hickory finally makes the grade

my hometown is officially finally getting the recognition it deserves; 5th most unfit city in the US.

glimpse into the crazies of north korea

not sure if anyone is familiar with vice, the magazine, but they do some pretty edgy stuff, involving the vices of life; sex, drugs, rock n roll. anyway they produced a high acclaimed documentary called 'heavy metal in baghdad' they follow a metal band through the war and use their story to explain the experience of normal iraqis. its very powerful.


heavy metal in baghdad

but more appropriate now given the death of kim jung il (the illest), vice is allowed an orchestrated and manipulated tour of north korea and shows the lengths the regime goes to to brainwash the population. its amazing, unbelievable, and saddening.

vibe guide to north korea

totally off the grid groovy man

when i bought this cabin 3 years ago the idea was to restore it as an off-grid homestead. needless to say, the progress has been slow. but i made a huge leap forward installing a photovoltaic (pv) solar system this week.

before the install on the south facing barn.


the panels are secured together with a piece of angled aluminum (no need for pricey rack system) with brackets from my folks' old solar thermal system.


the penetration for the panel array wires was an old pvc bulkhead fitting with a homemade gasket seal (bike inner tube)


hoisted the array as one piece; bolted and caulked it in place


sebastian and tyler the grad students from appalachian state who helped design the system


he must work out!!!!


the array is mounted after the first day


tyler installing the power systems in the barn


trench to the house that will have a pipe with the electrical run in it. almost like a real house!!!

outer banks paddling

ive been itching to go paddling "down east" and finally i wrangled mike fisk and jordan nance to come along to the southeast corner of the state for the weekend. we got to harkers island after dark and decided to sleep at the park boat launch. unfortunately the park museum was hosting the annual duck decoy festival and was bustling with people. we attempted to blend in with the brooks brothers suit coats crowd while hovering over the wild game spread; stuffing our faces with boiled shrimp and crab salad, duck pate, beef livers, and venison as well as an open bar.

bellies full, we excused ourselves to crash in the parking lot, the only thing is that apparently on fridays the only thing to do on the island for locals is to drive to dead end cul-de-sacs and make out. not just for 15 yr olds anymore old people too. literally every shady dead end was packed with face-suckers!!! soooo we headed back to the museum and decided to sleep in the parking lot because we saw a scout troop camping out. we walked up the trail and passed around a bottle of whisky and fell asleep. sometime in the night the webelos found us with their flashlights and we heard their whispers "i think we found homeless people, look at all the liquor bottles, gross. i bet they just finished eating children." i woke up and yelled at them and was sure upon reporting to their scout masters they earned a sexual predator/hobo merit badge for disturbing creepy forest hermits.

the usual suspects

mike fisk


jordan glenn nance


yours truly

we got up early and paddled across the sound to west end of shackleford banks. the island is inhabited by wild ponies; a remnant of early explorers. the horses browse down the vegetation so the island resembles a manicured golf course complete with greens and sandy bunkers.





we camped in this amphitheater-like bowl protected from the wind halfway from the sound and ocean. we collected clumps of oysters and steamed them in the shells over the fire as an appetizer and finished with ground venison and hashbrown scramble. and fell asleep while visions of redfish and mackerel danced in our heads.










no luck fishing despite a valiant effort and headed home on sunday.





the dudes return from a great paddle

3 bear night

monday i drove up to the house in tenn with my folks corgi, king leonidas. we got there around 6pm and straightened up as i hadnt been there in 2 months. i poured out some spoiled soy sauce on the back porch and was reading on the couch when i heard something and thought to myself 'the mice sure are getting bold coming out.' then leo started growling at the door that was ajar and got up to check it out. as soon as i opened the door leo ran off and was chased by something. suddenly i saw a black streak rush towards in the doorway, and recognized it as a black bear. i slammed the door and freaked out, screaming like a girl. i immediately ran to the other door and as i opened the door another bear ran up the stairs at me. by this point i was out of my mind running frantically, but the whole time i had this clear thought that my mother is going to kill me because her dog is a bear snack. i grabbed a headlight and baseball bat and ran outside going bananas: hitting trees and the house and yelling at the top of my lungs. i can hear the mother and cubs down in the woods and i hear leos little collar bell jingling and sheepishly coming up the drive.

i think when i opened the door the mother chased leo and one of the cubs bluff charged me. when she heard my flipping out she turned back then the other cub charged me on the front porch.



this little bear hates benches

this bear hates styrofoam insulation

this little bear hates football-sized yankee candles (autumn toasted-cinnamon swirly surprise)


this little bear loves sleeping in compost bins (this one is juuuust right)

chandeleur islands

soundwaves.usgs.gov

the chandeleur islands managed by the National Wildlife Refuge, are a chain of islands off the east coast of louisiana, which were the historic result of the mississippi river outflow when the mouth was much further north. the islands were hit hard by the oil spill compounded by heavy erosion (>85%) means they are predicted to disappear in 20 years. we are the last team this season to collect impact data from the sites.


soundwaves.usgs.gov

due to their remoteness from the mainland (3.5 hrs from biloxi, ms) trips require you to stay on boats. visitors arent allowed on the islands because of their distinction as a federal wildlife refuge and ecological sensitivity, so our access to the island was very special.


http://www.rodnreel.com/chandeleurislandcharter/assets/images/pagea2.jpg


also known for its legendary amazing fishing the islands are a sad reminder of what used to be. they are ringed by deep, blue water which closely approach productive, shallow grassbeds this creates a unique environment where large predator fish can come close to land.

it would have been a sin not to take advantage of this opportunity soooooo every spare moment was spent fishing the shallow flats for redfish, black drum, sand trout, speckled trout, and shark

sand trout


motoring through the flats


shane and greg


pelican feeding frenzy


the majority of our time was spent pulling boats through the flats


greg and shane (green)

angola prison rodeo

25kt winds helped give us sunday off and we decided to check out the infamous Angola Prison Rodeo in angola, louisiana.

fun facts about louisiana state penitentiary nicknamed angola or "alcatraz of the south" or "the farm":

*largest maximum security prison in the country (5000 offenders, 1800 officers)

*18,000 acres property including death row chamber (larger than manhattan)

*"Angola was designed to be as self-sufficient as possible; it functioned as a miniature community with a canning factory, a dairy, a mail system, a small ranch, repair shops, and a sugar mill. Prisoners raised food staples and cash crops. The self sufficiency was enacted so taxpayers would spend less money and so politicians such as Governor of Louisiana Huey P. Long would have an improved public image. In the 1930s prisoners worked from dawn until dusk"

"you've got to keep the inmates working all day so they're tired at night." -warden burl cain

warden burl cain - seems like a nice guy

-source Wikipedia


anyway the rodeo starts @ 2 and its 2.5 hours north of new orleans. so jill and i thought we could drive to baton rouge, watch our respective football games at the bar and arrive a hour late to the rodeo. any rodeo ive ever been to is like a baseball game, you can casually observe and drink, apparently this is my first prison rodeo. its exactly 2hours - no exceptions.

this is what we missed... i guess

convict poker- only rule: last man sitting wins http://www.vincentmaling.com/wordpress/?p=6

convict poker http://www.newlywedinneworleans.com/2010/10/angola-prison-rodeo.html

other events: wild cow milking, barrel racing, bust out, bull dogging, and guts and glory; where a poker chip is tied between the meanest brahma's horns and the object is the snatch it off.


the inmates also make crafts that are sold to the throngs of visitors. much of it looked like my middle school shop class work; endtables with 2" of bubbly lacquer and wobbly 3 legged chairs. also a fair number of lsu tigers and overly dramatic portraits of jesus on velvet (sometimes in the same scene).

what made it more interesting than my normal sunday trip to the arts and craft store was that the shopping was done under the watchful glaze of very scary prisoners behind chain-link fences. see below. i actually saw one with a real life eye patch. they are hanging against the fence just breathing and moaning like you would imagine.


i didnt like these but i wanted to get photos of the inmates in the background, but they would kill me if they saw me taking pictures.




this guy is named harlowe parker, a truly gifted artist from new orleans that produces these stylized paintings depicting rural louisiana life. they look similar to some art we saw in tanzania, the bodies elongated and exaggerated faces and limbs. apparently he has quite an audience including harry conick jr.

i think my shadow adds to the piece.






the beautiful landscape belies the tragic lives being lived behind those walls

the toof is loose

as with most younger brothers, i waged a constant battle with my older brother to get the other in trouble and get out of chores, through any means necessary. nathan and i were given the task of washing the dishes after supper. one night, i took the opportunity while drying a huge iron skillet to smack myself in the face. i turned to my mom and said "my toof feels funny" like any good mother she immediately started hyperventilating and screaming at the sight of my broken two front teeth. "oh my god, oh my god" she shrieked examining my jagged maw. i looked behind her and saw my obnoxious brother mouthing "youre even uglier than before"
turned out i really showed him; my little charade worked i havent dried dishes in 25 years.

this brings us to the present. while eating wings with thom, it happened again. i turned to him and said "my toof feels funny" "holy schnikes, dude youre tooth is broken"



i never really got used to the sharp half tooth. i have a habit of spitting alot and now with my new and improved pee wee herman look its even more disgusting now that i drool as well as blowing little bubbles while i talk.