Chautauqua Does Western Washington

It's that time again, time for the summer tour of the New Old Time Chautauqua. This year's tour is exciting for a number of reasons. For one, it is my 5th tour which feels slightly like a milestone. And to celebrate said milestone (at least for me), Della and I actually auditioned an act! It's my hope that we make it to stage a time or two at least. But more importantly, it is exciting because the tour is right here in my backyard*. With stops in Bellingham, the Quarry, Mount Vernon, Camano Island, Olympia, Arlington, and more, this feels like a melding of two worlds close to me: circuslandia and my real world. Since I know at least a few readers out there are Western Washington based, I wanted to pass along a few of the details before we head out. More information can be found at Chautauqua's website. Mt Vernon: Friday, July 26 - Show partnering with the Lincoln Theatre  [FB event] Camano Island: July 27 - Show at Chumleighland [FB event] Bellingham: July 28 - Show as part of Community Food Coop's Community Party Concrete: Thursday, July 31st - Show at Concrete Theatre  [FB event] Rochester: Saturday, August 3rd - GRuB Farm Show Seattle: Sunday, August 4th - Foolfest Family Picnic at Volunteer Park Olympia: Thurs, August 8th - Show at Capitol Theater  [FB event] Arlington: Sat-Sun August 10-11 - Festival of the River - several shows Outside of the totally public schedule, we are also doing a collaboration with the Lookout Arts Quarry (whoop!), a day of workshops, swimming, mingling, potlucking, and a fun fun show. It's going to go down on Monday, July 29 with workshops at 1:00 and the show at 6:30. The goal of this show is to give people an excuse to come to the Quarry (if for nothing else than swimming and hanging out) and also come see Chautauqua. This is my highest hope for the tour, to get the Chautauqua community and the Quarry communities together. And I hope that you will be there for the fun. I think it's going to be a great tour with lots of great acts, great music, and great fun. It'd be great to see you out. If you have any questions, I'm thinking I might have limited internet from the road, so give a shout if you have questions. Otherwise, I hope to see ya'll on the other side with great photos!

Sunday July 21 2013

File under: circus

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on Mon 22nd Jul, 2013 02:19 pm PDT Jeppa said: damn! we'll be in SLC. Utah for your seattle show. Poop! Thanks for and Della's juggle magic. ************************

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More Quarry Craft Time

Between my time working on the cabin out at the quarry*, I spend a bit of time working on various other projects, some for fun and some for function. Above are a few of the latest endeavors. The first picture is of the info booth I built to house a donation box*, notices about upcoming events, a "private property" sign*, and more. With summer in full swing, we get lots of visitors, many of whom barely know anything about the quarry except that it is the best swimming hole around*. The second picture is a close-up of the roof, my first experiment in license plate shingling. I'm super excited about how it turned out!* Project #2 is, well, aptly named. With the number of residents climbing for the summer, we were filling up the port-a-potties faster than was preferable. The solution? A good old fashion pit toilet. The pit part was easy. The throne took some doing. But it was fun. And how often can I say "look at my shitter!"? With the cabin getting so close to being inhabitable, I've turned my thoughts toward furnishing it. The above stool was my first attempt at rough cut furniture. I think it turned out pretty dang good. Now all I need is a counter to sit at with it. All the projects above are at least partially made from raw wood, i.e. never milled, from the stump to the workshop. It's been great fun splitting large logs when a beam is called for, etc. It's a bit of a pity that I'm not so details oriented so the stuff actually comes out nice. But I'm function oriented so the stuff always comes out functional...and that counts for something.

Saturday July 6 2013

File under: quarry

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on Mon 22nd Jul, 2013 12:00 pm PDT Jule said: Can't wait to see the show! ************************ on Sun 04th Aug, 2013 09:25 pm PDT Jule said: Nice stool!!! Not the one in the pit toilet....the other kind ************************

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FC 174 - Whoa Whoa Whoa

It's been over seven months since I last released a Friday Comic. Oddly enough, very few readers have lamented the loss. Well, I shan't be discouraged. A comic idea struck me that I just couldn't pass up (mostly because I like trying to draw butts) so here it is. It's been an interesting experience diving back in to the comic creation scene. I had forgotten how long they take and how poorly drawn they often turn out. Alas. Knowing that I don't have deadlines, quotas*, and possible book inclusion (copies still available of Friday Comics 2 here) does help the whole thing be a bit more fun. Does this post remind you how much you like reading comics? If so, spend a little time browsing the archives*. Does it remind you how much these comics feel like space filler? Don't worry. It most likely won't become a regular thing.

Friday June 28 2013

File under: comic

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on Sat 29th Jun, 2013 10:16 pm PDT Andrew! said: Hmmmmmmm. No arguEment from me, but you need to fire your proofreader. And your pubic hair artist. ************************ on Wed 03rd Jul, 2013 06:12 pm PDT Jule said: I lament the loss. Every day. Luckily I own the book! ************************

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I Bought a Car!

After over 6 [wonderful] years of not owning a car, I decided it was time. Between housesitting at non-public transportation accessibly places, transporting building materials to the quarry, and always bumming a ride to trivia, the time is right. This yet to be named steed is a 2000 Toyota Echo. I'm pleased to say that the buying process, something I haven't done in 18 years, went smoothly and there was very little run around. As long as the transmission doesn't fall out in the first couple weeks, I consider it a successful purchase. The last 6 years of being without a car have been a wonderful experience, one that I wish many many more people went through. It helped me learn [and love] public transportation, develop a consciousness and deliberateness in transportation choices, and so much more. Someday I will have to write up some thoughts on my carless years to share all the wonderful aspects. But for now, I get to explore what it's like to have a car again. Hopefully I'll retain much of my biking/public transporting tendencies. But I'm guessing that I won't be missing a trivia due to lack of transportation any time soon.

Thursday June 20 2013

File under: transportation

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on Fri 21st Jun, 2013 01:50 pm PDT Amanda said: An Echo! Great choice (I miss mine). ************************ on Sun 23rd Jun, 2013 08:22 am PDT Uncle steve said: I AM SHOCKED! ************************ on Mon 24th Jun, 2013 03:06 am PDT Horge said: Possible car names: "Eco?" or "Mogwai" (since I noticed it has a stripe on it. Just be careful not to get your car wet, and DEFINITELY don't feed it, a.k.a. fill it up, after midnight!) ************************ on Mon 24th Jun, 2013 07:46 pm PDT Jule said: Well alllllright! Very nice ************************ on Fri 28th Jun, 2013 01:44 pm PDT Siri said: Ahhh, I miss the bygone days of The Pickle. . . ************************

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Cruise-Europe-Morocco Trip Financial Breakdown

I really like, after a significant travel adventure, to put a little time into reviewing it's finances; to get an idea of overall costs after so much time of looking at finances from a one hotel room to the next view. And since I find it so interesting, I thought maybe other folks might too. So here's how the money panned out for this last trip. (Oh, and if you like this kind of stuff, you might like previous trip recaps here and here.) (Interesting side note: I spent over $55 in "international exchange fees" from my stupid bank on top of bank withdrawal fees. This 3% on all non-domestic expenses is worth keeping in mind (and is going encourage me to look for a new bank for my next travels)) Major Transportation Expenses Flight Seattle -> Puerto Rico $188 Cruise Puerto Rico -> Portugal $452* Ferry Spain -> Morocco $50 Flight Casablance -> Amsterdam $122 Flight Amsterdam -> Vancouver $515 Day to Day Expenses (hotel, food, domestic travel, sights, etc.) Place Duration of stay Total Cost Cost/day Notes Puerto Rico 2 $70 $35 This was just bare bones hotel and food. We didn't do any internal transportation (except for a city bus or two) and no sights/museums/tourist activities*. I imagine if I was to visit in earnest (rather than a cheap as possible layover with trips to the beach), these numbers might be higher. Cruise 10 $452 $45 For the caliber of food, lodging, entertainment, and more, this was a spectacular deal. The fact that it covered transporation as well* just made it all the better a deal. Portugal/Spain 9 $425 $47 For Europe being one of the more expensive places in the world, I feel like these totals aren't bad at all. Melilla (Spanish Morocco) 2 $125 $62 I used this time to huddle up in a hotel with wifi to do some work, so I imagine I could have gotten by slightly cheaper. But Melilla doesn't have cheap hostels*, so housing, at €35, really makes it an expensive stopover. Morocco 11 $465 $42 Morocco was quite a cheap place. A bit of an extravagant 2-night trip into the dessert at $130 greatly up the per day. Amsterdam 3 $195 $65 Again, lodging was the culprit for such a high per day, but again, I'm pleased with being able to visit a European city for such a relatively low cost. And since this 3 day stopover saved me $200 on airfare*, I consider it pretty much a free stop in an awesome city Overall Total cost # of days Total cost/day $2653* 38 $70

Saturday June 8 2013

File under: travel

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on Wed 19th Jun, 2013 11:47 am PDT Jule said: A priceless post! Does the crew of the cruise get all you can eat? ************************ on Tue 25th Jun, 2013 07:14 pm PDT Chris said: I have a Chrome plugin called Dictionary of Numbers that try's to put large numbered quantities in context by searching a webpage for them, looking up something close, and then inserting a bracketed comment after the number for perspective. I thought you would appreciate that immediately after your total price for 38 days of travel it inserted [≈ Weekend trip for two to Hawaii]; Not Bad! ************************

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Leftover Pictures of Cruise Europe Morocco etc

While the best photos from any trip I take usually makes it into a blog post, inevitably some slip through the cracks. So, just like so many times before (SE Asia, East Coast, Grenada, Taiwan/Japan, Mexico, etc., NYC, etc.), I threw a bunch of the better leftovers together with a word or two of explanation and am calling it a slideshow. Enjoy!

Sunday June 2 2013

File under: travel, pics

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on Tue 04th Jun, 2013 02:37 am PDT Horge said: Nice. I especially like the bathroom designations... I've got a couple shots of dog pooping signs myself. What I've also started doing is collecting dog-poop bags (unused of course!) - they make great wrapping for presents/souvenirs I bring back for people, especially for my sister, who really "appreciates" her brother's "consideration"... ************************ on Tue 04th Jun, 2013 09:10 pm PDT Mark said: Welcome home! I sure like the "I juggled here" pics! ************************

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Cabin Work - Season 3

With my world adventures* out of the way for the year, it's time to settle into life in the northwest for a while. With the weather [mostly] warmed up, it's a beautiful time to be here and a beautiful time to get some outdoor work done. And while the tarped plywood roof on my cabin keeps the rain out, I still very much consider any word there to be outdoor work. First on the agenda of projects is getting the floor finished up. In the deep of winter, I poured a concrete slab in preparation for a fancy stone floor. This week, I started on said fanciness with some gorgeous blue stone flag stone (not from the quarry, although the occasional split Alger green stone is peppered in). It is quick work and looks great. Hopefully I'll have it all finished up this week and can move on to the next project. My goals (at the beginning is as good a time as any to state them) are to finish the floor, shingle the roof, sheet the walls, and hang the windows all before Chautauqua this year. I think it's doable and with it all done, it will practically be livable. Maybe not quite ready for a cabin-warming party, but livable nonetheless.

Tuesday May 28 2013

File under: quarry

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My New Favorite Travel Pastime

When I was in Paris a couple years ago, my travel partner had a city guide by Rick Steves that turned out, despite my hesitation to be one of those kinds of tourists, to be really insightful and interesting. Being that I was back in his domain, I decided to see what he had for offer. What I found heightened my travel experiences in Amsterdam incredibly* and gave me a new way to explore on my travels (besides geocaching and aimless meandering.) The Rick Steves Walking Tour podcasts are what the name implies: a podcast that leads you on a walking tour of various places. It points out architecture, talks about history, customs, etc., and leads you to areas of interest for tourists. Each seems to be about an hour or so and cover a distance between 1 and 2 miles. For Amsterdam, there were 3 tours and after trying out the first one, I was hooked. My favorite, by far, was the Red Light District Walk. Along with architecture, history, and cultural context, it dove pretty deeply into the logistics of how the area's drug and prostitution worked, which I couldn't help but find incredibly fascinating. In fact, I would suggest giving it a listen even if you weren't walking the narrow canals of Holland's most notorious district. So while I'm sure I'll continue my random tourist meanderings just like always, I'm super stoked to have found another great way to get to know a city. Now if only Mr. Steves' empire expanded beyond the bounds of the world's most expensive cities. City Walk: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Now we're talking.

Wednesday May 22 2013

File under: travel, Netherlands

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Amsterdam Has So Many Bikes...

Okay, folks, it's time for your favorite pastime: audience participation! I'm here in Amsterdam and am totally blown away by the number of bikes. They're everywhere! It's actually quite comical. The task: to create the best "Amsterdam has so many bikes...." joke. Be as crass and creative as you like (Jule, I'm looking your way here). Here are a few to get you started. Amsterdam has so many bikes, "bing bing" has become an accepted greeting in the local dialect Amsterdam has so many bikes, the strippers in the red light district don't even have to go the gym. Amsterdam has so many bikes and drugs, Lance Armstrong is consider a run for mayor. Amsterdam has so many bikes, I score 75 points before even getting out of the rent-a-car lot. Amsterdam has so many bikes, the hipsters have given up and now all drive SUVs. I know you can do better than those. Let us have 'em!

Friday May 17 2013

File under: travel, Netherlands

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on Fri 17th May, 2013 08:34 pm PDT Andrew! said: Amsterdam has so many bikes it makes other cities look like they have less bikes in comparison, especially those cities that have less bikes. ************************ on Sat 18th May, 2013 06:01 am PDT Saxtor said: In Amsterdam, the community bicycle is actually a bicycle.<\i> ************************ on Sat 18th May, 2013 05:46 pm PDT mom said: "My other bike is a bike." ************************ on Sat 18th May, 2013 09:36 pm PDT Jule said: Amsterdam has so many bikes the spokes outnumber the tokes ************************ on Sun 19th May, 2013 09:45 am PDT Horge said: First off: Jule, niiiice! Second: Amsterdam has so many bikes, Sept. 22nd is bike-free day when car-drivers take part in an automobile Critical Mass protest to take back the streets, and then at the end of the route lift their cars over their heads in victory. ************************

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The Wonder of Marrakesh

In his list of 100 wonders of the world (previously covered here*) Howard Hillman includes the city of Marrakesh Morocco, citing its famed public square, its souks*, and its minaret. Mr. Hillman hasn't led me astray yet, so I figured I had to stop by to have a look. While the minaret was great, everywhere you turn in this country there are minarets. And besides the normal beauty of almost all the minarets I've come across, this one didn't stand out so much. As for the souks, it's hard to get excited about an attraction where the main activity is to buy stuff. I long ago gave up buying souveniers/trinkets for folks back home, which makes the draw of markets, aside from their energy and bustle, largely lost on me. But the public square, Djamaa el Fna, was something that I haven't really seen before*. At first impression, it doesn't seem like much, just a big square with the occaional fresh orange juice stand. But as evening sets in, the large chunk of pavement become totally covered in street performers of all kinds and the people who come out to watch. There were snake charmers, acrobats, storytellers, impromptu boxing matches, dudes with monkeys, henna artists, traditional musicians, and more. Much of it was lost on me because I don't speak Arabic so couldn't quite figure out many of the clusters, but the excitement and bustle of it transcended language barriers. The only letdown was the lack of jugglers*. Alas. I can't say whether Marrakesh would make it to my top 100, but it would definitely be in the running. But in my write up, I might skip the minaret and souks and instead highlight the Majorelle Garden and the Bahia Palace. But to each his own. Whatever the case, Marrakesh is a city worth visiting.

Wednesday May 15 2013

File under: travel, Morocco

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on Wed 15th May, 2013 03:10 pm PDT Mom said: Where's the picture of the snake charmer? Bummer. ************************ on Thu 16th May, 2013 02:47 pm PDT Horge said: I think you should juggle snakes. I mean, juggling fire or knives are fairly dangerous, I guess, but juggling something that would actively love to do nothing more than hurt you? Now THAT'S entertainment! And add in the possibility that the juggler could get bitten, but keeps on going, slowly succumbing to the venom, now that's just tragedy time=comedy! ************************ on Thu 16th May, 2013 02:49 pm PDT Horge said: That should read tragedy plus time equals comedy... ************************ on Fri 17th May, 2013 10:57 am PDT Wren said: The snakes were just about docile enough to juggle (hence the no pictures. It was actually kind of sad. I'll have to share the story sometime.) ************************ on Sat 18th May, 2013 09:41 pm PDT Jule said: [In the Marrakesh marketplace] Smithers: [to shopkeeper] "Uh, excuse me! Do you know where I can buy some, uh... [whispers] drugs?" Shopkeeper: [loudly] "Drugs? Everything is drugs! Banana made of drugs! Monkey made of drugs! Look! All market made of drugs!" Smithers: [picks up a brick of hashish] "I'd like to buy this." Shopkeeper: "Only American money! [whispers] Our money is made of drugs." ************************

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