I'm sitting in the King's Head in Santa Monica watching Man U and Chelsea; 1-1 at half-time. This place is rammed with English people. I think Chelsea just outnumber the Mancs and there are 3 people from Birmingham including me: I'm not sure of the team they support - never heard of them. I'm sure this game
will end in penalties. I've mentioned on a number of occasions the divided states of America. My trip down Highway 1 has confirmed this view. Travelling from Seattle to San Diego has proven to me how divided the sates are. I knew there was a difference between the North and the South. I knew that the East coast was different from the mid-West. I'd been to both Nebraska and Montana and knew those differences. What shocked me was the differences on the West coast. I expected Long Beach to be cool; but there was nothing there. I loved Portland with its free public transport in the centre of the city. It was also the first time I encountered the concept of drinking the wall. Paddy's wall in Portland is shown above. In a number of bars down the west coast there are walls of about 1000 different drinks which people try to drink in their lifetime. In Santa Cruz for instance there is a wall with 99 beers on it and Craig Allison has drunk it 15 times so far. I've mentioned the differences in America. Many of these coastal towns are very conservative, very Republican backwaters. They represent the hidden California for me - this is not the Beach Boys' laid- back California by any stretch of the imagination. I'd like to go to some constants. All along the West coast the following are true: Mexicans work in the kitchens; young white college girls serve at tables; black and white old men panhandle and clear the trash bins; obscenely large cars and trucks are driven all over the place and lots of people are fat. One other unifying event has been Ironman. I've now seen it four times: it is a great movie. I am Iron Man are 4 words as significant as Tomorrow is another day.One other big difference in the trip has been the availability of taxis. In some places they are everywhere; in others you can't get any. An example of non-availability is Cannery Row. As a Steinbeck fan I was looking forward to going there which I did but getting back was impossible.
Having been employed in a sector for 38 years which has a mission to get people into employment I have been very interested in new jobs and peoples' job satisfaction. The happiest people I have met on the West coast so far are:
Alaskan crab fishermen;
bubble blowers on Santa Monica pier;
drivers of Ducks in several cities;
crab cooks in Santa Barbara;
clay sculptors in Monterey;
midgets who sing Paint it Black;
drummers on Venice Beach.
I wonder where they got the careers advice from to live a full and happy life.
There was a great letter in The Guardian last week from a session musician who had been playing for 30 years and making a lot of money who fears that if she were at school under the current Labour government would risk her parents going to jail for her not getting qualified.
The best time and place I've been so far is the John Paul Getty center in the Santa Monica mountains. It is superb public space; it is free; it has great views of LA and it has Wheatstacks.
On the Radio: Guns and Roses Black Sabbath Patsy Cline
Reading: On the Road
Published on YouTube: Shirt of the Villa: Pacific Highway
