Check out the beginnings of our Rumford fireplace at sustainabullies
and check where we are now. Cool, eh?

Many roads to the top of the mountain

Forget cobbing, what a birthday, amazing.

I woke up with mangoes in my oatmeal.

Mike gave me some of his ration of chocolate.

Rachel and I cobbed a whole city in the morning.

Yadi, our mexican chef and entertainer extraordinaire made potatoes with a Mole sauce, and then I got to break open a Pinata (fortunately there were kids there to swipe up all of the chile mango flavored lollipops).

Topei and Rowan baked an amazing vegan birthday cake.

We cobbed some more.

Rachel gave me hand knit socks made from bamboo (feels like silk, comfy and amazing).

Dinner was stir-fry heavy.

We all sat around an aesthetically pleasing fire

Then I come to find a whole lot of love in my email inbox, I truly appreciate it. Thanks y'all

Cobbing Day 6

So after a brief hiatus, I've come back to give you the update of the hour, perhaps even the day.

Today brought more coffee, truckride, cobbing, fresh grapefruit, cobbing, an excellent authentic Mexican lunch, theory, cobbing, cleanup, truckride, rustic dinner, fire, and now blogging. That's pretty much the schedule of the days, except yesterday, which was our day off and needed it was. I think I took 3 naps total throughout the day trying to fight off an impending cold, and I stayed in the tent when I wasn't sleeping to avoid the ferocious wind. I'm glad I'm not a sea man because the open ocean seems to really frighten me. The wind on shore is enough to make me stay back, although the ocean water in the Sea of Cortez is always especially refreshing after a long day of cobbing. It's awful magical when it's totally calm too. The ocean is untamed beast loved for it's beauty and feared by all for the several thousand years, many books have been written on the thoughts I'm regurgitating now.

In other news, we got to go to a hotel for rich tourist last night and soak in the hot tub, because it's the off season and man do they need the bar business. Tourist seasons are strange in warm climates. I'm never really sure when the occur. Is it always in the summer? Or is it a more tolerable time, like the spring. The hot tub was nice though, it was a strange link to back to the states. Everyone in the hot tub who was staying at the hotel was American and they were in Mexico under much different circumstances than we find ourselves, being builders of mud and all.

Everything seems to be under much reversed circumstances for Rachel and Me right now. We are Americans, we currently pay to work(we pawn it off as learning), we ride in the back of a pickup to and from our site everyday, and we are building a house for Mexicans in Mexico. For me, it's an opportunity, that I chose with my own free will, because I think at least I'm trying to learn a decent way to live on the planet. But change the circumstances, and put the Mexican in America, and it's much different, it's about getting your family ahead, or looking for opportunity(or the streets paved in gold). It's interesting the circumstances and meaning we apply to our everyday life. Going to Mexico is a good way to get a grip on it.

Cobbing Day 2 and 3

Rachel has a really good update on the events of the last two days. You can her sustainabullies blog.

The only thing I would add is that the food keeps getting better both here and at the ranch where we are doing our building. Rachel and I did food prep for Lunch today in Yadi's (Our beautiful host) kitchen. Making guacamole in an unlit outdoor kitchen for 30 people while watching the host of dogs pick through the avocado skins in the compost puts you in a good place.

For dinner tonight the vegans and vegetarians were blessed with a flame kissed veggie burger with ridiculous fixings. It's alright, I've gained 12 pounds while I've been here.

Cob Say 1 Day 1

Los Barriles Camp: First Day of Cobbing, We work for Enron!

It’s been an adventure here in the desert so far. The airport brought our tent the second day we were here and we immediately put it up before it got dark. We slept comfortably the first night, but realized that during the day our tent was just a big kite if it wasn’t fastened down properly. Rachel and I made quick use of the rocks around the site and placed them on top of our deeply buried stakes and in the corners of our tent. This was a major improvement. Now we just need to figure out how to add a few more inches of air under our thermarests and then we’ll be set.

The campsite is pretty amazing, specifically, our rustic kitchen. We have tons of propane, two camp stoves, massive bags of all sorts of beans (coffee beans included) and a wide array of organic vegetables from a local farm. Good planning by our hosts (Pat and Kit from Mayne Island, British Columbia and their two twin boys Ethan and Brody) has made for a very welcoming stay so far, and all of the other folks who are participating in the workshop bring a wide array of backgrounds and robust personalities.

But the coolest thing is the cobbing! We had our first day at the site today and repaired a hurricane damaged cob building from a past project (unfortunately the owners were unable to get the outside finished and protected from the elements). Cob is a very versatile and tough building material and we were told that this was not typical of cob structures, but with 25 hands the repairs to the outer wall went quickly with our simple sand and clay amendment. It was a tiring day but it’s amazing how much was accomplished and how much independence mixed with instruction we were given just on the first day. Rachel, myself and everyone else were mixing and applying cob from the get go. Playing in the mud never seemed so easy.

Let’s just say Mexico is still Mexico, it makes a mean tortilla.

In Mexico, Safe in the Place

We made it safely. Alaska Air misplaced our tent. Hopefully they find it today. The Sea of Cortez is pretty big.

Bajajajaja

I'm in Miami currently, hanging out with Rachel and her family. The weather is pleasant, but more importantly I'm with good company. Miami is the staging ground for my trip to the Baja Peninsula for a month long workshop working with Cob and other natural building materials. For a fine description of cob please check out the Cob Cottage Company.

I'll be there for the month of February with this sustainabullie. It's going to be real fun because we get to build with stuff right below our feet.
It comes out of the earth and goes back into the earth with little harm done. No muss, no fuss, no dumpsters. That's high living.

While I'm building I'll be living in a tent on the Pacific Ocean. We'll be hanging out with other ex-pats in the Playa Norte RV Park. RV and four wheelin grannies, trying to find the real Baja, next to a bunch of peace loving, dirt worshiping folks like myself will make for a month that will surely be remembered. Fun times and intense learning, that's my bag.

I do know one thing, when you take me out of the north during the winter I turn into a monster. Don't mess with me in March, because Little Red is coming to your town next.

Paul Rudd, Steadiest Man in America

Many of you, well about six of you, may be wondering why Paul Rudd? Or better yet, who is Paul Rudd? This post is dedicated to giving you, the reader, a bit of background knowledge on the steadiest of steady movie actors (I have reservations about calling him a movie star, Paul Rudd is far too humble to warrant that title).

Paul Rudd is what I like to call an institution in the land of film. He makes a good movie better, a bad movie the best, and he even saved a now classic TV show from tanking in the ratings and ending one season too soon. His acting prowess is felt like a cool breeze on a hot day, just a light touch turns things completely around.

Not attractive enough to lead in an academy award winning drama and not quite funny enough to make a comedy cult classic on his own, Paul Rudd understands that his role is to prevent Rome from falling without having Caesar on his name tag.

Let us inspect the invisible hand of Paul Rudd.

• Clueless (1995)- Rudd supports as Josh, the antidote to Cher Horowitz (Alicia Silverstone), THE valley girl persona that defined female youth personality, fashion and politick for the decade following. Without Rudd playing the cause oriented, benevolent college intellectual, the world would never have been able to accept a man whose mother married his love interest's father but subsequently divorced her thus not making them step-siblings. Thank you for making the 90's more open minded Paul Rudd.
• Wet Hot American Summer (2001)- Rudd supports as the stud bully lifeguard in this summer camp comedy. Not the attractive lead, but more the continuous comic relief that holds this stellar comedy together, Rudd proves that the 'Strangers with Candy' series may have really hit the big time if he had been around the whole time.
• Anchorman: The legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) Knocked Up (2007)- All three of these movies were deemed "comedy classics" by mainstream America the year they were released. The cast rotates a bit, but Rudd is the one constant in the equation of these three films. Coincidence? I think not. Thank you Paul Rudd.
• Friends (17 episodes, 2002-2004)- Paul Rudd saved this series from ending a season too early when he was contracted by NBC as a ratings swingman. The cast was receiving exorbitant amounts of money per episode and they had all lost their edge when Rudd stepped in as Phoebe's new found love interest in season 9. Rudd may not have improved the ratings but he prevented them from plummeting. Rudd deserves the title as 7th friend, becoming the only permanent love interest outside the group of the original 6 (Tom Selleck comes in a close 2nd for this title as his role as Monica's paternal lover Richard in seasons 2 and 3, but alas, the 'stache is second to no one but Paul Rudd).

Paul Rudd is not a superstar. But he certainly deserves an entire blog titled in his honor. Perhaps the author feels a kinship because of the striking similarities between himself and our hero.

The Hero...

...The Author

Wind Chill

There might not be any ice left up in the Artic. But it's not going down without a fight. -13 F upon awaking.

4 day light snow structure-no chinking

This is what I have been up to for the past 4 days.

Various events presented new building materials everyday.

The first day the snow was wet enough to make large forms with a round rubbermaid container.

The second day I was able to get nice blocks from the well trodden snow path my obsessive compulsive dog created.

The third day I used snow that had warmed on the roof of the house and was shoveled off by my dad. It all fell to ground and compressed very nicely after I took a cue from the dog and walked all over it.

The roof also provided nice thick icicles that I used for a little day lighting.

The fourth day I used the same materials that were provided the third day and finally finished the roof.



In other news, the Upper Peninsula is still a wonderful place to lay down for a while. Maybe you should visit some time if you haven't in a while.

Let's Clear Up The Confusion

Some of you have January 25th marked on your calendars with a big circle around the word Rambo with three exclamation marks following. You want to know if John Rambo has been living in peace after helping the mujahedeen rebels in Afghanistan fight off Soviet scum. Life for you must pass all the more slowly in anticipation of viewing how the next chapter of our last American hero's life will unfold.

Has his life on the Thai-Burma border been peaceful for the last twenty years? If there is a need to save innocent lives, will he bear arms again? Does Brian Dennehy still haunt his dreams? The answer is yes to the first question, definitely to the second question, and no to the last question (he doesn't give a damn about Dennehy). But really the answer is a big no to all three, not just Dennehy dreams.

No the real truth about Rambo is a different truth. A reality even Hollywood and Sylvester Stallone's lackeys wouldn't dare touch. Why won't they touch it. I'll tell you why.

The real Rambo aka James "Bo" Gritz aka "God, Guns and Gritz" lives almost in heaven in Kamiah, Idaho. The real Rambo spreads the love of survival skills through his SPIKE (Specially Prepared Individuals for Key Events, where those events were those anticipated to precede the Second Coming) program.

Don't believe me? The real Rambo (Gritz) is a better story than Stallone anyday http://www.bogritz.com/.

So when you're stuffing your face with popcorn come the 25th, just remember the real Rambo has your back. You just need to go to Idaho for your protection from that ol' New World Order.