By Douglas: Stuck in the 6th of May

This was emailed to the Bug by one of its owners, Douglas, who is in Honduras. We hope you enjoy.

"After arriving in Honduras, we rented a car and decided to drive to the Bay Islands through Copan and a lake district. On our way to the ferry departure city with another traveller picked up in Copan, we noticed there may have been a festival since there was a lot of trash on the road and roaming populace. When we got to the point where there were men on the highway with machetes and clubs we tried to turn around. They detained us with the threat of pounding the car with clubs and slashing the tires. They made us park behind a mile long double lane backed up with semis, trucks and cars. We didn't feel threatened personally. They appeared to let anyone one leave so we were not kidnapped, but they were definitely detaining property for political ransom. After talking with some other motorists we found that they were trying to get the government of Honduras to grant some educational and labor benefits for the region. We decided to see if it would dissipate by day end.

These two great guys from El Salvador had us follow them with our car to a side street in this tiny village of Seis de Mayo that we were detained in. I had been attracting local children with pictures from my books and magazines and trading English and Spanish words and laughter. 20 children followed me around the village where wolf packs of men with weapons chanted. The locals in the village did not seem wholly part of the movement but did not fear them either.

Some children's parents called us inside to sleep on their cellar floor since Anna was with me and their children loved us. They said there might be police clashes with the protesters and it wasn't safe.

The next morning at daybreak I took Anna and Brain and our packs out of the village and skirted a field as an angry mob confronted police on the highway. The police turned and left in army trucks without great incident since I think that they did not want bloodshed. However as we walked on the road out Toyota trucks full of weapon toting mobs sped past us and hijacked more semis parked along the road trying not to get caught up in it all but with nowhere to turn around. It was pretty damn dramatic and not a good situtation for us. Some locals picked us up and drove us out.

We are in the Bay Islands now and way behind schedule but having a great time. I will see you all soon.

Douglas the Intrepid"

Matt Luczy live at the Bug.

Another Saturday of live music at the Bug. This time it is local artist Matt Luczy. For only 16, he has a surprising amount of talent. Moreover, he's only been pickin' for about 2 years, he was a drummer first. He can do Hendrix justice, and that takes some skill. He does a lot of covers but he is working on his own material as well now. He has played the Cafe at the Bug a few times now and he keeps getting better.




We had a good turn out of locals in support of Matt, but we are also booked full this weekend. There is a group of 24 here from the Bay Area so the lodge is a bit crowded and the bathrooms are being remodeled so that is an inconvenience that everyone is being very patient with us over. Our construction crew did everything they could on Friday afternoon to get at least one of them online for us but the plumber wasn't able to stay long enough to get his end taken care of.
The good new is that we have new oak hardwood floors in the lodge now and it looks wonderful. Nights like this make us really anxious to get the new addition on the front of the Lodge done so we will have a dedicated band stand and more space. We are a work in progress, please bear with us!!
The other change is that we are now operating the Star Lite Inn, across the canyon from us. That is an amazing piece of property, a truly gorgeous house. The man who built it was ready to retire and wanted, above all others, for us to run it after he moved on. He has been operating a bed and breakfast there for several years. You should check it out, go to www.starliteinn.com
So, what are your thoughts? Have you ever seen Matt Luczy play? What did you think of those tunes his brother, Steve, sat in on? Have you seen the floor yet? Do you miss our bathrooms and find going to the next building over a pain? We are truly sorry and thank you all for bearing with us!

St. Patrick's Day

The Bug had live music for St. Paddy's day, as it does every Saturday. The biggest difference was the green beer, but we had a good time. Seth of 16 Tons from Angels Camp played a combination of guitar, banjo, mandolin and harmonica. He did a bunch of original material and covers and the guests had a lot of fun. There was a couple here that weekend who are planning to have their wedding at the Bug in August. The groom's birthday was that day and as it turned out, they were from Angels Camp too, so they were really excited to meet a musician from there. A few of Seth's friends came up to see him play and they all had a really good time too.





Sunday evening, a group of 60 from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco came in. We get two groups a year from there. We are part of their Spring break and Summer vacation. They have been coming here for 10 years now, the director came here for the first time just months after we opened. His assistant has been coming here for over three years now and they are both really amazing people. For more information about the Academy, go to www.academyart.edu

Another interesting thing happened over the weekend. This gentleman who used to work on the property that the Bug occupies came to see what had become of the place. Before the Bug was here, the place was in dis-use for several years. Prior to that, it was a rescue mission for troubled young adults. Before that, it had been a summer camp. This person was here when it went from being a summer camp to a year-round facility. They were quite successful but the mission that funded them pulled out in 1991. After 5 years in operation, the program was abandoned and the administration was heartbroken over the close. This person ended up leaving the state and though he had heard the property had sold, he didn't have any idea what had become of it. He stayed for lunch and got a bit of a tour of the place. He promised to send some pictures that he had from his time here, long before most of the buildings here were built. He came back the following night for dinner and mentioned he was really pleased with what we had done here. He said it gave him closure, that it was healing for him to see what a wonderful place this had become. He also said that he had always known that good things would happen here.

Were you here too? We hope you had a good time. Tell us about it. If you weren't here, tell us where you were and what you did do. What impression did you get of The Bug when you came here?

Vagina Monologues and Aspen Hollow at the Bug.

We would like to invite you to share your journey with us. We would like to hear your thoughts, your experiences. We want to see your pictures and videos. Hear your stories.

We had a group of Buddhists here a few days ago, wonderful people, very friendly, were you here when they were? Did you talk to any of them?

What about the Vagina Monologues? Those were held here on March 2 and 3rd and those women were fabulous! Not a play for everyone, I suppose. Some of the monologues talk about things that some of us were brought up to believe we just don't talk about in mixed company. Funny stories, heart wrenching ones, that play has it all. I was surprised and heartened by how many man were actually there. It was sold out both nights. The whole thing was for a very good cause, the proceeds were to benefit the Mountain Crisis Services who help women and children in need.

The second night of the play there was also a band in the Cafe at the Bug, Aspen Hollow from Fresno. Even Kevin, the front man, got into the spirit of V Day by donning a shirt.




We had a group of Asian exchange students here and they were a lot of fun, they got some video of the band, and each other and posted it to YouTube. Check it out: Were you here for any of that? Tell us what you thought.