Adventures with Mutcluck

Youtube in HD - African Adventure - Roadside in Lesotho

2008-12-05T11:59:00.000-08:00

Youtube in HD. Pretty sweet. I tried to hack for the embed. Hopefully it works. I just happened to upload in 720p last night. Didn't know it would go live today and now I've got an HD embeddable youtube video. It may even be better quality than vimeo. Haven't done a side by side comparison.

Roadside in Lesotho from Mutcluck on Vimeo.

I don't have vimeo plus yet, so you have to go to vimeo to see the HD version. I'd love to see what people think. I'll upload something with less color correction tonight. Hard to truly see the best of the resolution upgrade with my film look and saturated color correction.

2008-10-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

Close Call with Elephants near Chobe from Mutcluck on Vimeo.
Out on the highway near Chobe National Park in Botswana we came upon a pack of Elephants. We decided to get a closer look. Hope you enjoy. Sorry for not updating youtube, but they've been doing a ton of site maintenance during my last two updates.

Poling down the Okavanga

2008-09-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Poling down the Okavanga Delta from Mutcluck on Vimeo.
Thought I'd get another up. Madel, part of the Poler Collective, took us through the delta toward the Okavanga River. We came across some kids that were having a blast in the water.

Crazy Lizard in Namibia

2008-09-21T23:39:00.000-07:00

Crazy Lizard in Namibia from Mutcluck on Vimeo.
Another video from the Africa trip. Sorry it took a week to get off my lazy ass and post. Also on youtube. Hope you enjoy. It's short.

Chasing Goats in Namibia

2008-09-15T23:46:00.000-07:00

Chasing Goats in Namibia from Mutcluck on Vimeo.
Here's the latest upload of my Africa videos. You can also watch it here on youtube.

Flat Tire in the Middle of Nowhere

2008-09-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

Flat Tire in Namibia from Mutcluck on Vimeo.
Also up on youtube, but the quality is better on vimeo. I'll get more of the videos up in the coming weeks. Finally got a faster computer to speed up the exporting. Also trying to be less lazy since I've already done rough edits that are good enough for sharing.

Paragliding off Dunes

2008-08-03T22:52:00.000-07:00

Paragliding off the Dunes from Mutcluck on Vimeo.
Figured I'd get another one up. More to come.

Jumping off a Bridge - Victoria Falls

2008-08-02T18:47:00.000-07:00

Jumping off a Bridge - Victoria Falls from Mutcluck on Vimeo.
Not sure what was wrong with my export settings on this one. Seems a little low rez. Oh well. Enjoy watching Augustino jump off a bridge at the border of Zim and Zambia.

Magunies for all

2008-07-19T23:09:00.000-07:00

Vimeo seems to be down. I uploaded to youtube as well.

Eating Magunies near Katima Mulilo Namibia from Mutcluck on Vimeo.
We bought this strange fruit from some kids on the side of the highway near Katima Mulilo in Namibia. Cracked them open and ate them. You sort of suck on the flesh covered seeds. It's extremely good. Someone should make juice from this fruit.

Running Down Deadvlei - Namibia

2008-05-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

Now I embedded the vimeo version.

Running down Deadvlei - Namibia from Mutcluck on Vimeo.

Thought I should post something. It's been a long long time. I decided to post various videos from my trip through Africa in no particular order. We climbed the highest dune in the world and then ran down it. Probably was shot midway through my 3 months out of the country. I hope you enjoy the video. I highly recommend climbing and running down the dunes if you're in Namibia.

The Trip Thus Far - South Africa and Lesotho

2007-12-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

I've been terrible with the blog so far. It's been harder than I thought getting on the internet and it will only get worse as we get into Namibia and Botswana. Only one hour from the border as I type, so I'll get this up quickly. Be forgiving of any typos and terrible grammar. I'm trying. Photos with some blurbs and description of the trip thus far...

RWANDA:

Before leaving Kigali, one of Pedro's friends Dirk and I at "Planet". Based on stories I've heard from the Expats in Rwanda Planet always seems to turn into a ridiculous evening whenever you go. No change that night.

Later that week, I headed out solo on the bus to... Butare to see the Murabi Memorial. After a 45 minute moto ride through the spectacular mountainous terrain, I arrived as the first and only guest so far that day. The caretaker in fact unlocked the main building and led me to the 6 large buildings which were once classrooms to show me the memorial. Room after room of bodies. The remains of the mass graves exhumed from nearby. The bones, semi-preserved with plaster, still had pieces of clothes and hair peaking through. The experience was not conventional, like so many western memorials. Western memorial seem to focus your experience personally yet through a public lense. The other's in attendance and the gravitas of the moment and the crowd are as important as the personal reflections of the momoent. This memorial was quite different. I had a completely solitary experience despite the caretaker waiting just outside. Just myself and the bodies in each room. So raw and real, the experience almost crossed into the surreal. Both moving and alienating at the same time. The immediate tangible closeness of the corpses made the narrative somehow recede to the background. It seems to me, westerners process things through a narrative, through storytelling. This is something entirely unnecessary it seems to Rwandans, a people so aware and steeped in its recent histories, that it would be redundant to force a narrative that is already seared into their mind and everyday existence. This history while shared as a history of a nation is much more than that. More complicated. It's a collection of histories, all immensely personal and immediate for those who lived it, for those continuing to live it.

I returned to Butare and visited the National Museum before my bus returned to Kigali. I met two young high school kids. We traded stories and they asked me about cities in the US. This is the picture of us. I have to dig up their email addresses, which I forgot in Kigali and send them the photo. An odd cultural disconnect occurred when they first requested I take a photo of us all; a female worker at the museum told me I couldn't take photos. Both the boys and myself were confused. Then she explained that if I took a photo of them, I should pay them. She didn't understand that they wanted the photo as much as me, a memory of a short friendship and an afternoon of conversation. In East Africa, I've never been more aware of my whiteness. The word for White, "Mazungu" echos in every locale. In passing conversation, in shouts, my whiteness is who I am. I am the symbolic Mazungu before I'm anything else. The invisibility of blackness in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, was finally palpable and tangible rather than purely intellectual. It pales in comparison to the African American experience in Ellison's book. It's much simpler, with more positive than negative connotations, but it scratches at the edge of the high visibility of Ellison's invisibility. The more you are physically seen or noticed, the more you as a person recede into obscurity, into invisibility.

UGANDA:

I spent several days in Kampala Uganda visiting a friend and having Thanksgiving dinner in Africa with her, her boyfriend and their friends. They were amazing hosts. Late nights and long days exploring the city. I met a boxer/electronics shop owner, who showed me around the market, who talked openly about African Politics and his sometimes paradoxical points of view. The city was hosting CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Goverment Meeting) which had 53 heads of state in attendance, including the Queen of England. Military police were everywhere. Listening to a Ugandan Political Radio show, while having a customary Ugandan steam bath and massage (not to be missed), one broadcaster recounted a story in which a head of state asked sincerely whether Uganda was a military state or a free state, due to the insane military presence.

The following day, I headed out first thing in the morning to go whitewater rafting on the Nile. Class 4, 5 and 6 rapids during the trip. We walked around the class 6, but saw several of our safety kayakers surf through the insanity. Unfortunately in a couple years, most of the rapids will be gone, due to a hydro-electric dam project that is in the works. Hopefully the dam brings the electricity they need to the country. Electricity is more important than tourism, but its sad the rapids will be going. As a demonstration of Uganda's electricitu woes, newly installed street light (for CHOGM) were no longer being turned on at night on Sunday, when the heads of state had left; too expensive and too much of a "waste" to keep them running.
That night I hopped on an all night bus ride back to Kigali. With music blaring the whole way back, I barely slept. So sleep, packing bags and the following day flew to Joberg.

SOUTH AFRICA:

Our maps of Joberg were terrible, but we eventually found our way to the hostel and then headed to the new China Town for some food. P, as always found someone to converse with in Chinese despite the fact that we ended up eating Thai. In the morning we did some shopping, to grab the handful of things we forgot to pack, and then headed off to Pretoria, the admistrative capitol of South Africa. I snapped a photo of P, using the color accent function of my digital camera. Gives it a kind of dreamlike quality. Good people and good food at the hostel. Once again, P found a chinese speaker. This time a Hungarian girl, that had lived in Hong Kong for the last couple years with her boyfriend who also spoke some Mandarin.

LESOTHO:

Off to Lesotho the next day. We stayed in Maseru the first night. A dirty derelict shell of a city, but the place wet settled on for for supper in an upstairs stripmall seemed to be pulsing with a vibe completely opposite the oppression of the street. It was definitely the "cool" place to be and the DJ spun a mix of African, European and American music that would have made any DJ in the States jealous. We got lost looking for the hostel, which was the Anglican Church in the area. We arrived extremely late and eventually found Father Adam, who let us set up our tent in the courtyard, since the rooms were full, due to a convention of priests from all over Lesotho. The Basotho priests were the nicest people I'd met, although, I don't think whispering is in their arsenal. Always full volume despite people sleeping everywhere. The same full volume fun started at 4:45 the next morning. I guess, early risers, have early prayers and don't whisper their thoughts to God.

We drove into the countryside in search of some cave painting. On the way, we asked directions and ended up picking up a young man and a women who were walking in that direction. She got out half way, but the young man, who was a big fan of 50 cent and other US rappers, decided he'd show us the way to the cave painting. We parked the car and headed down the gorge. We ran into a cow-herder, who our "guide" knew from his childhood since our "guide" was only back visiting family. We shared some peaches and a couple beers I brought as we admired the old cave painting.

Later that afternoon, we drove to the Semonkong Lodge to spend the night. There had been a lot of flooding the night before and the road was being cleared of boulders. A local couple had in fact been washed away when they attempted to ford the river the night before with their car. Fortunately, we made it and decided to hike to the waterfall the next morning. Here are some of the sights from that day. P decided to run there and back, so unfortunately we didn't see eachother at all during that trek, but we each had our own mini-adventure.

When I got back to the lodge, P was on his computer uploading some photos and pre-writing some emails for when we were on the grid once again.

SOUTH AFRICA AGAIN:

We headed toward East London that day/night and made it befoe midnight. Not much of a town, but P was able to finish up some work at an internet cafe the following morning.

Leaving East London, we got stopped at a police checkpoint, a relatively common experience we've soon realized. Our car's registration was out of date. After about an hour on the phone with Thrify/Dollar Rent a Car we sorted out what we're going to do. Off to Port Elizabeth to exchange the car. Before leaving we met, Gary, a "Coloured" police officer who shared his views on South Africa's various populations and the problems they are still having today. His own Coloured population, which he feels has no real place in SA society, the Zulu, the Khosa, the White (British) and the White (Africaans). He also went to school in New Haven like P and I. So we shared some stories of New Haven Pizza and dancing at Toads and other local watering holes. Pretty ridiculous how small the world is. He was quite enthusiastic to meet New Yorkers and then more so when he realized we also lived in New Haven.

The next day, we headed to Jeffrey's Bay. A quiet hostel near some beautiful beaches. We went to an Africaan's bar for some Africaan's dancing and some quality SA beer. The next morning, we signed up for a surf lesson. A great easy break in J-Bay led to some nice rides. I felt like a real surfer for the first time in my life, although my arms were so out of shape I nearly died of exhaustion.

That night, we shared the first night of Hannukah with the family that ran the hostel. A few prayers and a photo to commemorate.

The next day, we drove to Buffaal's Bay. We partied late into the night with some South Africans on Holiday from Joberg, played poker, and P learned some more Africaan's dancing from a local guy and girl. The next morning, I followed through with my plan to shave my head. It's been a long time in the making. I've been slowly thinning in the back and figured I should see how I'd look with nothing. If Bruce Willis can do it, why not me. We shot some video of it out on the rocks overlooking the ocean, but haven't had time to upload and edit it down to a minute or so. It took nearly an hour, since originally I didn't have any scissors and was only using my razor. Defitely not the recommended way to do it. This is my white bald head. I'm still trying to get used to it. I kind of scare myself.

The next stop was a B&B on a beautiful farm in Robertson, a town in the winelands, not to far from Stellenbosch. This place was recommended to us from one of P's roommates in Rwanda. The owner, Carl and his wife, Elsa were amazing. Carl sat down with us and helped rewrite our itinerary since he and his family have travelled extensively through Namibia and Botswana. We went wine tasting and bought a bunch of wine for the remaining trip.

One the ride to Capetown, we stopped at butterfly world. Mostly for kids, but I liked it. Butterflies, Spiders, Marmosets, Iguanas and Snakes. Always a good time.

In Capetown, we hung out on Long Street for a lively Saturday night. Early in the night we met an up and coming South African band, "Love Jones". After many beers and a lot of conversation, we decided we'd shoot their concert for them the following day. Later that night on the way home, we were pulled into another club for some dancing and some cherry tobacco out of hookah. The night wouldn't end, but eventually we got to bed.

Hopefully the grammar hasn't been too bad, but I'm nearly caught up on the trip. Yesterday, we checked out the National Art Museume and attended the Love Jones concert. About 2-3 thousand people at an outdoor venue in the Kirstebosch Gardens. P was up on stage with the band filming, and I was shooting from the crowd getting the long shots and two shots. Hopefully they'll be able to do something with the footage. I think with the two cameras, they'll always have a decent shot to cut to whether its for simple live concert video for youtube or some stock footage for posterities sake. They're heading to the US on a tour in February. They're definitely worth checking out. Great live, and amazingly cool people. Check out their myspace lovejonesband if you want to hear some of the music.

If the link doesn't work copy paste this into your browser www.myspace.com/lovejonesband

That's it for the last month. Apologies ahead of time for not updating regularly and any thing confusing or lacking in the blog post... but I need to just press publish. I'm only an hour from the Namibian border. Yesterday we were lost trekking through the rock formations of The Cedarberg, and today we're speeding toward the Kalahari. Until the next time. Hopefully it won't be a month.

Rolling through Rwanda - The African Adventure Begins

2007-11-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

Motorcycle "Taxi" in Kigali, Rwanda from Mutcluck on Vimeo.

Motorcycle "Taxi" in Kigali, Rwanda
Uploaded by mutcluck

In case people don't read the entire pseudo diary account. Which hosting site do you prefer?

For those of you who knew about my plans for South Africa, they got thrown for a loop last week. My travel companion, who lives in Rwanda, got two freelance jobs this month and wanted to switch around the trip. Since I'm free from any real restrictions, I was happy to make the change. So Rwanda first, the rest of Southern Africa in December.

So I arrived 2 nights ago in Rwanda. Met an interesting nurse, Eli, from Belgium on the plane, had some good conversation during the 8 hour flight. Music, politics, culture and languages. I never knew Flemish was just Dutch with a thick accent. Waited around for over an hour for my bags in Kigali. Luckily they eventually showed up. I was worried for a little while. As I exited the baggage claim....
I saw Pedro, who then wisked us off on an adventurous night.

-------------

NIGHT 1: We dropped off my bags at P's house, which is down a rutted bumpy dirt road and then headed to "Hotel Rwanda" where they were having a brand relaunch party of a Rwandan Beer, Mutzig via the Heineken Company. It is delicious going down, but P and his roomies said it doesn't bode well for the next day. It treated me fine though.

We met some really interesting people at the courtyard party & barbeque, including J, a Ugandan born Rwandan, who went to grad school at Pepperdine and now works for Heineken and M, a Security officer from Blackwater, yes that Blackwater. He works at the US Embassy in Iraq. He's on vacation and decided to do something a little different with his time off. We also met a young Rwandan named JP, who rides motorcross here in Rwanda. How weird is that. He said it isn't big in Africa, but he really wants to get to the US and Canada to train with the best. It was an interesting mix of Westerners and Upperclass Rwandans. Definitely a place to be seen.

We all piled into J's truck later in the night and headed to a bar, Carwash, which doubles as a carwash during the day to hang out with some of J's' friends. What a great collection of people. Some pretty amazing conversations at Carwash. J's cousin, E, is in fact an aid to the president of the country. It was a great networking opportunity for Pedro and his various interests, but more so it was incredibly fun. JP, got way too drunk, and became a little irritating to just about everyone, but he was young, only 21. The other Rwandans were pretty fed up with him and he eventually staggered his way out of there.

We then headed to Cadillac, a local dance club. Even though it was Saturday, we were still the only Westerners in the place. We danced for awhile and then had to avoid/reject some ladies of the night that had zeroed in on us. I never realized how obvious a target I'd be in a country with so few whites. It was annoying and funny all at the same time. Eventually we grabbed a bite to eat and walked up the road.

DAY 1: We headed into Kigali to do some shopping for the week with the house cook Matilda. Headed into town on a little crowded mini bus then walked the city in search of the grocery store. Unfortunately the best stores were closed on Sunday and the only store open was a more modern supermarket built in a new mall complex. Pedro said everything was unfortunately almost double the price here.

NIGHT 2: I cooked a lamb stirfry with rice that night for P and some of his roomies. Great stirfry with marginal meat. It was better today for lunch once it had softened a bit. That night, P's friend Greg dropped by. We ended up having some amazing conversations that bridged politics, culture, bogus pharmaceuticals, virtual economies, the coexistence of past, present and future in a single place. Quite a whirlwind of ideas.

DAY 2: Didn't fall asleep till 3:30 AM, so I was tired in the morning, but we had some errands to do. Pedro had to pick up a couple books for a doc filmmaker he works with in the states, and get a couple keys copied for me and I needed to get some cash as well. Let me just say, things take a little longer in Rwanda. We ended up going to 3 different floors of the bank for P to do his money transfer at his bank, then my card wouldn't go through and they couldn't put it in manually. So we went to a 2nd bank whose network was down, and then to a 3rd bank that was able to make it happen; but that took nearly 45 minutes. I didn't mind. It was an adventure just to see how things worked. Next,off to the bookstore which took an hour and a half, since they kept disappearing to look for a book in the back room/down the street and wouldn't return for 20-30 minutes. We still weren't able to find a Rwandan proverb book that fit what he was looking for.

Then we headed home on motorbike; the quickest way to get around. You jump on the back of a bike for a little less than a dollar, with helmet on and hands holding tight to the back of the seat you weave through the streets, cars, and people of Kigali. I have a little video captured from my still camera. Nothing special, but kind of fun. I also discovered a new site: Vimeo. I think the quality is better here. Hopefully it plays for everyone no problem. The upload took hours though, since the internet here in Rwanda is only a little faster than dialup.

Today I went into town by myself. Despite my lacking/nonexistent French, I bounced to 3 stores on an errand run; some books for Pedro, and groceries for the house. I promised the roomies I'd make Chocolate Chip Cookies, since they don't really exist here. If you have a good recipe, email me. Unfortunately they don't have chocolate chips, so I'm going to cut up several chocolate bars.

Next post will be a London Recap in a day or so. I just have been slow to do it.

JMT: Mead, a Marmot and the End of the Road - 20 of 20

2007-10-24T14:38:00.001-07:00

JMT: Mead, a Marmot and the End of the Road - 20 of 20
Uploaded by mutcluck

This is the last JMT post of the series. The mead wasn't that bad. In fact it had mellowed a bit. We had some of the same batch 4 months earlier on top of Mount Baldy, and this was a lot better. I hope you've enjoyed the videos thus far. I'm off to London on Monday and then on to South Africa after that. Hopefully, I'll be able to update occasionally from the road. Regardless I'll be capturing plenty of video too share with you when I get back.

JMT: Conquering the Behemoth - 19 of 20

2007-10-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

Hiking the JMT: Conquering the Behemoth - 19 of 20
Uploaded by mutcluck

The 2nd to last video of the JMT series. I was left in the dust by my hiking partners this day. The filming slowed me down. Watching the footage makes me want to get back to it. Nothing like standing on top of the world. Only days away from my trip to London and Africa. Hopefully I can update you all along the way, but sometimes its hard from the road.

JMT: Early Morning Wake-up - 18 of 20

2007-10-22T09:46:00.000-07:00

Hiking the JMT: Early Morning Wake-up - 18 of 20
Uploaded by mutcluck

The morning we climbed Mount Whitney we woke up at 5:30 in the morning. Originally Smelly wanted to get up at 2 or 3 in the morning to avoid potential storms that could prevent us from making the summit. With no clouds and good weather, we all agreed to nix this crazy idea. The night before we changed our exit plans a couple times after some lively text conversation with Kenji (our original ride) via our satellite phone. He originally said he'd rather not hike the mountain if he didn't have to. The Angler had driven up Smelly's car to the Whitney, so we had transportation home. Instead of camping on the summit (our original plan) and seeing Kenji in the morning, we decided to book it home fast instead. Dreams of milk shakes, beer and burgers were too much for us.

Hiking the JMT: Dinner in the Shadow of Whitney - 17 of 20

2007-10-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

Hiking the JMT: Dinner in the Shadow - 17 of 20
Uploaded by mutcluck

Just some contemplative footage from dinner the night before we ascended Whitney. We had tons of pad thai and the last quesadillas of the trip. I'm also having some issues with Divx. You'll notice the audio goes out of synch. Sorry bout that, but after 4 attempts to correct it, I gave up. 3 more videos to go and 10 days until I head out for my international adventures.

Hiking the JMT: Baywatch Dives - 16 of 17

2007-10-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

Hiking the JMT: Baywatch Dives - 16 of 17
Uploaded by mutcluck

After arriving at Guitar Lake below Mount Whitney, the Angler and I decided to dive into the freezing cold tarn. As you can see, my heart almost stopped from the cold. Definitely a refreshing way to wash the sweat away though. Clearly my "Baywatch" dive was pretty pathetic, but the Angler delivered with a quality Hasselhoff inspired dive. Bonus videos are coming.

JMT: First Glimpse of Whitney - 15 of 17

2007-10-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

Hiking the JMT: First Glimpse of Whitney - 15 of 17
Uploaded by mutcluck

We came upon this barren landscape and saw our first glimpse of Mount Whitney over the ridge. Exciting and sad at the same time. The trip was almost over. There was a small lake in the middle of the wasteland. Sort of reminded us of a Dali painting.

I realized a couple of days ago that I had more than 17 videos worth of footage, so expect a couple bonus videos of the climb up Mount Whitney in the coming weeks. I'm only 10 days from my trip to London and then to Southern Africa, so I need to pick up the pace with my writing. The first draft needs to be done before I journey into the heart of darkness. Until tomorrow.

Hiking the JMT: Pinchot Pass and the Resupply - two videos today

2007-10-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

Hiking the JMT: Pinchot Pass - 13 of 17
Uploaded by mutcluck

Hiking the JMT: The Resupply - 14 of 17
Uploaded by mutcluck

We had a tough day hiking up Pinchot Pass, but the view was beautiful. A couple days later, we were resupplied at Charlotte Lake by some of Smelly's friends. We had two members of Pasadena's Search and Rescue Crew and two international paragliders. They brought a box of wine, a couple bottles of beer and the first true dinner we'd had in awhile. We had ground beef, bean and cheese burritos. They were absolutely delicious. The next day, The Angler joined us for the final trek toward Mount Whitney. As we climbed out of the Charlotte Lake Valley, we caught a glimpse of our friend the Paraglider, jumping off a cliff and flying across the horizon. At that moment, paragliding was officially on my lifetime to-do list. Seems like a serene way to take in the world while simultaneously getting an adrenaline rush.

JMT: Tickling the Fish, The Thin Man, and a Creepy Grad Student

2007-10-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

JMT: Tickling the Fish and Creepy Men - 11 of 17
Uploaded by mutcluck

Freezing once again, so I'm going to be quick. Same night as Boy Scouts and Pyros. Since it isn't explained in the video, "The Thin Man" was a very tall very thin hiker who creepily snuck up on Smelly and Jekyl in Mammoth. He also had a knack for silently creeping up on you on the trail. Part of our motivation for our brutal 17 mile day was to ditch the Thin Man and the Israeli (Another creepy solo guy). Hope you enjoy.

JMT: Boy Scouts and Pyros - 11 of 17

2007-10-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

Hiking the JMT: Boy Scouts and Pyros - 11 of 17
Uploaded by mutcluck

Down in Lower Pete Meadow I followed a use trail to this little campsite. It had nice benches and was close to a stream. We did some bathing and then started a fire to get warm. I though a little Melly Cam might warm your heart as well.

JMT: Evolution Lake and Muir Pass - Two videos today

2007-10-10T14:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry I'm not writing anything today. I'm sitting outside of the Canada Lake store and freezing my ass off. I forgot my fleece. I'll do better tomorrow. Since it was raining yesterday and I didn't make it out to the only internet connection for miles, here's two videos today.

Evolution Lake Videos

The JMT: Farts, Shits and Giggles at Evolution - 9 of 17
Uploaded by mutcluck

Muir Pass Videos

Hiking the JMT: Pulmonary Adema on Muir Pass - 10 of 17
Uploaded by mutcluck

JMT: The Girls Go to Mammoth - 8 of 17

2007-10-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

Hiking the JMT: The Girls Go to Mammoth - 8 of 17
Uploaded by mutcluck

We woke up a little hung over and the girls headed off to Mammoth to get Jekyl some new shoes. I hiked ahead looking for a campsite. We only hiked 5 miles or so, which was a good resting day for our feet. That afternoon, I took a nice bath in the stream and then we camped between two little streams in the woods. It got a little buggy that night, so once again I fled to the tent for salvation.

It's a little rainy up here in upstate New York, but I've been moving forward with the screenplay. Hopefully the first draft will be done in 3 weeks before I leave for London and Africa. I've been flipping through Lonely Planet and getting really excited. Should be a pretty epic trip.

YOUTUBE VERSION

JMT: Lancing the Blister - 7 of 17

2007-10-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

Hiking the JMT: Draining The Blister - 7 of 17
Uploaded by mutcluck

We arrived late at Red's Meadow. After the grueling downhill, Jekyl's Blisters had gotten pretty bad. She was contemplating getting new shoes at Mammoth the following day, and decided to lance one of her blisters using a sanitized safety pin. I went ahead the next day while Smelly and Jekyl took the bus into town. We bought a bunch of beer and washed our pain away that night. Also hung out with some fellow JMTers going in the opposite direction. A bear had ripped through their "bear can". It was the kevlar bag type. Clearly they are no longer on the approved list this next season. I guess several people encountered the same problem. I had a pretty leisurely day finding a suitable camping spot while the girls were in Mammoth, although the trail was a little bit tricky, so I trekked back, read some of Moby Dick at a river crossing and waited. They had 2/3 of the food and part of the tent. Would have sucked if we hadn't found one another.

JMT: Bad Blod at Devil's Postpile

2007-10-03T11:36:00.000-07:00

This day was the closest we came to blows. Jekyl confessed later that night that she was ready to smash the camera in if I had kept filming her. After a grueling day of downhill, we got a little lost in Red's Meadow which compounded or stress. For some reason downhill really punishes the feet more than uphill. I'm still recovering from what is most likely stress fractures in my feet. Stock up on arch support and good insoles if you hike the JMT.

The Devils Postpile formation is a rare sight in the geologic world and ranks as one of the world’s finest examples of columnar basalt. It towers 60 feet high and displays an unusual symmetry for such formations. Established in 1911 by presidential decree after John Muir and the Sierra Club lobbied to save it from being inundated with water from a proposed damming project of the San Joaquin River. I wish we had gone to the top of it. I hear it looks like a flat hexagonally tiled floor.

Also, it seems dailymotion looks better, so I've linked to it below and I've heard good things about bliptv too. I'll try uploading at bliptv in the coming days/weeks.

Hiking the JMT: Bad Blood at the Devils Postpile - 6 of 17
Uploaded by mutcluck

JMT: Salty Nuts on a Mountain Pass

2007-10-02T11:37:00.001-07:00

The fifth video in the series. I feel like the new settings are even worse on this one once it's recompressed. I kinda hate youtube right now. Hopefully by the end of this, I'll have figured it out. Tomorrow, Devil's Postpile.

This is what it looks like on Dailymotion. Not much better.

Hiking the JMT: Salty Nuts on a Mountain Pass - 5 of 17
Uploaded by mutcluck

JMT: Garnett Lake and a Toe Condom

2007-10-01T14:59:00.000-07:00

The 4th installment. Still haven't figured out how to make the footage look better. Earlier that day we did some swimming and then made a fire. The clouds made for a pretty beautiful sunset but it drizzled later that night. The minuscule amount of rain drove me into the tent. Best night's sleep of the trip, so after that, I slept in the tent rather than under the stars. I wasn't the mountain man I thought I was. Another video coming tomorrow.

More JMT - Time Lapse Fun and Quesadillas

2007-09-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

Here's the 3rd installment of the travel footage. Hope you enjoy. I don't have time to write more today. Next post will be Monday.

Hiking the JMT: The Filter is Dying - 2 of 17

2007-09-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

Here's the 2nd video, "The Filter is Dying" Still trying to figure out if I can use a different site that has better quality to host these videos. The best thing about them is the views and the HD, and you can't get a great sense of this after the youtube compression. I'll keep experimenting with the settings and some different sites.

I also wanted to link to our JMT Adventure Report that ML put together. It has all our mileage and daily comments along with links to a photo album documenting the trip. It's worth checking out as is ML's Blog which never fails to put a smile on my face: an article or some rant every day or two. Always fun, especially if you know her. Time lapse in tomorrow's video.

The Blog is Back! First of the JMT Videos

2007-09-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

After a two month hiatus from the blog while hiking the John Muir trail and hanging out in Upstate New York (don't have a great excuse for not blogging recently), I'm back to blogging for at least 3 weeks before I leave for London, South Africa and Rwanda. I'll be posting a video a day for the the next 17 week-days. All pretty basic footage from the 220 miles on the John Muir Trail. Simple conversations and nice views. Hopefully it will give you a sense of being there on the trail for 20 days and won't bore you too much. It's definitely a trip worth taking. I highly recommend it. I've been promising Smelly and Jekyl, who joined me on the hike, that I'd finish the videos. Encountered some serious problems compressing the files though. I hope they look okay after being recompressed again by youtube. They 're nothing special, but they are done. Hope you enjoy them. Now it's time for me to get back to why I took the year off. Writing is a calling. Until Tomorrow.

Leaving for the JMT.... See you 3 weeks and 220 miles later

2007-07-25T00:26:00.000-07:00

THE JMT CREW
I thought we'd throw together a quick impromptu video before we embarked on the John Muir Trail, but we were too tired and had too much to do (ie bills to pay, things to pack). We'll see you in three weeks. Hopefully we won't die while we're off the grid. I'm sure there will be plenty of bobcats, black bears and blisters to go around. Looking forward to sharing some videos and pictures from the trail when we return.

Bob Hanus: Spiritual Road Warrior & Cross Walker

2007-07-06T03:24:00.000-07:00

Bob Hanus: Part 1

Bob Hanus: Part 2

While driving through Yellowstone I passed a silver haired man by the name of Bob Hanus, an ex-cocaine addict and evangelical Christian who walks the country carrying a 70 pound wooden cross and proselytizing on behalf of Jesus with his personal story of redemption. Since I too have been a recruiter (for video game artists and designers, not souls) I was more than impressed by his method and style. Bob has figured out an amazing way to bring people to him rather than knocking down doors or screaming through a bull horn in Times Square. While I'm sure he gets his fair share of negative reactions from people, the fact that people have to approach and stop him on the street, puts him in a unique position of power. His friendly demeanor and interesting story absolutely requires that you listen and be respectful, even if you don't agree with him. Common human decency combined with Bob's unique brand of charisma will have the most ardent atheist or devout Jew or Muslim listening way beyond what normally would be tolerated. Amazingly when he asked me to pray, I did, and I'm not the praying type in any way shape or form. When I was in elementary school, I even refused to say the word God in the pledge of allegiance. I guess I'm more obliging now. Really shows the power of politeness. Mostly I didn't want to ruin the good vibe I had about the experience by digging deeper into some of his more out there beliefs through an argument. I genuinely liked Bob and wanted to end on a good note. My battery ran out too, so I wouldn't have gotten any crazy footage like his Creationism rant that I unfortunately wasn't able to get on tape. Wow, I'm really self serving... Oh well, at least I'm honest. The entire cross walking extravaganza definitely had a bit of the freak show element to it, but it's delivered with sincerity, a smile and a twinkle in his eye. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing more of this kind of thing down the road from young evangelicals following Bob's lead.

This sort of participatory, yet non-confrontational method seems similar to the "prayer walks" that are employed by the New Life Church in Colorado Springs. If you listen to This American Life on NPR, you may have heard of it. I've been listening to Ira Glass for 2 days straight now via Ipod catching up on the years I've missed. If you don't listen, I highly recommend you start. In short, church members pray on every house, street and alley in the town of Colorado Springs in a structured scientific manner. They don't knock on doors, or press their message on people directly, but rather show them their commitment to Jesus and to the "saving" of their neighbors through their actions and perseverance. They literally blanket the town systematically, praying for Jews, gentiles, Muslims, beggars, criminals and Christians alike. The "prayer walk" approach may in fact be waging a war on Satan, as they contend, but it seems to accomplishes something more fundamental and self serving for the Church in the process.

For the individuals involved in prayer walks, they go on what seems to be a personal spiritual journey yet the journey simultaneously sets their beliefs in a very public setting, both within the Church and the community at large. These ritualized prayer walks reinforce the individual's own belief system by forcing him to publicly express it and by linking the commitment it expresses directly to their identity as a Christian. The insidious genius of this non-confrontational yet participatory process is that it does all this without the down sides of older forms of evangelism. Participants can evangelize without feeling humiliated or rejected by something like going door to door. Simultaneously, they also make a public show of their commitment to their peers, to their community and most importantly to themselves. They're really employing all the lessons/tricks of Psych 101. These demonstrations of extreme and seemingly bizarre commitment is also a powerful force to be reckoned with when evangelizing to people who have lost their way; take Bob Hanus as an example.

As an agnostic/atheist, who really only sees the glimmer of god in the beauty of science and nature, it's a very difficult paradigm shift to reconcile, but it seems many Evangelicals see the world in black and white and through the words and prophecies in the Book of Revelations. They truly love their neighbors and therefore put intense effort into "saving" them since they matter-of-factly believe that Jesus Christ is the "only path" to salvation when the Apocalypse arrives. I guess they really want more company at the the big old Wrap party in Heaven when it comes. According to their own beliefs, it may be a pretty dismal and poorly attended affair.

If only they put similar effort into bettering the world we live in right now, rather than betting on the after life. I'll admit freely that I've met very few evangelical Christians and using Bob Hanus as a measuring stick, they are friendly, warm and loving people. But that seems to be the exact problem most secular people have with them. Its always friendly warm and loving in regards to Jesus and always Jesus. They try too hard to "save" you and they're closed off to any other ideas about the world. Their obsession with Christ is too much for most of us. I'm not comfortable when anyone repeatedly tells me they love me, including my family. I like it even less when a perfectly stranger tells me that Jesus loves me over and over agaion. I don't want to be saved. I want to be left alone. That's the America we all grew up in. Americans have a deep sense of individualism and hold dear the idea that there are infinite ways to succeed in life and in the after life. American culture and freedom is frankly sprinkled with a bit of Libertarianism. We live in a democracy of varying ideas, cultures and religious beliefs. The Evangelical movement threatens that core with a collective ideology and a single minded focus of having people accept Christ as their personal savior and the son of God. It's a religious version of the Borg. (Star Trek reference to the single minded Collective/Communist-like alien race and enemy) Yes, I'm a dork. It seems it's the Christians rather than the Communists that are erasing personal identity.

What frightens me most about the Evangelical movement is that their message of "love" only furthers their commitment to "save" others from false gods and false prophets rather than saving people from real world problems. They always seeks to save people from the inside out. I'm not saying the method isn't valid, but I'd rather teach a hungry man to fish, than teach him to pray. Bob Hanus refutes Luther's Doctrine of Good Works during the interview, one of the only religious belief systems that I believe transcends religions worldwide. All religions have the same fundamental moral core in their texts and this core also lives and breathes at the center of the secular world through basic commonsense and our legal system. Same God, same core rules, and some occasional different details. It's kind of irritating that every religion likes to be caught up in the minutiae rather than looking at the big picture.

I had a scary thought about how this sort of ideology can effect the kids of today. If catholic guilt has proved such a powerful force for those raised Catholic, I reel at the prospect of the evangelical youth of today growing up with as sense of "Evangelical Guilt". Not only are they growing up with the fear and guilt surrounding their own sins and transgressions, but also that of the rest of the world. How many Hail Marys and Our Fathers do you need to do for not saving your alcoholic abusive neighbor, the 10 crack whore's down the street and Jerry Springer. With all that sin, you can forget the fact that you had an impure thought and took the Lord's name in vain. It seems young Evangelicals will be praying forever... but I guess that's the Movement's point. It must be tough trying to deal with the fact that their friends and neighbors will probably burn in damnation for all eternity. That's quite a burden for an impressionable child to carry. It's kind of sad.

I think I'm beginning to understand why the evangelical movement has been so successful. Action is the culture of Evangelism. This youth focused participatory fervor creates an evangelical culture in which self propagation is it's primary focus and also the glue that in turn binds them and shapes the identity of its members. Maybe they're learning from the counter culture of the 60's or youtube of all places. A participatory culture breeds community, loyalty and evangelism. And speaking of.. join the youtube zeitgeist and upload a video of your own. I'm working on one with some wildlife and natural wonders from Yellowstone next. Until then, I'm in Chicago for the weekend and then heading back to the East Coast for a week or two. Hope you enjoyed the videos.

My Musical Renaissance: Portland, Alexis on Fire, Regina Spektor, Sean Hayes, Brett Dennen, and Hope for Agoldensummer

2007-06-27T00:39:00.000-07:00

Threw these photos together along with a short clip from the Alexis on Fire concert that I attended in Portland. I caught this clip during their encore. Sorry for the shaky camera work. I was using my still camera again and the crowd was simultaneously rushing the stage while others were stage diving.

While post hardcore is definitely not my cup of tea, Dallas Green's vocals really set this band a part from some of the screamers I normally lump in with the genre. He is the true heart of the band and the real musician behind everything. I didn't really care for the other "front man". A lot of posing, preening and screaming on stage. Looked like he was trying way to hard to act like a rock star rather than just being a musician. He's the one spraying the crowd with water. I say drop him... but I'm not the core audience or a music critic... so I probably shouldn't talk. After the concert I got a copy of Dallas Green's solo acoustic project, City and Colour (just like his name). Pretty solid stuff. Definitely worth checking it out.

I've never really been very musically inclined, but this road trip has been my musical renaissance. Friends, family, and time have been kind to me. Nothing better than a newly discovered artist blasting on the open road. Some of this music is probably not new, but I've been living in a sound proof hole for the last couple years. Thought I'd share some of the artists I've been listening to:

WHO I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO

Sean Hayes: the guy's voice is brilliant. Like a male Billy Holiday and his lyrics are equally spectacular. Witty poetry with a folk rock sensibility and catchy hooks. He has 4 albums and they're all worth their weight in gold. I'll list the songs that have been topping the "most played list" at the bottom of this post and you'll see how many Sean Hayes songs there are. Probably 75% of the songs I've been listening to.

Brett Dennen: A folk singer with an interesting voice. In particular, I'm drawn to one particular song: "Ain't no Reason". Lot's of great lyrics in this song, but I particular love the way the below line captures the reality of the world we live in despite our best efforts to feel above the fray, "The air on my skin and the world under my toes,Slavery stitched into the fabric of my clothes" Found Brett Dennen on youtube with Sean Hayes doing a duet. Small world. I guess brilliant musicians stick together.

Hope for Agoldensummer: strange harmonies and vocals from two sisters from Athens Georgia. They have a brilliant way of distilling the essence of heartbreak and wonder in a confusing world. I was able to catch a live show in LA just before I left. Picked up their CD for the road. My friend James put it best, when he compared Hope for a Golden Summer to "the music that would play at two a.m. on a front porch on a humid summer night in south Georgia during a heat lightning storm while you're drunk on Mezcal." When Claire Campbell breaks out the saw and starts playing it like a violin you'll understand what he means.

Claire Campbell, the more seasoned of the two sisters, delivers brilliant deep female vocals with the depth and timbre of Tracey Chapman while Paige, her younger sister makes up for her less dominant voice with a raw tragic yet hopeful delivery. The naivete and fragility in her songs are almost more seductive in their innocence than her sister's more soulful renditions. Listen to the song, Midwest and you'll know what I mean. And if that's not enough, how is it possible to not love a band with the lyrics... "and children grew up drinking God from a dixie cup" and "I'll give you a nickel for your quarter, malt liquor for your water". Lyrics that just make you want to drink. Either mainline me some Jesus Juice or hand me a 40 of OE.

Regina Spektor: Probably the one singer you might have heard of. She has an acrobatic playful voice with an amazing depth of soul and lyrically fragmented emotionally wandering poetry. One reviewer described her as a musical Kafka, but she's more playful than that. More like Marquez, a little Latin American magical realism mixed with Freudian free association. A couple of her songs barely make sense from the lyrics alone, but her melodies and voice carry us up and over all the breaks in logic and the gaps in what might be deemed a typical story trajectory. Her verse and voice cut right to the emotional flight she wants us on.

I also have been listening to some
Amy Winehouse, but if you haven't heard the song Rehab at least once, you're more out of the loop than me, so I won't even bother elaborating.

If you hate my links to myspace hit up the actual websites below
http://www.hopeforagoldensummer.com
http://www.reginaspektor.com
http://www.seanhayesmusic.com
http://cityandcolour.ca
http://www.brettdennen.com
http://www.amywinehouse.co.uk
http://www.theonlybandever.com

I listed my top played songs after the jump if you're somehow interested in more.

Most played songs from Sean Hayes:

"Flowering Spade"
Flowering Spade
Midnight Riders
Time

"Big Black Hole and the Little Baby Star"
Politics
Calling all Cars
Turnaroundturnmeon
Feel Good
Boom Boom Goes the Day
Pollinating Toes
Rosebush Inside

"Alabama Chicken"
Alabama Chicken
Rattlesnake Charm (Dream Machine)
Smoking Signals

"Lunar Lust"
Hello
Mind Looping
Painted Clowns

Most played songs from Regina Spektor - "Begin to Hope"
Hotel Song
On the Radio
Fidelity
Summer in the City
Samson

Most played songs from Hope for Agoldensummer
Malt Liquor
Midwest
Religion
Heart of Art
Laying Down the Gun
Home is the Place
Love Letter

Freezing my ass off in Sequoia - pics and video

2007-06-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

I'm currently in Portland Oregon visiting my cousins. It's late and it took 2 hours to upload this video to youtube, so I think I'll make this brief. Some photos from the wilderness and a short video (shot with my still camera) from my 3 days in Sequoia. I was too cold to break out the camcorder. It snowed the first night and my tent was blown away and shredded the next night by 50 mph winds. Fantastic views and great days of hiking followed by some pretty terrible nights. I hope Oregon treats me nicer.

I'll try to post some simple pics tomorrow of Crater Lake from Thursday night and hitting the bars in Portland on Saturday. Until then.

Blogging from the Side of the Road - The Beauty of Wifi

2007-06-14T17:54:00.000-07:00

A hazy fun night in Redding after my uncle Steve's show at the Red Lion on a Wednesday night. I'm currently driving away from Mount Shasta toward the Oregon border and Crater Lake to camp. It's getting late, so I should hit the road once again so I can get there before Sunset. Just thought it was funny to blog from a rest stop on the side of the road. In a couple years I'll just broadcast a live feed from my cell phone. Until the next one. A video or two on the way when I have time.

Escalante Utah - Magic Hour: Stories at Sunset

2007-06-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

This is the second video from Escalante. I'm still trying to figure out the program compressor. Balancing the size of the file and the quality before getting re-compressed by youtube is not an exact science and I'm still figuring it all out. This one is lower in resolution than I had hoped.

My dad tells us a story about climbing an ice shelf for the hell of it, with his brother back when he was our age. His life seems to have had a little more adventure than mine, but I'm working on catching up best I can. Apologies ahead of time on the shaky camera work. My brother was trying not to distract my dad from the story at hand and was "shooting from the hip" to keep him from getting self conscious on camera.

Escalante Utah - The Ancient Art of "Doe-ing"

2007-06-12T10:35:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post a short clip of my family during our trip last month to Escalante, Utah. I got a little busy packing up my life and didn't finalize it. I also wanted to create a new motion graphic before posting. This is the general idea of the kind of things I'll be posting from the road. Quick, and capturing a moment and place in time. Nothing more in depth than that. Maybe an occasional talking head diary of myself, but that could get pretty boring too. Hopefully you'll enjoy. The amount of time I have to capture and edit is pretty condensed during the road trip. I'll try to keep the quantity up and worry less about quality. I have to remember that it's just some footage from a trip and not some magnum opus.

My Business Cards came in.... Front and Back

2007-06-11T11:13:00.001-07:00

My business cards are complete. It took longer than I thought, but they were waiting for me back in Jersey when I returned from the Reunion. I'll write something about my night in New Haven a little later. But first, I wanted to especially thank Michael Faber for designing the card. He came up with a take that was very unique and original and brought my sentiments of this road trip front and center in a visual form. I'm really excited about the card and the logo and wanted to acknowledge how much time he put into it, from the initial spark of inspiration that started it all, to the back and forth we had on it. It sure isn't like any other business card I've seen. I think it'll definitely do the trick for the random people I meet, who are interested in following my adventures online. Mutcluck.blogspot.com doesn't exactly roll off the tongue or stick in your memory. It's no amazon.com. Maybe I should have thought that one through a little more. Oh well. So it goes.

I also wanted to thank my friend Stone Perales for helping with some last minutes tweaks to finalize the image for the printer. Without owning Photosphop and with no art skills, I was between a rock and a hard place trying to finalize my last minute obsessions with Faber inaccessible for the day. Stone was an invaluable springboard for me to finalize the formatting and tweak the files under the tight Friday deadline. He added a couple small flourishes as well that helped bring it all together. I'm a big fan of the little smirk and the border. What was supposed to be 20 minutes of help turned into a lot more. Thanks for putting up with me Stone.

Stone and Faber are both amazing artists in their own right. Check out Stonewurks.com , it'll be worth your time. I can't wait to see the final 3D render of his the sea elf he's working on. It's turning out pretty amazing so far. You can also check out Michael Faber's work at michaelfaberdesign.com He is a freelance graphic artist working out of Durham North Carolina. It's pretty amazing how he took my crappy original motion graphic/photo and made it into something so cool. I need to learn Photoshop and get some of my own art skills. Everytime I try to attempt any art on the computer, it's like I'm playing backetball with two broken legs, in a wheel chair wearing boxing gloves. It's still a fun game to play, but the execution is piss poor. I also have some videos to post. I'll try and get them up tonight.

The road trip has begun

2007-06-04T00:28:00.000-07:00

I'm officially on the road. After staying up all night moving my entire life into storage, I hit the road traveling up the 101 to visit my cousin in San Luis Obispo. I had to take a little cat nap on the way, but I've finally recovered from sleep deprivation and some serious college drinking. The "glasses" party was a blast, but why am I the only one wearing them?

I'm finally ready to hit the wilderness in the morning. First stop, Sequoia National Park. Only 6 hours of driving and then 25 miles of hiking. More posts to come, although I still need to put a little time into my new logo and motion graphic before posting some videos. Hopefully I'll have that and an online photo site complete in the next week. I'm going to put some time into it on Friday.

Type rest of the post here

The First Video of Many - Driving to Escalante - Camping with my Family

2007-04-22T23:20:00.000-07:00

This is the first of many posts and videos. I'm currently editing down the footage I captured with my new Canon HV20 from my Family's trip to the Escalante Canyon System in Utah. The HV20 is a small consumer brand HD camera. I was shooting in 24p cinema mode but it has to be rendered to edit. I think I'll shoot in 30 frames from now on. I'm also having some issues with the audio. Tons of static whether I use the internal mic or the Sennheiser MKE 300 that I attached. I've been playing with some audio filters, but I'm still a bit new to the software. Hopefully I can take care these issues before my longer trip begins June 1st. Gotta make the shooting, editing, and posting workflow as streamlined as possible. If your interested in seeing more of Escalante, my brother has posted some of his photos along with a blog entry at www.activefreemedia.com, or you can use a direct link to the Flicker Set.

For those of you who don't know, I'm leaving my job and leaving LA for 6 months. The goal is to...reaquaint myself with my creative side. I came out to LA in 2002 with dreams of writing and directing movies. While I've done some limited writing, I've shot next to nothing. During the last 5 years, I worked on several feature films, at an agency and then inadvertantly transitioned to the video game industry for 2 years as a recruiter. While I enjoyed being around the creative process; supporting it is very different from leading the charge. I made the realization that I was no longer really a writer despite my occasional spurts, and I was in no way an aspiring director. You are what you do. I was a recruiter; and a good one at that. Ask me about 3D Modelers, Animators, Designers and Programmers, and I can talk your ear off. So I'll be turning this around by actually "doing".

These coming months I'll be updating my family, friends and whoever else tunes in with my various adventures. The first 6 months I'll primarily document my travels. Nothing fancy, but a good way to requaint myself with shooting video and editing. I'll be heading up the California coast and across the country, hiking, camping and visiting friends along the way. Additionally I'll be spending 3 weeks and 250 miles on the John Muir trail and hopefully a month and a half in Rwanda ( yet to be determined). After spending two months writing on the East Coast, I'll be returning to LA for another 6 months, where I'll be taking a crack at short form content for the web and hopefully having an inspired couple pieces of writing to shoot as a calling card for the agencies. Basically, I'll be living the bohemian lifestyle until the money runs out. I think the budget will last a year. Hopefully I'll figure out how to do some contract recruiting here and there and stretch that year a bit further. The eventual goal is to make a living on the creative side of the film industry. We'll see how much closer I am to that goal in a year.

As a disclaimer: For those of you you who think I'm nuts, you have no idea... and for those who know me from more professional settings, don't judge to harshly when the crazy eventually comes out. There's no place for self censorship on the road of life. I hope I can keep you entertained and make you a part of my life for awhile.

And for those of you wondering about my online handle Mutcluck. I'm a recruiter... I know the job market and don't want future prospects drying up after google turns up more crazy than a typical employer can handle.

I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship

MUTCLUCK