American Idol auditions in Miami, i got a chance.

Miami.
All I can say at the mo is, this is me getting some beats down in Barry Gibb's (from the Bee Gees) House. You may ask how I ended up there well I shall tell you later.



Currently in Bolivia La Paz now. Absolutely amazing place, very good people, El panorama es muy lindo. Spanish lessons, 4 hours a day and studying lots. Staying with a lovely Bolivian family, so got to get my Spanish better so I don't sound so retarded. Uno, dos, tres, quatro,,,,,,,, hasta luego amigos.
Lots and lots to tell but nae time at the mo, gotta get on. Muchos besos to you all.

San Fran,,,,,Here comes the sun, fit fine.

Pleasant flight. On approach to San Francisco International airport, it seemed apparent from looking outside that I would have no use for my fleece, jacket and scarf in this town. Time to get the Hulk pants on and sunscreen out I think. Sure enough, I was looking down the barrel of 5 days averaging 20-27 degrees, what hardship.
Came out of the train station, up escalators and looked around, street performers, musicians, trams, old fella’s playing chess & not a jacket in sight. This is going to be a good few days I suspect.
Hostel was large, great location, friendly atmosphere and clean. First night went for a long walk through Chinatown, where the streets were vibrant with markets, restaurants and tacky San Fran souvenirs. The long hilly street lead me into little Italy next to Washington Square where I stopped for a pizza, huge portion, muchos cheapos. On the way back I past a pub called the Edinburgh Castle and of course had to investigate, turned out to be a guy from Greenock who owned it. Alan ended up giving me a couple of pints on the house before making my merry way home to the hostel, the hot weather and walking had taken its toll for the day. (Oh yeah and the free pints).
Was feeling brave the next morning and decided to take a run down Market Street to the Golden Gate Park. Pheewww! Bad idea almost had a stroke on the way. Decided to walk the last mile through Haite street which is full of interesting spots. On approach to the park there was a number of people with placard boards demanding a proper inquest into the 911 investigation. I had thought that there was going to be clashes of arguments and shouting but was very tame. I learned that there was also an anti war demo on Golden Gate Bridge earlier in the day, with a group called think pink? The bridge was a good distance from where I was so I gave it a miss, plus I didn’t have anything in pink.
The Golden Gate park is apparently one of the biggest urban centre parks in the world, 5 miles from the entrance gate to the beach. I also think it sells the most dope than any other city park, on walking 15 mins to hippy hill I must have been offered “hey man, want some weed dude?” 15 times, “Nae thanks min I dinna de at”. Hippy Hill is basically a larger version of the hill in Kelvingrove park (well kind of,, nae neds of course), hundreds of folk sitting around taking it easy, down at the bottom of the hill was a group of approximately 50 musicians and dancers, all performing together, lots of bongos. I decided to take a wee seat, eat my sandwiches made at breakfast and enjoy the free show. During the show, I saw what looked like a Vietnam vet in a wheelchair drunken dancing and screaming (kinda like Tom Cruise in born on the 4th of July, but scarier), a wee fat guy with a wooden samurai sword practising his version of the ancient art (maybe it was the star wars kid), a small dog the size of a rat getting stood on right next to me even after my attempts to warm the clumsy oaf (quite a yelp the wee fella gave), when 30 minutes had past a man behind me obviously had nominated himself as the park timekeeper and would yell the current time followed by Huraaaaaa! (and much laughter) and much more.
It would seem people park in the park in San Fran. Sure why not eh.
At the hostel I met a really sound Swiss guy and Ozzy girl so was great to hang out with new chums. I was a bit worried the 1st night I arrived as there was a gaming conference next door and it seemed everyone in the place was a Gamer Nerd, “hey man wanna play some Doom”,,”errrrr anyone got Pro Evolution Soccer”, apparently that’s not for a true gamer, if only they new, poor cretins. One guy Jeff, nice guy, but a bit strange for the whole time I stayed in the hostel he sat with his shades on in the lounge playing some crazy role-play game on his laptop. I was sitting there one night minding my own business and all I heard from Jeff was “Shit I gotta get me some crossbow bolts” or ‘Dammit, Zargon cast a spell on my army of Zorg”, ok Jeff nice talking to you, you take care now.
Homelessness seems to be a pretty bad problem in San Francisco, most of the beggars are pretty polite though and not threatening at all from what I saw. Plenty of poor folk who really should be in some form of mental care, especially those who are veterans.
Myself and the Ozzy girl Anna went on a big cycle ride which was brilliant, hired the bikes in the morning for $15 and then took off round the south beach, best way to see the city, but be warned there are some steep hills. Over the Golden Gate bridge in the afternoon, blazing sunshine, reach mid point of the bridge and free wheel all the way down, superb. Hit the other side and again free wheel all the way down to this gorgeous wee town, late lunch break. It took us a few hours to get to where we were and the clock was ticking to get the bikes back, fortunately for us there was a ferry leaving at 4 o’clock, nice and plenty other cyclists had the same idea. Only took about 20 mins to rocket across the bay and got real close to the infamous Alcatraz which was great, welcome to the rock, whersh my shlippersh mish money penny.
That night after a quick bite to eat I was totally shattered and in bed by 10, light weight. Also to make things worse I had a repeat of my experience in Nigeria, head band Sam, Mr Red Head. Bright red burnt forehead with white line where head band was, real cool Fiddes, real cool.
Hasta luego.

Oh Yeah, and I got married, sorry I didn't have time to send out the invites but it was a last minute affair, you understand I'm sure. We get on affa well an isn't she an affa bonny lass, fit fine.

Chicago Blues coming from the LAP'. (Finally)

Plenty of snow again on arrival, greeted also by a fierce chill from the wind bounding off Lake Michigan, this must be the windy City then. Long train journey into Downtown Chicago, then through onto Diversey, just south of the city centre. Area is littered with wee coffee shops, pubs and canny shops. This is isn’t so bad, maybe just as well I couldn’t get into the downtown hostel.
Chicago International Hostel welcomes you, was on the main placard. Stoned, 20 year old guy behind the check in desk listening to John Foggerty, “Hey man, whhhats up?” “Yo! Man how the f%@k do you say your first name” Nice enough chap but not filling me with confidence about my new abode.
Sure enough the place was actually a bit of a shithole, bit manky and not very trusting about the security of the place. Agh well all I need is a place to lay the head and leave my stuff.
Great city Chicago though, really friendly vibe and lots to be seen. Famous for its Blues & Jazz I was determined to see some of the real McCoy. Was recommended by various folk about a place called “Kingston Mines”, however, was not convinced by the sources. Had a beer one evening and got chatting to the bar staff, was told that the Kingston Mines place was pretty cheesy crap and not the real Blues of Chicago. In fact the bar lady described it as “yeah, go there if you wanna get date raped”. Enough said, I decided not to pry any further but took their word not to go there.
So on to their recommendation, which sounded great but also, had its own perils afoot. No.83 bus to the west side which I’m told is the slightly less desirable area of Chicago. No wallet, cash in shoe, muggers 20 bill in pocket, call me John Paranoid. Hopped of the bus and to be honest the place seemed totally fine, a bit like Drumchapel. 10 minute walk round to the wee pub called “Scarlets”. Totally brilliant, the place has been old by an Italian family since the 50’s who moved over. On entering, the place was wall to wall with old photographs of performers whom had played there in the past, low ceilings and a long bar with the stage adjacent to end of bar. Really sound bar staff who, realised quickly I was a newcomer, maybe it was the map case flapping in my face. Anyway the night was great listening to both really talented old timers and young folk playing traditional blues. Generally it was one at a time, guitar and their own vocals. At the end three guys played together, harmonising one another,. Absolutely fantastic. Bus ride home at 1:00 was fine, nae hassle.
Most of the days were spent wandering around the city centre and Diversey. Great city for walking, the river is fantastic to walk along and was disappointed not to see it turn green for St Patrick’s day, 2 weeks early for that. The atmosphere I found a wee bit more relaxed than in NYC, everyone seems in less of a rush but again the place is enormous. Saw many a good gallery and had plenty of wee coffee shop experiences. The trains slither around skyscrapers on raised industrial platforms, you can hear them all over as they clank and creak.
That’s really about it for now, looking forward to San Francisco; I hear they have some fine weather preparing for my arrival. Hope you are all well, viva Alba.

Chicago Blog in progress

my head is a bit warped at mo with the hot spells in San Fran. :)

Niagra Falls from the Tower

Toronto, sna & a big muckle water fall.

Arrived in Blizzard conditions again. I like snow. Four inches on the runway. No tractor required this time to get to terminal. Airport coach downtown, dropped off nae far from the Hostel.
Canadiana, Backpackers Inn. Great place, I recommend it. On arrival was instantly made to feel welcome, no blanking from fellow hostellers like in Boston. I checked into my room, *43, the Celine Dion room, pure class, I had hoped for the adjacent Brian Adams room but I was confident that Queen Celine shall keep me snug and embrace me in her bosom. 1st Roommate, Fergal from Wexford, Ireland, nice fella.

Hostel was buzzing with a really good atmosphere, folk from all over; Canadians, American, Dutch, Danish, French, Mexicans, Spanish, Oz, Kiwis, Chileans, Scots, English, Irish, Guatemala. Excellent mixture.
So after a couple of days looking round the city and making new friends I decided to catch the Greyhound to Blue mountain ski resort. Early start and on the bus by 7:00. Arrived at Blue mountain Inn by 10:00, on the slopes by half past. Great days skiing with perfect conditions, tried snowboarding in the late afternoon early evening where they floodlit the pistes in the dark. Boarding was amazing fun, was on my arse for a good two hours then started getting the hang of it. Brilliant fun, thought it would be a nightmare being a novice again but to be honest it was excellent, got a real kick out of seeing a relative improvement as the evening passed.
As part of the Hotel package I got, ski pass, ski / board hire, room, dinner and breakfast, rather good I thought. After a full mixed grill from the set menu I shared a couple of Guiness and watched Elvis sing the night away. Aparently he was one of the best impersonators in N.America. Not convinced. I had some tips on my boarding from these two boarder bums, so funny, every 2nd word was awesome, narly or radical. Of course I had to try the lingo. Ken this, that it totally narly min like.
Snowed all through the night and the news had said there was crazy storms all over N.America, saw hail stones the size of golf balls, nuts. Morning however, blue skies fresh powder, Awesome dudddde! Where’s my board! After a wonderful day at it got the bus back which was so crammed a few of us gents had to stand all the way back, which was annoying as the old arse and legs were hurting pretty bad. Agh well can’t complain really.
Saturday morning early start again and hit Niagra around 9:30. Joe Joe tours, very nice lady but damn could she talk. Horsing down the motorway in a A-Team van with Born, Christina & Tracy, Joe Joe nattering at the speed of light. Very interesting really, all about the Niagra history and Geography, did you know that the 5 great lakes in N.America contain 25% of the earths fresh water supply. That’s a whole lotta water Joe Joe. The conditions at the falls were perfect, crystal clear skies but affa chilly. The whole river was completely frozen over, icebergs up to 3 metres high next to base. Water was frozen on the steep walls like stalactites in parts, thundering noise of the water crashing down on the riverbed creating a mass of vapour at the base. You could feel the freezing mist hitting your face even from the elevated position.
We took a birds eye view from a miniature cn tower. Amazing. The falls have retreated 7miles in 35,000 years. It is believed that the falls retreated at a rate of 3ft a year but now this has slowed down to 3cm due to hitting harder rock and less water going over. USA & Canada both have an agreement where equal amounts of water is diverted before the falls to generate hydro power. 4 of the great lakes are split 50 50 with US & Canada where one is owned by US solely, Lake Michigan. I won a bet later that night with Candian Ben, he had to walk through the snow barefoot for a while. Moral of the story, know your borders.
Went out clubbing for the last night after playing numerous international drinking games. Disco Inferno where all danced as though know one was looking, unfortunately they were, we ended up creating a circle around us where onlookers watched horrified at our international school of bad dance moves, oh yes, Scottish Jen (Fae the Kingdom of Fife) and I even introduced Disco Gay Gordon’s.
Last day Sunday taking it easy and getting stuff booked up for Chicago. Coffee and Pancake breakfast, plus one can of irn bru. We found a wee shop the previous day which sold cans of the stuff, there was much rejoicing. “Aw man it tastes llike bubble gum”, no it doesn’t you silly, silly person. Last night was a grand curry meal with my new found friends, really good and really cheap, about the same price as home, but in dollars, great stuff. Back later to the hostel where I ended staying up really late with a Saudi Arabian, Spaniard and Guatemalan, solved the world’s problems of course, which was nice.
Early enough rise and said my cheerio’s, there were hugs, there were laughs, there were tears. Mad snow falling again, seems the case whenever I fly now. Arrived at the airport with plenty of time to kill,,,, or so I thought. When checking in you have to give your address you shall be staying at, ye know cause that is going to prevent any national catastrophic acts of terrorism. Anyhoo, numbnuts here forgot to write down the Hostel address, if I hadn’t panicked I could have just said the Hilton or something, anyway I didn’t. So had to go and faff about getting a phone card and trying to call US to get address of place, turned out ok but just a bit of running around from terminals to terminals. Will not be ill prepared again.
No problemo through immigration, only thing was the officer couldn’t believe I quit my job, rented house and travelled off to see the world. Complete alien concept to him. “You quit yer jab!” “Yes officer I quit my job” “You quit yer jab!” “Yes officer do you never fancy doing the same.” Oh know, that was bold, eek here it comes. Phew, he had a sense of humour and laughed saying he really couldn’t imagine doing it. Finger printed, photographed, slap on the arse. “Welcome to the US of A, enjoy your stay, and have a nice day.”

Bostonia & Brothers

Boston, arrived via Amtrack NYC - Boston. Walked up from the south station to Nine-Zero Hotel on Tremont st, Booked in with the concierge. "Can I take your bags sir" yes please that'll be all. Walked into my 4 star room courtesy of Rod and started pissing myself laughing, the place was amazing. Really plush. What a brother I have. :)
Met Rod and Tony down at the foyer for complementary drinks and sophisticated chat of course. Only away a week but so good to see you bro.
So, Saturday night things got messy all on a bit of a sesh up mission. Went for a gorgeous meal at an Italian restaurant where even the staff sat down and had there meal next to us as it was quite late. Friendly bunch. Then onto some Irish Americano pubs. Roddy was delighted to be ID'd, some places wouldn't even accept a European driving license, what a joke. I mean at 18 you can buy a gun, get married & join the military, but oh no you can't have a beer that would be terrible.
Anyway great old craic of a night, kilted up and of course met a guy from Paisley whom became quite annoying to be honest. He’s getting married over here and loves Boston, fair play.
Tony had fallen earlier after receiving a rather large whiskey from some kind woman so the Fiddes Bro’s strove on but after getting more than our fill we stumbled home in the early hours.
Knock! Knock! Knock! AGHHHH, bloomin room cleaners @ 10am on a Sunday, “are you nuts go away erghh!” Anyhoo, 12 o’clock came and food subsistence was calling.
Walked across Boston common which was beautifully frozen over with abiddy skating about, lovely day, grand breakfast, lots of coffee.
Another meal on Sunday night after looking round the city. Goodbyes to Rod & Ton, I have a funny feeling it won’t be to long before I see them again, reckon they may have a wee trip to South America. Which is nice. ☺
Youth hostel no more 4 star treatment for me. Oh my goodness, Dad you snore, BUT I have never heard anything like this guy sleeping below my bunk. I really thought at moments that he was dying, Jaesus! Had a few moments where contemplated giving the smothering pillow treatment or full metal jacket soap bar in sock. Refrained.
Breakfast had a great chat with a Korean Lawyer whom was in my same dorm, he agreed that John snorer was a royal pain in the arse, once of course I explained what that was.
Dashed to the Subway after breakfast 2 changes then bus to airport terminal. About 3 inches of snow fell over night and still was falling so was a bit worried about delays or cancellations. As it turned out we were only delayed by 30 mins so nae bad. Runway however, had to wait about an hour whilst the plane was sprayed all over with green de-icer chemical, never seen that before. The plane was about the same size as my old school bus from Strachan to Banchory, great, unfortunately good old Hazel wasn’t behind the wheel. Neither was Alan Duncan on the plane letting loose any ferrets or hitting anyone, which was a relief. Happy memories never the less.
So touchdown in Toronto, Ontario and we shall see what delights Canada has to offer. Plenty I am sure.
All for now friends, miss you all but having an amazing time in these early stages of my travels. Lang may your lum reek.