her shoulder watching a man playing the guitar wearing a feather headdress, and flamboyant men everywhere carrying tiny dogs.

That night some of Julia and her boyfriend Kareem's friend had a party on the rooftop of his Brooklyn apartment building. We grilled our veggie dogs and listened a band play old time folk music, though It didn't feel quite right in NYC, not the way it does back in old Virginia. I listened and stomped along, thinking that at least the banjo player was from North Carolina. Cold rain rolled over us at about 11. My lack of sleep caught up with me and I passed out downstairs on the sofa.
-Laney

My "while I don't have a job" project

2010-04-22T19:53:00.006-04:00

Well... now I do have a job, 4 almost 5 actually. But during that down time, while I was still trying to busy myself with productive, meaningful ways to spend my time, I decided to start making wine out of things I could find around the house. I made a half gallon of dandelion wine. It is fermenting in the dinning room as we speak.

I'll let you all know how it turns out.
Here's the recipe if anyone else has some free time and an un-mowed lawn.

Love,
Laney

We are children again

2010-04-21T22:31:00.006-04:00

So last weekend Carytown had an event called Chalk Up the Town, which did nothing more than hand out free chalk, and tell people to draw.
You were encouraged to abstain from naughty words or controversial topics, but I saw some rule bending, as Richmond is known to do.

Here are some pictures of the event that we didn't take:
(our camera wasn't working at the time)

It was a lot of fun. I drew a giant snail with a television head, flower vines coming from under trash cans and news paper stands, and one (pictured above) asking "Where can we recycle?" in Carytown.

I really think Richmond has some of the best, random, festivals and events.
This weekend is Earth Day and Fish Festival. These aren't separate events, they are a combined (related?) festival. What?

The river, music and a shed.

2010-04-13T21:01:00.003-04:00

We have finally settled into the cozy little shed we are living in, behind our friend's house. Amazing what pictures of birds can do to improve a living space (Pictures to follow). The spring has rained pollen on all things once shinny. But seeing it is Spring, the weather is warm and kind. When we arrived the James river was nearly overflowing on to the train tracks that run beside it. April showers.
It was hot enough one day to go swimming in the river at Texas beach (which is in Richmond, VA, I know right?)

We have already gone to three concerts and seen almost everyone who lives in this small city. We are playing music with friends to get our album ready for the studio, and glad to be back. Richmond has a distinct energy that gives you culture shock one minute and goose bumps the next.

Part of us is feeling anxious, ready to pick up our bags and move on. While another part tells us to stay, get involved again, in this place we know far too well, and yet has areas we still need to explore.

First thing's first. We need to make some money. Jameson is already working 4 shifts a week at the vegetarian coffee shop. While Laney is debating whether or not she has the inner strength to work with children again. We will figure it out. Rent is cheap, because we live in a shed.

The Spirit of St. Francis of Assisi

2010-04-08T15:22:00.005-04:00

I know that these photos are amazing, but what is even more amazing is that this squirrell recognized Jameson from them meeting over a year ago at my mom's garage sale. Stuffy the squirrel saw Jameson through the kitchen window and came right up to the glass and pressed her nose against it. When Jameson went outside to give her some peanuts, she ran up to him and sat on his lap. I think this is one of those examples of his unspoken connection with State of Virginia.

Stickers!

2010-04-06T10:33:00.003-04:00

We have been working on stickers for our band LOBO MARINO for the past couple of days now, and this is what we have come up with.

The name of our upcoming album, to be recorded in May, is in the puzzle, in the last sticker above.
A: Keep Your Head Up.

We are back in Richmond working, living in a shed, and playing music.
This time around, culture shock has been a little more off setting, hopefully we will even out soon.

Ukranian Easter Egg Decorating

2010-03-28T21:54:00.010-04:00

This is my favorite easter tradition.
My Aunt Lynette married a first generation Ukranian man. With the wonderful tradition of kielbasa sausage and potato pierogies, into the family came pysanky easter egg decorating.
To make a pysanky egg, you have to work in reverse, lightest colors first dark colors last. You use a little tool (a metal funnel on a stick) you fill the funnel with hot wax and draw on to the egg everything that you wish to turn out the color that the egg is dyed. It's hard to explain. Here's a link if you want to know the more technical details.

http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/pysanky.html

An Austin After-thought

2010-03-25T16:37:00.004-04:00

Our good friend Lauren's French bulldog Lady, how she does the stairs.

2010-03-24T14:29:00.001-04:00

(This "Will you marry me?" salsa packet, guarantees a classy way to pop that special question at your favorite fine dining facility)

We are currently in the midst of a 30 hour road trip, from Austin to Washington DC, somewhere in South Carolina right now.

We got the ride from craigslist rideshares, and despite whatever horror stories you have heard from the gossip blogs about a couple of awful incidents that happened out of the millions of fine rideshare transactions take place everyday, we have only had pleasant experiences with actual rideshares.

In fact the only negative experiences we have had was in Atlanta trying to get back to Virginia, when three ride offers either backed out at the last second or never returned our phone calls, with us waiting hours past the time we were supposed to meet up.

So overall, as long as you exchange web profile pages (like facebook, myspace or any other life sucking, friend database) to prove to the offered or rider that you are indeed a real person, we consider rideshare a great way to travel.

- Whiskey

Breakfast Tacos

2010-03-22T15:37:00.005-04:00

These are breakfast tacos, one of Austin's many claims to fame.

Though this may be an overly boastful claim, seeing as breakfast 'tacos' are just miniature breakfast 'burritos' that come from Santa Fe.

But any proud Austinite knows that the details and "technical" creation of the breakfast 'taco' is undebatable when your mouth is full of egg, guacamole, salsa, cheese and tortilla.

So the breakfast 'taco' has become a staple in Austin, and is found in almost any restaurant or food cart (another Austin claim to fame), which makes finding the breakfast taco that's right for you a bit of a challenge.

Seeing as we are vegetarians we usually opt for a nice selection of veggie fixings over varieties of sausage.

So our selection for best breakfast tacos in Austin is:
Food Heads
(pictured above)
* based off of close proximity to our location, veggie selection and economic value.

Free Parties and Photo Booths

2010-03-18T00:13:00.001-04:00

South by South West

2010-03-16T16:29:00.006-04:00

SXSW is a music festival in Austin, TX that started in 1987 with only one location, and a handful of bands. Now, 23 years later, it has become an entire city endeavor that occupies a calendar week or more.
It is a monster that grosses the city almost $110 Million dollars in revenue and attracts people from all over the country, and globe.

The "official" SXSW event last 4 days and includes tons of independent feature films like academy award winning The Hurt Locker or Passing Strange along with well known musicians like Motorhead, Dillinger Escape Plan and GWAR.
These official events usually run $10 or $20+ a pop or hundreds of dollars for special day or weekend passes of various sorts.

However, because this event brings the city so much outside tourism, sponsorship and attention, local clubs and organizations hold FREE shows and events through out the week bearing the SXSW name. Seeing as Austin, per capita, has more venues than any other US city, there end up being a lot of these. As if that wasn't enough, many of the venues or community organizations throw in free beer or food during their show to get a bigger crowd.

I have never, in my life, seen such a busy music fest. There is SO much music and events to attend that we have now gone out every day and night for the past 4 days, with no sign of slowing down until next week.

Somehow, accidentally, we came to Austin at the perfect time.

slide show: Austin, Texas

2010-03-12T00:32:00.000-05:00

The epitome of the US

2010-03-10T11:15:00.000-05:00

We are there...

Colombia---------------> USA

2010-03-09T06:58:00.001-05:00

Adventures in Colombian Fruit: Part 9

2010-03-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

This is mangosteeno

The only other time I've found this amazing fruit was in Laos, where my friend Hannah and I would sit on the street corner and eat bags and bags. Once I saw a pack of four for $12 in the grocery store in arlington. I bought them to show my mom, but they tasted old, like they had spent months on a boat.
Maybe they were just from Bogota. Turns out they are also grown here.

The fruit has a hard, dark purple shell. It feels like a small baseball and has no distinguishing odor.

You can't eat the shell, its disgusting, but crack the thing open and there are tiny membrane-resembling white slivers of delicious sweet fruit. They taste like creamy pear and red grape mixed with other flavors that I don't even know how to describe, but its delicious.

This fruit is sold by the bag, and is not made into juice, just picked apart and eaten as is. It also leaves your fingers stained red.

-laney

slide show: Villa de Leyva

2010-03-07T06:57:00.000-05:00

Adventures in Colombian Fruit: Part 8

2010-03-06T12:24:00.000-05:00

This is Feijoa.

Our friend Stella from Oso Perezoso bought it for us specifically for our fruit entries on this blog. So thanks Stella.

Immediately it looks and feels like a small avocado, but its skin smells like old lady perfume.

When you open it the outside still resembles an avocado, but where the giant brown seed would be instead contains something like a mushy pudding.

This 'mushy pudding' part is the only tasty part of the fruit. This is how it differs greatly from an avocado.

The soft center tastes like a mix between banana and passion fruit, and was quite good.
The outer flesh however tasted like old lady perfume, and you couldn't separate your mind from thinking you were eating your grandmother.

We tried turning the flesh into juice, but this didn't refresh our immediate cannibal impression.

Turns out Feijoa is more popularly used for corner store candies and popsicles.

slide show: Barichara

2010-03-05T21:49:00.000-05:00

A Good Place to Rest

2010-03-05T11:31:00.000-05:00

It was somewhere on the bus ride from San Gil to Barichara that it hit us, the Santander region is by far the most beautiful area of Colombia we have seen.
Located in the north-eastern satchel of the country, Santander is full of lush rolling hills with body builder trees lifting weights of moss.

When we got off the bus in Barichara, I realized that somewhere along the road we must have projected our vehicle into a worm hole with such velocity that we traveled through space and time to a parallel dimension or into the past of our own.

There is almost no other way to describe this town's preservation. The hills are lined with white stucco walls and burning red clay shingles, and surrounded by canyons and clouds. You feel as though every cobble stone road were moving in slow motion and that some patron saint had been created to protect this land from God's evolving hand. This being the only explanation for the many corner cathedrals with slanted floors to pour prayers like water to the streets.

Every year in May after the giant, flying, red roof matching ants build their nests in corners of cliffs and rafters, they take to the street in celebration of their labor and coat the sky in a plague-like charm, until the people below cast their nets for the harvest.
From there the smells of toasted red roof ants fill the air, and are used to season steaks and are candied for children's tongues.

It is the perfectly risen altitude of Barichara, that makes the hunters and gathers weightless, but only once a year.

- Jameson

slide show: San Gil

2010-03-04T19:09:00.000-05:00

Adventures in Colombian Fruit: Part 7

2010-03-04T08:16:00.000-05:00

These are Ciruelas

This really, I don't think, is the scientific name of the fruit because "ciruelas" technically means "plums". I guess these are tropical baby plums.

People sell bags of this fruit from wooden carts in the streets of santa marta. Buying a bag is like a guessing game, you never know what portion of the ciruelas are ripe and how many are still hard green and sour inside.

The perfectly ripe ones you can easily eat, skin and all. You just have to make sure to eat around the seed in the center which looks and feels like a tiny mango seed.

The ripe fruit tastes like a mix of a white grape and a mango. Yum.

But if you grab an un-ripe one, it is like biting into a lime. The sour ones taste better dropped in a beer.

Also, no one turns this street fruit into juice.

Leaving Las Brisas

2010-03-03T14:44:00.001-05:00

It is easy to see where Gabriel García Márquez got his mystical influences, they are all around you in Colombia.

Just recently I have realized that the environment has been mirroring my emotions, in a much more spiritual than Shakespearean way.
We left Taganga today.
Less than a week before our departure the infamous, 'brisas locas' or crazy winds, the source of every comfortable sleep and relief from Master Suns whip, stopped for three days.

Causing my Love and I to sleep in separate stagnant beds under the same roof for the first time in our togetherness.

Then when it seemed that no beer, no matter the amount of time it spent in the freezer rather than fridge, could bring refreshment from the dead hanging air. The winds came back and only then could we muster enough strength to raise our sails.

I mourned the taxi ride to the bus station, less for Taganga and more for the energies of people we were leaving behind.
While we rode I saw a man welding in the dark. The light was so bright that his enormous shadow was projected behind him on the white factory walls. As if a monster was aiding him in his work.

The sky flashed with lightening all through the night, and the Taganga winds blew us south to San Gil. Where it continues to thunder with rain.

- Jameson

slide show: Minca, for coffee and honey

2010-03-02T14:36:00.001-05:00

Getting high on Oxygen

2010-02-28T18:53:00.008-05:00

Today I went diving for the first time in my life with my good Colombian, dive instructor, friend Franco (as pictured below).

We saw squid, blow fish, rock fish and eels patrolling the ocean floor. While neon fish rolled across cotton candy colored coral hills.
As we were ascending to the surface a school of bright blue fish swam right through us.

An avant garde Taganga

2010-02-27T17:19:00.001-05:00

slide show: Opening a Coconut

2010-02-23T08:33:00.001-05:00

Adventures in Colombian Fruit: Part 6

2010-02-21T20:36:00.000-05:00

This is Pitaya

By far one of the most refreshing fruits I have ever had.

It has a sturdy, bumpy, yellow surface but not much of a smell.

When you cut it open it looks great. It is a fruit that taste better raw than turned to juice, though they do both here.

The consistency is that of a snow cone or italian ice with out the cold. Its soft clear center, dotted with crunchy black seeds, melts in your mouth.

It taste like a non-sour kiwi, but is as refreshing as lemonade.
It is sweet to the tongue and was quickly consumed.

Very yummy.

Hotel Oso Perezoso

2010-02-17T19:02:00.000-05:00

We have been doing a work exchange with this hotel for almost a month now. Needless to say, we have stayed so long because we love it here.

Here is a some work we have done pictured above:
1) Hotel sign
2) Mosaic entrance
3) Suspension bench with mosaic trim sidewalk
4) Full view
5) Friday movie nights at the hostel
6) Room signs with numbers
7) Roof construction
8) Paper mache lamp shades
9) Fake fish on lit grill

slide show: Carnival in Colombia

2010-02-14T19:34:00.001-05:00

Adventures in Colombian Fruit: Part 5

2010-02-09T08:03:00.000-05:00

This is Guama,

and it is freaking weird.

It is like holding a giant bean pod.

Then you crack it open and it looks like a bug or a spider has spun a web or nest all over the fruit inside.

Then you pick it up and still think maybe its an insect nest.

Then you walk outside to find a local and ask them if this is what the fruit is supposed to look like.

After an unconvincing 'yes',
you put it in your mouth and think, "Oh my God I just put an insect nest in my mouth."

But unless these insect babies taste sweet and the nest was spun around a giant black seed, you can safely assume you are just eating a very weird fruit.

It tastes a bit like edamame mixed with the flavor of kettle corn, all wrapped around a giant seed that isn't at all tasty.

The consistency is exactly what I think an insect nest would feel like to eat.

Once you get over that, it tastes pretty good and its fun to peel off the seed inside your mouth.

But if you think the consistency is shocking, no one here turns this fruit into juice!

It is always eaten raw.

slide show: Tayrona National Park

2010-02-05T23:41:00.002-05:00

We just spent the past four days here.

Swimming naked at the nude beach, eating fallen coconuts and hiking in the jungle through an indigenous village.
While the monkeys howled at constant interuders.

2010-01-31T22:12:00.000-05:00

The other day, after dinner, we went out to a local ice cream 'parlor' for dessert.

Looking at all the neon flavors in their freezer burnt containers, in somehow, the 'highest recommended' location, it sort of hits you that Colombians don't really eat ice cream, and therefore, its not very good.

I did the only thing I could. As I was scanning from dark orange 'chocolate' to bright blue 'hell if I know'
I spotted a container that was packed with colors, and by 'packed' I mean what colors may look like after a car accident.

It had pastel chips, chocolate cookie chunks and green swirls collaged in a horrifically murdered rainbow.

"What is that flavor?" I asked the woman in spanish.

"That?" she points, "That is all the cream flavors hand-mixed into one container."

"Perfect, I'll take that one."

It was awful of course, in that, 'I dare you to' sort of way.

In one lick you got chocolate, bubble gum, lime and rum raisin.

Unfortunately we didn't have a camera for photo documentation. So you will just have to imagine the horror, that is, Colombian Ice Cream!

-Jameson

Adventures in Colombian Fruit: Part 4

2010-01-28T09:49:00.001-05:00

This is Kuruba

Soft to the touch and pleasant to the nose.
You peel it open like a banana and inside are tons of tiny orange jelly seeds.

Though not nearly as 'fish eyed' as fruit #1, it does bare some resemblance, with its inner white tentacles and crunchy seed center.

But its consistency is more 'wet, over cooked corn kernel', than 'eyeball'. Also the seeds, though crunchy don't taste very stellar.

As long as you tongue the fruit off the seed and spit, it has a pleasant sour citrus flavor.

And as always, blend it with milk and sugar and have it as a juice; because we are fairly certain that not many Colombians actually eat Colombian fruits any other way.

Water in a bag

2010-01-26T08:33:00.001-05:00

General rule of thumb: if the locals drink the water, it is probably safe. If they don't, dont even think about it, unless you want to spend your whole vacation in the bathroom. In Taganaga, portable water is found in clear plastic bags, a lot like the cafeteria milk when I was in elementry school, only no straws included.
A bag the size of the one I am drinking in this photo is 100 pesos. That is about 5 US cents.

Finally Pictures!

2010-01-23T20:18:00.010-05:00

I know that our descriptive ramblings about `this and that` paint a certian image of what we are doing and where we are, but nothing, really, is as nice as seeing it with your own eyes.
Here friends, enjoy!
Pictures taken without a broken viewfinder.

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