Please stand clear of the doors

"Please stand clear of the doors" or so says the London Underground. Maybe the DART also says that. But the New York subway does not for sure. I had the pleasure to ride the Subway last week. It was an experience. My first encounter involved a large man and a small latino lady having a blazing row in the queue for the tickets about who was next in line. I did not want to point out that it was in fact ME. They both skipped me. The Large black man, jumped the queue first, but i let him do so, as he was in a hurry to go home. The latino lady however, came out of nowhere at the last minute and so it kicked off. Contrary to the normal reaction, I loved this. I said to myself "I have landed, this is the big apple" Alas, the rest of my subway experience was very uneventful. I was told to try and watch out for rats, as they don't make them like that anywhere else. I seen one, who looked more like a mouse.
The subway was jut one of the many new experiences I want to share with the world. I had an amazing time, and my week in NY has ignited a desire to more my life to such a place. While I did the tourist things such as gawk 'open mouthed' at the size of the buildings, get dizzy at the top of the empire state building, pay my respects at the WTC site, and eat a ht dog off a grubby street vendor. I also like to think I lived the life of a New Yorker. I ate in the places the locals eat. I went to the local places, and steered clear of the tourist trap restaurants, bars, and sites such as madam tausads.
I did however, do a lot of photography, there really is some great shots to be taken there. I am torn about whether this is a touristy thing or not. I view it as artistic, however, the shots may not be up to that standard.
All in all the whole Big Apple experience was amazing, so much so that I can not settle back down into Irish PhD life.

Till next time

An Evening with the Glimmer Twins

So I braved the elderly and the rain and attended this years concert in the small country castle in Slane, Co. Meath. The day was over cast, and the ground muddy. I did not know what to expect when I entered those gates at Slane Castle. My first site I thought was a multistory car park in the middle of a field surrounded by tiered seating. My mind could not imagine or comprehend the enormity of this so-called stage. It was reminiscent  of U2's Popmart Stage, but this was on a far greater scale.

The support acts themselves were not going to light my fire. I love The Charlatans, but they did not have long enough to put in a proper show, the looked lost on the vast stage. The crowd were a real mix match, coupled with the elderly who remember The Rolling Stones playing Slane 25 years ago were the young who were barely alive or not even thought of then. The atmosphere was electric with anticipation. I was feeling tired and sore from the trek through the streets of Slane and the mud of the field, but at 8pm i felt this wave of energy rush from my mud soaked shoes up through my legs to my damp head of hair. I was alive and knew I was in for a show of a lifetime.

I am not too knowledgeable of the Stones back catalogue, I know the hits and own a number of their albums, 'Let it Bleed' and 'Exile on Main St'. I knew they play mostly the hits and the best known songs, so I was not to worried of being left standing there, while the crowd are jumping and cheering to some obscure b-side from their second single off their third album (what ever that may be, answers on a post card). They are real showman, and they put in a high energy show for the best part of 2 hours. I was blown away. It is impossible to describe the show, but I shall try. They had fire works, explosions, giant screens showing Jagger strut and prowl the stage like the king of the lions. They had Richards pouting and throwing guitar shapes, you had Woods looking like he was drinking up the atmosphere (he is t-total now, so he needs a new tipple), and Watts all the time keeping the beat.

1 hour in to the show you had the roadies push Charlie Watts Drum Cage (best description) out towards the front of the stage, then all of a sudden the stage lifts itself up off and starts to move towards the centre of the big natural arena, while the Stones are playing, it truely is one of the most amazing things I have seen. However when they stayed out there for a further 3 songs, I felt left out. I should have mentioned that I was front row central almost, so to only see the back of them playing to the rest of the 800000 masses was frustrating. Nonetheless they returned to centre stage and played a further few numbers. 

All in all, this is one of my greatest experiences, they may not have the youth, they may not have any recent hits or quality new material, but you can not argue that they put of an extravagant show and they give it their all. An evening very well spent in my opinion.

Now Gimme Shelter