Champion Of Ithaca

Europe: Manchester, England

2009-12-18T11:07:00.000-08:00

The last leg of my United Kingdom journey took me to Manchester, England where I was to meet up with a friend named Mike who works for Image Metrics (IM), the company I work for in California. IM also has an office there in Manchester so I had planned on stopping in to say hello to everyone, and Mike had offered to let me stay in the spare room in his house while I was there.

My train brought me into Manchester Piccadilly Station where I had a short five minute walk into the city center and the location of the IM office. Shortly thereafter I found my way and said hello to some guys I hadn't seen in months. I knew a couple of the them but I got to meet some others who I'd heard of but not met yet, so that was nice. A couple of times a year they come to the States to work for a few of weeks so that's how I'd met some of them already. These guys were still working technically so I tried not to bug them too much and instead hopped on my laptop and tried to recover three full days of no internet and soak up as much news and information as I could. Checking emails, replying to comments, learning about all the crazy stuff that'd happened while I was in Wales. I needed my fix! ;)

Towards the end of the day, Mike's girlfriend Kate arrived at the office and we all hopped on the bus back to their house about twenty minutes away. It's a very nice place in a seemingly great neighborhood in Manchester. They had a cat named Brian who reminded me a lot of our cat Charlie back on Cape Cod and he happened to be very friendly, so that was nice!

Mike had a Squash game to play that night that he couldn't get out of, since he is the team captain, so he'd be gone for a few hours. While he was gone Kate and I went down to a local pub called "Kim's By The Sea". There we were meeting up with a very close friend of theirs named Mora who had just that night arrived home from a year long stay in Caracas, Venezuela. She's studying for her doctorate and doing research into the role of education in socialist countries. We got to hear some great stories about her time there. We're brought up in America to hiss and cringe at the first mention of communism and socialism, so it was really, really interesting to hear first hand the perspective of someone who had lived there for a lengthy period of time. We heard a great deal of stories some fun and entertaining and others a bit scary, but all incredibly interesting. Mike arrived a bit later and told us how he had totally crushed his opponent and won the game, so we celebrated with four or five pints of beer. A couple more friends stopped by before we closed out the pub and headed back to Mora's house for more drinking and a backyard bonfire. They told me it had been raining constantly in Manchester lately and this was one of the first nights it hadn't rained, so a bonfire was perfect! We spent the night telling stories, drinking Venezuelan rum, and listening to some awesome music before stumbling back to Kate and Mike's place at about 3am.

The next morning was painful, but a traditional English breakfast at a nearby cafe and a nice, big cup of coffee made it all better. I think it was about noon before Mike got into work that day, it was slow going getting up and ready in the morning, heh. I went with him to the office for awhile and worked on some tools I had been writing, and just relaxed for a few hours fending off the headaches with aspirin and lots, and lots of water. I finished a pretty rad tool I had been building, so to celebrate I went out and got some lunch at a burrito restaurant nearby.

One of the main reasons I had come to Manchester was to see a metal concert. Dragonforce was playing that night at a local venue and I was able to get Mike and I on the guestlist because I've known the band for a few years. Since Mike didn't get into work until noon, he was a bit later than anticipated getting out of the office so I left a bit early to meet Kate and some of her mates at a pub called, "The Jolly Angler". We waited for Mike to finish up and then met him back in the city center where we headed off in the direction of the Manchester Academy, where Dragonforce was playing with Sabaton and a few other bands. A few pub stops on the way and we finally made it to the venue at about 9:30pm, where Dragonforce was just getting ready to go on. Great timing! During the set I did quite a bit of dancing in the mosh pit, and ended up with a body full of bruises and a swollen eye as souvenirs for the night. The band played for about an hour, finishing up a little after 11:00pm. Normally I'd hang out for awhile and meet up with the band and have a few beers but we were both seriously tired and banged up so we decided to head home instead of waiting. It was a short walk back to Mike's house thankfully and sleep was a welcome thing.

Dragonforce

The next morning we again went and got another epic English Breakfast at the local spot but this time Kate, Mora, and Rob came with us. It was about 1pm by the time we finished and during breakfast we'd decided it would be fun to go see an FC United game. They are a local football team that is quite well-known for being semi-new to the leagues but working their way up through them quite fast due to their skill. They had an extremely loyal fan base who follow them everywhere, so it sounded like it was going to be an exciting afternoon. We hopped into Mike and Kate's car and drove about thirty minutes to the field where they play. A bit early for the game, we hit the pub for a beer first and then found our way into the stands and got seats right behind the goal keeper. Calling them seats is a stretch really, since technically we stood up the entire time cheering and chanting. This particular team is in one of the lower leagues, sort of like what we'd call the Minor Leagues in America. As such some of the rules were different, and the one main rule difference for the crowds is that in the big-time Premiere League you aren't allowed to stand up at all. People kind of hate this, so to spite, in the lower leagues you always stand up the entire time! They literally didn't stop chanting, singing, and cheering for the WHOLE GAME. It was awesome, and inspiring to see such passionate loyalty from the fans. It's almost like the team and the fans are a single entity, the team is one the field playing as hard as they can while the fans are there to support them in every way they can. You can really see how the players are driven by it too, it makes such a difference when they cheer louder and heckle the opposing team. Like I said, inspiring to see such camaraderie. Unfortunately the team had a loss that day and some fans weren't all that happy about it. The keeper of the other team had actually punched one of the FCU players and started a fight on field, so the fans were tense and a fight broke out in the parking lot on the way out. Crazy stuff! Intensity and passion go both ways I guess right?

I was so tired after the game that when we returned to the house I ended up just relaxing for a couple of hours and doing some blog writing. We'd planned a pub crawl that night so we made sure to have a nice dinner, and Kate cooked us some vegetarian fajitas which were excellent! I got a great amount of food, got some rest, then suited up to head out that night and party.

The first place we hit was called "Briton's Protection". It was so packed that we only stayed for a couple of beers but it seemed a decent place. They have a giant selection of whiskeys to choose from if that is your fancy, but I just stuck to beer. Next stop was "Peveril of the Peak", a pub that had the entire outside covered in artistic tilework. I use to do tile work when I was younger so I had a vague idea idea of how difficult it was to build. It was really nice and to see the entire building covered in them too. Inside we played a few games of darts to 301, drank a few pints and met up with Rob and a mate of his. Rob had told us about a band that was playing at a place nearby called "The Green Room". We bounced over just in time to catch the headlining band we had come to see, a group called, "Thingamabob and the Thingamajigs". They were a pretty talented band that played funk music. They all had top hats on and one guy had an insanely awesome mustache. The kind you win contests with. In fact Rob told us last year he entered in the world mustache competition and placed well. It was excellent! At one point they played a song I think they called "The Monkey Song" or something like that where he made the entire crowd sit down and make monkey noises while he was playing. It was fun to say the least. Good music, good beer, good people, a great night so far. When the band ended we headed out for one last stop, a pub called the "Sandbar". This pub was excellent because it had Orval, my new favorite beer I had discovered in Brussels weeks ago. I drank a bunch of it. Mike, Kate and I discussed Belgian beers and hung out for a bit before we called it and trekked home to their place.

Peveril of the Peak

The next morning I woke up, packed my gear and got a ride to the airport with Mike for my flight back to Paris. It had been a great time in Manchester with some new friends and some excellent memories. Thanks to Mike and Kate for letting me sleep in your spare room and being so hospitable!

Europe: Caernarfon and Northern Wales

2009-12-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

After leaving London, England my next stop by train was a town in northern Wales named Caernarfon. A friend named Iestyn that I knew from online animation school lived here and we had intended to meet up for the first time. About two hours or so on the train from London brought me into a station in a town called Bangor, where Iest was waiting to pick me up.

Even before I arrived in Bangor, just looking out the windows of the train I could already tell that this was going to be an incredibly beautiful place to visit. In mid-December with no leaves on the trees whatsoever, you could look in any direction toward the horizon and stare in awe at the endless rolling hills of green grass and mountainous hills. The land itself is so vibrant and alive. It was refreshing to be reminded of just how pristine and amazing nature can be when left to herself.

Most of the Welsh landscape looked a lot like this.

When Iestyn picked me up at the train station around noon, we exchanged a few words appropriate to a first meeting of online friends, and took off in his car towards the castle town of Caernarfon. I had a reservation at a hostel in the town called "Totters", only a short distance from the train station. In the car on the way there I got another dose of the beauty of Wales. This country is certainly in no short supply of sheep…in fact they seem to be overrun by them! So many in fact, that the farmers have to put colored spots on them to tell who they belong to. It's somewhat comical to see thousands of sheep all spray painted different colors amongst the sprawling, green backdrop.

Sheep are painted different colors so the farmers can tell who they belong to.

There are scores of old stone walls, gates, towers, and homes littering the land. Some of them decrepit and crumbling away into history and others looking like they had been built just years ago. After a short drive, Iestyn told me about how the town of Caernarfon is well known because of it's giant castle. In fact, the town itself is inside the castle walls. Yes, my hostel and the town I stayed in are inside a castle. We arrived a few minutes later, I stared in awe for a good two minutes, and finally walked towards Totters.

It definitely took me a little while to take it all in and really accept the fact that I was, well firstly that I was in Wales. Secondly that I was within the walls of Caernarfon Castle. And lastly, that I was about to spend three days here exploring and seeing who knows what else! The town is right on the ocean so you've got the sea to one side, and you can stand on the wall of the castle and look out over the water. Wow! I'd only been there thirty minutes and could have written a novel about how amazing it was.

Caernarfon Castle. The town is inside.

We found our way to the hostel and I got checked in while Iest waited outside near the water, fighting off seagulls who undoubtedly wanted to pilfer and make quick work of his Mars candy bar. The hostel was quite nice, very homely and laid back. I was actually the only guest which was great, might as well have been a hotel. The only issue I had with it was that there was no internet whatsoever. It was going to be a long three days with no contact to the outside world. But, I couldn't think of a better place to spend time away from the computer than where I was. My hostel was right on the outer brim of the castle wall so when you walk outside there are two turret towers facing the sea. (I just typed that sentence and had to reread it for accuracy because it sounds so awesome.) I ogled for a moment, and we left to get a bite to eat at a local deli. The prices here are decent, not as cheap as Prague but nowhere near as expensive as London or Paris. Indeed it was a healthy medium, proper prices.

We grabbed a sandwich for the road and hopped into the car for the drive to a place called Porth Neigwyl, or in the English name, "Hell's Mouth". One of the reasons I had come to Wales was to hopefully do a bit of surfing. Hell's Mouth is one of the most famous breaks in the United Kingdom and regularly gets double overhead and perfect. I had heard about it from Iestyn and really wanted to see it first thing. It takes about thirty minutes normally to drive to Porth Neigwyl but we took a scenic detour through the country side just to see some sights and spent the next hour or so enjoying the surrounding terrains. When we arrived, we could tell before even walking out to the beach that it was going to be savage as the wind was blowing hard and onshore. We walked out to the break and sure enough, it was huge, blown out chaos in the water. Unrideable and dangerous. In Welsh, "Porth" means "Beach" and "Neigwyl" I believe means "Devil". So… Devil's Beach. Appropriate I'd say looking at the surf! It's impressive to see such a great break though, even when it's not surfable. Iestyn mentioned there was another beach nearby named Porth Oer that we could check out, though it usually isn't as good. We drove about another twenty minutes north-west and found that Porth Oer, or "Whistling Sands" in English was actually looking quite nice. Hell's Mouth faces the south west, and there was a moderate south wind blowing which was wrecking the surf. Whistling Sands though faces the North West so the south wind was blowing offshore and even though the waves were only about waist high at the time they were peeling nicely and looked quite fun. I took a mental note before we left to head back into town. The local surf shop was called Off-Axis where a friend of Iestyn named Johnny worked. We stopped by on the way back to ask Johnny if we'd be able to rent gear the following day to hit the surf. They said it was no problem and to give a call in the morning so they could meet us here whenever we needed it. It seemed like surfing was a go at that point, I couldn't have been more excited…though it was about 33-34 degrees (Fahrenheit) outside. Whistling Sands is called Porth Oer in Welsh which translates to "Cold Beach". Hah!

Porth Neigwl - "Hell's Mouth"

Later that evening I met Iestyn and a buddy of his at a pub right next door to my hostel named the Anglessey Arms. We played a bit of pool and it was there that I learned that pool in the UK is quite different than what I'm use to in the United States. The table, balls, and cues are slightly smaller, and instead of having stripes and solid colored balls there are simply reds, yellows, and a single black ball. It's played almost the same way except there are a few minor rule changes. Such as, when you scratch, your opponent gets ball in hand behind the line but also two shots. If you table scratch, he also gets two shot. Small things like this. Overall it was fun but difficult to get use to since everything is sized differently. The pub was a bit dead so after a beer we headed off to the next stop, Alfred's Pub I believe it was called. I met a few more of Iestyn's mates here and we had a few pints and exchanged adventure stories. Iestyn and his friends are mountaineers, meaning they work as guides and lead hikes and treks through the mountains of Wales. Recently, Iestyn and his girlfriend went hiking through Scotland with naught but a backpack of gear and sleeping bags. It was snowing and frigid temperatures in the mountains the entire time and from the sounds of it they almost died, several times. He wouldn't have it any other way though. He's a giant, red-bearded mountain man who would probably spend his entire life living out there in the cold mountains if the world would let him. It's certainly not my cup of tea but it's the type of thing as a man you can't help but just listen in awe to the stories and tales of ultimate bad-assery.

After the pub I got a good nights rest at Totters. It's been awhile since I'd slept real well as the hostel in London was a bit of a bust with a very uncomfortable bed. Also, with no internet to keep me up all night it was quite easy to just fall asleep and recuperate some energy. In the morning I had some breakfast at the hostel and met Iestyn on the corner to head out to do some surfing. We wanted to check the surf again before calling the shop so we went to Hell's Mouth and it was the same as it had been yesterday, blown out and savage looking. There was no way I'd be able to surf it in my current (lack of) shape, and even if I'd been able, it didn't look much fun. We cruised up to Whistling Sands where I was hoping it'd be tame and offshore again, and sure enough it was looking fantastic. Waist to chest high, offshore wind, peeling lefts and rights, nobody out. We called the shop and went and picked up some gear. I ended up with a 7'10" board and a 5.4mm wetsuit with 6mm boots. Even in the frigid water I was sure to be warm with this winter suit combo. Iestyn had something similar, though I believe his suit was a 4.5mm. Apparently mountain men don't need the extra millimeter. :) We cruised down to Whistling Sands again, suited up, and hit the surf.

As we were walking down we met a guy who looked like he'd been there awhile and we chatted with him on the paddle out. It had gotten bigger, it was now pretty consistently shoulder high which looked to be a lot of fun for sure. The guy was from the eastern coast of England and was an avid surfer so it was cool talking with him. I was the first guy he'd ever met from California, which he thought was awesome. He was friendly and showed us where to paddle out and told where the rocks were so we knew a bit of where to be. We surfed for about two hours before my hands were a bit too cold to function and two overhead waves crushed the hell out of me and let me know it was time for me to be done. Not surfing for two months and then jumping into super cold water with a thick winter wet suit and overhead waves was kind of a silly idea, but it was damn fun anyway! The guy we had met before was finishing up so we all walked to the cars, and while we were drying off he goes, "You mates look like Vikings out there, surfing with those giant beards." We both had pretty gnarly beards going at the time, but to say we look like Vikings? That was easily the coolest compliment I'd ever received from anyone, ever. Made my day! We dropped off the boards back at Off-Axis and headed back north towards Caernarfon for some lunch and some rest.

That night we went out to another local pub that had an interesting name and story. It was built in 1522 and even the current owners don't know the real history of the place, and as such there is a mystery behind the actual name of the pub. It's either called, "The Black Boy", or the "The Black Buoy". The latter obviously being the more politically correct title, but the former is what most people call it now. There are two signs, and everywhere it says the title, it says both titles. It's quite interesting really. The food was good and the beer was better. I was able to try a few semi-local Welsh ales named Snowdownian and The Purple Moose. Definitely one to check out if you ever visit Caernarfon. Took it relatively easy that night, went to bed early and got a record two nights sleep in a row.

The Welsh Flag Is A Dragon. Awesome!

The next morning Iestyn drove me to Bangor again where I'd be catching the train to Manchester to visit Mike Rogers and the Image Metrics office. We said our goodbyes, thanks, and promised to meet up again someday whether it be in America or here again in Wales. My time there was fantastic and I feel like I know just a little bit more about the world after visiting.

Europe: London, England

2009-12-15T07:29:00.000-08:00

As the end of my days in Europe drew near, I had about two weeks left to plan what I wanted to do with the remaining time. For a bit I visited the idea of going to Morocco, Africa to surf near a village named Imessouane. I had the entire trip planned and was literally a click away from booking it, when I had some second thoughts and decided to go another route. The trip to Africa would have been some serious fun, and a great adventure...but with the money and time required I knew I could probably visit many more countries instead. So, first I went to Prague, Czech Republic. (Read about my trip to Prague here.) After Prague, I returned to Paris and had about ten hours before I had to leave again for my next stop: London, England.

My flight to London was around 2pm, so I left for the airport at a nice, comfortable hour for once as opposed to six in the morning or something like that. I had enough time that morning to eat a good breakfast, clean the apartment up a bit, and leave confidently knowing I hadn't needed to rush and probably didn't forget anything too important. Metro to the Roissybus again brought me to the airport and I checked in with no troubles and had a pleasant hour long flight to London Heathrow airport. Upon arrival in England I had to explain to customs why I was an American coming from Paris, but then leaving from another city and going back to Paris. She was nice and all, but in the end I ended up having to explain quite a lot for her to understand how I was doing all of this with no visas, etc. Finally I got my passport stamp and went off to find the underground trains, or the "tube" as the call it here.

A friend of mine who works at Image Metrics named Nick lives here in London and I was off to meet him in the city. I took the "Piccadilly Line" to the Piccadilly Circus stop and climbed out of the underground and into the city. My first impression was sort of a mellow, panic. There were about nine billion people around walking in all different directions, all with somewhere to be and quick. It was much like a Times Square sort of feel. I had drawn myself a map on how to find our meeting spot, but realized right away that I hadn't drawn quite enough and was pretty much lost right away. I was suppose to meet Nick at 3pm but hadn't even gotten off the train until about that time, so I was already late and had no idea where to go! My mobile phone is unusable due to not turning on international roaming yet so I couldn't call him...so finally I asked someone and he pointed me in the right direction. I was suppose to find "Soho", a lively area in London where the pub I was meeting Nick is located. A few minutes later and after asking one more guy for directions, I found the place and met up with Nick.

The first thing we did was head to a pub right on the same street named, "Crown and Two Chairmen". It was funny carrying my big suitcases into a pub, but luckily we found a back corner table against the wall where I had room to store them so they wouldn't get stolen, or forgotten after a night of drinking! We had a couple of pints there before a friend of Nick's named Joe arrived, and another guy named Mike shortly after that. Joe worked with Nick at Autodesk and Mike was a friend of Joe's who works for HP. We spent the next few hours drinking and talking, telling stories, etc. Mike has a lot of foster children so hearing stories about them was cool. He's also an avid reader and recommended some books I should read. "Why God Created The French", "The Lovely Bones", and "How The Irish Saved The World". He is Irish and spent a good bit of time telling me all about the torrential rains in Ireland and how some of the smaller villages were almost completely underwater. Doesn't sound like too much fun, you know...being underwater. As the beer kept flowing, the stories became more and more exaggerated which turned into a pretty funny memory now...we kept giving him shit all night about his whole country being underwater. A friend of all of theirs had a band who was playing in King's Cross, London so we all hopped into a taxi and made our way to a pub called, "The Cross Kings". Technically, their friend was the singer but had left the band and they now had a new singer. Apparently she didn't leave the band of her own will and had been ousted due to her traveling, so the new singer on stage was a bit of an awkward scene. It was a bit of a critique more than just enjoying it for some. The band played some decent funk music and was fun to listen too though in the end. We stayed there for another few hours until about 11:45pm and then Nick wanted to head back so we didn't miss the last train to his place.

On the way home, we managed to almost miss the train we were already on by getting off thinking it was going the wrong direction. It was going the right direction afterall, so thankfully we got onto the next one which was actually the very last one of the night...then we somehow lost the ticket on the way out and narrowly avoid a 50£ fine when the guys just got annoyed with us and let us out for free. Finally we made it off the train, and found some food at one of London's premiere Kebab shops (or so I hear anyway.) Next we stumbled onto a bus, met a guy from Montreal, and finally made it home to Nick's place where his two awesome dogs named Coby and Mojo were waiting for us. His girlfriend Kim was away for the weekend so the dogs were happy to see people after most of the afternoon alone. The couch was nice, and sleep came quickly.

The next morning I woke up to the dogs climbing all over me and a bit of barking, but feeling relatively okay considering how much beer I had put down the night before. We spent the morning relaxing and watching some European Football and planning out what to do that day. I had to budget wisely since my bank won't let me take money out anywhere but France, so if I overspent I'd be stuck with no cash. Nick had suggested I explore the South Bank area so I walked to the nearby train station and caught a train to Waterloo Station.

The South Bank is a nice area in London that is on the south side of the Thames river that runs through the city. It contains the "London Eye" as well as a good amount of museums, restaurants and markets. In fact, there were many christmas markets setup all around the area, similar to the ones I saw in Prague. Selling all sorts of trinkets, holiday gifts, great foods, beer, and loads of other things. I spent a few hours wandering through all of this, exploring the area. I came across a lot of interesting things on the way. A large group of people holding signs that read "FREE HUGS" and "PRACTICE RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS". They were a bunch of young guys and girls just giving hugs and giving out free candy, pretty cool. :) I saw some street performers dancing and singing, a couple of Mimes, and all sorts of characters performing various, random tasks to entertain the flocks of tourists walking along the banks of the Thames. Towards the center of the South Bank area is the Westminster Bridge, which when you cross it to the North side leads you to Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and all sorts of other big London sights. It was rainy quite hard so I only walked across the bridge to get an up close peak at Big Ben, and decided I'd come back for the full tour tomorrow. As it went there was a giant protest going on in the area about Global Warming and Climate Change. So many people had come to protest that they had closed half of the Westminster Bridge and there were enough people to fill up the entire thing. It was a sight to see for sure. I snapped a couple of photos with my cellphone and headed back towards Waterloo Station and the train towards Nick's place.

View From Westminster Bridge - Thames and the London Eye

Climate Change Protests on Westminster Bridge

Back at the house, I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and writing the rest of my blog post about Prague. We watched a game of Rugby which was fun, I'd never seen it played before so I learned about the rules of the game and such. Around dinner time we decided it would be cool to make some sushi for dinner, so we got some supplies at a local market and came back and made some epic salmon and creamed cheese rolls with cucumber and avocado. Not a bad home made meal! Nick is moving to the States soon and as such he cannot bring his wine collection with him. He offered to drink some since it might have to get sold or go to waste anyway, so we ended up drinking a couple of bottles of some real good wine. I wish I could remember the name of the wine...but I never can. Watched some football games and a couple of films and called it an early night.

Street Performers on the South Bank.

Christmas Markets bustling with people on the South Bank.

Even with the early night I don't think I got up until about noon. Traveling is exhausting! After a cup of coffee and a shower, we took the dogs for a walk through a nearby park and then went for some lunch at a spot called "Nando's". Then, a drink in a neighborhood pub called, "St. John's House & Secret Library". It's actually two separate pubs in the same building which is kind of interesting. Tasted a beer here called, "Tiger" which was excellent! Later on we went back to Nick's place and Kim had returned from her trip in Paris. We were introduced, chatted for a bit and then I grabbed my stuff and left for the hostel I had booked nearby.

About fifteen minutes later I was headed to the train and realized that I had forgotten to write down directions on how to get to the hostel from the train station. I knew the name of the road, and I remembered from looking at the map that it was right next to it practically so I figured I'd just find it. Mistake. I got off the train and spent about forty-five minutes looking for it before I had to admit defeat and find a map. I ended up walking up and down this one road about five times and in the process, lost my beanie (hat) that'd been in my back pocket. Noooo! I had a spare but it was back in Paris...so now I'd need to go the rest of trip in the UK without a hat. Shit! It was damn cold and I'd regret this later for sure.

Skateboarding and Graffiti area on the South Bank.

I finally made it to the hostel called, "The Walrus Waterloo". It was pretty nice looking when I walked in, a bar in the downstairs of it filled with people and in a nice area right near the South Bank and Waterloo station. I got signed in and went up to my room where I met four people from Spain! That week there was a holiday in Spain so the four of them had taken a trip to London for the week. They didn't speak a lot of English so I didn't talk to them all that much, but it was nice to meet some more people anyway. That night was kind of mellow, I spent some time wandering around the area and had a couple of beers but went to bed relatively early.

The next day was excellent. The hostel had a free continental breakfast in the morning with toast, cereal and coffee which was a perfect start to the day. I filled up, grabbed my coat and scarf and headed out for my first touristy stop of the day, Westminster Bridge. This is the same bridge the protest had been on a couple of days earlier, but now it was nice and clear. It was a bit of a cloudy day which was a shame but besides that it was a tremendous view of the surrounding areas from the bridge. When you cross the bridge to the North side of the Thames River you are met eye to eye with Big Ben, the famous clock that sits outside of the Houses of Parliament. I took some photos, enjoyed the view, sat in awe of the amazing architecture of the buildings and then moved on to the next stop, Westminster Abbey. It's amazing as you can imagine. I spent about an hour there walking around and looking at everything. I didn't have my camera unfortunately but I snapped a few pics with my cellphone.

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

After the Abbey I left and kept walking North towards the Royal Parks and Buckingham Palace. The parks are absolutely stunning, they're so huge that I spent a good two hours just walking through the different areas and looking at birds, wildlife, flowers, and all the things it had to offer the passer through. When you get through the parks, you come across Buckingham Palace, where the British monarch lives. (The Queen, etc.) It was just like you'd think really, enormous, beautiful, filled with tourists and people walking around snapping photos, and those guards with the really big black furry hats who aren't allowed to talk or even acknowledge your existence. It was definitely a cool thing to see. I got lucky and happened across it right in time for the "Changing of the Guard" ceremony at the front of the palace. It's sort of a parade where the new guards march down the street and replace the guards in the front of the palace, it happens once per day. Random, but it reminded me a lot of the scene in Final Fantasy VII in the town of Juneau when the Shinra soldiers are marching down the streets. :) After seeing it all I spent another hour or so in the parks before heading back towards the hostel for a beer and some lunch. I stopped by the Christmas Markets on the South Bank on the way back for a beer and a brought-wurst German sausage. It was excellent.

Buckingham Palace

I don't even know what this crazy bird is! Anyone know?

"Great Tits" are a common sight in the Royal Parks during the colder months. Har Har.

That night, since I hadn't met anyone at the hostel I took the train back to Nick's place and had some dinner and wine with him and Kim at a restaurant called "Out of the Blue". It was unique because on Monday nights they allowed you to bring your own wine to drink as long as you paid a £3 corking fee per bottle. Nick brought along a couple of his epic wine bottles and I ordered the Mussels and chips again...a recurring theme! I've tried them now in four different countries, and...London wins. They were so, so good at this place. Anyway, dinner was fun. You can also bring your dogs with you to this restaurant so Coby and Mojo hung out under the table while we ate and drank. We talked for hours about all sorts of random things, telling stories and enjoying the wine. After dinner we said our goodbyes and I promised to help Nick and Kim move once they got into their place in the States. They had been so hospitable and nice to let me stay with them that I had to repay the favor! The train took me back to the hostel where I had a beer in the pub and went to sleep.

The next morning I caught the "tube" to London Euston Train station and got onto my train headed for the city of Bangor in Northern Wales.

Europe: Prague (Praha), Czech Republic

2009-12-07T10:43:00.000-08:00

I've just returned from a three day trip to the beautiful city of Prague in the Czech Republic. I had three days open in between returning from Corbigny and flying to the United Kingdom, so after a short debate between Prague and Barcelona I booked a flight and hostel and left the next morning for Eastern Europe.

My first trial was figuring out to get to the airport at six o'clock in the morning. Thankfully Richard showed me the "RoissyBus" which is a bus leaving from the Opera metro stop in Paris with a non-stop service to Charles De Gaulle airport. The bus left at 5:45am, but the first train didn't arrive to take me to Opera until 5:38am so I thought for sure I'd miss it since it's its at least six or seven minutes from Parmentier (M) to Opera (M). I arrived at Opera at about 5:46am and ran out the exit to find the bus just pulling up. In hindsight, the bus didn't actually leave until 6:00am so I wouldn't have missed it, but I was definitely worried. A half-hour drive later I checked into my "SmartWings" flight, cruised through security with my carry-on and boarded my flight to Prague.

An hour or so later we landed at the Prague airport and I grabbed my pack and headed out towards the exit. The first thing I needed was some cash money. I had a bit of a snafu with my bank where they wouldn't let me use my ATM card in any country besides France. In order to rectify the problem I had to fax them three forms of ID front and back and three signatures, with a contact phone number and then wait up to forty-eight hours for them to call back at their convenience. Seeings how I didn't have a scanner, fax machine, or phone, this wasn't going to happen...so I have no access to my money outside of France. My option left was to bring enough Euros with me to exchange for CZK (crowns), so I swung by a currency exchange booth in the airport on the way out and traded my money. The exchange rate is about 25Kc to 1 Euro ($1.50 USD). More on this later. After getting crowns I bought a bus ticket for 26Kc and jumped on the bus that would bring me to the city center. I had directions to my hostel with me which instructed me to take the bus, then get on the metro, then get on a tram, then walk...haha. It sounded confusing, but ended up being easy. One cool thing I learned right away was that a single transportation ticket works on all forms of transport. I can use my same ticket for the bus, train, and tram. It has a 75-minute time limit on it so I can use it for whatever I like within that time. You can buy different lengths for whatever your needs may be. After following all of the directions I finally made it to the "Little Town Hostel" and to my room.

When I got in to the room I met a guy from Quebec named Alexis who told me a bit about the hostel and how it had been. He's a backpacker who has been traveling for quite a bit so it's always nice to hear stories and where all he has been, etc. Apparently all of the ten beds were full now that I'd arrived so I was bound to meet some people soon enough. After getting settled in a bit and locking my gear in the locker I got suited up for a walk and headed out on the town. Equipped with my map from the hostel and some nice warm clothes that I'm incredibly glad I brought, it was time for adventure! It was COLD in Prague! Way colder than it had been anywhere else I'd visited so far. So glad I brought warm clothes. So, so glad.

My first stop on the walk was food. I was a bit wary of spending too much money since I didn't have access to my funds, and what I had was just what I had...so I decided to just get something quick and grabbed some Kebab. After eating a decent meal at a really good price, I wandered into a couple of souvenir shops to see what they had and realized something amazing...things are cheap here! Having been in Paris, I got use to paying a lot for almost everything, so it was very refreshing to see things priced normally. For instance, a pint of beer in Prague costs between 25 and 50 Kc normally. That equals to about 1-2 Euros. The cheapest pint of beer I've found in Paris was 4 Euros, and in most cases you're looking at 7-9 Euros for a pint of quality beer. Don't tell anyone, but I even paid 12 Euros for a pint once in Paris. (That is $18 USD). I realized then that I could probably drink about a hundred pints over the next couple of days and not run out of money. Brain cells maybe, but I'd have plenty of cash. :)

I kept on walking and eventually made my way to the main city square in "old town" where I came across the famous Christmas/Holiday Markets! This was amazing! It smelled of roasted chestnuts, wine, and wurst. I spent a long time wandering through the markets tasting different foods, looking through the shops at all the trinkets and holiday gifts, and admiring the sites it had to offer. Everyone was so happy and into the Christmas spirit that it made me very excited to go home in two weeks. It's one of those things that makes you realize how simultaneously the world can be so big and yet so very small at the same time. People all over the earth are merry and happy during the holiday season, and it's truly inspiring and an amazing, enjoyable experience to be around them.

In the old town square there is a clock tower they call the 'astronomical clock'. It's very neat and interesting looking! I read a bit about the history to know what it was and what it does, you can read about it here. Prague Astronomical Clock Wiki.

After exploring a bit more I walked back to the hostel and met a few more of the hostel-mates who were from Canada. We talked for awhile and shared travel stories, before they all got ready to head off to an ice-hockey game at a nearby rink. Yes, the Canadians found a hockey game to go to...in Prague. Lawl. Alexis from Quebec also went with them so I was by myself at the hostel awhile just writing and catching up on emails, etc when yet another mate came by named "T". He was from Malaysia and spoke little English so our conversations were limited, but he seemed like a pretty cool fellow. Few minutes later I checked out BeerAdvocate.com to see where the good beer pubs were in Prague. The first one I found was called, "Hastalky Dedek Restaurace". The first thing I noticed was that it wasn't as touristy as most of the pubs near old town and my hostel, as they didn't immediately start speaking to me in English. I asked for a pint of something good and was given a "Mušketýr" by the barman. Great stuff! Cheap too, it was about 30Kc for a pint. Check them out here: http://www.hastalskydedek.cz/

After the pub I decided to go visit Prague Castle. It's the largest medieval castle in Europe, holds the Guinness Record for being the largest "ancient" castle, and as you can imagine is just absolutely breathtaking. In the pic below you can see it up on the hill.

It took me about forty-five minutes to walk up to the castle and I spent another two hours or so exploring and taking photos with my cellphone. Part of me wants to write and tell you all about it, but it's simply just too amazing for words. It's a castle for fuck's sake. A CASTLE. I was just blown away the entire time. Unbelievable stuff.

To see more pics of the castle that were actually taken properly, look here. Or if you like, read all about it's history by visiting the Prague Castle Wikipedia Article.

After returning from the castle I decided my next stop would be some eats, so I stopped into a steak house I found and grabbed a seat. I ordered a chicken steak with a fruit sauce and a side of chips (French Fries). The food was great, as was the beer I had with it. It was a coffee flavored beer called Chodovar. I was completely stuffed, and kind of drunk so I decided to head back to the hostel to see what was happening there. When I arrived, there were yet three more people in the kitchen who I'd not yet met. A girl from Montreal, Quebec, named Camille and a guy and girl traveling together from Brazil named Victor and Mairra. They had just finished cooking an amazing dinner as I walked in. Soup, cheeses, bread, vegetables, olives, wine, etc. and were so nice and invited me to join them. Even though I was completely stuffed from my meal just minutes before I decided to sit with them and have a glass of wine and try some of Victor's amazing soup. We talked, ate, and drank for a couple hours then, great fun. All three of them had great stories of backpacking all over the world and Europe. This is what traveling is all about for me, just meeting these amazing people, getting to know them, hearing stories and sharing some of my own. Eventually all of the Canadians returned from the hockey game and we had almost the entire gang there finally. As you can probably guess, we all decided to go do some drinking! There was a pub in the basement of the hostel so we hopped in the lift and went down for some drinks and some fun! Along the way we picked up one more mate from another room named Simon from Norway. We all drank a lot of beer, did some shots, and learned from the barmaid how to say "cheers" in Czech. Na zdraví! My first day in Prague came to an end a few hours later, not a bad start.

The next morning I had the worst headache I can remember having in recent weeks. Thankfully it didn't last very long but I was damn shocked at how much it hurt for a bit there. Drinking from noon until midnight will do that I suppose. I had ordered breakfast at the hostel so I got dressed and went and ate in a room across the hall. Simple but good. Juice, Coffee, toast, muffins, and cereal. Camille and Alexis from Quebec were both headed off that morning so we said our goodbyes, facebook friended, and they were off. I spent the next four hours simply wandering around the city. I spent some time in the markets again, had some sausage and hot wine, and explored a lot of the city. Here are a few pics from the cellphone.

One of the most beautiful things in Prague is the Charles Bridge. It's a very historic bridge since it was the first one built that crossed the Vltava river and connected Prague's Old Town with the Prague Castle and the other adjacent areas. It's stunning really. Another piece of history that words won't do much for. Google it if you're interested. I crossed the bridge on the way back to the hostel and headed back inside to rest for a bit, a four hour walk does wonders on the feet. Ack!

Later that day a new hostel mate arrived, a girl named Jessica from Arkansas, USA. We talked for a bit about all of the places we had traveled and such and exchanged some cool stories once again. I ended up hanging out with her for most of the day and exploring a bit more of the city. We even got a few pictures of us doing some gymnastics on the Charles Bridge hah, I did a handstand. Did I mention it was ridiculously cold? Coldest city I'd visited yet, so removing my jacket to do a handstand on the bridge was a big deal! But, how many times in my life would I be able to do a handstand on the Charles Bridge, sitting high above the Vltava River, in the city of Prague in the Czech Republic, in Europe? Probably not many. :)

I was running out of cash so I need to hit up a place to exchange a bit more currency. Thankfully I had discovered 100 Euros that I had hidden in my belt weeks and weeks ago. Yes I am damn smart. There are so many Currency stores in Prague! At least one on every block and sometimes more than that. If you ever visit, exchange at the airport only enough to get your bus ticket (26Kc) but save the bulk of it for later where you'll get a much better rate. Whilst exploring I had seen one of them advertising 2500Kc for 100 Euros. I had this number in my head so I was going to check every exchange place until they offered me this. The first one I went in offered me 1800Kc. I almost laughed out loud, and started to walk away when the guy said "Wait! 2400Kc". I wanted to slap him through the glass, like I'd really take him seriously with an offer going from 1800 to 2400. 2400 isn't bad but I just laughed and walked out. I visited six more stores, the first five offered me 2400 and the sixth did the same, but as I was walking out he says, "Fine, what do you want?" I replied, "2500". "Okay fine." he says. My elite negotiating skills are awesome aren't they? Hah! I returned to the hostel with my money and we hit up an Irish Pub for some dinner. JJ's I think it was called. Good food, friendly people, great beer. As I said in my Tips For Traveling Europe - Part II, Irish Pub's always deliver.

Returning to the hostel we met yet another two people who had arrived at the hostel. A girl from China and a girl from Korea who was living in Ireland and traveling around. Such interesting people everywhere!

The next morning was my last in Prague, so I had planned to use the time left to spend a bunch of money. I wanted to buy some Christmas gifts and souvenirs, as well as try some of the food in the Christmas Markets that I hadn't tasted yet. Jessica was going off on a tour of the Castle so we said our goodbyes and I headed off into the markets to spend my hard earned crowns. Some great gifts came out of this by the way!

The only mildly exciting thing left that happened was when I couldn't figure out for the life of me where the heck to buy a train/bus/tram ticket. In case you were wondering, I finally found them for sale at the local Tabac. (Tobacco Store). Tram to Train to Bus to Plane to Train and I finally got home to my apartment in Paris. As tired as I was, the next day I was leaving for London! I had an amazing time in Prague thanks to the great city, the nice and amazing people I met, and everything else the city had to offer. I'd recommend it to anyone! Try to visit some day!

Next it's off to the United Kingdom for the week!

Europe: Traveling! Huzzah!

2009-12-06T05:21:00.000-08:00

Hello! Bonjour! Dobry den! Morgen! Hola! The past week has been slow on the updates as I've just had too much going on to sit down and write a proper log of it all. I've spent a few days in Prague, now I'm in London visiting a friend, soon it's off to Wales to see Iestyn and Hell's Mouth, then it'll be Manchester to see Mike and the gang and catch a Dragonforce show at the Academy. Then it's back to Paris for one day to pack my gear, hand over my apartment keys and fly to Boston to visit my family for the Holidays. I promise I've got some great stories, but it'll be a bit before I get them all up here. I hope everyone is having a great couple of weeks!

Europe: Jay's Tips For Traveling In Europe - Part II

2009-11-27T14:43:00.000-08:00

Second round of my random tips for visiting and traveling in Europe. If you'd like to check out the first round, scroll down to the bottom of this article for a link.

Almost everything is closed on Sunday, so buy whatever you need before then and prepare for a nice relaxing day.
You can get stamps at tobacco shops.
A lot of websites won't work outside of the United States. Hulu and Pandora for example. These sort of sites will block you if have an out of the U.S. IP address. There are plenty of programs out there to spoof your IP and work around this. Google has the answer.
H1N1 flu is a big deal everywhere, even though nobody seems to have it.
Karaoke bars will usually have about 80% songs of their own language, and 20% everything else. American songs somewhere in that 20%.
Irish Pubs are your friend. You always know what you're going to get and they always deliver.
They use coins here a lot more than in the States, and stores want you to use them. For example in the US if something costs $3.79 we'd just hand them a $5 dollar bill most of the time, or maybe four $1 bills. If you sat at the register counting out exact change most people would be annoyed. Here, it's the opposite. It's rude to give bills if you have exact change, and you're expected to use exact change any time you can. Especially at smaller shops, bakeries, etc. There are 2€, 1€, 0.50€, 0.20€, 0.10€, 0.05€, 0.02€, and 0.01€ coins. Yes there is a two cent coin. It's weird and next to useless in my experience.
Most banks (at least in Paris) have both outdoor and indoor ATM machines. I advise going to the ones inside so you don't get mugged. Especially if you're a lady.
Don't carry all of your cash with you, and don't keep it all in one place. Money belts are cool.
Bring your passport with you everywhere, or at least have a copy of it on you on at all times.
The US Dollar is currently a lot weaker than the Euro and the British Pound. So even if some things seem to be the same price they are actually more expensive. Keep an eye on the exchange rates so you know what you're spending. Also, traveling in countries where the Dollar is stronger than their local currency has the opposite (positive) effect.
Gasoline is a bit more expensive in Europe than in the US, but not by too much. And they refer to it as Petrol, not gas or gasoline.
If you plan on driving, be humble and ready to learn some new driving rules. Roads are very slim and with different traffic laws it can get dangerous if you aren't paying attention.
France Specific: Cut or tear off a piece of baguette, then tear with your hands. Don't cut the tip off the cheese. Slice it from the side so it always leaves a tip.
Maybe France Specific: The family I'm staying with this weekend sometimes drinks coffee or hot cocoa out of a bowl with a spoon like we would with cereal. Not sure why, but it's cool!
France Specific: Visiting the French country-side, I've yet to meet anyone who speaks English. Not one single person.
Roads signs and speeds in Europe are in Kilometers Per Hour (KPH) as opposed to Miles per hour. (MPH) In fact, everything is in the metric system, and as much as I hate to admit it...after using it for awhile it makes so much more sense and is awesome.
Scooters and motorcycles are everywhere. E-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.
You can find free WiFi at any McDonalds as well as a host of other random places. I've yet to have any trouble finding free random street WiFi either, just walk around and sit on a bench and check the nearby networks.

Read PART 1 OF EUROPEAN TRAVEL TIPS here or read about some adventures from Central France.

Europe: Corbigny, Vezelay, and Central France

2009-11-26T07:16:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, I left with my friend Richard to visit his home town of Corbigny located in the Burgundy region of France. Richard lives in Paris and is a friend I met through working in CG a couple of years ago. His family has a house (and a seriously enormous amount of farms and land) in the village of Corbigny about a three hour drive south of Paris. We left in his car and headed south around 3pm, got stuck in a little traffic, but were able to arrive at our destination around 7pm.

Burgundy Region, France

It was dark so I didn't see much of the country side or the town on the way in, but when we got to Richard's house it was a sight to see! It's a beautiful house filled to the brim with all sorts of trinkets, art, books, weapons, world currency, puppets, souvenirs, and scores of great items from countries all over the world. Richard and his family have traveled to many places and they have such great things to look at from the trips it's like a museum. Very cool! Richard's father doesn't speak any English so we haven't really been able to talk much besides Rich's translating for us. He had dinner waiting for us though which was great. Fresh pheasant he had just hunted that day, potatoes, vegetables, fresh bread, and...epic wine. His Dad is a French wine connoisseur and opened a bottle of red for us that can only be described as mind-blowing. I wish I could tell you what it was, it was a 1999...something. He picked it out to go with the meal and I must say it was absolutely awesome. The best wine I have ever tasted. Dinner was followed by a fresh apple tart made with apples from their garden outside, and a nice cup of coffee.

The next morning we woke up to breakfast where we had fresh croissants, coffee, and fresh bread from the local bakery. Got ready to go out and spent the first part of the morning hiking through the forest and a local field of Corbigny. One of the local fields has a large monument in a farmer's field where a plane crashed in 1934.

We explored the monument a bit and then went for a walk through the forests behind it for awhile, it was partially raining and cold as hell but it sure is nice to see TREES for the first time in awhile. And I don't mean palm trees or the ones you find in Paris, I mean a real forest. The kind that you could start walking through and not ever find your way out. There weren't any leaves on the trees though because of, well you know...Winter...but it was great anyhow. Stumbling upon old tree houses and the like, reminded me a lot of my child hood growing up on Cape Cod and doing the same sort of thing. The climate and geography here are much like the Cape in a way.

Not all that exciting, but...trees!

After the forest we headed back to the house for lunch where we had one of the best steaks I've ever tasted, a glass of wine from a bottle that I probably couldn't afford with a week's paycheck, mashed potatoes and some fresh bread. This is lunch by the way. (I love this place!) Next we left off on a thirty minute drive to visit the nearby town of Vezelay. Vezelay, France is an amazing town located on a large bluff overlooking the surrounding Burgundy region. It contains one of France's oldest and most famous Romanesque churches, the Basilica of St. Mary Magdalene. We visited the church and got to explore a crypt underneath before walking the grounds and seeing a fantastic view of the surrounding valleys from atop the bluff. Here is a photo I found of the city.

Vezelay, France

I picked up a souvenir from Vezelay before we headed back into Corbigny for another epic dinner at the Adenot House. That night we had a meal known as Croque Monsieur/Croque Madame. It's essentially a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, the latter with a friend egg on top. It was great! The combination of French cheese, ham, butter, and eggs delivers just an exquisite taste. All natural food, probably from a farm right nearby. Richard's father uncorked another epic bottle of red wine from his wine cellar and we enjoyed a great meal. For dessert we had a fresh apple pie, yogurt, and coffee.

This morning we woke up and after another breakfast of fresh bread and croissants we hopped in the car for an hour ride to visit Richard's aunt and uncle on their farm. The farm is so big it stretched from one horizon to the next it seemed, their house sitting atop a great bluff overlooking the farmland spread out for miles (kilometers, har har) in all directions. They didn't speak any English either, so again Rich was the translator for us. His aunt greeted us with a glass of "Porto" which I can only describe as a ridiculously potent wine. Your glass is filled up with only about as much as a shot in the States (an ounce or so), it tastes sweet and rich like a sweet red wine but has a much higher alcohol percentage. It's tasty, heh. While waiting for his Uncle to finish work, we got to spend a half hour or so on their Four Wheeler romping around their land in the woods. So. Much. Fun. Haven't been on one of those since I was probably 16-17 or so. We finished up, cleaned off (some of) the mud, and went back to the house. For lunch we had fresh salad, another steak, scalloped potatoes, and fresh bread. Yeah...this was lunch again, they eat well here! Some apple cider and a yogurt for dessert.

We spent awhile at the house and then decided we would drive to Magny Cours, a large F1 circuit about 20 minutes away. We wanted to go there to do some kart racing on the kart circuit they have and got lucky when we arrived and were the only ones there. We had the course to ourselves! We paid roughly 60 euros each for 5 tickets, (5 runs each) which was about 30 laps over the course of two hours. This was my first time ever driving a kart on a real circuit, and it was some of the most fun I've EVER had. It had rained that morning so the track was wet still, so I started off pretty slow while I got used to it and we got the tires warmed up. I think my first lap time was something around 1:28 and by the end of the day I had a lap time of 1:10:967. 18 seconds shaved! Richard has done this a hundred times and his best time was 1:10:300 so I was really happy with my lap time for my first day. I really want to try it again once I get back to Los Angeles. My body is sore, my head hurts, I'm tired, and I can't wait to do it all over again.

This is the kart circuit at Magnys-Cours.

After racing we drove to another place yet again where Richard wanted to show me his land. His father had given him a large spot of land nearby and we wanted to hike out through it and look around. Rich hadn't been here in while so he wanted to walk through, but also it was fun just to explore and see everything. We walked awhile and came across a large river flowing through the middle of it, skipped some stones, hung out a bit then headed back when it got dark. We came back to the house again in Corbigny after that, where we just had yet another epic dinner. Beef, sausage, vegetables, potatoes, bread, and what was described to me as "the best bottle of white wine you will probably ever taste in your life." Even Richard's father was apprehensive about opening this one. For dessert we had the Adenot Family's secret recipe Chocolate cake. So good! After dinner his Dad showed us his wine collection, which was unbelievable. He had several bottles from the 1950's and probably a bottle from every year in between. I can't properly describe how awesome this is. Just believe me.

After dinner his dad wanted to show us his hobby, collecting rare old documents related to his family's history. He has documents dating all the way back to the 12th century. Un-freaking-believable to see and touch these. Eight hundred year old pieces of paper, err, leather I should say, just in a folder we can see and touch and read. He had traced his family's heritage and history and built a family tree reaching back to the 1500's. He said it has taken him over twenty years to complete what he has done so far. Stop and consider that for a moment. It's amazing and inspiring.

Here I sit now in front of a warm fire, watching Star Wars and writing to the world. Tomorrow will be a relaxing day filled with more great food, alcohol, good stories, and who knows what else.

Europe: Jay's Tips For Being In Europe - Part I

2009-11-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to a multi-part series I'll be doing periodically to outline some tips I have for an American living in Europe. Now that I've been here a month, I've put together a list of things I've learned that may be of use to someone who is visiting Europe for the first time. A lot of these things apply to France since I've been here primarily, but consider them if you travel outside of France as they very well may be true in other countries as well. Some may be obvious, and some you may not know, enjoy!

Toilets have two flush buttons, the smaller button uses less water.
Remember that €1 != $1. Obvious, but don't forget! You're spending roughly $1.50 (Nov.2009) every time you spend a single Euro.
Electrical sockets are different in different parts of the world, you'll need adapters.
Food is way better here in general, even things like jam, mayonnaise, etc. because shit isn't made with Corn Syrup, they use actual ingredients. (Novel concept.)
Clocks use the 24 hour cycle and not A.M. P.M. So 8pm is 20:00.
Temperature is in Celsius, not Fahrenheit. Convert Here!
European Trains are amazing, travel on one at least once in your life.
If someone offers to help you find your way, they want money.
If someone asks if you speak English, just shake your head, they want money. English speakers will just start speaking in English and hope you respond, they won't ask first.
If someone finds a gold ring on the ground and offers it to you for free, they want money.
If someone talks to you at all on the street, they probably want money.
If you're under 26 years old, everything is cheaper in Europe. Everything. Travel before 26! Most museums are free, train tickets are cheaper, hotels/hostels, everything.
Don't lie about your age on the train to get a cheaper ticket, it'll cost you. A lot.
Paris Specific: They have separate stores for everything! No giant Targets and shit. You'll find specific stores for lots of different items. Hard to get use to but quite awesome.
Commas and Decimals are switched. So $1.50 == $1,50 and 1,000,000 == 1.000.000
Paris Specific: Nothing is in English and nobody will speak it to you, unless you're a pretty girl. If you're a guy, prepare for a pain in the ass if you don't speak French.
Paris Specific: It rains all of the time in Winter. Get ready.
Almost all homeless people have pets. They get a stipend to feed the pet from the Gov't so most of them have dogs. It also prevents them from getting arrested since the cops can't leave the pets by themselves. Smart eh?
Hostels aren't dirty and dangerous like in the movie Hostel. That is all bullshit. They are awesome and you'll meet excellent people if you're willing to.
Cities: Dog shit is all over the ground and all over the place. I mean everywhere. Watch your step.
Paris Specific: Nobody smiles, don't take it personally it's the culture. Just smile at everyone and laugh when they give you a weird look for not looking depressed.
Learning bits of the the languages can help a lot, but in my experience if you try to speak the language they will respond in their language and then you won't know what they said. If you go this route, it's almost smarter to be obviously bad at it when you try to speak, so they respond in English. Otherwise you're fucked anyway 'cause you'll have to just say, "Sorry I know I tried but I have no idea what you just said, so can we start over in English?". In which case, a Parisian will roll their eyes and be a jerk, and you might as well have said it in English to begin with anyway. Belgians, Italians and Dutch will be nice though so give it a shot and see if your experience differs from mine. Note: Are you a good looking girl? Forget this one. You're all set.
Plan on doing some cooking, going out to eat is big money around here. Some hostels have kitchens, check when you make a reservation.
Buying a coffee or anything at the bar will be cheaper than sitting down and ordering it. You don't tip servers in Europe so they charge you extra for ordering it from a server instead.

That's it for part one. If you'd like to read Part II, check it out here. Enjoy!

Europe: Brussels and Amsterdam

2009-11-14T07:24:00.000-08:00

Just to get it out of the way since I know the world wants to know, unfortunately I did not meet Jean-Claude Van-Damme in Brussels. A failure I will take to the grave. Now that it's out of the way, I'll write about what I did instead. Second note, this is going to be very long. I had an amazing time and really don't want to forget a single detail so I'm writing it all down for my own memory. It's a shame I won't remember this fifty years from now so instead I'll just read my blog again when the time comes.

JCVD was nowhere to be found in his home country of Belgium.

This was my first time traveling by train so it was a neat experience finding my way to the platform and figuring it all out. Emily wanted to see how it was done as well so she came with me to the Paris Nord (North) train station. Thankfully the station is very easy to navigate and the people were nice so I got my tickets easily and found myself on the train a few minutes later. Said goodbye to Emily for the time being and relaxed into my seat for the two hour ride to Brussels in the country of Belgium. I actually had a connection somewhere random but blah blah blah. The train was awesome and very, very relaxing. It's great to just chill out and watch the world go by outside the windows.

I arrived at Brussels Midi (South) station on time around 12:30pm and via the directions I had written down I took the metro to the north side of the city center and made my way to my hostel. The 2Go4 Hostel is where I was staying and checking in was a breeze with my reservation already made for the next four nights. I walked upstairs to my room where I met a girl named Libby who was still sleeping from the night before, looking quite hung over . Keeping the noise down so she could sleep, I took a shower, unpacked a bit, and headed out to explore and find some epic Belgian food.

Epic waffles.

If you're not familiar with Belgium, it's known and famous for a few different things. Not necessarily in this order, it's known for it's Beer, Chocolate, Waffles, and Mussels, however Brussels is also the capital of Europe and houses a lot of the government offices and conferences for the European Union (EU). It's a busy, bustling city that is no stranger to tourism and greets it in kind. All of the restaurants have menus in four different languages (French, English, Flemish, German) and I'm sure the servers probably speak enough of each to greet and serve everyone properly. Just from walking around I got the idea quickly that everyone was friendly and it was in general a laid back place, a nice contrast from Paris where everyone is in a hurry and smiling is against the law (har). The map I got from the hostel also had some tips on what to do and some suggestions for food, etc. so it got me off to a good start. After an hour or so of wandering I ended up at a medium-sized restaurant called Le Grand Cafe where I had a steak lunch with a nice, tasty pint of Stella. An amazing meal and a nice buzz later I walked back to the hostel where I took a break in the room and got to talk to Libby a bit. She is from Melbourne, Australia and had been there a few days already so she told me a few stories of where to go and what was fun in the city. It's always good to meet people who have done it before to get the scoop and all. Thankfully she was cool and didn't smell or snore or anything so +1 point for that. Hostel mates can be such a gamble, I think that anytime they aren't completely weird it's a good stay! So, cheers to Libby for being cool. :)

After hanging awhile two more people came into the room. A bearded mountain man named Mike from Canada and a girl named Shannon who was from Boston, Massachusetts which isn't too far from my own home town of Brewster, MA. They had met a couple of days earlier and become friends so they were traveling together for the time being and ended up in our room for what was also their last nights in Brussels. We all chatted for awhile, got settled in, and decided to head down to the hostel common area for some dinner and beers from the vending machine. (Isn't that awesome? Yes, vending machine beer. Cheap too!)

Down in the common area we met a few more people, another girl from Australia, one from New Zealand, a guy named Kasper from New Zealand, and a guy from Australia, and two guys from France I think who didn't say much. We chatted it up, talked about our trips, lives, and got prepared for the night. Dinner time rolled around so we went out for some Greek "kebabs" at the Sultan of Kebap (yes, spelled wrong haha!). Kebabs are basically just sliced beef in pitas with a bunch of vegetables and some epic sauces. It's the equivalent to a burrito/taco in California as there are Kebab shops on almost every street in Europe. It was bound to be a long night of drinking so I ate as much as I could and we headed out towards the first bar, Delirium.

Delirium is definitely not a locals' spot in Brussels, it's a tourist bar to the max and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone there from Brussels who wasn't an employee. Buuuut, it holds the current Guinness Book Record for having the most types of beers available and is FUN as hell. In 2004 they scooped the record by having 2004 different beers available. Years later it's gotten even more and still holds the record,definitely a kick ass place to drink beer. I must have tried 15 different beers that night, some great, some terrible. There are a lot of "flavored" beers, chocolates and cherries and bananas and coconuts and mangos and so on and so forth, but thankfully they have plenty of manly beer as well. The one that stood out for me was the Orval Trappist Ale, which they had a batch of "plus one year" which was a batch that had been aging a bit longer and was just AWESOME. It's about 8% alcohol which is medium for a trappist, but man was it great! I also had a few others that were almost as good, most of them ranging from 8-11% alcohol content, so needless to say it was a nice, drunken night. It was great fun talking to the different people and learning about New Zealand, Australia, and all the places Mike and Shannon had been already. I felt like a big traveling noobie but it was fun anyway to hear such great stories. I'm a bit jealous of the freedom that the backpackers had, just wandering the continent, going from adventure to adventure while I seemed a slave to my planning. I decided at that moment that I was going to make the very best of my time here in Europe and really step it up a notch. Even if that meant being a bit spontaneous and stepping outside of the box a little.

Delirium Cafe in Brussels. Photo credit to TripAdvisor.com

There was a large group of us when we arrived at the bar, probably ten or so, but eventually it dwindled down to only three when all of the ladies and some of the guys went back to the hostel due to hang-overs from the previous day(s). Mike, Kasper and I were still good to go so we hung around and started to talking to some other people. A large group of German women showed up eventually so Mike started talking to them and made some new friends. Both of the guys spoke some German, while I couldn't think of even one word...so it was funny to watch them talking while I just sat around listening and enjoying the brew. I tried to learn some of the language to no avail, though I did get the name of what is suppose to be the all-time best German wine, (Spätlese Rheinhessen). The night moved forward and for some reason (I can't remember but I imagine this was my idea...) we decided to go and find some karaoke. After a good bit of wandering we did actually find a karaoke bar, but we looked inside and saw maybe three or four people, compared to the hundreds at the bar we had just come from...so we all decided to move on and ended up at a place called Celtica. At this point I was totally hammered and details are fuzzy, but there was live music inside with an older man playing some well known tunes on his guitar. The best part was that he would only play about half the song and then trail off into some random jam session on every song. It was funny as hell, it's as if he didn't know the whole songs. As the night went on he got more drunk and the songs became even more diluted with weirdness, yet somehow still so awesome! One of the girls taught us all a trick with some beer coasters where you lay them on the side of the table and flip them over and try to grab them with your hands without them coming apart or turning your hand over. I totally nailed that shit. I managed to get seven of them on my first try. Minutes later though I tried again and I spilled my beer, or someone's...not entirely sure who's it was. ;) Good times. Mike and Kasper were dancing with the two girls so I decided it was time for me to find my way back to the hostel, I grabbed my coat and headed outside. I really had absolutely no idea where I was, so wandering out alone was probably a bad idea, but thanks to my superior sense of direction and my previous wanderings I actually made it back really easily. It must have been about 4-5am, still my first day in Belgium and already having a really, really great time.

The next morning I woke up completely dressed on my yet-to-be made bed with a headache and a fleeting memory of where I was or what I had done to get in such a place. Hostel, Brussels, oh right. Check out time was at 11am, so it was about 10am when everyone got up and started getting ready. I was booked for another few nights so I didn't move much while we all hung out for what was most likely the last hour we'd ever see each other. Eleven rolled around so we headed downstairs for some breakfast and the common room. Mike was headed to Bruge (Belgium), Libby to Amsterdam (The Netherlands), and Shannon I believe had planned to go to Frankfort (Germany). I think it was Shannon who then said, "well I'll just go to Amsterdam with (Libby) so I have someone to travel with". Moments later Libby got an email from two friends who had just come from Bruge and they said it wasn't all that fun, so Mike and I kind of just said, well I guess we'll go with you as well. Moments later, after what was probably the most spontaneous decision of my life, I packed up and headed off with some new friends to the city of Amsterdam. Since I had already paid for this current hostel and couldn't get a refund I just packed an overnight bag and locked everything else in my locker in Brussels and left with everything I'd need for a one-day adventure to Amsterdam.

I purposely only packed a night's worth of clothes and brought enough money to last me just a day so that I wouldn't get crazy and end up in yet another country after-wards. We all hopped on the metro to the train station where we randomly met up with two of Libby's friends from Canada who's names unfortunately escape me right now. They were the two guys who had emailed her saying Bruge was boring, and had come back to Brussels to catch the train to Amsterdam (one leaves every hour). Everyone except for me had a Eurorail pass (a pass that allows anywhere/anytime train travel in Europe) so I needed to buy a train ticket. Shannon had a Eurorail pass but her's was slightly limited and she didn't want to use it up so she decided to buy a ticket as well. We went to the counter and whilst buying the woman at the desk asked if either of us were over 26. I told her I was 27 and she said, "aww, well I guess you don't get the discount!" My reaction was something like, "shit". My ticket cost 36 euro while Shannon's only cost her 23 euro. I laughed and thought, "well lesson learned, next time I'm 25 years old". With our tickets in hand we headed to the platform and hopped on the train that left shortly after.

With the six of us together we secured some seats facing each other on the train and spent the next three hours talking, telling stories, playing cards, drinking coffee, and relaxing. The Canadian guys all geeked out about hockey for awhile, which I thought was hilarious. These guys could not have possibly fit our (America's) "Canadian" stereo-type any stronger. It was all about snow, hockey, beards, and beer. Great group of guys who were happy to fit such a stereotype anyway. We figured out the equation for converting Celsius to Fahrenheit and vice-versa with some simple math, which helped us figure out how cold it was in The Netherlands. Time passed, borders were crossed, and eventually the train slowed to a stop and we climbed out into another country.

Thankfully the weather was nice and Amsterdam at 3pm was a beautiful and vibrant city. I didn't know much about it besides the stories every American knows of the prostitutes and marijuana being legal, but it's actually incredibly nice. There are museums, fantastic buildings and architecture, canals, trams, and all sorts of things that make a city fun to be in. As we left the Amsterdam Central train station Mike was in the middle of telling us not to be run over by a tram when he was promptly run over by a bicycle. It was a skinny girl to, just straight up ran him down. Watch out for bikes in Amsterdam, they are everywhere! We continued on the mission to find our hostel, which we learned shortly after was right in the center of the red-light district, called "Heart of Amsterdam". We all checked in, and found that all of the rooms were film themed, each of them having a different film. The guys were in the James Bond room, appropriate I thought. The girls were in the Clockwork Orange room, with a bunch of guys who had apparently been smoking ganga all day and couldn't even move. Our first mission was food, and we found an Irish Pub where all four guys ordered the same thing, a big cheese burger and a pint of Heineken (Amsterdam's home brew). Seriously, this was the best burger I think I've ever had. It was AWESOME. The pub was called Slainte and I'd recommend it to anyone, anytime. After dinner we went back to the hostel to get changed and get ready for the evening.

Bulldog Coffee Shop, Amsterdam - The first coffee shop to open.

When everyone was ready to go, we headed out to our first stop, the Bulldog Coffee Shop. Bulldog is famous for being the very first coffee shop in Amsterdam so it was kind of a must-stop for us. We went in and ordered some coffee and headed into the basement where you can buy any kind of marijuana you want easily and legally, and smoke it right there. I don't smoke, but I took a few hits just so I could say I had done it. While here we discussed some very important things like the Image Metrics standard drunken arguement, "Bacon Vs. Cheese". As per usual, everyone agreed cheese was better except for one person, Sam. There you have it world, there is always one guy who thinks bacon is better. It was definitely fun sitting there in a little coffee shop smoking a legal joint. We were there for about an hour and decided to head off to get some beers. There really aren't any places in Amsterdam where they advertise being able to drink beer/alcohol AND smoke weed. They frown upon it so it's usually one or the other. We ended up finding some places where you can bend the rules a bit but you'll never find one that advertises both inside. While we were looking for one I dragged everyone into a small bar called "Rock Planet" where they were playing Bon Jovi, GnR, Def Leppard, etc. (yep, all of the best bands ever.) We drank some beer there and then Shannon told us she didn't like Bon Jovi, I think my heart stopped for a second. Being in close proximity to someone who openly admitted not liking Bon Jovi. It was difficult, but...but I pushed on and kept moving forward. :) Next was another random bar that seemed to have a nautical theme. Lots of ships and knots and things all around. Some more good beer and good stories later we headed out for yet another bar where we drank some jager shots, a few bombs, some beers, the guys smoked a bit more, and we came to the realization that the Red Light District was about to close. This came as a bit of a surprise to us. It may have been due to it being Monday, or maybe it's the off season or something, but the bartender named Sandy told us that all of the bars on the strip close at 1am. 1am, in Amsterdam? wtf! She did however have some insider local info on where we should go next, a locals dance club named "Bubbles" that was about a fifteen minute walk away in another part of the city. We thanked her for the info, paid our tabs, geared up and headed off in what was hopefully the right direction.

About thirty minutes later I was trying to figure out where we were when a man came up and pointed out our location on the map. Nice! He was cool right? No. Homeless people here always trick you and help you before you can say no and then guilt trip you until you're not sure where all you're extra coins went. This happened two more times before Shannon finally asked directions from a non-homeless man and we found what we thought was Bubbles. Apparently it wasn't Bubbles at all but equally fun so we ended up hanging around. Sam and Conlan (two Canadians who's names I just remembered) were apparently super stoned and wandered off somewhere else before we made it inside, so it was back to the four of us in this random Dutch dance club at 2am somewhere in Amsterdam.

This club was pretty damn cool really. I wish I could tell you what it was called, but...no idea. There were about 10 bartenders, all of whom were running around and shouting happily and constantly ringing random bells very loudly and giving us all free shots of some mystery blue liquid which tasted like kool-aid and vodka. It was fun, dancing, drinking, loud music, exploding paper bomb things, conga lines, madness ensued. I think I drank like ten half-pints of Heineken there, they just kept coming. The club shut down around 5am and we headed out to walk back to the hostel. On the way back we saw a local guy totally just randomly crash his bike in the middle of the street right next to us. I walked up to him to see if he was okay but he either spoke no English or was too inebriated to reply. As I stood there, totally hammered, watching this guy on the ground who wouldn't respond and trying to decide what to do...what I presume was his girlfriend ran up from the side and started accosting us for not helping him properly. "STUPID FUCKING AMERICAN TOURISTS! WHY DON'T YOU JUST STAND THERE AND LAUGH AT HIM YOU STUPID AMERICANS!" I reply, "We were trying to help him!!" "WELL YOU AREN'T ARE YOU, STUPID AMERICAN FUCKERS!!! YOU ARE JUST STANDING THERE! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE STUPID TOURISTS!" I'm thinking to myself "lolol, first of all tell him to quit being a little girl and get off the ground, (she literally is lifting him up and patting him on the back and helping him stand) second of all nobody here is American except for me..." :P Shannon is American yes, but my little joke to myself in my head was really funny. We joked about it on the way home to the hostel and finally found our way back to get some sleep. Check out time was 11am so we all bunked down for a few hours of shut eye. The next morning I had a train to catch, so I said goodbyes to cool new friends, exchanged emails, facebooks, whatever, and I walked off towards the train station.

The train back was amazing, and bad at the same time. I sat by myself, thinking, enjoying the quiet and trying to recuperate a little bit of strength for the next couple of days in Brussels. When I bought my ticket home I remembered the trick to say I was under 26, so I got the ticket for only 23 euro which was great! However, an hour into the train ride the ticket guy walked by and when he checked my ticket he decided that he'd call my bluff and checked my passport. "This is a youth ticket, you are not a youth, you will need to buy a new ticket, it costs 44 euro." DAMN!! So not only did I not get the discount, I just paid 67 euro to get home. Blargh! Take that as a lesson folks. The ticket is still valid until January 10th, 2010 so if anyone wants to buy a ticket from Amsterdam to Brussels for cost, let me know. I met a few girls on the train who were studying in Paris and happened to be staying in the same hostel as me in Brussels. Got to chatting with them a bit but didn't end up seeing them again after we got to the hostel. I grabbed a bite to eat nearby, went upstairs and fell asleep almost instantly. I was so tired from the last couple of days that I ended up chilling out in the room and resting that night. A few new roommates showed up later that evening but I didn't meet anyone until the next day at breakfast.

I was down in the common room with my computer checking my emails and such when the girls from the train showed up. We chatted for a few minutes and I decided that they were without question the most uninteresting people I had ever met. A proper contrast to the cool people I had met just two days before who were awesome and had endless funny stories. While I was regretting saying hi and wanting to gouge my own eyes out with a rusty spoon, the guys from my hostel room came down and I was saved. (Thanks fellas!) They were three American guys studying in Paris and visiting Brussels for a couple of days before heading to Amsterdam. Yeah it's a common trip combination it seems, Brussels/Amsterdam. :) They were going to spend the day checking out Brussels' museums, parks, gardens, etc. which I hadn't done yet so I decided to head out with them and see the sights.

The first stop was the big tourist area in Brussels, the Grote Markt (Great Place).

A great, big square with some fantastic architecture.

It's the sort of city-square of Brussels where there are many large buildings all built around 1697. It's definitely impressive. Some of the buildings have this sort of gilded gold on a lot of the stone which makes them really awesome looking. The gold does a lot to make it interesting. I'm not saying I'm jaded by a long shot, but certainly a lot of these old buildings look the same, so seeing something a little different was really cool. We walked around here a bit before heading to check out some more of the churches in the area. There is on church called St. Catherine's where they installed a urinal for people to piss on the church. Don't ask me why, I don't know. You are just suppose to pee on the church. *shrug*

The chocolate museum was next, it was awesome! They had statues made of real chocolate that had been hardened and carved like stone. The ancient Mayans were the first to use the cocoa plant to make things with and we got an interesting lesson into the history of chocolate. A live chocolate making demonstration was great too, with lots of free samples and tastes!

Some of the old metal tools from the early days of Belgian Chocolatiering

Ancient Mayan Chocolate Statues - Some of the these were as big as a person! And you can eat them! Though they'd kill you if you did...

We visited some great churches and one of them we were able to explore the underground foundation and check out all of the old stone that once held the place up. It reminded me of a story Mike had told us of a church in a place called Kutna Hora that is about an hour north of Prague where the church is made of out human bones. Seriously. Google it. Kutna Hora.

This was from inside St. Michael's Cathedral in Brussels.

Next stop was the famous Belgian Comic Museum where comic legends such as Tin Tin and the Smurfs are immortalized. It was fun to walk through and check out all of the exhibits for the different artists and authors. All comics were celebrated as well, not just Belgians. Japanese, American, French, Belgian, a vast array of different comics were studied and put up for all to see in what was certainly a comic nerds heaven.

A small glimpse into the Comic Book Museum.

Next we walked nay across the whole city to check out the Belgian Royal Palace and the royal gardens. The gardens were nothing to mention really, unkempt and barely even attended to, which was interesting. The palace though is, yeah it's a palace. Check it out.

Royal to the max!

Brussels has a few more interesting sights to see such as the famous "Manneken Pis" which is a statue of a naked little boy peeing into a fountain. He is dressed up throughout the year to celebrate holidays, football games, etc. Simple yet cool. You can also visit the EU central area where all of the government business goes down, but we didn't end up going. We picked up a waffle (epic!) on the way back to the hostel and chilled out there for awhile drinking whiskey and planning out the evening.

We all knew we wanted to have Mussels for dinner so we headed to one area we knew had a lot of restaurants offering fresh seafood. We found one and settled in for what turned out to be a long wait but a large and great meal. I had raw oysters for an appetizer, Mussels and french fries for the main course, and a piece of chocolate cake for dessert. It also came with a beer and bowl of bread, not a bad meal for 12 euro. After dinner it was back to the hostel for some whiskey pre-gaming and then we headed out to Delirium again for some more epic beer tasting. I wish I could tell you all of the great beers I had that night, and the one terrible one. Good ones I remember: Brigand, Pirat, Orval, Satan, Lucifer, Seks, and the bad one was something like Vraadenkraak. I remember there being lots of aaaa's in it. Seriously, terrible beer. Sorry if you love it, but I can drink pure vinegar at home...don't need it in my beer. We spent the evening there and headed home around 4 or 5am or something like that. Sleep! Woot!

The next morning I packed my gear to head home to Paris, said goodbyes again to Joel, John Mayer (yeah his name was that haha) and Jon. Figured I'd see them again in Paris in a few days so it was no biggie, I checked out and headed off to the train station.

The train itself was so great, again. I got a nice seat by the window, got to watch the world go by for about 2 hours while I recollected the adventures I had just had for the past five days. So many cool people in such a short amount of time, it made me wonder if this is what backpackers experience on a daily basis. The jealousy resurfaced for a bit while I considered what it would be like to do it some day, to just grab a backpack full of gear and disappear for a few months. I decided I'd have to at least sometime again in my life, as it's just so much...fun, and you can learn so much about yourself and the world. As the train arrived on time in Paris, I grabbed my bag and walked out into France and the city.

On the plane ride back from Venice, Italy there happened to be a brochure in my seat talking about Brussels and how nice it was, which is what prompted this trip initially. It was a bit of a quick decision when I planned it but it ended up a great idea in the end where I had one of the most fun and interesting trips of my life. People are amazing, the world is amazing. Get the hell out there and see it!

As always you can see more photos from the trip at my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/jayonidas

Thanks for reading!

Europe: Paris And Things

2009-11-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been a lot of fun. On Thursday Emily had class the entire day so I spent most of the day wandering the sunny streets of Paris. My first trek took me to the Louvre museum (the largest museum on the planet!) where I had planned to spend most of the day inside touring around and looking at famous pieces of art such as the Mona Lisa, and ancient Greek statues and sculptures. However, when I got there I realized that it was the first day since I had arrived in France that it wasn't raining, and that maybe a day spent inside would be better spent on a typical rainy day. So instead of going into the museum I kept on walking and explored the Louvre Gardens and tried to get lost in the first district.

The following day, Emily had the day off from school so we decided to go and see the Arc de Triomphe and the famous Champs de Elysees which is basically the boulevard that Rodeo Drive aspires to be. The Arc was incredible. Check out a photo.

It's an amazing piece of art in and of itself, and looking at it from next to and underneath is incredible. The weather held out so nicely for us as well, no rain at all that day! Adjacent to this magnificent structure is the famous Champs De Elysees, which we walked down next.

If you're a big fashion person or just flat out rich than you'd probably enjoy this street a lot more than me, as it's home to a lot of Paris' big time stores like Louis Vitton, Cartier, ROLEX, etc. It was neat to window shop and I got to see a Peugeot F1 car in the official Peugeot store, but besides that it was more of just a nice place to walk through. We kept on down the boulevard and ended up at the next landmark known as the Obelisk of Luxor. A giant obelisk given to the French by the Egyptians in 1829. It's covered in crazy hieroglyphics too. Awesome. Check it out!

And yeah that's the Eiffel Tower in the background. This place is cool because you can see the Obelisk, Eiffel Tower, Arc De Triomphe, and the Louvre all from this one spot. After this we walked back home and prepared for what would be a fun night, as the following day was Emily's birthday! Emily invited a bunch of her friends over from her classes here, so we all hung out with some music, food, and good wine. It was indeed a fun night for all.

Today being Emily's birthday, we did some shopping and went out to dinner at a great Belgian seafood restaurant. It was awesome! We're off tonight to go drinking again, so I'm sure more stories will arise. Good times in Paris for sure.

Tomorrow I leave for Brussels, Belgium where I'm going on a five day epic beer tasting adventure. Fun, Awesome, and Win.

Europe: More Photos

2009-11-04T06:20:00.001-08:00

Hey all! Nothing too exciting to report today except I got a few more photos uploaded. Please head on over to my Flickr page to view them all. I try to update it at least once a day so check back often.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayonidas/

I did take a nice long walk along the Seine and ended up outside of the Louvre Museum, but it started raining heavily so I couldn't snap any photos. Tomorrow I'm going to tour the museum though, stay tuned.

Europe: Paris and Notre Dame

2009-11-02T08:01:00.001-08:00

This morning Emily had to leave for school so I packed up and decided to head off into the city and do some wandering. First I made way to the local mall and to the mobile phone shop to see about getting a sim card for my phone. All of the "pay as you go" plans don't include data and charge you for it at a rather scary rate, so I didn't end up getting one yet. I still need to research more. After the mall I headed down Rue Beaubourg and snapped a few photos on my way to visit Notre Dame. As I crossed the River Seine I got lucky with a couple of nice shots of the river and the boats it held. The clouds were a bit murky and gave way to a few short spurts of rain but for the most part it was holding up as a nice day for the camera.

After snapping the photos of the Seine I kept on walking until I reached Notre Dame. It's really only about a mile from Emily's apartment, if that, so it's easy. The outside of Notre Dame is absolutely awesome. If you're anywhere near it you really can't take any pictures because it's too big... I needed to walk a good 50 yards back just to get the whole thing into a picture. It really is amazing though when you see it...it's inspiring just taking it all in even.

Awesome isn't it? That would be the front if you will, and it's the shorter side of the rectangular building. The long side is about twice as wide as that haha. It's HUGE. I went inside where a big sign said NO CAMERAS but as I got in and saw hundreds of other people taking photos I said what the hell. It was extremely dark in there but I managed to get a couple good ones.

The inside of the Cathedral is breath-taking. The statues, the stained glass windows, the golden chandeliers and amazing artwork on the walls and architecture...it's awesome. If I had to compare to some of the Italian churches I'd say I like the actual architecture and awesome power of this place a bit more, but Italy wins in the ways of their churches being much more filled with amazing artwork and statues and such. Still though, who cares? All of these places are ridiculous and awesome.

I've got a bunch more pictures of the inside of Notre Dame but they are dark and kind of hard to see what's going on. They'll be on my Flickr eventually. ;) Speaking of, check the link below to see these photos larger and a bunch more.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayonidas/

Europe: Venice, Italy - Part V

2009-11-01T06:25:00.000-08:00

Venice was great! We're now back in Paris with a grand pile of pictures to sort through and some fond memories of a really beautiful city. Our last night in Venice took us to a couple of neat little pubs where we got to sing some Italian karaoke and drink a few mojitos after a great dinner at one of the local eateries. Italian pasta and Venezian seafood is serious fantastic. We walked up and down the streets a bit more that day collecting souvenirs and seeing the sights one last time before heading out the next morning. One interesting thing that happened was that at 7am when we attempted to leave, the hotel was locked from the outside. We were literally locked in the hotel lobby for 30 or so minutes waiting for the clerk to return from whatever the heck he was doing. When he finally returned we headed to our bus and to Marco Polo airport.

I've started to sort through some of the photos so here are a bunch to get started with. There are oh so many more, but this should be cool to look at for now.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayonidas/sets/72157622591833445/

Enjoy, and au revoir for now!

Europe: Venice, Italy - Part IV

2009-10-30T04:48:00.000-07:00

Today is our last full day in Italia before we head back to France in the morning. We spent the morning wandering through the various market places and looking at all of the interesting things available. The fish market is incredible here, the amount of fresh fish they have for sale in the market on a daily basis blows away anything I've seen before. A lot of it is alive too which is neat. Fresh produce, meat, fruit, spices, nuts, everything you can imagine can be purchased on the streets of Venice in the morning.

I bought a few postcards to be sent to various deserving recipients in various places and here we are eating lunch at the usual internet hotspot. This weekend will be spent sorting through hundreds of amazing photos and getting them out to all of you cool people.

Ciao for now!

Europe: Venice, Italy - Part III

2009-10-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

It's 5:10pm here in Italy, you USA'ers will probably be just getting to work around now. Therefore, I will write to you, from the future.

Today Emily and I spent the day island hopping through the "Venice Lagoon". There are three islands in particular that we hit up, Murano, Burano, and Torcello.

First we took the water bus to Murano "Island of Glass". Murano has been the artistic center of glass blowing and all things glass for 800+ years so it was really mind blowing to see the stuff in person. Luckily we were in time for a live demonstration of it as well. Watching these artisans work is absolutely insane!!! Pictures later (I know...sorry) but we got some great pictures of one of the artists making first a really neat Vase, and then a glass sculpture of a stallion rearing up on it's hind legs. We walked the rest of the island checking out the various artists showrooms and looking in awe at all of the amazing art. There were all sorts of great pieces in all shapes and sizes in all colors and price ranges. At one point we found this amazing hand made glass chandelier selling for a mere 4000 euros, (~$6000) all the way down to hand blown glass beads you could use to put in a necklace. Wine stoppers, quill pens, pendants, rings, all sorts of amazing art. We finished up our wandering on Murano and hopped on another boat off to our next destination, Burano.

Burano is the "Island of Lace", which sounds lame...but it was quite interesting. I can't really describe why without it sounding lame, but yeah it was neat to see the quality and craftsmanship of the various garments. Apparently Burano is to lace, what Murano is to glass. So if you're into that sort of thing then you can appreciate it. One woman gave us a short demo of how some of the works are created and even small things like pillowcases can take up to a month to create due to the intricacy of the designs and just how much quality and heart goes into them. After checking out the lace we wandered around the island a bit and got some great photos of this quaint little island town. I'll be sure to link to these later as they are really very cool and colorful. After Burano we hopped on a short boat ride to the next island.

If you were to compare the three island with Venice itself in the way of how modern they are, then Torcello would be last on the list. The island had maybe a dozen buildings on it, half of which were part of an amazing church that kind of seemed to stand watch over all of the smaller shops and houses nearby. There wasn't much else to do on Torcello except stand in awe at how freakin' old and amazing everything is. It was like stepping through a time warp into the 15th century. It was really a beautiful place to visit.

An hour boat ride later we were back in Venezia and here we are! Great photos today, lots of cool imagery to come this weekend when we get back to Paris and can sort photos.

Ciao!

Europe: Venice, Italy - Part II

2009-10-28T04:27:00.000-07:00

Today Emily taught me a bunch of things about my camera that I had no idea. I've been using it like a big noob for so long that there were some basic things I hadn't ever learned that are now leading to some great photos! I'm afraid I can't show any until I get a chance to sort them and get them "show" ready...but I trust anyone reading this will come back in a few days for some great Venezian imagery.

We've spent the majority of the trip here so far just walking around and exploring every nook and cranny of this amazing city. I'm not a religious person but you really don't have to be to appreciate the amazing churches and religious architecture held in this city. Considering you're standing in a giant stone cathedral that is probably upwards of 800 years old is breath taking. Every inch, or centimeter if you will, of the buildings is pure art. The walls, the pillars, the great shrines, even the floors are all brilliantly laid tile and ornate paintings and mosaics of all different kinds. Gold, silver, glass, marble, it's awesome! You aren't allowed to take photos within the cathedrals and churches so unfortunately there won't be much of those, but we got a few in some certain places that I can post later.

Just wandering through every little alley and observing the daily life of the local Venezians has been so interesting and fun. It reminds me so much of Cape Cod. The city survives on tourism and fishing. You see the locals who spends all of their time catering to tourists and serving food, baked goods, wine, beer, etc., as well as the fisherman and boatmen who spend their days on the canals and sailing the Mediterranean to keep the daily fish markets stocked for us visitors and locals alike. Lastly you've got the unsung heroes of the city who keep it's pipes flowing, it's buildings standing, and it's streets and canals safe. Watching the tourists react to the different facets of the city and it's life within constantly takes me back to being in Orleans or Brewster in the middle of July. I remember my sister was asked one time where she went during the Winter when the Cape "closed". I can definitely see the locals here being treated much the same by the myriad of people visiting from every corner of the Globe.

That's all for today. Don't forget to check out Emily's blog for another side to this interesting story.

http://parisonastudentsbudget.blogspot.com

Europe: Venice, Italy

2009-10-27T05:50:00.000-07:00

Venice is not without internet, but it seems I have been since we arrived. We finally found a McDonalds where we could sign on and make sure the rest of the world hadn't exploded or anything like that. All seems well, so I'm sitting down for a brief blog entry.

I'll leave out the obvious things like, "oh wow the city is so beautiful!". I'm sure even if you live under a rock you are quite aware that Venice is a simply gorgeous city. There are so many ancient buildings and such amazing architecture here that the one week we're staying that I at first thought might have been too long, is now seeming just right in order for us to really see everything. We constantly just wander and find ourselves in anywhere from magnificent open city squares with great stone monuments to these old alley ways where the residents live, all constructed of ancient stone, resting on top of water. The island is so amazing. The books weren't kidding, there really are no roads, only canals. We've yet to go on any boats anywhere but we've walked for what must be tens of kilometers and seen so many amazing sights. Pictures will come in a future post when I'm back in a place where I can sort through them.

The other thing that is great is I've never been in such an eclectic melting pot of different languages and people. This place is SO busy with tourists it's amazing, all from different parts of the world. At 7am I can look out our hotel room window onto the busy street below and see it bustling with so many people you'd think it's mid-day Carnevale. I can't imagine what actual Carnevale is like hah!

It's also strikingly similar to Cape Cod in a way. It's a fishing city so it all smells like fish and the ocean, as the Cape does on a summer day near the harbor. Fresh fish markets are everywhere and the ever present Seagulls keep watch over their city from above.

That's all I've got for you right now. More to come when I return with pictures as well.

Ciao!

Europe: Le Timbre

2009-10-24T16:19:00.000-07:00

I'd love to tell you how utterly amazing this restaurant is/was, but Emily as already done it for me. Please cruise on over to her blog and read about how great this place is/was. It is/was one of if not the best meals I've ever had. I am/would recommend it to anyone who is/was in Paris.

Emily's Post About Le Timbre

Europe: Arrival In Paris

2009-10-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

Hello! Officially my first journal entry since arriving in Europe. I arrived yesterday around 11am and after a two hour adventure trying to make way from the airport to the train station (Chatelet Les Halles) I met up with Emily for the first time in two months and gave her the largest hug the city of Paris has ever known. Seriously, French people surrounded us in awe at the sheer magnitude of this hug. Japanese tourists took many photos. I even heard a rumor that President Sarcozy was on his way to witness the scene but luckily we made it out of the station before he arrived. I can't confirm this rumor, but I'm pretty sure someone told me it's true.

Since then, I've spent most of my time sleeping I think. Jet lag is KILLING me. When I'm not passed out we've done quite a bit of walking around checking out sights and things. I've gotten a brief look at some amazing French sights such as Notre Dame, the Seine river, and the Louvre. I'll be spending a lot more time at both of these places eventually and getting many pictures. For now, it was more of a flyby just to check it out. Emily really knows her way around which is hugely helpful. She also speaks French, which is...yeah. I don't speak any French at all so this has been a bit intimidating so far.

Having grown up on Cape Cod and then moving to laid back Southern California...I'm really not use to their being so many people all walking so fast. Everyone is in a really big hurry and generally not looking where their going. To that, I say "wtf". Normally when I walk I try to be efficient about my path and make sure I'm walking swiftly, which makes up for me generally being a slow ass. However here, I'm constantly dodging people and being bumped into which makes planning a path difficult. Bleh! That'll take some getting use to.

Overall everything is incredible almost to the point of being overwhelming. I don't spend very much outside of my comfort zone, even though I often preach to people that they should try to do that very thing. It's going to take some serious adapting on my part. Life was too easy in SoCal anyway, time to grow up a bit!

Tonight we're off to dinner at Le Timbre and tomorrow we leave for a week in Venice, Italy. More to come as well as some pictures eventually when jet lag frees my brain from zombification.

Europe Trip Countdown - 5 Days

2009-10-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

I've still got so much left to do! Tons of packing, gathering various items, tying up loose ends at home, work, all sorts of random things need to be done! I've got a schedule worked out though so it's all good.

I'll be living in Paris with Emily for 3 months.

We've got a couple of trips planned, first Venice, Italy soon after I get there, and then onto Munich, Germany for a week at Christmas time.

I'll keep this blog updated, as well as a Twitter (eww) account I just made.

http://twitter.com/jayonidas

Plenty of facebook updates I'm sure as well.

Blah!

2009-09-15T18:53:00.000-07:00

Work is crazy, but I leave for Europe in about a month.

Stay tuned.

"Future Of Food" - Interesting movie about Genetically Altered Food

2009-08-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.hulu.com/watch/67878/the-future-of-food?c=Food-and-Leisure

This is an interesting video about the history of genetically altered crops and foods and how it has affected our daily life and the food we eat.

Check it out if you're interested. Thanks Emily for the link.

New Site: www.MetalLyrics.info

2009-07-16T16:24:00.000-07:00

Alien Creations strikes again with METALLYRICS.INFO!

Your one stop website to search for metal bands, albums, songs, and lyrics from bands around the world. Give it a look next time you need the lyrics to a song. Huzzah!

http://www.metallyrics.info/

Resolve

2009-07-08T00:27:00.000-07:00

A man becomes stronger with purpose. Stronger the purpose, stronger the man.

Photos from Cape Cod

2009-06-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

One day we had a great misty sunset, the other a terrible storm. All made for great photos. Here a few more from the set.

More available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayonidas

Knowledge

2009-06-29T11:34:00.000-07:00

"If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give us no shade when we are old."
-Lord Chesterfield

Back From Trip, Slow Updates

2009-06-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

Hey all! I'm back from my trip but as you can see I'm missing a few days of blog posts. As soon as I got back work got extremely busy and it'll be a little while before I can make anymore lengthy blog posts. Keep checking though, I'll get some up as soon as I can. In the meantime check out my Flickr page where I uploaded the first batch of photos from the Cape Cod trip.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jayonidas

Here is a sample from Rock Harbor, Orleans, MA

You can also subscribe to my blog to get an email each time I update. There is a button on the top left of the window. Have a nice Friday!

My Trip To Cape Cod: Day 4

2009-06-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I got Google and T-Mobile's G1 Phone. I've been using it quite a bit on this trip as it's given me access to my personal and work emails literally anywhere I go. It's addicting having that at your finger tips any minute of the day. Though usually awesome, waking up in the middle of the night to an email from Victoria's Secret about their new sale or something similarly weird was a little ridiculous... Eventually I got use to it and now I wait until I wake up to check my email, but it's still the first thing I do when I'm getting up since it's right there for me.

This morning I woke up to an email from my Dad. He has been practicing typing and has been sending me emails every morning with just random things. It's really cool! Never thought I'd see the day that I'd get emails from my Dad...but I'm happy they are finally moving out of the stone age. Or at least trying to anyway!

A good amount of drinking was done last night...and I didn't get up and check email until about 11am. Not too late, but on vacation I was hoping not to sleep in so much. To hell with it though, I needed the rest so I got it. Today was going to be important, it was the day where I'd find out if my blue surfboard still existed or if it had been lost and traded somewhere in the past decade. I called my cousin Thad and asked him if he had heard anything about it, and he said he'd tracked it down to his Dad's basement in Chatham. I told him I'd be there to pick him up soon so we could head over and try to get it.

Thad lives at my Grandfather's house in Brewster, it's always cool to see that place again. I've expressed interest in buying it from my family when they sell it so that I can keep it in the family and not let it be lost into the grubby hands of some rich ass from Connecticut or something like that. We grew up in that house, it means a lot to us all. Anyway I picked up Thad from there and we drove down to Chatham where the board was supposedly being kept. Sure enough we found it in the basement with it's old board cover on and everything. Rats or something had eaten holes in the covering so it looked quite ratty, it was still hard to tell the overall condition of the board but things weren't looking all too good. It had been in storage for almost 15 years and who knew how many people had moved it or transported it without giving it the care it would need? I put it in the car, drove Thad home, and headed over to my Dad's for the unveiling.

When I arrived I brought it out into the yard and we pulled the board cover off. It was stunning...the board had no damage at all! It had been in it's cover and away from the sun all these years. The board looked exactly like it did when I left it all those years ago. A few dings here and there, but overall it lay in brilliant condition and just begging to be thrashed in some surf. This board was shaped by a well-known and world class board shaper named Michael Losorda. My Dad and him have been good friends since they were young and this particular board was shaped for my Dad in 1984. Underneath the glass along the stringer it reads, "Shaped for Darrell - Michael, 1984" It's 5'8”, three fins, swallow tailed, and big and wide. A little hard to describe it's greatness in words, here is the only picture I have right now:

The significance of this particular board, besides it being awesome and 25 years old, is that at the time when they made it, NOBODY had a board like this. It was a new shape that my Dad and Mike went through each step together talking about it's design and what it would do. Nowadays you can see boards like this all over the place, but this thing was a pioneer in it's day! To the world, this may just be another thruster...but to the guys who shaped it those fateful days back in 1984 this thing was a precious piece of history. The fact that 25 years later it reappeared in our possession with almost no damage whatsoever was like the stuff of dreams man! We hosed it down, cleaned off all the dust and grime that had accumulated over the years, and started getting ready to get it in the water.

My Dad really wanted to get in touch with Mike Losorda the shaper and show him the board. He knew after all these years he'd be really happy to see it so the first thing we did was to take a drive out to his house in South Orleans and see if he was around. He has a great house right on a lake that is waaaaay out in the woods. If you didn't know the way, you'd never find it. On a side note, apparently tradition says that if Mike ever made you a board, you had to paddle it around in his pond naked before you could take it home. I thought that was hilarious! Anyway, we arrived and he wasn't home but we were greeted by his wife Annie. (I think that was her name...) She was really nice and showed us around their newly remodeled house. Apparently we had just missed Mike, he had gone out surfing with a buddy down at Nauset Beach. We said thank you and headed out to see if we could find him.

A short drive later we were at Nauset Beach at a break called Poachett where we found them out surfing. The waves were not all that great, but who cares!? It was the first day since I arrived that it wasn't pouring rain, so we were going no matter what. We headed home to get suited up and get ready. I forgot my wet suit in California for some dumb reason so I had to rent one which kind of sucks...but it was worth it. The water is coooooooold! We were suiting up in the parking lot and out of nowhere, Mike and his friend drove up and saw us there. We showed him the board and man he was stoked! “Whoa man, it's almost like I knew what I was doin' back then!”. He offered to fix up the couple of dings on it and help me to pack it up for the trip to California which is great. He travels all over the world to surf and has packed up boards enough times to know exactly what we needed to do. He headed off and we headed out into the surf.

Surfing with my Dad is a lot of fun. He has decades of experience so he is the one I can always ask about stuff I'm either having trouble with or am just curious about. Often he has these great pearls of wisdom that I would never have even thought to ask about, but he'll mention some little thing and I'll improve a lot from it. Today wasn't the best day out there, I got a couple of small rides, but it was a lot of fun anyway. My Dad was trying to surf the shorty, while I was riding his 7'10”. He managed to get up on it a couple times and rip a bit, which was awesome! I've always ridden a long board so when I gave this super short board a try it was damn tough. On a long board you can stand up and then adjust your feet to where you want to be. On this board, you have to put your feet exactly where you want them the instant you stand up. I don't have really any experience doing that yet so I ate it hard a couple of times. Man....it is so much fun though. =) I'll be reporting in on my progress with this board in the coming weeks. We surfed for a couple of hours, headed back to the lot, dried off and packed up. When I checked my messages I had a call from Mike McNulty, my old roommate from out here in California. He was living in Brewster and wanted to hang. Called him, set up a plan, then my Dad and I drove over to Mike Losorda's house again to drop off the board.

At Mike's, we hung out awhile and talked, saw pictures of the remodeled house's construction, laughed, had fun, etc. He gave us a tour of his shaping and glassing rooms which was awesome. He had a lot of boards in the works so it was rad to see the various boards and blanks in their different stages of being built. Mike said he could have the board ready for us on Tuesday so we said thanks and headed out. He tossed me a bunch of stickers and a t-shirt as well...win!

After cleaning up and getting some dry clothes on I hopped in the Caddy and headed over to Mike McNulty's house for a few beers. Surprisingly two more guys from high school were there: Andy Grover and Caleb Portnoy. It was great to see them again and get caught up on various things. Andy was there with his girlfriend Mary who was very nice. He had been doing some work with Septic Design and apparently doing very well for himself, that was great to hear. Caleb lives in Taiwan as a teacher, and has been doing a lot of surfing over there. Shortly after, Dylan (who lives with Mike there) came home with Jill and we all started chatting about what we'd be doing that night.

A good friend of ours, Jesse Carnes, had gotten married today and we were hoping to see him somewhere before he left on his honeymoon to say congratulations. I called Genghis who was at the reception and he said it was okay for us to all stop by and say hi. Thirty minutes later we arrived and met Genghis and Paul Foley outside. When we went in, I saw Jesse right away and he looked so different! The guy use to have scraggly long hair and a sort of unkempt beard. Given, we were kids last we saw each other...but it was great to see him all cleaned up and looking great. Short hair, a clean cut beard, and all dressed in a tux. His wife Liz looked amazing in her dress. Jesse and I use to be in a band together in high-school, along with Lucas Ferrerria who was also there. We had a hell of a reunion, talked for as long as the other guests would allow (they all wanted to talk to him too), and exchanged numbers. One of the highlights of my trip right here, I was really proud to see my good friend taking such a great step forward in his life. My best wishes go out to him and his new wife Liz. I even got to talk to his mom Steph, and his sister Ally. It had been so long since I'd seen any of them. Today was such an absolutely awesome day.

Afterwards, some drinking happened at the Land Ho in Orleans where I ran into even more friends who I'd not seen in years. It was only halfway through my vacation and I already couldn't think of anyway this vacation could get any better. I wish Emily had been here to experience all of this with me. She is definitely coming next time!

Thanks for reading!

My Trip To Cape Cod: Day 3

2009-06-19T19:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Day Three! Today I woke up super early to drive my Mom to her work around 7am, a heck of a lot earlier than I am use to waking up (that's 4am in Los Angeles by the way...). She has been really nice and lending me her car while I'm here so that I didn't have to rent one, so she needs a ride every now and then. I didn't mind though of course, it got me up early enough to do some cool stuff. The car I'm driving use to belong to my Grandfather, a 1991 Cadillac Brougham. It was his pride and joy, and he drove it all over the country. The car is still in great condition for being almost twenty years old! Here is a picture of it:

This car has served our family well for many years. Respect!

After dropping off my mom I headed over to the Hole-In-One for breakfast (see previous post) and had Eggs Benny again. (Win!!!!) Man...it was just as good as ever, even two days in a row. After breakfast I drove over to my Dad's house where it being still early, he was the only one awake. I told him that I had been thinking about getting them a computer while I was there and that I'd like his help to surprise the others. Surprised himself, he said that would be really great and that he wanted to help me find a good one. We talked for awhile before heading out to search for the best deal we could find for their new desktop PC.

They wanted a desktop this time around instead of a laptop because it would be near impossible for anyone to steal. Laptops are a quick snatch and grab, while unplugging and carrying a desktop computer out of someone's house is a much bigger feat. Besides...Jeff was going to want to play games eventually and most affordable laptops can't cut it in the gaming department. I knew any sales person they talked to wasn't going to know anything useful so I did my best to educate my Dad on what he really wanted to get.

Our first stop was Staples. They had package for a Dell and Monitor that was decent, but nothing that stopped me in my tracks. Just some middle of the road sort of stuff. We weren't looking for anything expensive or huge, but nothing hear was that great. Ultimately I knew we'd probably end up at Best Buy in Hyannis so we decided to cut to the chase and head up there. Hyannis is a thirty to sixty minute drive from Orleans in rain and traffic so going there is a decision not made lightly by the locals here. In fact most of them cringe at the thought of it. Thirty minutes later we arrived at the mall and the local Best Buy where we started checking out what they had.

After browsing for awhile and using my phone's barcode scanner to check out any better deals locally, I settled on an Acer mini-tower bundle and a 19" wide screen lcd monitor. This would serve them really well. Generally speaking, gaming is the most demanding thing a recreational computer will be doing at any time. If it can run games, it can do anything they'd need to use it for. It was a floor model (got it for a bit cheaper that way) so Best Buy told us it would take them a few hour to remove their proprietary software from it and give us a clean Vista installation. Shit. A few hours? What are we going to do in Hyannis for a few hours? Irene had called a few times wondering where the hell we were, not really having any idea. She assumed we were up to no good but we'd show her! Hah!

For the next few hours we walked around the mall, checked out some stores, and ate some good mexican food at a restaurant called Sam Diego's. It was really cool to spend some quality time with my Dad. Visiting once a year isn't enough, I'll have to work on this slight problem in the coming years. We also swung by The Boarding House, a local surf shop to look at some surfboard bags that I may need on my trip home. After the required time had past we headed back over to Best Buy to pick up our fresh new computer! The drive home took an hour or so in the traffic...not much fun, but I was really anxious to deliver the surprise so it was okay. When we got home we brought the stuff in and they were totally stoked! It was cool to see my brother so happy since he had been sick and practically on house arrest the whole time I was there. No 13 year old should have to grow up without the internet or a computer. It was important to me to get him back online, and back into learning the things that would undoubtedly play a large role in his future. We spent the next few hours setting everything up and removing all the bloatware from Best Buy before I handed the reigns over to my Dad and Jeff for them to get going. I even set up a gmail for my Dad, which he has actually been using quite a bit!

After a few hours playing around on the computer I packed my stuff and headed again to Mahoney's to meet up with Tim and whoever else might be coming that way. I talked to the bartender for awhile and found out he was a high school teacher who was starting a class about Video Game Development. I was floored! Seriously if they had that class when I was high school I would have taken it over and over and over again! We exchanged contact information and I look forward to hearing about how his class goes this Fall. I offered to help him out any way that I could so hopefully I'll hear more about this when school starts again in September. Tim got finished cooking and came out for a beer, and shortly after a few more friends from school arrived. Abel, Phil, Paul, and Genghis: four guys I grew up with. Genghis's family has always been really close to ours, our parents are all great friends, so it was cool to see him again. He is a like a brother to me. My East coast twin if you will. We had a couple of drinks and then they all wanted to go to Joe's Tavern down by Nauset Beach as that's where the fun was apparently. At Joe's I ended up seeing a dozen or so more people I went to school with and got to drink and have some more fun. A couple of hours later I found myself back at the Cadillac so I headed home to sleep once again.

Thanks for reading! This trip is going really well. I'll be writing a new blog entry each day until I come home next week.

My Trip To Cape Cod: Day 2

2009-06-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

Wow! This trip is already amazing. I spent last night at my Mom's place in Brewster, Massachusetts in the house where she has lived for the past ten years or so with her boyfriend Scott. They also have a nice dog named Baby who is always good and excited to see me when I visit. I woke up around 8am (somehow) and got myself ready for the day before heading off to Orleans to my favorite restaurant in the entire world.

The Hole-In-One is a small breakfast and lunch place in Orleans that is easily and by far my favorite place in the world to get food. When Emily and I visited last year I made a point to bring her here right away! I walked in and got lucky with a seat at the counter and ordered a cup of coffee and the same thing I always do, Eggs Benedict, or Eggs Benny as they like to call it. Eagerly awaiting my epic and glorious meal, I read the paper to see what was going to be happening this week and get a glimpse of the weather. Eight days in a row of rain and clouds....blah! Oh well, I'm not here for the weather anyway...

Less than five minutes later my food arrived and it was everything I could have ever hoped for. For some reason I am just hopelessly addicted to the Hole's Eggs Benny. Their hollandaise sauce is just so good, I can never get enough of it! A few minutes into my meal an older gentleman sat next to me and decided after a quick look that he would have the same thing I was having. Seemed like a good enough reason to chat, so I introduced myself and told him about how I traveled three thousand miles to eat the Hole's Eggs Benny and that he had made a good choice in it. He agreed about it's greatness and told me that he had been coming for years and had even been the one who built the very building we were eating in. This eighty-five year old man and I had a great conversation about his kids (who were old enough to be my grandparents) who lived in California and about his grandson who was a great artist and was interested in an animation career. It was a solid start to what was definitely going to be a great day.

After breakfast I drove over to my Dad's house to visit with him and my brother Jeff. My brother unfortunately had a spot of the flu and wasn't able to leave the house much but they had made an exception so that he could come to pick me up at the airport. After that he was on house arrest until he was healed up. We hung out and played some video games, talked about a great many things, and caught up on all the things that had been happening over the past year with his schooling and such.

A month or so ago my family had an unfortunate break in where their only laptop had been stolen. They'd only had it for about two months and it was a pretty devastating event as none of them had ever experienced any break ins or theft in their neighborhood. All of the sudden everyone was locking all of their doors and being a lot more cautious with everything, which you'd expect...but it's just sad that a single event like this can really alter their habits like that, but such is a life. Without a computer I hadn't had a whole lot of contact with them over the year besides the occasional phone call, so I started thinking of a plan on how I might be able to get them back online before I left. Everyone should be able to send emails!

Later that afternoon my Dad lent me his 7'10" surfboard and a wet suit and I drove out to Nauset Beach to hit the surf. The Cape had a really nice swell coming in from the east, but it was very windy and messy surf. I went out anyway and it might as well have been my first day surfing! I got totally thrashed out there. Head high waves were closing out the beach and definitely had their way with me and by big board. It was still fun though! The waves here are so much more powerful than at my local break. Even the smaller surf will push you all over the place, where as back at home I can go right through them like butter. It was a good eye opener though, I need to expand my local surfing a little. I love the Atlantic!

When I was about thirteen my Dad gave me a really nice gift. It was a surfboard that he had used when he was young and surfing competitively. In 1984 a good friend of my Dad's named Mike Losordo had shaped it for him at his house in Orleans. Designing it together, they concocted a wide 5'8" thruster with a swallow tail and a three inch rocker. Three glassed in fins, with a sick orange and blue paint job. This was the type of board that for the time was just ridiculous. It just absolutely rips. When I was a fledgling surfer at the age of thirteen my Dad gave me this board and sent me off to the beach to learn how to ride. I could barely use the thing! I don't think I ever once stood up on it it was so damn squirrely. Definitely not a board meant to learn on and definitely not for the faint of heart...but I loved it anyway. A year or so later I retired the board to the shed at my Grandfather's house in exchange for a longer slightly easier board and there it sat for about 15 years. When I came back this time I decided I wanted to find this board, fix it up if I could and bring it back to SoCal with me. I called my cousin who is living at the old house still and asked him to help me find it. Will we find it? And will it be in decent, ridable condition? To be continued!

Today was my sister Amanda's birthday, so that evening my Mom and I bought her some Chinese food and took it over to her place to surprise her. My 3 year old nephew Jordan met us at the door and brought us to see his 2 month old baby sister Neveah. She is really cute! It was great to see my sister and we got to catch up a little while Jordan told us all about Peter Parker and Spiderman's powers. He also made sure we knew that Spiderman loses his powers in the second movie, and that he later gets them back. He is such a great kid!

That night, I went out for a drink at a local bar called Mahoney's where I met up with my friend Tim Adams who worked there. Another friend Dylan McCoul (spelling?) stopped by with his girlfriend and we all spent the evening talking about old times and hanging out. Always a good time. It was an amazing day! Tune in tomorrow for what happens next. ;)

My Trip To Cape Cod: Day 1

2009-06-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

For the first 23 years of my life I grew up in a quaint little town on Cape Cod called Brewster. Massachusetts's eastern most peninsula is filled with beautiful sandy beaches, great ice cream shops, and my family and friends. Once a year I visit for as long as life will allow and try to spend time with my family and say hello to as many people as I can in the (inevitable and always too) short time I have. 2009's trip begins on June 17th, the day after my 27th birthday. Usually Emily comes with me to visit, but her summer classes wouldn't allow it this time unfortunately. Next time though!

My trip began today with a flight leaving at 11am from LAX (Los Angeles) Airport. My friend Dan Edwards was nice enough to drive me from Emily's house to the Virgin America terminal around 9am and get me on my way. On the way into the airport we were stopped at a random vehicle search by the LAPD which was moderately interesting, but besides that my goings on at the airport were relatively uneventful. A quick self check-in at the Virgin booth, about 10 minutes through security and a ninety minute wait for take-off.

The plane ride itself was great! I fly back here once a year and this is by far both the fastest and most comfortable trip I've had in a while. With a swift tail wind the plane arrived almost a full hour ahead of schedule, about a four and a half hour trip. Virgin America is a great airline as they offer you lots of room, internet, plugs for all your gear, LCD screens on each seat, and all the drinks you could ever want. They even had real Absinthe on the flight. Very interesting!

I arrived at Logan International (Boston's Airport) around 7:30pm and my Dad, Step-mom, and brother were there waiting for me. My brother Jeff is thirteen and in the past year has grown I think three feet taller since I last saw him. I barely recognized him! It was so great to see them all again, sometimes once per year just doesn't seem like enough.

The drive home to Cape Cod is about an hour and a half or so, depending on how fast you like to drive. Massachusetts and California have very differing opinions on highway speeds, as all of the highways on and on the way to Cape Cod have a maximum speed of 55 mph. Some smaller highways on the Cape even have a 45 mph speed limit. Can you imagine a 45 mph speed limit on a freeway in California? Neither can I.

On the way home we all stopped at the Ninety-Nine restaurant where my Dad bought me a nice steak dinner for my birthday. We all sat around eating, drinking, and just being merry. Good times and great food.

An hour or so after the meal we arrived in Brewster where I was going to be dropped off. I had made plans to stay with my Mom at her place that night and when we arrived she was up and waiting for me. It was so nice to see her again. Another one of those moments were once a year just didn't seem like enough. We talked for awhile, catching up and just enjoying the time before I headed to the guest room to get some sleep. Traveling is always exhausting, so I hit the hay to prepare for whatever tomorrow was going to bring.

Off To Cape Cod!

2009-06-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

As this posts I'll be on a plane back home to visit sunny Cape Cod for a week. There is plenty I need to do while I'm there, but most of all I'll be spending a lot of time with my family. There's a little niece I've yet to meet that was born just a few months ago. There's my younger brother Jeff, my nephew Jordan, my Mom, Dad, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmother, friends, and so many more. Can't wait to see some familiar faces.

I'm also extremely excited to surf some awesome, clean Cape Cod Atlantic waters.

Munich and Venice

2009-06-16T23:15:00.000-07:00

Last night Emily and I purchased tickets for two more places in Europe. If you can somehow not count the fact that we'll be in Paris, which is an amazing vacation in itself, we've planned and bought tickets for two (more) vacation spots. In late October we'll be spending a week in Venice, Italy, and then for the week of Christmas we'll be staying in Munich, Germany. We got things pretty cheap too...considering what we're doing.

Emily has created a new blog called, "Paris On A Student's Budget" where she'll be writing about our adventures. Check it often!

Today is my birthday, it was great.

Absolutely Amazing Photographs Of Waves

2009-06-08T08:06:00.000-07:00

These are photos taken by a guy named Clark Little. Absolutely stunning. This guy puts himself into some serious wipe outs to get these shots.

E3 Was Fun

2009-06-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

I went to E3 last week!

Games I'm looking forward to:

Ruse
Marvel Vs. Capcom II (rerelease for Xbox 360)
Rogue Warrior
Final Fantasy XIII
DJ Hero (kind of)
Capcom vs. Tatsunoko
Assassins Creed II
Blur Racing
Scribblenauts (AWESOME)
Modern Warfare II (kind of)

I didn't get any photos unfortunately but man it was a lot of fun. Google 'Microsoft Natal' if you haven't seen the demo(s) yet. Technology is getting scary.

Blah.

2009-05-28T18:24:00.001-07:00

Work is stressful. I need to calm it down a little on the day to day. As much as I'm looking forward to E3 next week, I'll be happy when it's over.

E3, Anime-Expo, Comic-Con

2009-05-19T09:18:00.000-07:00

It's going to be a fun summer! E3 is coming up first in about two weeks, then Anime-Expo in July, then Comic-Con shortly after that. Perks of being an animator never seem to slow down. =)

Surfing Today

2009-04-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

It was awesome.

Emily + Waves + RootBeer + Clam Chowder + Video Games + Sun + New Bike + Pirate Booty + Movies = Holy crap Jay had a good weekend.

Swine Flu: I don't want it.

2009-04-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

Every once in a great while, living in California sucks. Like right now, I kind of wish I wasn't so close to Mexico and the impending doom of the Swine Flu. If you need me I'll be holding my breath.

Psyren - Manga

2009-04-26T08:19:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite new Mangas I've been reading. It's a weekly jump comic about some guys who are trying to prevent the destruction of the world in the future by solving the mystery of who destroys it in the present, and they have all these kick ass powers and some other cool stuff.

This one comes with a JayG Guarantee™

Check it out here: http://www.onemanga.com/Psyren/

Preparing For Paris: Part 1

2009-04-25T17:57:00.001-07:00

In September, Emily is headed off to live in beautiful Paris, France for 4 months until mid-January. She is living there for a semester in an apartment, and I'll be flying out mid-October to stay there as well for 90 days. We've been planning the trip for a long time, and have finally started preparing for it this week.

One of the many things we need to do is get together some warm(er) clothes for the Winter in France. California's perpetual Summer has been amazing but for the first time in 4 years I'll be living in and around snow, so we'll need to prepare. Emily has never lived around snow before....crazy....so she needs a lot of things. I don't think she's ever worn any footwear besides dancing heels and flip flops.

We hit up the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade and did some shopping today. Got a few shirts, a new sleeve-less rash guard for surfing, some new surf wax for my board, and some new flip flops. I ended up buying the opposite of what I needed. GG.

Emily on the other hand got some awesome stuff. A bunch of nice classy shirts and pants to keep her warm and keep her looking all stylish in Paris. Then we came home and ate some food and started drinking Spanish Coffee. Ever had that stuff? Holy cow is it good...

Spanish Coffee:

1/2 shot Bacardi® 151 rum
1 shot Kahlua® coffee liqueur
1 splash triple sec
coffee
whipped cream
sugar rim
cinnamon
nutmeg

Sugar the rim of a tempered Pinot glass. Pour 1/2 shot Bacardi 151 rum. Use candle lighter or match to flame the rum. Turn glass repeatedly to allow flame to caramelize the sugar on the rim. Don't melt it completely, just caramelize it. While rum is still flaming, sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg lightly into flame. Add Kahlua, a splash of triple-sec, fill with fresh coffee, a bit of real whipped cream (not the spray gunk), then sprinkle a bit more cinnamon on the top. The flame will probably go out when adding either the Kahlua or coffee, but if not, or if you are afraid the glass is becoming too hot, simply place a cocktail napkin over the glass for a second to smother the flame.

So....good.

Tonight...who knows. Something fun. Surfing tomorrow, come onnnn Sun!

Life Can Make You Tired

2009-04-22T22:46:00.000-07:00

Today I went surfing around 3pm. Low-tide was around 2pm and there was talk of a swell coming in tomorrow, so I thought I might be able to catch a few lucky early sets and have some fun. I walked down to the beach and the wind was blowing a lot harder than I had expected it too. The surf was around waist high and it wasn't quite blown out chop, so I decided to go for it. Though, who am I kidding I would have gone out no matter what the conditions were. I really needed some salt water.

I paddle out and the waves are very uneven and messy, but I manage to get a couple of really fun rides. In fact, one of the best rides yet on my new board was today. It surprised me, but I turned and paddled back out yearning for more. There were a couple other guys out too, though it was a little more chilly than normal and with the wind blowing, surfers were scarce.

As I'm paddling back out I notice a larger set coming in, so I paddle out quickly to get over the first wave and make it just in time. My large nine foot board makes it very difficult to duck dive under the waves so I try my best to get over them and use the board's speed to my advantage. I get over the first wave but it still pulls me in about ten yards. As it peaks and I look over I see another, not abnormal so I just paddle out again. Normally a set will have 3-5 of these big ones and calm down again, but instead they kept coming. They were getting bigger and I was getting really tired by about the fifth one. I raised up on a peak and sat up and saw that there were at least ten more coming, so I said "Shit." and let one tumble me into shore a bit.

The combination of the wind, low tide, and these random out of nowhere chest high waves were draining my stamina a lot quicker than I was comfortable with so after getting bashed on the head by about three more waves I finally road one in to shore. As I got onto dry sand and turned around to look at the surf, I realized that Thursdays swell had arrived early. The surf had gone from messy knee to waist high sets to chest high plus and dumping like nobodies business. Low tide and big waves do not mix at this spot. It's always a funny site. I walked back to the beach where I found that my $5 sandals had been taken by someone. I presume they thought they were abandoned. I don't mind, hope they are happily aboard somebody's feet. I walked back to work barefoot and dug back in to my computer.

A few hours later we headed down the beach again to the Ocean Park tennis courts for our Wednesday session. Brian, Than, Tom, and myself all played a bunch of games and leveled up our tennis a bit, but ultimately they beat us each time. 5-7 and 4-6. Blargh!

I am damn tired. Minutes before I hobble to bed and drown myself in Zzzz's and Sonata Arctica, I felt a quivering need to write a little. I hope my five paragraphs were an acceptable expenditure of your time.

MichaelReel.com - Created by Aliens

2009-04-19T14:55:00.000-07:00

Working with Digital Ives, my partner (Sean Cannon) and I recently finished and released a new site that's worth showing off a bit.

Full back-end CMS system, custom dynamically populated CSS drop down navigation. Using SlideSlowPro we integrated a full dynamic image gallery populated through the Director back-end software. Basically they can create a page, add it to the menu, then create a custom gallery for it all in about 5 minutes. It's really a monster and it came out really nice.

Check it out below:
http://www.michaelreel.com

Houdini: Character Rigging Class

2009-04-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

I'm checking out a Houdini Character Rigging class next monday at Side Effects studio in Santa Monica. I went there a couple of weeks ago for a class and they have some really nice facilities and some really nice people running them.

Houdini is a 3d application that's been around for about ten years. It's known to have a heavy focus in effects and dynamics, which it does, but in the last couple of versions they've really stepped up their character tools and it's become really well rounded and very powerful. It's incredibly fun to use as well.

The Class: Houdini Character Rigging Class, Monday April 20, 2009

Houdini/Side Effects: http://www.sidefx.com

Alas, Darkfall

2009-04-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

I've stopped playing officially. Haven't been on in a long time but I wasn't quite sure yet if I was going to stop completely. I came to the decision that the career comes first and I really just don't have the capacity anymore to do both and give it my all. I can't play casually, it's not in my wiring. In Shadowbane I didn't have much of a job so it was totally fine to defend the city until 7am 5 nights a week. Can't do that stuff anymore though and keep up with life around it. I might come back later in the year but most likely not.

My account is spoken for already, sorry!

Tech-Artists.org - Scripting and Tool Building Website

2009-04-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

I found this website last week through CGTalk, it's a forum and community set up just for tech artists and techie scriptie people in general. There is some great info there, check it out!

http://www.tech-artists.org

It's a great resource for learning about scripting and programming in Python, MEL, Maxscript, Jscript, C#, etc.

New Blog: Script Swell

2009-03-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

I put together a new blog to keep track of all my snippets of code, scripts, tools, etc. that I've made that might benefit other people. Some stuff is proprietary of course so I can't post everything I make at work, but most of it is just little snippets of MEL and Maxscript that might help some people along. I've been doing a lot of work lately creating shelves and workflow enhancements for the artists at our studio and some of the things I make will be found at Script Swell.

http://www.scriptswell.net/

MEL, Maxscript, Python, JScript, etc.

Introducing: Awesome Ball™ - Maya Rig

2009-03-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

I was experimenting with some expressions and things today in Maya and built this rig I call, "Awesome Ball™". It has full squash and stretch capabilities along with elite world scaling abilities. You'll not find a ball this awesome anywhere else. It was built in Maya 2008, but it's an ascii so you can edit the file and use it in any Maya you like.

You can find it here: http://www.jaygrenier.com/assets/rigs/awesomeBall.rar

Try it out and let me know if it works well for ya.

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-03-21T23:39:00.000-07:00

Emily and I finally saw it! Holy wow this is an amazing film. Danny Boyle is my hero.

Final Fantasy VII - I still love this game..

2009-03-21T15:14:00.000-07:00

After all this time this game still rules. Emily and I are playing through it again. Such good fun.

Tifa imo!

Twitter

2009-03-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

Sucks. Nobody cares what you had for breakfast this morning.

/irony_off

Emily is here for a week!

2009-03-16T21:06:00.001-07:00

Emily is on spring break and is here for like 10 days. Man this is AWESOME. P.S. Van Damne is about to unleash his Limit Break.

Prince of Tennis: Anime/Manga

2009-03-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

So I started reading this manga last week and all of the sudden I wanted to try Tennis. It's pretty good, a bit repetitive but it's definitely my style and I'm enjoying it. Check it out at the link below.

http://www.onemanga.com/Prince_of_Tennis/0/01/

So I bought myself a racket and some tennis balls and I've been trying it out, so far it's surprisingly a ton of fun. It's hard though, serving owns me. Look forward to an update on Jay's uber tennis skills. Very important information I know.

Congrats to Pete Busch, Engaged

2009-03-03T10:27:00.000-08:00

Pete and Niqi are engaged after four years. Congratulations to them from Jay's blog. =)

AVoTD: Lust for Life, Heavenly

2009-03-03T10:22:00.000-08:00

I don't belong to the sky
I just follow my way
Ready to roam in the night
I hear this symphony
Running after the devil
The prince of immortals
freak for every one
I am proud as srtong as metal
Creature of flesh I must devour
To be free

Lust for life!

Heavenly - "Lust for Life"

I love this song, but man these lyrics are so bad haha! French though. Win?

Darkfall: The Keep goes up!

2009-03-03T10:13:00.001-08:00

We got our keep up at our city last night. Lots of work, but worth it. Then we found some guy streaming his game on a website for others to watch. Just a cam stream of his desktop as he played. His group happened to be right near our city, so we went down and rolled them. It was funny watching ourselves on his stream killing his buddies from his POV. The streamer managed to log out before we got him, next time though!

Darkfall's Launch

2009-03-01T15:37:00.000-08:00

Darkfall had an incredibly rocky start, and continues to be up and down since Wednesday but things are starting to clear up. Now into the fourth or fifth day of play, things seem to be going smoothly. It was technically still February 25th at my house when the game finally launched, so cheers to them! (~11:40pm)

If you haven't been able to buy the game yet, do not panic. It will open up soon, everyone will get in eventually. Better to let people in slow than to let everyone in and have it be unplayable.

This game freakin' rules man...it's so awesome. So much death.

Awesome Verse of the Day (AVoTD): Waste of Time, Pennywise

2009-02-25T00:16:00.000-08:00

I've got a question for all you sinners
Have you ever wondered is this all there is to life?
A quick adventure not much to mention
A slow procession leading us to die
Or is there a heaven a distant valley
A golden meadow waiting for us in the sky
No one right answer spirit seems broken
Still I just can't help but wonder why
Seems like a tragic waste of time
Who cares what happens when you die?
Life's too short to wonder why
Get on with your life

Pennywise - "Waste of Time"

Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons wins Best Visual Effects Oscar

2009-02-23T01:41:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh yeah. It's obviously because we worked on it. Any film we touch turns to gold imo.

Congrats everyone at Image Metrics, DD, D. Fincher, Hydraulics, etc., etc.!

Darkfall EU Release - February 25th, 2009

2009-02-23T01:36:00.001-08:00

Anyone else excited? Man it's been a long time coming.

Darkfall > Warhammer Slayers Patch.

Have fun in your little "RvR's" fellas, I'll be PKing bitches and conquering shit.

Awesome Verse of the Day (AVoTD): Henchman, Bad Religion

2009-02-23T01:32:00.000-08:00

Don't be a henchman,
Stand on your laurels,
Do what no one else does and praise the good of other men
For good man's sake.
And when everyone else in the world follows your lead
(Although a cold day in hell it will surely be)
That's when the entire world shall live in harmony.

Bad Religion - "Henchman"

Congrats to Christian Brierly

2009-02-20T18:16:00.000-08:00

My buddy at work got bumped up to a Lead Animator today. Congrats to him and all that jazz. You rock man. Since I sit next to you I expect special treatment constantly and instant critiques whenever I ask for them. =)

Check him out..

Weekend for the Win!

2009-02-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

Friday rules. I'm headed up to Emily's college until Sunday night for a weekend of good food, good company, good soccer, and relaxation to the max.

You sirs, wish your weekends were as awesome as mine.

Darkfall Pre-Order Stuff, Continued...

2009-02-20T17:56:00.000-08:00

Seems the pre-order got completely screwed up when they received ~20x the traffic they anticipated all at once. Tasos (Dev) issued a statement saying that basically their servers were being hammered beyond all reasonable expectation. It's broken now, and most people haven't been able to pre-order it at all. It's fortunate that so many people are interested in the game, but I'm a bit scared of what's going to happen to the servers on release. Here's hoping they didn't overestimate their capacity and under-estimate the amount of players that would be coming.

I happened across the pre-order about a minute after they posted it and managed to be one of the first handful of successful orders. So yeah, that is awesome.

Darkfall
MWH

Seirei No Moribito - Anime/Manga

2009-02-19T22:15:00.000-08:00

This series was recommended to me today, so I started watching. So far so good! I'll give you another update when I finish it and let you know what I think. For now though if you're looking for something new, check it out. I'm enjoying it, about five episodes in so far. Thanks to Champion without the "o" for the suggestion.

Darkfall Pre-Order

2009-02-19T09:47:00.000-08:00

Got mine. Word.

Darkfall Beta

2009-02-18T23:37:00.001-08:00

I've been beta testing Darkfall for awhile, and now that the NDA has been lifted I can post some thoughts about it.

http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/Paragus1/3314_Review-Darkfall-Beta.html

This review here does a pretty accurate job of describing my thoughts on the game. Give it a read if you're interested.

Some videos:
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUS0SCYuyNM MWH Video
-http://www.youtube.com/themercsdotorg The Mercs Video
-http://lod.networksynapse.net/media/LoDvsMercs.wmv LoD (Lords of Death) Video

Quite a few to watch there, good stuff.

It's going to be great. Been following the game personally since early 2005 but it's been in development since 2001. It was put together by a small team of Indy developers in Greece.

Python Rules!

2009-02-18T00:14:00.000-08:00

I started learning to script in Python today finally. Been meaning to do it forever but was waiting for a project to come along. We're building this tool that needs to do this certain stuff and we decided Python was the best option for it but the Python guy (Oleg Alexander) is busy so I get to learn it now. It's awesome. Let's all join hands and nerd out together about how cool Python is. Ready....go.

def PythonIsAwesome(x):
    while x == awesome:
        print "Yes, it's awesome."
    return totalNerd
PythonIsAwesome(word.)

Northern Kings - Finland at it's Finest

2009-02-13T11:21:00.000-08:00

Somehow I missed this band. Perhaps through some odd twist of fate, or a missed connection somewhere it hasn't been until now that I've become privy to this gift basket of awesomeness. Northern Kings are a Finnish band comprised of 4 of Finland's most talented and prominent musicians. (Recognize any faces?) They are a cover band, and they cover famous songs and give them a little bit of their own metal flavor. The singing is so, so, so, sooo good. Let this be your band of the day folks, they are amazing.

"Take On Me" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlupRATWkm0

Use your savvy internet skills to find more, and you're welcome in advance. =)

Code Geass: Lelouche of the Rebellion - Anime/Manga

2009-02-13T01:57:00.000-08:00

I just finished a series that I really enjoyed and would like to pass on to all of you awesome people. Champion got me hooked a few weeks ago and I encourage anyone who is an anime fan to check this series out right away. The writing is fantastic, art is cool, good characters, plot twists you can't even imagine. Not your average stuff here.

He swears up to the sky, you will not have died in vain

2009-02-13T01:50:00.000-08:00

On a cold and misty night,
a ring of torches light the hallowed ground
where his father's laid to rest

In the reflection of the sword
he sees his destiny and he swears up to the sky -
"You will not have died in vain"

On the field - with sword and shield
amidst the din of dying man's wails
War is waged - and the battle will rage
until only the righteous prevail

From the shadows comes a man,
returning to his land - Winds of change
taint the sweet smell of home

And all around him, he can see
the pain and misery
this tyrant's reign is through
"I will stand and fight... Will you?"

A heart of gold pumps within his metal skin
A noble line he carries on

On the field - with sword and shield
amidst the din of dying man's wails
War is waged - and the battle will rage
until only the righteous prevail

I wish to stay...to be here with you
You were my strength...How can I go on?

On the field - with sword and shield
amidst the din of dying man's wails
War is waged - and the battle will rage
until only the righteous prevail.

Symphony X, "Accolade II" from album, "The Odyssey"

One of my favorite songs ever. True.

Shortfilm: "Hemlock" by Tyson Ibele

2009-02-08T22:34:00.000-08:00

http://vimeo.com/3117336

This is a short film done by a friend of mine for the latest CGSociety competition. Check it out, it's freakin' awesome! He also runs SimplyCG.net so stop on by and check that out as well.

Swordmetal is looking for writers!

2009-02-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

If anyone out there enjoys metal and is interested in writing for an established metal website, we are looking for talented people to help us keep the site running with news updates, articles, reviews, etc. If you are interested in helping out please head on over to http://www.swordmetal.com/ and check out the news for the details.

Comments? Followers? Anyone...?!

2009-02-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

If you enjoy my blog, leave me some comments! I enjoy writing it a lot so if you're out there and you're liking the content leave a comment or two and help to keep my delicate ego afloat. Thanks!

P.S. Emily is really good at soccer.

Wild Arms = Win.

2009-01-29T15:58:00.000-08:00

Wild Arms (1) for Playstation (1). This is in my top 3 favorite games of all time. Few are the games that have given me more immersion, fun, and excitement than this one here. Play it if you ever get the chance, it's amazing.

Resume and Demo Reel Updated

2009-01-29T02:15:00.000-08:00

Hello fellow Champions. I updated my website, resume and demo reel this fine evening, please check it out if you like awesome things.

Resume - http://www.jaygrenier.com/resume.htm
Demo Reel - http://www.jaygrenier.com/animation-demo-reel.htm
Website - http://www.jaygrenier.com/

And here's a little win for the hell of it.

Floating Time - MaxScript

2009-01-28T17:10:00.000-08:00

This script is great. I use a lot of custom scripts but none of them get as much use as this one, so I thought I'd share. It gives you a little floating window you can use to adjust the time range and go to any frame you like. I much prefer it to the default setup. Saves a few clicks and precisely 45milliseconds per frame change when you're working in 3DS Max. (Yes I'm being sarcastic, but it's still awesome and speeds you up in my opinion.) Fast is where it's at people!.

fn floatingTime =
(
   if (theTimeRollout != undefined)
   then (destroydialog theTimeRollout)

   rollout theTimeRollout "Floating Slider Time" width:258 height:25
   (
       spinner theStartFrame "Start: " pos:[22,4] width:60 range:[-100,50000,1] type:#integer
       edittext theTimeInput "Go To:" pos:[89,4] width:80
       spinner theEndFrame "End: " pos:[193,4] width:60 range:[-100,50000,1] type:#integer

       on theTimeRollout open do
       (
       theTimeInput.text = ((sliderTime as integer) / ticksperframe) as string
       theStartFrame.value = (animationRange.start as integer / ticksperframe)
       theEndFrame.value = (animationRange.end as integer / ticksperframe)
       )
       on theTimeInput entered x do
       (
       slidertime = x as integer
       )
       on theStartFrame changed x do
       (
       if (x < animationrange =" interval" value =" (animationRange.end" animationrange =" interval"> animationrange.start)
       then
       (
       animationRange = interval animationrange.start x
       )
       else
       (
       theEndFrame.value = (animationRange.start as integer / ticksperframe) + 1
       animationRange = interval animationrange.start theEndFrame.value
       )
   )
   )createDialog theTimeRollout style:#(#style_toolwindow, #style_sysmenu)

)

When The Lights Are Down - Kamelot

2009-01-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

Rules without exceptions last eternally
Every move you make creates your destiny
I've come to soak my sorrow in halo black
As black as the seal on my soul

Cause when the lights are down
There's no more to say
Love is the real pain
An internal revolution in our minds
And when the lights are down
You're so far away
Tell me your real name
In the silence of the darkness we unite

(Rules without exceptions last eternally
Every move you make creates your destiny)
What can protect me from the past
And all the things that I have done
She told me and then she was gone

But when the lights are down
There's no more to say
Deep in the shadows
Where the last of my delusions made a stand
Cause when the lights are down
She'll take me away
Tell me her real name
And in death we'll live the love we never had

Come all ye faithful beneath the moon
Into the void as one
Marching on

This song is so damn awesome.

Here is a new flower photo.

2009-01-26T18:16:00.001-08:00

Took about 200 photos this weekend up at Emily's college. I've got quite a few to go through but this is something I put together quickly last night. Stay tuned for more!

Ken Robkin, Sony's Newest Animator

2009-01-26T18:07:00.000-08:00

My good friend Ken Robkin just got a great animation job working at Sony in San Diego. Him and I met at Animation Mentor and competed in the FJORG! challenge at Siggraph together. He's a hell of an animator and we're all super excited for him. San Diego is also a lot nicer than Florida. Congratulations man!

Check out his work here: http://www.ukyo3d.com

Champion of Ithaca

2009-01-22T10:31:00.000-08:00

So this is home...
In the guise of a beggar - Minerva guides my way
I find my kingdom in jeopardy

Vengeance - it swells within me
As I spy so many who eye my Queen
I'll make them pay for this blasphemy... All will see

Triumphant - Champion of Ithaca
I will right all the wrongs
Let the Gods sing my song
Triumphant - Champion of Ithaca
Let a new life begin
my journey has come to and end

A contest of valor
'to pierce the twelve rings
in a single arrow's flight'
Yet, not a one can string the bow

My veil of silence lifted
All is revealed
revenge burns in my heart
thrashing and slashing down all my foes...to claim the throne

Triumphant - Champion of Ithaca
I will right all the wrongs
Let the Gods sing my song
Triumphant - Champion of Ithaca
Let a new life begin
this is the end of my Odyssey

Seems like forever that my eyes have been denied
Home - I'm finally home
I've been twenty years away from all I ever knew
I have returned to make my dream come true

...Just a verse from one of my favorite songs, and the lyrics behind the title of my blog. (Symphony X - "The Odyssey")

Another Great Pic, "We're Back!"

2009-01-22T10:24:00.001-08:00

He has already frozen the salaries of White House employees and lobbyists making over $100k and is closing Guantanamo today, and he's been president for just two days. Cool stuff, looking forward to more.

GTFO!

2009-01-21T17:22:00.000-08:00

This made me laugh a lot. =)

New President - Barack Obama!

2009-01-20T22:48:00.001-08:00

Well, we officially have a new president here in the United States of America. Good times.

Capeta - Japanese Animation and Manga

2009-01-20T22:28:00.000-08:00

I finished a new anime on Sunday. It's titled, "Capeta". It's the story of a boy on his journey to become an F1 driver in Japan. He starts off racing karts as a young ten year old and the story follows him all the way to his professional career. I really enjoyed, give it a google and see what you think.

The Ocean Got Me.

2009-01-20T11:10:00.000-08:00

I think for the first time I've gotten sick from surfing in the ocean here. The waves have been really large the last couple of days, yesterday (Monday) there were a couple head high sets. It was awesome, a fun time was had, but I have a perfect memory of one of the waves forcing about 12 ounces of water down my throat against my will. I knew it was gross but I thought nothing of it, and now I am officially sick. I have no proof it's from the water, I can only guess. But, the timing is just too good. About an hour after I got out of the water my throat started hurting and today I am a mess.

It's no secret that the water here makes you sick, you're suppose to keep your mouth closed at all times while in the water. However head high waves have a way of not letting you do exactly what you want sometimes.

*sigh.....*

I miss Emily.

Kamelot = Win.

2009-01-16T10:28:00.001-08:00

If you're a fan of metal and you haven't had a chance to check out Kamelot yet, do yourself a favor.

I don't really dig a band unless they have a talented and awesome sounding singer, and this band is no exception. They seriously destroy universes. Roy Khan can hit sing through 5 octaves (rumored) which is pretty incredible.

http://www.myspace.com/kamelot

Start with Ghost Opera in my opinion, but whatevs.

Darkfall Online

2009-01-15T15:56:00.000-08:00

Darkfall is releasing in Europe in about a week. It's a new UO-esque MMO that's been in development for over ten years. Most people didn't think it would ever see the light of day so it's rather exciting to see what will happen.

The graphics and look of the game are monstrously outdated, however it's been built from the ground up to support full PVP and epic city sieging warfare so they had to keep the polys down and the keyframes minimal. Though, there has yet to be a game released anywhere, ever, that has done this without lag and game/fun breaking bugs, so we'll see if this one does it. I'm willing to take a graphics hit if it works out like it is suppose to.

http://www.darkfallonline.com/

My guild is going to have a presense there if you're interested in playing with a well-organized, tight-knit group of guys who kick a lot of ass. We're an all Dwarf guild and have been kicking non-Dwarf ass since 1996 in about 2 dozen different games in the past 13 years.

http://www.mithrilwarhammers.com/

Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons

2009-01-15T15:52:00.001-08:00

If you haven't had a minute to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons yet I'd highly recommend it. It's a retelling of the class F. Scott Fitzgerald short story of a man who is born old and ages into his youth. It's really neat, came out wonderfully.

I worked on it a little. I animated. (That's about all I'm allowed to say.) =)

Entwine

2009-01-14T11:23:00.000-08:00

Found a new band today through MetalFromFinland.com

Entwine is the name, check this stuff out.

Best track I heard so far is "Surrender".

Soul Eater Anime and Manga

2009-01-14T11:16:00.000-08:00

If you're into comics and anime/animation, check out his show, Soul Eater.

It's got a great story, GREAT artwork, very stylized and decent animation. This is one of the few cases where I will say the anime is better than the manga just because of how nice the artwork is drawn in full color and the relative quality of the animation within.

It's very much worth checking out at least an episode or two. Funimation already bought the rights to it and has been trying to get fan subbers to quit releasing japanese episodes (how lame can they be really?) but people are still subbing it thankfully. You couldn't pay me to watch Funimation's bastardized shit-hole version.

http://www.souleaterfan.com or http://www.souleaterepisodes.com

Finnish Accents

2009-01-14T10:22:00.000-08:00

Sean and I just had an epiphany that Finnish singers singing in English produces what I dub the most metal thing ever.

No other country can even come close to the amount of awesome in the sound of a Finnish vocalist singing in English. The accent is just pure metal.

One of the best sites for Finnish metal that I've found: http://www.metalfromfinland.com

Snowboarding at Mountain High

2009-01-10T18:13:00.000-08:00

Today I went snowboarding at Mountain High with Brian, Than, Tom, and some of Than's family and friends. Woke up at 4am to get ready, drove up there and got in just in time to beat the rush. It was great. It's been about 6 years since I've been snowboarding so I had to remind my body how to do it, but it only took about 10 seconds before I had it all figured out again which was really nice. Tom has never done it before so we spent the first half of the day showing him how and giving him pointers as we went down.

Eventually I decided I was going to run some black diamonds and one of Than's friends and I took off to find some harder trails. I sort of have this infectious habit of trying to find the most ridiculous dangerous forest trail and go balls out down it on my snowboard, just to see where it leads me at the other end. Sometimes it comes back out onto a trail, sometimes I end up lost and have to hike back up...but it's almost always fun. So I decided to look for some glade/forest trails, and Than's friend warned me that they would probably not have any snow since this mountain was almost all man-made snow. At the time when he said "no snow" I assumed he meant it would be dry, so when I saw a path with snow on it I thought, "woot, snow". I signaled to him, turned down the path, and immediately knew I was wrong and what he actually meant by "no snow" was that it would be "all ice". I immediately started sliding and lost control for about 20-30 yards sliding down steep solid ice through a dense forest until I finally grabbed on to a tree branch enough to turn a little and lodge myself against a small pine tree. My crappy rental snowboard wouldn't grip the ice one bit so I had to unstrap and chisel foot holds for myself to hike back up and out the side on to the main trail. It was pretty freaking scary! At one point I lost my footing and started to slide down but was able to punch through the ice and grab some ground and stopped myself. It was about an 80 degree slope with like 100 gnarly trees below. I probably would have been very, very, VERY injured. But alas, I don't suck, and made it out just fine. So the adventure in between trails was a bit of a failure, but I came out with a cool story for the day and made it back just fine. Pure awesome.

By the end of the day the trails were icing up and all of our bodies were sore as could be, so we called it quits and headed home.

The mountain is decent for only being 90 minutes away from Los Angeles. It's VERY crowded and has rather poor quality snow, but again, it's 90 minutes away and I hadn't been in over half a decade (doesn't that make it sound longer than 6?) so who am I to complain. I had a great time!

New Photos

2009-01-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

Check out more at my FLICKR page. My new camera is so awesome...

2009

2009-01-05T09:12:00.001-08:00

Here's to our first day back to normal schedules. Happy 2009 everyone!

Photography and Voice Lessons

2009-01-04T20:34:00.000-08:00

Since Emily got me this new camera I've been taking photos non-stop and managed to sneak in a few good ones here and there! I'm having so much fun with it, I knew I would but never imagined I'd like it this much. To check out all the stuff I've done so far and for further updates be sure to check out the official Jayonidas FLICKR page. (Link)

This past weekend was my first vocal lesson. It went extremely well and I'm very excited to learn more and get better with my singing. Eventually I'll start recording and maybe post up a piece or two but for now you'll just have to visualize. It's a lot of fun, can't wait to keep it going.

Oh yeah, new blog header, and the waves today destroyed me. Off to nurse my headache!

I Am A Man Of Action.

2008-12-30T22:34:00.000-08:00

My New Years Resolution for 2009 is to attempt and try to learn how to sing better. I would love to join a band some day, but that's still iffy. I really only like a band when I like their singer, or their singer is insanely good. So, if I don't like my own singing, I won't like my own band, therefore won't be able to be in one. My track record of liking my own work of any kind isn't all that good so it will take a lot for me to get where I want to be, but today I'm one step closer.

I took the initiative and signed up for vocal coaching today, I start this weekend.

I am a man of action.

New Jumping Animation (WIP)

2008-12-29T12:15:00.001-08:00

http://www.jaygrenier.com/animation/gallery/spearJump.mov

Hey guys, I did this animation test yesterday and thought I'd put it up for all to see. I'm not 100% done, but it's almost there. Waiting for some critiques then I'll give it a final pass.

Done with the animation mentor rig, "Bishop".

I wish I was a power metal singer.

2008-12-24T10:13:00.000-08:00

I think my most powerful wish I've had throughout my entire lifetime was that I could have been born with the skill to be a REALLY sick power metal singer. I can sing relatively well right now, but it's nowhere near good enough. I could probably hold my own in a decent band even, but its nowhere near where I want to be. I need to hit Heiman notes, I need to hit Matt Smith notes. I need to hit Toby Sammett notes. Roy Khan even.

YEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Seriously, I want to hit notes for days.

I'm going to start taking lessons this year, New Years Resolution.

Cheese, Bread, Cheese, Wine, & Cheese. And Wine.

2008-12-07T01:10:00.000-08:00

All of the above are awesome.

Today was spent eating cheese and bread, drinking a little bit of nouveau wine, animating on a new shot and hanging' with the Em. No complaints on today, in fact it was awesome! Tomorrow is shaping up for awesomeness as well, stay tuned!

P.S. Emily made a blogger finally, not sure what it is though. ^^