Muy buenos and welcome back to Vagabrothers.
Marko here.
This is My Favorites video.
If you've not already seen,
my brother just did one.
We have done one favorites video in the past.
We did it together,
but now we're doing two separate ones so we can both go into a bit more detail ,so it's going to be fun.
I've got a couple of cool things I can't wait to share with you guys here.
So stay tuned and let's get into it.
First as Alex mentioned in his video, we both took vacations this summer.
We both went off for fun,
not to vlog, but just to go experience travel like a normal person.
I went to Mexico with my buddy Griffin
We went to Guadalajara first
and then down to a Oaxaca.
I went to Qaxaca solo.
I went down there to learn how to make mole.
Unfortunately, I showed up on the one day a week when they do the mole classes.
I missed all the classes. So still can't make mole.
But I did drink a lot of mezcal.
I had a great time there.
I went to a place called In Situ, which is a little mezcalaria.
Instead of learning how to make mole, I learned to drink mezcal,
and it is a very rewarding skill to have.
I'm currently drinking a lot of mescal.
I finished my trip by going down to the hippy beach town of Zipolite,
which was very chill. I found a hotel at a place called Lo Cosmico.
It was the perfect place for me to start a new creative project.
So the last five days has given me a chance to sit down and concentrate and just spill
all of my experiences onto the page.
I'm going to try to create a series of stories that give you the entire background of
Vagabrothers.. how it became came to be how I became the person who I am.
In short, there's something coming.. don't know exactly what it is yet, but if you have any ideas or any requests,
please put them in comment section, and I will try to accommodate.
One of the most amazing things about Oaxaca are the textiles.
It's one the most colorful parts of Mexico.
The houses are all tons of beautiful colors, and those colors transcend into clothing.
Unfortunately, it's a really traditional society,
and the girls get to wear all this really awesome colorful clothing.. You know me
I like colors; the men there they wear white and black.
I couldn't really get clothes for myself, but I did bring back some really cool rugs.
I want to show you some Oaxacan weaving.
Here's some of the rugs that I bought. These are small ones.
This is the eye of God in the Zapotec style of handiwork.
Here's another one very similar.
As you can see I kind of went crazy.
You'll see the total number of things I bought.
This is a large one
also very cool, very plain and a long runner.
I got a bunch of rugs... way too many.
I came back with a bag full of them,
and I joked that was being a rug dealer. Get it?
It's a drug dealer, but without the "d."
Since filming this video, Oaxaca has been hit by a number of earthquakes, just like Mexico City.
But my friends who lived there have assured me that
It is safe to visit and that because Oaxaca depends so much on tourism,
it's more important than ever that anyone who's considering going to Oaxaca does visit now.
Keeping things latin, In the music department, I've been listening to tons of cumbia.
My favorite cumbia band at the moment is Sistema Solar.
They are basically from the Caribbean coast of Colombia.
They have a really unique sound; it's kind of psychedelic.
It's great party music ,although it can be a little bit intense.
I'll leave a couple of my favorite tracks down below so you can get a sample.
Still in the Mexico vein, I'm giving lots of love to Mexico in this video.
I have recently been in to barefoot running,
which is also something I discovered while I was in Oaxaca.
I read the book Born to Run, which is an excellent read and also a guide to barefoot running.
But it has a connection in Mexico because the Tarahumara tribe who live in the copper canyons in the north of Mexico which are pretty much
uninhabitable and really only occupied by smugglers and drug cartels
and the tribe itself.
They're famed for being able to run ultra marathons.
Literally, they have running festivals where they compete over a two or three day run like a hundred miles.
It's insane .They are by far the most talented,
naturally talented runners in the world long-distance runners, not sprinters, but runners.
It turns out, long story short, that running barefoot is actually good for you.
It's better for you.
So I got the barefoot running because it basically
promises that if you take your shoes off and run,
you will actually be able to strengthen the arch of your foot and
strengthen the whole foot and the ankle and everything related to it.
So I got into it. I bought a pair of Luna sandals.
These are actually featured in the book because one of the characters in the book is the guy who made these.
And he named it after Manuel Luna who was one of the Tarahumara
tribesmen who's one of the best runners there is.
It's pretty simple. It's made from tire tread. You put your foot in here,
and you run nothing - nothing too crazy about it.
But running in these types of shoes forces you to run on your toes.
It forces you to run more upright.
You're not striking with your heel.
And that is what causes injury for a lot of people because padded shoes allow you to hit with your heel,
which causes shock all the way up your whole body.
But don't think that you're going to get away that easy with book recommendations from me.
I read a ton of books; I like to share a lot of books, and that's why
I started the Marko Book Club a few months ago.
I've reviewed two books so far; my favorite one, which is the Razor's Edge, the one I've given away the most.
Secondly, I reviewed Sapiens,
and I'm coming out with another one soon.
I got delayed this summer because it took people a while to read Sapiens.
It's a very thick book,
but I'm coming out with more reviews very soon.
So go subscribe to the channel and check out the Marko Book Club.
In the clothing department, I'm going to shout out Lack of Color.
This is a hat company from Australia that makes extremely large sombreros.
I love hats if you have not noticed.
My hat collection is steadily growing.
I think I have about eight now.
This one is called the Rancher. It's in beige.
I got a couple other ones too, so did Alex.
Alex got this sick one here.
I think it's called the Carlo.
And they've also got this one here the Silent Woods, which is a nice green color
for autumn. Yeah. Boom.
Lack of Color from Australia. Super chill.
A lot of people ask like big hats?
A lot of people don't feel like they can rock big hats.
It's a mental thing. You've got to put that on your head.
You're going to feel silly for a little bit, and maybe like in 15 years
I'm going to look back and go... oh my god,
I can't believe I wore that big hat.
But you know what? No, not right now. Just go rock it!
I guarantee you, you can rock a big hat.
Alright next up a little technology.
Get the Google Earth View Plugin.
This is a really simple plugin that basically means when you open a new tab using Chrome,
it shows you a picture of a satellite view from anywhere in the world.
It's really interesting. They're all aerial shots.
They are all very well curated.
Also related, but different is Google Earth Voyager,
which is basically like curated views of the planet using Google Earth technology.
So as you know, it's almost "Movember."
If you are thinking about growing a beard or a mustache,
now is the time to start.
So ladies even you have something to hear here because I know there's probably a bearded person in your life
whose beard you might be afraid to kiss because you think it's all nasty,
or it smells or something like that.
Captain's Fawcett Beard Oil
and beard related products.
Now the label kind of rubbed off this one because
it was really hot at Burning Man where I brought this.
And this was my gift to a lot of people on the playa.
I was giving this out to a lot of people.
Many of them thought it was some sort of illicit substance.
But it's not. It's is a really nice....
It's a really nice oil.
The way that a beard oil works is you take just a drop of beard oil,
and you put it in your hand, and
then you rub it together and put it in your beard.
Yeah, so the way that this works...
why this works is because it puts back some of the moisture and the oils
in your beard that is lost from being washed.
Or in the case of Burning Man from being in the scorching hot heat
where it sucks all the moisture out of everything.
This smells amazing.
It comes from the UK.
I had to buy especially online,
but I was recommended this from my barber who has a formidable beard.
What's even better for me?
The smell at least is the beard balm.
This is like a pomade.
So this what you can do to give some shape to your beard.
After you do that, I basically.....
my routine is I put this in;
I comb it, and then I put in some of the beard balm.
And I know a lot of people out there are probably like...
They're like my mom. Now I've got oil on my hands.
I can't even open this.
A lot of people are like my mom who are just like.... oh my god!
The beard makes me look so old, and you're hiding your beautiful face.
You should shave it off.
This is just... my hands are now covered in oil.
I can't even open this up.
Ah...this smells amazing.
This is the booze and backe, as in
smells like whiskey and tobacco, and it's amazing.
So you just put your finger in there,
get a little bit on your finger,
and then you rub it together,
and you use it to shape your beard.
This is kind of what you do.. to kind of like
for me if sometimes my beard gets puffy.
I put it in like this and
It's good to go.
Lastly, you get the mustache wax.
And this is what I use to put on the tips.
so that it can make a nice little curling action.
You go like this.
I don't have a mirror, so I can't really see what I'm doing.
One last Captain Fawcett product is this coffee mug,
which has a lip moustache protector.
So if you have a beard or if you have a mustache,
you know this is the most important thing.
I think I'm going to even start using this to drink beer out of.
Mmm
That coffee is cold. That's from this morning.
Okay. Next up: public service announcement.
I want to talk about virtual reality and how to watch it.
We're looking at making VR films,
and we've been watching a lot of them,.
So it's really cool to use a headset.
I want to show you how this one works.
This is a Google Pixel ,which we are borrowing from the YouTube space.
It's basically the Google cell phone,
and then this is like...I think it's 70 bucks for the headset.
Don't quote me on that though.
But you put this on, and it is a game changer.
To watch virtual reality like this
is a completely different experience.
You put headphones on.
Do you know that most people don't like to watch
VR because they become self-conscious?
But don't be self-conscious.
Put the headset on; put the headphones on top,
and then the experience is completely immersive.
You sit in a swivel chair, and you can just turn around.
You see everything.
I'm telling you this because we're going to be making VR films,
and we want you guys to be able to see them the best way possible.
Buy a headset.
Apple does not make one yet for the iPhone, but they will.
And if you don't have the funds to do that or if you have an iPhone, there's a solution.
This is called the Google cardboard. I believe it's free.
I know they handed them out at a bunch of events.
You basically just put your phone in like this. Boom.
You know you put it in like that,
and then you have a really DIY cheap version of making a VR headset
because everything is in these little eyes right here,
which kind of make it more spherical and kind of close off the light
so it feels more immersive.
You pair this with wireless headphones, and you're in business.
Lastly, we're going to end with a charitable cause.
As I make this video Hurricane Irma
is going up the coast of Florida.
We've got Jose coming next.
But the good news is that there are people on the ground making a difference.
I want to connect you with a really great grassroots organizer who I had the pleasure of meeting
shortly after college on a trip to New Orleans where she was organizing
basically disaster relief after Hurricane Katrina.
She's got a company or a NGO, I should say, called Third Wave Volunteers
and they are currently in Florida
on the ground doing disaster relief and also restoring power using solar
technology because if you're stuck there,
and you're.. you have no power in your house,
the world's even scarier in scary situations .
I can totally vouch for Alison.
I'm going to put the link to her GoFundMe,
or I think it's called Crowd Rise, I believe, is the platform she's using.
There's a link in the info box, and I think she's trying to raise $50,000.
So hopefully we can help her reach that that goal.
I'm donating myself, and I hope that you can find something to contribute as well.
Okay, so that's it for the favorites video.
I hope you enjoyed that.
It's something different, something new.
Yeah, life is good. So in the meantime, stay curious,
keep exploring, and we'll see you guys on the road.
Stay tuned for more awesome videos
from Vagabrothers coming soon.
All right. I'm going to go finish waxing my mustache.
Peace.
You