Be Excellent To Each Other

Yup, I'm off on holiday in about... oooh... three hours. First off down to London to hang around with a mate down there until Monday, then Monday morning a flight from Heathrow to Oregon, land of the Douglas Fir. I've been saving up an entire year's holiday for this - literally I have had five days off since last April. Not trying that again, I've nearly been driven mental waiting for some time off. Anyway, I'm off there for three weeks. (Count 'em!) And I'll be trying to set up a blog while I'm over there, uploading pics and commenting on what goes on and stuff. I shall be in the town of Bend, which has cropped up curiously independantly in an amusing news article on this forum, and staying with some friends there. It is in the high desert plain region, and has four local breweries.

Thankfully, thanks to this cunningly timed jaunt, I'll miss out on the arduous opening of the new library, which means I'll avoid back-breaking labour and angry bosses. Hurrah! I'll also be stopping off for a few days in Virginia City, a ghost town in Nevada full of cowboys and tumbleweeds. Neat. And finally I'll have time set aside for getting some sorely neglected DS love in on the flight over. When I'm not staring out the window marvelling.

With the work-rate I've had recently, if I can get some laptop action in on my friend's system, I may actually be able to get posting properly again.

So yeah, errr, GLEE! HOLIDAY! GLEE!

Sounds good - have a great time!

Bring us all back some Mountain Dew.

Have an excellent time. Buy a stetson.

Slurm...

Any way, have a good time in OR. Try and visit Porkland (the home of the fat bird) but stay out of the river ! It's been cleaned up recently but I still wouldn't trust it.

Have a good time. Bring me back some oregano.

Best not carry it in a clear plastic bag gaffer taped to your stomach though. It causes 'issues'

Don't swallow it in a condom either.

Five days off since April?

Fuck, you've earned this. Enjoy!

Have a nice time mate, you'll be back before you know it!

Are the pylons bigger in the States?

Considering the feeble amount of power that trickles from American sockets, I warrent their pylons are flacid and anemic. I shall pay close attention to them while I'm there, mind - at a safe distance away from their evil, sentient, suddenly mobile inclinations, natch.

Well, that's it then. Nuts to work, I'm off. WAHEY!

Around 80% of the power in Oregon comes from mighty hydro plant, so you should see some serious pylonage out there.
Indeed, they export much of this on uniquely weird HVDC carrying pylons, with a field strength like to turn the crops blue.

I'll expect a full report. Have fun.

Sure, and I'm the nerdlinger.

You LOVE being the nerdlinger, though. Admit it.

Well,

I've arrived safely in Bend after a nice weekend in London with my mate Jon. We went to the Natural Science Museum and learned about rocks and everything. We also hooked up with two lawyer mates of his, a jolly nice couple. One of whom was precisely like Stephen Fry in every detail including plummy voice and looks, but not orientation. The other an amiable lass. Both were absolutely loaded, and we foolishly went for their 'budget' option, a very nice tapas place off Tottenham court road. There were Flamenco dancers there and the food was good, but it came to 36 quid each. Yowsers, eh!? I'm such a poor province boy. Still, that was covered okay, phew. And the talk was splendid, they had bags of anecdotes. Won at chess again against Jon's other-not-the-same-one-I-beat-last-time housemate too in the game of my life. Got a knight behind his lines and rolled them up. This felt good.

Well the trip was fairly hellish due to its staggering length. Hardy ain't coming until the 20th so he wasn't here to distract me, alas. The first leg of the flight wasn't bad as it was on an airbus which was seriously underbooked, so I got two seats leg room and my precious window seat. I also watched a film on board called 'Cadillac Records' about the rise of Chess Records. It had Adrian Brody and chaps playing Muddy Walters, Howlin' Woolf etc. It was okay, some neat bits and great songs but suffered from the same thing all these historical musical biopics suffer from - it was basically a potted history with little in the way of character moments.

Landed at Minneapolis and chose the Homeland Security line run by the youngest officer. Either this was a mistake, or they're all like this, as he somehow managed to make me feel like a lying subversive scrub as I babbled away in reply to his twenty questions. "Seems a little low," he grunted suspiciously as I told him how much cash I had brought. "Seems rather long," he said in addition, in response to my answer when he asked how long I was staying. He asked me what I did for a living and I told him, nervously adding under his piercing gaze that it was a fun job. Then he asked how I know the people here. Told him I visited them last year and described the visit. Asked how I knew them to visit them last year. Told him how Lyryn came over to visit back in 2004 and we went hiking and... "Very good sir," he curtly cut me off. "Okay, head to that line," he added in his sinister Robert Patrick steely faced way.

Arrgh. Had to get a beer and a pizza to calm down from that 10 minutes of hell. The beer was Bonfire Lager and was a nice, dark, slightly continental beer not dissimilar to Brain's under-rated '45'.

The next leg from Minneapolis was almost hell on toast, as we were crammed into a decaying coach like plane with minimal leg room and insufficient overhead storage. Lots of people seemed to think it was cool to take huge suitcases on the plane, so accomodating me ended up with my carry on stuffed on top of my feet. For a three and a half hour flight. I was in the middle of three seats, the window seat chap was thankfully thin, but ate a rather fragrant Big Mac and fries. The aisle seat woman was slim and nice, and I had a pleasant chat with her throughout the flight. All the same, couldn't wait to get off.

Met Lyryn's housemate and friend Todd at the airport. He drove me back to Bend in a battered old car. He's an amusing chap, pleasingly outspoken and forthright, and he looks bizarrely like an American version of my friend Dixon. Long hair, same face, smokes. Though he doesn't shout "Horse!", like Dixon does he did shout "Germans!" at one point. He also appears to have a massive bolt action scoped rifle. Which requires a bipod. Curiously, he is not a Republican. Anyway, the road trip was four hours at least, we chatted for most of it but I drifted off towards the end, waking in and out of his eclectic ipod - he has William Shatner's latest spoken word album. The passes were snowy, the night dark and the winds strong. It was marginally terrifying at times, but less so than if we went the shorter mountain pass way which had white-out conditions.

It has suddenly become very difficult to type, as a wolf is licking my arm. Seriously, a wolf. About the size of a motorbike. I forget its name but its an awesome one, and it is huge and enjoys sniffing you. It's like Diefenbacher in Due South, but somehow bigger. Really beautiful creature, tawny white and soulful eyes and massive, massive teeth. Hee hee! He's back again, nuzzling away. Shoo!

Big, big wolf.

Went to sleep pretty much as soon as I arrived. Beautiful night's sleep and a lazy day ahead. Coffee is brewing. Awesome. I'll try and set up that blog soon and fling pics about. Keep you updated.

There is a dart board here, this is a nice place.

Laters!

Cool.

Pleased you are having a good time.

I think we should all club together and send Pete on more holidays, I love reading these.

Easierly (yes yes, shush) achieved by sending him to see films he hates.

Excellent stuff. Enjoyed reading that.

Heh, I don't enjoy reading about the films so much though, I love to travel so I'll just do it vicariously through him for now.

Well...

Went into downtown Bend today with friends Todd and Amber, had a highly amusing time. First off, Todd wore his hair down and I found out to my surprise that he actually looks more like the Dude, and sounds like him too. He is also amusingly similar to Governmentyard in sick jokes and bawdiness, and clearly worships Goatboy also, and Amber shares in this twisted revelry. Jokes about cancer, child abduction and the like. Excellent. We went to Baldys, this BBQ place, where one of their friends worked as a waitress, and I got a jolly nice free lunch consisting of tender BBQ pork strips in garlic fried bread with fries and surprisingly lush coleslaw. Also had an IPA with it, which was very nice and came in a jug. And I'd just like to reiterate that I got it for free, free! The tips did flow.

Todd had to then head off to grab his kilt back off his dreadlocked mate, so I wandered with Amber. Went to the library, did some clothes shopping and bought a couple of shirts, went to an indie record store, drank another beer. Then Todd came back and we had food - this salmon steak with an unfeasibly massive spinach salad that was pretty much the size of two big salad bags. We drank BEER MILKSHAKES.

Quote of the day: "Our house does have rather more guns than the average."

Observations:

People here are really Minnesota nice.
Americans have a sicker sense of humour than you'd credit.
The thrift stores are pretty good.
There are more independent brewed ales than big chain ones here.

Nice one. I love your big posts, nervouspete.

I like wolves. Post pictures of wolves. Excellent traveller's tales.

One observation, coming from such a place and imagining what the natives are called, would I be right in assuming a twisted sense of humour would be de rigeur?

I am unspeakably jealous.

Don't be. Pete typed that shortly before being mauled to death. By a wolf.

It said in the papers.

You do know he's been sniffing prit stick and is bumbling around the travel section, only returning to his PC to post as he takes another hit.

Excellent!
Post more as it occurs Pete.

Also check out the pylons dude.
And see if they really have 110V outlets at every car parking space, as the legends say..

Ahoy-hoy all!

Just woken up and had a shower. Everyone else is still asleep, though it is about half eleven here. Lazy buggers. I have spent twenty minutes unsuccessfully trying to locate an iron and ironing board. No doubt they have some amazing piece of technology that duplicates crease-squishing and have moved on, leaving our dusty old country in its wake.

I shall get a photo of Diefenbacher Harley Whitehawk today and post it. No joke, that is the wolf's name. It is most excellent. The wolf's former owners were hippies, apparently.

I have not had a proper chance to observe pylons yet, but I shall do so. So far as I can tell, they look a bit like that one in Tremors. I shall take a photo of one too, and a Hershey Bar to anyone who can correctly identify it. ("Yeurch," - ed.)

Last night as we were driving back from the restaurant, I saw deer walking across the lawn of a house a dozen doors down. I have pledged to maim or at least give a chinese burn to at least one Bender ("What?!" Russell T Davies) er one local a day until a photo opportunity has presented itself.

The rifle IS a pellet gun, but doubles as a movie prop. There is a real shotgun however and other HIDDEN WEAPONS. There are also samurai swords. I shall check my hosts are not Branch Davidians.

They're up! First off, there is no iron - but there isn't any technology that duplicates the function either, so I don't feel so much the hick for not finding anything. Secondly they're making me English muffins with bacon and coffee so I take back any of the poor jokes previously in this email. Truly, Benders are wonderful and know a man's early morning needs. Soon we shall be watching the first disc of third season Doctor Who, as they have been netflixing it. So far they like, apart from the Idiot Lantern and the Slitheen episodes. They also liked the Love & Monsters episode, which is indeed awesome and anyone who says otherwise is wrong. I have warned them as to the absolute guff that is the Daleks in Manhatten one though, so hopefully I won't have to sit through that again. They also saw Flight of the Conchords for the first time last night, and liked. The Decemberists has just come on the CD player. Nice.

Watchmen tomorrow, apparently.

Found this little cool clothes thrift store down a stairwell yesterday, tucked away and the size of a living room. It was decked out Baroque style with massive brass mirrors, the sort of curtains found in Uncle Monty's house and giant candlesticks. I got a pretty neat shirt there. The owners randomly sold fruit as well. Excellently, at least 20% of young shop owners appear stoned around here.

Things I have seen with my eyes:

A firehouse that looks so art deco it boggles the mind. It's not even red but a cool 1930's silver-future. Smoky the Fire-Bear stands guard outside. I am informed by Todd that the Canadian equivalent is Francois the Fire-Preventing Frog. I am unsure as to why an aquatic creature would be that bothered, frankly.

Big red fire hydrants, awesome!

Mail boxes on the roadside. Lyryn's mail box is two blocks away and requires a ten minute walk. I suspect some locals drive to their mail box.

The cars are HUGE. They're probably called, I don't know, General Motors: Allosaur and Toyota: Brachiosaur or something.

The beermats around here are fucking awesome. Even if I get run out of town on a rail, I have to steal at least a few Hammerhead ones.

They really do love porter and stout around here, and IPA and wheat beers. There are now FIVE breweries in Bend. Here's a summary of the beers I've tried so far:

Hammerhead: Tasty golden beer with strong malty nature. Awesome logo of a man with a hammer for a head running around in a shirt in a David Lynch nightmare style. I have also tried their IPA (little thin but refreshing) and wheat beer variants. The wheat beer had a slice of lemon with it and was thirst quenching, it also didn't taste overwhelmingly of banana which is what too many wheat beers do by far.

Blonde Bombshell: It sure is! It came in a jam jar with a handle and was one of the most delish beers I've ever had. Rough head but light fruity flavour and a pleasing rounded aftertaste. More of this, I think!

Terminator: A monstrous stout that is ludicrously strong at 6.5%. Very dark, very nutty and the base of the infamous Terminator Milkshake. Try finishing a meal after drinking one of these. IT CANNOT BE DONE.

Note: Where I had the Hammerhead and the Terminator the waitress who brought them looked like Maggie from Northern Exposure. Although Todd's burger was undercooked, and my salmon a little overdone, I was so smitten with her that I TIPPED EXCESSIVELY REGARDLESS. Also, she carded me but then said, "Ah fuck it, its yer holiday," when I feebly explained I left my passport at my house.

Yeah, I get carded here. Odd or what? Makes me feel young though. *Sniff*

Right. Breakfast. Post later with pix!

Ooh, they've got an awesome looking card/roleplay game called 'Zombies!!!' - it is promised that we shall combine this with drink later. Right, now to photograph the wolf.

Just finished playing with the wolf. Wolf pics follow!



Harley Whitehawk and friend.



Todd and Harley. Harley produces 4 binbags of hair a year. Todd is a big chap, btw, as is Harley.



Bend Tower Cinema and Ranch Records.



Todd, Amber and beer-shakes!

Weekend London pics:



Natural Science Museum Centre of the Earth!



Albert Memorial



Albert Memorial Detail



Waterloo Bridge



Re-Entry Capsule

Pete's General Photo Album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nervouspete


Righto, that's yer lot. Now for me to go and do things.

Pete are you sure that 'wolf' is not a Malamute or some other snow dog breed. The brown eyes are a Mal trait...

It looks a lot like ours which is sable and not tan,

Whew! Glad you are having a great time Pete! Wish I could go on more holidays like that!! Keep posting as I've just managed to catch up with all of what you posted and am ready for the next installment

I have been assured that it is mostly wolfy. I have just been to a truckers bar with one of Todd's friends from out of town and Todd and Amber, and kicked ass at pool, had a huge plate of nachos and a big pitcher of mild, and had a massive conversation about arcade games so I cannot reason as of yet. I shall ENQUIRE FURTHER in the interests of science and truth, however.

Ta Shin! Rest assured more will be posted.

Quote of the day:

"Flaming crotch shots - it's inadvisable to use your hands."

I have enquired. It is apparently mostly wolf but cross bred with Malamute - hence the bushy tale and the brown eyes. Good spot, sir.

I have started a blog! It is here:

http://nervouspete.blogspot.com/

Hope you lot like, I'll try to keep it as regular as a prune fed me, like. Anyway, off into Bend now. Walk around the pond, mosey round shops and later catch a play called 'Joanna's Body'.

Fucking hell, that Todd bloke sure does look like me.

And, Fucking hell, I am no longer lurking.

We have gentry now. I feel humbled.

Nah, people call me that because I have an unfeasibly posh sounding voice from watching too many Roger Moore movies.

I've been meaning to join this forum for years but never got round to it, so I'd like to wish all and one a big old "Hello".

Really? Wow. More than a year ago it wouldn't have been particularly exciting, to be honest.

Welcome, sirrah!

You know, this holiday would have been worryingly amiss if it were not for a mighty fine shower. I so despise the feeble drip we get at home. But this place, this place has a pretty punishing power-shower, so all is well. I have just stepped out of this shower and am now ready to blog again.

Having dried and clothed myself, obviously. Sitting naked at a computer is stuff you do at home, not when you're a guest. Unless you're visiting some strange Swedish family, obviously.

Anyway, speaking of hydro-power, I bet you're all wondering how Bend's electricity is supplied. That's right - hydro power, via the Bonneville Dam. Yes, that's Bonneville, not Boneville - sorry Jeff Smith fans. There are many interesting facts about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonneville_Dam

Yesterday was a fun day. Went for breakfast at this fine little place that looked like... I don't know... Al Gore's living room, decked out with books and unpretentious furniture, all white walls and simple wooden chairs. I had Joe's Special, which alleged scrambled eggs but were more like an omelette. Then it was off shopping. Lyryn bought the complete Spaced that comes in its American box with commentaries by Kevin Smith, Tarantino, Matt Stone and others. I am jealous. She was however unable to find a reasonably priced Doctor Who S3. Yup, the household are watching Doctor Who and they quite like it. They saw Runaway Bride two nights ago however and pretty much hated it - as did I, natch. Much concern at Donna being in series 4, I'm trying to allay fears. It was Lyryn's day off, Joel was in work at the phone company where Lyryn works also, but Todd being a construction worker has had a predictably slow season with credit crunch and all, and Amber was just working part of a day as a waitress in easing herself back into the job after a bit of happily straightforward surgery.

So all of us apart from Joel went to a sushi place, and it was damn fine sushi. Had octopus and shrimp and salmon and all sorts of rolls washed down with Asahi beer and became incredibly full.



Yoko Sushi!

After a quick journey to Cost-Co, the aircraft carrier discount store of terror where you need membership to shop, me, Lyryn and Todd went to see this one woman play called Joanna's Body. It was black comedy about cancer invading this woman's body, and various organs slugging it out. The cancer was French, apparently. Though some of the laughs were a bit forced, the woman who played Joanna was completely fucking amazing. Very mobile, did some amazing moves and had a huge range of voices. She was also pretty fit. Good stuff, and worth an hour of my time certainly.

That night we partied in the house, propped up against the bar and drinking our arses off. I dressed up in Todd's leather coat and a stetson with shotgun, and was assured it was a good look for me. Whiskey and vodka consumed and danced to an indie mix I brought over, plus some native Decemberists and Violent Femmes. Then we all watched the first five episodes of Spaced in a row and I'm relieved to say that they went down very well.



Fuck yeah, all sorts of cool.

Today? Well, avoided hangover. Phew. I'm off up Pilot Butte, a dormant cinder cone in the centre of Bend that commands spectacular vistas, yadda yadda yadda. Should be awesome for some much needed snappery. Watchmen may be today or tomorrow, no one's sure.

Laters!

Wahey! He's joined!

Good one Rixondale. And I think he may have momentarily been thinking of WoS where he used to lurk too.

And now, I'm off down the pub as I have had nothing to drink all week. This is what happens when you don't come round on a Wednesday, Pete.

Greetings, Lord Rixondale.

Great hat Pete.

Blog updated with restaurant reviews, now I'm off out.

wow im glad i started reading this, i agree that you should be sent on holiday often for everyones amusement.

Sounds really awesome, I hope you keep enjoying yourself!

Fucking hell(o)!

My eggbox avatar is the Tesco Value nervouspete.

Didn't go to Pilot Butte in the end, went to Drake Park instead. Drake Part is jolly nice however, and I got some good pics, and it was really warm with a gently caressing breeze so that's okay then. There was a junior softball pitch next to it complete with bleachers and swarms of gnats and cyclists. Deschutte's Brewery Pub was a good place to have dinner, and I chose the medium rare elk burger which was lushness. Very gamey and juicy. It came with a really tasty honey horseradish mustard too. I washed it down with two beers, a reasonable bitter called Topaz and an 8.5% IPA called Hop Henge Experimental. Hop Henge was all bristly and spiky, but tasty with caramel and fruit. Mmm.

Then I went to a little independant film festival. Frame Wranglers involved a guy and a couple of interns in search of a yeti, complete with husky team. Man-traps, lost limbs and Son of Santa later, I think pretty much everyone is mauled violently. Tolerably amusing. There was however a stunningly bad jokey conversation one about being in debt that had no timing and some of the worst editing I'd ever seen. Nanook of Hollywood, an innuit eskimo from hunderds of years ago who is defrosted and drifts to LA was pretty good though. It was done silent film stylee and he eats a penguin at a zoo.

Watched more Spaced last night, it was still enjoyed by all. Only half a series left now. No idea what we're doing today.

Ta dudes, glad to hear I'm getting Eggsbox Avatar love!

Awesome! Continue to keep us updated from Cascadia!

Had eggs benedict, shaved all my hair off. Literally for the first time, I've used razor and all. It's all cloudy outside now and cold after yesterday's loveliness, so we're staying in and I'm giving Supernatural a try. Also eating lasagna. Yum.

Apparently, Americans have never heard of the excellent insult, 'fuckwit'. There's a point to ponder as you enjoy your vesta meal.

I am envious of you bring happy, I thought I should mention ive seen the decemberists live 3 years ago at ATP festival something or other. And although Im not a major fan, they were excellent live, and somehow managed to get every fucker on the floor to sit down for a song which was awesome in the long run. So yes excellent I wish I was doing american stuff with you and stuff and not wasting my days doing degrees and not actually doing them.I am drunk do the same and be merry and stuff and enjoy this and that, or something sounds like you doing a good job, blah blah blah, turtles.

Hullo all!

New blog post from me here, lots of pointless waffle really but some nice photos:

http://nervouspete.blogspot.com/

It's snowing outside now, about an inch and a bit deep - but it's sort of melting at the same time keeping an equal level, it being noon and all. I went into the backyard to play with Harley, him nearly knocking me over. Got some good pics though, which I shall upload shortly. Meanwhile, here's some pics from a sunnier day last Friday, in Drake Park. You can read all about it on the blog. GO TO THE BLOG.



A douglas fir-cone!



Suburbia



American flag.



American ball.



City 17 backstreet with overhead power-lines. Can you identify them?