Veterans/Remembrance day

Hello from chilly Flagstaff, Arizona. We drove here this morning from Phoenix down Veterans' Highway.

I've noticed plenty of times that military people gravitate to Alex and in a way, vice versa. Alex asked a number of times where and when we might be able to sit in on a Veterans Day ceremony, but we came up empty handed. And so we pulled out of Phoenix this morning on the beautiful Black Canyon Highway. About 80 miles out it turned into Veterans Highway. A good day to drive down that road and have some time to think about war and sacrifice and peace.

I asked Alex about his relationship with service men and women and he said there seems to be some mutual admiration and respect. It does seem that a lot of people in uniform come up to Alex and say how much they appreciate the show and that they are impressed by the danger. Maybe one of the only things that makes Alex blush is being told how dangerous his job is by a soldier.

When we pulled into Flagstaff, we sat down for a bite. In the time it took us to eat our lunch the street outside the restaurant filled up with people waving signs and flags. I saw signs that said "We are here for Matt." Turns out "Matt" was 22 year-old Matthew Broehm, who died in Afghanistan on November 4th. His remains arrived home in Flagstaff today, according to a local paper.

So one way or another we had our chance to observe and reflect on November 11th.

Tomorrow we're off on a roundabout trip: to Jamestown, New Mexico, by way of a stop at the southeastern end of the Grand Canyon. Lucky us. Take care, gang.

Loren

Home on the road

Just bunking down in Phoenix after a cannonball run from Los Angeles. Had an absolutely great time in LA. Saw a few familiar faces and sang a rough, but patriotic version of the Tragically Hip's, New Orleans is Sinking, at a karaoke bar in Little Tokyo. Also noticed that there are some incredibly eccentric characters that call California home. However, Alex, wearing his moccasins, cowboy hat and rawhide jacket, still stood out at the hipster lounges in Venice Beach and vegan eateries in Santa Monica. Something to behold, real talk.

We filmed a few cool scenes in LA. Spent plenty of time with Alex's management team which was interesting. He's got a hard talking agent, a young high-energy PR team and a thoughtful lawyer that all look after his affairs. There's also Alex's son/manager/corner-man, Curtis. Add the film crew to the mix and all of a sudden Alex is rolling with a pretty serious entourage.

Probably the highlight of LA was a half planned, half spontaneous meeting of Yellowknife's Hollywood contingent. The plan was for Alex to spend some time with 25 year old Yellowknife-raised actor, Dustin Milligan. Dustin rolled up to the beach in his beautiful old Ford pickup. After Alex gave him a pile of advice on how to get it running better, the two walked about 25 feet down the beach before bumping into Tobias Mehler. Tobias was locking up his bike and taking his surf board down to the water. I say this now, because when the movie is done people are going to call BS on the CHANCE meeting of three Yellowknife-to-Hollywood transplants at the beach in California. But it happened, and it was a complete fluke. Wild.

It was very cool to hear Alex and Dustin chat about the upsides and the downsides of the film and television industry. Also great to hear them long for the north country. And if all that wasn't enough, Dustin now knows that he needs to replace the timing belt on his truck.

Off to bed, got a busy day coming up in Phoenix: morning TV show, event at a truck-stop, an event at a bookstore, and then another cannonball run to Flagstaff. Good night all.

Loren