Adios USA

Thanks to my brother Mike for putting up with me for a month, more than enough for anyone. I witnessed a funeral the other day, a faintly bizarre mix of Anglo solemnity and Latino dance music. In an odd way it may have been a sign that it was time for me to move on, end of the Anglo portion of my journey and the beginning of Latino romantic craziness.
Los Angeles is an intriquing city that spreads itself outwards and upwards in an eclectic mix of styles. An opportunistic doorway to everywhere and nowhere. My last visit on this tour is to a feature I consider to be a friend - LAX.
I came, I saw, I left. I will be back.

Surf 66

"Hey man! you're sposed ta drive route66, not walk it!
One hour pavement pounding for this middle-age middle-class suburban rebel.
The now Historic Route 66 ends it's 2448 mile cross country meander in the Engle influenced town of Santa Monica, marked by a 2'x 3' memorial dedicated to Will Rogers, so officially becoming the "Will Rogers Highway". Some people have walked, run and cycled the route, others have created groups and museums dedicated to it's remembrance. Here is one link to get you started.
In the passing of time doth come change, as it should: with man this happens quickly, not so with nature (well usually anyway). Buildings come and go as have the numerous seas of happy xmas shoppers, who now know this part of the route simply as 'Santa Monica Boulevard'. But journey's end is as it always has been and will be for ages to come - Pacific Ocean Surf before a Setting Sun.
I love to trance into the hypnotic sight and sound of rhythmic breaking waves. On this occasion, to the cheering of onlookers, being deluged by a 6' swell of sea and sand. Enjoy my favourites of some difficult photography, the camera might just survive the experience.

Lines Across the Landscape

I have been walking about this city ruled by the automobile, getting a worms eye view of the architecture, eventually to stand in the Dark Star of Bladerunner, the Bradbury Building, with it's construction in 1893 fittingly influenced by the 1878 Utopian book "Looking Backward".
Vertical lines, horizontal lines, glass lines, reflected lines, coloured lines. At night, so light, so bright.

In counterpoint to this linear wonderland of construction, I watched a glorious animated short film by Japanese artist Chiho Aoshima - "City Glow". Watch this when you can!

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Oh my straining neck too vertigo,
straight and tall the towers grow,
vanity doth scrape the sky so,
to stand above in awe of those below.

Apostle of California

There are those who say to not voice one's thoughts and emotions on the Internet, I say those are the words of Fear and Paranoia.
Do what thou wilt, for Love is the Law.
Yesterday did not start well; a two mile walk to take a lot of rubbish photos from which the best is "bedtime for Schoolbuses" and I had nothing to contribute to an otherwise interesting evening of conversation among friends.
Then at midnight I noticed the light glistening on the statue of Fray Junipero Serra who watches over the 8 grade school opposite the apartment, the Apostle of California reputedly walked more than 24,000 miles in his lifetime!
Pattern becomes fixed in the morning ritual; beginning with the clear away of bedding followed by breakfast of watermelon to clear the mouth, toast and marmalade to bulk the stomach with sugars and carbohydrates, finishing with the tools of thought while standing on the balcony: strong creamy coffee and tobacco.
Life, as with travel, is about the journey, not the destination. I became bored with the journey of family, no longer new or fulfilling, having lost interest in the repeating pattern of daily chore I had nothing more to offer the dynamic of mother and children, work and home. The routines became my own perceived prison of the soul, from which no techniques of relaxed awareness and understanding could escape me. I quote the Mexican philosopher Octavio Paz: "Whoever builds a house for future happiness builds a prison for the present".

LA Watering Hole

Cadillac cruisin the canals of Venice Beach through the dancing drama of Downtown towers and twistin the trail of Mulholland Drive reveals the eclectic cocktail of architectural style and colour from under the spell of opportunity cast by the ubiquitous Hollywood sign.
Hidden amongst the tinsel town display of fame and fortune can be found anomalies of polity pandering to the desires of cultural angst, tucked discretely in the foothills of Griffith Park at the rear of Mount Sinai Memorial fields cemetery, close to the Hall of Liberty, is a display of concrete recreations dedicated to Meso-American history. We have a similar scenario in the small English town of Brighton, a memorial dedicated to the Gurkhas of WWII, hidden in the hills of the Sussex Downs.
Out of this craziness come two good events; a couple of fun photos including the unexpected refraction of sunlight on the head of a Mayan king statue, but more importantly the meeting of new compadres, namely, one Darren Trenchard, an artist painting his way through the urban sprawl and now into your homes via the virtual link newly added to my list of sites to surf.

Surreal Saturday

New York New York.
Back in the USA.

10 points to those who can name the songwriters.

Atlantic to Pacific in one day. Awake for 20 hours straight, from standing on the Queen Mary 2 in New York harbour to feeling the Surf spray off Santa Monica pier. Sitting in a Los Angeles apartment the natural high of exhaustion makes it's surreal impact on the emotions. Floating through the movie of life until it all comes to a crashing halt as one attempts to express the feelings of thought as words on paper.
Darkness of sleep descends upon the Spook as the muscles buzz, the teeth hum and the eyelids close. Sitting before me on the coffee table of this unknown apartment is the 'Tales of Power' by Carlos Castaneda, the book that began the journey some twenty six years ago. An event so synchronous as to send shivers up my spine.

Ahoy me hearties!

I love travelling by sea and the Queen Mary 2 is definitely a luxuriant vessel upon which to voyage the Atlantic ocean, from Southampton to New York in 132 hours. Arriving at 5am was however most unfortunate for my hard working digital camera, so no decent pictures of the Statue of Liberty, but I have chosen a few of my favourites to post on flickr. I could fill pages with details about this the largest of passenger ships, but if you are interested you will check it out for yourself. What impressed me were the 50 nationalities represented among the crew. Instead, I shall inflict the following prose that I felt compelled to write after listening to a lecture given by the author Angela Huth on the subject of synethsesia:

Watching the swelling of the gun grey waves brings a feeling of hypnotic serenity, an easy peace with life. Every wavelet big or small is unique, yet each with a life so short that one hardly notices the small triumphant splash of white foam at the apex of it's life, before falling back to death among it's brethren. Millions upon millions, so many as to be countless, merging together in chaotic harmony to create the menacing expanse that is; the Atlantic Ocean.

Jack Frost

Dawn woke at -1 degree centigrade, cold with an icy sheen upon everything, but the sun cast his bright golden glow upon the earth, bringing dew to the grassy lawn.

Ol' Jack Frost brings the season of SAD, but not for me, it will soon be time to depart for sunnier climes, but I did get to this year’s annual gathering of friends from afar … Stranger in a strange land;

Guy Fawkes bonfire night went ahead as it has for fourteen years, a bastion of mercurial sanity; and with this being the first Saturday occurrence for many years, the sky was ablaze all night with the sight and sound of Fireworks filling the horizon. http://www.bonefire.org/guy/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/15208245@N00/sets/1363722/
I am surprised there has not been a renewed fervour of calls to ban this celebration. http://www.looking-glass.co.uk/campaigns/banthebang_intro.htm
Will there be more injuries this year than in previous years? http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/pdf1/fireworkinjuries2004.pdf

Haunting Memories

Photo's added to flickr. I have 'dead time' to occupy before leaving the UK! When my brain goes down the drain, trying to learn Spanish, Mayan and how to teach English, I make visits to my past.

Dear old Queen Victoria, the lady who put Southend-on-Sea on the tourist map is in danger of falling from her plinth, as the cliff side upon which she stands, slides slowly into the sea. Strangely fitting when one considers the fact that the architectural beauty of the town has been replaced by concrete and glass monstrosities.

Why have lamp poles turned on during the day?

The Sea Scout hut on the bank of Benfleet Creek is long gone: RIP.

In memory of T. Lobsang Rampa - The Spook becomes ever more invisible!

The Butterfly Diagram

http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/sunspots.htm

Age of Travel

Is the first of some photographic themes based on my travel plans and will include: Ships, trains, buses and planes. (What was that song?)
This new journey begins on November 20th aboard the Queen Mary II out of Southampton bound for New York. In the meantime there are some loose ends to finish off, including more vaccinations, giving me a veritable cocktail of chemicals to protect against the nasties 'out there'!

'They' say that our adult beliefs are formed in childhood and so it seem's appropriate, considering I am changing careers to teach English, to post this picture of the first nursery school I can remember, at age 2, aboard a genuine cruise liner from the "Good Old Days" of 1961.

"Spook at the Wheel" begins this photographic theme. Spook is the nickname given to me by my daughters, on a recent genealogical trip to Scotland; and I kinda like it! Thanks girls!

Let us hope and pray that we can all navigate a safe and true course through the Past, Present and future events of life, hence the new calendar link on this blog to follow my progress.

Mayan Glyphs

First attempt at writing my name in Mayan. These are the closest sounding syllables I can find; "Cho" and "Na". According to Synharmony the second syllable should be "No", but at the present time I can find no glyph for this. Methodology courtesy of Nancy McNelly at http://www.halfmoon.org/

New Chapter Begins

The Future Walks Before us