Travel | The Churning

18Oct/0617

I Hope You Miss Me

Dearest Readers,

This post is going to begin with an update, then it will include a few pointless insults, and it will end with something you may consider depressingly morbid.

I'm leaving you again. This time, I'll be gone for a couple of weeks. My lady and I are headed to Peru. We're going to climb up to Macchu Picchu, catch a bullfight in Lima, and chill out on the shores of Lake Titicaca (Haha! Titty caca! Sounds like another term for Cleveland Steamer.)

While I'm gone, Ev will be in charge. And I'm more than a little worried about that. I have no idea what he might subject you to while I'm away. I mean, we all know Ev is half-retarded. It's sad really. His obsession with the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers alone could be dangerous. And for some reason, he's convinced gaping anal sex with elderly women is hot.

So if you never hear from me again, you can assume I never made it back from Peru. Perhaps I'll be trampled in a Lima oil protest. Or maybe I'll be kidnapped by guerillas and held for ransom. Or of course, there's always the danger that my plane will take a nose dive into the Nazca Lines.

Later skaters,
JJ

P.S. Check out the new website for The Codes.Â I've added a bunch of pictures and lyrics, and posted a link to our MySpace page.

Tagged as: travel 17 Comments

22Jun/0610

Pictures from Bonnaroo 2006

jj driving the rv to bonnaroo

JJ looking like a mini-Ted Nugent on the way to Bonnaroo

tents at bonnaroo

700 acres of hippies in tents

toilets at bonnaroo

This is where I dropped logs.

bonnaroo stage

Hippie girlsÂ love bandanas.

momo and jj at bonnaroo

JJ and Momo waiting for Beck to perform

pot pipe glass blower guy at bonnaroo

The glass pipe king

stoner girl with pot pie around her neck at bonnaroo

Check out the stoner girl's necklace.

radiohead bonnaroo performance

Thom Yorke of Radiohead: musical genius or overrated pop star?

j.mo with a glow stick on her tits

J.MoÂ wanted to putÂ a glow stick on her tits, so she did.

ferris wheel at bonnaroo

Ferris wheel shot with a slow shutter - trippy, dude

bonnaroo mushroom fountain

The Bonnaroo Mushroom Fountain: public art and communal shower for naked hippies

bonnaroo sonic forest

Jam band fans riding out their magic mushroom trip at The Sonic Forest

Tagged as: travel 10 Comments

20Jun/064

Recovering From the Bonnaroo Hangover

Just got back into town after 5 straight days of intoxication. Drove through the night. Haven't slept since Sunday night.

Drove an RV to Bonnaroo. Left my car parked at a friend's apartment complex in Maryland. Someone tore the handle off the driver's side door and stole my stereo. Fucking savages.

More tomorrow (including a few complete sentences).

Tagged as: travel 4 Comments

26May/0637

Red Horse Beer

Momo's mom is in town for a couple of weeks. She's visiting from The Philippines - home to one of my favorite beers. Knowing my beer obsession (and addiction), she happily brought me a few cans of this delicious creation.

red horse beer philippines

It's Red Horse Beer, made by the San Miguel company. As far as I know, you can't get it here in the states. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it's illegal to sell it here. This shit is lethal.

Local legend has it that after Red Horse is brewed, it's infused with gin. I read the label and checked out the brewery's website but found no evidence of that. Nevertheless - it is "extra strong." Last time I was in the Philippines, I blacked out after a half dozen of these bad boys. Take one look at the website. It's perfect. The slogan on the front page is "rock on!"

So for now, I'll let you all envy me as I taste this wonderful mixture that travelled 8,537 miles in my mother-in-law's carry-on luggage. And for those in the know, I say, "Ito ang tama! Itaas mo! "

Tagged as: drinking, travel 37 Comments

24May/0616

Magic Mushroom Shop

In Amsterdam, they have these shops that are sort of like convenience stores. But instead of selling lottery tickets, cigarettes and beer - they sell mushrooms. Yep, those kind of mushrooms.

We stopped in at one of these special places just a half a block from our hotel. The shop was on a major street corner in the heart of the city, with people rushing past, heading to and from work. From the outside, it seemed relatively non-descript. I can't even remember what made us want to walk inside to check it out. But as soon as we stepped into the place, we immediately knew what we were looking at.

The place was well lit with fluorescent lights and there were tall glass-door coolers on all sides. The refrigerator shelves were lined with hundreds of packages of dried mushrooms in clear, professionally labeled Ziploc bags. An attractive young lady with a kind face stood behind the cash register smiling at us as we browsed through the products.

Lady: "Good afternoon."
JJ: "Hi."
Lady: "Can I help you choose?"
Momo: "Ummm... We're just looking around."
Frankie: "Actually, I have a question."
Lady: "Sure, how can I help?"
Frankie: "Well, we don't really know what we should buy. Can you recommend something?"
Lady: "A lot of people love the Afghani ones. It's a very visual high. I recommend them if you're experienced."
JJ: "Actually we're sorta new to this. We don't want to be too... messed up."
Frankie: "We don't?"
Lady: "Well the Mexican and the Thai variety are not as strong. The high is very relaxed."
Momo: "That sounds cool."

The thing that struck me about this conversation was how normal it sounded. And the lady's voice was so completely soothing. She was helpful and nice, like a pre-school teacher. But we weren't talking about milk and cookies. We were talking to a drug dealer. A drug dealer who sells hallucinogens out in the open, in public, protected by law.

It was fucking fantastic. It's such a luxury to feel so free. Lighting up a spliff in a "coffee shop" is one thing. Buying a bag of imported psilocybin mushrooms at a corner store is entirely different.

Tagged as: drugs, travel 16 Comments

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