Locations
A collection of maps featuring locations that I have been over the years.
Friday 3rd August 2012 out at the IZOD Center at the Meadowlands sporting complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. We took a cab there to avoid missing out on the opener for the show: Marina and the Diamonds who came out and did a few of her tracks from her two album releases. She a delightful ball of energy singing catch pop tunes but is a bit lacking in the dance department. If she works on that it could well be a full package production there.
The night was made for Coldplay though. We were into our second beer by the time the lights dimmed eagerly anticipating the show and the spectacle to unfold before us. We were all a little curios about the wrist bands that had been handed to us at the door too. There were signs displayed to wear the wrist bands and that they would activate during the show. Many people had found various ways to wear the wristbands too.
Coldplay Wristbands side 1
Coldplay Wristbands side 2
Then as just as the lights had finished dimming we saw the whole stadium light up with flashes of green, white, blue, red, pink and yellow as Coldplay made their way onto the stage. They opened with Mylo Xyloto, the title song off their new album and then straight into Hurts Like Heaven where we got to see the full impact of the production that was put into this show. Lasers spilled out from the giant dream catchers on stage, confetti cannons exploded into the air and beach balls were unleashed onto the crowd.
They played what seemed to be hit after hit as if it was a cover band doing a decades “best of” set but this was one band that had come out with so many chart topping hits that it sometimes seems like they’ve cheated or that Chris Martin is some kind of alien from a musically gifted universe where their farts sound like rainbows which is a more believable story.
And then the moment that I had been waiting for all night. Coldplay came out and did a beautifully dignified version of Fix you, my favourite songs of theirs.
Here is the playlist:
- Back to the Future Theme
- Mylo Xyloto
- Hurts Like Heaven
- In My Place
- Major Minus
- Lovers In Japan
- The Scientist
- Yellow
- Violet Hill
- God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
- Princess of China
- Up in Flames
- Warning Sign
- Don’t Let It Break Your Heart
- Viva La Vida
- Charlie Brown
- Paradise
Encore:
- Us Against the World
- Speed Of Sound
Encore 2:
- Clocks
- Fix You
- Every Teardrop is a Waterfall
All in all an amazing concert and one that will make the top 5 concerts that I have been to in my lifetime.
My favourite trance song of the moment. The melody is so pretty!
Name: Freemans
Address: 8 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002
(212) 420-0012
Website: freemansrestaurant.com
Freemans
Date: Saturday 21st July 2012
Ambiance:
The restaurant is tucked away at the end of an alley way so it reminds me of the great little hidden gems you can find back home in Melbourne. Inside it’s cozy with a warm feel created by the wooden beams, flooring and furniture. It seems like a renovated house turned restaurant so there are small rooms that create an air of privacy and intimacy between you and your dining guests.
Service:
The service staff were all very friendly apart from our waitress who seemed to be having a bad day. She wasn’t impolite but didn’t seem very enthusiastic to be at work. The only gripe I had about the service was that as the restaurant was still filling up, the bus boys had nothing to do and so were doing their rounds in very quick intervals and seemed over attentive. One of the bus boys would come around every 5 minutes to check on our water. Now I know I’ve been known to exaggerate at times but not in this instance.
Food:
The food wasn’t amazing but it was nice. Nice enough for a first date or something. We had artichoke dip to start and a steak (filet mignon) on a bed of mash with horseradish cream and caramelised onions and the five cheese mac.
Recommendation:
I would recommend this as a date restaurant or just for a group of close friends to come together for a catch up where you have the space to talk without the noise of New York to contend with but not for the foodies who are looking for New York’s finest.
Name: Gran Electrica
Address: 5 Front Street, Brooklyn, NY
Website: granelectrica.com
Gran Electrica
Date: Wednesday 11th July 2012
Ambiance:
The location was rather unassuming, in what seems like a townhouse located next to the very touristy Grimaldi’s pizza. upon entering you’re greeted with a bar running along the wall and under the stairs the venue opens up into a dining room with several small chairs and tables.
It wasn’t until all my friends arrived and we were shown to our table that I discovered the courtyard out the back. It is probably bigger than the indoor section and had 4 rows of tables with one partition so they were divided 1:3. There were outdoor fairy lights strung up that created a great sense of Spanish al fresco dining. Being a Mexican restaurant I would assume that Mexico would have a similar feel but having never been before I guess I will need to wait a while longer until I can confirm that.Service:
The service was fantastic. The wait staff were all very friendly and smiley with a great mix of attentiveness, professionalism and personality. We had one of the more lively staff whom we speculated was an actress due to her demeanor.Food:
The food was fresh and tasty but nothing that would provoke me to write home about or for it to be the talking point of this establishment. We had 2 rounds of tacos; beef brisket which was fantastic and fish which was battered, served with shredded cabbage and slightly lacking in flavour. A large Tostada to share with some jalapenos had a good kick to it and two mains, one a chicken in a green (perhaps coriander) mole and the other was actually pork ribs which I thought was slightly out of place.Recommendation
I would highly recommend this place for a casual night out with friends during summer but I’m not too sure how it will feel in the cold of winter.
New York City, NY, USA. (2012-07-05)
New York is the most populous city in the United States of America and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. The city is referred to as New York City or The City of New York to distinguish it from the State of New York, of which it is a part. A global power city, New York exerts a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. The home of the United Nations Headquarters, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural capital of the world.
Located on one of the world’s largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, each of which comprises a state county. The five boroughs—The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island—were consolidated into a single city in 1898. With a Census-estimated 2011 population of 8,244,910 distributed over a land area of just 305 square miles (790 km2), New York is the most densely populated major city in the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world. The New York City Metropolitan Area’s population is the United States’ largest, with 18.9 million people distributed over 6,720 square miles (17,400 km2), and is also part of the most populous combined statistical area in the United States, containing 22.1 million people as of the 2010 Census. [source]
Tuesday 3rd July 2012 in the sweltering summer heat, right in the heart of Central Park at Rumsey Playfield and as a part of this years Summerstage, Norah Jones gives NYC (her hometown) an underwhelming and disappointingly sterile performance. Her fans had forked out $57 each for these tickets (more if they needed to resort to stubhub) only for her to come out and play song after song without even a hint of recognition to the audience who had paid hard earned cash to see her live and to hear more than they could get from her CD’s.
Her opening act was probably a good indicator of what was to come. Jim Campilongo Electric Trio were anything but electric. Coming out and playing a droning mix of instrumental country and jazz for 8 minutes per song. The only benefit that he brought to the table was allowing the audience to finish their conversations before Norah took to the stage.
Her songs are definitely not the problem. The sounds was great and amazing to hear some songs from my favourite album of hers; Come away with me. She proves to be a talented artist who’s mastered both piano and guitar but lacks any personality or stage presence which is her undoing. To be able to hear a story or two about what inspired a song she had written or even just any anecdote she could offer from her day would have added so much more value to this production.
I now understand why my friends made snide remarks of Snoorah Jones when I mentioned the concert to them a few months ago. #Yawnfest2012
Setlist:
- Good Morning
- Say Goodbye
- Take It Back
- It’s Gonna Be
- Chasing Pirates
- She’s 22
- All a Dream
- 4 Broken Hearts
- Black (Danger Mouse cover)
- It Must Have Been the Roses (Grateful Dead cover)
- Out on the Road
- Miriam
- Happy Pills
- Painter Song
- Don’t Know Why
- Cold Cold Heart (Hank Williams cover)
- Little Broken Hearts
- Stuck
- Come Away With Me
- Sunrise
- Creepin’ In
Listen here on Spotify:
Name: Pocha 32
Address: 15 W 32nd St between 5th Ave & Broadway
Website: pocha32nyc.com/
Pocha 32
Date: Monday 2nd July 2012
Ambiance:
This place looks strange. Metal round tables line the walls in two rows. These tables are metal tops sitting on top of what looks like a metal beer keg. There was fish netting hanging from the low ceilings with the paper chopstick wrappers threaded through in some areas and bottle caps attached in others. The walls were littered with graffiti but not the big artistic type but rather graffiti’s adolescent sibling; tagging. Done with trademark Sharpie “marker” with thought provoking sentiments like “Mike was here”.Service:
Poor. The place was pretty empty being a Monday night and still the waiters would rather stand around talking to them than serve us. There was no water offered for our table and when it came time to pay the check I had to flag down someone to take my card after it sat there ignored for 10 minutes.Food:
Average. I had the Korean Ramen which was most likely a packet of instant ramen with some veggies thrown into it. Seafood scallion pancake was good but we couldn’t find anything else on the menu that tickled our fancy. Listing side orders of “lemone” for 25c isn’t considered expanding the menu in my books.Other:
They request that you pay your tip in cash. Firstly, that service was so shocking that I felt reluctant to tip at all let alone with your preferred method. Tip halved for my inconvenience and your incompetence.Recommendation:
No. Thumbs down. 1 Star. Whatever system you want to use… just no.
Hello family, friends and people who figured out that my email is also my domain and are trying to stalk me. I’ve upgraded the security setting on my site now and my Daily Diary is now restricted content. You need to register as a subscriber and log in to view this content which will allow me to block your stalking ass if I need to.
So I am making an attempt to restart my blog again now. I’ve stopped in recent days (for nearly 6 months now) because I’ve been concerned about what some people might find on here including employers etc. Rather that let that effect (or affect, I still don’t know the difference) I have updated the security settings on my blog so that all that is now hidden.
If you want to get access to my old diary entries, you need to register to become a subscriber.
I’m also going to try to start taking photos again as all my gear is starting to gather dust.
I have been keeping notes on my actions since then so one day I might slowly try to backdate this blog so that my entire personal journal is here.
Photos from Split, Brac, Hvar, Korcula, Makarska, Slano, Mljet, Dubrovnik, Croatia (2011-06-12 – 2011-06-21)
Croatia (/kroʊˈeɪʃə/ kroh-ay-shə; Croatian: Hrvatska pronounced [xř̩ʋaːtskaː]), officially the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska), is a country in Central Europe and Southeastern Europe at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, and the Adriatic Sea. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. Croatia is crescent shaped, partly surrounding Bosnia and Herzegovina to the southeast. Croatia borders with Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, partly surrounds Bosnia and Herzegovina to the southeast, and has a comparatively small border with Montenegro to the southeast on the Adriatic coast, south of Bosnia and Herzegovina. [source]
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