The Briar Patch

This is in a series of blog posts; if you haven't read the others, you might want to give them a read first. Started in Canada and have been to Paris already.                                                       Florence Villa Hotel   Before I carry on, we should get into the travel tour bus lifestyle. Not Motley Crue wasted for weeks, but first-world tourists travelling Europe on a slightly less luxurious bus. I think we had a good handle on it, so that's how I will break it down. My day typically started at 6. Again, like Paris, my wife started before that to do hair and makeup for pictures. It was 50/50 on the trip who did that. Some women, it was every day, others never, and others sometimes. I assume it was based on the day's itinerary. Anyways, she was pretty much up every day around 5. 6 is enough time for me to read...

  Are we still pretending chump got shot or have we moved on from that lie? I wonder why the Epstein files aren't being released? Betting there is more drama to try and take eyes off that but slowly MAGAt is crumbling.... I shouldnt say that, the hardcore dumbasses will always be hardcore dumbasses. Its the half bright ones having doubts. Dexter Resurrection has been awesome. Finale next week and I can't wait to see it play out. Twisted Metal is awesome. over the top violence, actual witty jokes. It is everything The Boys should have been.  I have to laugh at trigger warnings, why are they there? If you are going to listen to a podcast on a serial killer, chances are there will be something graphic. If it is going to trigger you, then don't listen!! Its like starting a porno saying, hey you might see boobs!  Since I am not doing long winded comics rants I will say the Age of Revelation looks awesome, after reading X-men #19 my mind has changed. Thought it looked dumb but ...

I started this before I decided I needed to concentrate on one thing. So this is my last focus pop culture / comic blog for a while. Pretty happy I have been doing travel writing, but I want to get this posted, so I have no distractions. Comics, I love them. I have loved them since grade 3-ish?? So, 8 years old, 35-year love affair. I mean, it started before that. What are comics besides still cartoons, and what kid doesn't like cartoons? I guess I am gonna go on about my comic history in this blog. (This was started before I decided to focus more on my writing. So for real, last non-travel blog for a bit) Saturday morning cartoons are the start of it. It is true that back in the 80s and 90s, we had Saturday morning cartoons. There wasn't just a network dedicated to cartoons; you had to slot them in! It was a treat to see them, and we all loved them. It would make sense that a generation raised on cartoons would enjoy comics, a physical copy to hold in your hand and reread anyt...

 There is an AMAZING website called with locals. My wife looked into a bike tour through them. To be honest, I was slightly worried it wasn't going to be good. Not the tour, I was sure that would be, but the day before we got a phone call, our guide asked if we could change our 11 – 2 tour to 2 – 5 or something. We couldn't do that as that time would be right when we were to meet up with our actual tour. We told him no, and that worried me. Did we screw up his day, and he wouldn't care about giving us a good tour? I should learn to be more optimistic, I guess. We met with Claudio at 11, and he was perfectly on time, got us hooked up with everything we needed, and started the tour. Claudio was amazing! I want to thank him again and feel bad that I ever doubted. Also, I highly recommend With Locals. If they are all as good as he was, you will get a fantastic tour with someone who knows the city. Once we got on our tour bus, everywhere we stopped, we had a guided tour, and I w...

 We landed at Fiumicino "DaVinci" airport. This one was slightly more stressful, trying to find the correct baggage terminals, and unlike landing in Paris, we were not VIPs, so our baggage did not come out first; it did come out, though, and it was fine. We also had no problem finding our driver, which was more convenient than in Paris, and the driver was much better than the French driver earlier in the day. He didn't speak much English, but he was a cheerful old guy. It is only 22 km to the Hotel Midas, where we stayed, so the commute wasn't long, but this gentleman got a tip. I did not know that it was owned by the Barcelo Group, but I was not surprised. I stayed at a Barcelo in Mexico, which was rather nice. So is the Midas. We were staying there, honestly, because it was easy. Our official tour group was starting here, so when we arrived a day early, staying in the same place was much easier than changing hotels. Midas is a hotel I would recommend. No, it isn...

This blog took way to long. I don't even know the start date but an entire ball hockey season has happened since I started. The longest season of the year. So I am just going to post this. Sorry if it isn't well edited or has dated rants. I think I am done doing this kind of blog. I am actually enjoying blogging about a trip so I think that will be what I mainly do. If I am honest lately I feel like I have been spinning my wheels. Work, writing, failing in hockey. Haven't been doing school for a long time, I guess I feel like maybe I need a reset. Set some priorities and stick to them. SO in general writing I am focusing on one thing. School I am getting back into and work, well I guess I need to be hungry again, get that drive back. Not that anyone came here for my political insights or takes on pop culture. So I guess this is it for a bit, my last rants. I may have another blog posted but the things will be actual random thoughts. Not a bunch of topics..... I have never b...