Amtrak
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29699&l=518bf&id=513713103

Portland
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29688&l=f58ff&id=513713103

Flying
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29686&l=d3b70&id=513713103

I was the first person into the venue. I mean, we all queued up and got from the front gates into the pit gates, and then through the security who put the wrists bands on and I was actually the FIRST person down there on the barrier, which was weird.

Centre of the stage……… with a tiny gap between the stage and the barrier - SO much smaller than the UK. The stage is also a lot smaller and more compact than any of the UK shows - there were only a couple of feet between between band members. Crazy.

Now of course I can’t be 100 % sure but I am pretty sure Thom gave me a hi at one point, right before he said that there were 1/4 of the amount of cars in the carpark than than people in the venue…. “but those of you that flew…”

WHO, ME?
D:

Well, I managed to make a really simple 6 stop trip on the subway into a bit of a nightmare, firstly by getting on the wrong line (duh) then by missing the stop we could’ve changed to the right line at (zzzzzzzzzz……oh! oops) but eventually we wanderd through a big tunnel that goes underground from Times Square to the Bus Terminal at 42nd further West.

The Port Authority Bus Terminal is a huge building with so many gates you would find it easy to get lost, thankfully there are little information stalls and you just get pointed in the right direction. Ours was no. 71 - he told us without hesitation (we’re talking 200 + gates here!!) and we headed over via Au Bon Pain (muesli and over a pint of hazelnut flavoured coffee…) to sit in line. We overheard the family behind us (incredibly hot young looking Dad, kind of weedy looking blonde mid thirties Mum…) saying that you’re only allowed to take one bag so I slipped all my essentials into the rucksack and we waited until the line started moving. We’d been told to arrive at the terminal an hour before departure xso weren’t surprised when we began to board at 10am - however we were surprised when she announced the 10am service to Silver Springs, Maryland… thankfully the first and only other stop on the Washington, DC service. We’d been booked on the 11am service but the coach was only half full and we cruised along the Interstate very nicely - lots of trees, a few huge bridges, no litter on the side of the road. They played a movie, a cartoon called Balto. You don’t get THAT on National Express. In my experience you’re lucky if National Express depart on time for some services (my Glastonbury experience was horrible, they didn’t even have a coach arrive at Victoria til way over an hour past departure time….) and then it’s small, cramped seats and maybe if you’re lucky the driver might put the fans on if it’s hot. This coach had loads of space, a spotlessly clean bathroom which was neither blocked nor otherwise broken and had plenty of loo roll and paper towels. The air conditioning worked perfectly although in this humidity you’d need that.

We arrived at the hostel and then headed into town where I met a friend of Tim’s called Lara who is a lawyer here. She was at some kind of reunion, alumni party thing with a free bar and I felt a bit (lot) out of place but she was sweet about making sure she came over to us often. Free food and drinks til 9.30 when we dashed off leaving her with all her REAL friends. We’re going out on Friday night and I so owe her.

Thursday morning, this morning as I write… well, we walked the three or so blocks down to the Lincoln Memorial and wandered halfway across the Memorial Bridge that heads to Arlington. Eventually we decided that nice though the breeze was, we’d head back and walk round the Lincoln Memorial itself. They are digging up the ground infront of it, directly at the bottom of the stairs, but it was OK. I liked it, a giant statue of the guy with speeches - one of them the Gettysburg Address - writ large on the walls either side of him. Took refuge in the (air conditioned) giftshop for a while and read a kids book about the causes of the Civil War. We do NO American History at school in the UK. I admit I have no idea what went on. I vaguely know a bit about the War of Independence because some of the sons of the Duchesses and so on that I read about when I’m feeling a bit Regency innit all went off to fight (I have a book printed in 1989 which is correspondence between the second Duchess of Devonshire and her son while he was in Boston I think it was, or maybe it was Washington, I will check). Anyway, utterly clueless, so it was interesting to fill in some gaps.

We got on a tour bus which has a ticket valid for 2 days, pretty good value we thought. This city is just museums and monuments everywhere. I know there’s plenty in the way of Government Buildings but it’s so nice to have all that open space with beautiful things like the Jefferson Monument, which sits on the tidal basin looking like a little temple.

The evening we got on the northern loop = unfortunately we didn’t realise there was only one bus every hour and a half, so we took a short wander round Georgetown and then stood at the bus stop waiting for one we thought would come every half hour or so…. urgh. So hot and this guy kept bouncing around being really friendly and being REALLY helpful - like going into the hotel and asking for info, we were barely answering him - but he was really persistent, I dunno… bored maybe? He was lovely but by this stage I was PMTing and Sweating and Hungry and Tired and just BLEURGH.

We got back to the hostel and I had a shower, a lovely long one that started off cool then was hot to stop me being all achey. I have rubbed myself with Tiger Balm tonight which has made my neck all warm, I think I had problems with the pillows at the NYC hostel as my neck is all cramped.

I did buy a cool thsirt from Urban Outfitters though…. the photo of which isn’t going to bloody upload so I give up, I just want to sleeeeeeeeeep

After Sunday’s boardiefest I managed to get up fairly early and we tried to get to the Statue of Liberty but apparently you have to book the ferry in advance and the next available date was in August! So we went to Coney Island instead. It’s lovely there! Really nice wide boardwalk running where a concrete promenade would be in the UK, then a pier and loads of showers and bathrooms, lots of bins on the beach, very sunny weather.
The place has been there for years and years - the Wonder Wheel was built in 1920 and you do get a very nostalgic feel from the place. It still has a “faded seaside glamour” about it.

I rode the WonderWheel and the Cyclone (the big 1927 rollercoaster) - TWICE! It’s an incredibly fast and steep rollercoaster and has prompted Tim and I to consider a weekend or day trip to Alton Towers sometime after the holidays. Hopefully we can go on a Thursday or something so it won’t be full and we can walk straight in to the rides.

We walked about a bit and then headed back to Manhattan. We got on the express subway that skips 96th and wound up getting off in Harlem, walking back through Morningside Park where there was a pond with a waterfall and… terrapins!! loads of red eared terrapins checking us out and zipping about - those guys move quick when they want to!

We headed out to China Town and chose a restaurant that I’d read good reviews of which turned out to be really really expensive for the area, and pretty disappointing. I did take the rest of my bean curd home and then headed over to Leonard where the Knitting Factory is. It’s a nice little venue although it has NO. CHAIRS. but it does have two floors. Brad made it down too, so we sat on the floor during the first band who were pretty average. I think they suffered from really bad sound. The second band, Quarry Hill, were good but a total Sparklehorse soundalike. That’s good… I guess…. they had a nice balanced sound, a pedal steel and three part harmonies. Sera Cahoone had a great voice, a good band but we had drunk a bit by then so nattered throughout her set. I enjoyed myself then we popped Mum onto the Subway - although she ended up waiting on the platform for an hour… eek! and headed to a bar for more drinks.

Today, Tuesday, I wandered with Mum over to Times Square, and then Radio City where she did the tour while I went to meet Peg for lunch. I bought a pair of leggings to replace the ones that seem to be a bit too holey and stretchy right now… I also had a rummage in a couple other stores then came back to the hostel as I was so tired.

The photos I have taken are on Facebook…. here

So I did the non-eco friendly thing and took a trip stateside. I flew Air India to New York on Saturday, very impressed with the service, you get curry for your main meal… nice big seats… watched Knocked Up and The Golden Compass on the way. Arrived in JFK and had an hour to wait in live for security, then another hour for our bags to show up - we could even see the plane through the window, it had such a short distance to travel!
Met a guy in the line for taxis and shared one in, turns out he’s a musician and has been lining up gigs in Earls Court, hahaha!

Our hostel is OK. We have a private room with an ensuite shower, it’s clean (ish… suspicious sheets) and once I told the pubescent girls across the landing to be a bit quiet at 1am when we were jetlagged… we got a bit of sleep, woke up early, then headed out. I wandered about Central Park (we are 3 blocks away, nice!) and Mum went to church, then we walked all down Broadway and I got a phone to use while I’m here.

Managed to meet up with a few boardies - took my Mum along, sooooo……. hehehee. But we got kicked out of the Met for having food, so I went and ate a salad outside before Mum decided she would just toddle off. I thought she would spend some time in the Met but she headed back to the hostel for a nap. Oops!

From the Met (where we saw the Superheros and Fashion exhibition - Tobey Maguire is taller than I imagined) we sadly said bye to Jason and his wife who’s pregnant and got tired… to… the lower east side. Ate in a diner, very DINERish it was. I had a milkshake as I still had emergency eaten food in my tum. Then found a bar with a ridiculous happyhour deal of a pound a shot for 5 shots… and $1.50 beer after 8pm. UM. Had a few drinks there…. met up with Z… had a wander and a couple of cocktails and got chatted up by some bald late twenties/early thirties guys with bad polo shirts and paunches, so I dropped in “Oh hey, don’t put your umbrella up in here, it’s bad luck! I hate it when my three year old does that, I keep TELLING him it’s bad luck….” which did the job

Today I think we’re heading over to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I probably will go to a gig tonight… try not to drink too much again as I am kind of hoping that walking around and eating sensibly (a bagel for breakfast, not pancakes… a sandwich or a salad for lunch not a sit down meal with all those HUGE portions of chips and all sorts….) will encourage me to lose a few pounds while I’m here.

Speaking of which, I am going to walk up to the top floor where Mum is meeting me with some coffee so we can check out the hostel’s guidebooks. So, I’d better get dressed!

Sorry, yes, yes, been off to Glasto (still haven’t unpacked, by the way) and now in Norwich visiting my family as it’s my brother’s birthday.
We got drunk, now I’m at Mum’s.

I’ll do a quick Meme I found on MaryP’s BRILLIANT blog, and leave you wondering what I’ve been up to (email me?)

Answer the questions with one word, link back to your source.

1. Where is your cell phone? Here
2. Your significant other? Edalike
3. Your hair? Chestnut
4. Your mother? There
5. Your father? Dead
6. Your favorite thing? Excitement
7. Your dream last night? Strumming
8. Your favorite drink? Wine
9. Your dream/goal? Travel
10. The room you’re in? Mum’s
11.Your hobby? Music
12. Your fear? Unavoidable
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Mothering
14. What you’re not? Lithe
15. Muffins? MUFFINS!!
16. One of your wish list items? sleep
17. Where you grew up? Isolated
18. The last thing you did? Typed
19. What are you wearing? Cords
20. Favorite gadget? Breadmaker
21. Your pets? Missed
22. Your computer? addictive
23. Your mood? mellow
24. Missing someone? maybe
25. Your car? none
26. Something you’re not wearing? dress
27. Favorite store? charity
28. Like someone? ‘course
29. Your favorite color? silver
30. When is the last time you laughed? earlier
31. Last time you cried? thursday

I’m waiting in the lull between lunchtime and pick up time. Angel Boy went off to nusery but saw his friend cry, got told he had to wear an apron in the water tray and cried… for the first time! He should’ve been OK after a while, once he’s distracted. But it surprised me, he’s not really a crier.

Tonight is yet another Radiohead gig. I shouldn’t have counted them really… now I know exactly how sad I am. I was talking to Naz online yesterday and was saying how strange it is to see the Documentary she made about the tour in 2003 (? or was it 2002?) - I have changed so much in so many ways… then you get this weird bubble inside my head where I am always, always a teenage groupie. I can’t explain why their music has such an effect on me. Other bands do it too, Low, to name one. I get transported out of real life for a short time… everyone’s said it before. These cliches about it being “almost a religious experience”… well… yeah, I can relate to that. I can’t explain why I want it in my life, but it’s also part of the big social group that collects at these things. That’s probably indicative of an even bigger need…… but who cares, it’s fun, you meet nice people, get drunk and dance to good music. Mind you, there won’t be much drinking going on tonight as I have to be on a bus tomorrow morning at 7.10am.

Angel Boy called me “The Best Mama in the World” today - which was a little unexpected! I reminded him he’s already GOT the best Mama in the world. I can be the best Nanny in the world if he likes… He has been ultra sweet lately. Middle Boy and Big Bro had their birthday parties on the weekend - Pimms fuelled madness (us not them) - and he’s been telling everyone it’s his birthday. In may! Uh…

Tim and I went to Vinopolis on Friday as well, I forgot to mention. I ended up tasting some wines I was a bit “so what” about… a nice NZ red, which took me by surprise… and a Chilean wine which had “roasted red peppers” in the tasting notes… and you know what? YES! You could totally smell them. I’m always a bit lost with apples and apricots. So I went for loads of dessert wines and sherries to try things I normally wouldn’t. We were a bit drunk by the end of it as we had 12 tastings and a cocktail… then dinner at the Gourmet Pizza Place right on Gabriels Wharf. It was a good evening to be living in London, although we were surrounded by tourists, we were local and sat and gazed at St Pauls and the Eye during dinner. Aaah.

Sunday I met up with a load of boardies… James, Big Tim, Ken, Will, Ang, Marion and Marcel, among others. We ended up doing karaoke at The Rocket in Euston, Timmy and I did “Where the Wild Roses Grow” which was awesome. Ken did a couple… and everyone did Paranoid Android. I think the sheer tackiness and awfulness of doing a song like that on Karaoke and revelling in our geekdom carried us through the evening. They were playing heavy, loud hip hop and RnB stuff inbetween songs, but it got us all dancing. Badly. Totally funny night out.

Well… I guess I had better go and prepare for picking little one up… see if he’s stopped crying by now (I’m sure he’ll be fine). I’m making green lentils with pancetta tonight, with some potatoes on the side for carbs. I hope they like it… the French kids I nannies for loved it but they had the weirdest eating habits. You don’t puree your food when you’re 8, NOR add loads of salt to it. This lot are an absolute dream to cook for as they’ll pretty much try anything.

As soon as it gets near 6pm, I’m so outta here… Got to get the Central Line to Mile End and wander up to the gig. Alone! I’ll find Lucy by the sound desk though…. *sigh* here we go again!

Here I sit, back in my own bed for once. It’s nice being home, although Nimes definitely felt like the end of the madness it’s not, we have next week to get through. Nevertheless I’ve settled back to something resembling normality.

Work is going well still - “I was telling someone the other day, I think we’ve found as close to the perfect nanny as we’re going to get” - which is nice. I hope I keep living up to it… the laundry on a weds/thurs works well as it’s all ready for the cleaner to iron on Friday. I don’t even do the ironing! It’s great.
Angel boy is being very affectionate and coming out with lots of “yuff yoooo”s and is starting to role play. He’s not really done it much before, but now he’s pretending to be a baby quite often and making up scenarios - “you be mumma, I baby…” which is really cool! I also had a video of him sliding down the fireman’s pole at the playground all by himself! He’s getting big…..

It’s Cuddly Middle Boy’s birthday today, so I popping over with his present a bit later. I got him a wormery… I hope he actually uses it, they have loads of worms in the compost bin to chuck in there. I didn’t like to get him something army themed, although that’s what he’d probably love more than anything. All this “pow poooowwww YOU’RE DEAD” stuff…. we do try and explain why it’s not that great that hundreds of people get killed… but you know. They’re boys. Everything is a gun - tennis racket, stick, fingers…. they build guns out of lego…. Angel Boy has developed a worrying habit of putting his hands round people’s necks trying to strangle them. Thankfully he does understand not to do it hard. I make him stop every time I catch him.

What else have I done this week? Well… got pissed off that band practise was cancelled as I’d spent money on lugging the bass to work by bus, money on the rehearsal space which is so far away for Abi and I that it’s not really worth our while trekking down there. I don’t know what to do about it. Part of me is really tempted to yell at the guitarist as we’d SAID, “if your friend is coming down and you think you’d rather not commit to a practise… say now so we don’t lose money on cancellation fees”. He sent me a text 2 hours before rehearsal started saying he’d gotten so drunk he couldn’t play guitar….. aaargh. Am I being reasonable to be really pissed off? Would someone ever foot a £50 bill just because they wanted to go out and get drunk? It hardly seems fair to saddle Abi and I with it - yeah we could’ve used the space but…. there’s no real point as we’re playing his songs and everything. I don’t know what to think really. Abi and I can rehearse so much cheaper in our neck of the woods. I’m just annoyed by the whole thing.

We got our Glastonbury tickets through and a parking pass. Decided to get the bus in the end. Looks like it drops us a good half hour walk away from the campsite but oh well!! I’m really looking forward to it though I’m not sure we’re going to sleep very well. I will take my eye mask and hope that I’m able to get by on my usual 3 hours a night.

Tomorrow we’re having a big meet up in London, a nice old pub. Angie’s coming over from Bristol, shich’ll be great as I haven’t seen her for a while. I haven’t forgotten that I promised to take her on the bus to Stanton Drew…. I need a weekend when I’m free and can actually jump on a bus and sleep somewhere reasonable and come home on saturday night and still have a day off with Tim. Not next weekend, that’s for sure, then it’s only what, 4 weeks til I go to the states? Better start that diet properly. Eeek.

Life is hectic, but so so full and good right now. I feel like I’m making the most of things. That’s the way it should be.

Hmmm, so here I am at home, poor old Tim has been missing me. I was so glad to get back and have a hug. Give a hug. I’ve missed him too.

The last couple of posts were inspired by The Gum Thief, where a man who works in Staples writes mock diary entries as his co-worker. Lucy, obviously, was on the receiving end of one and I met a man called Simon (hi, Simon) who was the initial inspiration for the other - in as much as he prompted us to wonder what on earth we look like to outsiders. I’ve used a fair bit of artistic license and Coupland-ised him, poor guy. No offense meant.

The set last night was fantastic, much better than Dublin. Atmosphere… talk about atmosphere!? Mexican waves cirlced the arena (a Roman Amphitheatre) repeatedly, paper aeroplanes zig-zagged their way down the seating tiers. The sun was shining and everyone was cheerful.

I will perhaps continue with the fake blog posting when I ache less. It feels over, but I know there’s Victoria Park to come, which I’ll arrive at late, be stuck at the back and have to leave early so I can be at work for 7.30am. So no aftershow beer stealing antics for me… in theory.

Blah!! painkillers, stuffed jalapenos and some LOST, please.

Oh God.

Oh Goooooooddddddddddddddddd. urgh. *cough*

Honestly, why do I do this? 90 Radiohead gigs and it never fails to get me. Right there! Oh… they’re so good, but I’m too old for this! The cold is probably a warning that I should give up before one of my vital organs does. it’s you or the liver, kid.

I remember when you could get close, but Nimes Arena last night was a pretty spectaular place. Different experience, innit? We had a love in on the front row of our seating area. I think Claire just wanted to feel Clay up, but everyone else was hugging each other too. The set comprised a few good’uns, The Chief told me they were playing a variation on two “In Rainbows”-heavy setlists, but he lied. Talk Show Host was great even if they did cock up (Claire believes it was to give her time to get back to the seats with more beer. Like we needed more beer. Crazy woman). Street Spirit…. Planet Telex…. The new lightshow is pretty amazing and serves as a reminder that you’re not in a dive bar any more. Spectacular. Lovely.

We managed to lose that Simon guy Claire found halfway through yesterday afternoon. I say “we lost him” but I think “he ran away” might be more accurate. I think we freaked him out a bit… we are the freaks. Goodness knows how she’ll face him on the flight. She’ll brazen it out though. The dippy tart has no shame.

At least she came after holding out til last Monday to book the flight. Plan in advance, woman! It’s cheaper! Just admit you’re as fucked up as the rest of us and life’ll be much simpler. She doesn’t mind when I get drunk, tired and start ranting when the bouncers act like twunts. He was just doing his job, I suppose. He took my pass when I left so I didn’t give it to one of the crazies outside. I keep those things for the memories, man! There were loads of them waiting outside though so he did have a point. Urgh. I didn’t need to walk out of the aftershow to a crowd of enthusiastic french screaming, not after crashing once I realised The Chief had gone to bed. Fuckers.

Everyone was there apart from The Chief! Full of industry, darling. Probably couldn’t face it, could he? Claire got so shitfaced she caught sight of herself in a mirror and thought better of talking to Ed. She crossed the line though, from cheeky uninhibited (good, gives you courage) to rambling drunk person (bad, face melty embarrassing). As long as I wasn’t rambling drunk person. God knows. It all hit me at the end when I was leaving. Can’t believe I didn’t see The Chief.

Finding a taxi is a mission in Nimes, they appear to have a singular firm with three drivers who drive everyone home at 20 miles an hour before returning at half the speed. We jumped it greatly by seeing Dan at the front, putting him in one heading in the opposite direction then making friends with the people behind him who are staying on the Expo Park place. 5 euros each, bargain! Claire had been stealing beer all night and keeping it in her handbag so she didn’t have to break her flow by walking across the room to fetch another one. Somehow she had a bottle of wine once we got back to the hotel, which she proceeded to spill across her side of the bed. I hope the chambermaid lady comes. She seems quite affable. God, don’t charge me for ruining the sheets! It was that mad bitch! It wasn’t my fault!

Anyway, another night another gig. James and Prav are staying in my hotel tonight so at least I’ll have someone to share a taxi with tonight. Don’t know what to do with the spare ticket, sell it and try and make some money back so I don’t have to get a job immediately after coming home. What would I do, anyway? Make tea somewhere, possibly. Sponge off my parents (urgh). As long as something comes along. Sabbaticals are all very well but you have to go back at some point. Urgh. URGH! OH! Cack.

That’s not for a while yet though, Milano, darling! I’m going to head over to Turin to check out some art, then head over to London and sleep on the bloody air mattress again, I won’t enjoy the London shows as much but then there’s Glasgow.

Keep it coming, Chief. Keep it coming.