Brief Update

(Picture: Tom's Diner - from Seinfeld, on Broadway)

Seen New York
I've been and seen New York - the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Union Square, Central Park and all the rest. We even found our way to upper Brooklyn and explored the depths of Canal St. We saw a few Broadway productions, ate hot dogs on the road, and slept when we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer. It was a jam-packed 4 days.

New York, New York... I hope to see you again. We shared some great times and I want to return, and soon. Of the cities I've seen New York has definitely been one of my favourites. It's so big, so vital, so diverse.

My biggest regret is that I didn't buy an "I luv NY" t-shirt. In fact, this trip I haven't really bought any souvenirs. I just look around and decide that they're either too pricey, too gaudy, too tacky, or too stereotypical. Or perhaps it's just cos I'm too tight?


And then...
Today we popped out and saw Woodstock, of 1969 fame.

Tonight we're imposing on the Jacob's (Sean's relatives) again, overnighting in Milton (1.5 hours north of the city). Alex, Vince and Lilly have been the best hosts - generous and open. So we're enjoying another quieter night away from traffic noise and dorm-snorers. Thanks Alex, Vince and Lilly!

Tomorrow we're heading to Boston, and hopefully visiting one of Sean's friends from Brisbane college days. A few days there, then back over the border to Canada and Montreal. One week of adventures left, then back into the real world.

18 May, 2006 (Thursday) Grand Canyon, Arizona

'Natural beauty instills awe as much by uniqueness as by splendour. But what happens when that uniqueness starts to blend? What happens when that awe starts to wane and it just becomes a pile of rocks again?'


Grand Canyon
The stories are true - the Grand Canyon is huge. Awe inspiring. A lot of red rocks and sparse vegetation. It gets quite hot in the sun. We saw a really fat squirrel. (Picture: Falling off the cliff looks like fun)


Stories of the Hopi
The Hopi people lived in the Grand Canyon area for close to 900 years - up until the 1200s. Only 3 percent of the Grand Canyon national park has been archaeologically surveyed. In that area 4,300 sites of significance have been identified. The Hopi were farmers, living on corn which they cultivated in the arid plains. I recorded some of their stories which I found interesting, as recounted by a park ranger who was kind enough to give us a tour of some ruins.

Origin of the Hopi:
The Hopi believe that they have lived in a number of different worlds since their genesis. This world is their 4th World such world. (Picture: Ranger Brian explains why traditional Grand Canyon dwellings are so small. Their front door was in the roof)

Legend has it that once they lived in another world, a 3rd World. Things were well there, until a time came that it stopped raining. There was no water to grow food. No water to drink. So it was that they ascended through a hole in the sky which led to a new world. A world with rain and water.

The Hopi still remember their ascent to this day, maintaining a 3-inch hold in their Kavi, their spiritual building. They believe that the hole which they ascended is a large mineral spring at the base of the Canyon.

Ears of Corn:
The Hopi people believe that at the beginning each of the different peoples of the world were given a choice of corn. There were all different shapes and sizes, and they meant different things: those that chose the large corn were destined for a life of luxury and plenty, but this would not endure, the people of this corn soon being forgotten. The Hopi believe that they chose the smallest of the corn - that they chose a life of hardship and deprivation, a culture that would endure through the ages. (Picture: Clouds cover the sun)

The Hopi way of life endures even to this day. I wonder what type of corn we have chosen?


Tales from a Utah trailer park
I've had my first trailer park experience. Tonight we drove into a Utah trailer park, paid our $16.60 and pitched our tent.

The place is called Crazy Horse. It's packed out with RV's and has a handful of tent areas. We have tent neighbours but they haven't spoken to us. Apparently the RV people move in clan-like groups. There are 14-RVs belonging to the St. George RV club here for the weekend. (Picture: Traditional Grand Canyon shot)

The amenities are basic. The men's washroom smells like somebody washed their hunting dog in there, then let it piss everywhere. No single moms sighted, in fact hardly anybody sighted. Everybody seems to stay in their RVs and watch TV. Weird.

17 May, 2006 (Wednesday) Hoover Dam, Arizona

'The Americans, they have a way with words - grand, awesome, majestic, enduring forever. - I've wandered through their stilted prose more than once and it makes me wonder: is this what instills such patriotic fervour, or is it just a reflection of their world view?'

Hooters - a review
They have a Hooters Casino in Vegas. As neither Sean nor myself have ever frequented the infamous restaurant we figured that it was past time to check out the scene... Surprisingly Hooters Casino is one of the nicer ones we've seen - though small, it feels relaxed and the fittings aren't overly tacky.

Hooters uniforms are another thing entirely. The white t-shirts are tight, but not any more suggestive than most of the other garb I've seen in the last few days on female casino staff. The orange shorts are truly horrific. High cut, they do nothing for the majority of gals except make them look more pudgy than they really are. I think the uniform needs a re-vamp. Get with the times!

The food was passable. The service was okay, although I miss the personal touch of being engaged in actual conversation.


Hoover Dam
The car was like a furnace by the time we reached Hoover Dam. Car seat leather seems to hold the heat and the sun roof converts the cabin into a greenhouse. Hoover Dam is gigantic. It's huge walls, embedded into the canyon, are amazing. (Picture: Hoover Dam has created two great lakes - they look like nice kinda resort areas in the desert)

Looking at this self-proclaimed engineering marvel made me think about the return on investment of alternative energy sources - hydro electric, wind, geothermic. We're still very oil focused, despite environmental and renewability concerns. How difficult is it to make use of natural snowmelt and rivers to push turbines? In terms of engineering effort I'm sure it can be quite challenging, but I'd assume that mining and international pressures would exert their own indirect costs.


Grand Canyon Hostel
As the sun began to set Sean spotted a hostel sign and pulled in. The place looked a lot like the motel out of Psycho, white-washed walls, parking out front of a long building - welcome to the Grand Canyon Hostel. Surprisingly the place wasn't too busy, so we paid our $15 a head and booked in.

The owner was a grey-haired woman who seemed to have a lot of cats. At least a dozen.

We soon met the other residents, one woman who was scary in that slow kind of way - without any prompting she started telling us about how she'd grown up in a one room cabin with a dug out toilet and how it was like they were always camping. Walking past her vehicle the following morning I noticed huge piles of Christian evangelical literature. The other resident was a large framed woman who seemed glued to the television. She asked where I was from, and when I said Australia she started telling me about a guy called Mark that she'd met in Vegas and who was also traveling. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I didn't know him.

The outhouse smelt rank. The showers required payment, a quarter for 3 minutes. We slept well as the rooms were well away from the main road. We locked our door and barred it with the dresser.

16 May, 2006 (Tuesday) Las Vegas, Nevada

'Self justification is the foundation of any good retrospective analysis.'

Goodbye AJ
We decided to extend our stay by a day. AJ left us late on Monday evening to catch a Greyhound through to San Francisco. I hope she has a safe trip and that her thesis goes well. I'm going to miss her frequent bathroom visits, her constant reflections on her boyfriend, her continuous need to relate things to surfing or Quiksilver and her price comparisons back to Euros which strangely render many things 'cheap'.


The Camera Incident - Aside:
I messed up on Monday morning. I admit it. AJ had asked if I could transfer her photos to CD, so I'd linked up the computer and gone to clean myself up. Her and Sean had been tinkering with it for a while, so I assumed that all the image files were copied over to my hard drive. When I returned she said something about running out of space on her camera, so I asked if she'd copied it over and if I could clear the camera card. I swear she said "Yes". I also ASSUMED that she'd been spending that time while I was gone transferring the images over. I was wrong. (Picture: Venetian corridors)

Being the efficiency freak I am I just deleted the files on the camera. When you do that on a detachable drive Windows doesn't like recovering them. AJ freaked. She started running around and screaming, ran into the bathroom sobbing and yelling "My research, oh I've lost all my research". I tried to shutter it out as I found a recovery program online and manually began recovering each of the files. It took about 10 minutes to fix it all up and burn the files to CD.

I guess sleep deprivation affects us in different ways. For me it just makes me go quiet and focus on things more intently. I guess some people get the impression that I'm in a funk, but it's just a more tightly held focus where I couldn't be bothered wasting energy dealing with other's foibles. I'm much better once I get some real sleep. (Picture: Caesar's pillar on moonlight)


Doing Vegas on a Budget
After a month on the road with no income you start to tighten up on spending. While we couldn't help but spend more being in Vegas - heck, everything on the strip is more expensive - we're now in the habit of cutting back. This means we keep an eye out for freebies, tend to favour exploring over paying for entertainment, and look for deals which will stretch your dollar that bit further. (Picture: Monte Carlo frontage)

Unfortunately this has meant that we haven't really been out to see all that much nightlife. Sean hasn't been that keen to see the bar scene - admittedly it is comparatively expensive, and it still feels a bit strange to just wander in on my lonesome... although I've done it a few times lately and it usually works out okay. While in Vegas we found it difficult to track down decent reasonably priced meals.

The first night I paid $US8 for a 6 inch subway sub. AJ seemed happy with the deal, but I was horrified. The two days following we went for a buffet-style brunch and then micro-snacked. For $8.46 (after discount) I think we all got our value out of the Sahara buffet. I managed three plates, plus desert. The next day we ended up at the Monte Carlo and paid $20 for a buffet which included roasted meats, seafood and beautifully detailed deserts. The food was superior, but the verdict is still out on value. (Picture: The strangely alluring rainbow of M&Ms)


Sleep is not so deep - Aside:
My hours were topsy-turvy while in Vegas. I was up consistently past 3am and only slept until 9am. I think I worked out that I was averaging 4 hours a night. For me that's pretty brutal. I like sleep. I need sleep. The lack of sleep and haphazard meals took their toll, although the desert temperatures probably reduced appetite. Next time I'm in Vegas I think I'd like to do it with a bit more pizzaz. Perhaps I should make more of an effort to win Lotto?


Sean Hits the Tables
Texas Holdem style Poker is pretty big in Vegas. It's a highly televised, highly tactical variant that gives players two cards against a flop of 5. Players play against each others rather than the house. Sean has been studying up on poker for a while now and was eager to try his stake in a tournament. After some discussion he settled on the Sahara. The place doesn't have a very big poker room, but the reviews online dubbed it as one for the tourists. (Picture (1): Mirage 7:56pm; (2) Mirage 8:01pm - Boom!)

I wasn't there for it, but apparently Sean lasted a few hours in an evening tournament. A tournament is where players buy into the game for a certain amount and are out when they run out of the purchased amount of chips. Theoretically it's a fairer way to play as everybody starts on the same level.

Sean played a tight safe game, but found out the hard-way that when people are able to enter the tournament at any time you can get bled dry. Players who have been there longer and played a bit more loosely can accumulate a lot more chips as people are eliminated, which means they can more easily buy out tighter/newer players.


Big White-ans sighted
While Sean was at the Sahara I went back to the Stratosphere and cleaned up. While circling the casino floor, seeing if any of the bars were busy, I thought I heard my name being called. Turning around I saw Foxy, from Big White. Bizarre. Seconds later he was joined by Greg and Bergie.

It seems the guys were down for 4 days and were just exploring their way around. They were staying at the Sahara, but had decided they wanted something more lively. We soon found ourselves wandering down the strip. We hit up Circus Circus, then Slots A Fun. Bergie put down $20 on blackjack, splitting a pair of aces and then scoring a pair of jacks on top of both. From there his luck went down, ending up $3 under. Foxy lost his $20 in four straight hands, where the dealer made 20 each time.

Outside we ran into a guy offering free nightclub entry. He persuaded us to take some - his tip: The Beach, (apparently) one of Vegas' hotspots. Pushing us for tips we came up with $2.50. He complained. We told him we were budget travelers. Heck, if we had money we'd be paying full price!

The Beach was three blocks away hidden in the back streets. We rolled in, avoiding cover charge with our freebie tickets. It was approaching one and insider there seemed to be more bouncers than patrons. A band was still thrashing out Green Day on stage and two girls in hot pants were dancing on the bar. Both had one dollar notes sticking out of their garters The place was badly lit and the other customers looked unattractive, even in the dim lighting. We sat down and ordered drinks. The place just got worse. The bartender, in his nasty goatee and cowboy hat, opened a bag of confetti and blew it all over the bar with an industrial blower. The band stopped playing. The other patrons just got uglier. We left.

15 May, 2006 (Monday) Las Vegas, Nevada

'Glitz. Glamour. I wonder what the show girls do during the day cos they're definitely not on the streets!'

Somehow the brightly lit neon of the strip makes Vegas feel cleaner of an evening. The temperature drops to a more tolerable 20 degrees, which means it isn't such a shock coming out of air conditioned casino depths. Nevertheless, between casino air conditioning and little sleep I managed to acquire air-con sniffles in 24 hours. Not fun. (Picture: Bellagio casino at night)

We spent our first night in town walking the main-strip casino hopping. Stratosphere, where we were booked ($42/night between 3), is at the northern edge of the strip. It's a long way to walk to mid-strip where the really swanky casinos are, but somehow we managed to make the trek, stopping at most of the bigger casinos along the way. Around 3am we caught The Deuce, Vegas' shuttle bus back up to our accommodation (some 4 or 5 kilometres back up).


The Casinos
The next few days followed a similar routine as we searched for the best freebies on offer. (Picture right: View from Stratosphere tower)

• Mirage - Volcanic explosion from rain forest / water feature every hour from 8pm to midnight (**1/2)
• Treasure Island - badly scripted and acted story of Pirates being bested by a group of buxom sirens (**1/2)
• Bellagio - huge fountains playing in time to music (***)
• Venetian - Canals and soaring bridges
• Paris - Eiffel Tower reproduction
• New York New York - Statue of Liberty reproduction

(Picture left: Bellagio fountains)

Flamingos - Flamingo garden with lots of birds. The Flamingos smell kind of funny.
Circus Circus - Free circus acts half-hourly. The little Russian acrobat-chick in the cat costume was hot!

We also got a feel for the casinos - each has a different theme and vibe attached to it. The top tier casinos (e.g. Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, Mirage, MGM Grand, Venetian) are all brightly lit caverns, with rich carpets and lavish displays. You can practically smell the money going into their coffers. These places usually have the most expensive shows on offer (there must be three versions of Circque Du Soliel going in town), and the best positions - central strip. Buffets are top dollar, offering steaks, seafood and rich confectionary.

Mid-tier casinos are still well appointed and huge, but are also starting to show a bit of wear (e.g. Stratosphere, Excalibur, Sahara). They tend to be dingier than the top tier casinos, have lower betting limits and often offer a wacky theme to try and compensate. I was disappointed that the dealers in Circus Circus weren't in clown suits. (Picture: Excalibur castle)

The third tier casinos (e.g. Riviera, Casino Royale) tend to be badly lit, with poorly dressed staff and fixtures showing significant wear. I guess they've seen better days. These places also seem to be the ones offering the most freebies to get people in their doors. On the way through we scored a free pack of playing cards from Riviera - bonus! Casino Royale boasts $50 free play on the slots if you sign up to their inhouse club. Nice.

Below third tier casinos are what I refer to as budget. Places like 'Slots A Fun' do cheap food, cheap alcohol and lower betting limits. They're on the strip, but beyond the grimy light fittings they're just a little too cheap and tacky. It kind of reflects in the punters too, run-down looking white trash hacking away at the 1c slots.
(Picture: Sean under the lights of the Fremont Strip, old Vegas)

14 May, 2006 (Sunday) Las Vegas, Nevada

We left our Dutch and Swedish friends behind and were soon driving down the dusty highway to Las Vegas. As we crossed the desert the temperature hit 38 degrees, warmer in the hotbox of our Jeep.(Picture: Farewell OB - Back row: Sean, Britt, Julie, Mel; Front row: AJ, Me, Bo)


Vegas City
Las Vegas, the infamous city of sin. We drove in on the first edges of dusk, the dust of the desert road clinging to us like a second skin.

First impressions were in sharp contrast to the shady New Reno that I'd envisaged - the streets were thinly lined with t-shirted tourists, trudging up Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip) in mid-30 degree heat. The casinos and their brightly lit neon frontages stretched off into the horizon. (Picture: The Strip)

Coming up from the south along the I-15, our first sight was of the gargantuan pyramid of Luxor on our left, soon followed by the Disney-esque castle of Excalibur. Our eyes overloaded with crazed comic-book inspired buildings and super-bright neon lights - a replica Statue of Liberty (New York, New York), a giant stone lion (MGM Grand), a to-scale Eiffel Tower (Paris). The streets looked wide and clean. Palms lined the medium and the traffic moved along steadily. Punters looked overweight but well dressed - Florida retirees, young couples and a very slight smattering of teens and married young-things.

Las Vegas. Welcome to Las Vegas.


Vegas Laws
Vegas has no true industry but for entertainment. Each year some 35 million visitors roll into the city that never sleeps with bank rolls of cash and dreams of striking it rich. Each year visitors spend $18 billion, an average of over $500 a head. And all this for a city in the middle of the desert. (Picture: The dusty Nevada road)

Not bad for glitz and glamour, eh? But, like the wavering pools that sometimes appear on the highway, much of Vegas is an illusion (I avoided the word Mirage on purpose). Few in Vegas strike it rich, and whether shows or casino 'freebies', once you scratch beneath the gilt surface there is little real substance. (Picture: Vegas weekly reading - what catches your fancy?)

Well, what can you expect from a town that boasts so many magicians, illionists and hypnotists? Even Vegas' notoriety for seedy excess seems to be somewhat exaggerated these days. Which isn't to say that there aren't plenty of strip clubs or wild parties going around.

But many of Vegas' visitors are elderly people and families. Middle America demands more sanitised entertainment - after all, bland is culturally where it's at! (Picture: New York New York Casino)

Despite the little bins of magazines on every street corner offering every sort of companion - blonde, exotic, college girls and alternative partners, Vegas apparently still has very strict rules governing prostitution. Stripping and all manner of teasing is okay. Prostitution is out. I'm sure it's still there, but legally the state only endorses strippers and escorts, which puts the whole way gig further underground. Nevada also has laws concerning displays of same-sex affection. It's a big no-no - so watch out those of you hoping to share bedding and are considering holding hands at one of the shows ;)

Free Internet? Aside:
Stratosphere has wireless Internet access, but it's charged at $10 a day. Thankfully people get lazy and leave backdoors which allows free access - hurrah for generic user names and passwords. No, I'm not a computer nerd, I never had the talent or the talent for it. I've just learnt a few tricks the last few decades. Part of it is the company I keep. My brother on the other hand... yeah, just ask him how many hours he spends on the ol' 'puter a week. (Picture: Stratosphere tower)

13 May, 2006 (Saturday) Tijuana, Mexico

Tijuana - cheap non-alcoholic beer and $20 ponchos for all

Tijuana is a short 13-mile hop from San Diego. Advertised as being 20-minutes away, it took 2 hours by public transport. (Picture: Welcome to Mexico)

Crossing the border was a disappointment - no inspection, no stamp. We just walked across an overpass, through two sets of gates, and suddenly we were being accosted by guys in white lab coats from a Tijuana pharmacy. (Picture: Tijuana markets)

We had been forwarned to stay to the main strip, as tourists are prime targets for Tijuana's less-scrupulous locals. After a bit of wandering we started down the main tourist walk which was lined with markets, dust encrusted tots trying to beg for change and vendors calling out bargain prices for food and alcohol: "$1 for three Tacos!", "Two-for-1 Margaritas, three-for-1 for the Senoritas!", "$1 beer!", "For you - special price". It soon became easier to just ignore them.

The afternoon was wandered away in a bevy of haggling and browsing. Mel and Britt got their hair braided ($5 a piece) and Sean found himself a $7 mini-guitar, with the hopes of plucking away the evenings. I got ripped off with a $13 belt and $5 pair of imitation Ray Ban sunglasses. But I look cool. Getting value for my $US. (Picture: Corona lunch)

By 7pm, we were tired and ready to leave our $1 non-alcoholic beers (each of us guys had guzzled 6 with no real effect) and overly spiced food (even the guacamole was laced with Chili - bet the cheap bastards re-use it!).

With the setting sun we trudged our way to the US border (duty free was very nice to gift me with a taste of Cognac, single malt scotch and three types of tequila) and waited in line to get back across. While we waited Sean befriended an American who lives in Mexico and commutes to San Diego each evening for night shift. He was particularly friendly to us guys, and helped us find the fastest moving line back into the America. (Picture: Self portrait - AJ, Moi, Sean)

12 May, 2006 (Friday) San Diego, California

Summary: Arrival in San Diego. Four Dutch girls. Two Swedish guys. Two Australians. A pack of cards.

AJ decided to accompany us through San Diego to Vegas. We installed her in the back section of the jeep and were on our way.


San Diego and Ocean Beach
Good morning San Diego! After two hours driving through crazy 6-lane traffic we found ourselves in the quiet beach-bound neighbourhood of Ocean Beach, San Diego. The place has a kind of alternative surf vibe, with bikers cruising the street and a few shops reeking of incense. It also feels considerably older, with a slight Mexican influence to it's cantinas and uneven concrete sidewalks. (Picture: The Vine - Sean, AJ)

The Ocean Beach International Hostel sits in the middle of the strip, all white-washed walls and wooden deck. We checked in for a bargain $US17 a night. The place fits about 90 people.None of the lockers were big enough to fit my laptop and case.

After exploring the beach front - the beach looks absolutely putrid, not the white sands of home - we found our way into the back common room of the Hostel. AJ soon identified Mel, Britt and Julie as fellow Dutch(esses?) (how come if you come from Holland you call yourself Dutch, when everyone else just adds a few letters to their country of origin?). The four girls were soon chatting away in Dutch, swapping where they were from and what they were doing in San Diego.

A beer stop at the local shop later (6x twist tops for $6) we were sitting at a table playing a Dutch variant of Kings - where you have to do different silly things every time a playing card is turned over. Sean was soon saying "lick me" at the end of each sentence and I took a particular liking to the draw where you have to chant "*&^% the Viking" while making little horns out of your fingers. AJ refused to play properly, claiming that the game was "just silly" - but I thought that was the whole point!

Mel (19), Britt (my mistake - 19.5) and Julie (18) have been in the US for 12-months on field hockey scholarships. Mel and Britt have been studying in Ohio, while Julie has been at Duke University. Their year is over, so they're doing a little parental-funded travel before heading home. We were joined by Marcel and Cyrill (pronounced "Cereal"), who are two traveling Swedish youths. A nice little posse. We all agreed to meet up the next morning and see Tijuana together. (Picture: At the trolley station - en route to Tijuana: Cyril, Marcel, Julie, Mel, Britt)

11 May, 2006 (Thursday) Santa Monica / Hollywood, California

'Every time we return to the car and it hasn't been towed, for me that's a great day!'

Summary: Santa Monica Pier. Insane gridlock traffic. Craig Ferguson Show. Hollywood sights.

Santa Monica
Everybody I have spoken to on my way south has suggested at least a half-day at Santa Monica pier. We arrived at midday, AJ accompanying us for the day. It was overcast, with a grey covering of smog on the horizon. Real LA weather. Walking up from the beach we took in the varoius freaky people - prison-tatted beefcakes working out on the equipment, mid-20 kids playing gladiator on the swinging monkey bars, a few lycra-enhanced roller-bladers.

The pier held echoes of the OC. It's long planks playing host to an arcade, numerous street vendours and a fair ground with Ferris wheel. Another tourist trap. Walking the length we marveled at the number of people fishing off the pier. In fact, every pier in the area seems to have people fishing. I keep on finding myself flinching as another overhead cast sweeps out of my peripheral.

On the walk out we were offered free tickets to some of the TV shows filming in the afternoon. We ended up taking a few, our preference being for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Apparently he's the boss from the Drew Carey Show, and has been making a killing on the late night talk show stakes, ranking 3 after Jay Leno.


Beverly Hills / Craig Ferguson
The traffic over to the CBS studio was killer. Sean did a great job of getting us through, but we were cutting it close as we finally found parking in The Grove (a super-plush shopping complex in central Beverly Hills). Rushing up the gigantic block the security guard turned us away because AJ had brought her bag. We managed to make it back from the car in 10 minutes and drew shuddering breaths on the waiting benches. The show was running half-an-hour behind schedule. We had a respite, but no cameras allowed (so no happy snaps).

The Craig Ferguson studio was smaller than we expected, holding only 110 heads. In our scruffy traveling clothes the three of us were hidden away in the back right hand corner, away from the cameras and spotlights. Some of the girls, dressed up in bright skirts and tiny tops were given seats up the front. Yes, Beverly Hills is for the beautiful people. I was a beautiful person once... Really.

The crowd was warmed up by Chucky B, a down on his luck, self-confessed mediocre comedian. He kept on cracking lame jokes and telling us how important we as an audience were being 'show enhancers'. He kept on throwing that term at us as he psyched us up to laugh hard at anything he said and clap wildly if something was actually funny.

Filming took 2 hours for the half-hour show. Craig Ferguson dashed in to standing ovation and proceeded to do ten-minutes of stand-up. He did this twice, using two different scripts. In my opinion (not that you asked for it), the script on art smashed the one on gas prices. He then followed with a short skit where he interviewed a supposedly roving Hollywood reporter, then went on to do 5-minute interview sessions with an actor from the Da Vinci code - the English guy who plays the bad dude, and a pretty red-headed actress from Gray's Anatomy (sorry Lauren, I can't even remember the name, although we saw her up close as she drove out in a convertible afterwards. I was about to throw myself in front of the car, but she looked like a bit of a lead-foot).


Hollywood
After a greasy burger at a 60s style diner joint we made our way down to the pavement and did the touristy things - Stars on the Pavement, hand and feet imprints at the Chinese Theatre, stared at the few freaks out on a school night. The guy in a devil costume was scary, over 6ft of weirdly tanned skin and huge fangs, wings and claws.

We stayed to the glossy, well-lit part of the boulevard. The place was wider and better kept than I remember from my trip a dozen years ago. Only a few bums on the street, although I probably look more poverty stricken this time around.

10 May, 2006 (Wednesday) Huntington Beach

Free FM - Sean's new favourite talk back radio station. Shock jocks and frank discussions about under-age dating. Getting to the heart of real issues. Check it out online.

Summary: Lazy day. Borrowed from a floating net connection and read email.

Spent the afternoon in the sun at Laguna Beach, just past Newport. Mid-nap I was roused by a whole lot of screaming and kids running out of the water. Further groggy examination revealed a pair of fins dipping in and out of the waves. Sharks? No, with three of them and no blood in the water it looked like dolphins. Back to sleep. (Picture: Laguna beach)


Huntington Nightlife
The nightlife in the hostel is pretty laid back. Tonight the Belgians broke out a $10 1.125L bottle of tequila and insisted we do shots with lime and salt. A few of those later...

Mi and Kim are Belgian, well by birth at any rate. Their parentage is half-Vietnamese, which is reflected in slim build and olive complexion. Mi came over originally to visit an uncle, unfortunately the uncle was a bit too restrictive, favouring the old country, so Mi found her way to the hostel. Her brother Kim came over soon after for moral support. They seem nice, if a bit scattered at times. I was astounded to find out a few days later that they're both in their mid-30s! (Picture: Newport pier)

Annemiek (aka Annie, AKA AJ) is from Holland. She's 25 and traveling alone. AJ's in the US for a month while she goes about data gathering for her Masters Thesis in Business, majoring in business administration and strategic issues. Why Huntington Beach? The story goes that AJ spent a month in Mexico last year where she learned to surf. Going back to Holland she was surfed obsessed, daring 3 degree surf (with cowl, boots and gloves) on her long board when the waves were good - which apparently happens once every few months in Holland. Anyway, in support of this obsession she chose her thesis topic to be about the effect the surfing industry has on the environment, through a case study of Quiksilver and it's environmental efforts. She's lined up interviews with various Quiksilver management (hoping for a job post-Thesis? Apparently). To support this she's interviewing surfer's about their own experiences.

To me it's kind of a strange topic for a thesis, Master's or otherwise. I can understand the angle from a corporate triple bottom line perspective (going beyond pure profits to provide broader stakeholder returns - including back to the community and environment), but rather than the purely environmental spin I think I'd take a more corporate responsibility and environmental concerns slant. Perhaps contrast that up against legislative pressures and examples of extreme environmental impacts. Then again, my understanding could have been hindered by translation difficulties.

Daniel is from Germany, he's studying something at one of the local universities here and is the resident chess / risk champion. Daniel is well over 6 foot and spends a lot of his spare time surfing and laughing.

Jamie is 18 from Greater Britainia. He's been exploring the US for a while, currently working out his last few weeks at the Hostel as his funds are low. He hides his youthful cheeks behind a downy goatee, which obviously seems to work given Mi's interest in him.

Susanna is traveling with her tot, Stevie. Belgian, she's taking a break from her IT job and making use of Mo's affinity with small children. I'd had a good chat with Susanna the previous night, about world view and all that stuff. After a few tequila shots she was hitting on my pretty badly. Help!

09 May, 2006 (Tuesday) Part 2 - Los Angeles

Huntington Beach, OC, LA
The drive through to Huntington Beach wasn't as bad as expected. Traffic along the highway though thick was navigable. We arrived at the beach suburb in early afternoon. The Huntington Beach hostel was surprisingly located in a residential neighbourhood, about 4 blocks from the beach. Unfortunately the front door was locked with a paper 'Gone Surfing' sign attached on the inside. We waited outside. (Picture: "Gone surfing")

Mo, our host arrived after about 15 minutes. He's Moroccan and has been running the hostel for 9 years. Of average height, Mo shaves his head to stave off going bald. He's very tanned and likes to walk around without his shirt, the better to flex his surfer muscles; chat up any young-ish females staying at his hostel; drink wine and smoke green; get into arguments with his guests about any particular topic that comes up. All in all it makes Huntington Beach Hostel feel more like a big share house than an impersonal hostel. (Picture: Sean shows us how to eat ice cream - watch out!)

Newport Beach
With a whole afternoon left to us Sean nominated that we visit neighbouring Newport Beach. Little did I know that during his early morning hours at Big White Sean had obsessively researched 'The O.C', going as far as to track down spots featured in the show using Google Earth (Tm). (Picture: Life Guard Station 32)

We found ourselves parked in 32nd street, just downwind of Life Guard Shack 32, as featured in Season 1 and 2 of the show. Sean claims that they often end episodes at the location, watching the sunset and playing touchy-feely in the sand. We soaked up the OC ambiance. Once we got enough photos we walked down the beach, dodging random cyclists and overweight holidayers. Along the way I got an icy-pop from an Asian woman (originally from Taiwan) who scolded me for not being good to my mother, losing my ability to speak a second language and whiling away my afternoon at Newport Beach. It almost felt like home. (Picture: Huntington Beach sunset)

Newport Pier soaked up another two dozen photos, Sean and I taking turns to pose in front of the Newport Beach sign. In my shots I look like a tool. I think Sean's turned out better. It's all that practice he got being a Levi's model in Whistler.

09 May, 2006 (Tuesday) Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara goodbye. Huntington Beach is nice. Newport Beach and the OC. Happy snaps galore.

Santa Barbara
Report card: Clean. Very clean. Pretty architecture, beige walls, paved sidewalks. Well heeled. Tanned. Preppy. Possibly surgery enhanced. Boutique bars, eateries and clothings stores. Token homeless.

After a brief discussion Sean and I decide not to spend the day in Santa Barbara. While the township is truely lovely, its main draw card is it's beautiful beaches and preppy bars. Today it is overcast and the beach here has no swell, I think we're trying to save ourselves for Tijuana and Las Vegas. Onward to Los Angeles - City of Angels, homeless and shysters. Gridlock and smog here we come.

08 May, 2006 (Monday) San Francisco

'Seeing so much natural beauty, do you think that you can become desensitised to it? Immune to that feeling of wonder and appreciation of seeing another natural phenomena, of discovering a new place undisturbed by human intervention?'

Summary: Exit San Francisco. Sausolito. Muir woods.

On our way
Leaving San Francisco we visited the little sea side village of Sausolito, a tourist favourite. It was quiet in the main market, and as we wandered the streets and piers we just enjoyed the quiet. (Picture: Sausolito wharf)

We spent 2 hours wandering the wooded depths of Muir Wood. A national park, it harbours some of the oldest redwoods in the world, comparable to Tasmania. The towering trees were amazing, but as we reached the upper edges of the walk the humid heat beat upon us. It was almost a relief to get back to the shaded paths below.

We drove into Santa Barbara in late evening, getting lost in the back streets in the dark. On first drive-through it seems like a nice kind of place. Lots of preppy looking, brand-named kids wandering down. Feels like a university town. (Picture: Muir Woods - big big trees)

07 May, 2006 (Sunday) More San Francisco

Japanese Tea Gardens
The Japanese Tea gardens sit in the heart of the Gold Gate park. For $3 you can wander it's paved pathways, contemplating the still waters, moss covered rocks and zen gardens. It's a peaceful place, once you filter out the screams of the children and the inane chatter of the besotted. Sean practiced his photographic skills while I tried to soak in the tranquility. My soaking abilities require more work. (Picture: Japanese Tea Gardens)





Walking the Golden Gate
The Golden Gate was swarming with tourists, mainly of asian ancestry. To escape we walked the Golden Gate's span. It took us half an hour each way. The bridge is an amazing construction, composed of huge steel cables painted a orangey-red. The walk isn't hard, but it is busy. Along the way the two of us couldn't help but marvel at the view (I dread to think how many pictures I now have of San Fran in the distance), and how low the railings were. There were warnings on some of the pylons cautioning people that jumping off the bridge was hazardous and could result in severe injury. With the up draft we definitely felt safe. (Picture: The Grove at night)

Caution with railings morphed into a conversation about the effect that a major earthquake might have on the bridge. We explored a scenario where, during a major earthquake, the bridge broke apart; would it be preferable to jump straight off the bridge as it started to break up, or to hang onto a bridge fragment for as long as possible before impact? Neither of us physics majors, we still persisted to discuss the merits of being shattered upon hitting water, over being crushed beneath a ton of falling debris, over having one's body squashed by your velocity when the bridge fragment that you are riding abruptly decellerates as it hits the water. A difficult decision. (Picture: The Golden Gate Bridge - beats a postcard, no?)

06 May, 2006 (Saturday) San Francisco

A return to Alcatraz
The island known as The Rock sits in San Francisco bay, about a 15 minute ferry ride from Fisherman's Wharf. It originally served as a military outpost, one of the final lines of defense for San Francisco, before becoming first a military gaol and later a federal prison for the hardest criminals of the era. In it's time the island gaol played host to such luminaries as Al "Scarface" Capone, "Machinegun" Kelly and the Bird Man. It developed a reputation for being escape proof, with a number of high profile escape attempts but no confirmed escapes. Alcatraz's gates were officially closed in 1962 by Robert Kennedy, allegedly as a result of escalating operation costs. . (Picture - Left - The Rock; Right - From the gun gallery)

We explored the cell blocks under the instruction of the audio tour. With help from from former cellmates and wardens, the audio tour guided us through Cell Blocks A, B, C and D, describing the operation of the gun galleries, the major escape attempts and daily life on the island. We learnt about how the Sally Fort worked, with antique cannons, murder holes and a drawbridge. Afterwards we managed to get a special tour of the chapel, officers lounge and gun galleries, taking a closer look at the life beyond the cells. (Picture - Left - From the exercise yard; Right: Fishermans' Wharf - chowder time)

Quick update

It's been a hectic week since we left Huntington Beach (OC) behind. Mexico was fun for a day; Coronas in the sun and $1 tacos. Vegas took up the beginning of this week; huge extravagant casinos decked out in neon. Hoover Dam was gigantic and the desert was sweltering. Yesterday we saw the Grand Canyon and today... I think we're headed to Bryce National Park before pushing Eastward.

Right now I'm linked in from a trailer park in Utah that we stayed at over night. Unfortunately no tales of gun play or married siblings, but we didn't really mix that much with the locals. I wonder what the AMerican Interior has in store for us?

Ben
(There are geckos running around here, doing push-ups. It's kinda strange)

05 May, 2006 (Friday) San Francisco

Three days of unlimited city travel in San Francisco is $18. It's not a bad deal if you're doing a bit of travelling. We continued to explore the city.


Boudin Bakery
Boudin Bakery was founded by French immigrants during the gold rush days and has built up ever since. It's a local institution, it's sour dough bread famous throughout the West Coast. Boudin offer a tour of their bakery and history from their Fisherman's Wharf complex. For $3 the tour includes a glimpse of the gold rush days, an introduction to the science of bread-making, a birds-eye view of their bread making facilities and a free tasting. I did a computer-based quiz to find out what bread I was, from my answers it was determined that I was a Dark Rye bread. I could have told you that. The tasting was good, I wolfed down a dozen of their little bread squares dipped in honey, oil and corn salsa. I think I got my $3 value. (Picture: Boudin bakery making buns)


San Francisco Nightlife
Sean passed out early, but I was determined to make the most of my first Friday night in San Francisco. I had hoped to make it down to the Mission District, but doing it alone felt a bit intimidating. Instead I wandered up Fillmore and into the Grove Cafe. (Picture: San Francisco cable car)


The Grove
I like The Grove, it has a really nice ambiance to it. Scott recommended it just before he left, describing it as a bit studenty, a bit artsy. You get that, but there's more to it.

The soft orange lighting gives it a warm, comfortable feel. It is this, coupled with the wave of voices in conversation which characterises the place for me. Inside the decor is wood and leather, in a semi-rustic theme. A mix of tables and benches and stools mean that whether you're a student typing away at an essay, corporate reading a report, or wanderer (like myself) just in for a drink and some quiet writing time, everybody is a winner. I ordered a pint of their house brew and got given a huge glass. The serving gal gave me a white toothed smile and asked how long I was in town. Flirt. I sat down and wrote.

It was past 11 by the time I was done in The Grove. I spent the last 10 minutes watching people, watching interactions - clusters of students, youths on a night out, older couples. All seemed engrossed in conversation, leaning across tables, adding to the murmur of voices.

Harry's Bar
After a walk around the block I ended up next door at Harry's Bar. Inside it was packed out with people, a good selection of the beautiful set of San Francisco - young 20-somethings with money. It was $3 Corona / $5 Margaritas night and the bar girls were being kept busy. I pulled up a stool and half-watched The Wedding Crashers on the big screen... and the crowd. After my third beer I went for a walk to clear my head, and on a whim decided I'd have one more then head home. (Picture: A freaky 25c machine - here's one for the kids!)

A couple had been dancing behind me for half the night, and as I got comfortable the guy squeezed into the bar area. Somehow we got talking, his name was Brian and he'd just met the girl, Jo tonight. When I mentioned that I was a visitor in his city Brian got excited and told me to come out with him for a bit, that he'd make sure I had a good time. A cab ride later we ended up in an alley in front of a set of townhouses. It was past 12 by this time and the alley was deserted and dark. A big iron grill-worked door kept us on the footpath as Brian and Jo tapped away at their cell phones trying to get us entrance. It was ten minutes before a light came on and the door opened. (Picture: We noticed this when we were walking up to downtown. Guess he's had a few bad experiences)

Inside the townhouse was lushly furnished - wood panelling, designer looking decorations and a back patio area. While Brian and Jo danced in the living room I met Mariah, Sarah and Leigh. It was around 3am when somebody suggested we go for a spa. At 4am I caught a cab back to the apartment to sleep. An interesting night. Sorry, no pictures unfortunately.