London Attacked

I really don't have a lot to say on this. . .most of you will have received my mass email stating I am alright. I live two hours away so I am not directly effected by this tragedy. Birmingham, the second largest city that I live just outside of, is also under watch for further bombs. All I really can think to say is how impressed I am with the people of Great Britian for their stoicism and courage to not let these events hinder our daily lives any more than it absolutely has to. I am proud to be living here at this time, with so many other great things happening in this country and in the world.

Another New Home

Here is my new house!



This is the view from the front of the house. You can see quite a bit of countryside; this picture doesn't quite do it justice.



This is our sunset view from the front.



This is our back garden. There are all sorts of flowers and it seems something different blooms everyweek. There are also some herbs already growing in the garden. It needs a bit of weeding and clean up but still looks beautiful with everything in bloom.
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Happy Independence Day!

It is funny how many people over here were aware and mentioned the 4th holiday to me today. I came into the office with a handdrawn flag and a sign saying up with the rebels on my desk from my colleague Alan this morning and numerous people mentioned it to me throughout the day. I never really gave it much thought except for the fact that I should be off work today! Stacy and Brianna decided we should have a BBQ for a little celebration. We invited all the Americans who are here but it ended up just the three of us (and one Brit). We managed to get American as possible with bbq chicken, potatoes, apple pie and of course, Budweiser (which, as an aside, I recently found out the original Bud comes from Chezc Republic and the American co. stole it). It wasn't the most pleasant weather for grilling outside but we managed to talk the sky into giving us enough time to cook the food and have a nice little 4th of July celebration here in England.

Here we have Stacy trying to keep the grill going in the drizzle while I supervise.
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LIVE8

We headed to London Friday and went to see Fame the night before. It was probably the worst theatre production I have ever been to but we had a fun night in the bars before and after. I had a great picture of Martin, Jackie and their friend Jason but somehow lost it on my computer.

We headed for the park around 10:30/11:00AM. Here was the crowd before the show before everyone got in. Most people brought little picnics and stuff to sit on and took breaks between sets. Jackie and I agreed we were a little less prepared than we would normally be but it didn't effect our good time.

The show started with Paul McCartney singing Sgt. Pepper's. "It was 20 years ago today. . ." referring to the last LiveAid. He had horn players in the uniforms of the Sgt. Pepper album cover. He was joined by U2 and Bono sang along before they took over to sing "One" and a few other songs.

The guys from Little Britian came out to do one of their routines and introduced Elton John

Elton John was okay. . . I was not as impressed as I thought I would be, I think because of the songs he sang. For his last song they sang "Children of the Revolution" originally by TRex and was joined by Pete Doherty (originally from the Libertines) and that boy was not looking good.

Coldplay was the next on and they were wonderful!

Before Michael here, Dido was on. I have never given her much of a chance but I really liked her. She was then joined by singer Youssou N'Dour who was amazing. REM put on a great set but I got the feeling some of the Brits surrounding me weren't so keen on them.

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LIVE8 continued. . .

Throughout the day we also had Keane, Ms. Dyamite, Snoop Dog, and introductions with Kofi-Anan and Ricky Gervais (I never thought those two men would be in the same sentence!) Bob Geldof popped back on stage and said he was so thrilled he had to sing a song. He pleased the crowd with his "I don't like Mondays."



This one's for you Don! Travis brightened the stage with their delightful melodramatic pop that we love so much!

Then the next surprise. Brad Pitt came out (with bleached blonde hair) to introduce Annie Lennox. I didn't get any pictures of Annie because I was mesmerized by her performance!


Madonna brought on stage a young woman whose picture had been shown all over during the time of LiveAid and was on the brink of starvation. She is now attending university. I'm not sure how I felt about all that...it seemed a little exploitave.

But Madonna was good!

The Scissor Sisters then rocked as they always do!

Velvet Revolver received some mixed reviews.

Sting got the crowd going again.
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And a bit more. . .

The night ended with a great run, beginning with David Beckham (ooh la la) introducing Robbie Williams.

I wish I had a better pic of Robbie. You may not be his number one fan but he is quite the entertainer and I was amazed at how crazy the crowd went over him. By far probably the best response from the crowd.

The Who came on next, introduced by the delightful Peter Kay. I could have listened to them all night!

Then Pink Floyd joined the stage and had a worthwhile reunion!



The finale brought Paul McCartney back on stage.

He was joined, to everyone's surprise (although it was somewhat expected) by George Michael. Eventually all of the musicians came out for the final song. There are a few folks I didn't mention because I wasn't as into it or not a fan (ie, the obnoxious diva Ms. Mariah Carey). We arrived before noon that day and didn't make it back to the hotel until 1 AM. It was well worth it though!
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Sunset

These are just a few pictures of the sunset from the front of the new house. More pics to come. . .
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Hot Fun in the Summer Time!

The weather has been kicking up the heat here. I think it's making all of us so used to cold, damp, darkness a little crazy. Nobody wants to be stuck in the office yet all of the kids with behavior problems are kicking off and all their parents want them accommodated. Well, I say Hell No! to that, I'll be in my new back garden sipping wine and "catching the sun" (my newest English phrase to enter my vocabulary). Over the weekend I got moved into my new house with Brianna and I'm already feeling quite settled. I'm now coming to the flat to pick up last bits, gradually get it all cleaned out and check my email until it is transferred to the new house on the 9th. We enjoyed our evenings in this warm weather out at the pub gardens Friday and Saturday night and spent most of Sunday at the Silverdale getting sunburned while Martin BBQed. I headed to the flat in the evening for a few things and on my way the sunny day turned into torrential down pour and then to huge hail. I thought I was being shot at as I drove through the Brierley Hill High Street. Martin later said he has never seen hail like that on such a warm day. We experienced a whole new English weather phenomenon!

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This week has been busy, as I said, with all my boys (clients) who misbehave kicking off and their parents seeking to blame anyone but themselves. I have to say I didn't think I would be working with those type of families anymore and I'm feeling a little burnt out on it. But, I still love my fellas! I am just ready for my vacation home! I took Brianna, my new roommate to the airport this morning; she is headed home for a wedding. As much as I hate airports, I wished I was getting on a plane this morning.

But, I have the house to myself this weekend now to blast some music (not that Bri and I don't do that when she is home... we have quite a lot in common actually) and try and get the rest of my stuff settled. Hope you all Stateside enjoy your festering hot weather over the weekend. I can barely take it now if it gets above 25C here, I don't know how I'll handle it when I get home...but I'll manage!

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I hope to get pics up of the house before I leave mid-July, but in the meantime I am sure I will be able to post some from Live8 next weekend.

My Exciting News of the Day!

During my team meeting today, my phone beeped indicating I had a text message. I shut it off quickly before being chastised for having my phone on (no one usually calls me during the day. . .) and didn't look at it till in Sainsbury's buying a sandwich for lunch. The text was a notification that I had one two tickets to Live8 in Hyde Park in London on July 2. Check out the link for the expected artists performing. I can already feel the jealousy vibes!

An Update since Bank Holiday Weekend

That’s Memorial Day weekend for you all back home. Things have been busy; I haven’t been home much and when I am I don’t feel I have the energy to blog. I’ll have to write a long one now since I have left so much out . . . So, to start off with Thursday that weekend (26th of May), Brianna, the latest American Social Worker arrived. I met her that Thursday but she was obviously tired after the long flight and the airlines still weren’t sure where her luggage was. I told her I would take her to look at flats over the weekend so we arranged to do that Saturday. That morning as I was leisurely getting ready and having my huevos rancheros, Jackie (my friend that runs the Silverdale Hotel with her husband Martin) called and said I should get over there soon. Brianna was understandably upset because the airline, although they brought her luggage back, could not explain why her jewelry was missing from her suitcase. With it being a bank holiday weekend and half-term break for the school kids, everyone was off and the HR staff that would typically help to get us sorted with basics and flat hunting were on leave. The team she was preparing to work with had no plans in place to pick her up the first day and there was no set induction. I’ve thought quite a few times about complaining on her behalf because they prepared so poorly for her arrival . . . but it’s not my place. :-)




I took her to look at some flats that Saturday. The first was in Brierley Hill; in an area I work and would never recommend living. The last two were in Stourbridge and I thought would be very nice. They weren’t. The first had wallpaper peeling, nasty stained and dusty blue carpet, with a nasty pink carpet in the bathroom (and all fittings were pink, too). The second was huge for one person and reeked of curry. That night Martin made a chili for all of us, including Stacy and Teri- the original two that joined me in January- and we all proceeded to get a little toasty with some wine (except Stacy, she doesn’t drink).




The next day, while English born Dan Wheldon won the Indy 500, we all went to Birmingham for Pride Festival. We convinced Stacy to join us, who I don’t believe has had much exposure to gay culture- she’s definitely never been in a gay bar and has never seen a drag show (how she has survived this long without I will never know!). We took the tram in and when we arrived we were all hungry so we left the festival almost immediately in search of a restaurant. Once we found our way back Martin and I began drinking pints. This festival was not typical of pride festivals those of us who attend would be familiar with. There was a weird mix between a carnie atmosphere and what you would expect of a pride festival- drag queens and pretty boys. There was a whole area devoted to carnival rides and food. We stayed around that area for a while and people watched and then headed up toward the top of the street, were there was a DJ outside and all kinds of dancin’ going on! I hate the trans/techno music but it was bearable with the environment here. Martin and I continued to drink our pints while the other three drinkers had a few breezers. Stacy attempted to absorb the environment that is so foreign to her. As the evening went on we left the outdoor party and headed into a bar that was jam packed and had a drag review on. Martin continuously kept count of how often he got hit on and made sure us girls knew about it. We stumbled home at the end of the night on the last tram home and I spent yet another night sleeping at the Silverdale.




By Friday it was June all of the sudden and Brianna had found a place to live. We went to look at it Saturday and she invited me to house share with her. I made my lasagna that night for Brianna, Martin, Jackie and I and had, yes, another sleep over at the Silverdale. I officially decided the next day I would take Brianna up on her offer and move in with her. Over the past week since, I have been working to cancel/transfer my bills, terminate my current lease, and get furniture for the new place. Over the past weekend we stripped the Thomas the Train wallpaper border in my new bedroom, repainted the room, bought a dining room suite and bedroom suite for me and moved it all in. At night over the weekend I was at the pub and at Lesley’s birthday party (respectively); it seemed like I only stopped to sleep. By Sunday night I was knackered with a sore throat and have spent the last day and a half at home sick. I’ll be moving gradually over the next couple weeks and I’ll get pictures of the place up on the blog soon . . . Right after I am officially settled it will be time to head home for a visit!!!