more painting

hello,

 

i went and saw Angelo and he offered to let me stay at his apartment in china town for a while (Angelo was a co-producer on the movie ashes). in exchange i have been painting his walls for him. he offered me money for it but i didn't accept it, i am just happy i can stay here, rent free :) Angelo, being the connected person he is has taken me on a few cool nights out. the first night we go to this small but famous sake bar, there sitting in this tiny restaurant seated at one of the 3 small tables in this place. the kitchen is half in view and is made up of a bench the size of my shoe and an even smaller sink, and a fridge. so we order some sushi and wait an hour while this big Japanese chef delicately slices little fish on my shoe. we order some sake and the three of us; Angelo, atul (an actor on the film and business partner of Angelo's) and i sample the whole bottle and order a different kind of sake. it gives a strange feeling, you know your drunk, but you don't really feel drunk, your not sloppy and stupid, very Japanese.

 

the next night, after a long day of painting Angelo gets us on the list to go to this concert at irving plaza in Manhattan. Angelo knows this guy called Micheal on keyboard, hence why we are on the list and have VIP access. the band was called Skye and the lead singer was the front women for a group called morcheba. they were actually very good with a unique sound and minimalistic lyrics, it was hard to look away from their siron songs. after they finished their set Angelo and i left the VIP area upstairs and went back stage for a beer with the band. Michael was a nice friendly guy and he wanted to experience a bit of new york rather than following his band mates back for an early night. so the three of us went to this renowned restauraunt called moto or muto or something pretencions like that. this restaurant had a fantastic kitchen on display and a very friendly staff, it was filled with trendy rich young professional men and established wealthy couples. it was fairly new so had sex and the city gone on for another season they would have shot a scene here. i got the eye steak fillet. it was incredible, and it came with a verity of freshly grinded herb dipping sauces. the desert was incredible; candied pumpkin shavings on top of rich creamy vanilla ice cream with dark cooked caramel sauce. as it turned out Michael was a very interesting man. he had just been touring with savage gardens front man. had played at a gig with 80,000 fans and was responsible for most of the advertising jingles in Australia, e.g. "no body does chicken like KFC" and the theme music for account affair which apparently alone makes him $40,000 a year in royalties. but i was most impressed when he told me he was the composer for the amazing NZ film, whale rider. he wrote and performed every song in that movie. much respect and good luck to the guy.

 

i saw koala jack yesterday which was nice. i met him on the corner of Central park. filled him in on some of the fun of my European adventure. he is doing great, working at a restaurant in central park which is a top of the charts gig. he is a very good guy and lives well. last night we went to this bar, with Indian/house music, dimmed lights and a hookah pit. this was the setting of our final wrap party for the film so i knew this place well. i met some random and very cool NY doctors who shouted me drinks. i spent much of my night out the front talking to the bouncer; this guy, Jesse was so cool. he was by far the nicest bouncer i had ever met, he wished everyone who left a "pleasant trip home" or a "safe ride" and was never rude to anyone. we discussed many things; eBay, Asia, Europe, Thai chi, fung Sui, the Bronx, skateboards, adventures, NY-LA by car, mushrooms, wind chimes etc... it was a very cool conversation and night.

 

today i have spent much of it on the Internet looking up everything i can about the a-league and Melbourne victory and the FANTASTIC WIN YESTERDAY!!!!!!! i was so stoked that we beat the only team we have never even scored against. not even once in 6 or 7 games. muscat converted a penalty that was created by a great attacking run from Alessandro. the second a good put away by Claudinho. i love football! i recommend you all take an interest :) because it is a great game, scrap that, it is the best thing in the entire world... that's more like it! lets just say that if i had only time to edit a small portien of this blog, you would only be able to read the part about melbourne victory.

 

sincerely,

 

Jake.