Out of Dodge

2003-09-08T03:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry kids...all two of you...I've moved Dodge to a new place:

Out of dodge

see ya there!

2003-09-02T17:54:00.000-07:00

What is this nonsense?

Barclaycard Premiership table
Mon Sep 01

1 Arsenal 12
2 Man Utd 9
3 Portsmouth 8
4 Man City 7
5 Chelsea 7
6 Birmingham 7
7 Fulham 6
8 Southampton 6
9 Blackburn 5
10 Liverpool 5
11 Charlton 5
12 Leeds United 5
13 Aston Villa 4
14 Everton 4
15 Tottenham 4
16 Leicester City 2
17 Bolton 2
18 Newcastle 1
19 Middlesbrough 1
20 Wolves 1

Need I say anything else? It is early on in the season though (she says, trying to convince herself that her team doesn't suck this year). Can this losing streak really be the result of one player being out? Bellamy, fix yourself up and get back to it!

2003-09-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

Help...can anyone tell me why it changes font on its own like that (see post directly below this one).

2003-09-02T17:28:00.000-07:00

Moving rocks the casbah...

Oh boy has the last week been full of hapiness and joy. No, really, I am not being sarcastic. Okay, yeah I am!

Phil, the guy in the other bedroom of the 2 bedroom apartment I was so graciously allowed to be a tenant in (even though I signed the same freakin' lease he did and he and I were supposed to be peers, equal if you may, in this venture but truly he made it his apartment that I was trapped in due to paperwork), finally flipped his last flip out on me and in return, so did I. Of course my version of flipping out is writing a really long nasty letter, putting it on the fridge where his nasty letter was, and then promptly taking it and throwing it away because I am a big scaredy cat and want to be the bigger man (so to speak). Phil has done nothing but criticize and judge me and I don't even want to get into what kind of hypocritical asshole he is. So I moved out ASAP. Fuck that nonsense. Just give me my security deposit and leave me alone.

Last note to Phil (if he ever gets off his stoned ass to check my site...wait a minute, he doesn't know I have a site!):

I gave you the money for the cranberry juice. Leave it alone already!

To end my rant...I'm a scorpio. For those who don't know anything about astrology, Scorpios are vengeful creatures. My vengeful streak was described above in the torn up hate letter. I suck at revenge. But man, I will let anyone I know (hence this lovely forum to spew my distate) about what a dick he is.

Where am I now?

Good question. I am staying in Winnetka, an area of Canoga Park, sandwiched between Woodland Hills to the west and, I believe, Tarzana to the east. It's a lovely home rented by my friend Jannette of Fox and Hounds Pub bar manager fame. And you thought I didn't spend that much time at the pub anymore...which is true and probably the reason why she and her boyfriend Gregg have decided to help me out of my most recent predicament...

I stayed on my friend Alex's couch for three nights. Night #2 he tried to stick his tongue down my throat, repeatedly, even though I said "fuck off." Yes, he was drunk, but I said no. Done. Jannette saw how miserable I was and now I am chillin' in the "blue room" west of the 405 and far away from almost everything I know. But it is free. And free is good.

Put it this way, my friend Nigel said to me, "I thought you wanted to move out of the Valley, not into it!"

...can't be choosers, Nige.

2003-08-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

I don't know what kind of sick and twisted joke Qantas is playing on us, but today, Travelocity listed a round trip fare of, hold on to your freakin hats, kids:

$71.00

From LA to Melbourne. Not Melbourne, Florida, but the very one in Oz. Of course, when one clicked on the icons there were no seats available. The next fare up:

$507.00

...proved the same: no flights available. The next? (I'm half dying at this point, knowing what's next):

$508.00

...nada. The first reasonable fare listed under Malaysian Airlines was at $804 RT and for some reason had absolutely no flights that actually returned to LA.

Can anyone tell me what the fuck that's all about?

2003-08-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

Hey, anyone out there who has a cool as all travel blog (or wanna be traveller blog) drop me a line and I'll attach you to mine! More audience!

2003-08-18T18:13:00.000-07:00

Finally!

The boys at the fab Boots N All Travel Network have, again, finally put together a blog all about my favorite have never been to land: Australia!

Read it every day, fall in love with the place and then buy me a plane ticket so I can go too! Air New Zealand was just advertising a price to Melbourne (sob) for $799 round trip.

This being the first job I've had in a couple of months, I guarantee that by New Years I will be on a goddamned plane to freakin Oz already! Or at least in Thailand on the way to Oz. I'm not getting any younger.

Please, take me to Oz!

2003-08-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

So I have three days of free internet access! Working on a Clorox Commercial, presently wrapping it out in the office of Visitor Productions. I do want to thank everyone who still hits this thing every day to see if I am alive or if I have anything interesting to say...A comment was made about the reliability of the "Shout Outs" from the Klink family...Sometimes they don't show up or it is full. Something to do with the server. If it is, email me your comments. I believe if you click on my name you can reach me via email (under each post).

My newest news is the looking for a new place to live. If anyone out there has a fab 2 br apartment/ extra room in their house in the Beachwood Cyn or Laurel Cyn areas of Los Angeles, give a shout out here! No leases, please...month to month only. I'm tired of footing the burdon when the other roommate cracks out!

Sad news is that I will no longer be living with the best little big pit bull in the world, Buster da dog. I'm going to miss his pouty eyes when I leave for work and his romping around, so excited when I come home from work that I cannot help but laugh. Won't miss the burrowing under the covers, stealing the covers, smell of dog, smell of dog food, licking of the face in the middle of the night. Still, can't help but smile when I think if that stupid silly dog.

2003-07-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

Fare Watcher says...

As of today, Travelocity has a sale price for its Los Angeles (LAX) - San Jose del Cabo (SJD) run...which makes sense since we are heading into the off season for Baja California.

Fare watcher price: $173 with return.

Go South, young people!

Hmmm...$562 with return for Bangkok...I bet I can find it for less!

2003-07-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, to elaborate on my below post regarding the lovely land o' Thai. Dan kept asking me what the hell I'm doing in LA. I know, I know!

Answer: not to whinge or anything, but...debt too high to leave.

Reply: you can pay your debt from anywhere. All you need is the plane ticket.

Answer: (hesitating by drinking big sip of Newkie Brown Ale) yeah, but...

Reply: If I set you up with a job in Bangkok, would you be willing to pick up everything and leave?

Answer: Shit yeah, try me.

Reply: I'm serious. If I call or email you next week, would you be able to leave?

...I know, to quote Radiohead:

"Nice dream."

So Dan knows a bit of the British expat community, especially those involved with teaching English, and I mean the ones who actually make money and love their jobs (ESL, big in Thailand, not so big pay there usually...I'd rather teach English in Japan, but who's got the right to be picky?). He also knows a couple of pub owners.

See, won't bank on it. Will still search for work here...but the guy has offered me a room in his condo anytime and I am sure to take him up on it for my upcoming planned trip in January to his hometown.

2003-07-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

Who wants to move to Thailand?

Um...I do! Last night I had drinks with my friend Eddie and his friend from out of town, Dan. Dan is also from the east coast (New Hampshire, specifically) so we all had a great time saying things like "dude, that's wicked cool" etc etc...He now works in real estate development and lives in a three bedroom condo in Thailand where his company is partially based (also based in Tokyo and Hong Kong). He's on a bit of a vacay at the moment and buried in a bit of culture shock as he hasn't seen such blatant Americanism in almost 6 years!

I wanna go!

2003-07-13T18:52:00.000-07:00

Todd? Beckham?

Over Easter my good friends Todd and Simon took a week long football trip to London...5 games, good ones too. Outside Highbury (Arsenal's stadium to those who do not know) Todd found himself being taunted by drunken football fans. That's right, the man voted "Best Groomed" on the Dreamworks Football team for 2002 happens to look like a (better looking) Beckham. He and Simon (6'4" shaved headed brit from Hull) thought that their arses were grass that afternoon. However a certain reporter saw headlines. Here's the actual photo courtesy of the photographer of the stylish duo outside Highbury.

2003-07-12T15:38:00.000-07:00

I just joined up with this thing called Friendster. Seems everyone is talking about it, including two of my friends who don't even know each other by the way, Jason and Kira. They both invited me to join this network of friends. Not sure if I like it yet, but it seems pretty neat. If I can get a job out of it I will buy Jason a pint.

If any of you guys wanna join, let me know by shouting out here or emailing me your intentions and yes, even YOU can join my network of friends.

2003-07-12T15:16:00.000-07:00

First Monster.com update:

I went online a bit ago and found that my humble little resume had 3 hits since I posted it! Rock on! But where are the phone inquiries, eh? So I go to view my resume and oh crap, it has my old phone number and email address on it. So I go to my old email address and there is one email inquiry from a furniture company in Minnesota. Obviously they did not read my res coz I specifically put US-California-Los Angeles, Oakland/East Bay and San Fran as my key US work areas (of course I did put down Oz and the UK. How could I resist?).

So result of Monster research so far: a few hits, which is cool as, but I am not working for an employer who does not pay attention to the details in my resume. Sloppy human resources work on their behalf.

From the shout out below

Michelle has an interview with our friends in red vests at Flight Centre next week and asked some advice. Okay, here goes:

There is a long computer personality test. That's right, these people think that a computer score is going to be able to tell whether or not you can sell travel. They say that you cannot get an answer wrong, but obviously you can if you do not get the gig. Also, they have a geography quiz, so study up on major landmarks, waterfalls (specifically four), where mountain ranges are located and the capitals of African countries.

But all in all, be yourself. You are not only selling travel but in the interview you are selling yourself to a salesperson. Even though I told them how much I love travel and am pretty much addicted to it I still did not get the position. I think that's because I was not so keen on the base pay they offered then. Now it's more so I'm ready to go for it.

Oh yeah, they don't make much off us budget travelers, so sell to them how much you'd love to do corporate and group travel! If you do that the job is so yours.

And that is Delara's friendly job advice of the day. Now I'm off to get drunk.

2003-07-10T11:57:00.000-07:00

Hey you, want to work for Google? I wouldn't mind it. Unfortunately I am to inexperienced for the jobs at their Job Page. The one that did catch my eye was the one about being a professional Blogger. Cool as hell!

So the job search is chugging along as slow as anAmtrak train. I've dropped resumes all over town at restuarants, high volume mall type places that you'd think'd be hiring during the summer, but to no avail (freakin' actors takin' all the work!). I've also whored myself out to Monster.com, a site up until recently when a friend was recruited off a posted resume (that's right, they called her) I thought was a waste of time. I'll keep everyone posted on whether it actually works. I've noticed that on a lot of travel forums, especially in regards to Oz and NZ, people tell you to use Monster. If it works there, will it work here?

In the shout out below, Jackie asks about airfare from Italy to the States in August...before I do a proper search, Jackie, if you are out there, I just want to confirm that you want to go from there to here and it is not a typo.

Right then. Off to bug a few companies I sent the res to, including Flight Centre. I had an extensive interview with them a few months ago and am now going to try to sell myself to them for real. I mean, I would think I am the perfect candidate for a travel agent job considering that I look up airfare for fun in my spare time. Man, I am a travel geek!

2003-07-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

My roommate who once cornered a friend of mine in the living room challenging her to tell him the reasons why people should travel has traveled more than I have in the last year. He's in Las Vegas with his brother visiting his Dad right now. And I cannot even afford to take my mum up on the offer of flying out to 'bama and road tripping back to Cali. That's right, the folks are finally moving to California. And there was much rejoicing.

As this seems to be my ten minutes of internet time this week and I have to search for many jobs (not jus one, but many), I'll post my fun Travel tip o' the day courtesy of Smarter Living, a site that gives me hope that one day even I, too, can get the hell out of dodge.

This month's fun student travel savings bit is on Oktoberfest. Looks like it's time to buy:

Airfare to Munich, buy til end of July

And the perfect companion piece to the above fares is another bright article by SL's own Eoin O'Carroll, a man that all us travel writers out there secretly despise yet respect at the same time.

Huh, did you know the first youth hostel was founded in Germany?

2003-07-02T14:40:00.000-07:00

Please ignore the weird font change below. I can't be assed to change it so there.

And a pit bull just stepped on my iBook. Sounds like the title of a travel book. Have you ever noticed the weird names that Tim Cahill (travel writing guru we must all bow down to) gives his travel books?

No, really, my friend and his dog are crashing at my pad right now and Buster, the happiest 10-yr-old pit bull in the world is whining behind the bedroom door cause he wants to play. But last time I let him in he rambled up to me all happy and tounge hangin' out crazy and stepped on Boris (name of computer. Yep, I'm a MAC owner). So he's been relegated to the land of the hallway. At least the air con is pumping.

Venice Beach

Yesterday me, Leigh and Buster went downto Venice Beach. It's tourist season already. Help Wanted signs in restaurant windows, tempting me to give up my apartment to Leigh and Buster and move to the beach for the summer. Since I was walking a dog (while his owner played basketball on the courts next to Muscle Beach) I became the local tourist information bureau. I gave directions to nearby streets, pointed out where Muscle Beach was to a woman who was just too short to see over the bleachers as it was right next to us, and even saw a few travelers with backpacks...man I wanted to go and beg them to take me with them!

So I had to move my car from the parking meter to free parking at 1pm and wandered into Global Gossip, an internet cafe on the corner of Windward and Ocean, just across the street from the Venice Beach Youth Hostel (not to be confused with the Venice Beach Youth Cotel on the same bit of Windward) and a spit's distance from the beach.

Global Gossip was fast, sure, but expensive. I paid $.50 for one minute. Seems a bit out of hand. Cool thing is that right next door, actually connected to GG, is a brand spankin' new red signed Flight Centre. Venice Beach is becoming a traveler's resource mecca. And it's all due to the foresight of our aussie friends who started the companies.

So, my Travel tip o' the day is that travelers to LA should stay at Venice Beach. It's cheap, there's cheap food, pricey internet, yeah, but a great time.

2003-06-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Took me forever to get here today. Blogger has a new platform, something called Dano (see Blog site for details. too much jargon for me. i just wanna post), and they've moved blogs over there. So since I automatically sign on to my bloggy thing I had no clue as to my username or password. Note to self: start writing this shit down.

Travel tip o' the day

Again, those travel folk are making my mouth water with juicy fares to New Zealand and Oz via Air New Zealand. $870 round trip to NZ or Oz. Of course I suppose that is only normal considering it's winter down there at the mo. I just love it when there is something worth reading in the junk mail folder.

2003-06-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Shout outs are back...now it's time to sit back and wait for 'em.

Hello???

2003-06-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

Um...what's happened to dodge?

I've been away for a while. Not on a holiday or road trip or even visiting my parents in Alabama (which I swore I would never do again, sorry mum and dad) but without internet access and usually working my ass off. Now that I am not working I have stumbled back into dodge and will rekindle my usual rantings and ravings about not being able to travel.

Lots has happened. Charlie (fr Oxford, England) and Jake (fr London), two RTWers I met (see many many past posts for more beta) at the pub one night joined the fold and we had a great time for a couple of months seeing LA, working at Dodgers games and getting generally pissed almost every night, had to leave suddenly. they moved out of their other place and proceded to take over my living room for a week. Welcome to Delara's Hostel.

Anyway, flights from Rarotonga are limited at the time they were hoping to fly (July) and if they didn't leave straightaway -- last wednesday -- they would be stuck in Rarotonga for a month. Which doesn't suck unless you don't have enough money and are on your way to New Zealand for work. So instead of testing out my theory of getting the boys new visas after taking a short trip to Mexico in July (Jake didn't want to test fate) so they could work more, get more dosh and then leave when it wasn't winter in the southern hemishpere, they packed up all their stuff four hours before the flight and I dropped them off with hugs and kisses.

It's good that they left. They could get stuck here in LA. And LA is no Rarotonga.

Now to figure out where the hell my "Shout Outs" went. How can one comment without comments? What happened to dodge when I was gone?

2003-06-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

The busy boys at The BootsnAll Travel Network have finally put up the first installments of my Baja trip entitled Diario de un Viaje: Baja California Sur . Last September I used some of my dole (sssh don't tell anyone) and escaped w/ airline credit down to Mexico for a bit of r and r as well as a cure for my unemployment insanity. Believe, soon I will repeat the trail south of the border, expecially when the roommate finds out I cannot pay next month's rent! Good thing for me he's not in the mafia. Anyway, have internet access for a bit (one of those free dial up AOL things, using the roommate's phone line as I've only the cellular...ain't I so "LA"?) so if you read the articles, give me a shout out here and let me know what you think...

Peace out for now.
...d

2003-05-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

I've just found out that the guys at Boot Blog have included my little blog on their list of blogs to visit...thanks guys! I know I've not been hugely active lately, but I'm tryin'!

Travel tip o' the day

Oh if only I could afford this right now:

Amazing fare to Oz

I am weeping that Flight Centre , an Australian based discount travel company, is offering such an amazing fare of $748 round trip LA to either Sydney or Melbourne. If anyone has means to travel before the end of May, I charge you to get out of dodge and go! Take lots of photos for me.

2003-05-15T16:09:00.000-07:00

Today, the lovely 15th of May, I've been covering the telephones at The Orphanage 's LA office. It's empty here (except for an Exec who travels between SF and LA a couple times a month). This is a new office, the entire building is being revamped in fact. Only sounds I've heard all day are the bangs and clatters of workers in the hallway considering that the phone has rang, oh, 15 times or so. Funny thing, whenever I answer the phone "The Orphanage," the person on the other line hesitates. One telemarketer thought he'd reached an actual orphanage and then asked if we accepted credit cards. Uh huh.

So I've been spending a lovely day on the internet perusing the boards at BootsnAll and thinking of putting the following question up on the forum:

If you were offered a 6 month contract starting two weeks hence...where would you go in those two weeks? My mind on the subject (which could be a solid reality for me, don't wanna jinx it though) is almost made up.
-I really wanted to go to Oz this summer, but only two weeks there would be a waste of money...give me at least 2 months!
-Another trip into Mexico? Cabo fr. $194 RT (Travelocity )? Cancun fr. $278 on Alaska Airlines ? It's starting to be not so cheap to fly down south...
-I've got a couple hundred clams worth of credit for Aer Lingus and am thinking of cashing it in for a UK/Spain trip. Aer Lingus just started up a route to Palma de Mallorca ! 67 Euros and I'm island hopping...

I dunno, do I have to think anymore? Ireland, Mallorca and England sound pretty solid to me. Now if they'd only call back on that job so I can get out of dodge...

2003-05-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

Well, in response to the below, the boys decided to lay down and take it. Sure, we all think the roommate sucks, but now I am convinced that it is their bad judgement as so-called budget travellers that got them into the mess. At least Jake's been fairly lucky in terms of finding cash work. Looks like he'll be the sole supporter until they reach Oz.

2003-05-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

A couple of my friends are in the process of travelling RTW (round the world). They originate fr the UK, Oxford and London respectively, and have settled here in LA for a while because one of them got a cash construction job and decided to make a go of it here before heading off to Tonga or wherever it is they are off to.

Now the girl they are staying with was friends with Jake's brother or something and is letting them crash at her pad. Thing is, she has absolutely no idea what a budget traveller is...she's charging them full rent to stay there for one month -- $1000.00 for both of them. I don't even pay half that for my rent! And Charlie hasn't been able to secure steady work yet so he is basically broke and they are basically stuck here. Their host is making them pay for everything (including her food), does not allow them to entertain friends or girls, they cannot change any of the furnishings if they so please as a normal roommate might, they cannot even use the living room as she works out of her home alot and uses said room for a work space -- so no television (giant HDTV -esque masterpiece, that TV).

So they are getting majorly ripped and I am feeling wicked empathetic considering this girl is being such a bitch. They are being overcharged. So my idea is to go and talk to her and explain what a budget traveller is, however part of me thinks she'll stare me down like the artsy little Hollywood girl that she is. I've already advised the boys to move out and get their $$ back, finding someone who is empathetic (besides me as I've no more room!) to their sitch and will charge them a proper amount, like $200 ea.

Anyone have any ideas? I'm going to post this soon on BootsnAll to see what kind of responses I'll get. Just want to help out my struggling friends.

2003-05-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

What will they think of next?

Win a chance to get beaten up - in a video game

I've always wanted to know what I'd look like bloodied and pulped. Hmmmm.

2003-05-08T13:18:00.000-07:00

Everything is back to normal. Working, living, sleeping way too much. I think I am getting sick because when I got home from work last night at 6:15p I decided to take a little nap and woke up at 1:30a. Oops.

The location for this particular shoot is Downtown. That makes this job #2 in a row that thought shooting downtown is a great idea. Today I had to drop off a CD at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel for our choreographer and realized that it was the location for such films as "Nick of Time" and "True Lies"...I'm finding DT to be a fairly interesting place.

2003-05-06T17:02:00.000-07:00

The prodigal son returns. My roommie flies in tonight from the UK so I can rule out a relaxing night. But more tomorrow as I've got to rush off and do a call sheet.

2003-05-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

I've been a bad blogger, I know I know. Flipside is that I've been busy working and, well, not working and life seems to pass by a lot faster these days.

Biggest of recent news is the visit of the lovely Trisha Sng for a less than 24 hr stopover here in LA. She wrote about the strange visit in her travelogue ...the names of the innocent (besides myself) have been changed to protect the, well, innocent. I.e. my towel clad roommates' name is notRoy. Another disclaimer...he had no idea that she was documenting her travels online...nor will he ever know. Hee hee.

And speaking of my best mate who shall not be named at this time...he had to fly to London, England with his brother to be with his family as his mum passed away (the day after his arrival, thank g/d). She was waiting patiently for her boys to arrive. He plans on a side trip to Amsterdam if time and money permit during his trip home. Hey, we all need some form of self medicating during times of trial. When in Europe...

I've also been busy with a couple of new friends who had only flown in for a week from London but whom we convinced should stay on for at least a month seeing as they've found solid cash work and all...Jake and Charlie fr W. London have been taking LA by storm and forcing me to go to fabulous dance clubs against my will. No, really, stop laughing! I was totally forced to go out to see Little Louie Vega, quite possibly the best club night ever at Deep . And that was last Sunday.

So today is Cinquo de Mayo, what us Americans celebrate as the 5th of May, a day to drink copious amounts of tequila and support our local mexican themed bar. I've a triple bill on the menu: dinner and 1/2 priced margaritas at Mexicali, a quick stop by the pub to support my local and then off to Monday Social at Las Palmas for another night of god-awful dancing w/ the brits. How will you celebrate your 5 May?!

Oh, and pretty soon I will be compiling said "LA Travel Bits" for any and all who are interested. Keep checking. I swear my ramblings will impress then. No, seriously.

2003-04-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

There is to be a new direction of Dodge. Yes, I am trying to get out of Los Angeles. But I have come to love the silly place and not mind so much my role in it. I find myself defending it to all those "don't need to spend more than two days in that shithole" dissenters repeatedly. Now that I have called this place home now for nearing four years I find that I've become a bit of an expert on the joint. I can't seem to get lost anymore (except Downtown. Be afraid, very afraid). I relish the midweek two hour trips to Venice Bch my roommate and I make so he can play b-ball and I can walk and watch the sunset. I even, not always, enjoy traffic -- or actually the challenege of eluding said traffic. I know, I am one sick puppy. Where did my desperate desire to depart, well, depart to?

It's still here underneath the desire to make enough money to do things like pay off bills and buy new gear for my little Mac friend here, the desire to move into a house instead of being holed up in my sucky apartment. But in the mean time I'm emmersed so in the LA scene, culture and lifestyle that I feel I should bring a bit of that to this blog. So that's what your gonna get besides my daily rants. Should I change the tagline? I dunno, what do you guys want to know about Los Angeles?

2003-04-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

World events have me reeling. I've been tuning in to KCRW , my local NPR/BBC World broadcasting station all day long with wonder. Saddam's regime is collapsing and people are unsure about the American military presence. I mean, wouldn't you? Soldiers from other countries come in, take out the government, continue to fight the "good" fight. I'd be wary that they'd put one of their own in. Is our fight in Iraq a form of modern colonialism?

The Iraqi people are celebrating the fall in drastic ways. Some are looting government buildings to take back the money that has been stolen from them over the last thirty years. Some are putting flowers on tanks. Perhaps the rest are watching the new television station "Towards Freedom". Blair and Bush are broadcasting to the poeple over this new station . What do the people do with this newfound freedom?

Oh, and on the news this AM I found out that NBC already has a TV movie in the works about that woman POW who was rescued. To be aired in 90 days. Hooray for Hollywood. Speaking of, back to work.

2003-04-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

I've been blogging for a little while now, having a pretty good time with it, and now I'd like to introduce a mate's new blog (these boot boyz are taking over the world one blog at a time):

Eurail blog

Travel addicts slash slaves to "the Man" eat your heart out. Anthony is heading out on a summer bacckpacking adventure around Europe...obviously sponsored by the good boys at Eurail. See, this is what the world needs, in my silly opinion: travelers doing it, actually traveling, and telling the world about it. Think about it, we spend all that money every day sitting in an internet cafe instead of taking in the culture while traveling we should at least be blogging about it, right?

My new mission: find some sort of sponsor who will pay for my travels as I tote/travel in,on or around their product and while I write about it, convincing all sorts of gullible saps to by, say, Teva sandles or buy tickets online at www.soandsoairline.com.

Wishful thinking.

It's an early night here at Visitor Productions. Almost 6pm and I am going home. What to do with the rest of the day?

2003-04-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

Good to be back...

Man, being without the internet can be both a blessing and a giant curse. Adelphia cable, my trusty (or not so) cable provider was charging me $45 for a bad connection; i.e. no connection whatsoever. So I told them where to shove it (in a very nice tone as they still provide me with a great digital cable connection) and have been actually saving pennies by visiting the nearby Kinkos. Kinkos is an all purpose make your copies, send your faxes, fed-exes and in turn wait in gigantic lines, get giantly pissed off at incompetent "Co-Workers" and usually end up either storming out or getting something for free. As in the other day...I brought in my iBook for a bit of a net session at $.10/minute but my computer is, get this, too new! Kinkos' system doesn't work with OSX, ladies and gentlemen, so she gave me a half hour of free net on their machines. Sweet.

As for what I've been up to lately...inadvertently working for Bill Gates. Microsoft commercial. Started on Monday, hence my reinstatement in the electronic world. I'm working with the Production Mgr from the last spot I worked on, Stacey, who has in turn become my biggest patron and saviour of sorts. Not only is she keeping me busy for this entire month as her personal PA, she is getting engaged (major congratulations) and is moving in with Mr. Right mid-May...and I am taking her gorgeous stupidly huge home in Sherman Oaks. It's a startelingly big 4br house in a wicked area with tons of stuff to walk to. It's going to me myself and my roommate Leigh, his brother Russell and Russ' wife. So there will be a spare room for guests (hint hint to Melissa or Jeremy or any other friends/fam in far away places). And we cannot forget lovely Buster the pit bull who is my new best friend. He is being boarded in Sun Valley, sharing a yard with a horse, and I go up there as much as possible to take him for walks and play. Never in my life have I encountered as much slobber (jokes may begin now).

Must lock up the offices. Off to the pub for a pint before my voice completely goes...don't want to blame my upcoming larangitis (sic?) on my Newkie Brown!

2003-03-19T15:42:00.000-08:00

Countdown to the Oscars(registered trademark)

Last night I went to see Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers again. Amazing film, even on second viewing. It's back in theatres due to the massive amount of nominations...a.k.a. Let's get more money from the movie going public. I have abolutely no idea what is or is not nominated, but TNT Magazine has a run down of the Antipodean nominees and some others that should have been nominated...hee hee.

Nicole Kidman is getting major kudos, however doesn't anyone ever realize that when someone wins the Golden Globe, they rarely win an Oscar as well? Perhaps that will change. Nic diserves an award if not for her performance in "The Hours" (which I've not seen), but for her overall career. Shit, if they are going to give one to Julia Roberts...

2003-03-14T20:35:00.000-08:00

People here have been taking advantage of my honed budget travel skills...a last minute flight to (w/return) Miami from LA...finding tickets for the UPM and her neice round trip to NYC...hunting down the perfect holiday fare to Maui for the Producer. All this hunting for other people's holidays got me thinking about mine and why I haven't planned one.

Last night me and my roommate decided to hit the road for a few days after this job is done (end of March). I'm thinking either weekend in Palm Springs: pure pampering and playing by the pool (guaranteed sunburns for both of us: me the pale type of dutch descent and he the brit) or a stint in Vegas, baby. I'm thinking if Vegas is a go that a side trip to the Grand Canyon may just be in order. We shall see.

2003-03-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

We've started shooting. Day 1 of 3. Production call was 6:30a and I, lucky girl that I am, got to pick up the director at 7:15, so I got to get an extra 40 mins of sleep! Hooray! I know, very exciting.

...and the good news is that I'm going to be able to pay off some stuff...which allows me to free up a couple of weeks for a bit of a holiday. I was going to finally hit Eire and England...but part of me wants beach, sun and cocktails (Mexico? Hawaii? Spain?).

2003-03-12T19:22:00.000-08:00

Working on commercials is fun

It's officially 13 hours kids. I have a view of the craft service table from my desk and my GOD he (Gus) puts out the best food! Greek stuff, homemade goodies and heaps of Mountain Dew...time to join a gym or just detox from the introveinous stream of caffeine I've got attached to my arm.

Got to go fax call sheets to lots of people who are already home. Lucky shits.

2003-03-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

Sorry guys...working on a national JC Penney commercial. Very busy. Must do mileage (.33/mile...right on!).

I swear I'll be back soon if I have a day off in the next 2 1/2 weeks. Stay tuned....

2003-03-04T19:15:00.000-08:00

Travel tip o' the day

Oi Stu! You wanna go to Eire for mere pence? Free (except for taxes) flights on Ryan Air from Stansted to Derry or Shannan. What are you waiting for???

Ryan Air Sale

2003-03-04T19:08:00.000-08:00

Look Ma, I watched the news!

My roommate Phil came up to me tonight and asked if I carried Mace with me. I have never considered that sort of drastic protection as it seems like if I do carry it, that's when I'll need it. I don't walk around at night alone even though I live in a very residential area, I don't talk to strangers (outside of a public place) and if I am out at night I am usually with my tall guy friends (95% of my friends are over 6'). I feel very safe with my boys.

He brought this up because yesterday the body a young girl, Kristine Johnson, was found out in the Hollywood Hills by hikers . She was lured out there by a man claiming to be a photographer who wanted her to be in a film. The taste of possible stardom led this 21 year old girl to her death.

Also yesterday was a pretty cool high speed chase. I met the Leadman from this previous job for a late lunch at the pub (on the production, natch) and a pint. One of Jen's (the bartender) friends called up saying that a high speed chase was happening right outside on the corners of Vineland and Ventura. Like silly schoolchildren we all went outside and counted 7 helicopters and 2 police planes. We figured the car was heading up Lankershim which, in the Universal City area, runs northwest into the Valley. We finished off our pints watching the chase on TV and trying to guess where he was driving to.

Okay, this guy, not too bright since he's running from countless police cars and aircraft in a 1980s red Toyota hatchback. But besides that, he was screwing through surface streets at high speeds and signaling. Good thing, because otherwise we'd have lost him! He goes around in circles just north of Oxnard St. and pulls into what looks like his apartment building! The cops run in and arrest the wrong guy...there was a guy who walked out of an apartment, probably getting his laundry (which reminds me...hold on...okay, I'm back) and had no idea that a chase suspect had ran by him. So the cops arrest him! We're all in the pub yelling at the TV "go up the other staircase!" at these Keystone-ish cops.

I do not mean to make light of the situation, but it was all so rediculous. My friend told me later that he was almost rearended by this guy when he was pulling into work on Lankershim. Besides that the whole thing was laughable.

The police did not want the chase aired, according to this LA Times article . My favorite part of this article is when a police sgt. says "He was a really good driver."

2003-03-03T22:03:00.000-08:00

Sigh.

In the below posting I mentioned that The Godfather was suposed to be on at 8pm on AMC (not to be confused with American Movie Classics). Well, I turned it on and there was a tribute of some sort for Denzel Washington, who thoroughly deserves tribute...but man, I was so looking forward to laying in bed with a glass of Banrock Station Merlot (2001) watching the genius of Coppola. Will Part 2 really be on tomorrow or is that a fake out too?

Go Newcastle!

Unfortunately I was to run down and sick after this hard ass week of 14-18 hour days to go to the pub and watch the Newcastle v Chelsea game on Saturday...but here's a little recap of our 2 -1 win:

Newcastle sink Chelsea

Hopefully I'll catch the rerun on Fox Sports En Espanol this week...

Anyway, the damn good news is that Newcastle and Man U are tied at 55 points! Let's see how we do on Wednesday against Middlesbrough...let's hope we bash 'em as Man U is set to play Leeds that day as well, and we all know how that game is going to turn out (sorry Leeds fans)...

2003-03-03T19:57:00.000-08:00

Technology, blessing or what?

I'm going with what at the moment. My internet connection has been out since the 25th (that's almost a week at this point) and it hasn't been a total disaster as I've been mucho busy and too tired to even get on the net for a bit of ranting and emailing. But in the past week technology, or I should specify the lack of others' knowledge of technology has caused more problems than good. I worked with a bloke who got all bent out of shape when he asked me to type up a memo for him and fax it to a vendor. No big, easy as, right? Well my printer cartridge crapped out, my fax program decided to not work for some silly reason (must have been on strike) and when he said "oh, just plug it into my [archaic printer from the 80s] and we'll fax it from here."

"Um, I can't, the connections are not compatible."

"Could you just put it on one of these plastic things?" (waves around a floppy)

"Well, see, my computer doesn't have a floppy drive."

You can imagine the scenario from there. It would be easy, technology would be a breeze if everyone just embraced it at the same pace. I feel impatient having to explain to a 40 yr old how sending an email is faster and easier than faxing. I suppose you can't teach an old dog new tricks (not saying that 40 is old, not at all....).

Well, I'll jump back on later to chat about life, liberty and the pursuit of a paycheck as soon as The Godfather is over. American Movie Channel (48 for Studio City Adelphia users), 8pm. Rock on!

2003-02-25T23:35:00.000-08:00

It occurs to me that some of you readers may not know (oh the horror) what DUNKIN DONUTS is...oh you poor deprived kids. There was the Coffee Coolata before Starbucks' Frappuccino (sic?) or the Iced Blended (registered trademark of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf ), the medium regular iced coffee, flavored if you must, before the iced caramel macchiato. They used to provide me with freshly made while I waited in the drive thru $1.99 breakfast sandwiches (egg and cheese on croissant, please) before going to work at the dry cleaners at 6:30am. It was a pleasure to say "medium regular" and get the perfect amount of sugar and cream.

The west coast, or at least the SoCal part of it, is inundated with the burnt smell of sucky italian roasts and non-drive thru (really, do we need any more traffic? I once sat in a drive thru at a Starbucks in Orlando, FL, waiting for someone to get their cappucino...once I found their DD on International Drive...well, you know) gourmet coffee chains. I miss the inexpensive yet wicked tasty DD...

Thanks to Jeremy for that jaunt down memory lane. And now to get to sleep as I've miles to drive tomorrow...this is crunch time as we shoot on Thursday. Oh! I and I finally heard the song, "Unwell", on the radio today. It's okay. What do you expect for Matchbox Twenty?

2003-02-25T13:42:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone...sorry, but it seems I've been out of commission here at Out of Dodge...I'm freaking busy! I shouldn't even be online right now. I just heated up some leftover curry and wolved it down on my lunch "break" and found myself back in dodge. I've got oversized towels, shampoo and soap to buy (I'll explain later...probably when the job is done seeing as I've no actual time right now to even finish this sent

2003-02-22T20:13:00.000-08:00

Waltham and Quincy stream of consciousness

Living a couple miles from Boston proper (sic), my pad is on the second floor of a restored old house just off of Moody Street in Waltham. I'm not sure where that street's name comes from, but it would be aptly named Zoning Ave. Not that its residents aren't of foul disposition, but Moody crosses the Charles River just about exactly where the first mill in America started the industrial revolution, just downstream from the (somewhat) famous Waltham Watch Factory, and it still hosts one of the oldest famers markets in the country.

Then the zoning kicks in.

Twenty restaurants, half open late for deliveries to the city's two colleges, a somewhat artsy filmhaus, Indian Markets, a couple convenience stores, an adult book/movie store, a tapas bar (across the street from a dive townie pub), three funeral homes, and one dirty, cheap, disgusting, fabulous, stinky cheap chinese place called, what else, The Tiki House.

If smelling something is tasting it with your nose, I munch the Tiki nightly. It even overpowers the sweet sweet smells of the true New England industrial-come-strip mall city - Dunkin Donuts.

Dunkin Donuts was invented in Qunicy, Mass.

And that's where I went rock climbing yesterday. OK, so a longer lead-in has never been written. But you've read this far, so stay with me.

Yeah, there's four feet of snow on the ground. But there's this sweet little cliff at Quincy Quarries (home of America's first railway - built to transport huge blocks of granite down a steep hill and across West Quincy to the Neponset River to be floated across Boston Harbor to Charlestown to make a big phallic obelisk on Bunker Hill for some reason). Anyway, this cliff soaks up sun, and I was rock climbing yesterday, February 21st in Massachusetts.

My point in this? Bragging I guess. I forget why I wrote all this. Anyway, the Red Sox are going to kick some arse this year. Go Sox.

2003-02-22T19:16:00.000-08:00

Today in Sports

Tonight,10pm on Showtime:

Tyson v Etienne

Not a huge boxing fan, but ever since Tyson started going mad I have been curious about his boxing career. And I am convinced that that Tyson's tattoo is actually henna and is going to melt off when he sweats in the ring. Nah, Tyson is bad ass and I would believe a madman like him would dig getting a facial tattoo. Interesting how there is more talk of his tattoo than of his chances of winning . Sorry, Mike.

2003-02-22T18:55:00.000-08:00

I have just returned from an amazing late lunch/early dinner at a Hollywood institution:

Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles

People are obsessed with this place. I went with my friend Jason, a newly addicted Roscoe patron, who suggested I get #13: one waffle, one piece of chicken. And OH MY GOD. I smothered that waffle with butter, doused it with all the syrup they gave me and ate that fried chicken with my hands like a good girl, licking my fingers clean (the best part!) I am presently in a chicken and waffle coma and wonder why I was so freaked out by that combination when I was living for that short time last year in Alabama. Soul food rocks. This has officially become an every Saturday thing.

Here are a few sites where the raves about Roscoe's are plentiful. I charge you to go if you live here in LA!

Lee Stranahan's Roscoe's page

Splendora's Review

There are a few locations in LA and Pasadena but for the authentic experience, head to Gower St and Sunset in Hollywood. Expect a wait no matter what time of day. I can't wait until next Saturday!

Now all I need to do is go to Pink's Hot Dogs on La Brea. But every time I ever thought of stopping there I'd see the giant crowd of people spilling into the street, waiting for a chili dog. And I'm not sure I am ready to shirk my mostly vegetarian diet. No drama on giving up the veggi ways for a bit of Roscoe's famous chicken, but for a chili dog?

2003-02-19T21:41:00.000-08:00

...and now to allay everyone's concern over my newest speedbump in life (read Rant rant rant... a few posts down)...

I am employed.

That's right, Tuesday night I received a call from a Production Coordinator friend of mine who works mostly on commercials and the like and he offered me a position as his Assistant Coordinator, which just so happens to be what I do (not what I like, but what I do). He said he would call me today to let me know the details. Then this morning I received a call from my friend Philip Duffin , Production Designer extraordinaire (check out his credits: Evil Dead 2!) who wants to employ me longer and pay me more as his Art Department Coordinator. I start tomorrow on the new Matchbox 20 music video. It's a seven day gig with weekends off. Philip and his crew come into the pub, so we'll be a tight knit group and probably have heaps of fun. Needless to say, the first thought that came into my head after I accepted the job?

Australia here I come!

Okay, I'll pay off a few bills/loans first, but the actual goal that I set for myself last January 1st is finally starting to look like reality and not daydream. Philip is a great contact to have as he does everything from music videos to commercials to features. He and his crew have been steadily employed (give or take a week or two here and there) for the past 8 months. Hook a girl up!

2003-02-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

Questions about Boston and the Northeast

Below this post is the first of many sarcastic and, I'm sure, witty posts from my brother Jeremy. Ladies, he's a sagitarius and a bit of a gear head. If anyone has questions on gear, climbing or climbing gear, he's your man.

I was actually wondering how the weather has been over this nasty President's Day holiday. I know it was a gorgeous sunny 70 something here in LA, but how was the weather there in Mass with that giant storm that passed through?

They are saying now that the snow is over, the Northeast better watch out for flooding . Man, that sucks.

2003-02-18T19:26:00.000-08:00

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

2003-02-17T22:18:00.000-08:00

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?

2003-02-17T15:13:00.000-08:00

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")...

2003-02-17T09:41:00.000-08:00

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...

2003-02-16T03:10:00.000-08:00

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.

2003-02-16T03:00:00.000-08:00

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.

2003-02-14T15:38:00.000-08:00

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?

2003-02-12T12:03:00.000-08:00

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?)

2003-02-10T01:12:00.000-08:00

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.)

2003-02-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

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?

2003-02-05T18:04:00.000-08:00

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!

2003-02-05T17:43:00.000-08:00

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...

2003-02-05T03:40:00.000-08:00

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.

2003-02-04T15:09:00.000-08:00

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!

2003-02-04T15:00:00.000-08:00

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.

2003-02-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

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 .

2003-01-31T16:48:00.000-08:00

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....

2003-01-29T18:39:00.000-08:00

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.

2003-01-28T15:11:00.000-08:00

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!

2003-01-27T16:21:00.000-08:00

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 .

2003-01-27T02:38:00.000-08:00

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...

2003-01-27T02:26:00.000-08:00

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.

2003-01-24T17:07:00.000-08:00

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 .

2003-01-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

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!)

2003-01-23T18:20:00.000-08:00

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.

2003-01-23T02:17:00.000-08:00

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.

2003-01-22T18:42:00.000-08:00

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?

2003-01-21T16:22:00.000-08:00

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".

2003-01-21T16:10:00.000-08:00

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!

2003-01-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

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.

2003-01-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

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.

2003-01-20T03:25:00.000-08:00

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.

2003-01-19T15:19:00.000-08:00

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?

2003-01-19T15:09:00.000-08:00

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.

2003-01-19T14:46:00.000-08:00

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.

2003-01-19T14:29:00.000-08:00

...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?

2003-01-18T16:09:00.000-08:00

Travel Tip O' The Day

Aero California has specials right now for Los Angeles to San Jose del Cabo (Los Cabos), Mexico. $150 return (not incl taxes). With spring break coming up, this is the perfect time to snatch that fare up as it is usually twice that. On my trip into Baja California Sur in September, the fare was $260 (I had a voucher which reduced the fare).

For more info on Baja, go to Amigo's de Baja's Bajanet . Do yourself a favor: if you go, get out of Cabo as soon as possible. It's fun for a day or two but the real Mexico is to be found further north.

For that Aero California fare, head to Travelocity .

2003-01-18T15:37:00.000-08:00

Talk About Politics...

There seems to be some sort of consensus outside the US border that all Americans back Bush in regards to Iraq. I am a natural born dissenter (thanks mum and dad) and would like to think that there is another way of, well, everyone getting over themselves outside of starting a war. I do not pretend to know all the issues as I usually cannot stand the way the US media portrays, erm, anything. Hence why I look to outside sources for my news, as it is refreshing to see the way the rest of the world sees us. And it ain't all pretty.

Dustyshoes, a friend from BootsnAll sent me this opinion article by British author John Le Carre about the imminent war and America's decent into madness.

The United States of America Has Gone Mad

It is a well written, thought provoking article. Thanks dustyshoes!

2003-01-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

Go Newcastle!

Today is a good day for football (soccer to us yanks). Chelsea lost to Man U (final score 2 - 1) and my team, Newcastle, won at home game against Man C 2 - 0. Shearer scored a goal 10 seconds in and Bellamy put in the second at 64. So this win coupled with Chelsea's loss propells the Magpies to 3rd in the Premiership standings. The top five are (surprise, surprise):

1. Arsenal - 49
2. Manchester United - 47
3. Newcastle - 42
4. Chelsea - 41
5. Everton - 39

Next up for Newcastle is Wednesday's match against the Bolton Wanderers.

If you want to check out where your team is, go to ESPN's Soccernet or your team's official page.

2003-01-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

By the way, I've been heading to HTML Goodies in order to teach myself all this tag stuff. It's slowgoing...

2003-01-17T18:57:00.000-08:00

Okay kids, the whole comments thing is activated. At the end of each post is "Shout out"...go ahead and speak your piece. Now time to change the color. Hmmm...(enter Peanuts teacher character now)...

2003-01-17T18:47:00.000-08:00

How frustrating is that? Internet Explorer decided to close on its own, just when I was about to post today's rant. Sigh. Back on with it then.

Comments

Many people have inquired about the lack of a comments space. I know, I know. However Blogger does not have that capability yet. I was refered to a site which gave me code to insert into the template and all of a sudden I was in class with Charlie Brown and the teacher sounded like a muted trumpet. So I followed directions. Let's see if it works.

Until then, any comments people send me I will post here next time I log on until I straighten this thing out. Chris, the authorized Aussie Boot Boy sent a comment regarding the beer price hikes in Oz:

"Oh, and the beer price increase in Oz sucks. It was expensinve when I was back 2 years ago and now it's getting outrageous. It's going to be tough to keep our reputation as a bunch of beer swilling yobbos if the govt makes it a luxury."

Chris, my question to you: Does the Oz gov't see beer as US views cigarettes? In California the price of a pack of butts is just barely over $4.00 (I pay $4.01 at the 7-11, corner Vineland and Ventura...sorry Mom, NY Rez didn't work), and the gov't thinks that people will quit if they cannot afford it. Nice theory, but addicts always find a way (duty free shops, internet mail order, New Hampshire). Does your gov't really think they can tame the beast that is Australia's supposed alcoholism by raising the prices? I dunno, I think that the Aussie's will find a way to keep their proud, beer-swilling rep. I remember the first time I heard the phrase "sober group of Australians". Giggles ensued.

The Scene in LA

Just found out that Dirty Vegas will be doing a DJ set at Spundae at Circus on Saturday, January 25th. I know I'll be there. For more info check out Groove Tickets or the official Spundae site.

For anyone who was wondering what happened with the pub quiz...I was called in to work and could not go. So sad. But I did get to the pub in time to find the team I usually play on received third place. Good going guys. I had a pint with a couple of friends before heading over to Clear, a new minimalisticly decorated cocktail lounge in Studio City. It's a Hollywood bar without the Hollywood (too bad for the H'wood prices). Anyway, Mick spins on Thursday nights and it's a good time. Mick's set was mellow, a chill start to the night, but the guy after him picked it up a bit and dancing ensued. Good times.

Travel Tip o' the Day

Anyone who is researching a trip should head to Smarter Living and sign up for their travel newsletters. They've all sorts of categories like air deals, cars, hotels, cruises, packages, and even an issue on student travel including shoestring budget articles by Eoin O'Carroll

Their top deal today is Amsterdam. If I want I can go there now for $298 with return, Feb. 6 through March 31. Good to know.

2003-01-16T16:54:00.000-08:00

I just got back from lunch with a friend over in Canoga Park. Lovely little dive/diner named Nico's (Sherman Way and Shoup). Great eggs benedict. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a benedict addict. If it's on the menu, it must be eaten. Anyway, the point is, on my drive back, 3pm, the 101 freeway was jammed. No accidents, no construction, just too many cars in one place. What took 15 minutes to get to now took an hour to return. I've learned to live with the monstrous LA traffic. As long as you have the right tunes and stay in one lane and chill, you're good. It's the fuckers that weave in and out of lanes trying to go faster than 20mph that get the rest of us in trouble. Instead of impatience, I cruised back listening to old Paul Oakenfold full and happy.

Let's take a look at today's headlines. I'm not a big fan of the LA Times . Not sure why, I suppose it's because I've always thought it to be too sensational, too much Hollywood, not enough substance. I grew up with The Boston Globe , a newspaper I always thought to be spot on. I try to hit news sources from across the globe in order to reach outside the US' borders.

And today while checking out Australia's The Daily Telegraph (okay, the LA Times is so much more newsworthy than this Aussie rag) I found yet another reason why I love Oz:

Beer drinkers carry the can again

There is something to be said for a paper that writes reports on the rising cost of a can of VB instead of UN inspectors finding 11 empty chemical warheads in Iraq. Go Australia!

For more reliable and less sensational news, head to The Age , Melbourne's daily. At the moment firefighters are battling about 90 bush fires in the state of Victoria .

...last night I had an interesting conversation with one of my friends who is orignally from London. I cannot remember how the conversation started, but he disclosed to me that he didn't know what racism was until he moved to the states when he was 15. The schools he went to in London were fully integrated, no one gave a crap what color you were (they only care about where you live, accents and all). Imagine that, to be blissfully unaware of that brand of hatred and then to be thrown directly into it, even being an object of scepticism yourself. Food for thought.

Travel tip o' the day:

March 1 - May 31, 2003; Los Angeles to Sydney: $955 round trip. Check it out at Qantas' website .

Time for a nap before I decide whether to go to the pub for their second round of the pub quiz. I don't think I dig it anymore. It was fun when it was about drinking and not about winning. Now it's a competition and, quite frankly, I could give a...right, nap. Ciao.

2003-01-15T18:53:00.000-08:00

One more thing...anyone who knows me knows of my right ankle. I know, I whinged about it enough (shut up already!). Anyway, I just looked at the date and yesterday would be the one year anniversary of the Breaking of Delara's Right Ankle in Alabama. Right now last year I was on day one of a lovely morphine drip. Sigh.

It's amazing how I thought it was the end of the world. And, actually, it's amazing how much it actually hurts right now. Okay okay, I'll shut up. Later.

2003-01-15T18:27:00.000-08:00

Right! Before I sign off and hit the land of the living I just want to put out a few of my favorite web sites for the travel inclined:

BootsnAll

BootsnAll is a great place for the independent traveller to vicariously live and/or research their next trip through contributing authors' stories. Make sure you stop by their active forum. Unlike Lonely Planet's spam filled Thorn Tree, Boot's forum is pretty much all travel all of the time. Watch out for Brandon though (he he).

Here's a link to my first published travel story on Madrid, Spain. On the left hand side you can sift through the others. Madrid, City of the Giants

The other sites I frequent lately are all Boots hosted blogs:

London Blog
Bali Blog

I think that's what I like the most about BnA. They are slowly branching out across the globe to inform the traveller about what's going on when. And considering that I've met the boyz presently in Bali, it makes it a little closer to home. Yep. Already planniny my Bali adventure.

The other blog I really dig as it helps me get out of my self proclaimed writer's block is travel writer and Boots girl Jen Leo. If you are at all into writing, travel writing and trying to break in to journalism, be sure to give her a shout at Written Road.

Oi, my back hurts and I'm ready for a bit of dinner. Kind of sucks when you have to sit on the floor with your computer No desk, no chair, no worries. Cheers.

2003-01-15T17:53:00.000-08:00

Well, it's day one of this blog thing. I've been dying to get into blogging but told myself I'd only do it when I was on the road, when I travelled. I wanted to share my travel experiences with all the poor sods who had to stay at home and work or whatever. Now look at me, a poor sod sitting at home watching the savings account slowly climb up in numbers.

So then this is a test. To see if I've the muscle to do the daily blog. I suppose my mission statement is to keep everyone updated on the ins and outs of Los Angeles, on my constant travel addicted research and my many quashed attempts to get out of dodge. Cheers.