Kickin' It Cambodian Style

I saw these guys on the way back to my guest house the other evening...

Bad Juju

Do you ever feel like you're at the epicenter of some sort of electro-magnetic vortex?

This past week I had to replace my kitchen disposal after it flooded the area under the sink with what looked like baby vomit. Cost of replacement and installation: $300.00

I also had my car towed. Cost of retrieval from towing yard $175.00. Parking ticket $25.00

And my computer hard drive crashed, resulting in the loss of hundreds of photos and all my applications. Cost of repair: $200.00 Loss of data: Priceless

$700.00 later, I'm still trying to figure out which photographs are gone forever and how many survived. The good news is that while sifting through the wreckage, I discovered a bunch of images I shot in Africa more than two years ago. Turn your speakers up and enjoy!

Music: Miss Q'n by Zap Mama

Feliz Cumpleaños a Dana

Today is my friend Dana's birthday.  So I decided to accost everyone I encountered throughout the day, many of them random strangers, and ask them to wish her a happy birthday. Somehow I managed to find representatives from China, England, New Zealand, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Honduras and the U.S. 

Here's the video:

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Two of the main reasons I wanted to come to Honduras were to scuba dive and learn how to take photographs underwater. I've done 12 dives in the past 14 days, several of them at a depth of around 90 feet, and am learning a lot about buoyancy and breathing....two skills that come in handy when I'm NOT diving as well!


I got to do three fantastic dives today with the staff of Utopia Dive Village. We saw an incredible and surreal variety of flora and fauna including a very annoyed moray eel who did not like having his picture taken. That thing makes Beelzebub look like Casper the Friendly Ghost!


Check out this video of some of the caves we swam through...I bonked my head a few times looking through the camera instead of where I was going. Do not be alarmed by the sound of me hyper-ventilating in the background...the good news about peeing in your wetsuit is that nobody notices, and you get that warm, reassuring feeling right when you need it most.

There's a special bonus feature at the end where the dive master does his underwater impersonation of Michael Jackson.

Kids do NOT try this at home!

Captain Vern's Magical Mystery Tour

Today I bid farewell to the beautiful island of Roatan after stopping by the dive shop to close out my tab. Included on the bill was $42.oo for a weight belt which came unbuckled at the beginning of a dive and sank 130 feet to the bottom of the ocean. Thankfully it didn't fall on one of the divers below....I think they charge even more for that!

I did manage to find the weight belt, by the way, lying right beside the shipwreck where we were diving, but getting it to the surface proved somewhat problematic. Coincidentally, that's what the captain of the shipwreck said too. Speaking of ship captains, my journey from Roatan to Utila was aboard a catamaran skippered by Captain Vern, a colorful character who plies the waters between the two islands, ferrying tourists and divers back and forth.

He's knowledgeable about all things nautical and is extremely skilled at handling the double-hulled craft. For example, he keeps a cooler of cold beers on board, as well as a varied assortment of music. During the four hour crossing we heard everything from Jingle Bells to Joe Walsh. And while we're on the topic of Joe Walsh, Captain Vern is a dead ringer for the legendary guitarist...dontcha think?


Captain Vern


Joe Walsh

No sooner were we under way than I began to feel queasy. Four hours is a LONG time to be seasick, but I quickly got up front (I think Captain Vern called it the bow) with my eyes fixed on the horizon and a breeze in my face. The sea-sickness soon subsided to a manageable level...somewhat akin to how I usually feel on New Year's Day.

Others were not so fortunate, however, and before the voyage was over, there was vomit all over the back of the boat...Captain Vern was very stern about not puking upwind from the rest of the passengers. It was really fun to try to guess who was gonna up-chuck next, and in the process get to know my fellow travelers:



He looks a little like the writer Hunter S. Thompson, dontcha think?

The Beach Boys

Yesterday I went to meet my new neighbors, an Italian couple named Ilaria and Gerardo, at the beautiful white sand beach at West Bay here in Roatan.

I decided to avoid the 2+ mile hike and catch a water taxi. It makes good sense that the operators of these boats try to round up as many passengers as possible for each trip, so as to maximize their profit. After telling me "5 more minutes" for about half an hour while waiting for two alleged passengers who said they'd be right back, the skipper finally decided to shove off without them.

It was looking like I was going to be the only one on board as we set out under the blazing mid-day sun, but we'd been under way less than a minute when another guy flagged us down from the shore. By the time he boarded, I was about 30 minutes late for my rendez-vous, and then we pulled over yet again, where a group of about 15 people was waiting.

The boat in which I was traveling was about as sea-worthy as a dug-out canoe with an engine, so I was curious to see how more than a dozen people, half of them with beers in their hands and no telling how many beers inside them, as well a stroller and an infant were gonna fit in this vessel, much less get in without capsizing it.

A lengthy negotiation in Spanish ensued, with the self-appointed and least intoxicated member of the group arguing in favor of a group discount. The boat owner finally relented, and thus began the precarious process of boarding. I was handed a soccer ball, and then a 4 year old, and then the rest of the crowd descended from the pier, which was about 4 feet above the top of the boat.

Once everybody was settled, we set off on our merry way, while I attempted to converse in my lame español. With a little help from the guy who boarded right after me, I learned that our fellow passengers were construction workers (except for the 4 year old and the infant) on vacation from the mainland. I jokingly asked "Quien tiene las cervezas?" and was promptly handed a frosty cold beer. Maybe my Spanish isn't so lame after all.

Upon our arrival at the beach, I tried out the new underwater housing for my camera. Here's a short video I wrote, directed, produced and starred in. And I did all my own stunts.

The Best Job In the World

I don't know if you've heard, but the Department of Tourism in Queensland, Australia is taking applications from anyone on the planet who wants to live on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef, live in a tricked-out three bedroom house which overlooks the ocean. Other amenities include a pool, a spa, a state-of -the-art entertainment system and a golf cart in which to tool around the island .

Job responsibilities include snorkeling, diving, relaxing, sun-bathing and.....here's the tough part....keeping a blog. Oh yeah...the gig pays $100,000 for six months. You can check it out at www.islandreefjob.com.

Here's the video I submitted as part of my application for the job....click anywhere on the image to view it. And if you think I'm the man for the job, please vote for me....hopefully by July 1st I'll be blogging from down unda!