Archive for August, 2006
Hopefully updated on a semi-regular schedule as we endure the hurricane:
Hurricane John has been pounding Mexico’s west coast, making it’s way slowly towards us, in the Bahia de Banderas. Not to be left alone, John has now been joined by a lesser hurricane called Kristy.
Historically, the Puerto Vallarta area has been spared from hurricanes, due to the geological nature of the large bay we sit on. Hurricanes barrel up the coast and then turn out to sea just south of the bay, once out to sea the water becomes much colder and the storms dissipate. This theory was shot to hell a few years ago as Hurricane Kenna started close to the coast, down by Acapulco and then swung out to sea, only to come right into the bay, giving Vallarta an almost direct hit. The photos of the destruction of Vallarta’s Malecon (boardwalk) are impressive.
Depending on who you talk to, we’re either gonna get a double pounding or we’ll get some light rain and wind. Officially all schools have been given the day off tomorrow, so maybe the municipality knows something I don’t. As I stick my head out of my nice, a/c’d office, all I see are blue skies and not a ripple in the ocean. If a major storm was to break ground here, later this evening, wouldn’t we already be getting some nice storm pulse swells?
Not to put a lighthearted spin on a potentially dangerous situation but I could use a nice big storm swell. i’ll keep my fingers crossed that the hurricane(s) stay out of the bay and that the waves come in.
**update - 5:00pm**
Well, the skies are no longer blue, more cloudy but white-cloudy not storm-cloudy and the ocean has a light roil to it. it’s not flat, but there are no waves. just looks like there is so more non-directional movement.
**update - 6:50pm**
Well folks, it looks like this isn’t a drill. This is the real thing. Hurricane John is now officially a cat 4 (Katrina was a 3). And the US Consulate in Vallarta has issued an email advising us to storm proof our houses and to put our passports in plastic bags. Further, the airport will be closing and the AP wire is saying that we can expect 15 foot storm surges. Reports are saying that the hurricane will pass closer to the bay then previously forecasted. I don’t quite know how to respond yet, but I’m about to go over to the parents’ house and help them storm proof their house, just in case. they live at sea level (i live up the hill about a hundred feet or so). They are starting to get a little worried (compounded slightly by mom’s childhood hurricane traumas). We’ll see what happens in the next 12 hours or so. I’ll keep updating as I know more.
**update - 11:00pm**
It’s hard to decipher the signal through all the noise. Most people around us, neighbors, friends etc.. have not made any preparations yet the resort “Paradise Village” in Nuevo Vallarta has already evacuated all of their guests and employees. It looks as if the hurricane will hit here, sometime around noon. I can’t find much more info, so we’ll have to wait until NOAA updates. I helped my parents move all of their furniture and decorations from their sizable covered patio area, along with the pool furniture etc… We also packed up the office and moved everything to the back room. The office has three large very breakable windows and is also at sea level so it’s possibly prone to flooding. At our apartment, Marcia and I have moved all of our smaller potted plants, and patio furniture etc.. inside. we have several larger potted plants that are just gonna have to weather what may come. Since we are high on a hill, with a nice view of the ocean, we have very little to block the oncoming winds. As the winds pick up, we’ll decide to (or not to) tape the windows. Our biggest concern, at the apartment, is that it sits at a shallow “V” in the road, this V has a storm drain at the lowest point and the drain is partially blocked. During large rains, the street fills up with muddy water and has come close to flooding our apartment several times. Usually someone has to wade out to the drain and try to unblock it. If the rain is particularly hard, we could be in trouble. Like I said, lots of noise, very little signal. Time to watch a movie and not think about this stuff.
**update - 8:00am**
We got a little rain, nothing too heavy, last night. The humidity is insane and has been, since mid-yesterday. Things are calm here and the Hurricane Center’s 3-day cone says that the storm is farther out to sea, than was predicted yesterday. So it most likely won’t touch the bay. We’ll get some heavy rain and winds, but nothing too crazy. Let’s go with the cautious optimism, that works for me. The report is saying Hurricane John will pass by around noon. I’ll continue to update as I get more info and as the weather starts to change. stay tuned.
**update - 10:00am**
It’s pretty thick clouded to the southwest, but we actually have a little sun peaking through the clouds to the east. All the workers are out, building the umpteen houses that are going up in my vicinity and it looks like everyone is ignoring the idea that a hurricane will be rolling close by in the next few hours. The Hurricane Center is calling it a cat 3 hurricane now, which is better, but as I look at the wind speed graphs, we seem to be in for some heavy winds. The local radio says that the weather should start to turn sour around 1:00pm, so again, we sit and wait….
**update - 1:00pm**
Well, it’s 1:00pm-ish and no sign of any hurricane just yet. The ocean is getting slightly choppier but with no real directional swell. The airport is open, but most flights are cancelled. People are either boarding up their windows or kicking back celebrating a day off with a beer. We just got back from the corner store, stocking up on vegetables, fruit, cheese and beer (only the necessities). The Hurricane Center says that hJohn is about 60 miles southwest of Cabo Corrientes, which is on the south side of the horn at the southern tip of the bay. The local government is issuing directions to all residents to prepare as fast as possible, including turning off gas and electricity, I think they refuse to be caught off guard, as they were with Hurricane Katrina. Just started drizzling, still waiting.
**update - 3:00pm**
It’s raining a little bit harder now, but nothing near storm strength and not an ounce of wind or waves. Depending on who you talk to, hJohn is directly west of us now and we should be getting some kind of storm winds. It’s weird. We hear that Vallarta’s malecon area has been evacuated as a precaution. Cautiously, I think we aren’t going to get much more action then we’re getting now, Vallarta seems to have been spared. Obviously it’s still to early to tell, and Murphy’s Law is a powerful thing, but let’s hope things continue to go the way they’ve gone.
**update - 5:30pm**
The Hurricane Center has reclassified hJohn to cat 2 and it looks as if the hurricane has completely missed Vallarta, now being about 100 miles west-northwest of us. No real rain to speak of and no wind at all. The skies to the east and south are light and clearing. I went to the beach to check the waves and it actually looks like something small is rolling in. actually, honest-to-god waves. This requires a closer investigation. I’m about to put the board in the car and head out to El Paredon. Assuming the weather doesn’t miraculously change, this will be my last update. hurricane updates are fun but only if something is actually happening. Some guy writing about nothing happening is, well, boring. it’s a good thing, boring, i like it. signing off….
OK, so I guess I’m the last to know about this whole Lonelygirl15 phenomenon. And here I am thinking I’m all dialed in on internet memes and crap. For people like me (outside the mainstream) here’s a good primer on the series. And when did YouTube go and get user profile pages that rip-off myspace and go one further by making it even more ugly? [via Waxy]
Rick just started shaping surfboards out of his basement. He’s about to launch his company and needed help with a logo, so he created a little contest to see who could come up with a good one. It’s a great idea and there are some really killer submissions. I thought I’d add my two pesos and you can see the results above. I went for the more sturdy, unified simple logo look: logomark + logotype. i’m old school.
Total YouTube score, The Swedish Chef: Chocolate Moose, Donuts, Meat Balls, Chicken, Cake, Spaghetti, Coconuts and for an added bonus: The Mahna Mahna Song. Is it me or is YouTube the coolest website ever? must be, since so many nitwits are hating on it.
A great, informative site (could use a redesign though) on designer and entrepreneur George Nelson, creator of the “Nelson Bench. “George Nelson was not only a creative artistic talent, he was also a commercial genius. These two talents provided his secret for success that would reward him throughout his life.” If that InMod site is right, it’s a full 200 bones under what DWR costs, go buy it now!
Failed Icons: Why it’s so hard to make unforgettable architecture. What do you do when your starchitect doesn’t deliver the goods? A photo-essay / conversation about lofty intentions and less-then stellar results. [via we make money not art]
La Caleta is one of the two or three surf spots that you can get to, by boat, from Chacala. It’s a wicked lefty point break that breaks perilously close to a sea-urchin infested rock beach. Not for the faint of heart. Located up on the coast outside the bay, about an hour north of here. Chacala is in open seas, it gets direct exposure to both northern and southern swells. and so with Jorge and Gris in town from Guadalajara, we all convened at 7:00 this morning, for a day trip up north, to catch what’s left of the current swell.
I had been to Caleta once before, probably just about two years ago. I was still a surfing novice. when we rolled up on the spot, it wasn’t breaking at all. almost flat. I could see the break though and I hadn’t learned to surf backside yet. I envisioned what could be one scary break, if the swell was right. For some reason, I’ve never gone back. We’re an adventurous crew, but to be honest we really stick to our spots inside the north side of the bay, with occasional jaunts to Quimixto and others. We haven’t dedicated time to exploring the breaks north of the bay. If anything, I’m just conferring with myself, out-loud (sort of, anyway) that we should check out the northern breaks like Platanitos, San Blas and Santa Cruz. Make it a priority.
Back to our story:
The text messages started going off around 6:45am, with everyone up and ready we piled into the trucks and headed north. Getting to Chacala at around 8:15, already the sun was up and the wind was picking up as well. Jorge quickly secured us a panga (note to visitors: best to have a non-gringo rent the boat. as you won’t be charged the gringo rate). It took us about 15 minutes to get to the break and the ocean was already roiling. we could see swell coming in, but nothing overly exciting. As we arrived at Caleta, I think we were all a little bit disappointed, there were maybe ten people in the water already and the waves didn’t look very big. We had the boat captain drop us off at the shore. As we all sat under the palapa covered hut, none of us seemed situated. The hut was covered with trash of every kind and we all struggled for a clean place to sit. We looked out at the surfers waiting for the set waves to arrive. I grabbed my board and headed out to the line-up.
As I got out to the front of the line, a six footer rolled right to me, I dug in the tail of my shortboard and popped right into the crest of the wave, dropped in and kept the pressure on my back heel. As I slid down the face, I tried my best to see through the ridiculously bright sunlight beaming off the water and to thread the needle as I dodged all the buoys. It was a great first ride, most definitely beginner’s luck, once I got that wave, admittedly, I had a slight thought that I didn’t really know what to do with it. not knowing the break. I just tried my hardest to stay out of the shallow water and to have a good ride. I managed to catch three different sections, bringing me half-way back to the beach.
The waves were definitely coming in sets with long waits in between, but nice big chunky waves made it all worth it. As I sat out in the line-up surveying the break, I got the feeling that Caleta could be dangerous on a big day if one were to get caught on the inside and forced into the mixing bowl. Caleta has a pretty wicked mixing bowl. Several of the group of visiting gringos in the water (when not talking about dumb business deals they were involved in) were trading war stories of getting urchin stings from getting too close to the rocks. The wave, itself, walls up really nice, not too fast, and I could see that it gets tubular with size. Some of the waves breaking out on the point, too close to the rocks, had perfect loping tubes, well, two foot diameter tubes, but I used my imagination. If you read surf mags that show pics from the vallarta area, they are usually taken at La Caleta.
As morning turned to noon, the waves got blown out a bit and the sea got choppy, but it was still very surfable and actually looked like it was getting bigger. The currents picked up a little, pushing me inside, close to the point. A place you don’t want to be. So I had to learn to navigate the current (there are no spots inside the bay with bad currents, unless it’s real big out). Probably due to the currents, the water turned murky brown, most likely from a nearby stream run-off. The boat captain picked us up at 1:00pm and we headed home. We got back to Bucerias and celebrated our trip with chelas and pizza.
A very very good day. fun was had by all and it was great to have Jorge play the leader, showing us a new spot. Sometimes I balk at having to pay a boat fee to get to the surf break, but today was totally worth it.
**update**
Israel pointed out to me that this spot is actually called “La Caleta” so I’ve altered the story to reflect this. Thanks Isreal!
Vallarta is one of those provincial towns, where the powers that be have decided that certain movies will show well and others won’t. To make a comparison, I’d say, vallarta probably most resembles the skeening of Barstow California, on the “what-movies-to-show” decision list. There are primarily two kinds of movies shown here: if movies were split into levels A, B, C and D, with A being the good movies. I’d say that Vallarta gets maybe half of the A level movies. Unfortunately, those where the intended audience is anywhere under 25, the movie is dubbed in spanish (Nacho Libre), this does not happen in larger markets like Guadalajara and Mexico City. The second kind is all the C rated films. Those films that the studio liked and have A level stars, but just didn’t turn out right and so they sold the rights to the foreign territories for less then expected. This second set of films, make up the largest percentage of films shown where we are, although I’d say that 90% of the tickets are sold for the one or two A level films that comes out every week, i.e. the D films are just filler. Once in awhile the theater will throw us something cool like a Woody Allen pic or a Lars Von Trier pic. But for the most part, we get piles and piles of crap. Hence you’ll notice that 80% of the films on this list are crap. That’s ok, beggers can’t be choosers. In a place where the night time temperature clocks 95 degrees and the humidity doesn’t drop below 90 all summer long, we’ll take what we can get. So without further ado, here’s my summer movie roundup. I probably missed a bunch, but here ya go, enjoy.
- Poseidon - crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap
- Melinda & Melinda - eh, alright. Radha Mitchell is intriguing.
- X-Men III - dumb. no redeeming qualities.
- My Super Ex-Girlfrind - dumb but slightly entertaining
- Match Point - actually, pretty good. Scarlet, nuff said.
- Mission Impossible III - dumb
- Miami Vice - i liked it! one of the best cop movies.
- The Lake House - funny for a romantic film if your suspension of disbelief is strong
- Half Light - slightly entertaining, but mostly crap
- The Great Raid - crap, although Ben Bratt had a cool hat.
- A Good Woman - pure crap
- Shop Girl - Steve Martin gets slightly Sofia Coppola-ish, but I actually liked it. go steve!
- Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest - children liked it, i didn’t.
- Thumbsucker* - loved it. Mike Mills rulez! if you don’t know who Mike Mills is, your too old.
- Superman - entertaining, but more plot holes then swiss cheese
- An Inconvenient Truth* - loved it. love al gore. love the environment, will miss it when it’s gone
- Me, You and Everyone We Know* - incredibly original and painfully sincere. freaking loved it
- The Sentinel - eh, mildly entertaining. wish the main character was actually the bad guy.
*movies that we didn’t see in the theater. but for some reason, i had to include, to make us look at least slightly cool.
So after feeling pretty down, we’ve had an upswing in swell these past few days. nothing super-intense, but at least chest high.
Last weekend, we surfed five sessions in three days. a tiny swell sent waist high waves our way and we took full advantage of them, after nearly two months of flat seas. By Sunday, I was glad to have the day off.
On Wednesday, we heard talk of a hurricane off the coast of Cabo, yet all the swell reports were saying a southwesterly swell was coming our way. Wednesday night, around ten, the bombs started to drop and I could literally feel the slight vibration, two blocks away from the beach in my apartment. I text’d the crew and we all slept like giddy school children in anticipation of waking up, Thursday, to a massive swell. Thursday morning we were at the break by 7:45am. It wasn’t as pounding as we had hoped but chest to head high was great, cloudy conditions and very glassy. We chose El Paredon, for it’s hard access, point-break and it’s nice steep drop. On good days El Paredon gets nice thick tubes. Today wasn’t one of those days, but we ripped it anyway. Only three of us in the water the whole time. The sets just kept coming, for an hour or so, one after the other: grab a wave, paddle back to the line-up, repeat. I took the new Flyer II and it took me about an hour and a half to get proper control of the board. new board syndrome. after awhile though I had some really clean, nice rides. As we headed back down the beach, passing Veneros, there must have been thirty people in the water. This is a lot for such a small, dangerous spot. The waves were walled up, over-head, heavy, fast and short lived. All the short board chargers were out ripping it up. Nice wave, but I freak a little bit as I take that drop and I look down to twelve inches of near transparent water and a crap load of boulders underneath, i just don’t have the cojones.
Later that day we went back out to Burros, for the low tide, sunset session. at least 20 people in the water. and the wave size had gone down dramatically. we were hearing stories of ten footers rolling in, in the morning. No matter, I made the best of it. Got my exercise for the day, paddling it out with the other ten güeys, vying for each wave. I grabbed the fish to ease the paddling strains on my already hurting neck and shoulders, had some really nice long rides. Burros is a slow, lazy wave, but when you hit it just right, there’s nothing better. One wave I was getting behind on and losing my balance, so I just jumped into the crest of the wave and road it on my stomach for like fifty yards. it was super-fun.
All indicators pointed to continuing swell today, so we headed out at 8:00am to catch another session. As we got to Destiladeras, we could see that not much was happening. Pato and I were not so happy. As we made it down the beach we were torn between Veneros and El Paredon. Veneros had chest to head high waves, with six cats in the water. The wave wasn’t too heavy, today, but still pretty walled up. We walked over to El Paredon and checked the break. Two cats out there, floating around, waiting for the sets. I chose Veneros, so I paddled out caught a couple waves, but nothing too fun. After awhile I headed in and made for El Paredon. The waves there were definitely smaller but oddly longer then usual. I grabbed the first of an incoming set and had a really nice long ride, making three different transitions and all sorts of nice little cuts. The wait in between sets was longer but still some nice looking waves rolling in. much faster than Burros.
I’m dead tired, now. My neck and shoulders are one big ball of clentched, tangle muscle mass. I could use a massage or rather a small dose of electric, chiropractic stimulation. I’m all beat up. Bone bruises on the tops of my feet from hitting the board, cuts on my wrist from jamming my toenails into them as I jump up on the board, scabs on my nipples from wearing tshirts in the water (word to the wise: drop the hipster poli-cotton blend and stick to 100% cotton), my back is pealing from I-don’t-know-how and every muscle in my body in total paralysis from way too much exercise.
What to do on a day like today? What else, go to the movies, kick back in an a/c’d theater with a large coke and popcorn watching some dumb hollywood thriller. pure heaven. The swell report talks about a large hurricane moving up the coast sending swell our way all week long, when it rains it pours or rather I hope so, cuz ya never know.
I must be living under a rock, just found out about this stencil artist in Paris. He goes under the num de plume “Roadsworth”. His work is just as cool as Banksy’s (though not quite as political) check out the Roadworth Flickr stream here. [thanks Stevey.com for the hookup!] - update: Steve says that the artist is from Montreal. not sure how i missed that one.
The “windows, pointer, mouse, keyboard” computer experience is dead long live intuitive multi-touch devices. this truly is going to be what new computer users learn when they begin using a computer. wicked! [via svn]
Salim and Paulina had their civil wedding ceremony yesterday and shared it with their family and local friends. It was a beautiful, intimate ceremony and we all watched on as two of our most precious friends got married. After the ceremony we all went back to Roots for the reception and subsequent party. Everyone got real loose and had a good time. Salim and Pau will have catholic church, white wedding big bash thing is in November in Lake Chapala and we all look forward to partying it up with our good friends.
slideshow or photoset
This story has been floating around our town for the past few days, just found an english version of the story online: Fishermen found alive after drifting in Pacific for a year. 3 guys from San Blas, a little town about an hour north of us, were lost at see for 11 months and ended up near Australia. amazing! [hat tip to kottke for the find]
With the promise of swell on the way, hopefully arriving tomorrow, me and the flaquito boys loaded up the new truuuck and went to Burros. Not much going on still, but the left break was powerful enough to get a good ride in every ten minutes or so. It was good exercise getting those shoulder and neck muscles warmed in the hopes that once said swell arrives, I don’t crap out from not having surfed regularly in two months. It was just nice to paddle out and get a nice backside cutback and lay around in the sun. my tan has disappeared and I was beginning to look transparent.
There’s a small depression that has creeped over me recently, it’s been so long since i’ve enjoyed some really nice waves. i know i should be thankful, today’s waves were most likely larger then anything seen in montreal or Galveston. I am thankful for the waves that come my way and i do enjoy them, but I want more. Somehow, internally, i need the experience of larger waves to feel that I’m progressing and learning. Rocking the longboard, today, was so fun and getting right up to the nose (not quite hanging ten) but close, was very gratifying.
Further, there are kids in Sayulita who surf small waves everyday and really excel at it. But something inside me needs something bigger, maybe it’s the fear you get when you know it’s a challenging wave. or maybe it’s just that i’m a bigger guy, clocking in at 6′2″, 180 lbs and i need something a bit larger. Either way, I thank the goddesses that I have the opportunity to live near such good surf. and I wouldn’t trade my lot in life for anything, but I still think of Fiji, Bali, Tahaiti and Hawaii.
I wonder if other surfers feel this way and if they talk about it.
Pictures from our little mini-vacation engagement thingy in Yelapa, a tiny little town south of Vallarta, only accessible by boat. We had a great time relaxing and doing absolutely nothing, ‘cept enjoying each other’s company. Activities included: swimming, waterfall viewing, hammock-lounging, eating large amounts of pretzels and mustard, on bended knee marriage proposals, yelapa culinary tasting, reading of copious amounts of gossip mags left behind by previous guests and well, that’s about it.
[ slideshow or photoset ]
Also, a big thank you to everyone who has commented on this site and to all my friends and family who’ve written me congratulations emails (which I haven’t responded to yet, doh!). We love you all.
// Edmundo y Marcia
Safe Place. amazing illustration. the guy who did the Panic Channel cover, very cool image. heaps and heaps of good stuff over at his site.
Steve Isaacs and I go back years. We were flash/design buddies at a little web/graphic design shop in LA. Steve is the man. Funny, witty, charming and freaking smart. Although he was always good at the flash crap, his real talents were with music. I think he was slumming it with us in the web design trade as he took a couple years break from being batted around the hollywood music industry a few too many times.
Steve was always a rock star. Not only is he a good musician, performing is in his blood.
After we closed down the shop, he went on to a few other shops around town and I always kept track of his pursuits through his blog. Somewhere along the way he started to write about this new band he’d joined with Dave Navarro, Stephan Perkins and Chris Chaney. They called it The Panic Channel. Good freakin’ name!
His posts were full of flavor at first and then took a cryptic turn. And for a year or two now, I’ve waited to see what Steve has come up with. Instead of rushing an album, they decided to brew and develop their own sound. Creating something wholly and entirely new. Well, I was checking my email and what do I see, but an Apple iTunes email newsletter with Panic Channel’s new album, ONe. After listening to the tracks, it seems that they have become a pretty freaking good band. Leaving old ideas behind and Steve is doing exactly what he was born to do: fronting a very capable, very hard rock band.
It’s great seeing an old friend really do what it is he was meant to do. Go Steve!
It was maybe 115 degrees when we hit San Carlos. a dry, desert heat, bearable, but hot. San Carlos is a planned community with a large population of americans and canadians, wide streets and white curbs. I didn’t find anything particularly nice about the town itself. It seemed to be devoid of traditional mexican culture as if the town suddenly sprouted up out of the desert sand, minus a well kept appearance. But the surrounding scenery was gorgeous. desert mountains, vast canyons of rock, meeting the bluest of royal-blue ocean, calm and flat. little bays everywhere, carved out of the coastline. and amazing sunsets. er um, sunset (as in singular). We really enjoyed the scenery.
There’s a feeling I get as i make my way back into Mexico. A secure anonymous feeling. i can’t quite describe it, but Mexico means something very particular to me and after being away for awhile, it’s always nice to leave the US and come back to Mexico.
mi gente, mi tierra.
After rolling into Tucson, we kit the main drag looking for a supermarket that sold coffee beans. my bad, i forgot to stock up on peet’s before we left LA. As we learned, Tucson’s main drag goes on for miles. Literally the largest collection of continuous strip malls I have ever seen. insane.
After ‘mission: coffee beans’ was finished, we called up the front desk guy at our hotel and asked him to give us the name of the best sushi joint in Tucson, he gave us a name and directions.
Tucson has a pretty goddamn good sushi joint and it’s called Sushi Garden. I was totally impressed and Marcia really enjoyed her veggie rolls. We partied hard. After rolling through a few days of so-so food it was so nice to come upon a truly good sushi joint. If they can do it in AZ, why can’t they do it in MX?
Sedona is gorgeous the red rocks make me want to move their yesterday and put up my own little warm-minimalist/modernist adobe house, perched on a ledge somewhere.
The town wasn’t so cool. No offense to those Sedonians that happen upon this. The town is like a strip mall, now with a false sense of history. Fake china-made native american nick-nacks and southwestern motorcycle-culture garbage, crystal shops and bad steak joints. No 60’s hippy vibe left at all. they’re probably still out there hiding in the mountains from all the business overgrowth. terribly sad. skip the town and go straight for the mountains.
I really like this image, gonna get it blown up into a print.
update: And hey looky here, it’s featured over on Photodoto.com. cool!
After having checked out all the other crappy restaurants at the Grand Canyon’s southern rim, we decided to walk back to the one at our hotel. it looked pretty decent, except for the fact they were claiming that they were all booked up for the night.
Anyways, we almost stumbled upon this moose eating grass. big guy. yeah, real big, live moose guy. whoa. i nearly had a heart attack. everyone was snapping photos and a few were getting ridiculously close.
Live mooses are scary.
**update**
some guy told me this is actually an Elk. rather then keep with the current “revisionist” craze sweeping certain parts of the US and Britain, I’ll leave my mistake up in the hopes that it will give people a laugh. thank you!
wicked, dead simple way to put flickr slideshows on your site in a non-intrusive way. Flickrshow. now if someone out there in web-programmerlandia could take this thing and turn it into a plugin for WordPress, i’d gladly do, like, back-flips or something. [via SvN]
when people ask me why I decided to leave the US and move to Mexico, it’s crap like this that comes to mind. in all actuality I moved to mex because its so ridiculously beautiful here, but when I read stuff like that, it gives me a silent reaffirmation that maybe i made the right choice.
The last leg of this road trip series brought us from Los Angeles to the Grand Canyon, to Tucson and Sedona and down to San Carlos, Mexico and from there on to Tepic, the capital of Nayarit and finally home. A grueling 5 day trek but filled with amazing vistas.
I gotta say that we were pretty pedal to the metal, so at least for the mexico leg we really didn’t get to stop too much to see all the little towns along the way. By that point in the trip, we were so homesick, I was just gunning it, setting new speed records.
A fitting end to a road trip that started in Los Angeles, then on to Northern California and ending back in mexico.
[ slideshow or photoset ]
Isaiah + Jesse are two of the most precious people in my life. Precious as in: highly esteemed and cherished. It was my modus operandi to see these folks, after our trip to Marin. it was so very necessary. They live in the cutest roof top apartment in San Fran and I had never been to their digs, after all these years of friendship. We broke bread and talked art and music, walked the city a bit and generally just bathed in the glow of their good vibes. True hospitalitarians, Marcia, Beth and I enjoyed our stay in their lovely living room with the dopest art collection ever.
Long time in the making, I finally got to meet their good friend Kori. We met up with him at his gallery as he was taking down his most recent show. The art that was left on the walls was amazing, I’d love to have seen the art that sold. One of my most favorite pieces of art is his gypsy boombox jeep, posted on Isaiah and Jesse’s fridge. Kori says he’s going to study tattooing. You can bet if he does, I’ll be first in line for his mark.
As we rolled into Berkeley for a quick pit-stop to pick up the family and some groceries before heading out to Marin, I got a chance to hook up with my homie Luke. Luke works on Telegraph Ave. at the world famous Amoeba Records. Luke is one-fourth of the legendary bay area turntablist crew The Oakland Faders, he goes by the name DJ Platurn. It was great catching up with him, whenever I think of Berkeley, I always think of Luke, holding it down for all us one-time crate diggers. With a smile and a big hug, it’s always good to see Luke, the kind of friend that I see once every three years or so and it’s like aint nuthin changed. Quality Peeps, for sure.
Rather then taking the quick way up to the bay area, we decided to take it easy and take the 101 up the coast. On the advice of my good friend, Joe Skinny, we decided to stay at Ragged Point Inn a cool little slice of mid-century, post n beam, quaint hotel-on-the-bluff vibe. Ragged Point is about an hour and a half south of Big Sur and about a half hour north of San Simeon, home of Hurst Castle.
We spent the next day touring Hearst Castle and hanging out in the various little towns in the area. Mostly working class folk with wine country yippies spruced in for good effect. The thing that really struck me the most, was how amazing the california coast line is. It’s pristine and rugged and gorgeous. yes, gorgeous. As we pulled in to various beach spots, the tell-tale sign of surfing locals were always marked on the back of each road sign, like a familiar calling card. And I thought to myself, that it’d be easy to live here, in one of these anonymous little towns, surfing some unknown break.
