It was a Nightmare Before Christmas ATP for us this year. Curators were Les Savy Fav, Battles and Caribou and the venue was Butlins Minehead. The winter ATPs inevitably involve some unpleasant dashes through the cold/rain/snow, but the chalets are warm enough once you take the chill off them. The main building of the camp is a big pavilion ( Read more... )

Over the weekend Amy and I went over to London. On Saturday we went to the Portishead-curated I'll Be Your Mirror event, a sort of mini-All Tomorrows Parties. Sunday we just spent some time in London ( Read more... )

As this is my third time in the US, I feel like I should be in a position to make some sweeping generalisations or insightful observations. I still find I'm left with just scattered observations. The toilet bowls have more water in (but smaller pipes?). There are more independent shops - independent delis rather than a tesco metro on every block ( Read more... )

Amy got denied a visa for the UK.
Don't know why yet, until the documentation comes through in the post.

This is pretty much Amy and me.


( Read more... )

Update on Amy's visa problems. I spoke to Legal Advice at work, who were a lot more helpful than the official visa company. They clarified that previously having been refused entry is not a ground for being refused entry in itself. However the immigration officer has to be convinced that you're entering the country for your stated reason and won ( Read more... )

Because she was refused entry to the country the year before last, Amy is not sure if she needs a visa to visit. So she contacted "Worldbridge Service", who handle visa applications in the US asking them about it. This was their response:

( how to respond to criticism )

Seriously. The Union Square Farmers' Market is great, even when you don't have anything much you need to buy. Most of the apples there are about 50% bigger than typical apples in the UK though. I went around tasting samples of every single apple they had at two stalls. Amy's sister Allison bought lots of tiny vegetables for thanksgiving ( Read more... )

I spent quite a bit of time with Amy's family, most of it because we went down to her aunt & uncle's in Virginia for thanksgiving. We passed by Baltimore on the way and I tried to spot locations from The Wire. The area where Amy's relations live is within about half an hour of DC, but isn't urbanised. Instead it consists of woods of tall, ( Read more... )

Not only am I still the worst tourist ever, but it's becoming apparent that it's probably just generally a bad idea for me to go places.

New Jersey, The Garden StateAs Amy's friend John said, Jersey City is basically part of New York (while Long Island is "East New Jersey"). The apartment Amy's living in is modest but has everything necessary, ( Read more... )