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Posts Tagged ‘ocelot’

I Need a Longer Handle

yeah…the initial field trials with the new croquet set are mostly okay except that a longer and maybe thicker handle for the mallets might be better….hunching over doesn’t seem quite right.

s’posed to maybe rain later tonight…maybe some lightning also…be good for the crops/lawn…..why was a Muni worker taking photos of Jardin Bavarias little plant pots hanging from their outside window, being used as ashtrays? is the Butt Patrol coming around again? it’d be a surprise, considering that the Muni/City Hall folks seem to be paralized….dam spel chuk…into mostly not doing anything. They’re probably waiting to see what happens with their previous office holders, some of whom are languishing in the clink/carcel/jail…wonder if Adolfo  still has any say/juice in town? I see his daughter once in a while, checking things at the hotel and she doesn’t look as stressed out as she was..

‘heard that the chicken who was the main guest at Franks’Farm Mayan ceremony yesterday was ‘completely incinerated.’….i was once a guest at a  voodoo/hoodoo/juju Santeria’ ceremony in Havana, where the chicken didn’t make it either but we all got a splash of blood and a shot of rum…that chicken got served up later..

who winds the four clocks in the Arch? one key and how big is it? why four clocks? some kinda price break?

more folks leavin’ on a jet plane…Tuesday’s flights out will carry at least 3 that I know of…Ponzi Bob and his pal, for 2..and more the following week…Mike D, Reid, maybe Joe M..O’Lot’s Happy Hour profits are gonna drop like a….

how about a little side bet or two? how many of these places will still be open in 6 months? Mango Verde, Papatown, 13, La Rumba, Azul 39, Dishualded, Pan e Fantasia, Akai Sushi, Le Petit St Malo, Earthborne Produce, PachaMama coffee/chocolate, Cafe Late, Kathy/Kris Cafe, Cargo Room and if more people get sick from the food, Rafa’s Bistro…most of all, it’s location, then high rents and lack of traffic…in a month or so we’ll have the backpackers/spanish school students and christians, none of whom are high rollers….well, if they were  holy rollers…nah, not even.

the may version of  Our Man in Antigua-stan ran thru Amazon’s proofing process in a day…a record….twice the size of the same version last year, with more additions/changes already slated for June and yes, the table of contents now reflects the version date…’May 2013′….i once had an aversion date…she was awful.

races tomorrow at the ‘Drome towards Escuintla! cars, that is…the spandex babes will be there…i won’t..and it looks like a little trip to Iximche is shaping up…’gotta check it out’, per Mr Mellen of Epicure…any guy who can sell 60 boxes of Triscuits in 2 days is someone to listen to, the way i figger it….a longer handle? take a mallet to the Mercado or the  hardware store and watch their expressions…o you crazy gringo…yep, that’s me..have a great weekend and if it rains tonite, be sure that you have your rubbers with you.

 

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the scene? a combination ‘going away and birthday’….Barb the K leaves us Tuesday, back to  Chicago and earlier than usual…she’s got appointments and A-Town has kinda bored her…the birthday? Roberto de Oro aka you-know-what, celebrating a number that comes around Wednesday…yep, he’s a septuagenerian…ask him for the exact number…it was fun and noisy….hot dogs, beer, booze and Frank in from the river with the latest ‘product’…what a laugh he has…the usual suspects showed up..
i spilled wine on my hawaiian shirt, demonstrating the technique of swilling from a gallon jug on one arm…the shirt, fortunately, has a wild/crazy pattern so the wine hardly shows.

some rumble…rumbling? about the new jazz bistrot Dishualdeds’ pricing on drinks…one beer, one wine…90q? not a way to create a  client base, folks..speaking of beer and stuff: Ocelot’s 3rd Anniversary is tonight…free stuff from 5-6….the cheap stuff, ok? the price is right and get there early to partake and congratulate Shaun on a great/successful business…not an easy task in this town.

another ‘only in Antigua’ miracle!…remember, about a month ago, that Hill Billy Tom Martin lost his wallet?  credit cards, debit cards, DPI and the registration papers for three vehicles? yeah, there was a 100q or so in cash….he put up reward posters and…blow and lehold! someone answered…a gang of eight showed up, claimed the 1000q reward and Tommy has his papers, wallet and cards back…a mucking firacle!

the croquet set is inbound, golf is on for Wednesday and the week is unfolding nicely…I’ll try some solid food today(celery and peanut butter, ok?)  

see you at Ocelot about five…after that, it’s anyone’s guess…Joe Collins and his magnificent NGO, Houses to Homes, putting up two more this week…simple concrete block homes, roof, window, door…$1750…very good to see him back and in action…Guatemala needs more people like him..and it looks like its the end of the season for the ‘Less than Hardy Boys’ and the monthly excursions into whatever depravity that Guatemala offers…next year, next season…some are bailing soon and going back to the U-Ess of Aye…too bad but when  you gotta go, etc..Alabama Bob, stalwart of many an adventure, leaves \for El Salvador(Evelyn)Thursday and after that, back to Georgia or where ever he checks in to…leaving HBT and i to cook up ideas…the usual half-baked/hare brained stuff that we’re so good at…fill up the tank and crank it up…CU around tonight…Fred Heywood of Ravens Croft Stables….in the park on a Sunday, with horse/saddle…for a guy who doesn’t have email, a web site or subscribes to any ‘social media’…..he’s getting Trip Advisor ratings! go figure..where they found him…yeah, he’s in my book but…’thinking of adding a ‘mention this and you’ll get a free bag of product’   you know, just to see what happens.

The 3rd Anniversary celebration at Ocelot? smasho-rooney…no, I don’t know…it just sounded appropriate, something that I’m rarely called. Reid’s birthday also and smooches were dispensed…an over flow crowd(using nearby vacant restaurants chairs/tables…) 98% of the usual suspects on hand…no, sitting at tables..the glassware ran out, plastic/styrofoam cups came into play…no, dispensed containing various ingredients of alcohol-based recipes. HBT? laid low by a vicious head cold…probably totally zonked out by now, considering the array of medicines that he went off to buy….yeah, I had two recommendations…in the name of science, medicine and the general welfare of mankind,  you know.. 

 

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yep, another ‘incoming procession’ tonight…with the grand finale, the overnighter on Thursday…I went to town, smiled at Flor(no news on her new location replacing Dasha on 5th calle, waved at the ultra delicious Claudia #1 of Da Vinci and…ogled the teen tarts in the park…pop tarts? you tell me…

seen any of the new/shiny 1 quetzal coins yet? uncirculated but they all have 2011 as the date of issue…maybe it’s just a Guatemalan thing, where it takes two years to get stuff done…

Pappy’s Texas BBQ? announcing that they’re open tomorrow…11-4…maybe they’re getting ‘up to speed’ and figuring out just how much traffic they can bear…I like it…a ‘sound business plan’ unlike most others in this town..John Korte’s back in town, prepping for their final final move to Panama and bemoaning the lack of a parking space..

do you read? consider this…and do the math: if you buy a used book at 30q once a week, that’s 120q a month…you could, on the other hand, join the American Legion library, where for a measly 100q a year, read as much as you can bite off..next to the Bavarian Garden, on 7th ave norte…open 11-3, seven days a week and nope, you don’t have be a member of the Legion…

and thanks again, Reid, for the bottle of  Dr. Bronners Peppermint Castile Soap…as i said, over the usual meeting of the Knights of the Clown Table at Ocelot, i haven’t used it since the early 70′s, when I lived on a commune in  northern Cal…now..where to find the patchouli  oil?..ah, Gualan/Guanajar? no idea when…might be a truck load of relatives, per the Christmas run of 20 some in the back…

and where in hell did all these PNC(cops)come from? like the army patrols, they’re packin’ serious firepower…stubby little machine guns, black berets and…nope…didn’t see any of the rarely seen pink berets…they’re the anti-gay troops..

and one by one, the annual visitors are leaving…some not soon enough, the others will be missed…there might be one more road trip next month, a kind of closing out the season thing…Mike D, Alabama Bob, Reid, all leaving in May…it could be a run to Iximche, Xela and  for those with fortitude and a desire to see what ranks is on my top three list of worst nightclubs in the world(El Exceso)..no film at 11, btw…all I remember is some fat girl trying to climb the brass pole..and failing.

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apropos of nothing, of course…the seemingly never-ending story of the “Land Rover” in the muck took another twist today….it seems that it really belongs (sort of)to Mac and Jim Hearne except that they never really had a title to it.. .so? so what? anyone with a printer/scanner and a decent graphics program can get around this issue..more or less…my suggestion to Reid is to put it on pontoons and float it to Puerto Barrios…right, as it…he’s getting very cold feet about this deal.

Francisco, one of our resident ‘dealers’ in hot/dubious merchandise of uncertain provenance (I’m being kind)working the patio at Ocelot…the jade mask? for you…500q..

the latest roadtrip….http://www.examiner.com/article/the-search-for-monument-21?cid=db_articles

what was the Restaurant Panchoy is reincarnating as the Cafe Panchoy…a big space on 6th ave, and installing a lot of new wooden fixtures…what was Ixcot has a new tenant, slowly moving in. A menu, business plan and a license? who knows…maybe they’ll call iit…”Mama Town”….and thanks, Christian for the ‘ thumbs up’ on the little Skyy Cosmo cocktails at Bodogona…yep, add a little extra Vitamin V and they crank/rock…whatever..

and a early Happy Birthday to the Marvelous Miss M….how old is she gonna be? I know, but some gentlemen don’t tell..HBT’s 69th rolls around(nice visual)on Sunday…Guanajar will rock..fireworks, guns in the night, the usual stuff..I’m definitely packin’ and I don’t mean a suitcase…if half the stories I’ve heard are any indication, a man would be a fool not to.

If you read a lotta books (and I do) consider joining the American Legion Library, up 7th avenida next to the Bavarian Garden…open to anyone with 100q (a year’s subsciption), 11-3, 7 days a week…over 30000 books of every kind: I’d be spending a 100q a week otherwise, buying used books.

Bobby Darling and Moriah playing at Cafe Bourbon tonight…Mike C and lady there on time for the start..the rest of the eateries in town fairly empty but given the hordes of clean/white kids streaming into town, they gotta eat somewhere(maybe)

gun control? use both hands…

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in black….’got caught in my first procession of the season….buncha kids in black robes/hoods….not a good sign for one who’s not ‘doing’  Seman Satan this year…thanks to HBT, I’ve got a hideout on the river across from Gualan(Zacapa way)…a pig gets it in the neck, i get some ‘quiet time’ …..and maybe the little procession there for Semana Satan will seem ‘picturesque’..given enough rum,probably so..and we’ re losing some folks, headed back for the YouEss of A…Alabama Bob is going back, ostensibly to consider work…or not…and one by one, the ‘snow birds’ who bring their annual wackiness plus laughs/decent conversations, are….damn…I’ll miss ‘em all…

Casbah’s new ‘pub’, downstairs where Djinn used to be and which has been vacant for a while?…nicely converted to a cozy bar, with a  hammered(distressed)brass top…opening night…opens at 11am for the hungover crowd, not sure when it closes but they’re open all week except mondays…might work…’hammered/distressed’ might apply to a few locals…take Hap, for instance, who took off for Roatan(with the black eye he picked up here a few nights/mornings ago, kissing the cobblestones..

cobblestones? why do we have tumulos/speed bumps for cobblestone streets? paved roads, I got it…kinda like another question about the clock over the Arch…while four clocks and who winds them? and how big is the $#@! key?

Shaun et al getting their new Pit Stop put together, in spite of the usual lackadaisical(no flowers)attitude of the Guate workers..steal/copy an idea…english muffins with black beans, an egg and ? 

some kinda tall/slinky brunette..six feet tall, doing a mini-foto shoot on north 5th…tight black jeans, boots…killer…and expensive..

Andy, our resident mime, doing his thing on 5th, without white face (paint)almost didn’t recognize him…the beggar woman who hangs out by  El Portal? crying this morning…her husband died…who knew she was married? and what kinda home life?

and the high point of my day? being awakened from my afternoon siesta by the guard at the gate with the news that Marbel and her sister(Carla)were here…whoooee baby!…it was great to see Miss M again…and she’s in need of a job and a place to stay…got idea’s? i’ve got her #…(I wish)

manana? St Patrick’s Day, as if a lot of folks needed another excuse to get hammered…o, it’s St Patrick’s Day..gimme a double Jameson’s….I’m outa here monday for a day/night of ‘field research’….looking for the ‘Perfessers’ long  lost stone in the cane fields of Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa…right…hey, I found specific directions…what could possibly go wrong?

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