3rd June 2011

A leisurely rise at 1pm. Congratulations Booth you managed to sleep past 6am.
To Garage Internet via the best pork burrito in town *dribble*
We wash it down with

• 1 Acai power juice
• 1 Berry smoothie

Looking cool with the kids on the sidewalk. Passers-by drool with jealousy.

Blog written. Happy to find out that folk are actually reading these words. :-) Thanking you.

On the back of a Luke Owen Smith recommendation. Laura is eager to catch Aloe Blacc tonight at the Highline Ballroom.   Through a mist of confusion we manage to by the one and only ticket left for sale. 
No more. None. Gone gone gone. Jumping like a catfish on a pole.
What we gonna do? Mary suggests that due to Laura's arduous desires for Aloe Blacc she should take the ticket. Mary you little sacrificial lamb you. Mary hearts Laura.

Then..........

We pick the ticket up at Times Square. :-O Blooming 'ec!
We rise from the subway. Oh my! Laura is aghast. Like a rabbit in the headlights. Times Square is weird.
The biggest brightest lights she's ever seen. A big massive church to consumerism. If we were capitalists this is where we'd come to pray. Every sign has to compete to be the bestest and the flashiest or you just won't notice it amongst the rest. Even the subway sign winks at us like it's for a Las Vegas casino.

We enter an office block, the entrance clad in black marble. Cool black marble. It feels posh. It has air-con. We ascend 14 stories clicking our fingers to the elevator choons. We collect the ticket after copying Mary's passport and cloning her identity right down to the burrito smudge on her top lip.

We make our way down a couple of blocks to Port Authority subway. Ah! FDNY! They love it! Hey look, yeah, I'm in a big truck, I'm fit, I'm heroic. Holla me! Holla me! Stroke my uniform. You wanna know how many fires I've extinguished today !! Yes we do! Yes we do!
Though this somewhat puts us off from taking the subway. Why are there 5 fire engines? Smoky!
Let's take a cab to the Highline Ballroom. Through the amazing Manhattan streets and Avenues even just catching a cab is an event.

Hopefuly we'll get a ticket for Mary Booth on the door. Outside the Mayor's Office.....
"please move off the sidewalk miss, you'r outside the mayor's office"
"errr, can you tell us if there are any ticket touts around here?"
"You can queue and see if they have any tickets for tonight's event here" *points*. "The tickets are released from 9.30 pm but really you should talk to that guy over there. I don't really know. I'm just making it up lovely ladies. Oooo I'm being paged. Excuse me i gotta go and wipe the Mayor's ass. Have fun".
"You too"

Before we even reach the back of the ticket queue a cute bespectacled guy asks "are you girls waiting for tickets?" "yes!" "Then let me sell you one" "Why couldn't your girlfriend make it? :-)"
Awesome $15 and it's ours. Huzzah. Booth and Acaster remain united.

"Excuse me ladies will you be drinking tonight?"
"Do you sell rum?"
"Yes we do ma'am"
"Yes then yes we are" 
How we've struggled to get our lips on a rum and coke.

We stand at the front 3 rows back. Great soul tunes playing. The light dims. Whooping from the crowd, the band enter stage left. They are so young. How did they get this gig? Did Jim fix it for em?

Aloe Blacc *wave* how are you today? Trilby, tight jeans and waitcoat. He's definitely looking at Laura when he comes singing this side of the stage.Tru dat tru dat. The most memorable songs of the gig were certainly Politician and Dollar.

• 6 rum and cokes

A quick game of paper scissor stone. The prize a trilby off of Curtis's head. Laura won and Curtis bought it back for $10. A quick dance before heading out the door.

"I know you....Ah! You're Aloe Blacc. Nice to meet you. I'm Laura and this is Mary"

As Laura buys Aloe's CD and asks him to sign it and draw a mustache on his face on the cd sleeve, a roady's about to mow Mary down.
"mind out darling" says Aloe and slips an arm around Mary's waist.
"ohhhhh, please draw a mustache on your face Aloe"
"no! How about love and smiles. That sound nice?"
....Oh no here comes the roady again! Aloe pulls Mary close. Mary, "can you go and get your fit guitarist to sign it too?" Aloe, " um I don't know where my guitarists at", he says pulling her closer as the roady nearly mows her down for the third time.

HONK! HONK!
A garbage truck has stopped outside the Highline
"hey mister can I have a go on your horn?"
"yeah sure!"
"can I get in your cab?"
"yeah go ahead"
"cool! Can I get in your cab and honk your horn?"
"hop in girl"
Another NY dream has come true for Laura. It was great!

Balls. They've shut the L line home for the weekend already.
We split the cab fare home with the cool Eugenie.
We hope it works out with you and your nearly new bloke.