So the first person to make firm plans to come visit was my big brother Jeremy. He must have felt badly for never coming to see me in Japan or something because he had purchased his ticket, before I even arrived in the UK! In fact the first email I received after I got here read: “Hey dude: Welcome to UKland! Dope you're in it. Anyways, I bought some tickets.” He had actually planned a trip to go riding in Switzerland and decided to swing through Liverpool on the way over. He planned the trip fairly well in that he was our second visitor. Ray served as our first guinea pig. We were able to see what wowed people about Liverpool and what put them to sleep (thanks Ray!). So Jeremy was able to reap all the benefits and did not see any boring shit. Well, in theory I suppose…
Anyhow, he came in on a Tuesday afternoon and I was able to pick him up at the airport. On our way home, we received a phone call from Kathleen that she needed a ride as well. By the time we got home we would have to turn around to get her, so his first two hours in country were driving around Kirkby waiting for Kathleen. I swear it was not boring. For those who have not heard of Kirkby, people immediately think we are completely asinine when they find out that Kathleen used to work on Cape Cod… and now works for the same company but in Kirkby. It is just plain old sketchy. We also found out that it seems to be the only town in England with no bar. We looked and looked and looked and never found one while waiting for Kathleen. Mark, her boss seemed to think we were rather lucky as he was unsure how we would fair with any inebriated locals we might encounter…
We eventually made it home and quickly found that a significant portion of Jeremy’s luggage was for us! Some super amazing things he brought for us included: an obnoxiously large tub of Gatorade mix, seven packages of my favourite brand and of floss (a new hobby of mine), three skate mags, and a tin of Italian bread crumbs. Additionally, his friend Luciana sent along some candy, Cracker Jacks, Bruce Lee playing cards, and a miniature Zen garden. All of this combined with the care package my parents sent, meant we were super well stocked and longing for nothing! Thank you all!
We spent Wednesday touring Liverpool and hit the good sites. We went to the Tate and saw their current retrospective exhibit of modern art. We also went to the Walker Gallery and saw a new exhibit on Fashion and Sport. This was rad cause it was all about how fashion and sport and art intermingle in the world of consumer products. There were a few Burton pieces in there including a Toy Robot outfit Colin had worked on and some Paul Smith Burton stuff as well. There were also a lot of sneakers including a few pairs of custom NB’s. Check it out here.
We went out to dinner on Wednesday night and it was amazing. We booked a table at our favourite restaurant on Lark Lane called the Moon and Pea. We convinced Kathleen to take Thursday off so in addition to our amazing food, we consumed a few bottles of wine. We also found out about this. Cheshire Farm Ice Cream is amazing. It is definitely not Christina’s but it will have a firm place in our hearts (and stomachs) for the next year and a half. After dinner, we proceeded to a local pub to drink some beer. Here we realized how good Jeremy is at meeting people and how much we suck at it. We met these two films guys that had us laughing all night.
Anyhow, he came in on a Tuesday afternoon and I was able to pick him up at the airport. On our way home, we received a phone call from Kathleen that she needed a ride as well. By the time we got home we would have to turn around to get her, so his first two hours in country were driving around Kirkby waiting for Kathleen. I swear it was not boring. For those who have not heard of Kirkby, people immediately think we are completely asinine when they find out that Kathleen used to work on Cape Cod… and now works for the same company but in Kirkby. It is just plain old sketchy. We also found out that it seems to be the only town in England with no bar. We looked and looked and looked and never found one while waiting for Kathleen. Mark, her boss seemed to think we were rather lucky as he was unsure how we would fair with any inebriated locals we might encounter…
We eventually made it home and quickly found that a significant portion of Jeremy’s luggage was for us! Some super amazing things he brought for us included: an obnoxiously large tub of Gatorade mix, seven packages of my favourite brand and of floss (a new hobby of mine), three skate mags, and a tin of Italian bread crumbs. Additionally, his friend Luciana sent along some candy, Cracker Jacks, Bruce Lee playing cards, and a miniature Zen garden. All of this combined with the care package my parents sent, meant we were super well stocked and longing for nothing! Thank you all!
We spent Wednesday touring Liverpool and hit the good sites. We went to the Tate and saw their current retrospective exhibit of modern art. We also went to the Walker Gallery and saw a new exhibit on Fashion and Sport. This was rad cause it was all about how fashion and sport and art intermingle in the world of consumer products. There were a few Burton pieces in there including a Toy Robot outfit Colin had worked on and some Paul Smith Burton stuff as well. There were also a lot of sneakers including a few pairs of custom NB’s. Check it out here.
We went out to dinner on Wednesday night and it was amazing. We booked a table at our favourite restaurant on Lark Lane called the Moon and Pea. We convinced Kathleen to take Thursday off so in addition to our amazing food, we consumed a few bottles of wine. We also found out about this. Cheshire Farm Ice Cream is amazing. It is definitely not Christina’s but it will have a firm place in our hearts (and stomachs) for the next year and a half. After dinner, we proceeded to a local pub to drink some beer. Here we realized how good Jeremy is at meeting people and how much we suck at it. We met these two films guys that had us laughing all night.
Not only did we shut the bar down, but they know the bartenders and managed to get us served after closing time. Not bad. In addition to the laughter, they apparently had me drinking as well. Here is how I ended up:
They apparently have an open mic night on Sundays, but we have struck out with the timing twice thus far. Will try again this week!
On Wednesday, we took Jeremy to Manchester which he seemed to like much better. He put up with a bit my shopping mission and they we went to Curry Mile. This is a section of Manchester that is populated by a rather large number of Indians. There are Indian restaurants everywhere and supposedly one of the best places to get Indian food in England. We chose… poorly. We went with the old “if it’s crowded, it must be good” philosophy and we paid dearly for it. I think everyone in the place felt like suckers as they tasted their terrible, terrible chow. Oh well, we will try again and cross our fingers next time!
Next we hit up the Whitworth Gallery for an exhibit called “Subversive Spaces.” It was an exhibit of all types of surrealist art. There were some interesting pieces on anxiety and hysteria that were cool. They had videos of people having real ‘fits’ and then artists having their own ‘fits.’ A lot of contortionism and body movements.
Kathleen did not love it that much, but Jeremy and I enjoyed it. They also profiled this woman who walked around Paris in the middle of every night and had a video of a guy riding his bike with no hands up Broadway in NYC going the wrong direction… pretty crazy.
We were all pretty exhausted and not feeling great when we got home, but we did go out for a few beers to Keith’s. This is supposedly where the bohemians and artists hang out, but whatever. It was kind of a cool place.
On Wednesday, we took Jeremy to Manchester which he seemed to like much better. He put up with a bit my shopping mission and they we went to Curry Mile. This is a section of Manchester that is populated by a rather large number of Indians. There are Indian restaurants everywhere and supposedly one of the best places to get Indian food in England. We chose… poorly. We went with the old “if it’s crowded, it must be good” philosophy and we paid dearly for it. I think everyone in the place felt like suckers as they tasted their terrible, terrible chow. Oh well, we will try again and cross our fingers next time!
Next we hit up the Whitworth Gallery for an exhibit called “Subversive Spaces.” It was an exhibit of all types of surrealist art. There were some interesting pieces on anxiety and hysteria that were cool. They had videos of people having real ‘fits’ and then artists having their own ‘fits.’ A lot of contortionism and body movements.
Kathleen did not love it that much, but Jeremy and I enjoyed it. They also profiled this woman who walked around Paris in the middle of every night and had a video of a guy riding his bike with no hands up Broadway in NYC going the wrong direction… pretty crazy.
We were all pretty exhausted and not feeling great when we got home, but we did go out for a few beers to Keith’s. This is supposedly where the bohemians and artists hang out, but whatever. It was kind of a cool place.
Jeremy and I got up at 4am to get him to the airport so he could go shred Switzerland. I was a bit jealous, but was super stoked for him and glad he came through. Jerm, you can come back anytime, with or without gifts (but if you are on the fence, bring the gifts). The morning also ended in a flat tire, and I got to be manly and change the tire. But that is another story…
Bummer about the flatty. Thanks for the ride!
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