[kj] Back in NYC/Custom Troubles/Big Thanks/PICTURES!

[fatpotanga]

Wow - great pix Alex.

And as for the after show party I am officially jealous.

F-J

PS-  didn't realise Nicola W was no longer here.
Shame. Too many good people have left.


On 28/2/05 1:32 am, "Alexander Smith" wrote:

> 
> Good lord am I fucking tired. Yeah, this is another long one, but gimme
> a break. And there are links to pics at the bottom.
> 
> Alex Back in NYC reporting once again for Active Duty.
> 
> Got in this morning (after traipsing around London all day Saturday
> with List-Meister Misera). My flight was chock-full of THREE British
> high school classes combined on their way to a big communal visit to
> NYC. It was like flying over the Atlantic in a massive fucking school
> bus. Mr.inNYC was NOT at all pleased. They were fine, though, for the
> most part. On the way off the plane, who should be greeting me as I
> cross the threshold but Mr.RICHARD BRANSON, VIRGIN CEO himself!
> Actually shook the man's hand. Stranger than fiction.
> 
> ....and then things got shitty again.
> 
> I was pulled over -- quite unexpectedly and frustratingly inexplicably
> -- by U.S. CUSTOMS. That's right, MY OWN FUCKING COUNTRY decided that
> it needed to have a little chatty-chat with me. Going through the
> motions at the custom's gate, the decidedly unsmiling man behind the
> desk drew a BIG YELLOW LINE down my declaration card and told me to
> "see the gate clerk." Not clued in that something was up, said clerk
> said "go see Number 15!". Okay. I walk over to Number Fifteen (despite
> the good-natured entreaties of clearly bored Number Sixteen, a jovial
> black gent). Oh no, I went with equally unsmiling Number Fifteen, a
> true jarhead with a buzzcut and a bad attitude. At this point, I
> *STILL* haven't realized that something is up. "Have you ever been in
> trouble with Customs before, sir?" he barks. "Umm.....what do you mean
> before? Am I in trouble with Customs NOW?" "Just answer the question,
> sir!" Fuck. "No sir." "Have you ever lived in Seattle?" "Ummmm....no,
> I'm a native New Yorker and always have been --- and have lots of
> documentation to support it". "What do you do for a living, sir?"
> "Ummm...I'm a journalist, I supp..." "LET ME SEE YOUR PASSPORT NUMBER
> IMMEDIATELY!" By this point, I'm getting alarmed. "Ummm....is something
> wrong?" I'm panicking now, as I didn't declare the six little jars of
> fancy mustard I bought at Fortnum & Mason for my mother-in-law. But,
> somewhat surprisingly, they don't look in my bag. Lots of frowning,
> typing, brow-furrowing and suspicious staring. Finally, some stamping
> of my passport and I'm given a "comment card". "Am I in trouble,
> officer?" I ask...sounding worryingly like Shaggy in 'Scooby-Do'. "I'm
> not allowed to tell you, sir, but if you contact the address in the
> document I just handed you, perhaps they can elaborate. With a last
> name as common as yours......" he trailed off. And waved me off. And
> off I went, shaken and paranoid. I still haven't the faintest clue why
> the pulled me aside, but I have the sneaking suspicion that it might've
> had *EVERYTHING* to do with the "MALICIOUS DAMAGE OPERATIVE" badge I
> was sporting on my jacket lapel. I'll get you for this, Coles.
> 
> 
> Alright, enough about that. Here's the meaty part. I'd just like to
> truly thank *EACH AND EVERY GATHERER AND GATHERER-ASSOCIATE* I was
> fortunate enough to come into contact with in the past three days. I'm
> worried about citing names, as I'm deathly afraid of leaving anybody
> out, but I feel I'd be truly, truly remiss if I didn't specifically
> thank.....
> 
> 
> ** Rob Moss ** -- Rob was a gent enough to pick me up at Heathrow and
> shepherd me around the town for both gigs, more or less making sure I
> didn't get into any serious trouble. He may be a big looking gent and
> have a serious problem with displaying his below-the-belt equipment,
> but he's truly a stand-up, lovable guy. I hope you are feeling better
> after splitting early on Friday, Rob, and I hope you made it home
> safely back to Oxford (home of Ride, don'tcha know!)  Heh heh. Sorry.
> Enjoy the Ramones shirt, you big girly blouse.
> 
> ** Mike Coles & His Lovely Family ** -- Another big round of cheers to
> Mike and his wonderful (and patient) wife, Lyrico and their
> incomparably beautiful children (luckily for Mike, like my own
> daughter, they take after the Mother). Not only did the Coles's add a
> dash of clout, but their honed-from-parenting good natures compelled
> them to look after me when I decided to happily part with all semblance
> of coherent reason (via many pints of Grolsch) and beer-handling
> coordination. Mike was also nice enough to invite Andy Misera and
> myself out to the fabled Malicious Towers in Kilburn on Saturday,
> treating us to a rare glimpse inside the proverbial MD vault. And I now
> know why it's called "the Skylight Zone". He also treated Andy & myself
> to several selections from the forthcoming CLOCK MACHINE compilation,
> and lemme just say, biases aside, THIS DISC ROCKS! There is some
> *TRULY* inspired music thereupon, and if some of those tracks aren't
> ripe for becoming genuine, radio-friendly hits, than I've got dog semen
> in my ears.
> 
> ** Andy Misera ** -- Our beloved List-Meister was good enough to guide
> me around London on Saturday, visiting not only the Coles' place, but
> several shopping locales and more coffee bars, comic shops, posh
> boutiques, chip shops and pubs than you can shake a a pointy stick at.
> 
> ** Graham/Woody2Shooz**  -- The ageless Graham was a gent enough to
> supply with tickets for both nights and refused to accept any semblance
> of payment (did I ever get you anything CLOSE to your weight in lager?)
> 
> ** Stephane the Frenchman** --  Quite unsolicitedly bestowed on me some
> richly undeserved goodies like a signed (by all four) poster of the
> gigs. We may like shouting "BASTARD" at you, Frenchman, but you're a
> hecka-swell gent.
> 
> ** Bob Barathy ** -- For being a smashing gent for looking after the
> poster alluded to just above (which he will hopefully send to me at
> some point and not use it to wrap rancid fish with, though I'm sure
> Mike Coles could live with that).
> 
> ** Nichola Wood & Wilfull Dave** -- Neither of whom are on the list,
> but who very nicely rescued me from wandering off into the desolate,
> pitch black of the Shepherd Bush night, bundling me into cab where I
> was forced to discuss the merits of Las Vegas with an
> overly-enthusiastic cab driver.
> 
> ** Jel ** -- For serving as both a massively good dude, a big fuckoff
> giant who probably scared off loads of Yankaphobes who'd have gladly
> pounded my head in, and as an excellent step-ladder to up above the
> fray of the "knitting circle".
> 
> Beyond that, what can I say? I met so many nice folks like Rob, Dave (I
> met about eight Daves, so let that one citation serve them all),
> Idolatry, Marnyk from Brussels, Brian, Jel's big pal Cliff, Jon
> Chapman, Mark Saxton (who was always in the men's room....worryingly),
> Mel, THE INFAMOUS PETER WEST (who's actually an unfailingly nice,
> smiley guy), Rob Martin, iPat, Horbag, Lisa Gannon, Leigh & his friend
> Jane, Marc Phillips and Sarah (who I never found again after the
> Goldhawk), Christophe (again), Dirk (again), Antoni (again), the
> hilarious Neil Perry, Tom the Canadian (not on the list?), PAUL (DUB)
> from Dublin, Jamie, Mick Head, MIK RAVEN (again), Jane & Ian, Juliet
> Pleming,...
> 
> ...I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, so HUGE APOLOGIES if so. In case
> you didn't notice, I was a bit on the inebriated side quite a lot of
> the time.
> 
> Anyway, herewith the pics. Do enjoy:
> 
> THURSDAY:
> http://homepage.mac.com/alexinnyc/2005/PhotoAlbum119.html
> 
> FRIDAY:
> http://homepage.mac.com/alexinnyc/2005/PhotoAlbum120.html
> 
> Cheers again,
> 
> Alex in NYC....happy to be home.
> 
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