Finally, Cruisin' down the Amazon with my new friends:
I also added two new videos:
Cuy, better known as Guinea Pig here in the states, is a traditional Peruvian dish that is usually served on big holidays. My brother and I decided to give it a go on New Year's Eve when we were in Cuzco. We ordered two - one fried and the other broiled. They tasted a bit gamey (especially the broiled) but I must say I would definitely try it again! If you're squemish about eating food that looks like animals, you might want to skip this video. Consider yourself warned!
The next video is from a small village we visited, where one of the craftsmen showed us how to make blowguns. He started by hollowing out a specific type of tree (similar to bamboo, but stronger) using a red-hot metal rod. Then he used a knive to whittle the darts. A puff of cotton glued to the end of the dart gave it some weight, and that's basically it. The bulb on the end is a gord that (traditionally) held the poison (sorry - didn't get any this trip!) We were even able to take them home with us!
I still have a few more videos to go through, so stay tuned for more uploads!
Posted by Peter Eskow on 12/2/2013 in Blog Updates under Development, Website Updates
Added a few new features to my website!
Icon updates
I updated the iconography throughout the site to keep with the "flat" theme that seems to be the rage these days. I like it because it's more subdued and less jarring than looking at a jumble of multi-colored social media icons (such as in the original layout of the "Connect" section of the sidebar, to the right). Some icons I made myself, others I downloaded from Free Flat Icons.
Travel - Browse by Continent and Country
I added a new page to the Travel section that lets you browse all my trips based on country or continent. The list is entirely dynamic, so as I add new trips, the list will grow automatically. I also included some basic statistics about my travels - total number of days, countries, continents, plus last and next country.
Travel - Statistical Charts
I was looking for a reason to try out the charting capabilities of ASP.NET, so I took all my travel information (stored in a SQL database, which happens to also drive the Travel section of my website) and charted the data in a couple different views. Again, this is entirely dynamic so adding a trip will also update the chart. It's interesting to see how much time I've spent compared to other individual countries. My goal is to turn this into a dynamic infographic about all my travels. I'll incorporate maps and mash up with other data to present a cool overview of where I've been and what I've done. Neat!
Blog Comments
Yes, I finally added commenting ability to my blog posts. Much easier to get feedback right on the page instead of forcing people to vist my other Social Media site to connect with me. Why not go ahead and leave a comment right now?
Next Up
I know the photo galleries are a bit of a mess, so I'm going to work on them next. I plan on having that done before I leave on my next trip (less than three weeks away!)
Please feel free to let me know what you think of my updates, or if you have any suggestions for futher enhancements. I'd love to hear from you.
Cheers!
Peter
Posted by Peter Eskow on 6/6/2013 in Blog Updates under Travel, Website Updates
The pictures from my Berlin trip have finally been posted. It was a great trip, and I hope to see more of Germany in the near future!
While we were sitting in a beer hall, I discovered Cinemagraph on my Nokia Windows Phone. Pretty cool app. Basically, it takes a series of photos and turns them into an animated gif. Here is my Endless Mug...
Posted by Peter Eskow on 12/11/2012 in Blog Updates under Travel, Website Updates
My New Year's Eve 2012 trip has been finalized: Berlin, Germany! Leaving shortly before New Year's and staying for a week. Even get to meet up with Corwin for a couple days at the end!
A new addition to my website are maps for each trip / destination. I'm going to be enhancing them even more, with multiple destinations and route tracing, so stay tuned!
Also stay tuned in the coming weeks for a tutorial on using Excel's VLookup function - a powerful but misunderstood feature that has the power to significantly boost your spreadsheet productivity.
Posted by Peter Eskow on 11/24/2012 in Blog Updates under Development, Website Updates
After years of neglect, I finally decided to brush up on my web development skills and rebuild my site. It's entirely database driven so everything you see can easily be updated through a separate admin panel.
I'm still tweaking the colors and layout, so if you have any feedback please do not hesitate to Contact Me
All of my past trips are organized in the Travel section, sorted by trip and then individual destinations within each trip. I will be going through my videos and travel journal entries, so stay tuned for the next wave of updates!
Cheers!
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