Author Archives: Michael Straus
Arab Spring of organic cuisine
This past Spring, I was great fortune of visiting Beirut, Lebanon. I was on a 2-week USAID-funded volunteer assignment, to evaluate the emerging organic food and farming sector, and to develop a communications strategy to help take them to the next level. I met with the country’s pioneers of organic agriculture, dined with forward-thinking restauranteurs … Continue reading
My Cousin Alfred
A quick shout-out to my dear cousin and God Father, Alfred Benjamin … now 96 years old (young), he’s going stronger than ever, including daily yoga for 50+ years, medical innovation, photography, painting, a stunning autobiography, book of poetry and and and … For as long as I can remember, Alfred has been able, with … Continue reading
Why vote “YES” on Prop 37
How many of you look at labels on packaged foods — Ingredients? Nutritional content? Calories? When it comes to genetically modified foods (GMOs), I don’t trust the health and safety claims of the industry, and I want to be able to choose whether or not to eat them. But, unlike in dozens of other countries, … Continue reading
Green in Dubai’s Desert
A weekend in Dubai – Part 2 — the Al Maha Desert Resort, the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve and an antelope’s quiet disdain. Excerpt below, and click here for the full article. +++ The towering skyscrapers of Dubai disappear behind me in a haze. The air smells and tastes of sand, even as the taxi whisks past a … Continue reading
Electrifying Eco-Resort
As some of you may have already gathered, my journey here in Asia has increasingly focused on what is called ‘mysticism’ by some, and quantum physics by others. Chi, prana, kundalini, chakras, universal energy, zero-point energy, etc. The words (and the traditions from which they derive) are less important to me than the underlying phenomena … Continue reading
I see dead people, Bali-style
My short story, “Bali Magic”, is one of five finalists in the Bali-High.com community blog contest. Bali Magic “Michael!!” she screamed as I parked my bike at the warung restaurant. What the hell?? I had never been to this village before or even to this part of Bali. I was staying at an eco-luxury resort down … Continue reading
Schooled by a Bedouin waif in Petra
On a recent trip to the Middle East, one of my childhood dreams came true – exploring the ancient Nabatean ruins of Petra, Jordan, the red desert sands of Wadi Rum, and the rich, healing muds of the Dead Sea. Click here to see my photos of Jordan. In Petra, I was particularly taken (meaning both charmed and … Continue reading
One week in Indonesia
A taste of my past week here in Indonesia: Research: Digging in deeper into my research about profound manifestations of ‘energy’ (chi, kundalini, prana, mystical – the names matter much less than the phenomena themselves and related implications), developing a database of people around the world with X-Men type abilities, and exploring similarities and dissimilarities from … Continue reading
Psychedelic media relations
Reading the following press release *almost* makes me want to get back into the PR biz myself … Props to Widness & Wiggins for promoting Ayuhuasca journeys in Peru. The Ayahuasca (Banisteropsis caapi), or ‘rope of the spirits’ in Quechua, is the master plant of the Amazonian rainforest that is combined with Chacruna (Psicotria viridis) into a … Continue reading
The mysteries of East Kalimantan
A beautiful goddess arising from the depths of the sea, bestowing the gift of immaculate conception upon a young woman friend. Mystical creatures materialize during torrential downpours, bearing power-wielding gems. Ancient daggers, with gently curving rusting blades and endowed with the soul of their maker, levitate off of the table and dance in the middle … Continue reading
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