Covergirl: Alice from Australia's Next Top Model

Last time I mentioned Alice for Australia's Next Top Model was to profess my love for her. Well, she won the show AND she is on the cover of (Australian) Vogue. Take a look:


Gorgeous.

If she were on America's Next Top Model, she would have been beaten out by a girl with active leprosy and two teeth all because Tyra would have thought she had an interesting journey.

[photo source: The Fashion Spot]

Road Trip 2007 - Day 3 (San Diego, California)

There were more mountains to traverse at break-neck speeds from Tucson, AZ to our next destination San Diego, California. I think we went up and down two mountains ranges but there was some neat stuff along the way. There was a wind farm, huge sand dunes that seem to comes from nowhere and a water channel that was redirected from the Colorado River for irrigation of Southern California.


When we it the suburbs of San Diego and the entire landscape changed. There were expensive houses on the side of mountains, stores and TRAFFIC. The traffic wasn't terribly bad, said the guy who is the passenger/navigator, but it was definitely much more congested. We ended up going the wrong way en route to our hotel but we eventually got back on track and made it to the downtown hotel. After checking in, and see the amazing view of the bay from our room, we heading out to the Historic Old Town section of the city.

We had lunch at a local restaurant called O'Hungry's, and when we finished we decided to walk around. We hiked up a hill leading to Presidio Park, which I wasn't too thrilled about because I didn't have proper footwear ... but I trucked on away. At the very top of Presidio Park you could see the bay/ocean and all the congestion on the highway. From there, we headed to gay (or as it described, "alternative") section of San Diego called Hillcrest.

When we arrived in Hillcrest (after getting lost) we found parking and began to walk around the area. Hillcrest is much bigger area than the gay section of Oak Lawn in Dallas. We walked for blocks and there seemed to be rainbow flags posted everywhere. But like Dallas, there are new condos being built everywhere for ridiculous amounts of money. We drove around the downtown area for a bit and then made our way back to the hotel for a bit of relaxation.

Since we were both still stuffed from our late lunch, we decided to head out for dessert. When I told some people I was heading to San Diego, I was urged to visit Extraordinary Desserts. There was a location two blocks from were we where staying, so we walked for some sugary goodness. The desserts were indeed extraordinary. I got the Triple Chocolate Mousse which was made more extravagant with the addition of edible flowers and gold leaf. I made plans to go back the next day to try something else.

Now completely full, we headed back to the hotel for sleep.

Next ... second day of San Diego.

Road Trip 2007: Day 2 (Lincoln National Forest and White Sands National Monument)

Originally, our route to Tucson took us south of Carlsbad towards El Paso, Texas, but due to the suggest of someone I know we decided to head north and visit White Sands National Monument. Armed with a set of new directions, we proceeded on our journey.

An hour or so into our trip the elevation began to rise quick as we traveled up through the Sacramento Mountains. The road was abundant with twist and turns that put my stomach into knots. I have with issues with heights, and adding sharps banks at speeds of 50+ miles per hour nauseated me. We reached the height of the mountain and stopped in a town called Cloudcroft, NM for gas and provisions. After filling up the tank we began our decent down the other side of the mountain. As we made our way down we entered in the Lincoln National Forest.

From Lincoln National Forest Photos

We snapped a few pictures and got back on the road.

Further down the mountain we saw a long a strip of white mass near the mountains ahead. My friend thought what we were seeing was just a mirage, but the it was just to massive to be that. Shortly after we saw signs pointing us toward Whites Sands National Monument, which proved what we were seeing was real.

We arrived at the park and made our way to the information desk to get information on the park and its attractions. Sleds were available in the gift shop to slide down the sides of the sand dunes. They were expensive, but it is something one should do while at the park. And they bought back the sleds at the end of your stay so you don't end up losing too much money. We grabbed our sleds, paid the entrance fee and proceeded through 1.3 miles of white sand.

From White Sands National Monument Photos

The sand dunes were massive and walking up them took some effort. On the very top of the dune everything was extremely brights that it took sometime to my eyes to adjust to the light reflecting off the white sand. The view of the dark hazy mountains in the distance against the white sand was worth the squinting. The warm sand between my toes, carefully avoids the fire ants, felt great. After taking in the view, we decided to slide down the dunes. My friend was braver that I was by going a ~75 degree slope, and then proceeded to fall of his sled and somersault backwards down the hill. Fortunately, he was okay ... but I found a more gentle slope to conquer. I got on my sled and got stuck in the sand. I hopped further to the edge of the slope but no progress in sliding. I just went deeper into the soft sand before sliding (slowly) down the hill as my friend and a bystander laughed along with me. Covered in sand, my friend made the observation that were forbidden to take sand out of the park, but we did not have much of a choice when it was lodged in every possible crevasse. After a couple of hours walking along a few trails, we decided it was time to hit the road.

A few hours later ....

We made it to Tucson, AZ. Nothing more to say about that. It looked okay but we decided that it wasn't worth venturing around. A couple of hours prior to our arrival the cities experience a bad monsoon which caused some damaged around the city. We experienced some wind and rain, but nothing too serious.

Dinner at Denny's and the back to the hotel for rest.

Next stop ... San Diego, California.

More Trip Recaps and Photos Coming Soon

I haven't been with at my computer because I have been out and about on vacation. I will have a recap of day 2 and 3 of my trip tomorrow. I am at the Grand Canyon now at the swankiest hotel thus far on my trip. The freaking hotel has a bowling alley. For real! But it cost $5 per game so it is totally not worth it.

Updates coming soon...

Road Trip 2007: Day 1 (Carlsbad Caverns National Park)

I am currently on a 12 day road trip, but I plan on updating my blog daily with photos and stories from my journey. Places I will travel during my trip:

Carlsbad Caverns National Park (Carlsbad, NM)
White Sands National Monument (New Mexico)
California (San Diego and Los Angeles)
Las Vegas, Neveda
Grand Canyon Nation Park (Arizona)

... and other stops in between. This would be the farthest west I have ever traveled so I am extremely excited (and a bit nervous) to see other parts of the country. It should be a fun trip. I am with a friend of mine, and this would be our third road trip together. Our first road trip we ended up going to Provincetown, MA; and our second trip was my move from Buffalo, NY to Dallas, TX.

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

From Carlsbad Cave...

We almost didn't make it to the caverns because we didn't leave our hotel until 4:20pm and the caverns closed at 5pm. We booked it to the park and got our tickets with a minute to spare. I got a bit sick in the car due to the increasing altitude, high speeds, and winding roads. The sickness passed and we got on an elevator and headed down 750 feet.

Seeing all of the stalactites, stalagmites and the pits which seem to lead nowhere was very interesting. Too bad that tour was somewhat ruined by the Rangers rushing people out because it was closing. But they were nice about rushing out of the caverns and gave us some additional views by turning off the lights.

If you are ever near the Carlsbad Caverns, it is a must see.

People: Victoria and David Beckham

Here is an interview from NBC's Today Show:


It weird, but I don't think I have ever heard Victoria speak before. To me, she has always been just a person in a photograph. She is seems to be quite a sweet person.

The other weird thing, I think her voice is deeper than her husband's. David Beckham is an extremely attractive man, but when he opens his mouth and that high pitch voice comes out ... it ruins the sexiness. For example:


See what I mean?

Hopefully I will get to see both of them when I am in LA next week.

Movies: SiCKO

Last week I got to see Michael Moore's lastest "documentary" film SiCKO. I didn't hear much about this film until there was a controversy about Roger shooting parts of the film in Cuba, which cause him to be investigated by the US Treasury Department. Also, a master copy of the movie was stolen and place in the Internet a couple weeks before the scheduled release. This prompted conspiracy theorist to believe that this was done deliberately but the Bush administration. I don't know that, but any way you see it, it is a good film.

The film shows how the privatization of health care in the United States compares to (universal) national health care systems of countries like Canada, England, France and Cuba. After see how other industrialize nations treated their citizen in terms of health care, I walked out of the theater feeling disenchanted. Watch the trailer:


The film is humorous and informative, but it also has heartbreaking stories of health insurance battles people suffered through which in some cases lead to the death of a loved one. It's shocking.

I have been lucky enough in my life to have alway have some type of health insurance. I've had surgery twice to remove Chalazions from my eyes: once under general anesthetic and once under a local. My mother's insurance covered nearly all of costs.

The only time I haven't been covered was when I moved from Buffalo, NY to Dallas, TX and I was in the process of looking for work. When I became eligible for health insurance at my currently job, I went to a doctor to an annual check-up and was told that all of the procedures where covered (excluding a $20 co-pay). A couple of months later I received a bill for almost $400. I shocked because my friend had the same check-up that I did (same hospital, same doctor, same blood tests) and he was only charged his co-pay. This was a year and a half ago, but I am scared to go see another doctor because I am not sure how much will cost me.

I always thought that if anything serious happened to me I would be okay because I got health insurance. Now, I am not so sure. I am plotting a move to another country with national health coverage so I could have only less thing to worry about. Since gays can marry in Canada, I might end up there. As I type this, I feel the onset of a severe cold and I am taking Zicam to help lessen the symptoms. I hope I don't lose my sense of smell as a result.

Any (preferably gay) Canadians looking to get married? I need to see a doctor.

edited: because Michael Moore made this film, NOT Roger Moore. What the hell was I thinking about? Thanks for the correction, Anonymous ... if that's your real name.

Fashion: Roger Federer's Faux-Pas

After singing his praises yesterday, On The Baseline showed that even the "perfect" Federer have imperfect moments. After beating Nadal in Wimbledon finals on Sunday, he was so overcome by emotion that he didn't realize that he put his pants on backwards. Mirka, you are sooo fired.


Poor Roger. But he still looked dapper, so I guess it doesn't matter if his pants were a bit askew. He may start a new trend in tennis ... much like Kris Kross.

[photo source: On The Baseline, Getty Images]

Wimbledon 2007: The Champions

Congratulations, Miss Venus Williams, on your fourth Wimbledon title!


I just take great pleasure that she won Wimbledon this year because it will hopefully boost her confidence, and amongst my friends, I was the only person who picked her to win. Most picked either Justine Henin or Serena Williams to win, but after I saw Venus play at the French Open I knew she could win Wimbledon. She has to body meant for grass. She is tall, long-limbed, athletic and has so much power on her ground strokes.


She has that same joy from when she won two years ago.


Congrats again on the win ... and for landing your new boyfriend Hank Kuehne. Well done. Hope to see you around Dallas sometime.

And I saved the best for last ...


... Roger Federer.

It was a scary match but he pulled it together during the 5th set to win he 5th straight Wimbledon title, which tied the record held by Bjorn Borg. I could gush all day about this man but I will just post a few pictures.

With my favorite umpire, Carlos Ramos of Portugal.
Bonus Hotness



[photo sources: Tennis Week, Tennis Magazine, AP, Yahoo! Sports]

Long Holiday

Don't worry, I am alive. I had to travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma for a couple of day for work and I have been taking it easy since then. It feels like today is only Tuesday with the Fourth of July holiday in the middle of the week. When came into the office yesterday, I swore it was Monday.

I am back and there will be new content starting tomorrow.