i hate new york. well, not really, but im definately developing a bit of a love-hate thing about the place. maybe its because im londoner... etc. today and tried to go and queue up for free tickets to see shakespeare in central park and then proceeded to get mightily lost trying to get there. there was some stupid puerto carnival following me around so that all the entrances to central park seemed to be shut and then i accidentally ended up on a transverse from which there was no exit. (ooh just as an interjection theyre playing the new buick advert on the tv and the soundtrack is lyrical gangster. that song should come back) still at least its not raining for once and i'm not sure if i can handle shakespeare in an american accent. i ate a brownie. it partly cheered me up, then i went and bought some records from other music which is pretty much nyc's answer to sounds of the universe to complete the process. other things that annoy me - the weather is really unpredctable. i know this sounds stupid coming from an englishwoman but i think i have developed i bit of a 6th sense regarding the weather back home so i know if its going to rain or not. also new yorkers always dress up - sex and the city is actually accurate in regards to this - and it itimidates me. and the women here are so unbelieveably prepubescently thin. i really have never seen such thin people in my life. i want to force fried chicken down their mouths and then drown them in a pot of molton lard. i actually mistook a 12 year-old for a new york woman the other day whilst giving her a dirty look. they dont have escalators on the subway. come on, this is america! admitedly though the subway is not that far underground. you can hear rumbling below whilst walking along the street which is kind of cool. umm, ill try and quit moaning now.
lets have an art update, i went to PS1 which is an fantastic space and appropriately huge. they have been collating a collection of wll works in the myriad warehouse stairwells, including a cecily brown with the paint peeling off which is the best thing ive seen by her. the new (contemporary) museum had a group show of international artists below the age of 33 (the younger than jesus generation). most of the work was pretty bad actually including, predictably, the painting but it was interesting and well curated. the best piece was a ryan gander that involved the gallery attendant wearing a white addidas tracksuit with a blood stain on it. now for the prerequisite food and drink comments. i had a hot dog around 4am. it was amazing. i tried to eat a breakfast cereal called apple zines. it was painful. i also asked my friend, who is from great kills (what a name), statten island and then in my eyes a bonafied new yorker whay the big apple is thus called and got the reply that 'they grew apples once somewhere upstate i think'. classic. i did go out on the town one night and stayed up late, new york style til 5am. how i managed this i dont know since i went to all of 3 bars and had one drink in each. i think we spent a long time larking around in times square, which is very pretty in the nightime. proudly, i discovered a really cool place called the mars bar which was this filthy hole in the wall full of squat art and old school punks getting grumpy at one another. it also had the worlds most punk juke box - it was covered in grafitti, the track listings were hand scrawled and when you gave it a dolar and selected your choice of track it played what hell it wanted. i must admit though my desolute corner of brooklyn was eerily beautiful in the pre-dawn light, still in way new york rarely is i guess.
Sunday 14 June 2009
Thursday 11 June 2009
New York (Is Red Hot)
actually its not. its cold and rainy. so yeah, ive finally made it to my last port of call. i was on the greyhound and we went through the EZ pass onto the new jersey turnpike and i was like oh my god a familiar landscape. i have not known you in so long. literally everything ive seen for the past 2 months (minus my family) has been new to me. im staying in a warehouse convert in east williamsburg, so yes, its twat central here. it has an astro turf garden though which is cooler than it sounds. on first arrival i was like help me, shoreditch has imploded all over the place but im gradually getting used to being back in a 'proper city'. although i still cant handle the price of groceries in the hipster organic store. i also keep on getting on the wrong subway train. can't they employ a designer to sort it out or something. perhaps i should pay attention though,. that would help.
today i had an art binge. i went to the new MOMA (i say new because it wasn't open when i was last in new york but its actually been a few years now). it was horrific, mostly because of the hoards of tourists and school parties everywhere but even so the permanent collection hang i think is the worst ive ever seen. when it first was hung it was done thematically and it caused such outrage theyve down returned it too the most boring chronologic hang imiginable as a punishment for everyone being so narrow minded. nice temporary show of drawings from the collection though. the whitney is better on almost every level although the main show about to open was the same dan graham exhibition i saw at MOCA in LA. so there you have it - i travel at about the same speed as a major touring retrospective. i had another case of deja-vu last night in the hostel when a met a girl from south london who seemed earily familiar. after a bit of discussion it turnedout we had met before a couple of years ago when we both had longer hair. bit depressing actually, its like ive met all the people i could possibly meet in the world and now i just have to recycle old ones.
today i had an art binge. i went to the new MOMA (i say new because it wasn't open when i was last in new york but its actually been a few years now). it was horrific, mostly because of the hoards of tourists and school parties everywhere but even so the permanent collection hang i think is the worst ive ever seen. when it first was hung it was done thematically and it caused such outrage theyve down returned it too the most boring chronologic hang imiginable as a punishment for everyone being so narrow minded. nice temporary show of drawings from the collection though. the whitney is better on almost every level although the main show about to open was the same dan graham exhibition i saw at MOCA in LA. so there you have it - i travel at about the same speed as a major touring retrospective. i had another case of deja-vu last night in the hostel when a met a girl from south london who seemed earily familiar. after a bit of discussion it turnedout we had met before a couple of years ago when we both had longer hair. bit depressing actually, its like ive met all the people i could possibly meet in the world and now i just have to recycle old ones.
Monday 8 June 2009
Further Adventures From Steel City
other things invented in pittsburgh, the jeep and the big mac. talking of burgers on nbs they were broadcasting the zagat restaurant guide to fast food and out of all the chains guess who swept the board including winning best overall and best burger? yes – wendys. it truly is amazing. i knew it. today i went to a diner chain called park called eat and park which was famously launched in pittsburgh. you’d think it would be park n eat, not the other way round but there you go. i had a shredded bbq pork burger. it was pretty good. it came with onion rings inside it! shredded pork is awesome anyhow. i first came across it on top of some nachos and I thought it was tuna initially. its like totally melt in the mouth.
they also have the worlds first university building skyscraper here. it was first built in the 30s and theres only one taller in the world, at moscow university, so the idea of sky high education didnt really take off. still its quite impressive as its done in a gothic style and is called the cathedral of learning. still whats really neat (how on earth did i survive before i started peppering my education with words such as cute and neat? on one level i am discusted with myself) is that each immigrant group has furnished a classroom inside in the national style. furnished perhaps is an understament, architects and imported craftsman were involved. for example the english classroom is panneled in oak in the tudor gothic style with a stone fireplace, stained glass and furniture from the houses of parliment. if you want to go on a tour, they give you a key and you go round the building which really is like a cathedral inside with vaults and heavy wood doors. its like being in gormenghast (or harry potter perhaps for the less literary of you). they are still constructing more of these international rooms. with the recent ones its all got a bit competitive and gone over the top but the early ones are quite charming.
they also have the worlds first university building skyscraper here. it was first built in the 30s and theres only one taller in the world, at moscow university, so the idea of sky high education didnt really take off. still its quite impressive as its done in a gothic style and is called the cathedral of learning. still whats really neat (how on earth did i survive before i started peppering my education with words such as cute and neat? on one level i am discusted with myself) is that each immigrant group has furnished a classroom inside in the national style. furnished perhaps is an understament, architects and imported craftsman were involved. for example the english classroom is panneled in oak in the tudor gothic style with a stone fireplace, stained glass and furniture from the houses of parliment. if you want to go on a tour, they give you a key and you go round the building which really is like a cathedral inside with vaults and heavy wood doors. its like being in gormenghast (or harry potter perhaps for the less literary of you). they are still constructing more of these international rooms. with the recent ones its all got a bit competitive and gone over the top but the early ones are quite charming.
Saturday 6 June 2009
Pittsburgh
ok just to warn you now im writing this while watching a repeat of the mtv awards. Some one from high school musical 3 has just beaten frida pinto to best breakthrough female performance – i mean is there no justice in this world? so yes just to warn you in case of interjections. Im in pittsburgh at the moment in my uncles very handsome house. actually im going to have to hurry up and upload some photos just so i can show off because the view is amazing. i like pittsburgh a lot. its very blue collar and down to earth with layers upon layers of industrial architecture. theres also an excellent contemporary arts scene, probably because its so cheap here. actually it reminds me a bit of berlin before it got posh. back in the day they called pittsburgh the birmingham of america. i think that’s a bit harsh.
theres an art gallery called the mattress factory which is apparently the best contemporary art gallery in the country. i can believe it. there was a piece that involved the viewer sitting in almost pitch black room for 15 minutes. i think i was there longer as my perception of time passing is not great. have you ever sat in pitch darkness? its weird because you cant actually see anything but you can kind of sense theres some space out there and if you move your hand you cant see your hand but you can just aboiut sense there something moving. the whole space just seem to undulate around you n(ok mtv update: robert patterson, actually quite hot. is that wrong? also eminems performance looks like hes just going through the motions probably because hes thinking how much he could do with some diazepam. Sorry is that bad taste) hey so yes after that experience i was just tripped out by everything i saw so i cant really give you a decent account. there was some neat site-specific work though. also in that area is this crazy house that has been painted and decorated all over. google randyland, pittsburgh. I met randy – he was intense.
everyone is sports mad in pittsburgh. at the moment the hockey team has some important games and even the buses bare the legend lets go pens (will farrell what are you doing?). the team being called the penguins. ice hockey is a bit weird anyway. They sort of play tests like in cricket so it all goes on for days. they have the pennsylvania sports museum here too but i wasn’t brave enough to bare it. speaking of pennsylvania i think i saw an amish on the bus! obviously greyhound buses count as pre-industrial methods of transportation. (oohoh ive just witness the infamous sacha baran cohen/eminem moment – totally a set up) . anyway lots of things were invented in pittsburgh. heres a list of some of them; the polio vaccination, steal rope, commercial aluminium production, commercial glass production, modern train brakes, czecheslovakia, heinz 57 varities. the 57 was just plucked from the middle of nowhere by the way.
my new guilty pleasure is paris hiltons new bff. have you seen the way she walks? its incredible. (argh ive just witnessed lyanne rymes murder i jizzed in my pants. murder i tell you murder)
theres an art gallery called the mattress factory which is apparently the best contemporary art gallery in the country. i can believe it. there was a piece that involved the viewer sitting in almost pitch black room for 15 minutes. i think i was there longer as my perception of time passing is not great. have you ever sat in pitch darkness? its weird because you cant actually see anything but you can kind of sense theres some space out there and if you move your hand you cant see your hand but you can just aboiut sense there something moving. the whole space just seem to undulate around you n(ok mtv update: robert patterson, actually quite hot. is that wrong? also eminems performance looks like hes just going through the motions probably because hes thinking how much he could do with some diazepam. Sorry is that bad taste) hey so yes after that experience i was just tripped out by everything i saw so i cant really give you a decent account. there was some neat site-specific work though. also in that area is this crazy house that has been painted and decorated all over. google randyland, pittsburgh. I met randy – he was intense.
everyone is sports mad in pittsburgh. at the moment the hockey team has some important games and even the buses bare the legend lets go pens (will farrell what are you doing?). the team being called the penguins. ice hockey is a bit weird anyway. They sort of play tests like in cricket so it all goes on for days. they have the pennsylvania sports museum here too but i wasn’t brave enough to bare it. speaking of pennsylvania i think i saw an amish on the bus! obviously greyhound buses count as pre-industrial methods of transportation. (oohoh ive just witness the infamous sacha baran cohen/eminem moment – totally a set up) . anyway lots of things were invented in pittsburgh. heres a list of some of them; the polio vaccination, steal rope, commercial aluminium production, commercial glass production, modern train brakes, czecheslovakia, heinz 57 varities. the 57 was just plucked from the middle of nowhere by the way.
my new guilty pleasure is paris hiltons new bff. have you seen the way she walks? its incredible. (argh ive just witnessed lyanne rymes murder i jizzed in my pants. murder i tell you murder)
Wednesday 3 June 2009
I Finally Make It To The Atlantic
firstly, my apologies for the lack of posts lately. ive been hanging with my family in north carolina and generally enjoying being fed. i did mean to catch up yesterday but i spent the whole day sleeping and watching the fresh prince of bel-air instead. i think jazz is my ideal man by the way. so places ive been... charleston which is very pretty but kinda boring. i think my main issue was that is quite a high class holiday resort and i was running out of money and couldnt afford to do anything. it is very attractive thou, all colonial architecture and palmetto trees. the palmetto tree is the state tree of south carolina and an adopted symbol of the confederacy (aka the lost cause) and hence is everywhere. i was slightly disturbed by the fact you can buy gollywog dolls in the market. ok i had a gollywog doll when i was little but 1 this was back in the day 2 shrewsbury is behind the times anyway 3 id never even seen a black person before the age of 5 let alone know that my gollywog was meant to represent one. my cousin lives in raleigh , north carolina and goes to college in nearby chapel hill also home to ben folds and ryan adams. now her school, ncu, its nickname is the tar heals so naturally im like - oh whys that that. - oh back in the civil war some people waded through a tar field and then fought a battle. - what battle? - dunno. - are there a lot of tar fields in north carolina? - dont think so. this was the best answer i could get. other people were like oh its lost in the mists of time. the civil war is not the mists of time guys. it was like 1862, you should know what happened and what tar had to do with it.
and of course there are my further culinary adventures. i had krispy kreme for the first time. they are from winsten salem nc also home of morovian sugar cake which is amazing too. theres definately something in the water there. now ive had dunkin' doughnuts before which are from boston and they were disappointing. in the battle for the doughnut, the south definately wins. krispy kreme was everything and more i imagined a doughnut to be. we went at midnight when the 'hot sign ' is on and its like eating air - hot sweet doughy glazed air that is. they simply melt on your tongue and you get to watch them rise in the open kitchen. ah now i cant even think what else ive eaten, im just daydreaming about doughnuts. oh yeah i had frozen yoghurt for the first time. i was expecting it to taste of yoghurt - it doesnt. its just ice cream. and my cousin and her boyfriend looked at me like i was crazy when i said this. then i said so if you wanted your froen yoghurt to taste of yoghurt you'd have to order yoghurt flavour frozen yoghurt and they looked at me like i should be sectioned. i also had this thing called bubble tea - i was expecting carbonated iced tea. no its actually a smoothie with lumps of tapioca in it. i couldnt quite handle the tapioca. its a bit weird.
i also have been on the craziest greyhound. now riding the greyhound is a bit like being on a school bus. the driver tells you off over the announcer if you make too much noise. on the bus from memphis to atlanta the bus driver was like - if yo' havin problem with yo' baby mama or yo' baby daddy no one on da bus needs to know. save it fo' nashville. anyway this bus from raleigh to dc had all the crazies on it. there was some drunk tramp who went to bathroom (brave as i am i must admit i have never ventured to go to the onboard restroom in all my travels) and had a cigarette. now this is not allowed and the bus driver was not happy and told the guy he would be kicked off at the next stop and off course the rest of the bus started weighing in with their opinions on the matter. anyway 20 minutes or so later the guy does it again, unbelievebly, and then tries to deny it even though you could smell the smoke and starts getting aggressive at the bus driver. so the driver kicks him off in the middle of the freeway. fair enough i say but all the bus is going ah you can't do that, you can't do that and the driver is like you lot better shut up or youre going to be joining him. i was trying hard not to laugh. also of great excitement at dc we saw, me for the first time despite my myriad journeys, a couple of the new fleet of buses and everyone went ooohhh, ahhhh etc. at the sight.
and of course there are my further culinary adventures. i had krispy kreme for the first time. they are from winsten salem nc also home of morovian sugar cake which is amazing too. theres definately something in the water there. now ive had dunkin' doughnuts before which are from boston and they were disappointing. in the battle for the doughnut, the south definately wins. krispy kreme was everything and more i imagined a doughnut to be. we went at midnight when the 'hot sign ' is on and its like eating air - hot sweet doughy glazed air that is. they simply melt on your tongue and you get to watch them rise in the open kitchen. ah now i cant even think what else ive eaten, im just daydreaming about doughnuts. oh yeah i had frozen yoghurt for the first time. i was expecting it to taste of yoghurt - it doesnt. its just ice cream. and my cousin and her boyfriend looked at me like i was crazy when i said this. then i said so if you wanted your froen yoghurt to taste of yoghurt you'd have to order yoghurt flavour frozen yoghurt and they looked at me like i should be sectioned. i also had this thing called bubble tea - i was expecting carbonated iced tea. no its actually a smoothie with lumps of tapioca in it. i couldnt quite handle the tapioca. its a bit weird.
i also have been on the craziest greyhound. now riding the greyhound is a bit like being on a school bus. the driver tells you off over the announcer if you make too much noise. on the bus from memphis to atlanta the bus driver was like - if yo' havin problem with yo' baby mama or yo' baby daddy no one on da bus needs to know. save it fo' nashville. anyway this bus from raleigh to dc had all the crazies on it. there was some drunk tramp who went to bathroom (brave as i am i must admit i have never ventured to go to the onboard restroom in all my travels) and had a cigarette. now this is not allowed and the bus driver was not happy and told the guy he would be kicked off at the next stop and off course the rest of the bus started weighing in with their opinions on the matter. anyway 20 minutes or so later the guy does it again, unbelievebly, and then tries to deny it even though you could smell the smoke and starts getting aggressive at the bus driver. so the driver kicks him off in the middle of the freeway. fair enough i say but all the bus is going ah you can't do that, you can't do that and the driver is like you lot better shut up or youre going to be joining him. i was trying hard not to laugh. also of great excitement at dc we saw, me for the first time despite my myriad journeys, a couple of the new fleet of buses and everyone went ooohhh, ahhhh etc. at the sight.
Tuesday 26 May 2009
Food Post
yes its time for another one of these. firstly, ive tried a couple more fast food chains. i had a chicken burger from jack in the box. it was awesome. i was with an american who had somehow managed to go his whole life without having eaten jack in the box. he had a cheese burger with double cheese and i asked him what it was like. he was like, er not that special, tastes like a wendys. exactly says i -awesome. ive been to taco bell. the tacos arent that special but i had a cheesy bean meat burrito of the dollar menu and it was so good and pretty big too for a dollar. actually i shouldnt be writing this right now as it making me hungry. the only thing ive had to eat today other than breakfast (its now 7.30pm) was a moon pie. a moon pie is the proper name for a wagonwheel although this being the states it is significantly better and more pimping. do they still make wagonwheels back home? i havent seen one since primary school. i am still having troubles with american supermarkets. firstly, i have a curse meaning that i cant find them. admittedly this is more to do with the fact they are out of town as americans do not go in for cornershops. in fact they fail to grasp the concept of pooping to the shop. when i use this verb, people get very confused and i try to explain that all anyone does all day in london is pop to the shop for coke, milk, beer, newspaper etc. but they still stay bemused. also confusingly, staples that are cheap in england are expensive in the states such as bread, pasta, milk. cheese is insanely expensive even the sort of value cheese slices that cost 30p at home. ive been feeling withdrawal symptons. eggs however are dirt cheap at a dollar for a dozen large. also aisles upon aisles are used up with ready mixes. they have ready mix for everything - lasagne, stir fry, doughnuts, pilafs - but you have to add oil and milk and egg so i dont really understand who they are more convienient.
in the hostel in atlanta we all used to sit and watch the food channel on cable tv. im not exactly sure why, but for some reason it was considered everyones preference. the particular favourite was a programme called iron chef america which is a kind of cross between gladiator and ready steady cook. you can youtube it if you like - it has an amusing host and good food porn. now then because i got hungry ive just eaten some grits. grits is a traditional southern food that i thought i should try since there was some on the free food shelf in the hostel kitchen. grits are/is (i have yet to work out whether the word is singular or plural) savoury corn porridge. its a bit weird, im not sure if i like them on their own, theyre probably ok with a fry up. also i had instant ones so i guess home made would be better.
in the hostel in atlanta we all used to sit and watch the food channel on cable tv. im not exactly sure why, but for some reason it was considered everyones preference. the particular favourite was a programme called iron chef america which is a kind of cross between gladiator and ready steady cook. you can youtube it if you like - it has an amusing host and good food porn. now then because i got hungry ive just eaten some grits. grits is a traditional southern food that i thought i should try since there was some on the free food shelf in the hostel kitchen. grits are/is (i have yet to work out whether the word is singular or plural) savoury corn porridge. its a bit weird, im not sure if i like them on their own, theyre probably ok with a fry up. also i had instant ones so i guess home made would be better.
Monday 25 May 2009
Corperate America
atlanta is home to two american institutions, coca-cola and CNN. it is also home to dr martin luther kings birthhome but i havent figured out how to make an interesting post out of that experience. now i was quite excited about going on a tour of CNN headquarters. ive got quite into it and its usually what thay screen on the tv while you wait for the greyhound. i find the cable news network strangely mesmerising when waiting for a bus at 2am. their headquarters are housed in a building which used to hold an indoor theme park and hence you get to satart your tour by ascending into a giant globe on the world's highest escalator. the tour itself is not that enlightening although i did discover they no longer use a green screen to do the weather which was a bit disappointing actally. none of the news rooms were very busy, probably because it was the friday afternoon of a bank holiday and everyone was lke do you think anything big going to break? nah, i mean main story is the hurricane in mexico so we can pretty much just leave that to CNN en espanol. i also went to the world of coca-cola which is a sort of museum/theme park/shrine to the marvel that is the coca-cola company. it presents the brand as a sort of magical religion that can solve all the worlds problems. i felt queasy at some points and not just from drinking too many free samples. thay say little about the developement of the 'secret formula' and even less about the corporations dubius use of 3rd world resources. the collection of memorabilia is good though and at the end you get to tastes coke products from around the world. i thought i was prepared for this. i thought foreign soft drinks all tasted like rubicon guava. no. the ones from africa were particularly foul, including fanta exotica. some of them werent even sweet. really soft drinks wiothout sugar do not work, i wanted spit some of them out. 2nd worst after africa, bizarrely, was north america (they organise by continent). i think its all the root beer variations. i dont understand root beer, it tastes like cough mixture and not in a good (calpol) way. you could also sample 'tab', cokes first attempt at a diet cola from the 70s. if you think coke zero tastes bad (which i do) you shouldve tasted tab.
Thursday 21 May 2009
Memphis, TN
on my 'delta' bus to memphis the bus driver announced at the start "let us pray for a safe journey" and ended it with ï pray the rest of your journey is safe. every street here has some sort of church on it. my hostel is attached to a church. i like this. it seems appropriate as i am on a musical pilgrammage here. its amazing, evem just walking down the street you pass the first black radio station or arethra franklins house or the booker t washington high school where ike turner, rufus thomas, booker t and the mgs, the mar-keys, the bar-keys, hell, everyone went to school. theres even a whole district called soulsville where stax records was situated. i went to the stax museum. they have a whole mississippi gospel church transplanted there and issac hayes' gold cadillac. its upholstirred in fur. ive decided rufus thomas is one of my heroes. there loads of interviews with him and he seems really safe, also amazingly he recorded do the funky chicken when he was 53. i have sam and dave's hold on, im comin' stuck in my head but theres worse curses i think. im also commiting sacrillage by not going to graceland. franky, i can't be bothered, and its really expensive. i'm not sure where that moneys going - probably towards reconstructing priscella presley's face - but i think its better spent on records. i did go to elvis' old outfitter, lansky's and bought a hat though. its no longer on beale street (the only original retailer there is a schwarb which deserves a mention as they seemingly have not refitted since it opened in 1870) but in the old fancy hotel, the peabody, which is famous for having a buch of ducks in its indoor fountain. theyre pretty smart looking ducks and they arrive everyday on a red carpet. memphis is famous for some other non music related things too. dr m l king was assassinated here and they have preserved the motel now as the national civil rights museum. its very moving. holiday inn started here. as did the world's first supermarket, piggly wiggly. why you would call a supermarket this, im not entriely sure. the logo is a smiling little piggy, that seems to say i'm so tasty, stick me on a bar-b-que. memphis is the capital of bar-b-que. i narrowly missed the world championships they stage here. however its all pork, no beef. hell, this isnt texas.
Wednesday 20 May 2009
The Mississippi
for some reason there isnt an overnight express bus that does new orleans to memphis in 8 hours, theres just one bus that leaves at 10 in the morning and gets in at 10 at night and goes to every one horse town on highway 61. actually i shouldnt complain since this windy little road goes through some beautiful delta country. i didnt stop off in mississippi as there doesnt seem to be any city (i did think memphis was in mississippi, not its not, its just on the mississippi) or indeed town to visit its so rural. after some further research i discovered that other than the capital jackson pop 400,000 so not that big, there are no towns above 50,000 and then only 10 above 20,000 so really its a big ole empty swamp really which is kinda romantic in a way. the highway rises out of the water along with all the trees and the delta just extends for miles, and its all so green. theres an odd field of corn along the way but thats about it in terms of industrialisation. i also reckon i probably passed the crossroads where robert johnston sold his soul ("you may bury my body down by the highway sign/so my old evil spirit can catch a greyhound and ride"). the mississippi is so unbelieveably huge that even in memphis its pretty wide. theres this island there called mud island. its a pile of mud that started building up and they thought they'd better fortify it in case it ate up the whole river. theres a minature scale reconstruction of the river up there. it looks like a windy stream of mud. mark twain called the mississippi the "crookedest river in the world"(i think crookedest must be considered a word in american english as san francisco has the 'crookedest street in the world). theres also a huge pyramid on the riverside, refering to memphis' namesake in egypt. i'm not sure why its there though. incidently the delta is not a delta at all, its just named that after the nile delta.
Tuesday 19 May 2009
New Orleans
i'm in new orleans, or new awluns as its almost universally pronunced, and its raining. i mean really raining - theres a storm blowing and the water is falling in sheets so everything is pretty much sodden. its beautiful. yesterday and today were only the 2nd and 3rd days its rained since ive been in the states and ive been missing it. the climate here is, of course, that of an indian summer. actually new orleans is awesome and i could stay a lot longer here except im spending far too much money on food and records and going out. i'll start with the food. its sooo good. i had a binge yesterday so that i could tell you all about it. i guess the most famous creole dish (creole meaning a new orlean native of any descent) is gumbo which is a thick seafood stew. its tasty. even better is jumbalaya, which is gumbo which extra rica and meat. basically all cajun/creole food is based around chuck it all in and shovel it all up. i had the best chicken i have ever tasted, so juicy on the inside, so light and crispy on the out. you can also get these things called beignets which are like square hot doughnuts and they dump about an inch of icing sugar on them so that after eating it looks like you;ve just rubbed your face in a pile of cocaine. crayfish are the other big new orleans thing and although they are in essence a poor mans crab, they are qite fun to eat as you have to suck the flesh out of the claws. theres quite a good louisana amber beer called abita too. teah so i could quite easily just stay there two weeks eating food.
on to the music. i caught a reggae band, a funk band and a jazz-funk band so there was a little bit of jazz in there. thing is, new orleans is such a melting pot of musicians, and its pretty small tha all the different sounds interact. the best example of this is zydeco, which is the indigoneous sound and mixture of cajun folk, rnb, jazz and blues. theres also a whole genre of carnival music. youtube professeur longhair who i guess was the most famous proponant of it and is an awesome pianist. everyone dances to live music here, which of course i approve of. the jazz-funk band did a cover of rappers delight which sounds like it might be cheesy but was actually impressive and they carried it on for the full 11 minutes or whatever. also its a remarkably intergrated and welcoming scene with people of all ages and races. i dont this whole new orleans is dangerous shtick. the place has excellent vibes and is certainly a lot safer than LA (although practically anywhere is). i think perhaps attitutes have improved since katrina. its a good time to visit new orleans i think, as a lot renewal is going on. all of the historic districts - not just the french quarter but a very large quotient of the city is on preservation lists - were left undamged by the hurricane. theres a bit of a conspiracy theory about this actually because they were all saved due to the fact the levees broke and wiped out all the poorer outlying neighbourhoods instead and some reckon this was deliberate.
to the south in new orleans theres blocks and blocks of victorian mansions increasing in size. the french quarter itself, confusingly spainish colonial in style, although not as romatically tumble down as it once was, is also very beautiful. hordes of tourists become somewhat grating after a while but thankfully theres planty of other places to hang out. i'd really like to come back to the city during jazz fest or, even better, at mardi gras. mardi gras makes notting hill look, weel, lame. the coastumes are amazing and again its racially mixed (yay). the floats traditionally through cups, painted coconuts and beads to the crowds. my hostel was decorated with thousands of these beads. apparently 300 people are employed year round in china making them. also in new orleans you get to ride the streetcar (as in a streetcar named desire). its a tram so god knows why they call it that. its a bit like calling a bus a roadtrain or something. and the things are always late because everyone here is very laid back about everything. the whole of the south is a bit like that. its a heat thing, but new orleans especially they call the big easy.
on to the music. i caught a reggae band, a funk band and a jazz-funk band so there was a little bit of jazz in there. thing is, new orleans is such a melting pot of musicians, and its pretty small tha all the different sounds interact. the best example of this is zydeco, which is the indigoneous sound and mixture of cajun folk, rnb, jazz and blues. theres also a whole genre of carnival music. youtube professeur longhair who i guess was the most famous proponant of it and is an awesome pianist. everyone dances to live music here, which of course i approve of. the jazz-funk band did a cover of rappers delight which sounds like it might be cheesy but was actually impressive and they carried it on for the full 11 minutes or whatever. also its a remarkably intergrated and welcoming scene with people of all ages and races. i dont this whole new orleans is dangerous shtick. the place has excellent vibes and is certainly a lot safer than LA (although practically anywhere is). i think perhaps attitutes have improved since katrina. its a good time to visit new orleans i think, as a lot renewal is going on. all of the historic districts - not just the french quarter but a very large quotient of the city is on preservation lists - were left undamged by the hurricane. theres a bit of a conspiracy theory about this actually because they were all saved due to the fact the levees broke and wiped out all the poorer outlying neighbourhoods instead and some reckon this was deliberate.
to the south in new orleans theres blocks and blocks of victorian mansions increasing in size. the french quarter itself, confusingly spainish colonial in style, although not as romatically tumble down as it once was, is also very beautiful. hordes of tourists become somewhat grating after a while but thankfully theres planty of other places to hang out. i'd really like to come back to the city during jazz fest or, even better, at mardi gras. mardi gras makes notting hill look, weel, lame. the coastumes are amazing and again its racially mixed (yay). the floats traditionally through cups, painted coconuts and beads to the crowds. my hostel was decorated with thousands of these beads. apparently 300 people are employed year round in china making them. also in new orleans you get to ride the streetcar (as in a streetcar named desire). its a tram so god knows why they call it that. its a bit like calling a bus a roadtrain or something. and the things are always late because everyone here is very laid back about everything. the whole of the south is a bit like that. its a heat thing, but new orleans especially they call the big easy.
Friday 15 May 2009
Dispatches From The Front Line OF Popular Culture
i've been watching american tv, folks! and i'm finding it strangely addictive. i even enjoy the adverts. there are lots of commercials for different types of mop. one has the soundtrack of 'don't you want me baby'. for a mop, a bit melodramatic, surely. on nbc news channel, a respectable news channel i wouldve thought or at least compared to fox, they were running a story about a piece of salami that spelt god and i dont think theyd had word from the vatican that this was a bonafied miracle or anything. this is what happens when you 24/7 programming to fill. i saw those guys from little britain in an american comedy. its a good thing i cant remember the name of it because then you wont run the risk of typing it into you tube and actually seeing it as its really bad. its sort of sub blackadder, not blackadders 11-1V because obviously everything is below that but sub blackadder 1, you know the rubbish one set in the middle ages that they never repeat it. also it seems these days that MTV and VH1 dont actually show any music related programming, they just screen dating shows. im not exaggerating here, really just dating shows and nothing else. somehow i got really into one called 'daisy of love' where all these 'rockers' and wooing this 'rock chick' called daisy. at first i was like woah, why would anyone want her? shes not even pretty and shes mean, dumb and dresses like a slut, but strangely shes started to grow on me. also theres this other old guy called ricky who im not sure if hes her dad or just her mentor but actually looks like he might have been cool once upon a time. anyway i think you can watch it online on VH1 if you really want to see what my life is like now. oh and the other funny thing about these shows is all the contestants have to use psydonyms, god knows why but its amusing. i was watching one where all these girls are trying to get with this 'rnb star' and they called themselves 'chardonney', 'unique', 'stilts' etc. the other thing ive been watching a lot is this documentary on E! about hugh heftners girlfriends, shockingly they actually come across quite well. one was learning how to be a trapeze artist. respect.
Houston
when i was leaving austin, quite a few people said to me oooh youre not going to like houston. well its a good thing i dont listen to people because houston is a surprisingly pleasant place, i think people in austin just like to think their better than the rest of texas but theres just as big a scene in houston really. it is the 4th biggest city in the us after all. its very green and all the museums are conviniently together in one district. i went on a bar hop aswell, im really starting to get to grips with american beer, and found some cool places including a place with a 4 page whisky menu and a gypsy bluegrass band. my only beef is i have 42 angry mosquito bites on my legs from sitting on the porch one evening, its all about sitting on the porch in the south. (was this place built on a swamp or something? lets check - yes it was hence they made austin capital instead) anyway they were so bad a pharmicist in new orleans thought i shld see a doctor, and given my lack of knowledge of my insurence she recommended i went to the homeless shelter to get it checked out. luckily i didnt have to stoop quite that low. anyway the contemporary art scene in houston is surprisingly vibrant and cutting edge. the MCA had a show on of artists who work in and with the city and they were politically engaged and outward looking in their approach, willing to take the city on, on its own terms. it must be noted that while the rest of the states pretty much sat back and did nothing, it was houston that galvanised the new orleans aid effort after hurricane katrina. my main reason for coming though was to see the rothko chapel, art pilgramage style, a short description follows.
the chapel is a surprisingly modest and unassuming building situated in a residential street in houston, built of slightly weathered flesh tone brick that somewhat softens its stark form. the octagonal chamber inside is relatively small and the rothko paintings fill the walls and loom over the space. comprised of three tryptics and three singular canvases, the group of paintings evoke traditional religious architecture and have a grandeur and solumnity of their own. the lighting is soft and natural, daylight seeps in indirectly and the shifting clouds the day i was there created a gently undulating light akin to breathing, illuminating the depths of the paintings which themselves seem to shift and undulate. the chapel itself is a multi-faith space for contemplation, in the lobby there is a line of various religious texts should you wish to take one in. the modest wooden pews inside further give the chapel a sense of the organic rather than the purely minimal. at the front two black circular prayer cushions sit on the floor like pebbles.
the chapel is a surprisingly modest and unassuming building situated in a residential street in houston, built of slightly weathered flesh tone brick that somewhat softens its stark form. the octagonal chamber inside is relatively small and the rothko paintings fill the walls and loom over the space. comprised of three tryptics and three singular canvases, the group of paintings evoke traditional religious architecture and have a grandeur and solumnity of their own. the lighting is soft and natural, daylight seeps in indirectly and the shifting clouds the day i was there created a gently undulating light akin to breathing, illuminating the depths of the paintings which themselves seem to shift and undulate. the chapel itself is a multi-faith space for contemplation, in the lobby there is a line of various religious texts should you wish to take one in. the modest wooden pews inside further give the chapel a sense of the organic rather than the purely minimal. at the front two black circular prayer cushions sit on the floor like pebbles.
Sunday 10 May 2009
San Antonio and Austin, TX
i was in san antonio and it was really hot, 100f during the day and 80f at night. this is a bit freaky for this time of year i think but im beginning to understand where the american love of air conditioning comes from. although someone did try to tell me in needed to be 40f cooler indoors for hygiene reasons. what. i'm also beginning to see why texans are so fat. its impossible to work off any calories as you have to walk everywhere very slowly to avoid over heating. something esle distinctively american is the alamo which i visited. basically the story of the alamo is a bunch of texan republicans where laid seige by the mexicans back in the day and although overwhelmingly outnumbered they decided to persue a policy of 'victory or death' or in reality, certain death. it has come to symbolise texan bloody mindedness. the alamo itself is a former mission turned fort but now is revered as a shrine to the 'martyrs' of the alamo. i use inverted commas here because the space is no longer a church in any way but a shrine to the religion of federalacy that the americans persue. inside theres loads of flags everywhere and weaths and a glass case with davy crockets waistcoat in it. i cant think of anything like it in britain where we worship the spirit of the nation in an idolatry fashion.
they have the state capital in austin. its huge and modelled on the capital in dc, although its actually a bit bigger and completely dominates the small downtoan area. i think texas is trying to make a statement there. you'd think it would be antagonistic to austin which is in some ways very un-texan but i think the city is just too cool to care. all anyone does here is hang out anyway i think. everywhere you go its vintage shops and food places and music venues. 6th street is a bit touristy but at the same time just how you imagine it from sxsw reports on the radio. you walk along there at night and its all lit up with signs and music blasts from the bars onto the street. i went to a gig at emo's, kinda unfortunate name but its actually a pretty revered venue with cool silk screen style posters everywhere. now admittedly instead of going to a night with the austin sound (kinda american) i chose a post punk funk line up of bands because hey i know hat i like. i was all austin bands thou including the arm's reunion gig. they were very good actually but here i was at a gig on my own where everyone knew each other so i made friends with the opening act who was this crazy guy called neiliyo (google it). i actually thought he was quite good so he gets a plug here for being nice to me. he also loved my sunglasses so definately scoring extra points there. he introduced me to the most popular beer in texas "its great it tastes like water!", 'lone star' (legend: 'victory or death'). it really does, not only is it a bland lager but its quite flat. to be honest i think austenians could do with drinking a bit more. music audiences are famously static and everyone is too cool or perhaps too reverent to dance or look excited. i might go and see the bats over lake austin tonight, apparently they swarm at dusk, im right on the lake here in my hostel and its very luch and green and beautiful.
they have the state capital in austin. its huge and modelled on the capital in dc, although its actually a bit bigger and completely dominates the small downtoan area. i think texas is trying to make a statement there. you'd think it would be antagonistic to austin which is in some ways very un-texan but i think the city is just too cool to care. all anyone does here is hang out anyway i think. everywhere you go its vintage shops and food places and music venues. 6th street is a bit touristy but at the same time just how you imagine it from sxsw reports on the radio. you walk along there at night and its all lit up with signs and music blasts from the bars onto the street. i went to a gig at emo's, kinda unfortunate name but its actually a pretty revered venue with cool silk screen style posters everywhere. now admittedly instead of going to a night with the austin sound (kinda american) i chose a post punk funk line up of bands because hey i know hat i like. i was all austin bands thou including the arm's reunion gig. they were very good actually but here i was at a gig on my own where everyone knew each other so i made friends with the opening act who was this crazy guy called neiliyo (google it). i actually thought he was quite good so he gets a plug here for being nice to me. he also loved my sunglasses so definately scoring extra points there. he introduced me to the most popular beer in texas "its great it tastes like water!", 'lone star' (legend: 'victory or death'). it really does, not only is it a bland lager but its quite flat. to be honest i think austenians could do with drinking a bit more. music audiences are famously static and everyone is too cool or perhaps too reverent to dance or look excited. i might go and see the bats over lake austin tonight, apparently they swarm at dusk, im right on the lake here in my hostel and its very luch and green and beautiful.
Thursday 7 May 2009
Welcome To Texas, Drive Friendly - The Texas Way!
which begs the question, what exactly is the unfriendly way? the mexican way? (slightly off topic an american told me that in new york they drive scary because they are mean, in new mexico they drive scary because they are dumb). i have been to el paso. everyone is mexican, i mean everyone. i think i saw about two people in the city the whole time i was there who maybe werent. despite that fact there nothing of note in el paso, downtown is surprisingly interesting architecturally though, and you can still imagine it as a frontier town 100 years ago. i guess because it is still a frontier town. according to the rough guide sights are few but its dramatic location beneath mountains gives it a bold, wild west charm, but frankly the rough guide seems to say that about every place i pass through. my hotel/hostel does not seem to have been modernised in the past 100 years and still has a wooden telephone switchboard, lift with grill etc. so that was enough to keep me amused for a good while. apparently el paso is like old mexico. i went across the border to cuidad juarez to check out actual mexico, partly from lack of anything else to do, but i was to scared to do anything except from go to the mission and back. i seem to have developed the american condition of being petrified of mexico. the border patrols have been going nuts lately as well. they checked my bus to marfa twice. i think is must be something to do with that massive cannibis bust the other day. also i need to learn spainish. everyone talks to me in spainish and im not sure what theyre saying. i already ascertained that i dont look american but im pretty sure i dont look mexican either. i think the mexicans are convinced that one day the whole of the americas will speak spainish so people better wake up to the fact sooner rather than later. this is typically what happens when i get on a bus,
mexican chorus (in spainish, im guessing what theyre saying here as its al over one another) - this is the bus to presido! do you know this is the bus to presido?
me - er, yes, i think this bus goes to presido
mexicans - you! presido? why are you going to presido?
me - i'm going to marfa
mexicans - ah marfa, ah yes marfa, yes!
we then got to watch a western in spainish. i think it featured some mexicans trying to overthrow the spainish/british/whatever. i couldnt follow what they were saying but it had some good music to soundtrack the texas mountains to.
nb regards marfa and the chinati foundation, as requested i have written a special report which is a bit long to post here. ill probably type it up and then distribute it with photos school teacher style to those of you interested
mexican chorus (in spainish, im guessing what theyre saying here as its al over one another) - this is the bus to presido! do you know this is the bus to presido?
me - er, yes, i think this bus goes to presido
mexicans - you! presido? why are you going to presido?
me - i'm going to marfa
mexicans - ah marfa, ah yes marfa, yes!
we then got to watch a western in spainish. i think it featured some mexicans trying to overthrow the spainish/british/whatever. i couldnt follow what they were saying but it had some good music to soundtrack the texas mountains to.
nb regards marfa and the chinati foundation, as requested i have written a special report which is a bit long to post here. ill probably type it up and then distribute it with photos school teacher style to those of you interested
Sunday 3 May 2009
Taos (it rhymes with mouse)
im sat here writing this in an artsy coffee shop in taos, its like a hippy version of central perk. the weather has taken on an altogether welsh quality and im stranded here until my bus leaves at 8. luckily, this is american so i am able to purchase a 20oz cup of coffe to nurse while i am here. toas is tiny but famous as an artists colony, dh lawrence and georgia o keefe both stayed here at some point. i like it because it has a ramshackle quality thats missing in santa fe. i saw a tumbledown adobe dwelling that tom sawyer wouldve probably referred to as a 'haunted house' and there is a small stretch of street that still has a boardwalk. i dont think anywhere really feels like the wild west without a boardwalk. i also passed a bit of wasteland that had been prepositioned into a 'holy garden' with each tree turned into a tatty shrine of hand drawn signs and wind chimes. it was very odd. i just spent ages in tiny ramshackle museum to kill time. among the exhibits were vintage barbed wire - they all have different names such as 'crannoks twisted oval' - and a stuffed eight legged lamb. this is one of the most bizarre things i have ever seen. it had a pair at the front and two backends each with a pair and the remaining two were on its back. oh and it had an extra ear in the centre of its head. apparently it lived for 5 days and even more surprisingly it predates the atomic bomb testing in new mexico.
i visited the indian pueblo up the road. i had wanted to visit an ancient native american site but they are a bit off the beaten track. toas pueblo has been continuously inhabited for 1000 years so it kind of counts and it has those tiered adobe houses that are the same as the ancient dwellings. its built on the most beautiful spot, at the base of a sacred mountain with a stream running through the village. the smell of wood burning ovens also wafts around adding to the atmosphere. there is a fanous church (as painted by o keefe), inside they dress the icons according to the seasons. when i visited they were in clothes of a sickly pink colour. there is a ghostly cemetery as well where the old church can be seen tumbled down. i bought an indian pie, it was pretty tasty but it had an apricot filling so im not sure how authentic it was. the unleavened bread, a bit like pizza dough had been baked in the traditional oven though. i must admit, i am less interested in native north american art and more into early spainish colonial religious art. there is a 300 year old chapel in ranchos de taos still decked out in the original fashion. the brightly painted wood carvings of icons and cruxifixes are so naive they seem byzantine or early english medeaval, but thay have such a lot of character, i find them mesmerising. the artists who made them, the santeros, were considered holy men in their own right. interesting thought. the real feeling you get is that people who came to live here in the c18th and c19th were really coming to live a lifestyle out of the middle ages.
i feel i should also say a bit more about santa fe, because once you get beneath the cliched tourist experience, its actually quite a cool place with a lot going on especially as it has the same population size as shrewsbury. there is a really world class cutting edge contemporary art space called site and even some private galleries showing some decent stuff. i went to an audio-visual performance evening at the art schoolm - it was students graduating off the interactive fine art course and most of them were pretty good. it included someone who had made a cello out of flat touchscreen moniters and he played it with a bow. im not describing it very well but it was impressive. i enjoyed people watching all the students too.
i visited the indian pueblo up the road. i had wanted to visit an ancient native american site but they are a bit off the beaten track. toas pueblo has been continuously inhabited for 1000 years so it kind of counts and it has those tiered adobe houses that are the same as the ancient dwellings. its built on the most beautiful spot, at the base of a sacred mountain with a stream running through the village. the smell of wood burning ovens also wafts around adding to the atmosphere. there is a fanous church (as painted by o keefe), inside they dress the icons according to the seasons. when i visited they were in clothes of a sickly pink colour. there is a ghostly cemetery as well where the old church can be seen tumbled down. i bought an indian pie, it was pretty tasty but it had an apricot filling so im not sure how authentic it was. the unleavened bread, a bit like pizza dough had been baked in the traditional oven though. i must admit, i am less interested in native north american art and more into early spainish colonial religious art. there is a 300 year old chapel in ranchos de taos still decked out in the original fashion. the brightly painted wood carvings of icons and cruxifixes are so naive they seem byzantine or early english medeaval, but thay have such a lot of character, i find them mesmerising. the artists who made them, the santeros, were considered holy men in their own right. interesting thought. the real feeling you get is that people who came to live here in the c18th and c19th were really coming to live a lifestyle out of the middle ages.
i feel i should also say a bit more about santa fe, because once you get beneath the cliched tourist experience, its actually quite a cool place with a lot going on especially as it has the same population size as shrewsbury. there is a really world class cutting edge contemporary art space called site and even some private galleries showing some decent stuff. i went to an audio-visual performance evening at the art schoolm - it was students graduating off the interactive fine art course and most of them were pretty good. it included someone who had made a cello out of flat touchscreen moniters and he played it with a bow. im not describing it very well but it was impressive. i enjoyed people watching all the students too.
Friday 1 May 2009
New Mexico
i was writing this on top of martyrs hill in santa fe. to the south you can see the luch green valley of the rio grande (santa fe river runs into the grande but its the poorest excuse for a river i have ever seen, sort of more a dried up stream) and to the north is the scrub like desert that characterises much of the southwest and that extends on a plain to the mountains. below me is the city itself which with a strong spainish colonial feel and native american influence doesnt seem very american. now all the houses in new mexico, even standard homes are built to look like adobe (theyre actually just painted concrete). adobe are earthenware bricks covered in mud but youre lucky to find a house built authentically like this. i saw apparently the oldest house in the us. i think there was some 800 year old mud embedded in it. the thing is about santa fe, and the old town in albuquerque which is even more cutesy, is they have been restored to the extent they dooont look old, even though they ressemble c17th new mexico perhaps more than they did 100years ago. my other issue with santa fe is all the new age spiritualism that abounds along with naff psuedo folksey art. there are hippy wind sculptures everywhere, i even saw a hippy wind sculpture farm. i dont really see the point of these things unless you want to pretend youve dropped acid. they do like to dance in santa fe though which is something i approve of. i finally went to a gig last night where a bluegrass/americana band were playing (called the santa fe allstars, bit of irony there, they were good though. i loved the singers voice) and there were lots of people dancing old style. good mix of people too, oldtiemrs, cowboys, hippies, hipsters etc. oh and i tried an american ale. it was very hoppy.
Layover (its what they call a pitstop on the greyhound) - some statistics to date
miles travelled: approx 1200
hours on the road: 30
stops: 7
timezones crossed: 1
postcards sent: 19
bagels eaten: 16
7"s purchased: 42
hours on the road: 30
stops: 7
timezones crossed: 1
postcards sent: 19
bagels eaten: 16
7"s purchased: 42
Food Post
for those of you keeping up with my adventures in fast food, i visited a wendys. it has a kind of old school wimpy vibe to it and the burgers are square (!!) so you get more meat for your money. the burgers are huge in fact. you know you go to macdonalds you order a burger that looks huge in the photo and then in real life its tiny ie big mac, its not that big. well my wendys burger was actually huge. it was a double 1/4lb with cheese if you want to know. the fries are a bit fatter too which i like. i was also pressganged by my american companions into getting a 'frosty' which is apparently wendys signature order. i thought it was a milkshake but it actually turned out to be a cup of ice cream. it was ok.
i have eaten in a diner finally. oddly they seemed few and faw between in cali but now im a bit further east they are 10 a penny. naturally given my love of greasy spoons i love diners. the food is actually good too. i had 2 egg 2 toast and hash browns. the hash browns were amazing, they were re-fried julienne potato strips. the things that pass as hash browns in england are just the macdonalds intereptation. i also ate more mexican food the other day, enchalidas. basically all mexican food is the same, every dish is made up of beans, salad, rice, tortiallas and some sort of spicy filling but they have different names depending on how it is arranged on a plate. still tasty though. i also had a mystery food which i think i have now identified as navajo fry bread. its a sort of hollow pastry that in new mexico you eat with honey. its really good.
i have eaten in a diner finally. oddly they seemed few and faw between in cali but now im a bit further east they are 10 a penny. naturally given my love of greasy spoons i love diners. the food is actually good too. i had 2 egg 2 toast and hash browns. the hash browns were amazing, they were re-fried julienne potato strips. the things that pass as hash browns in england are just the macdonalds intereptation. i also ate more mexican food the other day, enchalidas. basically all mexican food is the same, every dish is made up of beans, salad, rice, tortiallas and some sort of spicy filling but they have different names depending on how it is arranged on a plate. still tasty though. i also had a mystery food which i think i have now identified as navajo fry bread. its a sort of hollow pastry that in new mexico you eat with honey. its really good.
Tuesday 28 April 2009
Flagstaff, AZ
flagstaff is a proper little frontier town bisected by the rail road and route 66. i love the railroad, the freight trains thunder past every 1/2 hour or so and you can hear them all over town as the train drivers hoot their horns really loud. i met a girl that rides the railroads and now i keep on looking out for the freight carriages that are comfortable to stow away on. to be honest there aint much to do here except watch the trains go by but its nice to be in a small town after just being in cities. the highest mountains in arizona overlook the town and the centre is somewhat wild west in character. yesterday i went hking in the grand canyon. its so beautiful. i have been told its awesome, huge, mindblowing etc. but no one told me how beautiful it is. you look out and its like looking at the sea with islands rising out of it, it just seems such an infinate expanse. there is such a variety of rocks of different colours, black and tan and red and white, and they seem to change colour as the light changes throughout the day. also the view changes so much as you move around which is surprising as its so vast you would think that a few hundred feet difference in position wouldnt alter anything. its an amazing thing to see because you couldnt really draw it or describe it, you just have to see it to really experience it. so im going to shut up about it now.
What Happens In Vegas Stays In Vegas
this phrase actually refers to all the money spent in vegas, it stays in vegas and that is why there is so much opulence. anyway there are basically two ways of doing anything - the sensible, clever way, and the vegas way. (fun game to play whilst drinking - whenever you say vegas you have to say baby afterwards. if you were american you would probably turn this into a drinking game. i wouldnt though) so i set out to walk the strip in the evening in order to take in some neon with absolutely no intention of going out, when whilst walking along i here shouts of how much?! its people from my hostel with a car. now i am easily won over by the opportunity of travelling in a car, they have novelty as i am so infrequently in one. also in american where car is king it has an added allure, so i join them. sightseeing becomes punctuated by stopping for drinks etc. you can guess the rest. in vegas, baby, the standard drink seems to be an ice margarita, which is a huge cup of slush puppy flavoured with margarita. they have a certain novelty even if they are a bit sickly. its also quite popular to drink them out of giant plastic cups with straws that are shaped like your casino ie in paris you get an effiel tower shaped cup. why you would want to drink alcohol like this i dont think i will ever understand. naturally i ended up in a club. now the one good thing about clubs in vegas is they usually have an outdoor dancefloor. there is nothing quite like dancing under a night sky especially when towers of neon surround you. the nevada climate is very suited to outdoor night dancing as well. meanwhile in the street a load of b-boys were having a dance off - this was very cool as they were intergrating lots of different styles like capoiera and clowning. back in the club i was dancing in my usual cringeworthy style to commercial hiphop. i was with a german guy who was a really good dancer so we were just encouraging each other. i dont think vegas knew what had hit it. (aside to anna - there is a cheesy hip hop song getting big in the states that samples better off alone. needless to say it was pretty bad but i was trying to explain to some americans who alice dj was. i didnt get very far) then i got back to the hostel at 5 and instead of going to catch my 6.20 greyhound bus with plenty of time to spare, i had a jacuzzi instead (yes, my $16 a night hostelhad a jacuzzi, it didnt bubble but at least it was warm). after a night on the tiles, if you cant have 8 hours sleep, a jacuzzi is the next best thing as it sooths all those aches and pains. then i nearly missed my bus and the next day i pretty much died a death.
Saturday 25 April 2009
Las Vegas, Baby
i arrived in vegas before dawn yesterday, i had been sleeping fitfully, aware that we were driving through a pretty much empty desert landscape and i awoke to all this neon ahead of us. the freeway travels alongside the strip which is all stupidly huge so you get an amazing view. (ah i'm writing this sat by the pool - yes hostels in las vegas have pools, i think everywhere in nevada has a pool - and theyve just whacked some reggae on the hi fi, ah thats better). i tried to walk the strip yesterday, its quite far since all the hotels are so huge theyre quite spread out. the first hotel i went to was called stratosphere and is the tallest building west of mississippi unbelieveably. its actually quite scruffy inside and it costs a bomb to go up the tower so i couldnt afford to do it. theres also a mini theme park at the top with the worlds highest rollarcoaster. most hotels in vegas have rollarcoasters inside them, they come as standard. my favourite hotel was the venetian, which is modelled on venice, sort of. venice itself is not very big so the half-size scale of everything is sort of near enough to be oddly familiar and its not quite as tacky as it sounds as its sort of done quite well. tacky is not quite the word for vegas anyway as its tacky on such a grand, impressive scale that even though its lacking in taste, you couldnt quite call it tacky. so yes, there is an indoor grand canal with gondoliers and a fake sky and even during the day is lit so its permanently twilight. there is a st marks square with opera singers and a bridge of sighs with barneys' branding on it. outside there is a ducal palace and 'rialto bridge moving sidewalk' four words that should never go together. the casinos are basically just shopping malls. in vegas they think everything is imporved with the suffix -shop. so there is grand canal shops, caesars palace has forum shoppe including a schwarz branded trojan horse.
my highlight of the day was going to bellagio (one of the poshest hotels on the strip) and having the all you can eat buffet. i ate about 2 days worth of food in one go. i had a plate of sushi and dim sum, then a plate of cold sea food, then all the fish and then a steak. it was the best steak i have ever eaten, it was from one huge steak about 1 1/2 " thick and then they give you a slice widthways so its all pinky goodness. how did i manage to eat so much you may well ask? well i stuck to protein and had no carbs but even so, haldway through the steak i started to have problems. i foolishly was wearing a skirt with a stiff wasteband which i had to undo and then i couldnt do it up again and i was basically a beached whale. oh and i had pudding because you cant not have pudding. i then had a bit of a fear and loathing moment where i staggered around the hotel having halluncinatory palpitations brought on by too many mussels. seriously i was drunk on too much food. in vegas music plays everywhere, even in the street, seemingly from nowhere. i was drawn towards some opera and there was this huge lake doing schycronized fountain shows to music every 15minutes with a half size effiel tower in the background. it was actually awesome. then i had to go back to the hostel and lie down..
my highlight of the day was going to bellagio (one of the poshest hotels on the strip) and having the all you can eat buffet. i ate about 2 days worth of food in one go. i had a plate of sushi and dim sum, then a plate of cold sea food, then all the fish and then a steak. it was the best steak i have ever eaten, it was from one huge steak about 1 1/2 " thick and then they give you a slice widthways so its all pinky goodness. how did i manage to eat so much you may well ask? well i stuck to protein and had no carbs but even so, haldway through the steak i started to have problems. i foolishly was wearing a skirt with a stiff wasteband which i had to undo and then i couldnt do it up again and i was basically a beached whale. oh and i had pudding because you cant not have pudding. i then had a bit of a fear and loathing moment where i staggered around the hotel having halluncinatory palpitations brought on by too many mussels. seriously i was drunk on too much food. in vegas music plays everywhere, even in the street, seemingly from nowhere. i was drawn towards some opera and there was this huge lake doing schycronized fountain shows to music every 15minutes with a half size effiel tower in the background. it was actually awesome. then i had to go back to the hostel and lie down..
Thursday 23 April 2009
I Leave The US (albeit briefly)
so yes, i met some people in the hostel and they managed to persuade me to go to mexico. when i initially mentioned the possibility of going to tijuana to my mother (its perhaps a 45 minute trip fom san diego in a rusty minibus) she sent me an article from the sunday supplements detailing all the gang crime and unsolved murders over the past year. however after reassurances that we would be fully escorted, i'd thoiught i'd give it a go, after all, the mexican people i meet in the states seem very nica and polite and i wanted to try some food. now we weren't going for a tour so much as a bar crawl. i couldve just gone on a taco shop crawl and been happy enough (i know the difference between tacos, fajitas and burritoes now by the way). i actually think the corona tastes worse in mexico, i think they make a more refined product for export to the uk. i know a bar crawl sounds pretty tacky but even if i didnt see anything of real mexico, at least i got an authentic experience of being an american tourist in mexico. ive already mentioned the bizarre and rowdy american attitute to drinking so don't think to harshly of me for what im about to detail.
yes, so, you drink slightly ropey corona. thats ok. then you come to drink tequila and seems to be the way its done everywhere. the bar man puts a towel under your chin while you tip back your head and he pours tequila down your neck. then he bowls a whistle incessantly whilst putting his hand over your mouth and shaking your head. now i dont have a problem with drinking tequila (although this stuff was a bit rough), i have a problem with some mexican guy shaking my head. all the other girls in our group got firemanlifted and spun around. i said to our escort - its a good thing he didnt try that with me because i wouldve got violent, and he said - yeah i told him not to because i could see by the look of your face it was a no go. too right. mexico is a catholic country, they would never treat a mexican woman like that. we finished off by going to a strip club. now i dont mind nudity or sexy dancing, i just dont like seeing sleazy men leer over woman, and our escort was like - your not going to like this then ho ho but really i dont like it much either its just everyone gets drunk and is like yeah lets go to a strip club and then they get there and actually all feel a bit digusted and want to go home. i wont go into the sordid details here as i want to keep this blog family friendly (a mexican prostitute did say i was beautiful though). those of you of an inquizitive nature can ask me when i get back. also when i get back there will be a lot of mexican food action going down at my house
yes, so, you drink slightly ropey corona. thats ok. then you come to drink tequila and seems to be the way its done everywhere. the bar man puts a towel under your chin while you tip back your head and he pours tequila down your neck. then he bowls a whistle incessantly whilst putting his hand over your mouth and shaking your head. now i dont have a problem with drinking tequila (although this stuff was a bit rough), i have a problem with some mexican guy shaking my head. all the other girls in our group got firemanlifted and spun around. i said to our escort - its a good thing he didnt try that with me because i wouldve got violent, and he said - yeah i told him not to because i could see by the look of your face it was a no go. too right. mexico is a catholic country, they would never treat a mexican woman like that. we finished off by going to a strip club. now i dont mind nudity or sexy dancing, i just dont like seeing sleazy men leer over woman, and our escort was like - your not going to like this then ho ho but really i dont like it much either its just everyone gets drunk and is like yeah lets go to a strip club and then they get there and actually all feel a bit digusted and want to go home. i wont go into the sordid details here as i want to keep this blog family friendly (a mexican prostitute did say i was beautiful though). those of you of an inquizitive nature can ask me when i get back. also when i get back there will be a lot of mexican food action going down at my house
Wednesday 22 April 2009
I Visit A Bar
i'm staying in a beach hostel in San Diego. my hostel in LA had sea views too (it was a 'cotel' or collumnaded hotel) but this is a proper beach hostel with decking onto the beach and sand everywhere. even my bed seems to have a sand in it. i was lying on the beach when i wrote this and it was misty morning which was kind of nice as the sea seemed to appear from nowhere. there are lots of wading birds on the beach with me too, poking about for food in the sand. one has an extra long thin beak and extra long thin legs and when it runs it runs a bit like an ostrich which tickled me pink really. anyway this place has a proper friendly party party atmosphere which led me into having my first american bar experience (ok ive been in a bar in the us before with my uncle but it was in new york city and a fairly sedate affair). firstly, i have never seen so many flatscreen tvs in my life, not even in a curries, and they were all playing a different sport; american football, ice hockey, rodeo etc. and there was turtle racing (im not sure if this counts as animal creulty but it was quite entertaining) hosted by a girl dressed up as a ninja turtle. we had a sweepstake amongst our group and my turtle won, woop! i won $10 so actually managed to make a profit on a night out for the first time. but the whole place was really rowdy, not in a nasty way just in a very un-british was. if you broke a turtle racing rule you had to down tequila and milk (ewwh) and everyone chants and yells at you. and this was on a monday night. (the place was called murray's field. any comments natalie? i was probably in some equivalent of a wetherspoons) anyway later im goiing south of the border to tijuana (or TJ as the americans call it). so pray for me.
Sunday 19 April 2009
Only in LA...
1) doggy strollers. this is so when you go power walking along the beachfront you can push with you your tiny lapdog that cant walk more than 100 yards.
2) doggy day care. not just in beverly hills, in venice too.
3) the worst cab drivers in the world. they have no idea where they are going despite that fact the whole city is built on a grid and they have GPS. beggers belief.
4) skateboards are a legitimate form of transport
5) surfboard attachments for bikes
6) road numbers that run to the 10,000s
7) the most hyperbolic contemporary curators. saw an interview with one discribing an artists work as having the integrity of a rock and the infinaty of the sky.
8) all the clubs shut early at 2 apparently to stop the actors getting loaded and missing their morning calls
9) the bendy buses have 'transit tv - moving entertainment' where you can track the progress of the bus live on google maps
10) there was a spontaneous hippy gathering on the beach that lasted 24hrs with about 30 people playing bongos
2) doggy day care. not just in beverly hills, in venice too.
3) the worst cab drivers in the world. they have no idea where they are going despite that fact the whole city is built on a grid and they have GPS. beggers belief.
4) skateboards are a legitimate form of transport
5) surfboard attachments for bikes
6) road numbers that run to the 10,000s
7) the most hyperbolic contemporary curators. saw an interview with one discribing an artists work as having the integrity of a rock and the infinaty of the sky.
8) all the clubs shut early at 2 apparently to stop the actors getting loaded and missing their morning calls
9) the bendy buses have 'transit tv - moving entertainment' where you can track the progress of the bus live on google maps
10) there was a spontaneous hippy gathering on the beach that lasted 24hrs with about 30 people playing bongos
Los Angeles
mmm LA is a strange place. its not helped that there are a lot of weird people knocking about. not interesting weird so much as scary weird. and its a nightmare trying to get anywhere which is starting to hack me off a little. i was writing this waiting from a bus from getty villa. it only comes about once an hour and does not seen to stick to the timetable so i was stuck waiting indefinately. thankfully although there was a motorway on one side of me, there was a beach on the other. the getty villa is a recreated roman villa (that sounds tacky, its actually not) with a large and notable collection of ancient artefacts. they have a $billions budget to spend every year so as you can imagine its pretty impressive. all the museums in the states seem to have endless budgets and no visitors.
hollywood on the other hand is a bit of a dump. all down the main boulevard where there is the walk of fame there are about a dozen shops that just sell slutty clothing for strippers. i'm kind of disturbed there is enough demand for this although i do like the wig shops. i think my favourite aspect was the cemetery. it called 'hollywood forever'. what a name. it has some good trees as well as some pretty fancy graves. rudolph valentino and johnny ramone are meant to be buried there but i couldn't find them.
hollywood on the other hand is a bit of a dump. all down the main boulevard where there is the walk of fame there are about a dozen shops that just sell slutty clothing for strippers. i'm kind of disturbed there is enough demand for this although i do like the wig shops. i think my favourite aspect was the cemetery. it called 'hollywood forever'. what a name. it has some good trees as well as some pretty fancy graves. rudolph valentino and johnny ramone are meant to be buried there but i couldn't find them.
Friday 17 April 2009
My Appearance
i looked in the mirror today. this was a mistake. ive only been on the road about a week and my complexion has become what can best be described as ruddy, not exactly tanned although i now have lots of freckles and not exactly burnt although the tip of my nose and the ridge of my cheekbones twinge a little. my neck has definately burnt and has started to peel and go scalely. my skin is super dry for the wind and i am dependant on the chocolate chip cookie chap stick niamh gave me as a leaving present. my back aches from sleeping on the bus and my feet ache from walking miles and miles everyday. i went for a medicinal paddle today down by santa monica pier, which despite the unseasonally cool wind was quite busy. Angelians are a pretty cool laid back bunch altough they do like to say 'fucking' every other word.
also just to clear up a few myths here, greyhound buses are fine. the man at the ticket booth gave me a $350 discount on my pass because he liked me. you get to watch CNN in the departure lounge (im starting to love american news channels by the way, particularly fox) and there is security so no bums hang around at the termini. you also get a kind of tour of obsure branch locations of burger king.
my favourite thing so far in LA is grand central market. it is amazing, like burough market but a fraction of the price and is all mexican/japanese. there is a stall that just sells chilli spice and beans. for $2 i bought 2 small courgettes, 2 small peppers, 4 tasty looking plum tomatoes, some mushrooms and a massive bunch of asparagas. $2! and quality too. the asparagas is literally a tenth of the price at home. so far ive only been shopping at corner shops which are really expensive and rubbish. i also bought some hawiian fish stew for $3. you get a cup and the girl didnt fill it too the top so i thought far enough the cup is about the size of a bucket and then she put in some broccoli, a load of chicken and some king prawns for good measure. what does hawiian food taste like? answer im not sure since fish stew just tastes kind of fishy wherever its from but it was pretty tasty.
also just to clear up a few myths here, greyhound buses are fine. the man at the ticket booth gave me a $350 discount on my pass because he liked me. you get to watch CNN in the departure lounge (im starting to love american news channels by the way, particularly fox) and there is security so no bums hang around at the termini. you also get a kind of tour of obsure branch locations of burger king.
my favourite thing so far in LA is grand central market. it is amazing, like burough market but a fraction of the price and is all mexican/japanese. there is a stall that just sells chilli spice and beans. for $2 i bought 2 small courgettes, 2 small peppers, 4 tasty looking plum tomatoes, some mushrooms and a massive bunch of asparagas. $2! and quality too. the asparagas is literally a tenth of the price at home. so far ive only been shopping at corner shops which are really expensive and rubbish. i also bought some hawiian fish stew for $3. you get a cup and the girl didnt fill it too the top so i thought far enough the cup is about the size of a bucket and then she put in some broccoli, a load of chicken and some king prawns for good measure. what does hawiian food taste like? answer im not sure since fish stew just tastes kind of fishy wherever its from but it was pretty tasty.
Wednesday 15 April 2009
Area by Area (or thing by thing if you will, just some general bits and pieces)
NORTH BEACH is san fran's little italy. an italian lady shopkeeper was rude to me. first person to be rude to me since i got to america. i hate italiens. i also finally went to city lights bookstore. i think the main reason i wanted to go to san fransisco was just to visit this place. i went to a free poetry reading there featuring david meltzer. i think he's quite famous (american lit afficiandoes can i have some confirmation of this? i know i could just wiki him, but thats not really my style ) anyway everyone in the room laughed twice as loud at his jokes in a referential manner. the other poets were very good as well. i spoke to the one that was the best looking and got him to sign my book and told him to come to london to do a reading.
CASTRO is the gay district, but its a bit dull in a smart moneyed sort of a way. there is a beautiful cinema there though that was screening 'milk'. i love it when things are that predictable. i walked down fulsom which is the s&m street. on the subject there is also this amazing shop in the haight which i think operates just to provide clothing for gay club hosts and hostesses. they sell spandex hot pants in every colour of the rainbow amongst other things.
THE ART MUSEUMS are all predictably gorgeous. the MOMA is small but beautifully formed and i saw a good william kentridge show. i visited the fine art institute of the art school. the architecture is styed like a moorish church and it is right on top a hill with a roof terrance that has stunning views across the city. unbelievably it was open on easter sunday with studio access. sickening really. there is also a fairly impressive diego rivera mural in one of the galleries. i can't really think of anything camberwell has on a par with that.
MISSION is the east london/mitte part of town. i found a shop that sold nothing but 'zines and other bits fashioned by graphic design students. i also did some thrift shopping and bought a shell suit top with a sequinned parrot on it. the vintage shops are really good but friscan twats seem to generally dress like BRMC extras so all the good stuff is ripe for the picking.
OTHER THINGS TO NOTE are that the main shopping centre has the same name and logo as westfield in london. i'm not sure what that means. also i ate a big mac meal yesterday. it was pretty good but i'm not enough of a macdonalds regular to tell you if it was any better than ones at home but i swear the 'regular' size is bigger here. katie has dared me to get a supersize at one point. i'll let you know hat happens when i do.
CASTRO is the gay district, but its a bit dull in a smart moneyed sort of a way. there is a beautiful cinema there though that was screening 'milk'. i love it when things are that predictable. i walked down fulsom which is the s&m street. on the subject there is also this amazing shop in the haight which i think operates just to provide clothing for gay club hosts and hostesses. they sell spandex hot pants in every colour of the rainbow amongst other things.
THE ART MUSEUMS are all predictably gorgeous. the MOMA is small but beautifully formed and i saw a good william kentridge show. i visited the fine art institute of the art school. the architecture is styed like a moorish church and it is right on top a hill with a roof terrance that has stunning views across the city. unbelievably it was open on easter sunday with studio access. sickening really. there is also a fairly impressive diego rivera mural in one of the galleries. i can't really think of anything camberwell has on a par with that.
MISSION is the east london/mitte part of town. i found a shop that sold nothing but 'zines and other bits fashioned by graphic design students. i also did some thrift shopping and bought a shell suit top with a sequinned parrot on it. the vintage shops are really good but friscan twats seem to generally dress like BRMC extras so all the good stuff is ripe for the picking.
OTHER THINGS TO NOTE are that the main shopping centre has the same name and logo as westfield in london. i'm not sure what that means. also i ate a big mac meal yesterday. it was pretty good but i'm not enough of a macdonalds regular to tell you if it was any better than ones at home but i swear the 'regular' size is bigger here. katie has dared me to get a supersize at one point. i'll let you know hat happens when i do.
Monday 13 April 2009
Some Comments About Food
earlier i ate a 'super burrito'. it was pretty tasty but it was also about the same width has my upper arm although this was not really a problem as it was going to be my only meal for 16hrs. i had some spicy beef in it which tasted strangely like my dad's casserole, but in a good way. i was lounging and digesting this in golden gate park which is beautiful. it has good trees in it like english country estates do. i was at the haight-ashbury end of the park though so lounging around with me were lots of crusty casulties trying to sell cannabis to 13 year old kids and looking like they had been there since 1968.
back to the food. for breakfast i've been having two bagels with cream cheese, two glasses of orange juice and about 6 cups of coffee. this is my main meal of the day as for dinner i've been eating super noodles that i bought in the chinese supermarket. something i have discovered though is that americans will queue if its for good food. i was at a japanese festival yesterday (there was a japanese funk band playing - not as good as it sounds) and there was this enormous queue down the road for tyriaki burgers. english people wouldnt do this i don't think. they would settle for the non-meat based product that no one else wanted. similarly the farmers market in 'frisco is packed with a certain type and yummy middle class family that goes crazy for lavender salt and is willing to pay $20 a pound for smoked salmon.
back to the food. for breakfast i've been having two bagels with cream cheese, two glasses of orange juice and about 6 cups of coffee. this is my main meal of the day as for dinner i've been eating super noodles that i bought in the chinese supermarket. something i have discovered though is that americans will queue if its for good food. i was at a japanese festival yesterday (there was a japanese funk band playing - not as good as it sounds) and there was this enormous queue down the road for tyriaki burgers. english people wouldnt do this i don't think. they would settle for the non-meat based product that no one else wanted. similarly the farmers market in 'frisco is packed with a certain type and yummy middle class family that goes crazy for lavender salt and is willing to pay $20 a pound for smoked salmon.
Sunday 12 April 2009
Some Actual Details Relating To San Francisco
ok, i would have posted last night except i fell asleep at 8 in the evening partially due to jet lag but also due to having walked for 10 hours all day, but at least i saw a good deal of 'the city'. first i'm going to tell you some vaguely sensible and informative things about san francisco. the weather here is permanently set to perfect - i have to wear sunglasses all the time and every photograph i take seems to be overexposed. its not as hilly as some make out (people have bikes even) but certain hills are somewhat vertigo inducing and make your knees hurt if you walk down them. it reminds me of wales. san franciscans are pretty friendly. one helped me find my bus from the airport and gave me the 50 cents i was short a fare (because i'm stingy i didn't take the train or even the express bus but the local bus that stops everywhere, costs $1.75 and no visitors take.) however our attempt at conversation went as follows,
(him) where you from? (me) london
- whats the name of that other place in london? - err
- liverpool thats it, my friends from liverpool - thats up north. i like liverpool. its a good city
- my friend says its not so good to be from there - ah we call them scousers, i guess theyre considered a bit dodgy
- dodgy? like how? - well they like to pitch things (i would have said nick but i didn't think he would understand me not that he did anyway)
- pitch? - steal, but not really. its just a stereotype we take the piss out of
- i don't understand anything you say - i mean er make fun of
etc.
san franciscans are also what i would describe as militantly peacenik. examples of this - they are trying to ban army cadets, they have banned fois grois on animal welfare grounds (no, i did not read this in the onion, its actually true), someone handed me a leaflet stating that in order to stop climate change it is necessary not to drink, smoke, do drugs or eat meat and diary. i also saw a samll anti government protest made up of christians (banners proclaiming "where would jesus bank") and anarchists ("everything is wrong").
i chose my hostel because its near city lights bookstore. its also on the street where all the strip joints are, ha ha. theres a place next door called 'the beat museum' which purports to have the actual typewriter kaeroac wrote on the road on. i'm also very close to chinatown which is apparently the biggest chinatown in the world. my guidebook describes it as tacky but i love chinese tat. soho doesnt have enough of it. there are the famous cable cars but they are mostly just for show and i can't afford to go on them. you can hear the cables rattle underground as you cross the tracks which is kind of creepy though.
also i ate in subway today. its kinda the same as subway at home only they also offer a catering service where thing make you giant subs for slicing. i guess, say, so you can have your wedding catering done and be, like, thanks to subway for the food because we first bonded as a couple over a shared love of italian meatball and ranch sauce (hold the jelepenos)
(him) where you from? (me) london
- whats the name of that other place in london? - err
- liverpool thats it, my friends from liverpool - thats up north. i like liverpool. its a good city
- my friend says its not so good to be from there - ah we call them scousers, i guess theyre considered a bit dodgy
- dodgy? like how? - well they like to pitch things (i would have said nick but i didn't think he would understand me not that he did anyway)
- pitch? - steal, but not really. its just a stereotype we take the piss out of
- i don't understand anything you say - i mean er make fun of
etc.
san franciscans are also what i would describe as militantly peacenik. examples of this - they are trying to ban army cadets, they have banned fois grois on animal welfare grounds (no, i did not read this in the onion, its actually true), someone handed me a leaflet stating that in order to stop climate change it is necessary not to drink, smoke, do drugs or eat meat and diary. i also saw a samll anti government protest made up of christians (banners proclaiming "where would jesus bank") and anarchists ("everything is wrong").
i chose my hostel because its near city lights bookstore. its also on the street where all the strip joints are, ha ha. theres a place next door called 'the beat museum' which purports to have the actual typewriter kaeroac wrote on the road on. i'm also very close to chinatown which is apparently the biggest chinatown in the world. my guidebook describes it as tacky but i love chinese tat. soho doesnt have enough of it. there are the famous cable cars but they are mostly just for show and i can't afford to go on them. you can hear the cables rattle underground as you cross the tracks which is kind of creepy though.
also i ate in subway today. its kinda the same as subway at home only they also offer a catering service where thing make you giant subs for slicing. i guess, say, so you can have your wedding catering done and be, like, thanks to subway for the food because we first bonded as a couple over a shared love of italian meatball and ranch sauce (hold the jelepenos)
Friday 10 April 2009
San Francisco
first of all to let you know i'm writing this on a pc with linux. its like using a computer ten years ago. i tried a browser called 'konquerer' that was absolutely useless and am now on something called 'ice weasel', awful name but at least it works. so dont expect any fancy stuff right now - i'd love to show you a photo of the carpet in my hostel (its psychadelic) but thats going to take me a while to figre out. also ive been up for 20hrs and counting on only 4 hrs sleep so please excuse my spelling.
and just as more of a preamble, i'll tell you what i wrote on the flight since i'm one of those strange people that love long distance flights. despite having flown to new zealand 3 times, i still find it faintly glamorous. i get all excited by the complimentary eyemask and socks. in fact i think i was the only person in the cabin wearing their socks but i surely cant be the only person needing relief from their swollen feet. i also love airplane food - the fact that its in little containers and eating it is like a ritual. i was a bit disappointed by the lack of english or american theme to the meal. i had alaskan pollock and the salad dressing was definately american but other than that it was all a bit nationality neutral. i also had a glass of wine and watched ferris beuller's day off on the minature screen on the back of the seat in front of me. regarding alcohol at 34000 ft - it goes to your head. hence my surprise at everyone around me maxing out on the free booze (tea, coffee, sir? soft drink? - i'll have a g&t please). I thought only my dad did that. i had tomato juice (soon to become a new obsession of mine i think, what would you call it? a virgin mary?). i mean it was only midday, perhaps not everyone else had been out on the razzle 10 hrs previous, but even so. my second favourite thing about flying after the food is the moving map where you can track the progress of your plane across the globe. after sitting still for 5 hours i start to find the fact i am flying over places such as 'godthub' and 'foxe basin' infinately amusing.
anyway so i land finally and go through immigration where i get the third degree from the officer and it goes a bit like this (remember at all points i am smiling and he is not.)
(him) purpose of viist? (me) leisure
what is your job? - i'm a student
shouldn't you be at college at the moment then? - i'm on a year out
how much money have you got? - what on me? a couple of hundred dollars
how much is that? - er 200 dollars
do you know people here? - yes my uncle lives here
have you been to america before? - yes
where to? - er l.a. and new york
how long are you staying for? - two months
on 200 dollars? - well i have a bank account as well
how much is in it? - couple of thousand
how much is that? - 2000 dollars
and you think thats going to be enough? - er yeah
are travelling on your own? - yeah
etc etc
chrissakes, whats so suspicious about that?
i've got to go and get some dinner now before i faint, but san francisco is actually lovely. will explain more coherently tomorrow
10/4 7pm
and just as more of a preamble, i'll tell you what i wrote on the flight since i'm one of those strange people that love long distance flights. despite having flown to new zealand 3 times, i still find it faintly glamorous. i get all excited by the complimentary eyemask and socks. in fact i think i was the only person in the cabin wearing their socks but i surely cant be the only person needing relief from their swollen feet. i also love airplane food - the fact that its in little containers and eating it is like a ritual. i was a bit disappointed by the lack of english or american theme to the meal. i had alaskan pollock and the salad dressing was definately american but other than that it was all a bit nationality neutral. i also had a glass of wine and watched ferris beuller's day off on the minature screen on the back of the seat in front of me. regarding alcohol at 34000 ft - it goes to your head. hence my surprise at everyone around me maxing out on the free booze (tea, coffee, sir? soft drink? - i'll have a g&t please). I thought only my dad did that. i had tomato juice (soon to become a new obsession of mine i think, what would you call it? a virgin mary?). i mean it was only midday, perhaps not everyone else had been out on the razzle 10 hrs previous, but even so. my second favourite thing about flying after the food is the moving map where you can track the progress of your plane across the globe. after sitting still for 5 hours i start to find the fact i am flying over places such as 'godthub' and 'foxe basin' infinately amusing.
anyway so i land finally and go through immigration where i get the third degree from the officer and it goes a bit like this (remember at all points i am smiling and he is not.)
(him) purpose of viist? (me) leisure
what is your job? - i'm a student
shouldn't you be at college at the moment then? - i'm on a year out
how much money have you got? - what on me? a couple of hundred dollars
how much is that? - er 200 dollars
do you know people here? - yes my uncle lives here
have you been to america before? - yes
where to? - er l.a. and new york
how long are you staying for? - two months
on 200 dollars? - well i have a bank account as well
how much is in it? - couple of thousand
how much is that? - 2000 dollars
and you think thats going to be enough? - er yeah
are travelling on your own? - yeah
etc etc
chrissakes, whats so suspicious about that?
i've got to go and get some dinner now before i faint, but san francisco is actually lovely. will explain more coherently tomorrow
10/4 7pm
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