The Day of India and Australia

Each country has its own national day, but two big countries sharing the same date is a lot of coincidence.

Today, January 26th, is the national day in India and Australia. So I had two good excuses to celebrate and to have a drink to my indian and australian friends' health!

Cheers! Apki Lambi Umar Ke Liye!

More to come soon...

Crawling the walls

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it Superman? No, no and no! It's just a spiderman-wannabe.

Well, the year has just started and I already managed to do something different. I had an opportunity to try wall climbing. As an outdoor person as I am, I always prefer the real deal, like rafting in a real river, not like those artificial rapids you see during Olympic Games :)

Once I tried rock climbing and it was a different sensation. This time was indoor climbing but it can also be fun. One thing is sure: it's as tiring as outdoor climbling!
The artificial walls were installed in a big old warehouse, and some of the walls can be pretty high with horizontal sections! Amazing!

Let's see what I can find for a next time! ;-)

USA tour - Los Angeles and Hollywood

And there I was... in Hollywood. My main reason to land in Los Angeles was to visit the place where cinema became... and industry!

The french brothers Lumiere created the cinema... but the americans made a business out of it. Still, this stop in my USA tour would allow me to visit the major movie studios like Warner Bros, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures and Universal Pictures.

Before arriving to Hollywood I had my first adventure, a car adventure. Car rental in the States is more amusing than Europe. You request a car category and then it's up to you to choose any car you want from that category at the parking lot! I requested an economy car but the concept of "economic" can be weird when you look at the car sizes! :-P

After I got used to automatic gear, my GPS took me to the heart of Hollywood Boulevard. Here you find the famous Kodak Theater (where Oscar ceremony is held) and the also famous Walk of Fame... but for some reason I didn't find my star on it! eheh

On the hills it's impossible to miss the Hollywood sign. So I drove up there, almost to the top. I was taking picture on the middle of the stree when one nice lady showed me a walking path, so I could be as closer as possible. :)

If you have to visit one studio I would definitely recommend the Warner Bros tour. You can visit some sets, soundstages, take as many pictures as you want and even two museums included. On this day there were shooting the next Muppets' movie and a Beastie Boys' music video. And if you are a fan of the TV show "Friends" you also have the opportunity the visit the original set used for the Central Perk coffee house. But without Phoebe singing is not the same thing .... Smelly cat, smelly cat... :-P

At Sony Pictures you can't take pictures, at Paramount you don't enter many buildings/soundstages and Universal Pictures is a big amusement park (but hey, isn't that what movies are all about?). At least is an amusement park where the theme are the movies: The Mummy, Jaws, Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds, The Simpsons, Shrek... the rides are fun! Not like those brainwash rides at Disney such as "It's a small world!" :-P

To relax from all this Hollywood fun, I headed to Venice beach... to catch some fresh air from the Pacific Ocean ;) It's nice to walk around this time of the year... no one goes to the beach, so it's great for pictures.
But don't feel weird if you smell something else in the air besides sea wind... because in California marijuana is legal for "medical reasons". You see many many "medical centers" with "doctors" who are there to help with your "pain". Basically you just need to say you have a pain of some kind and voilá, the "doctor" will prescribe you a "painkiller"! eheheh

Before leaving I had the opportunity to meet a real movie director. It was in one evening, at a Comedy Club that I met Daniel Stamm, the director of the recent "The Last Exorcism" movie.
I just missed the opportunity to star in a movie! eheh For a next time...

USA Tour: Los Angeles and Hollywood Album

My Hollywood experience had come to an end... it was a ride of lights and action! A true destination for any movie fan! :)

Next on my horizon it was the desert... and many many miles on the road for me. Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon were calling me... and extraterrestrials too ;)

First resolution for 2011

I was having my first breakfast in 2011, early in the morning, when I decided my first resolution for 2011! Well, more or less early, after all New Year's parties tend to be long ;-)
The city was quiet, everyone was still asleeping... so ideas come to my imagination more easily! eheh

Fireworks! I want a real firework show! For the past 4 years my New Year's Eves around France have been interesting, but there's no pyrotechnic shows.

I thought it was something specific to Paris, due to the crowds of people around town and for security reasons (security is always a good excuse for anything).

This year I decided to stop in another french town, Bordeaux, famous for its wines but not for New Year's :) You don't even see many people on the streets celebrating, which is something you can easily see in Paris! :)

In France fireworks are extremely popular on their national day, 14th July, when you can see pyro shows in almost any town.

I don't know where I'll be in the end of 2011, how I'm gonna be, with whom I'm gonna be... but there will be fireworks and a countdown to midnight! :)

But I got a feeling that 2011 is going to be a good year. It didn't start with lights in the sky, but with lots of positive attitude! :)

Now it's time to pull my sleeves and face this new year.

My last adventure of 2010 was driving back home for Christmas, between Paris and Porto... but that for another post.
Before that I have to finish organizing my USA tour pictures and put them online (another resolution! eheh)

And 2011 is the Year of the Rabitt... hmmm....