MISADVENTURIST FILMS
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be know. -Carl Sagan
Phnom Sampeau summit.
To the south lay the remote Cardamom range, to the north Tiger Peak, and farther still the distant Thai border. Tigers reportedly still roam this border, but you’re much more likely to catch malaria than a swipe from a cat’s paw there.
Below our feet are massive caverns that practically hollow out the mountain’s core. Each night at the same time, a swarm of 2 million bats shoot out into the sky – in a twisting, unbroken stream lasting 20 minutes, appearing as one sinuous organism – to feed on the evening insects.
Closer to the where we stand here, the so-called Killing Caves bear witness to a dark Khmer Rouge era. Buddhist monks perform daily blessings at the bottom of the 70 foot deep cave for the ancestors of the local people, thousands of whom died there – most by being casually tossed into the pit along with their children and babies.
Nearby the caves stand Russian-made artillery guns used to shoot at deserters 1000 feet below who were attempting to flee across the Thai border. Later we met an ex-soldier in Phnom Penh whose sister survived that run just 40 years ago.
On a lighter note, the kid in the tree is our self-appointed guide and protector. He lived at the temple you see in the video, and is calling to his friends across the canyon. He insisted on accompanying us, then became increasingly exasperated with our slow pace and frequent photo stops. Wherever you are, kid…sorry for our clueless farang ways!
Dearest Misadventurists,
This week, for your amusement (hopefully) we present a short video of the Misadventurists merrily dancing through Germany and the Czech Republic
It’s impossible (and quite pointless) to judge on something this inherently absurd, and even if someone does…well, as one (Taylor) Swiftian witticism points out, “haters gon’ hate, hate, hate, hate, hate..” So here it is!
The music is from WFMU’s Free Music Archive. It’s a stompin’ live track by a band called Big Mean Sound Machine, “Contraband”. Enjoy the stupidity (and the sweet moves!)
Oh yeah…and if you don’t mind, if you have a Google account, hit the big red Subscribe button on our YouTube channel to get updated on new videos right away…
The background. There’s an epic dog down in San Diego named Scout. And he belongs to one of our Kickstarter supporters. And since this Kickstarter backer adopted Scout and doesn’t really know his back story, the Misadventurists did several seconds of Google searching before unceremoniously giving up and supplying their own back story for Scout – in song- out of the demented recesses of their imaginations.
Here’s the result! (Music by Stax and Beej, Lyric and Vocal by Beej, Keyboards and Vocal by Stax, Guitar/Drum by Beej)
The background. There’s an epic dog down in San Diego named Scout. And he belongs to one of our Kickstarter supporters. And since this Kickstarter backer adopted Scout and doesn’t really know his back story, the Misadventurists did several seconds of Google searching before unceremoniously giving up and supplying their own back story for Scout – in song- out of the demented recesses of their imaginations.
Here’s the result! (Music by Stax and Beej, Lyric and Vocal by Beej, Keyboards and Vocal by Stax, Guitar/Drum by Beej)
LYRICS:
He was born in Tennessee
Where a cold floor was his bed
So he set out on the road to Californy
A bandana round his neck
He met a family of circus folk
And he fell in with their crew
But he got a little tired of being ridden all the time
So he hopped a freight train into the blue
Ah-ooooooo! Eye-yi-yi-yi!
Ah-ooooooo! Eye-yi-yi-yi!
He hopped a freight train into the blue
In Hollywood he was a stunt dog
And it suited him just fine
Skydived through flaming hoops
Fought bears! And warned kids about crimes.
Ah-ooooooo! Eye-yi-yi-yi!
He warned kids about crimes.
Runnin’ toward danger
He never felt so free
That’s why the spirits named him the Lucky Dog
Brother Coyote
Says he’s burning through his lives
But still they name him The Lucky Dog
On a set he met a little cowdog
Name of Lindy-Lu LaRue
She could lasso real well, and she did so to his heart
But she was with a mutt named Blue
One night he and Lindy-Lu snuck out
Chasing rabbits in the canyons
Out of nowhere sprang a mangy lion
And there went his true companion
Ah-oooooooo! Eye-yi-yi-yi!
Ah-oooooooo! Eye-yi-yi-yi!
There went his true companion
So he quit the Hollywood life
And set a course for the Mexican border
He was waylaid by a bearded drifter in a Ranger
And developed a taste for peanut butter
Now you might think he’s a settled dog
With his city livin’ ways
But you’d be dead wrong, he’s not far gone
From his ramblin’ stunt dog days
Cause he still laughs at the sting of cactus needles
And charges headlong at speeding cars
He was almost eaten, but never beaten
By a pit-bull at the coffee bar
Ah-ooooooo! Eye-yi-yi-yi!
By a pitbull at the coffee bar
Runnin’ toward danger
He never felt so free
That’s why the spirits named him The Lucky Dog
Brother Coyote
Says he’s burning’ through his lives
But still they name him The Lucky Dog
Yes, still they name him The Lucky Dog
Still they name him, The Lucky Dog
Still they name him, The Lucky Dog
(This film is a complement to our last essay from the Transfagarasan Highway in Transylvania, a route made famous by the UK’s Top Gear. Stax shot the driving footage (GoPro Hero Black 3 and Canon 60D) and Beej shot much of the scenery with his trusty Lumix GH2. Edited by Stax, who found very cool music by Brooklyn/San Diego duo The Fucked Up Beat and Brooklyn/Los Angeles duo High Places (both used via the Free Music Archive fair use license and attributed accordingly). The video was fun to put together and made the (very) cold trip worth it. Watch below and if you like it, Subscribe to our Youtube channel to get all our new videos!
