Cale Dixon and the Moguk Murders video clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eU4fdNUFPw

Alaska to San Francisco and the City of Lost Angels

Alaska to San Francisco and the City of Lost Angels

I was in Alaska for about a month just trying to figure out my near term future plans and didn’t really come up with much. I felt a little lost until a friend of mine came up with a project that perked my interest. We had to meet face to face so off I went for San Francisco to see family and friends before meeting up in San Luis Obispo, California.

I saw some rare old friends and family. The highlight was going to Yoshi’s and seeing Tommy Igoe and the Groove Conspiracy. Yoshi’s has been bought and will most likely keep the bands coming while the decor and the Japanese culinary influence are either removed or lessened.

I hopped an Amtrak bus train combo and headed south for San Luis Obispo for a few days to see an old artist friend of mine I met in London. We had time to catch up over good food and an outdoor Reggae show in Los Osos in the heat. We stayed a little longer than we should have because playoff game two with the San Francisco Giants were on after the music so we stuck around and waited for a home run by Belt ending a lot of extra innings.

The next morning we made a quick stop at the Del Monte Café for a late breakfast and two out of three of us got on the train and headed for LA to fine-tune some project perimeters and see if we can get a company to sign off on it, if so, I’ll be in Paris in May and England even sooner.

Between now and then I’m doing a short and sweet friendship tour. I probably will not stay in the states but I can’t make up my mind on that one just yet. My options are endless and all sound good. I’m toying with staying in Alaska, working a bit and finish a manuscript, OR go to Nepal and finish it there, OR head back to South Korea for book translation publication arrangements, then to the Philippines, Borneo, and Sulawesi for more diving. A friend thought I should go to Belize and dive there. I just can’t decide, nor do I have to at this point and probably shouldn’t.

We’ve been in Burbank for a couple of days and nights touring around Mulholland Drive, Ventura Blvd., peering into Warner Brother studio lots finally ending our time with a meeting at 2 o’clock with Papa Pilar Rum Company and Rum Farm Productions went pretty well. I think they’re interested in what we are going to do and they want to tie in a charity, which doesn’t bother us. It’s just working out the final details. I can’t really bring it all up just yet because it isn’t finalized but it looks positive. See you in Paris.

Hermosa beach is bustling with remodels and tare down construction of multi-million dollar properties. Excavators pulling out dirt and sand, pile drivers setting I-beams for shoring up new construction and all the while the sun is shining and volleyball tournaments rage on the beach. Whales are migrating south in droves and dolphins swim along the coast. Paddle boarding seems to have become the rage for an alternative activity since I was here last. I’m sure it’s a decade old practice by now.

We went to the North End Bar and Grill where the LA Kings (Hockey) seem to hang out in and their fans. We left when San Jose went up 2 - 0 in the opening game of the season.

I got a call yesterday about my house in Alaska that some folks are showing interest in buying it. If so, how do I spell ‘FREEDOM’ without smiling? I hope they love it as much as I always will. It was fun to build and even more fun to live in. We shall see.

www.davidcdagley.com

Highlights of Sulawesi

Highlights of Sulawesi

I’m not going to say highlights of Indonesia because I would have to go back twenty some years when I had an opportunity and the honor of biking with a dear friend through Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, and Flores Islands with a quick stop on Komodo Island to see the Komodo Dragons. I was in the process of biking the east coast of Australia and he was biking New Zealand and eventually met up in Brisbane, Australia. A few years before the bike ride I had wandered for six months through the South Pacific with some college mates touching down in Tahiti, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia. Both are different stories that I’ll probably write out one day but not without council from them. Sulawesi was this time around and I didn’t have time to do it properly so it looks like I’ll have to go back. J

When leaving Borneo there are two choices, ferry or plane. When I returned from Mobul to Samporna I spoke with some scuba diving instructors that suggested I fly to save time. They explained that the ferry can be slow and I could get stuck for a night half way verses fly and be there quickly. I took a taxi straight to the airport to fly but when I tried to buy a ticket the nice woman behind the counter told me to go Tawau city and get a tourist visa for three months no matter how long I planned to stay. That meant another taxi into town and I would probably miss the flight and have to stay the night. Off I went for Indonesia Immigration.

Every scuba diver I spoke with told me different great places to go but none of the traveling was easy for example, after you get your tourist visa fly from Tawau to Tarakan, ferry boat to Tenjund Salor, taxi to Tawgun Batu and then take a speed boat to Derawan and you’re there kind of directions. That’s all good and the directions are correct but I felt short on travel time and wanted in the water. I met a Russian guy, Alec, hurrying out of the Immigration Office with a new visa in his hand and he with excitement gave me a direct line to a dive sight that sounded a little more within my time restraints. Take two flights and a boat and you’re there with some of the best diving Sulawesi has to offer. Sold. Fly to Tarakan, fly to Manado and take one of numerous boats that take passengers to Bunaken Island.

I know of the more expensive places to stay that are mostly listed on the islands but there always a few that are cheaper. Again, word of mouth is particularly useful in out of the way places like northern Sulawesi. I stayed at Daniel’s Homestay and dove with the connecting dive company, Immanuel Divers. My bungalow was perfect and all I needed. The beach was within 50 meters at high tide and all meals were included in the price of the bungalow. There was a professional underwater photographer staying there and had been for quite some time. His pictures are all around the dining room and many have won contests or placed high.

I dove twice a day, one in the morning and one dive after lunch. These dives were more of a drift dive where you dive down 30 meters in the morning and drift along a coral cliff loaded with eels, fish, turtles, and colors you can only imagine until you are down there. Even the snorkelers near the surface were having some of the best they’d seen. Packs of dolphin swim a bit further out and can be viewed from a boat and if you’re lucky, you can swim with them.

After the first day of diving I wandered into a small fishing village on the island and noticed how peaceful everything was. And with the company of like minded people who were there for the diving we all told bits and pieces of our lives and enjoyed a few beers in the evening looking over pictures and getting to know each other which is always fascinating.

The dive crew on the boat was all local men and women and had a long history of diving and knowing the territory. It adds to the mental comfort ability and ease of the day. There was never a hurry and the sun shone brightly over head until you got into the night dives.

I should have gotten more money out of the ATM in Manado because in the end I had to either go get more or just keep going. I flew to Bali to meet a surf-crazed friend who had recently gotten married and lived in Sanur, Bali. My time was literally running out to get back to Thailand and catch my parting flight for South Korea so it was a short visit. I also wanted to dive there but the weather and storms continued to hit the beach and so I decided to get on with it. Tomorrow is another day and I know I’ll be back.

www.davidcdagley.com