05-25-2014, 08:47 AM
So this year, the weekend after TCEC & KFTCD, I found myself returning the jump bags to CaliRoots.
I'm home now for a little shower break, and to pick up my kid and her friend to take them to the show tonight. We've been having a blast there.
On the downside, I've been having burnoose and cat pee issues. Greg gifted me a new burnoose from his honeymoon. I have long treasured the burnoose he gave me years ago because it is very well made - traditional quality - and it has served me very well for years of abuse at festivals. I don't wear the scarf anymore although I still have it; I just use the cord. I planned to break in this new burnoose at CaliRoots - a great element for the visionquest as Greg spent last weekend filming for us and it's always a treat to work with him on such projects. This new burnoose has a really heavy thick and stiff cord that I can't figure out how to adjust. Very frustrating. I gave up on it and wound up just using the scarf. An old dread friend snuck up on me from behind and said "I didn't know they let Palestinians in Rock Med." His wife is Israeli and there's a deep connection between Judaism and Rastafarianism through the 12 tribes tale. Anyway, I'm going to dig up my original burnoose cord and give up on the new one.
As for the cat pee, my wonderful tamed feral decided to pee on one of my gear bags that I had staged in the living room the night before I left. I didn't discover it until I made camp and the scent hit me in my tent. That bag was cleaned as best as possible at a festival, and moved to the car. Then this morning, I broke camp at 6am. I noticed a corner by my head was very wet. There's this neighborhood cat that has been wandering through our campsite - I've been the only one able to pet it. It must have decided to own me last night as the wet spot had the scent and was right next to where my head was, but on the outside. That old tent has been with me for a long time. I stole it from S, her old backpacking tent, and beat the crap out of it at festivals. The inner door zipper is broken, and a re-waterproofing job I did on it after being soaked at a ReggaeontheRiver rainstorm has made it look really dirty. I was going to give up on it years ago until a friend started calling it Yoda's swamp tent. Now it may be done. Its sitting on my back bench - I didn't want to put it all away because it's soaked in cat pee. I may just move it to the garbage.
Another odd aside was I met an old Kung Fu brother who lives and teaches in Monterey. He is a pupil of our next cover master and wanted some issues but we aren't distributed in Monterey, so I told him I'd be at the festival and we could meet for breakfast. He took me out to this great classic style diner, one with a line of locals, and feasted me on veggie eggs benedict and bottomless diner coffee. It was delightful, but I forgot that my old Kung Fu bro was a bit OCD and hard of hearing, so communicating was a little tricky as I was just one step out of reggaeland and kept slipping back into patois. What's more, he makes his entire living as a tai chi & qigong teacher, and for some weird reason, some pro martial artists feel the need to tell me all the stuff they are doing in the martial arts as if they are at an interview. On top of that, there's this constant oneupmanship in the martial circles, always trying to share the better story or experiences with some famous grandmaster. Of course, that's not a game to play with me given my job; it's a fact that any martial artist worth their salt can surmise with little time spent appraising me so those that engage me on this level, well, that so lowers my appraisal of them on the martial barometer. Plus I hear that stuff ALL THE TIME, so I find the martial ego game very tiresome. (BTW, PPPFY, that Grandmaster Schauer who visited you some time ago is of this ilk which is why I keep my distance from him, beyond giggling at his naive fb posts). It was great to see an old friend - it had been years since we saw each other. Now it can be many years more before we see each other again. The eggs benedict was delicious.
Ok, now I wait patiently for the girls to wake up so I can take a shower. A little re-sorting of my gear for the day and we'll be back for day 3 of CaliRoots! I'll report more adventures later...
I'm home now for a little shower break, and to pick up my kid and her friend to take them to the show tonight. We've been having a blast there.
On the downside, I've been having burnoose and cat pee issues. Greg gifted me a new burnoose from his honeymoon. I have long treasured the burnoose he gave me years ago because it is very well made - traditional quality - and it has served me very well for years of abuse at festivals. I don't wear the scarf anymore although I still have it; I just use the cord. I planned to break in this new burnoose at CaliRoots - a great element for the visionquest as Greg spent last weekend filming for us and it's always a treat to work with him on such projects. This new burnoose has a really heavy thick and stiff cord that I can't figure out how to adjust. Very frustrating. I gave up on it and wound up just using the scarf. An old dread friend snuck up on me from behind and said "I didn't know they let Palestinians in Rock Med." His wife is Israeli and there's a deep connection between Judaism and Rastafarianism through the 12 tribes tale. Anyway, I'm going to dig up my original burnoose cord and give up on the new one.
As for the cat pee, my wonderful tamed feral decided to pee on one of my gear bags that I had staged in the living room the night before I left. I didn't discover it until I made camp and the scent hit me in my tent. That bag was cleaned as best as possible at a festival, and moved to the car. Then this morning, I broke camp at 6am. I noticed a corner by my head was very wet. There's this neighborhood cat that has been wandering through our campsite - I've been the only one able to pet it. It must have decided to own me last night as the wet spot had the scent and was right next to where my head was, but on the outside. That old tent has been with me for a long time. I stole it from S, her old backpacking tent, and beat the crap out of it at festivals. The inner door zipper is broken, and a re-waterproofing job I did on it after being soaked at a ReggaeontheRiver rainstorm has made it look really dirty. I was going to give up on it years ago until a friend started calling it Yoda's swamp tent. Now it may be done. Its sitting on my back bench - I didn't want to put it all away because it's soaked in cat pee. I may just move it to the garbage.
Another odd aside was I met an old Kung Fu brother who lives and teaches in Monterey. He is a pupil of our next cover master and wanted some issues but we aren't distributed in Monterey, so I told him I'd be at the festival and we could meet for breakfast. He took me out to this great classic style diner, one with a line of locals, and feasted me on veggie eggs benedict and bottomless diner coffee. It was delightful, but I forgot that my old Kung Fu bro was a bit OCD and hard of hearing, so communicating was a little tricky as I was just one step out of reggaeland and kept slipping back into patois. What's more, he makes his entire living as a tai chi & qigong teacher, and for some weird reason, some pro martial artists feel the need to tell me all the stuff they are doing in the martial arts as if they are at an interview. On top of that, there's this constant oneupmanship in the martial circles, always trying to share the better story or experiences with some famous grandmaster. Of course, that's not a game to play with me given my job; it's a fact that any martial artist worth their salt can surmise with little time spent appraising me so those that engage me on this level, well, that so lowers my appraisal of them on the martial barometer. Plus I hear that stuff ALL THE TIME, so I find the martial ego game very tiresome. (BTW, PPPFY, that Grandmaster Schauer who visited you some time ago is of this ilk which is why I keep my distance from him, beyond giggling at his naive fb posts). It was great to see an old friend - it had been years since we saw each other. Now it can be many years more before we see each other again. The eggs benedict was delicious.
Ok, now I wait patiently for the girls to wake up so I can take a shower. A little re-sorting of my gear for the day and we'll be back for day 3 of CaliRoots! I'll report more adventures later...
Shadow boxing the apocalypse