[vagabond22]

I like simple stuff done well. As I said in that Bourdain thread at the BFC, I was pretty satisfied w/ nasi goreng (fried rice) in Indonesia and Malaysia. I also like just a bowl of pho and can delight in the simplicity of such a meal.. I will eat pretty much anything but can’t recall ‘the most fantastic meal’ off the top of my head. Most are meaningful because of the context (like having dinner at an Argentinian restaurant w/ a close friend after the Madrid bombings or my first champagne and caviar dinner in Russia) which I think is important for all food-induced adventures.

I like being surprised by places. I wouldn’t think Bulgaria, or the Balkans for that matter, would have great food, but I enjoyed everything I ate there and Sofia has some wonderful, cheap restaurants. Again, simplicity stood out – a piece of fresh bread, some goat cheese and fresh honey for breakfast each day. Also had I guess what you would call my strangest meal there in Gjirokaster, Albania: goat’s brain and something else soup. It wasn’t bad, and the side of kofte and raki was even better.

I had some amazing food in India and hate that I don’t live somewhere that has good Indian restaurants (or Asian ones in general for that matter). I like anything spicy as long as it doesn’t overpower the other flavors of the meal. Despite spending a lot of my travel time in Europe, I can’t recall many that stood out. Then again, I wasn’t as much of a foodie back in my younger days.

[vagabond22]

flip, have you seen Kekexili: Mountain Patrol ? Seems like a movie you’d enjoy. It’s set in Tibet.

[vagabond22]

Sad about Indo – they’re very lax towards drinking and lots of other stuff their cousins the Muslim Malays take seriously yet they get the bad rep bc of the Bali bombings and a little internecine warfare every now and then.

My last beer was a Dos Equis and nothing to brag about but at least they refrigerate the mugs.

[vagabond22]

I thought everyone knew that anyway. Look at Haiti as an example:

Up to 200,000 people may have died. If a day later, your mother died, you would feel worse then than the news about those 200k (theoretically). Or even further out of that circle to friends. You only care about what you’re personally connected to, even if it happens to be virtual (though that could be an outer ring of connection).

That’s the good and bad of travel – creating greater connections with people elsewhere, strengthening the framework of your own humanity, and yet every now and then one of those nodes will disappear to some disease, accident, or human failing.

[vagabond22]

I admittedly bought into it for a few months in the hopes that he might be the one politician to keep some promises. So much for nascent optimism. Was very happy to be out of the country during the last months of the political battle so I could avoid the Palin phenomenon and the ridiculous amounts of coverage.

I’m kind of with you now cold on that whole “ppl get the gov’t they deserve” type thing – I don’t really see anything changing here on any level other than things falling apart, people being despicable at best, so decided at the new year to just focus on my own stuff and not get overly involved in any of that crap (foreign or domestic).

Has been nice to get back to reading books, watching films, and working on my own projects despite any idiotic machinations going on in the DC-NYC nexus.

So…guess I’ll be skipping this State of the Union address.

[vagabond22]

Never have let mine get fuller than the ‘Grizzled’ and even then starts to look crap as nervous habits and itchiness cause it lose some luster in spots.

Best collection of beard variety I saw was a picture of the Duma in the early 1900s at Lenin’s museum in St Petersburg. So much has been lost to lame Roman military tradition and overpriced razors.

Maybe this next round I’ll go for a Rasputin, evil eye and all:

[vagabond22]

@Lee wrote:

Skyscanner is pretty big in the UK. My missus first told me about it, as she uses it frequently, and since she told me, I heard it mentioned on the radio a few times.

That makes sense given some of the obscure (but quality) low-cost airlines out there. Sucks that some are disappearing (I see SkyEurope no longer flies).

[vagabond22]

Taqwacore might be more therapeutic.

[vagabond22]

Might be big in Asia as I heard it from someone in Malaysia

[vagabond22]

Cool, congrats.

I’ve used it a few times to see what discount airlines fly b/w places but usually the deals are better going to specific airline sites.

[vagabond22]

the video for “Conquer the World” includes strange allusions to French women, a fantasy about working in the X-rated film business in Japan, and public urination outside the White House.

And I thought I had a warped mind.

[vagabond22]

Stay safe chico.

[vagabond22]

I’ll support local industry and vote RJR Nabisco and Krispy Kreme

[vagabond22]

@ROB wrote:

That image of the Emin Mosque is really striking.

Keep em coming!

Second that. I love the natural geometry of that mosque. Who needs freakin’ starchitects when people were doing it more beautifully hundreds of years ago.

Re: seatbelts – I’m glad to hear you run a smart crew then. A good friend from college’s dad was high up in the DEA in Miami and for some reason never wore them. Died in a car accident when my friend fell asleep at the wheel. My cop cousin-in-law says that it’s not required on his force but he is one of the smarter ones and straps in. Cause of most cop deaths in my area? Car accidents. Maybe it’s a cop thing.

[vagabond22]

Given recent Supreme Crt decisions, it’d be more likely to have to sue Pfizer or Dow Chemical,etc depending on who buys any coming elections

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