The Gabster

Russian to a Party

16 Jan 07 @ 04:38 PM  category » new york

Annie S did an amazing job last week of rounding a whole bunch of troops to head out to Brighton Beach for some dinner and dancin' for Russian New Year. Laying on a coach or two for us pathetic city-dwellers was the inspired touch. Some of us tried to blend in with the locals on the other side of the restaurant, and mix the crowds, but the Russian chap I was forced to dance with when Joost took his wife off for a twirl was none too happy when he asked me three times "He your boyfriend?" and I kept saying, no, no, he is just a friend. The fact that his wife was clearly having a ball dancing with a cute boy half her age was too much for him. And so he told me "New wife, only 3 month in city, she mine." and promptly deserted me to go and retrieve his property from Joost's fond embrace.

Primorski - pix

Room with a View

28 Oct 06 @ 05:15 PM  category » new york

This is the view of the sunrise, lying in my bed in my new apartment. I like my white box in the sky - such a change from everywhere else I have lived and certainly a move up from The Cave.

NYC Parking Garages

22 Aug 06 @ 04:42 AM  category » new york

Useful tool if you spend any time in a car in NYC:

NYC Parking Garage Rates

Robin Hood and the Pink Princess: A Tale of Love, Betrayal and Redemption

24 May 06 @ 07:03 PM  category » culture | humour | new york

Here’s a wonderful New York tale: that of Robin Hood and the Pink Princess.

The Pink Princess is a bicycle. She’s bright pink, and very, very old. She’s been ridden on the streets of this fair city for nigh on 18 years, and has always been handed down from one owner who leaves town to the next loving caretaker in line. She came to me from Carey, who moved back to South Africa in 2004. The Pink Princess has survived many adventures. She’s been stolen, and been returned, she’s been touched by Bono – twice – and she has braved the indignities of many a nasty winter with quiet long-suffering.

Last year I gave the Pink Princess to Jasmine. Anyone who knows Jasmine will know that she is the perfect person to love and ride the Pink Princess.

A few weeks ago, Jasmine calls me up and says she wants to buy a new bicycle, because the Pink Princess is not very comfortable any more and it is basically falling apart. What do I want her to do with it, she asks. I say get her a tune up, and give her back to me and I will find her another home.

A few days later, Jasmine calls sounding a little worried. Why? She took the PP to four different bike shops to ask about fixing her up, and they all laughed in her face. One place refused to even touch her, another told Jasmine that to fix her up would cost twice the price of a new bike, and another told her the PP was a death trap and shouldn’t be on the streets.

Jasmine thought that this news might upset me, fond of the PP as I was. It didn’t really. All good things come to an end, and she had a good run. So Jasmine and I decided that she would “donate” the PP to a needy person in the city by simply leaving her unlocked by a lamppost on Bleecker Street. So off Jasmine went to buy her new bike.

Two days later, Jasmine calls again. Her new bike has been stolen. After one night out on the street. But the Pink Princess – unlocked, and right next to it – is still there!

Every day that week, Jasmine calls me to tell me that the Pink Princess is still there. It seems that even the thieves in this town have some standards and will not lower themselves to steal a pile of rubbish. Which is frankly hilarious, though I do feel sad for the crimson lady, dying all alone and neglected.

Now, to Robin Hood. Robin Hood is also a bicycle, belonging to my friend Annie. She came out of her house one day last week to find that her chain had been cut, had then been clumsily stuck back together with black masking tape, and there was a note in her basket. The note read (click pic to see):

“I was gonna take your bike. But Robin Hood only steal from da rich!”

Now where is this guy? Mate, you can have the Pink Princess. She’s easy, and lovable, and she needs a home. She's waiting for her prince on Bleecker St.

Central Park Tips

17 Apr 06 @ 03:47 PM  category » new york

My mother has just been in town for a week. We had a fabulous time. I’ll admit I think we were both slightly nervous about the idea of 24/7, having not spent so much time just us together since, oh, I don’t know, I was a teenager? Even then my sister or someone was always around. But several days filled with shopping, art galleries, museums, movies, drinks and dinners later, she didn’t want to leave! It was a glorious, glorious day yesterday, which of course meant a stroll in Central Park was on the cards. Huge thanks to David Feige for being a fabulous guide, pointing out all the famous landmarks and giving us a potted history of various residential buildings and their tenants.

And I learned something new and brilliant about Central Park, also thanks to David. I always get lost there, since I simply haven’t spent enough time in the park, and when I am there I am usually running like a mindless ant around the outside, or lying in a field somewhere. So I am now delighted to have been given the local’s hidden secret, the way to make sure you never get lost again: every lamppost in the park has a number printed on it. Say it’s W8122, or E10604. The numbers refer to the cross street you are near, and how far into the park you are, in terms of the number of posts from the street. So the numbers above, respectively, say, for the first, that the post is by West 81st Street, and 22 posts in from CPW; the second, that you are near East 106th St, 4 posts in from 5th Ave.

I shall never be lost again.

NY Drinkeries

22 Mar 06 @ 06:43 PM  category » new york

The Pegu Club is a nice find. Civilized, not over-loud, never too crowded, and with fabulous cocktails and great bar snacks (the mini bbq’d pulled pork burgers are delicious). What more could you ask for?

And from LA Sun to NYC Blizzards...

13 Feb 06 @ 08:08 PM  category » new york

Ugh, it is damn cold here. but also incredibly beautiful. What a week of radical weather changes. Biggest storm in NY for sixty or seventy years, I hear.

Stunning, though. Here are a few pix of my street under siege...

It's a Small World

29 Oct 05 @ 12:36 PM  category » new york

I am David. I eat slugs and snails and commandeered Gaby's computer to write this. Last night she plied me with V&Ts at Soho House where I found myself chatting to a fellow Londoner who happened to be a close friend of my sister Rebecca. Strange things happen when you are tipsy in New York.

Credit To (At) Soho House

26 Jul 05 @ 12:00 PM  category » new york

I spent Sunday hanging out with various sundry bods by the pool of Soho House. It started with lunch, segued into an afternoon nap, some backgammon chouette with Ian, Shayne and Elita, followed by the sunset movie and dinner. At some point in the afternoon, the roof manager told me they had lost my credit card, and the tab was thus on the house. I assumed they meant up to that point, and a fresh tab would be opened from that point onwards.

By the end of the evening, we'd had 2 lunches, 4 dinners, 4 cocktails/beers, and probably 5 bottles of wine (well, we were there for 9 hours). I dread to think what the bill would really have been, but I didn't need to worry - they covered the whole thing.

So, it was a pain to lose my card - on Monday morning I got a call, AFTER I had cancelled it, of course, ugh, to say that another member had called up to say she'd found it in her wallet, so she had clearly been given the wrong card back by the waiter - but in the end it was a lovely day, on the House. Credit to them for being more decent than expected. 

Brooklyn Bridge Brouhaha

26 Jul 05 @ 11:53 AM  category » new york

My friend Ian was visiting this weekend. On Friday evening I decided we should cycle across the Brooklyn Bridge, for the view. I haven't done this in ages, but I remember I've always cycled on the pedestrian walkway. Somehow, unfortunately, we missed the turning to get onto the walkway, and thus found ourselves cycling alongside it, on the main road. I called ahead, uncertainly, "I think we are meant to be up there, not down here". But Ian shrugged it off, "Well, we're here now, no point going back". But the cars started hooting, the shouts started coming at us thick and fast. "You smoking, woman?", "What do you think you are doing, crazy!". So it was pretty obvious we were not supposed to be there. But we were almost halfway across at this point, and the wall and railing to get up to the promenade was just too high, so we quickly abandoned the idea of Ian hauling the bikes over the railing.

Then a car passed Ian and told him to turn back. Ian demurred. The driver said he could get a citation since it was a traffic violation to ride a bike on the bridge proper. Ian shook his said and sort of said, "Oh well, it's done now." At which point, very calmly, the driver said "Or I could give you a citation." and flashed NYPD badge at Ian.

Oh dear. So we got off our bikes, turned around and walked them back against the oncoming traffic, everyone hooting and blaring and shouting at us. Not particularly pleasant. I had visions of the headlines in the paper the next day "Stupid Tourists Stop Traffic on Brooklyn Bridge".

Oops.

A different class of night

20 Jul 05 @ 10:34 AM  category » music | new york

Last night was one of those random-wonderful-things-happen-in-NYC nights, which remind me of how damn cool this city is, because these things *do* happen on a quite regular basis.

I was at a Nerve drinks party, fully intending to go home early and catch up on reading Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell, which I can't put down (the irony is that he was at the party, a point not lost on me as I planned my exit to go home and read the book, rather than stay at the party and talk to the author).

There I was, about to leave, when a friend invited me to join him at a gig at Joe's Pub. I said no, until he told me that the musician, Richard Hawley, used to be the guitarist for Pulp.

Now, I love Pulp. Not only do I think their music, especially the lyrics, is fantastic - though representative of a past era that I wasn't entirely immersed in, Sorted for Es and Whizz is one of my favourite songs, along with Common People - but also, what Brit could fail to remember when Jarvis Cocker mooned Michael Jackson at the 1995 Brit Awards? He became an overnight hero, the gritty pained Northern lad pitted against the smiling plastic of LA, and the grit won big time. Pulp was one of those bands that most people thought was an overnight success, after the critical acclaim and awards were piled on for their 1995 album A Different Class. In fact, they'd been jobbing musicians since the early 80s, just flying under the mainstream radar.

So I decided to go. And...wow. Richard Hawley is fantastic. His lyrics are beautiful, his voice soars, and his style is varied. This is no Pulp: he likes to "sing a load of old ballads", in his own words. And they are gorgeous. One moment I thought I recognised his voice from Pulp songs (but I don't think he ever sang with them, so that's wrong). The next song, I could swear I was listening to The Verve. The next, he was singing what can only be described as country (why is it that as soon as any Brit sings country, they sound American?). The next, he sounded like Elvis and shivers went down my spine. And he was funny, telling stories about the songs. I think it comes naturally to those who live in the cold, wet, grey north. I guess a spot of dry humor warms the soul.

The sound quality at Joe's Pub is fabulous: this is how acoustic sets should be heard. The stage walls are baffled and the sound just soars with total clarity. What a great venue - now i understand why people rave about the place.

At the end of this totally random evening, I left with a huge smile on my face.

Mad Hot Ballroom

17 Jul 05 @ 12:56 PM  category » dance | joys | new york

Mad Hot Ballroom is a more delightful, hilarious, moving, triumphant dancing version of Spellbound, the doc about the National Spelling Bee.  I absolutely loved Spellbound, and was gripped by its intensity and pain and disappointment, but it was populated with excessively bright, over-achieving, hypercompetitive children that were preternaturally adult and serious, so my heart went out to them mostly because of the desperate pressure they were under and the pain of disappointment.

Mad Hot Ballroom on the other hand, comes from the other end of the spectrum. Kids in the New York City public school system, 90% of them officially living below the poverty line, take ballroom dance classes after school and compete in a city-wide competition. Some of the kids are troubled, and the program gives them new pride and purpose; others are shy, and it makes them blossom; others are goofy but it teaches them style and confidence. One new boy can't speak English, but he's a natural dancer, and he's accepted as a new friend as a result. And watching the teachers with their pupils - mostly Latino and Asian - makes you remember why it is that we owe dedicated teachers so much.

It's wonderful. I laughed, I cried, I snorted. And boy, did it make me want to dance. Shayne and I are switching to Salsa on 2 (club salsa) which is a pain since it means going back to the beginning, after all these months of learning formal Salsa on 1. But we tried out a new school on Friday - Dance Manhattan - and had a great teacher, Rodney Lopez. So imagine our delight and surprise, sitting in the cinema on Saturday evening, to discover that the inspirational, charming, funny, kind and wonderful teacher that led his school team to victory in the competition, was no other than Rodney. I wanted to run straight back to school after leaving the cinema.

And now I want to learn the tango, and swing, and the rumba. Watch MHB and you'll be tapping your toes too.

High rise hedonism

05 Jul 05 @ 09:17 AM  category » language | new york

I've lived in the US for nearly seven years but I can't for the life of me remember any 4th July fireworks. Obviously, it isn't the most important celebration for us Brits, but to register so very little is odd. I do remember going to the movies one year in SF because it was foggy so we couldn't see them anyway...maybe that's what happened for all those years in the foggy city.

This year I ended up at the very top of the Christadora building, which, I now know, is the tallest building in the east Village. And being only 20 odd blocks away from the spot on the East River where Macys sets off the pyrotechnics, we had a spectacular view. They were really quite beautiful.

A day or two later someone I'd met at the party emailed me to say hello. He said "...we met on the balcony of a penthedonist apartment in the East Village..."

Penthedonist? I looked it up, to no avail. Root of penthe? ending -donist? Huh? Then I read it again. Ah. PENT-hedonist. Yes, of course. A hedonist penthouse apartment it was indeed, with terraces, a pool table, and my, the views...

Good word, but not one that can be used that often, unless one habitually hangs out with the NYC high rise glitterati.

Down and seedy in NYC

23 Jun 05 @ 06:41 PM  category » new york

A friend of mine has just got through a much-dreaded annual NYC "party" visit from an old acquaintance, who, recently divorced, seems to epitomise the stereotype of the middle- aged man let loose on the world again. I asked how it went; this is the response I got....

Well — its been tough! C arrived Sun. Off to the ball game, and that was fine. All down hill from there. Very heavy drinking sessions, along with him womanising.  For example:

• Sun nite:  Local pub crawl followed by burgers and the Pistons-Spurs game.  With female in tow.  In this case the daughter of his ex-boss (26, plump).  She passes out about 1am.  We leave her for a while, while C moves on to two other ladies in the bar.  I form a relationship with very nice (gay) barman. Eventually I have to take Tiffany home in a cab.  Not amused.  Most of the eve on my tab.  Home at 3am.

• Mon nite: C has chatted up a South Western stewardess.  She has flown in to town to see him — with her mother.  I am asked to ‘do the decent wingman thing’ — a.k.a. come along, meet the stewardess and mother, engage mother in conversation.  “It’ll be a fab night”, “the mother is really hot”, “you can always head on after 10, when you’ve made a decent show for me, and I’ll go clubbing with the two of them”, and more like-veined comments, from C.
  
  Reality: Stewardess is one step up from trailer-trash.  Nice, but talks 19 to the dozen.  Also v young, and only has 2 assets - which C has his eyes firmly on. Attractive is not an adjective that comes to mind. Mother is a nice lady.  Also a stewardess. And 58.  ‘Hot’ doesn’t come to mind. In the least. C and I split the nite’s tab. Home at 2am.

• Tues nite: C meets boss's daughter again.  C is 46/7.  Tiffany (?) is 25ish.  I plead off for a while.  They start margaritas at 5pm.  I join them at 8pm.  C has also picked up (and I apologise but this is the only descriptor I have) a skank.  I spend 10 mins admiring her track marks.  Ughhh.  Eventually end up sharing cab uptown with C making out with Tiffany in the back.  Home at 2am.  Nite’s tab split between me and Tiffany (and who on earth is called Tiffany these days anyway?).

Thankfully he left this am (it was supposed to be yesterday).  But only after touching me up for 100 bucks ‘cos he’d run out.  Feeling less than generous, I didn’t offer to buy him a morning coffee.

Oh god, is that really what happens?

A warming sight

20 Jun 05 @ 07:17 PM  category » new york

As if New York wasn't hot enough right now, it seems the local bird life likes it really toasty. A pigeon has taken up residence on my AC unit, complete with nest and 3 little eggs outside my window. It goes without saying that the unit isn't very clean any more, yet I haven't the heart to get rid of them; in fact, I leave the AC on more than I really need it, to keep the eggs warm.

Chumleys

15 Jun 05 @ 07:53 PM  category » new york

Went to a great low key dive of a bar last night in the village. Chumley's doesn't have a sign outside (I walked past it twice) and is apparently the last speakeasy in the country. It has a door at the back of the men's room which used to lead out to a side alley so the punters could escape when the cops came during Prohibition. Totally laid back, with sawdust on the floor and with first edition book and play covers lining the walls. Charming.

Restoring Faith in Human Nature

14 Jun 05 @ 10:40 AM  category » joys | new york

Last night I lost my wallet somewhere on Hudson St. I got to my friend's house for dinner, having walked maybe 3 blocks from the shop where I had bought some wine five minutes earlier, only to discover it was gone. So we walked back to the shop, but they didn't have it. Tarek was encouraging me to cancel my cards, but for some reason I just wasn't panicked about it. Frankly, I was so horrified at the thought that, having taken 2 years to get my act together in the first place, I had just two weeks ago stood in line at the DMV to get my NY driver's license. The thought of going through that again somehow put me into a state of denial.

Just as well I didn't rush around cancelling cards, for twenty minutes later I got a phone call from one Officer Morales from the 6th precinct. Someone had handed in my wallet to the station on 10th St, just a block away from where I was. He'd looked up my address and called everyone on record in my building until he reached my super, who gave him my mobile number.

Lucky me: my stars were shining that night. Big thanks to the nice person who chose to hand it in instead of making my life miserable.

The Inferno

05 Jun 05 @ 09:51 PM  category » new york

Well, New York summer has hit with a vengeance. Today it was 90+ in the shade and humid as hell. I went out running this morning - somewhat important since I have a triathlon in five weeks - and within about three minutes I was sweating like a proverbial piglet, the veins in my forehead were throbbing and the feeling of fainting came over me in waves every ten steps. I was glowing like a radioactive cherry when I got home, and you could have cooked an egg on my face. It was horrible. Who on earth do I think I am kidding in thinking I can do the NYC triathlon in July? More importantly, what kind of sadists decided to hold the event in July anyway?

So I'm sulking, and also beginning to worry about even finishing the race. I think I probably have Eskimo genes. I just don't do this kind of heat.

Settling In

06 Jun 04 @ 09:37 AM  category » new york

My move to my new apartment yesterday was relatively painless. I finally got my things from California out of storage, rounded up the items secreted away in various New York locations, and managed to get all of it into the new place without too much hassle. So now I am surrounded by lots of boxes wondering where to put everything.

So How Soho?

02 Jun 04 @ 01:36 PM  category » new york

Whilst talking about Soho last night the old question came up again - which came first, Soho in London or SoHo in New York? I always wonder and then forget to go and look it up. Thanks to Brian Sack who did the sleuthing and came up with this:

"The word "Soho" is an old hunting call used to call in the hounds. The district was christened with this name as Soho was a hunting ground that was attached to Westminster Palace. The wealthy in 16 and 17th century London used to hunt here. Until the Great Fire of London in 1666, Soho was mainly composed of fields with a small number of cottages in the vicinity of Wardour Street, then known as Coleman Hedge Lane. At the time, most of this area was owned by Westminster Palace, after the crown had acquired the land in 1530. The last vestiges of the fields today consist of the greenery located in Golden Square, previously known as Gelding Close, and in Soho Square, originally known as King Square, a tribute to King Charles II whose statue resides within. Soho Square was laid out in 1680, and two of the original buildings remain. In the 1670�s and 80�s, the Soho that stands today was created, largely by 17th-century urban developer Gregory King, to alleviate the over-crowding in the centre of London, particularly after the fire destroyed much of the city. Initially Soho was a fashionable residential area, populated by the wealthy and the famous, such as politicians, churchmen, Dukes and Duchesses."

Fag Scammed

02 Jun 04 @ 01:35 PM  category » new york

Having a cig in the smoking room at SH last night, I left a new pack of Parliament Lights on the pinball machine. Returning some time later I realised my error and noticed a nearly full pack of PL lying out by the pool table. I asked the folks playing pool if they were theirs, since I had left a pack behind. Both of them claimed ownership definitively. So Delly gave me a Malboro instead, at which point both of the pool players starting offering up the cigs -  "Oh, have one of ours. It's OK, really. If you want another one later, just ask us, we've got plenty. Come back any time". So bloody obvious...

Apartment Resolution

25 May 04 @ 03:45 PM  category » new york

OK, I finally found an apartment. I gave up looking altogether for a few days and then a broker called me back on a message I left a week ago to say that the apt I had called about was available after all - the applicant had failed his credit check. I thought "what the hell, I might as well take a look." Turns out that this was the one. You just know when you walk in that this could work, that you can see yourself living here. Not perfect - there are always trade offs - but OK. I guess I was just ready (mentally, if not physically, desperate) and the fact that the broker bothered to call me after not responding to my message for over a week - well, that was a sign, I suppose. So I'm finally sorted, and moving next weekend. Phew.

New York Nightmare

13 May 04 @ 10:33 PM  category » new york

I'm depressed. Back in NYC after my trip and now looking for a reasonably priced apartment in Manhattan. This is self-flagellation with poison-tipped iron spikes. I hate brokers - why do they bother to waste their own time showing me things they postively, definitively, conclusively know I  WILL NOT TAKE? OK, I am not going to get worked up about this. It's known to be the most painful event in one's nascent New York existence. Yeah, too damn right.

Jinxed

12 Jan 04 @ 01:59 PM  category » new york | woes

There must be a poltergeist at 337 East 8th St.  The fire alarm - a hideously piercing shriek - kept going off for absolutely no reason whatsoever all afternoon and evening yesterday. Then the cable went down and we couldn't watch the whole 7 hours of Angels in America which some friends had come over especially to see. Then, as I slept in the living room (since my room is still drying out right now) the water started coming down again 6 feet away from me. The sound of profuse dripping into buckets and trash cans as you try to sleep is a peculiarly effective form of water torture.

Oh, and did I forget? The boiler broke down and the heating was off all evening. And it's -7 degrees outside. And my duvet is of course, still saturated.

And all of this is happening in a very expensive, very smart, recently built loft in New York. The poor owners upstairs (who have a small baby) have been running in and out all weekend with a very harried looking architect and various sundry heating and plumbing engineers.

Nick and I have decided that being a landlord is absolutely no fun at all.

The Sign of Aquarius

10 Jan 04 @ 01:57 PM  category » new york | woes

It seems as though it's time for me to move on. Much as I love living at Nick's fab pad, if one needs a sign that the time is nigh, there can be nothing clearer than coming home from a leisurely brunch to discover 3 men going through my underwear, which, with everything else I own, is currently strewn all over the apartment. 

Why? Oh, just another bad-luck story: the pipes burst upstairs and there is water pouring into my bedroom. The building owner, his father-in-law and the architect have spent the last hour pulling everything out of the room and sorting out the wet from the dry while waiting for the pipes to empty and the plumber to turn up. It's a strange feeling realising that these 3 strangers now have seen every single little thing about my (luckily temporarily-much-reduced) life - what I wear, what I read, what I hide, etc.  At least the underwear is clean.

Nick's room and the rest of the apartment weren't affected at all.  Of course.

One point I must make to those who will just add this to the growing list of Gaby-disasters: nothing related to water is ever my fault, it just happens around me.

I'm sitting here in the midst of chaos (one thing seems clear - does a person really need all this stuff?) with that sinking feeling of "where do I start?".  The task seems too daunting. I think I shall go to the cinema and tackle it later.

The Man Who...

06 Jan 04 @ 01:43 PM  category » humour | new york

...fell Into the Swimming Pool at Soho House wrote an article about it. I guess he had to - everyone else had. I've just seen it on the eve of returning from Chile, so of course must post it here...

Big Splash

The Silly Season

11 Dec 03 @ 09:39 AM  category » london | new york

It's been a silly week: I kicked off the Xmas season early in London last week, which involved the usual somewhat excessive carousing and general high jinks all round, and of course a calamity of sorts what seems to accompany every trip I make to London these days. Stolen bags, mini-fires...this time the ceiling fell in (flood from apt. upstairs) and the police came - but bashed down the wrong door. Quite a mess.  More pleasant was a memorable tipsy ride across London on a bicycle most definitely not made for two (not recommended over large distances).

The silly stuff continues apace in NYC: we had a priceless moment last night in Soho House when someone who shall remain nameless quite literally walked into the swimming pool on the roof deck.  Easy to do: it looked like glass. Bloody obvious that this was a story just waiting for a protagonist - the problem was, said person was there to meet Nick D. and, as the other chap in our party, a PR maven, remarked: It's bad enough falling into the pool at Soho House, but it is 10 times worse doing it in front of two big gossips, one of whom runs an online magazine...

Home Comforts

14 Nov 03 @ 01:56 PM  category » new york

Fresh Direct - home delivery of fresh food - is about the coolest (ok, not the coolest but maybe the most useful) thing I have found here so far. How easy - and how necessary in this city.

New York, New York

14 Nov 03 @ 01:47 PM  category » new york | travel

Well, I've finally arrived - again. Last week actually. I call it my Groundhog Year - it is almost to the day a year ago that I first moved here, started off by living with Nick, hung around SoHo, etc. etc.  This time I'm staying.

Sheer busy-ness (or business) and laziness and everything being in a whirl have precluded my writing anything on my blog for - wow - 2 months. Really that long? How time flies.  So, since Bass Lake, I've:

- Been to Mexico. 
Hacienda Mahakua  in the jungle near Colima is delightful, stunning, and secluded. 40 or so of us went for a friend's 40th birthday - hiking volcanoes, riding horses, staying up too late playing Perudo and poker and drinking and dancing and...and...oh, it's too late to recapture it all now.

The Mejico pix are great - courtesy of Fred Marigaux.

- Left San Francisco.
Sadly but excitedly. Had a fab weekend up in Mendocino at Jacob Christfort's ranch as a fitting ending to life in CA. A bit nippy, but lots of dancing in the barn kept us warm!  I will miss all of you in SF - you know who you are! :o(

- Moved to New York.
Though no-one here really believes I am staying. I guess I need to find an apartment to make it real.

No regrets

19 Feb 03 @ 12:40 AM  category » new york

So Nick IM'd me the other day to ask if I had any regrets about leaving NYC.  Trying to rub my hickness in my face by naming names of the media gliterrati in attendance at the Gawker launch party, and dropping into the conversation that he was going to not one, but two, fashion week parties on Valentine's night, he hinted that only in New York could I find appropriate intellectual stimulation, erudite conversation, and the chance to meet a man who'd be up to snuff...

Maybe, Nick, maybe.  But all I can say right now is, have you got your gloves on?  Brrrrrrrrrrrrr.   I'm glad I'm out West right now.  It certainly looks pretty though...

Can't win

04 Feb 03 @ 07:17 PM  category » new york | sf

Apparently I am a traitor.  To quote Nick D: "...New York welcomed you into its bosom, and you throw a snowball into its face...."

Yes, well, you can't escape the simple truth.  I remain a fan of both cities, and hope that NYC will not let a small thing like this ruin a potentially joyful and happy relationship...

Parting Observations

27 Jan 03 @ 03:37 PM  category » new york

1.   It is bitterly cold here in NYC.
2.   My nose quickly forms a layer of ice on it whenever I venture outside.
3.   I have seen several people wearing balaclavas.  Must freak out the shopkeepers every time one of them walks in.  But maybe it's too cold to pull the trigger anyway...
4.   It's damn cold.
5.   Apparently not cold enough, however, to break any records. (What?)
6.   Nick runs the oven full blast with the door open in his apartment to get extra warmth.
7.   It is so cold my fingers freeze even though I am wearing gloves. And a hat.  And two scarves. And a big overcoat.  And I'm still shivering.
8.   San Francisco is definitely NOT this cold.  I bet it never has been.
9.   I now understand why the Russians wear fur.  Bring it on!
10. I went out last night and it started snowing.  By the time I came out of the cinema, there was an inch of snow in the streets.  It would have been quite pretty, I expect, if I had stopped to admire the view, which I would have done...if I wasn't so damn cold.
11. Did I mention how bloody cold it is?

I went to the cinema last night and found myself to be one of only two in the audience.  I never thought that possible in New York.  I guess I should put that down to a combination of the cinema - Loews East Village, not that comfortable, and the movie - Two Weeks' Notice, a Sandra Bullock/Hugh Grant romantic comedy that was as light as candyfloss and perfectly diverting in quite the same way...oh, and maybe the time had something to do with it.  I recommend going to the movies when the Super Bowl is on.  You get ample choice of seats...

Everything Changes

27 Jan 03 @ 03:24 PM  category » new york | sf

Well, how life changes.  I'd like to say - on point of principle, just to thumb my nose at Mr Denton and his SF-bashing - that I am starting a new trend of New Yorkers moving to San Francisco, but don't think anyone will believe me.  However, the Bay Area will soon see the front of me again...

I went to San Fran last weekend to have a few appointments and collect some more stuff to bring over to NYC, but whilst there I agreed to take a new job.  So now I am reversing everything I've just done in NYC: address changes, gym memberships, etc.  Luckily I had not yet signed a lease in New York - that would have been a headache.  In fact, the timing could not have been more perfect, given the circumstances.

So I was in the Post Office this morning to ship some boxes of books back to SF, and I was informed quite curtly by the postal worker that I had addressed the boxes incorrectly.  I played the naive Englishwoman and said "Oh, so sorry - I am not familiar with your rules over here.  I won't do it again, promise.  If I do, just shoot me."  This broke the ice - she laughed and said "Honey, that ain't the right thing to say to a postal worker!".  She was quite nice after that...

The SF/NYC Debate

15 Jan 03 @ 10:41 AM  category » new york | sf

It still rages.  Nick's got Gawker SF-bashing and idiots like Mylerdude are frankly embarrassing in their defence.  Ken Layne responds brilliantly, unfortunately for SF.

I soooo don't want to get involved in this, but as I will keep telling Nick whenever he starts up on this...why compare two cities that don't even remotely resemble each other and compete for attention on completely different levels? It would make more sense if you were lining up, say, London and NYC and finding one of them lacking...

New York is all about thrills and spills and adrenaline rushes of the drinking, dancing, smoking, coke-ing, bitching, moaning and getting-ahead variety.  San Francisco is best for the thrills and spills and adrenaline rushes of surfing, skiing, sailing, hiking, biking and pretty much anything else athletic you could wish to do. It is geographically beautiful and that, frankly, is its main attraction.  But it is a pretty damn huge attraction, if that's your thing.  And it has just enough of a cosmopolitan nature to make it pass for a real city - otherwise you might as well live in Jackson Hole or Moab or Joshua Tree etc. - and is the seat of world-class technical innovation and scientific endeavour.  All of which make it a pretty cool city to be in if you are looking for a good lifestyle but still want an interesting job.  Fuck the parking and all those complaints - at least in SF you can actually have a car.  But if these things don't cook your juices, then of course you won't make the most of SF and will probably prefer to live elsewhere.  NYC's a good choice - one I've made myself recently.   But I still love SF.

So, Nick - stop the fuck complaining about a city that served you well when you wanted what it had to offer in the height of the tech boom and only seems to merit your criticism now for not being as cool now the bubble has burst.  Remember when you were trying to get everyone to move to SF in the late nineties?  You couldn't rave enough about it.  A change of tune is fine, but at least be honest about why you've changed.  SF doens't suck, the wind just turned and you are blowing in it.  But stirring up controversy is the point, isn't it?

Damn.  I knew I shouldn't engage.  I feel a snide and snarky missile coming my way...

Apartment Hunting

14 Jan 03 @ 12:06 PM  category » new york

I'm getting annoyed with people who tell you at great length how fab their apartment is, how great the price and location is, and who casually omit to mention that it is a 6th floor walk up and the hallways stink of urine. I'm clearly a novice at this game but am wising up to what the critical questions are and no doubt will learn pretty sharpish when not to even bother to take a look.  But at least I am getting some exercise wandering the city streets...

Skating in the Park

14 Jan 03 @ 11:47 AM  category » new york | sports

It had to be done.  Standard winter fare in the city.  A bit shaky at first, and damn uncomfortable in those nasty boots, but fun nonetheless.  My trick, as with ski boots, is to grit my teeth until my feet go numb, and then I can cope with anything as long as I don't take my boots off.  Once I stop and relax for half an hour, it is well-nigh impossible to get going again.  But it is nice to know that years can go by and it will still come back to you.

Yet it really is a strange past-time if you think about it - going round in fairly small circles, lemming-like, trying to avoid being run over by kamikaze kids cutting milimetres in front of you as you, wobbling, try to retain your balance and composure, all the while trying to keep a smile on your face.  And the worst damn kamikaze kid was wearing a staff jacket!  He couldn't have been more than 10 years old.  Probably got the job as management decided it was easier to have him with them than against them.  I don't think it made any difference, frankly.  I was wondering if I would get chucked out if I picked him up by the scruff of his neck as he whizzed by and told him to chill out.  In the end, it wasn't the chucking out prospect that stopped me - it was the inevitable humiliation I would suffer as I collapsed in a heap on the ice, arms flailing wildly as I failed to keep hold of my prey.

Back to Reality

10 Jan 03 @ 11:56 AM  category » new york

Oof.  The long travels are over.  I'm back in NYC after a hectic few weeks in London and Scotland (where having no internet access absolved me from the nagging pressure to blog).  New Year with a group of West Coast and London friends was a blast - bracing hikes up the mountain and on the beach, lots of crumpets and tea and old Bond movies by the roaring fire, fabulous gourmet feasts attended by much drinking and merriment, and particularly drunken and amusing games of Risk and round robin table tennis are the things that stick longest in the mind.  Oh, and skinny dipping in the freezing loch at 2am...

Trying, however, to cook a couple of legs of lamb for 10 people and putting together a dinner party in the dark of a power cut on New Year's Eve was challenging.  I think it added to the atmosphere, though, and delayed anticipation makes it all the more tastier (or maybe that was the wine talking).

So now I am back in NYC and beginning the long delayed apartment hunt.  I feel relatively positive so far, with a bunch of appointment in the next couple of days - but then again, I haven't seen yet what a New Yorker refers to as a "decent sized place...by New York standards".

Hmmm.  If I don't blog for the next few days, it will be because I have fallen into a pit of despair...

The life of a New York Cabbie

06 Nov 02 @ 03:20 PM  category » new york

This city is full of quirky stories.  My (very chatty) cab driver this morning is a produced playwright.  He had a show running at the Elizabeth Theatre in London this year and has sold options on several screenplays. But a long time ago he decided that whilst writing is fun, it just doesn't pay as well as cabbying, even when you make it - although his standards must be high since, when he lived in London, he lived in Mount St, W1.  So he owns two cabs and works when he wants to (or needs to) and the rest of the time loans them out to a couple of friend.  Apparently a New York medallion is worth $250,000.  He sold one of his three last year.  Says it has been more valuable than real estate, for him.

Weekends in New York

04 Nov 02 @ 10:46 AM  category » new york

Well, the good news is that I now actually believe that you can get out into beautiful countryside within an hour of the city.  Went for a drive and a little walk in upstate New York on Saturday, and it was quite lovely.  So there is hope yet for much outdoors activity, although right now it is getting just too damn cold to be much fun.  I need a hat and gloves.

We did get lost in Yonkers on the way back, though.  It is easy to do.  Perhaps that's what the Neil Simon play is all about (I haven't seen it). 

And I finally made it to the Bulgarian Bar, after several aborted attempts over the past months.  I see what everyone means.  The music?  One minute it is Greek, then Latin, or Russian, or Seventies, or Bulgarian (presumably) or modern house.  The atmosphere?  Entirely un-posey, totally get-down-and-dance-and-enjoy-yourself.  It has fantastic energy.  God, my feet hurt the next day...

Sunday was almost perfect, bar a few frustrations, like going to collect a friend's car from by the park only to discover that, because of the New York marathon, it had been towed away.  A cop told me I could wander the nearby blocks as it would have just been reparked nearby since it wasn't parked illegally.  The chap I called at the 20th precinct had to go through a hundred pages of hand written list to try and find where it had been taken.  Twenty five callbacks to check on the progress through the list and several hours later, we managed to locate it.  It was 25 blocks away.  There just has a to be a better way to handle this.  It was like the city had stolen the car.

The Big, Not Very Apple-y, but Quite Smoky, Evening

24 Oct 02 @ 12:23 PM  category » new york

Gotta love New York.  It will be the death of me, I am absolutely convinced.  Either that, or the initial craziness will wear off soon and I won't be out dancing til 4am on a Wednesday night.

I was quite happily working at home last night when the inimitable Ioannis called and ordered me to put on my glad rags and get over to meet him and some friends in the Meatpacking district.  For what? I asked.  He wouldn't say, he just said we were going to a party I shouldn't miss.  OK, ok, I said. 

As we were approaching the club, my heart sank at the sight of the crowd outside.  I'm not one for waiting in lines.  It didn't get better when Yanni told the man with the list that we had a table reserved inside, at which the man just laughed in disbelief.  No, Yanni said, I'm serious.  And he was, much to the host's chagrin.  But we didn't get in straight away, for just then all the men in suits' little earpieces starting buzzing crazily and all sorts of succint commands were barked around.  Then the doors opened and a cacophony of shouting began, peppered with a few screams, accompanied by a host of flashbulbs popping.

Turns out it was some party hosted by Ben Affleck and others for Carl McCall's gubernatorial campaign.  And just then, Bill Clinton came out.  Closest I've ever been to an ex-president, that - some 6 or 7 feet.  He really has got quite a presence.  And boy, do the punters love him. 

Apparently it was all fairly sedate until Bill left, but by the time we got inside the music was pumping and it looked like your typical trendy New York bar scene, except for an unusual preponderence of conservative suits.  As the suits left and the bar thinned out, more people got down to dancing and the next time I looked at my watch it was 3am.  The d.j. was playing a lot of J.Lo but I couldn't spot her.  Maybe my booty radar just isn't as well honed as a man's.

NYC vs SF...again

26 Jul 02 @ 07:40 PM  category » new york | sf

Ok, I officially concede.  Nick, Rick, the lot of you NYC luvvies. Stop gloating. Yes, NYC is cooler than SF - Hungarian discos, fancy parties, 2am bar hopping...wish I'd been there, yes the pictures are lovely, blah, blah, blah - and no true city lover can deny it.  Except in the height of summer.  Right now it is all blue skies, glorious sun and a cool breeze over here.  Ignore my last post about the weather.  That was last weekend.  This is today.  Bet you are all sweltering in the heat and humidity and wishing for some of what we've got.   

Ok, so I realise I am on shaky ground here, but one can't help wanting to defend the city one has chosen to live in, especially when described as a "...soulless backwater". I walk through the city and I see sailboats in the bay, framed by the Marin headlands and the Golden Gate bridge.  I look up and I can see the sky.  I walk around and am not in any danger of bruising my elbows on another person's body.  I can go biking in the morning and surfing in the afternoon.  You've got admit it is a beautiful city.  It has geographical soul.  Just not enough city soul for hardened party people...

OK, 'nuff said. This debate is unwinnable.  I love 'em both, for different reasons.  I just bristle a touch at the holier-than-thou, reformed-smoker type of attitiude displayed by the people who have left the city and conveniently choose to forget that once upon a time they were excited to come here, opted to live here for x number of years and didn't seem to complain about it at the time...and now slag it off as being pass� precisely because they weren't the types to enjoy in the first place the best of what the city has to offer and were only here for reasons that are no longer "cool".

Surfing USA...and the world
Anyway, back on the topic of surfing...I was having a pleasant sunset margarita at The Ramp last night overlooking the bay.  Amongst the crowd were a couple of kite-surfers.  Now that is an interesting twist on a couple of sports.  Surfing, but with a parachute to keep you up?  Windsurfing, but with more ease of control?  Sounds pretty fun, either way you look at it - and apparently, once hooked, you never look back.  A friend is going to give me a lesson...One of the girls there only took it up a year ago and has recently given up her job and her intention to go to law school in order to turn pro.  Currently in the top 16 and living in the Dominican Republic, she has an autumn schedule that reads like a rock-band world tour - Maine, the Cape, Florida, Hawaii, Mexico, South Africa, England.  Yes, I did say England.  Apparently the competitions down Padstow way are a key part of the world circuit.  There are palm trees in Cornwall, I hear, so it can't be that bad...quite a life, if that's what you love.  She seemed ecstatic.