If you're a Cuban, hit the shore and swim 90 miles north. If you're a tourist, get out of Miami and drive 3.5 hours south. We belong to the latter category; the tourists who have heard of this "must" when in southern Florida, this legendary trip to Key West. Surprisingly, the road isn't all that exciting. Movies display this romantic voyage on the highway on the water. In fact, it is merely a regular highway between and through the 40 or so islands - keys - before the final destination. Key West, the southernmost point on continental USA. This key makes [View Full Entry]

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In numerous American movies and TV-shows, young kids go to Florida for spring break to party. A few decades ago the in-spot was Fort Lauderdale. They got tired of the drunken kids. Daytona Beach jumped on the bandwagon and said "We'll take them". So, now the hot spot of the east is Daytona Beach. Accordingly, it has to be visited. Arriving there daytime is about as exciting as driving on Interstate 10. In other words, no visible action anywhere. The kids are probably asleep. Taking a closer look at the site, it turns out that they are, in fact - kids. [View Full Entry]

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"You should have been here just a few minutes ago" says the cashier at Blockbuster when we enter the place. "Yeah? What happened a few minutes ago?" is our obvious response. "We were robbed", the tall black fellow announces with a tone of indifference in his voice. What seems to be a normal evening at the normal Blockbuster store at the normal little shopping center apparently has offered quite a bit of drama only minutes ago. Not that we can tell...People are coming and going as usual, trying to decide which movie to rent, debating whether to buy some snacks to [View Full Entry]

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Karaoke sections of nightclubs are like gambling tables; for outcasts. People who don't dance, or are tired of dancing, and several other reasons. This girl doesn't seem like an outcast though. On the contrary, she knows exactly what she's doing. Up until this point the song had been good, even very good. This very performance was an eye-opener though. It made me realize that "Sweet Child Of Mine" is one of the greatest rock songs ever written. Lyrics are good. Singing is good. Melody is good. But the intro! Slash's guitar intro! This girl is a professional singer. She knows the [View Full Entry]

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The Saints are having a good season. Despite the absence of the two biggest stars. Therefore, the crowd more or less fills the Superdome. This game the Broncos of Denver are too good though. Nobody seems to care. The Saintsations are lovelier than ever. The concession stands are filled with what Orleanians love the most - food. They don't go to a game to actually watch the game. They go there for the food. The same junk food you find in every fast-food joint, they pay double for here, of course after having paid $50 for their seat. And they are [View Full Entry]

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Slash’s Snakepit is trying to get the crowd in the right mood. Slash was once in Guns’n’Roses. Now he’s gone solo. With a new band. Or whatever. He should have stayed with Axl. But when Angus and friends enters the stage, the people take their seats, ready for a hell of a ride. ”You Shook Me All Night Long”. Opening act of the Hells Bells tour. Alternating Current/Direct Current is their name written out. The boys are oldtimers by now. But they still know how to get their audience - almost exclusively consisting of white trash from Mississippi/Louisiana/Alab [View Full Entry]

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The school spirit for commuter college University of New Orleans is not exactly of the most exciting kind. Most students are fairly well aware of the fact that UNO has an athletics department, but that's about it. UNO Privateers not being extremely successful in most sports, especially compared to "big brother" Louisiana State Tigers, does not help. Therefore it is a delight to see the same guy showing up for all games, fully dressed in school colors, carrying matching pom poms. The fact that he’s wearing the wrong colors - LSU purple and yellow instead of Privateer white and blue - [View Full Entry]

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Jazzfest is for everybody. Even the locals of New Orleans, for whom Mardi Gras is just another Tuesday. But, at Jazzfest, Orleanians can focus on what makes life worthwhile - food and music. There's tons of food. Alligator pie is my choice. There's lots of music. Sting is the artist of my choice. He makes a solid performance. This relentless heat and the burning sun must surely affect an Englishman in New Orleans. But the crowd likes it. Why else would there be people everywhere you look? Literally, everywhere you look. An educated guess would create a ballpark figure of 80,000. [View Full Entry]

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The name, Check Mate, appears to be a very randomly selected one. Possibly the only one left after all other names were taken in New Orleans. It's however pretty much the only bar near campus. Hence, it's the natural student hangout on Thursdays. Not big, not fancy, not very clean, nothing special really. But, cheap drinks, and the gathering of equals. No sound system, only the jukebox playing the same music over and over. Creed, Guns'n'Roses, Bob Dylan, etc. Usually the same crowd - i.e. international students and underaged American, mainly gothic, kids. The two categories don't really in [View Full Entry]

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MG2K. Mardi Gras 2000. The show is over for this year, and it’s time to go home. Me and roomie Michalis decide to support the public transportation and take the bus home from the French Quarters. Closest bus stop for our bus #55 is on Decatur St. right in front of Planet Hollywood. Hence, the natural turn of events for Mike and me is to simply stand in front of Planet Hollywood and wait for the bus. As simple as that. One might be lead to think that people would make the connection two guys + bus stop = two guys [View Full Entry]

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