coast to coast

it's official: there is, right now, not a single place on the planet that is Michael Jackson-free. Last night in Shoreditch: 3 bars, 3 MJ songs. I bet even the North Koreans are busy moonwalking across their nuclear silos right now. Which means we can expect a NY Times article on this "trend" in oh, about 3 months.

roll up your sleeves

wait, what's the word again? Oh yeah: ugh... With a friend coming over this weekend while I'll probably have to be at work most of it, I don't really think those drinks at the Twilight Sad show last night were what the proverbial doctor ordered. But hey, bygones I guess. With a view to alleviating some of the morning "fatigue" I resorted to my ususal post-drinking remedies (eternal respect due to Purdey's, the drink of champions), with one unexpected kink:

That's right, this time my recovery package includes the Economist. Spontaneous hangover shopping never sounded so grown-up. I won't have time to read more than 5% of it (as opposed to the usual 10), but at least if I want to prolong the sweet sensation of my ongoing headache, I've got what I need.

And I guess this is as good (or bad) a point to mention that I might be moving to the US in a few months. An opportunity has come up within my company and we're currently going through the visa and contract process so it's still early days. I would be locally employed though so the title of this blog would still be truthful. I'm pretty excited about it but we'll see what happens.

In the meantime there's a full day of glorious work ahead. I think I might need another bottle of Purdey's soon...

this post is not about Michael Jackson

Hyde Park
June 30, 2009

yet another chapter in the formidable story of Bon Iver. Another monumental gig to cap off two fantastic years since the release of "For Emma", with a gig full of tenderness, power, and soul. On a day so unexpectedly warm and sunny (think the organizers had planned on that? The concerts being held under a tent, so I'd wager that no, they did not, and I can't say I did either), that the deep sorrow heard in so many of those tunes did not put a damper on the mood, but rather heightened it to a dizzying degree. The band was there, the crowd was there, I was there, nothing else mattered. Near the end band leader Justin Vernon revealed this would probably be their last gig this year in London, and if that's the last performance we get to see for a while, that's perfectly fine. Fantastic even, if it means the guys get back to the studio for their sophomore effort.

ps: MJ, just kidding. You truly were the greatest