LA Trip…
Last weekend a mate and I went on a little road trip to Los Angeles. The drive there from Reno, down the SIerra Highway, is absolutely stunning, really beautiful. The highway takes you through the Sierra Nevada mountains, which were covered in snow, set against a perfect blue sky backdrop. We also passed by numerous lakes, such as June Lake, Mono Lake and the Mammoth Lakes, as well as going through towns such as Bishop, Lone Pine (where numerous Westerns have been filmed), and the Mojave desert. The highest mountain in the contiguous United States, Mt. Whitney (14, 505 ft), is also on the drive.
Then we got to Lancaster, CA, the ninth fastest growing town in the US, and our place to stay for the night. Went out for a nice meal to some Mexican place, and found a place to stay (eventually). Had a good nights sleep before our day in LA…
Woke up fairly early so we could get on the road and see as much of LA as we could, and got ourselves a copy of the Lonely Planet guide to California. However, as we were driving along Hwy 5 to LA, we noticed some smoke over the hills. Uh-oh. LA county being somewhat infamous for its wildfires, we feared the worst. And we were right, We got massively diverted and ended up driving for many more hours than we should have done. In the end we didn’t get to see much of LA, but we did go to Santa Monica, and drove through Hollywood, and then to Pomona to the party we were going to.
Santa Monica lies on the coast of LA county, west of LA city. I was shocked at how hot it was down there, 90F! In the middle of November! But anyway, Santa Monica was nice, I guess I’d describe it as an American Brighton - it has a pier and good shopping and food (though the service was a bit bad).
Then we went drove through Hollywood, on the way to Pomona. Again, we didn’t see much of that either, due to a massive Prop 8 demonstration. And then Pomona - don’t remember much of that.
Woke up on Sunday morning with surprisingly little of a hangover, off to Denny’s (my first trip to Denny’s might I add, and hopefully not my last!) to refuel before the long drive back home…
So, overall, a fantastic weekend!
More photos over on my Flickr.
Top Gear Comes to Reno
And they weren’t very fair. Predictably, they only showed the rubbish casino area around 4th Street. But it’s a funny video anyway!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhH5wqFfoWc (the poster disabled embedding, so you’ll have to click through to see it…)
A few quotes from the clip…
…Reno, which is like Las Vegas, only small. And worse. It’s a town with lightbulbs on it.
What an appalling cack hole.
Aww, poor Reno…
Oh Oh Oh… I’m Proud of Reno
Here’s a funny tune from the film Reno 911! : Miami…
Lyrics after the jump…
The 44th President…
He did it. Barack Obama has been elected the next President of the United States.
And I couldn’t be happier. I’ve followed this election since it began about 2 years ago, through the Primaries and then to the real campaigning. I was even lucky enough to arrive in the US just as it was hotting up, and got to see Obama twice when he came to Reno.
Back home I was fairly politically minded, but to be honest, politics at home in dull. In England, we’re used to boring old men in suits, and they all seem as bad as each other, with no massive differences in their policies - basically wanting to bring everything down to the lowest common denominator. And they’re certainly not inspirational or charismatic.
In Northern Ireland it’s even worse. Most people are even more disengaged from the political process because of what politics has caused. Politics means sectarianism, violence, anger and graffiti, and as a result, most people steer clear.
However, American politics is completely different. With vast amounts of money being poured into this election, estimated at around $2.5 billion, this campaign was enthralling. I can only comment from my experience of Obama rallies, but having been to a few, he truly is inspiring -from the way his speeches are written so that the crowd is roused up, let down for a bit, then roused up again to the careful selection of music, always ending in Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours”.
It’s fantastic to see America get over the race issue (even if it couldn’t get over the gay issue), and hopefully during the next 4 years, we’ll begin to see a change.
After the jump, in case you missed it, is Obama’s victory speech, delivered in front of 124,000 people in Grant Park, Chicago.
Photo via Flickr user JBVFromFK.
The Return of Dido…
Heck, it’s been long enough!
Here’s her new song, Don’t Believe in Love, and it’s pretty good.
Dido’s new album, Safe Trip Home is out November 17th.
After the jump, my favourite Dido song, Take My Hand, live at Brixton Academy.
John McCain on SNL…
With only a few days until Election Day, John McCain appeared with Tina Fey on SNL last night, and it’s pretty darned funny!
It’s Halloween…
…and Nevada Day, which means I get the day off!
But I need costume ideas - I have 8 hours to put one together.
Eep! So, any good suggestions, comment them!
UPDATE (11/1/2008): After ages walking around a Halloween store, I found a cheap King fancy dress costume - pretty lame, but whatever. Had a fun night anywho!
Photo via Flickr user peasap.
American Stories, American Solutions - Obama’s Closing Statements
Firstly, sorry to keep going on about Obama. Don’t worry, this time next week, it’ll all be over, and he’ll (hopefully) be President-elect.
But anyway… tonight saw the airing of Obama’s “closing statements” to the country. Basically, he paid around $1 million to each of the major networks to show his 30 minute documentary outlining why he should be President.
Content-wise, there wasn’t much we didn’t already know - energy independence, lowering taxes for the middle classes, etc, but overall provided a great opportunity for Obama to use one of his last chances to get American’s votes. The infomercial focussed maninly on the economy, and told the stories of four people, a white, married mother, a Hispanic widow, mother and teacher, a black retired railroad worker and a factory worker.
But the main theme, as with the rest of the campaign, was change and unity - selling an Obama who will unite the country.
But did it work?
I think it did - many Americans can’t get enough of Obama. He has such skill in rallying people and inspiring. He has a very broad appeal, in fact, theres not a lot to fault him on. He’s run a flawless campaign, from beginning to end.
I guess we’ll know the answer this time next week.
Watch the full video below…
Okay, Seriously…
I’ll admit it. I thought Paris Hilton’s first attempt at music making was pretty good.
But her new song, Paris for President is dreadful.
Ugh. Have a listen. And if you make it all the way through, I’ll send you a prize. Maybe.
Keith Olbermann Comments on Proposition 8
with one comment
via Towleroad
Honestly, this is one of the most moving things I’ve seen in a long while, and certainly something I never thought I’d see on US television.
I don’t really need to say anymore.
Just watch.
The transcript after the jump…
Read the rest of this entry »
Written by pogoism
November 12, 2008 at 8:41 am
Posted in Ramblings, Video
Tagged with comment, gay, lgbt, News, rights