Calgary

Not much to report today but I may as well drone on while I have access to the net here at my aunt's. It's fun!

Long day at the Stampede today - 7am start. We're getting close to opening day and there's still heaps to set up. Our work team's a fine-tuned machine. There's Cole our hard-drinking bean-pole of a supervisor who's working his 9th Stampede in a row. He doesn't stuff around at all. Then there's Aaron the chemical engineering student from somewhere in eastern Canada with the 'Beavis and Butthead' kinda drawl and razor-sharp wit. Big 'Scuba' Steve the ice-hockey player is a real workhorse. The heavy Coke fridges I have to psych myself up into an almost Zen-like trance to lift, he tosses around like play things! There's heaps of lifting in this job and I'm sure I'm working muscles I didn't even know I had.

So the carnys who man the amusement rides started showing up today. And what a sketchy looking bunch! We've received orders to keep everything locked away because last year a bunch of them broke into a drinks fridge. The police found case loads of beer in a carny's trailor, right on Stampede grounds. I saw a bunch of young carns drinking away in their trailor at 3pm this afternoon...

Canadians really are a class act. We had this compulsory orientation session the other day for all temporary staff. It was really comprehensive with two enthusiastic presenters and a multimedia tour and video show on a big screen. They even had an improv comedy duo do a skit to highlight dos and don't for Stampede staff during the festival. I remarked to someone outside how good they were and asked whether they're popular in Canada. He replied 'nah, that's just some guy from one of the kitchens, and I don't know who the other guy is...' Far out, I swear they'd be a good warm-up for Lano and Woodley or the Umbilical Brothers back home.

I'm only beginning to realise how massive the Calgary Stampede really is. My aunt who I'm staying with is a church pastor and she's been telling me how for much of the population it's a really debauched couple of weeks (she's none to impressed with this side of the festival). Divorce rates spike after the Stampede apparantly. People are known to go to lunch at 1pm, have a few drinks and not come back. On the more family-friendly side, each morning there's going to be free pancake breakfasts all over the city. It's a traditional display of 'western hospitality.'

Calgary really is a fascinating place to be in right now because it's a city in transition. I mentioned in previous posts how hot the economy is but how there's literally no accomodation left. Whole famililies are arriving to take up great job opportunites but then turn around and drive right back to where they're from because otherwise they'd be homeless in Calgary. People are making so much $$ here it's ridiculous - those working in oil and gas especially. Also, property speculators are making a killing. House prices have shot up dramatically in the last year. Mix the optimistic populous with the awesome summer weather and the approaching stampede and this place is a hotbed of activity.

I had a chance to get out of town last weekend. I went up to Lake Louise to see the beautiful view of the lake. I think it's regarded as one of the most stunning spots on the planet. You've probably seen pictures of it somewhere. Distractions from tourists aside, staring out at that view you really feel at peace and forget the problems of the world. But then you feel the hot sun beating down and wonder how global warming is wasteing away the big glacier in front of you...!

MG

Nashville North

I'm a workin' man and I've got no plan
But my boots of steel are something real

Maple coursing through my veins
Prairie wind blows foreign pains

Gonna build that bar
Folks will come from far

Gonna drink my share
I'll have no care.

MG

It's a wrap!

So I was an extra in a Hollywood movie last night! I was leaving work at the Stampede grounds and stumbled across a movie being filmed in one of the indoor stadiums. It's a flick called 'Resurecting the Champ' starring Samuel L Jackson. It's a true story about an LA Times journalist who meets a bum on the street who turns out to be an old boxing champion. I guess it'll be coming out next year.

So I just asked the production agency lady what was going on. She looked me up and down for a few seconds and then offered me an extra's job on the spot! They were filming a boxing match sequence so they had the stadium set up like a Las Vegas fight. I was just part of the crowd cheering along. There's a slim chance my mug may be on film but unlikely. There was a more well-dressed set of extras who sat close to the stage. I was just one of the unwashed masses (literelly with my dirty work jeans and all) and we got wrapped after 5 hours. The rest stayed on for some closer shots. It was a pretty cool experience. The other extras were a mixed bunch. Lots of eager professionals with agents, other desparado-types and some who probably just wanted an easy $9 per hour. Some would have been there for up to 12 hours. The 'stars' for me were the anatomically-impossible bikini-clad blonde who held up the 'round 2' sign and the obese crew member with the oversized t-shirt that read 'eat Krispy Kreme Donuts'!

I may do it again if I get the chance. The production agency' lady approached me afterwards and said I should sign up for some more films. Extras don''t really 'do' anything though. I've often wondered about the craft of acting. I think it's still one of life's great mysteries. Brando, who's the most lauded actor of all time, was ambivilant towards his profession and even called acting 'a bum's life'. I remember this book I read once called 'The Way of the Actor' convinved me otherwise. Apparantly in times past the actor was seen as somewhat of an oracle and highly respected by kings and courtiers. I always fall back on the old 80-20 rule. 80% of actors are probably boring showoffs and the other 20% truely inspired creators. All I know is that movie making can be an incredibly complex artform. There's so many people involved and let's face it, watching a good movie can be a powerfully moving experience. That reminds me, I watched 'Somersault' just before leaving OZ. Now that's definately one brilliant Australian production.

That's a wrap.

MG

Prairie Wind

Ok you smart-arses, now no Brokeback Mountain jokes ok? I'm straight as an apache's arrow!

Yep, I'm in Calgary, Alberta, the heart of cowboy country here in Western Canada. I've come up here to visit relatives before searching for work in Vancouer. My philosophy of 'tossing out the map' and just winging it where ever I land has worked well so far this trip. However, mistakenly hopping off the train in the middle of the crack-addicts' hangout the other day was a bit dicey and the walk to the hostel quite the obstacle course.

I may stay here longer than I'd anticipated. I've arrived just before the massive Calgary Stampede rodeo show and I've got a job working at Stampede Park. The Calgary Stampede is apparantly the biggest outdoors event in the world so this place is going to be jumping very soon.
The romance of discomfort is still well alive for me so I've accepted a labouring job helping to set up 'Nashville North', which for a couple of weeks will become the largest bar in North America. I'm running around, lifting and moving heavy stuff. Working outside is fantastic. My colleagues are a friendly bunch and I guess I'm doing ok. Every work team needs a skinny, left-handed, logisically-challenged, over-educated Aussie! Once the Stampede starts I'll be flat out helping to keep the bar fully stocked. It's going to be quite a sight seeing this place full of drunken cowboys n cowgirls. I should be meeting lots of interesting people the next few weeks. Photos to come...

Summer has just begun and the weather is glorious. I was last here in the dead of winter and I swear it was actually -30 celcius! At the 'hottest' part of the day I could feel my toes going numb after 10 minutes outside and it felt like acid was stripping the skin off my uncoverd face. Calgary's actually quite nice underneath all that snow. It's a very pragmatic workers kinda city so it's got a very different vibe to uber-trendy Vancouver - lots of massive big cars and 4WDs everywhere. Like all of Canada though it's quite multicultural.

I tell you why I may stay for awhile after the Stampede- the energy industry-fueled economy is absoutlely outacontrol!! The best in 50 years apparantly. There is a massive worker shortage to the exent that many small businesses have been forced to close because they can't find staff. Workers just keeping leaving their bosses to move to higher paid jobs, even if it's only 25c more per hour. I'll have no problems getting work at all. There effectively isn't even a minimum wage anymore in this city. The big problem is housing. Workers are pouring in from all over the country and overseas and there's not enough accomodation. There are well-paid workers sleeping in tents! I'm ok for a couple of weeks staying with relatives but after that dunno what i'll do. I could got north and work in the oil fields. People say I could even get paid well and learn a qualified trade - starting as an apprentice basically. Somehow I don't think that's for me though.

That's aboot all for now eh?

MG

Photo: Exhausted post-trip in Vancouver

Photo: 'lil Slugger in NY

Photo: Disturbing image from Muscle Beach, Ca.

Photo: Da boyz, pre-trip bash

Sonic infusion

Vancouver is a welcome respite to hectic USA. What an awesome place. And it's just about to hit summer as well. I'm staying with my Aunt n Uncle for a couple of weeks until I find a job and a place to live.

This is boom-town!!! The economy is going through the roof and there are jobs everywhere. The adjacent province Alberta here in the west is even more out of control to the point where it's the only place in the country where there are working homeless i.e so many people are going to Calgary to fill countless jobs that there is not enough accomodation for everyone. They still can't get enough workers and they're having expos overseas to entice foreigners. The boom is mainly caused by an expanding energy sector and the oil industry in particular. Workers are making a killing in the oil fields. Just here in Vancouver yesterday I was offered a job on the spot in a travel agent.

So, if any of you Aussies are looking for a working holiday, now is the time to 'go west young man/woman'! I've applied for my social security number so I can officially work as a Canadian. I was thinking of holding off for awhile but it's probably for the best to get the number now to avoid sliding into some murky cash-in-hand work life which would be pretty easy to do. I'm not sure what sort of work to do yet but I'm trying to avoid 9-5 office work.

Canadians are awesome. Here's treatment I wouldn't have gotten in the US: I went into the government office to apply for my social security number. The unusually friendly bureaucrat at the counter said he was terribly sorry that it was going to take 40 minutes to process and would I mind if I had to wait. I felt like he was going to lay prostrate before me and weep at my feet in utter dispair at the pain a 40 minute wait would be! I felt like saying I would have waited in line for 10hrs with no food and drink in the cold and rain to get this little number that's going to let me earn a living in this wonderful city.

Last night I saw the old Seattle band Mudhoney play at a venue in downtown Vancouver. I imagine they pop over the border to play here fairly regularly. They were around before the big grunge explosion of '91 and they're still rocking hard in their signature super-fuzzed out stlye. The classic 'Touch me I'm Sick' had an early run in the set. I can't get the song 'Sonic Infusion' from their last record out of my head. I bought an awesome maroon tour t-shirt.

MG

On the Ipod: Mudhoney, 'March to Fuzz (best of)'

Evidence of the decline of western civilisation #8921

People are on edge in the US. In less than two weeks I witnessed 3 instances of complete strangers abusing the heck out of eachother. I'm talking serious neck-vein-popping, spittle forming round the edge of the mouth, 'f**k-you buddy' slanging matches:

#1 A drunken guy on a bus in LA bumping into a fellow passenger who proceeded to swear his head off about what on inconsiderate 'asshole' he was. They continued to hurl insults at eachother while sitting side by side for a few miles; #2 A big burly manwith a hard-hat under his arm abusing a skinny little Scientology guy who was spruiking L Ron Hubbard's books in a NY subway station; #3 A smart-arsed white kid trying to destroy the cred of a black guy - just off from work at the airport in Newark, New Jersey, having dinner at a fried chicken joint - for supposedly not knowing the 'real story' of Malcolm X because he'd 'only seen the movie'.

What was most disturbing about the later two incidents was the complete lack of genuine rational argument. Instead the weaker parties were bullied with barages of twisted logic. They'd latch onto a 'point' and just repeat it with increasing aggitation.

And then the New York Times mentioned that a tourist was randomly stabbed by a guy on the subway. It was completely unprovoked. The cops think it might have been a gang initiation. What's scary is that it occured right at the 103rd St station where I was getting off each day to get back to the hostel! It reminds me of when I went canoeing up at Kakadu in the Northern Territory and saw in the paper the next day that a massive salt-water crock was pulled from the river I was falling out of my canoe into all day!

MG

The last post...for now

I'm in the New York Public Library again on the free internet. I think I'll just check out of the hostel and make may way over to New Jersey and explore. I was going to check out where Keroauc did some of his writing in Queens but I've realised my map isn't detailed enough to find his old place so maybe next time. No doubt I'll be revisiting some of his books soon because they're pefect fuel for a young man with a serious case of wanderlust.

So the tentative plan is to stay on the road as much as I can for the next year and 1 1/2 and work when I have to. I feel like I'm only warming up after 1 month. I've never felt healthier and more certain that this is what I should be doing right now. Living by your wits and encoutering new situations each day just seems like the most natural thing in the world. Of course this is all dependant on $$ so I'll be hitting the streets to find work in Vancouver asap. Either way I'll be posting up here what ever I get up to.

So Australia won our first game in the World Cup! Halleluia!! I've been too disorganised to work out when games are playing but I'll make certain to watch the next game when I get on my feet in Canada. The NHL ice-hockey finals are on as well and the Edmonton Oilers are up by one game I think. It brings back memories of when I was in Edmonton in 1986 and Gretsky's Oilers took home the Cup. I remember winning some betting comp at my relatives place. Must have been about how many goals would be scored or something.

End of trip tally (16 May - 13 June '06):

- Countries visited: New Zealand, Britain, USA
- Good friends made: 3
- Hangovers: 2
- Lost items: Guide book to NY, 2 bottles of shampoo, 1 bag of fruit
- Burgersn fries eaten: approx 10
- Books bought: 2
- Photos taken 120

Peace-out

MG

June '06

'Rocky' run

Only I more day in New York city. I fly out of Newark airport in New Jersey at 7:30am on the 14th so I'm going to stay in New Jersey tomorrow night to make sure I don't bugger up the subway and miss the plane (the subway has caused me a bit of grief this week: I got a little lost a few times; last night a woman came onto me who I'm pretty sure was a hooker so I just smiled politely and burried my head in my book). Jersey is famous for its countless churches and bars. I may get acquainted with the some of the later on my last night in the US.

The other night I was bailed up in the kitchen by two Dutch girls who firstly droned on about why their country is so great and secondly picked my brains for where to go in NY since I'd been here for a week. I agreed to check out Harlem with them on Sunday. Harlem is going through a renaissance and it stood in stark contrast to the more chaotic Brooklyn I'd visited earlier in the week. The sidewalks were crowded with well-heeled and proud-looking folk and going from church services. We found this very famous Baptist (or Methodist(?)) church that's apparently a must-see because it has an amazing choir. The line to go on in was ridiculous so I said goodbye to the gals and wandered off into Central Park to pour through the massive tree-trunk weekend edition of the New York Times. I've learned so much about Amercia by reading the paper each day. Central Park was simply stunning on that sunny Sunday.

I explored slick SOHO in the afternoon and then onto Chinatown which is massive and more like a China city. Little Italy was adjacent and full of people watching the World Cup in the bars. I was determined to find the famous CBGBs club where New York's punk first kicked around in the 70s and I finally found it down the end of the Bowery. Sonic Youth are playing there tonight. It's amazing to think they were making a racket at that little bar way back in 1983. I emailed the club a month ago to try to get a ticket and then emailed back saying no chance because the gig sold out in 5 seconds flat!

So today I did a took the bus up to Philadelphia. Philly is only a couple of hours away. It's a beautiful city and super historical. It's where the Declaration of Independence was signed, where the Liberty Bell is located and where the Colonial Congress sat for the first time in 1779. I hoped on one of those hop-on and hop-off bus tour things to see the sights. The highlight of course was running up the steps of the Museum the Stallone ran up in Rocky 1! My hearty American breakfast of coffee and donuts gave me all the energy I needed tp power up the steps. Rocky's a damn good movie. I remember watching it on the plane back from Canada last time and being instantly inspired to do something big (which I quickly forgot in my jet-lagged state). After a cheese steak and root beer on uber-cool South street in the early afternoon I jumped on the bus back to NY.

And here I am, back at the hostel wandering what do on my last day here. I've been totally engrossed in a copy of Jack Keroauc's journals I picked up the other day and I'm thinking of making the pilgrimage out to Queens where he pumped out 'On the Road' and drank himself to death a couple of decades later at age 47. It's tragic to read in the journals how as a 26yr old he was convinced that he was through with drinking when infact the drink got a serious hold on him in later years when fame messed with everything.

MG

On the Ipod: Lou Reed, 'Transformer'

Evidence of the decline of Western civilisation #7043...

I saw on television yesterday that an obese American woman sold a piece of stale pizza that appeared to show a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary among the cheese and other toppings... for $20,000! She has decided to tattoo a picture of the slice on her right breast - probably where she found it when she woke up on the couch.

Nuff said.

MG

Art-up

Who wouldn't want to live in New York if they could afford it?! Everything is here. You feel more creative having just spent a few days soaking up bits & pieces, sights n sounds. Despite rushing about like a man possesed I've barely seen a thing and now only a few days to go. If I get my act together i'll try to bus it to Boston and back before flying out to Canada on the 13th.

Geez it's hard to recollect everything I've seen already. I've been staying in hostels around Manhatten, which is the most heavily built-up of the five bouroughs in New York, and taking subways and buses all over the place. The Museum of Natural History was a real treat. If hanging out in some of these insanely populated cities makes you feel like an insigificant bag of bones then this museum makes you realise that in the grant scheme of history you're just a fleck of dust at the back of a dinosaur's scrotum! The exhibits on all the major cultures of the world were insightful but demolarising too when I thought of how much more of the world there is to see and so little time.

I overdid it a bit again yesterday with the walking and I'm feeling it today. First up was the old bohemian district of Greenich Villiage. Like all the once-cool downbeat places it's all gentrified thesedays with expenisve restaurants and shops. Keroauc, Burroughs and Ginsburg et al used hang out here in the 50s and 60s. I ate my sandwich on the spot where Dylan first started playing his folk tunes to passersby.

In the afternoon I look the subway into Brooklyn and I pounded the streets under the hot sun for what seemed like forever. Brooklyn is one of the five bouroughs of NY that's almost entirely populated by African-Americans. It's got a very different feel to slick Manhattan. The town centre was really full-on. I kept wandering further and further out until I started to get some weird looks from some homeboys close to dusk.

I found myself in the East Villiage in the early evening. It's the cool area when most of the first-generation punk bands started out in the late 70s. I could almost picture Joey Ramone slinking along Avenue A. I was reading in the NY Times earlier that day about this group of homeless Polish men who tend to congregate together around a certain spot in NY and sure enough this old guy who slumped down next to me on a park bench told me he was Polish. A lively girl from Seattle I chatted to pulled a piano accordion out of knowwhere and started accompanying a nearby busking Frenchman. The drunken Pole bellowed 'only in New York' as he danced a jig to the tunes.

The weather's not as good today so I hit the Guggenheim Art Museum this morn' to Art-up with some Picasso! A lot of the space was taken up by the concepts of some British architect that were pretty impressive (I guess). I was more taken though by the Jackson Pollack pieces. His big canvases like Blue Poles on display in Canberra are fairly well known but this exhibition showed a lot of his smaller work on paper. It's funny, two separate people I've met on this trip have remarked that I should be some sort of artist(?). I wish somebody had told this lost soul that 10yrs ago...

MG

On the Ipod: Ramones, 'Rocket to Russia'

'Looks like it's raining, raining in my head'

I just experienced a classic NY moment. Walking down the street with an umbrella in the pouring rain, a little too close to the curb, and a yellow taxi cab splashed an ocean of water all over my jeans. Soaked in 1 second flat. Goddamn.

I'm at the New York City Public Library using the free internet. Massive old building. Might come back tomorrow, especially if it's still raining. Getting my energy back afer being wasted with the flu yesterday. So much to see.

MG

Food

I've been thinking a lot about food on this trip. Standing in line at Burger King in Piccadilly I observed an English lad almost come to blows with his mates for draging him into the place: 'So it's Saturday night and we're in bleedin' Burger King. It's common, it's cheap and it's nasty. This is where people come to die! I can't believe you dragged me here,' he said. I silently agreed.

My decision to go to Burger King was based on units of energy. I figured that I needed plenty of energy for my backpacking and that for my money, a large Whopper meal would give me more calories than anything else I could find in Piccadilily i.e a pure economic decision based on my limited $$. I wonder if I'd make the same choice if I was a struggling single dad living in East End London. It's easy to rationalise this if you're living in the here and now. It really is more time consuming and expensive to prepare good, healthy meals and that's not right.

I know it's natural to put on a little bit of weight each year but when I see a New Yorker no older than me who's obese I wander if their country has let them down. Free choice aside, you can't deny that bad food is ridiculously commonplace here. We really take it for granted that in Australia you can't go 5 seconds without finding some Sushi or a gluten free muffin but in the USA walking down the street is really running the gauntlet between Mc-this and Burger-that. I'll never forget the epic journey I made up into the Hollywood Hills to find a piece of fruit. Sure there's healthy food around but you've gotta search it out.

I read that Kenneth Slosser book 'Fast Food Nation' when it came out a few years ago. It's a very insightful read about the fast food industry in the states. Apparantly they're turing this non-fiction piece into a fictional movie. Should be controversial.

MG

Hey Ho, Let's Go!

I'm struggling with the flu today in New York and feel totally rotten. Perhaps my body's strugglng being back on the Nth American diet of burgers and fizzy drinks. Well the old Beat writers of the East Villiage used to force themselves to battle on through all manner of hangover and associated malladies so onward!

Ok, England isn't so bad I guess, at least now while the weather is mild. In my last couple of days I took a bus to Oxford (hey Aldous Huxley studied there!) and then to Cambridge and back to London. I found Oxford underwhelming for some reason but I really did enjoy wandering through the cobble streets of Cambridge. Back in London I hung out with some actors from LA who were on their way to Germany to perform in some big theatre event. They're cool people and I'm going to keep in touch. The markets of Campden town were fanstastic. After all the conspicuous wealth of the city is was great to wander around with the people. Next time I'd like to get out into the suburbs more and experience the rich multicultural community.

Oh yeah, surely London has the most beautiful women in the world!

I've been in New York for a couple of days now. I know this trip is not overly exotic - i'm not hacking my way with a machette though the Amazon or racking up debts in an oriental opium den(!) - but it's just great to experience these big major world centres and absorb what the collective world mind is on about in '06. Besides, New York is in some ways the centre of the western world. That really came through in the cruise up the river that I did yesterday. The guide rattled off some really impressive stats - this place truely is the most rich cultural melting on the globe. The tour guide was a real enthusiast. I generally assume a lot of these guys are secret misanthropes who would take great pleasure in tearing off the finger nails of their customers, but this guy was switched on and friendly.

So i got to meet up with my little brother Andrew yesterday! He's in America for a work thing (he's the smart, successful one!) so he swung by NY to hang out with me. We went pretty hard yesterday - climbed the Empire State building, took in ground zero, and checked out Wall Street (I worked on my best disaffected angry young man look for a photo out the front of the NY Stock. Exchange!). The evening was fantastic - we went to a Yankees baseball game at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx! We loaded up on hotdogs, beer and pretzels and soaked up the electric atmosphere. The local supporters were intense and took great pleasure in humilating the hapless Boston fans whose team was wiped out by the local big hitters.

Can't wait to check out the bohemian East villiage tomorrow. Still plenty to see in Manhattan so a week will be well spent here. Might go across the harbour to Hoboken, NJ as well.

MG

On the Ipod: Ramones, 'Leave home' (what a 'New York' album!)