Man, it’s been a busy month.  I waited until December 1st before buying gifts and before I knew it, it was December 15th!  It just flew by.

I started out in Ellensburg, WA which was kind of stressful cause of a mix up in flight arrangements, then I flew to Little Rock for an account and  met some really nice people there. I’ll be honest, I hate the midwest, it’s flat, there are tornados a large portion of the year and there’s very little to do there, BUT the people are great; really down to earth, just want to have a good time sort of people. Flew in on Friday at 6p and raced home to change and go to a Christmas party with Rosario’s family.  It was a lot of fun and we cut a rug on the dance floor pretty well. MMmmm, just remember the taste of the tres leches, sooo good.  The next day, I got up early and went to the Alamo Ritz Draft House to rehearse for the Mortified show I was doing that week.  i got to hear all the other journals which were great, but we didn’t have time for me. That was okay though, i’d done it once before earlier this year. After I left there, picked up Rosario and we drove up to Fort Worth for a friend of mine’s wedding. The joining of Lyle and Caroline was quite lovely and afterwards, we retired to share a hotel room with my parents. We played farkle till the wee hours… well like 10 or 11. 

Drove back to Austin on Sunday and stayed up way too late trying to get stuff done I should’ve gotten done over the weekend. Then got up on Monday at 5 to get to work in Kyle by 7am. Worked there until Wed.  Wed night I did the Mortified show which went over fantastically. The laughs in my pauses were actually going on so long I had to start talking over them so I didn’t drag on too long.  I did get to intereact with the audience though which I loved; little improv always feels good.  “Where were you girls when I was in Junior high?”  Those of you who were there know what that means.  Everyone did a great job, it went so well.  I wish I could talk about everyone’s peice but like I said: busy month and much to talk about and it’s MY blog so I take priority.    Couple highlights though I will comment on.

Nat: cried on the page of his journal, circled it and wrote “tear”
Lynn: so much fingering going on for her, loved it. It’s so great to hear those things that you didn’t expect to say to anyone, it’s so opening.  You feel like you can trust that person so much more.
everyone did a great job, those are just two that stick out in my mind. Oh and the band, I think they were called the “After School Specials”, they were so good.  I need to find them in Austin somewhere

::off to facebook to look them up::

On Thursday and Friday, I was back up in the Dallas area working. Over the week, I had started getting sick. Made it through MOrtified without getting a sore throat, but by Friday, I was coughing pretty severely. Plus my bowels hurt. I might have a peritenial infection, but nothing to worry about. Will need some minor surgery this coming year, but we’ll talk about that later.

Then Rosario and I were off to Vegas for 4 days.  Met Arno and Lauren there and we had a grand ole time. I lost a lot of money, but got to see some great shows.  Mystere was AMAZING! You must go and see it. There were two strong guys doing some amazingly difficult things, a guy with a rotationg cube on rings, pole jumpers, a huge fat baby and more! As for David Copperfield, I’ll say two things: DON’T go see his show and He’s a deush.

Walked around Aria and City Center; it had just opened the week before. Reviewed some tv shows, including one new one coming out called Life Unexpected. It was pretty good, I’ll look for it in the coming year. Other then that, just ate ALOT, drank, took pictures and danced around the cacinos.  Oh and the decorations in the Bellagio were very nice, but I still liked the fall decorations better.

Flew back in from Vegas and left the next day for my parent’s place.  Rosario flew to Cali for her nephew’s wedding and Christmas.  My Grandma, aunt, and uncles are visiting too so it’s a full house, but my parents new house has plenty of space. We’ve been playing games and chatting during the day. Around 10p when everyone goes to bed, I’m finally able to work and catch up on all the stuff I need to get done; like my blog!

That’s pretty much a summary of what’s happening here.  Oh! For Christmas I got 24 bottles of different types of rootbeer! That was one of the things on my list (suggested by Kristen Carter, thanks Kristen).  So now I get to blog about rootbeer tastings. Sweetness!  Merry Christmas all and goodnight.

Last Sunday I started a regiment of supplements to get my body healthy and in shape. I purchased a butt load of pills to take some I feel I needed, some were recommended to me by my dad who’s a major health nut. So as of Sunday, I began taking 18 pills a day. That’s 11 different supplements of varying dosages. Now that may seem like a lot… well, it is. But my dad takes more then 30 pills a day. But it’s hard to argue with the result, he’s in his mid 50s and looks great, has all his hair with only a bit of gray. His body is in good shape if not for back issues which are the result of an accident when he was younger.

After starting the regiment, the obvious first sign that I was headed for trouble was that for some reason now, whenever I burp, I taste sea weed. I’m chewing gum constantly. The second sign was that I started to feel bloated and then get gassy. I warn you, the below gets pretty graphic. Finally, I broke out in frequent diarrhea. Love how much these pills are helping me. At first, I thought it was the bad breakfast of the hotel or the so so food of this tiny Ellensburg, WA. But I don’t think that would last the entire week and plague me even after Immodium which usually does the trick.

So there could be a lot of explanations for this. Perhaps my body doesn’t agree with one of the pills I’m taking or perhaps I started taking too many at one time too quickly. Starting this weekend, I’m going to change my game up a bit. I’m going to start over and just add one at a time; a new pill every week, starting with what I think I need most. This way, I’ll slowly gradiate myself into AND by giving myself a week, I’ll fish out the diarrhea causing culprit.

Here’s a list of all the pills I’m taking. I got them from lef.org which is the Life Extension Foundation of which I am a member. All of these pills are natural preventative nutrients which has been scientifically proven to fight cancers, neurological deterioration, organ failure, inflammation, and yes even the swine flu and have none of the side effects assocatiated with pharmaceutical synthetic drugs; well perhaps diarrhea, but i’ll let you know when I get to the bottom of that issue (pardon the pun).

00625 Mega EPA\DHA – provides needed omega-3 (fish oils) and omega-6 fatty acids
00717 ONly Trace Minerals – trace minerals no longer present in most of our drinking water like zinc, manganese, boron, etc.
00802 Anti-alcohol antioxidants with patoprotection complex – formula containing additional antioxidants designed to suppress free radicals, neutralize toxic alcohol metabolites such as acetaldehyde,32-35 and support healthy liver function in addition to vitamin B1, vitamin C, N-acetyl-cysteine and benfotiamine.
00912 super curcumin with bioperine – reduces inflammation response, healthy lipid profile, bowel, and joint functions, and other good stuff for ya
01338 Blueberry extract with pomegranate and cocoa gold – great all around anti-oxidants
01425 super ubiquinol CoQ10 with Mitochondrial support – promots stronger, healthier cells, lowers blood pressure, etc
01409 Optimized resveretrol with pterostilbene – anti-oxidant and anti aging properties
01224 Super K with advanced K2 complex – bone density
01371 Vitamin D3 with sea iodine – protection against influenza, supports immune system
00965 Fast acting joint caps – supports and gives tools to regrow cartilage damage faster
01454 Life Extension Mix – overall health and wellness

As most of you hopefully know by now, I and my business partner Ani, embarked on a business venture called Happy Ugg Boots recently. You can buy authentic ugg boots for discount prices at happyuggboots.com (plug) or check us out on twitter (plug), we also have a facebook page (plug plug plug).  As you can see, it’s taking over much of my life.

This post is more of a venting of stress from the rigors of business.  I won’t go into specifics, but there is some stress involved.  Stress with money, with orders, with people, with the website, with everything; and I’m a pretty low stress kind of guy, so this is gonna be an interesting experience. By interesting, I might mean blood-pressure-building mental!  We are HAPPY Ugg Boots, so I’ve got to figure out how I can run this thing and at the very least not go out of my mind.  Even now, I am getting emails and IMs about ugg boots. But it IS educational. At the very least, I’m learning so much while providing a valuable service for those uninformed or lacking the comfort that is the ugg; seriously they’re super comfy! Never thought I’d be so into uggs, but there are so many different styles!  I know it might sound gay (and I’m comfortable with that), but I really like the Classic Cardy boots. It’s like a sock with a sole… I’m gonna use that.

Anyway… friends, family, loved ones, bear with me during this transitional phase as it seems I will be quite unavailable for a time. Starting a business is like raising a child.  It misbehaves at times, and yes mommy and daddy do fight, but we work it out and the kid grows up;  just the first year or so, it keeps you up at night crying. Grammatically, I don’t know if that sentence said I was crying or the child, honestly they’re both true.

Between this, and training for the marathon, I’m swamped.  But it is riveting.  Each new experience is like taking that next step on uncharted land.  Sure I’ve heard of it; in the village, at the market, it’s legends have spread of what joys the new world can bring, but now I am stepping on it, feeling the grass beneath my metaphysical feet and it is glorious!  Now I’ve just got to keep running and keep typing. Things will work themselves out. They always do.

Plus, I’m in San Diego and I brought my surf board. sweet.

A traveler named Danny Cameron found a camera in Greece full of travel photos. He wondered around Mykonos looking for the owner to no avail. But upon his return home, he started a facebook group which grew exponentially until the chain finally reached the camera’s owner and the camera was returned. It’s really an amazing story of using the technologies we take for granted every day as a way to go something good. If you’re not a traveler, then perhaps you don’t know what it feels like to lose a camera with thousands of memories on it (the downfall of 4gig cards), but it’s like getting a piece of your life back; like waking up from amnesia and having those treasured memories to last you a life time.

I, with my horrible memory, especially understand. I lost a camera on a Peruvian bus once. Luckily, I had just changed the card out the day before, so I only lost 4 pictures. I have since attempted to fuse those pictures in my head, but only one lasted and all the faces are a blur but one. Sidenote: it’s kinda funny, but all I remember is the middle person, everyone else is just faded. And I was upset about that for a day but relieved that it could’ve been worse. i can only imagine what a thousand would’ve done to me. Arg, but I won’t, too painful.

Danny has since closed the group, but here’s the final description he posted. It really hits the mark:

“Congratulations everyone, the camera owner has been found .. thanks everyone for taking part … unbelievable effort. I am amazed and in awe of you all.

We can all leave the group now.. nothing more to see here … pop the champagne !!

Once again, nice work.. Cheers!

How did the story end? The good will of 200,000 people created a stir that rippled into an office in London, where a group of French people were recognised, one being the owner.

In the end it was the help of all that shrunk the world.

How did it start? On my travels in late summer (northern 2009), I found a camera that was full of someones memories, and I want to get it back to them. I tried walking around the main town of Mykonos, in the Greek Isles, the day after I found it, but I didn’t come across anyone recognisable. So this was the last shot.

When I returned to Australia, still with a lost camera in hand, I decided to try and see whether the world of online resources could track down the owner. I have seen groups on social network sites grow exponentially and thought that would be my best bet to reaching the widest audience.

I invited my friends to then invite their friends to the group, who in turn would invite their friends to the group. In theory, with six degrees of separation– the whole world can be reached, and I thought that though that thought is mind boggling, it would be interesting to see if at least the whole online community of the social networking site could be reached, or at least enough of them to find the owner of the camera.

The group started October 17 – 60 people had joined by October 18, 1200 by October 24, 18,000 by October 30, 60,000 by October 31, 120,000 by October 22, 235,000 by November 2. The group had gone “viral” and was growing exponentially.

All it really required was for people to click one button and join the group and then pass it on.

Along the way people were joining the group and really responding to the good natured honesty of the situation.

One lady wrote on the wall and said: “I wish there are more people like you in the world. My husband happened to lose his camera while we are on holiday in Hong Kong. Sometimes, people just don’t know what a camera would mean to a person.”

Another said: “Thanks so much for caring about a stranger– its inspiring to know that some people in this world are as kind as you!”

Another said: “This group put the biggest smile on my face, the world needs more people like you. Good luck!!”

This was a typical sentiment.

But it wasn’t just a random act of kindness on my behalf; everyone who joined the group was contributing. It was the team effort that caused the group to be so strong in its good intentions. And it was a massive mobilization of virtuous people. I was amazed and in awe of them all.

It was on the Australian morning of November 3 that I received word from the crew of people that were in one of the photos. They were amazed at the human chain that had been formed to track them down.

I couldn’t have done it without 235,000 other people though, and a grand and unintended outcome of it all, I believe is that I have given people encouragement that honesty still exists in the world, and so hopefully I have inspired the people on the group to be more considerate in their daily lives, because being kind is a great human trait and there are one thousand people doing one thousand nicer things than just returning a camera.

As a people and with plenty of good will, support, and encouragement we can achieve anything!

Cheers to all who joined ..”

Only been in Madison, WI for a day but I really like it. I love the people of the north, much hardier then those of the arid climates and genuinely nice. Not that you southerners aren’t, calm down Confederacy. Found a place called Inka Heritage that serves up som fantastic grilled trout with an avocado and greens salad. Right now I am enjoying some of their rice pudding and it’s pretty authentic. Makes me think of tamales in the streets, rock stacked walls and above all my host mother and her family. I really need to write them; miss them more then I knew.

Ladies and gentlemen of the internets, loyal readers, and friends, this may be my last posting on ZachsTravels for my body is exuming itself from this mortal coil via the transcendental railroad of the cold. It seems the party was a bit too hardy this ACL weekend for my old, frail body to maintain. And now I must pay the price for my good time. Fare thee well all, live free and light. Be happy and productive. My time on this Earth now comes to a close. And so I lay my head down… and die.

…

Oap, time for work. I’ll die afterward.

I have journeyed into the heart of night, and slid on its muddy surface, romped to the beat of saints, and splatted steam into the air with my clapping hands.  Breathing hard and sweating hard, I saw signs I knew not existed, emerging forever changed and amazed at what hope lies ahead.

Austin City Limits 2009 had an upsetting start, with cancellations from several bands including headliner Beastie Boys and last minute visa issues for the Ravonettes, making its lineup lacking in the view of this humble traveler and thousands of others who, with reports of the coming rains, sold their tickets. But what those ticket sellers failed to realize is music festivals are not only defined by who’s playing, or the comfort in which one can experience those beloved bands, but by the grit one can endure to rock as hard as you can with the musical saints you love.

First, what was on everyone’s mind this year: the weather. We had pretty much every climate possible at ACL. Friday was perfect; a nice breeze on a cloudy, sunny day. We romped in the fresh green grass and commented on how nice it was and shared horror stories of the dirt and grass clouds of previous ACL years. Zilker Park shut down for a large part of last year as they dug up the ground, fertilized the soil, and planted consistently green grass. Saturday, the weather took a drastic change, raining constantly throughout the day and pouring down buckets suddenly at times. There were some who took shelter in the football tent, sporting two large screen TVs to watch the games of the day which Texans cannot miss. Others embraced the rain as a sign from on high that the rock gods were weeping with joy. I myself reveled in getting drenched and soaked with my fellow Flogging Molly followers in the mosh pits. By Sunday, the once green, lush grass had turned to brown, soppy swamp land which held in the air the subtle aroma of cow manure. I’m anxious to go back in a week to see if there is anyway to repair the damage that 70,000 plus fans sloshing in the mud did to poor Zilker. The forecasted thunderstorms were nowhere to be seen on Sunday, but the wet ground made the hot day warm and muggy. But no one noticed once arriving to the stage of their favorite band.

And now, the spiritual experience that is the music. Sarah Watkins was the first I heard when I arrived on Friday and her fiddling  was an inviting sound to start the day. Later on also at the Austin Venture Stage, Todd Snider was hilarious. I’d never heard him before, but his banter between songs was priceless. One of my favorite lines, “My friends have told me that my more recent stuff has been much more opinionated. I just want yall to know that I’m not here to try to change your minds, or preach to you. I share my opinions in my songs not because I think it’s important or that they matter, but because they rhyme.” Check out his song called Kingsmen. Hung out at Coheed and Cambria and laid out on the towel for a while. They’re classical metal sound is interesting to listen to, but really I was just there to hear the soundtrack of “Where the Wild Things Are.” Check out the Greencards. They’re very good. They’re a combo of Aussie, UK, and an American guitarist. They have an irish sound with a little extra coming from the violin and mandolin. Plus, they’re 19 year old guitarist replaced a broken string in 30 sec flat and then did a killer solo. Impressive, most impressive. Kings of Leon people! The greatest show of the day. KOL killed it and topped it off with Eddie Vedder coming out at the end on tambourines or all things. He broke two of them and threw them into the crowd but somehow had an endless supply being thrown to him from offstage. This would be a sampling of what was to come on Sunday. Met some really cool people and we all rocked it out, followed closely by Baby A’s Purples afterwards.

Day 2: the Rain. I was there for one band and one band only: Flogging Molly. No mere words can describe the power of this concert, it was the best of my life… but first! Heard Airborne Toxic Event while waiting and they have some good rock. Negative note: !!! or ChickChickChick sucks. Seriously, I don’t know what they sound like on record, but live, they’re pretty damn bad. And then… then they took the stage, those Irish f*ckers I’ve come to love, Flogging Molly. The rain was pouring down hard, but no one cared. The heat from our bodies steamed up to the stage and our clapping hands splatted smoke through the rain. The inevitable mosh pit formed itself and together we shaped it into a cyclone of energy and joy. Violence released, but love reigned as we picked up our fallen and continued the chaos. With every new song, brought a new display of ascendance. At times, we were pushing, at other times, we locked arms around shoulders, swayed and sang, and then there was the crowd surfing. Yes, I crowd surfed for at least 50 feet if not more for the first time in my life, and that was awesomely addicting. I must do it again. If you’re reading this and you held up my ass, then I most humbly thank you. I was gliding effortlessly across the crowd. I was amazed how easily these people held up my 200 pound mass. And then, what’s this? Another crowd surfer? Are we going to collide? No, I’m going to fall on him, but somehow, the crowd sorted it out, separated us and plopped me down perfectly to my feet. Never saw the other guy though. I assume all his bones are intact. The energy of Flogging Molly kept me going for a while after that despite my tired body and hard breathing. I saw a couple more bands after that which were completely shadowed by Flogging Molly, then met up with peeps once again at Baby A’s.

Day 3: The Mud. Upon entering the ACL grounds, I knew it was going to be bad, but I had no idea just how bad. It was unrecognizable from the beautiful lawn it had been a mere two days before. It was a swampy mud pit with ponds strewn between. Some concerned mud walkers wore wellies to keep them dry, others walked barefoot not caring; and still others went all out, sliding, wrestling and dancing. We call them the mud people. First to the B-52’s who were hilarious. The trio of old hippies had the energy of 20 year olds and were fantastic to listen to, grooving to their sound with the moves of the seventies. There was a big fan a few feet in front of me: a girl with a red beehive wig that stood about 3 feet tall. I had met a kid in Paul Green’s School of Rock band while at Flogging Molly and told him I’d check out his band, so I did. Along the way I heard White Lies who were also very good. School of Rock was awesome; just as good as anyone else at the festival. There was one little kid on lead who wailed on that axe and could sing too. I was impressed. Hung out at Arctic Monkeys for a bit and then caught a little of Toadies. Both were descent, but nothing to write home about. All of you should go check out Dirty Projectors. They have a really good sound and the girls in it harmonize this almost synthesized string of notes that is amazing. It reminds me of the opera singer on 5^th Element just without being altered, it’s all completely live and they alternate between each other at a rate where you can’t tell who is singing what notes. Jack White’s new band (cause he has a new one every year, seriously the Raconteur was at ACL last year) called Dead Weather was interesting to watch. Alison Mosshart oozes sex on stage and we discussed amongst ourselves how they probably do heroine together between shows, major chemistry between the two. And then we sat and waited (or rather stood and waited, there was mud everywhere) for the most anticipated headliner of the ear, Pearl Jam. Such a good show. They played for two hours, mostly classics, some new stuff, but all the good ones. We rocked out until my throat was hoarse. Afterward, couldn’t help ourselves and slid in the mud belly first, soooo worth it. It was a lot of fun, my car needed to be detailed anyway.

And that friends was ACL 2009. There is so much to say in between, but this post is already massive. Love you all and see you next year!

To see all the pics I took from ACL this year, click HERE!

So much has been happening, I never updated how the end of the eating experiment went. The chicken week went by without a problem. Everything’s a breeze after vegan. I actually didn’t have any great urge to eat more chicken. I still felt like eating fish. I only ate chicken three times that week. Then when beef week cam round again, I again didn’t feel like eating beef. But I had planned for many weeks to celebrate that which I thought would be a glorious day at Rudy’s BBQ here in Austin. They are my favorite BBQ place, the ribs, the moist brisket, oooohh soo good. But once again, when the day finally came, the consuming of beef was more of a formality or a choir then a priviledge. Not to say I didn’t enjoy my 2 pork ribs, half pound of brisket and half pound of sausage, but i didn’t crave it either. In fact, that night, I felt kind of woozy from so much heavy, fatty meat. That’s not surprising seeing as my body had not encountered such food for 2 months.

Bottom line, the experiment was a success.  I opened myself up to new, healthier eating opportunities, found great recipes like curry soy protein and other meatless meals, cooked at home more often, and now have a lower craving for beef and get more satisfaction when eating healthier options like salads.  Now all that’s left is to find a good meatless protein substitute and incorporate it into my routine… as soon as I find a routine.

Two Step is the official dance of Texas.  It blows.  Coming from California, where R&B and free style reign, I could convert salsa into hip hop or just move with the techno music.  In Texas, if it’s not line dancing it’s two step.  Two step can look cool with some neat turns but for the most part it makes the masses look like idiots, especially when they’re packed together on the dance floor as at Midnight Rodeo here in Austin.  Here’s the basic steps, which will also entail the basic problem of the dance.  First, you step forward one, then sort of shuffle another step forward, then one step back and start over.  Super easy right?  The problem is when you’re out there and you see someone in front of you, you’re not sure if they’re on their second step or their first step and everybody’s steps are different in length, so you end up stepping forward when the next couple is stepping back.  The result is a packed room of white people bumping into each other and attempting to maintain the rhythm.  It’s quite humerus to watch, not so much to participate in.  Plus you have to listen to country music, which I can take in small parts, but too much begins to sap my energy like kryptonite.  And that’s why the Two Step sucks.  I do like the Cupid Shuffle however. 

Fish oils are very good for you and you should take them with your morning vitamin regiment.  But how much should you take.  This article gives one man’s perspective.

http://www.thingstheydontteachyou.com/archives/139