The Calm Before the Storm

The best pic on Google search I could find that demonstrates what is going on in my head right now.

I write to you this evening on the eve of my inaugural trip to Amsterdam. Tomorrow morning at 7:00 A.M. I will fly out of LAX for Newark then it's on to The Netherlands. (Good God even the name of the place is awesome!) It is a trip that I have had planned out for 3 months now and anticipation is at maximum capacity.

I will be traveling with my two best friends from college. Two guys that are complete clowns. God's own prototype. Created with no intention of mass production. Many of my stories were instigated by these two individuals. This is without a doubt the calm before the storm. I'm packed. I have my passport. Sketch pad. Journal. Moderately sized American flag and a fully stocked iPod. After a year of getting coffee, sitting on the 405 for countless hours and generally figuring out what the fuck I'm doing out here comes this epic trip to the capital of all that is feel good.

The fact that marijuana can be smoked legally in Amsterdam in all reality doesn't hold that much zeal to me. I'm a California medical marijuana patient and also an experienced connoisseur of fine cannabis. I feel in my days I've smoked some of the finest cheeba this side of the Missisip. (Mainly because they got shit on the other side of it.)

I am a journalist though. First and foremost. I report on and cover the issues that I feel are most pertinent to my readers. My audience is the most important thing to me and by God I will not let you down.

I've tried to mold "The Hollywood Holla" into your top resource for ridiculousness and lunacy since its conception. This is my opportunity to take it to the next level.

Rehashing old stories is fun but it's stale. It's time for some new material and I'm going to report on my adventures every step of the way for the next week I am in Amsterdam. Every horrifyingly spectacular detail of it can be shared on twitter if you follow me at www.twitter.com/heymikejames

I will also try to get a blog up everyday with some pics. It's my intention that you few dedicated followers of "The Holla" can enjoy my antics and live vicariously with a mischievous farm boy in Amsterdam!

Love & Respect,

Mike James