The Idle Thoughts Of A DayDreamer

Well! We have finally arrived in San Francisco… eventually! Our two day trip was filled… um… with some interesting experiences! The perils of driving on the right hand side of the road; our run-in with the California highway patrol; the Norman Bates Motel; the petrol crisis; and who could forget the one where they got lost even with the Sat Nav trying to get to the hockey! My god. We managed to jam a hell of a lot into a couple of days! We left Vegas on Wednesday around midday after having picked up our hire-car. Our ultimate destination was San Francisco. We were aiming to arrive in the late afternoon of the following day (Thursday), before journeying down to San Jose for a Sharks v Red Wings hockey match at 730pm that night. How hard could it be? Now take into account that I’d never driven before in the US, and neither Fi, nor myself, had any idea where we were headed!

And so the story begins… Continue reading ‘Travelling All Over The Country-Side’

Well, unfortunately our time in Las Vegas has come to an end. We are leaving this afternoon, heading for San Francisco over the next couple of days. We are going out via the Hoover Dam, which has been dubbed one of the seven wonders of the industrialised world! We have really enjoyed our time here in Las Vegas. We’ve spent the last couple of days shopping and further exploring Vegas. Between the two of us, Princess and I have spent a small fortune!

Being the good tourists we are, we took plenty of photos of our journey around Las Vegas. Here is a small sample. There are, unfortunately, no pictures of the NYE fireworks… too much smoke, and they are all a little blurry. As you can see from the photos, most of the casinos have a theme of some sort: be it New York, Monte Carlo, Paris, Treasure Island or some such other gimmick. Hence, you’ll see replica Eiffel Tower’s, the Statue of Liberty or the Brooklyn Bridge! It’s bizarre, but that’s Vegas for you! As you can see from some of the photos, they’re not shy about using plenty of water in the fountains and displays around town. The wierdest thing about this: the sign in our hotel bathroom telling us that Southern Nevada and Las Vegas was suffering from a drought and we should try to conserve water! Again, you leave all sense of logic and reality at the door!

A final note. If you are in Vegas any time soon, then don’t forget to check out the Ansel Adams exhibition at the Bellagio. Photography that is truly unmatched.

Click here to see a selection of our photos. Continue reading ‘Las Vegas In Pictures’

After a full day exploring and wandering around Vegas, I’ve come to a conclusion. You must let go of reality, “normality” and such things. Things here are bigger, brighter and larger than they need to be. To have a good time, you need to let go of everything… taste especially and just enjoy it for what it is: a huge fun-park for adults. It is a city where everything has a price and everything is for sale. It is wrong on every conceiveable level and then some!

A day of exploration led into a night that promised a lot. We started by go to see the new Cirque du Soleil production called ‘Love’, in conjunction with the Beatles. (One of SIX different CdS productions showing). It was absolutely amazing. (A review may follow, if I ever get around to it). We left the Mirage casino to join the throng of poeple on the ‘Strip’. With the ‘Strip’ closed, you were free to walk down the street as you pleased. As we made our way back to our hotel, the Luxor, people did what people do on new years. However, there was one small exception. Unlike other cities that ban alcohol on such events, in Las Vegas you are free to wonder about with your drink as you please. Be it your two litre jug of beer, or two foot high Eifell Tower margharita. I kid you not!

The fireworks were a little disappointing. Both the Princess and I thought they would put on a better show… but with the hotel pumping us full of champagne in the ‘VIP’ area it kind of made up for it. Our night ended rather tamely, and early. Jet lag, and an ever increasing apathy to NYE kind of has that effect!

Greetings from the United States. I’m off on a quick lap around the world over the next five weeks or so. Currently, the Princess and I are located in ‘Sin City’ - Las Vegas! After a three hour delay, we finally boarded our plane in Melbourne bound for LA. Faulty air-conditioning units we were told. Go QANTAS… you guy’s rock! What seemed like a week later, we finally arrived at LAX… already late for our connecting flight to Las Vegas. At least QANTAS was able to organise new flights, so we didn’t miss a beat in transit.

Now, if you haven’t visited LAX (especially since 2001), then I probably can’t accurately describe it for you. It has to be experienced. It is without doubt the maddest airport in the world. The queue through customs is a nightmare. You get to the end, and like a common criminal you are photographed and fingerprinted! Now, I know I have said that I would never visit the States as long as such measures are in place… but let’s face it, they’ll only ever get worse. And don’t kid yourself… American’s are’t funny and they don’t get sarcasim. Customs is not the place to play funny guy. I have absolutely no desire to visit Guantanamo Bay, or be on the end of a procto-rectal examination! And a little cultural note… what’s with the pictures of Dubya everywhere? Bizarre! Reminded me of the way Saddam or Mao stuck pictures of themselves up everywhere.

Anyway, once you get through customs, you get to experience the airport… guys invest in a can of paint or two! That done, we got to experience the domestic terminal… much of the same as above, only now I’m shoeless! I finally get my shoes back, but not my bottle of water, and we board our flight to Vegas. The landscape is very inhospitable, being a desert and all. It’s spectacular in a barren kind of way. Then, amongst all the valleys, mountains and desert… a city, literally in the middle of nowhere.

Our first introduction to Vegas was the airport. As you leave the airbridge and head into the airport, not TEN steps off the bridge… POKIES. Welcome to Sin City. After catching a shuttle to our hotel, we arrive in front of a huge pyramid with a massive Sphinx in front. Home for the next few days. The Princess has arrived at her Mecca… and I’m wondering what I’ve gotten myself into. Things have taken a turn to the surreal!

Well, here goes in the second annual “Idle Thoughts Top Ten albums of the Year”…

# 1 Thom Yorke - Eraser

The rest in alphabetical order…

The Beatles - Love
Belle And Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Johnny Cash - American V - The Hundred Highways
Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis
Bob Dylan - Modern Times
Easy Star All-Stars - Radiodread
The Hilltop Hoods - The Hard Road
Ron Sexsmith - Time Being
Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope

I couldn’t find a spot on the list for the Who’s “Endless Wire”, but hey, brutal decisions needed to be made…

Concert Of The Year: Ian Brown @ The Forum, Melbourne

Now, those of you who are into your music may notice some exceptions from the list above. In putting together this list, I’ve only included albums that I’ve listened to. While I have every intention of listening to the following albums, the fact that I haven’t means they don’t make the list. 2006 wasn’t a great year of musical exploration for me… hopefully 2007 will find me exploring newer paths! Anyway, the list of albums for the above mentioned reason that didn’t make the Top Ten, in no particular order:

Cat Power - The Greatest
Johanna Newson - Ys
Beach House - Beach House
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
John Legend - Once Again
Yeah Yeah Yeah’s - Show Your Bones
Sarah Blasko - What The See Wants, The Sea Will Have
Bob Evans - Surburban Songbook

Click here to see the Top Ten from 2005.