We had an amazing trip to South America, but it is so nice to be home again. A few small luxuries I missed while in Peru for 33 days: safe drinking water, reliable hot water, toilet seats, being able to flush toilet paper. Two of my new favorite fruits are granadillas (gelatinous, pulpy passionfruit) and shimbillo (sweet seed pod fruit). I kind of wish I could live in Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu town), which has natural thermal baths and serves as the gateway to the famous Inca ruins of Machu Picchu.

Lima, the capital and largest city, is the hub of travel to anywhere in Peru, so we were there on four separate occasions. We spent the weirdest Christmas ever in the dirty jungle city of Pucallpa (including a breathtaking 360 degrees of fireworks at midnight on Christmas Eve). We spent New Year’s Eve in Lima (including dinner in Barranco in a 1909 train car with stained glass cathedral windows and wood paneling, and dangerous seaside fireworks in Miraflores).

I have almost 3,000 photos to sort through. My girlfriend is already posting her photos to Flickr, but it may take me forever to do the same. Back in Oregon, our cats definitely gained weight while we were in Peru. Even Tanuki looks chubby now. Emotional eating? Or sheer laziness plus unlimited food? Reminds me of this classic A Softer World comic.

Below is an outline of some of the places we visited. I have a journal full of handwritten notes, and there are many stories to tell, but this trip outline is all I can manage at the moment. After a weekend of recovery, I was thrust back into my pre-vacation work life today. The profound culture shock of being back in my own country—and having to return to my desk, in an office with no windows, where I stare at a computer screen for eight hours each day—is deeply troubling.

The Inca Empire: December 4-13

• Lima
• Puno/Lake Titicaca/Uros floating islands/Taquile Island
• Puca Pucará/Raqchi
• Cusco
• Aguas Calientes/Machu Picchu
• Sacred Valley (Písac/Urubamba/Ollantaytambo)
• Cusco/Sacsayhuamán
• Lima

The Amazon jungle: December 13-31

• Lima
• Pucallpa
• Yarinacocha Lake/Puerto Callao/La Jungla
• San Francisco de Yarinacocha (Shipibo village)
• Pucallpa
• Lima

The high desert: December 31-January 6

• Lima
• Nasca/Nazca Lines
• Arequipa
• Lima

By the way, 2011 was the 100th anniversary of Machu Picchu’s “discovery.” And it was the first year of the Nazca Lines-inspired Peru’s New Brand. I love Peru’s new logo.

The terrible Auto-Tuned music

As a bonus, here are some dance-pop songs I remember hearing endlessly and unavoidably on Peruvian radio (mainly CPN Radio 90.5 FM Lima) while traveling. We were subjected to these Auto-Tuned sounds during all hours of the day, especially in Pucallpa. Sak Noel produces music even worse than Rebecca Black songs. Some things can’t be unheard. I ended up liking a few of these songs, possibly due to Stockholm Syndrome. This is music to rot your brain. The last video is a Shipibo song from the Amazon jungle. Listen to them all in this YouTube playlist: “Peru loves Auto-Tuned dance-pop music.”

• Michel Teló: Ai Se Eu Te Pego
• Sak Noel: Paso (The Nini Anthem) and Loca People (What The Fuck)
• LMFAO: Party Rock Anthem
• Joey Montana: La Melodia
• Usher (featuring Pitbull): DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love
• Pitbull: Give Me Everything
• Farruko: Pa Romper La Discoteca and Hola Beba
• J. Álvarez: Junto Al Amanecer and Regalame Una Noche
• Plan B: Si No Le Contesto and Es Un Secreto
• Black Eyed Peas: The Time (Dirty Bit)
• Shakira (featuring Pitbull): Rabiosa
• Jennifer Lopez (featuring Pitbull): On The Floor
• Jay-Z (featuring Alicia Keys): New York
• Britney Spears: Till The World Ends
• Katy Perry: Firework and California Gurls
• And we also heard this from some Shipibo friends:
  Los Shipis: Ishtontani Amenwe

Why is Pitbull, a Cuban-American rapper, sneering and barking on almost every track that gets played in Peru? Some things we can never know. If you’re really in love with this kind of music, check out the PERÚ Top 100 for more pop inspiration.

More updates and pixel art

For more regular updates, you may want to follow me on Twitter. Also, check out my recent Peru-themed 8-bit pixel art at Mascot Mashup.

The first two are out-of-print children’s books written in the 1970s by American author Tomie de Paola. I tracked down copies of these short stories after my dad visited Oregon in September and helped me remember a few books he used to read to my sister and me. When Everyone Was Fast Asleep (1976) and the more obscure Songs of the Fog Maiden (1979) both feature the magical, singing Fog Maiden and her blue cat Token. These two characters visit the children of Earth at night and bring them enchanting, fantastical experiences:

When everyone was fast asleep, the Fog Maiden sent Token to wake us up. And we slid through the curtains into the night. We floated across the grass, dancing on the dew, and met the elf horse. We all sang, “Tra la, tra la, too lay, too lay, hop-a-doodle, hip-a-doodle, flip-a-doodle day.” Down the road we went, counting moons until we came to the troll house, but we were not afraid. We ate hot buttered bread and drank warm milk with honey, and dressed for the ball at the palace. The crocodiles danced a quadrille and the peacocks waltzed with doves and we all sang, “Tra la, tra la, too lay, too lay, hop-a-doodle, hip-a-doodle, flip-a-doodle day.” When the king and queen arrived, the play began. The lion roared while the gypsy slept, and the princess was saved by the sand serpent. The night was over and the Fog Maiden came to cover everything with her dress. She picked us up and floated over the trees to our very own window, where she tucked us into our beds and kissed us asleep.

Now if that isn’t an alien abduction story, I don’t know what is. You miss some context without the illustrations, but the premise of When Everyone Was Fast Asleep is that a large-eyed animal (or therianthrope) peers into your bedroom window at night and whisks you away to an alternate, overwhelming realm of anthropomorphic entities.

(Note: I have illustrated the Fog Maiden and Token the Cat as 8-bit characters for Mascot Mashup, my daily pixel art project; they are scheduled to appear on November 10 and 11.)

The third book, Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind (2007) by Graham Hancock, is about the origins of art, religious ideas, consciousness-altering agents and consciousness itself (and ultimately how these might tie into modern conceptions of fairies, elves, angels, UFOs, alien abductions, DMT, DNA and the spirit world):

Less than 50,000 years ago mankind had no art, no religion, no sophisticated symbolism, no innovative thinking. Then, in a dramatic and electrifying change, described by scientists as “the greatest riddle in human history,” all the skills and qualities that we value most highly in ourselves appeared already fully formed, as though bestowed on us by hidden powers. In Supernatural Graham Hancock sets out to investigate this mysterious “before-and-after moment” and to discover the truth about the influences that gave birth to the modern human mind.

Hancock’s quest takes him on a detective journey from the stunningly beautiful painted caves of prehistoric France, Spain, and Italy to rock shelters in the mountains of South Africa, where he finds extraordinary Stone Age art. He uncovers clues that lead him to the depths of the Amazon rainforest to drink the powerful hallucinogen Ayahuasca with shamans, whose paintings contain images of “supernatural beings” identical to the animal-human hybrids depicted in prehistoric caves. Hallucinogens such as mescaline also produce visionary encounters with exactly the same beings. Scientists at the cutting edge of consciousness research have begun to consider the possibility that such hallucinations may be real perceptions of other “dimensions.”

More than any other book I’ve read, Supernatural almost unifies (or, at least, neatly gathers) cross-cultural supernatural and paranormal experiences throughout human history. There is much to think about. You might have an existential crisis while reading this book. I highly recommend it.

The fourth book, Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles, Book I (2011), is “a spellbinding tale full of wonder, danger, and magic that juxtaposes the thrill of a secret world and modern city life. Original and fresh yet steeped in classic fantasy, this is a novel that could have only come from the imagination of Colin Meloy, celebrated for his inventive and fantastic storytelling as the lead singer of The Decemberists. With dozens of intricate and beautiful illustrations by award-winning artist Carson Ellis, Wildwood is truly a new classic for the twenty-first century.”

I’ll admit that I was first interested in Wildwood because I am a fan of The Decemberists—and because Colin Meloy and his wife Carson Ellis live in Portland, Oregon (which is also the geographic setting for the book). Despite being written for adolescent children, I quite enjoyed Meloy’s esoteric, archaic vocabulary and his antique-weaponry aesthetic (not unlike his quirky songs). Plus there are delightful warring factions of talking forest animals! With 560 sparse pages, it is a fast read (it only took me six hours or so to finish it). Definitely worth the time.

I need to remember to read bizarre children’s books more often. For now, it is time to appreciate the rest of the Day of the Dead. I will eat tamales and drink Mexican hot chocolate.

P.S. I visit How to be a Retronaut regularly and these are some recent posts that inspired me: Nuclear Bunker Mannequins (a secret bunker in England), The Invisible Mother (creepy moms hiding under blankets in old photos), Tunnels of the River Fleet (the largest of London’s subterranean rivers), Rephotographing Budapest (perfect overlay of modern color photos on black & white ones), Twin Peaks: The Last Days (I miss that show) and Video Games Then and Now (I prefer a primitive 8-bit aesthetic).

In the past week, I have written nine reviews. You can read them at iancavalier.yelp.com.

Will I be motivated enough to continue contributing? Will I join Urbanspoon as well? Who knows.

More ideas and inspiration to be creative: “Design Something Every Day!”

Interesting: “Eight cool social media infographics.”

These sites are fascinating: FFFFOUND! (image bookmarking), grain edit (modern graphic design inspiration blog) and Black and WTF (seriously, WTF).

Flight 1549 and marine animals

This animation (with audio) is based on all currently available data concerning the US Airways Flight 1549 crash: Flight 1549 3D Reconstruction, Hudson River Ditching Jan 15, 2009. Hard to believe it’s been almost a year now since that Hudson River landing. Even though you know the plane lands safely, it’s still a tense experience to hear the audio again, especially in the context of the flight animation. Worth watching.

Check this out: A pod of bottlenose dolphins off the coast of Florida have developed a remarkable hunting strategy in order to catch fish: Life: Bottlenose dolphins mud-ring feeding.

This is amazing: “Solar-powered sea slug harnesses stolen plant genes.”

These photographs are stunning: “David Liittschwager – Marine Micro Fauna (8 pics).”

Holidays

More photography: “A Very Tesla Christmas.” Take a Tesla coil and a super-long camera exposure and you can have an “electrifying display of holiday cheer.”

From Stereogum: “New Indie Rock Christmas MP3s For 2009.”

I bought a pineapple to eat over Christmas break. I’m also thinking about trying to grow a new pineapple using the crown of the old one: “How to Grow a Pineapple at Home.”

Krampus

Speaking of holiday cheer, I really like this Shirt.Woot t-shirt designed by Missmonster: “Greetings from Krampus.” It celebrates the annual return of Santa’s old pal Krampus.

Happy New Year!

(In case you need it: press in dire situations.)

Chiquita bananas

Every weekend I buy a bunch of bananas. I usually choose organic, and normally select them based on ripeness level and the presence of bruises. But sometimes these criteria can (apparently) be expanded to include marketing stickers. Yes, stickers. (Yes, I am 30 years old.) My distaste for crass commercialism and sleazy marketing can in fact be overridden by charming, clever graphic design ideas. (Plus, I don’t mind manipulating children into wanting to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Let’s put cute stickers on all fruit!)

Here’s the question: How can anyone resist Mexican wrestler stickers on their Chiquita bananas? You can’t. It’s not possible. You just have to buy the bananas.

Behold the new selection of Chiquita banana stickers:

These 24 new stickers can be found on the Chiquita Banana page on Facebook. You can also design (Mr. Potato Head-style) your own custom stickers at EatAChiquita.com. And there is a Twitter account called ChiquitaChatter.

So, if you were sick of Carmen Miranda (the inspiration for the Chiquita Banana lady), now you have a Mexican wrestler and many other goofy options. Makes me a little nostalgic for Strong Bad.

Star Wars and Star Trek

What if Star Wars characters were on Facebook?  I enjoyed this from College Humor: 5 Star Wars Status Updates.

And I liked this absurd Star Trek parody: Happy in Paraguay. Apple juice!

Graphic design and architecture

I haven’t gone through this design list in detail yet, but it looks useful: 50 Totally Free Lessons in Graphic Design Theory.

Lastly, this is awesome: Underground Home Designs – Swiss Mountain House Rocks. The underground house is a collaboration between the Netherlands architects at SeARCH and Christian Muller Architects.

Follow me on Twitter for more interesting items between blog updates.

I’ve browsed through a number of non-Flickr sites lately that have provided excellent inspiration for my own photography projects. Here are some:

• Scott Wade’s Dirty Car Art Gallery
• “Rubik’s Cube Sandwich,” which I plan to make someday (but with different, more colorful fruit and vegetable ingredients)
• James D. Griffioen’s photo sets, including Feral Houses
• “Gallery: Inside Alaska’s Answer to Area 51“
• The Ruins of New York
• The ghost town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, which still has an actively burning Silent Hill-style mine fire (also see Johnny Blough’s Centralia set on Flickr)
• Russian plastinochnye (record) collages

Weeds, fruits and vegetables

I will probably want to refer to this article later. From The Oregonian: “Get rid of those weeds once and for all.”

This list by the Environmental Working Group will help you decide what produce is the most important to buy organically grown: “The Full List: 47 Fruits & Veggies.”

I’m thinking about trying some Vegiforms-type molds for my garden vegetables next year. Who doesn’t love novelty vegetables with little faces? These clear plastic forms are very similar to how the Japanese create square watermelons for easy refrigerator storage and stacking.

Technology and gaming

Cool: “Five Futuristic Interfaces on Display at SIGGRAPH.”

Amanita Design’s Machinarium looks amazing: “Machinarium has become too gorgeous.”

Insect technology

I found this fascinating: “Hacking a remote-controlled moth with insect venom.”

Cats and baby animals

He’s quite the cat: “Pet cat catches the daily bus for four years.”

Need to replace your toilet? Make your next one a toilet-tank aquarium: Fish ‘n Flush.

Lastly, here are three more of of these blogs: FYBA, Item Not As Described and Probably Bad News.