Today we are flying to Oklahoma via ST Louis. St.Louis is the fourth most dangerous city in the country, barring Camden NJ, Detroit, and somewhere in Ohio. At the moment we are staying at Jen+Billy's, and Thalia (that's how it's spelt, now say it - it sounds like Failure, which considering her brother is also a cat called Despair, seems apt), is a small balck cat. Thalia is pretty much designed to be cute, right down to the pinknose and panda-style black/white spots. Anyway, Thalia is currently curled up in an open suitcase sleeping. It is exactly the type of thing you will see in an email called "FFWD>FFWD>Cute Things".

But a cat sleeping curled up in an open suitcase? Awww.

Anyway, yesterday we went to MetLife to meet the people from Ellen's old work and had a Chicago-Style Pizza. You know what I said about huge? They're huge. An inch deep, an inch of onion, cheese, and Sausage, and the size of a 14" record. I ate half. I can feel myself expanding. Buttons will soon be flying off my jeans as if they were small, food-guided missles.

"With all this technology available, couldn't the army just shoot food at hungry people?" (as Bill Hicks said).

After that, we went to Wicker Park, home of High Fidelity, where I bought some DVD's and a couple of CD's. As a general rule I am trying to buy things that never came out in England, otherwise I'd be bankrupt and spent all my life in second hand stores.

OK for Graham, here's my shopping list : (someone prod him and get him to read this please!)

DVD's : Clerks Animated Series, Clerks X, Dogma, Man On The Moon, Sledgehammer Season One, Bad Santa (Badder Santa Unrated version).
CD's : Metallica Some Kind Of Monster EP, Manics Remixed promo, Rollins Band Hammer Of The Rock Godz, Jane's Addiction SongList, Orbital The Altogether (2CD version), Morrissey First of The Gang To Die, Moby Run On remixes, Flaming Lips Zariekka, and I'm sure there's more but I forget what. Oh yes, and The Sex Pistols Live in Japan video. (now that's something that should go on a DVD)

Ok. Geek spot over.

Two final places of interest. We went to Gracelands Cemetary and met "Eternal Silence" that supercool statue you see below. Make no mistake. It's scary as hell : nine foot tall and looks like something out of a spookyt horror movie. It was eerie. Certainly the strangest thing I have ever seen. It used to be jetblack, but the weather wore down the bronze coating so now it is green. Apparently if you look into it's eyes during darkness you see a vision of the afterlife. Even spookier. Oh yeah, and the grave of Inez Clarke. (Look it up!). The eyes follow you everywhere.

It felt bad to mock a statue called the Statue Of Death, but you should face your fears..



Finally, we went into Downtown Chicago. I did not see the square used at the end of the Blues Brothers. But i saw the cars so it's like being in a movie anyway. We went to the Apple store, where thanks to the joys of the devalued dollar exchange rates, and staff discount, I took home the 40gb iPod for $390 (inc ripoff sales tax). That's 214pounds. Not sure what the UK retail is for a 40gb iPod, but it's more than that. I also avoided getting a U2 iPod, because the U2 one is only 20gb, so there's only room for Every Song U2 Ever Made and nothing anybody else did. Oh, and what is on this "Complete U2" iPod box set you can buy? Every U2 song ever? I have those already!

FInally, up to the top of the Hancock Tower. 96 floors. It looks like Blade Runner, a pyramid of steel with neon lights at the top and huge radio masts. Whilst at the top I thought about 9/11. I couldn't help it. What if I had seen a plane coming towards this building I was in right now? What if indeed? The height is beyond description, even higher than the Stratosphere in Vegas. Over 1,100 feet. (The Sears tower is taller, but the view isn't so good apparently. In fact the Sears Tower is now the tallest building in America - again. And it is so weird to think it once wasn't, but now is.)



Looking down, I felt like I was playing an old episode of "Grand Theft Auto". (You know the ancient top-down 2D console from 1998).

And now the airport.

Finally,

1. Tom, yes, at Wal-Mart "Rape Me" is called "Waif Me". I turned the CD over to check. It is Absurd.

2. Mark, there's more to my life than Bobby Chef's in Norwich. That was nine years ago!

3. And thanks to the rest of you that have commented, it's lovely to see you and when I get home I will catch up with you all.

There will be plenty of photos for you when I get back. I'm trying to photos of everything England Doesn't Have. Cops with Guns. Water Towers. All the cliched 100% Americana stuff. That type of thing. My final thing : we parked next to a car witha bumper sticker earlier - on it had the "BUSH 04" logo crossed out and a wonderful saying "Asses Of Evil". Expect to see that in a list called "Odd Porno Movie Titles" soon.


- posted by Mark @ 2:57 pm