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Published: July 10th 2005
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I'm On The Drug That Killed River Phoenix.....
.......but more on that later! Sorry to all for the lack of updates, It has been crazy busy around here the last few days, so let me fill you in.
Like i mentioned in the last update, we arrived on the 3rd and from there.....pretty much fell straight to sleep. Being on the go for upwards of 24 hours, sitting in one spot, really takes it out of you. I dunno how I let myself forget that every time i travel. But, moving on, sporting nothing more than a numb arse, on the 4th we checked out Vans, making a few appointments to see some for sale. The first one apparently didn't exist, he told us he was at #600, but the street numbers went 599, 601, 603...etc etc, so there was no dice to be had there. The next stop was at this bloke named Don, cousin Paul had spoken to him the previous week and the ride sounded rock solid. We took it for a test drive, and pretty much then and there agreed to buy it, it was indeed solid, and dog-smell notwithstanding, would carry us across this
The Steed.
One Word: Noble big fuck-off country with nary a problem. It being the 4th of July, we of course planned to travel into town, but the combination of Jet-lag and some questionable mexican from Taco Bell nixed those plans, and again we retired hurt early.
The 5th involved us sorting out more car business, we went and picked up the van, and then the arduous task of getting the fucking thing registered. If the United States isn't well known for it's shithouse bureaucracy, it certainly should be, as this monolith had us traipsing all over town sorting out insurance, smog certification etc etc. A Tiring day, but with the exception of the smog issue, everything was sorted, and the smog would be sorted out the next day in downtown San Fran. That night bidding farewell to Walnut Creek, we ventured into the big smoke. We checked into a funky hostel called the Globe, run by an eclectic mix of American, English and Irish punters, and went exploring. That night we checked out a bunch of live music clubs, got beers bought for us by a creepy dude who later turned out to be promoting the new Rob Zombie movie "The Devil's Rejects".......that's
Rock Out With Your C*ck Out!
The boys keeping it rizzle in San Fran my end of the deal held up, we didn't go and see his piece of shit film, but here's me giving it the big rap....anything for free piss.
The next morning (the 6th) we got the smog check done, checked out Chinatown (bought a Zippo lighter, 10 bucks!!!) then picked up our travel agent. For those that weren't aware, our travel agent Carlos liked the sound of our trip so much he decided to tag along.....uninvited, that cheeky bastard! Anyhoo, with Carlos on board we checked out the other tourist traps: Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and the like. Having done it all before (props to me) it wasn't all that exciting, but I spose they ARE iconic landmarks, so I made the sacrifice. That night we had a few beers at the Irish pub under the hostel, and I took a couple of Americans to school playing pool....the rules here are whack, designating a pocket, no 2 shot penalties....many would say these restrictions aren't conducive to my usual brand of "piss-mute" pool, but this night, the perfect combination of beer and high-spirits ensured I won the day.
The 7th saw us heading to one of the
Jungle Fever
She was really, REALLY hot. And yes, we WERE at Hooters. Top place. highlights so far: The Vans Warped Tour. Essentially a big fuck-off punk rock festival, this proved to be a top day. Saw a bunch of top bands, such as Emery, My Chemical Romance, Fall-out Boy, All American Rejects, Billy (fucking!!) Idol and the highlight for me: The Dropkick Murphys. we're planning on hitting the tour across the country in New York next month, where even more bands will be playing. I got burnt to a crisp, but all in all a really fun day. A word to the wise: My Chemical Romance is gonna be HUGE in Australia. Their brand of piss-poor punk/emo/shite doesn't sit too well with me, but their whiny lyrics will be a bonza to the young punks. Expect to see their trademark of red tears painted on all the little dipshits at a mall near you soon.
The 8th found us driving for the majority of the day. We decided to take the scenic coastal road from SF to LA, planning on spending the night in either Santa Cruz or Santa Barbara before heading into LA. However, the combination of a late start, piss-poor navigation and nearly running out of gas saw us limping into
The Globe
Our room at the Globe. Santa Barbara at nearly 2am, tired as fuck and ready to drop. We checked into a hostel there, and the signs were ominous when the young Russian in charge told us the sheets were "warm" when what he really meant was "sopping wet." We managed to find a couple of dry sets, and set up camp in the 12 person (!!!!!) dorm, waking up several other punters in the process. At about 7am Carlos was awoken by some bedbugs feasting on his leg, so given the circumstances we decided to pull stumps early and head to LA.
So, after our early start on the 9th, we had a bit of a squiz round Santa Barbara, a really nice town marred only by the shite hostel. We started heading towards LA about 2, without a plan, a room, or a clue. Sorting 2 of those problems out on the road, we checked into a really, REALLY funky hostel named "Orbit" in Hollywood (On fucking Melrose!!!) and proceeded to go explore. We checked out the Hollywood Hills, Bevery Hills, Chinese Theatre etc etc, saw all the sites. We had lunch at Jay Leno's favourite diner "Carney's" and gave it the thumbs
Some Bridge #1
Some Bridge in San Francisco. down. (Note to Liam: Leno is a fuckwit!) That night we walked up Melrose trying to find a funky spot, and failed. Carlos retired early and so Chris, Brad and I ventured up towards Sunset Blvd, trying to figure out how we could afford to visit the 3 clubs on our agenda: Whiskey-A-Go-Go, The Roxy, and the Viper Room. We hit the Whiskey first, and, much to my eternal disappointment, JUST missed catching Tenacious D by 5 FUCKING minutes!!!! I was unhappy to say the least. The other bands were okay, but nothing too special, so after having a few beers to say that we've been there and done it, we ventured to the Roxy, just up the street. We lined up at the ticket booth, and when we hit the front, Brad dropped the fact that we were aussies. The bird behind the screen asked us if we drank a lot, we answered "what the hell do you reckon?" and so she let us in for free!! Nice!! The band in here was a lot better, but to our confusion, the place wasn't really jumping. Cue trip to the Viper Room, the iconic club owned by Johnny Depp, the
Some Bridge #2
More of that Random Bridge. site of River Phoenix's death (to those who didn't get the title). The bounder told us to name drop some band, we did so, again, we got in for nothing, saving ourselves as a group about 50 bucks (not to mention the $45 saving at the Roxy!). This spot was jumping, the Mexican-American ska/punk band was smokin, and the atmosphere was killer. Unfortunately Depp was not in the house, a fact I found strange considering his flick "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was opening the next day, so he was definitely in LA. Lazy prick, not concerned with the state of his club! Anyways, that pretty much wound up the night, there was an all night hustler store just down the road, so, being the inquisitive young bucks we are, we stopped for a squiz. Mine and Chris's giggles attracted the attention of the security guards, we were asked for I.D. then told to keep it down....I guess we were disturbing people's "quality time". A GIGANTIC slice of pizza later, we were back at the hostel calling it a night.
So that's about it for the last few days. Right now it is 11:40am and we're about to head
The Rock
"It's Actually a Peninsular!" down to Ventura and Santa Monica Beaches. Hopefully you're all well, lots of love....
-Tris
PS: any cracks about Collingwood getting pummelled will get you banned. BANNED!!!
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Benny Lee
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Tristan Stark: you heinous individual
Lovely site that. Thanks for the wake-up call at 2am before you left too! Had to be up at 5 that morning, none too pleased. Letting you know Nick is off to the navy in a few days, so piss-up planned. Have fun and keep me posted on progress. Don't do anything (or anyone) that I wouldn't do, and take it easy, if its easy take it home! Benny Lee