Archive for May, 2005

Starbucks Short Skate Film

Friday, May 27th, 2005

Starbucks Skate Film

As promised earlier in the week, here is my short skate film of the trip from where I’m staying to the local Starbucks. The trip is 2km each way, however since I was recording with a still camera with a Memory Stick that could only hold 2 minutes of video before having to download to the computer (and there was 17 minutes of raw footage) I think I skated a lot more than 4km today!

The movie is in Windows Media Format, so you’ll need a recent version of Windows Media Player to view it. I’m pretty sure the version that comes with Windows XP should be sweet. Right-Click on the link below and click “Save As…”, enjoy!

(download no longer available, due to bandwidth overages)

Oh Yeah!

Thursday, May 26th, 2005

Starbucks

Damn, am I feeling good today or what!! I seem to have the perfect mix of Endorphins and Caffeine in my bloodstream right at this very moment!

The weather’s good, work’s going good, I’m rocking-out to Def Leppard on my iPod, hehe, and dancing around in Mike’s home-office, LOL, good god I’m such a freak, ehehehe…

For the last two days I’ve been skating the 2km to the local Starbucks for my daily Grande Caffè Latte, otherwise known as an oversized flat white. Surprising what a difference good coffee makes… I’m typing like a mad man at the moment :) And managed to spell “endorphins” right first time, lol, dyslexic, I think not! a-ha!

Two Coronas Sitting In A Tree…

Wednesday, May 25th, 2005

Coronita - Baby Coronas

What do you get when two Corona’s get together? Little baby girl Corona’s, or “Coronita’s” to be exact, cute huh! lol :) I’ve photographed them here beside a standard Red Bull can so you can see how small they are.
— US 7fl oz. is 207ml in metric.

The literal translation of “Coronita” from the Español is “Little Corona”. The suffix “-ita” is the feminine diminutive (the masculine is “-ito”) and is used to express smallness or affection/endearment. They also have big (945ml / Swappa Crate size) Corona’s over here, but there doesn’t appear to be an opposite to “ita/ito” so they are just called “Corona” like standard 330ml bottles.

Another Californism

Tuesday, May 24th, 2005

Smokers near by Warning

Saw this in the entrance to the apartment complex while heading out to the supermarket today. I was like, “oh crap they’ve got Asbestos in here or something?!” That in addition to the front door access balconies (we’re on the 3rd floor) that look like they’d fall off in a strong wind—there’s a hole in ours that I always step over, scary shit I tell ya!

Nope, it appears in California smoking is classed in the same category as Asbestos, and they put warning signs where ever people might be smoking to warn you of the health risk (and probably cover their asses from being sued)! Puu, stinky smokers! lol

In other news I’ve perfected the art of skateboarding while carrying grocery bags over the slalom course, otherwise known as the pavement around here! There’s quite a few trees on the street (if you can call three lanes each way a street?!) we’re on, and the concrete slabs that make up the pavement are tilted on all kinds of funny angles and some have been pushed up to a foot in the air! Makes going shopping an interesting experience, I can tell you! lol

Top 10 Favourite 80's TV Shows

Monday, May 23rd, 2005

I was surfing the ‘net today and saw in someone’s blog a list of their top 10 favourite songs. Anyway, it got me thinking… wouldn’t it be even cooler to list your top 10 favourite tv shows from when you were a kid?

* By kid here I mean under the age of ten, so no making fun of the entries, k :)

With the help of google, I’ve compiled the list of my 10 favourite tv shows from when I was little—complete with pictures and my memories of that particular program…

(more…)

I Think I'll Swim

Sunday, May 22nd, 2005

Nighttime in LA

My iPod is a dog that drools all over the carpet…

The kind of dog that afterwards gives you this sheepish sorry adorable look that you can’t help but forgive it, even though you know you’ll be on your hands and knees scrubbing the floor again the very next day.

I’ve been feeling’ pretty run down recently, that tried hazy worn-out feeling. I don’t know if it’s the heat, the smog, or a combination of both. My friend I’m staying with is out a lot, and his ex-girlfriend took the cable-decoder, so it’s been pretty quiet around the apartment. It’s surprising when you’re in a city surrounded by 10 million other people just how easy it is to feel alone.

So I thought listening to a couple of my favourite tracks on my iPod would cheer me up. However my iPod (in it’s infinite wisdom) delivered an entirely different song to the one I requested with a sheepish “I know this isn’t what you asked for, but will this do?” look on its face… (If the iPod can’t find song you asked for it will skip to the next track, even though the previous song was the one you actually did want to hear)

(more…)

Breathing Fire Out My Nose

Friday, May 20th, 2005

Sushi

Hollyeee, was that some good wasabi or what?! The kind of the burns all the way from the back of your mouth right through to the tips of your nostrils! As you might of guessed, I had some seriously good sushi for lunch today—Wasabi, Shrimp and Avocado [with extra wasabi] Sushi in fact, good shit!

I decided that I’m just going to be broke forever and went grocery shopping again today. In addition to my fire-breathing Sushi, I got Cantaloupe (which is rock melon’s alter ego ;) , Carrot & Bran Muffins (super yum, I’m seriously working hard to resist the temptation to the devour the whole box in one sitting, i.e. like right now, LOL), Weetabix and Bananas. Bananas are my new favourite food, as they seem to be the only thing that doesn’t cost a fortune around here!

It’s still incredibly hot there… I turned on the cold tap today and the water was warm [and i ran it for a while], the other tap was also warm[er]! Ugg. I think they should dispense with the “H” and “C” designations and go with “W” and “EWTO”, for “Warm” and “Even Warmer Than The One”, lol

Closing Words… crossing the road here scares the be’jesus out of me!!

Arrival in Southern California

Thursday, May 19th, 2005

View of Downtown Los Angeles from the window of a Air Tahiti Nui A340

Well I’m back in Southern Cali again, and hot damn, it’s well… it’s really really hot actually! It seems a lot warmer than last year—and you have to worry when the temperature gauge in your friend’s kitchen says 30°C when it’s only 8:30 in the morning! lol.

The picture to the left is of downtown Los Angeles on approach to LAX, from the window of the Air Tahiti Nui A340. I have however photoshopped out most of the haze/smog to make it look a bit nicer ;)

Still getting over a slight case of jet-lag at the moment, and the cold I seem to have caught en-route thanks most probably to the recycled cabin air. Planes up until the early 70′s actually brought in fresh air from outside the aircraft, which is better for you than mountain air and 100% sterile. However, to cut fuel usage and costs during the 70′s oil crisis aircraft started to be designed that recycled the cabin air. The Boeing 727 incidentally was the last plane made that used 100% fresh outside air.

(more…)

Shitty MP3's Must Die!

Monday, May 9th, 2005

Dr Evil

With my next overseas trip just over a week away, I’m in the final mad rush to get everything ready, including breaking in my new Shure e3c Noise Isolating Earphones. These are the in ear canal style units that musicians use, and I have to say the sound quality and detail is quite extraordinary!

I used Sony active noise canceling headphones on my last trip. They helped a lot in reducing the aircraft engine noise, but were quite bulky, only worked on low/mid frequencies and need batteries. The Shure ones on the other-hand block about 25dB across all frequencies (the noise-canceling ones were 10dB) and are very compact, which will help my carry-on baggage only plan for this trip.

They take about a week to properly mold to your ear canal (or your ear canal to mold to the earphones as the case maybe, lol) and break-in the speaker drivers. We’re at day 3 now and they’re definitely getting more comfortable to wear—and the sound quality still blows me away!

(more…)

  • You are currently browsing the Uncle Travelling Matt blog archives for May, 2005.

    The All Knowing Trash Heap