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Where the Gypsies go to Blog

10
Apr 2013

Gypsy Eric featured on Mark’s Daily Apple!

posted in: Adventure, food, primal

Check out the recent article Eric wrote up for Mark’s Daily Apple on living “primal” abroad. From guinea pigs in Ecuador, to squirming larva in Myanmar, this is an interesting read! Primal Abroad: Read Here

31
Dec 2012

Top Albums of 2012

posted in: Inspiration, music, party, Travel

Top Albums of 2012

Regardless of your situation, good music transports us to a better place. Whether I was jet-setting, cruising on a 12 hour boat ride, strolling through a crumbling city, or dancing the night away, the following albums made my year that much better. You can get the full albums on my Spotify playlist “2012 Top Albums”. Enjoy!

 

 1. Tame Impala- Lonerism
   Is this a dream? Nope, more like a 70′s acid flashback, but this time it’s definitely a good trip! Floaty effeminate vocals, trance-like keyboard rhythms all in perfect harmony with the raw carnage of an unapologetic electric guitar onslaught (take one listen to “Elephant” in its entirety and you’ll know what I mean). Throughout my travels, whether it be to hipsterville San Francisco, the karaoke obsessed islands of the Philippines or the Buddha clad cities of Myanmar, Tame Impala’s Lonerism has provided me with a  colorful musical kaleidoscope to peer through, into a psychedelic wonderland. I don’t know what comprises of a perfect album, but for me it is one that makes the world around you seem that much more alive and vibrant. Lonerism does this naturally and no chemicals are needed.
Listen to “Elephant”.
 
2. Grizzly Bear- Shields
The album “Shields” has a sense of honesty and self expression that is liberating. The lyrics are powerful and resonate with us in our darkest and most passionate moments. Despite the gracefulness of the poetic words, make no mistake, it is done with intensity. The layered chords, piano, guitar, drums and harmonies perform a gentle dance that eventually erupts in a crescendo of horns. You’re almost certain that the guitar strings are going to snap in the brutal acoustic climax of the song “Speak in Rounds.” As a massive Radiohead fan, I definitely draw some parallels here. While each band is noticeably different, they both use a thick layering of melodies which creates a haunting affect. More importantly it provides a different listening experience each time; allowing you to constantly discover something new. To me, this is one of the attributes that separates a good album from a great album; gradually unfolding and leaving it up to the listener to uncover its uniqueness. It feels personal.
                                                                                                              
                                                                                                    
 3. Hot Chip- In Our Heads
   Oh hey, wanna party? Well, you don’t really have a choice with this album. For some reason I’ve never really given Hot Chip a chance, but damn this brings me back to my table dancing days (let’s not go there). However, this isn’t just a sweaty, shirtless Coachella crowd pleaser, peel back it’s skin and you’ll find that this album is all about love. This love seems to be Hot Chip’s religion and is portrayed in a colorful array of electric beats that feels like pure hedonism.There’s something to be said for albums where you can just press play and have instant head bobbing, awkward arm flailing and rhythmic pelvic thrusting. I wouldn’t normally name a “dance album” in my top 3, but this album, quite honestly, just makes me happy to be alive.
Listen to “Flutes”
 .
4. Frank Ocean- Channel Orange
                                                                                         Need I say more?
                                                                                         Thinkin Bout You Live
                                                                         5. Chromatics- Kill For Love
                                                                         While not my favorite album in its entirety, this cover of Neil Young’s Hey Hey, My My
                                                                         (Into the Black) is gorgeous.
                                                                         Listen to “Into the Black”
                                                                                                       
                                                                 
Remember to check out the full playlist, “2012 Top Albums” on Spotify!
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14
Dec 2012

Obama in Myanmar

posted in: Inspiration, Travel


I take many things for granted when living my day to day life in the states. I currently reside in San Francisco, an extremely liberal city, birthplace of the Grateful Dead, medical marijuana and a land of protests. Walking through the hood and witnessing one of these protests is commonplace, whether it be regarding same sex marriage issues, police brutality or nudist rights (done in the nude of course). What I didn’t quite wrap my head around was the power of these protests, but more so the power of our freedom of speech. For instance, in Myanmar up until a couple years ago, peaceful  protestors would be shot down dead, whenever they would stand up and fight for their rights.

I was both lucky and unlucky to be in Myanmar at the time I was. My trip randomly coincided with Obama’s historic visit (it was the first time that a US President officially visited Myanmar). Also it was less than a year after Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the national league for democracy and “mother” of Burma, gave her blessings for The country to open up its doors to tourists. Because of this new validation, there were more tourists than the country had ever seen. Thus, accommodation was fairly hard to come by in some areas. There is simply not enough infrastructure for this new rush of tourists. This provided us with many opportunities for adventurous travel (ex. sleeping on the floor of a monastery for days).

On the day that Obama landed in Myanmar, I happened to be in the same city, Yangon. People were buzzing and for the first time in my travels, people were actually stoked on America. Out of the hundreds of smiles you receive upon walking past strangers, many yell out, “which country!?” and upon your reply of, “USA!” they yell, “ahhhh OBAMAS!” During his speech at Yangon University (a historic site, particularly due to the fact that dozens of students were shot and killed in 1988, as part off the 8888 uprising), Obama addressed  many of the pressing issues (the fighting between the Buddhists and Muslims in the Rakhine state) as well as supporting Myanmar as a more democratic country.

During the time, I was watching in a tiny village, live on a rustic tv screen, with several Burmese monks I had spent the day with. Everyone was plastered to the screen and after his closing issues I was able to sit down to lunch with the monks. Chet, the younger of the two monks, explained how just 2 years ago, he wouldn’t dare talk about any political issues.

In the past, the government utilized spy’s across the country, whom would arrest and put anyone speaking against the regime in jail (Myanmar currently hundreds political prisoners still imprisoned). Chet remembers the clash at Yangon University and how much fear that instilled in his day to day life, one wrong word and death was around the corner. He asked my about my country, I told him about my life. I also brought up the many protests in San Francisco and he looked at me in disbelief. “Your life must be so different,” he replied.

One thing that I’ve learned through my travels is that, there are some lessons that you can’t get out of a book. They are waiting for you at the other end of a flight. While studying history, political science and social issues of the world is important, nothing makes it relative, makes it personal like experiencing it for yourself; actively living it. As Americans, we have many freedoms that we underutilize. Part of living in the “land of the free” is that we have the freedom to leave our country and explore the world.

Unlike many countries, in most cases our government doesn’t control where we can or can’t go. I hear people say, “why leave America, when you have so much here?” Well that may be true, but you should leave because you can…you have the freedom to do so. Explore, see how other people live, build relationships, get weird in another country and I promise it will give new meaning to your life. There is only one world that we know, get out there and experience it to the fullest!

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26
Nov 2012

Getting Barreled in the Philippines

posted in: Adventure, Surf, Travel

 

You know how I know that I’m a kook? I’m writing a blog on my first time getting barreled! Forget this fact for a second though and if you are a seasoned barrel slayer, I apologize for my amateur descriptions.

It was my last day on the island of Siargao, a small island in the Southeast Philippines that is famous for the surf break, Cloud 9 (also the name of a delicious chocolate bar). I’d been surfing for the past week and the swell had picked up in size. My mate Aaron, whom I had been traveling with would only say it was 3-4 foot, however since this is measured from the back, in reality there were probably some 8 foot faces.
 
I woke up at 4:40 AM and took off on a boat with my mate Aaron, a couple foreigners and a crew of young local Filippino rippers. Within minutes we were at the break and without hesitation we waxed up our boards and plunged into the sea.
The morning started out rough. I was in the impact zone on a few waves and took them on the head. This spot was notoriously shallow, so the poundings usually consisted of getting rag dolled against the unforgiving reef and then desperately paddling out of the death zone to the channel.
I kept at it, paddling into a few smaller waves, popping up, making a few turns and feeling comfortable.. I had been watching the locals all week and had finally learned how to get in the pocket of the wave and pick up speed. Despite my progress, my goal on this trip was to get a big barell ride. For those of you that have no idea what I’m talking about, this is when you are on a wave, in the pocket, you get back deep and the wave temporarily engulfs you, only to be spat out seconds later.
 
Some time went by and I watched the horizon, thinking of how amazing this trip had been. As I peered out,  I noticed a set of larger waves coming from further out; four distinct lines. The wind had calmed and the waves were beautiful. I instinctively, paddled hard; working to get past the first couple waves of the set. The final wave was rolling in and it was the largest. I turned around and started scraping as hard as I could. Several locals nearby yelled, “go!” “paddle, paddle!!” Using the last of my energy, I dug my arms into the water and felt myself being caught by the wave.
The wave started to crest and I jumped to my feet, dropping into the beast; feeling momentarily weightless. Immediately I made a big turn and maneuvered myself high up, in the pocket of the wave. I was flying, but this thing was quick and caught up to me. I crouched down; gently dragging my hand in the face of the wave, slowing myself slightly. All of the sudden, the smooth wall of water to my right started jacking up getting bigger and bigger. Before I knew it the wall was overhead and I could see a waterfall of turquoise water to my left. Suddenly thoughts raced through my mind, ” shit, this is going to close out on me! I’m going face first into the reef! Get out, get out!!” However in this split second, I thought, “fuck it, just go with it!” So I continued to tuck as the wave sucked me into it’s barrel, covering my body entirely.
My view through the tube to the outside world disappeared, mist slapped my face and I closed my eyes; prepared to be tossed over the falls and into the unforgiving reef below. However, to my amazement I felt a huge spray of water against my back; literally being spat out of the tunnel. The view of the coconut palms and white sand beaches reappeared. I made it out! Immediately after realizing what had happened I threw my hands in the air, still standing on my board, as I slowed and sunk into the waters below.
To this day I think the grin I had on my face paddling back in was the biggest yet. What a way to end a trip. Many more barrel rides to come and next time I won’t be a kook!
 
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