What did I do?
I ate a lot of raw seafood at a street cart near the fish market.
I ate a lot of fried fish tacos.
I walked on the beach *every* day.
I went for a hike up to a cross on the top of one of the mountains on the right side of the major valley.
Ensenada's beach looks slightly like Santa Monica on a not-so-good day - close shorebreak, closed out. Probably not a good choice for anything but a beginning surfer who just wants to ride a wave into the sand. San Miguel didn't look as good as the internet sites say - and looks like a really fast right. I don't think i could make the section(s) on a longboard, but maybe an egg or fish. I did a little bit of research and am actually *totally* stoked to drive back down there for a weekend trip, maybe in February, and hit one or two surf spots (k38 in particular) on my way down to Ensenada.
It was great to be out of the country, which I haven't been since my last trip to the Philippines in May 2007. It was great to be "on vacation", and hanging out with my friend. I remembered that I love playing music with people who also like to play music.
I had time to reflect on my life while I was there, and am still struggling with a few of the conclusions that I've come to.
I also read an awesome book - easily the best book that I've read in the last 12 months: Playing With the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made A Nation. It was about the 1995 World Cup (Rugby) that was held in South Africa, just shortly after Mandela was elected president. I'm not an overly emotional person (except for my temper), but I found myself either in tears, or near tears, once every chapter. If this was made into the movie, it would probably be better than Rudy, or The Natural, in the genre of *great* sports movies. It was an inspiring read about how peaceful revolution can be achieved if the compassion in the human spirit can triumph over other, more destructive emotions. Definitely recommended.
Teenage Fanclub's Bandwagonesque is in heavy rotation - and I'm unclear how this slipped past my radar all this time. Also, Chris Bell has been on my mind a lot, but I know where that road leads - to excessive drinking and depression. His You and Your Sister, in particular, have played in my head incessantly for the past day or so - and its actually a pretty trivial song to learn, but can anyone really replicate the angst in Chris' voice? Look Up, well - that one nearly killed me 10 years ago. I Am the Cosmos nearly did, too. I actually got a phone call from a friend in Texas then, whose first question to me was, "What are you listening to?" I replied, "Chris Bell." To which he replied, "You gotta stop doing that." It was good advice.
Chris Bell is a nearly Brian Wilson-esque figure to me - except that Chris Bell is dead, and Brian Wilson is not. (For more info, please see my Brian Wilson tribute.) I can't explain why - I don't listen to him *nearly* as often as other bands in regular rotation, but there's just something about his music. There's a reason why Big Star's #1 Record is the first and foremost of the Big Star records.
I'm also currently fixed on Okkervil River, which an old college buddy of mine plays in. I have to admit that I didn't really *get* Black Sheep Boy, which won critical acclaim from nearly every music critic on earth - but I really like their The Stage Names album. Isn't their drummer cute?
That is all.
2 comments:
Did you say better than Rudy? I am finding this hard to believe. :D
I mean, the movie would have to get made, but if it was made well, yes, I believe it would be better than Rudy. Better than Field of Dreams. Yes. Yes. Yes.
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