A big storm went through the area last night. For a while the winds were up to 35-40 MPH. Gave us a good taste of hurricane season! At about 7 last night the lights started to dim, and then went out altogether at 8:30. They have been out all night and morning, just coming on a few minutes ago (1:30 PM)…17 hours altogether. I think that’s the second longest outage we’ve had so far.

Power has been pretty spotty as of late, probably 4 brownouts this week alone. Enough power to run the lights, but it kills the fridge and electronics / tvs. Luckily, most of the small electronics work during the brownouts, since they can use anything from 100 to 240 volts. If you live down here you need a generator, at least to run the fridge–it will pay for itself after about 3 extended outages (saving a freezer worth of meat).

It’s pretty gloomy here today, and unusually “cold”–meaning the mid 60’s–but that’s pretty darn cold when it’s usually 85 degrees. Ev’s Mom & Dad have their jackets on and Ev is in a sweater. If we were in Chicago right now we’d probably be in shorts and sandals.

We had a pretty busy week. Monday was Ponce. Tuesday was pretty much a rest day (I did some smoked pork on the BBQ). On Wednesday we drove over to Florida, a town toward the middle of the island. Every year they have big 24 hour endurance mountain biking race, and we were looking to find the trails. After some driving around, we found them. If the weather clears up later this week, we might take our bikes down there. Kinda a long haul, but the trails looked well marked and had varying difficulties.

On Thursday and Friday we went over to TJ Ranch (near Utuado–about an hour drive away). Evelyn did her Book Club event on Thursday, while I worked on some electrical stuff (replacing some lights in the cabins). Then on Friday we went back so that I could finish up (moving the pool lights). It was nice to hang out there, and do some productive work.

Today we’re just staying out of the “cold” and I’m relaxing after a lot of driving this week.

We went down to Ponce again today, so that Ev’s Mom & Dad would have a chance to see the art museum. The drive went pretty smoothly (about an hour and a half door-to-door). We saw the Frida Kahlo show again, along with the rest of the museum. This time I was able to pick up the English version of the visitors guide, so I was able to learn a lot more about the works.

The mural I spoke about was painted, but it was a “traveling mural”. It didn’t get a reception in the US because of its pro-communist views. So, it went on the road to the USSR and China. It hasn’t been seen since. My guess is that it’s either locked in a basement somewhere or (more likely) was destroyed. It’s a shame, because I would have loved to have seen what it looked like painted. (The “draft” the museum has is pencil/pen? on canvas/muslin. All outlines and no paint.)

I also double-checked that monkey painting. It’s not the common one you find on the internet. For sure the monkey is on the right shoulder. She’s in a green and orange-ish dress, the background is black, and the background has what looks like rotting trees/bamboo. I saw one pic on the net that looked like it, but the scan was in B&W so I could not be sure (also, the image appeared flipped right-to-left). It’s kinda interesting how often photographs are incorrectly displayed (flipped right-to-left).

After the art museum, we headed for the Ponce mall for lunch. We had some pizza and then headed out to Home Depot to pick up some glue, charcoal, and storage containers. How exciting!

Oh, we also noticed, on the way into Ponce (took a slightly different route this time) the huge (2 story high) “P O N C E” letters that strattle the highway. They look pretty cool, but I wish they would have spent the money on something like garbage cleanup rather than giant letters. Oh, well. Garbage isn’t as cool, I guess.

After some more searching (looking for “1945″–the year the painting was completed) I finally found that damn dirty ape!

Yesterday, I called Zeke’s family Nancy and Chasen. The conversation was great and it became more AWESOME when Chasen told me that he produced and published his first comic book ECRU: BUTCHER OF BALIS (comic)

I meet this talented young man on my travels for NG. There’s many stories with Zeke and his family. Back then, Chasen spent most of his time drawing, creating story lines, and working on his Bachelor degree. I remember spending time with him and learning about his artistic world. Others and myself encouraged him to pursue the comic book industry since his artistic ability are beyound what I’ve seen out there. He’s so good that Aspen Comics felt the need to warn him of a possible law suit. This strange event appears in deviantART under style address regarding Michael Turner and Chasen.

Today, He’s in a collaboration with Earl Newton (another up and coming talent) in Earl’s new independent film. Of the few young talent I encountered, I’m most proud of Chasen, He’s working on making his dream a reality. And I’m confident that not long it will be a reality with our help. Please visit his site, look at his artwork, and if you see his potential then spread the word.

Sincerely,
Evelyn

(Ron: Here’s a sample of his work. Enjoy.)

Here’s a weird thing about Amazon.com. We were ordering some stuff with a gift card, but it wouldn’t allow us to check out. At first we thought it was the card. We checked around a little bit and found that Amazon wouldn’t ship some espresso glasses down here! Because they are “kitchenware” and “kitchenware” could include electronics, they won’t ship it. They will only ship DVDs, Music, and Books to PR–that’s it. Something to keep in mind.

Shipping is odd in general. For example, you can’t ship anything UPS Ground, since there is no ground. Everything is 2nd day air–but UPS won’t deliver in any rural areas (like ours). Also, UPS treats PR as International, so you have to do a customs declaration. But, USPS treats PR just like the states–same shipping rates, no customs, etc.

So, long story short, the best/cheapest way to ship to PR is via USPS Priority Mail. It takes about a week for mail to get from Chicago to Camuy. Parcel post works also, but takes about two weeks. Not bad, considering the distance.

In the end, the Amazon order went through–once we removed the glasses! Of course the Genius Patrol at Amazon shipped our package UPS! So now we have to drive 45 minutes up to Arecibo to pick it up! Their systems are screwy–we’ve gotten about 6 other Amazon packages and they all came USPS. Why Amazon doesn’t allow you to indicate shipping preferences is beyond me. I guess that’s why they call it Super Saver! Even though, of course, it costs $20 to ship it UPS 2nd Day Air, instead of the $8 it would have cost for USPS. Go figure.

The last week or so has been pretty rainy down here. Some days we just get rain in the morning, but today (Sunday) it’s been going pretty much all day. It’s not too bad, since it’s still warm (70 degrees up here in the elevations), but it does make everything really muddy, so we can’t ride bikes / hike / swim / etc. So, just like Chicago in the winter, we’re having some lazy days reading and watching movies.

Today we found that one of the hens gave birth to 11 chicks! For a while we were in a panic, since the mother had been chased off…but fortunately, we found the hen and reunited her with her chicks. Baby chicks are pretty hardy (they even get shipped USPS!), but they get cold really easily (even in this climate).

Tomorrow I’ll probably build a brooder, in case we get some orphan chicks in the future. (A brooder is basically a box to put the chicks in, along with a heat lamp to keep them warm). At last count, I think we’re up to about 40 chickens on the farm! Since we’re been here, we’ve had two broods: One had 5 and this new one had 11.

The last couple of days have been quiet. It was raining off-and-on over the weekend, so we pretty much stayed home. The other day I cooked up a pork shoulder (aka Boston Butt) on the smoker. After 9 hours of smoking, and another hour in the oven (to make sure I got up to 160 degrees–don’t want to poison people), out it came. It shredded up well and tastes great. Probably the best BBQ I’ve cooked down here so far. A for-sure item for my BBQ stand menu.

Today we decided to drive down to Ponce. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to get down there from here (it’s to the south-east of us, on the southern shore of the island). Some of the road is interstate-like, but there’s still a big section between Utuado and Adjuntas that’s not complete–that’s the part that slows you down the most. On the bright side, we did notice that they are finally putting in the towers necessary for overpasses in the missing stretch. So, with any luck, they will be done in the next couple of years. Here’s hoping!

We went down to Ponce because we wanted to check out the Frida Khalo exhibition
at the Museo de Arte de Ponce (MAP). I’m glad we waited until after the holidays, since it looks like the place was a madhouse earlier on. As it was, the museum was pretty quiet and you could really spend some time without feeling rushed.

We were a bit disappointed with the number of paintings (there were only a handful), but they were pretty interesting nontheless. Probably the coolest one was The Suicide of Dorthy Hale (El suicidio de Dorthy Hale). I was intrigued by how she painted onto the frame (clouds at the top, dripping blood at the bottom). It’s really impressive, especially when you get up close.

(One of the nice things about the museum is that you can get close to the paintings. There are only a very few where they have the front roped off, like one with her and a monkey.

Now here’s something odd: when I search for this painting, there are a bunch of pics with the monkey on her right shoulder [the paintings' left], but the painting I saw had the monkey on her left [painting right]. Either I’m in some alternate universe, or there is another monkey painting. Send me a link if you find something.

Not This Monkey

Anyhow, it’s nice to have a museum [unlike Chicago's Art Institute] where you can get up-close to the works.)

In addition to the paintings, there were quite a few drawings (mostly pencil on paper), letters, and family photographs. Also, intermingled with her works, are other Mexican artists of her time. This is nice, because it helps to illustrate her influences. Probably the most famous of these is Diego Rivera. There are several of his paintings here, along with a “draft” of one of his murals. It is HUGE. Must have been 14 feet tall by 30 feet long. Very cool. (If I can find a picture of the mural–I’m not sure if it was ever completed–I’ll post a link.)

Another highlight of the exhibition were the photographs of Frida by Nickolas Muray. The Color Carbon prints are quite stunning and are peppered throught the hall.

Frida Kahlo by Nickolas Muray

Here’s one of the pictures on display; there are several other (I think, better) ones, but I can’t seem to find them at the moment. If I do, I’ll post the links.

Frida On Roof

(P.S. Smokers of the world, unite! Notice in the above pic the cig in her left hand? In every single picture of her, she’s smoking. If you can get a look at a good print [as they have in this exhibition], many appear to be hand-rolled. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em!)

Here’s one of the most famous pics by Muray: Frida by Muray

Alas, like most artists, you gotta make a living,. Even Muray, who also shot pics of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, had to do his shlep work. Here’s one of the more exciting shots: Makes Me Hungry!

Take a look at this knife rack / holder. Looks pretty easy to keep clean, but not safe for kids…or is it?

Knife Rack

Hmmm…I’m sensing a theme here:

Knife Rack #2

Yesterday I finished “Pig Perfect” by Peter Kaminsky. It traces the history of pigs and pork though the ages, as the author travels across the world to find the perfect ham (and then, later, the perfect BBQ–never quite found). I enjoyed to book quite a lot and walked away wanting to raise my own pigs! (At least down here it’s possible–you can’t raise pigs in Arlington Heights!) The author’s love of pigs especially comes through in the first half of the book; I found the later chapters a bit too preachy, but they did enlighten me on the ongoing horrors of animal “farming”.

Don’t fret, this book didn’t turn me off of pork (the exact opposite) or meat. No becoming a veg (again) for me! However, it did continue to illustrate what I’ve already felt for a long time: If you eat meat, know where the heck it comes from! If you can raise your own (pretty much impossible in the States), do so! Or, spend the extra money to get real free-range meat (a la Niman Ranch) or meat from small scale suppliers. It’s more expensive, but it goes to making sure that the animals live better lives, and it pays the farmers a heck of a lot better.
Okay, now I’m preaching! See! It’s a good book!

Let me give you one fulfilling reason for raising your own home-grown chickens: You can kill and eat that bastard rooster that keeps waking you up in the middle of the night! Let me tell you, there’s been more than one day where I was about 60 seconds from pulling out my machete….but, that’s another story.

On to the second book.

Evelyn has this desire to create Exotic Pies. Now, remember, normal pie stuff (like apples, cherries, etc) aren’t exactly common on a tropical island like Puerto Rico. So, we’re gonna come up with some interesting combos. Since my baking skills are slim to none (I’m a sloppy, but decent, cook and a crappy baker) we decided to hunt down a good book for her to learn from.

Now baking is a VERY hard type of cooking to learn from a book; some would say impossible. There are just too many things that need to be taught “in person” that don’t come through in books. “Knead until ready” and crap like that. What the heck does that mean–especially to a novice?

So, while browsing around Borders last week, we ran across the Alton Brown book on Baking called “I’m Just Here For More Food (food x mixing x heat = BAKING).” I’m a big fan of Alton Brown–he explains WHY things are done–and I liked the look of the recipes, so we picked it up.

It’s the Best Baking Book I’ve seen in a long time. He breaks up the baking into different types of mixes/doughs (ex. “biscuits” or “muffins”) and really explains why. We have yet to try out his recipes, so I’ll hold off final judgment for now. But, they look good–and will teach you how to experiment PROPERLY. Evelyn is learning a lot, and is understanding WHY you do certain things, so it was well worth the investment.

(Any serious cook should watch all of Alton Brown’s shows ["Good Eats"]. They are fun and very very informative. Also, make sure you have a copy of Harold McGee’s “On Food And Cooking”. There’s a recently revised version out. Pick it up. You’ll learn why the heck things happen in the kitchen.)

One of the things we’re considering doing down here is some Eco Tourism (hiking, biking, etc). Well, in order to do the biking part, you need a bike, right? (Okay, I know: Those who know me are aware that I have about 5 bikes right now: tandem, recumbent, road, mountain, and folding. But hey, they are all in Chicago!)

So, I was looking around for bike stores. There’s one chain on the island, but it didn’t look too promising (didn’t really tell me what brands they carried, plus, I’m not a big fan of ‘big” companies). Luckily, while searching for trails, I ran across Xtreme Bikes, in Aguadilla (Xtreme Bike PR). They looked like a small business bike shop–the kind I like. So, Evelyn and I decided to check them out today.

Now you gotta remember, when it comes to most “specialty” stores in PR, they are typically postage stamp sized and don’t have much. I’m talking 10 x 12 sized stores. So, I wasn’t keeping my hopes up. However, I was betting on one thing: On their website they show themselves as a Rocky Mountain Bicycles dealer. For those not into bikes, RM bikes are hand-built in Canada. Real people welding the frames. Real people building the wheels.

So, off to Aguadilla we headed. It’s about 45 minutes from home, depending on traffic (the side roads are the easy part–the main roads [like 2] get all backed up). When we got there I wasn’t too sure, but lo-and-behold, it was a decent sized bike store with probably 25 bikes on the floor. Helmets, glasses, shoes, gadgets, etc. I was pleased.

When we got there we were greeted by Lizette, who we found was one of the owners. She was very friendly and helpful, which isn’t always true of store employees here. (As in the US, there are those people who want to help you, and those that don’t. Unfortunately, there are a lot more lazy unhelpful ones than good ones. When you find a good one they are like gold.)

I took a look around and eyed a couple of Rocky Mountain bikes (they also have Kona, a few Specialized road bikes, and some Iron Horse). I took three of them for a spin, two full suspension and one front-only. Man! It was nice to get on a bike again. Zipping down the Calle Marginal at mach speed, then slamming on the brakes (disc, front and back–sweet!) and hearing little kids squeal as the bike slammed to a stop near them. (If I could understand Spanish, I am sure that they said “do it again!”.)

The only problem is, I haven’t been on a bike in ages, so soon after I felt like I was gonna have a heart attack. But, I survived, and was hooked. Evelyn, not wanting to be left out, also took a couple for a spin, and found a liking to a hard-tail RM bike.

In the end, we ending up walking out with a new Rocky Mountain Element 30 for me (Ron’s Bike) in red, and a Rocky Mountain Trailhead for Evelyn (Evelyn’s Bike) in black–of course. Also picked up some new Giro helmets (my old Giro Ventoux is probably 10+ years old now, and still in good shape–but still in Chicago)…I never ride without one.

So, Ev and I are gonna find some (quieter) roads tomorrow and break in the bikes. Heck, we might even be able to ride them around her parents land–just watch out for the cow pies! After that, we’re gonna check out some beach trails, and a really cool trail in the dry forest in the south (Guanica). Once I’ve put a few hundred miles on the frame, I’ll write up a full review of the bike.

I’ll post some pictures tomorrow (once it’s light out). All you ladies out there will get to see me in my biker shorts.

Since I’ve been reading a lot more down here, I’ve decided to add a new category called (simply enough) “Books”. I’m only gonna put stuff in here that is worth checking out, so as not to waste our time.

The Planets by Dava Sobel. A book about, well, the planets. A well-written tour of the solar system. At times she gets a little light-headed and pretentious, but I enjoyed the book. This is a book from the author of Longitude, which got good reviews (though I have not read it). My primary complaint: It was too short. I felt like I was reading a term paper I put togther in 8th grade…meaning…small pages with really wide margins. I know it’s nit-picky, but it’s kinda goofy to have 1.5 inch margins in a 5×7 inch book! Maybe I should be bitching about the designer and not the author. Anyway, it was a fun read and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

For you cooks (or anyone interested in food), check out any book by Anthony Bourdain. I just finished two of his books (Bone In The Throat [a novel] and A Cook’s Tour [which a cable show is based off of--No Reservations]). His novel was a lot of fun, but his non-fiction is even better. He’s known for Kitchen Confidential, but I liked Cook’s Tour better. He’s a great writer and you can really see what’s going on. Having met a number of cooks down here, let me tell you, Bourdain is telling the truth. He’s a real chef/cook–drinking, drugs, intensity, love of food, experimental, etc. This is what a chef/cook should be, a lover of food, passionate, a human being– all rough on the edges. He “gets it”, and that’s what I like about him.

The Cellar Gang by John Carder Bush. John Bush, of Kate Bush fame (her older brother). I learned about this book from some K8 interviews & links. This is Wind in the Willows with sex, vulgarity, and disturbing images. I loved it! It is NOT for kids. You have to order it directly from Bush (John Carder Bush Site) and it ships from Jolly Old England (via Sweden, for some reason). Limited edition of 500 first edition copies, of which only one exists in Puerto Rico. I won’t give up the plot, but let me tell you that I finished it the same day I got it. Tons of fun. First book in a long time that got me really imagining the environment and the characters. BTW: JCB is not only a good writer, but he plays on all (I think) of Kate’s albums. Plus, he is an amazing photographer. Many K8 images are by JCB. This guy is amazing, and, it seems, delightfully twisted.