Travel | Glenn Ward

Around the World in 80 Raves – Chapter Thirteen – Chicago

We got to Chicago in the night again and went straight to the Day’s Inn hotel. Up early in the morning though to go meet Jerry Springer, we had a tight schedule and we needed to stick to it to get the most out of our trip to NBC. It was funny, we raced to the studios and Bill dropped us of outside and carried on driving as the traffic was bad and we were running late. The PR lady met us in the lobby, and we pretended to queue for a few seconds for the sake of the cameras only everyone in the queue thought that our cameras were the one that they are supposed to scream at and say there shitty little rhymes to which we found quite funny. Then they took us upstairs to the Springer floor and took us onto the set. We would be some of the first people on the new set of the new series.

We messed around on the stage took some photos and tried to find out what the show would be about the headed into the canteen for a well earned breakfast. While we were eating PR lady called us into Jerry’s office to shake his hand and ask him a few questions, I could tell he wanted to stay and chat but he is a busy man and his people dragged him away and we went back to the canteen for some more eggs and bacon where we got talking to the chef. He was fascinating, the guy loved his job and said he works 14 hour shifts 7 days a week cos he can’t get enough of cooking. We were called in when the show was about to start and strutted past all the punters who were now queuing upstairs to our centre stage seats and waited for everyone else to be seated. Then listened to the audience guys spiel about swearing control and taking an argumentative approach towards what you shout out cos this season was going to be different, unlike the other shows of its kind. We had spoken to Jerry in his office about Joel and Boppas musical talent and the fact that they had written a Jerry Springer song a couple of years ago in their band. To our surprise jerry came on and invited them to sing it on stage before the show to the audience, reluctantly Joel grabbed the guitar, Boppa totally stoked grabbed the microphone and they began. The song went like so:
The first verse went down reasonably, but they both looked at each as if to ask whether they should go for the second verse in front of an American audience, with a sly chuckle to each other they continued. They managed to squeeze the last few lines out of the song before the well known bouncer Steve and a few others rushed on, took the mic and ask them to go back top the audience.

The show began, firstly about some blokes dad who was cheating with the sons girlfriend, but when the son came out and told his dad he was happy for him and didn’t mind there wasn’t much of a story left. So they started a new one all about family members in the Klan. I thought I would struggle to be as enthusiastic about the show as you see on TV but I soon found myself uncontrollably jumping out of my seat, shouting abuse and getting quite wound up by what some of the wankers on stage had to say and how they treated this little kid that they brought out all dressed up a KKK robe and hat. At some points I was convinced it was staged but when the kid came out, there’s no way anyone could put on an act like that. He made the entire audience feel sorry for him. The show came to the usual end, you know, the final thought and crowd clapping and screaming almost to the point where they pass out. All the punters left and we waited for the crew and there was only one thing left that the girls for some reason really wanted to do, that was to meet Steve, While Chantal jumped on him we got talking to and left the studios talking to a group we had met sitting in the row of seats behind us.

We ask them to recommend a place for us to eat and they took us to a place in a shopping mall called the water tower. A place that pretty much had restaurants from all over the world. On the way in you get given a credit card type thing that swiped when you take food from whichever counter you decide to eat from then you pay as you leave the restaurant. While everyone else went all oriental I went for the double dessert option at the build your own pancake counter. It was the sickliest but most tasty desert I had ever eaten and I think well worth the three hours of feeling slightly sick afterwards.

After we had decided that we had all eaten far too much and we were in a mall, it would have been rude not to go on a shopping mish. Later that afternoon the bus dropped us off just out of town at a very popular place called the cotton club. An open mic place that was very serious about their music. There were people in the bogs warming up there voices people making sure they had the words down and everyone from our crowd and the guys that we met on Springer deciding what song they would sing. While everyone else had music on the brain I noticed the crew had started a tab at the bar and began my own private mission to get pissed. Bex’s song went well, Boppas rendition sounded good although he forgot the words and had to drunkenly repeat a few verses but I hardly noticed, I don’t think anyone else did to much then there was Sheryl. She chose a Whitney Houston number that a soprano choir boy squeezing his bollocks would have struggled to reach the high notes let alone a tone def drunk bird who was shivering with fear. Did I laugh? Yes along with the rest of the people in the bar.

We decided to head back to the bus, as we were all shattered and leave the crew to have a drink on their own. But as we got out of taxi’s we realised that the bus parked up after we had been dropped and our vague directions had brought us nowhere near the bus. I suppose if I wasn’t shitfaced I would have remembered they warn you not to wonder around unfamiliar cities in America on “Wish You Were here” but the girls moaning of possible muggings didn’t seem to bother us as we fell over walls and bounced of cars for two hours until we found the bus down some dark tree hidden road. They all exchanged emails and I can’t remember when they left or how they got home cos I passed as soon as I reached anything close to a lying down position.

Awoke at a beach type area surrounded by museums. The crew needed to do some shots of the bus driving through Chicago. I jumped straight off the bus as soon as we stopped in search of food, which I found in one of the museums. It was agreed that we would all buy those little light weight scooter things as we were beginning to park further and further out of town at each stop they would be handy to get to the shops when the bus isn’t moving. So we went back to the shopping mall we had been to the day before and Joel, Bop, Bex and I bought one. We dropped of some photos then headed out to a record shop called “gramophone records” to meet a female DJ called DJ Heather. This record apparently played a big part in the growth of house music in America And Heather defiantly seemed to know what she was talking about, she had a lot of interesting stuff to tell us and she played in global venues, Although it only seemed to interest me and Chantal. We interviewed her for a bit at the record shop. Then pre occupied with our new toys went into town to pick up the photographs and went to eat in her area of Chicago which was out of town and quite different to the pristine central area where the shops and malls were. We ate at a sandwich / salad bar then walked a little way down the street where we were expected at a local club. On the way bop and I began challenging each other to try tricks on the scooters which resulted in us on our assess a lot. We began getting pissed in the club and just as the place started to fill up and we were all getting in the mood the crew announced that they were tied and we had to leave for Nashville shortly. After Heather did a little presentation of CD’s and promotional gifts and said our goodbyes it was back to the bus and on the road again.

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Train ticket tip – Sometimes its cheaper to buy a longer journey

The other week I was checking tickets. I would either have been in ForestHill or Redhill and I needed to get back to Chichester. These stations are both on southern routes so if I were to get on at Forest Hill I would be sure to pass Redhill. The cheapest ticket from Forest Hill (furthest away) is £5 on the 8:49, £7.50 and £10 on the previous 3 trains while the cheapest ticket from Redhill (closest station to Chichester) is £14.90, Id be on the same train but would pay more for a shorter journey, go figure!

I have opened up the comments on my blog to not need registration, if you find any similar journeys to this post them below and help others save a few quid…

Around the world in 80 Raves Bubble Gum Cards

When I was growing up I used to collect bubble gum cards, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Cards, Dinosaur cards, garbage patch kids, the lot. During the filming for Around the World in 80 Raves we suggested we might use cards as a means of marketing the show, I always wanted to be on my own bubble gum card!

Around the World in 80 Raves - Bubble Gum Card Front

Around the World in 80 Raves - Bubble Gum Card Back

80 Raves Bubble Gum Card Glenn Ward - front

San Diego Around the World in 80 Raves - Bubble Gum Card Front

80 Raves Bubble Gum Card Glenn Ward - reverse

Glenn Ward Around the World in 80 Raves - Bubble Gum Card Reverse

Atlanta Around the World in 80 Raves - Bubble Gum Card Front

Joel Etoe Around the World in 80 Raves - Bubble Gum Card Back

The Burning Man Festival - Around the World in 80 Raves - Bubble Gum Card

Chantel French Around the World in 80 Raves - Bubble Gum Card Front

Los Angeles Around the World in 80 Raves - Bubble Gum Card Front

Rebekah Around the World in 80 Raves - Bubble Gum Card Back

Sheryl Around the World in 80 Raves - Bubble Gum Card Front

Sheryl Around the World in 80 Raves - Bubble Gum Card Back

Channel 4′s Around the World in 80 Raves now available on YouTube

I just had an email through facebook from a lady telling me she watched Around the world in 80 Raves on YouTube. I had a look and Mike Christie, one of the producers of the show has but on Episode 3, Burning Man Festival – Nevada, Tijuana night out – San Diego

Show features Glenn Ward, Joel, Boppa, Bex Chantel and Sheryl from Leicester

Bro Blog Post: The second trip post from my brothers travel blog

Jay Luke Ward and James Martin take a 5 month trip around the Caribbean on a yacht, have a read of their second blog post, sounds like the trip is going well!!

http://windwavesncaribbeanraves.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/dolphins-love-dire-fact/

Around the World in 80 Raves – Chapter Twelve – Rose Lawn, Wisconsin

We got to Rose Lawn, Wisconsin around 12, which was actually 11 because we had crossed a time zone we all went to bed now knowing that in two days we would be on the Jerry Springer show, and possibly even meet him. The next morning there was a bit of confusion at the entrance to the naturist camp. It was hot so we all sat and waited for the crew to argue with the security guards who were total cocks on a power trip. Eventually they let us in but wouldn’t let us film with the main camera. So it was down to us to get the dirty footage for the day, a challenge we all rose to, Zoom Zoom Zoom. It wasn’t so much a porn festival but a crowd watching some of the sexiest professional pole dancers and strippers compete in various competition categories to be the best in their field. We didn’t talk much that day or get to know people. When every girl in the place competing and spectating got their tits out, and the rest, when you held up a camera, there wasn’t time to chat. Towards the end of the day there was an amateur competition in a place called the pit in the forest. We were told that it fills up early so the lads got in there a good hour before the start to guarantee front row seats. It was worth it as well random girls from the crowd got up to enter, egged on by the spectators until a wet T-shirt competition became a take of all your clothes and writhe in the water sprayed by the purvey security guard. From then on each competition became the same and the day began to come to an end. The girls spoke to some weird dudes on the way out then we headed back to the bus. This time, destination Chicago and the Springer show.

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Around the world in 80 Raves – Chapter Eleven – Sandusky

Our next destination was Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio. A theme park that boasted the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world. The theme park was impressive compared to the one sin England. It had every type of roller coaster and the park was in a great setting on a peninsula with marina’s, hotels and campsites all around. The park was so big you couldn’t do it all in one day. Our only mission was to ride the big one though, the millennium force. We went in after Sarah and Richard had sorted it so we could get in for free but the cameras weren’t allowed in the park, fortunately the first drop was near a road next to the perimeter of the park so the crew drove down on one of the buses and we queued armed with a mobile phone and the digital cameras. The queue was massive but we all messed about to pass the time and I think to avoid the fact that this was a fucking big roller coaster, Phil kept ringing on the mobile to check where we were in the line, cos if it was going to take to long we would have to go but every time we thought we were near the front more of the stalls opened up so every time he asked we told him we were about 10 mins away. He rang every ten minutes and we took it in turns telling him the person before didn’t know what they were talking about but now we were ten minutes away. We finally got to the front and our minds were beginning to change as we saw the roller coaster up close, we had to put the cameras in a locker cos there was a big chance we wouldn’t hold onto them, (apparently). On the way up I admit it I had definitely changed my mind, it was a slow ascent and at the top you could see the curve of the earth on the horizon. We went over the top and everyone started to shout ARHHHHH as you do but then when took a breath I realised I was still falling and there really wasn’t much point in still shouting as there was still quite a drop to go. I have to say it was one of the best rushes of my life going on that thing but there was no time to do it again, we got some ice cream cos that’s what you do in theme parks apparently. Went back to the bus to get on our way to a naturist campsite where a porn festival was being held in Rose lawn near Indiana.

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Around the world in 80 Raves – Chapter Ten – Detroit

Left Niagara around midday after a few interviews and filming the general chitchat on the bus. We had the company of the crew for this journey so the bus was quite cramped so we didn’t really get up too much on the journey. We got there in the night, got of the bus to stretch our legs but we were parked on the side of a dual carriageway and the place was dead, we couldn’t walk far so we got some sleep now we had stopped. Up at 10:30 the next day and off to meet our new chaperon for the day, a record producer called Ade, we went to meet him at his studios where him and a couple of his buddies and his wife were hanging out. He told us how his business operates and what they do in the studios, how they lay down a track. The decks came out and they showed us his mate “Friday Nights” rapping skills. He then sent someone down the shop to get the molten ice 40oz bottles and we felt obliged to join them for a beer early on. We were then taken to be shown where we would find the best pizza in the states according to them. It was a big restaurant and we had a table booked for like twenty, we ordered some big pizzas, which were proper pizzas, not the modern quick and easy style you get now in a pizzeria. Everyone chucked in their share of the bill and we started to make our way on foot to an African American jubilee 2000 open-air festival. It made an excellent change, loads of little stalls, music, artwork, dancing and Ade had a nice two litre vodka and fruit juice mixer going on to keep us in the mood for the evening. We browsed around the festival and met two girls who had just set up a .com business in utilities or something and they fully thought they would be millionaires within a few months and after knowing them for a few minutes they were asking us to set up there operations in the UK for them, yep, that’ll work! Apparently she could trust me cos I am a Pisces and she could trust my eyes, I don’t think they meant business I think she was just trying to crack onto me. We all met up around the entrance. We had some time to kill before going to the club so Ade took us to an island where everyone hangs out, drinks, smokes and plays their music as loud as possible and the strange thing was a lot of the cars had Ade’s music coming from them. I bet that made him feel quite proud of his work. I bet that’s the main reason he goes to that part of Detroit. The police soon came and moved us all along and the crew almost got arrested as they were filming us leaving and weren’t in the car themselves. We then went straight to club to experience the girls “Shaken der ass” as Ade puts it. It wasn’t as fast as they do it in Barbados but it was still something to look at. Chantal got up and had a go, and didn’t do badly then Sheryl got up and had a go and resembled a sweaty lesbian hore if you can picture that. Bop had go but his floppy armed dancing style didn’t quite fit with what the others were doing. As the cameras moved on to the dance a competition between the locals began to take place. These girls tits and arse seemed to be drawn by some mysterious force to the camera, “everyone wants to be on tele” we weren’t complaining though all the footage needs watching over and checking before it goes back to England. We’re there. I defiantly wasn’t drunk enough to attempt some of the things they were doing so we pissed off up stairs and worked on that not being drunk problem. We found a tamer dance floor up there and had a bit of a groove up there instead. The night was pretty routine after that we all got drunk messed around with the locals in the car park who again seemed drawn to the cameras like a group of people waiting in line at an episode of Jerry Springer. We jumped into a car and went back to the bus where we said goodbye to the guys and thanked them for showing us around.

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Around the World in 80 Raves – Chapter Nine – Niagra Falls

When we got back to the bus that evening it was straight up to Niagra Falls through the night. We arrived around 1:00 and ate in the hotel restaurant. It was the crews day of so once everyone was organised which took a long time we all went to go and see the falls still doing a little bit of filming, I don’t think they could help themselves. We met the river quite early on where it was quite violent and followed it around to where you can see it all go over, then walked out onto like a big half bridge so you look back and get a better view We decided as a group that it would be cool to go over to Canada so we carried on to the bridge that crosses over on the American side there is a passport control to get back into the states but just a swing gate to get onto the bridge, so as we all had our passports we went through and it took about five minutes to cross the bridge to get to the Canadian passport control, there we found that we would be alright getting into Canada but to get back into the states we needed a piece of paper that we were given at the airport, which obviously none of us had. So theoretically we were stuck between countries on a bridge. The women at the Canadian side made a phone call to the American side and told him we hadn’t yet entered the country and she was sending us back. By which time the cameras were back on us again as the crew thought it was hilarious that we were stuck on a bridge. After a short confrontation with the drill sergeant in passport control on the American side we were back in the country and those that could be bothered went to get the bit off paper we needed and went to spend the rest of the day in Canada. It was very different again it was all very touristic. Loads of gift shops little cafes and bars, it was a like a little holiday town with plenty of energy coming from the falls. We walked around doing the tourist thing, messing about and going in all the little gift shops to see if we could find some Canadian souvenirs. The best thing about visiting Canada was we had found somewhere that it was legal for us to drink again without being considered minors, or ID needed. We had a few drinks in a bar then wondered around the streets until we found a nice seafood restaurant and ate there. Time was getting on and it was getting dark so we made our way back round to the bridge, not before taking a long look at the falls from the Canadian side whilst they were all lit up. We had no trouble getting back across and I got a Canadian stamp in my passport so I was happy with the day.

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Creating a custom Google Map and embedding it in a webpage or Blog Post

Despite ripping me for writing a blog my brother who has been given a yacht to use in the Caribbean for 5 months along with James Martin (kite tester for kiteworld magazine, sponsored rider and male model, no big deal!!) has decided to document their trip by writing their own WordPress blog, Wind Waves and Caribbean Raves. To add an extra dimension and make use of the fact that they have been cross referencing anchor spots with windsurfing, surfing and kitesurfing locations. They wanted to include some kind of map.

So, here’s how to use Google Maps My Maps function to create your own custom maps and embed them in the blog posts, not oly that I will explain how to embed extra media such as a YouTube video into the Map.

Sign into your Google account, under the Google Maps logo in the top left hand part of the page click on My Maps and then Create new map. Give it a title and description, in the edit mode you have the option to draw on the map, drop a pin or grab and navigate the map. I have created a map as an example, using some footage I shot at Gwithian beach in Cornwall the other week I then chose the html option on the push pin and embedded the share code from Youtube.

View Video Beach Guide in a larger map