chase the light

Last day in London and I don’t even want to move. Thought I’d just lay low and try and get a little better. I did have to go out to the University Of London to find out where the show is. That was going to drain me so I tried and be mellow about it. I got lost way too many times on the way there and became totally frustrated. That didn’t help my mood one bit. 16 Horsepower [LINK] [LINK] is pretty much the reason I added the London portion to my trip. They rarely do tours in the States, but seem to tour the Netherlands and England quite frequently. So I was just going to stiff lip it and try and enjoy myself. After I found the place I went back to the hotel and tried to sleep. No help to what sounded like English Footballer fans as I laid there tossing and turning. About 6:00pm I went into slow motion and made my way across town to the University. It was freezing ass cold and I waited in line for a bit and then made my way upstairs to the club. I could die right now. I got some food at the grill and ate in the corner of the cafeteria away from the club section. This was the single worst chicken sandwich I’ve ever eaten. Can’t this country put a decent meal together? Everything I’ve ever eaten in London completely blows. Even today at lunch when I went to Nando’s, it sucked. We use to frequent one of those in New Zealand and it was tasty good. I wish I could turn off my stomach while here. Anyway, I didn’t watch the opening band as they made the Cowboy Junkies seem like a speed metal band. 16 Horsepower came on was just awesome. [Quicktime 6.0/iTunes alert ahead] There’s nothing better than when David Eugene Edwards starts playing the opening bars of “Harm’s Way” [LINK] and “American Wheeze” [LINK] on that Patek Concertina. They’re just too good. I’ve lost track of how many times of seen them. At least 10 off the top of my head. After the show I ran down stairs to get to the bathroom first and passed the band running the other way to get out of the club before the fans. Elvis has left the building. I just nodded and said great show. Sick as a dog I made way home. I was willing to call my joke of a hotel home at this point. Tomorrow I’m off the Barcelona. Maybe I can recover there with a little help from a nice sleep at Alex and Maria’s.

For a lack of anything better to do I decided to go out and see what had become of the Millennium Dome. Well, nothing had become of the Millennium Dome actually. How sad, the giant tent like structure is still sitting along the Thames but there’s nothing but weeds growing up around it. On a day layover in London a couple years ago a friend and I went and it was a really great thing that was showcasing… I’m not sure really what it was showcasing now that I think about it, but it was a lot of fun. Peter Gabriel had composed the music for the Cirque Du Soleil acrobat like show and all sorta of things were flying around. Now it’s dead. It ended up being a bad idea going out there today as I was quickly coming down the one of the most frightening colds I’ve ever had. I was in a bad way by the time I got back to hotel. It hit me so quick.

Unfortunately I had already purchased a ticket for Les Miserables tonight. I’ve seen the show like 5 times but thought I’d see if I liked the London version better. Nope. In fact it was the worst version I’ve seen. The staging was up there, but the key roles were pretty weak. The scary thing is that this one show has been playing here since 1985. 18 years and with over 7500 shows under its belt. That’s half of my lifetime. That’s nuts. No wonder it feels a bit long in the tooth. It’s closing in March and moving down the street to the Queens Theater so that the theater can do its long overdue renovations. I’m soooo sick.

Tonight’s show? “Hot Hot Heat” [LINK] at the London Astoria!! Man, I love this band. Do yourself a favor and get into them. Did my usual morning visit to see the venue where the show is going to be. Then I headed out for some sight seeing. I went back to Abbey Road Studios. There’s even a live cam set up [LINK]. I go out there everytime. I don’t know why. Maybe just to read the new graffiti or just soak in the area. The funny thing is later I was to find out that Paul McCartney and his wife had their baby the night before I went out to the studios. You pass the hospital on they why to the studios which is a short 5 minute walk from St. John’s Wood station. She was kept there a few days so it’s highly probable Paul was there the next morning as I walked by. A mere 30 or so feet to the front door.

After that I hopped the train across the city to the south bank and walked over to the “London Eye” and back up to Trafalgar Square where they’ve done something with all the pigeons. I kind of miss those flying rats, dirty as they are. It was pretty much raining this whole time, which sucked. Got back to the nightmare hotel and grabbed a bite to eat before heading over to the Astoria. All the sightseeing paled in comparison to the show tonight. Quite possibly the most going off show I’ve ever seen. The crowd was near rioting with joy. I got in line and I was definitely one of the older guys there, but I made up for that in lack of acne. The only downside of the show is the smoking. God Lord, you could choke a horse in that place. There was a thick grey cloud blanketing the club the whole night. It made the lights look cool, but it was disgusting and after the show I almost dry heaved a few times. It was that NASTY. The show was great though. Crowd surfers galore and the whole place bouncing in unison was amazing. I thought the floor would cave in. Good fun, but ack, cough, cough.

Got up this morning and had to get over to Shepherd’s Bush to find the Empire theater for tonight’s concert, Daniel Lanois [LINK]. I didn’t even have a street name so when I got off the Tube I asked a guy at McDonald’s and he pointed across the park at these two tall buildings. He said it was on the other side of the buildings. Ok, easy enough. One hour later I’m still walking around Shepherd’s Bush and finally ask someone else. Where’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire? Oh, it’s on this street a few blocks down, just keep going. Oh, ok. I finally get there and I realize that across the park I can see the McDonald’s where the first guy gave me horribly misguided directions. At least I knew where I was going now. Better to be lost here in the daylight than later tonight.

Hopped a train back to Kensington and went to the Serpentine Gallery to see the John Currin exhibit. Here’s a little info [LINK]. It was great and I walked through Hyde Park to the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall. Then took the train back to Piccadilly and grabbed dinner. After a little shopping and some rest I hopped back over to the Shepherd’s Bush area a little early in case there was a line. Not to bad, and for about 45 minutes the lined up crowd was entertained by the two local homeless guys who preceded to berate everybody who walked by. Seriously, the drunkest people I’ve ever seen. It was all non-threatening until they started in with the line and I was the subject of attention for about 10 minutes. Finally the police came and took care of the situation as it was starting to escalate and get unruly. Finally the concert started and Daniel Lanois came out and put in an awesome set. Since I got there early, I was able to watch the show from the front of the stage. I placed myself right by his steel guitar so I could watch him play it close up. It worked out perfectly especially for the encore when Bono came out and joined him onstage for a drunken version of “Falling At Your Feet”. Bono was so out of it he couldn’t even sing the song even when given the lyrics written out on a sheet a paper. After the song was over Daniel said, “That kids got a future”. Then Bono left the stage and Daniel said, “He’s gonna kill me later”. Well, after that drunken display I would have too. I didn’t bring my camera tonight but some guy up in the balcony did [LINK]. You can even see my head in one of the shots. Me below the red star, Bono below the white star. Great to see the show after having met him back in May [LINK].

Said my goodbyes to Ireland this morning and onto London. I’m really starting to hate London more each time I go. Between Heathrow airport and the flu and virus toxic zone known as the Underground, I can think of many other places I’d rather be. I am here for concerts though, so that’s good. After taking the Piccadilly line into Piccadilly Circus, easy, I tried checking into the hotel. The line for doing this wound through the lobby and out the front door. All around the lobby were notes posted apologizing for the recent evacuation because of the fire alarm. Great. After about 45 minutes I got my key to my crappy room. The bathrooms and showers are down the hall and you have to call them when you want to take a shower. All this for the wonderful price of $100 a night. I was pretty beat so I thought I’d try to take a little nap. About 20 minutes into laying down and just about to fade off, the mother f’in #%#&$ #&*% fire alarm goes off! See for yourself. [VIDEO LINK] The Regent Palace Hotel… never ever ever ever stay there. This is really going to suck as I’m here for the next 5 nights and so far is the noisiest hotel I’ve ever stayed at. I’m already entertaining the idea that I’ll never stay in London again.

Yesterday I drove down from Northern Ireland via Belfast and got lost along the way. I ended up in the town of Monaghan by accident and started looking for a place to stay. I was out of luck because this weekend just happened to be a bank holiday so all the hotels were booked. Amanda at work had given me her parents number in case of an emergency. They live in Monaghan, but it was now 11:00pm and I thought it might give them a fright if I just showed up out of the blue. “Um, hi… yeah..” I went over it in my head a few times before I resigned myself to the inevitable. So I trekked on all the way down to Dublin, hoping and praying there was a room near the airport. Fortunately there was a room at the hotel I’d being staying at during my layover flight to Los Angeles in a couple of weeks. The other thing this would let me do is have today to drive down to Waterford as a day trip. The trip down was nice and somewhere along the side of the road was a gypsy like camp of trailers. Straight out of the movie Snatch.

Once I got down to Waterford, which I thought was quite nice, I didn’t really have much time so I went to the Waterford Crystal factory and took a tour and picked up a few gifts. I’m not a big crystal fan but it was interesting. I bought a couple of Irish Coffee glasses for myself even though I don’t drink coffee. I had all the stuff shipped, but not after talking to this incredibly beautiful sales woman Jacinda for more than an hour. The typical red hair and blue eyes thing is really working on me at this point. I get it now. Sometimes I forget how fascinated people are by Hollywood stuff, and trying to explain what I do and how it fits into all of that can make conversations really easy. You field a lot of questions such as, “Are people in L.A. that shallow?” Yes. “Do you see stars walking around all the time?” On the way back, I got lost once again. I’ve got it figured it out. I get lost only when it’s beautiful out. I’m to busy to be bothered with maps at that point. I had a few hours to get to Dublin and caught the sunset on my way out of Waterford.

Crack me the hell up. Well, I made it. I wasn’t sure I was going to make all the way up to Northern Ireland and even the northern coast at that. But here I am standing before what I consider the greatest album cover in rock history. Don’t think I don’t know I’m a total loser for doing this but I loved every minute of those two hours I was out there trying to find “the” spot. When I was a kid I swear I’d unfold my House Of The Holy record sleeve and look at those kids crawling up this rocky monolith and listen to that music for hours on end. It was other worldy and took me places. I was in musical geek heaven today. Unfortunately I didn’t have as wide a lens as they did, but you can still open both images and see the similar landmarks. What nobody tells you is that they printed the album cover backwards, which would have shaved off probably an hour of time searching for it. So I flipped my photo for ease of use. This would definitely be a great Geocache.

Ah, some nice sleep. I actually feel like I want to stay here another night after that noisy ass hotel in Dublin. I got an early start today which was good and bad. Good because I had a lot of driving to do, but bad because it was like planet Pluto cold outside. All of the fields around had frost on them and the sun looked amazing as it was raking across all of the ice. I had to find my way down to Liscanoor to see if some ferries were running. I suspected they weren’t but thought I’d give it shot. They weren’t, but that did allow me to take a beautiful drive through the hills on the way to the cliffs. I even passed through Lisdoonvarna which is home to the famous matchmaking festival.

After a couple hour drive I finally arrived at the Cliffs. Damn. Those things are some big cliffs. The sun of course was working against me photo wise but they were still amazingly beautiful. After an hour or so at the cliffs I needed to hit the road so I could get up to Clifden and the Connemarra in the late afternoon. At the end of the day I pulled into the town of Sligo exhausted and beat from the days driving. The first hotel I passed I stopped at and thank God they had rooms. If I had to search out a hotel right then I would been a wreck. I was more mentally tired than physically tired, so I wasn’t really sleepy yet. So what better thing is there to do when you’re mentally tired but go to the circus! As I was driving into town “Tom Duffy’s Circus” was across the street from the hotel.

It was about 8:15 when I finally got over there. I walked up to the ticket counter and saw that the show had started at 7:30. I asked if I could still go in, but he said I missed the lions and tigers. I figured most of the show was going to be a huge animal exploitation fest anyway. So the less I saw of that the more I could probably enjoy the whole camp factor. I said I was cool with going in late because I had nothing to do. For God’s sake I’m the north west corner of Ireland on a Friday night going to a circus. Of course I have nothing to do. He sold me the cheapest ticket yet still gave me a grandstand seat.

Ok, I’ll never do this again, as I was seriously the oldest person there without a kid. Everyone seemed to enjoy the show though. Animal taunting and all. Man, those poor alligators. All they did was cart them out, throw them into the ring, and rap their noses with sticks so they would open their mouths in defense. Then the circus performers would throw their hands up in the air like some great feat had been done. Everyone clapped except me, who sat horrified in the darkness of the last row. God bless Cirque Du Soleil that only exploits little russian gymnasts and asian girls who throw around yo-yo’s and stuff. At least they could quit if they want. Anyway, I’ve never been to a traditional circus before and it was exactly the David Lynch house of horrors experience I expected it to be.

I was so ready to leave Dublin this morning. The weather has been atrocious. I cabbed it out to the airport and had a hard time finding anyplace that had cars. I ended up with a larger car than I wanted but it all was for the best in the end. I left Dublin about 11:00 and had hoped to make it out to Galway. It took about 4 hours to cross the middle of Ireland but I got there and decided to try and beat the sun and get to the Cliffs of Moher in the late afternoon. Since the sun sets on the west it would light up the cliffs for some nice photos. Try as I might it was getting dark so I turned around. I did stop at a little castle called Dongory to check out the view. They were setting up for some sort of dinner inside. I finally found a place to stay in a town called Clarinbridge and it was really nice and inexpensive. When I walked in the girl at the desk immediately started speaking gaelic to me which I took as a good sign that I didn’t stand out to much. Of course when I hesitated with an “uh…”, she welcomed me in english. Whew. After checking in I drove back into the city of Galway and walked around the main town area a bit. It was getting seriously cold so I started thinking blankets and heater. I went to bed without eating since the hotel restaurant was closed and the place was out in the middle of nowhere. Other than the fush n’ chups in Dublin I eaten sandwiches the whole time. Big day tomorrow.

Another Day in Dublin. I just kind of wandered around today and darted in and out doorways as it rained, sleeted, hailed, and almost started snowing. I also supposedly went to the best fush ‘n chups place in the city. Honestly, it was disgusting. I might as well have been drinking straight out of a bottle of cooking oil. My hands were a shiny mess. Barring a heart attack, I have to get to the airport tomorrow to rent a car and then I’m off into the countryside. Straight across the country to Galway and I’ll try and make it to the Cliffs of Moher for the sunset.

Arrived in Dublin, Dubh Linn, Black Pool, Baile Atha Cliath, Town of the Ford of the Hurdle, (take your pick) this morning and checked into the Jury’s Inn at Christchurch. The first person you usually have to interact with is the cab driver. They’re probably not the best representatives of the city but they’re always a good source of amusement. Mine even gave me a pad of paper and pen to write down everything he said. After looking back at it in the hotel I wrote down nothing I could read and even phonetically tried to spell out some words in his Irish accent. The only thing I could recognize was “tree-tirty”. That means 3:30. So my first lesson is that there is no “th” sound in Ireland. Good to know. After I layed down for a bit I went out and checked out the city a bit. Ended up at the Ha’penny Bridge which is sort of a symbol of Dublin. It was opened in 1816 and cost a half penny to cross. It’s been the only pedestrian bridge across the Liffey until the Millenium bridge opened in 2000. That giant cloud behind the bridge is about to create the biggest hail and sleet storm I’ve ever seen in my whole life. It’s about to get real ugly on the walk back to the hotel.

That’s me, Joe Jetsetter. How could I resist a Shag post to say I’m outta here. “Haunted Mansion” [LINK] has wrapped and I’m off onto this Big Blue Marble [LINK] [LINK]. Flights are booked, hotels are booked, concert tickets are purchased. A friend is house sitting. First stop Ireland as I hit Dublin and the countryside. Possibly the Cliffs of Moher [LINK], Aran Islands [LINK], Galway, and Clifden on the west coast. Then maybe up to Belfast and also a trip along the north coast for a look at the Giant’s Causeway [LINK]. Depends on the weather. From there it’s London for a series of concerts. “Daniel Lanois” [LINK] at Shepherds Bush Empire, “Hot Hot Heat” [LINK] at The Astoria, and finally “16 Horsepower” [LINK] at ULU.

I’ll try to refrain from taking the train to Paris for a day just to have a Nutella crepe. That’d be a $200 dollar crepe, but it would be the best crepe in the world. Oh man, that place right in St. Germain, on that side street with the… Or the one by Notre Dame on the cool little corner with the… Or the one off the Seine near the Eiffel Tower that has the… argh, I can taste them all now.

Then off to Barcelona to see Alex and Maria and have a Bocatta sandwich. I can already tell I’m just going to eat and drink my way around Europe this time.

After that it’s off to Prague for a week. Can’t wait to see the Alphonse Mucha museum [LINK] and the Bone Church in Kutna Hora [LINK], the Astronomical Clock [LINK], and the Charles Bridge. Some of the movies that have been shot in Prague include “Amadeus”, “Kafka”, “Mission: Impossible”, “XXX”, “Les Miserables”, and “Immortal Beloved”. They start filming the “Alien Vs. Predator” movie the week before I get there. So maybe I’ll catch part of that. Then it’s back to Dublin for a night and the journey home. “J” will be for Jetlag by that time.

The iPod is filled up with songs and all ready to go. Here are some Bloggirls and a Blogguy to keep you busy while I’m on holiday. [Willo O’Brien], [Kat Hunter], [Jason Zada], [Sarah McAuley], [Jane For Short], and of course friends and owners of the ultra minimalist website Stobo. [Keith and Shelli Bean]. Their site is more like a shoebox under the bed with family photos in it. Except this family does Burning Man, not backyard pool parties.

First trip with Aer Lingus. You know you’re going to Ireland when all the Flight Attendants have red or black hair, blue eyes, and porcelain skin. Other things I noticed on my trip was the guy singing “Beautiful Day” by U2 in the toilet, two women raving about “Billy Connelly” although he’s a Scot, and the American guy on the plane slugging back way to much Guinness for a 10 hour flight. Everybody’s getting prepared. I’m about to be up for way to many hours in a row. Flight leaves at 5:00pm.

Just when I think I’m over the whole “Cirque du Soleil” [LINK] thing, that it’s just some expensive fake new age music cultural event, I go again and it blows my mind. It never ceases to amaze. Tonight was “Varekai” [LINK] in downtown L.A.. They moved it from Santa Monica to the Staples Center a few years ago. So many things in life you can say, “I can do this”, or, “I can do that”. That’s what I like about Cirque du Soleil. There’s not a single thing in those shows I could possibly do. Well, maaaaybe the clown stuff. The seats were dead center and right by the sound board. If I was to pick a seat to sit in, it would have been these. I’m glad Cirque du Soleil exists. No animals either, and that’s a good thing. I still probably like “Quidam” the best. But that was my first.

After a long hot day at Universal, had to head home, shower, and get to Rebecca’s [LINK] restaurant in Santa Monica by 9:00. I’m spilling the beans right here. Naz [LINK] turned 28 Tuesday. Every girls nightmare, letting out their age. Ate too much gaucamole. I couldn’t even tell you who shot this photo. It was on my camera when I got home. It’s weird knowing my camera was being used without me. The little photo slut it is. Whoever it was didn’t know how to turn on the flash.

Two birthday’s in row and an all day adventure. First Rachel Macs birthday at Universal Studios. I haven’t been to Universal Studios in years but wanted to see the Shrek 4D show. I fortunately didn’t have to work on it and got the pleasure to see it without all the pain of working on it. Same with the forthcoming “Shrek 2”. The 3D work was amazing but it’s too bad nobody really gets a screen credit and you can never really have it on DVD. It’s there for all to see, and it’s amazing, but after a day of being surrounded by Shrek stuff I’m still really sick of it all. Can we bury this film now? The line had some “wanted” signs for Shrek on the way in. I had to laugh because I stared at one of those posters for about a month while working on this one shot [LINK]. Oh man, the guy narrating the tour at the front of the tram really needed to be doused in gasoline and lit up. Now that would have been a cool behind the scenes look at special effects. I think I’ve found where all actors go when they’re not on a sitcom or daytime soap. They’re manning the rides at Universal. My lunch of 4 pasta shells, a soda, some fruit and a cookie was $16. Yikes. I’m packin’ a lunch next time.

I really need an intervention. Twelve of us from work went in together to buy the “Twelve Stations Of Ptolemy” folio [LINK] from the recent Shag show at “La Luz De Jesus” [LINK]. First we had to find twelve people who would want their respective zodiac sign. It turned out to not be that difficult. We had all twelve in a matter of days. It actually proved so popular that a second group got together and bought another set. Most people seemed really happy with their particular sign. Including me. “Virgo, Modest and Meticulous” [LINK]. I got it framed that same week and it now hangs proudly in my hall next to the amber lamp. Click to see a close up. Also check out the super groovy redesigns he’s doing for the 40th anniversary of the Pink Panther [LINK].

The last Cinespia [LINK] of the year, well sorta. One more Nov. 1st for Halloween, but I’ll be doing something way way way cooler. We’re up to 14 people now and saving a space large enough is getting difficult. I’ve had to resort to flying a yellow balloon for homing people in through the dark. This week’s yellow balloon… SpongeBob! Asked why I don’t have a cell phone, which would make finding us much easier, I replied, “I have SpongeBob, I don’t need a cell phone”. He lives in a pineapple under the sea. Absorbent and yellow and porous is he. That’s amazing. Anyway… tonight’s viewing, “Shadow of A Doubt” from Alfred Hitchcock. Definitely the best film so far. In attendance, Alice, Angela, Chris, Kelly, Kelly’s Hub., Spencer, 3 other people, Aaron, Pia, Rob, Christine, and me. The fullmoonrise over the mausoleum was shweet.

Had to get up at 6:00am this morning to catch my flight back to L.A. I’ll never fly in and out of San Jose ever again. San Francisco airport, although much bigger, is able to handle its capacity. The fashion police have yet to arrive in the Valley to strip everyone of their Bill Gates look. The button down shirts, khaki pants and tennis shoes or Dockers are still the style of choice. It looks as dated as a “Members Only” jacket now. Finally got on the plane and grabbed a window seat so I could sleep a little. A guy who was on his phone out in the terminal thought he wasn’t going to get on the flight. He got on and grabbed the middle seat in my row. He proceded to invade my space for the next hour as he constantly wanted to look out the window. Next time buddy, get to airport earlier so you too can have a window seat. I tried to discourage him by leaning really far forward while looking out the window and blocking most of the view. This only seemed to encourage him as I could feel him lean against me to struggle to get a view. I turned and looked at him and damned if he was five inches from my face. Get the hell off of me! How rude. The backup non-confrontational plan of leaning away from him and sleeping worked much better. As we were flying over Ventura he looked at me and said, “Very sick crowds”. I stared blankly for a second. Did he just say “very sick crowds”? He could tell I had no idea what he was talking about. So he repeated slower this time like it was going to help. “V e r y s i c k c r o w d s”. I looked at him and repeated very slowly, “very sick crowds” with a puzzled looked. He pointed out the window and said again “very sick crowds”. Oooooohhhhhh.. “Very THICK CLOUDS!” Yeah, no shit, you’ve been crawling over me to look at them the whole trip. The ever so subtle language of Engrish. [LINK]

Now a whole day at work. Suck.

Today was a worldwind trip up to the Bay Area for Kenji and Sarah’s wedding. After an uneventful flight up to San Jose, I picked up a rental car, checked into the hotel, and made my way down to Monterey. Passed “Crazy Horse Ranch” road where Neil Young lives. I forgot to tell him I was going to be in town, so I didn’t stop by. Normally when I stop by we jam a bit and write some tunes. Ok, I just stand outside and yell things, but still.

Got down to Pebble Beach (insert finger in nose) about 2:00pm and checked out where the wedding was going to be and then took off for a bit of a drive. Ya know, the 17 mile drive. This is the most overrated tourist destination ever. And the “Lone Cypress”? Whatever. It’s a tree on a rock. It’s not even “lone”! There are two trees out there. It’s pretty, but too much hoopla.

Anyway, made my way back to the Pebble Beach lodge which was very nice. Actually it’s the second time I’ve been here in my life. Cruised through the shops and saw nothing I’d buy. Since I don’t golf and the whole importance of the place is kinda lost on me. It’s beautiful there though. That wasn’t lost on me. The wedding started at 5:00pm and a trio of musicians played, strangers watched from the balcony, Canadian geese chomped down grass behind the wedding, and we all sat out on the lawn right by the 18th green of Pebble Beach and it was all good. Sara said “I do”, Kenji said “I do” and everybody clapped. No Ben and J.Lo going down here. After the wedding I got to hang out with Charlie, Lisa, and Isabella for a bit. Most importantly Isabella! Love that kid! As we walked down the links to the reception she chased geese, Charlie chased her, and I chased both of them taking photos.

The reception was at the “beach house” right on the water. Plenty of food and drinks and a really nice toast from Sarah’s brother, read by her dad, as he is stationed in Okinawa and couldn’t make it. How nice was this wedding! So round about 10:00pm, after a long day of traveling, I started getting tired and needed to drive back up to San Jose. Got lost like three times getting out of Pebble Beach and all I have to look forward too is a skanky hotel bed by the airport. Lovely. I get itchy just thinking about it.

What an insane day. Mission: Next To Impossible. The objective? Secure limited edition “Shag” [LINK] serigraph in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Tiki Room. Then get to birthday festivites by 12:30pm.
Got up at 6AM. Drove down to Disneyland. Pull into parking lot but realize I have no cash. Leave. Find ATM. Go back and park. Ride tram into Disneyland. Buy So. Cal. Annual Pass with parking at box office. Get in entrance line. Start to notice a ton of “island wear”. Obviously Shag fans. My competition to the goods. Gates open, people run, employees say walk, people go heel-to-toe, heel-to-toe, people start running again, employees say walk again. People run. Line forms on Main Street. 1 hour goes by. 2 hours go by. Nothing. Wrist bands handed out. 3 hours go by. Wrist band secured. 300 hundred prints exist. I’m halfway. Line proceeds to stay on Main Street for FIVE HOURS! Hate for all things Disney fills me. Mickey goes by. Alice in Wonderland goes by. Oh hey… cute. Argh, must focus. Finally get in. Secure print #226. Buy limited edition tiki mug while there. 12:45pm. Late for birthday. No time to get annual Pass. Get hand stamped. Ride tram to parking lot. Run to car. Get to picnic 45 minutes late. Mingle. Mingle more. Mingle even more. Check out parents new boat. Go up to house after picnic. Gather gifts from parents including gift card to Apple Store. (Yes! Thank you very much.) Pack car. Head back to Disneyland. Ride tram from parking lot. Heel-to-toe down Main Street. Photo I.D. taken for Annual Passport. Stop and pick up mini cheapo Shag print for office. Ride tram out to parking lot. Jam home. Unload car. Pop three Advil, put on swimsuit, grab new super bitchin’ towel, run to jacuzzi. 9:22pm, I’m in. Ahhhhhhhh….. 10:00pm, I’m out. Check Ebay. Shag print is already online [LINK].

While in line a met a guy who was a buyer for an art collector in Dallas. He flew in from Hawaii the day before with a $30,000 wire transfer to try and buy the 4 original paintings that were also for sale. They were going between 8K to 4k. He flies this guy all over the world to collect original Shag paintings. All expenses paid. He only came away with two prints so the client was a little disappointed. He gets a bonus when he can get original paintings. So he was a little disappointed too. He flew back to Hawaii today at 3:00. Where do people get these jobs? Sexual innuendo alert… I’ve been looking for a Shag like this for awhile and felt this was the one I wanted. These types of Shags usually get more expensive very quickly. I love this kinda Shag and it’s much more amazing in person. Even having to wait in line for five hours I’m glad I finally got a nice Shag on my birthday.

I also finally got to see the parents new boat. It looks a bit like a “Popeye” boat. They sold their old boat in 2 days [LINK]. Unheard of in the boating world. That’s how nice the old one was. This one’s going to take awhile to get into that shape but it’s an even nicer boat [LINK]. It’s about 2 feet longer but 4 times the cost of the old one. That’s a lot of Shags. Hee hee. See what I did there? I referenced something from… oh never mind.