Back In The Western World

And with a lot to catch up on. Mexico and Cuba were awesome, internet access is very restricted in Cuba so I didn´t keep the blog up to date but kept a diary of sorts and will be updating soon. Hopefully with some awesome photos too. Watch this space!

River Bend

Have moved into the River Bend Resort where my friend Lucy is working. Staying in a dorm with 3 guys who all work them in a kind of work trade deal, ie they handiwork on the resort and get accomodation. Have made good use of the hot springs, was even out there when it was freezing last night. Despite being in the desert it was below freezing tonight, although back to normal and nice and warm today. Last night had a Persian meal with Maya and her friend Ruth, a septenarian artist who showed me her studio and art. Spent this morning in the tub, and chilling in the music shop with Reed and David. Reed played guitar, David drums and I just added vibes as best I could. Just listening now to Kanye Wests new track http://www.kanyeuniversecity.com/blog/?em3106=212776_-1__0_~0_-1_5_2008_0_0&em3161=&em3281=

its a departure from his old stuff and may take a couple of listens for me to get into it. I am eating alot here, the restaurants are all cheap as chips and give you so much food. The diner round the corner charges $3.25 for 2 bacpn, 2 eggs and 2 huge pancakes plus coffee for breakfast. On Thursday night I ate 2 plates of food for dinner. I think i must have put on some timber since I got into town. Just a well, i heard the food in Cuba is bland so best fill my boots now!

Photos

Click on the photos below to launch a slideshow of photos from Vancouver and Seatlle, hopefully this works and planning to get all pics up in next couple of days. Currently in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. A pretty small town, population about 8000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_or_Consequences,_New_Mexico
famed for its hot springs and home town to mass murderer David Parker Ray who was sentenced to 224 years in prison for murdering a least 12 -60 people. Visiting an old friend from Birmingham, Lucy who is doing a work trade with a hot springs resort on the river. Staying with a lovely couchsurfing host Maya and her gorgeous dog Chica. Its a real friendly town, had my breakfast paid for today by Gil, a 62 year old retired New Mexican, we talked for over an hour over a traditional US breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs washed down with plenty of coffee. I bought a very nice sheepskin coat from a jumble sale for $2 as it gets really cold at night, even though we are in the desert. Trained some kung fu with Lucy, she still remembers her Lau Gar forms which is great and showed her some Wing Chun too. Planning on going to an art hop and then doing a hike befoe leaving on Sunday. Not that much else to do here, but it is a town full of very friendly characters. According to my pal Gil it is the closest you will find in the USA to what the Old West was like

Hot Dog, Jumping Frog, Albuquerque

Forgot to mention some stuff about Albuquerque (hometown of Neil Patrick Harris, aka Doogie Howser MD). We visited the Petroglyph National Monument Volcanoes http://www.nps.gov/petr/planyourvisit/volcanoes.htm which are believed to be a direct spiritual source to Mother Earth by the Pueblo Indians. Had a bit of a mishap when Christine, one of my hosts backed her truck into a ditch and got the thing stuck! We were ably assisted by a Park Ranger called Dave who was a great guy. Park Ranger are basically cops who look after parks rather than city streets, so he could arrest people and carried a gun, but he didnt arrest or shoot us so that was cool. He encouraged me to visit Guatemala on my travels and insisted we talk a walk towards the volcanoes, which I'm glad we did as I got some great photos of the sunset over them and the mountains to the other side of the city. We eventually got pulled out of the ditch by a tow truck and headed back home.

It was Christines birthday that day so a bunch of us went for a really nice dinner. I asked the group if they knew the song King of Rock and Roll by Prefab Sprout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AG5-Zur-zo which features the immortal line "Hot Dog, Jumping Frog, Albuquerque" in its verse. They didn't. Oh well.

Yes We Can

As you have probably heard, the USA has a new President elect. I spent last night at the Democratic Party HQ in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was wonderful to see people so full of hope and an incredible scene when McCain conceded the election, even better when Obama made his speech. People were crying with joy, dancing in the streets, you could feel the sense of hope and relief that there is going to be a change and it was great to witness it.

I've been here for the last couple of days, on my way to a town called Truth or Consequence (named after a TV game show!) to see an old friend from home, Lucy. Have stayed with two lovely hosts, Monica and Christine who were both over the moon with last nights result.

I had spent the previous week in LA. Originally had only planned to stay for a night on my way through but was persuaded otherwise by my awesome host Peak, she convinced me of some fun things to do as she had just lost her job so had loads of free time to show me round. After quite alot of partying recently in SF and Vancouver it was nice to have a more calm week, although of course Halloween is a huge party here. I dressed up as Austin Powers (as I have the glasses and accent it made sense) and we spent the night partying at some friends appartment and then went up to West Hollywood for the Halloween parade, a real freak show. However, I'm jumping ahead as alot happened earlier in the week.

Highlights of LA included singing "The Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell http://wyoutube.comww./watch?v=4qoymGCDYzU at a karaoke night in a Thai restaurant; going to the coolest lounge bar ever, The Dresden Room http://www.thedresden.com/lounge.html where we watched the legendary Marty and Elayne perform; going to a Krav Maga martial arts class; riding a tandem along Venice beach; an avant garde jazz concert performed at the Hammer Museum by Larry Ochs Sax http://www.outpostspace.org/node/566 , we even went for dinner in a swanky restaurant afterwards with the band, the drummer is a friend of Peaks, and even better the Hammer museum kindly picked up the bill! Another friend of Peaks was an actress who we watched dress rehearse her one woman show where she plays 4 characters, it was really impressive.

Probably my favourite experience though was going over to San Pedro to watch another of Peaks friends, Mike Watts record his monthly Podcast. It is recorded at his friends house, affectionately known as "The Love Grotto", home to the most righteous Brother Matt. We got there an hour late (of course) but were warmly received as we brought gifts of sushi, Doritos and salsa. The show always kicks off with a track from John Coltrane and lasts 3 hours, a combination of great, eclectic music, conversation and a 30 minute chill out mix from Brother Matt. I didn't realise how interactive our roles would be, Mike asked me about my favourite band (of course I answered The Stone Roses) amongst other questions and discussions the group had. It can be heard at http://twfps.com/ , I'm even listed as a guest on the website synopsis of the show, how bizarre! Anyway, there is some great music on there so worth a listen.

Other highlights of LA included the Nakatomi Building from Die Hard (it is in one piece, not like at the end of the movie) and the Getty Museum, which is beautiful.

As always dear reader uploading photos is awkward. Public libraries don't tend to let users connect anything to the PCs so I will try to get some shots up soon.

Next stop will be Truth or Consequence, where I am definitely looking forward to enjoying the hot springs. On Monday I leave for Mexico City, and from there Cuba where I am really looking forward to hearing the wonderful local music.

San Francisco

The journey from Vancouver to San Francisco was fun. Fun that is if you like getting up at 4.30am, getting on a bus for 4 hours and then transferring to a train, for the next 26 hours. Although, as always the scenery was spectacular, which helps pass the time, as does a good book "Skinema" by this crazy guy http://www.chrisnieratko.com/ . Unfortunately the company over dinner on the train was not up to its usual standards, i got lumped ith a really boring Australian with a ridiculous Mr Tibbs from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe type beard. 

Anyway, got to San Francisco, where I was staying for my first two nights with a friend of a friend of a friend from Vancouver, basically went out clubbing in Vancouver, got on well with this guy called Sonar who hooked me up with his buddy Josh in SF. Josh  was a real cool guy, we chilled at his place the frst night with a very entertaining friend of his called Henry "Mark, I'm going to be straight with you; do you smoke pot?" Vega. Henry kept us entertained and we had a quiet night in listening to some great music http://web.stephenmarleymusic.com/index.jsp and www.herbaliser.com .

The next day was spent chilling, eating, mooching around with Joshs room mate Terry, also a kug fu man, so we talked kung fu, politics, conspiracy theories etc. He told me a great story about his old sifu, who is now retired who fought Bruce Lee in the 60s in San Francisco. The fight was recreated in the movie Dragon, about Bruce Lee's life but apparently it didn't go the way Hollywood interpreted it ie the result of the fight was pretty much disputed, it would appear more likely against Lee's favour. I did a yoga class that night as well, that was great, and the teacher was gorgeous, a bonus I guess. That night Josh and I checked out some live underground hip hop and then a reggae club, Josh being a big reggae and dancehall fan.

The following morning was interesting. I was leaving Josh's to go stay with some couchsurfers in another part of town. Before leaving I ran into Joshs other room mate, an ex Dead Head, who were a bunch of hippies that followed The Grateful Dead on tour for pretty much 10 years solid, a non stop party. I can't remember his name right now, but anyway before leaving he offered me some cake. I was hungry, hadn't eaten breakfast and despite the fact that the cake was made with Cannabis butter thought i should have some to fill the gap in my rumbling stomach. About an hour later i really felt it, walking around with my rucksack on my back, looking for my couchsurfing host was super fun, saw some really strange folk as i wandered into the wrong part of town on my way but eventually hooked up with Jansen, one of the 3 guys i was staying with for the res of my time in SF. 

So we went and had a couple of beers and some food, met up with Felipe, Jansens house mate and then they took me out for a drive, over the Golden Gate and up into the hills for an awesome view of the bridge and the city beyond. That night, we hit Ashbury Haights and then somewhere else I don't remember before ending up in Felipes girlfriends bar, we she gave me a shot of what I believe was White Window, a phantom spirit that should never be drunk. Ever. It's basically the shot that finishes you off, and tastes like the wors drink you ever had. We've all had a White Window, it's just what I call it. That night we met an amazing dude called Hudson, who looked hard as nails, Hells Angels style and also rather wired, who was driving around in what must be an incredibly expensive 1930s Mercedes Benz, in immaculate condition, the kind of car you see in a museum and never on the road being driven by a high as a kite Hells Angel. Hudson rocked. Big time. 

Anyway, the following morning I concluded I must have ben drunk the night before, as I had a hangover. We went and had brunch, then some tourist stuff, ie down by Pier 39 for the sea lions, people watching etc and I had my first ever In and Out Burger, Californias finest and freshest burger joint. My advice is to order the Double Double (two burgers, two pieces of bread) and Fries, Animal style (covered in melted cheese and onions) and a Neapolitan shake (Vanilla, strawberry and chocolate flavours!). Just do it next time you are there, trust me.

That night was then spent at a Halloween dress rehearsal house party outside of San Francisco. There was probably about 30 people there, all very friendly and good fun. I learnt how to play beer pong (lost quite badly, which basically involved me having to drink alot of beer faster than i would like to do so), smoked grass through an hollowed out apple and had alot of laughs with some new friends. People are the same pretty much everywhere i guess, same frustrations, same hopes and dreams. Talking of which, Tuesday is the election, and it is really interesting to be here for such a momentous occasion, the wold can change for the better hopefully next week. The majority of my trip has been through the bigger cities of the US, as such the people tend to be more world facing than some of the Mid West states, the heartland of America, which I believe is more McCain territory, less liberal, more Conservative and of course as I am Couchsurfing i am tending to meet more liberal people, not everyone would invite a complete stranger into their home and welcome them as a friend (although my advice is DO IT, it will change your life for the better!). Anyway, this means pretty much everywhere i have been has been about Obama, these people are really hoping and praying for change, as a foreigner here i guess i am particuarly interested in US foreign policy ,and the perception of America over recent years outside of their huge country. The people i have met in general want a change, they have sen that they are no longer neccesarily seen as the good guys by the world and in general they want a change of direction, a return to the old fashioned America, some things here are pretty on top in terms of government and law, but i must say the people i meet in this country are amazing, kind, generous, full of life and enthusiasm, and all round decent people.

So, end of tangent and back on track. Sunday in SF was all about the game (American Football, the SF 49ers vs the Seattle Seahawks). And tailgating. Tailgating being parking your truck in the car park a few hours before the game, setting up base, chairs, tables, BBQ, beer and snacks. Some people even wire up TVs, lay down carpets and fly flags, it's mad. Unfortunately we missed the start of the tailgating due to over enthusiatic events of the night before, but we managed to get bargain tickets from touts ("Scalpers " in American English, something else that fascinates me mere, the language) and had a great time at the game. To be honest, I didn't watch much of the action, I was focussed on the crowd atmosphere, it is more like a party, friends meeting up, drinking beer, eating hot dogs and of course watching the gorgeous cheer leaders. I loved those girls. Every single one of them, great entertainment. It was nothing like a football game at home, slower paced, alot of razzamatazz and just really chilled, although 49er fans may see that differently as they got spanked on their home turf.

That pretty much concludes my time in SF. It is a crazy town, so many hippies and freaks, just everywhere in everyday places, unlike any other city i have visited. In fact, every town i have called into has had its own characters, adventures and personality/identity. It's a huge and diverse country.

Where To Begin

Wow, so much has happened, alot to catch up on, plus I realised I forgot to write about my time in Chicago, which was about 3 weeks and many thousands of miles ago! So, to get things started here are some long overdue photos. Starting with Seattle.

So, some shots of the Space Needle, Bruce and Brandon Lee's graves, a statue of Jimi Hendrix, Dicks drive in for awesome burgers and shakes, Farmers Market, Science Fiction Museum and public library (i have visited the library in every town i go to, free internet, drinking fountains and clean bathrooms, although you do get alot of weirdos in there!)

Anyway, I hope you can read what is written on the first photo in this entry, it is the inscription on Brandon Lee's gravestone, pretty moving I'm sure you will agree.