Jun 24, 2005

Death...

Death, death, and more death.

I know I complain abouy the weather. If it's rainy, I'm not happy. If it's sunny, I'm not happy. But whatever - if I wasn't complaining, I wouldn't be happy :P

Anyway, this country has no air-conditioning. I repeat, no air-conditioning. And it's 90 degrees and humid today, and trying to concentrate at work is the hardest thing EVER. Just kill me now. Never thought I'd be going to Jersey to beat the heat.

= :\

Jun 21, 2005

London is a giant oven....

Hey everyone -

London seems to be a city of extremes. After the coldest spring in memory, we have had a string of 80-90 degree days for about the past week now. Which would be bearable...except for the fact that London hasn't seemed to have discovered air-conditioning yet (along with water fountains and customer service, but that's another story).

Sure, this would all be ok in New York City, where I could duck into the nearest store and find relief. But over here, it gets this hot so rarely (and yet, I doubt this statement) that they figure air conditioning isn't worth it. So yeah, I spent an hour in the supermarket on Saturday, leisurely strolling down its deliciously air-conditioned aisles. See what I've been reduced to?

But this weekend was actually quite nice, as I managed to (somewhat) escape the heat. On Saturday, I met my friend Rachel in Greenwich, where I spent too much money shopping for vintage clothes and lounged in the park in the shade. While central London doesn't seem to have any breeze at all, Greenwich had plenty. I also rode a ferry to get there, which was pleasant once we sped up enough to actually create some sort of breeze.

Yesterday was T4 on the Beach, possibly the cheesiest concert I've ever been to. It was a weird mish-mosh of good bands (Kaiser Chiefs, Garbage, Doves), and awful acts (Rachel Stevens, a former S Club 7 clone, and Akon, who seemed to think that sampling Alvin and the Chipmunks would be a cool thing to do). And soooo many 13-year-olds. Little teeny-boppers everywhere. I felt old and decrepit. :( But the concert WAS a lot of fun, and it also meant that I got to beat the blazing sun by riding on an air-conditioned train to get there (woohoo!), and a gorgeous sea breeze blowing off the shore. Ahhhh.

Not like today, which is hot. Hot with 5 t's. AND we have the windows open. And the lights off.

Sadness. London, I guess I'm just never going to be happy with your weather...

= :(

Jun 17, 2005

And Brian Dennehey screams a lot!

Last night, Jenny and I wenr to go see Death of a Salesman, which was both one of the best and one of the most depressing shows I've ever seen. The cast was amazing (especially Willy Loman and his wife), and the set was pretty cool (a revolving set of rooms that was alternately a house, an office, and a restaurant). Gotta love the revolving stage.

Taking a night off tonight to relax. And possibly watch "The Muppets Take Manhattan." Yaay muppets.

= :)

Jun 15, 2005

Ewan McGregor Sings and Dances!

Went to go see Guys and Dolls with Heather and Rachel last night (and by sheer coincidence, Joe, Collie, Alana, Alicia, and Laura were sitting several rows behind us) and had a fabulous time. The production was really bright and polished, the performances were entertaining, and the choreography was amazing. So what if Ewan isn't the best singer/dancer on the planet? At the very least, he's better than Brando. And that's nothing to scoff at.

Tonight: Death of a Salesman with Jenny.
Possibility later in the week: Hedwig and the Angry Inch and/or The Postman Always Rings Twice (with the Iceman himself, Val Kilmer!)
It's theater extravaganza number 2!

= :)

Goodfellas

I saw this movie for the first time last night, and now I understand every single Pesci and DeNiro reference on SNL. I feel so enlightened.

Also, I had Pimms and lemonade and raspberry mojitos this weekend. Mmmm cocktails...

= :)

Jun 9, 2005

Karaoke Addict

Karaoke last night (this is becoming a regular thing). I sang "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany. I think I'm seriously addicted to karaoke...

= :)

Jun 8, 2005

Title!

Ah, there it is.

= :)

Title Change?

Well, THEORETICALLY, I was changing the title.

= :\

Change of Title

In honor of the newly nice weather, I'm going to be (temporarily) changing the title of the blog to Denis' inventive "Pimms and Poms". Temporarily. I'm sure the rain will be back soon. But for now, it actually feels like summer. And I love Pimms. Mmmmm Pimms.

Also, went to the Phantom Planet concert last night, which was absolutely awesome. I went with my friend Rachel (from CA), and we saw it in this really small venue (Mean Fiddler) that kinda smelled like the Garage (that weird mix of pizza and incense from the hippie shops - except not so much pizza). We got a spot around the balcony, which was great, since I could actually SEE the band for once. The two opening acts were pretty lame, although the first one (forgot their name) were more interesting in their high-school-band-fronted-by-a-mix-of-Gerry-Tobin-and-a-cracked-out-Michael-J-Fox quirkiness than Farrah's (the second band's) polished mediocrity. Awesome.

Anyway, as usual, opening acts suck, but PP did not disappoint. They played a good mix of old and new songs (they played She's Always on My Mind, The Guest, and Anthem!!), and really got the crowd involved like no other band since I went to go see Cake in college. Of course the crowd went nuts when they sang "California" (which I'm reaaallly getting sick of), but they performed it really well, so it was less painful than usual. :) AND the lead singer jumped into the crowd not once, not twice, but three times...ridiculous. All in all, I have to say that PP are quite the rock stars - and I had no idea. But great concert, all in all.

Ok, time to do actual work.

= :)

Jun 7, 2005

Photos and the Cuban Festival

Hi!

Just checking in to post some pictures from the past week or so - karaoke, roller disco, and the Cuban Festival, which, while small, was pretty fun. Not much else is going on...tonight I'm going to see Phantom Planet in concert, so that should be fun. It's getting harder and harder to concentrate at work, now that it's actually sunny (!) and warm (!) outside. It almost feels like summer...gasp! Will update again once something interesting happens...

Photos here: http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeANmLJoxctHD2Q

= :)