London/Holland in my words

[Professor]

Sunday, March 5th

Brian arrived today. I spent the day preparing to see him and to get ready for our flights the next morning to London. Carolyn spent the day away from me. I only saw her late that night. We met up with our friend Garrick, from New Orleans, who’s now living in Brooklyn only a few blocks away from me. It was the first time we’d all been together since our friend Chris got married in 99 or so. We also ended up meeting a friend of Brian’s from San Francisco, and we all went out for dinner. Later that night, we settled into my apartment and played with the computer and eventually Carolyn made her first appearance of the day. Distant as usual, she barely paid any attention to me. She eventually went to bed, and Brian and I stayed up late, too eager to sleep. London was in the morning, and we’d been dreaming of going there for many many years. Finally around 2 am, we decided to go to sleep. We talked quite a bit about what I should do about my current situation.

Monday, March 6th

Brian and I woke up at 5:30, our car was to pick us up at 6. Carolyn also got up with us. We sat around and had some coffee and waited for our ride. Carolyn took me back into the kitchen, and made the most emphatic seemingly heartfelt comment in a long time. She looked me in the eye and told me how proud she was of me that I was going on this trip. A nice moment, but stained with the pain of her not wanting to go in the first place.....and the thoughts of what I’d come home to.

We made it to the airport without incident, and found our gates without any problem. In fact, we just walked right up to it because we’d checked in online the night before. The plane ride was really slow, and the closer we got to London, the more excited we became. The usual screeches of giddiness we rampant as we started to see the lights of London as we flew over. Unfortunately, the plane circled the city for nearly 45 minutes and then it took what seemed like eons to get through customs. But we’d made it. We were in London. Brian and I, together. Something I’d just chalked up to never happening. We got some cash and went into the tube.

We took the train into King’s Cross, where we were staying the next two nights. While riding, I phoned Thorsten and told him of our arrival and made plans for later that evening after we got settled in. When we got to the hostel, we found that the other people in our room had all gone to sleep. So, in the dark, we fumbled to get our stuff put away and to make our beds. Really, we just ended up sleeping with somewhat folded up sheets and our backpacks and jackets in the bed with us. To me, noone was to be trusted. That night I felt the worste of the panic that I often get when I travel....”is it going to be like this?”

Before settling in for bed, howver, we decided to call Thorsten and see what the plan might be. He was up for some chillin, so we took a cab over to his house and I met him for the first time. I met him, and a couple of other people there: Kyun, from the Mandlebrot Set, and Simon, a younger friend of Thor’s who was into graphic design (who I found out later in the trip really liked Tomato.) It ended up being another late night, and when we finally got back to the hostel, it was going on 3am. I took some Kava, and that helped the panic a little. I was still pretty worried about Carolyn and the trip in general. I was not feeling good about the hostel we were staying in.

Tuesday, March 7th. (The Show)

Tuesday morning we got up really early (7ish) and headed out. We really didn’t have much direction, we just decided to take care of all the “touristy” stuff that day to get it over with. We walked from King’s Cross down to the water. It took about 45 minutes, but it was a beautiful walk. It was raining and pretty cold, but neither of us seemed to mind. We walked down to the Tate Modern Art Museum (free), the Waterloo bridge, the Millennium bridge, the Tower of London, and London Bridge. Then we walked up to Trafalger Square and saw Big Ben and Parliament and Westminster Abby. We didn't go into any of these buildings, but took many pictures of the outside.

After the “old London downtown” walking tour, we started thinking about music and the obtaining of it. While on our way to HMV, we stopped a what turned out to be a great coffee shop in a store called “Snow and Rock.” On the 4th floor they had a nice little coffee shop with free internet access-- so we checked out emails and made plans for the short trip to Holland the next day. After coffee and a short run-through of HMV, we headed back to the hostel to pick up my gig bag and head off to the sound check for the night’s show.

It took us a while to find The Old Blue Last, but we did it. It was raining pretty hard and we were soaked through when we got there. I was starting to get genuinely concerned for my gear in the bag on my back. Thorsten was already there and some beers were in order. Sound check went ok, with some confusion about plugs, AC converters, and how my vocals were going to work. Much to my disappointment, I wasn’t able to use my Kaoss Pad for the necessary effects on my voice, so the vocal turned out pretty badly (in retrospect). For the rest of the show, though, I played a pretty good set and people seemed to enjoy themselves. It was a little anticlimactic....about 30 people showed up. Enough to put bodies in the room, but not enough to “fill” it. But I did get to play in London. As it turned out, one of the guys who was playing after me was an artist that I was familiar with (playing under a different name). Standec played a really nice set. After they played, I came back on for a few techno songs. I didn’t realize that the night was to end so quickly. Apparently, pubs in London close around midnight. I really wish that I’d had the chance to DJ a little more. I was wonderful to hear both my own songs, and the DJ music really loud. It was a little bumpy, but overall a great night. Thorsten offered to keep my gig bag for safety while we went to Holland. Thank goodness. He’s a really nice fella.

Wednesday, March 8th (Holland)

We had an early flight and were on the tube at 7. I’d never been to Amsterdam, and we were to meet Steve (Stimpee) for the first time. It was amazing. Stimpee showed up at the airport/trainstation in a few minutes after we got there and we were on our way. He led us throughout the town, some coffee shops and food. We took copious amounts of pictures....it did rain all day that day. We went to a modern art museum and really just wandered the city looking at interesting buildings. Eventually, we caught the train to Utrecht, where Steve lives.

[Professor]

Thursday, March 9th (Utrecht) ( my anniversary)

They day started heavy because I had text messaged Carolyn to wish her a happy anniversary, and didn't get a reply. Brian and I headed out really early...earlier than Steve wanted to be awake. We walked all over the old part of Utrecht...one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. There really aren’t words to do it justice. Utrecht is a small city in Holland with canals and mossy brick walls and alleys. There are many many really old churches and cathedrals that just ...sort of loom out of the fog. It is something out of a fairy tale. Brian and I walked around for several hours before Steve met up with us. Once meeting up with Steve, we walked to some different parts of town...tiny streets and tons of bicycles. (I have to say...there’s something about a non-pretentious Dutch girl riding a bike. They were all so beautiful.) He took us to see a windmill, and we ate some cheap stand calzones. Very delicious. There was a really beautiful moment this day... we had been walking for hours, and needed a little rest. So we sat down on a little bench that was on a tiny bridge over a canal. The bench looked down the length of the canal, and the little road was really calm. Every now and then another beautiful Dutch girl would ride by on a bike...

So we sat. And looked. And just absorbed the moment. It was really quiet. Then I noticed a single duck swimming in the canal. The canal was glass smooth, so the duck caused a single ripple from each side to emanate outward to the edges of the water. It was incredible. We just sat there and watched this duck swim up the canal. A moment I hope I never forget.

After some time, we got up and headed back to Steve’s house to get ready for the dirty meet that night with all the Dutchies. We met up in a Hotel in Utrecht that had a bar on the 26th floor. There we met up with KOS, Marlou, Gert, Lloyd, and Leon. All from the dirty.org forums and rtsr trading group. We had a blast (although it was very very smokey--they haven’t yet banned smoking in bars there...somewhat of a disappointment). All the people we met were exactly like I imagined them. I’d been communicating with some of them for years now...and was hoping that they all would be “normal.” And they were. They were really really wonderful. Marlou is a gem. I drank lots of Dutch beer.

The night ended, and Brian, Steve, Michael and Lloyd and I walked back to Steve’s house. Along the way, we stopped at a little “french” fry shop. There I tasted the Dutch specialty, Oorlog. Basically, fries with mayo and peanut sauce. I don’t recommend it to the weak of stomache..however, after the beer, it was a nice treat. And of course, while we were there, Born Slippy came on the TV and we all just reveled in the serendipity of it all. After oorlog, we headed home, and Michael went his separate way.

The next morning we got up early and Steve walked us to the train station with instructions on how to get back to the airport. All went well, and we flew back into London.

Friday, March 10th (dirty UK meet)

We flew into Heathrow without incident. We had several tasks ahead of us...one, to get some coffee and check our emails...two, to go back to the previous hostel where we were staying to collect our things...then onto the new hostel in Camden to check in. We got all this done with no problem. Once checked in, we walked around a bit in Camden and met up with Michael again, who had also flown into London for the dirty meet. We met up in Covent Garden, and walked around to some small record shops and eventually went on a very long treck looking for sliced pizza. We settled on some little Italian pizza shop and had some dinner before the meet. From there we walked over the The Daily, a swanky little bar on Old Oxford Road. We had a little trouble finding the place (note to self, never trust Brian 100% for directions...he’s good at about 80%) I eventually walked up to some cute girl and told her I was lost and could she help. Of course she could. We then found our way. At the dirty meet UK, I met Janie (again), Dave and His girlfriend, Mary, Eikman (finally), Matt, and Michael was there with me and Brian. It was a really good group. We had lots of fun taking pictures....Janie and I had a little moment talking about marriage and heavy stuff. Eventually, the place shut down, and we all went out for dancing. The club was called The End, and was very very packed and “bangin.” I felt a little old there. Most of the people were clearly in their 20s and on some sort of drugs. They all seemed to be getting something out of the music that I wasn’t. I didn’t last long there....maybe a couple of hours... We found everyone except for Eikman, and told them goodbye and headed out. We later found out, that they too had all left without Eikman. He ended up taking a bus back to where he needed to go...I imagine a little stressful. Brian and I ended up taking a cab back to the hostel and crashed shortly thereafter.

Saturday, March 11th (record shopping with Eikman)

Brian and I got up pretty early and headed out to Hamstead Heath...a large park in the north of London. There is a nice big hilltop there known as Parliament Hill. From there we took advantage of the morning sunshine and got some photos. They are the best of the two of us that we took. From there, we took a bus down the street to the Camden Locks. It’s a really nice little market and area. Lots of independent artists and crafty stuff...and tons of good food. There we found the West African booth, where I had some really spicy goat curry. Brian had the veggies. It was really really good. Soon after eating, we met up with Eikman, who on the phone said...”hello, this is the Eikman...where are you” ...in his perfect little German accent. I can see why the girls go all gushy over this guy. We made a few more passes through the market and then off to Berwick Street for record shopping. Overall, the record shopping didn’t turn out as fruitful that day as I’d thought it would. Although, I did score a couple of Beloved singles from Matt at his record stand for a Pound each. Good bargain...particularly, because Brian wanted them so badly and I got to them first.....oh the joy of getting there first in the record shop. If only someone had found the skyscraper single. We spent the better part of the day wandering around the Leicester Sq, Covent Garden area, and eventually Eik headed back and Brian and I killed some time before our New Order meet later in the evening. To do this, we walked through Hyde park and then down to where the Princess Diana “walk” is, and also the Castle. We checked out the guards and looked at their funny hats. It was really cold and we basically wandered around before heading back to the Leicester Sq area to meet up with Brian’s New Order people. That went well...I think he had a little more to talk about with the guys. I didn’t really know them. I knew one of the fellas, Don, from a few years back when he came to Seattle for the Manchester United/Celtic game. He’s a really nice guy. While there, Thorsten met up with us and brought my gig bag back (he’d been keeping it for me while we were in Holland). We made plans to meet up the next day.

Sunday, March 12th (the last day)

Brian and I again got up pretty early and headed back up the street to the market. We had a really funny experience trying to find another market that ended up being the same one we were at already. We walked back to the tube, took it one stop, and then walked right back down from where we’d come from. It was really funny. We actually met up with the African Curry Woman, who then gave us a nice discount on our lunch. I called Thorsten and we decided to meet at the Liverpool station. (really close to the bombings) From there, Thor walked us all through east London, some really nice markets where I bought some music. Thorsten also brought us to the Foundry...one of the most amazing places I’d been in London. It was a pub/art gallery that had a live DJ on a Sunday afternoon. The vibe in there was incredible. People seemed really happy, and the music was right on. Really was inspiring to me...there’s nothing like that in America that I know of. We also went to Smallfish records where I spent copious amounts of money. Smallfish was certainly the best music store that I went to....a little pricey, but I got some really really good stuff there. We then went to the Jack the Ripper pub, and Church....A really creepy area of London (Shorditch sp?)that’s very old. The streets are close together and one can almost imagine the old days with people throwing garbage out the window into the street. While there, we got a curry from an Indian place on a nice street. Also there, he took us by some wonderful graffiti and again, more pictures. Along with us was Simon, Matt (Fisk Industries), Thorsten and me and Brian. We all had a beer at the Pub, and then took a bus to Thorsten’s house for the last moments in London. There we just rested, talked and hung out listening to music before the last train back to the hostel. It was a great way to end our time there.

Monday, March 13th (the flight home)

Well, because of a little scheduling snaffu, I got us to Heathrow Airport about 5 hours too soon. So we spent it in the airport in the coffee shop attempting to get online with my computer. I pretty much ran the battery down trying without success. Finally we were boarding and on our way. 7 hours later...we were in NYC again. And outside....it’s America.

The end.

[COLOR=DarkSlateBlue]i must be getting boring, but please come back soon![/COLOR]

[stimpee]

Theres quite a bit missing from wednesday and a chunk of thursday i blame strong dark ales and other substances!

[Jason Roth]

stimpee is officially a bad influence on american tourists.

edit: trip sounded awesome, btw.

[Eikman]

really nice summary, shane.

[big screen satellite]

yeah great meeting everyone on Friday, and Sat afternoon, great to put faces to names....

when you posting the pics...?

I want to see the Janie's UW Sneaker / My Face combination....

i had some great chats with you all...would have loved to have come out on Sat as well really

we should def do this more often...i'm glad you guys had a great time (the best of your lives !!!!)

come back soon!

so when's the next dirty meet, there's loads of UK dirts...lets do it...

[stimpee]

Shane couldnt remember going to Cafe Flitz at all. He can just about remember a red table. I had to show him photos of the place and a video!

[Professor]

that night was kind of a blur...alot of alot of things.

thankyou stimpee for the gentle reminders and spelling nudges.

leon...i swear that hotel had 26 floors...maybe i was just 5 floors up!

[lloyd]

It was nice meeting you indeed. We were talking over the bitwaves for so long already it was great to meet you 2 now in person.