Ghost of Goldwater

S N O W

2012-01-27T15:06:00.000+01:00

Took these two pics from my windows today. You'll notice the almost monochrome nature of the landscape and the driving snow. The picture, sadly, failed to fully capture the cold, windswept misery that is Norway today. Fuck, I hate winter.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-27T09:22:00.002+01:00

Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things.
- Stephen R. Covey

Quote of the Day

2012-01-26T23:31:00.000+01:00

Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet.
- African Proverb

Quote of the Day

2012-01-25T23:43:00.002+01:00

Cocaine isn't habit-forming. I should know - I've been using it for years.
- Tallulah Bankhead

Quote of the Day

2012-01-24T11:26:00.001+01:00

There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.
- Ansel Adams

Quote of the Day

2012-01-23T11:52:00.003+01:00

I am not European, I can't find deep meaning in everything I do.
- Kevin Costner

Quote of the Day

2012-01-22T01:29:00.000+01:00

This morning I'm packin' up and leaving for Norway. As with the last time, I don't want to go back home. Wails & rendering of garments.

America is a land of wonders, in which everything is in constant motion and every change seems an improvement. No natural boundary seems to be set to the efforts of man; and in his eyes what is not yet done is only what he has not attempted to do.
- Alexis de Tocqueville

Quote of the Day

2012-01-21T06:28:00.000+01:00

I am only one thing, only one thing: A clown. That places me on a far higher level than any politician.
- Charlie Chaplin

I don't get no respect

2012-01-21T00:15:00.000+01:00

Fuck, fuckety FUCK. I suggest Motel 6 in El Cajon give their "house keeeepiiiing" ladies a swift course in English, cuz this? Won't. Fuckin'. Do. My head is about to explode in rage over their behavior.

TWICE today I have explained, in clear, unbroken, unaccented, American English that I don't need any cleaning today, thank you very much (I arrived after midnight, and there is only so much wear & tear I can commit in a room in half a day!). Twice I have had the sneaking suspicion that I was not being understood and that the person on the other side of the door was thinking hard about entering. Twice there has been an unusually long break between my last "thank you" and the fading sound of shuffling feet that signals the departure of a maid.

Still, the last maid, after being told not to enter, that I needed nothing, and being told "thank you" repeatedly... OPENED the door. I was sitting with my back to it, in my underwear (a sight likely to scar you for life), typing an email and munching Domino's Pizza (and before you ask, I was dressed when it arrived!). If I hadn't had the security latch on, she would have barged straight in.

Motel 6, I dearly love your reasonably priced rooms. I understand the desire to employ immigrants at low wages, and I even applaud such work as the best way to integrate newcomers to America. But for fuck's sake, at least teach them to understand simple, basic instructions in English and the respect of privacy that Anglo-Saxon civilization was built on. Thank you.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-20T06:26:00.000+01:00

There's no fool like an old fool - you can't beat experience.
- Jacob Braude

Pearl Harbor

2012-01-20T00:27:00.000+01:00

So, it's 1 PM on Thursday, Hawaii time. I am sitting at the airport, with my overpriced wi-fi. Beneath, you will find the three pictures I took out at Pearl Harbor earlier today - I couldn't be bothered to find out how to get to the memorials, much less actually tour them. You'll have to settle for these pics.

Let me also say, truly & deeply, that I don't think I've ever hated an American place more than Hawaii. Even fuckin' Vegas was better than this. Shitty hotel, shitty food, insane traffic, confusing and moronic signposting and absofuckinlutely no tourist information on the highways. If you're looking for gas or food, you'll have to chance it at any random exit.

In addition, many of the employees at hotels, shops, even the fuckin airport, speak little and atrocious English. For fuck's sake, I thought the US WON the Second World War? I thought they WON the Cold War? And yet, everywhere I look there's some immigrant speaking goobledeegok fluently, but barely enough English to sell me a fuckin' bottle of water. I've felt this kind of alienation ONCE before in the US, and that was in Chinatown in New York (another place that I'd level to the ground if I could).

Inside, I'm dancing and shouting with joy over going back to the American mainland. Hawaii is a savage third world country that happened to become a part of the United States, and for all I care they can fuckin' sink into the Pacific Ocean as soon as my plane takes off. Give the 50th star to Puerto Rico or sumfin' - or, on second thought, DON'T! I really don't want to go there either... I am sincerely looking forward to continuing my journeys on the wonderful, American mainland, and never more giving this wretched place another thought.

Aight, here are your pics.

This memorial is situated over the wreck of the USS Arizona, which was sunk by the slant eyed, emperor-worshipping, rice-eating bastards.

The USS Missouri, where the signing ceremony took place that ended the Second World War. Well, unconditional surrender actually. America, fuck yeah!

Some submarine.

The Punchbowl

2012-01-19T23:58:00.000+01:00

Wednesday I ventured up to a Military Cemetery called "Punchbowl Crater", situated above Honolulu. I'd gotten a tip from one of Shirl's friends, who I met in Savannah just before New Year's, and this actually turned out to be the highlight of the trip - meaning the place was moderately interesting.

The cemetery is a memorial to the dead of the Pacific theatre in WW2, but also for Korea and Vietnam. The area seems well kept, although it was almost empty when I went there. It was rather sunny right then, so I took some pics of the trees, the memorial and the views over Honolulu and then went back to the hotel. By sunset, the weather was overcast again. So no pics of sunrises or sunsets - not because I am a lazy bastard (which I will readily admit to) but because the weather simply would not allow it.

All Punchbowl pics here.

View from atop the memorial.

Honolulu. I don't think I've hated a place this much since I was in Las Vegas.

The nice park at the bottom of the crater. The graves are marked with plates set into the ground, not tombstones.

The flag is always flown at half mast. The star-spangled banner is a motive I never get tired of.

The memorial.

She is supposed to represent all grieving mothers, but personally I think she looks like she's about to slap seven kinds of snot outta some slant eyed, emperor-worshipping, rice-eating bastard.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-19T06:27:00.000+01:00

A rumor is one thing that gets thicker instead of thinner as it is spread.
- Richard Armour

Hawaii West

2012-01-19T02:27:00.000+01:00

After seeing the southeastern parts of Oahu and deeming it not of any note whatsoever, I drove to the western side, and all the way north as far as the coast road went. There was a lot of garbage along the road and on the beaches, and some ramshackle huts along the way too. I don't know if it was a seasonal thing or if this is how the area usually looks, all I can say is I'd hoped the people of Hawaii had a little more pride in their one asset.

All West Oahu pics here.

Next stop China. Or Korea. Or Japan. Who knows, who cares?

This is what the road looks like beyond the asphalted part.

Hawaii East

2012-01-19T02:17:00.001+01:00

So, here are some pics I took in Hawaii on Tuesday. These ones are from the southeastern parts of Oahu. As you will see, the weather was overcast, and it has remained that way more or less the whole time *sigh*.

All East Oahu pics here.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-18T06:24:00.001+01:00

An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less.
- Nicholas M. Butler

The Charleston

2012-01-18T06:20:00.000+01:00

Here, for the first time, I present to you the gastronomic masterpiece of the Universe: THE CHARLESTON. After much delicious trial and error, I created this pizza from Domino's and it consists of the following: Brooklyn style dough, double helping of BBQ-sauce (may be subsituted with a single helping, but my experience is that in most places they're so stingy a double is required), single helping of pepperoni, double of beef (because I'm a glutton) and finally a single helping of... wait for it... PINEAPPLE. The fruit and the sauce set each other off perfectly. I have dubbed it The Charleston, becauce that's where I came up with the final version.

Pitouf

2012-01-18T06:11:00.000+01:00

Just thought I'd post this pic of Pitouf, Albie's evil/lovable cat. His fur is as black as his little cat soul. One minute he'll be purring along like a little furball of love, the next he'll have his claws and teeth buried deep in your hand...

Quote of the Day

2012-01-17T06:24:00.001+01:00

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.
- Carl Sagan

Imperial Dunes

2012-01-17T03:31:00.001+01:00

I'd almost forgotten that I took some pics from the car on my way from Yuma to San Diego on Friday. The area lies roughly south of Salton Sea, and is called Imperial Sand Dunes. Just to give y'all a little indication that California ain't all palm trees and beaches and movie stars and shit... though the scenes from Tatooine (Star Wars) and the alien planet in Stargate were filmed here.

So effin dry.

Proper sand dunes, wheeee!

And an irrigation channel running through it.

Quote of the Day

2012-01-16T06:19:00.000+01:00

It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.
- Robert H. Jackson

Ocean Beach

2012-01-16T03:58:00.000+01:00

After the Cabrillo monument, we took a slight detour down to Ocean Beach. Apparently, this was once the meth capital of California, but now it's been upgraded to marihuana capital. We saw dozens of young, wannabe hippies in dirty, filthy clothes there, and how I'd love to get my hands on them. A haircut and a job (or a few months in the Army) would probably do the sniveling, little fuckers a world of good.

We took some pics of the beach and also found time to stuff face at a brilliant place that served Belgian waffles with ice, like a sandwich. Mmmmmm.

All Ocean Beach pics here.

Two ugly, dirty, flearidden mutts. And their cute puppies. Eheheheheheh.

A seagull(?) caught midflight.

The beach.

Ice & waffle sandwich.

Apple pie. Be still, my aching stomach.

Cabrillo National Monument

2012-01-16T03:41:00.001+01:00

Sunday I went with Albie & Court up to Cabrillo National Monument, which lies atop a hill, with great views out over San Diego. The area is formally part of a Naval base, but it's administered by the National Parks. It is named for the first ~~civilized person~~ European to set foot in California, the Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo.

The area is quite nice, and there was a moment when I stood looking out over the sea and felt a pang of yearning for Italy. There was just something about the way the hills sloped down to the sea that reminded me of the Sorrento peninsula and Naples, and for a brief time I was almost homesick for Europe. Then I remembered the hell that is Italy and the Italians, and promptly felt ashamed.

All pics here.

From the island of Coronado, where we made a brief stop before going up to the Monument. I definitely didn't like it there. Smug.

The Cabrillo Monument on the other hand, was absolutely brilliant. Here is a view of the airport.

More of San Diego airport and the harbor.

~~Gorillas~~ Skyscrapers in the mist.

A sailboat.

Reminded me of Italy. And there was a strong, pleasant smell from the plants up at the lighthouse. Sigh.

The lighthouse.

Some winged creature. I have no idea whether it is a falcon, a hawk, an eagle or a pigeon. It did fuck all except move its head around.

Look, no head!

The view on the other side of the hill, down towards the Pacific.

This plant is called Chapparal. I know this because it said so on the little sign near the ground.

Monterrey cypress. Again, there was a sign.

Balboa Park

2012-01-16T03:04:00.001+01:00

Saturday, I was accompanied by my old friend Albie to Balboa Park, "the cultural center" of San Diego. There was some nice architecture to look at, but quite frankly I was feeling kinda queasy and there was just something about the place that rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it was my blood sugar acting up, or maybe it was a percieved smugness about the place, I dunno. I must give it another chance the next time I'm in town.

All pics here.

Albie wanted to take me to the Japanese friendship gardens, but since I don't want to be friends with the Japanese, I didn't see the point. So I took some pics of these nice buildings instead.

El Cid, a Spanish general from the 11th century. Fuck knows why he's got a statue on the other side of the planet.

Some Maya something, something.

Three South American warriors who didn't make it.

Oh, dear... have I been photographed for that horrible blog?

Quote of the Day

2012-01-15T11:55:00.000+01:00

You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.
- Anne Lamott