Future becomes a reality...

So, after struggling with UCAS and bad, bad hotel internet I was surprised to find out that after basically asking Goldsmiths to reject me because I knew I wouldn't get in, I have "Cogratulations!" been "accepted to the Goldsmiths' Media and Communications course starting this September".
I am really glad to be moving to New Cross after all, and also happy I'll be doing some creative stuff for the next 3 years, with lots of good equipment to work on my photography, video-editing and perhaps even music. I just hope the environment doesn't get to my head.
Also, the prospect of not living through University with Sofia is kind of terrifying. I guess I at least already know some of the big (self-proclaimed) sleazy boys from the last year, so I already have a base. Okay, so I'll be writing from New Cross, London as of September 20th. Exciting.

(I'll write about the continuation of my holiday when I get home tommorow, packing).

Santa Monica

Yesterday we took a short trip down to Santa Monica. Not really my kind of place but quite fun to look around, and I finally took photos of some people. Unfortunatley my zoom broke, my lens is perenally dirty and I can never take decent metering with such bright sunlight.




We ate at the note Bubba Gump. I still didn't quite look into why it's Forrest Gump themed (also because I still have not seen the movie itself), but eating so much Shrimp was pretty exciting. Can't say my stomach was ultimatley as delited as my palate after this feast.






We then sat down on a patch of grass to listen to some Jazz band, but we had to leave before it even started because my dad drank some grape Fanta and had a massive allergic reaction to we are not sure what.



Sorry for the brief sentences but I didnt get a lot of sleep. I'm staying with Clara for the next couple of days, really excited!

Buffalo Belly

In case you are wondering about the title, it is my Red Indian name, awarded to me by my loving father. Only title I could think of which sums up exploring more natural parks, discovering how amazing local Apple pie is and expanding my collection of Native American portrait postcards.

Yesterday we finally took a decent walk. We took a route down Bryce Canyon, and exploring it from the low levels made it overall a way greater Canyon experience than the Grand Canyon. Had I had the option I would've picked to take this stride NOT right in the middle of the day, but it was still definitely worth the sweat. We also found some more great gift shops, where I purchased my long awaited Utah sweater (quite a stylish one too, only has a small moose logo with a Utah written under it) and was given a pair of train-shaped earrings for free.










(Sorry about the condensation on my lens.)

Today we decided to check out Zion Park. My sister had been expressing the desire to horse ride for some time. Despite my initial resistance I'm quite happy we did so. I thought I'd be terrified and that me and the horse wouldn't work out; but all went smoothly. I rode a nice calm horse called Fender, my sister on the biggest horse of them all, named Leroy and my dad one called HB (for a second I thought it was called HD, so dissapointing). My mum's was a lazy, old horse called Buttercup. I won't elaborate but she was defintiley the most hysteric horse rider of the entire group, her and her horse would've made for a good skit.












Tomorrow we're going to LA. Can't wait to see Clara, but I'm going to miss the atmosphere around here. This morning I witnessed such a priceless scene, just when I thought the mother and middle aged son with matching shirts was unbeatable. There is a girl who works at the local grocery who I've nicknamed "Storm Girl", because the only time we walked into the store the air conditioning was so high that pieces of paper were literally flying around. She's a big girl, not as in fat, but almost, say, like a female viking; her hair is bleached blond and she wears wife beaters, ripped jeans and cap. She's EXACTLY the kind of girl you find in a place like Mt Caramel Junction, to such an extent that it took me a while to become accustomed to her existence. Anyway, this morning I saw her sitting at the diner gossiping about some "guy who was really hot" to a man who must have been at least 70, and far too distracted by the food on his plate. It was such a classic scene, me and my sister couldn't help but crack up under our breath for the whole of breakfast. If I ever find myself writing the plot of a comic I'd love to use her as a main character, it would work so well.

That's all for now. Byebye Utah :(.

Zion, UTAH

The vast red rocky landscapes remind me of what I thought Mars would look like before I'd ever seen any pictures. It's good to be back in the middle of nowhere. I already spotted a fresh fruit shop and a coffee house that sells homemade pie next to the hotel.

EDIT:
The gift shops here are awesome, filled with native american-themed objects. I knew I'd end up loving this overly isolated place too. After venturing into Orderville to find a restaurant, it turned out the most, or only, civilized area consists in that surrounding our hotel. So we went to eat at the Thunderbird Resort Diner. Its history is actually quite impressive ( read here) and the "ho-made" butter and bread were pretty fucking awesome, as well as the rest of the food. The staff wasn't exactly friendly, and definitley far from promiscuous looking (despite the HO theme), but a pretty enjoyable meal. Some footage of my american burger eating, my dad spooning out butter after an already exagerated meal, and our usual fight over the dessert that only my sister dares to order:

Grand Canyon

Despite its infernal heat, Las Vegas has been quite good to me in daylight. We went to see a really good exhibition called "Bodies", illustrating the Human Body with real corpses and body parts. Worth investing some time in, even though the featus/baby part was maybe a little strong for the weak of stomach. I'm still trying to get over the fact I saw real corpses of dead siamese babies. Then we went to see the Cirque de Soleil show in our hotel which was apparently not very impressive compared to others, but I'm always easily impressed when it comes to acrobats. Like most people I come out of any acrobatic show wishing I was mega athletic and planning to train for the rest of my life; haha.

Today we flew over for a tour to the Grand Canyon. We had to get up at 3am. The flight there in a 19 people plane was quite soothing. The one back was complete hell due to the rise in temperature causing continuous turbulence. I don't suggest it for anyone who's scared of flying.
I took a couple of shots on the spot... I forgot msy lens' sun protection at home therefore where my hand didn't do the job, the lens flare kicked in hardcore. On top of that my lens was dirty so every single picture I took has a very annoying stain on it.

Here's a quick unedited selection just to confirm the general idea you probably already had of the view:

Waking up in Vegas.

From the window, the city looks completely abandoned in day light.
We walked around for a couple of hours last night, and I wasn't expecting it to be this ridiculous. It is completely crowded by people ranging from the age of zero to eighty, from obese to slutty middle aged women. It's literally, as my mother put it, a human zoo. To add to the overall chaos, there is not one meter to be walked without a small Spaniard wearing a "Girls to you in 20 minutes" T-Shirt sticking naked women cards in your face. I'm not even exaggerating by saying they thought I was equally as interested as my father in this service. They're thinking I'm under 21 and have nothing to do at night anyway. Hah. These cards ultimately end up tiling the pavement all over the city.
The french section of the city is probably the most of France most Americans experience. The fake Tour Eiffel towers over the fake Louvre which is next to a fake Arc de Triumph. The whole thing filled with a giant casino. Can't say I really felt at home in the fake roman inspired section either, although the juxtaposition with the Indian temple is quite inventive.
I am staying in Treasure Island hotel. I haven't had the chance of seeing the Pirate Show they put on yet, but I heard some explosions from afar. The entire bottom floor is filled with slot machines. Come to think of it there is I am yet to come across a location which only serves for its purpose. Even the airport looked like a massive casino.
The only mildly impressive thing we've seen up until now is the fountain show at the Bellagio hotel. Combined with "Con te partirò" it becomes dangerously cheesy, but it's still a pretty sight.

I've refused to take any photos because you can really just google it and get the right idea.
Tommorow at 4am flight over the Gran Canyon. Excited.

Ain't no Ansel Adams.

We've been cruising around Yosemite for the past couple of days. The distances between locations are humongous so we've spent most of the time in the car... Not really the kind of nature adventure I was expecting, but I guess we had little other options. My sister is starting to get sick of posing for me so I've started experimenting with taking nature shots. Not sure about how it worked out, but I wanted to share some of what I've seen regardless. Some pretty impressive stuff, despite the lack of bears.










Below some of Yosemite's views, seen through Adams' lens
(quite a distinct difference, I know):

I found the town where my heart belongs (if only its water didn't taste so bad).

It is situated in the middle of nowhere somewhere in California... more specifically on the outskirts of Yosemite Natural Park: Sonora. Its 2000 habitants run amazing antique, candy and yarn shops. The elder community is clearly also involved in some form of peace activism, or rather, I saw some old fellows standing near the road using massive banners to suggest to passer-bys that war was definitley not the answer to anything. They had such an accomplished look on their faces when they packed up at the end of the day. Even peace activism makes me all soft on the inside in a town like this! I don't even feel disturbed at the vast ammounts/types of churches invading this town. I'm sure there are quite some interesting readings taking place at the local "Catholic Science Library". I'd obviously forgotten I was in the rural America till I found this:

I was marginally terrified of getting my picture taken on that bench, but I don't think anyone followed up back to the hotel. I'm thinking of taking it a step further and popping into the center to pick up some flyers. They must have flyers. If they do I need them.

Aside from that, people here seem waaaay more approachable than anyone in the big city. They knit, like cat stickers and sell edible crickets. I'M IN LOVE. Although my parents are certain I wouldn't survive here longer than a month, and that it's just me trying to be de-urbanized. Probably the case - but still.