A curious memory . . .

Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot, Nick Thorpe, Julian Godfrey Brookhouse and Migi Drummond. The likely lads from Curiosity Killed The Cat. One of my all-time favorite bands from the late 80s.

For some reason I had a huge 'man crush' on lead singer, Ben (who I discovered many years later shagged the girlfriend of a guy I was working with - while the guy I knew was still dating the girl).

Anyways, I remember tripping all around Wellington, New Zealand circa 1988 trying to find Ben's trademark backwards fisherman cap, his blazer, and his crumpled chambray shirt. But I had little joy, having to make do with items that could possibly pass for the originals as long as I wore them in a dimly-lit pub.

Fortunately, I was the only one within my group of friends who'd even heard of Curiosity Killed The Cat, so they weren't going to judge me for the quality of my 'tribute costume'. Unfortunately, as I soon found out, they were going to judge me even more harshly for looking like an 'arty tool'.

Pee

Xmas is just a cab fare away

New York City is rapidly turning into the world's largest sparkly playground.

Twinkling pine trees frame classic buildings, street corners feature carolers, the ice is back in Rockefeller Plaza (as is the massive tree - complete with celebrity lighting ceremony next week).

It is indeed just like a scene straight from a million movies.

Pee

Thanksgiving hangover (not literally)

Gang

Clearly I haven't posted in quite some time.

Mostly, I've been firing pictures to my Twitter (bollocks) site. You can see the list of snapshots at the right of this page (there are plenty). If a picture does indeed paint a thousand words, then every time I do that I save myself time and you guys the pain of having to read lengthy diatribes.

That said, and getting to the point, we enjoyed our first US-based Thanksgiving yesterday (hosted by the Marszalek's).

Rumor was there would be plenty of food. There was. Lordy. From a turkey the size of a carnival pony right through to Dave's homemade 'Monster Cookies' (which are likely to be re-named 'Larchmont Logs' - check the picture above).

Have spent 'Black Friday' playing street hockey, scootering and skateboarding, while little man Lucas is rocking on any number of indoor screens celebrating his birthday.

Chilly winds are blowing in off Long Island Sound and the locals are predicting a cold, cold winter.

Just in time for the Kiwi contingent joining us in a little under a week. Hee hee.

Pee

Where's Murray?

The 'NZ Embassy', 232 East Broadway, NYC.

Hee hee.

Pee

Oh, say, have you seen, by the dawn's early light . . .

Pee

Things are hotting up in Larchmont

Lucky the little ones are on the job.

Pee

Some sights from my early morning run

A memorial statue remembers Mamaroneck's fallen firefighters.

One of many classic cottages that line Long Island Sound.

The local high school.

The oh-so-colorful Trader Joe's - tiki heaven in the form of a grocery store.

Pee

Enjoying New Walk City

In what sounds like the lead-in to a classic joke, Jo and I walked into a dive of a bar on 9th Ave looking for a six-foot-seven Kiwi (but couldn't find him).

So, ended up walking through a jam-packed Times Square instead.

People everywhere. High on Fourth of July celebrations (and other substances).

Pee

My free Beasties trading card

Listen to all 36 tracks... including 16 b-sides and rarities
at checkyourhead.beastieboys.com

Pee

Computer says 'No'

Thanks very much HSBC.

We asked them about getting a credit card to start building a credit history/rating here in the USA.

They wrote back and said 'sorry we can't give you a line of credit because you don't have a credit history/rating' here.

Um, we know. That's why we asked.

Guess I'll just pretend I'm a 19-year-old student and they'll jump at giving me a $10,000 card with no strings attached (apart from a nasty interest rate surprise at the end of the month).

Perhaps HSBC should spend less on their 'global/local bollocks' ads and start investing in their customers? Just a thought.

Pee