Talk of the Town - New adventures, old farmhouse April 22 2004

Decatur locals kick back and reminisce

Old Lee Tesche had a farm, E-I-E-I-O, but the farm was in the city, D-E-C-A-T-U-R. Well, it is not a working farm anymore. The manor has been through some changes since its late 19th-century build. While errant cattle no longer roam the property and the peach orchards have been replaced by a gravel parking area, the house retains the sturdy feel one would associate with an upper-middle-class day-laborer from the turn of the century.

Tesche lives with four others at the Decatur house, but looks beyond the walls and property limits for adventure. He is an avid traveler. Tesche and his friend Bryan Akers explained that when they are not practicing with their band, working at a local pizza parlor, or engrossed in various photography projects, they do things like climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and sleep in ice hotels. Sound remarkable? So is the memorabilia they bring back.

Lee Tesche: I wore this the other day, this is my Saddam shirt. I bought it at a market in Zanzibar.



Creative Loafing:
Did you have to smuggle it out of the country?


Tesche: No, they didn’t really notice it when they were scanning our luggage on the way back.

Bryan Akers: They also had a couple Osama shirts, but e thought that might be over the edge.

Tesche: I really like the motif of this shirt: It’s this soothing blue, faux denim with these two different Saddam poses.

Thoughtful, philosophical Saddam, and stoic, dictator Saddam?

Tesche: Yeah (laughs). I bartered the guy selling this shirt down to three bucks. I had to pose as an Argentine because he started asking questions about where I was from.

Akers: I think, on this trip, we were pretty much from every continent at one point or another.

So how long did your trip last? Did you stay one month?

Tesche: Yeah. We would take on different nationalities depending on ...

Akers: ... Depending on the situation, we would make ourselves fit in accordingly.

Do you have any other terrorist ringleader shirts from your trip?

Tesche: We also brought back some of these garbs and women’s clothes.

Have you tried this on?

Tesche: This one is really beautiful. I don’t remember how much I paid for it.

Akers: I don’t know how this goes. [Akers tries to put on the garb.]

Tesche: I think that’s the head wrap. This goes over the body, and then over this arm. Wait. This goes over your head.

Akers: You think?

Tesche: Yeah.

cityhomes@creativeloafing.com