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Published: November 21st 2007
I got here on Saturday, and that very night I went out with some people from the hostel to see Terri Hendrix, a really good country singer. Really earthy, simple-yet-clever, folky country songs, played by an excellent band of musicians. Sunday night I got to see Maritime, a band that features ex members of the Promise Ring. I love the promise ring and just headed down to the venue, Mohawks, by myself, eager to see what Maritime were like. After grabbing a beer at the bar, the very first person I got chatting to turned out to be David, the frontman of Maritime and ex-singer of the Promise Ring. He's also done guest vocals with Jimmy Eat World before. So I was over the moon getting to chat to him for ages. We actually got on really, really well and after Maritime played he came over to me and we drank beers and talked for ages. He introduced me to people there like I was an old friend! Unbelievable. What a cool guy and what an experience.
I have met some really great people here. Austin seems like the ugly (or should I say beautiful) duckling in comparison with the rest of Texas - it's liberal, progressive, full of creativity. A lot of the locals I've met have that kind of gentil Texan charm, but without the underlying conservative stubborness that unfortunately often accompanies that sort of attitude. On the train ride to Austin from San Antonio for example, I was sat next to a middle-aged man from Austin, who was very calm and polite, with a typical southern drawl of an accent, but he was saying stuff like "y'know, in Austin people are more laid back, there's less sexism, less racism, less homophobia... there's plenty of gay people around Austin and no one bats an eyelid".
While I'm dishing out quotes, here's a great one from a taxi driver who drove me to the train station in El Paso. We were talking about how much of an idiot George Bush is, and the driver was saying how crazy the world is at the moment, with stuff like global warming happening. "You know everything's backwards in the world today... the best rapper (eninem) is white, the best golfer (Tiger woods) is black, there's a woman running for president, the best basketball player is a chinaman, and we've got an asshole for a president!". What a legend, he completely cracked me up.
I'm having such a cool time out here. America is mindblowing to travel around.
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Luke Bishop
non-member comment
Hey man. Great quotes, now why don't people in Leatherhead come out with stuff like that - would make the paper a million times more exciting! Just got back from India and back in the old work routine - those two weeks seemed like the longest bestest holiday I have ever had. Seriously got the travel bug right now, one day I shall do it! Glad to hear Austin is so cool. Take it easy mate.