no sleep

hey all,

still in london, going to try and get to paris today or tomorow. i looked around and decided against the train and the plane as it is around £100, instead going for the scenic route on the bus for £30. have been going to bed at like 7am or later every bloody night - it's crazy. the other night i had dinner with Zoe Tryon; steve's ex girlfriend. i havent seen her for like 7 years or somthing. so i turn up to her fantastic apartment and meet some very nice people, including Zoe's sibblings. we had a wonderful dinner and i had a great chat with her brother Ed who is a legend. he sells homes to football players like Crespo, Shevchenko etc...

last night was interesting: i thought i was going to leave yesterday so i dident rebook a room at the hostel. so after drinking at the bar it's 4:30 so i decide to have an early night but i have no place to sleep, but jake being the resourceful guy that he is makes do. it i so hot at nights in the hostel so most 14 bunk dorms leave there door open, so i walk from one to the other to see if there happens to be an empty one... all full. so i walk around and find this little room with videos, broken beanbags and lots of other random stuff. only problem is that it is next to this room, which has some sort of genereator which is loud and makes alot of heat. by 7am i still cant get to sleep so i get up and have the complimentary breakfast they offer. played some pool and sharked this dreadlocked aussie guy who dident sleep either. now it is 11:15am and i'm pretty tired but i am not going to sleep as i need to get my sleeping pattern back. discarded pizza boxes are an inexpensive source of cheese.... kidding.

jake.

Amsterdam

:D

 

this is one rocking city. arrived here from london yesterday night at around 10pm. had no accomadation booked. got of in the centre of the city, known also as something about red, or some district named after a colour i dunno :P i found a dorm so it's cool. this place is awesome. i dropped of my bags and went to a coffeeshop to chill out, then went to a bar and met some spanish born amsterdamn guy with slicked back blonde hair named ronaldo, we hung out for a while, then i went walking and got some food, had a look around. it is crazy here. it reminds me so much of venice with all the canals.... just with out the rules. got semi attacked by some coked up black guy, they start by asking for the time then try and talk nice to you, then they... well this one guy at least grabbed my arm and i guess in an attempt to perform capuera started trying to do this weird leg trip/kick. i shouted to his face a prophanity and told him to get off me, he did i was more worried about his circling friends, anyway it was fine it turned out ok although he and his mates did follow us for a while, we lost them then they saw us later and followed us some more. i guess the rick is to yell really loud or be really angry because they can allways try and rob an easier target, buti after being here for a night i guess i am an easy target, by my self, not a big guy - doesent help, but dont you worry guys and girls, jake will be fine. oh yesterday i got kicked out of the hoste l in London for sleeping in the storeroom, it was so comfortable with like 15  beenbags to lounge on, i guess that is why they allways check that spot at like 6 in the morning. so after 2 hours sleep and zero hours sleep the night before i was on the street with my bags. but i realised the night before i had left my cammera with the t ourist shop lady inside the hostel, so like a covert ninja i went inside evading and blending in and retrieved my cammera..... then lay down on the couch and slept for a few hours :D well i am of to go do something fun, or find a cool place to see,

 

much love, from amsterdam. oojlk kelooil jasaasl keejk (i dont know what that is but their language is crazy..

 

 

oH!! i forgot to tell you, i bought a rail pass so i am going to go to germany, switzerland, italy, france and spain for only 275pounds, so much cheaper than flying and the views are amazing i hear, especially through switzerland, crazy!!! but i dont want to leave amsterdam just yet. my destinations might change but that is the plan so far. munich, sttutgart, milan, nice, marsaille, barcelona, ibiza (if time permits) madrid, bordaux, paris - then london, ny, LA - MELBOURNE! i love it.

 

jake.

More from London

I got of the train at earls court, looked around but couldn't find any hostels/available. I called up my mate (whom I met in NY) and told him I was here- had 2 seconds left on the phone and he said to meet him at Tottenem something. So, T go to T Court rd. and lucky enough I see him there. We have a beer and catch up.

Anyway, I ended up staying with him for the first three nights, went out with him and his emo mates to some hardcore rock club called... Rock. It was pretty cool, had to adapt my dancing a little. We almost got into a fight with some punk/ skinhead morons.

Now, I am staying at The Generator. 848 people- has it's own club with 1£ pints and a hot tub... with more aussies than in Melbourne. I have allready met dudes who went to Wesley. It isn't too pricy here. I had dinner last night for £4, went with this aussie girl. Chips, beer and beefburger for 4£ is pretty good, I thought. I had an early one last night, got to bed at 10, needed to recharge hardcore.

Tonight i am paying 9£ for this deal at the hostel. We go to 3 clubs, one free drink and we get VIP access so we dont have to wait in lines... I doubt there will be any lines and I doubt I can get a free Fosters, prolly a green king ipa, but good way to meet more people (yes, sorry to report i have started drinking Fosters). I can't believe nobody told me that english girls were so hot!!! I was really expecting average central but, my god, there are hot girls everywhere! I had some good nights at the South Watford local - The George with Piers and his friends.

I am going to look around the net for some good deals on trips to Greece, Spain and France- I might find someone to road trip it with on gumtree.com haha that would be sweet. I just can't believe how many Aussies there are, a few of them are cool... but a lot seem like the children of the big fat Aussies that go to Kuta in Bali and are loud obnoxious and... ok relax.

jake.

London, yo.

For my last night in NY I went to dinner with Ajay, Heather, Atilla, Laset, Angelo etc... then about ten of us went out and got drunk for my last night. It was good. After we left there I stumbled into Roosevelt island, waking Lyndi and Heather up at like 4:30am or somthing like that.

So now I am in London, in Earl's Court. I've been looking for a hostel but cant find any. So I gave up momentarily to have my first "legal" drink in months. I'm going to give my mate Piers a call soon and hopefully hit the town tonight pretty hard...

Wow, i am in Europe :D The flight was pretty easy, only 7.5 hours. I have Zoe's email so I am hopefully going to get to see her in the next little while. (Zoe was steve's girlfriend years ago, she's a great woman!) I am very hungry and am looking forward to taste testing the English version of KFC. I hope I find a place to stay tonight. I'm pretty jet lagged but I will push through it.

much love,

Jake

2 days to go

Hey, hey.

So, I'm off in a couple. I had a great night the other night: Junior, Kristen, Heather, Lyndie and I left a bar and jumped into a limo parked out the front, $100 so $20 each. It's an hour-long ride and you get as many drinks as you want, then we went back to Roosevelt and partied till like 10AM - it was a sweet night.

Last night, I went to a BBQ out in Queens with Atilla, Tiago and Leset etc.. met lots of cool Brazilian people. As I was right next to the bridge to Roosevelt, I went over there to visit the crew. I had to go with Heather deep into Queens because she had to go collect some stuff from this guy she didn't like, so I went with her. We got lost and the taxi driver had no clues, and the trains took us to the wrong places. Finally, we find the guy's place at like 2:00AM, did what we had to do there, and I arrived back in Lower Manhattan by like 3:30AM.

The last three nights I've been staying at Angelo's while he was in Atlantic city. Angelo is a cool guy and was the Co-Producer of Ashes. If- after Europe and the planned LA film, I'll come back to NY and I think I might make some trips to Boston, Chicago and Atlantic city- sounds like fun? I love road trips... though I've never really been on many.

I would post pictures, but in NY there are only Apple Macs and I don't think.... not good enough Jake! I will get batteries and I will load my photo's up for people to see.

The job I did a while ago for yahoo music is now on the net. go to www.pepsismash.com Damn! I just checked it and the new "street buzz" has been made and has replaced the one I worked on and had a little cameo in ;)

I am sooo hungry, so i am going to go find that great little Caribbean diner and have some eggs.

Jake.

...booked my flight

Well, I officially booked my flight for london, i leave in a week. I will be there for approx one month. The great thing about it is Ryanair.com flights around europe are like $15 including all taxes and surcharges- so I might decide to go to France, Spain, Ibiza, Amsterdam etc... :D it is going to be crazy. Atilla is back in NY so I might see him today. Since leaving Ajay's, I have been moving around, couple of nights at the tapedeck, Lyndie's and Steve & Sarah's up in Harlem...

My friend Tyrone arrived back in NY yesterday from Detroit and he is staying in the Bronx, I haven't been there yet so I might have to check it out.

In Soccer related news, Melbourne Victory bought a third Brazillian player. So, we have a full line up and we are looking very strong. I know Olivia Richards is in London- anyone else I might know in Europe??

jake.

the tapedeck

hey hey!

Well, since moving out of ajays i have spent the last two nights at Nisian's with Koala Jack. The first night we went out to this fancy bar, club called tribeca grand. We met up with some people and had a good night - took people back to the tapedeck (Nisian's) and chilled on the roof.

Last night, I went to my mate Brian Tucker's going away party, he was a producer or similar on "Ashes" and is going back to Dublin so he had a roof top party, it was pretty good.

World Cup Wrap Up

Wow! what a game. I can't believe it! Zidane!! I just can't believe he ended his career in such a stupid fashion. this could have been a fantastic finish to an amazing career but instead he goes out like an idiot, I would have held him up there with Franz Becenbauer and Pele, but now... maybe he is on a Eric Cantona level. I gotta go- the computer is in hot demand!

Last night in the directors chairpad

The man himself, ajay naidu. tomorow he gets back with his girlfriend, heather burns:


So, I am back out in the mix. I'll be ok as I know many people now who I am sure won't mind having me for a couple of days here and there... I hope.

On the plus side, Attila is comming back from LA on sunday- great! He's a champion.

A couple of nights ago, Angelo ("Gelo") the guy who connected Steve and I to the film, and one of the cultural icons of lower manhattan (no joke) got me on the vip list for this great club called Avalon. It is in this huge church with two different rooms, hip-hop room and the techno room. There's nothing like walking through the velvet ropes, looking back at the huge line of people you just walked past- haha!. Also, Gelo gave me some free drink cards- so it was even better.

They look after me pretty well over in NY. I played some street basketball on Roosevelt Island which was fun, I have no fitness though!

Last night I went out to Brooklyn with Josh for a concert. The Broken Social Scene played and they were pretty good. Of course, we didn't pay $30 to get in, we just chilled with the other bums on the outside of the fence. The gig was in this big park called Prospect, kind of like the botanical gardens but it had nothing on the BG! It was really nice though to get out of the buildings for a while and lay down in amongst the trees and plants and watch the sunset and hear the music - it was very chilled out. I am thinking about going back their tonight as there is a reggae band playing and I think hearing that in the middle of Brooklyn that would be a cool experience, but I have to clean up Ajay's apartment, and make it all nice, then I am meeting someone at like 11:30 so I am not sure if I will go.

Brooklyn is pretty cool. I saw lots of spinning rims, baggy red shirts and loud music. oh and the best part was seeing these four old black guys playing dominoes on a little home made bench outside a deli. The fourth of July was a couple of days ago and steve, koala jack, and I went to this party in midtown with a fantastic view for the fire works. it was a pretty god party, i saw heaps of people I hadent seen for a few weeks, which was cool.


After that we went to this really exclusive expensive hotel/club/bar etc.. called The Hudson. Sarah- along with five of her friends(all of whom I met at the wedding)- used woth work at The Hudson, so they showed me around, Steve and I played pool against some rich father and son and we lost- was all my fault. I was happy to even just hit the right ball after a while... free drinks.


Tomorrow is Saturday night... I think I'm gonna have to party. I have been skateboarding all around the city the last few weeks- ever since my bike was stolen. I just dont want to fall of the board because one way you hit a parked car, the other way you hit a moving-towards-you-car, haha... Though it's not so bad- you don't need to worry yourself Dad.

Oh, my iRiver broke a couple of weeks ago, the bottle of drink in my bag opened while I was riding. it sucks, I have no music :( I go a little crazy with out music, but never in my life have I listened to as much music as I would like!)

Dad, can you please go to sam's house and let him know about my email and blog? I didn't see him before I left.

Friends-wise Could Clare (or someone) please give my blog address or email to people like Zak, Rowen, Bettsie, Aimee, Kat, etc.. as I would hate to fall out of contact with people. The night before I left to go to NY I was driving to Tom's to pick up something I left there and I went past zak's but he wasn't there...


(great story jake, great intrigue)

The Streets

We got the tickets! It was a great night! The gig was at Webster Hall- a special night as it was the last night of their longest ever tour. Hundreds of people... The crowd was loud- going crazy by the last song. I know most of my friends love the streets and I thought about them a bit when I was there.

Yesterday was insane; Steve calls me in bed, just before ten telling me to come and help him move apartment. I was out at Roosevelt Island so got a train back down town. Steve, Koala Jack, and I were moving Steve and Sarah's possessions from downtown Manhattan to Harlem thomasr: about 130 blocks . Sarah's old apartment is on the fifth floor, and there is no elevator, so we spent ages moving boxes and large furniture up and down the stairs. We had a small truck/large van and filled it to the brim, with each piece of furniture wrapped in hot furniture wrapping material. The roof of the van was made of plastic so the light and heat simmered the furniture, and me. Of course, there was not enough room upfront for Jake- no, no Jake had to sit in the back of a mobile sauna (without the nice refreshing feeling) So for 20 mins I sat there bouncing around hoping that the bookshelf wouldn't fall on to me from on top of the tea-chest.

I kept my self entertained for the full hour of this first leg of the trip by guessing whether the pool of sweat accumulating at my right elbow would beat the pool at my left. Outside it was around 31c with high humidity - inside, probably around 42 with humidity. There was no air, I'm not certain if the truck was airtight, but if it was filled with water it would take maybe two days for the water to drain out, so breathing wasn't exactly easy. Thirty 30 mins into the trip I was down to my underwear. An hour later we get to Harlem, the engine turns off, the back door opens up and this huge rush of freezing air comes in. It wasn't actually cold but 31c feels like 5c after a ride in a moving truck up through the streets of Manhattan out to Harlem. It took out a lot of my energy but we got right into it moving the boxes up, this time, only two flights of stairs... OMG I just realised- it was four story's up- just with only two flights of stairs, so they were longer. Once we had carted everything up the stairs, we got back in the truck. This time the back was completely empty so I couldn't rest against anything, so for the next hour I am bouncing around the back of the truck in my underwear! The Van's engine is right under the floor of the back so the only thing in the back that was not as hot to sit on were the furniture wrap covers, I think they were made of a mixture between wool, polyester and nylon.... and MAGMA. So, we finally stop back at Sarah's old place; the door comes up, and there I am sweating like crazy in my underwear- as one of those buses where there is no roof so tourists can get a good feel for the city comes by...

What could I do but wave?

we spent the next few hours moving the last of Sarah's stuff into the truck... and when I say the last it was actually more than the first trip, it barely fitted into the truck.

The guy who was helping us on the first trip- Theo- had quit for the day, so I got promoted from the position of "Mexican" to "up front rider". We drive up to Harlem again and spend what was left of our energy hauling more large furniture and boxes up the stairs. Finally it was all done at about 1:30AM- 15 hours from when we began. We drank a beer and marvelled at the magnitude of our accomplishment. I thanked Steve for letting me have use of his sauna and for the great workout - free of charge too- unlike every other gym in the city!

Then I departed back to Ajay's apartment, where I am staying now while he is in Chicago and LA. My body is pretty sore today, but I had a great nap in between world cup games today- Italy and Germany got through. gooooooooooo Nicaragua!!!!!!!