Hail! Hail! Rock’n'Roll!

There are several things that I have an obsession with, and they’ll all be dealt with accordingly over the next few weeks. But the first one is music.

Last night, I fulfilled a dream that I’ve had for several years- I finally got to see Chuck Berry, a guitar hero that I’ve moaned about to most people, and the fact that he never seems to play the UK. And, by a complete coincidence, he was playing here during our stay- at BB King’s Blues Club, no less. I had to go.

First of all, stepping into the venue was a major disappointment. The decor was lovely, but rather than finding myself in a gig venue, I was in a restaurant (with a minumum spend of $10). After being seated with my back to the stage, I then ordered the cheapest thing I could find on the menu- a $18 plate of nachos. Hmmf.

Then, Chuck Berry came on.

Wow.

Chuck isn’t young. He’s 81, but still has enough energy to blow away most artists a quarter of his age. Opening with Roll Over Beethoven, he blistered through a hit-laden set, taking in a few blues covers along the way. You Never Can Tell, Johnny B. Goode, even My Ding-a-Ling. They were all there.

That’s not to say his age isn’t starting to show- he confessed after a shortened version of Maybelline that he can no longer keep up with it for all of it’s two verses. But his voice is still there, and he can sure as hell still play guitar.

John Lennon once said that if you were to call Rock’n'Roll by any other name, it would be Chuck Berry. Seeing him live, even in his old age (and despite the venue), will become one of my most treasured memories.

M&Madness.

M&Ms. They’re small pieces of chocolate, and they come in little bags. Nothing more, right?

Well, not exactly.

On our first foray into Times Square, we stumbled upon it’s newest acquisition: M&Ms World.

Frankly amazed that there could be an entire world devoted to tiny pieces of chocolate, we paid a visit to see what exactly was inside- three whole floors of M&Ms-related merchandise, ranging from T-shirts (mostly starting from XL- go figure) to toys, to earrings, to, erm…

Most amazing of all, though, is the pick’n'mix.

Not content with the traditional five colour range, you can pick and choose your own mixture from a whopping 22 different colours.

You have to wonder who the hell came up with this idea- it’s absurd. It’s ridiculous. But, bizarrely enough, it’s working. It was absolutely swamped, and is probably making a fortune.

Why didn’t I think of it first?

Hello from Kiri

Hello!

I thought I should make an entry, just so you know that Chris isn’t here on his own. So, first impressions of New York… it is not as cold as everyone has told us it would be. This may be due to a wealth of warm socks and hats that we stocked up on over Christmas (thanks guys). But I think it is mainly because all the tall buildings block out the wind, so you just get this really fresh crisp air, which is great to breathe in.

There are lots of American flags here. Not as many as I remember (losing faith in George Bush I hope), but they are on the ambulances, and the guys who drive them look very proud and serious (as I suppose they would if they were about to do something dangerous). But it makes them look like they are pretending, or are part of some parade. Americans to the rescue! That sort of thing. There is also a great use of the word ’serve’ in slogans about the place, which I find slightly disconcerting. The railway ’serves with pride’, and the airport’s three targets are ‘vigilence, service, and something else which sounds equally authoritarian.’ Still, it’s nice to see that the people aren’t really listening to these mottos, cue our friend at immigration. He did a brilliant impression of what the British do when they go to a foreign country….if they don’t understand you, just speak louder.

But enough of that, you want to know about the city. Have you ever looked inside your computer and seen those green electronic boards with all the chips sticking out of them? Well that’s what New York looks like….only much bigger, and without the green. It’s like Piccadilly Circus, but goes on for miles and miles. Streets and streets, and corners, and more streets. And it goes up and up and up. Tall buildings and flashing glittery lights aplenty. Advertising and tv screens, and then more big things. And it keeps going like that for a very long time.

It’s fabulous, and I love it. Though it is probably responsible for killing the planet.

Hope you are all well and enjoying life back home.

kiri. xxx

Welcome to the United States.

So, having made it to JFK International Airport only 15 minutes late, we were shattered and just wanted some sleep. Instead, we had to go through ‘immigration.’

The immigration process is a bit scary. It’s survival of the fittest (having stepped out of a tin can after 9 hours, the last thing you want to do is queue up for another hour), and requires you to be fingerprinted digitally. But, it’s alright. There’s posters up saying that you’ll be treated ‘with respect,’ and that your immigration officer will be polite to you.

“Are you staying here or in transit?”
“I’m sorry…?”
“ARE. YOU. STAYING. HERE. OR. IN. TRAN. SIT!!!!”

Charming.

It has to be said, though, that after being taken for complete idiots, everyone else does seem to be quite nice. Our apartment is huge, and the city’s quite lovely.

It’s also sufficiently mad. Upon leaving the airport, we had to take the AirTrain, a DLR-type train with no driver, and no operator, either. It’s utterly amazing.

Pity they don’t mention anything about paying for it until you get off, though…

Arrival.

It’s late, it’s cold, and it’s taken two and a half hours to get from JFK to our hotel, which is only down the road.

I’ll start this blogging thing properly tomorrow. But point is, I’m here. Whey!