teacup_gin

am I the last to find out about the libertines reunion? ;) (since I can no longer remember to have save lj links: http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=19)

am headed to nyc this weekend for the first time in a year ...

Will be wearing silly black velvet jacket (again), black v-neck sweater, some sort of beads/ pearls, glasses, short darkish hair (cut somewhat unintentionally in the style of vogue!carlos) ...say hello...

But some of you already know (off to shop)...

Resolved to have more halifax fun this year. Realized that drinking half a bottle of whiskey can only end badly (although was amusing to drink from the plastic glasses/ portable bar while on the top deck of the ferry). And that certain people should not be allowed full bottles of gin (or to wander off into strangers' apartments). And I wish I knew what ( this was all about )
Am planning a quiet night: dinner @ mom's, breathless (again), no alcohol whatsoever.
Happy new year to everyone...

just got back from paris aftershow (bar 3 rue de l'ancienne comedie) which was really not so fun on my own (although watching john h lunge for his girlfriend was mildly entertaining) - the show was so secret that no one knew where they were going until they stepped off the bus, thee bands then started immediately so not a chance I'm afraid- pj harvey refused to do a duet with carl & gary did vocals on boys in the band while carl played drums. Officially love gary, sweetest man alive. huge hugs all around. missed last tube so stuck waiting for taxi forever. paris is so very very cold...was it worth it? time spent drinking wine & eating choclate in latin quarter was great, saw parts of the city I hadn't seen, will be back to paris when its warm ... goodnight x

am sitting in internet cafe in montmarte & it's cold & raining. the pompideau was amazing but hads just about done my head in.
as for the libertines tonight: I didn't think I cared as much in the end (had already booked paris ticket & was coming anyway, even though lou barlow & stuart murdoch will both be in London tonight) but it may be the last chance to hear the songs & now that I've got a bit of information it just seems so close (& btw virgin uk will not send short sms texts in france either :()... here's what I've got from the waiter at the bergerac (ok, I am a total loser & stayed at the france albion again last night, but I had *2* baths! and at least I knew how to find it):

venue sounds like "la batingeau" (?) near the spectacle (?)
please text if you have any idea where this is 4407910435985 - I will love you forever!
am going to ask at the hostel anyway

take care all, will be changing journals when I get home b/c I've never been able to figure out what this one is all about & I also realize I've got "a bloody awful username" (-ewan @ art brut tuesday, & will post about that when I'm home b/c I've never met a nicer bunch of people & it rocked absolutely)

back to london tomorrow ...

20 hours left ... anyone want anything vaguely north american? so far I've got:
-1 box of lucky charms
-1 bottle of iceberg vodka
-1 package dumaurier cigarettes

what am I forgetting?

George W Bush is in Halifax today, belatedly thanking us for our "hospitality". He's thoughtfully brought his own limo & helicopter (on a another plane).

My store is within the "security perimeter" so I'm leaving now, 3 hours in advance, in hopes of making it there on time. We've been warned not to wear "suspicious clothing" (?) ...

was planning to inundate the ratp with texts but no...
my cell phone provider will not allow a text message to be sent to France
even if it did, I still couldn't retrieve it b/c the phone will not work outside of North America (not what the dealer told me, not even what customer service told me a few months ago, damn you outdated nokia 3595)

does anyone know when this contest *closes*? (ie. if I arranged a phone in London on the 13th would I still have time to enter? Which provider, or can you do a pay as you go for a week or something?) ... there's got to be another way ... grrrrrrrr

am still going to Paris, it just may not have anything to do with the libertines ;( ...

a few things for now ...
1. metric- grow up & blow away
2. spoon- believing is art
3. les savy fav- no sleeves
4. the fall- new big priest
5. magnetic fields- no one will ever love you
6. lou barlow- on fire
7. belle and sebastian -nothing in the silence (bbc session)
8.city field- pretenders

(a summer song, a song for staying awake, insane live, have missed twice but love all the same, this one makes me cry, so does this, and this, and the last is local just because)

and for anyone here from home who may not have heard:
art brut: bad weekend
libertines:plan a

it's really fucking cold in here (you almost got george jones) ...

Just in case the sites are down tomorrow (& because you're all so deserving of the love):
narcissist
half cocked boy
ha ha wall
through the looking glass

that's it for the night, about to crawl into bed under a pile of blankets ...

It's of no use to me (since I'm not able to be there) but here's ( Interpol NYC afterparty info (for tonight, post Hammerstein) )

Have finally got work covered & it looks like I will be heading to the UK from Dec 12 - Dec 19 if anyone has suggestions (so far: London shambles on the 13th & Infinity after (?), Interpol in Bristol the 15th (or Birmingham the 16th?) & then Paris at the end of the week) ... yay air canada seat sale, hostels & protein bars... it might be affordable after all (drinks in London anyone? I've not a clue where to go that isn't expensive & depressing & I'm trying to find listings but there's so much to sort through) ...

A cruel (yet funny) trick to play on a visiting band, especially if they're about to sign to a major (courtesy of my friend mb, who organized this alternative to my yearly (hometown) festival) :

point to the scummiest area of the bar, the glassed in smoking part with all of the obvious alcoholics and middle-aged VLT players, say "that's the VIP area", wait for someone to believe you (thank you blond man from the arcade fire who said "oh, thank you" and trotted off inside, only to return a few minutes later with a puzzled look)

if you do get a chance to see them there is nothing like it (here's the anthemic single -scroll down a bit on the insound page), sometimes I do love this place - 800 people in the marquee for the amazing holy shroud, sweet tenders & cheap beer @ gus's - was a fantastic weekend ...

and now my omega-3 fatty acid presentation is over too (must try to eat more fish, at least 1 serving a week they say) - hate "public speaking", giddy with relief ...
guilty pleasures : vh1 bands reunited (had no idea they'd tried to revive the smiths), too much caffeine ...

Last night I covered my windows in insulating plastic and the ex & I watched towering inferno on a borrowed x-box. There's a reason I don't update often ;).
And I'm as disappointed as anyone in the election results but so many others have expressed it all so eloquently and I'm seemingly good at denial.
So it's off to see the hidden cameras ...

trying this to see if I can get it to download: conan libs ... afraid I jinxed it by crossing fingers & whispering "hope this goes ok" as we sat at the back of the studio, equipment failure & exhaustion - I know how I was feeling that morning so was a valiant effort (was also feeling ill from a particularly horrible experience at a taping of "montell williams", don't ask, always refuse if offered) ... heading for Boston tomorrow (recommendations pre-show?), will I see any of you? (Jodi, Lex, Kris - have fun in Philadelphia this evening, I just couldn't do it) ...

in nyc, alt coffee, about to depart for boston interpol.
did get in to bowery last night (!) thanks to my saviours / last year coral room afterparty drinking partners tess & denise, who managed to sneak me in as a plus 1. afterparty was odd, ended up lost in chinatown at 4am looking for an ATM after demanding a hug from former keyboard player who I managed to freak out yet again... ah well, details to follow ...

Just heard about the show this morning & logged in an hour too late for tickets (so *now* what to do? anyone with bowery/ mercury lounge/ matador connections?), & the fact that I'll be in nyc anyway is the worst part of it all ...

Oh well, the plan is to drown all of the sorrow in drink (don't even get me started about the disaster that is my life) Tuesday night somewhere close to Webster Hall before the Libertines (suggestions?)...

( Libertines on TV/ NYC )

Finally back on-line (internet has been down for a week), will take a while to catch up - anyone managed to get the shaken & withdrawn sessions (can't get .nr to work, & am helplessly in love with the ballad of grimaldi - if anyone could be so kind as to send it? or any of the rest? apologiesaredue@gmail.com) ... I've also got an extra copy of CSMN #1 (had ordered #2, fault of rough trade mail-order, doubt they'll exchange it now being so far away) if someone wants to trade. And my copy of the libs vinyl finally arrived (#1012 of an infinite number apparently)- the packaging seems a bit excessive? Have got to go to bed, think I'm being made to drive to Montreal tomorrow night ...

Interpol: Oct 11 Boston (*), Oct 12 Montreal, Oct 13 Toronto, Oct 15 Detroit, Nov 11&12 NYC

Libertines: Oct 10 Detroit, Oct 12 New York (*), Oct 15 Toronto, Oct 16 Montreal, Oct 17 Philadelphia, Oct 18 Boston

And can someone help me with this evil CMJ schedule ? (the only show I can find a listing for is the Faint on the 15th)... it would help if I already had someone booked to cover yet another week of vacation...

all of my houseguests have finally gone, & I've got a dead pigeon in the yard (quite possibly the result of mistletoe/ witchcraft so I don't *really* want to touch it, you'd have to know the whole story)

Austrailian interview with JH (courtesy of .org), although I much prefer my interview with John, in the basement of the bowery, right before all of this at the darkroom (link to drunken pictures of me & Carlos & one of my other obsessive blogs, or go here for more nyc show pictures, password libertines):

me: can I get you anything?
John: I think I'll have a cup of tea, actually..