90's nostalgia
Twice this year I have witnessed live music moments that made the crowd explode in ecstasy.
1. David Guetta at WMC in Miami playing Smells Like Teen Spirit. It was rainy, it was cold, and everyone danced with a sheer frenzy, myself included. At the time, I thought that it was that David Guetta controlled a crowd like few djs I'd ever seen. But then,
2. Polyphonic Spree at 9:30 Club, playing a fairly straight up cover of Lithium. The hippies had mostly been loving them all along, but this really exploded it to the next level. Myself included.
I've been in the throes of 90s nostalgia since hearing Mother Love Bone on KEXP (Kings of Leon are the new MLB, discuss) since buying the Afghan Whigs greatest hits comp, since hearing Chris Cornell on Howard Stern. But if someone would have told be 6 months ago that something would happen that would make me want to play "Nevermind" again, I'd have denied denied denied.
I'm also making a cd for a friend's 9-year old son, so I'm putting PUSA's Peaches on it. Here come the 90s!
England, Last Day
God, FINALLY, I finish! Maybe I just don't want to let the trip go.....
Upon awakening on Saturday, we had but one goal - get ourselves to Stamford Bridge. We contacted the guy we found on Craigslist, who told us to meet his mate Bill at the Southwark train station in 15 minutes. Between the 3 of us, we were $30 short, so we also needed to find a bank. Despite the fact that there was a known ATM at the London Bridge Train station, and that we could then hop a train and go one stop to the Southwark station, I, obviously out of my mind, was determined we could walk. Of course, we promptly got irretrievably lost, couldn't find an ATM or anyone who could point us in the direction of the train, and finally had to catch a cab, where we luckily found an ATM and got the tickets. That sucked. Then, I needed to go back to the apartment, so Tom and Montie waited at a pub, the Bunch of Grapes, while I ran back to get whatever it was I needed (I can't remember at this point.) When I returned to the pub, it was determined that I needed to try the Wells Banana Bread Beer, which we all tried and was rather delicious. And we ate bacon sandwiches and just generally had a relaxing time. We left there by Noon and the pub had a good crowd, again of people of all ages and types. Really my favorite part of England.
Now, off to Chelsea. Since traffic was nuts, we decided to take the train, but this quickly fell to pieces, as the station where we were to switch was closed. Going to the next stop brought such an incredible crowd that it quickly became obvious we would NEVER catch a train, so we ran out and caught a cab, making it to Stamford Bridge in plenty of time.
And what a beautiful day it was! Even though our seats were towards the back, we could see perfectly. The West Ham fans were nearly as loud as the Chelsea fans, despite being outnumbered about 8-1. Much of my favorite chant, Who Ate All the Pies? to Frank Lampard. Who is not fat, but whatever. The only score came from Geremi on a penalty kick, which I missed because I turned my head to compare Anton Ferdinand and his lazy defensive ways to former OSU Buckeye Terence Dials.
You can really get a better handle on soccer watching it in person - watching how people behave off the ball says a lot. I briefly came around to Arjen Robben for his all-out play that day (though I'm back to hating him) and truly watching Drogba is something to behold
After the match, we were caught up in a swarm of people so we decided to get a bite to eat before heading on. We went to Bodean's again, just cause it was nearby, and we also thought we could stake out the possibility of watching the OSU-Michigan game, which was starting at 8 that night. This was not to be, but the manager of the Bodeans could NOT have been nicer. No surprise there.
So we finally headed back to Soho to see what was up at Bodeans, and to find the Phoenix, which was hosting the How Does it Feel party which had been tipped to me as fun, as well as having Teenage Fanclub's Norman Blake as the guest dj that night. The plan was that we would watch a little football, I would go check out HDIF, text back, and then Tom and Montie would meet me there.
Bodeans was absolutely packed and there was a line outside. Many of the people inside were from the Michigan Business School and they were dorks. Outside were a wide variety of Midwesterners (100% Americans) so we quickly decided to join the college students and went down the street to the deli for a few cans of Carslburg and just watched the game through the window. I am convinced it was way more fun this way (definitely cheaper!) After a quarter or so, I headed off to the Phoenix. Here, I finally got to try Miller's gin (YUM!) and went off to mill about. Unfortunately, I wasn't really feeling the vibe. The party was in the basement of a nice pub. It was filling up fast. The sound was terrible. No one was paying attention to the music and NO ONE was even thinking about dancing. Everyone looked like the usual crowd upstairs at the Ottobar. Both one of the doorpeople and the bartender were vaguely rude. After about 1/2 hour, I decided to just go back to Bodeans, because Tom and Montie were REALLY not going to like it. Upstairs, I ran into Mike and Amber, who were trying to hook up with us - what luck! So I went the few blocks back to Bodeans.
The game was good, but I found myself getting restless. I had noticed some posh Indians earlier and Tom had said they were all going down the street to this bar, funnily called The Amber Bar. So I suggested to Amber we go check it out, and we did. This nightclub was also in the basement and it had the vibe I wanted. The usual diverse group of people, loud music, tons of dancing. A delicious cocktail (or two) called a Toblerone, which was Frangelica, Bailey's Kahlua, cream and honey. We danced we laughed we looked at people, we met the guy above. Then the boys called us and said the game was over, OSU had won, and they were ready to go back to the hood. We couldn't convince them otherwise, so off we went. I'm finally gonna make it to the Rose.
The Rose was also crowded. Unfortunately, my drinking was kinda over, as 2 gin drinks and 2 milky drinks pretty much did me in. Mike told us how he had seen a fox walking down the sidewalk earlier! A Fox! The Rose's bartender told us that was common, and that they tended to be Cheeky fuckers. The Rose had a great jukebox, and the last song I heard before we headed home was the perfect end to our vacation, Jesus and Mary Chains' Just Like Honey.
When can I go back?
My favorite Amsterdam picture
All around the centraal area, there were herring stands with pictures of fancy Dutch lasses preparing to swallow one whole. We took a picture of that, but Montie's head is right where the Dutch girl should be. Perfect!
Amsterdam, day 3.1
In case you were wondering as to how we entertained ourselves doing nothing but walking around, I hope these pictures of Amsterdam architecture help clear that up.
And that is what we did. Tom, Montie and I were up relatively early - since they were showing our house to prospective buyers and we wanted to be up and out before people started traipsing in. Montie had been raving about the Dutch pancakes (a combination of pancakes and crepes) so we went to the pancakery by our house. I had pancakes with a cherry topping (and a macchiato) and they were much better than I might have thought.
So, more wandering. All of us did a little shopping, Tom and Montie for chocolate, me for shoes. (Click on the yellow ankle boots on the third row to see the ones I bought.) Then we found an amazing record store probably the best one of the 3 we visited. (I still haven't played all of the cds I bought, and I'm not sure Tom has either.)
Wander, wander, wander, look, look, look, and then we were hungry again. We saw the Pancake Bakery (more on that in a minute) and ate pancakes again - and the first ones were good but these were amazing. What we also realized was that this place was just blocks from the Anne Frank House, the tour guides had said the crowds are slimmest right before close, and it was ....right before close. So we headed there for our tourist attraction.
The front of the house is very modern, and we didn't have the spirit yet (Tom: Couldn't they hear the Nazis coming up these metal stairs?) but as we kept going, and once you got into the house itself, it was quite chilling. Being in Anne Frank's room, with the news clippings on the wall, and seeing the growth chart that her father measured them with was beyond heartbreaking. All this little girl wanted was to be a famous writer, and I can only hope that she somehow knows what she has meant to the world with her writing.
Whew! So enough of that. We went back to the house, packed up, and back to London. Another one of those delicious train sandwiches, and we went to bed
Amsterdam, Day 2
Happy Birthday, Tom!
Today, we started with a leisurely brunch at Cafe Luxembourg. Very tasty and relaxing, as well as full of Euro-people watching. Then Mike and Amber went one way and Tom, Montie and I another. We didn't really have any agenda, we just wandered around and looked at things. One of the places we wanted to check out was Fat BeatsWe didn't buy anything because we didn't want to deal with packing vinyl, but Montie and I mentioned that we both could have weeded our own collection to sell at Fat Beats for waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than we could get for it in the US and A.
Tom discovered while he was there Black Petewhich he claims has given him a new lease on Christmas. I managed to find a treasure trove of Black Pete wrapping paper, so if you are getting a Christmas present from me, look forward to meeting Black Pete. I've enjoyed learning about Black Pete's history, and the controversy around it.
So, then, shop and walk around we did. We mostly just window shopped, then ate some sweets (and of course a macchiato). We found another record store, where Tom bought Lily Allen and I bought Jimmy Sommerville. Perfect! Then, while I browsed Dutch children's books, Tom and Montie bought us wine and meat and cheese (pictured above) which we then took back to the apartment, listened to music and relaxed and enjoyed.
Tom chose an Argentinian steakhouse for his birthday dinner. Damn, I've eaten a lot of meat on this vacation! After that, Montie, Amber and I took a walk to the red-light district while Mike and Tom went gambling. (Tom won! 300 euros!) There was a LOT to look at, which surprised me that we were actually gone for an hour. The ultimate plan was to go to the American sports bar at (2 a.m.!) for the WVU-Pitt game. I was skeptical about this from the get-go, but once we decided to go back to the house before going to the game, I knew I was done for!As it turned out, the ladies went to bed while the dudes went back for the game. I think WVU won that one!
Amsterdam, Day 1
No pictures today.
Around noontime we needed to head to the airport. This morning, I think we were all getting a little snippy. I think the thought of getting on a plane was weighing on us a bit, as well as being a smidge tired. We just grabbed a sandwich at the train stop, but it was a great sandwich. Can't remember the name of the sandwich shop, but I could eat that cold train station sandwich every day.
Easy Jet was a great way to get around. Oh, and, due to the England-Netherlands friendly, our plane was full of soccer hooligans! I probably could have organized myself better to actually get to that match, but, oh well.
Our apartment in Amsterdam was amazing. We got it through City Mundo which I would recommend for anyone.The house was 3 floors tall- kitchen on the bottom, living room with GIANT windows overlooking the canal and small bedroom and toilet on 2nd, bedroom and bath on 3rd, attic bedroom and toilet on 4th. You could have fit 12 people in there comfortably.
We learned our lesson in London and had a cab driver take us to our house. Since Montie had been several times before, we let him be our leader. After an initial freak out that had us trying to go to every coffee shop as well as trying to catch the soccer match, things calmed down. We ended up going to a tapas restaurant and ordering one of everything on the menu. All was delicious, and most agree that this was their favorite meal of the trip. Lots of wine, lots of little food and just good times. After this, we went out drinking, but the bar was kind of disgusting. It felt like Papa Joe's during my college years at OSU. Kinda dirty and full of drunk frat boys. This must be what people say when they tell us Amsterdam was filthy. Finally, we just headed home.
England Day 4
Today, Mike and Amber were going to see Spamalot, so Tom, Montie and I set out on our own. We had decided to go to the Tate Modern. I wasn't sure if anyone would be up for a museum, but all were - Montie had been before. It was great. The Carsten Holler slides were unbelievable. I think my favorite exhibit was the little boxes.Online can NOT do this justice! It was really clever and is what has most stuck with me too. AND I got my Tate pencils back! (I had one once that was taken away by a gatekeeper at Coachella. I was so sad, I loved that pencil! Now I have 3!!)
It actually started raining while we were in the museum, the first rain we'd seen during our whole trip. It was slight though, and we cabbed it back to Soho where we could do some shopping. We ate a good burger with cheddar and drank a pint and got directions to the Borderline
where we were going later to see Dale Watson. Told it was right around the corner from Foyle's bookshop, we found it, then I went back to Foyle's. Or at least the ground floor of it. What a great bookstore! I could have spent an entire afternoon in there.
I also went to the Topshop, a place I'd heard about not only from a teen novel I read, but from the news - both Michael Jackson and Lindsay Lohan closed it down while we were there. Wow, did I heart the Topshop. It was like a bigger, better H & M. Since Tom and Montie were with me, however, I didn't really get to shop too much - but I did get some cool socks and some Christmas presents. Thank God shoes were so expensive in London, or I'd have been in big trouble.
We tried to go to Gordon's again, but it was waaaaaaaaaay too crowded, so our next stop was Leicester Square, where the Casino Royale premiere was ready to begin. Unfortunately, Daniel Craig came first, and I wasn't quite situated, but I did get a glance. We got to see all the movie's stars come in, including Eva Green, Caterina Murino (what an ass on her!) (Unfortunately, pantylines too.) Judi Dench, Mads Mikkelsen, Michael Caine, ex-Bond girl Michelle Yeoh (beautiful and the prettiest dress too.) and hilariously, Chris Cornell. Yeah, I saw him at Stache's! Rumors abounded that the queen was coming, but we didn't spot her - as it turned out there was another red carpet on the other side of the square for stars who were attending but not in the movie, that featured Paris Hilton, Elton John, and Sting, among others.
We then met up with Mike and Amber. Amber was craving a steak so we went to the closest restaurant, the Aberdeen Steak House, which I sense was the British equivalent of Ponderosa. Exactly.
Now, off to the Borderline to see Dale Watson. Little did I suspect that it would be sold out! Amber mananaged to sweet talk our way in however, to the very crowded basement bar. It was good fun for all, however, and just so amazing to see the huge crowd of folks, of which I was probably on the young end to average by age! You couldn't get that many old folk out on a weeknight in this country if Johnny Cash rose from the dead. Hearts to England.
After leaving, we really wanted to keep drinking a few. Montie had been dying to go to Camden, so we caught a cab up there, but unfortunately, Tuesday night was pretty quiet there, and our drinking options were few and far between. The bar we decided to hit was actually really cool - The Lock Tavern. I wish I had discovered this place earlier - they have amazing djs on the weekends, including Simian Mobile Disco on the previous Sunday, and Fila Brazilia and Zero 7 (!!!) the day we left. What a hidden jewel!
At this bars close, we headed back to SE1.
England Day 3
Monday started with a trip to Tom's motherland, Stamford Bridge, home of the Chelsea Blues. There was always a hope that tickets would be available for the West Ham match but that didn't happen. Later, we realized we should have bought the Arsenal tickets that were available and sold them for a profit, but we didn't think about it at the time.
After spending beaucoup hours and pounds at the Chelsea Megastore, we walked out (HAHA! As if!) trying to find Kings Road. After wandering for the usual forever, we grabbed a bite to eat and then finally found where we were going. After a little window shopping, we went our separate ways - Mike and Amber to go see Borat, Tom, Montie and I to the Rough Trade store. We went to the branch in Soho on a little street called Neal's Yard - the whole street was cool. Tom and I dropped $$$$$ but got some cool stuff we couldn't get in the states. (My favorites, a Hacienda comp and "Warm Leatherette.")Shopping was cool up there (I window shopped at Paul Smith and Ted Baker, two of my favorite designers). Then I needed something sweet so we got coffee and dessert. (I developed a slight macchiato addiction there, but I've shaken it pretty well.) Our next stop was one that had been recommended to us by a coworker, Gordon's Wine Bar. Just check out the website to get the idea, but this was Tom's favorite place. Then we headed home and decided to try and find some Indian food. Close to our house was Tower Tandoori. Tom ordered his food as "hot as you can make it" so the owner's son told him he would make him a special sauce, but he had to eat it all. Suddenly, a giant bowl of sauce appeared, and it was bubbling. In it's own juices. Made from African Chilis, this sauce was hot. I was convinced Tom was going to have a heart attack. Luckily, he gave in at about the 10% point. We loved this place; both staff and food were delightful. Tandoori trout - delicious!!!
We went back to the apartment, then Tom and Montie went to the Rose, where they met Mike and Amber, while I stayed in to get my fill of British TV, particularly I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.
