day 2

well we made it.

hilariously day 1 saw us meet ice cube after randomly meeting his mngr in starbucks on hollywood blvd, where we then went to a tapning of jimmy kimmel with dennis leary, you know that comedian that sang that song 'im an asshole', alan rickman (snape from harry potter) and cubey...

of course in the preshow there is a Q&A section, and the place STUNK like pot... ange wanted to ask about it, but i said it was a lame question, but when someone else asked i still laughed, which ange didnnt appreciate. anyway, we stand up, tell them we are aussies, then the band starts playing men at work and we sing we come from the land downunder and ask the bald presenter who his hairdresser was...

then we whisked out to this weird carpark for this concert by this band Keane (that song from a few years ago 'somewhere only we know') then we walk out of the parking lot and we are at hollywood high (the hollywood high on the gold coast totally looks exactly the same haha copiers)...

we went to ozzy osbournes house, and LCs from The Hills (ange nearly had a brain explosion) then had a massive pitcher of frozen strawberry margarita at La Cantina on hollywood blvd... then rang contiki tim and introduced ourselves, fitting, being that druunk is probs the only way he'll know us anyway.

so we were walking bck to our hostel and this black dude in a leather jacket fuullk stops ange and goes

GIIIIRL, YOU PROBABLY DONT RECOGNISE ME WITH ALLLL MY CLOTHES ON, BUT DAMN GIRL, YOU NEVER CALLED A NIGGER, YOU LOSE MY NUMBER???!!

hahahahahaha then some random asked me for a hug... and there was this other cracky eating from the bin tha gave me a kiss on the check while rambling about aliens.. i hope i didnt catchh anything

then we discovered the best thing ever, 7-11 sels long neck coronas for 3 bucks - sahhweet!!!

she we walked to Van Ness (yes, seriously, here is a suburb two down from hollywood named after me) bought long necks, made friends in 7-11 trying to work out how much ounces are... and got asked for ID, gold!

so thas about it for the moment... oh wait, our hostel roommates are absolute drainers, were all in bed by 11pm.. so we have been hanging out in the common area...
hahaha and before ange was lingon the couch and fell off!! hahaha so clumsy!!

ONE WEEK and counting!

Yep - ONE WEEK to go!

This time next week, I will be on the plane on my way to ........Auckland.

More importantly, this Saturday... the farewell party!

If your in Sydney this weekend - hit up The Coogee Palace anytime after lunch on Saturday for a drink.

I know my name is Van, and even though my last name is not Wilder - this weekend will be.

What is a Drainer?

YA MUM

Famous Fifteens!

- There's the Fifteen Foundation Australia --- which is Jamie Oliver's 'helping young people become chefs and get them off crack' thing....

- Some guy or band called Aidan wrote a song called Fifteen... and if I could get youtube at work I'd watch it and make some hilarious comment. But alas, I cant.

- There was that episode of Sesame Street that was brought to you by 15. Big bird was especially good in that one, and Oscar was very grouchy.

- Dont forget about Section 15 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901: Amending Act to be contrued with amended Act -- Every Act amending another Act shall, unless the contrary intention appears, be construed with such other Act and as part thereof. ...handy stuff to know.





- Randy Mark Yager is number 15 on the US Marshal's Most Wanted Fugitives list. Its believed that the Outlaw Motorcycle Club continue to assist Yager in his run from justice in Chicago. He has been on the run for 11 years now but is wanted for offenses including murder, arson, possession and use of explosives, possession and trafficking in counterfeit U.S. currency, robbery, burglary, trafficking in stolen motor vehicles, and narcotics violations. Most hilariously there is a picture of the woman he is associated with on the US Marshal's website:

Pauline Hanson! I guess we can let the Marshal know that Yager must be white then.

- Apollo 15. It landed on the moon. But lets face it, we all lost interest after Tom Hanks and Kevin Bacon.

- 15 Steps by Radiohead from the album In Rainbows. I love a song that actually has the lyrics "et cetera, et cetera"

- 15 minutes. Ask any Big Brother / Australian Idol / Reality TV in general about what this means to them.

- The F-15 Eagle. Oh man, this one is a good one.... it's an all weather, extremely maneuverable, tactical fighter. High thrust-to-weight ratio... wait, are we still talking about the airplane?

- CrimeTracker15: subsiduary of NBC Madison - Channel 15. Todays CrimeTracker15 Update: 'Decaying Corpse On Toilet' ... I shit you not! Oh man, the more I read on this one the more hilarious it becomes! The woman 'hiding' the corpse on the toilet is Tammy Lewis, formerly known as Sister Mary Bernadett - member of religious cult 'Order of the Divine Will' - what is this will...?? Wipe from front to back?? More like divine willpower - because with the toilet occupied, the 'Sister' and her kids were using a bucket in a wardrobe. Ohhh it all becomes clear - they didnt move the body because the cult leader told them the dead woman would come back to life if they prayed hard enough. Perhaps she died doing that very thing on the toilet, if you know what I mean.

- Area15: 3 young dudes in a band - sound like they are from the UK and grew up listening to Good Charlotte and Goldfinger with a twist of Avril Lavigne. HAHA metros.

- Oh The 15th Century! The Great Age for Discoveries. Domestic clocks and globes were invented!

- The 15th Amendment to the American Constitution is pretty topical at the moment: declaring that the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

- Most Importantly... above fugitives, TV stations and restaurants - and oh so cleverly coming in at Number 15: FIFTEEN DAYS TO GO!

Im that Bachelor Girl song - Buses and Trains

got booked for speeding today.

again.

like probably 30 kms over ...

on my last day of driving before my suspension kicks in for losing all my points.





going up mt ousley, then getting off at the helensburgh/sutho exit, flying up there coz i just wanted to get to maccas to get a coffee before i driver fatigued myself off the cliff - doing about 130kms in a 100 zone... oh who's that hiding in the bushes?!

maybe thats where the term 'bush pig' really came from.... coz it was Mr Policeman and his handheld radar (not of love)

Dal saw him and goes 'theres a cop' but he already had his gun up, and I hit the brakes, and as i approached he lowered it, looked at me and gave me that raised eyebrowed, head shaking, 'you know what you just did' kinda look.

Dudes, today is the last day my licence is even valid - there is no more fitting a way to bon voyage it, then to get fined for 30kms or over -- so that might actually up my suspension time at this point.

im such a criminal driver.

To think, I held onto those probation points for 10 months - the light was at the end of the tunnel... infact, that 12 point light was burning so bright I was pre-emptively basking in it. More fool me.

burnt through 8 points in a few months... jesus christ

the countdown is on....

Hi.

I am Van.

This is me...

After the most random Thailand facial you could imagine - without anything too disgusting happening. I rocked those eyebrows for the rest of the holiday too.

Anyway, today marks the 20 day countdown to The Great American Sojourn.

Me and my best mate Ange (this is us... singing to Bon Jovi ...at a theme party ...on a cruise ship ....drunk):

...are packing up and heading stateside.

We land in LA on the 3rd of Dec, and make our way around the northern states before spending Xmas in NY, drunk (no surprises) on eggnog (probably vodka though) in Central Park. Then straight onto a Contiki bus for the southern states - and then back to LA for some more random adventures.

So thats the trip in a nutshell.... please look forward to pearls of wisdom and self development sprung from this journey of self discovery (or pubs).

And hey, lets face it - its always a good omen when about to embark on a 3 month trip for hours and hours of bus and plane time with Ange, that I have already broken her nose this week in a racuous attempt to bring back the forehead slap, at a wedding.