day 79

day 79:

this is the end, I am in Seattle and am waiting to take a greyhound home in 3 hours.

alright, England is not taking the snow/ice very well.  I managed to get a bus to London from Bristol after canceling my trip to Sheffield in the north.  This resulted in wandering all over London for two days wondering if I would be able to to fly home.  Right here, I need to say that Pete Johnstone is awesome and helped me with some amazing hospitality.  We watched Funny Games and Kick-Ass and it was delightful (Funny Games was less delightful).

I was incredibly lucky to be on one of the few flights that actually left Heathrow this week.  They canceled every(??) flight this last weekend and people we're camped out for 3 days or more.  Fucked.  It looked like a refugee camp, without all that squalor and disease.  Surreal.  People were pissed and the Heathrow/England aren't handling this well.  I felt very guilty for being on one of the lucky flights but am very relieved at the same time.

I had a layover in Reykjavik, Iceland.  It was too rushed to see anything since everything was delayed.  Seems like Norway.  On the flight (with no complimentary meal, Iceland air sucks) I watched My Cousin Vinny immediately followed by an incredibly beautiful and hours-long sun rise/sun set (????) over Iceland, Greenland and northern Canada.  It was amazing.

I got to Seattle exhausted, hungry and having really intense stomach cramps which is unusual for me.  The plane was 4 hours late so I missed my greyhound home.  My friend Vince met up with me and we went to the space where he was practicing with Anhedonist.  I slept a bit in the hall then he bought me a falafel sandwich and he put me up at on his couch.  Vince is the best.

If I get on this greyhound and it doesn't crash I will be home this evening and I hear there's a bed, a cat and a fucking tree in the house.  I can't wait.  I am piss poor and feeling like a dog and am extremely grateful and happy to be home soon.  It's been a strange and memorable few months.

****END OF TOUR TALLIES:*****
top 5 MENTOS flavors:
 -japanese grape
-fresh cola
-pink grapefruit
-strawberry/licorice
-watermelon & orange/mango SPLIT PACK

top 1 worst MENTOS flavor:
-red orange

number of performances:
Charlie:  24 solo
Gordon: 46 solo
both as Backpatch: 4 

number of trains and buses taken: impossible to remember

****CELEBRITY ABROAD SELL-OUT WHISTLE BLOWING:******
-Tommy Lee Jones sells Boss vending-machine coffee in Japan
-Leonardo Di Caprio sells CAR TIRES in Japan
-Chuck Norris is featured in awkward T-Mobile ads in Czech Republic (he is holding a big fish)
-George Clooney is a spokesman for Nestle espresso in Italy
-Iggy Pop is still selling car insurance in England
Y'ALL BUSTED.

-g