margot and the nuclear so and so's @ bowery ballroom

somewhat lackluster show: margot and the nuclear so and so's at bowery ballroom. man, i really hate to label one of my fav bands as being lackluster but it was true. i think it was partly due to the energy of the crowd. lots of talking during quite sweet ballads with richard on acoustic guitar. damn you drunken guys in hats dropping beer everywhere. it was a sold out show, but there was plenty of open floor space. jac left before the encore too. sad, sad!

proof there is indie rock karma: new pal lisa didn't have a ticket to the sold out show, but a record person had an extra. so lisa was able to margot in all their semi-great glory.

most missed track: bookworm. i heart this song lots. they played it the last time i saw them, which was pretty awesome. the crew tried to balance tracks from the forthcoming new album "animals" and the oldies. this was an oldie i very sorely missed.

best pick me up after a lackluster concert: daytrotter session with margot. this stripped down session with richard and emily was just what i needed to soothe the not completely satisfying show last night.

return to london

best summer time amble: hampstead heath (aka the heath). i walked buddy (pouch of my former boss) amongst the rolling hills. it had a lovely view of london and visibility of the london eye over the hazy skies. the path to the heath is also pleasant as you walk by cute old house. they just don't make 'em like they used to. walked by george orwell's former abode.

failed attempt at brit celeb sighting: picnic on primrose hill. my coworkers picked the spot and boasted about jude law, sienna miller and the gallagher brothers living in the hood. i soothed the disappointment with marine ices pizza and many pints of london pride and guiness.

hood i wish i had more time in: camden. paul, my fav scouse, took me out to a few of his favorite haunts, lock tavern and the good mixer. we also walked through camden market which was all mostly closed. i would have loved to go back in the day time to see all the hustle and bustle.

must shopping stop: happie likes it. ohmigoodieness, these place is adorable. i found out about it when complimented my brit coworker colleague on her top. this place has a flair of anthropologie with a HUGE japanese cut emphasis. most everything is one size fits all, so bad feelings about things not fitting.

second favorite scotsman: craig mcclean. shar hearts craig. he is second only to a certain james mcavoy, which craig doesn't seem to take offense to. craig and miyon were the absolutely fabulous hosts on my visit to guildford. they patiently waited as i was late an hour arriving to the train station. they took me around town hitting pub (weyman by the water) after pub (great head overlooking the church) after pub (white house with outdoor patio). jenny joined us at white house before we dined at bombay spice. mmmm, indian and the closest thing they have to brick lane in guildford i suppose.

best music venue (guildford): boiler room. they book fairly up and coming bands, some that already are garnering buzz (cage the elephant, glasvegas, satellite state and red light company). was the later two. shar gives props to the boiler room for carrying cafferey's on tap. one of my all time favorite beers that they don't import to the states anymore. :( i haven't had it stateside since 2001 and i made sure to get my fill before i headed back over the atlantic. shar has a beer belly and is NOT fit for any beach attire anytime soon.

stratford upon avon

best place to practice your iambic pentameter: stratford upon avon. tis true. doth thee place of william shakespeare. i found the place where he was born, but didn't go in. it really was idyllic with rolling hills and sheep, cows, rabbits and ducks roaming.

most notable side trip: windsor. before arriving in stratford, my colleague caroline was a peach and picked me up at the airport. we had to endure an hour in the carport before she we arrived in windsor, where i swore i saw the queen. a re land rover with the HRH seal passed by. it's a cute town with cobbled streets and royal swans. i saw where eton (alma mater of the royal prices william and harry) was.

made gawker

proof that shar is the media queen:

Kirsten Dunst

Washington St & Canal St

Jul 17th, 2008 @ 5pm

she was standing on the corner while a videographer was filming her. half a dozen paparazzi across the street. some redhead pixie let her in the building shooing the voyeur away. kirsten seemed unphased.

N 40° 43.30173 W 74° 0.36199

#10 - kirsten dunst

star sighting of the day (#10): kirsten dunst. yup, ms. marie antoinette in the flesh. i was on a walk with my coworker to the west side highway. i noticed a guy videoing some gal on the corner of the street. then, i noticed the dozen paparazzi across the street. she looked really normal with big sunglasses on and color print tank. this is what i submitted to gawker stalker:

@ canal and washington st.
she was standing on the corner while a videographer was filming her. half a dozen paparazzi across the street. some redhead pixie let her in the building shooing the voyeur away. kirsten seemed unphased.

damn yankees

best substitute for the all star game: damn yankees at city center main stage. virginia had mobilized this effort a month back and honestly i was meh about it. i was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed myself. a real musical for musical enthusiasts. oh, the fosse choreography sent me over the top. love, love, LOVE IT! (p.s. someone is psyched for sytycd tonight)

jane krakowski definitely has singing and dancing chops. you can really tell that she's got the broadway experience and feels at home on the stage. on the flip side, sean hayes is a relative newcomer to the broadway stage. he was great as applegate and could see the improv background come into play, as well as his classically trained piano skillz. go see this! it ends july 27.

worst late night excursion: yankees tickets pick-up and distribution around grand & henry. kristen was nice enough to use her yankee's hook-ups (thanks erin!) to get us fabulous seats for friday's game against the a's. the least i could do was pick them up. i was kinda dressy from the show, so i trekked down henry from the F stop. prolly the worst idea ever. good thing i walk with authority and a don't mess with me attitude. spotted some crack smoking too. i ended up walking back the same route to drop off a pair in chinatown and then another 2 pairs to the east village. kinda felt like i was a dealer - a dealer of sports goodness. hope you all enjoy friday because i risked my life for you. not really, but i should have listened to jen and put all those tickets at will call.

boston!

baseball fans must visit: fenway park. i saw the green monster. i had awesome seats in the the field box and almost got hit by a foul ball.

AWESOME! thanks new pal jeff who hooked us up with the tickets. also sang "sweet caroline" in the eighth inning. SO GOOOD! SOOOO GOOOOD!

feat of the day: freedom trail. it's a 2.5 mile red brick route to the historical spots of boston. i saw where the boston tea party started - old south meeting hall, paul revere's house and grave, mother goose's grave, the uss constitution and the final stop at the bunker hill monument. we sealed the freedom trail with 294 steps. that's right - i climbed the bunker hill monument. this is joe and i after the 2.5 mile trek.
we took a bunch of detours from the freedom trail - one being the fleet center.

star sighting of the day: dick vitale on newberry street. matt had the keen eyes. we weren't fully certain it was him UNTIL we saw him on tv with his grandson at the sox game that night.

best canoli hands down: mike's pastry. man, a bunch of bostonians told me about this hot spot for sweets. i was hoping that it was not the magnolia of new york - tourist trap and unsatisfying sweets. these canoli were sooo delicious. the perfect shell and the creme was not too sweet. they also keep fairly well overnight. i had one the next day and the shell was still crisp.

must pub to meet your future indie rock irish boyfriend: the field. there is a field in san diego that i never went to and the field in sf's north beach that closed shop. i miss that pub, so when we were headed for one in cambridge i was game. ladies of the boston area, i was literally surrounded by irishmen whipping out mgmt and we are scientists references. go there and thank me later.

early FLTGC: os gemeos

early FLTGC: os gemeos - too far too close at dietch. i was super excited when i found out os gemeos would be at dietch. i've been admirer since i saw their work at coney island. they create colorful bursts of whimsy. it makes me happy inside and out. in fact, i want to go back and crawl into the "take me home tonight" installation. click here for more about the exhibit or let me know if you wanna go see. i'll go again.

fleet foxes @bowery ballroom

foxiest live fivesome: fleet foxes. swoon! robin and gang are the furriest and foxiest!!! just before they took the stage i commented to my fellow fleet fox band-aids (jac, mel and mike) that i luuurve their harmonies and BAM - first song was "sun giant". i fancy skye who is the only non-vocalist of the band, jac fancies casey on keys and mel is a robin fan though she was first taken by casey. not sure who mike fancied. i think he had a man crush on all of them.

i would say that they are definitely one of those bands that are absolutely effing ahhhhmazing live. robin was still sick (like he was at dc's black cat) and coughing left and right, but still sounded good though his voice sounded like it wouldn't be able to hold up to the end, but it did. there's always something miraculous when a crowd comes to a quiet hush to focus intently on one voice. a voice that transcends the emptiest spaces into our lil indie hearts. they play two shows at union hall tomorrow. they recently added the midnight show, and ticket on sale tomorrow at noon. i'm tempted to go since it's walking distance from my apartment, but too bad i have to get up at the crack of dawn to take a bus to boston. i'll be listening uber closely to hear my foxy melodies lull me to beddy bye.

best unique live music experience: black cab sessions. mike told me about them. i love love love it. some of my favs have played here (ie. bon iver, lykke li, st. vincent, dcfc) here is one robin of fleet foxes. it takes some time to load so please be patient. he looks healthy, no?

UPDATED the king dethroned - all hail rafa!

best partially watched final: gent's wimbledon final - federer versus nadal. man, those rain delays. i was only able to see the first three sets and then i had to work at the studio. it was an epic that went to five sets with rafa taking the grand prize. i saw some highlights of the final set but wish i saw the whole thing. i had to settle for virtual slamtracker on the wimbledon site.

congrats rafa on your back to back slams victories!
missing wimbledon drink of champs: pimms. ack, we didn't realise that we (r, jac and dean) didn't have our favorite brit summertime cocktail of choice while viewing the final. we had dean and he is british. that made up for our lack of traditional old timey drinkin'. sorry r and dean about fed, but you have to hand it to rafa. he was the better of the two yesterday.

star sighting of the match: gavin rossdale. yup, mr. gwen stefani was in the federer family and friends box. wrong team gavin, wrong team. i knew he was a fan and i could swear i recall him playing at the us open on arthur ashe day. i did some research and he was ranked high amongst celeb players. my high school crush still burns for mr. rossdale. tee hee.

williams wimbledon

best wimbledon women's final this century: serena versus venus. it was nice to get up at 9am instead of 6am to see the wimbledon women's final - one of the good things about moving to new york. in the pre-match commentary they were saying how both have matured and hopefully they would finally play the best tennis on the same day. venus TOTALLY showed up. she hadn't for all the other finals and it was nice to FINALLY see the sisters really duke it out. i'm uber glad venus won since i've always preferred her classic long line form to the crazy bully tennis serena plays.

most desired outfit: venus's eleven dress. i really loved the neckline on this dress. i hope i can get it at my local steve and barry's before it might shut down. i really wanna go out and strike a few balls. i miss my wilson prostaff 7.0, the racket endorsed by none other than steffi graf.

margot! sonic youth!

most anticipated album: margot and the nuclear so and so's not animal. golly, golly i am so excited i will burst like the fireworks on the fourth. mokb has compiled a good track list with demos. they also posted these gems, which you can listen to here.




best activity for my first fourth in new york: sonic youth at battery park with jenni. i had my favorite redhead in tow to see the famed band for my very first time. kim, thurston and lee were in fine form. despite the few drops of rain, it was wonderful weather and lovely to park our bums on the grass for this unique treat.

oh man, i always thought thurston was a cutie, but seeing him live just sent me over the top. he even is adorable on the simpson's. sigh! he has the most awesome wifey though. kim forgot the words to "drunken butterfly" and decided to fall into thurston's arms. awwww! he told her to sing the last verse twice since that's all she knew.