Archive for May, 2007
Santa Barbara
admin posted this on May 16th 2007 under Photos, USA
On the way up to Santa Barbara by train, I stopped in Los Angeles for a family union (a bit like a reunion, but I’d never met these people before). Long-lost Great Auntie emigrated long before I was born, partly for the weather. They call California the Sunshine State, but I think that’s just to stop you noticing the freezing Pacific winds and the fog. We had an enjoyable lunch on Mothers’ Day (the generation gap confused some waiters), and it didn’t take long to catch up on the last 27 years - and I left them with copies of my CV in case I had missed out any particularly good exam results.
Santa Barbara, another great retirement location, was quiet enough to enjoy a final stint of solitude to reflect on the North America tour. My only genuine regret was not buying cheap socks when I was in Wal-Mart during the camping trip. Since that missed opportunity I have been unable to find another Wal-Mart, or similar good value elsewhere.
Only twice was I fooled into thinking that adding “chips for a dollar” to a food purchase would be good value. You should see the looks on their faces saying “Ha! You thought you were getting fries, but actually I’ve just handed you a miserable packet of Walkers!”
Now I’m leaving these fond American memories behind and flying back to London for Ben Lester’s 30th birthday party (it is not an open invitation, I’m sorry to tell you). This will be swiftly followed by the demolition party - grab a beer, sit on the hill, and watch them demolish the childhood home! These things don’t happen every day and I wouldn’t miss them for a couple more burgers and a bit of windy sunshine.
The next foreign adventure starts in Bangkok. Two weeks to wait for more remarkable tales!
San Diego
admin posted this on May 11th 2007 under USA
When my brother was driving across Australia, he wrote an infamous email about changing the carburettor on his vehicle. While such a story is of dubious public interest, it is an integral part of any arduous journey. I hate to waste anyone’s life, but here is my equivalent tale.
Colin-from-work very kindly donated a laptop lock so that I would be able to chain my computer to a bed, park bench, or other fixed object. This worked very well until two seemingly innocuous events turned things around. First, I hung one of the two keys around the room key chain of a hostel in San Francisco, and then forgot to take it off when I checked out of there. Not a problem of course, because there was a spare - which was immediately promoted to the role of primary key. Secondly, while ‘catching the waves’ in San Diego (alright, building sand castles on the beach), I managed to lose the remaining key at a time when the laptop was chained to the bed. Hence non-technical computer problem.
The internet turned up a video showing how the lock could be easily forced using a toilet roll. Sounds simple, but after five hours spent without the Californian sunshine, fiddling around with toilet paper, I finally got the joke (which is that you can’t in reality open the lock with toilet paper). For humour’s sake, I added a comment to the video saying how it worked first time - it would be wrong not to make others struggle too.
Following a brief attempt to gnaw through the cable, I went to the hardware shop to buy some bolt cutters. They were a snip at $10 (get it!).
Anyway, San Diego’s really nice apparently.
Actually, Ben emerges as the hero in his carburettor story, bravely exposing fraudulent mechanics. I was arguably a bit of a fool, and the lock head is still stuck in the laptop so the saga continues…
Remember the Alamo!
admin posted this on May 7th 2007 under Photos, Texas, USA
At this historic Spanish mission in San Antonio, a display shows a timeline of important events in Texan history. I spent a moment puzzling over the Texans’ pride in their victory securing independence from Mexico in 1836, but their indifference at donating their country to the United States ten years later. As a reference point, the timeline helpfully includes the patenting of barbed wire (1874 by Joseph F. Glidden). Now it all makes sense!
Another highlight in San Antonio is the Riverwalk, a paved riverside walkway with bars and restaurants, set a level below the rest of the city. It looks a bit like the rapids at Center Parcs.
A local friend very kindly drove me to a BBQ Diner. It turns out that what we think of as a barbecue is really just a grill; BBQ food just needs to have BBQ sauce on it to qualify as BBQ. A bit too much emphasis on the condiments there, I thought (and told them). You don’t go to a Ketchup Diner to eat a burger, do you?
As documented in detail to the true proponents of this particular London fashion, wearing my collar up has caused some confusion amongst the locals. No small number have offered to “fix my collar”, and a hotel owner asked if I was in the military. One passer-by wondered if I was raised in a ditch (the proverbial barn of course being pretty much standard here, anyway).
Cactus Cafe
admin posted this on May 3rd 2007 under Texas, USA
“Good luck with the cancer!” I called back to James ‘Redman’ Warren the war veteran I met on Congress Avenue in Austin. He’d just sold me a CD of his country singing. It never worked, and with his lung problems was never going to be great. But Austin is world-famous for its music scene and I was going to get stuck in!
Now I’m not renowned for my love of music, but with all the time in the world, and nothing else to do on the planet, I thought I’d better give it a try. In fact, I’ve rarely been to music performances aside from the times the odd sister or friend has insisted I go.
I suppose the alternative might have been to go to a bar on my own (on this rare occasion, the hostel was quiet and peopled only by quiet Texans). I’ve never done that - in contrast to my good friend James Hawes who only goes to bars solo, and is rumoured to have never been in a pub with anyone else. So at least with a live music performance I could sit in the corner and pretend to like it.
The internet had two main venue recommendations: Antones in Downtown; and Cactus Cafe at the University - a small venue which has launched the careers of many budding artists since 1979. Antones was revealed to be sold out, after a little investigation. Kristin Hersh was playing at the Cactus Cafe, and you couldn’t buy tickets in advance - just queue for hours with other true music fans. Works for me!
Except I needed to pretend I knew what I was talking about in terms of music. I don’t want to be exposed as an outsider. I thought the best bet was to invent some band names and when no-one had heard of them, just shrug it off as being part of a different culture. Would they believe that we just don’t have Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, and anyone else in the UK - and that’s why I don’t know anything about them?
In the queue I meet Ryan: “This is like the 15th time I’ve seen Kristen. I first saw her when she was touring with REM in 1988, and they were even unknown then! How about you?”
“To be honest, I don’t really know who she is.”
“What are you doing here then?”
“Oh, I was just told she was quite good.”
“Wow! You are like the biggest music fan ever! Just trying something new, just because of some recommendation! That’s amazing.”
I was in!
Austin
admin posted this on May 1st 2007 under Texas, USA
I chose to come to Texas partly because Southerners are supposed to be a bit different. I’d already been warned though, that in the cities at least, they no longer wear cowboy hats and guns.
There’s one chap staying at this hostel and, like me, is enjoying the free wireless internet they provide. He says he’s from West Texas.
“Oh! Exploring your own state?” It has been said that Texans are very insular and don’t like to leave Texas - after all the Lone Star State is the biggest and best at everything. Fair enough.
“Not really,” he says. “I stay here for a couple of weeks every month, sort of on business.”
OK, travelling to see clients? No, apparently he’s a web designer but doesn’t have a very good internet connection at home. So he travels five hours for a two-week business trip just to use a hostel’s free internet. I’m not complaining, but I did suggest he upgrade his connection at home. “I know - I should,” he agrees.
I’ll be off tomorrow for yet another university tour! Hooray! I travelled several thousand miles to see it even though there are plenty back home.