Critical ass, smoking adds and transvestites

Dear, many, many fans/readers and concerned people, and oh' yes the government intelligence agencies.

I have had many new adventures and a few humorous experiences I'd like to try getting out.We certainly had some good times in Uruguay and Punta del Diablo.

The Tobacco companies are regulated like in Canada and use these anti smoking adverts where they sell tobacco. But, really I hadnt seen any like these in Uruguay...

The little beach stores, are haphazardly constructed from old sheds or beach huts or what-have-you.

So, where we bought our bubbly water (after our long hike) has these 2 counters facing each other, rather close, and with a low roof/ceiling, and with me being a little taller; well the inverted, lit up adds, facing each other , formed this kind of red lit tunnel- the tunnel of shame, I call it!

Since no where else would such poor advertising ( I had to duck them, to see and to pay the cashier) and poor placement, and such an anti sales kind of signage, be used. It struck me as so funny, this contradiction, on one hand wanting to sell cigarettes and the other, to use the regulated signs, and then, not having the head clearance to see anything else.

Ahhhh, the horror of smoking! Nooooo, make it stop!

I laughed and laughed.



Speaking of laughing...



We rented local city bikes for Buenos Aires critical mass, orange bikes that hurt our asses.

We rode and rode around the city, a party on wheels. All good fun.

We rode with a family on our way back through the beautiful night parks of Palermo. 2 young teens and their mother. Thought it nice to have some company on the ride home. But wow, were we surprised. We rode through Buenos Aires transvestite red-light strip, with maybe 40 prostitutes each with their own street light to stand under. I didnt notice so many cars perusing their wares yet. But cycling past, one sees this silhouette, but often an unearthly large one, of a scantily clad, provocatively dressed woman... and then, the light- Blam! Monster-tranny-creature-of-the-night! with their breast out and sometimes their penis hanging out. Well I guess its a slow night, those high heels are hurting and might as well show the product, right? Anyways, it was such a funny, funhouse surprise, and with the 2 young teen brother and sister riding bikes, I laughed and laughed; how could Eddie Murphy be so wrong!

So, yes, I am still here, going to contact Dance Jams every night if I can. My skills are getting better, people even come to me to dance, (rather than me chasing them down). I am wearing out my toes and have to tape them. I have my own little room, actually large room with bathroom in an old colonial building. My ceiling must be 16-18 feet tall, and with a weird loft that I must climb to get to (they took out the stairs due to regulations).

L

Brazilian power brokers

Hello folks
Its been a good month or so here in South America.
We flew into Buenos Aires, after all the clean up/set up that needed to take place before leaving Seattle. Arrived at our couch surfing host in the old town of San telco. What great people and place to acclimatize for the first few days in Argentina. The large colonial apartment has a grand balcony over the numerous bars and restaurants.
Yet within a few days, we took off for the southern extremes of the pampas and winelands. We had signed up for 4 days in a rural house called Casa Magica with los kukis. We had arrived in the middle of a contact improv dance 'retreat'. (Our main reason for coming to South America and Argentina, in particular).
The people there were so friendly and helpful, Lisa had wondered if it might actually end up as the best part of the trip.
We carried further on to Bariloche in the mountains bordering Chile. Strange to be back in the cool wet weather so familiar to the Northwest. We ran into our dance friends in that extra touristy town. But were back in Buenos Aires for our contact improv dance teacher conference before too long.
The first couple of nights were gruelling and exhilarating; feeling a little out of shape but meeting such great dancers from the area. We sweated through the 5 days in this beautiful colonial building. Lunches were provided.We had some cultural misunderstandings, and my Spanish isn't strong enough for fluent, fast group dialogue. Nonetheless we really enjoyed the jams.
After some wayward dawdling after the conference and some great jams, one in the park, and another at an ariel studio, we moved on to Uruguay. One of the few countries these days without the punitive 'reciprocity' laws. So yes, if you havnt heard, a number of countries have decided to strike back at the north Americas, racists immigration rules, and rightly so, since the discrimination has been going on for so long. So, to explain quickly, whatever our countries have a prerequisites for these ones, they ask for in return. and I tell you, its extreme! Really negating visas doesn't compromise the already extensive power that immigration officials already have.
An American friend of our couchsurf hosts dropped in from a local tech conference, offering their lovely beach house here in Punta Del Diablo Uruguay. Apparently voted the top 10 places to visit by Lonely Planet. We agree, its great!

Today we went to Brazil, 3 times. Its easy in the border town of Chuy, one simply crosses the main street to the other side. All too many expensive 'duty free' shops in the town. And really the Brazilian economy is on fire, its true. We mistakenly bought a small bottle of contact lens solution for 34 dollars $U.S. Maybe we can take it back tomorrow. You see we need to return, since non of the bank machines were functioning (and this is before the massive ominous storm cloud appeared in the horizon and swallowed the town). Perhaps we should go to another country since the machines weren't any use to us on the Uruguayan side of the street. We tried a couple of the bank machines in the Brazilian banks, but no luck. The power had gone off but the machines were still on. So we tried again, with one of the tellers from inside the darkened bank. Again and again, at last with the proper series of swipes and Portuguese selection the money was clicking along and ready to pop out… and then lightening struck and the power went black! So maybe someone out there gets to have that money, and likely it can be recovered, but we still have to go back, since we didn't get any...

Bikes, Brazil and baldness

congratulations on making it to the other side...

Much time has passed since my last report/blog- testimony of infamy. Best to act on the unresolved issues and write the blog...
My recent travel plans have included the possibility of an international rainbow gathering in Brazil. But with the extreme amount of requirements (which are a tit- for-tat bureaucratic revenge for the poor and humiliating treatment by Canadian officials of Brazilians). The requirements are numerous- take a look www.consbrastoronto.org/visa_tourist.php
Once again, I dont feel my unorthodox life makes standard things... well, standard.

This would be my first taste as a so called privileged Canadian, having the tables turned; and I sympathize with all travelers being churned through the meat grinder of international travel. With some countries like Burma, not even issuing passports to their countrymen, and even after dodging the corruption and Kafka'esque hassel, the bloody document isnt worth anything at other countries borders... do not pass go, and do not collect 200$.

But on the lighter side, I shaved my head. Wow! so great to free of that hair! Something I had thought of but hadnt done for being a fashion slave. Somehow the idea that I didnt have an attractive head, is gone.

While visiting my family in Ontario, after an uncles birthday party, I thought to catch the train home with my folding bike. I had seen some recent advertisement mentioning how "bike friendly" VIA was, I hadnt really thought about it otherwise, never having brought my bike onto VIA, only AMTRAK. AMTRAK is friendly and easy, and you can bring your bike on the train for 5$, but that not being a factor since I fold mine and pack it away.
But after buying my ticket and heading down to the platform gate, they wouldnt let me on, 'the rules' they said. No bikes allowed on the platform. So after a number of calls to supervisors and managers, they couldnt find a way to get my bike on the train. (there was no 'baggage car'). I told them, "its o.k. my bike folds up". They refused again. I asked them what about all this bike friendly advertisement. Of course the manager didnt know anything about it. So IRONICALLY and amazingly there was a poster promotion photo add right there! He was so surprised and apologetic he took a picture with his camera phone! They refunded my money, apologized, since it seems the bureaucracy, hadnt got the memo that they were blasting out to the public. I ended up taking the local GO commuter, cheaper service that brought me closer to home- 3 blocks away!

www.biketrain.ca/watch-the...rain-video



vancouver.itamaraty.gov.br/en-u...).xml Has a more extensive display of the many sysiphean tasks... Amazing to put in the same Category as Angolans and North Koreans.

under cover of the night

Hung out at the Barton Creek eco lodge near San ignacio Belize.
Its really is a nice set up with the lodge being right on the river, the corner hammock being spitting distance
from the gently rolling river. The blond headed kids are sweet to have around, with their playful attitudes.
There is a new addition to the family with a recently flown in incredibly tame parrot, just dropped in one day and has stayed.
The nearby cave is privately owned and charge 50$ to enter, but that didnt stop us from using the BartonCreeks canoe and going in "under cover of the night".
Paddling the river and then into the cave down its 300 meter thoat before it gets too cramped and pinched.
The Mennonites in the area add a strange element to the scene. Never really spent time in one of their villages before.
Had dinner with the neighbors, no charge, religious conversations ensued.
I had contacted Barton Creek through Couchsurfing, although happy to reccomend the place (not the high price for food), I cant in anyway see how it works with couchsurfing. Funny though, an Australian girl had got the free camping deal (which would have knocked off only 10$ off my bill, I guess being young with a pretty face helps with these things.

Still would have been nice if they honored that. But thats not all, a strange kind of cheap, cash grab was aked, after we rode the Britt's truck into town, which would have had me pay again. (Could have been a misunderstanding).
This also wrankled me in that, all the guests were being kicked out, due to the new university group arriving. I was offered a ride into town, and then asked to pay for it, when they were going into town anyways.
So now I dont know what to say as a couchsurf reference.

I realize that working in tourism isnt for everyone, but its sad to see when it makes people bitter and apathetic.

www.youtube.com/watch

Surprise

Surprise!!!

These days bringing laptops through customs is yet another thing to be scanned, processed and poked at.
Stacking them up with hard drives wont help you get through security any faster. But what surprised me was upon leaving Mexican customs
they asked to see them again. Turns out there are some strange "age of the machine" and importation regulations now.
Surprisingly they wanted to see the operating system and specs. Well, when you boot up my Acer with the Lubuntu OS you get the annual Wreck beach photo of the summer.
I would recommend it as a screen saver, certain to get a laugh, and get you out of any bureaucratic snafu where you are required to open and show your computer.
Popping it open brought amusement to many of the passengers and guards.


I have been running into hard of hearing people lately, and as much as I sympathize, I find it frustrating dealing with the deaf.
I had a somewhat deaf taxi driver, and without going into the story, I would say it was amusing (but certainly not at the time of the ride).

disaster man... blog worthy

What a day... certainly worthy of a blog update. Disaster followed me around today.
With waking up and making my morning smoothie, I broke the blender by burning out the teeth connecting the motor housing to the jug. Then with the stressful and loud construction right under the apartment, vibrating with the Jack hammer, dropped a full length mirror that shattered right in front of me ( I was actually fortunate since it hit the area where I usually sit).
My stress was compounded with the thought that my ride would be arriving any minute. But really the powdered glass wasnt a total disaster.
The conversation in my craigslist ride was animated, we sped along to the Canadian border. Sped indeed, right before the border, we were pulled over and ticketed, which put us in the 'nexus' lane, which brought us under suspicion, which brought us into the new Canadian customs building, which of course, led to us all be questioned and searched. Wow! Its another time I wish I wasnt right. For a few hours before I was cautioning these young travelers with how rabidly suspicious and aggressively hostile the border could be. At first I was reluctant to tell them such stories, but this time it wasnt unfounded.
Hurray for being right...

L

Beloved SFDI

Thinking back on that Burn in the forest. Never had I received so much sexual attention but couldnt do anything about it, due to my cramping and inebriated state. That flattering but overwhelming attention, seems just that, too much, and it takes me some time to come around to dealing with it.

The Orcas Island Jam was great, but I suppose I am still working out some sort of identity, and am not sure how I appear to others. Still dealing with my fierce independence issues, and learning to give people the benefit of the doubt.
I was pretty exhausted after that ride and that burn in the forest party, so found it took me a few days to adjust. Its not so much the dance, but the social aspects of camping and associating with so many in an intimate setting. Yes, it causes me stress as well.
I fared better during the SFDI where I could come and attend class and not live with vague social expectations, and then go away for alone time. It makes me realize how important it is, but one should be able to adapt with this self awareness.

On my ride south through Whidbey island I ran into a woman I had been corresponding with from Vancouver, who would ride to Panama. I thought it such good fortune and accident to actually meet her on the road! I was so happy to have a cycling partner, at least for a little while. I think I may have been a little too much with my enthusiasm, and this German woman, had no time for detours or taking it slow... Well she has much to learn about journeys in this life.

No I didnt have the same insecurities with the SFDI, more like trying to maintain the same super excitement and enthusiastic inspiration as during the first 2 Jams. Where does it go? Where does it come from? This letting go of self consciousness and self.
Frequently with contact improv, I feel like saying "What are we doing here" What is it"?
I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it, or of letting go of those controlling/identifying parts of my mind, sometimes I use a blindfold to get past choosing partners.

Perhaps next SFDI or WCCIF I will do chair massage as a service after classes.

So I have to mention the Beloved festival- WOW! So nice! What a positive and wonderful collection of people and workshops.
Certainly worth going to these smaller and more intimate gatherings. Can 600 people or so be called intimate?
I had never seen so many people looking like they are actually getting what they want at a festival. There seemed to be very little drug use, lots of great alternative bands. I got to see Hassan Hawkmoon, and his amazing Sintir playing. The Sitar and Tabla players also were really great, and the Sunday morning Gospel was so fun. I massaged until my fingers were sore, met some new friends, and ran into some old ones...
I volunteered with the Love tribe from Portland and helped with their cuddle dome. The Saturday night was busy with humping people, apparently no penetration took place...
But it must have been interesting to see Dancer's Sacred Sex Love tent, during previous years...

Everything was great, except I kind of Snafued getting back to Seattle- seems that Greyhound is one of the shittiest public transport systems around (meaning infrequent and stinky, over expensive for the service offered) there is no evening buses out of Portland. So folks, use Craigslist Rideshare and let the community do its thing...
I was lucky that I could get a couch surfing host home and stayed in the yurt downtown off Hawthorne.

L

invisible man and other mental aberrations

I know there is a lengthy blog coming with all the frenzied, intense activities of the past 4 months. Sorry that I couldnt write more often. Its been a full summer.
I'll try and recount some of the events...
Since taking off for Burn in the forest in Squamish (now that is a lovely accomplish able day ride, with a smooth shoulder and great rolling hills). Although I over shot the mark the first night, camped in the deep forest with the black bears, owls and something that makes a great blood curdling shriek, Like someone sucking their teeth in front of a microphone at 60 decibels.
That whole event was fun, but it took something for me to get past my social phobia or fear of groups (yes it still bothers me to some degree).
I realize that may surprise some of you since I choice to immerse myself in these environments; yes, I choose to face my fears.
I feel sometimes like a social pariah or an invisible man, (which suits me fine, at times). A constant thread through these experiences is this change in self perception, of receiving the affection, attention, recognition (I believe they call those attributes collectively as love. And also how these experiences can be stressful and disquieting as negative dressers - change comes at a price. Hopefully ones growing pains dont come so quickly.
So, The Burn in the forest... had a mostly wonderful time, there was a short time of panic when the fungus I had eaten cramped up my empty stomach... the happy ending, my friends came to my rescue, and it ended as gas.
Felt the love, yes, I would say smaller festivals are where its at.
I rode to the border, where the bored guards gave me the apathetic and anemic interrogation, and then onwards to Orcas Island for the contact Jam. My timing was off in my post party dazed state. I needed to ride the 90 miles or so to try and get that 7pm ferry; missed it due to a chain malfunction, and caught the 9pm. I really dont want to attempt that marathon pace again... the exhaustion didnt allow me to feel very present or energized for dancing the next day.

I'll leave you the highlights of the following blogs.
1. Oracas Island contact Jam
2.Whidbey Island ride
3. the Seattle festival of Dance Improvisation and my stay in Seattle.
4.the Lesquiti Island contact Jam
5. Burning Man
6. my time at Harbin Hotsprings (where I am relaxing now...)

L

too much

Leon is "too much",
yes I know,
and yet,
Who is for me then?
I demonstrate my passion and power through love. Should I keep things bottled up inside? Better to cast seeds, uncountable myriads of them...
...so that some may blossom, grow and come to fruition. Forever singing to me, the moment I passed life to them.

L

8 flat tires and the milk of human kindness

The trips has been good. Despite 8 flat tires over the first 3 weeks.
That will happen I am told. Really it was 8 tubes, 3 treads and one rear wheel. There is a series of events that lead to the replacement of the wheel. But riding 10 miles on a flat was one of them. I knew it wasnt a great idea, but I got bored of pushing, I didnt have much light left in the day, and wanted to get to the hotsprings, also it was downhill the last 10 miles.

The milk of human kindness carries on.
I had many people try and help, that American long weekend, and I ended up staying with a group of meat eating, hard drinking, bawdy joking, kind folks from Salem. It was refreshing to spend those rainy days in their company. I just waited out the long weekend, tried patching the tires with what I could in the local small town.
I hadnt drank so much beer or eaten so much meat since I was a teen.
God bless those Americans who pack wagons and trucks full of superfluous crap, its support to those attempting to minimalize weight on a bike trip.
Those days passed slowly but with revelry.
My Portland experiences of the Pedalpalooza were wonderful, What a great city. The people the rides, the weather, the activists, the alternative community. The top west coast alternative city I would suppose. Portland captured my heart.
The nude rides and Zoobomb rides were highlights.
I'd like to post videos on my blogger blog and will link things through, as of now you can see some of the nude rides on my facebook videos.

Got to do some errands and catch a bus...

Later people...

L