Down and Out in Sin City

Took my uncle Michael to Las Vegas. No winnings to report.

Burma by Taxi

This week's voyage has been an interesting one, so far. The nation of Myanmar has been oppressively ruled by a military junta for quite some time. I hired a taxi driver (a.k.a. a disgruntled student of a university shut down by the military) who spoke English, requesting that he show me his country. His response, in reaction to providing him all of my military government vouchers was, "Can I bring my cousin?" My guide and his cousin (names not stated to ensure their safety) have been excellent hosts, driving me hundreds of miles around their country, showing me temples, stopping at towns to sing karaoke, and taking me to dinner theater shows. In the last couple of days, we took a trip to Golden Rock temple (through the jungle and up the mountains), and to an island pagoda near Rangoon.

Good people. Unfortunate circumstances.

Pacific Rim in Taiwan

Stopped in Taiwan for three days. This is Damshui, a very picturesque location north of Taipei.

Arrival in San Jose

Stopped to visit my fried "Dan Damage" out in San Jose on my way to Asia. Had a great time. I'm leaving my car here and continuing on to Taiwan.

Great Northwest

I visited my Uncle John in Williams, Oregon, after a detour in Seattle where I ran into Matt Pinfield from MTV. In the photo is my uncle's yin-yang garden. I spent the night in his recording studio, where he showed me some of his new material.

May in the Rockies

Drove through Gallatin and Yellowstone. Saw lots of buffalo and antelope. I even saw a moose in the middle of the road and a grizzly in the distance.

Driving Along the Northern US Border

Greetings from Fargo!

Safety in the Sahara

If you want to ensure your safety from the side effects of the Y2K bug, then let's do it right. I risked my life to smuggle myself from Morocco to the Western Sahara into a war zone. Not a computer in any direction for about 1000 miles (save for my watch, camera and camcorder). Disguised as a Saharan, I easily made it out to the dunes and spent much of New Years Eve in a tent with nomadic Saharans. Come midnight (Morocco time), I was on a bus to Rabat. It was a beautiful moment. Nearly all of the other passengers did not appreciate the fact that we were entering a new millenium. We're talking about nomadic desert dwellers with camels. I'm not sure they're on the same calendar, or if they had ever seen a calendar. However, there was a girl on the bus, who was checking her watch as intently as I was, excited about the memorialization of the passing of a thousand years. She was about 25 years old, dressed in traditional Saharan fashion (see picture above). There was no Dick Clark or Times Square. At the same moment, when our watches reached T minus zero, we both looked up and smiled at each other. I know I didn't explain it well. There were no words exchanged. I doubt she spoke English, and I didn't speak Arabic. You had to be there. We both understood eachother completely.