Product Liabilities…
Picasso is a Communist; neither am I.
-Salvador Dali
Had a reasonably calm week. Continued to settle in at Bean Me Up and get various routines (running, yoga, meals) in order. Perhaps the iconic moment of the week occurred when sitting with BMU owner Lisa at dinner; head waiter Bini (real name: Vinod) wandered by, a strange light emanating from the front of his jeans. I wondered just what young Bini was packing…did I need one of those? But Lisa told me it was just Bini’s new lighter, which, when lit, activated a small light that stayed on for a minute or two. Bini does fancy himself a bit of a stud; we’ll have to see whether his ‘pants on fire’ approach gets him anywhere this winter.
The weather has gotten downright perfect – the huge storm last week must have blown the hot air straight out of the state of Goa. Nights have been cool and excellent for sleeping, daytime has been warm but not insidiously so. Not that I don’t sweat like a monkey while working out – my gym has copious aircon and I use it without a moment’s hesitation. But yoga class does present a challenge…it’s in the open air in Chapora village and the only thing I can do is towel off every few minutes.
Lisa told me about Gabriella, an Aussie yogi who offers classes nearby. I was not eager to go back to Purple Valley/Brahmani Yoga, where I took a few classes last year; I just didn’t find the teaching particularly enlightening, and the classes were packed and factory-like. So, in my usual fashion, I did nothing for a couple weeks, then Lisa let me in on Gaby’s classes. I went one morning, and found it compelling. It’s Ashtanga Yoga, which comprises a fixed set of asanas (poses). I’ve done more Vinyasa Flow Yoga in the past, but the latter comes from the former, so it’s not that hard to transition. But I’m supposed to go every morning, for 1.5-2 hours, and that’s the hard part. I meant to go back for day two, but overslept…probably because after day one, I was so tired I took a 2-hour nap, then couldn’t sleep at night. Not the right sort of circle to enter. Managed to get back on track the next day, but again dozed off in the afternoon. That’s today, so we’ll see if I can sleep tonight, and make tomorrow’s class. Does the Gentle Dragon have the requisite willpower to adhere to a demanding schedule? Attending class of any sort does seem to awaken a resistance mechanism deep in me…
I check email at a little Internet café near BMU. I have a wireless account there, and just sit on the couch there and blast away. A few days ago I got up and stretched out my arms, which were sore from lots of exercise and lots of sleeping in odd positions. The young clerk yelled to me – I pulled my arms down and looked over at him. I followed his eyes up toward the ceiling, where the ceiling fan was twirling around at high speed. Oops. That was nearly my final typing session without prostheses. Later, when owner Sagar entered the store, I told him his shop was a massive hazard and that he needed to move the fan to a wall and cover it up. He seemed to get it. The whole episode reminded me of my early days in Bombay in 1992. I moved into an apartment building whose elevator featured a small uncovered ceiling fan, one that a teenager could easily reach up and touch. I wrote a short story about those early days and that observation; my point was that India was a place where you were rarely protected from the consequences of your most innocent of actions and acts of exploration. Apparently it remains so today.
Found a website called scanR.com. This site allows you to take a photo of a document, email it to the site, and then they give you access to a related site where you can view/download your document in various formats – JPEG, PDF, etc. Took less than a minute. The quality of the ‘scanned’ document is quite good – obviously, the greater the photo’s megapixels, the higher the chance of a legible doc. Tried it with an article about ‘Hebonics,’ which I’ve mentioned before in this blog. Came out pretty well. I saved the PDF version, let me know if you’re interested in seeing it.
Went to the first Ingo’s Saturday Night Bazaar. This is a huge market where nearly every local (and far-off) vendor – clothes, food, music, etc. – shows up and hordes of tourists descend and spend. Bean Me Up had a booth, so hung out a bit there. Had a few drinks with Lisa and Richard. At one point I spotted a cute young woman with an impressively large chest – managed to strike up a conversation while we both browsed CDs. I think she’s around for a few weeks, at least, and am very much hoping she’ll show up on the beach in something skimpy…
Watched a DVD I’ve been carrying around for a while. It’s by Ray & Charles Eames, an avante-garde movie-making couple who are both deceased. The feature movie on the DVD is ‘Powers of Ten,’ a fascinating short piece in which the camera first shows a couple lying on a picnic blanket in Grant Park, Chicago, at a distance of 1 meter, then every 10 seconds takes the camera distance a power of ten farther – i.e., at 10 seconds it’s 10 meters away, at 20 seconds 100 meters, etc. It’s not that long before you’re in space and the Earth is a speck, then gone, then you’re beyond the Milky Way. Obviously some/much of the camera work is mocked-up, but it’s still a cool depiction of how exponential mathematics works and how it relates to our wild universe.
Was riding my motorbike the other day in Vagator. Saw a small police van and started turning to avoid it, but no use – they had spotted me. In Goa it’s usually a good idea to play dumb and pretend you didn’t see/hear the traffic cops, they’re notorious for trying to get foreigners to pay ‘fines.’ When I’m driving along and they’re parked at roadside, I never stop – but this time I couldn’t worm out of it. They motioned me over, with that condescending Asian finger wiggle (hand facing down) motion – I really hate that. Asked for my paperwork – I was fully prepared, having not only procured all the necessary licenses and vehicle stuff, but also having made copies of the licenses so that the cops couldn’t try to hold onto them and make me pay to get ‘em back. They looked everything over – but were powerless to screw me. I rode off and cackled. This time, the good guys win…
Have been pretty good about going to the gym every afternoon, even when I have yoga in the morning. Goa’s the place for me to get myself in shape, although not everyone comes here for that sort of experience. Far from it. Now that I’m 40, though, I need to stay fit and that, along with writing, is my focus these days. The gym is a great place – not many workout machines, but plenty of floor space. They keep the floors spotless – there’s an Indian woman who sweeps the place out all the time. But, in true Indian style, the things which are harder to clean rarely get cleaned. The mats for floor exercises are not pleasantly aromatic, shall we say…I tried to use one and nearly passed out from the fumes. I’ll just bring my own yoga mat from now on.
Got an email from a Larry in Atlanta. He was reviewing the Offroad Vietnam website and saw my trip report, and had a few more questions. All of which had already been covered in my blog entry, which is also found on the site. Anyway, he apparently didn’t see that, so I sent it to him. He enjoyed it, and looks keen to do a moto trip in northern Vietnam next year. Larry’s from Scituate, Mass. originally, for what that’s worth…
Rode over to the nearby small city of Mapusa to get some cash from an ATM there. Stopped for a coffee – my waiter was named Shiva. Random. Got back on the bike to ride off, rode by a fellow wearing a t-shirt that read ‘Feel My Love.’ Hmmm. It was time to get out of that town, the sun was setting…
Have been visiting the travel agent frequently to ensure that I get my Vietnam visa. Now it seems OK, but the agent is lazy (typical Goan trait) and never calls me with updates, I always have to go there to get the status report. Next time I’m definitely stopping in Bangkok for the fucking visa – it will be cheaper and faster, and Bangkok is always a fun place for a night.
Lisa told me that a party was happening last night at Primrose, a nearby dive bar. Went at midnight…they have an indoors music/dance/trance room to keep the noise down. Undoubtedly the cops knew about it, there were about 200 motorbikes parked outside. But it’s early in the season, the noise was minimal, and I imagine bribes were paid. Stayed for an hour or so, it was good fun, but had yoga class next morning so behaved myself and hit the sack at 1:30. I do want to see if I can make a decent go of the yoga class, at least for a month or so.
Am writing a letter to Outside Magazine – I’m a longtime reader/subscriber and want to see if they’d be interested in my recent Burma and Philippines stories. Let’s see how they respond…
At lunch today I sat fascinated for an hour, watching Lisa’s white cat do its thing. It stalked a butterfly and at one point leaped up on a table to go for it, to no avail. It constantly swiveled its little ears to pick up sounds – I wish I could do the same. And when it wasn’t hunting, it rolled around on the floor and enticed guests to rub its belly and head. Doesn’t seem like a bad way to spend the day, all in all.
That’s about it for this week. A final word from our sponsor:
Over and out.
Tags: Travel
mbsloney
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