Picture of the Day

Ms. Wheelchair Pennsylvania 2006

A List Before I Go To Sleep

1. Reading "The Autograph Man" by Zadie Smith. I didn't want to like it, but I got stuck with it on the ride back to Brighton from Bodiam, leaving a muddy swampy campground and I found the characters grew on me. 2. I decided not to spend any money today so I went to the library after work. I got Akashic's "Brooklyn Noir", which I've spent the last two or three years staring at in Maria's NYC apartment whenever I go to the toilet. This last visit she had a J Crew catalogue for bedding and down-filled comforters lying on the floor next to a modest pile of books. I love Akashic -- I feel like I discovered them first. I also picked up Isaac Bashevis Singers' "Old Love", which is a short story collection. Two books of short stories. I was kinda hoping they'd provide me with some inspiration for the Brighton short stories I know I need and want to write. 3. I'm glad I don't own an ipod -- otherwise I'd wonder one too many times how things like Geto Boys got on my playlist. 4. The people in my office building love commenting on my clothes. Warren G, the solicitor on our old floor, once looked dismayed when I turned up in jeans. "What's happened to the colour?" he exclaimed. The guy who shares his office with no one and runs a construction company laughed when he saw I was wearing a tulip shaped pale blue skirt and a bright yellow t-shirt. "You're optimistic!" he told me, shooting a quick glance out the window. It was the perenial British grey. Later this evening, I went out for a run along the seafront & it was warm, sunny & lovely. 5. Kesh reckons there's more important things in life than Trangia's. I'm wondering if she's wrong, but I know she isn't. 6. After all the hassle of sending in an account of my income for the Inalnd Revenue (or HMRC as it's now known), I've recently been told I have to fill out a Tax Return for 05/06. They didn't send me a guide and I want to cry. I hate doing finances when I'd rather be lying in the bathtub. 7. I went camping over the weekend. It was cool. I loved how we more or less managed to sit in one place all day and not move FOR HOURS. I threw my 15 year old straw hat into the fire on Friday night. Someone broke my stole. A guy played the guitar. There was no soundsystem but there was music. http://www.flickr.com/photos/amyriley/sets/72157600467599783/ 8. I watched "Adaptation" last night -- what a funny film! I haven't seen Nicholas Cage really acting in a film in a long time. Before that I saw "Late Night Shopping", which was nothing to write home about. I still have the 2 disc original "Solaris". I understand it's brilliant but I have a hard time when the dubbing slips in and out of English, then back to Russian, then back to English again. I just need patient. 9. I've stopped saying stupid things at work, apart from doing a quick "woo-hoo" when our manager left for the afternoon. I think something is wrong with me. 10. My hamster is running circles around me these days, which is saying a lot since the little fucker sleeps about 15 hours a day at least -- ah, I've just found him. He's predictable, is Donny. I pulled back one end of my bookshelf and discovered he's made a second home in the space underneath. His new home consists of a few pieces of tissue, some peanuts and treats he stole from his food bag, and a few pieces of random rubbish.

My Ode to Le Name Festival (FR) -- be there or be square!

No time to take off your glitter shorts and sunglasses !

As of September, The Name renews its collaboration with the North of France Council and offers 3 outstanding week-ends.On the 2007 menu : Dj's / lives / vj's / explosive versus / special dj sets / multimedia installations / night sessions in swimming pool / children's afternoon / befores in cafés / after etc ... And The ORB, mythical group recognized as the pionners of electronica house made a long lasting impression on the electronic scene with its breath-taking performances. After years spent away, Dr Alex Paterson and others band founders come back with a new album "The Dream" and a hallucinating live performance. A Dj & Vj contest is opened for amateurs from 7 to 77 ... Get your demos ready and see our website as of July 1st for all details .... Art point M vous M! STAY INFORMED WITH OUR MYSPACE AND OUR WEBSITE : www.lenamefestival.com

LINE UP 2007

Lille : 20/09 - Roubaix : 20-21/09 - Villeneuve d'Ascq : 21/09 Maubeuge : 28-29/09 - Dunkerque : 6/10

DJs The Orb live Ellen Allien Nathan Fake live Damian Lazarus vs. Jamie Jones Pan Sonic live Ivan Smagghe Andrew Weatherall Modeselektor + Pfadfinderei live Radio Slave Fuckpony AKA Jay Haze live Jennifer Cardini Alex Smoke live Chloé Petter live Magda Martin Landsky Audion live Alter Ego live Patrick Chardronnet live & more to be confirmed...

Projection exceptionnelle en avant premiere LAGERFELD CONFIDENTIEL Un film de Rodolphe MarconiFestival de Berlin 2007

Pictures from trip to the States

You'll all be happy to know that I *did* manage to survive the 33 hour journey from Austin to Brighton via New York. How I managed it I will never know. From finding myself in Queens on the E line stop at 2 in the morning to chatting to a groggy Maria at 4 in the morning to camping out in Newark at 6, I never knew if I was in the US or the UK half the time. Despite all of the complicated logisitics, evertyhing went smoothly & I made it back to my house in Brighton fairly well-rested.

Today is sunny, but not near as hot as Austin. My room is a bomb site, I'm going to quietly become addicted to DayQuil (I have a cold), but life is good. Henrik B is playing & I will be at Slackers tonight to get a good dose of broken beats & booty-shaking bass.

Here are a few pics of the 200-something I took while in the States. I'll be putting the rest on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/amyriley/). There's more from the reunion on the SLC site (http://www.slc.edu/alumnae/reunion/photos/index.php) Thankfully, there's no messy ones in there -- but there are loads of me & my yellow t-shirt !!

Unfortunately, I accidentally left my camera in my mom's glove compartment so I didn't get pics of ALL the shenanigans in Austin, of which there were many. Que lastima!

I hope to see everyone in the States if not later this year, then next year. Two more weddings (Jamie in NC & Irina in Mexico). Who knows?

Report from the city that never sleeps

I'm on a tight time schedule, but I thought I'd give a little update on my trip the States. Arrived in Manhattan on Thursday after what was a lot of hanging around Newark, waiting for the luggage to feed through, and then the glamorous bus ride through a smoggy New Jersey transport way. Comforting to see 42nd Street lined from Port Authority down to Grand Central with cop cars (I'm not joking & I'm not serious about being comforted either), I was dismayed to find that it took me 10 minutes to hail a legitimate taxi. The unsolicited offer of getting in a black sedan driven by a guido with a gold chain and sunglasses was not even tempting. Maria & I had a mini-reunion in her apartment, aided with two bottles of nicely chilled rose and big dollops of electro. I managed to get to SLC campus for lunch, feeling a bit hungover. I shared the train ride with a woman from the class of '52 and another woman from the class of '87. Someone told me that my don was in a coma and I felt mournful for a few hours until I learned that it WASNT TRUE. Met more alumni from other years and was adopted by the class of '92 -- perhaps they'll let me be their mascot. I won't go into all the ins and outs of the weekend (cuz it was a long one) but the highlights were:

• "liberating" bottles of wine from the dinner
• being drunk and disorderly during the cabaret
• partying old school stylee outside Westlands
• attending two interesting lectures
• seeing Jackie, Irina, Josh & other old friends
• drinking cocktails outside the UN balcony
• doing booty-shaking moves with professors and teaching older alums how to 'move it'

I was glad when the weekend was over, however, as there's only so much time that's healthy to spend in Westchester (suburbs) frankly. Yesterday, I went to see Lars von Trier's "latest comedy", "The Boss of it All". Uh, has anyone seen all the other comedies made by Lars? The champion of comedy, I think not. (ROFLMAO is the netspeak Maria inserts here.) His treatment of an IT company in Denmark was surprisingly well rooted in character-driven narrative, despite the fact that he was essentially using the deconstruction of comedy as a genre as the overall structure. Yes, that's why the man is brilliant. Sigh. I went to see it at the IFC Center, on 6th Ave & West 3rd St, which I haven't been to in a LONG TIME. They're also showing Gus Van Sant's first feature, "Mala Noche" and Hal Hartley's latest flick, "Fay Grim". So tempted, but I just have to see if I have time. Other planned activities include: German painter Neo Rauch's exhibition at the Met, some smaller exhibitions on the East Side, and the Hip Hop Film Festival currently on the go. Oh yeah, last night I met Sherman Alexie -- what a funny, "is he on speed or is he just a comedic genius" guy! He laughed when Maria explained my wearing a fake fur coat -- "as you can see, she's just stepped off the plane." Apparently, later on in the book signing, a woman came up and asked him, "Has anyone ever mistaken you for Eric Estrada?" Foreheads hit the desk -- he laughed so hard. Sherman's got this great belly laugh, it rings out throughout the whole 4th floor of Barnes & Nobles, which is no small feat if you were to see the size of the place. Tonight is John Updike and I'm (shh!) helping Maria out. Hence, I'm going to get my nails done, take a change of clothes and shower. I went for a run along the East River, which was fantastic. I've decided that every morning I'm going on a run in a different location. Tomorrow will either be Central Park or the West Side Highway park area. Definitely want to do a few places in Brooklyn, ie Prospect Park. Proof I was there (I'm on the right): http://www.slc.edu/alumnae/reunion/Saturday%2C_June_2.php#afternoon