[Moozik: Zombie Girl - Creepy Crawler]

Back home after a whirlwind trip. One thing is for certain, I love New York and can't wait to go back. Mental note to self though, don't get a 6:30am flight out of JFK again. The lack of sleep can be made up for on the plane but the airport itself is dead at that time in the morning.

As the plane came into land it became apparent that the Phoenix "skyline" isn't quite as impressive as its New York counterpart.

Still, what we don't have in vertical skyscrapery, we make up for with impressive urban sprawl. It's never ending.

So now the big settling back in begins. So many little things to do so. The only question is where to start.

Not an awful lot of time to do much after class but still managed to sneak a couple of things in yesterday. 400,000 people decided to go to the Empire State Building and it was packed. Still, it was worth the wait as the view was amazing. Photos don't do it justice really.

Seeing Ground Zero was quite moving.

After wandering around Wall Street and having a coffee next the the Stock Exchange, the next stop was a ride on the Staten Island Ferry. If you ever go to New York I wholeheartedly recommend catching the ferry as the views of the skyline are amazing. Of course the Ferry isn't exactly smooth sailing (ahem) so lady liberty is a little blurry but you get the idea.

What is it about the BlackBerry I ask you? I appear to be the only one in my training class without the crack like device. Everyone is using them constantly even when we're supposed to be, you know, training. It's actually all rather distracting. My lab partner is worse then useless because he won't put down the plastic crack.

[Moozik: Edge Of Dawn - Black Heart (Beta)]

Finally my luggage arrived at my hotel tonight at about 9:45pm. With Camera I might add. Bonus. So it was off to Times Square for a snack, drink and a few photos.

[Moozik: The Cure - Plainsong (Trilogy - Live)]

So my first thoughts on New York. I'm blown away by the buildings and the architecture. Amazing. I actually love being in big cities like this. I always get the same feeling when I'm in London as well. I had my first woah moment in the cab from the airport. We were on some freeway or another and came around a corner and had the most amazing view of the skyline with the sun setting in the background. Even the cabbie said that he never tires of seeing that after living here for 40 years. I can see why.

New York has the best bagels. Bar none. Found an awesome place near the hotel and I'll be going back every morning this week, you know, seeing as the $5K training class doesn't include breakfast. Or wifi for that matter. Which makes slacking off finding restaurants & places to visit training research somewhat difficult. Ahem. Luckily there are more unsecured wife access points than you can shake a stick at.

And yeah, about that training. Turns out it's actually two separate week long courses condensed into five days so we have a lot of material to cover. This means we don't get out until 6:00pm which is a big pile of poo. Still, it's going to be a mad rush for the subway in order to take stuff in before it gets dark. There are only two of us who aren't actually from New York so we're off doing the tourist thing while the locals roll their eyes. At least if today is anything to go by.

The fact that I still haven't got my suitcase yet is an extremely sore subject considering that I indulged in a moment of utter arsehattery and packed my camera. (note to self, 3 bottles of wine and 3 hours of sleep are not conducive to making sound packing decisions). So, no photos today and I'm going to be pissed (if not unduly surprised) if my camera is suspiciously missing whenever the bastards at United ever deliver my suitcase.

Of the 12 studio albums The Cure have produced over the years, Pornography is the first of what I consider their four masterpieces. The Head On The Door, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, and Disintegration being the other three.

One of the gloomiest albums they've ever made, Pornography is not something you listen to in order to elevate your mood. The album opener A Hundred Years is a dark brooding masterpiece that kicks you in the stomach the moment Robert sings "It doesn't matter if we all die". Simon Gallup's bass work on A Short Term Effect is nothing short of masterful and I defy anyone to not nod their head at least a little bit when this song is playing. I remember singing "everything is gone forever" at the top of my lungs whenever A Strange Day graced my record player and in fact I think I still have my very worn vinyl copy somewhere.

Later this album would come to be known as the first album in a trilogy of Cure albums that would also include Disintegration and Bloodflowers. The live Pornography set they played as part of the Trilogy concert DVD is nothing short of amazing. I would imagine if the audio of that DVD were somehow converted into a format that could be played on an iPod then you might find yourself listening to that more than the original album. Ahem, I would imagine.

Standout tracks:

A Hundred Years
Short Term Effect
A Strange Day
Pornography

[Moozik: Hot Chip - And I Was A Boy From School]

I've got to think that terminal 2 at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport is perhaps the most boring terminal in the history of airport terminals. Ok, actually I think Venice Airport holds that record but Sky Harbor must come close. I woke up late this morning so decided in my infinite wisdom to grab breakfast at the airport. I dunno, I think $15.65 is a perfectly reasonable amount to pay for a sandwich and bottle of water. Ahem. It's funny how your stomach can override your common sense isn't it?

The bloke next to me on the plane cracked me up as he was sitting down 'sweet Jesus could they make these seats any smaller?'. I couldn't agree more. While we were waiting to takeoff I got talking to a British couple sitting behind me. They'd been over here on Holiday and were truely amazed at how friendly everyone had been to them during their stay. Maybe they expected everyone over here would be an angry grumpy wanker? We had a bit of a natter about Politics as I told them Ken Livingstone had lost the election for Mayor Of London. Being away from Blightly for a while means that I have no idea who Boris Johnson is of course so they were doing their best to fill me in before we took off.

[Moozik: Seabound - The Attic]

It's the little things that you don't think about that tend to slip on by before you realize it. Little things you should know but in all the confusion of a move, you haven't gotten to yet. Like which day is trash pickup day for example. I mean say, for example, it was today and you didn't know that so didn't put the trash out. Oh well, that will have to wait until next week. Except aha, I won't be in town for next week's pickup either. Nice.

Yeah, next week's New York trip. The timing is a little, er, non-optimal let's say. So much stuff to do, so little time. Hectic. My friend Cindy is playing host so I'll get the inside NYC scoop from a local at least ;-) My dogs are being boarded on Saturday. Foster has been before, Murphy hasn't. She's the one I'm most concerned about. I'm crossing my fingers for her.

[Moozik: The Cure - 39(Trilogy Live)]

Empire magazine lists their pick of the 50 greatest TV shows of all time. All my faves are there. Heroes, Band Of Brothers, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, The West Wing, The Sopranos, The X-Files, Lost. Some shows I've heard really good things about but have never watched; Deadwood and Alias for example.

Buffy at #2 and The Simpsons at #1 though? I dunno, I never really liked Buffy and only ever thought The Simpsons was moderately amusing at best. Whatever bakes your noodle I suppose.

[Moozik: The Cure - Siamese Twins (Trilogy Live)]

More bands from my youth that I'll now be seeing for the first time. First up, The Police on May 24th. Then Dead or Alive and Human League on August 1st. I can't wait.

[Moozik: Siouxsie & The Banshees - Not Forgotten]

New house, new start. Moved in yesterday. My dogs seem to be doing remarkably well for being thrust into somewhere new. Bless 'em. The first night in a new place is always entertaining. You hear something in the middle of the night and you're all "...what the fuck was that?...". Kind of exciting though.

I was at Best Buy tonight buying a washing machine and tumble dryer. Do you have any idea how sad it is when they ask you for your address for delivery and you give them the deer in the headlights look. I totally winged it and told the girl I'd have to ring her back once I got home in case I'd fluffed the address. She did a kind of laugh-yet-think-I-suck-so-try-not-to-roll-eyes maneuver. It was most impressive. The maneuver I mean.

[Moozik: L'âme Immortelle - Lake Of Tears]

I'd really like to see that video. You know, the one you don't want me to see.

Not available in my territory? Such teasers the BBC, "sure you may be an Englishman who likes to get his home news from us but you left our shores didn't you, and anyway if you lived in a proper country you'd see the video, but you don't, so you can't, na-na-na-na-na".

[Moozik: Dave Gahan - Love Will Leave (Kap10kurt Remix)]

[Moozik: Editors - An End Has A Start]

So, apparently, they enforce speed limits here in the US. Cheek of old nick these Americans. There I was happily going 21 mph over the speed limit and a motorcycle cop had the nerve to pull me over. It's like he didn't have anything better to do or something.

Ugh. My own fault obviously. Luckily the cop was in a good mood and only marked the ticket as a civil penalty. Which means no points on my license if I go to defensive driving school. "School" in this case means a four hour class on a Saturday of my choice wherein I learn how much I suck and should slow the fuck down drive in a safer manner.

[Moozik: Clan Of Xymox - Equal Ways]

One of the more entertaining blogs I read is that of JWZ. Two recent posts of his that are worth a quick mention.

First up, the creepy remix of an ABC News interview with the polygamist mothers. Watch it and see if you're not humming "it's our ranch, and it's our home" hours later.

Then it would appear I'm not alone in my confusion about Twitter. I must admit, number 4 made me nod my head. Finally, someone has said something.

4. Those of you who post daily dumps of your twitter messages: fucking knock that shit off. It's annoying.