The Unspoken Universal Understanding: Ticket Scalping
I hadn't paid money to see live music in London until Monday. It was starting to bring me down a little, being in the home city of rock music and not taking advantage of it. So there I was, stalking outside the Scala, hoping to find a way into the sold out Nada Surf show. I had no idea what the scalping practices were like in London; do they even do it? Is it legal? Does anybody care? Is it possible this one-toothed man could be an undercover cop? I decided it was fairly unlikely, so my business went to him. I advised him to use the money to find himself a good oral surgeon. Originally he was asking for 35 quid for one ticket (face value was about 14). I told him it wasn't THAT hot a ticket. He gave it to me for 20.
The venue was terrific. Three tiers surrounded the stage, the uppermost looking almost directly down on the stage. It was very small (much smaller than, say, First Avenue) and had excellent sound. The show itself was good, but I've seen better; I've seen Nada Surf better actually. The trio is on tour to support their latest release, "The Weight Is A Gift," the unimpressive follow-up to one of my favorite albums of my college days, "Let Go." Perhaps I was a little unfair to them because I was disappointed with the new album, but when I saw them a couple years ago with Ozma, I remember being more satisfied. It did get me to listen to "Gift" again, so that's a plus. They did play most of "Let Go," and demonstrated that they COULD sing three-part harmony live (something they didn't do last time). It was a fun night, worth 20 squid, but I might ignore their March stop in Minneapolis.
I've learned a few things this week. For one of the first times on my trip, I had a meal that I preferred London-style to the American counterpart. Or, at least, we agreed that it was as good as what we could have gotten at a similar restaurant in the states. I can count the number of times this has happened on one hand. Now, you can't get steak pie or bangers and mash in Minnesota, so all pubs are exempt from this comparison. But if we're talking restaurants, I'm comparing you to my favorite places in the states. I've tried to hit as many different ethnicities as I can since I've been here-Indian, Lebanese, Bangladeshi, Global fusion, American, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Italian--to name a few, and most fall short of what I expect in the U.S. It's not their fault, of course, the Brits just like things a little less flavorful. But this week, I had the best Ethiopian food I've ever had (I mean, I haven't had it much, but..) For any of you in Minneapolis/St. Paul, you need to try Ethiopian; go to a restaurant called Addis Ababa on Riverside Ave, near Augsburg. I learned a valuable lesson that night, though. Ethiopian food does not mix with "White Lightning" cider. But really, 2 litres for a pound? Ring it up, Tesco. So for any of you thinking about having Ethiopian food, don't wash it down with generic, 7.5% alcoholic cider.
What else did I learn. I learned a few words that the Brits pronounce differently, and in my opinion, much worse than the proper, American version. (Who invented this language anyway?) I'll start off gently. Say "schedule." Now say "shedule." It just doesn't work, does it? Shedule? The 'sh' combo cannot be followed by a 'du' that sounds more like a 'j.' Word number two: aluminum. How can they possibly pronounce this one, you ask? al-yoo-MIN-ium. Try saying that. It took me a few times before I actually understood what word my professor was saying. The last one I just don't get: patent. They pronounce it with a long 'a,' as in LAME. Patent doesn't sound terrible, but try patented. And make sure you emphasize both 't's. Just terrible. If you want to learn more incorrect pronunciations, check out this website.
www.peak.org/~jeremy/dictionary/ chapters/pronunciation.php
For some reason, I found myself watching the European MTV Music Awards--these are music awards, not music video awards. I don't even think they have this in the U.S. Anyway, it was hosted by some Kazakhstani man for some reason. I was barely paying attention when I heard him yell "Please enjoy...Green Day!" I started listening (I was probably eating humus and not watching) and I thought, man this is a pretty mellow Green Day tune. Maybe that was because it was COLDPLAY. Oops.
That's about all for now. I apologize for the lack of interesting material. Kristie and I took a day trip to Brighton yesterday, a city on the southern coast of England, and found--a rarity--a shopping mall. Kristie just about lost it. Good times. Then we had Bangladeshi food with an Australian, a Kiwi (New Zealander), a Norwegian, a Canadian, a Canadian who was born in Israel, and an undetermined Middle-Easterner. We talked mostly with the Norwegian about my name, lutefisk, lefse and the fact that the traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner features a rack of sheep ribs. Scary. Get this: they start preparing the ribs EIGHT MONTHS before Christmas to seal the flavor. Minnesota, may I introduce to you, your relatives!
Speaking of holidays, on Thanksgiving my school has offered us a three-course buffet at the local Holiday Inn. I'll get you the menu soon...it's pretty hilarious. Later.
The venue was terrific. Three tiers surrounded the stage, the uppermost looking almost directly down on the stage. It was very small (much smaller than, say, First Avenue) and had excellent sound. The show itself was good, but I've seen better; I've seen Nada Surf better actually. The trio is on tour to support their latest release, "The Weight Is A Gift," the unimpressive follow-up to one of my favorite albums of my college days, "Let Go." Perhaps I was a little unfair to them because I was disappointed with the new album, but when I saw them a couple years ago with Ozma, I remember being more satisfied. It did get me to listen to "Gift" again, so that's a plus. They did play most of "Let Go," and demonstrated that they COULD sing three-part harmony live (something they didn't do last time). It was a fun night, worth 20 squid, but I might ignore their March stop in Minneapolis.
I've learned a few things this week. For one of the first times on my trip, I had a meal that I preferred London-style to the American counterpart. Or, at least, we agreed that it was as good as what we could have gotten at a similar restaurant in the states. I can count the number of times this has happened on one hand. Now, you can't get steak pie or bangers and mash in Minnesota, so all pubs are exempt from this comparison. But if we're talking restaurants, I'm comparing you to my favorite places in the states. I've tried to hit as many different ethnicities as I can since I've been here-Indian, Lebanese, Bangladeshi, Global fusion, American, Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Italian--to name a few, and most fall short of what I expect in the U.S. It's not their fault, of course, the Brits just like things a little less flavorful. But this week, I had the best Ethiopian food I've ever had (I mean, I haven't had it much, but..) For any of you in Minneapolis/St. Paul, you need to try Ethiopian; go to a restaurant called Addis Ababa on Riverside Ave, near Augsburg. I learned a valuable lesson that night, though. Ethiopian food does not mix with "White Lightning" cider. But really, 2 litres for a pound? Ring it up, Tesco. So for any of you thinking about having Ethiopian food, don't wash it down with generic, 7.5% alcoholic cider.
What else did I learn. I learned a few words that the Brits pronounce differently, and in my opinion, much worse than the proper, American version. (Who invented this language anyway?) I'll start off gently. Say "schedule." Now say "shedule." It just doesn't work, does it? Shedule? The 'sh' combo cannot be followed by a 'du' that sounds more like a 'j.' Word number two: aluminum. How can they possibly pronounce this one, you ask? al-yoo-MIN-ium. Try saying that. It took me a few times before I actually understood what word my professor was saying. The last one I just don't get: patent. They pronounce it with a long 'a,' as in LAME. Patent doesn't sound terrible, but try patented. And make sure you emphasize both 't's. Just terrible. If you want to learn more incorrect pronunciations, check out this website.
www.peak.org/~jeremy/dictionary/ chapters/pronunciation.php
For some reason, I found myself watching the European MTV Music Awards--these are music awards, not music video awards. I don't even think they have this in the U.S. Anyway, it was hosted by some Kazakhstani man for some reason. I was barely paying attention when I heard him yell "Please enjoy...Green Day!" I started listening (I was probably eating humus and not watching) and I thought, man this is a pretty mellow Green Day tune. Maybe that was because it was COLDPLAY. Oops.
That's about all for now. I apologize for the lack of interesting material. Kristie and I took a day trip to Brighton yesterday, a city on the southern coast of England, and found--a rarity--a shopping mall. Kristie just about lost it. Good times. Then we had Bangladeshi food with an Australian, a Kiwi (New Zealander), a Norwegian, a Canadian, a Canadian who was born in Israel, and an undetermined Middle-Easterner. We talked mostly with the Norwegian about my name, lutefisk, lefse and the fact that the traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner features a rack of sheep ribs. Scary. Get this: they start preparing the ribs EIGHT MONTHS before Christmas to seal the flavor. Minnesota, may I introduce to you, your relatives!
Speaking of holidays, on Thanksgiving my school has offered us a three-course buffet at the local Holiday Inn. I'll get you the menu soon...it's pretty hilarious. Later.
posted by Kristie at 10:08 AM
1 Comments:
I hope our group will be willing to try the Ethiopian, or at least the Indian or Bangladeshi at Chrsitmas time--but actually, the Pub food sounds great, too--what in the world IS Bangladeshi food?
Pete
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