waste o time place

I attempted to fly from DUS to VIE on april 20th.
the flight was canceled in the end and I had to fly out the next morning.

I don't think i've seen an airport so quiet - except for some crazy 4am type of thing.
but then, even at that hour, it doesn't have the same feel of emptiness.

i decided on taking the train instead of flying
plus, some of the travel involved just short journeys.

april 6 i headed to lesceister for a gig.
left from st pancras station - probably one of my most favorite train stations i've been in so far


arrived and did the shoot, then it was back to the lesciester station to head up to birmingham for a change to worcester shrub hill station.



april 7
chilling out in great malvern


april 8

really nice outside, but time to head up to edinburgh via rail
Great Malvern to Birmingham via York to









^^ that fucking dog had a seat. and i didn't.


from  york it was hell. i didn't think to reserve a seat so i ended up standing up for the next 4 hours in the entryway with my luggage.
i didn't realize it was a bank holiday weekend.
i did get lots of video of the coast as we neared the end of the trip.
http://vimeo.com/user321289

but once i got into edinburgh, everything was better. i like that city - a lot.

i flew to tampa/clearwater/orlando
and stuff happened

it always seems like, as soon as I get used to a place, then I have to pack up and leave.
it would be a bad or sad thing, except i don't think i would have it have it any other way.
it makes coming back all that much better.

it's been a while since i've been to SFO. in september when I flew in from ATL i probably took airtran to SFO, but that doesn't count because it was the domestic terminals. I don't like the domestic terminals at SFO. all it does is remind me that i'm just so close to the international ones but not quite there. So my last honest international SFO terminal visit was in hmmm... according to my records, no, it could'nt've been March. Oh well, no matter.But i'm pretty sure it was either Aug/Sep.
In any case, I will pass thru SFO intl again when i fly back to london mar 31.

otherwise, the lady at the AirTran counter was very nice and my flight to Atlanta uneventful.
while I waited for kippiepoo outside, I noticed it was cold - and that reminded me of London.
although the pick up area was void of bodies because everyone was waiting inside.





The next day Kip n I played tourist after i had a nice lie-in. We headed over to the Cyclorama which was actually quite interesting and enjoyable.
After that, we headed to Top Spice for some super yummy food including Sea Bass. I always eat well in ATL!





The next two days I left for Conyers to work a bit. And that's when the snow decided to come down.
I thought about going out to make a lil snowman, then I told myself 'hey idiot, you hate the snow and you hate the cold. wtf are you thinking?'
So I stayed inside and kept warm, hoping that my phlegmy cough would subside.



I got back to Atlanta on Sat. photognome  mentioned going to the Shelter club so kippiepoo  decided we would go with the Brian.
Plus, if we got there before midnight we could get in free by printing out coupons from the internet.
I found out later we saved $3.50. GAHHH

There we ran into rubberella  (wearing latex catsuit) and orwellsanimal  and animeoni  and i'm sure others that i can't recall at the moment.
I started out with a coffee since no tea was available while becoming more and more affixed to the videos playing - it seems like a trip back to the 80s - OMD, a-ha, etc. At least it wasn't gawth.
I did finally start with the JD hoping it would make me feel a bit more animated but it didn't. I attempted to play pool but the table is not well lit and it's a shitty small one. Finally we did leave but really it was just about 2am any way.

So back to the house and drinking continued. I passed out around 02h30 and woke up at 6h00.
I think the others finally went to bed around 7am!







Had another long lie-in on the 14th. Did go outside for a fag to notice that most of the snow had melted.



After Heather n Kip woke up, we headed out to Waikikie so I could get my plate lunch fix and we made Heater try the Musubi! Hurrah SPAM!
And we gave her clothes to wear so she wouldn't have to put on the black latex catsuit again.
This place makes me happy, plus Israel Kamakiwiwo'ole was playing on the TV.









OK so I do like the place, but all it does it make me wish i was in the islands. so I kind of hate it too :-p

All the moblog pix are at http://kumimonster.tumblr.com

Time for bed. more on my last day/nite later.
Tomorrow I leave Atlanta for Tampa :-D
And after being in the steamroom for a while, I think I might have a great nite's sleep.
At least that's the hope!

The next day was long! Most likely due to the JD i accidentally put into my belly the night before.
But also because I saw on my butt getting my 'make up' done for several hours!
In the end though, it was really cool! Barrie had this idea to cover my head in henna and he met this mua that really wanted to do it too.
She was really nice and stayed after her planned time even tho her b/f was waiting for her @ the train station back in Glasgow.
She did an awesome job! Unfortunately, henna leaves behind a decent stain of color and we had to figure out a way to prevent that. We ended up putting a coat of liquid latex on my head which was fine at first, but I knew i'd get a rash from it and so now the back of my neck and behind the ears is all irritated - just where all those sensitive parts are. It's getting a lil better now tho.
Next time we're doing my whole head n neck n stuff!!





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A couple of friends (K & P) were in town from Copenhagen and so we planned for dinner in the city again. meico joined us as well.
I was craving more Korean and this time we tried some more dishes and again we were all pleased. The odd thing was that the meal actually cost less than before! But it was still yummy! meico brought some of his double chocolate rum coconut brownies and we ate 'em all!











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The next day, I finished up my packing and then headed out to the airport and off to Bologna.
The ryanair flight didn't cost that much but the 19.99 kilo suitcase did cost me an extra £80 (£20 per kilo over 15 kilos - though when i booked the ticket it was only £15 per kilo over 15). Ass!

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Landed at BLQ on time though and no issues with the flight or airline.
And it was nice n warm outside!

Had a shoot over in the Kingdom of Fife yesterday evening.
it just sounds funny to say that.





poisonduk picked me up with princealbert over in Burnt-Island (keep wanting to say Burntis-Land) and we were joined at the resto by barry n fiona n meico n ayia
the place was called Koi chosen by princealbert and it was yummy. i ate tons.
can't wait for the video of the guys getting egg all over the ceiling!

it was fun and the chef was entertaining tho sometimes he seemed a bit pushy.
he said he was from benihana in SF which i didn't believe as it's been ages since i've seen a japanese chef actually cook tepanyaki in one of those.
he had bits o egg omelette which he tossed into the air to have the diners catch. it reminded me of my petgirl.com sets shot in vegas where i had o catch chocolate hershey's kisses - i didn't miss any of those. only just this morning did i make the connection that he might have been eterntaining himself my putting the guests in the position to act as trained animals - especially since after catching a bit of the egg, the succeeding diner would receive a chocolate covered biscuit!
hah




HEY she looks like she's feeling up meico here!!!

the day after the party was mostly a lazy day. back n forth to the airport once and then chilling out.
the next day, that was reinforced by a trip to the hotel metropole spa for me and marilyne. :-)



i got this body scrub thing and a 30 minute massage. tho i now have these little red spots on the back of my leg. like the lady really rubbed me raw with the scrubby stuff and put me in an iron maiden. hmm... oh well. i think i needed a good scrubbing.

then off for some food at ninkasi





the next day we went to the zoo.
the 29th was my last day here






all the rest are at the moblog
http://kumimonster.tumblr.com

i'm so bad i've not posted in here for a while. (and for me that's bad. i usually post something non-twitterish every day!)

In london i was without internet for most of the time. but now i have access as i am in Lyon.

i updated the moblog.
kumimonster.tumblr.com

shots from London n some Lyon stuff too...


i've been waking up at crazy hours of the am.
5am, 4am, etc.
it's kind of neat but frustrating.
it was perfect though as far as getting to the train stations for my various commutes (to shoot, to airport).

weather: great. both in london as well as here in lyon. (lyon is better though because london is getting colder).
but still pretty damn awesome for both.

-----------

taking train home from swanley


tried to avoid but eventually got sucked in:


was planning on going with ynl but i ended up working the cashier booth for jaketherat . super fun!






construction on the street in camden square - look! blue skies!


the day i leave london: more blue skies


lyon is warmer though!




miniature


for ynl -
chicks are funny. lots are walking around in heels that are kind of stripper high - which must be great on cobbled pavement.

Eureka was great. and so was working with MedicalToys.com.
i'll be driving up there next year - most likely February and this time i'll be able to bring someone to shoot with as well.

I was a bit apprehensive about the drive.
I really did want to go somewhere as i was feeling a little trapped from not traveling
but I wasn't too excited about the 5+ hours i'd have to sit in my car.
In the end it was really a gorgeous drive and I posted quite a few images in my moblog
(look for aug 27 dates) http://kumimonster.tumblr.com (moblog)

Unfortunately, by the time I got well up north to the Avenue of the Giants it was turning dark so I decided to make any stops on my return journey.





We did a lot on the first day.
Shot quite a bit of product sets including a super cute outfit a fan sent from Japan
we also did some really cool plastic sheeting stuff in the evening.



on the 2nd day after arrival we went for breakfast at an old whorehouse
yummy food!


then went n did some errands. i got these awesome toe socks.
(mom has decided to take them so i get the pink ones with green frogs)


that day we also went to the animal/farm supply shop. they got a huge 6ft diameter feed bin for me to be dunked in
ended up doing a white/red latex set but didn't get it right-on. spent too much time on it as well so that's all we got done that day.
that evening we headed to a local casino for dinner. yum yum.

the next day, it was back to the whore house for eggs benedict. yum yum!
and a live jazzy music too


this day we did a lot better.
we did a set where i got to wear these crazy 'boot heel' shoes.
remember that W spread with bruce willis and his wife that came out recently?
well seems medical toys supplied some of the props and these shoes didn't end up getting used.
each 'shoe' is a single piece of metal which curves from the back of the knee to the ball of the foot.
leather straps hold it against the leg and it forces the foot into a high heel position.
well, actually, they're ballet trainers so you're supposed to be in pointe position but i wore them as heels standing up.
photos soon!

the night shoots were FREEZING. did video where i got SOAKED in that COLD COLD steel tub of water!

the next day more errands n more shoots.
n more food too.
nom nom.