NEWPORT FISTICUFFS

Is it really Thursday again? This week has only taught me two things. Two great things though:

ONE] The Orange County is not on a far off planet: Whilst this might seem obvious, it is sometimes easy to

         forget. I have been involved in a sporadic O.C binge which has brought me to the middle of Series 3. And
         really, it shouldn't take long to get to this point when you realise that once you pop you can't stop.

         Every time I watch an episode I get whisked away to a [seemingly] unreachable heavenly habitat
         [shootings, bitchiness and alcoholism aside]. So today I decided to see just how unreachable the O.C

         actually is. To my absolute delight I discovered that you can actually stay on Newport Beach, rubbing

         shoulders with the Marissas and Seths of the famed stretch, without having to sell your laptop, family
         and organs. To stay at the Newport Channel Inn sets you back $71 dollars a night. Oh em BEE gees. This

         means I could actually be there, swigging back Mojitos, surfing [which I can't do] until dusk and joining

         in a random beach party where someone gets in a fight and nearly drowns. AWESOME. If i'm missing
         at some point next year it can only mean one of two things:

               a] I've run away to Newport Beach, or

               b] I'm on a train to the airport to catch a plane to Newport Beach.

Feel free to photoshop yourselves in. There's plenty of spacial opportunities.

You TOO could be walking out of a pool-house, around a pool.

TWO] Blur are a truly great live band: The Closing Ceremony Gig took my great expectations and threw them in
          the overflowing, Heineken-filled bins. The weather was the first thing to hit me. Pure heat and glaring sun
          which, for some reason made me decide to wear a polo top and a jumper. [Disaster. The shorts didn't

          even save me.] Clothing fiasco aside, the weather set the scene perfectly for this festival-esque

          setting, with Bombay Bicycle Club warming everyone up [as if we needed that] for what was to prove a
          day of surprises, pizzas and fist fights. New Order were disappointing, and the whole blame can't be
          put on the volume [although this was a pretty big issue of the day, that and choosing where the hell to
          eat]. It seemed they lacked excitement, leaving the songs slightly lifeless and drawn out, with 'Isolation'

          being a great example. Still, The Specials more than made up for that, battling the volume with all the

          trumpet riffs and harmonica slithers a pissed-up crowd on a summers' day could ever need. Seeing a

          whole park switch from bobbing on their left foot to their right foot to 'Message To You Rudy' was a

          weird and beautiful experience. By now we're all singing along to the Closing Ceremony songs on the
          big screen until park life unexpectedly starts playing. The stage slowly opens and blur run head first into

         'Girls & Boys' which had the same effect as giving a whole tube of red smarties to a child that's been

          locked up in a quiet house all day. True to form, they played some classics, some b-sides and and
          an encore which left us with the distinctive 'The Universal'. My favourites were definitely 'Trimm Trabb', 

          Parklife [not only because we were graced by Phil Daniels' vocal assistance and Harry Enfield in a
          maid's outfit, but because I saw a shooting star fall across the left of the stage as the song was finishing]

          and the eerily delicate 'This Is a Low' which saw pretty much everyone attempting to hit those high notes.

          Blur played with skill, energy and a general excitement to be there, baring their life's work to what felt like

          the whole of England. Just one thing:

                 a] Why do people think it's ok to repeatedly smash someone's face in because they've had some

                     beer? and

                 b] Why do people think it's ok to repeatedly smash someone's face in because they've had some

                     beer WHILST BLUR ARE PLAYING?

         Apart from feeling slightly sick when the first violent person I saw was greeted by kisses and smiles from

         his clearly deluded girlfriend, I had an incredible day. A wave goodbye to the Olympics and a wave hello
         to many more hours of Trimm Trabb-repeat-Trimm Trabb-repeat.

Here's a photo from the day that I did not take. Imagine that AND a shooting star. 

No chili update today so expect a massive amount of leafy goodness in the next one.

Maybe even something positive about the Jalapenos? Doubt it.

STANLEY