23-24/05/05 Washington DC, New York, NY

The day off
Thank fuck for a day off. For nothing else but that Graham was so unwell. We were all playing amateur doctor and going ‘wheat in the chilli wheat in the chilli’ but he assures us he knows the results of his wheat consumption are not worth thinking about, and therefore that’s not it. Anyway he’s a good bit better today, human at least if not eating very much. As for the rock, well fingers crossed and we’ll wait and see.

So Graham stayed home with Milo guarding him. Dudley made it to Star Wars, didn’t have too much good or bad to say – he’s about the 3rd person to have that reaction that I’ve heard. Don’t think it bodes too well.

Me and Mark went to The Mall area. What a mess-up the city is…we parked. Oh no, permit required. We parked again. Big ass space, car in front, car behind, all very legal, but oh no! No meter at the spot, can’t park there. We parked part 3. Meter present, but non-functioning. Abandon van and some hope. Time to ring our ma’s says he, let them know we’re alive and well. Pick up payphone receivers. No tone. GODDAMMIT DC what are we to think? How can you run a country from here when you can’t provide basic facilities to tourists or citizens. Donny tells me (he is a fountain of information) that the tap water is so bad in the area that they give out free Brita jugs to every home, and 2 filters every 6 months. That’s not really the solution. The recycling facilities are non-existent, I shudder every time I have to throw a can or bottle into the regular bin, its so pointless and unnecessary. Anyway, the great thing about The Mall is the endless Smithsonian museums. All free all the time. Considering MOMA in NY has gone up to $25(!!), they are spoiled in DC for the art and the knowledge. We didn’t have too much time, but we saw that there was a huge Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition on in one, Donny had told us about a ‘history of information’ exhibition that has Big Blue there and a bunch of other stuff that escapes me. Anyway, we headed into the Air & Space Museum, we didn’t have too much time to start searching for anything specific. From the very second you step inside the door it’s a visual assault. There’s a piece of the moon right there and you can touch it. There’s cosmonaut’s rockets, there’s planes hanging from the roof, everything from the Wright Brothers planes to hot air balloons, fighter jets. And the Lockheed Martin IMAX. Wtf? Not showing Bowling For Columbine I’ll bet. We went into the Planetarium section. There was individual multimedia displays for each of the planets in our solar system as well as different space vehicles and pods and landers and craters and canyons and volcanoes oh my! I thought it was a really well laid out museum and especially stimulating for children. That theory was pretty well shot when I spotted a boy walking in front of me glued to his game boy. Great co-ordination though – he wasn’t bumping into anyone.

(Speaking of hand held consoles – saw the South Park featuring the Sony PSP controlling the armies of heaven last night. Genius.)

So we collected Dudley, Jon & Eric from Star Wars then. We were only 20 minutes late – let down twice by Mapquest yesterday. Found out Microsoft own Mapquest so it’s back to Google maps me thinks. Anyway, it was Eric’s theory I think that the street layout and signage is so confusing in DC on purpose, to stop anyone being able to storm the White House by land at any speed. “You’re holding the map upside down!” “You can’t take a left here but the map says you can” “that’s what they want you to think!”
We called round Eric’s house so Jon could pickup his stuff to get back to NY. (They are 2 more on the list of top people I have met this tour. Lovely blokes altogether, we’re staying 3 nights in Brooklyn with Jon so should be fun). Anyway, Eric’s neighbourhood was really gorgeous, so we did find an area of DC that kicked ass.

Took us 90 mins to get the 10 miles back to Donny’s. The heartache that is the mysterious layout of Washington was quickly forgotten when we all piled in the van to go to Kabob Palace. I think the following responses happily inspired the trip out to get food.
Donny: Do you pick meat out of stuff?
Me: No
Donny: Do you eat fish?
Me: No
Why do we have kebabs in Ireland, and kabobs here? Is it something to do with origins – like kabobs are Pakistani, and kebabs are Turkish or something? God it was good food though.

Oh bad thing that happened me just before Black Cat gig – felt spikey thing in mouth, realised top ball bearing thing had unscrewed from my tongue piercing and it was gone down the hatch. So I haven’t been to a piercing place yet, I just have to keep making sure the hole is still there by sticking the remaining bit through every few hours. Not fun. Hopefully after load in at Irving Palace I’ll scoot around and find one. (I’m taking it mum remains in the dark about the existence of this blog or another bad thing will happen) Must call mum also.

Everyone we encounter is a download mentaller. Best new thing we’ve discovered: Nathan Barley. I’ve watched 3 episodes while traveling. It’s bleedin massive.

Peace n fuckin yeah?
Xj