Leaving on a Jet Plane, I Do Know when I'll Be Back Again!

Where to begin? Well, These past two weeks back in New York have been a whirl wind. Coming home from a long period abroad is the weirdest thing. When people ask you, "How is it over there? Are you having a great time?" To try and explain to people such a massive part of your life in sentences is one of the hardest things about coming home. The other thing that was foreign was how little peoples lives had changed but for me, my entire life had changed, it's an describable feeling, at times you almost feel like a stranger or foreigner yourself. It wasn't bad, it was just an adjustment! While I was home home I received my acceptance letter to one of the best journalism programs in the country. So come August, I will become a resident of Minneapolis. While home I was able to see some of my family, my best friend and so many other loved ones! Including my kitty cat, Mr. Shark; he could totally kick your cats ass. Mr. Shark thinks he's a dog. He eats dog food and rolls around in the drive away like our dog, I'm waiting for him to start chasing after sticks, or rocks. It was awesome to see the store and restaurant, and see how much they have grown and changed. Unfortunately I have no epic experiences to tell you. All I have is an update to tell you where I'm at, actually I don't even know. I think I'm somewhere on the Hudson River between Albany and Poughkeepsie. But I could be mistaken! With my life I'm sure I will have an epic tale once I'm Back in Portsmouth, maybe involving me fighting off dragons or finding Jimmy Hoffa's body. But until then your lives are probably more interesting than mine!

I'm Coming Home, Oh Wait. I Am Home

Well I know all of you have been anxiously awaiting a new blog post, so, here it is. Where do I Begin? well Since the last time I posted I have been to Dublin, London, Bath, Stratford upon Avon, Ledbury, and Oxford and actually as I write this blog post I'm on the Ethan Allen service up to Albany. I will try to organize these bizarre series of events chronologically, but I'm not promising anything. I first started out in London with the arrival of my sister, Larissa. Now in my life I must always be fashionable, not always practical. Well, I purchased a new pair of shoes the day pryer for the occasion. Now I'm always lectured about this and still I never listen, but when you mix a full day of walking in London with new shoes and stereotypical English weather, you get an angry bipolar Josh, which apparently taxes everyone else. I refuse to see the correlation between the two. From there we set out to Oxford to tour my future home, Blenheim Palace. Whilst at my home we meet up with my neighbors whom we seem to only ever see while in England or some other exotic land. We were also able to take a tour of the private apartments of the Duke and his family whom still take up residence at the palace. Which was amusing to me. As you walk through the private apartments you are surrounded by some of the finest baroque design elements and some of the finest paintings in the world, which one room's paintings could equal a multimillion dollar fortune. But that isn't the amusing part as you walk through these rooms decorated in grandeur you run into evidence of the families presence. For instance in their living room they have a plasma television like most of us do, but it sits upon an 18th century Louis XVI styled chest that once was in the Palace of Versailles. Or in the hall you have portraits of Consuelo Vanderbilt done by Sargent and next to it is a pair of the Duke's boots. After Oxford it was off to Bath, and toured the Roman Baths. When you stand at the baths and really think about the knowledge that people had two millennium ago is mind blowing. The baths were in a bath house with vaulted ceilings that measured over 30 feet. The baths were also self cleaning and had constant fresh spring water circulating. Just to walk through the remains of the complex and around the bath itself, which still has spring water circulating through it although no one is allows to go in do to bacteria. But I thought if the Romans did it, I could. Well, after I put a couple fingers in, I couldn't do it! Due to the nutrients and minerals in the water my fingers turned orange and was not easily washable. But all of those things aside, the water was the perfect temperature and at the end of the tour you even got to drink it! As I grew up on well water it was just like being home! From Bath we went onwards to Redditch to recoup and prepare for my trip to Dublin. We all have our stereotypes of what we presume cities and people to be like. I personally found this to be half true in the case of Dublin. The Dubliners were as I suspected, they loved their Guinness. As for the city, it was not what I expected. Dublin is a economically thriving city, as most major corporations choose Dublin as their European headquarters because it's a tax haven. The city also had a very rich history and the people of Dublin were very proud of their heritage and their culture. While in Dublin some of my highlights that I toured were Dublin Castle, The Kilmainham Jail, and the Guinness brewery. We also took a bus tour of the entire city. On our last day in Ireland we went outside of Dublin and drive through the seaside and went to Powercourt, which was an aristocratic manor atop the hills outside of Dublin the looked over some of the most magnificent gardening and landscaping I have ever seen. I would have the audacity to say that their gardens trumped those of Versailles. Once back from Dublin we went to Stratford Upon Avon; the birthplace of William Shakespeare, for Easter and toured a couple other cute small market towns. Currently though I am making my way up to Albany for a couple weeks and then I'll be back to England. Now, I'm sure you all have been waiting for some of my brilliantly witty comedic satire and don't worry it sits two rows in front of me. It sits in the form of a hippy and his asian wife. Like John and Yoko, except they are definitely not as glamorous, they are quite possibly bat shit crazy and smell. John Jr., as we'll call him, he keeps bursting out on these rants about how he doesn't care what people think. Well obviously guy! You appear to be homeless, or possibly without plumbing facilities and you keep shouting about your thought. As for the asian wife she is the ball crusher of the relationship, like Yoko =o, yes I did acknowledge that Yoko is the reason for The Beatles dismemberment. But Anyways, as soon as she boarded my carriage she threatened him that she had her steel toe punk boots on and would use them. Well I'm glad at least out of the two, one knows about the existence of footwear. But the story gets better, the charming psychologist who is wearing a gorgeous Chanel suit in the row across from me and was discussing the two specimen with me earlier has had several verbally abusive outbursts on her cell to her poor understudy. Well folks, my train is coming ever so close to Albany and it's time to rap this up. I'll be performing at the Apple Barrel for the next two weeks so come on down and be entertained! tips are expected ;)

Rollin' on the River Like a Too Proud Mary

Pride is a funny thing and how it can effect people. Earlier this week my Mom and Aunt arrived in England, as this was my last week of Uni before I break for Easter they decided to go on the good ole narrow boat in Nottingham and as with the rest of my life this too had it's share of adventure. We begin last Wednesday as I made my way up to Redditch, Normally when taking the train I don't go via London, I now know why. I made my way from Portsmouth to London on the train with no problems, when I arrived at the Waterloo Station the turnstile wasn't accepting my ticket, I didn't think anything of it as these machines are more faulty than Lindsay Lohan's blood alcohol tests. A nice employee opened the gate for me with no problem and onwards I went across London on the tube to another train station. Once at the Euston train station I proceeded to my platform and got my ticket out handed it to the conductor and he informed me that my ticket was for the not for that day but the following day. Well naturally many unchristian words came into my head, so I dragged my luggage back to the ticketing counter to get the problem sorted out. Now I thoroughly enjoy the bureaucratic red tape in American politics, but the England rail service certainly has it beat. While waiting in line I was scooping out the person I perceived to be most maternal, well I got that one wrong this woman was probably the most satanic woman I have ever met, and I work in retail. After a lengthy battle with her she informed be that it would cost me £50 to change the ticket as it was not there fault because the Portsmouth station is not a Virgin station and the problem is on Southwestern's end. Now I try to be a kind respectful human but this female dog was asking for it. Well after some kind stern words, I got the manager and after a failed attempt and flashing my horsey white teeth and arguing for 15 minutes he finally reduced it to £20. Still too much, but at this point I wanted to leave. Finally getting to Redditch I just wanted to relax and kick my feet back, but why would I get this chance? My darling sister decided to wake me up the following day at 8 and had me clean with her until 5, just because my mother would be coming to her house for a few hours, you would have thought that the Queen and her deceased predecessors were coming to visit. Once we had finally cleaned and went to bed I got to get up at 5 the next morning because apparently the only planes to Birmingham from New York arrive at 6 A.M. Once we had collected my family we went back to my sisters house for a few hours, where the cleaning was not admired, before heading to the boat in Nottingham. I would say I come from a boating enthused family, yet I did not get this gene, well besides the whole clothing part, I can wear a mean nautical outfit. Once we got the boat out of the marina and into the water I insisted on driving and being in charge as I have too much pride. I then proceeded to nearly kill us twice and crash the boat 3 times surrounded by other boats and people where my pride was effectively diminished and I soon sought the shelter of the kitchen away from the rest of the boating community and become the tea and biscuit boy. The excursion also had it's fare share of sibling battles, but we'll save that for the family reunion. On Sunday myself and my brother - in -law could not to escape the ship and cruise for land. But once again I can never have a normal train trip although this was my fault. As I wanted to get to Portsmouth earlier rather than later I got on an earlier train thinking it wouldn't be a big deal, well I was soon corrected half way to Portsmouth I was told I would have to get off and wait until my scheduled train came through. I was also told that I would have to pay some bogus penalty, conveniently though there was a hold on my card whilst I was traveling on the train and I wasn't able to pay it and got away scotch free. I finally made it to Portsmouth at my scheduled time. As for the latest happenings in England, global warming has seemed to fall upon England as for the pat week the average temperature has been 70's and blue skies, who needs to go to Spain when you can get your tan on in England? So lets say I will have a nice English glow when I arrive back in New York for my Easter holiday, yes you heard correctly! Thanks to frequent flyer miles and enough work shifts to back my European tour that much better. I will be gracing New York for 2 weeks with my lovely presence...but will be mainly working rather than leading the social scene. As for my upcoming travels, Larissa flies in on Saturday and from there my family and I will be traveling through England to Ireland for a week. So until next time, stay classy and dance.

P.S. Mrs. Brooks I will not be proof reading this... as I fell asleep writing this :) enjoy!

Eggs N' No Kegs

As per special request I will be highlighting on St. Patty's Day, UK style. I'm sure most of you remember the infamous Kegs N' Eggs Riots last year in DT Albany, if you don't, go on youtube and look it up. Seeing as I am in the kingdom responsible for St. Patty's Day I thought they would put America to shame, thankfully I did not put money down on my hypothesis. St. Patty's Day here, well at least in Portsmouth seems to be nonexistent. There is no green beer, no excess of green clothing, no riots, nothing. It actually seemed like a quieter night. I didn't add to the spirit as the strongest drink I had last night was apple juice. As for the rest of my week we had our first day of shooting for the BBC project on the Isle of Wight. We started filming at the vintage steam railway which dates back to the reign of Queen Victoria, they actually have the train coach she used to travel in when she would come to her palace on the isle. The Isle of Wight also is like a miniature England. The center of isle reminds me of the midlands in England and as you go towards the coast it mirrors England's coast especially in the town of Ryde which is like a mirror image of Brighton. We still have a few more days of shooting to accomplish before we go into a post production edit. My radio show is coming along nicely too, just have to do a few interviews and finish up my portfolio and it will be time to go off the air. It's been a very low key week in Portsmouth and the weather has been amazing, definitely not your typical English spring. As it is Mum's Day in the UK, I would like to wish my mum a happy Mother's Day and I lover her very much and I can't wait until I see her next week!!!! Until Next time!

Another Stress Free Weekend

**Warning** Sarcasm is intended. So as promised I'm writing another blog about my ridiculous life. This weekend I went back up North to Redditch to visit Jessica and Ian, I went up a day earlier than I normally do after, let's say, an eventful previous weekend and week. This past Saturday we visited my future home; Blenheim Palace. This massive English Baroque styled palace is the seat to the Dukedom of Marlborough and is still used as a home by the family today. The Dukedom of Marlborough is currently in the Spencer-Chruchill family, as in, Princess Diana Spencer's and Winston Churchill's family. The palace was a gift to the 1st Duke of Marlborough from the British nation for defeating King Louis XIV's army. The gardens and statues and landscaping in general were breathtaking but most of all the Palace's interior was magnificent the great hall is 63 feet from floor to ceiling, with windows that illuminate everything, so long as there is sun, which in this country is RARE. The palace's library is the second largest room in an English residence. We also saw the room and bed in which Winston Churchill was born in. The weather was gorgeous that day and from the palace you could see views of sheep grazed fields with small churches in the distant it was an idyllic day and the complete and total opposite of what today was like. Today got off normally, nothing exciting. Then we decided to take a Sunday stroll along a lake in Redditch and this began the downfall of my day. Now I adore children I want loads of kids, the thing with that is I only like children that are related to me or well behaved other than that, children can and do annoy me and British children are no different. In England the new fad for kids are these ridiculous scooters, now I'm all for children getting outside and exercising but when every other British brat cuts me off, runs over my foot and what have you, I would just as well tie them to a tree and throw the scooters in the middle of the lake. Once finally escaped of the scooter ridden lake I made my way to the train station to go back to Portsmouth. Now, Europe is legendary for their trains and the efficiency of their trains well in my total of 4 train trips since being here, half have been ridden with problems and delays, and why should today be any different? It could only add to my already chipper mood (remember people sarcasm). The first bit started lovely, it was sunny, gorgeous, a nice breeze from the window, and I was for once facing the right direction! My first connection is Birmingham, now the train station there although massive is very easy to maneuver, so long as you have the correct times. Well the genius that I and my sister are, we had written the wrong train itinerary down...Whoops! after calling and getting that fiasco worked out I made my way to the platform to wait for my train to Bristol. Well with my luck my train would be 10 minutes late and my next connection would only give me 10 minutes, terrific! Once boarded I found my seat and thankfully no one sat next to me, which could be because I kept my bag on it, but who knows! Once the train started to go I realized that I was facing the wrong direction, terrific! about 30 minutes into the trip the train comes to a breaching halt, it didn't help that I had watched The Peacemaker last night and all I could think about was the train crash scene. The conductor soon came on apologizing for the delay and that there were signal problems and we should be moving shortly, 15 minutes later! we started moving again, at this point I have no idea where and if there are anymore connections to Portsmouth. So right before I arrived in Bristol the conductor came on and said that anyone going to Portsmouth, their next train was at 8:15, keep in mind its 6:55. So I made my way to a coffee shop and sat down, decompressed and a 10 minutes later get up to see what platform I would be departing from. Well hold on kids wouldn't you know there's a train leaving at 7:10 for Portsmouth, it's now 7:05 and I'm at platform 12 and my train leaves from platform 7. Well after a mad dash to the platform with my version of luggage for a weekend trip and in my head cursing out the useless train conductor, I made it to my train. Once the train started moving I realized, I'm facing the wrong way, again! This past weekend has made me aware of a few things. First I miss REAL maple syrup, I get random cravings for it at all hours of the day. Secondly there isn't proper deodorant here and the kind they have here is not as effective as American deodorant. Before you think it, no I do not exert myself, the deodorant here does not work as well and you can ask any American here and they will back me up. Thirdly clothes come out of the wash differently here, I don't know what it is about it, but it is completely different, and not for the better. These are all the ramblings I have for you for now, Until next time!

Perspective

I normally would write my weekly blog with some amazing adventure or experience that would normally come from Hollywood. But this week I'm doing something different. We are so often overtaken and obsessed with our own lives and loose track of what is really important. This sounds so cliched but never more than right now has the point been driven home to me. An hour ago I came across a video titled Kony 2012, at first I thought it was presidential campaign video but I soon realized it was not. I'm adding the video below and all I ask of you this week is to watch it. With in the first 5 minutes I was moved to tears, I know the video is 30 minutes but please for me and whatever is decent in this world watch this. Thank you so much and I will have another amazing adventure to tell you after this weekend. Just copy and paste the link below into your web address browser and watch this. Thank you all God Bless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc&feature=youtu.be

Oops I'm In India!

Just kidding actually! But I did go to Brighton this past weekend where I went to the Royal Pavilion. The Royal Pavilion is probably the most xenophobic piece of architecture ever produced by the British Empire. The palace is a Hindu-gothic styled palace inspired by what the perception perceived by British society in the early 19th century. The palace I will admit though is magnificent with massive chandeliers and ball rooms. The rest of Brighton is this charming European beach city with idyllic cobble stoned streets and cafes and has an old time carnival pier. It's like Miami with Class instead of trash. As for school it is seemingly becoming more and more ridiculous! My classes do not run a traditional semester, no, in 3 weeks two of my lecture series will be done and all I will have left is 5 hours worth of class per week the rest of the time is for our independent projects which will be done well before the last day of class. I feel i may take up a hobby, maybe knitting. I may volunteer too, surely that can't be illegal on my visa! Other than that I have kept my life to bare minimum excitement in order to recover from the last month of extravagance. Well TTFN (ta ta for now) =]