In A Big Country...

Dreams stay with you
Like a lover's voice fires the mountain side...
Stay alive...

Well, OK, I've stayed alive 3 days already... Woo Hoo!

And what have we been up to so far? Well, just after an 85°C touchdown @ JFK we took a drive through the heart of Manhattan and what's the first thing on a Brit's mind when he's with his beloved? That's right - BEER.

We stopped at "The Manchester Pub" and grabbed some grub and a pint - don't worry I didn't touch any of that Boddingtons rubbish, had to have a Newcastle Brown Ale :D Not the same when you haven't got the bottle or a half pint glass...

Oh, and after getting change at the bar for the parking meter, right outside the pub, BBFK went out to feed the machine... and when she didn't come back after 5 minutes I started getting worried... had she been towed again? I called the phone. No answer. I was gonna step outside when she came in the front door of the pub - from completely the wrong direction... she'd been told not to park in the bay and headed off to park in some expensive NYC basement carpark (that incidentally charged 750 bucks for parking of "exotic cars" :o )

Then we flew down 42nd Street and then nav'd our way back to Connecticut, got unpacked an set-up the laptop for remote working (about 3,500 miles remote)

Saturday we watched the new Tim Burton flick, the Corpse Bride, a most excellent movie... then in the evening we hit Keyspan Park, the baseball stadium home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, where White Stripes were playing. We got out a bit late, missing the first support band, but managed to get there just as The Shins struck their first chord and managed to get an earful of "Know your Onion"... so that was the main reason BBFK was there - to see the Shins, and she was happy :)

As for the White Stripes - I saw 'em on TV playing Glastonbury and was amazed at how much noise two people could make... so to see 'em live with the most crystal clear sound I've heard in ages was astonishing... the bird can sure beat those skins but Jack White knows how to throttle that guitar with demonic expertees... and the crowd went wild.

We ended up making friends with a number of random people around us, but NOT, I repeat NOT the two frat boy jerk-offs who were so overtly animated they were a parody of a parody of movie frat boys... LOL

Sunday we shopped and shopped, saw an 8 foot tall snow scene, watched movies (the Aviator) and learned a little of that intriguing Howard Hughes character. No offence to Mr Scorcese, but he only touched upon the life of that bizarre man... And the weekend finished with a stroll down the beach, getting to know the Long Island Sound, watching lighthouses, looking at not-too distant islands, with the promise of buried treasures...

Oh, and even after 3 days and she STILL hasn't kicked my ass...

How was your weekend? :)