Tommy and I have been in Flagstaff, AZ for the past few days, crashing with our good pal and fellow Gibraltar Girl, Mike Smith. The experience has been full of highs and lows thus far, but overall the degenerate road trip has been a smashing success. Here are some of the highlights:
Attending a major league baseball competition. Tommy’s family - led by Miss Jan and Doctor Dan - graciously bought us tickets to a baseball competition between the Los Angeles Angels and Dodgers. I clearly have no clue what’s going on in the world of sports, causing me to choose my favorite team of the game based according to a very objective criterion: team name. Since I’m a devout Catholic (ZOMG!), rooting for the Angels is much more appropriate than favoring the Dodgers, which elicits a mental connotation of draft-dodging. I was compelled to stand behind the Angels on both a spiritual and patriotic level. More importantly, however, Angel’s player Vladimir Guerrero looks like rapper, Lil John.


I apologize that these two images cannot accurately compare the physical attributes of the two men, but I would have done the world a great disservice by not posting a photo of Lil John snowboarding. It might possibly be the only documented proof of any black man - let alone a rapper - on a snowboard.
Sneaking into the Doheny Blues Festival in Dana Point, CA. Although neither of us have any interest in blues music, we felt obligated to sneak into the $75-per-ticket festival like idiotic high school kids. The festival was held on a beach by our hotel, set off from the public by a high chain link fences. We devised the ultimate break-in strategy: a running jump onto the seat of a bike chained to a fence post, allowing us to vault ourselves over the rest of the fence and onto the other side. We accomplished the feat without any problems, but were spotted by a heavily-tattooed/pierced security guard. Upon reaching us, the Ork-like man seemed perplexed by our status as two adults. It’s only logical for him to assume that we were simply overgrown children. Thankfully, his confusion led to a mere warning: “I mean, come on guys, do you have to be so obvious?! Don’t do it again tomorrow.” We had no intention of doing that again tomorrow. In fact, we hadn’t really planned on doing it the first time around.
Coming back from the dead in Vegas. Vegas loves natural born losers. Tommy and I are natural born losers. If my logic is correct, then these two givens lead to the conclusion that Vegas loves us. The last time we visited the dreaded city together was last summer, when we willingly gave our money away all night long then bunkered down in a hotel room during the day with the blinds shut and lights out, huddling together like frightened animals. We blame it all on the Cursed Pyramid, more commonly known as the Luxor hotel and casino.

A majority of people don’t believe in black magic, but trust me, evil is at hand in the Cursed Pyramid.
Thankfully, this time around we stayed far, far away from the unholy place and opted for a room at Binion’s hotel/casino in Old Vegas. Unfortunately, the reach of the Cursed Pyramid extends throughout the entire city of Vegas. At the Golden Nugget, we quickly lost all of our money in blackjack and roulette. When we left the casino, I knew we were close to hitting rock bottom when Tommy turned to me and stated, “If I ever become a low-life wandering the streets of Vegas, please come save me.”
After wallowing in our sorrow and having a few drinks at Hogs and Heifers (don’t ever go here, BTW), Tommy had some kind of strange epiphany. He declared that we should make one final attempt at redeeming ourselves in blackjack, which was all the motivation I needed to give it another go. We sat down at a table occupied by some friendly middle-aged women and a rad dealer, and our ultimate redemption ensued. We won back our previous losses and actually knew when to walk away this time around. Leaving Las Vegas is kinda like scrambled porn; after seemingly endless minutes of static, you get that one moment of clarity that makes everything right in the world. This was our money shot.
Heckling tourists at the Hoover Dam. On our journey from Vegas to Flagstaff we passed over the Hoover Dam, which shows the view of a bridge being built across the canyon. Tourists fascinated with theĀ construction stood all along the Dam taking pictures of the work-in-progress. With a cigarette drooping out of his mouth, Tommy rolled down his window and kept screaming “HOLY SHIT!! LOOK AT THAT BRIDGE!!!!”, blatantly mocking people for standing around in 105 degree heat while taking snapshots of a glorified construction site.
Cliff jumping in Arizona. After arriving in Flagstaff our host and good friend Mike Smith coerced us into hiking through the woods to jump off rock cliffs into a freezing cold pool of water. Since I filled my life quota for nature outings during my time with the US version of The Hitler Youth*, I was unenthusiastic for the expedition. It turned out to be surprisingly fun. Contrary to what I learned in Deliverance, I guess that hiking into the middle of the woods on an unmarked trail doesn’t always lead to rape and murder.
*The Boy Scouts of America
Attending an 80’s night at some bar in Flagstaff, with the following great acts occurring that night:
- We approached the dance floor as if the fate of the world depended on the intensity/stupidity of our moves. People either loved or hated us, with most falling into the latter category. Two lesbians applauded us for being openly gay in public. They were shocked when we told them that we were actually straight, but still commended us on our moves.
- Tommy accidentally stole a 21 year old girl’s license. Oops!
- Upon requesting Eddie Murphy’s “Party all the Time”, the DJ gave me a look which said “Are you fucking joking me?! Of course I have Eddie Murphy’s ‘Party all the Time’!”. The song came on about 2 seconds later.
- I woke up the following morning with a perfect red lipstick imprint on the shoulder of my Sonic Youth t-shirt. I have absolutely no clue how it got there.
Along the way, Chuckblog has pleaded with people to visit www.scottbrundage.com. Even the girls with hairy underarms we met in Flagstaff.