DAY 5 - Downtown LA in 1.5 hours - 5th Dec

Downtown LA is like every main tourist destination in big cities. Rundown, dirty and full of homeless and hawkers. I didn't expect it to be much but in reality there really is very little to see around.

We walked to the kodak theatre which looked kind of bland, went through it's shopping centre and found the deck viewing the Hollywood sign, it was so far in the distance it was quite hard to capture on camera. Overall the facade of the Kodak theatre is rather unmajestic. They must sprinkle some serious fairy dust before the awards ceremonies to make it all pretty and nice.



Grauman's Chinese theatre, although steeped in movie history still felt as tacky as the area and people surrounding it. Perhaps it was my mood on the day or the effect of earlier material I've read about downtown LA but even though I've wanted to see the walk of stars and the star prints for as long as I can remember, I felt like I wanted to leave the minute I got there.



In fact I was so disenfranchised I couldn't even be bothered finding the stars of celebs I liked nor did I take any photos of stars. The entire walk just seemed to tacky, fake and unnecessarily full of unworthy celebs like Phil Collins...ha. Perhaps I've become WAY too cynical, or rather I had most of my fun on the Hong Kong Version of the walk of fame in 2005 and thus my excitement was diluted, but it just seemed the more I looked at LA as the movie capital of my dreams the more I didn't want to be here or work here. It's funny how films create a dream reality but once you really look into the substance that's actually there, there isn't much. There is ample reason why LA and hollywood in particular is billed as shallow community. I'm not sure when my LA cynicism started but all those movies and TV shows which previously made everything look so appealing seem to have marginal affect on me now. Of course there are still appealing aspects of Hollywood, but perhaps I'm old and educated enough to realise that I need something more substantial than what this place offers.

It seemed that there were only limited prints outside the Chinese theatre, either very recent ones or very old ones. I think those in the middle get shafted somewhere else. John Woo was the most recent and I happily got a pic with his prints. And he also wrote his name in chinese...yay!!! And of course I got a pic with Spielberg's prints cause he will forever be my hero.



After Grauman's we went for a drive up Sunset Boulevard, through Beverly Hills (aka the suburb of great hedges) and Rodeo Drive. It was dark and I didn't see much other than that Rodeo Drive was insanely sparkly and top end. But rather i was too tired to care. I don't like traveling when I'm tired because I get grouchy and I don't care about the places I'm seeing. It's a pity since I hoped to see downtown and the rich parts of LA on a better note. Perhaps next time.



For Alan and Lam,

DAY 4 - LA - Knottsberry Farm - 4th Dec

You wonder why Americans might have less brain cells than other nationalities. Theme parks are insane in this country. We went to Knottsberry farm today, which according to its ticket is the oldest theme park in the country.

The rides are insane, it's stomach churning just looking at them but awesome once you're on. One ride is called the Xcelerator, the loop (which you go OVER) is higher than Space Probe 7 in Wonderland and the only safety precautions are a lap bar and a seat belt, it is just insane. And I went on it twice in one go. AWESOME!!!!

The XCELERATOR, Tracey has a video of me on it.

I also went on the most uncomfortable rollercoaster ever called the ghostrider, first time I ever wanted to get off a roller coaster mid-way. We also sampled the much talked about funnel cake (aka fried bits of batter with syrup on top). I was also nearly dragged away by a cowboy which i totally didn't mind at all.

A small sprite is the size of tracey's head

The ghost rider at night and me next to it

Day 3 - LA - Disneyland - 3rd Dec

Every kid wants to go to Disneyland, because from the time we were born it is marketed to us as the place of dreams, were dreams come true and as the most fun place on the planet. Even though as a kid I wasn't a huge Disney fan I still wanted to go to Disneyland. After all it's iconic place in world cultural history is unparalleled . But more so for me it was about finally experiencing the rides I have heard so much about, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, the latter which unbelievably spawned a film trilogy. After experiencing the various imitations of its rides on the Gold Coast and at Wonderland, I was finally at the real thing.

Disneyland is in Anaheim, which is right through the city from where I was staying (Winnekta). So setting out at 8:30am we ran smack bang into my first LA traffic jam. 12 lane highways chock-a-block. We didn't get to Anaheim till close to 11am. Thankfully I slept for most of the trip.

We parked in the Timon section of the Lion King carpark and then took a tram thingy to the actual main gate. Yup even the carpark doesn't escape from disneyfication. So first impressions upon entering Disneyland? Not much really, I think the major problem is that every theme park around the world has taken from disneyland and disneyland itself has taken things from other themeparks previously. So it feels like every other theme park I've been too (Well like 3 anyway) except now there are disney characters running around the place and every shop was hawking disney merchandise.

We made our way through to adventure land, I spied Tarzan's treehouse and desperately wanted time to climb up on the rope bridge and generally be a monkey but sadly everyone else wanted to do the Indiana Jones ride. I was sad, an I never ended up getting the time to go back, but oh wells, next time. Now the Indiana Jones ride is something I've been anticipating for years but somehow the TV really made it look better than it is. The entrance and walkway to it is awesome in it's set design but the actual ride was a tad too short I felt but there is a lot of cool stuff in it still. Perhaps my anticipations were a little too high.

Pirates of the Caribbean was really quite boring and a little too long. Again it was one of those diorama rides but unlike Indiana Jones it really had nothing else but dioramas and sets. In the ultimate sign of reflexivity it turns out that the ride is now based on the films, which were themselves based on the original ride. Go figure, success begets success?

My entire shoe got wet on splash mountain when waves of disney water decided to crash on it randomly even before we got to the actual splash part. Then I went and molested Eeyore with Tracey and went on some more rides which were enjoyable but ultimately didn't live up to expectations.

Before we got to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad rollercoaster, I came across the Shootin' Exposition which is like one of those old timezone games where you put a coin in, shot a rifle across a scene with targets and if you're on target, something happens in the scene. This was always my favourite and I shelled out $1.50 for 3 goes. It was awesome and I think I thoroughly scared Megan and Tracey with my shooting skills. Perhaps I'm more American than I thought.

Tracey and I indulged in childhood fantasies at the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups, Megan dutifully sat out due to inability to deal with going around in circles because of motion sickness (such a pussy =p). Anyhoo the best ride of the day will go to Space Mountain, which isn't anymore than a rollercoaster inside a building, but what it lacks it makes up in atmosphere, The space is completely black save for stars and music it almost seems like one is flying in space.

We made our way back for the big parade, which was undoubtedly cheesy but fun. I bought a $4 mickey mouse shaped ice-cream, and because the woman only had one left, Megan, Tracey and I decided to take turns in mangling Mickey's head.

For winter Disneyland closes at 6pm, which was disappointing since we only arrived around 11:30am, however the queues generally weren't too long on average 15min, compared to summer where lines could stretch for hours. However I felt disneyland truly came alive at night when the lights on it's a small world ride came on and the fireworks and fake snow flowed.

Overall, I think although not perfect, Disneyland is very enjoyable however I wish I made it here 10 years earlier, because at this age cynicism has really too strong a hold.

Day 2 - Los Angeles - 2nd Dec

A yellow fire hydrant, from the valley into the ranges and a yellow schoolbus

The jet lag really hit about 4am this morning. I work up underneath the thinest blanket shivering and unable to go to sleep. Why I didn't ask for another blanket I don't know but damn I was really freezing. LA is bone dry, drier than Sydney, if such a thing is possible. We passed hills and mountain ranges just covered in small Cacti. It's a formidable and harsh environment and it's a wonder why this region was once referred to as the "wild west"

Went for a walk around the streets this morning, marveled at the gigantic cars and jogged with Tracy whilst trying to breathe in the dry air and wondering why Americans got so fat cause no one was walking or running on the streets. All we saw were cars, cars and more cars.

That's a MONSTER TRUCK, in someone's driveway

Quite slow day today, went shopping at the LA version of DFO at Camrillo. It's insanely big, just like everything else in this city. All the major brands and non-brands have factory outlets in an area the size of a small suburb. I think it probably has it's own postcode. I bought a pair of Timberland hiking boots which I'm extremely happy about for $60, which is insanely cheap for good quality brand name hiking boots.

This is one small section of the complex. It's set up randomly in the desert and very big.

The funny thing is that clothes in the US is possibly cheaper than China, if that is possible, without the need to actually worry if the clothes you are buying are fake or not. Levi Jeans are $25, jackets are the same and T-Shirts are about $10. But since I can't be bothered lugging crap around Europe for a month I can't really buy much, only what I need.

Megan's family is crazily funny. I often love being around big families cause the social dynamics of such families are just brilliant (since I only have quite a small extended family). I had a similar experience with Connie's family in Hong Kong in 2005. Except in Hong Kong I half understood the language, I can't understand a lick of Vietnamese but it's still funny.

Megan's aunt was driving us back from the DFO at night, doing 110km/h on an 12 lane freeway. This is the following exchange in the car.

*we hear a cracking noise from the driver's seat*
Megan (To Tracy, her sister): Hey Tracy can you help Aunt with whatever she's doing?
Tracy: How? She's cracking nuts.

Yes indeed, her aunt was cracking and eating watermelon seeds whilst driving her giant SUV Jeep on an 12 eight freeway at 110km/h with 4 passengers. Did I also mention that like every other American she plays with her mobile whilst on the freeway. And occasionally she'll ask if we'd like some chocolate which she'll rummage for behind her. Tracy, Megan and I collectively gasp and ask her to concentrate on driving.

It's a crazy crazy town.

At the DFO there was a shop dedicated to just apple on a stick covered with different flavourings.

Day One - Los Angeles - 1st Dec

Suburban street in the valley

The first thing you realise once setting foot in LA is it's sheer size. Everything is big, the cars, huge petrol guzzlers, carbon emitters, whatever. Lam if you were here you would have had multiple heart attacks by now. The cars are just gigantic, even Mercedes here are bigger than anything I've seen in Australia. Freeways are 6 lanes, single way, so 12 lanes across. Public transport is non-existent and the distances to everything although ridiculous do not necessarily excuse the rampant use of cars for every activity. Ironically people's cars are larger than their actual houses. Perhaps it's because the population of LA spend way too much time in their cars.

Huge cars and huge stores

The sheer size of everything is just ridiculous. Various kinds of shopping centers, department stores, discount supermarkets, all selling variations of the same things but set out over the size of an airport hangar. If you think you can't find shit in Kmart of Tarjay, Walmart is near impossible to find anything though. Except I was really underwhelmed by Walmart considering the pedestal I was putting it on before I stepped into it's blandness.

First impressions of LA support all the cliches. On the way to the gigantic shops we passed by a house with 6 police officers in the front year apprehending a bloated hispanic man, half naked and covered in tattoos. Coming back 2 police cars were still stationed in the front yard.

The entire city bleeds the stink of excess. It almost makes Sydney look really good in it's shallowness. In fact LA looks possibly more tired that Sydney. The fast food palaces and ubiquitous Chinese restaurants feel old and there just for the need to be present.

There is no such thing as a local shop and even 7/11s warrant humongous car parks. I understand why Bush couldn't sign Kyoto, it'll be near impossible, how can you control carbon emissions when the majority of your population rely on the exact object which is so detrimental to the environment.

However these are first impressions and I'm sure some things in the city will eventually grow on me, however the general vibe I'm receiving from LA is not hugely positive. I've spent the majority of the day putting on various versions of the west coast accent, funnily enough I haven't even had an extended conversation with an actual American in public yet.

Anyway, I bought 4 tubs of Ben & Jerry's ice cream including Chunky Monkey and Phish Food. Something that I've been waiting to try for the longest time. I'm salivating at the thought of it, but I'm also cold, needing a desperate shower and having not slept for 30 hours, delirious.

Cheese WOW, the cheap imitation of Cheez Whiz, which is canned artificial cheese which you spray from an aerosol can...only in America

Sydney to LAX (Written on the plane)

My United Airlines plane

14 hours on a moving piece of metal hundreds of miles up in the air. Is a most unnatural and uncomfortable way to travel.

I have 48% battery left on my laptop, and 3 hours left till we arrive at LAX. I'm sitting here sandwiched between Megan and a old man who has had 3 whiskies since takeoff, and feeling the want to remove the remnants of my tail bone because sitting for so long on my butt has caused chronic and intense pain in my buttocks region as well as my lower back. There is a reason why long haul travelers choose business class. Because the sardine carnage of economy is really too much for more than say 3 hours.

Somehow we found ourselves in economy plus this time, although I really don't know what the difference between that and stand economy, perhaps a difference of 2cm width and leg room. Not enough to really make a difference though.

Anyhoo, so in total I've slept for a total of about 2 hours, when we arrive in LA it'll be 9am on the day that we left. Crossing the international date line is a serious mindfuck, but thank god i'll be too delirious from lack of sleep to really notice it.

Anyhoo, so my skin is all dried out, I want to sleep but instead i'm watching Andy Lau kick Daniel Wu's ass as a triad boss.

Best thing to happen all flight was intriguing tall Asian flight attendant offered Megan and me a Dove chocolate bar to share whilst we were standing and stretching to starve off the threat of DVT. Receiving chocolate makes me feel and act like a 6 year old. Really we never change from been kids

Did I also mention that I totally cried whilst saying goodbye my entire family. Seriously when did I become such a sap? My tears are just uncontrollable. 15 hours since saying goodbye and I can still summon the tears. There is something seriously wrong with me.

I'm currently anticipating yet dreading breakfast. I'm actually not hungry but i'm just so uncomfortable that I'll do anything else but think about sitting in this seat. Lesson of the day, always request for an aisle seat. It doesn't matter if people have to repeatedly climb over you or that you have to stand or have your elbows knocked by the trolleys, it is still better than sitting in the middle, because at least you have the choice of moving whenever you like and not have to suffer the claustraphobia.

and god the sound card (or rather the integrated sound card) is a piece of utter shite. ARRGh everything sounds like utter shit. And I really wished I downloaded half of youtube so I can waste my time on better things but instead i'll continue this diatribic stream of consciousness crap that's happening because I refuse to sleep.

The Big Day Is NEAR (Well it's actually like tmr)

Last post before I leave. Therefore last post to do with pre-trip planning. I'm excited yet strangely serene. Packing has been okay, it's been interesting to see how much crap I can fit into my suitcase without destroying it. I've gone for a combination of rolling and folding my clothes, I don't know which is better but so far the game of Tetris has been vaguely successful although dollars to donuts my jeans are going to be quite wrinkly on the other side of the world.

I've decided to forsake my 30gig MP3 player, instead I'm taking along a crappy $50 1gig one. I've decided since I never really listen to 30gigs of music anyway I'll forsake it and save some space from the charger and other odds and ends. Plus I won't have to worry about losing it or it being stolen or me dropping it into a ravine or something. I'm still taking my laptop, so I've transferred about 10gigs of music onto that and I'll mix and match. I still can't believe the amount of electronics I'm taking, I guess this is why geeks shouldn't really travel. (Yes, if you're wondering, I am taking a 4 plug powerboard with me)

my bags stuffed to the brim...how am I meant to bring stuff back?

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VIENNA

THINGS TO DO

• Schonbrunn Palace (Schloss Schonbrunn)
• Imperial Palace (Hofburg)
• St. Peter's Church (Peterskirche)
• St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom)
• Imperial Treasury (Schatzkammer)
• Naschmarkt
• Museum Quarter (MuseumsQuartier Wien)
• Museum of Fine Arts - Kunsthistorisches Museum,
• Belvedere Palace (Schloss Belvedere)
• Church of St. Michael (Michaelerkirche),
• State Opera House (Staatsoper),
• House of Music (Haus der Musik),
• Sigmund Freud Haus Museum
• Ringstrasse
• Inner Ring

FOOD

• Sachertorte
• Apfelstrudel

EVENTS
Opera at the State Opera House

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BERLIN

...Partay like it's 1989...

New York, Munich, Fuessen, Salzburg

NEW YORK

THINGS TO DO

• Top of the Rock Observation Deck
• Ellis Island
• Central Park
• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Grand Central Terminal
• Staten Island Ferry
• Bryant Park - free ice skating
• Chrysler Building
• World Trade Center
• Times Square
• St. Patrick's Cathedral
• Museum of Modern Art
• Greenwich Village
• Statue of Liberty
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
• Bloomingdale's
• Carnegie Hall
• Radio City Music Hall
• Cathedral of St. John the Divine,
• Fifth Avenue
• Empire State Building
• Empire State Building - the bull statue
• Chinatown
• Little Italy
• Macy's
• Actor's Studio Hell's kitchen
• Ice Skating in Central Park/rockefellar/Wollman is best at dusk/night

FOOD

• Bagels
• Bialys
• Katz's Deli - hot pastrami sarnies
• Carnegie Deli
• Hot Dogs - Gray's Papaya
• Street Vendors
• NY Pizza
• NY burgers

SHOWS/EVENTS

• 28th 8pm, carnegie hall concert
• 30th 1pm, Knicks vs Bulls

• Avenue Q
• Blue Man Group
• Spamalot
• Rent
• Altar Boyz
• Forbidden Broadway
• Hairspray
• Spring Awakening
• Les Misérables

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MUNICH

THINGS TO DO

• Nymphenburg Palace (Schloss Nymphenburg) - the place where they shot Last Year at Marianbard, the film, 1st year MAP students have to endure.
• St. Peter's Church (Peterskirche)
• Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche)
• Old Pinakothek (Alte Pinakothek)
• Staatliches Hofbrauhaus
• Viktualienmarkt
• Marienplatz - Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus)
• Andechs Monastery (Kloster Andechs)
• Deutsches Museum

REGENSBURG DAY TRIP

• sausages near the old stone bridge

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FUESSEN

• Fairytale Castles

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SALZBURG

• Salzburg Fortress (Festung Hohensalzburg)
• Mozart Residence (Mozart Wohnhaus)
• Salzburg Cathedral (Dom)
• Mirabell Palace and Gardens - Do-Re Mi
• Mozartplatz
• Salzburg's Old Town
• Mozart's Birthplace (Mozart Gerburtshaus)
• St. Peter`s Abbey
• Sound of Music Locations

San Francisco

THINGS TO DO

• alcatraz
• golden gate bridge (walk across it, catch the ferry back from Saulsalito
• Lombard Street
• Fisherman's Wharf
• Pier 39
• Street Cars up powell st
• Exploratorium - walk to WAVE ORGAN
• Legion of Honor - lincoln Park
• SFMOMA
• Presidio Park
• Ocean Beach - The pacific from the other side
• Twin Peaks
• Chinatown + Tin How Temple?
• Union Square Shopping (window)
• Golden Gate Park?

FOOD

• In & out burger, Fisherman's wharf
• Swan Oyster Depot - 1517 Polk St.

TRANSPORT

• Buy a CITYPASS for $54.00 or a 3day/7day MUNI pass, $18/$24
• BART is $5 from Fremont to SF
• Muni is $1.50 for a 4 hour ride or something

When Bargain Hunting Goes Bad

So I won a $50 travel credit for expedia (At Oportos of all places). Thinking great now I can save $50 on my flight from Vienna to Berlin. Wrong, cause the voucher is only valid for hotels. So I think...fine, I'll cancel my booking in Las Vegas and rebook through expedia, since they are having a 10% sale also I'll get at least I'll get $60-70 off which is like 2 nights for the price of one. Cool I thought.

So 3 days of emailing back and fro I get my original reservation canceled by the insanely nice people at the hotel and then I go and make the booking through Expedia. I get to the last section of the booking form then BANG!!! "Your voucher has already been used"...I curse my stupidity, cause I typed in the code to try it out 2 days ago but I thought it wouldn't count if I didn't go through with the booking. HA, I was so wrong. So back to square one, no voucher. When I made the original booking with the hotel the Aussie dollar was at 0.94, today it's back to 0.86, so I've saved about $10 for all the effort I put through. Added onto that I need to wait 7-10 days until the money is refunded and by that time the Aussie dollar might have gone up again.

I also took out travel insurance with Medibank Private on tuesday, thinking that since my family are members the 10% discount would give me a good value for 3 months of cover at $460. I came back home and checked that I could get the exact same cover for $355 online. So I cancelled that and now have to wait another 5-10 days to get my money back.

So here I am, watching my bank balance go lower and lower whilst all my money has been taken hostage by financial institutions. I never seem to learn my lesson. Research before you buy and once you buy don't change your decision. It's like the detour option in the Amazing Race, I'm the perennial detour switcher and although it might stop me from coming last, I might have had the same result if I just stuck it out with one task.

Only positives currently are that I booked most of my US tickets/ebay purchases etc before the dollar crashed below 0.91. Ahahha I can't believe I think 0.86 is low. Only seemed a few years ago that we were hovering around 0.55/0.6. But I guess I didn't care then cause I wasn't travelling and ebaying.

A lesson for those who read this blog...bargain hunting is sometimes really not worth it.

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Currently I've booked everything that I need to book. Some show/event tickets I will book once I get to LA and hopefully the dollar goes up a bit. I've done most of my shopping, so for the next week or so, it's packing and researching and hopefully cleaning my room.

LA

THINGS TO DO

• La Brea Tar Pits - dinosaurs and fossils in tar, awesome
  
• J. Paul Getty Center - it's a museum, with lots of stuff ( Including Van Gogh, Monet and Cezanne), in 6 buildings. supposedly one of the best and biggest in the US - free admission a plus
• Grauman's Chinese Theatre - possibly the most famous cinema in the world - star prints as well
• Hollywood Walk of Fame - can I actually be bothered tracking down the people I like?
• Universal Studios
• Hollywood Sign
• Sunset Boulevard - will try and hold back the urge to belt Sir Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard whilst walking down the street.
• Beverly Hills + Rodeo Drive
• Santa Monica Pier
• Garment District?
• Mulholland Drive?
• DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!!
  

FOOD

• Ben & Jerry's (esp Phish Food and Chunky Monkey) + all sorts of weird and wacky junkfood
• In & Out Burger - double double, animal style fries, chocolate shake
• Tex-Mex
• Pink's Hot Dogs - chilli dog + onion rings

SHOPPING

• Winter Jacket (columbia or northface?)
• Boots (hiking/timberland?)

Random updates

I bought a supposedly cheap ticket to the Knicks vs Bulls game on December 30th. I say supposedly cause it still set me back $60. And it's a pretty shitty seat. The minute I clicked I confirm I realised I could have gotten better and cheaper tickets through fan ticket exchange. Curse me for been impulsive.

So Current list of shows/events I already have tickets for:
- Jacky Cheung, 22/23 December
- Knicks vs Bulls 30 December
- Barrowman in Aladdin Panto 12th January
- Henry V at the RSC 14th January

Tickets I still need to get for things I've definitely am seeing:
- San Jose Sharks vs Dallas Stars 15th December

Things which need urgent attendance before I leave:
- cleaning my room
- buy SD cards for camera
- hair cut
- travel insurance
- chinese visa
- dentist
- Tel + karaoke
- suitcase
- Green Ps (booked test already)
- Extend time in Shanghai till around the 20th. - confirm and get a printout of my ticket

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Great Britain still hates me and my credit card, so I'm either going to have to phone them up or worst case scenario, cop the overpriced train tickets once we get to London. Add to that, finances currently are horrifically stretched, my original budget has been way conservative, and I'm just realising how much ACTUALLY this will cost me. It's insane.

I also decided to extend my stay in Berlin by an extra day, and cut a day from Munich. I was browsing around and realised Berlin is possibly a much cooler, cleaner, friendlier and more culturally interesting than Munich. Plus the hostels just look absolutely AWESOME.

Now that my exams are finished I can finally continue on researching the place I'm going to, so hopefully I'll be posting City specific itineraries now. I also need to start printing off maps and details for log books which will be accompanying me and helping me not get lost and into trouble or something.

2 weeks exactly left, and I'm absolutely stoked and petrified at the same time. Like OMFG, I fear I'm going to get homesick like crazy.

O, for a muse of fire...

So I booked my ticket for Henry V at the Royal Shakespeare Company on Monday 14th January in Stratford-upon-avon. I'm a bit disappointed since I won't be able to get to the RSC for Tennant's Hamlet, oh well. But I'm still as excited as ever, watching Henry V at his birthplace, enough to make a Shakespeare nut like me slightly faint.

RSC Courtyard Theatre

I also tried to buy all the UK train tickets today but First Great Western won't take my credit card, and every other site wanted a UK address for registration, even though they had "Australia" as an option...ARRRGH, Brits and their privatised train system.

Online credit card validation systems are still far from perfect. The hotel i was meant to book in Vegas screwed up halfway through the application and for days I didn't know whether they would return the deposit to my card, even when I haven't completed the reservation. I still don't have accommodation in Stratford-upon-avon as of now, the B&B I contacted seem to check their email once a week.

Still so much to plan and do, so little time. Hmmmphfff