I finally found a wonderful use for this journal. I was on a date just the other night, and for some reason I flat-out could not remember what I did for this New Years... so just before I sat down to write this I looked up the listing for January... Hoocha-hoocha-hoocha-lobster! (Any Eddie Izzard fans out there?) The answer? Swingers club.
I have a lot of stuff to write... and lots of photos, and I am, of course, late... by about two weeks. It is only a week and a half until the July journal is supposed to go in - YIKES!
I am also behind I am being pestered by several fan club member to answer some questions so I am gonna get to some of them now, and whatever doesn't get answered here will be covered in the July entry in two weeks.
I rather liked the timeline in last month's journal so let's have that:
 Tortugas make strange bedfellows... |
- Relaxed and played oodles of X-box (I conquered HALO 2)
- Repaired the trailer brakes
- My refrigerator breaks; got hosed on Trailer repairs
- We do our members Meet & Greet
- Finished the Georgia show
- A visit to Charlotte and an uneventful trip to Ohio
- Trailer-parking mishap
- Fly out to Iowa show
- Casino life
- Our guest star
- The fall of a hero
- We leave for home
- We don't make it
- Finally home, now it's time to leave
- Another flight... at stupid o'clock
- Three dopey twins in Seattle
- Another casino
- Washington state
- Late nights and tiny towns
- Crap it stays light forever here!
- Pirates, tall ships, and fans
- Sci-fi museum, an encounter in the space needle and the Underground
- Our adventurers return, and our hero's fridge is still broken
Also covered: Some of our pain-in-the-ass members have been pestering me to answer some questions.
One Member writes:
- Your guilty pleasure?
- Favorite place in the US and out?
- Why the Navy?
- What is your favorite genre of book/movie?
- And finally, who is your preferred theatrical feline?
Another asks:
"What kind of music are you into? You've alluded to musical tastes a bit, but I am curious to know if you are as diverse musically as you seem to be in other aspects of your life."
I will get to these in a moment.
So: When last we left our intrepid Tortuga, he was reveling in his new X-box and preparing to enjoy a FREE earliest-possible-screening of Star Wars Episode 3.
WOW! I loved it. We felt like stars, A Fan, and new friend (who we'll refer to as 'Batman' manages a theater near to the Georgia site, and got the happy-nerdy Tortugas in for FREE (and let us borrow his super-spiffy lightsaber!) I loved the movie, though I thought they could have cut out one fight scene to have more character exposition... and I was disappointed in how weak Padme had become.
We Tortugas rejoiced in our new-found freedom from TortugaPalooza responsibilities, I cleverly utilized the time to catch-up on movies, and master the game HALO 2 (which I recommend) I also had discovered during my earlier trip to Florida that something was wrong with my trailer-brakes... I found a company with a good reputation and discovered that it was only about $400 to repair them--- sigh.
Now there is a trend here: I spent around $600 on truck repairs, AFTER the $1600 I spent on the transmission... and I already bitched about the $900 smackers on trailer repairs. I don't think I spent anything in Florida, but in Georgia it was another (roughly) $500 on truck and between brakes and the newly broken refrigerator another $500 or so on the trailer... The refrigerator stopped functioning... I called the folks out and after a hunk o' money they told me it was fixed.
It was not.
Jef and Sharon were kind enough to lend me the use of their fridge... so not all of my food was wasted (Thanks guys!) Little did they suspect that that they would be stuck with my vegetarian crap for a month. I called back and begged them to come fix it... but drove away with a fridge that remained broken.
The last Wednesday of the fair we did our Meet and Greet... we went to Dave and Busters, hanging out with crazy fans and kickin' ass in BattleTech. Jef, Riki, and I have our individual strengths and weaknesses in piloting the 80 foot tall robots armed with rockets, lasers, and big-assed guns... but some of our newest fan club members (they signed-up after that night) SLAUGHTERED us.
The repair men STILL hadn't come as promised by the end of the last weekend of the Georgia show, so as I mentioned before off I went to Ohio... Via Charlotte, NC. Our schedule gets crazy at this time of year... and it is always a hassle figuring out what on earth to do with our houses, our pets, and our selves to get from Georgia to Iowa in less than a week. We decided the most practical thing was to drive our houses early to the campground we stay at in Ohio, and fly from there. Sharon again (graciously) consented to watch devil-kitty. I decided to go via North Carolina for both practical and not-so-practical reasons. A good friend of mine is also a talented hairdresser. So sixty miles out of my way, I get my hair done, and spend a really pleasant time with a good friend... the rest of the trip is uneventful, I find myself finally in place at the campground we stay at in Ohio... nice enough place, one of my favourite things about it is that I have a pull-thru spot. In theory no backing-up is required. Here's the problem with theories... sometimes they go awry. My trailer wasn't quite straight... so I had to back up a bit... but wait! I got out of the truck and looked behind on both sides--- fine, and safe... after which I promptly back into hidden fence post causing a huge crumpled scrape on my still new-seeming trailer.
SHIT!!
So now not only is my trailer possessed of a broken fridge, but a wounded quarter panel and damaged leveling jack. I spent all of the next few days trying to get someone to come and fix the damn thing. No one in Ohio seemed interested in taking my money!
Shit again!
Now Jef and I live in a lovely campground in the Town of Geneva, Ohio. Riki stays in Niles with Ruth. Cleveland is the closest airport to us... but for oodles of reasons it is much more practical to fly out of Pittsburgh. Its two hours away from Riki, three from us. I had to pack for our Iowa trip - and off we go.
We have been doing the show in Iowa for years, it is swell! We traditionally stay in the dorms in the past or a hotel last year. And eat most of our meals at the casino buffet (which allows us all to gamble a little as well). This year we cut-out the middle step and just stayed at the Casino. Jef was able to swing a sweeeeet deal... all of those trips to Harrahs have paid off it seems, and we lived in the lap of luxury. This allowed us to have completely different schedules, we could sleep when we liked, eat when we wanted, hang out in the bar - or the casino as we liked... all we had to do was sort-out the sleeping arrangements (just to keep you titillated, we do a rotating schedule: Each twins gets a night in bed alone... and the other two nights they must share [See picture above - AB]). Oh, and we had to do the Show, of course.
 The pig farm next door |
 The Tortuga competition |
 ...and for my next trick... |
Saturday this cat actually came on stage and stole the show... He was adorable... Jef (in the role of evil tempter) tried to convince me to adopt the wee kitty... but fortunately someone else gave the little jester a home before I could crack.
Whew!
I have mentioned before what a dope I am for boxing... and though he's not my favourite by a stretch, the single most dramatic fighter of our (and possibly every) generation is Iron Mike Tyson... or was. A special bonus about staying in a casino was that they were carrying the very pricey pay-per-view fight. (Or mostly) There was a huge confusion with the cable feed, but we got the signal in time to see the beautiful job done by Laila Ali (The Champ's daughter) and the humiliating job done by the rusted-out Iron Mike.
 Hanging out with Kay and Chad Kinsey |
The show was great... we got to hang-out with dear friends from our Past (the Jolly Rogers for example) and Present... Kay and Chad Kinsey, (Kay has created a forum for our fans called Tortugaland... check it out) and Über-fan Deb Johnson... but finally we're done and we head home... and absolutely don't make it!
We have an early morning flight... and we're scheduled to arrive by early afternoon... which is swell, since we were only scheduled to be in town for two days before flying out again. Jef and Riki's least favourite airport in the world is Chicago's O'Hare... Wanna guess where we got stranded for like eight or ten hours? The only good thing about that was our good friend Todd, (husband of Ruth, roommate of Riki) arrived a few hours later, was able to change his flight to our much delayed one, and shared a ride home with us. Todd and I talked about comics and movies incessantly, much to the irritation of Riki and Jef.
We arrived at three in the morning, and had to leave in literally 24 hours. Unpack; laundry, repack... and a really early flight out of Pittsburgh again... plane change and a brief layover in Charlotte. Not enough time to have any friends come out, but we did actually run into some Charlotte fans there... Nice boys... and then a great, long flight to Washington state. Jef had cleverly made the seating arrangements, (exit row... with all the leg-room of the world!)
We were sleepy, and stupid, and in fricken' SEATTLE... it is so ridiculously beautiful there. Rental car, fight with luggage, (it all made it this time) and prepare for the two hour drive to Port Angeles... We took loads of pictures, and goggled like idiots... and the place is chock-a-block full of hot Asian girls.
Our first stop was to visit an old friend of Riki and Jef's, and the Brother of Jef's Best friend... and where does he work (and where did we go to breakfast?): a casino. Have you ever had your breakfast at a not-yet opened casino in Seattle? Goosed a statue of the Blues Brothers on the way out (why not?) and off we went.
 Goosing Joilet Jake at the casino |
 Don't jump, Ronn! |
 Another lovely Seattle vista |
When we finally awoke - it was off to dinner. Now remember what I said about it being a small town? Hungry? Late night? Right... actually we just snuck in as they were closing the kitchen on a very nice seafood place. With very tricky salt-and-pepper shakers... they looked like river stones (until you turned them over!).
A weird thing we observed here... it never gets dark! Foggy, cloudy, but at 10:30 at night it was still bright enough to see outside... kinda heady for a boy from Florida. But again, GOD it was beautiful! I would hate to be in this quaint town in winter... where I imagine it would suddenly turn hellish and cold and dreary. The huge snow-capped mountain right outside our Bates-motel door... lovely. As were the strippers that moved in on Saturday. We were walking distance to the gig... and there were friends there as well.
On Friday the Show was very disappointing. Badly organized, poorly attended, and the tall ships, which were a major part of the draw, were delayed... our stages went from bad on Friday, to worse on Saturday when Captain Bogg and Salty took over the performance space. Nice music... but aggravating.
 Secret Agent salt and pepper shakers |
 A 'Jolly' Roger |
 With the Jolly Rogers Brothers at the Pirate Feast |
 Super-Tortugaholic Mary Egan |
 Reginald and crew |
 One of the Tall Ships |
Space needle!
What's right next to the space needle?
Sci-fi museum - AKA Nerd heaven! We twins had a wonderful time... the Sci-Fi Museum and Hall of Fame... it needs more: more stuff, more displays, more interaction, more press... but was still truly worth it. I have mentioned before what nerds we are... ya should have seen the childlike glee on all three of our faces! I won't belabor the point... go see the damn thing... and check out the multitude of photos we shot... after that it was lunch in the space needle (and some shopping first!) nice REALLY expensive... and though we have never been to Seattle before, we encountered a waitress who used to tour renaissance festivals. I think she had heard of us, she definitely knew one of our employees... (the talented Bill Adamao).
 Nerds in their natural habitat |
 Riki, Robbie, and R2D2 |
 Breaking into the Sci-Fi Museum |
 A fine chance meeting... |
 Spaced Twins; Space Needle |
 In the Seattle Underground |
We have eleven days off to do nothing. I am starting a Movie Marathon... trying to catch up on the 40 plus movies on my 'To rent' list. I thought to take the whole time off... but Jef shamed me into working again.
Finally: the Fan questions:
My guilty pleasure (and she said it cannot be high-heeled or female):
Survivor! I absolutely LOVE the show. I KNOW it is the grand-dad of reality TV... but I am flat-out NUTS about it.
Favourite Place in the US and Out:
In the US... Vegas... Phoenix, Charlotte, NYC, LA, all are in the running... Chicago has it's moments... and I could certainly stay in Seattle for a while - but if I HAD to live in only one town, today I would have to choose Vegas... But I do need to look further into Seattle.
Outside... Sydney. With Toronto, Berlin, London all in the honorable mention category... When it's time to retire, I certainly wouldn't mind going back to New Zealand.
Why the Navy?
It was never any question. I was born in the Navy, and it is the only force that has Submarines. I like most of the naval traditions... the character of the Navy, and the opportunities... certainly as opposed to the other three choices... I don't count coasties.
What is my favourite genre of Book and Movie?
I am a SF/Fantasy/Horror nut.
I LOVED all of Lucas's films, despite their flaws... would kill for a lightsaber. Cried like a baby at Tolkein. Read everything Stephen king has ever written. I am currently working through Chaucer's Canterbury Tales... but I am a pop-culture victim and true-blue NERD!
What is my favourite theatrical Feline? (Someone has an obsession here)
To answer this correctly, I would have to say McCavity... but I have never actually seen CATS so I am going instead to answer as to my favourite cinematic feline... The Lions of the Tsavo... at the end of the movie The Ghost and the Darkness there is a line that tells you that the actual lions are enshrined in the field museum in Chicago... and if you look into their eyes, you will feel fear.
And I DID! I sought them out and stared into their eyes. Creepy.
What kind of music are you into? You've alluded to musical tastes a bit, but I am curious to know if you are as diverse musically as you seem to be in other aspects of your life.
Well that's funny actually... all three Twins manage to between us cover almost the entire spectrum of music. Riki, embarrassingly enough, listens to country... what can you do? Jef covers the seventies, and used to be a techno/breakbeat DJ. And then there is me. Oddly enough, though I have the most specific tastes (musically) of the group I also have the broadest tastes.
My love is for Gothic and industrial stuff, any slow-tempo, spooky music. Most of the stuff I really like comes from the late eighties and early nineties: Nine inch Nails, Ministry, Shriekback. I'm crazy about Billy idol, not just his eighties stuff, but some of the later stuff too, I like Oingo Boingo, Devo, stuff like that.
Some of the stuff is timeless, one of my favourite groups takes stuff from African folk, Turkish traditional, or Australian aboriginal to medieval chants, and adds a gothic, eerie updating and call themselves Dead Can Dance... they are the only concert I have ever seen where the band includes a hammered Dulcimer.
There is still gothic music being made... I really like a group Called Switchblade Symphony, and the lines are blurring in modern dance so you can't tell anymore what's Goth and what's not (have you ever heard Benny Benassi's satisfaction?
I also love Marilyn Manson... what's not to love?
I like quite a bit of standard rock radio stuff, though my problem, (and this is where I SOOO sound like I am 40) is that I cannot keep most of the bands straight anymore. With a few exceptions I break down most music into three categories, angry white guy with guitar music, angry girl singer, or black... more on that later.
Of course I was raised on 98 rock, and used to DJ in strip clubs... so I LOVE Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, and a few of the 'Big-haired bands', but I hate The Eagles, and AC/DC and lots of the other big-hair bands...
Here's where it starts getting weird; I LOVE show music, I love opera, (show tunes? Maybe I really am gay!) Anything with a powerful emotive force... I like a lot of weird atmospheric stuff (which takes me back to the Goth) but also stuff from soundtracks and different areas of traditional music...
Let's see... I will listen to a little country, (I do rather like some Garth, and 'Boot scootin Boogie' rocks...) but I genuinely hate the whiny stuff... and I think Shania doesn't count... but she sure is purty. I do listen to a little Charlie Daniels from time to time. Thanks to Jef, I have an appreciation for some of the contemporary dance stuff; love me a little house, some trance and beakbeats... I find I don't like a style called jungle, but hey at least it's this decade. I'm not much for top 40... but (and this freaks folks out) IÂ absolutely LOVE some hip-hop/urban/rap stuff. I adore Ludacris, I loved Aaliyah, I like a few Outkast songs (and not just hey-ya thank you!) I like DMX... my gym MP3 player sounds more like the player of a 25 year old brother, than a 40 year-old suburban honkey... but there ya are.
So it's late at night, and I have more work to do... let me add some photos and send this pig off to you guys. Oh, one more thing, I was also pestered about this... but they will wait 'til next journal, as will the updates on Brandy, and Naomi.
Why the name London? (Yes, I am curious about your cat.) What is her story of travels, trials, and tribulations? And finally, just a little reminder. You mentioned in a journal entry months ago that "someday" you might share the teddy bear's name. I'm curious!
Ciao for now...
