06 June 2015
School's Out
Leaving school for me was a simple affair. Here's me after my first day: After the initial disappointment of learning this was only the first day, and not the end of school I went on to spend a further 11 years at school. Leaving was a simple affair, no ceremony or fanfare. Contrast this to the US High School system. The picture above shows High School graduation. Using the Houston Texans' Stadium (capacity 71,500) all the High Schools in the district descend one Saturday in June to put approximately 4,000 graduates through the graduation sausage machine. Each school gets approximately…
20 May 2015
Farewell To The Kings
Tonight Rush played the Houston Toyota Center on their R40 tour. This is expected to be the last major tour they will perform. Here's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson breaking out the double-neck guitars for Xanadu: Set 1: The Anarchist (Clockwork Angels, 2012)Clockwork Angels (Clockwork Angels, 2012)Headlong Flight (Clockwork Angels, 2012)Far Cry (Snakes & Arrows, 2007)The Main Monkey Business (Snakes & Arrows, 2007)One Little Victory (Vapor Trails, 2002)Animate (Counterparts, 1993)Roll the Bones (Roll the Bones, 1991)Distant Early Warning (Grace Under Pressure, 1984)Subdivisions (Signals, 1982) Set 2: Tom Sawyer (Moving Pictures, 1981)Red Barchetta (Moving Pictures, 1981)The Spirit of Radio (Permanent Waves,…
30 November 2014
Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?
The chicken in the above picture (taken in Tobago) is trolling the Church's Chicken guys. He's probably got some Dutch Courage drinking Trinidad Rum, from the House of Angostura: This place has been distilling rum since 1830, starting in nearby Venezuela. They moved to Trinidad in 1876. They have quite a lot of inventory: What to have with your rum? Coconut water. And even if you aren't having rum, have some fresh coconut milk and jelly: This video shows how they open the coconut, first so you can drink the juice and then so you can scrape the jelly…
30 August 2014
Coffee In The Court Of The Crimson King
Seattle: Space Needle, Frasier and Starbucks. Many come to Pike Place Market to visit the first Starbucks. Some discover that although it's known as the first Starbucks, the actual location was a block away but this was demolished and the coffee bean vendors (at the time, before they started to sell drinks) moved to this location, 1912 Pike St: Starbucks numbers its stores. Interestingly, this store is number 301. There is no store number 1. The lowest number (according to this handy site) is 101 (also in Seattle). Who knows why! A less-well-known but just as interesting (to Progressive Rock…
29 August 2014
Portlandia
'Keep Portland Weird' they say. But is Portland weird? Well, it is interesting, especially if you like craft beer, good (strong) coffee and food from trucks. This is the center of Portland's extensive food truck industry. You can buy pretty much any type of food here, from British Fish and Chips to Ethiopian stews and breads: After lunch why not go to Voodoo Donuts for a box: Don't worry if you are still full from lunch. It will take a couple of hours to make your way to the front of the line. While you wait you can do…
30 July 2014
Equal Rights and Giant Furniture
"On February 1, 1960, four African American college students sat down at a lunch counter at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, and politely asked for service. Their request was refused. When asked to leave, they remained in their seats. Their passive resistance and peaceful sit-down demand helped ignite a youth-led movement to challenge racial inequality throughout the South." (Read more about it here) The site of this seminal protest is still there, now preserved as a civil rights museum: The lunch counter has been preserved but is now kept behind a glass case: I was unable to find a photo…
03 July 2014
Farewell My Wayward Son
Tonight we went to Bicentennial Park in Baytown, TX for a free concert to celebrate 4th July. The headliners were Kansas, and this would be the final time we'd see Steve Walsh, founder member and ong time vocalist, keyboard player and songwriter, play live in Texas:
07 June 2014
St. Arnold is 20
Today the St. Arnold Brewery turns 20, so still not old enough to drink its own beer but at least old enough to vote and to join the military. The party took place at their brewery on Lyons Avenue in Northside Houston. The former Houston School District Catering facility has been the St. Arnold home since 2010. Copious amounts of BBQ were washed down with St. Arnold beer of various types and live entertainment was provided by various local artists, including Hayes Carll, seen here having his ear bent by a rogue Englishman who managed to get through security: To…
30 January 2014
This Is Not (North) America
There's more to the Americas than North America. First stop Bolivia. Bolivia isn interesting place. Everything is relatively basic, but the people are very nice and they make the most of what they have. One interesting fact: there are no McDonalds in Bolivia as the people do not want to pay such a high price for a burger and so past attempts to establish the stores there have failed! Here's the airstrip we landed at in the town of Villamontes, in the south of the country: No duty free options or food court here. The town has a community of…
10 January 2014
A Literal White Castle
And so to Plymouth, MI. It's always good to get to travel up north in winter, to get the maximum experience of wind chill. First stop after Detroit Metropolitan Airport? White Castle of course. Founded in 1921 in Kansas, they are still located mainly in the mid-west (our nearest one is 713 miles from here) so this was an opportunity to find out why Harold and Kumar were so crazy about them: Turns out they taste pretty good, even if they are somewhat different from regular burgers: Yes, they are what are now called sliders. In fact White Castle trademarked…