Cool Indian Activity #1: Street Shave

After getting bored of days and days of seeing ancient wonders of the world, we decided to embark on “do cool Indian activities.” I performed three Indian activities of note. Here they are, in three different posts.

1. Street-side shave: Down just about any alley you can find a barber w/ a chair. He may not speak any English, but it’s pretty easy to point at one’s beard and convey that you’d like it to go away. Granted, I might actually be making the sign for, “See my head? I’d like you to cut it off.” Fortunately, my barber was friendly. Using a brand new blade (as he always does) he gave me and my friend Greg a close and comfortable shave for about 10 rupees (20 cents) each, not counting the tip we gave because he had to endure picture taking.

Christmas in India

I have just experienced my first Indian Christmas, and it did not disappoint. Here’s how it went down.

Jen and I flew to the eastern side of India to the state of Orissa. Here we were picked up by PK and Tuni, who were Jen’s neighbors back in St. Louis. They grew up here in Orissa, and are back visiting. We are staying with their relatives in the city of Cuttack. They live in a giant house and happen to have a lot of family visiting as well. I would try and name everyone who is currently staying at the house, but my interpretation of the spelling of everyone’s names would only amplify my misunderstanding of the actual pronunciatation. Let me only mention that PK’s daughter Sonju, husband Greg, and two small kids are also visiting, and they are from the US. This is important, because it leads to xmas.

The next day we took a road trip. Unfortunately, we didn’t get very far because the horn on the car was broken. You may think, “A horn is not really essential to driving.” You are wrong. In India, driving without a horn is like going to work with no pants on. We drove from repair shop to repair shop until we found someone to fix it. Our driver was about 5 seconds away from purchasing an air horn and having me lean out the window to blow it constantly. Finally, we made the trip successfully, and loudly. We saw an ancient Hindu Sun Temple and the beach, where we rode a camel. The picture above is of Jen and I riding the camel. Too bad you can't see the camel.

On Xmas eve day, we were taken shopping by friends. Jen stimulated the ailing south Asian economy by increasing fabric sales by 30%. Meanwhile folks back at the house had fastened some tree branches together to make a xmas tree and the youngsters decorated it with anything and everything. American food was served (almost as delicious as Indian food), and about 10 more people arrived to add to the general confusion of names. The kids unwrapped presents whilst the adults drank scotch*. A merry xmas was had by all.

Our next plan was to try and see Bengal Tigers in West Bengal. That’s been totally scrapped. Now we are flying up to Darjeeling to accomplish three important things…..
• Lie on a bed of nails.
• See how Darjeeling Tea is made.
• See Mount Everest (only 1 centimeter away by my map)

* If this is not part of your traditional family xmas, it should be.

Ringo in Bollywood

Thus far in our trip to India there has been a great deal of awesome, even though most of it has been partially eclipsed by the extreme awesomeness of seeing a Bollywood movie in the theatre here.

A list of highlights thus far……
• Seeing the Taj Mahal: Special props to our friends Simon and Kelly for setting this up. They accompanied us on everything below.
• Our rock star status (at the Taj): We’re at a wonder of the modern world, and people want to take pictures of us. In actuality, they want to take pictures of Jen, but since I’m there, I get in the photo also.
• Eating: Every meal. Every time. If India and Thailand fought in a culinary war, it would be a close battle.
• Ridiculous photos: Simon and I were allowed to dress up in traditional Maharaja garb and pose for photos which we purchased. If we offended the entire country of India, I apologize.
• Bollywood: We bought tickets for a Bollywood flick showing at the Raj Jantur* theatre in Jaipur. Watching movies anywhere else is now boring. Approximately 0.01 % was in English, but the plot was simple enough to understand. When the main actor / actress appear for the first time, people go nuts and start cheering. Then, in the middle of a dramatic scene, people break into song and dance (unfortunately, only the characters, not the people sitting next to me).

No we are flying out to Orissa on the east of India to see PK and Tuni, who are family friends of Jen. Hope to update again soon.

* I made that name up, because I can’t remember the theatre name. But it is famous. I swear.

Rockin' the Sitar

We're off to India! Whoot whoot.

Here are my goals.......
1. Lay on a bed of Nails
2. Ride an Elephant
3. Take part in a Baliwood type scene, where everyone bursts into song and dance.
4. See a Tiger.
5. Not get eaten by Tiger.
6. Outsource some work.
7. Inquire about room rates and vacancy at the Taj Mahal. (i'm pretty sure i'm the first person to thnk about that.)
below is my indian treat for you. i apologize if this is old news.

Long, Strong, and Down to Get the Friction On*

You’ll be pleased to know that I am not writing today about my band (despite our current off-the-chart levels of awesomeness). Instead I’d like to call attention to my hair, which is strong. I hope the picture above does it justice. My hair has never been so long. I can’t verify this, but I don’t think it has been cut since early in the summer. My current hair styling routine consists of waking up, showering, and then trying to make my hair as big as possible. Unfortunately, I am soon reaching a turning point when I need to actually have a plan for it. However, Jen and I are about to embark on our holiday break to India, where I can guarantee my hair at least 3 more weeks of unbridled rampaging.

* Is there really any other possible title for this post? No. There is not. If you have recently tossed away your mp3 of Sir Mixx A Lott (and left it), please do your self a favor and pull up quick and retrieve it.

First Ever Video Footage of the Sexpatrtiots

Here is the song "Play That Funky Music." You may find it a bit long, but i recommend you check out the keyboard solo by James.


This is just a portion of the song, "Summer of 69."