BrooklynBlog #1

"New York, just like I pictured it. Skyscrapers an' everythin'." Correct, Stevie.

Although I've spent a lot of time in New York over the years, I've always stayed on Manhattan. Staying in Brooklyn with LouLou would be a real change. My journey was pretty uneventful - flew with Virgin Atlantic, watched some films (Doubt, Quantum Of Solace), some comedy (Curb Your Enthusiasm - laughing loudly at Larry) and a little music (Okkervil River). Grabbed my case sharpish at baggage reclaim and hopped on a subway into Brooklyn. Got to LouLou's at about 9.30pm. So great to see her and to meet Ted, her very cool Siamese cat (sadly, her lovely husband Andy was away snowboarding). Top apartment too - large open space, exposed brick, huge skylights - she said it used to be an artists studio. We chewed the fat for a while, drank tea, ate biscuits. Finally crashed out.

Next day, she had to go to work on a documentary she's editing, so I decided to have an easy day in the local vicinity. Started off with coffee and a bagel (I'm in New York - what else?), then a wander round Park Slope. Glorious sunshine followed me round. Eventually wandered to the Brooklyn Central Library. This building has a great facade, and opened in 1941:

Had a wander around inside - good exhibition about the history and decline of theatres in Brooklyn. The library is situated at the bottom of Prospect Park, a huge green space (585 acres!) in the middle of Brooklyn. Enough pottering - time for a bit of a lie down...and a listen to the new Bill Callahan whilst looking up at a very blue sky:

Heaven is a place called Callahan

After a few hours, I wandered back to LouLou's and sat on her roof terrace. At this point, I caught my first glimpse of Manhattan's skyline. I hadn't even thought about it! When she got back, we went to a bar called Sidecar for food, then ended up in a bar called Lucky 13. It was like a home-from-home. A cross between the Crobar and a tiny Big Red. A couple of Jack and cokes finished the night off nicely.

Good Friday brought a change in the weather. Overcast and windy, so we reckoned we should do 'useful stuff'. So an itinerary was worked out which included:

• Dumpling Man, St Marks Place - little gem and a bargain, we ate a tray of dumplings each to fortify us for the trek ahead
• Café Pick Me Up - coffee and cake...well a girl needs a lot of energy when she's doing this much walking
• Other Music - to check out about Record Store Day and the Bill Calahan performance. As we entered the shop, I saw a bloke with a bad twitch and mentioned it to LouLou, who said (a bit too loudly), "what? he's got a twitch?" and then she had to wait outside, partly from laughing and partly from mortification...
• Dean & Deluca - foodie heaven. Got some herb tins to replace some I've had in the past. LouLou got a cute bowl for her daily yoghurt fix. It had an owl pattern - is it just me or are owls the bird du jour? They are EVERYWHERE.
• Uniqlo - I needed a vest. It was LouLou's first visit, and she ended up buying knitwear. It nearly did for us both. Banging techno on the decks. Very stress-making. I needed a beer after that...which we had in Sweet & Vicious
  
• Supper - we had supper at Supper. Does what it says on the tin. Had to wait a bloody long time for a table, but oh boy, it was worth it. The food was spectacular, and our seat faced directly onto the hobs where the chefs were making the food, separated only by a glass screen. We were mesmerised by the speed and skill with which they created such delicious grub. This is LouLou's fave restaurant and it was a top call on her part.

Stuffed to the gills, it was about 11pm by now, so we hopped in a cab, got back to the apartment, watched a little Letterman, then crashed out. A very Good Friday indeed.

Day 3 brought rain. A lot of it. And it wasn't stopping. So we did sod all. Lazed about, watched a Woody Allen film (I keep tellin ya - I'm in New York!) called Alice, which was pretty funny. By late afternoon, the rain had just about stopped, so we went to LouLou's local supermarket, Eagle Provisions. What a great shop. Biggest selection of beer I have ever seen in my life, I kid you not. We got some goodies and dropped them off back at the apartment. Then we went to Blockbuster. The two ladies who work in there have a reputation. I think they're not so big on customer service as the rest of New York...I was served by Miss Charm Offensive 2009 (I believe the done thing to do here is put 'NOT!' right about now). Lucky that LouLou and I have sunny dispositions, so no harm done. Collected coffee from Haz Bean (nice guy in shop dissed our DVD selection, and went on to tell us he loves Meg Ryan - eh???) and nice wine from Alex's Wine Shop next door (Alex himself helped us make our selection, then embroiled us in a conversation about how he cannot understand why British police are unarmed. At this point, he flashed his gun in its holster...WHAT??? I only want a nice rosé...steady on, Dirty Harry...)

LouLou cooked the most delicious tuna pasta bake. We ate whilst listening to music, when a really nice piece of fingerpicking came on. I thought it was Mississippi John Hurt, but it turned out to be Elizabeth Cotten. I had no idea about her, so we looked her up on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Cotten Turns out that the lady who became Pete Seeger's nanny had hidden talents...great stuff. Another top find from LouLou's tune archive. We watched a dreadful buddy movie (my fault - chosen purely for Paul Rudd) called Role Models. I think it pretty much killed us both off, so we hit the sack.

The dawning of Day 4 brought Easter - and Green & Blacks for LouLou, Godiva for me (whooo! look at us with our fancy choccies). We decided to check out a fleamarket nearby at Front St, a short subway ride away. It was OK, but nothing spectacular. On the spur of the moment, we decided to go to Coney Island. I'd never been, so we got extra layers and set off on the subway. I have to say that I'm glad I went, but there isn't a huge amount to see once you get there. I'm a;ways pretty happy just looking at the sea, and it's a good job, cos that's about it. We had some fast food from Nathan's famous hotdog takeaway:

(they put the calorie count next to the price - very depressing to know how much flab you're necking...), had a wander, then got the subway back. LouLou had mentioned a place called ChipShop to me before. It's basically a nice greasy spoon, owned by an English couple, and it sells proper fish and chips, crumble and custard, PG Tips etc. You'd think that after travelling across the Atlantic, I'd be wanting to eat pretzels all day, but I have to say that a beautifully cooked fish and perfect mushy peas, washed down with PG and followed by rhubarb crumble and custard was pretty much heaven.

Thoroughly stuffed, we had to summon the energy to head over to Manhattan for Crippled Black Phoenix at the Mercury Lounge. We had a quick drink in a bar called Max Fish in the Lower East Side (doubled up laughing at this huge piece of 'art' over the bar - 4ft high):

Honestly - who painted that kitty???

And then we decided to head to the venue. On arrival, it became clear I should have brought ID. The doorman was a sweetheart, though, so he let me in. I went to wait inside while LouLou finished her cigarette. The door-list guy had a face like a smacked arse right from the off. I can normally charm anyone, but this miserable door Nazi got cross because I didn't have the credit card for the e-ticket list. I was so put out by his rudeness, I went back into the cold to wait with LouLou. At this point I remembered that LouLou had two spare tickets to sell. I told the nice doorman outside that his colleague wasn't the friendliest...

When we went inside, it got worse. Door-Nazi was now annoyed that LouLou wanted to try to sell her spare tickets. He actually suggested that he didn't want her hassling people. LouLou explained patiently to him that when we'd bought the Walkmen tickets from this very venue a few days earlier, the box office had said that we couldn't pick them up in advance, which would have avoided this problem. At this point, the first act was going on, so we went into the gig hall. First act not up to much, so we went back out to the bar. I suggested to LouLou that as he was being such an arsehole about her selling them, she'd be better to just give the tickets away. Oh, how I'm laughing now to think it could be that simple...

LouLou saw a guy and his friend planning to buy a ticket. She went over and said 'you can have one of my spare e-tickets for free'. This enraged Door-Nazi. But there seemed to be nothing he could do... A few minutes later, a couple of girls came in and again, LouLou approached to offer the final spare. Door-Nazi jumped off his perch and shoved LouLou away. Yes, that's right, Reader - the nasty little fucker pushed my friend because his angry little mind couldn't cope with her generosity. Or he was pissed off that his Door-Nazi powers had been diminished? Fuck honestly knows. I was completely floored by this. LouLou came back to the bar, visibly shaken and upset. Ordinairily, LouLou is one of the most eloquent, smart, erudite women I know. His behaviour rendered her competely speechless. I've been going to gigs for over 25 years and I honestly don't think I've ever seen anything like it. I could have understood it back in the days of punk and hardcore, but at some middle-class chi-chi arty venue? What a total cock.

We didn't stay. Upon asking for the venue manager, we were told they weren't in the building (hmmm...), but got the name of the bar manager who had witnessed the incident and also the name of Door-Nazi (damning letter winging its way to the Bowery organisation as I write this blog). As we left, I let LouLou go ahead. I hung back and very quietly and calmly told Door-Nazi that his behaviour had totally ruined the evening for both myself and my friend, and as a customer-facing representative of the Bowery organisation, he should be ashamed of himself and his actions. And then I chopped his head off with a huge machete I keep in my handbag (that last bit is a lie).

We got on a subway back to Brooklyn, and went for a nightcap in Lucky 13. The locals had Star Wars on the TV and we chilled out watching that over a JD and coke. Back at the apartment, we still couldn't believe how the evening had panned out. I'm just hoping Door-Nazi gets a huge bollocking at the very least once my letter drops on the Bowery doormat. That, or they can borrow that machete I keep in my handbag (oh...no, keep forgetting the machete-in-handbag is a made up thing).

Big Leggy Brummie

It's been a massive secret but now it's official - Brummie is running the London Marathon (am so exhausted even thinking about this, I can barely get my arse off the sofa). She's been legging it about for the last few months, even through the build-up to her wedding day, but kept it very low-key. As the Brummie is one of the very best people I know, I'm telling you all here and now - you need to give her a couple of quid to egg her on! Here's a link to her page:

http://www.justgiving.co.uk/stephdriver

She's running to raise money for CLICSargent, a charity helping kids with cancer and leukaemia. Go on, ya know ya wanna - every little helps...x

AOP + NYC + BILL

Day after tomorrow, I'm going to NY for 12 whole days - hooo-haaaa! But first, I must negotiate the bedlam that is the Association Of Photographers Awards at Sadlers Wells. My mission (should I choose to accept it without self-destructing) is to go along and stay sober (can't fly 7 hours with banging hangover). Sobriety is not the norm for this event. In a hall packed with egos, bristling with competition ("it got a GOLD??? But it's been done by Eggleston/Cartier-Bresson/McCullin/my six-year-old niece so much better*"... *delete where you like...), booze is mandatory. Me? I'm normally shit-faced by about 11pm. Last year, I rolled into a cab at about 3am. I didn't function properly the next day. Or for several days afterwards. But it's a good night for catching up with old friends, and for spotting emerging talent. Last year, my mate Dylan won a Gold award, and I remember his early struggles to get commissioned. Those days are over and I'm thrilled for him.

 

I'm off to stay with LouLou in NY. Can't wait. There'll be more to tell when I get there and have done some stuff (eat cake, potter about, see bands - Walkmen, Tallest Man On Earth, Crippled Black Phoenix), but one important thing to note is that the 18th is Record Store Day: http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home  

And aside from all the special vinyl releases and exciting events, BILL CALLAHAN WILL BE PLAYING LIVE IN-STORE AT OTHER RECORDS IN MANHATTAN AND I AM NEARLY LAYING AN EASTER EGG AS I HAVE ONLY JUST FOUND THIS OUT AND CAN YOU TELL I AM REALLY BLOODY EXCITED AND HOPING TO SIT ON HIS KNEE AS HE PLAYS OK WELL MAYBE THAT'S A BIT SILLY BUT GOD OH GOD I AM VERY PLEASED. And he has a beard now which is just lovely. Don't go shaving, Bill.

Fool's Gold

Gorgeous day today. Pottered into Crouch End, got a takeaway coffee and a Guardian and sat on the usual bench, soaking up a bit of springtime sunshine, having a nice read and listening to Howlin' Rain. Got to page 5. Read the following:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/01/guardian-twitter-media-technology

I got to "Twitter-only publication", when I started laughing and saying out loud (to no-one in particular) "this has to be a spoof! Surely?" And then it clicked. April Fool's Day. What a knob I am. I think most people think the announcement of Alan Shearer as manager of Newcastle has to be the most long-winded and elaborate April Fool's gag ever. But let's face it - no-one will ever top that spaghetti tree...

(Also, received my new Bose SoundDock today - payment-in-kind from a pal for services rendered of the non-sexual variety. Just plugged it in, tested it with Zep and a bit of 'Back In Black'. Joy of joys, LOUD is back, with a Heavy chaser and a nice folky acoustic parasol with a cherry. My fave cocktail.)

Hard-Ons

Sometimes, you just have to get stuff down while it's fresh in your mind. If you don't, you run the risk of sanitising what you feel and think in the moment, right here, right now.

So...just in from seeing the Hard-Ons play at the Underworld. The last time I saw these fellas play live, I was probably about 19 years old, and they were touring with the Stupids. The Stupids were the darlings du jour of the NME at the time. American hardcore was just starting to get an airing over here, adults were skateboarding, Thrasher magazine, Tony Hawk and Dogtown were adored by a whole UK generation loving the U S of A. The Old Punk was putting on every band who embraced this scene at the Wharf/Topspot, so bands who graced the front cover of the NME could also be seen for a quid in a snooker club (please see the global phenomenon that is Green Day as reference...). Good times...in fact so good, that I had Hard-Ons crashing on my living room floor on that tour (oo-er missus), and I developed a crush (does nothing ever change?) on the guitarist/singer Blackie.

Fast forward 23 years. And they were good. They look marginally older. They can still rock. They are still funny and very Australian. They are NOT fat OR bald (quite something these days). And after the first number, they take their tops off (quite something ANY day in my book). After they played, we made our way over to the merch stall. Ray spotted us first. "Huddersfield!" he cried. And apparently, Blackie had recognised me straight away (be still, my beating heart). Ray said me and Blondie had lost weight - keep talking, Ray...you're saying all the right things... It was pretty bizarre, but a really nice experience. 23 years gone by, and yet we reckoned time had pretty much stood still (provided we avoid bright lights and close scrutiny).

(I also went to Tally Ho! at Finchley Artsdepot last night with Nadine and Smiff. It was a really nice evening - a little lyrically poignant and sad-making towards the end of the evening, but I am so glad we all went together. Another good night by The Local - Denis Jones was the stand-out act. He really does just get better and better, and we all agreed he was our favourite of the night. Good to see Lucy Local too - first time I've seen her this year, and I forget what a witty woman she is. Briefly spotted the musical god-like genius that is DTB, but not to speak to. Wish I'd got there in time to see Babel again too - just missed them cos of bloody traffic. Good evening/good music/good company.)

My Friend Mark

I've known most of my mates for over 20 years. Despite them all being from Yorkshire, all of my closest friends have ended up living within 5 miles of each other in North London. Not sure if this is a bit odd. It certainly wasn't by design, it just seemed to happen over time. Some of us are closer than others, but if a night out gets planned, and word gets out, you could easily get about 20 or more Northerners gathering in some drinking hole, getting on like that proverbial house on fire.

In the past couple of years, I'd become friendlier with Mark and Nadine. Years ago, Mark used to go out with my friend Smiff, and he was always part of the same scene, even after they split up. I always enjoyed catching up with them, although our catching up was a bit sporadic. We'd always laugh our heads off (Mark being a bit of a wit, with a filthy sense of humour, Nadine being no slouch in the filth stakes either). Recently, we went to see the Cave Singers and O'Death together and had a riotous night. We had such a good time, we went to see O'Death again a few weeks later with Frightened Rabbit. In December, he and Nadine had booked a chalet to ATP Nightmare Before Christmas and they had a spare berth. I've already blogged what a brilliant time I had there. I'd never have gone if he hadn't nagged me repeatedly, saying what a missed opportunity it would be, no time for caution and penny-pinching etc. 

Typical Mark. The original Mr Seize The Day. The kind of bloke who followed his dream of working in film (his love of ridiculous and obscure Italian/Japanese horror is well documented) with a passion, realising his ambitions by first wangling a job as an art department assistant on the latest Star Wars films (according to his college mate and colleague, the job consisted of 3 highlighter pens and a lot of cross-referencing on endless reams of scene sheets). Hard work, talent and enthusiasm meant his career took off, graduating to art director on the Harry Potter films, and recently culminating in an Oscar nomination for the art department/art direction on Batman/The Dark Knight.

The week before Screw and the Brummie got married, Mark fell ill. We'd just been e-mailing about going to see Vetiver at Cecil Sharp House. He rang our friend Tim (currently about to become a doctor) to say he didn't feel too good. Tim saw him and said he should go to A&E, as he looked a little jaundiced. That was the Thursday. Mark waited until after the weekend. He went to his GP, who sent him to A&E for tests. By now, Mark was very ill. It turned out his liver was failing. A donor needed to be found quickly.

Mark didn't get a donor. One week later, he passed away. 

His funeral was truly a celebration of his life. It was a humanist affair, held at Golders Green Crematorium. The music was Mark to a tee - Depeche Mode at the start, Ennio Morricone for the commital, and Huey Lewis And The News "The Power Of Love" to leave the ceremony. Three of his friends gave beautiful speeches, and the humanist minister read a piece from an interview by Mark's hero Steve Albini, which pretty much summed up everything Mark was about.

In recent years, I've watched two beloved sisters and my dear Dad fade away through cancer. But to have a loved one taken away so suddenly, and without any real warning, must be the hardest thing to bear for his wife Nadine and their families. Makes you realise how precious your time here is, and how that time should be enjoyed in whatever way makes you truly happy (and I don't mean laughing-your-tits-off stuff, just being at peace in your own head sort-of thing). Happiness and love are surely all that really matter.

Gigantic (A Big, Big Love)

Time seemed to fly after the trip to Robin Hood's Bay. I was busy assisting Sue on castings, so didn't have much time to think about the wedding. Then the Brummie rang me one evening. "I know you didn't want to know anything about the wedding, but I have my final fitting for my dress tomorrow and I'd like to have someone there with me. Would you come?". Although I'd been storing the bridesmaids dresses in my spare room for months, I'd refused to look at them, as I wanted everything to be a surprise on the day. But I could hardly refuse my little mate.

We met at the Oxo Tower the next morning. I'd never heard of the company she mentioned - Candy Anthony. As we entered the showroom, there was the most gorgeous Fifties-style evening gown on a mannequin. The the Brummie popped into the changing room, and came out in just the sweetest little gown ever. Fitted bodice with cute capped sleeves, huge full skirt with massive net petticoat, duchess satin underneath covered in sweet polka dot net. Stylish but fun - just like the Brummie. I filled up (naturally). She looked stunnning. Once the fitting was over, we grabbed a quick bite in Canteen, then she went back to work.

Found a gorgeous Fifties suit myself at Alexandra Palace Antiques Fair. Burnt red chinese satin wiggle dress with bow and a bolero jacket. Topped off with a vintage (second-hand, should I say?) faux mink stole in chocolate brown and peep-toe suede chocolate brown platforms. Perfect winter wedding stuff.

The big day arrived. I got to Heath Hall Farm (my b&b for the night) and met up with Bee. Gorgeous place. Cats, dogs, creatures running wild everywhere:

We got the wellies on, and went off for a walk before getting ready. Lovely surroundings - this bit of Surrey really feels like you're nowhere near London. And then we got togged up in our finest and went to the venue.

Cain Manor is in Churt - a pretty manor house, recently renovated with fine grounds set in lovely open countryside. We entered the main house - large cosy reception area. Guests were already gathering. Such good fun to catch up with old friends, and also the girls we'd just met up with on the hen do. After a short while, we were all ushered into the ceremony room, and sat waiting for the entrance of the bride.

The strains of Vetiver's "I Must Be In A Good Place Now" lilted gently over the heads of everyone, and The Brummie entered the room. I promptly started blubbing like a big baby. She looked so happy, and that frock was a real winner. The ceremony was pretty quick. Giles (best man) pulled off what must surely be one of the finest stunts ever. He got the wedding rings out of his pocket in a paper bag, and proceeded to do the Eric Morecambe trick with Screwy. The Brummie had no idea this was going to happen. Hilarious.

The rest of the day is a bit of a blur. The speeches were great - Giles was very funny, but without a doubt, the sweetest speech was by Josh, Brummie's nephew. He had given her away earlier in the day, and for a 17 year old to give such a nicely worded and smart speech is a credit to him and his family. Total sweetheart. Other highlights of the day included:

• first dance by the bride and groom - Islands In The Stream by Kenny and Dolly - quality
• personalised gifts on each place setting (how thoughtful?)
• sambucca madness
• video diary style chat from all the guests (what was Charlie up to???)
• Kieran McG in patent high heels - one of the freakiest things I've ever seen
• the bride insisting on showing me her knickers - whilst on the dancefloor

All in all, a cracking day, for one of the most wonderful pair of people I know.