Chicago, USA.

Last night Guns N' Roses were in town. As much as I wanted to relive the memories of a time gone by, I was unable to drag myself to the Rosemount Horizon to check out Axl and his kareoke backup band.

Let me get this straight. Of all the bands in all the periods of my life, I never liked anyone as much as I liked GNR. I wore the T-shirts, I bought the albums, I watched the videos, I went to the concerts. They were my absolute favorite.

I still think that "Double Talkin' Jive" and "My Michelle" have their place in the pantheon of Rock classics.

I go onto YouTube and check out some wonderful historical documents.

But, you have to let the past lie. There's no point in spoiling old memories by watching a bastardization of the past.

You're in the jungle, remember? You're going to diiiieeeee.

Toronto, Canada.

American Thanksgiving is always an interesting holiday.

We befriended the Indians, plowed them with alcohol and tobacco, tricked them, raped and killed them and stole their land.

We celebrate this and have the audacity to call it "Thanksgiving".

This year, I celebrated by getting the fuck out of the USA.

Tokyo, Japan.

The adventure draws to a close with a fantastic 38 hour day.

Tokyo cannot be believed.

Keeping in the spirit of bigger/better/faster/more, the Japanese have even put a statue of Liberty on the modern marvel that is Odaiba overlooking the Rainbow Bridge crossing Tokyo Bay.

This is a place where you could spend a lifetime and still only see a fraction of what is available.

Nagano, Japan.

I clearly remember the winter of 1998.

We sat huddled in front of the television in St. Henri in the aftermath of the great Montreal Ice Storm watching the Nagano Olympics.

Flash forward eight years.

High up in the Japanese Alps, we discover the actual medal plaza from the Nagano games.

It has been turned into a parking lot.

A parking lot.

Paved paradise, put up a parking lot.

The medal podium still remains. As does the Olympic torch.

The rest is just row upon row of Toyotas.

Everything is temporary.

This place was the center of global attention for two weeks in Febuary 1998, now it is just another Olympic consequence. Forever indebted to pay for the expenditures of a quickly forgotten era.

The locals here are not fond of the Olympics. It is a memory best forgotten.

This town is spectacular though.

It's like Whistler with extra ginger.

Hiroshima, Japan.

Speak about heavy.

Took train number #666 to Hiroshima on Rememberence Day.

Wasn't really sure what to expect.

A vibrant city, full of life. One of the most lively in all of Japan.

Never thought I'd be singing Elvis Kareoke in one of the most tragic sites in human history... it seems to be fitting in the strange place that is Japan.

The next morning, I took the tram to the "Atomic Bomb Dome" stop. Went to the museum.

Japanese museums do not hold back or dumb things down. Learned how to create nuclear fission by slamming protons into Uranium 235. Learned how to fuse Deuterium and Tritium to make a hydrogen fusion device.

Witnessed the human consequences resulting from a true tragedy.

The gift shop sold T-shirts and Hello Kitty merchandise.

Fukuoka, Japan.

Took the bullet train south.

300 Km/h in a random direction.

Sometimes you really don't need to know where you're going in order for you to get there.

It's amazing how cultures influence each other. Here in the heart of South Japan, all the kids somehow believe that they're in the South Bronx.

Meanwhile, I wait for the excellent room to become available.