Food and Civilization

FOOD AND CIVILIZATION

Being that I am a fat man, I find that I like to equate many things to food - including the 'level of civilization'.

Primitive - 'Food quest' level of dining. This is the type of food that comes from bits normally not considered 'edible' by civilizations higher up what I'm thinking of as 'the food chain'. Most of the world seems to be on 'food quest'. Unless for religious reasons, vegetarians do not exist at this level. My belief as to why is that it is more of a 'if we don't eat (whatever) we die. So - an 'us vs them' type of mentality.

Basic - You have to get off your fat ass to go to the store or restaurant to get food but they eat normal stuff. They claim normally inedible parts of animals to be 'cultural delicacies'. One of the favored games of civilizations at this level is 'What will Effendi eat?' For those not knowing, 'effendi' in this case is referring to the tourist.

Normal (for highly developed countries) - No ears of animals and stuff like that to be found aside from in very specialized parts of the country. For example, the 'pork rinds' of the hicks of the USA. At this level, the dreaded vegan makes their appearance.

Decadent - "Who is still open for delivery at this hour?" You can also get specialized delivery organizations that will bring you whatever weird shit your heart is craving. If you want a pound of chocolate, a tin of sardines and an inflatable sheep at three in the morning - this level of civilization is the one that has organizations set up to get that for you and quick. At this level, the uber-vegan makes their appearance. The uber-vegan does not use any products that have been in an animal's shadow.



MOVIE REVIEW - LORD OF WAR

I'd give this about a 5 out of 10. It was a bit slower than I liked and overall a bit depressing. It did have a couple OK scenes and was well made.

Logan's movie scale:

1: This is so bad I don't know why the studio that made it hasn't been burned down.
2: This is so bad, I'd suggest rounding up all of the copies made of the film and destroying them. Or showing them to people instead of waterboarding them for much the same effect.
3: This is the usual rating I give to films I don't make it all of the way through. Either the film is too slow for me or has nothing that interests me.
4: I made it through the film and thought it was bad.
5: I am ambivalent about the film. If given a chance to see it again, I wouldn't but I'm not willing to slit my wrists for having seen it.
6: This is the minimum for making it into 'the collection'. Whether it gets watched again ever is anybodies guess. This is the minimum level I would recommend the film to anyone and no - I don't give them spoilers. I might say something like "I really liked the scene at the airport". That kind of information doesn't tell them anything and after they've seen the 'scene at the airport' they can say 'ah!' - or 'Logan's a tool'. Either way.
7: A good solid film.
8: A very good film indeed.
9: Films that are very close to the best but not quite there.
10: This is the kind of film that gets re-watched more than one time a year.


EUROPE AS SEEN THROUGH LOGAN'S EYES

This is my 'further wanderings' map. Apparently, I can't stay in the countries with the black slash through them for three months each - the EU (clack slashes through them) is considered one big country as far as the 'spend your three months here then get out' time goes. So, I'd have to 'duck into' for three months.

The countries that are crossed out in red are 'gosh are they expensive' countries.

The countries colored in red are ones that I'd want to find out more before going in as my safety might be a concern, or it is a 'real pain in the ass' to get into the country. For example, Saudi Arabia has a really 'we don't want tourists' way of getting the visas. You have to get them in advance, etc. Also countries that charge a bunch of money (like $100) - especially if they only let you stay there for a month. I can go back and see those countries after I see everything else.

Not sure if I want to enter Israel - doing so limits your travel options elsewhere as none of their neighbors seem to like them.

Note that this is only my 'Europe map'. I'm wanting to start there. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to travel or for how long. My body is really not doing well but I'm going to go for it with all of the gusto I can.



GEORGIA (the country)

Interesting fact, quote "Citizens of EU countries, the USA, Canada, Japan, Israel, Switzerland, Singapore, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, San Marino, Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, South Korea and CIS nations (except Russia) need no visa to visit Georgia for up to 360 days [2]."

Now that's what I call 'wanting tourists'! Leave our country for five days every year and you can stay here as long as you want!

Now - I have no idea if they have anything nifty to see there but the cost of living does look pretty inexpensive. Might be good to check out. From what I've read, seems there are some friendly folks there.

Naturally, they do have some 'parts of the country not under government control' - so I would need to be careful on where I traveled...



INDIA

I was talking to a guy from India today and mentioned that I might end up going there some time and he told me that they occassionally give foreigners really long - like several years - visas just to encourage them to stick around and spend money. I like that sort of attitude and I also like how cheap it is to live in India. I'll see if that sort of thing can happen when I get closer to being there.



GOOGLE SEARCH

Amazingly, this blog is the top search result if you search for "Logan's Voyage"! Woot.



LATEST BAG REPACK

I lost some clothing (intentionally) out of my bags. If anyone thinks of anything critical that I am needing, let me know - I think I've got enough 'extras' though. Here is what we've got it down to. Note, the clothing listed will be additional to what I am wearing. Most of the stuff is in water proof bags or clear 'freezer bags'.

Pair of shorts (can double as swim trunks if I need to horrify the natives)

Pair of sweat pants (black)

2 T-shirts, black, no writing.

4 sets of underwear

4 sets of socks (one of the travel writers mentioned that socks and underwear determine when he has to do his laundry - that sounds good to me so I'm taking less shirts/pants and more socks/underwear)

Travel towel

Power transformer (shitty)

Small, light possibly inappropriate gifts for friends (note to friends - please do NOT buy me anything as I won't be able to carry it. If you feel you wish to reciprocate, you can buy me a drink or something. These were VERY inexpensive gifts - a beer or two would certainly cover it. I got these small gifts way before I knew I'd be trying to live out of a bag for an unknown period of time).

Crappy travel alarm with instructions

Lotion, very small tube (it puts the lotion on it's skin)

Wash cloth

Drain stopper

Cord (as in cloth cord to tie stuff up with or make a wash line. Note - you should not read anything into the fact I am carrying both the lotion and cord. It is merely a coincidence).

Electric razor (that might go if I need to lighten the pack. I would then join the ranks of the unwashed bearded hippies. Dirty, dirty hippies).

Toiletries (miscellaneous shit your probably happier not knowing the specifics of. Instead, let your imagination run wild).

Flashlight (one of those LED ones - seems powerful as hell)

Earplugs (for when screaming at someone just won't do the trick)

Extra glasses in a 'crush resistant' case. (Note that I did not say 'crush proof' but it is the best I've got).

First aid kit containing:
* Some very old bandaids
* 3 spools of thread (very small spools, dark colors)
* 3 needles (I am worried that the TSA will say "Ah - plan to stab the pilot in his EYES and take over the aircraft, eh?")
* Very small container of Krazy Glue (Bert told me that if I get a blister from having walked too much that I can lance it, drain it and put Krazy Glue over it to make a second skin. This seems like it could work but I do have two thoughts on it: a) have you seen me? Do you really think I'm going to walk long enough to get a blister anywhere? b) I have thoughts that if I tried this, I would somehow get my foot stuck to the floor and end up with much worse pain. However, it is a good thought, very light so what the hell.)
* Small eyeglass repair kit (hope I'll never need that)

Extra crappy lock

Extra D-rings (these are the small ones for repairing my bags if the plastic crap on them goes. Not the big climbing ones. I don't plan on climbing on jack shit.)



Things yet to be packed:

Wires for all of my electronic shit. Having the electronic thing without the correct wires means I won't have the electronic thing long.

Medicine - possibly with my bulky blood pressure machine. High blood pressure is a pretty serious risk and mine has been way up lately. So I'm very much considering this.



Things I need to still buy then pack:

Rain poncho

Water purification tablets

Condoms (Fat, ugly people need love too. Plus I'd much rather have them and not need them than need them and not have them. Also, as we have seen in the movie "The Big Red One" I can make ten condoms into two gloves and deliver a baby if need be.)