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Ben

Benjammin

About Me

I'm a Wisconsin farm boy, but moved to Ventura County, CA in June, 04 for a civilian logistics internship with the Navy. Music is my preferred method of communication, but I'll talk with you, too! I live for adventures of all kinds, especially international travel and cross-country hitchhiking journeys. I am very interested in living a sustainable lifestyle and contributing to progressive ideas aimed at obliterating ignorance and arrogance. I love learning about different cultures of the world, experiencing love in all its forms, and taking care of living things . My family back home is very important to me, as is connecting with peaceful people wherever I happen to be.

My Interests

Playing music, gardening, making fires, raising chickens, urban/backcountry trekking, snorkeling, hitchhiking, sustainable energy, investing, kitemaking, camping, aquaculture/breeding tropical fish, ultimate frisbee, making didgeridoos, Japanese language and culture. article &pics: http://www.riponcollegedays.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/02/ 12/3e49538921ada?in_archive=1. Next language to learn: Spanish.

I'd like to meet:

People who are willing to get beneath the froth and discover the real world.

Music:

I play tuba, ukulele, and trombone in many genres. Currently I'm in a reggae/Latin group called Trails of Fire, a Beatles/surf group Dr. Surf, and a few dixieland bands.I also enjoy playing jazz, blues, classical, and just jammin on the street with strangers! Lately I've been spending a lot of time with my uke, learning Brazilian bossa nova tunes. In 04, I recorded an album, Higashimurayama, as a tribute to my Japanese host family and their town. Examples of CD's you would find in my "favorites" CD case would include: Israel kamakawiwo'ole, Keller Williams, Duke Ellington, Grateful Dead, Bela Fleck, Manu Chao, Ravi Shankar, Bob Marley, The Beatles, The Doors, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Neil Young, traditional African kora music.

Movies:

Motorcycle Diaries, Star Wars, What the Bleep Do We Know, The Matrix, Ghandi, all Miyazaki films, Lord of the Rings, and foreign films in general.

Television:

Grew up without TV in the house--never got addicted. I do like the Simpson's, though, and making fun of Fox News can be fun sometimes, too.

Books:

Siddhartha, A Course in Miracles, Rumi poetry, Chronicles of Narnia, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Tao of Pooh, The Prophet and other works by Kahlil Gibran, Star Trek Novels

Heroes:

Peace Pilgrim. She was an old lady who walked across the continent over 7 times as a penniless pilgrim from the mid-50s til 1981, all for the cause of peace. She tought that world peace must start with individuals and their quest for inner peace. Her message inspired me to undertake a hitchhiking pilgrimage from WI to the Peace Pilgrim Center in Somerset CA. www.riponcollegedays.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/09/02/3d74 3d1be33a9?in_archive=1