MONDAY, JUNE
6 2005
summer's almost here
by
mike
 i thought i would write a really quick update, considering i haven't been writing much recently.
i've booked kings and my flights from london to amsterdam, for july 16. our tickets for the underworld show on july 17 have also been purchased. later this week, i'll be heading down to sta to see what sort of deals they can do us for rail passes, insurance, flights back to australia etc.. july 16 is just short of 6 weeks away - our time away is very quickly coming to an end :(
this wednesday sees yet another generator party - the start of summer party! this was great fun last year, and this years party should hopefully be just as good. a band is playing from 10 till 1, and russ and i will be djing from 1 till 3.
i haven't done the happy birthday thing in a while (mainly because i keep forgetting, sorry), so...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOMINIC!!
it's dom's bday tomorrow, and i'm sure we'll celebrate it in style in the gen bar. happy birthday bella!
haven't heard from mr faulkner in a few days, but last i heard he was getting married by elvis in some vegas chapel...kings, get keep the updates coming boy!
- mike
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SUNDAY, MAY
29 2005
Smokies to the Big Easy - Knoxville to New Orleans
by
Kings
This is a very quick update - will edit this later and fill it out a little.
On Tuesday morning I said goodbye to Atlanta (and Obi who looked after me so well there - thanks Obi!!) and headed to Knoxville to see Brian and Matt who Mike and I met while on a train from Paris to Amsterdam.
  On Wednesday Brian and I headed to the Smoky Mountains - to a part called the Chiminies - and hiked to the top. It wasnt too difficult - about 2 miles there - and at the top was a massive rocky outcrop that looked out over the pretty much everything which made the walk worth it.
That evening Brian, Matt and Brians flatmate played some Sokpa (an Itallian card game I learnt in Amsterdam) and headed to a few bars before I had to get on a bus back to Atlanta. After the bus I made my way to the Amtrak station and took a 11 hour train to New Orleans - where I am writing this from now.
 New Orleans is a great place to relax - I've spent 4 nights here it still isnt even nearly enough. The hostel where I am staying - India House - has a great atmosphere which is making it very difficult to leave and I've also met a very nice girl - Lara - who has made my stay in New Orleans that much better. So after my train that runs every other day to Floria was delayed for 21 hours - I decided to remain in New Orleans, forget going to Orlando and Miami, and insted head west by car with Lara.
Kingsley
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TUESDAY, MAY
24 2005
Pubs, Clubs, Strippers and Baseball; four days in Atlanta, Georgia
by
Kings
 Well I’ve certainly been having fun and I owe it all to Creamfields 2004, Obi and Will. On the 28th of August 2004 Mike and I took a 6 hour bus from London to Liverpool to go the Creamfields 2004 music festival and while en route, Mike and I met Obi and Will who were visiting the UK from Atlanta. We hung out for the entire festival, exchanged email addresses and stayed in pretty good contact ever since – Obi visited Mike and I in New York and Mike later visited him (them) in Atlanta while he was on his tour.
So – from what I can still remember – my last four days went something like this.
After a pretty crappy 16 hour train ride from Washington DC to Atlanta – complete with a flash flood, tree on the track, people getting sick and the police having to be called for some reason – I arrived to find Obi waiting for me at the station. His conversation was something along the lines of ‘Hi! Great to see you again. Get in the car, Will and I are doing your hair’. Given that my last haircut cost me 6 quid - from someone who I’m pretty sure had never cur hair before – to getting the total VIP treatment from two Aveda trainers, there was absolutely no chance I’d miss an opportunity like that so I got in the car. Needless to say it looks great. I will post some pics up when I have them.
That evening Obi took me to Martini’s and IMAX at the Atlanta Natural History Museum – think of a pretty classy soiree with Jazz music followed by an IMAX movie. I haven’t been to IMAX for some time now and it is rather socking how realistic the movies are. Afterwards we caught up with Will at the bar of 2 Urban Licks, one of Atlanta’s top restaurants, followed by a pub/club called Halo.
 The next day both Obi and Will needed to work so I took a trip into town to visit the World of Coke Museum. Atlanta is the home of Coca-Cola and being a loyal customer for as long as I can remember I though I’d go and learn the history about how it all started. After spending about 2 hours walking thru from 1880 to 2005 worth of Coca-Cola advertising the unlimited free Coke (and related Coca-Cola Corp products) at the end was very enjoyable. I got to try New Coke, Coke Classic, Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, Lemon Coke, Tab, Mellow Yellow, Orange Fanta, Purple Fanta, Green Fanta and a bunch of other drinks. Fortunately the toilets were next door.
That evening one of my favorite DJ duos, Hybrid, were playing at Eleven50 – Atlanta’s top club. I gather Will pretty much lives there because he knows EVERYONE so it was free VIP entry at the door, access to the closed off sections and even hanging out with the DJs – INCLUDING HYBRID! Way back in 2001 (I think) Mike wore a Velcro top to Gatecrasher Summer Sound System where we first saw Hybrid play. The reason the top was Velcro was so that we could stick letters on the top to write random sentences. While watching Hybrid play we wrote out ‘Hybrid Please Sign!Q’ which they did and it remains one of Mikes most prized possessions. It turns out that they remembered the top and went on to say that the set they played there that day is their most downloaded bootleg recording on the internet. They also said that they loved Perth (who doesn’t?!) and will be there late September – pretty much when Mike and I will be getting home.
The next day (Sunday) we were all pretty hung over. Will, Valerie and I had brunch and listened to Jazz outside in midtown – a pretty darn relaxing day. We were planning on going to see Star Wars Episode III later that evening but all decided to cancel since we were too tired – or so we thought. If you happen to be my mother, please skip the rest of this paragraph; thanks. Because at around 1am I get a call from Will saying that the DJs, event organizers and a bunch of other people from Eleven50 were heading to the Pink Pony and they wanted to ‘treat the Australian to an American strip club’. Let me just say I learnt the meaning of southern hospitality while having a g-string tied around my head and drinking Jagermeister from bosom of a nice young lady.
  Today I took a drive with Obi to see the Governors mansion and to have my first American Corn Dog. Tonight Will is taking me to see an Atlanta Braves baseball game. He’s also going to show me what Tailgating is – apparently it involves beer, a propane grill and a parking lot.
So far I’m having a darn good trip – and I owe it all to the wonderful people here, especially Obi and Will!
Tomorrow I am heading to Knoxville to catch up with Brian and Paul – two guys Mike and I met in Amsterdam. Knoxville is the home of Jack Daniels; hmmmmm.
Kingsley
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FRIDAY, MAY
20 2005
Star Wars Episode 3
by
Kings
I just saw Star Wars Episode 3 and it is pretty freakin' sweet. I almost take back everything bad I said about the first two.
Kingsley
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WEDNESDAY, MAY
18 2005
Washington DC
by
Kings
 On Monday I said goodbye to Morgan and Robyn and took a flight from Albany to Washington DC. While in DC I'm staying with Morgan's family who I haven't seen for around 10 years! They live in a very nice suburb called Reston - about 30 minutes from DC.
Today I took a rather long walk around the capital. I started with the White House and headed down the main strip called 'The Mall' from the Lincoln Memorial past the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean War Memorial, the Reflecting Pool and finally the Capital Building (picture on the right).
As I was walking along The Mall there was suddenly a steady stream of police cars motorcycles driving past me with their lights and sirens on. Following them was a steady stream of black SUVs. Then a black limousine followed by more SUVs and police. Inside the limousine was 'President' Bush.
 After my walk along The Mall I headed to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. The Air and Space Museum is a huge complex dedicated to American achievements in - you guessed it - Air and Space. The lobby featured the Command Module from Apollo 11, a Gemini Project module and the Spirit of St. Lewis a real - tho not used - Lunar Lander; and that was just the lobby! Being a total space nerd I was in heaven. I even got to walk around inside a full size Skylab (the first USA space station) replica and even though the real Skylab fell out of the sky and crashed into Esperance (in Western Australia) it was still pretty freakin' sweet.
Tomorrow I am going to head to some more Smithsonian museums. The best thing about DC is that most of the great thing to do here (such as the Smithsonian) are free!
All the photos from my USA trip are here.
Kingsley
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TUESDAY, MAY
17 2005
Berlin
by
mike
 so i'm off to berlin for one night. the generator (the hostel i live at in london) has a hostel in berlin, and our new website is almost ready to go live. because of this, we've got a huge amount of pics online, most of which are mine (i've taken over 12,000 photos since i left perth).
as my photos are obviously so fantastic, i'm being sent to berlin for the night to take a few hundred photos for the new website (photo tour, general hostel shots etc). i leave the london hostel around 4am tomorrow (finishing work at midnight, so i guess i'm not sleeping, russ and i will be djing at midnight anyway) for my 7.15am flight. get into the berlin hostel, probably sleep for an hour or two, around 1pm i'll start a roaming tour of the hostel, maybe take an hour or two around the city if i have time, come back for the night shoot of the bar, dinner etc.
 flight out of berlin at 12.35pm wednesday afternoon, back to london around 1.35pm, back to the gen around 2.30pm for work (till midnight). so, pretty much, i'm working from 1pm today until midnight tomorrow night, with a few hours here and there for flying between england and germany, and hopefully sleeping on tuesday night in my nice private w/ensuite room. it should be a lot of fun, but i think i'll be dead by the time i finish on wednesday night.
i'll be putting a lot of photos when i get time - probably next week (unless i can find a connection in berlin).
in case anyone was curious, berlin was kings and my first stop on our trip - and the generator hostel there was the very first hostel we stayed at (funny how things like that happen...) the pics in this post are from 2003.
anyways, till later
mike
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SUNDAY, MAY
15 2005
God Bless American Food
by
Kings
The last few days I've spent in upstate New York (Troy) visiting Morgan and his girlfriend Robyn. I was here last time I was in New York and it is good to get away from the city to see life in 'Anytown USA' especially in the spring.
On Monday I am flying to DC to stay with Morgan's family. I known Morgan and his family from close to 10 years ago when they use to live in Australia. I didn't get a chance to get down to DC the last time I was in the states so it will be a trip to see everyone after such a long time.
Kingsley
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THURSDAY, MAY
12 2005
The Clerks Pilgrimage
by
Kings
 Hey all,
Currently writing this email from the worlds largest internet cafe (or so I am lead to believe) at the EasyInternet Cafe in Times Square. Anyhow, today I had such as great time.
It couldn't have started any better - I got free food from Starbucks when getting my coffee and two bottles of 'sport' water shortly afterwards. Not too shabby considering I'd only been awake for an hour.
Noelle then picked me up and we headed to New Jersey and what would become our Kevin Smith pilgrimage. Kevin was the writer and director of such classic films as Clerks, Mall Rats, Chasing Amy, Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. All the films are considered cult classics and are quite near and dear to my heart. It also happens that my favourite of all time (Clerks) was filmed at the Quick Stop and RTS Video stores in Leonardo New Jersey.
 There are so many little cult references that would take far too long to go into, but for all those who have seen it I bought a Gatorade and Noelle tried to get some shoe polish to sent to Mike but they were all out or something. The whole experience would have been so much better if instead of the 50 year old Mexican behind the desk it was some jaded 20-something like in the movie. Oh well.
After our trip to the Quick Stop we then headed to Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Redbank New Jersey. The Secret Stash is a comic book store run by the 'Jizz Moper' guy from Clerks. The store was wall to wall Kevin Smith memorabilia, loads of which was signed. Some of the best stuff was a life sized Bluntman and Cronic manikins fighting with their bong lightsabers and Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's costumes from 'Strikes Back'. It was quite classic. Noelle ended up talking to the Jizz Moper which I thought was way cool - he's famous!
We then took a ride to find the church that was in 'Dogma' that was _apparently_ somewhere but after driving down just about every street in Jersey and getting trapped in Neptune somehow we were unable to find it. It was a bit of a shame not to finish off the tour and missing out on the trifecta but the Quick Stop was way cool so it didn't really matter.
37!?
Kingsley
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TUESDAY, MAY
10 2005
New York, New York
by
Kings
Hey everyone!
After a flight that would have been a good ride in an amusement park (ie. bumpy as hell) I made it to the USA for the second time. Everything was fairly easy to do since I know New York pretty well now and know what to excpect at customs and how to use the subway.
Last night I was pretty tired so I grabbed a quick dinner and went to a off Broadway improv comedy club. The show was rather like the tv show 'Who's Line Is It Anyway?' and was very very good. I think one of the guys was in a movie I've seen but I couln't think what it was right now.
Going to catch up with Noelle today after she visits the courts to contest a speeding ticket (naughty naughty!).
Argh! Running out of time. Gotta go!
Kingsley
The next day i realised that the guy i recognised was part of the London production of Fame. For those who saw Fame with me that night - he was the guy who the dorky girl was in love with the whole time - and they kept singing that crappy 'from a love scene' song. :)
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SATURDAY, MAY
7 2005
Moving out and finalising plans
by
Kings
 Well, tonight is the last night in my flat at Artichoke Hill. I’ve lived here since the 9th of December 2003! The Australian flag which has been proudly on display outside my window for all that time will come down tonight. Although I leave on Monday the new tenants are moving in tomorrow morning so I’m getting my gear out and moving into the spare room. Since I’ve been living here, we’ve had a steady stream of dossers staying in the spare room and as of tomorrow I will be one of them. Frankly I’m glad to remove myself from the responsibility of keeping the bathroom clean – for those who haven’t seen the flat, my bathroom is almost as big as my bedroom (and my bedroom isn’t that small).
Over the last two weeks I’ve had off from work I’ve been revising my schedule of what I will be doing once I get to the states. So far this is where I will be heading – the order is the approximate order which is best achieved according to the rail system I will be using.
New York, Washington DC, Atlanta, Knoxville, New Orleans, Orlando, Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Montreal, Boston, New York.
If you were to plot these places out on a map it makes a rough clockwise circle around the outside of the USA and Canada. I will be doing my most to visit people as I go – if you have any suggestions on where best to go – or would like to catch up for a drink somewhere along the way – get in touch.
The next time I will have somewhere to call my home will be in late September or early October – 6 months away. In that time Mike and I will be doing something in the order of 21 countries on our way home which – apart from a few large exceptions – pretty much ticks off the planet Earth as something that we need to see.
Anyhow people, the next time I post I will probably be in the states. Please email or post a comment to this post with any ideas you may have for me to do or go see.
Kingsley
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FRIDAY, APRIL
29 2005
waxing for a good cause
by
mike
every month, the generator (where mike lives and works) has an event - a party for something special that month. january is normally australia day, february valentines day etc.. this month, we did something a little different, and held a charity event, will all money raised going to the red cross.
but how did we raise money you ask? well, all the money taken behind the bar for one. but the other, and possibly more important way, was to dress 10 male staff members in womens clothing, and sell waxing strips to the crowd to rip off chunks of hair.
fortunately, i was given the task of being the generator photographer for the event, so i managed to avoid the painful exercise of a waxing...some of my good friends, however, were not so luckly.
as i was the photographer for the evening, i took about 170 photos, so i've put a selection of these here. and as a little taster, i've chosen just a few for you to view here :)
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL
27 2005
Where is the Love?
by
Kings
 Well, looks like the Love Parade is not on again this year. :(
"Whatsonwhen regrets to inform you that Berlin's Love Parade has been cancelled due to lack of funding for the second successive year. The organisers hope to return in 2006 with an event to coincide with Germany's hosting of the World Cup Finals."
Since Mike and I were going to start our travels from there again this year we will need to make other arrangements. We are now thinking of seeing Underworld play live in Amsterdam on the 17th of July which would be just as good - if not better. :)
Kingsley
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TUESDAY, APRIL
26 2005
Making my way to the USA
by
Kings
This post has been a quite a long time in the making. Since I last posted there has been a series of upheavals in my life.
Firstly, I’m unemployed! After one and a half years at CMGL my contract had come to its end and I have decided to go travelling rather than renew it. My last day was pretty much as I would expect – going to the pub from 11am onwards. One unexpected thing was the massive collection of gifts people had arranged for me. I got a Lonely Planet USA book, a FCUK shirt and belt, an England cap, a box of condoms, a union jack codpiece, and 3 porno mags. Pretty much everything I needed or so my colleagues thought. :)
Second, I took a trip to the local STA Travel yesterday and booked my USA holiday. The official dates of my trip are as follows:
9th of May 2005: London -> New York arriving at 4:05pm.
2nd of July 2005: New York -> London arriving at 9:00pm.
I also got some travel insurance and a month long USA rail pass to get me around. While I would love to drive around the states it isn’t really viable by yourself.
And finally, since I won’t have much use for it anymore I will be moving out of my flat! I’ve lived here since December 2003 with my flatmates Nick and Megan. I’m going to have to arrange some boxes and ship some of my stuff home – I’ve seem to have collected quite a lot of stuff which I certainly wont need while I travel.
Well that’s about it. Stay tuned for my travels around the states and more.
Kingsley
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FRIDAY, APRIL
22 2005
packages and pics
by
mike
 i woke up pretty late today (i was djing the bar for a while last night after work) and came down to reception to see if i had any mail. and there, waiting to be picked up, was a lovely package sent to me by prue - containing, among other things, TWISTIES!!!! of course, these weren't the best part of the package, but waking up to a breakfast of twisties will put anyone in a good mmod. am i right? thank you so much prue for my wonderful package! it's great!!
so that was my excitment for today.
i've also added some more pics from last saturday - you can check these out in the London 2005 folder.
oh, and the best picture of kings' impression of the fonz can be found here.
hope everyone is well -- nothing really new here in london. kings has his last day of work tomorrow (for the next 7 months or so...bastard), we're thinking of heading down to the church for anzac day eve this coming sunday (if you remember, the church is a london institution of drinking - antipodeans from all over london flock to the church for 4 hours of drinking tinnies on sunday afternoons).
oh, and the picture here is of the bruuuvs! -- left to right: brig bruuv, slutty bruuv, little bruuv and middle bruuv. this probably means little to those who haven't heard the call of the bruuv, so i'll try to get a sound file or who on here at some point.
but for now - i'm still waiting for picutres of everyones pets to put online...and i think it's about time for another mikeandkings.com challenge. we tried this out last year (with wonderufl success) - so, maybe someone out there will have the chance to determine our path home or something. kings and i will put our thinking caps on and post something soon.
until next time...
mike
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SATURDAY, APRIL
16 2005
pics
by
mike
 yeah it's probably about time we started to add some new pics - just in case you've forgotten what we look like, here's a recent pick of kings and myself.
i've added a few new pics into the London 2005 folder - the first few are from ambah's last night working here at the generator. there's not a lot at the moment, but i'll get more up soon.
hopefully we'll actually have some more photos soon - i'll need to bring my laptop down to the office to upload pics from the football game kings and i went to the other week, plus all the random happenings of life here in london at the moment.
but until then, check out the latest pics here and sign the message board
mike
this just in...paulie has sent me a pic of his new puppy, you can see black betty HERE.
olga has also rescued an 18 month old puppy from being used in research. you can see her new pup chester HERE.
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MONDAY, APRIL
11 2005
something new
by
mike
since we've been really slack with the updates recently, i thought i'd write a quick update on what i've been doing these past two weeks...
...not a lot really.
my life's become a circle: wake up around noon, work 1 till midnight, go into the bar for a few drinks, maybe play some music, crash around 3 or 4, and then do it all over again. well maybe not everyday...just a few.
last friday was poker at louise's place - we play texas hole 'em poker. it's a £10 buy in, and £5 re-buy if you're unlucky enough to crash and burn early. that generally means that between the 5 of us playing, there's a pot of £50 - £70 (normally anyways).
now i've only played a few times, and the first time i played i was first out. this time round was a little different.
russ (events supervisor here at the gen) won the last game, and was first out this time, incluing a buy back. kings also didn't fare too well, crashing out after his re-buy. so it was down to louise, arno and myself.
arno fell soon later and it was down to two. by this stage, we were pretty well drunk, and had been playing for a good 5 hours (it was around 3.30am). louise and i started out with pretty even chips, and it went both ways for a few hands. it came down to louise putting me all in (everything i had)...on the hand i had (not a lot) the chances weren't great. but then on the river (the final card drawn) - bamn! - a deuce, just the card i needed. so i was back in the game.
a few more hands, and louise was down. it came down to her with only £16 and me with everythign else. so i put her all in, with awful cards in my had (7 and deuce off-suit). louise had king & queen off suit. the stakes were stacked well in her favour.
the cards were dealt, and neither of us had anything on the flop.....but then on the turn, A DEUCE!! i had a pair, louise had nothing...there was only one card left, if it was a king or a queen, louise would be back in the game....but alas no. i had won the game, and took £70 (well £60 when you take my £10 out) home with me.
it was a great nite all in all, and i'm looking forward to the next game. if you haven't played any texas hold 'em before, i'd highly recommend checking it out. the world poker championships are often on tv, and surprising as it might seem, it's a lot of fun to watch (but more fun to play).
anyway - that was friday. saturday was a bit of work, a bit of shopping, and a lot of drinking, west wing, and family guy. today's been all work and back to the long days tomorrow.
kings is off to the states in a few weeks - he'll be finishing up work pretty soon and then travelling for about 3 months. then come july...we'll both be travelling back to oz via a dozen or so countries.
and that's what's been happening. someone, please, do me a favour and sign the messageboard. i keep checking and checking, but no one loves us anymore. you can write whatever - just give me somethign to read!
until next time...
mike
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH
30 2005
We had joy, we had fun, we had beers in the sun
by
Kings
 I hope you all had an enjoyable Easter – I certainly did. On Thursday I was fortunate to be let off work an hour early in time to meet Anke at my flat who had come down from Sheffield for the long weekend. After a few beers at some of the local establishments around where I live, we headed into town to visit Mike at the Generator who had to work until 12.
On Friday, after the hangovers had subsided, Anke and I headed to Hyde Park to track down Princess Diana’s memorial fountain. After looking on several maps and not seeing any sign of it we just decided to head off for a long walk around the lake and this is what we found. The tribute to our princess consisted of dirt, some concrete, two sets of fences, and 6 bulldozers. What the heck is going on? The memorial was opened on the 6th of July 2004 and not that I am a big fan of the royals, but I wasn’t happy that they still haven’t fixed all the problems with it.
 After the hangovers subsided again on Saturday; Mike, Anke and I headed to Brighton for the day. The weather was fantastic – probably the best day we’ve had this year. We took a wander along the beach and peer and parked ourselves outside and enjoyed a few beers in the sun. I also had the opportunity to have Scampi for the first time. It was very fishy.
On Easter Sunday the annual Boat Race was on. The Boat Race is a competition held between the first 8 rowing crews from Oxford and Cambridge. This year Oxford won even they were over 8 stone heavier than the other crew. We didn’t have the best view of the race, but in conciliation we thought we saw Prince William on the way back to the tube.
That about wraps it up for Easter; Anke returned to Sheffield Monday evening and I have now got the flu (again!). Anyhow, hope everyone had fun over their break.
Pics are here.
Kingsley
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FRIDAY, MARCH
25 2005
something about a bunny?
by
mike
happy easter everyone...i hope you ate plenty of easter eggs and hot cross buns and all that!
and remember, easter's not about the chocolate, it's about santa.
mike
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MONDAY, MARCH
21 2005
Happy Days with Craic
by
Kings
I’m back in London after my 4 day whirlwind tour of Ireland and feeling pretty good.
Day 1
I met up with the tour at Kilburn station and staked my claim to the back right seat and set off on our 11 hour ride to Dublin. Our drivers name was Stephen from Northern Ireland an obvious veteran of dealing with tourists. Interestingly enough Kilburn was once the Irish district of London which is probably why they leave from there and after a quick history lesson of the area he began teaching us several traditional Irish songs.
  After driving for about 7 hours we finally arrived in the northern Wales town of Holyhead where our ferry was leaving from. The ferries that leave from here are massive; cars and trucks drive onto the lower decks and the passengers head upstairs for the journey. The upper three decks have restaurants, thee bars, gaming facilities; its pretty much a floating hotel. Another rocky three hours later and we arrive in the fare city of Dublin.
Trev and I took no time to check in and call our old friend Dirk. The last time I saw Dirk was at my going away party on the 5th of July 2003 so it was fantastic to catch up with him once again. Dirk has been living in Dublin for about a year now; working in the booming Irish software industry. We were all a little thirsty so Dirk took us on a guided tour of Dublin’s night life. The standard Irish Pub in Dublin is huge; the ones we were at were around 5 stories high, and could hold many hundreds of people with an atmosphere second to none. Since Trev and I were still a little sea sick we decided to have an early night (12ish) and get a good nights rest for the festivities the next day.
Day 2 – St Patrick’s Day!!!
I was up and ready at about 9am and after meeting up with my fellow travellers we all headed off to the Guinness Brewery. Since Paddywagon Tours happens to be the Guinness Brewery’s biggest customer – herding tourists by their hundreds in each week – Paddywagon was given almost exclusive access to the Gravity Bar situated at the top floor of the Guinness St James’s Gate Brewery. A 360 degree glass walled bar overlooking Dublin. I swear I had the best pint of Guinness at this place. I don’t know how or why it was so good – but I don’t think I could ever enjoy a Guinness like I did there. And no, it wasn’t just because it was free. :)
At 11am the group got organised and headed for the parade. Unfortunately I managed to loose EVERYONE in the crowd but that turned out to be a bonus since I was one of  the only people who got a good view of the parade in the end. The Dublin St Partrick’s Day Parade is the second biggest; with the largest held in New York City. The Americans are very proud of their Irish heritage and there were several truly fantastic American marching bands that had come over for the parade.
After the parade I managed to coordinate with Trev and meet up with him, Dirk and several others from the group for a drink at a couple more pubs. The rest of the day is pretty much a blur, I managed to loose quite a few people during the evening. Had a great time, and don’t really remember coming home. Happy days!
Day 3
We were fortunately given a little time to sleep in before heading to Belfast which was quite a relief. But I woke up feeling fresh and with no sign of a hangover and ready to head to the troubled north.
The driver this time was Charlie who set a rather serious tone by going into the history of the northern conflict. I found it truly fascinating – since I never had really taken any notice of what was going on in Northern Ireland for some reason. To be completely truthful, at first I was a little disappointed that the tour was going to Belfast – it isn’t exactly a happy place to go and after the parade I was worried that it may be a bit of an anticlimax to head to a war zone. Well fortunately I was complete wrong, and had the best night of the trip that night. We got settled in and headed to a pub on the other side of the city for dinner as a group. Afterwards we had a great time with a traditional Irish band downstairs and all wound up getting home at about 2am.
Day 4
We all had to be up early because we didn’t have much time to spend in Belfast before heading back down to Dublin. A black cab tour had been organised for the  group which was tour operated by some local cab drivers who take you to see the result of the conflict between the Catholics and Protestants.
 The place is still a war zone. It is really sad too, with everyone really happy in the south, the people in the north couldn’t look anymore depressed. There are about 22 walls in the city that divide the Catholics and Protestants areas – Berlin was not the only city to be divided. The areas have large gates that are locked each night and provided there’s no trouble in the city they are unlocked the next morning.
Everywhere you look you can see British Army monitoring posts which contain a large array of high-powered cameras and microphones which apparently have the ability to monitor conversations from up to a mile away. The top two floors of the largest block of apartments in the city centre contains an army monitoring station manned 24 hours a day with over 30 people who’s job it is to watch the city and surrounding areas for trouble and to find people of interest.
In each of the different areas there are murals supporting the various paramilitary organisations that exist in the north several of which we were taken to see. We  also had a stop at the Sinn Fein headquarters which was a little disturbing.
 After getting back from the tour we had lunch, checked out the Belfast Museum and hopped back in the bus to head back down to Dublin. On the way back we had two quick stops, one at Monasterboice – a Celtic ruin site – and at Slane Castle. When we arrived at Monasterboice, a amazing dence patch of fog blew over us and creating a really creepy atmosphere and where I took best photo of the trip.
We got back to Dublin in time for a quick dinner and started heading for home. We left at 7pm and got back to Kilburn at about 5am completely and utterly knackered.
I’d just like to say hi to everyone I met on the trip. I would love to get any photos you took which you liked, so please feel free to email me your collections so that I may add them to my own.
Sláinte!
To check out all my photos click here.
Kingsley
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FRIDAY, MARCH
18 2005
birtdhays
by
mike
HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY & MELISSA!!
my sisters somehow have the same birthday (thou they were born three years apart).
sorry i didn't get a chance to call you guys - i'll try to speak to you both at the weekend. melissa...note i put a bday greeting on mikeandkings.com...no such luck for me back in january on YOUR page! :P
happy st patrick's day to everyone too! grab a guiness or three and enjoy the irish!
- mike
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TUESDAY, MARCH
15 2005
Next Stop: Guinness
by
Kings
Well with St Patrick’s day approaching on the 17th, Trevor and I decided it may be a good time to visit Ireland. We’re heading off early tomorrow on a 4 day bus tour operated by Paddywagon Tours. Our itinerary is as follows:
 Departs Wednesday 16th March
Day 1: London – Wales – Dublin's Fair City
Depart Kilburn Tube Station at 7am. Listen to the songs and stories of Ireland as we drive North through Birmingham and the scenic Welsh valleys to take the Ferry to our beloved Emerald Isle……..Dublin awaits! Music, Dancing, singsongs, party, we’ll go together to an Irish Dance performance in the world famous Temple Bar. We stay in downtown Dublin in the world famous Paddys Palace backpacker's hostel! Watch the fireworks and awesome activities along the River Liffey. Tonight the Irish young and old will celebrate the oncoming of their beloved National Festival – St. Patricks Day.
Day 2: St. Patricks Day Festival Dublin including Guinness Brewery
Due to our prestigious reputation in Ireland we are able to guarantee a morning visit to the most sought after venue in the world on St. Patricks Day – The Guinness Brewery! Gaze down on the thousands of others who cant get in from the super cool all glass Gravity bar, the tallest location in Dublin. Take the tour and savour the creamy juice of the gods. Then we’ll stroll together to O’Connell Street in plenty of time to watch the second biggest St. Patricks Day Parade in the world! (New York being the biggest) 500,000 people will line the route as Dublin becomes a sea of green, be in the middle of things as the carnival unfolds. Imagine U2, Riverdance and 40 shades of green rolled into one! Join us in celebrating one of the worlds most loved and respected cultures! Happy Days... Party with us tonight in the Temple Bar……… Happy nights. Erin Go Bragh – Ireland forever.
Day 3: Dublin – Slane Castle - Belfast
After a well deserved relaxing morning, our Paddywagon coach will take us say hello to the beautiful Northern part of wonderful Island. We’ll drive North via the spiritual home of U2, Slane Castle. Irelands premier concert venue. Youll see the fully preserved head of St. Oliver Plunkett (decapitated by the English in 1681) in Drogheda Cathedral and all before lunch! Our overnight stay is in Irelands most fascinating City – Belfast! You may choose to take an extremely thought provoking, 1 hour Black Taxi tour (optional). View City Hall , the shipyards where the Titanic was built and the glorious Queens University and/or perhaps do some shopping in the bustling city centre with its magnificent architecture. Tonight youll see the other side of Belfast - a vibrant, trendy social scene where young people party together in total harmony in a very safe and classy City Centre.
Day 4: Belfast – Dublin – London
Our thirst for knowledge quenched and marvelling at this incredible city its south once more, cross the border at Newry back into the Republic and take the nice drive down to Dublin for a rest before we catch the late evening Ferry back to Britain. Arriving back in good old London town at approximately 8am next morning. The Independent Traveller win again. Go neiri an Bothar leat – May the Road rise to meet you...
1048km in total – outch!
This will mark the first organised tour I’ve been on since going away. Mike and I have usually opted not to go in tour groups preferring to see the sights at our own pace, but since time is limited for me because of work this seems like the best time to try something a little more structured.
Hopefully the bus ride wont be too painful. I’d much rather take a train but with any luck there will be a good group of people on board.
Anyhow, I may get an chance to let you all know how I’m going but if not, I’ll probably be busy with Guinness or Guinness related side effects.
Kingsley
PS: yes I know the map is not quite right - the ferry leave from Wales not Liverpool but you get the idea.
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH
9 2005
the world of hostels
by
mike
hey all,
i'm posting this just as i've finished my second day at my new job with hostelbookers.com. i'm spending most of my time on the USA and canada, signing up new hostels. have a look at the site - we're not quite a year old, but we're getting 4.5million hits a month at the moment.
in other news, i had a visit from a formerly shunned (for a bit at least) friend - meishe popped into the gen for a few drinks last nite. it was great catching up for the short time she was here (i was also busy mixing in the bar for a bit), and i'm sure her, kings and myself will catch up again soon.
i'm also hoping to catch up with another old friend this weekend. i got an email from louise smith last week, so we're going to grab a few pints on saturday arvo.
kings is (mostly) over his awful flu now, which is a good thing cause he was sounding pretty rough for a while there. he's also got a trip planned (which i unfortunately can't afford to go on in my current financial state) in a week or so - i'm sure he'll have plenty to write when he gets around to it.
food time for me - tell us what you've been doing on the message board.
mike
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FRIDAY, MARCH
4 2005
traveldeskguy is back...
by
mike
maybe you can pick up my, accent on the phooooooone. I'MMMMMMM BACK, back in sunny london, back at the generator, back in the traveldesk (for this week at least), back in room 601, back to the old routine. it's taken a little while to get settled again, and there's been a few changes, but it's starting to feel like home again.
arriving back here after almost 3 months was a little weird, i have to say. i walked into the generator on friday morning to a few new things; music being played in reception, a whole bunch of new staff, new faces, some people missing...it felt like i everything was exactly the same but completely different all at the same time.
i caught up with all the old crew, and i have to say thanks to everyone for welcomming me back as they did! it's such a great feeling to walk into a place where there are so many good people, good friends. the bar, as usual, was pretty packed over the weekend, and there have been no early nights since i've come back.
my good mate russ is the new events supervisor - arno has decided to move on, although he hasn't really ventured too far yet! russ is making a few new changes in the bar and with teh events being run, which is great - he and i have been mixing in the bar over the last few days (i mix house/trance, he mixes r&b and mainstream stuff)...it's great fun, and we normally end up playing for about 3 or 4 hours on the quiet (sun, mon, tues) nights.
tonite is my first shift back working - i'm covering the traveldesk for the next few days because we're a little short of staff. next week i change roles and move into hostelbookers full time. i'm working on signing up hostels in the US and canada, and will also be working on linking for the site.
there's a few other things work related that i'm looking at (working 63 hours a week in the gen may get a bit much), but no news on that just yet. and i've already accepted both jobs with hostelbookers, so i don't want to piss them off either.
anyways - i've taken a bunch of photos since i've been back, so hopefully i'll get time to put them up tonite. i also probably have a few more photos from the US to get online, so keep an eye out for them.
kings is kinda sick at the moment - he called me last night and almost coughed up both lungs...hopefully he'll be back healthy for the weekend.
i'll try to get some pics online, and i'll probably get bored and write more later.
ciao
mike
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY
25 2005
heading 'home'
by
mike
i can't believe that i'm flying back to london in 8 hours! i've been in the states and canada for almost 11 weeks, and don't think i'm ready to go back to england just yet...but i guess that all good things must come to an end.
i've had an absolutely amasing time over here, and i really want to thank everyone that put me up for a few days - you guys made this trip so worth while, and i can't wait till you all come down to australia and visit me! i also want to say hi to everyone that i've met on this trip - keep in touch and hopefully we can cross paths again.
i'm in the middle of packing so i won't write too much (i'll make a 'best of' list thing when i'm back in london), but, i've put some more pics up, these ones are from washington, DC. there's also a selection of photos from the trip in the USA folder.
if i get time i'll write more before i leave, otherwise see you from london!!
mike
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY
22 2005
best pic of kings EVER
by
mike
Click here
this is noelle, using mikes laptop to show you the best photo of kings EVER TAKEN! enjoy...
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY
22 2005
farewell to the dr of journalism...
by
mike
 my favourite author and journalist, hunter stockton thompson, fatally shot himself sunday at his home in colorado. author of such classic novels as "fear and lothing in las vegas" and "hell's angels", dr thompson took his own life at the age of 67.
hunter thompson lead the so-called 'gonzo journalism' movement of the 60's, writing freely about drug and alcohol use. initially reporting as a sports journalist, hunter soon moved to rolling stone magazine, where he became a house hold name.
in 1966, hunter published "hell's angels", an account of the year he spent travelling with the infamous motorcycle gang. he befriended many members and travelled with them freely, only to be stomped after a falling out.
he also ran for sheriff in colorado, on the freak power party ticket, aiming to decriminalise drugs - he lost on the smallest of margins.
while hunter dies relatively young, he made up for it with his fast lifestyle. in "screwjack", hunter wrote about his first experience with mecscaline. this is also his most rare book, with only 300 red cloth bound copies ever published (although it was later reprinted as a paperback).
if you haven't read or seen anything by hunter thompson, a good place to start is "fear and lothing in las vegas". although a (mainly) fictional story, the book (and 1998 film staring johnny depp and benicio del toro) is a hillarious account of a drug fueled vegas run to cover the mint 400 motorcycle race, and to infiltrate a district attorney's conference.
his writing will be sorely missed...RIP Dr Thompson.
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY
18 2005
dubbya didn't invite me in for a drink
by
mike
when i was 10 years old, my family and i came over to the US. we visited a heap of cities, one being washington, DC. and after that trip i've always wanted to come back here, because from what i remembered it was a pretty cool place. fortunately, my memory served me well (for once) - i arrived in DC from atlanta this morning, and after finding my bearings (read: a map that showed me where i was), i headed out from the station to see what i could find.
i've decided to only stay 2 days/1 night in DC because i'm heading back to atlanta tomorrow night. but, after todays effort of sightseeing, i think it's all i'll need. the first stop on my little adventure was the supreme court, followed shortly after by the capitol building (i'll get some pics up later). if you've ever been to DC, you'll know that if you want to visit the (wonderfully free!) museums, your best bet is to hit the national mall for the smithsonian institute - it's bascially a long stretch (i think it's about one mile) from the capitol building to the washington monument, and either side are around 18 different museums.
one main memory from my trip here 14 years ago was the national air and space museum - i have photos back home of me standing next to the apollo 11 painting. so where better to start than here...i only wish kings' was here too, becuase i'm sure he would've appreciated it a lot more than i did!
from there i wandered across the way to the sculpture garden (part of the national art museum, where i'm going tomorrow), before going to the national museum of natural history. this place was pretty amasing - full size dinosaurs towering over you, an insect zoo, fossils, minerals, gems...there was even an australian mamal exhibition! i had a blast walking around for a few hours.
next was the american history museum, which details, well...what it says. there's a replica of the west wing, america and information technology, the pentagon flag - lots of stuff to keep you interested. but after three galleries in a row, i was starting to get a little tired, so i left and headed up to the washington monument, which unfortuantely is closed at the moment for renovations. so i kept walking and there was the white house, across the lawn from where i was standing. i waited for a good while, but george didn't come out and invite me in. i was pretty annoyed really - i mean, i could've crashed there for free tonight rather than paying for a hostel. sure he's got a fold out bed stashed somewhere in that place?
i decided to try another president, so lincoln was next on the list. of course, he's been dead for a few centuries, so that didn't help, and his monument is pretty drafty, but has a great view of the washington monument! the war memorials are also here - vietnam, korea and WWII...it's pretty sad and surreal seeing how many names are on the walls of the vietnam memorial. you know thousands of people died, but it doesn't really hit you till you see all those names.
anyway i wound up at a nice little hostel on the outskirts of town for the night. no idea what i'll be up to tonight, but tomorrow i'm planning on sleeping in for a bit, and heading back into town to see if i can find the FBI building (no more tours unfortunately), the national art museum, and a few other things that i missed today.
i'm back in london in a week - i hope you all at the gen have the carling chilled! i'm stopping in new york for a few days before i leave the US to hopefully catch up with noelle and have some more fun in my favourite US city.
enough of me; i'm sure you're bored already. hope you're all well...
mike
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY
17 2005
hurricanes are your friend; more trains
by
mike
 i've been pretty slack with the updates this past week or so. a lot of this has to do with no wireless connection, long train rides, and being far too drunk to write anything you could read! but...i'll try to write a quick update now.
last post was from starbucks in chicago. i only stayed in chicago for a few hours, before jumping back onto the train to head to new orleans. i'd missed fat tuesday (mardi gras) by only two days (i was on the train unfortunately), but i was still sure to have a great time - new orleans is definately a party town!
 so i dumped all my stuff, had an hour long shower (remember, i'd been on trains for 3 days) and headed out to bourbon street with some guys from the hostel. we ended up at about 12 different pubs, drank till the small hours, lost one of the guys somewhere along the way and ate at a diner at around 4am.
the next day was given to sleeping all morning, and walking around new orleans for the afternoon. you can see all of the photos from new orleans here if you want - i think my favourite building was the st louis cathedral; it looks like something from disneyworld!
 i wasn't able to spend too much more time in new orleans, becuase there was a big gig on in atlanta on saturday that i wanted to go to, so after only two nights i left new orleans for ATL.
for a quick re-fresher, kings and i went to a dance festival in liverpool back in august last year. on the bus ride up there, we met two guys from atlanta, will and obi. anyways, we've all stayed in contact, and i've been fortunate enough to be able to stay with obi while i've been in atlanta, and have caught up with will pretty much every day. i was even lucky enough to score a hair cut and colour (they're both aveda trainers) which is a good thing - anyone who saw my hair these past few weeks knows that it was in serious need of a good cut (you can see a pic here and here).
 we headed out to see derrick carter at a club called 1150 on saturday night; the place is like a remodelled theatre. we stayed there till close (at 3am unfortunately) and headed to an after party in a random studio apartment until around 4am.
i've spent a lot of time here in atlanta relaxing and being driven around, seeing the city. i'm heading up to washington DC tonight for a few days, and i'm then coming back down to atlanta - one of my favourite groups, deep dish, are playing at 1150 this weekend, and considering i'm on the list i have to come back for the party (and the travel is overnight, so i'm not losing a lot of time).
sunday night i'm heading back up north, all the way to penn station new york. i'll hopefully get to catch up with noelle up there before flying back to london to start working again. just over a week left before i leave the states - i already can't wait to come back!
 i've tried to update the photos today, so if you're interested, you can have a look at the rest of the LA photos(including some from the superbowl), as well as some pics i took on santa monica beach in LA. there's also some pics from chicago, new orleans and a bunch of pics from my time in atlanta. also keep an eye out for new headers - i made another 24 when i was on the train from LA to chicago. i'll try to make some more when i travel up to new york next week.
i have to mention one more thing...HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIMEE!!!!!!!!!!!!! my sister aimee (who i got to see in connecticut) is another year closer to 30. i hope you had a great day - was fantastic to talk to you!
i should get time to post again before i leave, but if not, i'll write from london.
mike
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY
14 2005
Fame, Sheffield and Anke
by
Kings
 Hey all, not a great deal has been going on this week but I did managed to see Fame on Wednesday night. Not exactly a musical I would normally go to – a little to jazzy for my blood – but I did Jenna a favour and bought a spare ticket off her to save it going to waste. Well, the show started with all of us seated in the second row; a strange experience indeed! They, were, looking at me… The actors! It was creepy. Kind like in a scary movie when people in the TV come to life, climb out of the set and start doing whatever TV dwelling creatures do. And they were all so hyper and super-joy-joy-happy and we were just sitting there. It made me feel a little guilty having them perform for me. But after a while I got over it and enjoyed myself.
This weekend just past I went for a quick trip to visit Anke in Sheffield. Anke is spending the next 4 months in Sheffield working in the Neurology department of the Sheffield teaching hospital in her last step before becoming a doctor. So after work on Friday I took a train from Kings Cross St. Pancras the 2.5 hours north for a weekend of drinking and not a whole lot else. Fortunately, most of the bars are open later and cost less than London so it was a good weekend.
Kingsley
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY
14 2005
Happy Birthday Kings!
by
mike
Happy Birthday Kings! Kings turns 24 today; we'll celebrate when i get back to London! Have a great day mate!
Mike
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY
10 2005
slight change of plans
by
mike
i know i said i was going to vegas, then the grand canyon, then new orleans. but, due to the strange and annoying amtrak routes, that would've taken far longer than i can afford.
so, on monday afternoon i started my journey to new orleans (skipping vegas, for the moment - maybe i'll come back in summer). to get to new orleans, i had to go to chicago first, get off the train, wait 5 hours, get onto another train and head south.
i'm writing this in starbucks in chicago. my train from LA arrived a few hours ago - it took about 46 hours, but was a pretty pleasant journey. it's pretty cool to see the differences in the country. my next train is in two hours, and it will take about 19 hours to get to new orleans.
i'll then be there for about 14 hours before another train ride (about 12 hours) to atlanta, where i'm FINALLY going to stop moving for a few days. as i sit here, i feel like i'm swaying side to side like i'm still on the train.
so that's what's been happening. i sort of ran out of time to update before i left LA - sorry about that. but i took about 60 photos from the train, so i'll try to get them online once i make it to atlanta.
actually, i just remembered that i was going to spend 2 nights in new orleans - i need a break from all these trains! so, i'll be in atlanta on saturday night at around 7:38pm, and i'll be in new orleans tomorrow and friday night.
back to LA - the superbowl was a blast! yay the patriots! new england rocks. i have to say a big thanks to everyone at usa hostels hollywood - if you're ever in LA and need a cool place to crash, stay here - it's half a block off hollywood blvd! I'm thinking of coming back for summer to work there for a while.
i have to say hi to all the staff at the hostel - you guys are great! salah thanks for the drinks. lauren - i better see you back in australia (by the way, the chocolate served me damn well on that hellish train ride. i just found your note in my book - thanks!). alexa, it was great meeting you, hopefully we can catch up in london. to eveyrone else, sorry i'm running out of time, but you have my email so keep in touch!
i'll be back in london in a little over two weeks (well, two weeks friday) so my journey's almost over. it's been one of the best trips i've ever taken - can't wait to do it all again.
i'll get some pics up soon, but someone tell me where i should stop after atlanta - i'm thinking of DC, phili and then back to NY but i'm open to suggestions.
ciao
mike
update (already): slight change again. there's nowhere for me to stay tomorrow night. so, i'm thinking that i'll just lock my stuff up in the station, walk the city for the night, and then get back on the train on friday morning. this was my original plan, but one more night would've been nice. hmmmm...i'll have to figure it out on the train :P
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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY
6 2005
aaron spelling has a large house
by
mike
 i went on a walking tour of beverly hills and bell air yesterday. we started out by catching the bus down sunset strip, past the whiskey-a-go-go (where the doors were the house band in the late 60's) and into bell air. the tour was pretty much a walk past some celebrities places - jerry lewis, frank sinatra's and elvis's old place, the playboy mansion, and aaron spellings palce.
 if you don't know, aaron spelling is a tv producer - he brought us such gold as the love boat, fantasty island, charlie's angels...and of course everyone's favourite 90's kids, in beverly hills 90210. you can find more info on aaron here if you're interested.
his home i guess is what you'd expect of a big time tv producer here in hollywood - simply massive. $90 million, 210 room...i guess he knows how to throw a decent party (he's pushing 83 too).
we ended the day with a quick stroll through rodeo drive. it was pretty cool i guess, but i think that after seeing a few places around the world (like monaco) it didn't have as great an impact on me.
i was going to go to the beach today, but it was a little overcast this morning. if the weather clears up a bit in a few hours, i'll catch the bus down to venice beach and wander around. it's still pretty warm, so even if i can't swim, it'll be nice to see the sand and water.
 tomorrow also sees superbowl xxxix(6:30pm ET) - the patriots vs. the eagles. it should be a great day of drunkeness and football - hopefully i'll get some decent photos from the party here to put up.
i've already put a bunch of photos from LA online, and you can find them here.
i'm off to vegas next (i think) before a night or two in new orleans and then atlanta. less than three weeks before i'm back in the UK - it's been a great trip so far, i'm only sad it's coming to an end soon.
one last thing - hopefully my mother can take a certain video to my sister to encode, and we can watch some wonderful beverly hills, 90201 (12 pellew gdns, willetton style).
mike
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY
4 2005
open mic nite (i finally left)
by
mike
 san francisco is now a memory - yesterday morning i woke up after all of 3 hours sleep to jump on the train to LA. so with only one day left in san francisco i thought it would be best to make the most of it.
being the first of the month, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) was free! so a group of us from the hostel decided to trek down there and see some great modern art. while the new york MoMA has a far greater colection, there was a lot of stuff to see in san fran too.
after the museum, we all pretty much went our separate ways - i had to visit walgreens to get some cleaning stuff for my new piercing (i can't remember if i mentioned this or not, but, i had the fortune of getting pierced in san francisco. long story short, hottest piercing EVER!) and with the rest of the afternoon, i grabbed some food, headed back to hostel and did all my washing (as is the exciting domestic life of a backpacker, at least every now and then).
 tuesday nights at the green tortoise hostel in san fran is open mic night. and it's not your typical "ok, here's a mic, GO", it's a full on production. amps, karyoke, 4 mics, stands, guitars, bass...and a lot of people get involved. from blues guitar to freestyle hip-hop, comedy and a jam to finish the night off. they also put on a free keg, so we could merrily drink while listening to the performers.
i had to play something, so i jumped up third and played 'wonderwall' to get people singing along. but i got off stage for a while, and came back to play a couple of tenacious d tracks.
all in all, it was a great night. we sat around after the show was over for a while, playing pool, and drinking what was left of the beer.
so as i was saying before, i did finally leave san fran and arrived in LA at around 7:30pm last night. i'm staying at the usa hostel hollywood, which is just off hollywood blvd. there's a cool little bar upstairs here, and last nite was live comedy. i met up with ciaran again here (the guy i walked around boston with) - he flew off to australia today, so we had a few (read: few too many) drinks and laughed our asses off.
i have no idea what i'm doing today, it's 12:30pm and i guess i'll be wandering around hollywood for the afternoon.
i've put some new pics up (i'm loving free wireless!) from san fran. let me know what you think on the message board or comment below.
i'll probably be off to vegas next and hopefully i'll get to go and see the grand canyon from there.
time for some celebrity spotting - i'll try to get some pics. but until later...
mike
it's later now...i walked along hollywood and sunset today, took some pics (i'll put them up soon) and now i'm back here wondering if i can be bothered walking down to see brenda and brandon at west beverly high. i think i might have dinner at the peach pit and party at the after dark later... :P
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MONDAY, JANUARY
31 2005
the rock
by
mike
my time in san francisco is quickly coming to an end, which is sad, because it's a really great city. i will definately have to come back and spend more time here very soon. i've done a few touristy things here and have wandered around a fair bit.
as i mentioned before, this hostel is a lot like the gen in london. last night we sat around, had a few beers, played some pool, and of course made some music. i bumped into ciaran yesterday when i was down at fisherman's wharf - i met ciaran in boston and we just happened to have corssed paths again. so last night he came down for a few drinks too - the night got on pretty fast, and before we knew it, the time was 5am.
 so a late(ish) start today - this afternoon i took a trip out to alcatraz. it was pretty cool wandering around the cell block, seeing the conditions the prisoners had to live in. there was al capone's cell amongst many others. i think the best thing was seeing the cells were three inmates escaped - they apparently made the ventilation hole wider using nothing but a spoon, and managed to flee the island. to this day they're still wanted for escaping, although it's still unknown as to whether they made it to the shore or not.
after a quick boat ride back, i took a street car down to union square, and wandered around for a bit. i stumbled upong the diesel store again so had to go have a look...oh, and i bought a hat. the store here is the biggest diesel store in the world - there's something like 6 levels - if i had the money i would have bought up big time.
anyway - i'm off to LA tomorrow, where i hopefully will be catching up with ciaran and his mates again. if i get around to it i'll put some more pics up from the last two days, but in the mean time, someone, please, write something new in the message board.
till later...
mike
ps: a HUGE happy birthday to my grandmother for yesterday, and to my newly wedded uncle andrew for the 28th. i hope you both had a great day!
UPDATE: well, it's just like europe all over; i say i'll be leaving and what do i do? i stay for an extra day or two. i'm still in san francisco, i decided to stay an extra night, or maybe two (i want to go see the Full House house you see) so...i'll be heading down to LA tomorrow or maybe wednesday - i'll decide in an hour or two. either way, i should be in LA by wednesday night at the latest. also, paul (one of the guys from atlanta that came to NY for new years) is coming to san fran tomorrow, so i can catch up with him if i hang around. anyway - i'll make sure to post when i leave/get to LA.
- mike
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SUNDAY, JANUARY
30 2005
a long train and another city
by
mike
 well, i made it to san francisco. it was a loooong train ride (24 hours to be exact) from seattle, but when the sun was shining, the scenery was pretty cool. we went all the way through washington and oregon, before hitting california.
i got in at about 10am yesterday, managed to stumble up the hill to find my hostel, showered, changed and then wandered off to get lost in the city.
 san francisco is a pretty cool city. i haven't wandered around too much just yet, but i did make it out to pier 2 to take some pics, and i'll be walking out to fisherman's wharf, and if my legs will keep going, the golden gate bridge, later today.
this hostel is pretty cool - there's free wireless access so i am trying to upload some photos from the past few weeks. i've started to upload my vancouver shots, and with a little luck, you can also check out seattle and the start of my san francisco pics.
the hostel also organises a pub crawl every friday night, and last nite we also celebrated a birthday on the crawl. a group of us left at about 8 (after eating our free dinner -- yes, FREE dinner!) for the first place; there's nothing like a shot of jagermeister and a bottle of bud for $4 to start your night! we left there about a half hour later for another place, and then i wandered off with two people from the hostel to the area called the castro.
 by this stage i was pretty well hammered (i must have been - i bought a burrito at about 1.30am!) but we staggered on, and after about 3 clubs we fell into a cab and came home. there's a big ballroom which is like the common area in the hostel. this is where dinner and breakfast is, and there's the kitchen, a pool table etc etc. there's also a few guitars floating around, so of course in my drunken haze i grabbed one and played for a bit. it was kind of like being back at the gen in london, playing guitar with russ after the bar shuts at 2am. anyways -- it was a bit of fun.
well that's about it from me. i'm off to LA i think next, and that will be on monday morning. vegas will probably next (vegas baby, VEGAS!) before i try to make it to new orleans for mardi gras on feb 8th.
let me know what you think of the pics - i'll try to get new ones up a bit more often if i can!
mike
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SATURDAY, JANUARY
29 2005
We’re back!
by
Kings
Hey all, apparently some sort of hardware issue where mikeandkings.com is hosted took the site down for a few days. Thankfully everything seems to be okay now and we didn’t seem to loose anything.
Kingsley
PS: This time it wasn’t my fault! :)
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THURSDAY, JANUARY
27 2005
Australia Day Rant
by
Kings
 Okay, I’m sorry but I have to have a little rant because it is really bugging the hell out of me. As most Australians (and for some strange reason some of my English colleagues) know, it’s Australia Day. I’m sitting at work wearing my Australian Flag socks preparing to head off to the nearest Walkabout pub after work. Only, it seems that people are not referring to it as Australia Day, it has somehow become ‘Fosters Australia Day’!
Fosters! I know they go on about how they are Australian and I suppose there is nothing wrong with having some type of corporate image. What the heck is Fosters Australia Day all about?! They’ve gone too far! And everwhere I look there they are, profiteering off the back of my great nation! With their ‘Australia’s Favourite Beer’ lies! YOU CAN’T EVEN GET IT IN AUSTRALIA! Want proof? Here is a picture of Mike and I having our first Fosters. Where? IN FRANCE! And worse yet, it is the renowned as being crap. So what does that say about Australia? Not 'bloody' much.
So this evening, I hope those of you outside of Australia who can actually buy the crap [sic] choose something else. I know I will; and fortunately for me the Walkabout stocks a wide range of genuine Australia Beers.
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TUESDAY, JANUARY
25 2005
bye bye canada, hello again USA
by
mike
really quickly because i'm off to the train station now - i'm leaving vancouver for the US in a few hours. i'll be tkaing the train south to seattle today, and i'll stay a few days before heading down through california.
i want to say a huge thanks to everyone that i've stayed with here in canada - you all better come and visit back in australia when i get home. i also want to say hi and thanks to everyone that i've met along the way so far - i've had a great time up here and can't wait to come back.
better run - someone post something interesting for me to read...
mike
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SUNDAY, JANUARY
23 2005
leaving here soon...
by
mike
firstly, thanks to everyone for the birthday greetings. i had a fun couple of days with the opening of a play at UBC on thursday night, followed by the opening party afterwards. that sort of flowed into friday so we started celebrating my birthday - and got back home at about 6.30am.
yesterday, sheila and i went on a bit of an adventure around vancouver. we went to see the movie 'sideways' (which i would highly recommend, it's hillarious) and then wandered the town for a few hours before finding somewhere for a drink around 5.
we kept drinking and walking and drinking and seeing people for the next few hours, more wine at the regal beagle, followed by cocktails and jager shots. all in all, i had a great time.
i really have to thank sheila for putting up with me these last few days and for taking me around and making me feel spesh on my birthday.
i'm not sure how much longer i'll be staying here in vancouver, but i'm guessing that i'll be moving south back into the US to seattle in the next few days.
thanks again to everyone for the birthday messages! i really appreciate it - and kings, i will be getting you back come feb 14th
until later...
mike
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