Eucalyptus brooms

I did indeed start the shoot with a nice long stay in the Finnish Baths (which I will no longer hesitate to say is my go-to spot for heat. $10? Can't be beat! Especially considering that the Century Spa is now up to $25, and that City Spa seems to be down to $25...more on this in a second).

And indeed, after wrapping the shoot, I planned an excursion to City Spa, where I and fellow sweatsmen Chris Hansen enjoyed a few good, long hours in the best heat in town. Man! They are not kidding around in there. What a good heat!

Could I resist buying a new shopka? No, I couldn't. (Picture to follow.)

Was I shocked and amazed that the entry price at 4pm was $25? Yes. I was. It's been my understanding that at the City Spa, after 1pm, you pay $35. But we were both asked if we'd been there before (we had), though I thought this had something to do with the waiver they make you sign. Who knows? All I know is that when we left, it was $25, and I was happy.

But, here's the new thing: I've been making brooms (or whisks) out of eucalyptus leaves for a little while now, and the results are...interesting. I bought an oak broom when I was in Chicago and after that I thought, "Hell, I can make something like this." And why not use eucalyptus? It's my favorite tree, it's abundant, and the medicinal properties of its oils are well understood and appreciated.

For the broom, I've tried a couple different types of eucalyptus leaves. I first tried the "silver dollar" leaves. We have one of those trees growing in our yard. I cut some small branches and made a couple nice thick brooms and took them to the City Spa on my last visit.

Learned my most important lesson very quickly:

Use fresh.

When you buy a broom, it comes dried out and in a weird netting thing to keep the leaves from falling off. When I'd talked to some guys at the Division Street baths about it those many years ago, they claimed there was a curing process that needed to happen to a broom. Turns out, they were wrong. After rehydrating my broom in hot water (as only makes sense), it became very clear that I would have been better off using fresh leaves. This has been reinforced by internet searches. Use fresh.

But I get the things rehydrated and I'm giving myself a whip or two and as I'm bringing the super-heated leaves down from the sauna ceiling on to my skin, I find that they're sticking. And that it hurts when they stick.

A week or so later I go to the Finnish Baths and with me I take a few fresh branches from the tree. The fewer leaves and the softer heat made for less sticking, but it was still a factor.

On top of this, the long thin branches made the brooms more like a cat-o-nine-tails. They had a little too much give, a little too much play, as it were. The oak broom I used was much fuller and shorter and acted more like a large, loose loofa than a torture device.

So yesterday, I tried using the other kind of eucalyptus leaves -- the longer, thinner ones. I like these because they have a stronger euc smell and I figured they'd be less sticky on the back.

It was better. Much better. But there was still more sticking than I would have liked. But in the end, I felt great. Almost like I'd gotten a massage. Shoulders, legs, chest, all the places I beat on were radiating heat and relaxation long after the heat.

All said and done, the broom I got in Chicago is still the best. I think the size of the leaves and the thickness of the broom made all the difference.

So I'm off to find as many oak trees with low-hanging branches as I can. We have more black walnut trees in my neighborhood, but there's got to be some oaks somewhere I can get to...

I Need a Heat

To the two people who have taken the time to say, "Yes, I like saunas and I will tolerate this gentlemen as he talks about them," I offer my apologies for the gap in posting. It's been too long. But I've been up to my ass in rattlesnakes over here with some other projects and there's just been no time whatsoever.

And you know what that means: it's time for a heat! I need to melt my stress away and return to the world refreshed and rejuvenated.

But how does one squeeze in a trip to the sauna when one has zero time? It isn't easy. These simple tricks may help us all:

Use the sauna at the gym

I don't go to a gym that has a sauna, but if I did, I would be sure to skip a workout and head straight for the sauna with my cap and broom. The sideways glances from the gym rats? Bah. I need a heat, I said!

Get up early and go before work

I have to be at work at 8am, but really that's no excuse. There are more than a few Korean baths that either open early or stay open all night. The Koreans know that when you need a heat, you need a heat!

Be satisfied with the 30 minute sauna

Once you go through the trouble of getting your gear together and going to a schvitz house, you want to stay for a couple hours. That's how you get your heat. But if you find a place like the Finland Baths where it only costs $10 to get in, taking a 20 minute heat and a shower will do the trick.

Have a sauna in your backyard

The dream is alive. I need to keep it alive, anyway. Goddamnit I want my own sauna so bad! Stupid not having money and the stupid economy and still have to pay my taxes and shoot these videos.... (did I mention that I need a heat?)

Apologize to everyone and everything and just go

Alright, I'll do it! Thanks, me! Maybe I can even go tonight! (My wife will kill me. It's Friday. Date-night.) Or tomorrow! (My mom's in town. Gotta hang with my mom. Love my mom.) Or Sunday? (See previous.) Monday, then. (When are you going to scout that location for the video you're shooting two weeks from today?) 

Piggy-back a heat onto something else

That location that I need to scout? Turns out it just might be somewhere near the Finland Baths... Oh Monday. I've never wanted you to come so soon!

Heat and Fellowship

I recently enjoyed a second trip to the Finnish Baths in Sherman Oaks. It's just too affordable, too historic and too nice of a heat to pass up. Sherman Oaks also happens to be the valley-town where I teach my ukulele class, so I'm out there anyway. How could I not budget an extra hour and a half for a stretch of heat?

On this second visit, I invited one of my ukulele students, Aaron Goffman. Now, ukulele folks are off-beat by nature. But not in a wacky "I need attention" sort of way. These are earnest men and women, lovers of music who have never before been able to play an instrument. They've chosen the humble ukulele because it's relatively easy. In group environments, they are warm and supportive. But it's like any elective adult education -- inherently weird.

Aaron Goffman is one of the most normal people in there. He works in the film industry in the props department, and is married to a lovely Colombian woman named Jeaneth. Aaron took private lessons from me for a while, but I never really got to know him too well on a personal level. We mostly just talked about ukulele, and sometimes, this is weird for me. I like ukulele. I've played for ten years now. But it's such a small part of my life that to have a whole world that gravitates around it doesn't always make sense. And as lovely as a human Aaron Goffman is, he's in a constellation that is bizarre to me.

I would imagine this plight is familiar to yoga teachers, blimp and hot-air balloon pilots, platform divers, successful podcasters, letterers of graphic novels, and Vespa owners. Summed up, subcultures are strange beasts.

So I was a little nervous to meet Goffman at the schvitz. Would there be some awkwardness? Would he be uncomfortable with the nudity involved? Would we find something to talk about?

I entered the men's and found Goffman in the showers, which I passed by on my way to stoke up the sauna (see review on Finnish Baths). Said hello and asked, "Everything okay? Are you comfortable?" He said, "I am." And the rest of the heat was great. We got in there and both opened right up, telling each other things the other had no idea about. I was surprised to learn that Goffman had been married for more than 20 years before he met Jeaneth, and at 48, was a grandfather. It was easy talking and great times between gentlemen.

And I say it's a testament to the culture of the sauna that this is the result. It's not like other subcultures where it's competitive and exclusionary. There can be no posturing with the heat. Instead, it encourages real camaraderie and compassion. It's why strangers are so easy to talk to in the heat. And if you're kind-of-friends with someone, like I was with Goffman, you take a heat together and find a million ways to be brothers.

So I say, find a schivtz, grab an acquaintance, and make a friend.