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Posts Tagged ‘chocolate’

The Beet goes on

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Shopping, Travel Safety, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , on March 14, 2015| Leave a Comment »

dunno, one way or the other….been up early, writing the Chocolate Bob article…but there’s some changes in town…people looking at the Sangre space on upper 5th Avenida, where the signs (Sangre, Estrella, etc) haven’t been taken down or changed since ’08…in what was the Tacocontento space, also on 5th, across from Polio Compero, they’re putting in 4 electrical meters, assuming that a smaller couple of spaces is easier to rent then one big one..

Speaking of big ones, James the Mullen is back in town…wreaking havoc where ever he goes (but in a good way, ok?) guest bartending at the Exit Inn last night, after the o-so-serious dart game  ended (Spiros was observed practicing earlier)a and the site of Gin King’s penultimate birthday party..complete with a pinata..and also being the master/baiter of ceremonies at the Standup Comedy Night at the Snug…Sunday, 7pm…there WILL be laughter, one way or the other..see our local talent in action..

is Habibi’s bar for rent or sale? that semi-Arabic place on 4th Ave, up the street from Ocelot? next to the other jade store? how the hell can one block support 2 jade stores? and the other,Imperial Maya Jade, is already sucking(no traffic, no $$)…Petit San Malo, per Jackson, was moving from outer 4th calle to 6th calle…wrong, beer breath…5th calle, half a block south of the park, and yet..another Djinn store on that block? yep…

John Adams leaves next week, back to the Sierras…why? dunno..guess that he’s got stuff to bring here…ah, the merry-go-round of our temporary visitors…in/out/in out…no, don’t ‘got there.’

and a giant tip of the panama to Bob Chocolate, for the ‘tour’ yesterday…fascinating stuff..

and now, for the not-so-good news…Michael Tallon, our iconic gentleman/scholar/wordsmith, is in the hospital in New York…if you read his long letter on FB this week, you’ll understand. It was and is gut-wrenching and his valor and courage are high water marks for any of us. …stunning and shocking come to mine…nuff said…sent him your prayers, as I am doing…this isn’t a pretty picture.

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Out! Fault!

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , , , , on December 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Sometimes, living next to tennis courts, is like being married..the same shouts…no love-40, either.

yeah…the newspaper that proclaimed McAfee’s deportation yesterday…oops…Da Judge gave him a few more days to get it together before they ship his addled carcass back to Beleeze…with the dye job and the bad photos, it’s looks like he’s been on a very long and thoroughly whacked out road trip…or boat trip..

tomorrow? an NGO that I know nothing about, Los Manos de Christine, doing a 25q BBQ at 11am…#35 Avenida Norte, at the Lutheran Center…the only ‘manos’ that I’m familiar with are those of Carmen and that’s about every two weeks..and magic.

Red Power? not…tis the brand of some funky dead-ass batteries imported from Red China…yeah, they’re cheap and half the price of Duracells…don’t go there…

The ‘fix’ in is for us at Take-a-Lick Abaj on Wednesday, as long as Hill Billy Tom doesn’t run us into the back of some cane truck on the way to Ray-hoo…a guide, maybe a cop or two on a moto…too bad Reid isn’t back yet…a lot of the usual ‘suspects’, i.e, the winter crowd of pale white gringos are slowly re-appearing in town..Reid’s excuse is that his son hasn’t graduated yet from Police Academy II or 3…Reid! bring a dart gun and a lotta darts…PCP is recommended…for dealing with the 800 lb sow in the pen with the Land Rover. Any darts left over can be used around the park.

Alright…Civic Improvement time and good PR for Guatemala’s badly tarnished international image…the idea of the tuk-tuk races didn’t fly..and the idea of staged shoot-outs between narcos and the PNC hasn’t grabbed anyone…nor the nude chocolate mud-wrestling events…god, where’s the imagination? feature this…there’s a national/international bread company that sells here…and with a contest for someone babelicious, some press coverage and TV cameras, Antigua could get some decent PR….I’m volunteering to be a judge, for as any of my friends will testify, if anyone is an expert in such, tis me…ta da! Miss Bimbo!

Brenda aka Brianna

Brenda aka Brianna

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The Missionary Position

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , on August 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

the groups of christian do-gooders appear to be dwindling…or is it dwindleing? dwindle me….kind of like the word ‘frugal’….to save…’frugal me’…no, frugal you…whatever, I’m tired and its only Wednesday…the streets are wet and clean/clear with only Hector’s showing any sign of activity($$)…Ignacio and his band of Cuban All Stars back playing at La Esquina on Wednesday nights…the gig at Riki’s didn’t last long, I take it…Nelson & Co still in the States, leaving a musical hole in Antigua nights…kinda miss the magic but…he’ll be back, as to when, who knows?

That strange smell in the streets after a tuk-tuk goes by….Venezuelan high sulfur crude, crudely refined but the price is right…probably a ‘deal’ involving something like this….

happy days are here again

I only know because a few years ago, when I was inspecting a….uh…you know, some of ‘that’ and the usual odor was overpowered by what we’re smelling in the streets…hey, science is my life…

Ocelot now offering 2 gig wi-fi…per keith, it rips…Claro finally playing catch up with the other providers in this town…up the street to Zaika, the reincarnated el Palacio de India, for a post-stroll pop and a chat with Enrique and Blanca…it’s a political thing: I live on the same street, patronize their laundry…and they can use the business…one couple seen in the corner…is it just me or does it seem that the tourist season has peaked? fewer students, back-packers, cruise-ship passengers….school in the states starts soon, the economic scene there gets more malo every day…we might not have a lot of bridges or functional roads in Guatemala but at least we’ve got….what is it exactly?  rain! that’s what we’ve got and plenty of it….here, take some, will you? why doesn’t Antigua have any Love Hotels? you know, the 24 hour joints with closed circuit TV and discreet entrances…or even Dial-a-Hooker for those rainy evenings?…hey, babe..bring a pizza and…extra pepperoni, maybe some chocolate syrup…if you’re up to it, ask someone in the next gaggle of onweird christian soldiers if they’ve got a missionary position open…

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The Rumor Mill

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , , , , on June 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »

this town…rumors circulate at the speed of light: some true, the others mostly not…por ejemplo, I was told that Wendy Wever is leaving town…half an hour later I run into her and her dad, Phil…at Reilly’s…’NO..I’m not leaving…”  Penelope, tall cool blonde bartenderess at the aforementioned…supposedly had gout, per Ryan…you know, too much red meat, alcohol, high altitude and not enough water…per Penny…untrue…X-rays and so on…just a twisted foot..thanks, Ryan.

 thank you…one and all for the extensive and surprise birthday messages…I’m truly blessed with great and good friends…and I don’t take that lightly. Hot News! El Muro has initiated their pub grub menu and its F%$#@! great…corn dogs! burritos, tex-mex style…I had their cheesecake at the opening and the varieties were xlnt…Matteo of Cashbar hanging at Reilly’s…the 1000 year old belly dancer, Henrik leaves for Denmark via a very circuitous..ah hell,spell check ain’t workin’ on that one..it means long/weird via Iberia Air..Managua, San Jose, Panama…who the hell knows? the question I have, is with the airport in the City closed, where does one get on the plane?

 

I love Iberia Airline

  So…what…it occurs to me that some bar/restaurants in this town have their own niches…no, not nietzche…niches…Alex Farrar of Sobremesa…art and small batch specialty ice creams…Fernando…small batch specialty coffee and chocolate. John Wilbur of El Muro puts out a commercial grade of salsa that, if it were available,  I’d be buying it for home use.  Corn dogs? perfectly done. and at 15q, a steal..gimme a great burger and some killer bbq ribs, somewhere, sometime..yeah, I do my own, compliments of John Mellon’s Epicure, but…outside of Jimmy Three Finger’s bbq in Granada(Nicaragua) good bbq is hard to find…and don’t tell me that Tony Roma’s is good…its KFC quality….ask Amber, Ocelot’s Wednesday night lady behind the bar person..she’s from Texas, near Austin, where bbq is a sacrament….flash/weird idea..Murray…come out of retirement and do a barbecue  joint..

Next year

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Clue Less

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , , , on April 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »

yep…I shoulda double-checked my mind. The Great Chocolate Affair? there I was, right on time, umbrella in hand, at El Convento* wrong Convento, I find out today…..it’s the one on 2n Ave norte, south of 1a Calle oriente and he didn’t paint last night…but tonight…7pm  I’m sure he(Alex)said that was the place…maybe he meant El Demento(me)…so I doubled back, passing Lex Cargo in front of Tartines, dressed to kill in a gray pinstripe suit…and with a spectacular woman, in a low cut dress that I had a hard time focusing on her…..assets. That bast…d…did he introduce me? noooo

this is a close approximation

I tried not to stare…really. So…the rains are with you (change the f….king subject) and went to the store(Lex’) where my cane was waiting…after a five month project, hey…it’s Guatemala, tis almost complete. A coat of mahogany stain(on the bamboo, not me) and….and what? who cares anymore? Carmen, working late in her salon last night, past 7pm…that lady never quits. The singing hair stylist? ack…interviewed with Shaun at Ocelot, had the singing job in the bag and then asked for a bartending gig…wrong move, wrong time, wrong place. Shaun’s got a steady stream of regulars/irregulars and he recently fended off a move to shut the place down…something about a permit..that fire was put out immediately. He’s got a few things up his sleeve, upcoming events but I can’t talk about it(yet). Would you believe lady boxing events?  how about chocolate wrestling, sort of combine the two elements? Alex can sketch, the ‘choc NGO’s do a charity event and the winner gets to lick the….spoon.

seen late last night, exiting Hectors…Elle+John+his parents, in town for a few days…welcome back…Antigua needs more decorative women like this.

how about a bust in the mouth?

Hector’s never looked so good

 

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Rainy Thursday

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Restaurants, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , , , on April 29, 2010| Leave a Comment »

what’s up with mid-day rain in April? I kinda like it…might do more work, might just say ‘screw it’ and listen to the pitter patter on the leaves…whatever the outcome, per Alex Farrar who’s doing a painting in chocolate tonight….wait a minute…painting what in chocolate? like this?

  • just when you think you've seen it all

  • gotcher white chocolate?

  • per Alex Farrar, he’s the artist wielding whatever it is to do ‘chocolate art’…he did win first place at the Venetian Ball, remember? s’posed to be tonight, at the El Convento on outer 4th ave, between 7-8, as I recall(always a chancy affair)…twas quiet in the calles last night, with only Hector’s, Reilly’s and Ocelot doing any kind of measurable business. La Pena del Sol is still looking for new quarters…talk to Bill Harriss if you have any ideas. I’m definitely out of such, as one can see from the quality of this blather.

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Preparation H(onduras)

Posted in Guatemala, Living in Antigua, Travel, central america, guatemala, tagged , on July 6, 2009| Leave a Comment »

So…they closed the airport at Tegucigalpa…the plane woulda run off the short runway anyway, just like the TACA jet did last year(and closed it for six months)….Mel shoulda landed at San Pedro,where he has more of a political base….or Roatan…why don’t they just arm-wrestle, cut the cards or agree to be the Prez on alternate days? I suspect that all the other leftist leaders are looking nervously over their shoulders, wondering just how loyal the army is? Ortega isn’t exactly loved by his people, even of the 34% that ‘voted’ for him.

So…the streets are full of camera-toting tourists, the busses roll in from the cruise ships, the shuttles shuttle the others to wherever and it looks like rain. Keep Antigua green…bring money, and judging from the smiles on the merchant’s faces, we won’t have to resort to such tawdry tricks as a tuk-tuk race or pagan baby raffles: I haven’t given up on the idea of the chocolate nude wrestling vat in the park…empty the fountain, fill the pumps with syrup and on the count of uno, dos, tres…work with me….this is great theatre. Who wants to be the judge and who gets to select the contestants? ….and the winner is…Miss Chocolate Brownie!  perhaps the altitude of San Cristobal effected certain parts of my brain…ok, fine…I’m just trying to be an athletic supporter of the arts…

speaking of arts/artists…a great and dear friend appears to be contemplating a visit to Antigua after the first of the year…Xaviera Hollander…yes, folks…the well-aged and still looking good Happy Hooker and her husband are making plans to come to town: details as they firm up..is Antigua ready for this? will the mayor give her the key to the city?  film at eleven… 

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