perhaps time to dial up the Bojon Batsignal [VIDEO] 'cause it's gettin' rather spooky cosmic around here.
the red sox win the world series for the first time since 1918 on the same night there is a lunar eclipse blocking out a full moon. and just in time for halloween.
the sf paper ran this interesting photo taken at the outset of the eclipse, shot with the transamerica pyramid in the foreground:
here is what it looked like from the outter richmond a bit closer to full totality:
and if mother nature hadn't shown off enough with the eclipse, she fired up a brilliant sunrise the next morning:
nice!!!
agent Lo gettin' high with his wife D climbing stok kangri in the himalayas.
here are a few other shots sent in by the lofty couple:
newlyweds...
reaching new heights...
on their honeymoon...
agent under_30 hooked us with tix to the sold out show, and we were stoked to check out the scene with him and toss back a few.
this go 'round, their sound sort of reminded me a bit of the harder-edged Bare Naked Ladies. perhaps BNL influenced by the Hip? or maybe i was just conjuring up a connection 'cause both bands are from Canada.
anyway, here's a little video i snagged at the show:
good times, good crowd. was left wanting more... a hip scene, though short second set a bit tragic. maybe that's how they got the name...
first, a trek out to a pumpkin patch in the east bay to get a first-hand look at the pumpkin situation.
how long do pumpkins last, anyway?
oh, about a long as you are old, my dear.
ok, dr. seuss.
and then a bojaunt to china basin to mix it with the burners and enjoy the post-playa Decompression festivities.
a solid dry run... though not all that dry, and very little running.
here's the latest from agent mcbryan, penning his thoughts straight outta nicaragua:
Greetings from the Jungle...
It’s been almost two months and I’ve finally started to feel like I’m getting settled in.
I couldn’t help it, I started to laugh – and so did Jose. That didn’t stop the guy though. Actually, I egged him on a little by asking what else he had. Oh boy. He pulled out a flashlight, which plugged right into the wall. Oh yeah, and it also had a compass on it. He was talking a mile a minute too, which sounds even faster in Spanish. Then he started whipping out these ornament things, three types of ceramic dolphins. (Sorry for spoiling the surprise for those of you who end up getting these as Christmas presents)
This guy was hucking all this stuff around in a huge, heavy bag, in the hot sun while he was wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans. Finally, he left. Jose and I shared another laugh about it. I guess door-to-door salesmen are just about the same in every country.
I started off the first day in Managua driving the same as I would in the states. After a few close calls with animals and with a little girl running right out in front of me, I realized that I needed to change my driving style.
Most of the roads down here weren’t really meant for cars. In fact, most people don’t even have a car. They use the roads for walking, riding their bikes, playing baseball and moving livestock, parties, etc – anything but driving. I have been trying to think of the best way to describe it to somebody who hasn’t driven here and the closest analogy I can compare it with is playing a video game. You know those games with the steering wheel where things keep coming at you and you have to try to avoid them, where you are supposed to stay on the road, but sometimes the only option to avoid hitting something is to invent your own offroad path. It’s kind of like that here.
But it’s people in the streets who are the worst. They will walk three abreast into the middle of the street – even on the PanAm highway at dusk while it is raining. Even going 25 mph, it was hard to see some of them. I feel like most of the time they don’t even know how big of a risk they are taking. I think I could stomach hitting an animal, but I am really fearful of hitting a person. So, slow and easy is the way to go. It takes a bit longer, but hey, it’s not like I have a schedule to stick to down here.
So, a couple of weeks ago, I came back from surfing shortly after dark. Jose, Roberto and two other guys were sitting out back. They had a bottle of Rum, a liter of Coca Cola and a small cooler with ice. I didn’t even make it into the house before I was summoned back to join them. It took me about two minutes and one shot of rum to realize they had been back there a while.
Jose was loaded, and funny as ever. We were listening to salsa music and every time a certain part of a song would come on, he would stand up, sing along and show off his dance moves. Evidently, Jose is/was quite the dancer. Rather than fight the inevitable, I offered my bottle of Flor de Cana (Nicaraguan dark rum) to the occasion and settled in to practice my Spanish for a couple of hours.
At one point, while it was still early, maybe 8 or 9 pm, Jose disappeared. Turns out, he went into his bedroom and passed out. Go Jose.
I learned a lot that night. I found out that Jose used to be a pretty good musician - a local legend in San Juan Del Sur. He can play guitar, harmonica and the drums, but says he hasn’t played in years. His guitar has no strings, which makes things especially difficult.
I learned that the Spanish word for “Hippy” is “Hippy” because that’s what he called himself back in the day. I saw an old picture of him and he looked like Carlos Santana.
Speaking of Santana, I showed Jose my iPod and all the music I had. I was getting sick of the same 10 cds he kept playing all the time (especially the Air Supply one). Once he saw that I had Santana, it was over. He told me all about the time Santana played in Nicaragua in 1972.
Even in Spanish, I could sense the reverence in his voice. We spent the good half of Sunday listening to all 4 of my Santana albums. I could tell he was a musician when he listened. At one point, his eyes started watering and he told me it was because the music was so beautiful. Then he went and bought some beer and we got drunk. Not a bad way to finish off a Sunday afternoon.
Adios,
Bryan
amen, compadre. soak it all in, my brother. for the rest of us...
we were treated with a healthy dose of beautiful weather, glassy surf, good eats, rowdy dice, high stakes poker, and killer sunsets.
a last minute entry by the Artiste Formerly Known As Solo (aka robert nester) had everybody fired up. always good to hang with this cat, the old school bojon brother that he is.
and yes, there was some bocce to be played. the friday night session reaffirmed the cruz's reputation as one of the best beach bocce courses out there. low tide play offers premo long ball rounds with intricate undulations that require a rich combination of distance and finesse.
the tourney this year lacked the formality of years past mainly due to the absence of commisioner allen who got waylayed in colorado having his wisdom teeth extracted.
however, what competition there was resulted in a repeat title for last year's champion, Team Haan.
otherwise, just a bunch of stone cold chillin'. lots of kids in tow this year, a true sign of the times...
