Ups and Downs

Posted on October 3, 2005
Filed Under Blather, daytripping, dining, family, friends, music, photography | Leave a Comment

It’s been a crazy, busy couple of days.

On Friday I went up to Portland for what will be my last Interpol show for a while. They wrapped up their touring for Antics in New York on Sunday night. I had originally planned to go to that show, but then Hope was born and plans changed. The Portland show was good, but kind of strange for me. I was hoping they would play a song or two that I’d never heard live before, because they’d been playing them at other shows recently, but they didn’t. I had also hoped to take pictures with Ezra’s camera… and I could have taken AMAZING pictures because I was in the front row, slightly left of center, and security was pretty mellow. But, alas, the camera wouldn’t turn on. I also had a raging headache from not eating much and probably also from not sleeping properly last week (that’s another story…).

But here’s the good news story of the Interpol show. I drove up and arrived at about 1:00 or 1:30, and met up with Interpol friends Lacinda (from DC) and Michelle (from Israel via Dallas). We hung out around the theater. Michelle is pretty young and was very excited and hoping to meet the guys (especially Carlos). We didn’t have any close encounters or anything, but there were a few pre-show sightings…

John met up with me at around 4:30 or so. I’m sure my Interpol friends and I made him chuckle. After arriving quite early, I easily managed to perch myself in the front row. I had Ezra’s camera (it’s much smaller than mine) and I would have been able to take amazing pictures, but alas, his camera wouldn’t turn on. I was pretty bummed about it for a minute. The barrier was SO close to the stage that the photos would have been great. I did get an up close and personal view of some sort of speaker or monitor seriously bursting into flame during Not Even Jail. It was on Daniel’s side of the stage, and I think it went unnoticed at first because of their smoke/fog machines. The security guy in front of me was just eyeing it helplessly. There was a huge plume of smoke and I started coughing. When Paul noticed what was going on he stopped playing and tried to stop the others. One of their roadies emerged from backstage with a load of towels and pulled off the flaming equipment. Daniel showed that it hadn’t affected his ability to play, so they started up again and all was well. It was pretty dramatic for a minute, though.

The opening band, Boom Bip, was really pretty good. I may seek out their recordings, though I’ve heard that they have a lot more energy live than they do on record.

Though it wasn’t my favorite Interpol show, it was a good one, and it was cool to be up front. Paul threw cookies out into the crowd at the end of the main set. I didn’t get one, but I did get Paul’s setlist and one of Daniel’s picks at the end of the night.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

After the show, I was totally wiped out and was grateful for a nice place to sleep in John’s cozy apartment with John’s cozy cats.

The next day I was dazed and still had a headache from the previous night. Ez and I gobbled some wonderful goodies at a place called Mims down by the water, did a little more in Portland, but then had to get back home. I was exhausted.

Next day I dragged my sorry bones and drove to State College. I hadn’t done the drive on my own in a while. It was a bit surreal, but I stayed awake and made it just in time to see the beginnings of a beautiful sunset over the Pennsylvania countryside.

Then on Monday I drove down here, to Virginia. I met my sweetie tweet niece, Hope, and have been able see her, hold her, and feed her each day I’ve been here. She is soo soo tiny and so totally unblemished and sweet. I have taken approximately a zillion pictures of her. Here are a few of my favorites, in case you haven’t already seen them:

Hope, eyes open, 10-3-05

Hope!

Oooo

Well… this has been a totally wandering post. Somebody get me a cozy, uninterupted nap–stat!

Labor Day

Posted on September 5, 2005
Filed Under Blather, Red Sox, daytripping, dining, family, music, the written word | Leave a Comment

Last Thursday night Ezra kindly joined me for the Hail Social/Rainer Maria show at the Middle East. I am loving Hail Social–their whole album is quite infectious, and the only disappointment at the show was the crowd. The place was a bit empty. I guess a lot of folks still don’t know about Hail Social. Part of me wishes I’d taken my camera, because it seemed like I would have been able to take loads of pictures. Oh well–maybe I’ll take my camera for Of Montreal on Sunday. We did have Ezra’s camera and managed to get a few pictures–mostly of Rainer Maria. They were decent. I’m not a huge fan, but it was an OK show.

Friday night my parents arrived for a weekend visit. It’s always nice when they come up here to visit–it tends to feel more relaxed than other visits for some reason. On Saturday we grilled in the afternoon and attempted to go to the night’s baseball game. That didn’t quite work out, but I was able to get a promise that they’ll plan ahead to go to a game with us next year. Sunday we drove up to Ogunquit. I thought we should check it out since it’s just one exit past Kittery and we’d never really been there. We parked in Perkins Cove (we had the magic touch with parking spaces all day) and walked around, taking everything in. It’s very cute, and after a couple of downpours on the highway on the way up, it turned out to be a gorgeous day.

Boats, Perkins Cove

We drove back along Route 1 past the little houses and many antique shops and stopped for some “Back to School” shopping at the outlets. Then (of course) we took the folks to the Portsmouth Brewery for dinner. I think they enjoyed the day. I know they really like Maine, so I wanted to get up there, and I wanted to go somewhere new (Ogunquit). They left after breakfast this morning.

It’s another gorgeous day. I was going to do some work (yeah, I know, despite it being Labor Day), but then I had to get outside, so I went for a jog. I’ll probably still do a little work anyway–but just a little.

Maybe you’ve noticed that I haven’t written much about all of the terrible things that have been happening in the world lately. It’s not that I don’t know or that I don’t care. I do care–it’s always there, but I can’t dwell on it all the time. I guess I care too much.

Not quite the same… but essentially on target, is this poem by Anne Sexton that I love. Here’s a bit of it:

(Different…)

“Is life something you play?
And all the time wanting to get rid of it?
And further, everyone yelling at you
to shut up. And no wonder!
People don’t like to be told
that you’re sick
and then be forced
to watch
you
come
down with the hammer.”

(But coming to the same…)

“Today life opened inside me like an egg
and there inside
after considerable digging
I found the answer.
What a bargain!
There was the sun,
her yolk moving feverishly,
tumbling her prize –
and you realize she does this daily!
I’d known she was a purifier
but I hadn’t thought
she was solid,
hadn’t known she was an answer.

[...]

I say Live, Live because of the sun,
the dream, the excitable gift.”

Harry, Motherless Brooklyn, and Austin’s release

Posted on August 15, 2005
Filed Under Blather, art, daytripping, dining, family, films, friends, the written word | 2 Comments

Ezra and I have lately been engaged in our normal summertime activity of reading Harry out loud to each other. I have to admit, though, that I’ve been doing most of the reading this time. I love to read it… It’s addictive or something. We re-read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix first–to refresh our memories since so much happens in that book–and now we are in the midst of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I’m enjoying it immensely. In just a few hours when Ez is home and we’ve had our dinner and everything, we will likely be reading it again!

On the “what I’m reading on my own” tip, I carry Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem with me to the gym. It’s slow going just reading it at the gym, but it’s really quite good. Ezra read one of his other books, The Fortress of Solitude, and he really liked it. I will have to read that one as well, because it sounds excellent.

We saw Rita, Brian, Cheri, Matt, and Kirsten last night… for the first time in ages (well, it was the first time I actually got to meet Matt in person!). It was really nice to see everyone. Ladies, if you’re reading this (that means you, Cheri!)–hello, dears! I don’t expect that Matt and Brian ever drop in here, but I could be wrong! Hello everyone! Anyway… a lovely rainy night in a pub was had by all. AND Ez and I were finally able to give Rita the life-size Austin Powers talking effigy we’ve been meaning to give her for about a year now. It was truly a memorable evening. (K. Bates, unfortunately, had a migrane and had to stay home. Literally, a raincheck, for we must get together soon.)

Kim’s Virginia shower is this weekend. I’ve been cooking up a storm in preparation–trying out recipes and whatnot. A little while ago I made yummy scones (not really hard to do!), and last weekend Ez and I worked on our egg salad recipe. Mmm. Food.

curled

crawling up the sky

dragonfly 4

A few weekends ago, we went to the DeCordova Sculpture Park in Lincoln with our wonderful friends Amy and Doug. It was one of the first nice days we’d had weather-wise in a long time. It was much fun to wander around the sculpture park, and I took entirely too many pictures, of course. We realized after a bit that we were all pretty dehydrated, though. Afterward we went to see Broken Flowers, which was pretty good–definitely worth seeing. And then we wandered in restlessness unable to be decisive on dinner… which was I think one part tiredness (at least, on my part), several parts too-nice-ness (everyone deferring to everyone else), one part not-knowing-too-much-about-the-area, and several parts general lack-of-decisiveness and wander-ment. Anyway, it was a lovely evening, and I was happy to be out among friends. When hunger took over, we ended up having just the nicest dinner and drinks at Laurel on Berkeley Street in Boston. Thank you (a bit late) Amy and Doug!

arches

A week later…

Posted on July 2, 2005
Filed Under Blather, Red Sox, daytripping, family, friends, music, photography, this old house | 5 Comments

I’m so slow these days with the blog.

So last Monday Ez and I went to see our friend Doug’s band The Hyphens at the Middle East. A fine time was had by all. We took silly pictures, and since we were just fooling around, I guess that makes them “punk rock.” A sampling:

The Hyphens at the Middle East

Hyphens--Friday, June 24th

Hyphens in blue

Hyphens, funked up, at Middle East

RRRAWWK!

So… we’re having our house painted, and it’s all bang-bang-banging and scrape-scrape-scraping all the livelong day. I’m sure it will be good in the end. Really, it could be worse. But it’s nice to have uninterupted summer weekends at home. Aw well…

Other than that, it’s been work…

Oh… and I guess I’m so behind that I never mentioned the swell visit from our Pennsylvania-Ezra-cousin-pals, Margaret and Shannon, and Margaret’s boy-companion-guy, Niall. (BCG… try it on, Niall, see what you think.) That was good fun. We saw another Sox game, which we won handily (yay!), unlike last night (boo!). We also spent what I thought was a really fun day in Portsmouth.

Evidence here:

Yet another on the bench
Niall and Margaret in matching Red Sox garb examine the day’s purchases on the Esplanade

Sisters, Cousins
Shannon and Margaret with more purchases in sunny Prescott Park

Speaking of Portsmouth, they’ve torn down this old theater building that recently had a camera shop in it for some kind of silly condo-type development in the middle of town. Grrr…

Need to do some grocery shopping today, I think. Gonna get outta the house, yo.

Where We’ve Been

Posted on June 8, 2005
Filed Under Blather, Red Sox, daytripping, dining, films, friends, music | Leave a Comment

It’s been a good few days in my world. My good friend Nora (most of you reading this probably know her!) is gracing us with a visit this week. She arrived Saturday afternoon, and we’ve been busy enjoying ourselves since.

Saturday evening we went to see her cousin Samantha’s dance recital in Winchester. We hadn’t been to any ballet–professional, kiddies, whatever–in quite a while. It was neat to see. Samantha is very serious about dance, it seems, and I thought she was quite good. She takes classes at the Boston Ballet school, so we discovered afterward that we are familiar with some of the same ballet people. We also got to finally meet some of the Gallers I’ve been hearing about for years. By putting together different characteristics from various Gallers, especially Nora’s uncle Don, I felt like I could come up with something that looked/sounded a bit like her dad. So it all made sense! Nice people…

We saw some fireworks over a pond in Winchester as we were walking through the parking lot after the recital.

On Sunday we decided to take a crack at going to the Red Sox game. Since the Sox headed out on a road trip on Monday, it was our only chance to try to take Nora to Fenway. We started our day with some Dunkin Donuts coffee and breakfast bagel action (it’s only appropriate), and then headed down to stand in the day-of-game ticket line. We seem to have pretty good luck when we try for day-of-game tickets, and this time was no different. We got the last available tickets before they started selling the no-shows. We couldn’t get three seats together, but we were able to get two good seats behind home plate and one standing room ticket for the right field roof. Once you get in the ballpark it’s possible to move around, and the people sitting near us weren’t in their seats for about 1/2 of the game, so Ezra roamed the park, checked out the right field roof, and sat with us behind home plate. It was a fun game, especially because we won, 6-3. Afterward we made our way over to the North End for some general exploring. We ended up having dinner at a “Mom and Pop place” (Nora’s description) and then stopping in at a soccer-oriented espresso/gelato cafe. We enjoyed our coffees and gelati as Spiderman played on TBS (I think) in the background.

I did a bit of work Monday morning and then Nora and I spent much of the day in Harvard Square. We shopped, she made the necessary shoe purchases, and we got some drinks at Cafe Paradiso. I managed to get through the day without buying much more than a magazine… exercising great restraint, I purchased vicariously. We met Ez at Shilla for a little sushi, and then went to see Faust (the Murnau film) with Cul de Sac musical accompaniment at Coolidge Corner. If you don’t know them (I didn’t), Cul de Sac describe themselves as a noise/atmosphere/psychedelia band. They have provided accompaniment to Faust and other films at venues around the world. I liked the film and the whole experience. And I’m certain I’ve seen one of the band members on the T about 40 times. He must live or work on the Red line.

We were pretty slow to get going on Tuesday… I think all the activity caught up with us and we were tired… and the warm weather didn’t really help. John arrived from Portland around 2:00, and we grabbed some caffeination from the Someday to try to get ourselves moving before heading down to the waterfront for the FNX Best Music Poll party. I had never been down to the Bank of America Pavilion (formerly the FleetBoston Pavilion and before that Harborlights), and I hadn’t been to an outdoor venue in many ages. It was the first Interpol show (yeah, Interpol again) for both Nora and John. I thought they played quite well, but the crowd wasn’t strictly an Interpol crowd, and it’s just a better experience–in my opinion–to see them at a club where they’re the main event. I guess I’ll just have to take John and Nora to see them again sometime. (Yeah, twist my arm.) My fan activity this time was a surprise one. Sam, Carlos, and Daniel did a little signing before their set, and I got their signatures on a beaten-up Antics poster (apparently the last one). I’ve heard that Paul was around, but I didn’t see him and he certainly wasn’t signing anything when I was there. A guy next to me got them to sign a ticket for his small son. Nora relieved Ezra of his fan enabling duties and stood in line with me for the signing while Ez and John got beers.

And that brings us up to today. Nora went into town to meet up with a friend of hers and then headed off to visit family for a few days, so I had an opportunity to get more work in. Hope to see Nora again on Friday… and I might even get to visit with her parents! Haven’t seen them since her wedding.

It’s still hot here. Gah. I hate it. If you don’t know already, you should–I really hate hot sticky weather. I’m not physically made for it. If anything, I’m made for Fall weather. I endure the heat to get to that!

Besides the heat, I am also enduring a frustrating Red Sox game on tv. At least they’re not currently losing. They’re just not scoring yet.

I’m having visions of ice cubes… “I’m melting… melting!”

Nous sommes ici

Posted on April 28, 2005
Filed Under Blather, art, daytripping, dining, family, friends, music, photography, wide world of vacation | 3 Comments

We’re back from France. Needless to say, the trip was fantastic. We have about a zillion and ten photos. So far, we’ve only seen the ones we took on Ezra’s digital camera. I’ll have to take my 6 rolls off to be developed.

2005-04-21 010

We did a lot of walking the whole time. In Paris, we spent lots of time around the Marais, and also walked around the area of the Bastille, Place de la Republique, Latin Quarter, Opera, etc. We skipped some of the obvious tourist stuff. On Wednesday (4/20) we walked through the Marais, visited some parks (Place des Vosges and Jardins Tuilleries), walked up the Champs Elysee (so crowded!) to the Arc de Triomphe, walked around the Centre Pompidou, and picked up our Interpol tickets at the FNAC in the mall at Forums des Halles. On Thursday (4/21) we walked back through the Marais again, and wandered over by Notre Dame and into the Latin Quarter. We went to Shakespeare and Co. and visited with the shop’s resident kitty. Then we went to Maison de la Photographie Europeenne where we saw photographs by Andy Warhol, Gianni Berengo Gardin, and Dmitri Baltermants. Later, we headed off to the Interpol show. I wrote about it in detail on our travel blog, so I’ll just copy most of that here. (If you’ve already read that, skip down!)

[Interpol Paris 4/21/05 show report begins here!] OK. Reading this blog it might seem like I am obsessed with Interpol. However, I just have to say that seeing them at Le Zenith proved that I am not, in fact, obsessed. I can say that because we got to see people who definitely ARE obsessed. The French fans were MAD! I was smashed up in the second row of the pit, and many people around me were SCREAMING and waving and singing along through the entire show. A friend told me afterward that she saw a girl flash her breasts at Paul. Glad I missed that one. I couldn’t see what was going on around me too well after a while because I was pretty jammed in there and couldn’t move too freely!

But I’m getting ahead of myself. So we went up to the music complex where Le Zenith is located around 5:30. It’s quite a nice place–very parklike. When we got to the venue, there were about 6-8 lines set up. Each was 8-10 people deep when we got there. We picked what looked like one of the shortest lines and settled in. It was a really nice evening… sunny and a little breezy and not too hot or cold. I looked around for a few of my message board friends but I didn’t recognize anyone. We could hear the opening band, Spoon, doing their soundcheck. Around 7:00 or so, the security staff started letting people in. There were lots of signs indicating that camera equipment was interdit (prohibited), so we were a little worried Ezra’s camera would be confiscated, but security let him through no problem. The first people in the lines ahead of us ran across the patio area and into the venue. I thought “Why not?” and we ran after them to stake out our spot.

Le Zenith has a large pit or floor area and then probably 50 rows of seats that rise up around the pit and the stage, sort of like an amphitheater. We positioned ourselves roughly in the center/center-right, in the second row of the pit. Food and drink vendors were roaming the small crowd of hardcore fans assembled in the pit and calling out things like, “Vous jeunes filles passionate sont tres soif!” or something… I nibbled on a chocolate PowerBar in preparation for the night’s activity, and Ezra got a sandwich off a vendor.

Two girls standing behind us (one French and one living in London, it turns out) were chatting about various Interpol songs and U.S. cities. After a bit, the French girl said, “Terri?” She turned out to be Alexiel, a girl I’ve corresponded with on the Interpol message board. She was there with Kate, a moderator on the board. They said hello and we chatted a little.

About 6 photographers set up in the area just in between the pit and the stage for Spoon. (Later on, for Interpol, there were about 10.) Spoon took the stage around 8:30. Ezra and I have agreed that they were OK; they played well, but their music just isn’t that exciting to us. The best songs were the really poppy one, which I think might be called “The Way We Get By,” and a cover of a Wire song (I think it was “Lowdown;” that was the best part of their set in my opinion). Daniel stood on the right side of the stage, in black suit and white tie, watching the beginning of their set, and he clapped politely at the end of songs. Then he disappeared. Sam showed up over there next, by the sound guy, snapping photos (as usual). Then he disappeared, too. Then, during “The Way We Get By” (or whatever it’s called), I looked over and saw Paul by the sound guy, smoking, wearing the fedora, and sporting newly dyed bright pinkish-orange hair. I looked back at Ezra, made a face, and yanked on my hair.

42399190.DSC_8516copy.jpg

Then we waited another half hour or so, during which time a great push toward the front gave a sign of things to come. When Interpol took the stage around 9:30, the place went bonkers. The whole show is a bit of a blur… here’s what I recall, in no special order. They played: Next Exit, Slow Hands, Narc, Stella, NYC, Public Pervert, Leif Erikson, Not Even Jail, C’Mere, Evil, PDA, Take You on a Cruise, Obstacle 1, Specialist, and Roland. Ezra and I agree that it was one of the best sounding Interpol shows we’ve seen. Every song was a really good performance. Paul wore a funny little hat that looked like it might have been one of the Interpol “trucker hats.” It reminded me of the little hat Rik wears in one episode of The Young Ones. Carlos was in full romati-goth suit attire. Paul spoke a little bit of French, but mostly English. When he introduced Specialist he said that he wasn’t sure how to say it in French. He blew a smoke ring in (I swear it) the shape of a heart. At the end of Take You on a Cruise he sang “We leave tonight” or something instead of the final “You treat me right.”

2005-04-22 018
Ezra’s pic. I should have taken some since I managed to stay planted at the front throughout the show, but it would have been tricky to pass the camera across the crowd, and I was pretty busy enjoying myself, anyway.

He looked over toward Daniel’s side of the stage and seemed to be asking if he had a cigarette (maybe he was really asking if he had the ebow for Take You on a Cruise). At the beginning of the encore, Sam took Paul’s face in his hands and gave him a kiss! I think he said something like, “Paul, eh?” Very cute. At one point, Daniel got really into whatever he was playing and shot down onto his knees–at least, I assume he was playing on his knees, because I couldn’t see him down there over Paul’s monitor. The between-song fiddling continues to develop. This time at the end of the main set (or was it at the end of Roland?–maybe so) Paul, Daniel, and Sam played this little bit without Carlos that descended into a wash of feedback.

The French fans are moshers, it seems. What this mainly meant for me, at the front, was that I was squashed much of the time, especially during the fastest songs/the singles, and especially during the encore. I told Ez afterward that I should have taken some names, since I thought after that I was probably pregnant. The security guys poured water into the mouths of some of the kids near me. Sam threw out two sets of drumsticks. The first two, after the main set, went toward the front. One drumstick was coming in my direction, but landed in front of the barrier, and the security guys didn’t pick it up for us. The second set he threw way back into the pit after the encore.

I’m told that both Robert Smith and Billy Corgan (sp? –formerly of Smashing Pumpkins) were in attendance and backstage. Didn’t see either of them.

Afterward Ez and I gathered ourselves, got some drinks, and set out on the adventure of finding Truskel, the bar/club were I’d been told the afterparty would be happening. Unfortunately for the tons of concert-goers who were crammed onto the train, the line we were on closed early for maintenance, so we had to seek an alternate route. We did eventually get there.

At first there was a guy blocking the entrance to the room where the band members were hanging out with their friends, but after a while he moved and people could come and go.

2005-04-22 071
That’s the outline of Carlos in that photo… I swear.

While we were hanging around wondering if we’d get in, if some friends I was hoping to meet/had met were in there, etc., Sam and his girlfriend walked up right next to me. They left almost right away, though. Once we got inside, we saw that Kate and Alexiel were in there, along with Daniel (and girlfriend), Paul (in the usual hat and hoodie), and Carlos. I also met the very wonderful Emilie from Toulouse. I know her through the Interpol message board, and I think she also helps run a French Interpol board. She was super nice to both me and Ezra. Glad I met her! She introduced us to her friend Marie Laure, too.

We didn’t talk to the band this time, but that was OK. It was fun just to be there with nice people who were sort of into the same vibe… and everyone was really nice. It still felt like kind of partying with the band, and we had a good time. There were funky lights (see our pictures) and people were dancing. I particularly remember dancing to the Pixies’ “Gigantic” and Kim Wilde’s “Kids in America.” A girl wearing a fedora put the hat on Paul’s head (on top of the hat and hood he was already wearing) and he kind of danced with her, bopping his head up and down.

Daniel left after a bit, and then Paul left, telling a girl standing next to me that he had to go because he had other friends to see. Carlos was still there partying away when we left around 4AM. He must have closed the place down!

When we left the Metro was indeed closed, so we took a cab back to our hotel and crashed our happy partied-out butts. [End Interpol review!]

So, on Friday we woke up late to find a beautiful day and a street market winding down outside our window. We had lunch at the cafe on the corner and then made our way over to the Centre Pompidou. As you may know, I’ve been wanting to go to this museum since I first visited Paris when I was about 13. It’s a pretty big museum, somewhat along the lines of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, but with more emphasis on French artists (unsurprisingly) and some other Europeans. Highlights for me were the room of Marc Riboud and a few Giacometti paintings–also, the outdoor sculptures and fountains.

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Between the lag from the previous night’s partying and all the walking and general museum fatigue, we were pretty pooped. We had dinner at an Italian place in a very cute square in the Marais.

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On Saturday (4/23) we took the Metro over to lower end of Montmartre and visited the Gustave Moreau museum. The museum is in his former home and studio, and it’s just CRAMMED with his works. Then we got some lunch and headed over to Printemps in search of a gift for Kim (yes, we were on a mission!). After an arduous (I’m not kidding!) search, we got a little somethin’ for Kim and a couple little somethin’s for me, and then it was off to Nice on the TGV.

We were worried about getting to the train on time, but we were fine. I was glad we’d reserved seats because the train (all roughly 20 cars of it) was packed. We had a lovely view of bits of French countryside for several hours before it got dark.

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April picked us up at the station in Nice and took us to her apartment in Roquebrune. Her apartment is a charming little place built into the side of one of the cliffs, so she has a beautiful view of the sea.

Our first full day in the south, Sunday (4/24), was strangely grey and windy. We spent the day with April in Vieux Nice, Eze, and surrounding towns. Vieux Nice is pretty and quaint. We had lunch there and then shopped the winding little streets. The area produces wonderful soaps, perfumes, etc. (you know how nice soaps always say that they’re French-milled?), and April took us to a nice shop in Vieux Nice where we purchased some divine smelling bath goodies. Eze is a winding little medieval village high up on a cliff (aren’t they all?). While the weather was windy and not ideal, on the positive side it gave us a view of Eze that many people probably never see, and it wasn’t terribly crowded.

Terri & Ez-- in Eze!
In Eze

On Monday (4/25), Ez and I took the bus into Menton, a nice little town on the sea in between Monaco and Italy. We wandered through the little shops and had a bottle of wine at a pricey little seaside cafe (you pay for the sea!). 2/3 of the way through our wine, the wind picked up and clouds moved in, so we chugged through a bit more wine and headed for shelter. We ended up at an Italian restaurant in a cute little courtyard that served us some of the most delicious pasta we’ve eaten in ages. I must tell you–I had fresh little cheese raviolis with herbs, zucchini, and little red peppers. It was absolutely divine (I can taste it if I think hard enough!). Ezra had delicate little gnocchi with scrumptious little mushrooms. So so good. The skies cleared up not long after we ordered, so after a bit of conversation and digestion (and letting all that wine wear off–we had more with our pasta), we set out again toward a park we’d read about.

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It’s a grove of 1000 year old olive trees just outside the center of the town. I think it’s called Parc de Pian. It’s so quiet and pretty up there, and of course there’s a lovely view.

olive grove 2
The olive grove.

That night we had dinner in Monaco with one of April’s friends, Mike. Mike is a British guy who settled in Monaco a while ago (there’s sort of an English-speaking community there). He manages Formula 1 racing, so we heard a lot about the Grand Prix, how Nascar has done things right business-wise, etc. etc. It’s always interesting to meet new people. The scene in Monaco, even on a Monday night, was something to behold.

I guess here would be a good place to note that Monaco is everything you might guess. It IS the international jet set. It IS Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with Robyn Leach. We went down to a bar called Rascasse (I think) after dinner. It was just starting to fill up, but the wealthy of all nations with their scantily clad ladies were starting to arrive. One little group came complete with their own photographer wearing a leather jacket with a big multicolored star on it.

We were a little tired on Tuesday (4/26). Tuesday was our day in Monaco itself. We started up by the palace and wandered through the gardens up there. The area right around the palace itself is exceptionally touristy, so we pretty much buzzed right through there. We walked down into the port area where we’d had dinner the night before and then met April at the ballet for lunch.

It was neat to snoop around at the ballet. April told us that Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo was formerly the Ballet Russe. Somehow, it all made sense for me when she said that. Their facilities are quite nice (it helps to be funded by a princess). We met a few of her friends there and saw the studio, costume shop, etc. I took a handful of pictures of the ballet on my camera… maybe I’ll post if they’ll come out.

2005-04-24c 042

We have loads of additional photos of the South of France, both from Ezra’s camera and from mine. I’ll have to share more when we get them.

Extra Sexy Pants

Posted on January 16, 2005
Filed Under Blather, daytripping | 2 Comments

Ezra and I went shopping today in Kittery. A couple times a year we decide we’d better don some fresh duds and throw out or give away the faded and hole-ridden pieces in our wardrobes, and we go to outlet land. Today’s expedition was a success. We checked needs off of our list (except I still need new gloves), and I think I managed to say no to the items that seemed like a good idea in the store, but that I would never wear.

Possibly the most fun bit, for me, was when I was purchasing a pair of jeans and the computer screen pulled them up as “EXT SXY BCT”–which I take to mean “Extra Sexy Bootcut.” Woo hoo. And to think I didn’t even know when I tried them on.

Interpol at Lupo’s in Providence

Posted on November 9, 2004
Filed Under Blather, daytripping, music | 2 Comments

I can’t really let this go by without writing about it. I know it’s probably only of interest for some of you out there, but for my own sake, I must comment.

A little background: Back in August I wanted to see Interpol when they toured with The Cure, but I couldn’t go because my parents were in town. Then I discovered that Interpol were playing in Boston on October 11th at Avalon. Ezra and I went and the show was so good. They’re a great live band, and I was quite impressed. So I started listening to both of their albums a lot and I’m totally enamoured. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been this interested in a band. From what I can tell, a lot of people are having this same reaction to them and their music. Almost every song on both albums is really good, and even their so-so tracks are better than most band’s good songs. What I’m trying to say is, they’re consistent, and I’ve been able to listen to their albums repeatedly without ever getting bored.

columbus show.jpg
(OK… that picture is from the Columbus show and we didn’t take it, but it gives you the idea.)

So, Ezra got us tickets to see them again in Providence as a birthday present for me. The show was last night and it was just as good as the Boston show. The sound quality wasn’t as crisp–I think the sound system at Avalon is better, but the band still played very well. Highlights for me were “Public Pervert”, which they didn’t play at the Boston show; “Say Hello to the Angels,” which isn’t even one of my favorite songs, but which sounded so good that it’s been in my head all day; “Not Even Jail;” “Leif Erikson;” and “Stella…”

It seems silly to write about it… you just have to be there. Anyway, if you have any interest in post-punk music of any sort and you haven’t heard these guys yet, check them out. Or email me. I’d be happy to make you a tape/CD or something. Oh, and the whole show was filmed, too, so it will be interesting to see where that footage turns up.

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