Planes suck

Okay, so I got up at 4:10am this morning to get to the airport, only to find out that the flight was cancelled. We're leaving tomorrow instead (another early morning - it's the same flight). We're also back at the same hotel.

Woot.

Andy

Andy Warhol did Marilyn Monroe. I just remembered.

Did a painting of her, I mean. 

It'd be a racist stereotype if it wasn't completely true

Oh yeah, at the first Mexican place we stayed at (Merida) there was a small luggage porter called, no kidding, Pepito. Pepito came and struggled to move all our luggage. Hah. Hahaha.

Now we're in Cancun, lazing by the poolside, eating nachos, and gazing at the Carribbean. The same Carribbean that Johnny Depp has pirated in. Yep. I'm slightly famous. There's spas and drinks and saunas and sunlight and stuff. All the mod cons. (PS I know what the mod stands for, but what are the cons? And how come the cons are all good things?? That's just confusing).

Um.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, relaxing and stuff. Reading. Nachos. The good life. I've also written an Ode to Listerine.

An ode to Listerine
(sung to the tune of 'hey there, blimpy boy' twice, because that's the only line Homer sings)

Hey there, Listerine
Freshening my mouth so sparkly clean
Listerine, teeth defense
The flavour is minty, and the burn's intense

This is clearly my best blog post yet.

Mexico etc.

Stupid f&ckng- mexican keyboard´{s with keys in the 7swrong places. Itnersetngliy, I reenclty dcsoivred taht the hmaun biarn can dicepehr stneeecns wrhee the lterets are mxied up so lnog as the frsit and lsat lttrees are in tiher rgiht sopts.

Yeah.

I went to New York. Which included Nintendo World. I gots me some profits. I bought a few things, and will peddle them back home to sucke.... willing recipients, at a price. I also went to some pointless stores. Why have an M&Ms store on Times Square where you can barely buy actual chocolate M&Ms? Sure, you can buy M&Ms t-shirts and golfing equipment and dental hygiene products, but why is it so hard to get some actual chocolate? Sigh.

On a better note, Nintendo World was cool. I played Excite Truck, which was fun, and made me wonder why the hell we didn't get it, Elebits and Trauma Center and all that stuff on Wii launch back home. Spotted some component cables but the people were unsure whether it would work on PAL systems, and wouldn't say either way. Bastards. I did get me a Mr Resetti doll, though. With my profitses.

I also went to the Apple store...you know, the glass cube one. It was loud, and I think most of the people there were just on the demo computers so they could use Safari to check their email for free. That's what I was there for, anyway. I did watch fifteen minutes of The Office on an iPod, though. And ride Willy Wonka's great glass elevator (no seriously, and it's not a euphamism). Georgie wants a new iPod, so dad was running around comparing prices and converting to Australian dollars and forgetting to carry the three and whatnot. There was an 8 gig nano at another store for US$219, but then the guy was all shifty and would only do it if we bought all this other shit like adapters and headsets and stuff. Fucker. So maybe we'll get one in Japan. Or wait and see what's announced next week at the Apple conference.

Incidentally, we got an iPod for dad for christmas, but he took it back the next day because he thought he could get one, or some other type of player, for cheaper when overseas. Except it's all been more expensive. So...yeah.

Mexican mexican food is great. Then it gets progressively less cool the more you eat of it. That's why you only have tacos every few months. It's nice occassionally, but it's sickening when you eat it constantly. We're going to Cancun tomorrow for some resort time (woot)...which also means it's nearing the end of the trip. Damn, I'd better write some Switchling fast...

We went to Chinchen-Itza today, which are some ancient Incan ruins. I was appalled to see they let everyone clamber all over them. I watched one american idiot knock a 3000 year old incan fireplace slightly akilter (sp?). Meanwhile I was walking on a pyramid. Hey, when in Rome. I have some cool pictures of me doing the whole Inca experience. You know, sitting on columns, climbing steps, eating fajitas in dodgy cafes, driving home on motorways, listening to an iPod, haggling, squirrels...the whole kit and even some kaboodle (sp?) too. More kaboodle than I expected, really. There was almost too much kaboodling going on. It was like, kaboodle city over there. Crazy.

I didn't realise squirrels moved so fast.

New York was rocking. We caught up with some family friends. We distracted the young (7 and 10) kids while the adults chatted, which was tiring in the end but still enjoyable. They get distracted and are so full of energy. You know how it is. Hard work. We went to MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art), saw some Manet and stuff. And that Marilyn Monroe guy. There was some really cool stuff, to be honest. I felt sorry for the kids though. And they were being converted to vegetarianism, I think too.

I was on TV, in the background of a bad cable tv sports panel which looked onto a square at 10pm at night. The laptops the people had on their desks weren't on. Don't trust the bastards, they'll act like they're doing something on them, but they're not.

My bag is really heavy. I have so many pressies and souvenirs and Nintendo World jackets (well, that's not really true, but I do have one). It's like 29 kilos.

Hooray for abrupt and unsatisfying endings.

Last night in Europe

In both senses. We leave tomorrow. And last night was New Year's.

Slightly sad to be leaving Europe, since it's been fun here, but I'm looking forward to the next phase.

The Americas! After a flight to London (where I have high expectations that we'll be delayed for some indeterminant amount of time), we fly to New York. In New York, we meet with some family friends, which should be fun. They've just moved from Australia. I mean, Austria. Same diff. Also on my agenda is a visit to Nintendo World. It's just like a theme park, except with less 'theme park' and more 'Nintendo museum and memorabilia'. Should be good.

Went to Milan the other day, which is supposedly the fashion capital of Italy. Since we went on New Year's Eve's Day most of the shops were closed, make it more a 'crapital' of Italy. Poo. And I so wanted those 700 euro Armani jeans.

I'm so spoilt from these business class flights that I'm really really not looking forward to the FPS trip to the US later this year, because it's certainly not going to be business class. Did I mention that we're flying first class for a 13 hour leg!?! Dudeee......Dallas to Tokyo is gonna rock.

New Year's Eve is crazy in Italy. They don't have much concern for public safety. People were throwing firecrackers off the top of the hotel roof into the parking lot. And they were let of in the streets too, with people walking past shielding their heads and stuff. So anyhow, we had a big dinner at a fancy hotel, all the usual crap - truffle sauces, rare and/or smoked meat. Well, I guess you can't really have 'and' there. Not very filling. Then at midnight we went out to the lake just across the road (Lake Como - go look it up) and watched the fireworks from all angles. Behind us they were in the street, and the main attraction was in the middle of the lack (off a jetty). It went for about half an hour, and put Skyshow so much to shame that Skyshow decided not compete and won't happen this year. True story. It was awesome.

Then we returned and ate raw pork with lentils. Well, stared at it and pushed it around on the plate.

Luckily, the night was saved by assorted celebratory presents on the table, like these pea shooter things which started wars between tables as we fired paper balls at each other (provided with the tube, not improvised - it was clearly intended for a West Side Story-like feud).

My cold, which swapped from a dripping nose to a headcold and cough, has now reswapped back to a dripping nose from a head cold. But the cough remains. Oh crap, reserve battery power. Why am I always racing to write these things?

Also, Italian is stuck in some weird 20th century musical time zone. People were dancing to Love Is In The Air and doing The Twist. There was something in the air, but I don't think it was Love. Pot, probably.

That pretty much sums up the EU, really. Raw meat, crowded places, heavy smoking and reckless endangerment of life.