Why Arnold Schwarzenegger is Brilliant

Arnie has been no stranger to making a funny having appeared in several hilarious films including Christmas comedy classic Jingle All The Way. But now, the Terminator star is pulling pranks on a governmental scale. Obviously being bored of vetoing bills that don't fit in with his way of thinking, he's making his own fun in the form of this acrostic letter:

Now, if you missed that (or don't want to read the Wiki link), an acrostic form of writing is where, essentially, the first letters of each sentence spell out a word. A classic example of this is Ian Brown's seminal masterpiece F.E.A.R. So with this knowledge, re-read the letter paying close attention to the words spelled out by the first letters of each setence. Here's what is revealed:

When asked by the Bay Guardian, an American newspaper, if the message was intentional, Schwarzenegger’s spokesman said: “What a strange coincidence.” Brilliantly, the newspaper went on to state in their article that the spokesman was “clearly being sarcastic.”

Day 21: Days Of Our Lives

Okay, I've got seven days to catch up on here so here we go:

Angels and Day-mons
TallaDAYga Nights
DAYzed and Confused
Training Day
Groundhog Day
The Day After Tomorrow

There we go, that should cover all of the 'Day' puns I've missed so far.

Not much to report, to be honest. I've been popping in and out of Chicago haphazardly on little shopping trips and the lark and just exploring new parts of the city.

I went to the museum today - because it was free - but left unimpressed. Maybe it's the lack of variety there or maybe it's because I was just wandering around a museum by myself but either way it wasn't great. I nipped into Gamestop today too and picked up Scribblenauts and Katamari Forever for the DS and PS3 respectively. Scribblenauts seems alright from the initial 20 minutes of tutorials but the DS needed charging so a full opinion will have to wait.

Drank almost a litre of Monster energy drink. The can made me chuckle with a little Doom reference, the can being referred to as the BFC: Big 'Effin Can. =D

I was going to go to the Skydeck today but stupidly I left my camera behind so I'll have to go another day. It's a shame because it was a really nice day and the view would've been ace.

Seven days till I come back now. Will try and update this more often.

Jambo out.

Day 2: Day Harder

Well, I was still feeling a bit jet-lagged so I had another incredibly lazy day starting with a shower and following with me sitting infront of the laptop listening to music and trying to sort out directions and locations on Google Maps with some sense of success. At midday (my time, 6pm UK time) I'd arranged to have a Skype chat with my parents, sister and brother-in-law. It was great seeing and hearing from them - never thought I'd have a use for a webcam but it's really going to help stop me feeling homesick over the course of the next 87 days. Anyway, we chatted for about 30 minutes as I gave them a tour of the hotel room and talked about the weather and how everyone was doing. After that I spent a further 30 minutes confirming where things were on Google Maps and looking at train times before deciding I was too tired to actually head into Chicago itself today so instead I thought I'd go for a walk and check out the local surroundings.

First thing I noticed after leaving the hotel was that there are no pavements, just road, so if you want to walk somewhere you have to walk right alongside the cars! I kept as close to the side as possible, hopping onto grass where available to keep me as far away from the cars as possible. Another thing I noticed is that no-one here walks anywhere. Over an hour of walking I saw maybe one person who wasn't in a car and even then they were walking from a shop into their car! Second thing I notice is that there are zero pedestrian crossings. So, I start my walk away from the way I came into Itasca just to see what's on the other side. I found the nearest 7-11 which will sort out all of my 24 hour Cola needs and I decided to carry on further up to see what was there and because it was a nice day I fancied the walk.

Itasca doesn't really have much in the way of... Well, anything really. The bars and shops are all right next to the Metra station so once I make my way there I should be sorted though it is an estimated 35 minute walk from the Hotel. Anyway, I carry on walking up until I find the train tracks that cut right through the centre of Itasca and I know from looking on Google Maps that to get the Metra station I just need to follow the tracks left. So I head back and take a left down this nice looking road mainly because it had a load of trees and it was boiling hot so the shade looked enticing. A red squirrel ran right out infront of me and right behind it was a duck hopping after it. I wish I'd remembered to take my camera as that was a Kodak moment if I ever saw one. I turned round once I realised the road didn't lead anywhere exciting and saw a group of ducks hanging out under a tree, slowly hopping in a circle around it. Was pretty weird but awesome all the same.

So I head back to the hotel - stopping at 7/11 on the way for supplies - then get back into the room and shove stuff in the fridge. I don't think I'll be heading out anywhere tonight other than maybe to Wendy's to get something to eat tonight. Instead I think I'll get myself stuck into the manual for my digital camera so I can take lots of pictures tomorrow then later on I'll settle down with a film before getting to bed early. Got a busy day in Chicago tomorrow!

Jambo out.

Day 1: Arrival

Whoa. That was a looong flight. I mean, I knew it'd be long, but at times it felt like the clock was going backwards. A few times I dozed off and awoke to find the estimated time had increased!

Got into Chicago O'Hare at roughly 8:15pm and made my way through to border control/customs and immigration, etc. One guy at the airport got quite rudely grabbed by the shoulder and shoved at the back of the line for no reason whatsoever so I made sure I was on my best behaviour. The queue went by quick enough and eventually I saw one of the officers and they asked me the usual questions (how long you here? Where are you going? How much money did you bring? etc...).

Just as I made it to the carousel my luggage swung by which was a stroke of good fortune so with that in tow I made my way to the Taxi rank. Due to the late time I had to pay 1.5x the normal rate. In the end it cost me $60 to get to the Hotel but it's better than having to try and make my own way there.

Anyway, got into the Hotel and got the key to the room. It's a nice big room with a nice big bed. Nothing spectacular but perfectly good enough for a base of operations. The Internet is pretty fast too so I can update with ease. Anyway, it's been far too long a day to carry on without sleep so I bid you adieu.

Jambo out.

BLAST OFF!

It's up to the stars we go!
And leave behind everything I used to know.



Less than a day then I'm on my way to America! This is probably my last post here until I touch down in Illinois and get to the Hotel.

One week till lift off!

Well, after months [read: days...] of planning I've finally got tickets booked and a Hotel sorted for the first month of my 3 month stint in America. I'm staying in a seemingly quiet little place called Itasca, Illinois which is a short train ride away from the centre of Chicago. Feeling very excited - maybe a little bit nervous - but I'm definitely looking forward to it! I'm currently making final preparations such as getting GPD changed into USD, getting a digital camera/camcorder and getting stuff ready to be packed; I think I'll be travelling lightly though to avoid loads of luggage...

I know I've neglected this blog a little bit over the last couple of months but this will be the main hub of my Stateside Adventure so it will be updated a lot more often in the coming months with photos, videos, and comments. I'm very much looking forward to the trip and I hope you are looking forward to reading/seeing/hearing about it.

Jambo out.