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Sat 19th March 2011 At the Chelsea Hotel I was expecting perhaps to run into a few curiosities, but the mysterious case of the disappearing bathroom switch wasn't what I had in mind. I was standing naked in the hotel bathroom for 20 mins just now trying to find a way of making the water come out of the shower rather than the bath tap, and I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror which highlighted the ridiculousness of the situation. I've a line down the middle of my face dividing a tanned side from a pale side from sleeping in Central Park, and now there are three people in the bathroom trying to figure out how to turn the shower on. 30 mins later. Another two people have arrived to help solve the mystery, so that's five adult human beings now searching a shower cubicle for a switch that clearly has gone astray. |
Sat 19th March 2011 Woke up in a bush. |
Fri 18th March 2011 Back on the piers with the beers. Really didn't want to drink last night, but ended up at a place with a free bar, so would have been rude not to. We're a polite nation on that count. Woke up in Bushwick. Which is better than waking up in a bush, as happens, but not by a long shot. Show with Albert Goold Band tonight at Hanks Saloon, wherever that might be. Myles Manley on the same bill, and I'm feeling proper manic so it should be an event.. for me at least. Staying at the Chelsea over the weekend so I'll try catch a ghost for you. Busting makes me feel good. |
Thu 17th March 2011 Why am I always so out of fucking sync with the world? New York is in full mad party mode, gash in green all over the scene & I'm sitting here in the corner with a shy red wine, feeling goofy. Did I mention that I swapped the synth bass for the real instrument on Blushes To Pieces (just) before I took my flight out here? It's way better now, have a listen: |
Thu 17th March 2011 Almost forgot about this, I met a kinda interesting guy at the weekend, this is his tattoo.. 
And yeah, that is the Starship Enterprise flying into the World Trade Centre. |
Thu 17th March 2011 Jet Tea will call me up sometimes & say something like "Man, I got soo fuckin' drunk last night, right, I've proper fucked it up this time" & I'll just laugh & feel kinda happy that we're both still fighting the good fight on opposite sides of the world. I wanted to make a call like that this morning. You know, I've quite a few friends who get outrageously drunk & behave inappropriately, and there's more to that picture than meets the eye. It's often a passionate reaction to the repressive, mindless automations of generic day to day morons who are responsible for making every grocery store identical, every awkward moment humiliating, every occupation a negation. There's just something about people I know, and my appreciation for them, that makes me feel better about the way that I am, and I'm so thankful for that. I ache to settle, but I am what I am, and who can't accept that? I never hurt no-one, save myself. To the sometime outrageous, and those that understand, Thank you. This peaceful afternoon is for you. |
Thu 17th March 2011 My favourite New York walk down by the Sunny, Sunken West Side Piers. Man did I choose the wrong day to attempt to find a quiet bar & do some soul searching. It's Green Day, of course, and I can't help but think about the fact that I was in a very similar situation, in the same city, on St. Patricks Day last year. The show last night was great in all, and I've recorded much of it, but can't get any of that online at the moment. Evening ended in chaos, however, and I'm really starting to be concerned about how many arguments I get into. I've had four quite serious rows in two days, and that doesn't include the guy who punched me! But you know what, when I really work through it, I don't think I'm to blame. For example, after I wrote yesterday's blog, I accidentally went through the wrong barriers on the subway, so I came back out & crossed the street, but the barriers there wouldn't let me through as I'd recently used the same card. (In England you don't have to cross the street to catch a train in the other direction). In any case, the guard wouldn't let me through when I told him what had happened, he chose instead to lecture me about learning to read, in his best American sarcasm. I would have to wait 18 mins for the timer to reset, before I could go through. I just said "Look, I'm not from this city, I made a simple mistake & I just want to go home" (I didn't think it the best time to mention that I don't have a home) and he kept saying "Can you read?" so I just fucking lost it & said I'd rather pay for another ride rather than listen to his bullshit sarcasm & viola, another infuriating argument. What would you do, sit there & wait nearly 20mins? The world is full of cunts. |
Wed 16th March 2011 Last night was nothing short of fuckin' ridiculous, and I'm currently revisiting the scene of the crime with a punched face only to get stood up by a drunkenly arranged date. Was delayed getting here by a bunch of mad puerto rican women fighting on the Subway, who then chased a skinny white guy down the street for filming their brawl on his phone. Got properly chucked out of the open mic under St. Marks last night. Always amuses me in America when I get asked to leave, and I just say no. They were like "We're throwing you out" and I was smiling and saying "Go on then" - they didn't know what to do at first, had to go get help to remove me from the premises. Wankers. All I did was correct some prick comedian who was chatting shit about the English, and saying the language was a bastardised version of Latin. Nothing new in my reaction there then, but where's the comedy in any case? Proper wobbler. This scenario led to me standing in the middle of the crossroads at 1st Avenue, naked, screaming something along the lines of "Oi, this is what a human being looks like." Then a ghetto girl kissed me & I got punched square in the face by a huge Mexican guy. I arranged todays date (which I'm using to write this) with a girl who I can't remember in the slightest and woke up with an aching jaw & a show to play tonight just down the street at Lit Lounge. It's gonna be a fab night, with Albert Goold & Myles Manley on the same bill: Lit Lounge Show Tonight |
Tue 15th March 2011 It's worth pointing out that, in many cases, words of venues or bands on this site are themselves links to related pages of interest, or the band's own website. |
Mon 14th March 2011 It's always a real trade off in these travel situations where accommodation is inconsistent. When I booked my flights on Valentines Day, I didn't expect to have so much time on my hands or be in New York for this week, so now I'm just sleeping where I can & filling up the days. But my independence is always inhibited by concern for where I'll end up each night, and my guitar etc. Sidewalk is closed for the moment, and it appears that when it re-opens it will be a very different beast from that we are used to. I went & played the Sidewalk Exodus open mic at Tribes open house gallery tonight, but it was pretty empty. Apparently that place might be closing down soon also. Things are definitely changing in NYC's acoustic music scene. Inspired writers are so thin on the ground, but there are a few wonderful exceptions & I'm very happy in my little circle of outsiders for the moment. |