This Is My Blog

Ring The Alarm

2009-08-16T02:03:00.000-07:00

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away Altern 8 warned us to "watch your bass bins". Similar advice recommended for this bass HEAVY tune from Donaeo, "Riot Music". With a seductive breakbeat and Donaeo's vocal and production skills, it's no wonder this track has been mashing dance floors, car stereos and generally annoying neighbours up and down the UK.

It's taken from his debut album "Party Hard" and is going to rock Notting Hill Carnival this month for sure.

In fact Donaeo is onto a good thing with that song title. How many good tunes have the word 'riot' in them? Well, at least one anyway........

Creepy Clowns

2009-08-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

Just a quick one for ya. Check out the psychedelic hip hop sounds of The Gaslamp Killer and his eery ensemble. If a twisted circus came to town I would like to think they would send out macabre clowns to walk the streets handing out flyers, their mp3 players loaded with The Gas Lamp Killers tunes to keep them in the mood for all things morbid and dark.

And then, after a hard days work scaring the townsfolk, back at the ranch when the clowns are chilling out and getting down with the lady clowns i think they might wanna check this one out

Paz, amor y payasos
Peace, love and clowns

Future Minimal

2009-08-06T14:15:00.000-07:00

OK, so I've got a bit of a problem with this guys glasses and cardigan. Potentially hypocritical, I am a wearer of specs myself and I have a cardigan. But I have looked and I have looked and I still can't find no defect with this slice of blissed out future funk. They're from Canada, thats about all I know about them. They are here on MySpace
And to hear what I am wittering on about hit play here

2009-07-31T11:44:00.000-07:00

The weekend is here, it's Friday night. So what you gonna do? If it's dancing, I don't know about you but in my 80's disco fantasy weekend this record would most definitely have me up there, quite literally enjoying my life, or at least 6 minutes of guilt and care free dance floor pleasure .......

Funk tuerie
Uploaded by funky54140. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

And in my fantasy 'new music from old hip hop legends with a slightly younger hip hop legend' scenario? Clearly it would have to be the Beasties, who are kicking it all over again, because "grandpa been rappin' since '83" and Nas is helping out. Can't wait for the album "Hot Sauce Comittee" to come out but more importantly, MCA get well soon, good health is the most precious thing we have isn't it?

In the meantime, check out "Too Many Rappers"

So there we have it, enjoy your life. And good health. And dance. It's that easy. Paz y amor a todos.

Know Your Rights

2009-07-26T13:35:00.001-07:00

If you love rock and roll memorabilia, The Clash or just are curious about an interesting alternative library head over to Portobello Road maket and visit Mick Jones' Rock n Roll Public Library. I went over today and was lucky enough to see and hear Mick in the rehearsal room jamming with Glenn Matlock of The Sex Pistols, two legends of punk just hanging out playing Clash and Sex Pistols tunes and drinking cans of Carlsberg. The library is full of memorabilia from Mick Jones private collection and encourages the visitor to interact, photograph and even use the scanner to create their own images to take away (maybe put one on a t shirt?) and is heavy on Clash, BAD and Beatles stuff, although is by no means limited to these bands.

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We were treated to "Pretty Vacant" and "Train In Vain". I did take some photos but because we were behind glass (or were they?) they didn't come out great, click here to check them and some of the library

Keep an eye out also for the very friendly old dude with bleached blonde hair who goes by the name of Desmond. He is the older brother of punk documentor (is that a word) Don Letts and will personally welcome you to the library and entertain with stories of his past ("John Lennon, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, I sold them all ganja"). Top bloke, as was Mick who came out of the rehearsal room and thanked the gob smacked fans for coming along to his little show.

Full details here

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Swine Time

2009-07-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

I have a cold. But its not swine flu. I know this because colds come on slow, flu's hit you fast. So remember that. But be careful. Swine flu can strike at any moment just like a tune from the past, thats 30 years old, that you never heard before, but you instantly know and love. When I was 8 my favourite record was Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines". I didnt know what it was about, but I knew it was an incredible sound. I heard this for the first time last night, it is Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five under their earlier name "The Younger Generation". Why did no one tell me about this tune before?

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I was reminded, by the power of Facebook and an old friend, of this wicked little number as a result of uploading The Younger Generation to my Facebook profile

Now, I heard this ladies voice on a Mos Def track this week, which is called "The Ecstatic" and is out around now. She features on the track "Roses" and goes by the name of Georgia Anne Muldrow. In my opinion she steals the track, I don't know if it was her track originally, but have a listen and see what I mean.

To liken her to the Erykah Badu would be easy and unfair but she does have the nu soul vibe going on. Signed to Stones Throw she has been releasing albums for a few years now so worth checking out. http://www.myspace.com/georgiaannemuldrow

Just gotta mention this one, cos its Mos Def rapping in Spanish. Really looking forward to getting hold of the album now.

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Ending on a high, this one kind of smashes it........

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No, we're not ending it there because you have to listen to this wonderful African Funk sound from the 70s.......make you clap your hands.........

Paz, salud y amor a todos, because that's all it's about.......

New Old Soul

2009-07-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

This guys stuff is the shit, and there is quite a buzz building up, Gilles Peterson and Benji B are big fans. Well, from what I've heard of it anyway demonstrates he deserves such learned fans. Smokey Robinson influenced, his music sounds like it comes from a different age whilst still sounding fresh and relevant, kind of like The White Stripes in that respect, although he has allowed the modern world to work into his sounds, namely hip hop, of the J Dilla variety.

His album is going to drop this Autumn on Stones Throw, a highly recommended label

and check this sound out

Can't wait for the album to hit the streets, plus would love to hear him spin, guesting on a Gilles Peterson podcast he played some of the most divine soul sounds I have heard, which you should be able to hear right about here

On a darker note, I have recently been receiving some racist emails into my junk folder in my hotmail account. Some guy called RJames, a right wing Christian scary type somehow started spamming me through Google Groups. I certainly don't recall subscribing to his particular line of hatred and have notified Google of his groups offensive postings. I know of at least one other person who was receiving unsolicited messages from this guy. At least it is a reminder that although the web can be used for good purposes, there is also some bad folk out there using it to spread their messages of hate and we need to remain vigilant of them.

Paz y amor a todos

RIP

2009-06-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

There is alot that I could say here but its already been said all over the world. He will be missed. This man was the brightest star that shone. RIP

Here is a musical tribute from Sway and also a very good article from the Guardian.

By The Power Of Greyskull

2009-06-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

Has nothing to do with this blog entry, I just felt like writing it. This has been a good week for me music wise. I have been lucky enough to have my ears treated to some awesome tunes, which I will try and share with you here. It has come to my attention that if you are reading this on Facebook, then you will not realise that there are videos embedded in the posting. I have no idea why that is, but if you want to check out the tunes, you will need to go to my blogpage itself

Anyways, on with the music. Starting with this guy Jose James, an Irish/Panamanian jazz singer from Brooklyn. A real interesting voice, sounds a little like Antony Hegarty singing jazz.

This week I have had alot of love for J DIlla, mainly due to listening to some great sets from J Rocc and Madlib on Radio 1 and 1 Extra. Respect.

OK so this one is massive, its not out yet so quality not great here, but good enought to check out and enjoy

Diplo doing some favela funk sounds

It doesn't look like the crowd are really getting it!

This was rocking the gym yesterday, where I did some good chi sao with my mate Gyan. Well, he kind of kicked my ass actually, although I got a couple of sweet punches in.

Everyone seems to be putting balaeric piano in their tunes right now, well alot of the indie sounds anyway

Jay Z may be dissing Autotune but Kanye is still using it in this mix of Mr Hudson

Not balaeric but enjoyable.

What a trip this has been, from jazz to The Horrors. Thats all for now. I had a nice time, hope you did too.

Sunday Night Selection

2009-06-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'm tired, I went to a party in the countryside last night, camped in a field, my tent leaked and i woke up in a puddle, rather cold to say the least. i then had quite a bike ride today. i'm exhausted, but as my friend patrick said, "you should be tired on a sunday night". I guess that means you got the most out of a weekend, before going back to the rat race.

Anyway, enough of that. Some music from the past 25 years, no particular theme, just good stuff.

La Murga De Panama

2009-06-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

This was the dopest salsa track I heard on my travels. Check out the brass section, bad ass sounds.

Sunday Selection

2009-05-31T10:03:00.000-07:00

Part 1 in an occasional series of Sunday classics. Music that sounds good on a Sunday, particuarly a beautiful sunny day like today.

Please sit back and enjoy.

A nice new conspiracy theory to worry about

2009-05-19T07:23:00.000-07:00

Bilderberg is a shadowy annual conference, comprising of about 130 guests who are from the worlds of finance, politics and big business. The very rare times their members have spoken publicly about the content of their meetings, they have refuted being an elite class orchestrating the fate of the planet and its people, just people with very large influence on the world meeting with other people with large influence over the world. The fact that they are so secretive, they dont allow the press to attend, they dont publish statements or attendee lists and that they have extreme security surrounding their annual meeting has lead to the inevitable conspiracy theories. I cant say whether they are evil, innocent, or just a jolly little social club that most of us will not be invited to join. But there are those who accuse them of having the power to install their chosen representatives in positions of power around the world, and indeed of having done so.

Make up your own mind. Further reading below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bildeberg

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/charlie-skeltons-bilderberg-files

Dancing On The Ceiling, Saving The World One Lentil At A Time and George Bush

2009-05-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

Having been traveling for roughly the last year I didnt have access to my (very) old laptop. This means I didnt have all my favourite websites saved in my IE Favourites. Today I spent some time checking out my favourite old music sites, and found alot of musical joy out there, new music and old music I had never heard before, that got me dancing round the kitchen, and yes, even on the ceiling.

So friends I would like to share some links that come highly recomended, if you like good music that is.

http://www.parisdjs.com/index.php/post/Paris-DJs-Soundsystem-Morning-Sunshine

http://sunnybrooklyn.blogspot.com/">http://sunnybrooklyn.blogspot.com/

http://africolombia.blogspot.com/

http://www.myspace.com/dirtydiggers

Hope you enjoy.

Currently feeling very full from eating too many chocolate biscuits, Mr Kipling cakes and popcorn. Plus had fish and chips for lunch, beans on toast for brunch and porridge and boiled egg (with pitta bread) for breakfast.

However, I will be going part time (3 days a week) vegetarian this week and may even flirt with one day of hardcore veganism per week. Main reason for this is the environmental impact, not to mention social injustice of rearing animals for human consumption. For more read about a small town in Belgium that is going veggy one day a week (its called Ghent and I went to a trance party there in 1997, complete coincedence) http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/16/ghent-belgium-vegetarian-town-environment

Oh, and this put a smile on my face too
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2008/aug/12/bushlol?picture=336501045

808 Police State

2009-05-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was waiting for a friend outside Mile End Tube Station. I noticed a police officer outside the station look at me several times during the course of 5, maybe 10 minutes (I was early for my rendezvous).

The police officer approached me and enquired what I was doing hanging around at the station.

Minding my own business was my response. Why do I need to explain myself to a police officer when I am doing no wrong?

Where are you from sir, are you British? Were you born in London?

What this had to do with anything I dont know. Apparently, the officer informed, it is perfectly normal to ask people what they are doing in certain "high risk" areas.

Why just yesterday she had managed to catch a villain by asking him what he was doing, and it turned out he was a wrong 'un. 1 out of how many? Policing by numbers?

Now, I have nothing to hide, but I also expect my privacy to be respected. Apparently people are made to feel safe by the police acting in this way, personally, personally I dont feel the need to report into Big Brother to feel warm and safe from all the nasty problems out there. exactly why do people want to bomb this country? Why do junkies rob old grannies? Is it because society has created these problems, society run by The Government, who then use these problems as reasons for further invading our privacy and civil liberties, slowly making us more dependent on them and used to our liberties being compromised bit by bit?

Slowly civil liberties are being eroded in this country. CCTV is everywhere (more cameras in the UK than the rest of Western Europe combined), police using kettling techniques to hold innocent protesters against their will (but at least we have the right to demonstrate!), meetings of more than two people in public can be sanctioned by police if they deem it neccesary, we haven't had a right to silence for 15 years now, the present Government has made attempts to introduce trials without jury in certain circumstances.

Check out The Freedom Bill from the Lib Dems, perhaps time for a change??

http://freedom.libdems.org.uk/

Lazy and Home

2009-04-24T07:26:00.001-07:00

P4052532, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Yes I am bad. I am lazy. Slovenly. Loafish. I haven't updated my blog in ages. I have been "busy" doing other things. Reading. Spanish classes. Travelling. Training. Not much else.
Back home now. In Kenilworth, Warks., England. Looking vaguely for employment of a short term variety. Life back in the economic crisis is actually worse than i thought. Work wise anyway. Im sure there are a tonne of jobs if you want one. And also that you need to work alot harder than before to not even get the same results.
But its nice to be back, with family and friends. Not much changed, although I think I have.

Ok so brief summary of the last few weeks. Popayan (colombia) a very pretty city best known for its Easter Holy Week processions, great if you are a Catholic. San Agustin (Colombia) accesible only via The Road To Hell, a 100km ride from Popayan, that takes 6 hours, the road doesnt deserve to be called a road. You literally crawl along at 15km the whole way because it is basically a collection of holes, held together by some concrete. Anyway, once you get there, its a lovely village next to a very important archeological site, lots of stone carvings of animals, man, manimals etc from pre Christ, ie well old.

A sad farewell to Colombia, I had a great time in a great country, surrounded by great people. The trip home was softened somewhat by a 4 day stay in Rio de Janeiro, one of my favourite cities on the planet Earth. I stayed with Antonio and Patricia, a wonderful couple who like to party and know everyone you need to know in Rio it would seem, anyway, they always seem to show one a good time. Partied pretty hard, in stark contrast to my Puritan behaviour of the last 6 weeks in Colombia (well almost Puritan).

And then the journey home. 10.5 hours flew by, crap food, 5 hours sleep, some TV and a bit of banter past the time away. Luckily arrived back to blue sky and 21 degrees otherwise I may have turned round at T5 and gone home.

Next step is to work out my next step. Most likely, 3 months working in London, save some dosh and then head off again.

Pablos Medellin

2009-03-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

To read my thrilling peice of photojournalism on Pablo Escobar, click here

Super Cali Fragalistic Espi-alidocious

2009-03-28T11:20:00.001-07:00

P3232507, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Rainbows over Cali. I am doing Spanish lessons every other day with a geezer called Leandro. Have been training Shaolin Kung Fu in a Martial Arts school, very cool, they train hard too, which I like. Also do alot of Tai Chi there, and they do more of that with the kung fu which is anice touch. The Master of the school is nails without particuarly looking it, always a good sign in Kung Fu. Also training at the hostel with a couple of American guys. One of them, John from NY met a Colombian girl last month and they are now engaged! He moves fast that boy.

Not much else, just enjoying the vibe of the city. There isnt that much to Cali, but it is a nice place to be, nice climate, great people. Went to a tiny little salsa club last night and danced a bit. The Calenos are mad for salsa, the club was full so the crowd spilled over onto the pavement, it was cats and dogs ouside but it didnt stop them from dancing in the rain, salsa crazy these folk.

Viva Californication

2009-03-24T12:31:00.001-07:00

P3182469, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Cali, Colombia, not Cali, California. Dont think I have written anything about Medellin though. I stayed in a super cool hostel called Casa del Sol, a very chilled place, a bit like a chill out party house really, right up my street. Some cool dudes hang out there, had a nice couple of smokes, an Argentinan BBQ or asado as they like to call it, which was delicious and I watched the latest Bond movie on a pirated DVD. I think I must have been slightly under the influence as it was until about half way through that I realised that the language was alternating between English and German, very odd!

Another random thing that happened was this old lady who claimed to be 83 who strode into the hostel, and bear hugged everyone,she claimed that she could squeeze energy out of young people and this was what kept heer so strong, her hand shake would have made Arnie Schwarzanegger wince.

The main reason I was in Medellin was to do the awesome Pablo Escobar tour of Medellin. A 3 and a half hour information packed tour of Pablos Medellin, run by a very cool guy called Nicolas, who basically just comes and picks you up in his little van and drives you round some of the famous Pablo sites of Medellin, like his house, offices, the place where they eventtually tracked him down and killed him and his tomb, all the time talking about what life was actually like in Medellin and Colombia duringg the 90s when Pablo was at war with the Colombian governement. I was really fascinated by it, he was according to Forbes magazine at the time, the 7th richest man on the planet, all of his money totally illegal and a very intelligent businessman, albeit slightly unorthodox in the way he went about doing business. He had a very simple rule, "plata o plomo" , "silver or lead", meaning if you worked for him you got paid, if you didn't you would get a bullet through your skull. Nicolas had first hand experience of Pablos ways, his friend and friends Mum were killed by one of Pablos bombs, planted outside a police station in Medellin.

It is worth noting here, for those of you who havent been to Colombia or Medellin that it is now a beautiful city, very modern with some wonderful architecture and the people went through some very hard times in the 90s which they have put behind them. It seems those times inspired them to rebuild their city and culture, it is a very cool and progressive place, not to mention full of beautiful women.

I have since been in Cali for the last 5 days. Chilling out really, again, found a nice hostel called Iguanas with some good people there, it will be my home until next Saturday when I'm heading to Popayan for the Easter festivities and then San Agustin, an archealogical site of great importance in South America, home to some statues that are pre Colombine. It is in some beautiful countryside and I am going to be camping.

Buena vida indeed but I have just under 4 weeeks to go before I will be home.....so I am starting to think about the future. Will it be London, Ibiza, Barcelona or China?

I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts

2009-03-24T11:58:00.001-07:00

CIMG5326, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Token "Carry On" style photo opportunity, I attempted the Sid James laugh as well.

Bogota

2009-03-20T15:49:00.001-07:00

P3142399, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

OK I can't remember when I last updated this, but I am now in Cali, Colombia, not California. This pic was in Bogota, looking over the city and the mountains up in Montserrat. Dont know why I was looking so smug, must have been the hangover from the night before wearing off.
Anyway, just a quick update, have been in Medellin as well, where I did the AWESOME Pablo Escobar tour. Will be here in Cali for a week and then off to San Agustin.
Having some issues trying to work out what to do with my life, I will be back in England on 21st April, any suggestions please email.

Back In Bogota

2009-03-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

Thats right. I´m in Bogota. Got here after a horrible 18 hour journey from Salvador, Brazil, via Rio de Janeiro (where I slept in the airport) and Lima, Peru. Stayed in a nioce hostel in the Candelaria area on the 1st night and then with a CS friend, Diana who I will stay with until Saturday ight, when I´m off to Medellin.

No photos as of yet, camera is broken, so all though I have for the first time here done something cultural (Botero Museum, Plaza Bolivar, Museo de la Policia for the Pablo Escobar exhibition) I have no pictures to show.

Off to a techno night tonight, could be interesting.......

Capoeira

2009-03-09T17:03:00.001-07:00

P3072341, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

So. I´ve got into capoeira. It´s fun. And humiliating. I thought I´d be half OK at it. I was wrong. Those guys have incredible strength and flexibility. I did a couple of informal classes with my new friend Arri, a guy from Itacare and then today in Salvador with a 20 year old girl, who has been doing capoeira for 15 years. I really, really sweated, and failed miserably at walking backwards in the crab position, doing a sweep, that looked more like breakdancing, and was moderatley succesful at the cartwheel based moves and more familiar spinning kicks.
Still, it´s good to try new things and test ones self. Even if it leaves you dripping wet and feeling useless, as well as knackered. Todays class also involved a music lesson, for those of you that dont know capoeira is a Brasilian martial art, brought from Angola originally by slaves, it was disguised as a dance, hence the music and rhythm of the moves.
Another class to look forward to tomorrow, befoer flying back to Colombia, last stop on the tour.............

Today Was A Good Day

2009-03-06T17:13:00.001-08:00

P3062284, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Went to the beach this afternoon, sun bathed a bit and then wandered up to the Capoeira circle that overlooks beach 2 in Itacare. Started chatting with Arri, a fella selling capoeira clothes and his friends and hung out with them until sunset, Arri teaching me some basic capoeira moves, the jonga ( it think its called), some basic blocks and kicks, plus he explained the music. All in Portugese. I understood some of it, actually most, when he spoke slow and clearly. It was really good fun and he invited me back tomorrow for more of the same.

Daybreak In Itacare

2009-03-06T07:57:00.001-08:00

P3012205, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Here I Go Again On My Own

2009-03-05T18:30:00.001-08:00

P3022236, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

In the words of Whitesnake, "I dont know where I´m going, but I sure know where I´ve been" . This is not strictly true but it does allow me the pleasure of a link to this soft rock classic, a video featuring some of the girliest haircuts from the 1980´s.

So basically, I am now travelling on my own, again. Mike and I said our goodbyes at Salvador bus station after 3 months of being on the road. I then hooked up again with Benja from Ibiza for 5 days, who has now flown back to the white island, leaving me, well, on my own. As such, I am in an internet cafe at 11pm on a Friday night. Mainly because I have been partying a little recently, so fancy a night off. I´m back in Itacare, I went to Morro de Sao Paolo for 2 days but came back. Morro has changed since i was last there in 2002, it has been developed alot and is a bit lumpy on the pocket so I took the boat and bus back to Itacare, its cheaper, more chilled, and I just like it more. I´ll stay here until the 9th or 10th, there are some amazing beaches that I have yet to visit nearby so it makes sense. Plus the best bar I have been to in Brasil is here, Favela Cafe. A very relaxed place with some great music, good crowd, good vibes in general, hip hop, reggae, Brasilian funk and some good Cairpirinhas. Life here is basically as follows

-get up
-have breakfast
-go to the beach, read, train, sunbathe, run along the waters edge, look at girls, have a coconut milk and some lunch
-go back to the pousada
-sleep
-have dinner
-walk the street (it´s a small town)
-drink a couple of cans of beer
-see whats happening at Favela cafe and maybe even talk to people. Have met some cool people recently actually.

Have been doing some great training recently, every day in fact. Either in my pousada or down at the beach. I´m really pleased that I haven´t let my kung fu slip, as could easily have happened. I guess thats a sign, it is something I love doing , but I think i knew that anyway. So, planning a trip to China after I´ve been home for a bit. The recession seems to be biting bad, and I think I can live cheap in China, especially if I am spending most of the time getting voluntarily tortured by Shaolin monks, or at least the sell out ones that will train you for Western money. Apparently the hard core ones wont even talk to you if you are Western, I heard one Swedish guy approached a temple and was made to stare at the sun every day for a week, before they would talk to him. Must remember to pack my shades.

Anyway, I am gibbering. I´m off to Colombia (again) next week in case you didnt know and then fly back to London from Rio on the 20th April. Get the bunting ready, bake a cake etc.

Ciao

Another Random Salvador carnaval Memory

2009-02-28T12:57:00.000-08:00

A short fat man, aged around 40, dancing in the rain, barefooted and wearing nothing but tiny white speedo style swim trunks.

Cheesed off

2009-02-28T08:47:00.000-08:00

I spent about 45 minutes earlier updating my blog. It didnt save. I´m cheesed off. Oh well, I guess things could be worse. Will do it another time.

Salvador Carnaval-A Retrospective

2009-02-28T06:56:00.000-08:00

I really want to try and explain Salvador carnaval but its pretty difficult, its one of those "you had to be there" moments. I´m going to list a few things below to at least try and get this off my chest, its called blog therapy I think. This list is going to be random and may not make sense, you had to be there you see. BTW as i havent got fotos (yet) of carnaval i have included links to pictures (courtesy of those good people at google images)

good music-once you had had enough to drink and lost your dancing inhibitions, carnavalmusic is totally different to what i know, the beats just didnt make sense

weird music- its like they have their own little world down here in brasil, most of the music is so different to everywhere else, a unique mix of influences, the people here go wild to it and sometimes i was stood watching rather than taking part, thinking to myself "what the f@#$ are you lot doing?"

weird dancing- they have so many dances for the different music, varying from jumping up and down, to remarkably intricate pagode funk dancing

the rock- we adopted a rock one night, it was quite large and became part of our group (myself, Daniel San, Mike, Jesse, Trevor, random Australian girls, random Brasilians). we even bought the rock a beer

the lighthouse (el farol)- our meeting point and a reprieve from the madness of being in the crowd

street food- warm cheese on a stick, meat (cat) on a stick, chicken (piegeon) on a stick, pastels (deep fried cornish pasties filled with chicken and cheese) each roughly 2 reals

street beer- served as cold as possible, preferably skol (2 reals for a large can-bargain)

antarctica guarana- a delicious canned beverage and an excellent mixer with a very cheap random spirit mike and i chose to drink most nights

never ending crowds- its the biggest in the world according to Guiness Book Of Records (RIP Norris McWhirter and Roy Castle) (you can see the lighthouse in the foto at the link as well)

singers who look like pirates- this guy is in a band called chicle do banana or something and they are incredibly popular for some reason

men in drag- alot of them, brasil is quite a gay country

filhos do gandhi- they dress up like this, no idea why

people snogging- the men who arent gay are really aggessive with the girls, its some kind of macho competition to snog as many as possible. yuk, the germs.

the smell of wee- was definitely the smell of carnaval, you just cant provide enough portaloos for that many people

psirico- a band, i actually liked thes guys they were pretty cool

bloco- a roped off area that follows the floats, ropes carried by people and you kind of become part of the procession, dancing your way along. no less manic than on the streets, but alot more expensive. you get a t shirt that is your ticket. expensive

camarote- kind of VIP booths that line the streets where you can watch carnaval without having to worry about the crowds, pickpockets, fights etc. very expensive and looked to be totally boring, no atmosphere

pipoca- "pop corn" what they call the crowds, best place to be, watch your pockets, try not to get punched by coked up favela hoods, have a great time

eric morillo- followed his bloco, occasionally sneaking into it, and then gettting thrown out, cheesy house anthems but enjoyable. the skol float features western house djs each night, fat boy slim had played the last few year but unfortunately not his year

well that´ll do for now. going to the beach now, weather permitting. oh yeh, iticare is cool, nice and quiet with gorgeous beaches. waiting for my mate from ibiza, benja, to get here.

ciao

Keep On Moving

2009-02-26T11:28:00.001-08:00

P2252188, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Time to leave town again, leaving Salvador for Iticare, a small town 9 hours south that should be a nice relaxing contrast to the carnage of the worlds biggest Carnaval.

Brasil and the Biggest, Baddest, Hottest Party On the Planet

2009-02-21T11:47:00.001-08:00

075_75, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Salvador Carnaval. AKA Madness. AKA millions of people going bonkers on the street, dancing to music until 6am, drinking, groping each other, picking pockets, fighting, pissing wherever they can, wearing mad outfits, losing your friends, finding new friends, the list goes on.

No fotos unfortunately, taking a nice expensive digital camera to carnaval is not a good idea, you have hands all over you, your pockets will get picked so dont take anything you dont want to lose. All money you keep in your shoes and take out when you need it, ie to buy beer or street food. Last night we followed the Eric Morillo float for a few hours, not neccesarily my favourite DJ (bit cheesy) but he played a great crowd pleasing set with a bunch of classics thrown in, it was awesome fun, dancing your way along the street, bumping into people, drinking and generally being rather jolly.

I hope to have some photos of the madness soon, boutght a disposable camera and took about 12 pics last night, will take it again tonight and hope it doesnt get taxed, although it draws attention, last night when taking a photo of my friends one of them had a bottle of booze taken from his pocket! You have to really keep an eye for the thiefs who are looking for gringos to rob,theres alot of cops around but they are there more to break up fights, which do happen, some of the favela youths go there specifically to get loaded, rob and fight.

So. its a case of P-A-R-T-Y. And only 4 more nights to go (if i can keep it up that long!)

I Heart Brasil

2009-02-20T11:06:00.001-08:00

099_99, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Having a grrrreeeeeaaaatttt time in Brasil basically! Its my favourite country since Colombia, people are great, beaches gorgeous, food great and the parties are unreal! Had a great 4 days in Rio, stayed in a really cool hostel with some great people there, made alot of friends and had some great times. We had a cool night out in Lapa, a delapidated old district with colonial houses falling to pieces, cobbled streets and a wicked atmosphere (and smell) where Cariocas come to party and dance samba until the early hours and beyond. Went to see a great game at the Maracana with some die hard fans, banging the drums and waving flags for Botafogo, the game ended 1-1.

Spent a couple of nights hanging out with an old Brasilian friend Antonio, undoubtedly the craziest guy I have ever known, and we had a great time catching up on some of our nights out from my last time in Rio in 2002.

Anyway, asm in Salvador now with another old friend, Daniel, a mate from school who has lived here for 8 years. Staying with him during Carnaval, which started last night. ALOT of Brasilians dancing, singing and generally going crackers in the street. Gotta rush now, more soon.....

Rock In Rio

2009-02-16T07:34:00.000-08:00

OK so been here since, can´t remember right now but a few days. Its awesome. And hot, although was pouring when we arrived. Have been to the Sambodrom to watch rehearsals for Carnaval, quite an experience, its 8 blocks long and rammed with people dancing and singing manically. Went out in Lapa, a bohemian street party full of all walks of life. Yesterday was a big game at the Maracana, Botafogo against Flamengo, a 1-1 thriller, we sat with the liveliest fans a group called BottaChopp who bang drums and wave flags non stop for 90 minutes. I didnt know the words to their songs so just sung Coventry City songs instead. Quite an experience, again. Last night caught up with some old Carioca friends at their appartment, good times indeed. Photos coming soon, as long as my camera doesnt get ripped off.

Floripa

2009-02-11T12:39:00.001-08:00

Still chilling in Floripa, BBQ every night, training kung fu on the terrace, very very nice. Went out last night to El Divino for a hip hop and house night. It was FULL of beautiful local princesses who thought they were far too special to talk to anyone, despite this fact it was wonderfulto be in a club that was probably 65% good looking girls, as Flori is a bit of a dude fest, its a surf town so more guys than girls in general.

The other day we hired a car between 6 of us and squeezed in for a trip round the island, stopping off for a huge lunch of oysters and squid in a little quiet fishing village, and then slept it off on a quiet beach.

We are heading to Rio on Friday, will be going to see Botafogo play Flamengo at the Maracana on Sunday, very excited about that. Leave Rio on the 18th to arrive in Salvador on the 19th in time for Carnaval where I will be staying with an old school friend who has lived there for years, really looking forward to that too.

Language here is a funny one. People can understand me fine because I can speak Spanish to them, but when they reply i understand at most half of what they say, if they speak S-L-O-W! Very odd but better than nothing i guess.
Anyways, check out time, fight the power.

Foz do Iguazu

2009-02-07T13:09:00.001-08:00

brasil 212, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

It would be pretty unfair to not write anything about the falls at Iguazu. They are thebiggest collection of waterfalls in the world, its hard to describe the sheer powe and impressiveness of them, you kind of have to be there to get just how huge these things are. What is even cooler is how close you can get to them, they have built these very cool walkways that allow you to get up close, safely, although you do get wet! These falls in the background are the mos impressive, you can get right up close and you have in front of you a 180 degee panorama of water cascading very very fast, the sound, sight and mist created by the falls is great, and in the heat also very refreshing.

Hawaiian Burger

2009-02-07T13:03:00.001-08:00

brasil 163, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Made these beasts on the BBQ the other night......yum

House of the Rising Sun

2009-02-07T05:59:00.001-08:00

brasil 229, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

View from our appartment on the lake in Florianoplis. I got up at 530AM to get this set of photos.

Can´t describe how wonderful it is to be here for the next 10 days, no packing rucksack, carryin rucksack, getting to bus station, sleeping on bus, moving hostel, sleeping in a dorm full of sweaty people farting, sharing skanky kitchen with people.

None of that for me for the next 10 days. We really landed on our feet and have rented out a furnished appartment with an awesome view, massive terrace, 2 double bedrooms and most importantly BBQ! All that for a tenner a night each. I actually feel like I am on holiday!

I Woke Up Bloody Early To Get This Shot

2009-02-05T07:46:00.001-08:00

P2051881, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

5.30 AM to be precise. Its a shot of the sun rising as seen from the terrace of our appartment in Florianopolis that we are renting. We hit the jackpot to be honest. The appartment is on the 1st floor of a house, we basically have half the house, including a huge terrace and an amazing view of the lake, which the house is on. We´ve had a BBQ every night since we got here!

Cat DJing

2009-02-05T07:41:00.001-08:00

P1291768, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Saw some pretty cool street art in BA, I liked this one particuarly. Its a cat, DJing. Of course.

Wheels Of Steel

2009-02-05T07:39:00.001-08:00

P1291765, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Theres a really good antiques market in San Telmo. I bought an amzing pair of retro sunglasses for 30 pesos (about 6 quid), I look REALLY cool wearing them, hope I dont lose them anytime soon..........

Outside Boca Juniors, on My bike

2009-02-05T07:37:00.001-08:00

P1281754, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Pulling a weird face for some reason

The Two Ronnies

2009-02-05T07:36:00.001-08:00

P1281750, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Buenos Aires

2009-02-05T07:35:00.001-08:00

P1281751, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

A rather delayed look back at the ´Paris of South America´. Spent my first few days there miserable and suffering from a very upset gut. This no doubt equally disturbed the fellow travellers in my hostel, which to be honest wass a little bit too noisy and PARTY focussed for my liking anyway. Maybe I´m finally getting old.
Anyway, BA, seemed more like a cross between Barcelona, and I iamagine, somewhere like Rome, than Paris, although it is definitely more like being in Europe than South America. The food is amazing, very much influenced by the Italian immigrants, the ice cream is incrediblee! The women are beautiful although the city itself not as pretty aas its European counterparts.
We were there for a week, about half of this I was ill. The other half was spent enjoying a bike ride through the South of the city, including the port area, San Telmo and Boca (home of Boca Juniors FC). There is a great vibe/pace of life in BA, very relaxed with a focus on good living and good food. We checked out a drum and bass club one night too, my one bit of partying there.
I enjoyed it, although not as much aas people had raved on about it, maybe because I didnt have enough time or maybe because it seemed like a pale version of a great European city.

So, ater all that, we hit the road again to Puerto de Iguazu, the Argentinian side of the most impressive collection of water falls in the world. A not too shabby 24 hour coach journey......

Update

2009-01-30T16:30:00.000-08:00

Yes it has been some time. I recovered fully from the stomach problem, and have been enjoying the AWESOMELY DELICIOUS food that Buenos Aires has to offer. Its heavily influenced by theItalian immigrants that arrived in the 19th century, and mainly involves meat and more meat. The ice cream is unreal too.
Anyway, just a short entry, to confim I am alive and well and currently in Puerto Iguazu, going to see the falls on the Argentinian side tomorrow and the Brasilian side the following day. really looking forward to it, I have wanted tovisit here for a long time, this is what I have to look forward to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguazu_Falls

For 22 hours I called This Bus ´Home´

2009-01-24T03:10:00.001-08:00

P1181581, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Lima to Cuzco, overnight 22 hours. You aren´t allowed to poo on the bus, only urinate, as the stewardesses reminded everyone every couple of hours.
On that subject, I am still suffering from my stomach infection/food poisoning whatever it is I have. Its been about 9 or 10 days now and a real pain in the ass, literally. I saw a doctor yesterday who prescribed me some pills and a special diet, which involved consuming nothing but apple juice for 12 hours. This is tantamount to torture in Argentina, land of GIANT steaks and all food portions in general. Just about to have my first meal, plain rice. Can´t wait.

Inca Bloke

2009-01-24T03:06:00.001-08:00

P1191587, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

A staue of an Inca bloke, in the town of Agua Calientes AKA Machu Picchu Peublo

2009-01-24T03:03:00.001-08:00

P1201654, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Looking Down On the Ruins

2009-01-24T03:02:00.001-08:00

P1201653, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Lil´Waynapicchu

2009-01-24T03:00:00.001-08:00

P1201650, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Some cool rocks at the top of Waynapicchu

2009-01-24T02:59:00.001-08:00

P1201646, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Waynapicchu being the bigger mountain (hence the name) that overlooks Macchu Picchu. Only 400 people per day are allowed entry to it, we had to get up at 5am to get into the first 400 that day

Hey, You, Get Off Of My Cloud

2009-01-24T02:57:00.001-08:00

P1201644, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Now I know how Mick Jagger felt when he wrote this song, I wish that bloke in the beanie hat wasn´t there, spoiling my photo!

2009-01-20T10:47:00.000-08:00

Rain

2009-01-20T09:29:00.000-08:00

It is raining here, can´t wait to get to Argentina

Photos

2009-01-20T09:26:00.000-08:00

A Couchsurfing friend of mine, the amazing Peak, is a professional photographer. You can tell she is a genius with a camera as she managed to make me look not too bad in these photos from my time in LA staying with her! Makes up a bit for all my pics that lost. The link to her site and the photos is here (she also says some nice stuff about me, I bribed her):

http://blog.peakness.com/?p=1134

Macchu Picchu

2009-01-19T13:55:00.001-08:00

P1201642, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

We made it! The worst ever organised trip to MP was a success. Almost. Mike didnt make it to the top of Wayna Picchu as he needed a poo whilst we were queing for entry to the exclusive peak overlooking the ruins (only 400 people allowed in per day) so he missed out on the 1 hour climb. I went up on my own, it was quite tiring but worth it for the view and tranquility. Another hour to get down as it is so steep. Anyway, got MP out of the way, really looking forward to getting out of Peru and into Buenos Aires.......

Peru....Poo

2009-01-18T14:11:00.001-08:00

P1111473, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

This photo was taken in Quito in Lima. It´s Mike, carrying his skateboard in a pretty cool little street. So, what was Lima all about I hear you say. I don´t know is the answer. We stayed 3 days, it seemed pretty cool but I saw very little, disabled by diarrahea brought on by foolishly drinking a juice that must have been made with tap water, which my delicate English stomach didn´t agree with.

As such, I spent the next 3 days in close proximity of the hostel we were staying in. Lima did seem pretty nice, it´s cheap, got fairly good weather, a beach, although to be fair Peru doesn´t do it for me like Colombia did, or I expect Argentina and Brasil to.......anyway, we left Lima for the 22 hour coach drive to........

.....Aguas Calientes AKA Machu Picchu Pueblo. We will be going up to Machu Picchu tomorrow morning, hopefully to see the sun rising. It´s a bit of smash and grab job, we are doing this in a very shoddy and ill prepared manner.

Fact-Machu Picchu is South Americas most important archeological site.
Fact-It has been around for a very long time.
Fact-It was discovered in the 20th Century.
Fact-Some people spend years planning their pilgrimage here, even Aguas Calientes is unreachable by car, let alone the site itself, which lay buried for centuries for the good reason that it is bloody hard to get to.
Fact-Mike and I made no preperation whatsover and arrived in Cuzco, the nearest city, with no idea of what we were doing, other than we wanted to see Machu Picchu.
Fact-We should just make it in time back to Lima for our flight to Buenos Aires. Just.

Anyway, enopugh facts for now. Machu Picchu should provide for some awesome photos which I look forward to posting here soon.

I have been quite unlucky in Peru. I have been ripped off at the border by money changing blaggers, had my mobile half inched and got the runs. Surely nothing else can go wrong?

Lima

2009-01-13T15:29:00.000-08:00

So we are kind of rushing now, left Quito after 2 nights as it was COLD and we want to be somewhere HOT! 18 hour trip to Mancorra on Peru coast, scruffy little beach town. Stayed in a hostel on the beach, quite nice but not nice enough to stay more than a night. Oh yeh, got ripped off at the border by some guys changing money, mugged over for about 20 quid, will blame that one on not being at my sharpest after the coach journey. So another 18 hour coach journey later (although the best coach i have ever been on i may add) am in Lima, probably for a few days. Then Cuzco for the Machu Pichi thing and then Buenos Aires, which ironically i am looking forward to, despite the fact that Argies dont seem to like us English for some reason......and then the big one, Brasil for the whole of Febuary.........

Viva Pasto

2009-01-13T15:18:00.001-08:00

P1041226, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

And its crzy carnival. As previously, I am a little bit behind schedule with the blog. Now i think about it, i dont think i even wrote about Cali. Crap. Or maybe I did. Anyway, spent almost a week in Cali for the Feria de Cali, a week long salsa festival, with parties and concerts everynight between Boxing Day and New Years day. I can now dance salsa, albeit not incredibly well, and also much better when drunk!

Carnaval de Blancos y Negros

2009-01-09T14:40:00.001-08:00

P1051247, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

I Love This Photo

2009-01-09T14:39:00.001-08:00

P1081425, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

So I am putting it on my blog. In Ecuador, its cold and a comedown from the fun in Colombia. On way to Peru, where it willalso be cold, although we´ll probably stop off at a beach resort on the way to warm our bones.

This photo was taken outside a club called "Lado B" in Pasto during the Carnaval de Blancos y Negros, a wild 3 day annual carnival where the locals paint each other, spray each other with foam and talc and generally make a huge mess of their otherwise bland town.

On one day of the carnival everyone paints their face white, the next day black. This provided me with the opportunity to be totally un PC and do something you couldn´t do in the UK, I had a black face for a day. Its a really old tradition here and no one could understand why it wouldn´t be posible at home when I tried to explain. God bless Colombia.

Before Aguardiente.....

2009-01-02T19:14:00.001-08:00

P1021059, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

....During.....

2009-01-02T19:13:00.003-08:00

P1021057, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

After!

2009-01-02T19:13:00.001-08:00

P1021058, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

NYE Me and My Homeboy Mike

2009-01-02T19:10:00.001-08:00

P1021081, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

NYE 2008/9 Cali, Colombia

2009-01-02T19:07:00.001-08:00

P1021089, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

House party, lots of salsa, lots of Aguardiente!

Cali

2009-01-02T06:53:00.001-08:00

P1011052, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Been here since the 27th for the Feria de Cali, traditionally a Salsa festival although now it hosts all sorts of music (well Salsa, Merengue, Reggae and Reggaeton). Basically the city parties every night for a week with concerts in various locations and a carnival atmosphere everywhere.
Have been hanging out with some great CSers, dancing salsa, drinking Aguardiente http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aguardiente , eating great food and sleeping in late. We´ve been to salsa concerts, beerfests, reggae concerts and house parties. I´m kind of partied out to be honest right now, looking forward to some form of normality in the next few days, although the fact that we will be moving on soon doesn´t really bode too well for that wish to come true.........

Tower Building Competition!

2008-12-31T18:25:00.001-08:00

PC310944, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Taganga

2008-12-31T11:30:00.001-08:00

PC240809, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Taganga my friend. Spent Xmas here, a very sleepy little fishing town which attracts tourists for its cheap diving. I didnt dive, if God had wanted me to go underwater I would have gills and fins. Instead I lounged around, got stoned, read and took some photos. Also, met up with some French friends, Laurent and Barbara, we made in Panama and spent a very pleasant Xmas Eve with them, we had a lovely meal, some wine, some grass, some rum and went dancing in the only club in town "El Garaje", thats "The Garage" to you.

Parque Tayrona, some rocks, rocking

2008-12-31T11:24:00.001-08:00

PC210789, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Winners

2008-12-31T11:23:00.001-08:00

PC210796, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

So, the following morning, I woke up at 7am, precisely an hour and a half after going to bed. The plan was to go to Parque Tayrona for the day and spend some time chillaxing on the beaches there, which you have to hike through forest for 45 minutes to reach. It costs $15 to get in, about 9 pounds roughly. I heard a rumour that you could walk down the beach for 45 minutes and get in for free, always looking for a cheaper alternative I set off with 4 others whilst the rest if the group took the bus, the schmucks!

We walked along the beach for an hour, obviously this is tougher than walking on a road but we pushed on, the landscape was stunning and we stopped to pilfer some coconuts and broke them open to drink from them. We reached a point where the beach was broken by a deep and very fast flowing river feeding into the ocean. As we were carrying bags swimming was out of the question, luckily one point was crossable by foot, although the water was over waist height and the current perilous. We carried on walking, for another 2 hours until we reached some huts on the beach, inhabited by fishermen. We asked how much further to the Park, hoping it was just round the corner. Another 3 hours they said, and impossible to reach because of the cliffs ahead.

Great.

Rather deflated we held an emergency meeting. Everyone but me wanted to turn back. Fine by me, but I was determeined to get to the park, I was now high on exhaustion and running on emergency energy, light headed and determined. Fortunately one of my colleagues, Chris from Canada, the guy in the photo, changed his mind and said he too wanted to reach the park. Chris and I had been partying together the night before so it felt right that we should carry on this epic journey. We left the quitters behind and walked through a banana plantation to reach the main road where we walked into town a further half hour, got on a bus for 10 minutes and eventually reached the outskirts of the park. We then walked another 45 minutes through forest, up and down the tracks, and then a further 45 minutes until we finally met some of our group, who were now heading back to their bus as it was time to leave!

Elated, exhausted and triumphant Chris and I posed for photos, rested for 10 minutes, told the story of our adventure to anyone who listened (which we greatly embelished with stories of dinosaurs and bear attacks), before walking back an hour and a half back to the bus, for a lift home.

That night the party was a little bit more subdued funnily enough.

Twister!

2008-12-31T10:23:00.001-08:00

PC200777, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

The organizers had hired a sound system, which was very loud and went on until 5 every morning, lucky we had no neighbours to disturb!

On the 2nd night, I must admit I got a little bit drunk, but this was a good thing, because under the careful tuition of a couple of the girls I became, for one night only, the greatest Salsa dancer in the world, ever! The booze definitely helped, I progressed swiftly, although not entirely gracefully from the basic forwards/backwards, to side to side, to side to side with a step, onto spins, Merengue and God knows what ever else. The next day unfortunately I was unable to repeat the feat, sobriety had robbed me of my dancing shoes, although I received many compliments on my dance floor prowess from some rather surprised Colombians.

Parque Tayrona

2008-12-31T10:17:00.001-08:00

PC210784, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

The CS National Meeting took place about half an hour from Parque Tayrona, Colombias finest national park http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tayrona_National_Natural_Park

Mike and I went and bought tents and ground mats, some Pot Noodles and a couple of bottles of Aguardiente (Colombian Fire Water to you and I) and set off to meet about 70 other CSers, mainly Colombian and South American, some Europeans and Americans. We didn´t really know what to expect, and were very pleasantly surprised to be staying in a totally unspoilt environment, camped out 100 metres from the beach, a mile or two away from the road; no cars, hotels, restaurants or discos for miles. After building a bonfire and doing a group introduction the partying got going, Aguardiente, rum, salsa and.......

Colombia

2008-12-31T10:07:00.001-08:00

PC250824, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

So, it has been quite some time has it not dear reader? This is partly due to the fact that I have been in Colombia for 2 weeks now and having an awesome time, so awesome in fact, I couldn´t tear myself away from the awesomeness to write about it.

So what exactly have I been doing? Well, we arrived in Cartagena, following a gruelling 5 day trip on a sail boat, were eventually allowed onto land at the port and stayed in cartagena for about 3 days. Cartagena is gorgeous, some say South Americas most beautiful city, for its old town dates back hundreds of years and is fortified by a wall that was built to protect from attacks by the likes of fearsome pirates and Empire building Brits.

In Cartagena we hooked up with some CouchSurfers and found out about the Couch Surfing Colombia National Meeting, which sounded very formal but in fact was a 3 day party, camping on one of the most beautiful stretches of beach in the world, crystal clear water, white sand, palm trees, jungle and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains to cap off the landscape.

Transformer Bus

2008-12-26T06:19:00.001-08:00

PC090453, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

The coolest thing about Panama was the wicked graphics on the buses, all of them are pimped out differently

So That's Why.....

2008-12-26T06:17:00.001-08:00

PC130555, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

....I woke up at 5am..........peace

On The Boat

2008-12-26T06:15:00.001-08:00

PC130589, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

The nausea seems a distant memory now thankfully

A Word In Your Shell Like

2008-12-26T06:14:00.003-08:00

PC130609, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Shoot The Moon

2008-12-26T06:14:00.001-08:00

PC130640, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

A Shell Next to the Bonfire

2008-12-26T06:11:00.001-08:00

PC130642, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

I really like this stained glass

2008-12-26T06:09:00.001-08:00

PC170668, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Tile!

2008-12-26T06:06:00.001-08:00

PC170679, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Smile!

2008-12-26T06:05:00.001-08:00

PC170681, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Museuem of the Inquisition

2008-12-26T06:04:00.001-08:00

PC170685, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Me, about to have my head chopped off

Colores de Cartagena

2008-12-26T06:03:00.001-08:00

PC170702, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Nice Wheels

2008-12-26T06:02:00.001-08:00

PC170704, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

a REALLY COOL SCOOTER WITH A DOPE STEREO, whilst bending down to take this photo a man with only one hand tapped me on the head with his stump! He thought it was hilarious. I guess it was pretty funny.

Cartagena

2008-12-26T06:00:00.001-08:00

PC180732, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Part of the xmas decorations, a pirate ship

Cartagena

2008-12-24T11:14:00.001-08:00

PC180708, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

its me wearing a wife beater in front of a castle in Cartagena

Cartagena

2008-12-24T11:11:00.001-08:00

PC180735, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Where am I? Oh yeh, Colombiaaaaaaa!!!!

2008-12-17T16:18:00.000-08:00

So we got to Cartagena on our boat, eventually, the captain got pissed and stoned and took us 6 hours in the wrong direction, in very turbulent seas, 10 foot waves no exaggeration, it ws quite an experience, but more of that later, still trying to catch on Cuba.

Cuba, an ongoing essay, by Mark Stangroom, aged 34 and 4 months.

I really liked Cubam, thats why I'm perservering with the stuff i wrote down when i as thee, kind of got a bit lost with the notes, so here goes on picking up the pieces.
Click here for photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32203076@N02/sets/72157610586811709/ Theres alot of street hustlers, they are known as "jineteros". These guys will offer you everything they can think of, which includes guided tours around the city, bars, restaurants, a place to stay, a taxi, cigars, prostitutes and drugs. There are also the female equivalent, "jineteras" who kind of "escort" rich foreign tourists, in exchange for having some money spent on them. It is pretty sad really, but unfortunately not unusual it would seem, and it makes it alot less flattering when a gorgeous girl hits on you in a club or even in the street, I know i'm hot stuff but offering to come home with me one minute after introducing yourself is a bit too forward, even for me.

Anyway, Havana. Wowser. Totally hectic, falling to pieces yet beautiful, old yet full of vitality, its an awesome town. Its old town is gorgeous and being restored, albeit slowly. Central Havana is where alot of the locals live, right next to the old town. Sadly, this is lower down the list of priorities to be developed, the streets are dirty and smelly, but they are safe. I stayed there for about 5 or 6 days, with a Budhist couple, technically they were breaking the law by allowing me to stay but they take in guests for the cash, and it is cheaper than a state registered casa particular, or private home which offer a kind of bed and brekfast service. this is by far the best way of staying in Cuba because you get to meet the locals, rather than stay in a shoddy state run hotel.

Huge American cars from the 50s cruise the busy cobbled streets, classic Chryslers, Buicks and Fords are everywhere, relics from a bygone era of American expats pre revolution. These relics now run on spares from Russian tractors, trade which came about when the US rejected Castro, so he became a Marxist and embraced the Soviets. Although they arent supposed to pick up tourists I managed to get a lift home a couple of times, they call them Collectivis, and they just run routes, picking up people as they are flagged down as long as thereis space in the car, so you end up squashed in between the locals, trying to look inconspicuous!

I spent a week in hvana, and saw pretty much everyhting I wanted to see. It was a relief to get out of town eventually, when I headed West to Vi;ales, a little village in a national park dating from the Jurassic era. the weather was gorgeous, as opposed to Havana where the sunshine ws intermittent, hot but not uncomfortable and my uber tan that I developedf in Ibiza this summer is coming back at last.

Vi;ales was hit by the last two hurricanes, Ike and Gustav. Many trees were ripped down and houses were destroyed as well as crops ruined. Although they were not the worst affected in the country the effects were noticeable, as is the community spirit. It is a close knit place where everybody knows everybody and helps each other out, a practice prescribed by Che Guevara, who advocated through indoctrination that one should put the good of the state above individual motivation.

Panama Canal

2008-12-16T11:38:00.001-08:00

PC080445, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Me with Mike and Heidy, my friends niece at the Panama Canal

Small Wooden Bridge

2008-12-09T14:49:00.001-08:00

PB260357, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Thats right, its me on a small, wooden bridge

Whooooaaaaa

2008-12-09T14:47:00.001-08:00

PB260358, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

Thats right, it´s me on a really fast, powerful wild horse, but I showed it who the boss is ;)

Dalia and Milo

2008-12-09T14:45:00.001-08:00

PB280413, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

My Cuban ´Mum and Dad´ in Viñales , Cuba

Viñales aka Jurassic Park!

2008-12-09T14:43:00.001-08:00

PB270392, originally uploaded by stangroomm.

In Cuba innit, this is where I went horse riding

Portobello, Panama

2008-12-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

Just rocked up in Portobello, Panama, http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=es&tab=wl where our boat leaves from tomorrow. It was a pretty good journey from Panama City, 2 buses, the second of which played really cool Latin music. Portobello is a very, very quiet town, with literally nothing happening, hence straight into the internet cafe to try and update the mammoth backlog of photos i have from my travels. Of course I left my notebook containing Cuban diary at the hostel, which is run by a Canadian guy called Marco. The hostel has a tiny little pet monkey, which looks like it would sooner bite your finger off than perform cute tricks. I kept clear of it although Mike stroked it, yuk.

We did some tourist suff in Panama, although really it was a stop off to get to Cartagena, Colombia. We saw the canal, built in 1913 and only recently handed over to the Panamanian governement by the Americans. Luckily there was a boat going through the locks at the time, otherwise this would be one of the worlds most boring tourist attractions, unless you were really into engineering. We were given a tour of Panama City by one of my friends nieces, she kindly picked us up in her 4x4 and drove us round town, plus we went for a great fish lunch with patacones, double fried plaintain to you and me, followed by the worlds largest ice cream sundae. Have spent most of the past few days chilling in the hostel, meeting alot of people, mainly Europeans and `speaking a fair amount of Spanish, which is improving alot I am pleased to report.

Anyway, I am kind of jibbering here. Basically tomorrow we set off for what should be an AWESOME trip, 1 day sailing to the San Blas islands http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=es&tab=wl which is a collection of 400`pretty much unspoilt islands where we will spend 2 nights, then a 48 hour journey in the open sea to Cartagena on the Colombian Carribean coast, although I hear the crossing to Cartagena once we leave the San Blas islands is pretty rough and people get sea sick (we have bought anti nausea pills and wristbands to combat this, plus a bottle of rum to stave off the boredom). The boat is a 55 footer, we met the captains, they seemed decent and there will be 7 other passengers. Plus, they are happy to allow passengers to try out crewing the boat, should be interesting.......

More Mexico

2008-12-08T13:40:00.000-08:00

One person i really need to mention in mexico City is lilianne, a couchsurfer who made it her personal mission to make sure i enjoyed myself there. she took me to a nice restaurant, showed me round some of the cooler districts (my favourite was cayoucan), took me to the wrestling with her brother, then onto a great taceria and club and genereally was a great guide. I hope that when she comes to london i can be half as helpful!

So after 5 days i was ready to fly to cuba. i had been holding out on booking my tickets as there was a slight concern over the fçeffects of hurrican Paloma, the 3rd hurricane of the season to hit the island. Luckily it wasn´t as devestating as the previous two and so off i headed, very much into the unknown. the following is a type up of the notes i made whilst there, as such they may appear to be pretty random, i may also add in any other bits of info i forgot to write down that pop into my head as i type, kind of delayed gonzo reporting if you like-

Cuba

A dew obversations on cuba. one, there is not many fat people here. I´ve spent the past week in havana, where the food is awful in general, so really its no wonder the locals stay slim. Although everyone here gets enough to eat under the socialist system, the choice is pretty narrow, fried pork or chicken, rice (fried also), pizza (warm bread with tomato liquid and something resembling cheese on top of it) and ice cream makes up the typical diet. however, having now left the capital (quite refreshing to do so) and arrived in Viñales, a beautiful village where my hosts Milo and Dalia have welcomed me into their home with great affection and the best meal i have had in Cuba so far (average number of plates i am given with each meal is 6, i think Dalia is trying to fatten me up). milo and dalia run a casa Particular, by far the best way of staying in cuba, cheaper than hotels and you get to meet the locals, staying in private homes that have a license to allow foreigners to stay for a fee. Most will also provide meals for an additional fee. i certainly hit gold with milo and Dalia, two of the nicest people i have met, they called me their son and we got on famously.

Well, running out f time again so will have to finish this off another time, damn facebook keeps distracting me......

Panamama

2008-12-07T16:17:00.000-08:00

ok so now i´m in panama city, in an internet cafe writing on a computer with a crappy keyboard. The shift button is rather temperamental so please don´t be too harsh on me if my punctuation is not up to it´s usual high standards in what will no doubt be another thrilling installment of my travels.

Still catching up on things, lets go back in time, to a land called Mexico, a land where over muscled men in tight underpants wearing masks are worshipped and wet look hair gel is still in fashion . I stayed with a couchsurfing host, erika and her two room mates in Mexico City, one of the worlds largest cities with a population of 19 million and a metro system to make Londons look like a Thomas the Tank Engine set in comparison . it is also cheap as chips to travel around and pretty straightforward to navigate, as well as providing brilliant entertainment in the form of street vendors selling anything from pirated CDs and DVDs to torches and batteries to sweets and drinks. the great thing about the dvD and CD fellas is that they actually carry round cD players and speakers in rucksacks playing the CD they have for sale, i never thought i would hear kajagoogoo on a mexican underground. the biggest freak i saw on the underground was the guy who earned a living laying down a blanket in the midlle of the carriage, covered in broken glass and then backflipped onto it, landing with his back on the glass (which was covered in scratches and scars). To make matters worse, no one gave him any money. In fact, the whole week i was there i only saw 2 people buy a CD, one was a shopaholic woman who bought something from every salesperson who got on the train, the other one was me, i just fancied wasting a few pesos on a CD i shall probably never listen to.

The highlight of Mexico City for me was my night out at the Lucha Libre. mexican wrestling is more pantomime than even WWF, but the cool thing about is that most of the wrestlers wear really cool masks

Freestylin´

2008-12-03T15:23:00.000-08:00

Well its been such a long time, and I have so many adventures to catch up on. The last few weeks have seen me in New Mexico, Old Mexico, Cuba and now Costa Rica (although leaving at 11pm ce soir, hence sat in an internet cafe filling up time, plus it is pouring here). As internet connection in Cuba is still dial up I opted to keep a written journal of thoughts and tom foolery, as such when I actually have that journal with me I will copy up the Cuba anecdotes. For now I´ll just witter about Mexicos Old and New along with Costa Rica from memory (so please bear with me if it gets sketchy).

So New Mexico. I pretty much covered it, asides I believe from a couple of characters I ran into and an incident with the Greyhound bus. OK the characters, in no particular order. First there was Doc. Doc lived in the trailer a couple of doors down from my friend Lucy, she had befriended him and his dog Gizmo and I can see wh. He was a top bloke, with a white beard, bald head and a heart of pure gold. Doc took us out on a road trip on his birthday, we went out into the hills to some little towns where they used to mine for silver back in the 19th century. The scenery accross the desert scape was awesome, classic American trails which we ripped up in Docs truck. He knew the roads well, he used to be a trucker by trade and told us some quality stories, whilst Lucy and I pestered him to stop everywhere for photos! We went through a town called Winston, pretty small, not much more than a gas station and some trailers, then we got to Chloride, population 11, yes 11. It is a proper ghost town, pretty much abandoned by the 1920s http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nm/chloride.html and contains two awesome things. One is the town store, which is now a museum, pretty much exactly as it was in 1920 when it was closed down by its then owner, to be untouched for nearly 70 years. The other awesome thing is the gate with the sign on it. The gate stands in the middle of a empty field, with no walls or fences attached to it. It has a sign on it, saying ´Please close the gate´. I found this to be hilarious, as did Lucy. We took photos and even a video of Lucy closing the gate after walking through it, which is going to be put on Youtube. I think it has Oscar written all over it, comedy genius. So after that bout of the giggles we left the 11 other people in town and headed home, stopping off for a home made Pecan pie for Docs birthday party that night at the springs resort.

It was a pretty chilled party, with pizza, popcorn, pecan pie, chocolate covered pecans, birthday cake and singing. Lots of people turned up, including the next character, without whom my story would not be complete. Big John is the tallest man i have ever met. He is a 6´11" Californian with long flowing hair, has skin darker than a Nigerian ( he specifically asked me to write that bit, I dont normally do requests but have made an exception on this occasion) and has made love to over 10,000 women. Apparently. Could be an exaggeration, but the best stories are always slightly embellished as my good friend Giles Davenport once told me. Big John also has the best moustache ever, most men couldn´t even imagine having such a cool moustache. Anyway, John was a cool guy and to tie him into the story, he saved my bacon the following day and proved himself to be a great friend but a terrible singer (only kidding John, although he does do a great impression of Optimus Prime, the best I have heard.)

That night I went to leave Truth or Consequences, I had a seat reserved on the one and only Greyhound bus that runs through town at 1030 pm every evening. The problem was, the bus ran and ran. It kept running, it didn´t slow down and it didn´t stop to pick us up. All week, people had been telling me their story of how they wound up in T or C. Most people are drawn there by mysterious powers and never leave. Was it also my fate to never leave?

Well dear reader. There I was, in a funny little town in the middle of the desert, coming up to 11pm at night with a
sand storm kicking up, and no where to stay. Enter Big John. I knocked on his trailer door, he had made the offer of his couch earlier in the week and now it was to deliver on the offer, in my hour of need John did not fail me. I slept like a log on his couch in the front room of the caravan, until about 430am when he awoke me by apologising for the fact that the bathroom had no door and that he was "dropping the kids off at he pool", pretty much in the same room as me. Anyways, I had about an hours more sleep and then got up to phone American Airlines, I had a flight from Alburquerque to Mexico City that morning that I was not going to make, due to the Greyhound incident. So $181 later I had rebooked my flight for the following day and John was getting ready to drive me the 2 hour trip to Alberquerque. He had to go anyway, he wanted to buy some size 15 fur lined moccasin boots, it gets cold at night in the desert you know, even for incredibly tall people with awesome moustaches.

So, Lucy, John and I set off for Alburquerque. We had great fun in the car, laughing, joking, chatting and singing. It was very funny. We sang some really bad songs, like Haddaways "What is Love" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsCXZczTQXo 2 Unlimiteds "No Limit" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzyFmilkd80&feature=related and Culturebeats "Mr Vain" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvgUdrzGNys&feature=related, to give you an idea of how bad they were. I dont know why we did it, but it was great fun. I have done quite alot of singing recently. Not that I´m good, just been enjoying it. Anyway, you kind of had to be there to understand it, but its a car journey I will remember with fond memories for a long time.

Thanks Big John and Lucy.

Back In The Western World

2008-11-28T10:53:00.000-08:00

And with a lot to catch up on. Mexico and Cuba were awesome, internet access is very restricted in Cuba so I didn´t keep the blog up to date but kept a diary of sorts and will be updating soon. Hopefully with some awesome photos too. Watch this space!

River Bend

2008-11-08T13:39:00.000-08:00

Have moved into the River Bend Resort where my friend Lucy is working. Staying in a dorm with 3 guys who all work them in a kind of work trade deal, ie they handiwork on the resort and get accomodation. Have made good use of the hot springs, was even out there when it was freezing last night. Despite being in the desert it was below freezing tonight, although back to normal and nice and warm today. Last night had a Persian meal with Maya and her friend Ruth, a septenarian artist who showed me her studio and art. Spent this morning in the tub, and chilling in the music shop with Reed and David. Reed played guitar, David drums and I just added vibes as best I could. Just listening now to Kanye Wests new track http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/?em3106=212776_-1__0_~0_-1_5_2008_0_0&em3161=&em3281=

its a departure from his old stuff and may take a couple of listens for me to get into it. I am eating alot here, the restaurants are all cheap as chips and give you so much food. The diner round the corner charges $3.25 for 2 bacpn, 2 eggs and 2 huge pancakes plus coffee for breakfast. On Thursday night I ate 2 plates of food for dinner. I think i must have put on some timber since I got into town. Just a well, i heard the food in Cuba is bland so best fill my boots now!