Archive for April, 2009

posted by Jesse on Apr 27

In which the Gents discuss horrifying social blunders they have witnessed, committed, or heard about on good authority, as well as the manner in which social blunders may be dealt with and recovered from.

On the agenda:

  1. Opening Toast, by Mr. Jesse Keller
  2. An application for League Membership
  3. Open discussion on “Social Blunders:
  4. Words of Advice: Do as the Locals Do, by Andy Trimlett
  5. Closing Toast
 
icon for podpress  4th Meeting: Social Blunders [43:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (250)
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posted by Jesse on Apr 21

Following up on the beginning of our most recent podcast:

The liquor store we mentioned, which appears to be your basic dirt-merchant dive on El Cajon Blvd, but which has a phenomenal selection of obscure beers, is called Pacific Liquor.  I stopped there for a six pack of Leffe recently, and noticed that the gueuze that had for sale was in fact produced by the Cantillon brewery, which Lee and I visited when we were in Brussels.  Small world.

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posted by Jesse on Apr 13

In this third official meeting, the gents discuss their recent exploratory trek to the Ghost Mountain region of the Anza Borrego Desert, and how that trek was provisioned and how cocktails were prepared.

On the Agenda:

  1. Opening toast, by Lee A. Dunteman
  2. Open Discussion on “Expedition to Ghost Mountain”

Pictures of this expedition can be found in a recent blog post and on our Flickr page.

 
icon for podpress  3rd Meeting: Expedition to Ghost Mountain [49:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (520)
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posted by Andy on Apr 6


Andy in Yemen posing with a guide and a soldier who was there to scare off potential kidnappers

It’s such an adventure — that’s the only way to cope with it.”  Now that is how to deal with being kidnapped!  These were the words of Heleen Janszen, who, along with her husband, was surrounded by Yemeni tribesmen bearing Kalashnikov rifles last week and taken to the mountains east of the capital.

Fortunately for this adventure-minded couple, Yemen is actually one of the better countries of the world in which to be taken hostage.  When I was there, locals and foreigners alike regaled me with stories of local kidnappings, which don’t involve the rather unpleasant techniques seen elsewhere in the world (removal of ears, fingers, heads, and so forth) and only rarely end in violence (only 5 of the over 200 foreigners kidnapped in Yemen in the past 15 years have been killed).

Read the rest of this entry »

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