| Anyone out there?? |
[May. 15th, 2009|04:39 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | London | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  curious | ] |
Anyone still using this? I would love to reconnect!!
Alex : ) |
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| Alex's Summer Holiday, 2005 |
[May. 19th, 2005|03:19 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Hotel California - The Eagles | ] |
It will be in mid-September, so I don't know if you can call it a summer holiday exactly...
If you are neither American or Canadian (see: me), you can get an off-season national 15 day Amtrak ticket for less than $300 dollars.
I plan to buy this ticket (as soon as I've finished paying off the school here for my tuition)
So, with journal, ipod, guitar, camera and a few changes of underwear along with me, the route I've got planned in my head goes like this...
Manhattan - Chicago, where I'll spend a day, catch the next morning train all the way to Missourri, where I can catch up with an old friend, then it's all the way through Kansas and then through the desert to LA where I can spend a day with my family. Then it's up to San Fransisco, where I'll see my ex for a day, before heading back, this time through the Rockies back to Chicago, and then on to NY. I plan to make a few random stops in random places along the way too.
I wish I had more time, but I'll be sure to do the trip again if it's as amazing as I hope...
Any thought/comments or suggestions as to places I should see in this big-ass country? |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 2nd, 2004|06:15 pm] |
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Wow - so it's been ages
I don't have the internet in my apartment, but I get to use it for little bits at school, but that's usually to do work, or email people back in england.
I hope you are all well...
Suffice to say my life here is rich and wonderful - but I have no money....
Life is sweet other than that though.... |
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| A.D. 5 days |
[Oct. 19th, 2004|12:05 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  peaceful | ] |
Guess who lives in New York?
Me baby, me.
Life is sweet.
My roomies are great.
My apartment is great.
I've had more to drink in the last 5 days than in the last few months combined I think (in no small part due to the fact that I have an Irish room-mate.) I even got free drinks in this (hardcore) Irish pub near our school because the irish barkeep felt sorry for me because I was english.
I had a great night in Brooklyn t'other night which ended with me and Jamie strolling home as the sun was rising - Manhattan is breath-taking.
Met Super-Bacca! Though it was brief and I was pretty out of it (just got there).
I don't have a cell phone yet, but I have most other things sorted.
Oh, by the way - after months of bs sorting my visa out (including my 7 hour wait at the US embassy) I get to Dublin and am just at the US border control and I'm showing the official my passport with my photo and US Visa in it and he says.
"Where's your I-20 form"
Alex: Excuse me? My Visa's in my passport
Official: Yes, but you need the I-20 form with the passport to enter the US
ALex: THey never told me that
Official: Yes they did and you can't travel without it. Where is it?
ALex: It might be in my case, but I might not have taken it at all - I can't remember
What followed was me looking through my case on the tarmac (they dug it out of the hold) and getting my frickin' I-20 form.
Fortunately there was another connecting flight running late - so I wasn't holding everyone up, but still...
My new life has started and started well
Oh, I walked over to W72nd Street to this blading store I heard about - got a cool new leather wrist strap (Tali knows I've been looking or one for ages) and some new wrist supports. I then bladed all the way back to E60th and 1st (where I live) through the park. It was a beautiful day.
as I said. Life is sweet
I start class in a few days (registration is tomorrow) - and I saw a poster for my school on the side of a bus. which was nice.
Anyway - as my good friend Samir (iamwhatiamnot) says:
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. |
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| 3 days... |
[Oct. 11th, 2004|07:35 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  giddy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | 2+2=5. Radiohead | ] |
Since the traumatic experience of Friday morning, my weekend was very interesting.
I sailed the high seas of London's canals for Alex's (not me) birthday. I opened Lockes. Ever done that?
The weather was nice, and you get to see a whole different side of London. We went through regent's park and down to Maida Vale - very pretty.
We started off at Camden Locke - which is, of course where Samir and I saw a few gigs back in 'day (ESP/Nerina) Brought back memories of being offered drugs by scary people and Samir trading obsure and impressive rock references with the Electric Soft Parade while I sit and try not to look like a lemon.
Saturday night - couldn't sleep due to some wierd breathing issue I was having. Took my mind off it by watching my Shaun of the Dead dvd and every extra feature (of which there are far too many) - one of which was a video diary of Joe Cornish (of Adam & Joe) coming in to be shot as a Zombie extra, and then going home in his zombie make-up to scare his parents.
Sunday - my entire family (almost) came round to wish me well and bon voyage. Seeing as I haven't seen most of them in more time than I'll be gone, I thought it was funny. It was especially good to see my little cousin Benji - he is adorable!
Saw Sophie D last night for first (and last) time in ages, then slept at Hollies. We still haven't talked about what happend when i go...
I am currently at work. My LAST day at work I should add. Man that feels great. my LAST frickin' day at a regular 9-5 office day job, hopefully for the rest of my natural life.
I have to pack. and buy a hard guitar case. and get some new wrist/hand guards for my 'blades. and finish switching bedrooms with my sis. and find Jimmy Hoffer. |
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| It's fun to be contraversial |
[Oct. 7th, 2004|09:46 am] |
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The Montreal Screw Job was the most elaborate work in the history of sports entertainment. |
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| 18 days. |
[Sep. 27th, 2004|03:30 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | jubilant | ] |
On the outside I'm blase.
On the outside I'm les affaires.
On the outside I'm calm.
My exterior is cooler than Arthur Fonzerelli.
On the inside I'm bouncing off the walls.
On the inside I'm going nuts.
On the inside I'm laughing insanely to myself.
My interior is going crazier than crazy hour on a crazy farm.
18 days my friends.... |
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| 21 days |
[Sep. 23rd, 2004|01:41 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  anxious | ] |
21 days to go.
that's 3 weeks
oh dear God...
So anyway - this week has been hectic as usual. Went up to Northampton on Sunday....went to a graveyard to see my great-granparents' graves. While I was in the graveyard, I began forumlating my plan to help resolve the Palastinian/Israel crisis - I'll go into it properly another time, but to give you some context, I saw the Motorcycle Diaries (the Che Guevara movie) and iti made me about 10 times more political than I already am, The movie wasn't even that political - it was mostly just beautiful landscape shots of South America. You HAVE to see it. Beautiful.
The thing that made me feel sad was when I told my grandfather that I saw the movie and that it was about Che Guevara. My grandma asked who that was, and my grandfather said he was a "terrorist".
Anyway - do you have any idea how little time 21 days is???? in exactly 3 weeks, I'll be circling JFK. Oh yes.
"so school is in session
get your chin off your desk
now pick up your pencil
and turn over your test
use your education
and take an educated guess
about me"
Ani Difranco - Educated Guess. |
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| "Ego Massage" |
[Sep. 15th, 2004|06:18 pm] |
Anyone and EVERYONE who reads this will reply with one thing that they personally like about me. It can be anything. A personality trait. A physical habit. The way the sun shines on my left nostril. Anything. Reply to this with one thing that you personally like about me. Then, go into your own Live Journal and post these instructions and see what is posted about you.
Cheesy? Yes. Contrived? Of course. Very similar to things that we did in elementary school? Absolutely. But you know what? This is almost guaranteed to make you smile. And good vibes are hard to come by. So come on. It's not difficult. You're all my friends, so that means that there must be something about me that you like. I promise that I'll return the favor. |
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| 27 DAYS!.... |
[Sep. 15th, 2004|05:43 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | getting nervous/excited | ] |
so much has happened
another coincidence beyond belief happened. Turns out Tzaddi (a girl who's going to AADA with me) met Avi (a producer who lives in NY who's dad I work for in London) a few years ago. Not exciting - but wierd.
Still got shitloads to sort out -
pay my first 3 months rent up front
pack
switch bedrooms with my sis (she wants the bigger one becasue I 'm moving out and she's moving back in)
ship my keyboard over
change my money into dollars while the rate is good
health insurance
buy a hard case for my guitar so's I can take it on la plane....
AHHHHHHHH!!! |
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| 33 days to go... |
[Sep. 10th, 2004|05:51 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  bouncy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | You had time - ani Difranco | ] |
That's all i have to say really...
except - I you all have a wonderful weekend. |
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| 37 days... |
[Sep. 7th, 2004|03:58 pm] |
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Click here to view my apartment in Manhattan:
www.417east60.com
That's right, I have an apartment in Manhattan.
It's a little small, but tres funky and I have 2 very cool roomies who are both at my drama school.
It's so close now - it's kind of wierd - I mean I have my visa, a place to study, a place to live, plane tickets etc. But it feels so distant and abstract.
I may have said this before, but when i sit down on my bed and plonk my bags down, I'll take a deep breath and let it all sink in.
I've worked too hard for too long for it all to fall away now.
Hope y'all are well.
Also - I know there are some LJ people who read this who live in NY - I'll be living on 60th and 1st - and i hardly know anyone - so if you feel like grabbing a beer with a new English resident of Manhattan in just over 5 weeks, lemme know... |
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| 45 days to go... |
[Aug. 31st, 2004|02:07 pm] |
Holly
been spending lots of time with Holly,
lots and lots of time.
Showed her the Big Lebowski.
Been Roller-blading with her,
played aerobe in the park
slept over (in Peckham) and she's stayed at mine
all is goood
Moving to NY in 6.4 FRICKIN WEEKS!!!1 |
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| 59 days to go... |
[Aug. 17th, 2004|12:21 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  creative | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Baby Please Don't Go | ] |
Ok, the browser at work doesn't "support" rich text. Like it's a political party or something
Here's a preview of some of the cool photos on offer in this update...
That's Nellie - dancing at Julie Anne's birthday party on Saturday night -
( More photos I've taken in the last few months )
I'll put some more up soon....
Hope you're all well. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 10th, 2004|05:11 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | contemplative | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Gravel (acoustic) | ] |
I don't think there is a living artist on the planet who has the emotional honesty and intelligence that Ani has.
She is an artist in the pure sense of the word.
People who don't like Ani's music because they think it's difficult are wierd are the same people that don't like David Lynch's movies because they're difficult or wierd, (which in the same way are totally unself-concious pieces of art)
I am new to this community. I live in London, and Ani doesn't make it over here much, so I've never seen her live, but I'm moving to NY in the fall for a few years so hopefully I'll catch her when she swings by the Big Apple.
I must thank Tali Catz - my beautiful friend from when I lived in LA who introduced me to Ani's music (I got her to sing Out of Habit over and over while she played guitar) and for taking me on that Lesbian civil rights march in Santa Cruz and helping me be comfortable with myself.
I just learned Firedoor which I am thrilled about (I've only been playing guitar for a few months).
Take care |
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| New Guitar (67 days left) |
[Aug. 7th, 2004|02:20 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  lethargic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Follow Through - Gavin DeGraw | ] |
http://www.crafterguitars.com/main.html
In the "15" series - you'll see the SE15/N
I just bought that on Saturday. One of my mother's lawyer friends gave me £100 of Harrdos vouchers as a belated birthdya present. The guitar was still £259 on top of that - but I got them to throw in a free case. Bonus. Of course, I managed to break one of the strings last night, but fortunately "Firedoor" by Ani Difranco doesn't require that string (the way I play it), so I was still happily playing away until..
I decided to call Mandi, who was on her way from Chicago to Milwaukee in a rental car. I pulled my map out and told her which towns to look out for so she knew she was going in the right direction. It was really good talking to her.
I have this meeting tonight with that Sony A & R guy which should be interesting. Best case scenario: He loves the song and offers me a shitload of money for it. Worst case scenario: He hates it and shoots me.
I went 'blading for about 4 hours yesterday. I was learning forward to backward transitions. tough.
NEWS FLASH: ALEX HAS A DATE TONIGHT.
I know. Hold the phone.
I think it's a date anyway. After my meeting with this Sony guy, I'm meeting Holly for dinner at The Big Easy, this seafood place on the Kings Road. Cheap lobster etc. Anyhoo, should be interesting. Hopefully I won't need to play a quick game of chess with the salt and pepper shakers. haha
Talking of John Mayer - when I was in Harrods waiting for the guitar 'expert' to finish his lunch break, I was playing on one of the many impressive pianos in the department. I was playing Neon (I think it sounds supercool on the piano) and this American girl came over and was all " oh my God that's so cool" We had a nice chat. Turns out she teaches bible studies in Rome. Go figure.
10 days till my appointment at the US embassy. I think I'll keep from them that I'm a democrat. Of course - they have probably already started reading this - d'oh. |
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| my legs ache like a bitch |
[Jul. 30th, 2004|07:38 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sore | ] |
| [ | music |
| | xo - elliot smith | ] |
Friday night - I was in this tiny studio with 4 people and it was very hot. However, in between Julie Anne clashing pretty badly with one of the producers and me never having done this kind of music before, we put down a pretty cool dance track. They were impressed with my proposed chord progressions / bass lines and will have more work for me I hope.
The cool thing about it it that they can realease these tracks in clubs in Ibiza wihtin a few weeks because they're so madly hooked up.
Anyhoo, afterwards went to the mucho exclusivo Soho House which was very cool. Sat on the the roof and drank a few mai tais.
Saturday I was writing with Leoni Cassanova - Joseph (Shakespeare in Love) Feines' girlfriend. We have put down most of a kick-ass blues track (norah joneseyish/eva Cassidy).
Sunday I saw my uncle who's just had angioplasty surgery, he seemes amazingly fine which was good.
I then spent 5 hours skating in Hyde Park (hence the title)- I'm actually getting good. I met some kick ass skaters who were suprisingly nice to the new boy. I started to learn how to skate backwards which is, at the moment anyway, insanely hard. I'll get it though - I'm determined.
tonight I'm supposed to be seeing Portia. She's sort of moved in with her new boyfriend. I should feel happy for her, right? I shall discover exactly what I feel when i see her tonight.
I have a gig on Thursday night that is being webcast. It's shown at www.thebedford.co.uk from 9pm GMT. That's 4pm EST and 1pm Pacific. You do the math... |
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| Batman Begins!!!!!! |
[Jul. 29th, 2004|10:54 pm] |
www.batmanbegins.com
watch the first teaser.
Christian Bale sounds gruff enough
the pics are great - I was wondering about Gary Oldman being Gordon - but he certainly looks the part.
Alfred - Michael Caine - looks good in the trailer too
Je suis tres excited!!!!
A Batman film that isn't shit!!!!! woohoo!!! |
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| 90 days to go... |
[Jul. 16th, 2004|04:49 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  blah | ] |
| [ | music |
| | deep dish - ani difranco | ] |
90 days is exactly how long I spent in LA last time I was there.
how is everyone today.
I am having a roller blading lesson with my sister in Hyde Park on Sunday.
should be cool
Work is dragging on today, but I've been having political chats with Grrlskout which has been interesting.
I'm supposed to be meeting this girl for drinks later. I met her at Julie Anne's party last Saturday. She's in advertising in Soho. She seems nice - I guess we'll find out.
Of course - Sarah is now single. I am, however, totally over her. and she's going to Thailand for 3 weeks next week anyway.
I'm tired of being alone,
So hurry up and get here.
I suspect tho, that being an Englishman in New York, my prospects of meeting a nice young lady may be increased. Aside from anything else, I should have a lot more free time.
Right now, most of my social engagements have an element of work to them (music biz eugh)
later |
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| YES!! |
[Jul. 16th, 2004|10:51 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | happy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Two little girls - Ani Difranco | ] |
You're Special Agent Dale Cooper. You're often too
brilliant for people to really follow, but your
infectious enthusiasm makes up for the fact
that you're frequently incomprehensible. You
are smart, intuitive, clear-headed,
compassionate, and cute as hell -- about your
only flaw is your insane coffee consumption.
Which Twin Peaks character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
I swear I didn't cheat - this came up first time. Made my day!!
Thank you ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) nico_blue , you are the BEST! |
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