Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:30These men are more than just wrestlers.
00:55In Mexico City, they're heroes.
01:01They're mean, moody and macho.
01:08And like everywhere else where men throw each other about,
01:15there are women who love to watch.
01:18How many years has she been watching?
01:20Forty years I've been here.
01:22Forty years she's been here.
01:24These are the Lucha Libre, or Free Fighters.
01:28Inspired by comic book heroes, they have names like Satan and the Ghost.
01:32Amongst the oppressed of Mexico City, they have a legendary status.
01:36Why are they all shouting?
01:38Kill him! Kill him!
01:41Grandmothers watch appreciatively as groins are cut.
01:45Faces punched and arms wrenched.
01:56Their grandchildren can't wait to grow up and get in there too.
02:00For everyone else, it's just a great day out.
02:04I'm sure there are Mexicans who like to stay at home and read a book in the evening,
02:08but this is not the land of the introverted.
02:10If you like company, Mexico is the place for you.
02:16Mariachi bands will serenade you wherever you want to go,
02:20whether you like it or not.
02:24And if you're a man, you're a man.
02:27And if you're a woman, you're a woman.
02:31And if you want to know if you're a real man,
02:33there are machines on hand to prove it.
02:36Yeah.
02:38Yes, I do this when you put an electric...
02:40Ah! Whoo! Yeah, I see. Yeah.
02:43Yeah.
02:45You're supposed to test your macho-ness, isn't it?
02:48There's definitely tingling. Ooh!
02:50Yeah. OK. Whoa!
02:52It's like those machines you used to have at the fair that said,
02:55Yeah. OK. Whoa!
02:57It's like those machines you used to have at the fair that said,
02:59Kissable. Very kissable.
03:01Explosive.
03:03Yeah.
03:05What's higher? What's that going to?
03:0730 volts.
03:0930 volts.
03:11No, I don't get that at all.
03:13All I need is a lampshade on my head.
03:15No, that's quite enough. Stop. Stop.
03:17Yes. Stop.
03:19That's quite enough.
03:21He's a sadist, this man.
03:23Oh, OK.
03:25Oh, shit!
03:27I've broke this machine.
03:29Oh, dear.
03:47Mexico City is quite a pedigree.
03:49Once it was a dazzling Aztec citadel,
03:51full of canals and palaces.
03:53Then the Spanish conquerors
03:55built the centre of their American empire here.
03:57Today, it's the world's largest city.
04:0016 million people live in a polluted bowl
04:037,500 feet above the sea.
04:18For the few lucky ones,
04:20there has always been prosperity
04:22at the centre of it all.
04:24Today, huge investment, mostly from the USA,
04:26has taken the place of the wealth
04:28the Spanish left behind.
04:42Cathedral bells sound over the Zocalo,
04:45the square that is the heart of the city,
04:47and a good place for a quiet start to the day.
04:50But, this being Mexico,
04:52there's no such thing as a quiet start to the day.
05:03The Aztecs may have been gone for nearly 500 years,
05:06but fortunately for the tourist board,
05:08someone remembers their dances.
05:11In the centre of the square, there's more topical activity.
05:22A local radical group is painting temporary hoardings
05:25as a protest against the government.
05:27No more bombings! No more bombings!
05:34Their own caped crusader
05:37is a character called Superbarrio,
05:39barrio meaning a poor district,
05:41the sort of place from which most of his support is drawn.
05:50Superbarrio had the bright idea
05:52of turning the masked wrestlers of Lucha Libre
05:54into political activists.
06:00The situation in Mexico is hopeless,
06:03he says to the crowd.
06:05There is no work, no future.
06:09This state of affairs is forcing tens of thousands of people
06:12to risk their lives crossing the border
06:15to find even worse conditions in the USA.
06:21Superbarrio's words are noted and reported.
06:34When he's finished painting, the government moves in.
06:40They have only one colour, but it does the job.
06:46Soon, the tourists in the Zocalo
06:48will no longer have to be bothered with Superbarrio's views.
06:55As befits the world's largest city,
06:57there's something here for everyone.
06:59A shop entirely full of loofahs, for instance.
07:02And across the square,
07:04a restaurant promising comida exotica de pre-Colombina,
07:07the food they ate before Columbus found America.
07:10I have to find out what this is.
07:14Before the Spaniards brought over sheep, cows and goats,
07:17the staple food seems to have been insects.
07:21Delicacies include baby grasshoppers, mosquito eggs,
07:25fried beetles and the chef's specialty, gusanos.
07:32OK, so...
07:40Now then, let me see gusanos, gusanos.
07:44Ah, here we are.
07:46Gusanos. Maggots.
07:48So I eat it with this.
07:50I see a bit of tortilla and a bit of guacamole
07:53just to help the maggot slide down.
07:55There we are. Let's try one there.
07:57Two. Let's try two to start with.
08:00They are nestling up.
08:08Not the best maggot I've had, but pretty damn close.
08:13I think this is good grub.
08:16HE CHUCKLES
08:28Mexico City is behind us,
08:30but there's still a long way to go to complete the circle.
08:33With nearly 40,000 miles on the clock,
08:36fatigue is creeping in
08:38and dreams of home are becoming more frequent.
08:46ENGINE REVS
08:56Mexico is split between the Hispanics,
08:58whose ancestors were European,
09:00and the Indians, whose predecessors were from Asia
09:03and who, many believe, crossed the Bering Strait when it was still land.
09:07More often than not, it's the Indians who get the rough end of the stick.
09:12Guadalupe and her family are Indians.
09:17Her husband, Don Antonio, works a smallholding.
09:20This year, he can't afford to grow anything other than maize.
09:24Maize is the basis of tortillas,
09:27the staple diet of rural Mexico.
09:31With ten mouths to feed, Guadalupe must make 80 a day.
09:37But she still has time to give cookery lessons.
09:40SHE SPEAKS SPANISH
09:47OK.
09:49Water first.
09:59I think mine's a bit wet.
10:01Yours looks nice and dry, but...
10:03Oh, dear, look at that.
10:05It's all serrated edges!
10:07SHE LAUGHS
10:10My normal cookery programmes,
10:12they cut away to one they made earlier.
10:14They don't relentlessly keep going.
10:16It's only difficult, actually, isn't it?
10:18Well, I've been taught 30 years to do this, you know.
10:21I'm supposed to do it in 30 seconds.
10:25Most of this, Guadalupe, is in my hand.
10:31SHE LAUGHS
10:35Oh, give that to a dog.
10:37Oh, dear.
10:39Despite my appalling performance,
10:41Guadalupe would not let us go without a pile of tortillas,
10:44nor Don Antonio without a sackful of corn cobs.
10:49From their village north of Mexico City,
10:51we head across the country to the Pacific coast
10:54and the American border, a thousand miles away.
10:58Tijuana is always painted as the victim,
11:01a town of easy virtue.
11:03Its cultural heritage is all too often ignored.
11:06The guidebooks are a bit disparaging about architecture in Tijuana,
11:09but they never mention this.
11:11The lady over there is actually a house.
11:13I mean, not your typical two-up, one-down,
11:17but that was actually designed by an architect
11:20and modelled after a house in Tijuana.
11:24And then, before it was finished, he divorced his wife
11:27and is living there now with his second wife,
11:29who takes exception to living in the body of the first one.
11:32But, I mean, I think it's wonderful that in Tijuana
11:34they were allowed to build that.
11:36A message there for Britain's planners.
11:38Barrett Homes, estates of naked ladies across Surrey.
11:41Get on with it, Britain. Take your example from Tijuana.
11:45Adios, senor.
11:48Bye.
11:50This is the US border,
11:52a ten-foot-high steel barrier
11:54made from landing strip sections from the Vietnam War.
11:57It's called the tortilla curtain.
12:00Those who cross illegally are known as pollos, chickens.
12:04You have to pay about...
12:06I don't know.
12:08I don't know.
12:11You have to pay about between $300 to $350,
12:16it all depends, dollars, you know,
12:19to pay to the coyote.
12:22So, I tell you, many people has no one nickel.
12:28So they have to do for themselves.
12:32Do you know of anyone who's actually been over?
12:34Yes, me.
12:36Really? You've tried it yourself?
12:39Yes, I did, twice.
12:41Really?
12:43Tijuana is a magnet for the pollos.
12:46From here, it's no distance to Los Angeles.
12:50If you're determined to go,
12:52the tortilla curtain can look a very flimsy obstacle.
12:55Do people swim out and round it, or is that too dangerous?
12:59I think it's too dangerous because it's very...
13:02I mean, sometimes the sea is very brave, you know?
13:06Yeah.
13:08Some people cross, but...
13:10What does that mean, here, cuidate?
13:13Cuidate, paisano. Take care, neighbor.
13:16Take care, neighbor, meaning dangerous to go beyond this?
13:19That's right, because just crossing the border,
13:22you know, they find many, many problems.
13:27What's the view of the Mexicans of a defense like this?
13:30That it shouldn't be there?
13:32Very sad, you know, because don't forget
13:35all this...
13:37all this used to be Mexico.
13:40Arturo Espinoza shows me the risks that Mexicans and others
13:44are prepared to take to climb out of poverty
13:47and into the land of opportunity.
13:53There's a never-ending stream of pollos waiting to take their chance.
13:57Are these all people waiting to get out with all the pollos?
14:00Yes, they're trying to get some pollores, you know?
14:03Yeah.
14:05They may go on their own or pay guides known as polleros or coyotes.
14:10It's quite easy. When will these guys go, do you think?
14:13Are they... Oh, they're going now.
14:15Yeah, they go now. This way, they cross.
14:18Yeah.
14:19See?
14:20We just get... I mean, just...
14:21What's going to happen to them, though?
14:23Surely, in the middle of the day, it's a bit risky.
14:25Yeah, I think it's a big mistake, you know?
14:28But they do.
14:30Is it just young guys, or do you get women, children going under as well?
14:33Women and children and old people, too.
14:36If anybody needs work... I mean, anybody needs money, you know?
14:39I mean, I could get under there, I suppose, and get into America.
14:41Yes, sure.
14:42I could...
14:43You can go if you want.
14:46OK, so...
14:53Here I am.
14:54This is America.
14:55It's America.
14:56No passport, no papers?
14:57Nothing.
14:58No queues at immigration?
14:59We are Polish already.
15:00Yeah.
15:01We are Polish.
15:02So are they.
15:03Nigel, have you got your passport?
15:04Yes.
15:05Oh, you cheated on me.
15:06They look like chickens, too.
15:07Yeah.
15:08So, but...
15:10Vehicles patrol along here, so...
15:12Yes.
15:13Are we being observed at this moment?
15:14You think somebody's keeping an eye on us?
15:15Sure.
15:16Of course.
15:17Yeah.
15:18We are observed from there.
15:19You see that point?
15:20Yeah.
15:21More fellows.
15:22I think we'd better leave the land of the free pretty quick, just in case.
15:24Yeah, we'd better go.
15:25Yeah.
15:27Last year alone, over half a million people were arrested
15:31for crossing this 60-mile stretch of the Tortilla Curtain.
15:35But still they go.
15:40The young woman I saw at the fence goes ahead to scout the ground.
15:48So there's a whole group going now?
15:50Yes.
15:51One, two, three, four, five, six, seven people.
15:55Eight with a girl.
15:56Eight with a girl.
15:57Yes.
15:58Are they with the coyote?
15:59I don't think so.
16:01No.
16:02They go for themselves.
16:03Yeah.
16:04They're obviously bent double there.
16:06They're crouching to avoid being seen.
16:08These people, that's more experience.
16:14A crowd gathers to will them on.
16:17But in broad daylight and only 100 yards from the airport terminal,
16:21the attempt looks suicidal.
16:25They don't seem to wear any sort of dark or camouflaged clothing.
16:31Someone out there with a pink shirt, very obvious.
16:34Poor people, they don't know about it, you know.
16:36They are very simple people.
16:38Just take what they've...
16:40People from the country, you know.
16:46Look at, look at, see, they get another direction.
16:55Oh, the helicopter is coming.
16:58Right there, see?
17:01The helicopter is coming.
17:13Here comes the vehicle.
17:14It's coming.
17:15Yeah.
17:18They must know that they've made the break.
17:20They must know that they've made the break.
17:22They must have observed them and...
17:26How many in each patrol? Is it just two guys in there?
17:29Yeah, two guys.
17:31Are they unarmed?
17:33They have guns and they have everything, you know.
17:35So, yeah, they go for them.
17:40If you were in that group of eight people out there now,
17:43what would you do?
17:44Well, I run in different directions.
17:46Somebody can escape.
17:48Yeah.
17:50Look at the other van, see?
17:53Ah, yeah, here comes the other vehicle.
17:55It's coming in the other direction.
18:00Their corner, they look as though they've had it, really.
18:02Yeah.
18:03And the money they paid the coyote, that's wasted.
18:06Wasted.
18:07How much do you reckon they pay?
18:08Well, I think 250.
18:10Look at the other cars, see?
18:12There are three now.
18:13Three cars now, yeah.
18:14Three cars now.
18:15So it's possible they escape.
18:20The legal border between Tijuana and the USA
18:23is the busiest land crossing in the world.
18:2630 million people pass over it in a year,
18:29and the salesmen are ready for them.
18:41The gauntlet of souvenir stalls,
18:43the row upon row of international junk,
18:46feels like an ominous warning of what is to come
18:48as I step from the third world into the first.
18:58Welcome to the United States of America.
19:01You are about to apply for admission
19:03at the world's busiest border crossing.
19:05Please, have your documents ready.
19:08The use of fraudulent documents is a federal offence.
19:11Aliens attempting to enter with fraudulent documents
19:14will be detained for a hearing before an immigration judge.
19:17Re-entry after exclusion or deportation
19:20will result in felony prosecution.
19:34Welcome to the United States of America.
19:37You are about to apply for admission
19:39at the world's busiest border crossing.
19:41Please, have your documents ready.
19:44The use of fraudulent documents is a federal offence.
19:47Aliens attempting to enter with fraudulent documents
19:50will be detained for a hearing before an immigration judge.
19:56Before I go very far into the United States,
19:58curiosity compels me to look at the border from the other side.
20:02I'm in the company of Ron Henley
20:04of the Immigration and Naturalisation Service.
20:07Yesterday's enemy is my host today.
20:11Last year, 523,000 arrests.
20:14Right now, we're up around a little over 400,000,
20:18so we're right on pace with that.
20:20How many of these people have been over before?
20:23Do you have any sort of figures on that?
20:25At a bare minimum, we're apprehending about...
20:27We have about a 40% percentagism rate.
20:30What's your feeling about the people that you pick up?
20:33What do you feel towards them?
20:35That they're just legitimately trying...
20:37Legitimately, they're trying to get some work or what?
20:40It's a push-pull effect.
20:41They're pushed up here economically
20:43and they're drawn up here economically.
20:45And I think that if I was in their shoes,
20:48I'd be doing the same thing.
20:51The border at night.
20:53An expensive array of high-tech equipment
20:55has been made available to Ron and his men
20:57by a generous, if increasingly paranoid, US Congress.
21:01Infrared cameras scan the fence.
21:04So what are you seeing there?
21:06Right here, we have a group on the south side
21:08of the international fence.
21:11Awaiting to cross the border there.
21:15And they're still in Mexico.
21:17They're just moving around, seeing where
21:19there's a good opening for them to come through
21:21without being detected.
21:24How far away are they?
21:26I would say anywhere from a quarter of a mile
21:28to a half a mile away.
21:30And they, of course, are in darkness
21:32as far as they're concerned that they're walking around.
21:35Yes, they are.
21:36In the dark.
21:37Yes.
21:38And you can see them because of the sense of...
21:42Of the body heat, yes.
21:44The heat off their bodies.
21:45Yes, exactly.
21:47A lot of activity, isn't there?
21:49Yes.
21:51And what's happening there?
21:52Here we have a group of,
21:54in there from 10 to 15,
21:56and they're on the north side of the fence,
21:58which is US.
21:59Yeah.
22:00And it looks a bit like they're resting right now.
22:02They just wait and look for the movement of our vehicles
22:05and see when they disperse.
22:07And they wait for an opportunity to move north.
22:11I mean, do you think those people are now about to move?
22:14No, not yet.
22:16No.
22:17They'll wait around at a different hole
22:19and see how the area looks
22:21and see what the movement is.
22:23And you can see there's a helicopter flying above
22:28and they won't move for it either.
22:32They'll just stay there.
23:03Unlike the Poyos, we're free to go north,
23:07into California,
23:09the richest state of the richest country in the world.
23:15For the 32 million people who live here,
23:18it's the ultimate realisation of the American dream.
23:33About 60 seconds.
23:35The epicentre of the American dream is Los Angeles,
23:38one of the great cities of the Pacific.
23:40The only way to take it all in is from the air.
23:44This is downtown Los Angeles.
23:46Just over here on the east side
23:49is the older section of Los Angeles.
23:51My guide is Bob Turr, doyen of the LA Skies.
23:55New help may be on the way
23:57for women with bladder control problems.
23:59Bob Turr makes a living by swooping from the air
24:02to snatch the news from his rivals.
24:04He was the first on the scene
24:06when O.J. Simpson was chased down the freeways.
24:08Women with incontinence lose urine when coughing.
24:15From an office in a corner of Santa Monica Airport,
24:18his wife Marika monitors emergency service frequencies
24:21and guides the helicopter to the scene of the next crisis.
24:25The airport's right here.
24:27This morning's first big story
24:29is an emergency landing on a freeway.
24:31Bob Turr goes in, broadcasting live.
24:34Go ahead and hear that, Bob.
24:36We have the aircraft on site.
24:38It appears the pilot has made a safe landing on the freeway.
24:41It appears to be a 405 freeway,
24:44but the intersection of the 4055 interchange,
24:47and it is a Cessna, single-engine aircraft,
24:50four people, four planes,
24:52Cessna, single-engine aircraft,
24:54four people are capable of being aboard,
24:56but we understand two people were aboard.
24:58Looks like everybody's okay.
25:00And we listened to this guy coming in
25:02over the Van Nuys Airport frequency.
25:04He said he lost his engines.
25:06He was over 2,000 feet up in the air.
25:08He couldn't make it back to the airport,
25:10so he decided to put it down on the freeway.
25:13The pilot is waving up in the air, ecstatic that he's safe,
25:16and just an incredible situation.
25:18The aircraft is just fine.
25:20Everybody all aboard are okay.
25:22Nobody injured on the ground.
25:24This is a code 4. Everybody's okay. Back to you.
25:27During a brief lull in emergencies,
25:29Bob and his pilot give me a landmark tour
25:32of America's second-biggest city.
25:34This is really our version of the Eiffel Tower.
25:37You can see the beautiful Hollywood sign,
25:39and above it, that beautiful tower
25:41that we can see so brilliantly at night.
25:43But they have to repaint this white every once in a while
25:46because people come up here,
25:48and it's not fun to tag it and put some graffiti.
25:51Very clean today, isn't it? Very clean.
25:53It is clean. It was cleaned in honor of your presence.
25:56Last night, they came up here with a washboard.
25:59With Michael Payton, I bet they just bought it.
26:02No, the extra lettering was expensive.
26:04Is that translucent or something?
26:06No.
26:07Just regular?
26:09Yeah.
26:10In front of us, we have Madonna's house.
26:12In front of you there?
26:14International rock star Madonna's home right here.
26:17In front of us.
26:18Is she in? Do you think she'll come out on the roof and give you a high five?
26:21Make a 360 over her.
26:23Yeah.
26:24It's off your left, and it's got the adobe roof and the tower,
26:27and behind it is the pool.
26:29Oh, right. Yeah, yeah, yes.
26:31Bugsy Siegel, one of our notorious gangsters, owned that home.
26:34Yeah.
26:35And you can see the maintenance people are there.
26:40No Madonna, no photographers.
26:42The tour comes to an abrupt halt
26:44as word comes in of a serious accident.
26:46Thank you, southbound I-5 Hollywood Way, roger.
26:49Tell me what you're seeing, Bob, because I can't quite see it from where I am.
26:52It's a car pinned between a big rig.
26:55The car is on its side, up against the guardrail, completely crushed.
26:58His bird's-eye view, combined with the power of a 72-to-1 zoom lens,
27:03gives him a range of shots rarely available to those on the ground.
27:06I think somebody perished in this.
27:08His network CBS clears a space on the news for his report.
27:12Bob Turr is live and above the scene in Sun Valley, Bob.
27:15What we have here is a terrible accident here in Sun Valley,
27:18the I-5 Freeway, southbound.
27:20We had a big rig that pinned a small automobile
27:23between the big rig and the center divider.
27:25There was an explosion.
27:26Fire swept through the area,
27:28killing the driver of the small automobile.
27:32Turr is fiercely competitive,
27:34setting himself gruellingly high standards.
27:37By the time we return to Santa Monica, I'm utterly exhausted.
27:41But, Bob, it's just been a routine kind of day.
27:47Back in the office, Bob and I have a chat.
27:50We've had a good chat.
27:52We've had a good chat.
27:54We've had a good chat.
27:56We've had a good chat.
27:59Back in the office, with the help of his own video library,
28:03he shows me days that weren't quite as routine.
28:06What's this story?
28:08Riverside Sheriff's deputies beating up illegal immigrants on the freeway.
28:12And we're several miles away with our camera system.
28:15They don't hear us, and they continue to give these people a beating.
28:22The only positive thing I can think about this appalling scene
28:25is that there are very few countries in the world
28:27that would allow Bob Turr the freedom
28:29to show that things like this actually go on.
28:40Compared to the freeways,
28:42the Pacific Coast Highway is as quiet as an English country lane.
28:46I could almost fool myself into thinking there's no hurry at all.
28:55Outside Salinas, I pick up the immigrant trail again.
28:59By picking strawberries in the heart of John Steinbeck country,
29:03they can earn $1.40 a box, a fortune back home.
29:13It comes as no surprise to learn
29:15that over 90% of the fruit crop in California is picked by immigrants.
29:20It suits everybody.
29:26MUSIC
29:41By the time I reach the Golden Gate Bridge,
29:43the sea mist is catching on its towers,
29:45and the weather has turned from sultry Mediterranean
29:48to bracing North European.
29:56Only a short way from the Temples of Pleasure
29:59is the Temple of Punishment, Alcatraz Island.
30:02Separated from the mainland
30:04by just over a mile of fierce currents and icy water,
30:08it was regarded as the ultimate in incarceration.
30:18This is where they put the hard men, Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly,
30:23and my two guides today,
30:25retired bank robbers Jim Quillen and Glenn Williams.
30:29Apart from spells in the punishment block,
30:32this was their view of the world for 17½ hours of every day.
30:39Both were glad, however, they didn't have a cell with this view.
30:42It was considered unbearable.
30:45Can I ask you about probably the most famous occupant here,
30:49the Birdman of Alcatraz?
30:51Did you know him?
30:53Yes.
30:54And what were your feelings about him?
30:56Well, my feelings is he was a jerk.
31:00He was a guy that thrived on chaos, turmoil, upheaval.
31:07He liked other people to be involved in these kind of things,
31:13but he was never a participant.
31:16What did you think of the movie?
31:18Fantasy.
31:21I always refer to them as comedies.
31:23I have seen them all.
31:25And one way or another, we have become consultants on those movies.
31:30And it isn't long before the director tells you,
31:33look, we're just asking a couple of questions.
31:35We'll make the movie.
31:37And when you see the end product, it's kind of funny.
31:41Other people cry and we laugh.
31:44We have this image through the media,
31:49that there's something glamorous and macho about prison.
31:54But you know what prison really is?
31:56It's tears and sorrow and heartaches and loneliness, bitterness,
32:01insanity, murder, suicide, death.
32:05That's what prison's all about.
32:07Yet when the media portrays it, these guys are heroic.
32:11And that's about as far from the truth as you can possibly get.
32:16Jim was one of the few who tried to escape from Alcatraz.
32:20He says there were 14 attempts.
32:22Seven men were shot dead, six were drowned.
32:25Only one ever made it to the mainland.
32:28He was recaptured almost immediately.
32:35Despite Alcatraz, San Francisco is best known as a free-thinking town.
32:40To see how it's living up to this tradition,
32:42I take a tour of one of the world's largest gay communities.
32:46My guide calls herself Trevor.
32:49Well, Michael, let me tell you about this intersection here.
32:52The intersection where we are right now,
32:54the intersection of 18th and Castro,
32:56this is reputed to be the gayest four corners on earth.
33:00That's quite a claim.
33:02The gay and lesbian community in the Castro
33:05is now over a quarter of a million strong.
33:08Here they call heterosexuals those who enjoy an alternative lifestyle.
33:15Trevor, who was once called Evelyn, is proud of its achievement.
33:19The Castro is to gays what Israel is to the Jews, she tells me.
33:23Why was San Francisco particularly tolerant?
33:27San Francisco's birth was the gold rush.
33:30So when gold was struck in this area,
33:3340,000 men migrated to this area
33:37from the four corners of the earth.
33:39So with everyone arriving on equal footing,
33:41the first characteristic that developed was that of acceptance.
33:45Acceptance of men with men, men alone.
33:48Precisely.
33:54The Castro seems to me the epitome of a well-ordered community.
33:58Everyone here seems to know and love everyone else.
34:04I'm sorry, Michael, I didn't mean to interrupt you,
34:06but here's Dennis.
34:08Dennis, may I introduce Michael Hayward.
34:10Pleased to meet you.
34:16Trevor tells me that this is like
34:20the gay centre of the gay community in San Francisco.
34:25Does that mean that it helps to be a gay cop?
34:28Are you gay?
34:29Yes.
34:30So does it help in your work to be gay?
34:33Well, I think as far as the community's perceptions are concerned,
34:37yes, I think that makes one more approachable,
34:40especially over certain issues.
34:42What about your fellow officers? Are they predominantly gay?
34:45No, no, not at all.
34:47I don't think, according to the numbers that I am most familiar with,
34:52I would say probably no more than 2% of the department at this time.
34:56Maybe a little more.
34:58Do they ask to come and work here particularly?
35:00Some do.
35:02Trevor, I think we must go.
35:03It's been a pleasure meeting you.
35:05Pleasure to talk to you.
35:06Dennis, I'm also glad we ran into you.
35:08Well, you take care.
35:09All right.
35:10See you in the neighbourhood.
35:11Look after it.
35:12We certainly will.
35:13Thanks a lot.
35:14Enjoy.
35:15Bye.
35:16The rainbow flag of the gay community
35:18flutters outside one of the most significant locations in the Castro.
35:23Did the Names Project begin here in San Francisco?
35:26Yes, it did.
35:27When was that?
35:28Well, in 1987, early spring,
35:31is when people begin to make and collect panels in this very building.
35:36What does each panel represent?
35:38Each of these panels represents an individual that has been lost to the AIDS epidemic.
35:56Today, 30 other countries have their own quilt with this group's blessing
36:00because you see it's used as a vehicle for grief.
36:03It is used as a memorial to those we've lost to the AIDS epidemic.
36:07And it also is an education to people about what the epidemic truly represents,
36:12all this youth, talent, creativity that's being lost.
36:18This is a security advisory.
36:20Please maintain...
36:21Moving on, I'm at San Francisco Airport for an early evening flight to Seattle.
36:36T1.
36:37Rotates.
36:40For some reason, probably because the pilots get on the plane,
36:44For some reason, probably because the pilots get so desperately bored,
36:48I'm often invited up onto the flight deck to watch a take-off or landing.
36:52But today is an exception.
36:54As we approach Seattle, I'm asked to do more than just watch.
37:00How are you?
37:01Very well, very well.
37:02Here?
37:03Why not?
37:04Would you like to try a landing?
37:06You must be joking.
37:08No, I'm not.
37:09OK, we'll talk you right through it.
37:12Well, I think I'll probably...
37:18A little left.
37:19A little left.
37:21Nice job.
37:22800 feet.
37:23Is the airport inside? Is that the runway?
37:25You're doing good.
37:26OK.
37:27Small corrections now.
37:31A little left.
37:32A little left.
37:34Left.
37:35Left.
37:37Back to the left.
37:38Oh, I've lost it.
37:39Left and down.
37:40Down.
37:41Down and to the left.
37:4480 feet.
37:4650.
37:4730.
37:49Oh, wow!
37:50Yeah, sorry about that.
37:52Everyone's spilled their drinks.
37:55Now just welcome them to Seattle.
37:57Yeah, well...
38:00Welcome to Seattle.
38:04Home of Boeing and their wonderful in-flight simulators.
38:07Realistic, aren't they?
38:11After a night in Seattle, we're on our way again.
38:14Across another border and into Canada.
38:17First to Vancouver, then by railway north through British Columbia.
38:26Our first Canadian train is pulled by one of the locomotives
38:29that used to haul expresses right across the country 60 years ago.
38:41I'm told that because there are so few people in British Columbia,
38:45you can flag trains down like buses.
38:48We'll see.
39:11Well, it's worked.
39:13But then the Canadians are notorious for being very nice people.
39:18Thanks a lot. I'm sorry to stop you, but...
39:20That's all right.
39:21I was told you'd stop anywhere. OK?
39:27Ah!
39:28I couldn't afford the whole fare.
39:41Where else in the world could you stop an entire express train
39:45and still get lunch without a reservation?
39:52This is timber country,
39:54with logjams on one side of us and sawmills on the other.
40:03And in Canada, where there are trees, there are lumberjacks.
40:07Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm Squamish welcome
40:10to Mr Michael Parham.
40:14I once sang a song about lumberjacks,
40:16and today in Squamish I'm going to pay for it.
40:21The annual logging games always start with a bang,
40:24and this year I've been asked to provide it.
40:27Has it got a kick on it?
40:29A little kick, yeah.
40:31Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes.
40:33No excuses.
40:36Ready... and... fire!
40:47It was nothing. It was nothing.
40:52I'll work for the firing squad.
40:56Thanks. OK.
41:01After that, thank God, all I have to do is watch
41:04as the loggers show us 101 things you can do to a tree.
41:13They saw them, climb up and down them in less than 30 seconds,
41:17and even, surprisingly, dance on them.
41:29Marine! Marine! Marine!
41:34Hang on to it, Mick! Don't lose it!
41:41You're watching two of the best here right now.
41:43We've got a heck of a night showing up.
41:48One good. Now set the choker back over that second log.
41:51Todd has gained a little here.
41:53Can he do it now? Can he get across without falling in?
41:56Oh, it turns pretty well for you!
42:02Then, just as I think it's all over,
42:04I make the fatal mistake of getting excited.
42:07You're going the wrong way!
42:09Pride comes before a fall.
42:11Contestants ready! One, two, go!
42:14Hit it straight and fast! Fast, fast, fast!
42:18It's no good. I think I've lost the will to win.
42:23Oh, my goodness! How about it?
42:25Let's give him a super-me!
42:27I want to go home! I want to go home!
42:44After that, the last lap can't go quickly enough.
42:47The remote grandeur of the Rockies,
42:49the raw power of the Fraser River far below me
42:52are no match for my overwhelming desire
42:55to get back to Diomede and close the circle.
43:03The further north we go,
43:05the more limited our transport options become.
43:08Roads run out and the ocean takes over.
43:11This route through the coastal islands
43:13is called the Alaska Marine Highway.
43:20There is no regular passenger boat
43:22going further north than the town of Skagway.
43:25We must use an aircraft to take us on
43:27via anchorage to the edge of the continent.
43:41This is just... This is ultimately depressing.
43:46I've got to...
43:47Absolutely as far as I can go on the American mainland.
43:50This is a little area called Wales.
43:52That's Prince of Wales Cape.
43:54It's impossible to go further west in America.
43:57And yet, Diomede, where we began,
44:00is still about 25 miles out over the Bering Sea,
44:03which is choppy and cold and there's just no way of getting there.
44:11It's so frustrating!
44:13It's so frustrating after the distance we've been.
44:17We've got to...
44:25Hang on.
44:30Hang on.
44:33Hey! Hey!
44:35Hey! Over here!
44:37The US Coast Guard,
44:39who offered us a ride down the Aleutian Islands chain
44:42when we started out a year ago,
44:44had promised to help us on our return journey.
44:47Today, they're as good as there were.
44:52Their ship, the Monroe, is in the area,
44:54winding up routine patrol duties in the Bering Sea.
44:57Thanks, guys.
44:59If anyone can get us onto Diomede, it's the US Coast Guard.
45:02All ahead full. All ahead full wide.
45:05All ahead full. Right.
45:08All right, main control, be advised,
45:10we won't be answering a full bell.
45:12All ahead full.
45:15Engine room answers all ahead full.
45:38But we're not all that's racing to Diomede.
45:41A fierce storm from the south-west
45:43seems determined to beat us to it.
45:57Well, Captain, it doesn't look too good.
45:59What are the chances of getting me onto Diomede?
46:02Not very good, I'm afraid.
46:04Winds are about 30 knots.
46:06Seas are about 12 feet.
46:09And as you can hear, the fog signal is going off,
46:11which indicates reduced visibility,
46:13particularly around Diomede.
46:15So I don't think we'll be able to fly the helicopter in either.
46:19So that's helicopter...
46:21Small boat.
46:22Small boat.
46:23We're all out.
46:24How far are we away from Diomede?
46:26We're only about two miles away from Diomede right now,
46:29and we can't even see it.
46:31So the visibility is very reduced,
46:34which means the helicopter can't fly in.
46:36And the seas are much too rough for the small boat.
46:39What's the forecast if we wait around for a bit?
46:42I'm afraid it's not looking any better.
46:44In fact, it's looking worse.
46:46There is a front coming through,
46:48and the winds will pick up as the front passes us,
46:51and what we anticipate is reduced visibility
46:53on the other side of the front.
46:55We expect some warm air to be brought in,
46:57and the warm air is just going to bring more fog.
47:01So I'm afraid that's about it.
47:22Well, it looks as though the Bering Strait has defeated us.
47:26The most notorious and changeable and dangerous weather systems
47:29come through here.
47:31A year ago, when I started this journey,
47:33it was flat, calm, the sun was shining,
47:35and everyone said, you're lucky, you're just very, very lucky.
47:38And this, today, is the reality.
47:40So I shan't set foot on Diomede,
47:43but I feel, I feel that I've closed the circle.
47:46It is out there. We've travelled 50,000 miles.
47:50We got within a gnat's of it, a gnat's of it,
47:53and I think that's something.
48:00¶¶
48:07¶¶
48:29¶¶