We know, we're sorry, no bloggy for a few weeks now. We've had the best intentions of trying to keep up but both of us have been busy with school and/or work! So without further ado, here's some recent happenings over the past week (I can't really remember off the top of my head past then, maybe Nic can help connect the dots in a later post). I apologize in advance that we don't have any personal pictures (keep forgetting the camera), but I'll try to describe in detail!
First, holy shit, it is COLD here! The whole past week has been an average of 3 degrees (that's celsius, kids, don't freak!)... so about 35-36 fahrenheit. I'm wearing a hoodie, jacket, gloves, and scarf and I'm still cold!
Regardless, we're trying to tough it out. On Tuesday, Nic wanted to go to a show put on by some LIPA schoolmates so we headed up to a venue by her school called "Studio". Unfortunately, we were a little bit early so NO ONE was there, except these 3 snotty kids. They proceeded to run around screaming (couldn't have been more than 8 or 9) and taunting people, including me, who they threw a cup at. I just laughed, but Nic put the fear of God into those kids. At first, she was nice and told them it wasn't nice to throw things. Then, they picked it up and threw it at me again and that was the last straw. They started running up the street and Nic chased them (this isn't a joke, I am retelling this perfectly) yelling "You want to come back and say you're sorry you little shits?". Man, she scared the shit out of those kids, one of them immediately turning back to say they were sorry. WOW. It was quite the spectacle. I was sort of in awe. I'll be honest, I wasn't really sure how to react because they were kids... just snotty kids, maybe 1/4 my size so the flimsy cup just bounced off my jacket, but there was no hesitation with her - again, WOW. Anyways, on with the night, we had about 30-45 minutes to kill so we went across the street to a bar/venue called Bumper. Kind of a rad place, hard to describe, but they had nice comfy couches we were able to chill on. Here, I found a picture so you can get an idea:
We're planning to go back this coming Tuesday, the 4th as part of Liverpool's Music Week, a few cool bands are playing, one from Liverpool, another from Birmingham, and another from Glasgow! Hopefully it's good (crossing my fingers).
We then headed over to Studio for the LIPA show. I can't find any pictures so I'll do my best to describe it - the show room was upstairs and on your way up, you were assaulted by a collage of band/musician images (Kurt Cobain, The Fall, and even Beth Ditto from the Gossip - I wasn't lying when I said they love her over here). In the actual show room, the wallpaper is the cover art for Joy Division's "Unknown Pleasures". Like so:
The bands, as Nic would tell you, were so-so - one alt/country band and a dude doing some serious blues guitar work. But, hey, the club also had a giant disco ball on the ceiling... so, kind of amusing at least?
Yesterday (Friday), yep, was Halloween. However, we opted to go see QUANTUM OF SOLACE!! Opening night here in the UK (opens in 2 weeks in the States... suckers). The movie was rad. If you liked Casino Royale, you'll love this one. Nic's German friend, Annabel, came as well. I had some sweet popcorn and some rolos - it was brilliant. For it being Halloween and the movie playing every half hour in the city (no joke, literal), the theatre was still PACKED! The brits love their Bond apparently. I was all about it. On our way back, there was mayhem on the streets. A larger number of police, drunk dudes, girls wearing way too little clothing, an almost fight... it got stupid. When we got back about midnight, we could hear endless screams and yells outside for hours.
Finally, today, we slept in until almost noon, which was awesome! Then, we took a walk down Dale Street, grabbed some coffee from Starbucks (ah yes, reminder of home), and walked down to Albert Dock. This place is rad and super scenic... here's a photo I found to give you an idea:
We visited the Merseyside Maritime Museum, which was fantastic. The first floor was all about famous ships/wrecks that have docked and sailed from Liverpool - Titanic, Lusitania, etc. Recreations of the ships as models, stories, etc. Very cool. Then, we went up to third floor, which was the "International Slave Museum". It was heavy, to say the least.... discussing, in depth, the history of slavery, african culture, and current racism and the ramifications of slavery on african countries. I could go on forever about this because it's, historically, a subject I have a neverending interest with. However, the one part of the museum that really horrified me was a huge video screen, isolated in its own room at the center which recreated the way in which the slaves were shipped over to the Americas, in the bottom of ships, chained to boards, stuffed together with little air. I couldn't bring myself to go all the way in the room, and I consider myself to have a pretty strong stomach, but it really horrified me. You could hear the agony in the "slave's" voice and I couldn't handle it. Probably something I will never forget. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it all the way through the museum because it was closing, but I'm sure we'll go back at some point to finish. There was so much to read and learn, we were there for almost 3 hours! It didn't even feel that long.
Afterwards, we went over to a pub called the Pumphouse, located in Albert Dock. Super cool place, and we had some awesome risotto (dare I say, the best risotto I've ever had... In England! I know, crazy). Here's a cool pic of the place:
Plus, seriously, I have a new favorite beer... and it's all over the UK. Beck's Vier! Yep, I know what you're thinking, Beck's is nothing special. Stop that right now. I know Beck's is nothing special... but this is Beck's Vier! German ale. Never saw it in the States and it's great, trust me. Funny story behind that, we were in Manchester and I tried to order a Stella. The old British bartender said "Eh, you really don't want to drink Stella... I mean, we British think Stella is a piece of shit. Drink this Beck's" (imagine that in a thick Mancurian accent). Who am I to argue? He's the expert.... and he was right. I am forever thankful.
All in all, good week! There are certain times when I really enjoy being over here. Today was one of those days. :)
- Chris
(cool buildings in the background)
(more cool buildings.... without me in the shot)
(ships!)
(calming)
Since arriving in Liverpool a couple months ago from Seattle, I've been on a mission to find new and exciting bands that I could shout to my friends about, however I remained unenthused - until tonight. I reluctantly showed up at Bumper, one of MTV's Liverpool Music Week's official venues. The club itself had two stages; one situated up near the entrance, the other much larger and further back. At the core, a quite impressive wrap around bar joined the two rooms, and I decided to order a somewhat overpriced drink. Although the venue was overloaded with twenty-somethings on a Tuesday night, I never felt claustrophobic.
We're planning to go back this coming Tuesday, the 4th as part of Liverpool's Music Week, a few cool bands are playing, one from Liverpool, another from Birmingham, and another from Glasgow! Hopefully it's good (crossing my fingers).
The bands, as Nic would tell you, were so-so - one alt/country band and a dude doing some serious blues guitar work. But, hey, the club also had a giant disco ball on the ceiling... so, kind of amusing at least?
We visited the Merseyside Maritime Museum, which was fantastic. The first floor was all about famous ships/wrecks that have docked and sailed from Liverpool - Titanic, Lusitania, etc. Recreations of the ships as models, stories, etc. Very cool. Then, we went up to third floor, which was the "International Slave Museum". It was heavy, to say the least.... discussing, in depth, the history of slavery, african culture, and current racism and the ramifications of slavery on african countries. I could go on forever about this because it's, historically, a subject I have a neverending interest with. However, the one part of the museum that really horrified me was a huge video screen, isolated in its own room at the center which recreated the way in which the slaves were shipped over to the Americas, in the bottom of ships, chained to boards, stuffed together with little air. I couldn't bring myself to go all the way in the room, and I consider myself to have a pretty strong stomach, but it really horrified me. You could hear the agony in the "slave's" voice and I couldn't handle it. Probably something I will never forget. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it all the way through the museum because it was closing, but I'm sure we'll go back at some point to finish. There was so much to read and learn, we were there for almost 3 hours! It didn't even feel that long.
Plus, seriously, I have a new favorite beer... and it's all over the UK. Beck's Vier! Yep, I know what you're thinking, Beck's is nothing special. Stop that right now. I know Beck's is nothing special... but this is Beck's Vier! German ale. Never saw it in the States and it's great, trust me. Funny story behind that, we were in Manchester and I tried to order a Stella. The old British bartender said "Eh, you really don't want to drink Stella... I mean, we British think Stella is a piece of shit. Drink this Beck's" (imagine that in a thick Mancurian accent). Who am I to argue? He's the expert.... and he was right. I am forever thankful.
This is my classmate Annabel from Germany. She was really excited to see a few of her favorite bands - Simian Mobile Disco for instance. 
We had a great time at all the panels we went to - one was about festivals, another about new media marketing strategies, a discussion on new digital solutions and problems, and we also got to hear from managers of Franz Ferdinand, The Rolling Stones, Kaiser Chiefs, etc. talk about their experiences.
This is the bass player of Fenech Soler rocking out. They are from a town in England - can't remember where exactly. They were quite cookie-cutter synth pop, but were definitely entertaining. Very dance-y. 
Seems like dance/new wave/synth pop is the norm over in these parts. Quite different from Seattle....oh how we miss Seattle's music scene. All the bands we know and love would kick ass over here. We've come to the conclusion that Seattle's standards are high and maybe it is because we're blessed with so many gifted musicians who aren't afraid of creating something different. 
Yay! Ruth and Jessica busy at work while I document.
On Sat. night we were told there was going to be this awesome party and that delegates (us) would be able to get in for free. So Chris, Annabel, and I stood in line about 40 min. before the doors opened to make sure we could get in. Here's Chris waiting outside in the damp, windy tunnel.
And me freezing my ass off. I didn't bring a coat because I was anticipating a huge sweaty mob of people inside.
Unfortunately, after waiting about an hour in line, we found out that the party was sold out and that we weren't able to get in until 12:30am (it was only 8pm at the time). I was like, "F--- that!" and we decided to just call it a night. Annabel and I were bummed - I really wanted to see Tricky and she wanted to see Simian Mobile Disco. I think Chris was secretly stoked because it looked like it was going to be what us Americans know to be a "rave". We saw that glow sticks were for sale and could hear trance playing through the PA and I saw this horrified look on his face. HA!
Anyways, I think that about sums up our 4 day extravaganza. OOH! One other cool thing was that I got to meet Debra - one of Chris' work contacts - super sweet and very accomplished - and her fiance Ted Cohen. He was the former CEO of EMI records (one of the 4 major record companies left) and in his early days, he toured with the Sex Pistols (Sid Vicious apparently hit him in the head with his bass once!), The Who, Ozzy Osbourne, and Alice Cooper. He now owns a consulting firm and has been able to keep up with all the changes in the industry. Crazy life - he even showed us some pictures. 
Back view...not too shabby eh? No blotches anyway...
Chris modeling his brand new coat. Just thought I would throw this one in for good measure!
Fringe is cool although it gets in my eyes a lot.
Side view - I wasn't kidding about the layers! My blonde is peaking through. I'm thinking about dying it a funky colour again since I'm not restricted by "corporate" anymore. :D
Bleaching....
Yay for non-blotchiness!!!
Processing the bright green and....
Ta dah!!!!!! 
A historic church mixed with newer buildings, a common theme of Liverpool.
A cool looking statue...
And more cool looking buildings (the Liver Building is in the background with the birds on top)....
It was hanging out between some office/apartment buildings. How random would it be to look out your window and see that?! Since the city is the 2008 European Capital of Culture, there are a lot of "artistic" random things around. It's been pretty fun. 
This is the balcony area...isn't it beautiful?!
This is the outside of the auditorium and the main area of the building:
Here is a close up just because it's cool:
This is the side of St. Luke's:
Anyway, hope you enjoyed seeing more of Liverpool. We plan to head down to the docks this weekend which supposedly has a ton of restaurants, bars, museums, etc. So we'll have more pics to put up soon and probably a lot more information. 
