Gig Wrap Up 2005

Happy Chanukah! Belated Merry Xmas! And Boxing Day! And Bank Holiday! Or whatever...

The girls are off to the Tower of London, but I've been there twice so I've elected to skip it and meet them at the British Museum for tea later. I'll prob. post what we've been up to in a bit, but here's my gig list from this past year in alpha order (I have no idea of the dates.) I also only included opening acts that I actually watched. My faves are in order below as well.

Gigs 2005
Band/Opening Act - Venue
Aqualung - Bowery Ballroom
Augustana - Mercury Lounge
Bell X1 - Mercury Lounge
Better Than Ezra/American Hi-Fi - Irving Plaza
Bloc Party - The Roxy
The Bravery - Shelter Club
The Bravery/Ash - Bowery Ballroom
The Bravery/Dead 60s - Webster Hall
British Sea Power/Feist - Bowery Ballroom
British Sea Power/The Wurzels - Kentish Town Forum
Coachella 2005
The Coral - Bowery Ballroom
Doves/Marjorie Fair - Warsaw
Doves - Hammersmith Apollo
Duran Duran/Dragonette - Jones Beach
Editors/We Are Scientists/The Cloud Room - London Astoria
Embrace - Bowery Ballroom
Embrace - Mercury Lounge
Franz Ferdinand/Editors/The Rakes - Alexandra Palace
Futureheads - Webster Hall
Goldie Lookin' Chain/0-Fresh and the 00 Agents - Bowery Ballroom
Graham Coxon/22-20's - Bowery Ballroom
Hard-Fi - London Astoria
Haven - Highbury Garage
Howie Day/Anna Nalick - Town Hall
Ian Brown/Radio 4 - Webster Hall
John Butler Trio - Mercury Lounge
Kaiser Chiefs - Tribeca Grand Hotel
Kaiser Chiefs - Mercury Lounge
Kaiser Chiefs - Spin Magazine Office
Kaiser Chiefs/Morningwood - Bowery Ballroom
Kaiser Chiefs/The Cribs/The Redwalls - Webster Hall
Kaiser Chiefs/Maximo Park/The Cribs - Brixton
Kasabian/Mad Action - Bowery Ballroom
Killers - Central Park Summer Stage
Maximo Park/Nine Black Alps - Mercury Lounge
New Order - Hammerstein Ballroom
Oasis/Jet - MSG
Phoenix/Dogs Die in Hot Cars/Long-View - Irving Plaza
Razorlight/The Features/Asobi Seksu - Bowery Ballroom
Shack/Boy Kill Boy - Islington Academy
Siren Festival
The Stands - Mercury Lounge
The Stands - Bar 13
The Stands - Islington Academy
Stereophonics/The Subways - Alexandra Palace
Turin Brakes/West Indian Girl - Bowery Ballroom
V Festival
XFM Winter Wonderland - Brixton

Best of them...
#1 - Kaisers @ Webster
#2 - The Stands @ Mercury
#3 - The Stands @ Bar 13
#4 - British Sea Power @ Coachella
#5 - The Prodigy @ Coachella
#6 - The Bravery/Ash @ Bowery
#7 - Stereophonics @ Coachella
#8 - Embrace @ V
#9 - Better Than Ezra @ Irving
#10 - Haven @ Highbury Garage

Current Music: Delays - Nearer Than Heaven

Lost It To Bostik, Yeah

I just crazy glued my chair back together because the leg was broken. And I accidentally crazy glued the chair to the carpet. Whoops!

I'm totally like Superwoman. I woke up at 7:15 this morning and cleaned the entire apartment. Well, not the bathroom because Liz can do that. So the place is spotless and Heather and Erica should be arriving any minute. It doesn't feel like they are coming, I am excited.

My Tracks of 2005
1. Hard-Fi – Hard to Beat
2. The Coral – In the Morning
3. Editors – Bullets
4. The White Stripes – My Doorbell
5. Fall Out Boy – Sugar, We’re Going Down
6. Augustana – Bullets
7. Kaiser Chiefs – You Can Have It All
8. The Go! Team – Ladyflash
9. Coldplay – Talk
10. Madonna – Hung Up
11. Kanye West – Gold Digger
12. Gwen Stefani – Hollaback Girl
13. We Are Scientists – The Great Escape
14. Hard-Fi – Living for the Weekend
15. Black Eyed Peas – Don’t Lie
16. The Bravery – An Honest Mistake
17. Matisyahu – King Without a Crown
18. Futureheads – Hounds of Love
19. Bloc Party – Banquet
20. Athlete – Wires
21. British Sea Power – Be Gone
22. Goldfrapp – Number 1
23. Simon Webbe – No Worries
24. Kaiser Chiefs – I Predict A Riot
25. Brendan Benson – Spit It Out
26. Franz Ferdinand – What You Meant
27. Amerie – 1 Thing
28. Doves – Black and White Town
29. Hard-Fi – Stars of CCTV
30. Stereophonics – Dakota
31. GLC – R’N’B
32. Gorillaz – Feel Good, Inc.
33. Franz Ferdinand – The Fallen
34. Bloc Party – Two More Years
35. The Fray – Over My Head (Cable Car)
36. Oasis – Lyla
37. KT Tunstall – Suddenly I See
38. Charlotte Church – Crazy Chick
39. Augustana – Stars and Boulevards
40. Razorlight – Somewhere Else
41. The Stands – Do It Like You Like
42. Better Than Ezra – Burned
43. Coldplay – Speed of Sound
44. Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends
45. Better Than Ezra – A Lifetime (re-release)
46. Arctic Monkeys – When the Sun Goes Down
47. British Sea Power – Victorian Ice
48. Annie – Heartbeat
49. Sean Paul – We Be Burnin
50. Stereophonics – Rewind
51. Nine Black Alps – Just Friends
52. Kelly Osbourne – One Word (Remix)
53. Arcade Fire – Rebellion (Lies)
54. The Game – Hate It or Love It
55. Gorillaz – Dirty Harry
56. Editors - Blood
57. Natasha Bedingfield – These Words
58. The Subways – No Goodbyes
59. Maximo Park – Apply Some Pressure
60. Mariah Carey – We Belong Together

Current Music: Editors - Bullets

The Mess That Shouldn't Be

Oy (or oi). Erica and Heather are arriving at Heathrow at 7:30 am tomorrow, I'm soooo excited! But the flat looks like a bomb hit it. I guess I can get up at 7:30 and clean everything (like pick stuff up and clean floors and wash things), but in this state, they may just have to face the mess. I'm drunk, and it's realllllllly messy. I'm a bad host.

Current Music: Razorlight - Hey Ya!

Best of the Fests

Another useless few days in regards to schoolwork have passed. I met Maristela for lunch yesterday, then did some work on of one of my papers, watched Lost, followed by Fahrenheit 9/11 which I vowed never to do. After watching it, I still think Michael Moore is an ass. Today I went to Solo's, played with him and Dandan, met up with Liz to do some Xmas shopping (yes, I finally bought the Pumas I was looking for, happy holidays to me!), got back here, yelled at the Freeview box for interrupting One Tree Hill at the best part of the episode and am now putting off finishing that paper.

My New Sneakers!

I would also like to give a quick mention to the Johnny Damon trade. I don't watch much baseball, but this actually annoys me!

So, I'm now finished with all of my gigs for 2005. This looks like a Ben-blog ripoff, but I'm gonna list my 2005 festivals, and maybe do the individual shows in my next entry.

Coachella
Day 1 - Saturday (aka 'let me wear myself out to the point of dead' day)
The Sexy Magazines (Mojave Tent) - Had to see them as the singer is Vicki's family friend. Umm, interesting was a good way to put it.
Gratitude (Mojave Tent) - Had to see them too as Liz loves this band. I've never heard a singer say 'thank you, we're sooooo grateful' that many times. I could make fun of him much more for various other things but I don't have time.
Radio 4 (Mojave Tent) - Finally, a good start to the day!
Jamie Cullum (Outdoor Stage) - Caught the last few songs. I don't care what people say, I like him.
Ambulance Ltd. (Mojave Tent) - Managed to catch only some as well.
M83 (Gobi Tent) - Ditto. Wish I'd seen more.
Snow Patrol (Main Stage) - Average this time. Shocker.
Keane (Main Stage) - Again, you basically get what you expect from them which is fine.
Stereophonics (Mojave Tent) - And it's a race to the tent (literally) to catch them. Excellentness! Best band of the day.
Weezer (Main Stage) - Unfortunately very textbook. And no 'El Scorcho'! Bastards.
Secret Machines (Mojave Tent) - Caught the tail end. They aren't my thing, but the light effects and the stage set up was really cool.
Bloc Party (Mojave Tent) - I was crushed but it was amazing.
Coldplay (Main Stage) - I was delirious by this point but it was good.

Day 2- Sunday
Sloan (Mojave Tent) - Sitting down in the tent with Sloan was a very nice way to start the day.
Kasabian (Mojave Tent) - A-a-A-a-A-a. Finally, the first real festival moment during 'Club Foot'.
The Bravery (Mojave Tent) - Many sound problems. It was their first ever festival appearance. I've seen them do better but it was decent.
Arcade Fire (Outdoor Stage) - And now comes the point where I get pelted...They were okay (sorry, I just don't see it!)
New Order (Main Stage) - I've seen New Order! Giant checkmark! (I saw them again later in NY, but this was quite an achievement.) 'Crystal' and 'Regret' back to back? OH.MY.GOD.
British Sea Power (Outdoor Stage) - Spot right in the front, beautiful California scenery in the back, best band of the day. This festival revolved around Open Season for me.
Roni Size (Sahara Tent) - Whoa. I don't usually listen to this type of music but it was the most fun I had the whole weekend. Aside from...
The Prodigy (Sahara Tent) - I sweated out a good 13 lbs. from this set. They certainly smacked my bitch up!!

Siren Festival (I was a bit more concerned with eating Nathans and achieving death by Cyclone than watching bands.)
Nine Black Alps (Stillwell Stage) - Some good stuff but I'm not so into them.
The Dears (Main Stage) - Two or three really good songs, I was concentrating mostly on why the two chicks looked so pissed off for the entire set.
Brendan Benson (Main Stage) - Brendan, why did you play so many old songs? Shouldn't you have been promoting the new album? I still like him though, especially because he had The Stands support him on his tour (...and I had to sell my ticket because no one would go with me to that show, thanks again everyone!!!)

V Festival

Day 1- Saturday
The Stands (Main Stage) - Oh wait, I didn't actually see them because the people who handle the queues at the festival were COMPLETE MORONS.
Goldie Lookin' Chain (Main Stage) - It's the GLC. They are funny. Enough said.
The La's (Main Stage) - Better than I expected.
Jet (Main Stage) - Eh. I still haven't listened to that cd in full.
The Bravery (Channel 4 Stage) - Whoa, sorry boys but this one was bad.
Kaiser Chiefs (Channel 4 Stage) - Oh wait, I actually elected to skip this performance as I had seen them what felt like 238 times already this year. I even allowed myself to be subjected to the wrath of those I was with for attempting to see the unspeakable instead. I missed them too though because the stage times were off.
The Streets (Main Stage) - My first time, and I'd been looking forward to this forever. Too bad Mike Skinner lost his voice. And I can't say I wasn't warned before that they aren't so great live.
Oasis (Main Stage) - Hey Lyla! It was greatness. What a triumphant recovery from Glastonbury last year.

Day 2 - Sunday
Rooster (Main Stage) - I had no idea who these guys were. They covered 'No Diggity' though which was okay.
Idlewild (Main Stage) - I've got some of their stuff but I always forget that I have it. They were pretty good and nice to chill on the lawn to (I know they aren't really a 'chilling' band, but it was the early afternoon.)
I Am Kloot (Channel 4 Stage) - Twas average.
Thirteen Senses (Channel 4 Stage) - My favorite songs were lovely. They sound exactly like their record live, but with their music I think that's a good thing.
Athlete (Main Stage) - The emotion pouring out of the band and crowd during 'Wires' was amazing. This was a great V Festival moment for me.
Embrace (Main Stage) - Singalongs are fun. Jumping to 'New Adam New Eve' is fun. Listening to Danny McNamara's sob story about almost having to go on the dole is not fun - that was like the third time I'd heard it this year. My favorite quotes of the festival were during this set - Me yelling during silence in between songs to Danny: "I like your belt!!!" & Liz screaming in response: "I like your brother!!!"
Franz Ferdinand (Main Stage) - I had just done the video thing, so of course hearing 'Do You Want To' was exciting. They completed the day's trifecta of greatness.
The Hives (Channel 4 Stage) - I got to see them sing 'Hate To Told You So' pre-Prodigy. I love that song.
The Prodigy (Channel 4 Stage) - Not as fun as at Coachella. This field was packed and I couldn't see shit. I kissed some random guy though, that part was okay.

I also got to dance to Bez DJing in the Strongbow Tent which was really fun. Mr. Scruff's tent was not fun.

XFM Winter Wonderland (brief comments here)
The Dead 60s
Magnet
Editors
Maximo Park
Hard-Fi
Chas & Dave
Kaiser Chiefs

Current Music: Mr. Big - To Be With You

There's A Hole In My Pocket

Ryan's returned to England for the holidays, wahoo! Well, he left to go home today but the last 24 hours were fun. Last night began by meeting Liz at Wetherspoons. I'd only heard that this place was a chain with cheap drinks, but I didn't expect it to look so American. Fine with me though, I have no problem whatsoever with £3 Belgian fruit beers.

We met up with Ryan and his friends at Match Bar, then Zoe and I darted out of there at 8:30 pm after Ben called me saying that the opening act for Hard-Fi had finished already. We were walking (at a normal pace) from Oxford Circus to the Astoria, until I got two texts from Dandan saying "Where u at?" followed by "They have just come on!" at 10 minutes to 9:00. We hightailed it to the venue (as in raced there whilst knocking people over left and right.) I was freaking out at the coat check and then finally made it inside...with no Hard-Fi on stage yet. Thank you again, IDIOT!

I really liked Hard-Fi and I thought they were much better this time than at Winter Wonderland. Maybe it was because it was their last show of the year and the energy of the audience was so high. Richard Archer is one of those frontmen where if he screams at you to clap your hands, you'd better do it or he may come into the crowd and hurt you. Needless to say, I like his style.

Before I forget, I have to give the "Congratulations, You Stayed Out Past 9:00 pm Award!" to Zoe (in a shock move, we didn't get home till after 1:00 am on a school night.) So anyway, after the show we met up with Ryan and co. again at the Absolut Icebar. Unfortunately, we got there after they'd finished their timeslot, so we just went to Below Zero (the "warm bar" downstairs), which was still cool (well, not temperature cool like the upstairs, umm, you know what I mean.) Then Zoe, Ryan, his friend Shiraz and I went to the Sanderson Hotel bar for the best martini I've ever had (it was tiramisu flavored.) That place was ultra swank, possibly more than the Icebar. Which is probably why I felt very out of place in my puffy jacket, hoodie and sneakers. I couldn't have looked as unclassy as the girl at the table next to us though who was actually throwing up multiple times while her friends cringed with embarrassment. My favorite quote of the night was by the bouncer who politely asked us to finish up our drinks because the bar was closing...when there was blatantly nothing on the table (they'd been cleared away earlier.)

Today was another excuse to not do work, so I met Ryan, Shiraz and some of their other friends (I was engulfed in Mountbattens) for lunch near Euston. I hopped in the shower at 11:45 am, dried my hair, got ready and made it from my flat to the restaurant by 12:35 pm. If there is anything that my future husband will appreciate about me, it'll definitely be my ability to get ready so quickly. I had a yummy pizza, then we headed to Camden Market, after which I should have gone home to do work but I just didn't want to. So four of us went to Notting Hill, walked around for a bit and went to a chic dessert place. Not sure what was up with the trendy theme surrounding us but I didn't mind it at all (aside from me having spent £489,562 in less than a day.) I said goodbye to Ryan at King's Cross and did nothing worth mentioning since I've been home, shocker!

Current Music: Better Than Ezra - At the Stars

Bluer Than Blue

What the hell? The Stands BROKE UP????? I can't believe it, I'm gutted!!!

And why was I the last person to find out about this?

R.I.P. Boys, I'll miss you.

Current Music: - The Stands - She Speaks of These Things

Performance and Cocktails

Last night's Stereophonics show was THIS good. Mr. Jones' solo performance of 'Maybe Tomorrow' almost made die and the encore was one of the best I've seen all year. They played 'Roll Up and Shine', 'Just Looking' (I haven't seen that many guys huddling, singing and swaying since, errr, the last time I saw Embrace) and 'Dakota'. That song is great and I luvve to jump to it. They are so talented and I definitely got my money's worth despite the fact that I'm not completely sold on the newest album (PS - there was a "Rewind" omission - what was up with that guys?)

(I don't know where we are going no)

It also doesn't hurt that Kelly Jones is HOT. I bumped into him once as I was listening to the 'phonics on my Discman. If that's not destiny, then I don't know what is.

You Made Me Feel Like the One

After that, Alex and I went to Nick's party. His flat was initially impossible to find, and I found it extremely frustrating because of what felt like sub-zero weather (that'll be Fahrenheit by the way.) In a shock surprise, everyone wore costumes, like actually from the costume shop! All I had was a bird's nest on my head as I had taken the rubber band out of my curled hair on the tube, which turned into a complete mess that took me a good ten minutes to untangle/rip out of my head. We situated ourselves next to the bowl of nuts (and devoured them), played some game called Fives or something and stayed lazily in the same spot for most of the night rather than mingling.

Today was very exciting, I'm still in my pajamas from last night as proof. I watched about eight episodes of Scrubs, part of an old OC, and a couple of Friends, which led up to the grand finale - a brand new episode of One Tree Hill. Oh how I've waited for you!!!!

So, I just put Skype on my computer and it's the best thing ever. It's instant messenger but you get to physically speak to each other for free. Amazing! I think all of my American friends need to download it now if you guys have microphones in your computers. Then we can chat for free which would be excellent!

Current Music: Stereophonics - Caravan Holiday

Quote of the Day

This was taken from an e-mail interview with Patrick Swayze as printed in Now magazine:

When did you last cry and why?
"I cry frequently at the way that we're destroying the planet."

Um, say what? I'm crying right now from laughing so hard.

So, I know today has already been wasted. It's Saturday, who am I kidding? Like I was going to do any schoolwork, puh-lease.

I've got Stereophonics tonight (who knew their website was so cool by the way?) and I don't care what anyone says (you know who you are) but they are excellent in concert. I'm really looking forward to it, but the doors open at 6:00 pm so that's kind of early. I'm going to Nick's "Heroes and Villains" themed housewarming/Xmas party afterwards somewhere near London Bridge. Therefore, I technically have to dress up for the gig since I'm going straight to the party afterwards (speaking of which, I wonder if I can put a bottle of alcohol in the coat check?) I don't know if people are actually wearing outfits but Nick, et al really kept pushing the costume shops on the evite. I think I may curl/glitter my hair and crazy up the make-up so I look ready to party but won't scare Kelly Jones too much.

Yesterday was the epitome of lazy for me - I went out with intentions of going to the gym and dressed for it with inhaler in pocket and everything. I met Ana for coffee first, which we followed by going to the library to take out books like the good students we are. We bumped into German Christine and the three of us went for coffee. Yes, I went for coffee twice yesterday! I'd much rather be social then run on the treadmill, it's obviously a much higher priority. Then I bumped into Liz on the street and escorted her to the post office. I raced home, changed out of my (unsweaty) gym clothes and met Zoë in Angel. A guy from Brooklyn asked me if I was Canadian. For the last time, I AM NOT FROM CANADA!!!!! We had a drink, then hopped on over to Farringdon to meet up with Ben and Dandan as Double D was celebrating his last day of work. We played with another group's party favors (no, not those kind of party favors) - party poppers, festive cone-shaped hats, big balloons and bubble blowers.

I also sent my family a Hanukkah card but addressed the envelope to myself by accident. Whoops!

Current Music: Stereophonics - Pick A Part That's New

Question of the Day

When am I going to learn to stop eating falafel when I'm sober? IT'S GROSS.

Wahoo! Today was the last day of class! There are certain things I really should accomplish over this break, like: register with a GP, decorate the flat for the holidays, write holiday cards, search for gifts for family (whoops, a bit late on that one), come up with a New Year's plan, get a boyfriend (haahaahaa), attempt to get some sort of job/register with temp agencies, clean my room (not gonna happen), get books out of the library, hopefully book an upcoming trip, agh don't know what else. I also wanted to do an NME-inspired list of my favorite tracks, gigs, etc. of the year for el bloggo.

Can an English person please tell me if Gola sneakers are cool or uncool? They are the only company that make black sneakers that I like that aren't Pumas (which are not affordable in this country.) I just don't want people to point and laugh at me. I mean, they would regardless, but I don't want to add fuel to the fire. Thanks!

Current Music: The Bravery - An Honest Mistake

Write a Review, Well How Objective Can I Be?

Today was a regular, uneventful day as can be expected. Went to class, shopped around with my friend Spanish Anna, bought a cute skirt at H&M and attended my dissertation seminar in which I learned nothing. Then I had some drinks with the most randomest people from class + the professor which was aiight. Got home and I'm so drunk, not sure what happened there. My class for tomorrow got cancelled so I'm a happy girl (although not so happy as I have to work on my presentation for Thursday.)

I never reviewed XFM's Winter Wonderland. I honestly don't have much to say. I wasn't paying much attention to The Dead 60s' set because I don't care much for them, Magnet didn't play my song so I'm permanently annoyed with him, Editors played an excellent set, as did Maximo Park (who played their entire album in order - a rarity), I missed the Kooks as I was hanging out in the hallway with Joy and her peeps, thought Hard-Fi were decent, not as bad as Ryan and Dave said they were at Mercury Lounge (where they said it was so bad it was as if the two of them had picked up instruments and started playing), Chas and Dave were not worth watching, and Kaisers were good but not as entertaining as they are on their own tours. My favorite moment of the entire night was Hard-Fi doing 'Living For the Weekend' as that song is so great and Richard Archer is an excellent frontman making the whole song so awesome to witness live. I'm seeing them next week on their own so I'll be able to reassess their live performance. Think I'll pop that one on now.

Current Music: Hard-Fi - Living For the Weekend

It's All Relative

If you haven't heard, then read this before my entry: 'Sopranos' actor accused in police shooting

Okay, so, over the summer, Liz, Erica, Heather and I were strolling down Mulberry Street and Heather spotted this guy who she recognized from 'A Bronx Tale.' I'd never seen him before, but we all took a photo with him anyway. The owner of Ferrara's was talking to us and saying how they were very good friends, etc. etc. I thought the whole time how he looked like my friend Chris, and when I got home, asked Jenn and she told me that Lillo, the actor, and Chris were actually cousins. So, that's weird to begin with. Then today after reading the article, I realized that this guy's last name is Brancato, which is the same last name as my friend Mike, Chris' cousin (I shared a Fire Island house with both of them in 2003.) I didn't know if Mike had a brother, but if so then this is just crazy. I wanted to post comparison pictures but I think that's a bit much considering the situation.

Current Music: Augustana - Stars and Boulevards

Pain Pain Go Away, Come Again Another Day

Aggggh. I hate hangovers. My head feels like it's going to explode into 400 pieces.

I went to Andy's birthday party last night at his flat and I drank too much vodka. I felt exhausted and left around 2:30 am but then had to wait a whopping 40 minutes for the bus. I met a lovely chav chap that kept me company though. Then on my walk home, four thuggy-looking guys walked passed me and one grabbed my ass. I hate people.

On Friday night I went to my friend Maristela's flat which is in a huge office/residential building near Canary Wharf. Another girl from class came too, and we stuffed our faces with crackers, cheese, doritos, nuts, party mix, spring rolls, cake, wine and beer. Yes, I ate all of it!

I have Winter Wonderland later today at Brixton, I don't know how I'm going to get myself through it feeling like this. It should be a good show if I can survive through the whole thing. Most of the bands I've seen already but I'm still excited for em. The show's got the Kaisers, Maximo Park, Editors, Hard-Fi (yeah!!) and Dead 60s plus some others. I'm most looking forward to seeing Magnet sing 'The Day We Left Town' because I really really really really love that song. Plus there's a ton of people going so it should be fun.

Current Music: The Subways - No Goodbyes

Party Crashers

Last night I went to Ruby Lo with Liz and Graham. Yippee, hip hop! I hadn't been out dancing in what feels like forever. In typical English fashion they threw in some occasional music randomness (En Vogue? Diana Ross? Thong Song? Oh yeah, Liz requested that one. They wouldn't play Da Dip for me though. I think I got dared to ask for that one.)

We almost didn't get in as they were having a private party (um, hello, maybe you shouldn't be advertising in Time Out for the Thursday of this week then?) The bouncer was so kind as to let us in anyway. After sideswiping about 5 glasses on the ledge of the DJ booth upon entrance (yes, they ALL broke), I headed straight for the chocolate covered cornflakes and nut assortment (hey, it was a party after all!), but it wasn't open bar so that was a bit of a let down.

My thoughts started with "Hmmm...that guy's cute!," which turned into "Hmmm...that guy seems really into that other guy," and finally evolved into "Hmmm...ALL these guys seem to like each other." What other holiday party could it be except for Selfridges!

The dudes were dancing pretty well. Especially this one guy by the DJ booth. He started talking to me and was really into the conversation. I got excited over the prospect of a gay best friend since I'm lacking in that department. He liked me so much, he even wanted to sit down and talk to me, rather than dance or chat up other guys. And then he kissed me. Like, a lot. Uh...not gay?
Umm...What?
Really??

Oops.

Current Music: Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better (Live)

This Is What It Sounds Like When Doves Cry

Last night I saw Doves at Hammersmith Apollo. Let me just start this post by saying how wonderful the venue is. Someone who attends gigs must have actually designed this place, as the floor was built on a slope. Imagine that - everyone can see the stage! Amazing! The sound was great too. This is definitely my favorite music venue in London.

Alex and I arrived, managed to finally grab beers after getting through the jam-packed bar crowd and made it into the theater exactly as the show started, the timing couldn't have been more perfect. Band came on, I don't even remember what they started with but the whole show was great. My highlights were 'Black and White Town' and 'Caught By the River.' In between the main set and the encore, they showed this film of the band exiting the venue, driving to a pub, drinking a beer and coming back, then entering the stage for the encore. Very clever boys! 'There Goes the Fear' is one of the best songs ever, especially when done live and as a show ending. By the way, Ryan and Zoe, did we ever reach the conclusion that the dude who sings on M62 song, etc. is actually the drummer? Didn't we think it was a random 5th guy for some dumb reason when we saw them at Warsaw?

25 years is craziness

Current Music: Electric Soft Parade - Sleep Alone

Killing Time

I have nothing to do for the next 45 minutes until my department's "event of the year" which is just a seminar. But then I'm going to see Doves, yippee! That's all I have to say.

4 Marcos, 3 Scoops of Gelato, 2 Pizzas And What Do You Get?

Just one regular weekend...

As you know I just came back from Italy. It was relaxing overall but I'm so exhausted.

I didn't think I was even going to make the flight on Thursday night. I took a van from Baker Street to Luton which normally takes 45 minutes, but actually took me 2 1/2 hours. Apparently a water main burst in Brent Cross, plus it was raining, so we barely moved. I was freaking out, but made a run at the airport and luckily made the flight. Ryanair wasn't as bad as I'd expected, but holy crap the flight attendants were 12 years old! No wonder the flights are so cheap! Micky picked me up and we stopped at her friend Andrea's band's studio to say hi and watch them practice some Jimi Hendrix. Their studio is located in the public library. Isn't that considered an oxymoron or something?

On Friday I slept until 2:00 pm, then went to Treviso to shop, walk around and get an aperitivo with Liza (Micky's sister.) At night I went with Micky to the local gelateria to meet up with Irene, Andrea and some other friends (note - I've done this with her at this gelateria since I was like 15 years old, small towns are so funny.) We went to see one of the Marco's play in a Mexican band in one of the local Spresiano bars.

On Saturday we laid around the house the entire day like the lazy people we are, then I went with her and a bunch of her friends to a few bars in Treviso. Nothing too eventful but it was good to practice my Italian. I've actually begun thinking in Italian like I did when I lived there which is really strange.

On Sunday, the same peeps from Friday night went to the town of Bassano, which is famous for this bridge that connected WWII Austrian-owned Italy with Italy. There's some bullet holes in the bridge somewhere but I couldn't find them. The night followed with a pizza and some Amelie.

On Monday, Liza and I went to Venice. I've been there six times before (not to brag or anything) but this time was amazing as it was "L'acqua Alta" (High Water.) About twice/year, the water floods Venice due to the full moon, the tide and the wind, and I happened to be there for it this time. Piazza San Marco is the first place to get flooded, and the city sets up platforms to walk on so you don't have to walk on the water. The following photos show it all:

Leaky Venice

Brave People Stopping for Lunch

Check out the reflection of San Marco in the water:

Moi Looking Very Short

Oh yeah, the inside of the church got flooded as well!

La Bella CittàMe In My Ugly-Ass Puffy Jacket On the Rialto

Grand Canal

Liza and I walked around, met Micky after her classes and headed back to the Spres. I caught my flight (which left 20 minutes early - are they technically allowed to do that?), took the shuttle to the Thameslink and arrived home around 1:00 am. I'm having such a desire to write the rest of this entry in my poor Italian but no one (Italian or other) would be able to undertand it.

So, I did well on my first paper! I got a "high" 60, whatever that means. I'm very pleased. I had a celebratory Stella at the school pub when I should have returned to my seminar. That's okay because half of the class was drunk for the 4:00 pm dissertation workshop which was slightly comical. We had our department Xmas party where I drank too much wine (perhaps that's the cause of my current headache?) They hired the strangest entertainment - some avant garde poet who was saying things like "Do you play with the lion who you also stuff? Oh, circus of my life!" It was really odd and made me feel uncomfortable. After that I went to a pub near the school with some classmates. I was with a Palestinean guy, a Chilean girl, and four Turkish dudes (I truly am starting to appreciate the concept of an international-friendly school.) I then bused it home with my friend Mehmet. I'm pooped now so I'm going to bed.

Current Music: The Bees - One Glass of Water

It's Always Better On Holiday

I'm going to Italy tonight! I haven't returned to the motherland since 2000 when I studied abroad so I'm pretty excited, and I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend at Michaela's house in Spresiano. I haven't spoken much Italian in the last five years though so like always this should be interesting.

Last night was Franz Ferdinand at Alexandra Palace. It was a mission and a half to get there. I took the bus from Camden Road up to Finsbury Park in a constant state of panic that I was missing the stop since I had never been there before, plus we were stuck in crazy rush hour traffic which stressed me out. I eventually met up with ICSC Michaela (not to be confused with Italian Michaela) and we hopped on the Wagn train (yes, Wagn, not Wagon, I don't get it.) I tapped my Oyster in for it and never tapped out (future note for everyone, this train's a freebie, and I'm totally going to get yelled at next time I go to the Underground office for not completing my journey again.) We then hiked (literally) to the venue. If I'd known it was so rugged I would have worn my Timberlands, not sneakers!!

This place was HUGE for an indoor venue. It's crazy that they sold it out four nights in a row. We got there just as the Rakes had started, but I had a stomach ache and only had the patience to hear '22 Grand Job'. They had some notable guitar riffs and the singer is quite dancy and charismatic, so I think if I had felt better I would have enjoyed them more.

Editors came on and I liked them a bit better this time as I'm much more familiar with their songs now. No sign of their parents though.

In between sets, they were showing a slow motion video of the four Franzs getting their hair cut; strange concept but I couldn't take my eyes off it. When they came onstage I wasn't really digging Nick and Alex's hair and outfits either - McCarthy (also known as Frosh, as he looks like a combination between Francis and Josh) looked like a cowboy with that shirt and Kapranos looked like a futuristic flight attendant. The drummer grew his hair though and it actually looked great!

They came on, opened their set with 'This Boy', dropped the drapes and headed into 'Come On Home'. I was liking the huge red question mark behind them during 'Do You Want To', and the crowd has serious love for that song (probably because of my cameo in the video.) My highlights were 'Eleanor..' and 'Take Me Out'. I think Franz may be one of the few bands who I actually don't mind if people in the audience sing along to, they just give out this feeling of universal love. This was the setlist, courtesy of NME:
'This Boy'
'Come On Home'
'Do You Want To'
'Auf Achse'
'I'm Your Villain'
'Matinee'
'The Fallen'
'Walk Away'
'Eleanor Put Your Boots On'
'Take Me Out'
'Darts Of Pleasure'
'You're The Reason I'm Leaving'
'40ft'
'Michael'
'Jacqueline'
'Evil And A Heathen'
'Outsiders'
'This Fire'

I'll probably be blogging from Italy as I'm mostly gonna be just hanging out.

Ciao peeps!