Archive for the ‘Comedy and Art’ Category

β€œChance favours the prepared mind.” – Louis Pasteur

β€œBe prepared.” – Boy Scout Motto

And don’t forget the Boy Scout Law.

A Scout is:

  • Trustworthy,
  • Loyal,
  • Helpful,
  • Friendly,
  • Courteous,
  • Kind,
  • Obedient,
  • Cheerful,
  • Thrifty,
  • Brave,
  • Clean,
  • and Reverent.

“We cannot stop natural disasters, but we can arm ourselves with knowledge; so many lives wouldn’t have to be lost if there was enough disaster preparedness.” – Petra Nemcova

”Prepare your hearts for Death’s cold hand! prepare
Your souls for flight, your bodies for the earth;
Prepare your arms for glorious victory;
Prepare your eyes to meet a holy God!
Prepare, prepare!” – William Blake

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

“In fair weather prepare for foul.” – Thomas Fuller

“The only thing that counts is if you know how to prepare your ingredients. Even if with the best and freshest ingredients in the world, if your dish is tasteless or burnt; it’s ruined.” – Martin Yan

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It’s mushroom season!!! My friends and I recently went to Fort Stevens for a talk about wild mushrooms, followed by a hunt around Coffenbury Lake. It’s early yet, so we didn’t find much, but we learned a lot. I hope you get into fungi! I can’t wait to go shroom hunting again this weekend. At the park we found a mushroom called “Pine Spikes.” They are edible, but not very tasty. More soon from Survival Bros! Peace and love.

– Cameron McKirdy

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By Cameron McKirdy

What’s good? The Survival Bros Community is growing! People are sharing on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/SurvivalBros and subscribing to Survival Bros on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/survivalbros My friends and I have big plans for the website.

Survival Bros is pleased to announce a new geocaching service on the site. We are currently preparing caches to hide all over the world! There will be special treasure for the first time finder. We won’t make the clues, or locations easy. You may need hiking boots. It’s going to be great. More soon.

If you live on the Oregon Coast, there will be a mushroom hunting foray at Fort Stevens in Warrenton OR this Sunday. Here’s what their website says: Fort Stevens Mysterious Mushrooms
Oct 20, 2012 at Fort Stevens State Park. 1 p.m. Meet at Picnic Shelter A at Coffenbury Lake for a program on wild mushrooms followed by a hike to hunt for fungi.

The weather outside is nasty. It’s time to mix up training routines. Personally, I’ve been doing less biking and hiking, and more indoor activities. I will be doing more body weight exercises, swimming, and lifting weights at the gym. It’s time to run too. Good luck challenging your body.

To be honest, now feels like the time to bulk up for colder months. I’ve been consuming every calorie possible. My peeps and I don’t mess around when it comes to food. After all, I am a pro eater. Look at this collection of dank eats I devoured.

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Finally, here’s a preppers quote to consider, “two is one, one is none.” That means, your tools will get lost, or fail. It’s best to have two of what you need. Look around your house and see what you really use. Get that pantry tight with essentials. That’s all for now. Best wishes. – Cam

Nothing is more precious than a child. That’s why babysitting is so important. I recently watched three girls. They tried to break me. I regulated. Everybody came out better.

First off, babies are out of control. They get into everything. You really can’t babyproof a house, because they can climb anything like King Kong. They do as much damage too. The two younger girls I watched are 18 months, and three years old! They usually don’t play together, so I’m always running down one of them. I’ve never drank so much coffee, and been so exhausted.

Kids are tornados. I’ve been blasted with Cheerios, toys, and gale force sneezes. The baby is always squirting something out. She is almost potty trained though. Her sisters are helping her figure it out. And for the record, I’m not afraid to change a diaper. Every prepper should check that off their to do list!

I’ve found rugrats typically need activities like drawing or reading. This stimulates their mind, and they will make less messes for you. It’s also good to tell them NO! And let them cry. I can’t cater to everything they want. When kids are fussy, they seem just frustrated or tired. Naps are your best friend.

It’s also crucial to teach them while playing. They don’t even know they’re learning while playing games. We go over things like colors, names, and numbers. The squirts love to learn words and repeat what I say. They are sponges. That’s why they can only watch so much TV. I’d rather they play then zone out.

Finally, but maybe most important, it’s key to make the kids feel safe and nurtured. I’m always smiling around them, and ready to play. The infant always says, “tickle me!” She is so funny. The children play all types of games naturally. Being around them has made me more childlike, which is great. SURVIVAL BROS invites you to inspire a kid. Spend time around them. You can learn from them as you teach.

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Baby yoga time with Cam. We also did push-ups.

What’s good? Yesterday my peeps and I smashed Saddle Mountain. I’ve hiked the beast before. I’m local. This is what we discovered, including hidden treasure via geocache. Keep reading.

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Saddle Mountain photo by Cameron McKirdy

The park was popping. Crawling with life. We took our sweet time getting higher. I tracked our progress with the Nike+ GPS running app on my iPhone. Along the way, we found all sorts of shortcuts, and obscure trails. On one path we paused, only to spot a large ammo can hidden behind stacked rocks, under a rock formation.

Inside the treasure box was tons of toys, a logbook to sign, and even a riddle! We each left something in the box, and took a gift home. I got sticky hands!!! We didn’t even know there was a geocache on Saddle Mountain, but we found it. As for the riddle, we decided to listen to the Audio CD clues together, when we can find treasure again.

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It felt great being blasted by the sun. Even though it was pretty windy, it was still warm. In total we hiked 5 miles. That’s from the parking lot, to the summit and back, with minor detours. According to the Nike+ GPS app we did it in 5 hours. I told ya we enjoyed the trip. Tourists would have gone faster, and missed more. More shenanigans soon from Survival Bros. Keep it real today.

– Cameron McKirdy
Survival Bros President

I hit the road for work. A new friend took me in. This is a couch surfing tale.

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That was the scene this morning! We got down. My bro cooked potatoes with bacon fat, and served eggs just how I like them. I added sour cream, a cheese blend, and extra smoky chipotle powder. I’m sure he threw in other secret ingredients, but I didn’t dare ask what. At the table, his 3-year-old daughter lectured us on how friends share.

My host family has been very good to me. I had my pick of the couch, recliner, or air mattress. I went La-Z-Boy, and slept like a baby. That was until my alarm rang 3 hours earlier than I like for work. Then I had trouble when I started changing into my nice work clothes. After putting on my black jeans I realized I actually grabbed my Moms. They were restricting. That’s the first time I’ve had on girl clothes. I had to go casual and borrow a jacket. Smooth. Next time I will be more careful after doing laundry at my family’s house.

It’s awesome having friends I can count on when I need a place to crash. They offered. Why not? When couch surfing, it’s always a good idea to bring something to the table. I brought a small gift of thanks. I also meant to bring my hosts edible chanterelle mushrooms, but I left them at a buddy’s house and told him to keep em.

You can learn a lot from new people. Especially when they are transplants. We just have to find common ground. Happy couch surfing!!!

– Cameron McKirdy

UPDATE: I’ve been doing more couch surfing. I recently traveled for a job, and worked as a tour guide for a cruise ship that came into The Port of Astoria. I took a bus load of tourists down the Oregon Coast to Cannon Beach and Seaside. I showed them the best spots for candy, like elephant ears, carmel apples, and salt water taffy. I had to take them to Norma’s in Seaside for their world famous clam chowder. I told them it goes well with beer from Fort George called Vortex IPA. Anyways, that was one of my odd jobs recently.

Tonight I’m filming Mixed Martial Arts fights at the Astoria Fairgrounds. Many of my friends will be battling in the cage. I love filming events like this. It’s going to be nuts. And it’s a full moon, so anything can happen.

Right now I’m at a friends getting ready to go. He is fueling us up with an epic breakfast spread. Mac is making two types of pancakes! Potato pancakes with green onions to go with chorizo and sour cream, and maple bacon cakes with bits infused into the batter. He also stirred up a maple syrup with butter and peanut butter. I can hear the sizzling now! My belly is so empty. I will post a picture of the complete feast here.

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You should see the kitchen. His poor wife.

Here’s recent pictures of the flat black Survival Bros mountain bike. Radar can’t see it. Like? I think I will do a high-visibility bicycle next for safety. Nerd alert.

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Old Mongoose includes: light on handlebar, cable lock, rear cargo tail with bungie cords, reflectors, comfortable seat, front disc break, and shocks

Dear Survival Journal,

What a week! I’ve been everywhere, and I got there by bike or foot. I often laugh at slobs in cars. If only they could remember how to walk. Vehicles are for lazy people. I’m glad I bike. I have two bicycles operational right now. I get them tuned up every once in awhile, but they are still way cheaper to own than a car.

I was taking my friend’s dog for a walk this morning, when he started eating poop! No dog, you are suppose to go #2, not eat it. Puppies. I was trying to get him to stop, and get back in the house when I stepped in dog crap with my Vibram toe shoes on. The mutt missed a pile. I was dreading this day. I knew I’d step in poo, or crush a giant slug on accident one day. I’m rethinking wearing Vibrams outdoors now. Gross times ten! I will spare you further details, but I was not a happy camper. Luckily I had a change of shoes nearby. Now I’m trying to forget that happened.

I ate so good yesterday. I wasn’t feeling myself, so I made sure to take all my vitamins, and refuel with superfoods. I made two power smoothies with raw whey, raw rice protein, maca, raw chocolate, spinach, blueberries, and vanilla hemp milk. I also trekked to the store for spring water, which I promptly pounded. I had a buzz off all the different superfoods, and vitamins. I would have felt even better if I juiced. Maybe today.

I’ve been hustling so hard, they are about to name a street after me. I’m not rich, but I get money. I’m starting to think rich people are the lower class. They look down on the poor, and use them. I’m so happy to be blue collar, and not some spoiled, weakling that has never earned his kill. I’m on the streets, and in the woods, working on my skills, and my body. Rich people don’t work. They shop. Shop for things that make them smell good, or look better, when they are actually scum. My DNA thanks me for not being pampered. Poor people are much stronger than the rich. If I ever made it big, I’d give my wealth away.

It’s getting so cold out at night! I’m still in a tent. I really don’t care where I sleep anymore. The other night I had to wear clothes, and my jacket, while in my sleeping bag, just to make it through the night. However, it’s kind of fun, and challenging to find a new place to crash every night. When I’m couch surfing, I feel like it’s too easy. Like I’m royalty or something. I don’t know when I will get an apartment again. I could survive an Oregon winter in the wilderness. My home is the Wild Wild West.

More soon. Time to make paper, and turn it into food and silver. It’s a great day to get outside, in the wild, where I belong. Forget technology.

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Survival Bros offers up some quotes for you to think about.

The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
A dog will teach you unconditional love. If you can have that in your life, things won’t be too bad.
Robert Wagner
There must be a stronger foundation than mere friendship or sexual attraction. Unconditional love, agape love, will not be swayed by time or circumstances.
Stephen Kendrick, The Love Dare
According to Wikipedia, Unconditional love is known as affection without any limitations. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconditional_love

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I finally painted my Mongoose mountain bike flat black. This blog covers how I painted it, and other preparations I’ve done to my End of the World transportation.

First I stripped my bike bare. I took off the back fender/rack, and the seat. I had to remove a LED light attached to my seat post. I also removed a bunch of stickers, and residue. Most came off after using Goof Off, lacquer thinner, and a flat razor blade. Once the surface was clean, I blasted it flat black with Rust-olium Universal all-surface spray paint. It’s an awesome product. You can shoot at any angle. It sticks to metal, plastic, wood, whatever, but costs almost $10 a can.

Next I rattle canned the frame. I did one side, then the other, and finally the bottom. I did two coats, so it took a few hours to paint it all and allow for drying. I painted the wheels and tires quickly also. Then I put it all back together.

To get an even coat I removed the cables, but had a problem getting them back on tight. The guys at Prom Bike Shop in Seaside OR helped adjust them. They know me so it was a free fix. I buy stuff there all the time, and trust them with all my repairs. This is the third time I’ve resurrected this bike, but she is looking good now. Good luck seeing me on this stealth flat black beast.

Painting my bike was easy. The hard part was not painting myself or the driveway. Now I can put some smaller packs on this bike, but I have another bicycle that can haul more. Hopefully I can get a trailer before the Apocalypse happens. This bike needs a light, plastic front fender soon. It will have a first aid kit, and emergency food onboard. There’s a bright light and black bell on the front as well for safety.

I also plan to make a motorized bicycle in the near future. I enjoy designing rat bikes that look like something out of the Mad Max movie. You gotta go flat black. It looks sick.

– Cameron McKirdy

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