Death to the Gig Shirt

So I guess anyone who bothers reading this wants to hear more about my trip to Peru...been busy at work and really, putting in lots of overtime and I haven't had time to do more than upload a few choice pictures on Facebook.

That said, last week, something left my life that I thought never would. I finally said goodbye to my Gig Shirt.

This shirt was a flashy, purpley, Hawaiian kind of thing that I actually took to Peru and wore for most of the Amazon part of the trip. It was my Gig Shirt. And my Sunday Shirt. Long story, short: any time my band played a gig, I wore this shirt. Anytime I worked a Sunday shift for my former employer, I wore the shirt.

But it was on its last legs. Strands were fraying off the sleeves and it was just starting to look tired. I had asked my mom to hem the sleeves and she just told me...the fabric was just worn out. So I was doing my laundry last week and I told my mom...the Gig Shirt is done. And I put it in the trash. Almost as sad as putting Sheba, my first electric guitar, to rest.

Songs that should have been hits

King's X - Mississippi Moon

Why this song was not a hit has to be on the head of the record label. The band certainly knew it was hit material.

Peru Trip - Day Three

9 April 2010

5:45am. Wake up call. I woke up a little early. Good thing because the call was 10 minutes late. Got to the airport and checked in by 8:30am. Boarded 8:55. Flight was 9:30am. Flew to Cuzco. A 45 minute flight. A136 Airbus. Angle of attack on landing was severe. Ground met us rather than vice-versa. Landing in Cuzco around 10:15am. Altitude 9200 feet. You can definately feel the change in altitude there. I bought a souvenir hat reading "Cusco MachuPicchu." There was a young girl there who welcomed us with the traditional drink: Coca Tea.

We were told she was dressed in traditional Quechua fashion. I figured that was kind of stretching things.

We went up the Andes in a bus, as high as 12,000 feet before coming down into the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Here there were many examples of terraced mountainsides, jagged peaks, and a wide, flowing river. We followed that river to a hotel/restaurant called Posada del Inca Ycay. Here we had a buffet. lunch. I had two different types of fried potatoes, both native. Some fresh fish, chicken, and rice as well as rice pudding. Also, two cups of coffee (supplemented by bottled water - all the drinkable water in Peru is in bottles). Took good pictures of the complex.








That's Mom in front on the left, by the way.
















Then back up the trail to visit a local silversmith who showed us his wares. He showed us the difference between alpaca and baby alpaca wool, his looms, and the difference between 950 silver (almost pure) and 925 silver (more copper). He had some awesome Inca figures in silver and gold.



















I inquired about the price of these and the low end was $5,000 and the biggest was $15K.

Then we visited the famous Pisac market to look at the local wares.

My jacket was a casualty of the cat pee incident, so I thought maybe I could find a poncho. I asked a seller how much for one and she said 116 Soles (local currency), which is annotated as S./116. That is about $40. I didn't have that much but I worked her down to $18 and made a deal.







Then we went back to the hotel for a presentation on Machu Picchu by the former director of the site about its religious and spiritual meaning. Finally, dinner at the restaurant again. Appetizer was a kabob of beef, chicken, and alpaca (tasted like ostrich but more buttery), and potatoes on the side. Entree was beef stir fried with fresh onions and chiles with potatoes and rice. Dessert was chocolate cake. Our dining companions were the Abbruzios and they were excellent company.

Peru Trip - Day 2

8 April 2010


Breakfast at Hotel Casa Andina in Lima. 7:45am. The usual stuff. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, hot tea.



8am. Orientation with Enrique (Kike) Esteban. Lecture by some Peruvian named Alexi about the overview of the diversity of Peru.



About 10am we piled into a bus for a tour of Lima, specifically, Miraflores, the rich part of town. Lima drivers are insane. Most of them are taxis, buses, or rich people. They have zero concept of "merge". If you are not willing to cut someone off, you should not be driving here. I think our driver, Felipe, understands this concept well.


12am. Lunch at Senorio del Sulco by the beach of the Pacific.

4 courses (2 appetizers, 1 entree, dessert). First appetizer was fried kingfish. Second was tamales Peruvian style (they serve the tamal on top of the corn shuck instead of inside it). Entree was fried flounder over vegetables with rice. Dessert was a pruple corn pudding that was very good. I ate everything.



We also had some Peruvian drinks. The first one was an alcoholic thing called a Pisco Sour (more on that later). It tasted a lot like a Margarita only packing a bigger punch.


This is gonna hurt.

The second drink was called a Chica Moreno and it was non-alcoholic. It tasted kind of like a sweet Guiness.

I took some time after lunch to pose by the beach.
















After that we toured the Archaeological Musseum to explore the cultures up to and including the Incas.
Afternoon was a tour around the city with a stop to the central square with the main cathedral.

Also, let me take this opportunity to say that Peruvian women are HOT.



















6:30pm. Dinner at Tantas restaurant. Appetizer was a combination sausage/spinach/pie thing. Main course was Sesame chicken over rice (couldn't finish the rice- needed room for dessert). Dessert was coca/cheese/cream cheese/ nut sauce cake of some sort.

8:10pm. Walked back to the hotel. It was treacherous.

Day 1 they assumed Mom and I were a couple and they gave us a double bed which was kind of weird, you know. We corrected that day two and never had any more problems with that.

Peru Trip Day 1

So, I've spent the last twelve days exploring the ancient home of the Incas and also exploring the upper Amazon in Peru. It was an exciting trip, but without internet access to upload pictures, it didn't seem right to blog about it until now. So here we go.

Day 1 - 4-April 2010

Flight from San Antonio to Houston was predictable and uneventful. Now I'm on the flight to Miami at 35,000 feet and 700 miles to go. Will keep writing. No real pictures to take from this altitude. Nothing but clouds. Mom is reading some book about a Scottish family or something. The stewardess served me Mr. Pibb. I thought that brand was dead. Houston to Miami is 2 hours and 2 minutes. From San Antonio to Houston was only 45 minutes. Miami to Lima will be 8 hours 30 minutes due to a layover in the Dominican Republic. We are flying Continental on a 737. We have been up for 6 1/2 hours.

12:30pm. Disaster. I left my driver's license at the TSA check-in in San Antonio. Now I'm in Miami and going thru TSA again and can't find it anywhere. When they gave my bording pass to me with my DL, I had to put my boots back on after checking through (steel toes and all). When I picked my boarding pass up, I must have left the DL on the bench. Had my brother call up the TSA and they assured him that it is standard to mail them back if they find it. The TSA lady in Miami (Rachel) assured me that my passport would suffice.

5pm. Embarked Miami to Punta Cano at 2:25. Now we are here in the Dominican Republic. W'ere on a layover so we can't leave the plane. The plane is a 767 and much bigger and nicer than the Continental 737's. It has in-flight movies. Now we are about to leave for Lima, which we should reach around 10pm. I really need to sleep, but, I know it would be better to stay awake and sleep when I get to the hotel. The Peruvian crew is weird. Their idea of a nutritious meal is a hoagy with cheese, lettuce, bacon, and pickles. And the Coke was warm and flat and they only gave me 4 oz.

8:30pm. Stewardess asked everyone to return to their seats and buckle up: turbulence over the Andes. It cleared up when they changed course and went to 38,000 feet. Dinner came and this time was a lot better. Hot chicken teriaki with rice, biscuit, cheesecake, salad, and two glasses of wine. Watched "The Blind Side" on the in-flight movie. Tried "Avatar" but it sucked after 30 minutes. Now the stewardesses are selling duty-free items on the aisle next to us.

9:07pm. Making 532 mph, 38,000 feet, 600 some miles to go. Have slept sparingly since about 1am last night. Gonna try and squeeze this last hour in.

10:30pm. Arrive Lima. Shourt tour and trip to hotel. Discovered that my attempts to clean cat pee from my big luggage unsuccessful. Half my clothes contaminated. Will have to double up. Can't wear something different every day.

Firearms history of Conan

So I grew up on a farm as has been established...now the question turns to firearms, something I am familiar with.

It's a long list, but I'm just going to go with the ones that I have used and which I am familiar using. I could spend 4 posts telling you about every firearm I've used in my life, from BB guns (brother shot me in the foot to test the strenght of my boots...bad idea) to autos (buddy at hunting camp brought a MAC-10).

Here is the list of guns I've either been associated with (but owned by my dad), or owned myself.

1. Mossberg .22 bolt action(model unknown). This one had a fold down front upper and used a 10 round detatchible magazine. Brother took it apart and screwed up putting it back together. Result: You have to put it on safe, chamber the round, then put it on safe. When you fire it, you have to put it on safe, chamber it, then unsafe it again. This was my "rat gun" for shooting rats in the barn. Terrible gun.

2. Remington .22 (model unknonwn). Again, bolt action. This was my brother's "rat gun." This had a very awesome downsized Mauser-type action with a tubular magazine and there was none of the safety gymnastics required by the above gun. Superior bolt action gun.

3. Remington 1100 LT Lightweight. Bought when I became of hunting age, this semiauto was purchased by my dad. He intended for me and my younger brother to share this one. A sweet shooter, this 20 G shotty spent a lot of time in my hands. Lots of fancy scrollwork and a blued finish. I think my dad just liked it for himself, really. Ironically, he forced me to use it as a single shot my first season. This was not a bad thing because it took me years to realize that you can over-lubricate an 1100. They need to be kept relatively dry or they will jam.

Now we're getting to the good stuff:

4. 1895 Chilean Mauser Sporter chambered in .30-'06. This was my dad's deer rifle. I hunted with this for a few years in my teens. I have no idea as to the model of the scope. I know it's a Redfield.

6. Remington 1100 LT Parkerized. I loved that 1100, but I wanted to prove to Dad that I didn't need to use his gun (irony alert...he passed away and now it's mine anyway). So I bought this one direct from a store that could or could not be called Wal Mart. Anyway, I downed a few limits with it, fell in love with a psychopathic stripper, and ended up selling it. Shame. Good shotty.

7. Marlin 880 bolt action. Sweet rifle. Sold off to pay some bills. But it had a match barrel, and smooth action. I liked it a lot.

I went gunless for about 5 years, then some things happened. There were a lot of home invasions in my general neighborhood so I decided I needed a shotty. So I decided on a shotty. Actually, an 870.

So I have that.

My father died in 2007, so some of the firearms he bought for my use have obviously been passed to me.

The aformentioned Remington 1100
The aformentioned Mauser

And a very nice Ruger Mk II Pistol in .22 LR

Thing is, you can spend a lifetime looking for guns and there are a ton of good ones right under your nose.

Like I said

Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs is cerifiabley insane. I was banned and I have no earthly idea why. I think if you believe that a higher power created us all, you get banned there. That's the basic theory.