The Archive

Mrs Palm Springs and her five daughters

Day three and the sun continues to shine, which is hardly surprising as I'm in the desert I guess.

Some things I have learned about Palm Springs...

1. Here in the suburbs, people you walk past say 'good morning' when you walk by.


2. Football (soccer) is quite popular in the park over the road from our house - but only with Mexicans.


3. It is more fun to watch a local league team play in the park than pro football on telly.


4. The team we adopted lost 3 - 0. Our new friend, Jose, explained that this was due to 'Not training and going out drinking last night'. Now that's a team I can get behind.


5. A 45 minute walk doesn't seem like far until you realise it's in the desert sun, with not an inch of shade to be had throughout.

I got into town and stopped off at a 'British Pub' for a beer (how do you know it's a British pub? Simple, it looks exactly like an American bar, complete with huge stars and striped flag displayed prominently at one end, but you can buy Bass bitter. Chilled.)

Whilst there, I sat near a group of biker ex-marines and some marines-on-leave and listened to them chatting. So now I also know that the M4 is not a great gun in the sand as it has a tendency to jam, whereas the AK47 is basically unstoppable.

I also chatted to a biker couple about my upcoming Harley experience. The dude explained, "It's pretty heavy and proobably quite different to what you're used to." by which apparently he meant it doesn't go round corners very easily. Or stop.

So, in the highly likely event of my death, Dean, I want you to have my laptop (before anyone else can see my search history, ideally) and to all my great friends and family, it's been a blast.

After lunch I dropped in on the State Historical society (Motto: today's news is tomorrow's unimpressive exhibit.). I learned that the first dude (correction, white dude) to set up shop in Palm Springs came for the climate to help his son's pneumonia. This is particularly ironic as I still can't seem to shift the cold I've been enjoying for the past few days. Stupid desert.

The poor bugger spent a lifetime struggling with the lack of water and died totally unaware that there was one of the largest collections of water in the region right under his feet.

I also learned there was a nightclub here, called Chi Chi, which many of the old greats (Milton Berle, Nat King Cole, Eartha Kitt) came and played at. Which isn't massively interesting, but their logo was a topless woman, so I thought it was worth mentioning. I would love to have been at that advertising pitch meeting...

Account manager: "Ok, we've designed you a new logo. As you know, your brief called for something contemporary yet timeless. Your brand image is one of class, elegance and just a dash of hedonism.

We considered a range of colours and their subconscious impact as well as experimenting with bold curves and striking use of lines. And so, without further ado, here it is..."

(pulls cloth off easel to reveal logo)

Client: "It's just a woman with her tits out."

Account manager: "er, yes. Yes it is."

Client: "I love it."

(Everyone retires to the bar for lunchtime Martinis and to slightly loosen their ties)

After learning everything about the history of Palm Springs (Indians? Never heard of 'em), I hooked up with Mum, Mark and Mark's buddy Bruce for a slice of classic Americana in the shape of a burger and fries at Ruby's diner, where Mark and Mum shared a slngle salad between them and still struggled to finish it.

I wonder why the US has an obesity problem.

The rest of the day was spent largely lazing around Mark's friends pool in the shadow of the mountain, drinking beer and discussing the profound questions of life (sample question - would you rather hook up with a gorgeous partner with an average body, or an average looking partner with a killer body? So philosophical stuff).

Finally, dinner at a decent little Mexican and home to bed at a reasonable hour.

I know, I know, still no mad antics to entertain you. But I'm here with my parents for God's sake people, give me a break. Besides, I'll be on the road soon, so maybe I'll up my game.

Hope you guys are looking after the UK for me.

Peter

posted by Peter The Great @ 2:04 PM