Simon's Diary
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US Tour 2003
Day 11
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Today things began to move on a bit. The movers downloaded Larry's stuff from their Internet moving firm lorry, and we managed to get out and do something. Before going on to speak about what happened today I thought you might be interested have a glimpse of Larry's pad.
The kitty litter and their "drinking fountain" are kept in the
bathroom, which means as I get out the shower I nearly always get a stabbing
pain in my foot from a piece of kitty litter gravel. The drinking water
from the taps tastes awful so the cats get mineral water.
The desert starts about 40 feet away from Larry's front door.
Larry and I decide to go out to a gallery. On the way we saw a boy who's
always at this junction with a placard. The placard suggests trying out
a tanning shop....... hold on isn't this the sunniest city in the States?
Maybe he's an art student, or psychologically unstable (same thing in
my book).
I was dozing off on the journey and opened my eyes to see the following
site. First thought was of being back on an English road, then a moment
of panic. This might be the last thing some people ever see....... what
a cheerful thought.
On the way Larry decided to give me a tour of some of the poor areas.
It's funny how some people think it's a necessity to show off their local
destitutes..... DESTITUTES I said!.
Larry was quite determined to show off the bus stops in the local Native
American Reservation
Just out side the Phoenix University buildings is a mountain. (A hill
to you and me). Oh sorry it's the "A" mountain, as in A for
Arizona. Obviously there to help lost pilots.
If only the London South Bank buildings had been coloured pink!
This building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's son in law. It seems
to be a cross between the Coliseum and a Sarah Lee Economy Strawberry
Iced Gateaux.
This statue is supposed to play on the stereo-typed vision non Native
Americans have about Red Indians Native Americans
Sorry I have a feeling Larry forgot to put his trousers on ...... do you
ever get those dreams too? I mean about yourself, not Larry.
Detail of above - in case you couldn't tell - no not of Larry .... the
statue!
I wasn't allowed to take photos in the gallery. I managed to take this
one though, I pretended to do something with my mobile phone, and took
it with it's built in camera. In the near future as nano technology kicks
in a lot of people will have a continuous video recording facility discreetly
imbedded in to their clothing or hair or other parts of themselves. The
notion of privacy is going to change dramatically then. Anyway the reason
I took this shot was because there was a set of models at the bottom of
and midway up the stairs, depicting a scene from the Godfather. A hitman
dressed as a police man kills 3 Mafia men. I don't know if you can see
but there are 3 figures on the white board. Two are laying down in a pool
of blood, the other is the hit man kneeling and shooting a third figure
up the stairs. Well I thought it was clever....... call me sentimental
if you want.
This afternoon the removals company delivered Larry's stuff and his spacious
apartment was spacious no more.
Larry and I went out for a meal. The waitress asked me what I'd like to
watch on the TV above us, I said the news. This wasn't such a good choice
because every other table had something sexy or sporty ......... ours
had death, killing,war and politics. Eventually I had to pretend I was
watching someone else's TV for fear of being lynched by the happy mob.
Once again the picture above is meant to echo themes in Edward Hopper's
work. He's probably turning in his grave when I say that. OK I admit it,
I just included this picture because the waitress was pretty.
Eventually our TV moved off of the news and on to The Weakest Link. The
US version used to have Anne Robinson on it...... what do the American's
think they're doing using a non native American American ?.....
Is the contestant on the right a goaty bearded Tony Blaire?.
Here's one for my Mum.
Tomorrow we're setting off for the Grand Canyon so I may
not be able to upload any pages for the next few days.
I'll try my best to though.