Community Kitchens and Wanting to be a Rockstar...

I really can't wait to find a house, this hotel type living is not for me, I need a kitchen. We have a community kitchen which is alright, but it lacks decent cookware. Every once in a while I like to cook up a batch of my famous pancakes with some eggs n' sausage. The hob (stove) has two settings: "Kind of Warm" and "Hot as Hell". I haven't been able to find the in between yet. As for cookware, for those non-cooks out there...Don't use metal in a pan/pot. Why you ask? Because it scratches them and they loose their non-stick special abilities. So I ended up with this pile of carbon flavored pancakes that even 2 cups of syrup couldn't hide the taste. The eggs were alright, although I did put in two and got one, the other is still stuck to the pan.
Anyway...I also got to experience UK censorship for the first time. I was listening to Nickelback's Rockstar and noticed a certain emptiness wherever the word "drug" was supposed to be. "Where the - come cheap" ...it just doesn't sound the same. What is the purpose of censorship anyway? If you're going to delete content, then just don't play it in the first place, why ruin it, we all know what they're saying anyway. F%@& Censorship.

Anyone Can Be an Artist. My Trip to London...

I've traveled many countries and when I was told that using the Underground can be quite confusing and I was a bit worried I may get lost. The Underground is what we Americans know as a "Subway" and consists of, to the unfamiliar traveler, a multitude of colored lines, twists, turns and connections. For anyone that has considered traveling the Underground "Difficult", I invite you to take a trip through Japan's transit system where there's probably 3x as many lines and nothing is in English. So for 25L I got on the train and took off to the Tate Modern Museum where the Nissan Free Ride Challenge awaited my arrival.

If you don't know what free riding is, check out the video. It's kind of like a cross between mountain biking, BMX and Urban Riding. The grand prize was for 100,000L and if you convert that to American cash, we're talking $200,000…where do I sign up?

I've actually considered taking up the sport, however, entering at 31 years old and not being very coordinated, I'll stick with the old style mountain biking where your bike typically stays on the ground.

I didn't stay for the full event but I did manage to get some video. I was a bit disappointed when I arrived and went to take a couple shots with my regular camera only to find out I left my battery on the charger back at the hotel. So all I had was my video camera that only takes sub-par 1MB still pics.

Once the qualifications were done I took a break to visit the museum at which the event was taking place…I learned what "true" modern art is and discovered that anyone could be a potential artist. Cameras weren't allowed but it is something you have to experience in person anyway.

To become a modern art artist, buy some oil paint and a canvas, dip your hand in the paint and splash it on the canvas. You can use one color or several. It doesn't matter because what you create will be hung on a wall for others to sit down and study the painting for hours and discuss amongst each other what you were thinking at the time you created your work of art.

There is also modern art in motion; something I certainly didn't know existed. This is a film that is created and shown on the wall as if it were a painting. Here is one way to become a motion picture modern artist…Pull out all but one of your teeth, shave your head, have somebody punch you a couple times to puff up your face, dye your head red, get naked, tuck your penis between your legs and dance to African drums…now that's art!

My curiosity was really getting to me to see what the rest of the place consisted of but it was time to catch the train back, otherwise it would cost another 120L+ ($250) to stay another day. Till next time London…Cheers!

First Day at the New Job

JAC Molesworth...I work with primarily Airforce & Army and it's not that bad. Much more laid back than that shipboard life.

Here was my introduction to the new command:
"Hey, we need you to be an observer for a urinalysis" For you non-military folk out there, I basically had to watch a bunch of guys pee in a cup for drug testing. "Hi, I'm SK2 Vic Henderson, new guy here and I get to watch you pee, pleasure to meet you". Then I went to a luncheon for someone that I knew for only a total of 10 minutes...Too bad she had to go, seemed like we just lost a good person from the way everyone talked. Sexual Harassment Panda shoulda been at the luncheon too, he woulda had a blast. I think I work in a shop that lives in the gutter and I kinda like it.
Then I got something that I haven't seen for about 3 years since reporting to the Oscar Austin...a four day weekend! If it wasn't for having to save some cash for a house/car I probably woulda headed to Germany or something, but only going to London for a day...More to come on that. Cheers Mates!

A New Beginning

I think I'm actually going to start using this blog thing again. Figured I can keep all my stateside peeps up to date with misc. stuff since I know I can kinda suck at e-mailing...

English Bathtubs

Now I'm not sure if all bathtubs in England are like this, but the one at the "hotel" I'm staying at is just a bit different. One, it's a god awful puke yellow. It also has a very touchy temperature knob that if not careful can be mistaken for the "on/off" knob and you can burn the crap out of yourself then shock yourself and testicles in a surge of cold water. But the worst part is that it is about 6 inches higher than your normal tub, yet on the inside it is the same depth. Not a big deal right? Well try taking a relaxing shower and then pleasantly stepping outside of it with the expectation of your foot hitting the ground at the "normal" bathtub height...The outcome, a minor curse but no damage, I caught myself just in time to not slam my head into the toilet.
Welcome to England.

Cheers...