The best part of traveling - perhaps even the reason for doing so - is seeing new things and if you’re on a roadtrip, one of the things to see is landscapes. Most of California strongly reminded me of parts of Spain and Portugal. Driving in Colorado, northeastwards to Denver is a lot like driving around Austria. In fact, in both cases I would prefer their European counterparts for their look, though the American landscapes tend to be a bit more spacious and empty, which has its own charm. Read more

It wasn’t easy, getting there in time, but I managed to squeeze through traffic fast enough to be at Denver’s Invesco Field at the Mile High Stadium to see Barack Obama accept his nomination as presidential candidate for the Democrats. It was electric. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world and neither would 84,000 other people apparently, since the entire stadium was sold out. Read more

Considering the trouble I had getting through the gutbuster of a breakfast that is Denny’s Lumberjack Slam, I was amazed at seeing some old geezers at the next table do the same. Obviously, they had a wasteline to match, quite unlike mine. But still, making your way through a stack of pancakes, a pile of hashbrowns, a couple of poached eggs, a honeyed and grilled slab of ham, some strips of bacon and a bunch of linked sausages isn’t something you should be doing every morning, in my opinion. Read more

While driving around, I mostly listen to public radio and local radio. It’s interesting to see how little attention foreign news gets. Sofar, I’ve only heard some tidbits about Georgia and the Olympics and even then mostly to report on what the US government was doing in the matter or what the US athletes managed to achieve. I’ve actually looked for radio or TV reporting on outside events, but it seems that the American (or at least the Californian) with an interest abroad needs to rely on news papers and even then, you have to pick the right ones. Read more

San Diego seems to have it all. It’s close to the beaches and its position on the coast keeps it relatively cool. The shopping in the downtown area beats many European cities with the main difference being that shops are larger on average, but manage to offer a far broader selection as a result. The downside ofcourse, is that even in a concentrated shopping area like downtown San Diego, you still really want a car to get around to get things done. It’s not as bad as LA, that could never exist without cars as a primary need for everyone, but it’s still noticeable. Read more

In Britain, a ‘continental breakfast’ makes sense, when compared to a ‘real’ breakfast as it is served in a proper British restaurant: eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes and all the fat and sugar your stomach can take on an early day. A continental breakfast only amounts to some juice, cereal, toast, maybe an egg and some coffee and tea there. Over here, in these inns, a ‘continental breakfast’ turns out to be coffee and donuts. Don’t get me wrong, I like coffee and donuts and I was in the mood for them, but to call it breakfast? Not really. Still I prefer it to ‘breakfast burrito’s’ or ‘egg mcmuffins’ which is what the street has to offers. The sight of people working their way into a nice hamburger at 9:30am is enough to take your appetite away until lunch at least. Read more

Sorry for taking this long to get online folks. But I’m on the ground in the US and moving eastwards, so read on.

The best laid plans and airports… what can I say? After the recent tragedy in Spain, the last thing you want to hear before take-off is that technicians are looking into an engine problem that is preventing take-off. Which is exactly what happenend on Heathrow and which delayed my flight by well over two hours. Apparently they fixed it properly though, since we made it to LAX without a hitch and five hours later I was standing on the pavement of the LA airport.

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Perhaps they hardly ever see the light of day; their only interaction with nature the petting of a cat, whose name is an obscure Star Wars reference and who features in several YouTube offerings. They may not dress according to the latest fashions and may lack the fluency in social interaction that others take for granted. But as far as music goes, geeks are no less than the next man. Read more

I’m in the market for a new laptop and have been trying to find something that fits my preferences. It turns out that finding something that really does is going to be very hard because of a single reason: nearly all laptops currently being produced have a widescreen display. What is up with these widescreens? Read more

Hancock (2008) -

When I initially saw the posters for Hancock, I thought nothing of it. Just another action flick to be ignored. But I let myself be trapped by reviewers who gave it more than the benefit of the doubt and awarded it decent marks. Frankly, I don’t really see why. Read more