Rain, Rain Go Away...

Due to starting my new job a week later than originally planned, I've decided to come up to Bowness-on-Windermere for a few days

It's been raining, grey and grim at home - an ideal time perhaps for a quick getaway to southern Europe and some guaranteed sunshine... So being here in the Lake District - the wettest place in England - may not have been the brightest of ideas? Well, just staring out over the beautiful expanse of Lake Windermere on my arrival made the 5hr drive up the M1 & M6 worthwhile.

Yesterday, due to the rainclouds, any idea I might have had about doing some high level fell walking was soon washed away. However, I did manage to wander lonely as a (rain) cloud, taking a lovely 7 mile low walk around Borrowdale, just below Derwent Water.


In the afternoon, dried out, I drove to Honister Slate Mine and went underground on a very interesting guided tour, wearing a hard hat and head torch - not a trip for claustrophobes but fun for everyone else. After coming out of the mountain I was met with sunshine and a rainbow arcing across the far hills.


Invigorated, I jumped into my car and motored down the magnificent Honister Pass, surely one of the most stunning drives in the world, and then on to the gorgeous Buttermere and Crummock Water before heading back to my B&B in Bowness.


Today it has been really wet. A constant downpour. Keep your mouth closed or drown type weather. Undaunted, I went south to Ulverston, the birthplace of Stan Laurel, to visit the Laurel and Hardy Museum - a tiny but interesting little place.

It's an old building, just 3 small rooms covered in memorabilia and containing an even smaller little cinema playing a loop of classic L&H shorts. Well worth the trip. Apparently, the eccentric museum is going to be moving soon to a larger, newly built location. This may help attract more tourists and increase souvenir sales but I feel a lot of the existing charm may be lost.

Getting The Hump

Boston. Sunday morning, Aug 3rd 2008.

I skipped breakfast and boarded the 8:30am Whale Watch boat heading out of the harbour towards the Stellwagen Bank marine sanctuary. I'd say that around 90% of my fellow passengers were from Korean and Japanese tour groups. It was a very smooth ride but one or two people were unfortunately staring into their sick bags right from the start.

I'd made this trip twice before on previous visits to Boston. The first time back in '99 was an amazing revelation - there were whales everywhere - numerous humpbacks, minkies and dolphins, splashing and jumping all around the boat. The second time, a few years later, was however a bit of a damp squib in comparison, with maybe 3 whales obscured in light fog. I mean it was OK, but I knew that with a bit of luck this third trip might be better...


And sure enough, it was. When the boat reached Stellwagen Bank it was like entering humpback town. It's hard to say how many there were, but I think we saw perhaps 10-15 different humps breaking the surface. I managed to take a bit of video with my little sony - it's OK, just a couple of minutes captured from the whole event, but it inadequately represents the size and grace of these majestic creatures. Squashing the video resolution down into YouTube distances you from the experience even more. You really have to the whales in high definition real life.


It was a good 3 hour trip. As my fellow passengers enthusiastically took photographs, it occurred to me that maybe a few of them might be thinking about what they wanted to eat for lunch. I always find that being out at sea makes me hungry too, and as we headed back to Boston I was looking forward to some fish and chips and a nice cold beer.

How the frack do you get to Foxboro?

Aug 1-3 Boston
Boston locals are a strange mix of sports fans and eggheads. Just walking about town, people pass by shouting out 'Go Red Sox!' to complete strangers, and if you sit down in a restaurant or café you'll probably hear the group on the next table talking theoretical mathematics or quantum physics.


Friday: I arrived in Boston from NYC by Greyhound bus and flopped onto my bed at the very nice Royal Sonesta hotel right on the Charles River. I needed to quickly figure out how I was going to get to the Bruce Springsteen concert the next day. The problem was that it was at the Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, about 40 or so miles away from downtown Boston, and there was no means of getting there by public transport. I guess it's a bit like trying to get from London to a concert in Milton Keynes with no car, trains or buses.

When I bought the ticket I knew that the stadium had a station next to it for 'event trains' i.e. there was a train service for events at Gillette Stadium. As I was to find out, with no help from the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority), the event train was not being provided for this concert!! Nightmare! Everyone going would have to travel by car - 50,000+ people is probably 20,000 cars, and at $40 to park the Stadium's going to make a hell of a lot of money!

I was stressed out. The nearest train and bus services were miles away and not running after the show's end. I was quoted $120+ each way for a taxi (if I could get one) and around $170 an hour for a 'car service'. I guess if I'd had my driving license with me I could have hired a car and paid the parking, but it wasn't an option. So, I decided to see if I could get a ride with a fellow fan who was going to be driving there from Boston. I posted my request to a Springsteen message board and crossed my fingers. At this stage I was seriously considering just eating my ticket and not attempting to get to Foxboro at all. Thankfully someone came through with an offer of a lift (thanks Howie!) and I could relax and enjoy my evening.

Saturday: Having previously arranged my transport for the night, I was able to take an interesting 90 minute boat trip up the Charles River that focused on its locks and bridges. It's always great to watch a bridge open, especially ones like this giant monster or the swing bridges around Manhattan. The rusting metal, the weight, the giant gears grinding. It seemed to me like a kind of Victorian steampunk.


Now on to the evening's entertainment. The striking open-ended design of Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, is weird but very pleasing on the eye. As we arrived the heavens opened. Torrential rain fell and lightning bolts crashed down all around us. Whoa! Everyone was cleared from the pitch as the tropical storm passed overhead. I was thinking about the next day's headline - '50,000 fans fried in stadium strike!'. Fortunately the severe weather soon died down and the concert could go ahead, albeit an hour late. Another curfew busting post midnight finish was on the cards.

At 9:20pm Bruce and the band started to race through another marathon set that was to include a sign requested Little Latin Lupe Lu, a passionate Tunnel of Love, the inevitable Who'll Stop The Rain and a very rare appearance of that almost forgotten Born In the USA single I'm Goin' Down. It was great fun.

By all accounts it was a good show. I enjoyed it, but this time, standing to the side of the stage rather than in front of it, watching the screens and the crowd, I found myself a little detached from the performance. Sadly, I've not got any great video or pictures of the event - just this crap phone photo looking towards the back of the stadium during Glory Days...


Setlist (courtesy of Backstreets): Summertime Blues/Tenth Avenue Freeze-out/Radio Nowhere/Lonesome Day/The Promised Land/Spirit in the Night/Tunnel of Love/Little Latin Lupe Lu/Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?/Hungry Heart/Who'll Stop the Rain/Youngstown/Murder Incorporated/She's the One/Livin' in the Future/Mary's Place/The Rising/Last to Die/Long Walk Home/Badlands. Encore: I'm Goin' Down/Jungleland/Born to Run/Glory Days/Dancing in the Dark/American Land/Rosalita (Come Out Tonight).
Boston Globe Review

Sunday: My last day of this short trip. I was up early to catch a Whale Watch boat from the harbour - more of which in a later post.


Then, after one of the best plates of Cod and Chips ever, it was just a case of heading for Logan airport and my flight home via Newark. Of course it wasn't that simple, another thunderstorm hit the east coast and that meant I couldn't meet my connecting overnight flight back to Gatwick. Nightmare! So, powerless, I reserved a spot on a flight out the next day and started to look for a hotel room... Then for the second time that weekend someone pulled through for me - a nice lady at Continental managed to squeeze me onto an American Airlines direct flight back to Heathrow; 'grab your bags and run'! Result!

Ain't no cure for the Summertime Bruce

I'm now shaking off the jet lag from a short jaunt across the pond; just 3 days in New York and then 3 in Boston. My aim was to take a break from the pain of job hunting and rejuvenate myself with a couple of E Street Band concerts. It was a trip that would add more pointers to my insanity. 'Broooce'!


July 29-31 New York/New Jersey
Not the best of months to be a tourist in NYC. The streets of Manhattan were sweltering. Underground it was worse. Down on the sauna-like subway platforms it felt like I was following a trail left by Arne Saknussemm. Welcome relief from the stifling heat was however provided in the cool air conditioned trains.

Tuesday: After arriving and installing myself in a nice cheap-ish hotel on the upper east side, I headed out across Central Park, past frisbee catching dogs and the humans and turtles alike sunbathing down at the lake.

I'd come to New York to see Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band play but I'd not got a ticket. Doh! So, moving around town I was stopping off at Star*ucks watering holes and using their Wi-Fi hotspots to try and score a ticket via the net. No joy! There were hundreds of tickets available online, but only at vastly over inflated prices from arseholes on eB*y and Stubh*b. W@nkers!


Wednesday: Frustrated, I decided to relax a little, just slip back into tourist mode and enjoy the city. I took the subway down to Brooklyn Heights and made what's now become my traditional walk back over Brooklyn Bridge. My usual DVD, CD buying frenzy then took over before I sat back with a 'small' soda the size of a dustbin, and enjoyed the fun and stunning visual beauty of Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

Thursday: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band were going to be playing a third night @ Giants Stadium, on their New Jersey home turf. The concert was sold out and I had no ticket... My best hope was to try the drop line at the stadium and see if there might be a return. I arrived at 10am and became the 7th person in the queue. I was in for a long long wait out in the 90 degree heat with no guarantee of getting into the show.

By late afternoon the queue had grown to several hundred people, all hoping that they might get lucky and be part off the 55,000 capacity audience. The sun blazed down, and shade was at a premium. Sunburn and heat exhaustion were becoming a problem. As I stood there on the concrete by the stadium fence, fans with tickets were arriving in their thousands, setting up tailgating parties in the vast parking lot. They had music blaring out and were enjoying their barbecues and cold beer. I was wilting. Water, beer everywhere, but not a drop to drink.

Event staff numerically wristbanded us in queue order and we were told that chances of getting a ticket were not good, and if any were available they would not be given out until just before the show start at around 8pm. So what's a few more hours to wait eh? In for a penny in for a pound. As it turned out the show start was delayed to around 9:30pm due to a major traffic incident involving a propane gas container, and this meant that the ticket office didn't start releasing tickets until around 9pm! All my fingers and toes were crossed.

Fortunately, I ended up with a great seat on the floor. I was in line with the back of the General Admission standing area ('The Pit') where I could see Jesse Malin and 3 of the Seeger Sessions Band 10 yards to my right, packed in like sardines. The lights dimmed. A colliape played The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze as the E Street Band took to the stage, and then Max Weinberg started hitting the drums...

Summertime Blues - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
31st July 2008, Giants Stadium, Meadowlands, New Jersey
It was of course a fantastic show - a Jersey special. At 30 songs, 3 and a quarter hours long, it finished at around 12:45am and tested the physical endurance of the crowd. After queuing in the hot sun for over 10 hours I was absolutely knackered. I must have been nuts. My feet were aching and I was fit to drop just 12 songs in, but Broooce and the energy of the crowd kept me going until the end. I've now seen 3 shows at Giants and each time the atmosphere in the old stadium has been tremendous. Song highlights for me included Blinded By The Light, a sweet Pretty Flamingo, Incident On 57th Street prompted by a sign requesting it 'For Your Old Bald Fans', and the ever powerful Because The Night which had Nils Lofgren embellishing his stunning spinning guitar solo with a John Otway-like forward roll!

Setlist (courtesy of Backstreets): Summertime Blues/Tenth Avenue Freeze-out/Radio Nowhere/Prove It All Night/Two Hearts/The Promised Land/Spirit in the Night/Light of Day/Brilliant Disguise/Pretty Flamingo/Blinded by the Light/Cadillac Ranch/Candy's Room/Night/Because the Night/She's the One/Livin' in the Future/Mary's Place/Incident on 57th Street/The Rising/Last to Die/Long Walk Home/Badlands. Encore: Jungleland/Born to Run/Bobby Jean/Dancing in the Dark/American Land/Jersey Girl/Rosalita (Come Out Tonight). Star-Ledger review.

Shagged, I got back to my hotel at 3am, took a cold shower to cool down and then crashed out, grabbing a welcome few hours of sleep before getting the bus to 'Bosstown' on Friday morning...

Welcome to the Selva

It has taken me some time. It's been over three years now since my holiday in Peru but I've still not got around to completing the editing of my camcorder footage. For some reason, other than my condor moment, I can't seem to face up to the job. The horror, the horror...

So there I was, in the Peruvian edge of the Amazon basin, a place of great natural beauty. Three days in the marvellous Tambopata reserve, walking jungle trails and exploring Sandoval Lake by boat. Colourful birds were flying across the rainforest canopy, monkeys were searching for food in the trees and piranha were swimming close to the surface of the water. In the distance you could hear the sound of Giant Otters, squealing like children playing ...

After a 10 days of travelling across the Andes visiting Incan sites and Peruvian cities, great though that was, I was really looking forward to this short rainforest stay making an exciting end to my trip. Well it was certainly an experience. Unfortunately, a couple of days before arriving in Tambopata, despite being extremely cautious about what I was eating and drinking, I picked up a stomach bug in Cusco. It was something that no amount of Imodium could deal with! I won't go into the awful details but I was feeling pretty queasy and anxious on our flight from Cusco to Puerto Maldonado, the boat ride to Tambopata and then the long hot muddy hike to our jungle lodge. Thankfully I made it without any er.. mishaps. However, looking out over the serene Sandoval Lake, its water calm and motionless, the bottom fell out of my world! ¿Donde está el baño?

Ugh. Perhaps I should move this story on before it becomes too bogged down with my tales of the toilet. I'm not at all religious but I did find myself praying that the lodge wouldn't run out of loo paper. Oh dear, I was feeling drained, and I couldn't spend too much time away from my room. As a result I couldn't enjoy the planned nature walks and boat trips as much as I should have.

So anyway, enough of my troubles, here's the video I've cobbled together of some of the lovely sights and sounds of Tambopata. Sadly, due to my dance with the devil, I wasn't able to shoot much or take and any good pictures. It's a memento that only tells half of the story...

April 2005, Lago Sandoval, Tambopata Reserve, Peru
I should have been on the boat that goes past towards the end. My travelling companions were setting off to look for the Giant Otters, leaving me and my turbulent tummy behind. In those three days I think I just managed to eat about 6 tasteless biscuits and a handful of rice. I was a weak as a kitten and dreading the long flight home to London. Amazingly though, as if by magic, my life was saved in the food court of Lima airport. Starving, I could have gone for a little roast Guinea Pig, but no I chose a McDonalds! Just 10 minutes after eating a Cheeseburger and fries I was feeling much better. Thank you God!

Having the trots towards the end of my time in Peru did taint my holiday experience a bit, but it was still a great trip, and besides I managed to lose half a stone which was a bonus. Recommended for nature lovers and weight watchers alike.

Dublin, Springsteen and St Kevin, sláinte

Another fine weekend away. On Saturday I flew over to a sunny but breezy Dublin, escaping the rain back home.


I arrived in the city centre at midday and trolled around the Temple Bar area, looking for a quiet place for a refreshing drink. The pub bouncers were already in place, flexing their chests as the first of the hen and stag party groups were beginning to swarm. I decided to head for somewhere quieter, found a place near my hotel, and sank a Guinness. That's unusual for me - normally a drop of the black stuff makes me go 'Yeeuugh!' and I have to have something else instead. But when in Ireland, I guess... I've got nothing against Guinness in principle; the occasional bottle fortified my old gran through her old age, but I've seen the effect of too much on others and it ain't a pretty sight!

Everything in moderation is the key, like not going to all three of the Springsteen concerts in Dublin that were kicking off the 2008 European stadium tour! By arriving on Saturday I purposely skipped the first two shows on Thursday and Friday, building up my anticipation for the third on Sunday - more than likely the 'Last Dance' the E Street Band will play in the City.

So, what can I say about the show on Sunday night? EPIC.

An amazing set of 26 songs, a joyously lubricated crowd and a staggering performance by Bruce and the band that left everyone physically and emotionally exhausted. I'm beginning to think that the 58 year old guy could, as rumored, actually be super-human.
Setlist (courtesy of Backstreets):
No Surrender/Radio Nowhere/The Ties That Bind/Spirit in the Night/Gypsy Biker/Atlantic City/Reason to Believe/4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)/Growin' Up/Because the Night/She's the One/Livin' in the Future/Mary's Place/The Promised Land/Racing in the Street/The Rising/Last to Die/Long Walk Home/Badlands
Encore: Tenth Avenue Freeze-out/Born to Run/Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)/Dancing in the Dark/American Land/Ramrod/Glory Days

Screen Photo by 'roidrage'

I awoke early on Monday, feeling shattered, my back, arms and legs aching from the night before. Thankfully I was going to spend the day being driven around on a tour of Wicklow. It was another day of good weather. The Wicklow hills looked beautiful in the bright sunshine.


After briefly having to stop off at a Woollen Mill souvenir shop, designed to 'fleece' American tourists, our bus headed to Glendalough ('The valley of two lakes'), the magical setting of a monastic site founded by St Kevin in the 6th century.


Despite the presence of daytrippers, Glendalough is an amazingly peaceful place. I found the mixture of Celtic pagan and Christian religious symbolism around its ancient cathedral and cemetery to be very interesting.

Is it just me, or was there some kind of subversive, subconscious, sexual message being given out by the monks that once lived there?

Dover Soul

"I've got many rivers to cross
But I can't seem to find my way over
Wandering I am lost
As I travel along the white cliffs of Dover"

I'm sure that Jimmy Cliff was singing about being lost emotionally and spiritually rather than being physically lost walking along the Saxon Way north of Dover harbour. Land to the left, English Channel to the right - it's easy!

Taking advantage of the current sunshine, I drove down through Kent to visit Dover, a place where I've only been previously to catch a Ferry to France or Belgium. On Friday, whilst people were relaxing on the town's pebbly beach, I was busy exploring Dover Castle and its 'Secret' war time tunnels. And yesterday I took in some fresh air, walking along the lovely National Trust managed coastline. Beautiful weather, nice views, plenty of invigorating exercise - all good for the body, mind and soul.

Baby it's cold outside

Wednesday night in Rochester, NY. Flying in this afternoon by a little prop plane was fun. Looking down l could see a host of coloured wooden houses standing out against a lovely white blanket of snow. Then the turbulence hit and we wobbled down to land on an icy looking runway. Scary stuff!!!


It's freezing here. I'm sure there are some nice areas nearby, but Downtown is pretty deserted and grim, so I'm getting an early night. My hotel seems to be catering for a convention of teenage Christian do-gooders - they are all smiling all the time, it's very creepy... Thursday, weather permitting, I hope to take a walk along the Genesee River before meeting up with my Italian contact who, fingers crossed, will have a spare Springsteen ticket for me. Hmmm, I'd better cross my toes as well...

[Ooo, I've just noticed that this is my 500th post on this blog! To celebrate this milestone of insignificance I will giveaway a free, brand new, Helen Love CD to the first person who can tell me 1) the total number of Springsteen shows I will have seen (ever) by time I leave Rochester on Friday, and 2) the name of the first album I bought by Bill Nelson]

Springtime In New York (almost)

As I prepare to catch a plane upstate to Rochester I've just got time to type up a few notes on my last few days in the 'Big Apple'...


Let's see, I've been walking about a lot, bought too many DVDs and eaten way too much pulled pork (pigged out?). I spent a long day at the excellent American Museum of Natural History and Rose Center for Earth and Space. Fantastic Dinosaurs and courageous Astronauts sourcing the dreams of boys of all ages. Sitting under the giant dome of the Hayden Planetarium I felt small and insignificant. Robert Redford's voice boomed down from the heavens telling me that 'Cosmic Collisions are a good thing', whether they be at the sub-atomic or galactic scale. Our galaxy (the Milky Way) is apparently heading for a smash up with Andromeda that will last for billions of years! News at eleven.


What else have I been up to? I caught a couple of movies; Michel Gondry's heart-warming and funny 'Be Kind Rewind', and George A. Romero's disappointing 'Diary of the Dead'. Well, bits of DotD were pretty good but it was mostly ho-hum, with some poor cast performances compared with those in George's previous 'Dead' films. The acid-brain Zombie was cool though.


Finally... last night I saw Jonathan Richman performing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. A sold out venue, a good atmosphere and great sound. Tommy Larkins providing accompaniment on the drums. It had been a mild day in the city, around 55-60F, and I'd noticed that, weirdly, there was still the odd pile of snow hanging around from last week... so it was neat when Jojo made the same observation in an extended version of 'Springtime In New York', a song that unsurprisingly went down well with the locals. Jonathan was more relaxed than I've ever seen him before and it looked like he was really enjoying the show. Bizarrely though, after a fun set, he left everyone with a slow, moving song about his mother dying in a care home! Jaws could be heard dropping throughout the hall... When he'd finished the last note Jonathan told us that this tale should'nt be thought of as something sad but rather as a beautiful thing. If only we could all view the world through Jojo's eyes.
More @ jojoblog

Heaven is a place on Earth

Whadd'ya gonna do? I had a fun day yesterday that took in trips to heaven on Earth, and a New Jersey strip joint. Maybe they are the same place?


Let me start with the Garden State, the place where New York City dumps its rubbish, the home of the Statue of Liberty, Francis Albert Sinatra, Broooce and Tony, Carmela, Silvio, Chrissi and Paulie Walnuts! Yes, as you might have guessed, I went on The Sopranos tour!

At the start, on boarding our coach in midtown Manhattan, we were told that we could meet someone from the series just 2 cars back down the street...

Sure enough there was Vito Spatafore (actor Joe Gannascoli) selling autographed photos and t-shirts out of the trunk of his car - it was cool to see him and kind of appropriate that he was flogging dodgy looking gear.

The tour proper lasted 4 hours, driving around industrial north New Jersey, checking out some of the locations featured the series. The guide, who had been an extra/stand-in in 13 episodes, was very good and kept everyone entertained with filming anecdotes and Sopranos trivia. Did you know that over the 6 seasons of the show that 66 people and 6 animals had been whacked?!



After visiting Holsten's, the diner in which the last scene of the last episode was shot, we stopped at the legendary Gentlemen's club the 'Bada Bing' ('Satin Dolls' in real life) to sit at the bar, have a beer and appreciate the skills of a couple of the pole dancers. Sadly, unlike in the series, a State law means that the girls aren't allowed to perform topless in an establishment that sells alcohol! Boo!


So from an afternoon in the swamps of New Jersey to a night of heaven on Earth - XANADU on Broadway! Xanadu, starring Olivia Newton John and an aging Gene Kelly is of course considered to be one of the worst films of all time. ONJ plays a Greek muse who comes down from Mount Olympus to help a young LA dude achieve his ultimate artistic dream by setting up a roller disco and calling it Xanadu! A classy 80's concept. The film quite rightly tanked, but it had a saving grace - a great soundtrack featuring ONJ, ELO and The Tubes.

Xanadu has now been magically reborn as a comedy musical. It plays up the ridiculousness and camp cheesiness of the original fim, adding a couple more ELO songs (Evil Woman and Strange Magic), more glitter balls and legwarmers! The result is great fun, and for a brief few minutes at the end, the audience realises that heaven could really be a roller disco.

'A Chelsea suicide with no apparent motive'

I've been going a little stir crazy recently waiting to hear the result of a job interview, so I decided to take a trip. Doing my bit for global warming, I've flown over to New York and l'm now settled in at the infamous Hotel Chelsea. The hotel has an interesting history, Dylan wrote some songs here, Arthur C Clarke wrote '2001' and William Burroughs completed 'Naked Lunch'. Oh, and Sid murdered Nancy. It's an old, shabby looking place, mostly brown corridors, gloomy and pretty depressing - but it has character! So far l'm glad I'm staying here rather than at a boring 'chain' tourist or 'business' hotel. My room is quite large, there's the odd squeal and hiss from the heating system but that's OK. I just need to get used to the sickly yellow painted walls which could edge me into insanity over the next few days.

So what's my plan for today? Hmm, let's see... Brunch followed by a trip to New Jersey to visit 'Da Bing!'.

“The Bronx is up and the Battery’s down”

I'm back home now after my 'Magic' trip to North East Coast, USA. Time to quickly recap here what I got up to in my last few days in NYC...

Monday: (Columbus Day) After a morning lazing around in the sun in Central Park I popped into the MoMA - A good collection of the usual modern art suspects like Klee, Mondrian, Rothko, Magritte and Warhol, and hey, that Picasso guy could actually paint! Blade Runner in the evening (see previous post).

Tuesday: Tramped around the East Village and Bowery (a once scummy area, but now being redeveloped into trendy and expensive condos - much to the alarm of its residents). Bought a load of DVDs (see below) from the excellent Kim's Video store in St Marks Place.


Wednesday: In the morning I walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and took a stroll around leafy Brooklyn Heights. After lunch I walked back to Manhattan and did a little clothes shopping (love the Pound to Dollar conversion rate!). In the evening I took a bus to the Meadowlands, New Jersey, to see Springsteen and the E Streeters play show #5 of their tour. Another good show, although with a seat at the right rear of the stage I was often distracted by looking out at the audience (video clip)

Thursday: You know, that awful last day when you have to kill time before travelling out to the airport for your night flight home. Well, I recommend a trip out to the Bronx Zoo. As Zoo's go, the Bronx has one of the best, and it includes an excellent Gorilla enclosure - so good I didn't want to leave!


So now, sadly, I'm back home. A pile of clothes to wash, a pile of bills to pay, a pile of CDs to listen to (Bruce Springsteen - Magic, Steve Earle - Washington Square Serenade, John Fogerty - Revival and Todd Rundgren - The Definitive Rock Collection) and a pile of DVDs to watch (Robot Chicken Season 2, From Beyond, Planet Terror, Argento's The Stendahl Syndrome and the 3 film Creature From The Black Lagoon Legacy Box set). Back to my version of reality.

Philadelphia Special

Yesterday in Philly... I made a slow start and took a train to the suburb of Manayunk. It's a nice place for lunch; There's a smart main street lined with restaurants, bars and trinket shops, and a pleasant canal towpath walk for some exercise.

I had to head back into the city by 3 though in order to get my General Admission lottery wristband for the Springsteen show in the evening. I got band number 808 out of 1000, thankfully the draw was favourable and I made it into the pit.

Wow, what a show! My 65th in the last 22 years and this one was up in the premier league. Watching the 2 guitar/sax/violin jam on Thundercrack from just a few yards away was tremendous. Photo by Tim Gray (more).


It's now Sunday morning and I'm still on a high as I prepare for my Greyhound bus leg to NYC.
______
Update: Thanks to 'cricket' on BTX here's a nice pic taken from behind the stage. Hey, I can see myself in the crowd. Look, there I am!

The Streets of

Philadelphia, PA.

Yesterday... After a brief visit to the Natural Sciences museum to view a few dinosaur bones, I decided to see how far I could get from the city center walking out along the Schuylkill River through Fairmount Park. After about two miles I began to wilt in the 85 degrees F (in the shade) heat. Phew, what a scorcher!


I'm sure that if I'd continued further then eventually I would have escaped the sound of the nearby freeway that follows the river from the heart of the city. It was a hot and noisy experience, oh for some shade and the peace and quiet of nature.


In the evening I went to see the new David Cronenberg movie, Eastern Promises. Cronenberg delivers this London based Russian mafia drama with a matter of factness, a detached non-flashy style. The London portrayed in the film is pretty grim and could easily be mistaken for old Soviet Eastern Europe. Initially I found the accents funny to listen to, including that of Naomi Watt's English nurse, but as you are drawn into the seedy gangster world you soon get used to them. Viggo Mortenson is great as the Russian gang's driver/Mr Fixit; Want to dispose of a body? He's your man. Viggo, as intense as ever, sure shows some acting balls in this role! I don't think I'll be visiting a Finsbury Bath House anytime soon! Eastern Promises is a good film but are all Russians really as nuts as this?

Today I'm chilling out in a Java Café off of South Street. Dudes sit here all day, taking advantage of the Café's free web access. They are coding their websites whilst slurping iced coffee. Not a bad way to work. No office rental either.

Tonight it's Magic tour show #2. I'm not expecting any changes from the 1st show but it'll be a blast.
______

Update #1: I forgot to mention that it's Larry Fine's birthday today. This evening, to mark the occasion, I stuffed myself with a delicious 'Three Stooges' burger at the restaurant that now stands on the his site of birth.

Update #2: Concert review

An All American Breakfast

Hartford, Connecticut - 'Insurance Capital of the World'. Here I sit in front of a large feast: 2 eggs SSU, bacon, fried potatoes, toast, a pot of coffee and an OJ. A good way to recover from the night before and to prepare for the day to come.

Last night The E Street Band opened their new tour here. A good solid start and a very enthusiastic crowd. Finally, Bruce has reclaimed 'Reason To Believe' from The Beat Farmers! Review.

It's time now for me to settle my bill and head for the train station. Next stop there's a Cheesesteak with my name on it.

Meerkat Love

Back in march I posted a picture of a friendly Meerkat that I'd met in Namibia. He was quite popular with the ladies, the cute little bugger. Here's another photo of him, in a more relaxed pose...

Best Holiday In The World Ever?

I've got itchy feet right now and I'm thinking about getting away and doing something exciting. Scuba Diving perhaps? I quite fancy trying that, diving in warm water over an exotic coral reef teeming with brightly coloured fish. Recently, looking through some old holiday snaps, I found this picture of an ad I spotted in a Namibian Travel Agent's window...

Scuba Diving in Romania - Just how exciting does that sound?

Up from the deep...

Last Saturday afternoon I went down to Penzance and joined an excellent 2 hour boat trip run by Marine Discovery. Our RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) sped out across the sea following the coast westwards, past Porthcurno to Land's End. I was hoping that I might see a few Seals and Dolphins and, fingers crossed, maybe even a Basking Shark. The trip that ran earlier in the day had seen three of these big-mouthed plankton loving giants. The signs were good for a sighting...

We followed the shiny trails of plankton for as long as time would allow, but unfortunately the Sharks were nowhere to be seen. Maybe they had moved on, heading north with the gulf stream, or perhaps they were watching us pass from down below and having a good old laugh. We didn't see any Dolphins either, but every now and then curious Atlantic Grey Seals would stick their heads up out of the water to check us out.

As Gulls, Gannets and Shags flew and dived around us we did however encounter one amazing sea creature that I was chuffed to see; Here it is, close to the surface and next to the boat, turned on its side like a giant plate...

Off the South West Coast, Cornwall July 21st 2007

The picture isn't very clear I'm afraid and you might think it looks a bit like a Jellyfish, but it isn't. It's actually a Jellyfish eater. A true weird critter of the sea - an Ocean Sunfish.

This was an enjoyable and exciting ride, one I intend to repeat the next time I'm in the area. Just don't tell the Sharks I'm coming.

Way out west

Ok, I've finally finished scoffing my last remaining Saffron buns and Hevva cakes, now I can continue...

Land's End. It was a hot sunny day with calm seas. For 5 miles, round the rugged rocks, the ragged rascal er... walked. Slowly. Stopping halfway for a pint.

Sennen Cove

You're gonna need a bigger boat

Past the 'Irish Lady'

Land's End and the remaining wreckage of the RMS Mülheim.
The Mülheim was heading for Germany where its cargo of scrap plastic car parts was to be recycled...

However, at 4:30AM on March 22nd 2003 the ship hit the rocks.
Hundreds of tonnes of shredded plastic and 100,000 litres of diesel fuel were washed into the sea. Recycle, help save the environment!

The 'Enys Dodman' rock formation (center) with the 'Armed Knight' behind it and the Longships lighthouse in the distance

Anyone see a Basking Shark out there?
Cornwall July 20 2007