Just another silly travel addict trying to get...

Out of Dodge

Tuesday, February 18, 2003 :::
 
Yeah, hi ... here's my deal

It's me, Delara's brother Jeremy. I'm new to the blog scene, really far from LA, but stuck in my own dodge nonetheless. My dodge is Boston.

I'll rant a lot like Delara does, and recommend a lot of places to go in the Northeast. I'm really into cheap domestic travel and outdoor recreation gear that is of superb utility, quality and, of course, price. My raison d'etre (that's "dried grape of life" to you non-frenchy types) is rock climbing. I like to go places cheap, stay there cheap, and spend my time on the rocks.

You can expect to hear from me on many sordid matters including (but not limitted to) where to go to climb, fun stuff on television, how to see New England cheap (not including crashing on my couch or on the mattress under my climbing wall - those are Delara's spots), and people who suck at life (which, remarkably, is not a real Jeopardy category).

Lots to come, be excited, out of dodge just gained a wiseass.

jeremy
my website

::: posted by jeremy at 2/18/2003 07:26:00 PM



Monday, February 17, 2003 :::
 

What is Reversible?

I'm not really sure myself. Seems that it's some site where you can link your site to it so that it will refer others to yours? Example, I checked it out and clicked on Los Angeles on the main page and found a site for bloggers in LA, LA Blogs, a sort of central spot for links to those of us in LA who, well, Blog. To join or not to join?

::: posted by Delara at 2/17/2003 10:18:00 PM


 

Rant rant rant...

Okay, don't yell at me. The story I am about to tell you just sunk in this morning around 8am. It is about a little girl with almost shoulder length black hair and a confrontation with an evil man we will call Boss.

Enough of the shenanigans. I had to give my two weeks notice last night at Caioti Pizza Cafe because Ed, the Owner, decided as of late that he no longer trusts me. Specifics would bore and confuse you, however he basically thought that I was not charging for toppings (which cost $.93, mind you) for particular customers so that I would get bigger tips.

Two steps back...if the check is lower, wouldn't that make the tip lower?

It makes no sense to me either.

So it's after closing on Sunday night, an 8 hr shift where I was training a new girl and he forced me to share tables with a girl who used to work there over a year ago (hence training two new girls) while managing the restaurant, take out orders and handling the wait. Ed asks me to stick around and confronts me with his suspicions and all I did was laugh. He's accusing me of stealing about $4.00 worth of food from him, giving stuff out to customers to get a bigger tip. HE DOESN'T BELIEVE THAT I'M WORTH OVER %20! Saturday night I got a $20 tip on $80 of food. I am a great fucking waitress. He is a sorry paranoid man.

So he wants me to only work shifts he works: Wed, Thurs, Sat day and Sun day. In return for his questioning my character and basically accusing me of theft I told him I'd start looking for another job. I already know that I am not going back inside that restaurant to work. He violated my trust as he assumes I violated his.

So I am about to print out my food service resume and hit Larchmont Village, Hollywood around the Beachwood area and Burbank around the studios. I've sent out four professional resumes today and tomorrow once the holiday (President's Day?) is over I am going to bug the crap out of my contacts for anything from Asst Coordinator jobs to Production Assistant gigs. (cue The Beatles singing "Money")...

::: posted by Delara at 2/17/2003 03:13:00 PM


 

Talented Friends

I'd like to introduce (warning: music on the site) Russell Brannan. He is a painter hidden in a car salemsan. Russ is mad talented and his flat is decorated with his paintings. At the moment some friends in the art world are trying to get him out there and selling so that he can paint full time and leave cars behind. At one point this site had all his paintings online to buy, but I think at the moment it is being reconstructed...

::: posted by Delara at 2/17/2003 09:41:00 AM



Sunday, February 16, 2003 :::
 

Travel tip o' the day

(Try #2)

So, you wanna get out of dodge, eh? Well it seems that Mexico is the place to go if you are in Los Angeles. Everywhere I look Puerto Vallarta is being touted as everything from a great package destination to a spring break get-lucky type of place. Recently I saw a television commercial from a travel agency that gave a package of three nights in Vallarta for $119. Does that include air?

No worries. Find your last minute fare here. I know I cannot exactly afford to pay most of my bills at the mo, but sunny Mexico is looking like the perfect remedy for my winter blues. Will research tomorrow and post results.

::: posted by Delara at 2/16/2003 03:10:00 AM


 
Okay, this is getting rather annoying. I wrote a lovely little bit entitled "Australia or England?" yesterday talking about the fabulously controvercial football game between the two (rival?) countries. Like, for example, did England play like shit or have the Socceroos finally improved their game? I think England played like a bunch of old ladies. At one point my boy Jenas (from Newcastle of course) was just wandering the field instead of chasing after that ball. Sad.

Comments were shouted out at the pub the other day...like "wanker", "fucking wanker" and "this is the best Leeds game I've ever seen" (Kewell, of the Aussie team, plays for Leeds and scored the second of three goals against England)...most of the wanker comments came from my table as my friend Russ went back and forth between love and hate for his home team...the other table mate was from Newcastle, Australia, north of Sydney. So picture this: a dark pub, male dominated, English dominated and there's me (a girl for all those who haven't gleaned that by now), Russ w/his cockney accent and the third bloke? The only Aussie in the pub. Whenever he cheered I swear crickets started chirping. Lucky for us no one felt like a lynching or anything. I mean come now, it was only Wednesday.

Anyway, the point is...where are my posts disappearing to? I press publish and nothing is publishing. I am quite discouraged and need a hug.

::: posted by Delara at 2/16/2003 03:00:00 AM



Friday, February 14, 2003 :::
 
Oh. And happy Valentine's Day. Did everyone support Hallmark today?

As per usual I am dressed in my trademark all black, seeing as both me and my Valentine are working in restaurants on quite possible one of the most annoying holidays ever. Hoorah. Who's gettin' ripped tonight?

::: posted by Delara at 2/14/2003 03:38:00 PM



Wednesday, February 12, 2003 :::
 

England or Australia?

Oh dear. What to do, what to do? Today is the day I have to decide if I am an Anglophile or an Australophile. Everyone knows I am addicted to Australia, or at least the idea of going there and perhaps never returning...but I support English football, and I am presently going to watch the game in an English pub. I think I will keep my underdog Oz win hopes to myself while munching on my eggs on toast.

Any pre-game predictions? Go England! (Go Australia?)

::: posted by Delara at 2/12/2003 12:03:00 PM



Monday, February 10, 2003 :::
 
I should be sleeping right now, seeing as it's almost 1:00 AM, however this is the first chance I've had to get online in days. Been working hard (too hard, actually, I'm a freaking waitress already) and feeling the onset of a cold. Okay, it does get chilly here at night, I actually have to wear a scarf, however I feel that it's not the fluctuating LA temps getting me down but being overworked and (except for a stellar Sat. and today) underpaid. Plans for tomorrow include sleep, nap and a bit of television. What's on Monday anyway?

Tonight after a long and exhausting shift (restaurant was steady but never full -- good thing that today's patrons were big spenders!) I met my friend Stephanie at the pub for her 1 hour unofficial "break" during her 14 hr shift and we headed down to Mexicali for our usual yet truncated Sunday ritual: a couple rocks salts and a bit of dinner -- fresh guacamole and a tasty cheese quesadilla. Now, for all those who are not familiar with Mexicali, it has margaritas on tap. But our friend Kevin who tends bar on Sunday nights (lucky bastard just got back from a week in balmy London) makes ours from scratch...a bit of sour mix, a dash of triple sec and heaps of tequila. I only had one tonight (okay, you don't have to be that shocked) because I wanted to have drunk free sleep. I swear it will happen shortly.

But first...(okay, fine, above this post was supposed to be a stunning and well thought out commentary on today's Newcastle - Arsenal draw: 1-1 final. A great game and a somewhat disapointing end when Robert was sent off in a controvercial decision that probably cost Newcastle the win, leaving them with 10 players against the #1 standing Arsenal. The half full point is that Arsenal couldn't win. But when I went to post my stylish prose on my boys in Black and White, well, it disappeared. I suppose I don't quite get the nuances of the blog yet and I can't be arsed to write it again. I'm going to bed. Tune in tomorrow for the full on report.)

::: posted by Delara at 2/10/2003 01:12:00 AM



Thursday, February 06, 2003 :::
 

Travel tip o' the day

This is my kind of challenge. A traveller on the BootsnAll message board posted his problem: needs to get from Chicago to Madrid dirt cheap. Of course he did not specify dates, so it is kind of hard to search for fares as they will be inacurate. I did the Travelocity search first, came up with a decent fare of $292 before taxes, but everywhere else needs exact dates.

Anyone have any ideas to help him on his search?

::: posted by Delara at 2/06/2003 03:00:00 PM



Wednesday, February 05, 2003 :::
 
I'd like to introduce everyone to another talented friend of mine, Cameron Ash. He is a talented singer songwriter who I've had the pleasure to get to know. There are some sound clips on his site. Take a listen!

::: posted by Delara at 2/05/2003 06:04:00 PM


 

Welcome, Stuart

I'm branching out. I got the idea not too long ago that I would open up Dodge to other wanna be travellers or just folk who are stuck where they are and dreaming of the outside world. So welcome Stuart! Poor lad is stuck in Telford, England with no way out and plenty of ideas of places to go. He's a talented and humorous writer who placed in a travel writing contest at World Surface, a website touting sustainable travel for backpackers. Here are links to his stories:

Croation Football and Breakdancing

An un-necessary overdose of adrenaline

Say "hello" to Stuart everyone...

::: posted by Delara at 2/05/2003 05:43:00 PM


 
At last I join the lovely Delara at Bloggers.com, but please change the 'Dodge' in 'Out of Dodge' to 'Telford'. Telford couldn't be anymore different to Dodge at the moment as I very much doubt that they get this much snow in Dodge. Snow is brilliant. It means that you have a complete excuse for not leaving the house for the day. When I was supposed to go to my job interview this morning, I really wasn't in the right frame of mind for enthusing in front of a prospective employer about how beneficial I would be to the dead end position I had applied for. But, obviously, I couldn't phone up and tell him that, so instead I called and said 'unfortunately, my snow boots are in the garage and the garage door has frozen stuck. And I can't find my woolley hat'. Hopefully, he will have taken this in without question. Unless he is clever enough to realise that there is only 2cm of snow over the town. Instead of going to the interview I now plan to spend my day writing songs and watching daytime TV. What could be better...?
Okay, I could do with some tips on this thing. Feel free to tell me everything I need to know.
More garbage writings coming soon.

::: posted by Stuart at 2/05/2003 03:40:00 AM



Tuesday, February 04, 2003 :::
 
I get a newsletter with travel deals that either make me simply salivate or fall down in tears (depending on the location, price, etc etc) that I cannot go from Smarter Living. The highlight for me is receiving the student travel one with the articles by Eoin O'Carroll, mainly because I've been and done all the stuff he's writing about, so it brings about a beautiful nostalgia every time.

His latest On a Shoestring article is on something I rambled annoyingly on about (and continue to do so at every opportunity) a few days ago on 23 January.

The change in Spain can stay mainly in your pocket

One thing I might have mentioned is that youth hostels, or alberques juveniles are few and far between and are not neccessarily cheaper than pensiones or hostales. But I'm not Eoin O'Carroll, so no worries!

::: posted by Delara at 2/04/2003 03:09:00 PM


 
I've been playing with the idea of images on this thing for a while now and my web guru brother Jeremy has probably provided the answer. Let's test it out, shall we?

Boy in Barn

Jeremy is quite the photographer. Oh, and speaking of, the camera will be on its way. Promise.

::: posted by Delara at 2/04/2003 03:00:00 PM



Monday, February 03, 2003 :::
 
The weekend went by way too fast and was rather uneventful until Sunday night, Mexicali night. After work I meet up with a few friends at Mexicali on Ventura in Studio City and we drink margaritas (rocks, salt) until close. This has been going on now for a couple months and in the process I've become friends with one of the bartenders and also the manager, so when a friend of mine decided to get beligerant, I was the "go to" girl. His story was different than that of the guys at Mexicali, but I tend to believe them since they were sober. Anyway, he was way out of line and made me feel very uncomfortable, forcing me to chose between friends. Goes to show you never know what your friends turn into under the influence of too much tequila.

Travel tip o' the day

The dreaded Valentine's Day is coming up. A day when lovers cavort and the rest of us dress all in black and morn the day the greeting card companies decided to make us feel like idiots for not having a date (knock on wood). Well, good news for everyone -- you can either escape with your loved one over the holiday or just escape in general to Europe for $188 RT and up. Jeremy -- check it out: Boston to A'dam is wicked cheap.

Airlines are trying to woo people to book on the internet by giving mad discounts, thus phasing out the workers answering the phones (a whole other argument against our beloved technology, but I hypocritically digress). Right now Alaska Airlines is running a $10 off sale and the newly budget pleasing Virgin Atlantic is running a $20 promo if you book their cheap fares online ($328 RT LA - London!).

February: Black History Month

I don't know what the rest of the months are, but I do know that February has been dubbed Black History Month. Last year I went to the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, AL, took a walk around Kelly Ingram Park and went on a road trip with my mum down to Tuskegee, home of Tuskegee University, now a National Historic Site.

I charge you to check out the sights in your area. If you are in Alabama, drive the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. In New Orleans? Rock out at the Jazz National Historic Park.





::: posted by Delara at 2/03/2003 03:17:00 PM



Friday, January 31, 2003 :::
 
It's Friday, and time seems to be moving much faster these days. I've been picking up shifts at Caioti's like a crazy person. Yet again my social life is going to disappear seeing as I just picked up Friday nights again permanently. Now, I am not too crazy about working until close (11pm depending on when the customers actually leave the restaurant) on both Friday and Saturday. Not to mention the fact that I work to close on Sundays as well (10pm +). So tonight I am gong to draw the line: I work early one night and late the other or then I am not working Fridays. I don't make enough money for it to be worth me staying so late. Ultimatums are dangerous, however I am confident in my serving abilities and raport with the owner that I won't get sacked for speaking my mind.

I say that now....

::: posted by Delara at 1/31/2003 04:48:00 PM



Wednesday, January 29, 2003 :::
 

Go Newcastle!

The Toon Army is in rapture tonight! Today, in the 90th minute, Jenas scored the winning goal against an almost for sure 0 - 0 game against the Tottenham Hotspurs. Newcastle seems to do this a lot, win at the last (literally) minute. It's an up and down emotional battle being a Toon...is that kind of like "it's not easy being green"?

And the great freakin news is...they have ousted Manchester United from their coveted 2 spot in the Premeirship standings. I remember a bit ago reading an article about how Ferguson is wary of Newcastle gaining in points and becoming a serious contender. They've proved themselves to be championship material. Time to take it all the way, boys!

Next up for the Magpies: Saturday Feb. 1 is another away game, this time against Middlesborough.

::: posted by Delara at 1/29/2003 06:39:00 PM



Tuesday, January 28, 2003 :::
 
Last night I went to Las Palmas, a club on, you guessed it, Las Palmas St. in Hollywood for Monday Social. DJ Mick Cole is a friend of a friend's and of course we went to show our support as well as dance. I'm enjoying this foray I'm making into the LA club scene is now that I've become great friends with people who know people (i.e. no waiting in line now).

My close friend Nick is starting a club in a couple of weeks. I'll give you all details so if you are in LA, you can see him DJ.

...Quick note on sporting news before I head off to work: Chelsea is creeping up on Newcastle after their win over Leeds 3 - 2. Wish the boys luck tomorrow while they are off in Tottenham to play the Spurs. Go Newcastle!

::: posted by Delara at 1/28/2003 03:11:00 PM



Monday, January 27, 2003 :::
 
Someday I am going to go to The Big Day Out, Australia's largest travelling music festival.

All I have to say is: Free Water and Underworld.



::: posted by Delara at 1/27/2003 04:21:00 PM


 

Travel tip('s) o' the day

Bush, what the f--- are you doing? Don't make travelling even harder for me and other Americans than it already is!

War talk sends euro near four-year highs

That's just disgusting.

Otherwise, anyone in the LA area around the beginning of February should head to Long Beach for the LA Times Travel Show. It's Feb. 1 and 2, 10-5/4 respectivley. Tips, discounts and winning free holidays are just a few of the enticing objects on the menu. I'm going. Drop me a shout out with your email/# if you want to go too. Lunch could be arranged...


::: posted by Delara at 1/27/2003 02:38:00 AM


 

To the Superbowl!

Okay, all I have to say is: Tampa Bay, what a great freakin' game! 48 - 21! Tampa's defense destroyed every (almost) attempt at goal by Oakland. I was groaning every time that a pass was intercepted by TB. However, I hoped that Tampa's first run at the Superbowl would be victorious.

I was at work, too, for the entire game. Good news is that the boss brought in a teley for the game and I was able to see the entire thing....bad news was that the tips were shite. Rent anyone?

Before I went to work I tried to post my pre game predictions. However having a cable modem meant that each page took years to log on to since the superbowl is the next best thing since sliced bread. That's why I took a break. Probably a good thing as my predictions would've said 24-14, Tampa winning. Thank whoever for my non-gambling nature.



::: posted by Delara at 1/27/2003 02:26:00 AM



Friday, January 24, 2003 :::
 
Spam. Space wasting terrors that clutter up our inboxes and tout useless rubbish we will never need/want. Today I was sent a bit of spam telling me someone had sent me an email with a virus in it. Hmmm. Maybe I should open that one! The BBC News had a poll on The most annoying spam of 2002.

What the--?

So you want to get married but cannot afford to hire a giant cathedral for all your rels? No worries! Now you can provide your own inflatable church and put it in the nearby pasture, in your backyard, hell, in front of the church you cannot afford. Won't your friends be jealous?

Travel tip o' the day

I've had many debates with other travelers regarding the best subway systems. Whenever I arrive in a new city, the first thing to tackle tends to be their public transportation systems, be they subway, bus or train. And I've noticed a travesty amongst the guidebook industry: they rarely put in a handy free system map, forcing you to wander aimlessly for an information desk while your pack is digging into your shoulders and all you want is a pint.

Solution: go to their website before you leave and print it out. Or as soon as you arrive at Roma Termini, find an internet cafe first (The Net Gate, inside the station) before trying to figure out where to take the bus to in order to get to the metro (of course you could just stay at a hostel near the station, like Freedom-Traveller which has an internet cafe downstairs, but that's completely different).

As my knowledge is strictly of North America and Europe (so far), I chose as my favorites the oldest subway in the US, Boston's T, Paris' Metro - although it did take a while to get used to the smell - and London's Underground a.k.a. the Tube.

I always dug the politeness of the tube voices (mind the gap) and how you can actually understand the next station announcement. As it turns out, Emma Clarke, a voiceover artist, is the voice of the Victoria, Bakerloo and Central Lines. Cool. Read a funny interview with her here.




::: posted by Delara at 1/24/2003 05:07:00 PM



Thursday, January 23, 2003 :::
 
Barcelona, besides being one of the coolest cities in the world, has been blessed with the stunning architecture of Antoni Gaudi. In fact, his Sagrada Familia cathedral is still under construction and will surely be a pilgrimage site once it is finished.

I just read in The Age that a design for a building created by Gaudi in 1908 is in the running to fill the void left by the towers in Manhattan. I'm not sure that a hotel (shaped like a phallic spaceship) is the order of the day, as the design was originally to be. But damn, that would so rock if it was planned to be a memorial/museum to those who lost their lives.

Travel tip o' the day

While we are on the subject of Barcelona, and Spain in general...I can talk about Spain all day, by far my favorite country in Europe...I thought I would share with everyone my thoughts on the transportation system in Spain.

The rail system, RENFE is adequate if you are planning a big city tour, i.e. Barcelona - Madrid has a great night train (watch your stuff!), but it is slow and if you want to get off the Lonely Planet trail and get out to the western Extremadura region or wish to see the cliff side homes in Andalucia (I wish I could show you photos, however my film was stolen upon return from Europe), you need to take the bus. You can get to the major Extremadura cities like Caceres and Merida by train, but let me warn you that the turbulence is worse than in the air.

The bus system is so extensive that there are too many companies to count. The bus station in Almeria had so many counters that when we went to one, the refered us to another, who refered us to another...you get the idea. Bus travel is cheaper, perhaps not quite as comfortable as is to be expected, but man, there is nothing like cruising through the Spanish countryside.

Besides, it'll help you practise your Spanish. When you get deep enough into the country, people stop speaking English and don't like it when you do. (I must apologize to that poor internet cafe girl in Caceres. She spoke to me so quickly that I just stared blankly at her for a moment and walked out. Sensory overload!)



::: posted by Delara at 1/23/2003 07:14:00 PM


 

Today's Headlines

We always knew Brandon Dane was destined for some sort of greatness...

Dogfight Club

The article has been a long time in the making and is a great piece of journalism.

::: posted by Delara at 1/23/2003 06:20:00 PM


 

Go Newcastle!

Wednesday's game against the Bolton Wanderers proved fruitful for my boys in black and white. Newcastle won 1-0 over the Wanderers at St. James' Park which gave them 2 more points in the premiership standings. Watch out Manchester United!

Jenas scored straightaway in the 18th minute and even though other attempts were made, it remained NU's solo goal. Bolton did give us a bit of a run for our money in the second half, but we still came out on top.

Just found out that a some friends of mine are going to be in England for the Everton - Newcastle match. I've already put in my bid for a jersey. Just have to ply them with many free pints in the mean time.

::: posted by Delara at 1/23/2003 02:17:00 AM



Wednesday, January 22, 2003 :::
 

Talk about politics...

So I'm not the only one, phew. France and Germany just pulled together to say "Monsieur/Herr Bush, why are you being such a prick? We will not tolerate this whole war business" (said in French or German it probably sounds better). How many of our allies being against us is it going to take before the US Government wises up and starts talking diplomacy rather than military action?

Had an interesting conversation with a new friend recently regarding fanaticism. There are so many different facets to it... standard religious fanaticism which leads to terrorism, suicide bombings and other desperate acts in the name of God; political fanaticism which one reads daily in so called Alternative news sources, most of them I think are good for an opinion now and then but are 90% crap and which also, oddly enough, leads to terrorism; even athiests are fanatics about there being no God. Of course I don't recall too many atheist fueled terrorist acts but whatever. I think the point of our conversation was that the US-led War Against Terrorism is just a fanatic response to a bunch of fanatics. Had someone sat down and rationally thought about sending troops to Afghanistan and now Iraq, maybe they'd have realized that perhaps "America" had done something wrong. Perhaps "we" aren't perfect and need to get over ourselves. Did we even ask ourselves what we did to cause these desperate men to go to such extremes before pushing the big red button?


::: posted by Delara at 1/22/2003 06:42:00 PM



Tuesday, January 21, 2003 :::
 

Travel Tip O' The Day

Just a quick Los Angeles travel tip. If you are going to be in Los Angeles for any length of time, specifically driving for more than a week, please do yourself a favor and buy the following:

LA County Thomas Guide

Thomas Guides are the difinitive road map. I never ask for directions anymore, just the address and nearest cross street. Getting lost is unheard of in LA if you've got a Thomas Guide.

Idea for those auto bound LA holidaymakers: buy a guide at any Office Depot or other stationery store for $19.95, use it for your stay, then sell it online at Craig's List. Twenty bucks for a map book is so worth avoiding mad traffic and spending hours lost in LAs "back roads".



::: posted by Delara at 1/21/2003 04:22:00 PM


 

Today's Headlines

Oh dear, as if things hadn't already gotten bad enough for the remaining Beatles:

Beatles Abbey Road cigarette airbrushed

I mean, come on! That's as ridiculous as taking the WTC out of a film's establishing shot of NYC Skyline. Seriously.

And from our friends down under, the Daily Telegraph, gives us an article about how Americans are ruthlessly abusing Aussie slang. Brandon, you reading this?

Crikey, our slang's just beaut

No drama, Oz...you should be psyched that your speak is contagious!



::: posted by Delara at 1/21/2003 04:10:00 PM


 

Red Bull vs. Coffee

I'm starting a bit of a personal test. See, one can of Red Bull costs $1.99 or so at my 7-11. A grande nonfat cap or my usual venti nonfat iced carmel machiatto (lite carmel) will cost me $3.00 - $5.00. Good thing my roommate works at Starbucks otherwise I'd be so broke. I found this great site called Coffee Science when looking to see if coffee had more caffeine than Red Bull. Turns out my cap has half the caffeine.

So last night on my way home I picked up a couple Red Bull instead and am presently drinking it in place of coffee. Results of this experiment will be posted tomorrow. Oh, by the way, the rest of that Red Bull site is so cute...little flying cows and such. Be sure to check it out.



::: posted by Delara at 1/21/2003 03:41:00 PM



Monday, January 20, 2003 :::
 
Hey, this html shit isn't that hard. I've just spent the last half hour playing around with the template and I've finally got a handle on this code stuff. Unfortunately, Jeremy's suggestion of adding pictures to Dodge is not possible with this free blog. And from what I understand, because it's a Blog*Spot type blog, even if I upgrade and pay I still won't have photograph capabilites. Anyone have any ideas? Other inexpensive blogging suggestions?

Martin Luther King Day

Today, 20 January, is a day honoring Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the man who practiced peaceful protest and used words instead of violence to fight back. He was a hero to many and a revolutionary in his day. He did not singlehandedly turn the tides in the fight for racial equality, however he is the man most recognized for it.

Last year I went to visit the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, AL. At the end of the heartwrenching exhibition was MLK's eloquent speech, "I Have A Dream". It brought tears to my eyes then and probably always will.

To learn more about MLK and how to further his work, visit the website for The King Center, a nonprofit organization.

::: posted by Delara at 1/20/2003 05:41:00 PM


 

Celebrity Sightings

Part of being in LA is accepting the responsibility of acting cool in front of celebrities. Friday night was full of those moments.

While at work I waited on two cool cats: Ed Begly Jr. comes in all the time with his blonde wife and goregous blonde child. Also in the cafe on Friday was Armin Shimerman of Buffy The Vampire Slayer fame. Good tippers, all of 'em.

At the pub later was a plethora of media stars...okay, three. A friend of mine is dating Frank from the Real World, Las Vegas (hey mum and dad, look at the bio...Lewisburg, PA! Wish I new that before he was playing "no you cannot have a french fry"). He was in and, well, quite drunk if I may say so.

Also drinking their share of pints were Colm Meaney who blushed when the cute little rose selling Romanian gypsy Deanna recognized him: "Are you a movie star?"

The last fun TV regular was...well, the name completely escaped me then and it escapes me now. One of these days I'll remember. Cheers.

::: posted by Delara at 1/20/2003 03:25:00 AM



Sunday, January 19, 2003 :::
 

Travel Tip O'The Day

Right now my roommate Phil is groaning that TB just made another touchdown while the walls give the neighbors away as Tampa fans (yeah!). I don't suppose Phil will want to go to the Superbowl if the Eagles lose...

But if anyone else does, I did a quick search on Amtrak and found that it's
$48 round trip by train down to San Diego from LA.

A while ago I was supposed to meet my parents in N'Awlins over Thanksgiving. Unfortunately it did not work out for me -- they had a blast though. But my farewatcher tool still works for me. So if you feel like gumbo or a bit o' jazz, it's only $203 return from LA - New Orleans on Continental, Delta, United and American. Actually, scrolling down the page on Travelocity, every airline possible is offering that fare.

Hmmm...48 bucks...Wonder how much it is to scalp tickets to the 'Bowl?





::: posted by Delara at 1/19/2003 03:19:00 PM


 
I have decided that if I am going to expatriate, it will either be to England or Australia, the latter being more likely. And my dream city so far -- Chris, I apologize, you are about to lose even more respect for me -- is Melbourne. Turns out these folk agree with me:

Vancouver and Melbourne top city league

I found that article when checking out a story on the most expensive cities in the world. The most expensive is Tokyo, London ranks in at #7 and New York tops the US at 11.

::: posted by Delara at 1/19/2003 03:09:00 PM


 

Talk About Politics...

Oh dear. Canada likes Bush. Huh. Well, at least David Warren does:

What's right about Bush?

Thanks dustyshoes for that disturbing column.



::: posted by Delara at 1/19/2003 02:46:00 PM


 

...To The Superbowl!

Right now the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are holding on to a steady 7 point lead over Philladelphia Eagles. I bet the Raiders are at home right now studying TB's every move. I don't like American Football as much as English Football. My main reason: I think it's boring (I know, usually it's the opposite). Too many time outs, the clock stops every five seconds, commercials, bad refs -- okay, both sports have that -- and what's with all that padding? Ever heard of rugby?

So the score in the middle of the 3rd quarter is TB 17 : Philly 10. Delara's prediction: Philly will come up from behind to even the score but in the end, TB will win it. I dare put points up there -- I don't want to completely jinx TB!

Any other pre-final predictions?

::: posted by Delara at 1/19/2003 02:29:00 PM

Just another silly travel addict trying to get out of...