April 13, 2008
I woke up today to yet another beautiful sunny southern California day! With a ray of blinding sunlight finding its way through a crack in the window shade I was forced awake, it was as if god was sending me a signal to say get up and enjoy this wonderful day.
Less than a week ago I was sitting in a swimming pool in Bangkok Thailand talking about this very thing. I was with 2 friends from Vancouver, 1 guy from London and 3 hot Swedish girls. They all said oh it must be so nice to be going back to sunny California.
I never really thought about it that way, but we began talking about enjoying the sun. All of these guys only get nice warm sunshine a few months out of the year and for that poor bastard from London he might only see 1 week of sunshine per year, hence his ghostly like complexion. I started to realize that these guys that hardly ever see sun really truly enjoy their brief moments in it. I then began to remember my endless sun filled days in Los Angeles, where for the most part people really take it for granted.
So I posed the question to the gang. Read more…
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April 12, 2008
Most people already know that the United States leads the world in Obesity (Fat people). Everywhere I go people ask me “Oh your American… are all the people in American fat?” Since I have been back I have been having a hard time eating. My body has got used to the smaller portions from overseas. Also the US puts chemicals (preservatives) in the food, which makes it harder on our bodies to process. But I think I have found the reason why Americans are so fat! Its because we eat double the food everyone else does! It’s all about portion control.
Every meal since I have been home I cannot finish it, but yet I try to and that is where the problem comes in. Each extra bit I stuff in I can feel my stomach stretching; I feel soo full that I could puke. It makes prefect sense, our stomachs are like a balloon… the more you stuff in the bigger it gets and that means the next time you eat you will have to eat more to be full. Some people might say “Well so what, I have a full stomach?” well here is the other major problem. Most people including myself do NOT do enough exercise during the day to burn off all that food we just shoved down our throats. So that food (fat) just gets stored away in our ass or belly and begins to grow and we become fat ass American’s!
Here is a quote from Paul A. Stitt, MS, Biochemistry “Americans eat more sugar and artificial sweeteners than any other people on earth. Americans also experience more episodes of acute hunger each day than any other people on earth - many people eat 11 times a day. . . . And Americans do less physical work per day than any other nation. We ride more and walk less than other people.” Read more…
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April 10, 2008
Jet lag is no new thing; people have been dealing with it for years and years. But it is for sure kicking my ass right now! I met a pilot in Bangkok that said jet lag is much worse when you travel west. Well it also sucks when you travel east! Since I have been home (3 days now) I have been sleeping at all hours of the day. I used to be able to deal with it much easier; maybe it’s that I’m getting older. Today I fell asleep at 4pm for what i was hoping would be a 30 minute nap but i didn’t wake up until 1am, so I am now writing this wide-awake at 2 in the morning! Ahhhh the life of a traveler!
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April 8, 2008
The first order of business when someone moves to Los Angeles is getting yourself a car. Los Angeles is probably one of the biggest and most spread out cities in the world. With the lack of adequate public transportation, getting around can be a real pain in the ass. When I came back to LA I was trying to figure out what kind of car to get. With the gas prices reaching almost $4 a gallon, it would have to be a car that’s good on gas.
The days of the big gas guzzling SUV’S are gone. After traveling the world and seeing the peril that our world is in, I feel the need to be a little more conscious of my actions. During my time overseas I have seen soo many small little cool cars that would be great in the US. But for some reason they still haven’t hit the roads here.
While I was living/hanging out in Tokyo Japan a friend of mine there had a Smart Car. It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with this car. I said to myself god I wish these cars were available in the US. Well they are now… they were just released here last month. The Smart Car is the right car at the right time. Not only does it get 50 miles to the gallon but its designed and built with the environment in mind. Some of the cars components are made from recycled material, from the seats to the dashboard to the plastic door panels. But its not just about saving money on gas and helping the environment, its also one of the cheapest cars you can buy. The Smart Car is only $12000, so for that price I couldn’t say no. People might wonder well its soo small it must be uncomfortable, i’m not going to lie its not like riding in a Mercedes Benz. I used to own a Mini Cooper, so I am used to small cars. But once you sit in the Smart Car you realize that it actually feels pretty freaking good. Read more…
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April 6, 2008
A lot people have asked me what’s it going to be like to go back home… and I don’t really know. I haven’t really put too much thought into it. Upon arriving back into the US of A… I was quickly greeted by the long arm of the law! I’m not sure if it was my blood shot eyes from lack of sleep or the smell of Bangkok’s back alleys on me. Whatever it was I was taken aside and given one major pat down.
Normally I don’t really have anything on me to worry, but today I had a fist full of Valium (sleeping pills) and some pirated DVD’s from Thailand. I started to panic a bit since the US is cracking down on the piracy act and they are now handing out huge fines for bringing in fake goods. The worst part was I had already watched the movies and had no intent on bring them back, I just simply forgot to take them out.
After 10 long minutes of hand magic to keep the security checkers eyes away from my secret compartment on my bag… I was free to go. He seemed more interested in why I had two passports, not because its illegal (which its not) but because he wants to get one and was asking questions on how to.
Now for some of you that don’t know much about Los Angeles, LA sucks if you don’t have a car to get around. So I headed to Enterprise rent car to pick up my sweet new wheels. They upgraded me to some new car (forgot the name) that looks pretty sweet. LA is a very image conscious city so you can’t go riding around in no piece of crap… (Just kidding I don’t really care) I pulled out of the lot and ask the girl at the gate “Which way to San Francisco?”…she laughed and I said, “No just joking…. Which way to the 405?”. I forgot that it was now Saturday after noon, so when I hit the 405 all I saw was different shades of red… red brake lights that is! The 405 looked more like a parking lot then a freeway. I thought to myself… “Welcome home!”
After sitting in traffic for 30 minutes or so I finally made it to my friend Tom’s house. I forgot to write down his apartment # so I had to knock on a few doors to find him. Tom is a good friend of mine that I met while working at MTV. At this point I was starving so I dropped off my bags and headed for a place that I have been dreaming about for a long long time. One thing about traveling for such long periods of time is that you sure do miss certain things from home. For me I miss the food the most. There is a place in LA called Koo Koo Roo, which is basically a place where you can get chicken sandwiches and a few other things. I sometimes like to eat the same thing over and over again until I get sick of it. But not Koo Koo Roo, I have been eating here for over 8 years now with no signs of stopping. When I walked into the restaurant I took one big whiff to take in all the different smells. I probably looked like some homeless man that hasn’t eaten in weeks. I tasted each bit as if it might be my last. Two older ladies sat across from me probably thinking that I was on drugs. Well the truth was I was in heaven and food was my drug.
The US leads the world with fat people; I never really noticed it until today. I have seen more overweight people in only 4 hours of being home then I have seen over the last 6 months overseas! I better be careful with my Koo Koo Roo or I will be joining the epidemic. After getting a cell phone I headed back to Tom’s place for some much needed sleep. Tom’s cat meat baller, who is the fattest cat I have ever seen kept me company through the night. And that was my first few hours of being home.
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