[kj] Back in NYC/Custom Troubles/Big Thanks/PICTURES!

[gingoblin at easynet.co.uk]

I enjoyed your comedy Scottish accent Alex!    And sorry, I never did get 
you that drink... though I did try! Next time though. I can't fucking wait 
'til the next gig... thursday/friday were just incredible!

cheers,
            Dave in Edinburgh, soon to also be in NYC!


At 20:46 27/02/2005 -0500, you wrote:

>Oh, I forgot the Gingoblin, who was also a great guy!
>
>Alex in NYC
>
>
>On Sunday, February 27, 2005, at 08:32 PM, Alexander Smith wrote:
>
>>
>>Good lord am I fucking tired. Yeah, this is another long one, but gimme a 
>>break. And there are links to pics at the bottom.
>>
>>Alex Back in NYC reporting once again for Active Duty.
>>
>>Got in this morning (after traipsing around London all day Saturday with 
>>List-Meister Misera). My flight was chock-full of THREE British high 
>>school classes combined on their way to a big communal visit to NYC. It 
>>was like flying over the Atlantic in a massive fucking school bus. 
>>Mr.inNYC was NOT at all pleased. They were fine, though, for the most 
>>part. On the way off the plane, who should be greeting me as I cross the 
>>threshold but Mr.RICHARD BRANSON, VIRGIN CEO himself! Actually shook the 
>>man's hand. Stranger than fiction.
>>
>>....and then things got shitty again.
>>
>>I was pulled over -- quite unexpectedly and frustratingly inexplicably -- 
>>by U.S. CUSTOMS. That's right, MY OWN FUCKING COUNTRY decided that it 
>>needed to have a little chatty-chat with me. Going through the motions at 
>>the custom's gate, the decidedly unsmiling man behind the desk drew a BIG 
>>YELLOW LINE down my declaration card and told me to "see the gate clerk." 
>>Not clued in that something was up, said clerk said "go see Number 15!". 
>>Okay. I walk over to Number Fifteen (despite the good-natured entreaties 
>>of clearly bored Number Sixteen, a jovial black gent). Oh no, I went with 
>>equally unsmiling Number Fifteen, a true jarhead with a buzzcut and a bad 
>>attitude. At this point, I *STILL* haven't realized that something is up. 
>>"Have you ever been in trouble with Customs before, sir?" he barks. 
>>"Umm.....what do you mean before? Am I in trouble with Customs NOW?" 
>>"Just answer the question, sir!" Fuck. "No sir." "Have you ever lived in 
>>Seattle?" "Ummmm....no, I'm a native New Yorker and always have been --- 
>>and have lots of documentation to support it". "What do you do for a 
>>living, sir?" "Ummm...I'm a journalist, I supp..." "LET ME SEE YOUR 
>>PASSPORT NUMBER IMMEDIATELY!" By this point, I'm getting alarmed. 
>>"Ummm....is something wrong?" I'm panicking now, as I didn't declare the 
>>six little jars of fancy mustard I bought at Fortnum & Mason for my 
>>mother-in-law. But, somewhat surprisingly, they don't look in my bag. 
>>Lots of frowning, typing, brow-furrowing and suspicious staring. Finally, 
>>some stamping of my passport and I'm given a "comment card". "Am I in 
>>trouble, officer?" I ask...sounding worryingly like Shaggy in 
>>'Scooby-Do'. "I'm not allowed to tell you, sir, but if you contact the 
>>address in the document I just handed you, perhaps they can elaborate. 
>>With a last name as common as yours......" he trailed off. And waved me 
>>off. And off I went, shaken and paranoid. I still haven't the faintest 
>>clue why the pulled me aside, but I have the sneaking suspicion that it 
>>might've had *EVERYTHING* to do with the "MALICIOUS DAMAGE OPERATIVE" 
>>badge I was sporting on my jacket lapel. I'll get you for this, Coles.
>>
>>
>>Alright, enough about that. Here's the meaty part. I'd just like to truly 
>>thank *EACH AND EVERY GATHERER AND GATHERER-ASSOCIATE* I was fortunate 
>>enough to come into contact with in the past three days. I'm worried 
>>about citing names, as I'm deathly afraid of leaving anybody out, but I 
>>feel I'd be truly, truly remiss if I didn't specifically thank.....
>>
>>
>>** Rob Moss ** -- Rob was a gent enough to pick me up at Heathrow and 
>>shepherd me around the town for both gigs, more or less making sure I 
>>didn't get into any serious trouble. He may be a big looking gent and 
>>have a serious problem with displaying his below-the-belt equipment, but 
>>he's truly a stand-up, lovable guy. I hope you are feeling better after 
>>splitting early on Friday, Rob, and I hope you made it home safely back 
>>to Oxford (home of Ride, don'tcha know!)  Heh heh. Sorry. Enjoy the 
>>Ramones shirt, you big girly blouse.
>>
>>** Mike Coles & His Lovely Family ** -- Another big round of cheers to 
>>Mike and his wonderful (and patient) wife, Lyrico and their incomparably 
>>beautiful children (luckily for Mike, like my own daughter, they take 
>>after the Mother). Not only did the Coles's add a dash of clout, but 
>>their honed-from-parenting good natures compelled them to look after me 
>>when I decided to happily part with all semblance of coherent reason (via 
>>many pints of Grolsch) and beer-handling coordination. Mike was also nice 
>>enough to invite Andy Misera and myself out to the fabled Malicious 
>>Towers in Kilburn on Saturday, treating us to a rare glimpse inside the 
>>proverbial MD vault. And I now know why it's called "the Skylight Zone". 
>>He also treated Andy & myself to several selections from the forthcoming 
>>CLOCK MACHINE compilation, and lemme just say, biases aside, THIS DISC 
>>ROCKS! There is some *TRULY* inspired music thereupon, and if some of 
>>those tracks aren't ripe for becoming genuine, radio-friendly hits, than 
>>I've got dog semen in my ears.
>>
>>** Andy Misera ** -- Our beloved List-Meister was good enough to guide me 
>>around London on Saturday, visiting not only the Coles' place, but 
>>several shopping locales and more coffee bars, comic shops, posh 
>>boutiques, chip shops and pubs than you can shake a a pointy stick at.
>>
>>** Graham/Woody2Shooz**  -- The ageless Graham was a gent enough to 
>>supply with tickets for both nights and refused to accept any semblance 
>>of payment (did I ever get you anything CLOSE to your weight in lager?)
>>
>>** Stephane the Frenchman** --  Quite unsolicitedly bestowed on me some 
>>richly undeserved goodies like a signed (by all four) poster of the gigs. 
>>We may like shouting "BASTARD" at you, Frenchman, but you're a 
>>hecka-swell gent.
>>
>>** Bob Barathy ** -- For being a smashing gent for looking after the 
>>poster alluded to just above (which he will hopefully send to me at some 
>>point and not use it to wrap rancid fish with, though I'm sure Mike Coles 
>>could live with that).
>>
>>** Nichola Wood & Wilfull Dave** -- Neither of whom are on the list, but 
>>who very nicely rescued me from wandering off into the desolate, pitch 
>>black of the Shepherd Bush night, bundling me into cab where I was forced 
>>to discuss the merits of Las Vegas with an overly-enthusiastic cab driver.
>>
>>** Jel ** -- For serving as both a massively good dude, a big fuckoff 
>>giant who probably scared off loads of Yankaphobes who'd have gladly 
>>pounded my head in, and as an excellent step-ladder to up above the fray 
>>of the "knitting circle".
>>
>>Beyond that, what can I say? I met so many nice folks like Rob, Dave (I 
>>met about eight Daves, so let that one citation serve them all), 
>>Idolatry, Marnyk from Brussels, Brian, Jel's big pal Cliff, Jon Chapman, 
>>Mark Saxton (who was always in the men's room....worryingly), Mel, THE 
>>INFAMOUS PETER WEST (who's actually an unfailingly nice, smiley guy), Rob 
>>Martin, iPat, Horbag, Lisa Gannon, Leigh & his friend Jane, Marc Phillips 
>>and Sarah (who I never found again after the Goldhawk), Christophe 
>>(again), Dirk (again), Antoni (again), the hilarious Neil Perry, Tom the 
>>Canadian (not on the list?), PAUL (DUB) from Dublin, Jamie, Mick Head, 
>>MIK RAVEN (again), Jane & Ian, Juliet Pleming,...
>>
>>...I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, so HUGE APOLOGIES if so. In case you 
>>didn't notice, I was a bit on the inebriated side quite a lot of the time.
>>
>>Anyway, herewith the pics. Do enjoy:
>>
>>THURSDAY:
>>http://homepage.mac.com/alexinnyc/2005/PhotoAlbum119.html
>>
>>FRIDAY:
>>http://homepage.mac.com/alexinnyc/2005/PhotoAlbum120.html
>>
>>Cheers again,
>>
>>Alex in NYC....happy to be home.
>>
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