tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58487632011-09-04T06:33:25.875-05:00JJ hits the USA...JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.comBlogger471100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1101188227434863462004-11-22T23:34:00.000-06:002004-11-23T00:13:58.620-06:00

An inglorious and infamous return to the world of Blog for Jonathan. Except not here! Got to: http://pittbritt.typepad.com/beanz_meanz_heinz/

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1093474087646696862004-08-25T17:42:00.000-05:002004-08-27T09:41:56.990-05:00

...and I hang up the phone and can feel nothing but an overriding sense of solitude - of distance from my parents. It's a tough thing to tell your mum that you won't be seeing her next week after all, that you'll be home at Christmas, and that you're committing to live away from home for the next few years. Suddenly I realise just how little I'm going to see of the people I love the most in the

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1093473571136566542004-08-25T17:35:00.000-05:002004-08-25T17:39:31.136-05:00

big big apologies to those of you I was hoping to see in London this coming week. I'll hopefully be back for a flying visit soon(ish)... drink a few pints on my behalf :)

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1093473293888568962004-08-25T17:27:00.000-05:002004-08-25T17:34:53.890-05:00

so, for those of you out of the loop (the fault being wholly mine, for certain) - I have *just* accepted a position with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (www.pittsburghsymphony.org) starting... well, starting next week... kinda. I say kinda because: 1) I'm scared to high heaven 2) I'm scared beyond belief 3) I'm pretty petrified 4) I'm just a little nervous Of course, that's

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1091340892112603882004-08-01T00:53:00.000-05:002004-08-01T01:22:26.693-05:00

So, America is entering political season - or perhaps it'd be more accurate to say, 'has firmly placed all media outlets on high-political-alert'. You can't escape it here, and you can't escape, seemingly, the millions upon billions of pundits who have become more prolific than lawyers in recent months (I'm certain there's a fine lawyer-joke hidden somewhere in there, though am of course far too

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1089911739834761012004-07-15T12:10:00.000-05:002004-07-15T12:29:59.656-05:00

1. About America ... - it's huge - it's huger than huge - there's more signs for churches on the road than we have speed cameras in England 2. About Americans ... - they're huge (!) (just kidding... kinda) - they're varied and a half - in fact, strictly speaking, Texas isn't really America, it's more a quasi-independent-self-run-autonomous-collective (to steal from Monty Python).

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1089737337117847732004-07-13T11:27:00.000-05:002004-07-13T11:48:57.116-05:00

Emotive, biased, graphic, revealing. Whatever you might say about Michael Moore's Farenheit 9/11, it is certainly memorable. The mod in that cinema on the opening night was electric and volatile from the moment the previews ran to the cigarettes in the parking lot* afterwards. And make no mistake, this film will have an impact over here - perhaps like no othe film before it. Despite all

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1087665348070417042004-06-19T12:10:00.000-05:002004-06-19T12:15:48.070-05:00

... I have a horrible habit... I fall for terribly unatainable girls. Anybody know of a cure???

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1085409698100140842004-05-24T09:32:00.001-05:002004-06-19T12:27:17.343-05:00

I dreamt of what I’d imagined often. And it frightened me, confusing my ability to distinguish between phantoms and reality. My dreaming feels far more real than my waking. And if I am unable to make the distinction, how then am I to know anything? and what, you are asking, does this have to do with living with America? Ah, a chance to provide a spurious segue to America as the 'land of

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1082573996609338402004-04-21T13:59:00.000-05:002004-04-21T18:43:57.793-05:00

ok - so there are perhaps three things we Brits find a little amusing about America in general*: 1 - The political wranglings 2 - The general tendency for people to find everything "cute" 3 - Jerry Springer. mhmmm... the veritable king of day-time trash is nothing less than a Chicago-man... well kind of, his shows are recorded here and he apparently has a particular nice pad up on

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1079650284810254052004-03-18T16:51:00.000-06:002004-03-18T16:54:44.140-06:00

for such a long absense - the last month in Chicago has been helter-skelter to say the least. I'm having an amazing time, rest assured, but also trying to juggle a million rabbits and a chainsaw all at once - get's rather bloody on the odd occassion that I lose concentration!

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1079650115853612682004-03-18T16:48:00.000-06:002004-04-21T13:58:18.966-05:00

... edited by author for content... upon interesting discovery

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1078512199195537882004-03-05T12:43:00.000-06:002004-03-05T12:46:20.590-06:00

... excuses if you please, for such lethargy in the last week or two. I've got a blog blister... rendering typing a rather painful (*ouch*) affair. back next week in the wake of CSO auditions and the like. oh and attempts to persuade an Auzzie hornblower (not the species of bird) to go on a date :)

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1077501807673803212004-02-22T20:03:00.000-06:002004-02-22T20:06:13.560-06:00

A man started walking alongside me in the street this afternoon. I, returning from a meander around the sky-scrapers, he, evidently roaming from person to person with a standard speil. or so I thought. The signifiers were classic. He was obviously homeless. Obviously approaching people uninvited, and quite possibly soliciting. And I had pre-determined to appologise bruskly and carry

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1077045509020744302004-02-17T13:18:00.000-06:002004-02-17T13:22:44.873-06:00

This morning has put me as near to tranquility as I've been in an age. % A phone call. % A luxurious lie-in % sunshine pouring in at every crevis % and the bus turning up just as I got to the stop... It's amazing how readily little things can turn the course of a day

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1076879737828456062004-02-15T15:15:00.000-06:002004-02-15T15:32:58.450-06:00

Am particularly frustrated today. Why? An acronym explains it all... U.P.S. Utterly Pathetic Sausages I spent so bloody long baking those cookies. Wrapping them. Refrigerating them. Posting them... and for once in my life I did all of this with time to spare... leaving that (accursed?) Valentine's Day no room for shaming me. But no. I'm subject to valentinian cruelty. I

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1075853653709453102004-02-03T18:14:00.000-06:002004-02-03T18:16:33.153-06:00

so the years of choral singing that I took part in taught me one thing if nothing else, always listen to what the organist is playing *grin*

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1075520001878539772004-01-30T21:33:00.000-06:002004-01-30T21:35:51.013-06:00

take a look at this article. I think it probably typifies how diversely opinionated a country this really is: New York Times Article Oh, and sorry for the two week silence - My fingers froze in the -30 celcius temperatures out here.... **brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr**

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1074036694378761382004-01-13T17:31:00.000-06:002004-01-13T22:44:41.623-06:00

I attended a lecture yesterday, with some friends of mine, based on the (very enjoyable) Da Vinci Code. The lecture itself was something of a dissapointment, though - as Nancy put it - it was interesting in itself as a phenomenon, purely for the size and diversity of the audience it attracted. Evenings spent with friends, however, are nothing if not varied things, and the lecture became an

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1073954989883418612004-01-12T18:49:00.000-06:002004-01-12T18:50:59.756-06:00

so thankfully NPR managed a couple of liberal commentators this morning to balance out last week's heavyweight conservatives... The world is not quite so awry as I had imagined!

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1073951795198703002004-01-12T17:56:00.000-06:002004-01-12T17:56:55.720-06:00

my walls are now ORANGE

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1073590551011440932004-01-08T13:35:00.000-06:002004-01-12T17:51:25.943-06:00

So I wake up to my usual morning routine: a brisk 20 minutes getting better acquainted with my new futon (thanks Andrea): - a bleary eyed stumble over to the kitchen and the kettle - 5 minutes of R&R with our new IKEA table - install myself semi-permanently in the antique shower. - and drip dry lethargically on my new IKEA rug... The one other feature that encompasses the

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1073587538770123722004-01-08T12:45:00.000-06:002004-01-08T12:45:58.540-06:00

Something or other changed, but I can’t think where or how. But then. A phone call, and everything swings back into kilter again. Maybe I'm just being a little stupid? Happy New Year by the way! 'Twas a good one on State-side, full of much revelry... more of which later...

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1072376852818419372003-12-25T12:27:00.000-06:002004-01-12T17:47:25.023-06:00

(excuses for the cheesy pun of a title... but it makes perfect sense, I promise - stick with me here....) So, if someone in a decade had to ask me - "Jonathan, what's your strongest memory of Christmas in Chicago?" - I now have my very definate answer: underground rap. more of which shortly... in the meantime I have some pressing issues with the home of KFC.... mmmmm :)

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1072239276335170122003-12-23T22:14:00.000-06:002004-04-21T13:59:05.590-05:00

So this past week has been spent running around backstage for the CSO Christmas Show, which is a high octane, affair. Hugely enjoyable for the most part, and even the ever-such-sincere-smiles-on-stage kids are bearable for their energy and enthusiasm. It's just all a bit odd now that it's over. I'm sitting here in the office, the last to go home as I'm the one who has to tidy up all the

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1071793354198208722003-12-18T18:22:00.000-06:002003-12-18T18:27:29.643-06:00

"Can you say 'Doctor' in an American accent then Jonathan?" "but of course" ( I say, confidently...) "dahhhhhhktuuuurrrrr" "no, no, less on the 'tor'" "Daaaaahhhhktu" "you're just not getting it, are you?" "Oh I give up. this American is all just out-dated English anyways" "ha, yeah, Shakesperean English" "ahhh, Shakespeare - you know he and I were both born in Warwickshire don't you

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1071767686371376292003-12-18T11:14:00.000-06:002003-12-18T11:18:11.520-06:00

Can't quite imagine where the last two weeks have escaped to. Somewhere in the anals of my memory now, though seemingly a long way off. And Christmas 2003 is just one week away. and of course, this means but one thing, as Sharon puts it: "JJaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, we MUST see it" the 'it' being Frodo concluding his epic adventure and Aragorn and Legolas fixing themselves in people's

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1070426539986806062003-12-02T22:42:00.000-06:002003-12-02T22:42:30.016-06:00

I love it. Chicago does snow really well. it also does thanksgiving really well... in fact, I'm rather taken with the festivities over here (be they commercially driven or not), and have even compromised my Britishness by fully getting into this Thanksgiving malarky, which I'm certain has some anti-colonial-power connotations... the best bit? The gigantic Kermit the Frog inflatable

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1070426250688010432003-12-02T22:37:00.000-06:002003-12-02T22:37:40.926-06:00

audio post powered by audblog

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1069775588551752782003-11-25T09:53:00.000-06:002003-11-25T09:53:16.443-06:00

I'm particularly pleased to be British, knowing what an ignomious reception we gave to Monsieur Bush when he got to our shores. Ironically, I seem to have received more plaudits for my nationality this week than in the whole of my time here (verging on 11 weeks already... God, where does it disappear to?!)... just to assure you all then. Bush really isn't well liked around here. In fact

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1069775181456638602003-11-25T09:46:00.000-06:002003-11-25T09:46:29.450-06:00

When Jonny knocked over that drop-goal with 20 seconds to go? I remember exactly where I was. And am sure I will until my dying day... standing on the chair in Gingers, hollering at the top of my now-nearly-expended voice - "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot!" and none of us could quite believe it when it had happened. There was almost a stunned silence in that pub, at 5 in the morning, full

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1069279976146546842003-11-19T16:12:00.000-06:002003-11-19T16:18:12.923-06:00

if you've seen any films with Chicago as backdrop recently, you'll have probably (without realising it) also seen Chicago's second most distinctive landmark(s)... [look closely the next time you see 'Chicago' the movie, or 'High Fidelity'] The 'L' runs above ground, hense the name - 'elevated' train - and well, I've spent an inordinate amount of time on them thus far, on my random nights'

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1069181815489630832003-11-18T12:56:00.000-06:002003-11-18T13:31:09.720-06:00

of the blog from Saturday... I think I may have got a little bored whilst taking the L back downtown - and well, that's my stream of consciousness, right there. It's a little waffley, and on re-reading, doesn't exactly make great prose - far far too overladen! still. Just in case you were worrying (you were?! go on, admit it!), I'm not actually 'feeling' all that, it's simply what I sensed

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1069031879173184122003-11-16T19:17:00.000-06:002003-11-16T19:18:05.290-06:00

lots changes in the space of a day, not least when you don't get any sleep in the intervening night! so, the otherside of my emotional watershed - England restoring some red-rose pride at the Rugby World Cup which has made me avery happy (as well as tired) man... and then Church this morning, which turned out to be a wonderful affair! anyway it's off home with me. Have spent far too

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1068921203053170082003-11-15T12:33:00.000-06:002003-11-18T13:31:57.110-06:00

There's a solitary loneliness evident in here - a peronalised depression for each of us - compounded by each man experiencing one and the same. Yet there is no solidarity of feeling, no compassion recognised for shared solitude. Just a palpable augmentation of the atmosphere, so that solitude weighs heavy here, being shifted in physical location only. The one defining moment? The empty

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1068598036716237522003-11-11T18:47:00.000-06:002003-11-11T18:47:21.186-06:00

my bike is magic. it dissapeared this weekend. I took it to Church. It dissapeared. I think it was taking the whole Ascention story a little too seriously. Will have to have words with it when I find it... But seriously - how is one meant to feel about the unthinking person who took it? Do they even contemplate the headaches they've caused me? probably not. so that means

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1068597839917167432003-11-11T18:43:00.000-06:002003-11-11T18:44:04.423-06:00

... from that date, and well, I guess a lot's changed - I had a great time there - even started quite liking the girl... . but girls will as girls do, and she never rang back. Ach. such is life, but - and maybe I'm getting thicker skinned (more fickle?) in my approach to the dating game - the despondency lasted a mere two days... the weather contributing sympathetically with a slow

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1067975335650091192003-11-04T13:48:00.000-06:002003-11-04T13:48:58.283-06:00

... *eek* I have the pre-date jitters... no idea why, I'm not normally like this - it's just coffee after all. help?!

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1067278618731316742003-10-27T12:16:00.000-06:002003-10-27T12:16:59.700-06:00

. my legs hurt today. I ran six miles yesterday. ouch. I need to run some more...

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1066966559450010912003-10-23T22:35:00.000-05:002003-10-23T22:39:46.663-05:00

This is my new 'local' *big cheesy popcorn grin*

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1066966377462042002003-10-23T22:32:00.000-05:002003-10-23T22:43:54.236-05:00

I had a day full of the police yesterday... thankfully didn't end up getting cozy with any of them, but was amazed at their prevalence. It all started at the State Department, where I reluctantly ventured in an attempt to get my drivers license (more on that and the State Department in general later...), and outside of which, there were the mandatory policemen, in full regalia - they're

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1066666514450091382003-10-20T11:15:00.000-05:002003-10-20T11:15:14.450-05:00

sitting there in the Opera house with all these people dressed to the hilt in finery, I thought: "how odd, that I should be sitting here in these clothes, with these people" wearing my suit and casual shirt underneath. looking, for all the world, a part of this social beast. You see, up until an hour beforehand I'd been sporting shorts and an England rugby top, having spent the day in an

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1066256135853173762003-10-15T17:15:00.000-05:002003-10-15T17:20:27.516-05:00

I was cycling home from work for the first time the other day. The ride is (apart from being an "unadvisable one" according to most Chicagans I've met) a fascinating journey, from cosmopolitan to suburban, via... well, via ghetto's I guess - though I wasn't that far off calling them slums. Three stages. in just 10 miles. The differences are staggering. Disturbing, even. But then,

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1066192532800710972003-10-14T23:35:00.000-05:002003-10-14T23:38:35.176-05:00

that's all you really need to say to anyone tonight, passing them in the street or sitting across from them on the L line... it pretty much sucks too, when they're one game away from the (oddly named) World Series - and Chicago has been buzzing all week with the anticipation. The worst part is the way they lost tonight, and being down there at the stadium - well, it was palpable, all that

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1065634013642309202003-10-08T12:26:00.000-05:002003-10-08T12:26:53.406-05:00

ok ok, so I'm only just getting back to Blogland having avoided cyber-space for a while. The catalyst? An interesting morning of chance happenings - one of those responsive days thus far (see Oct 1). First I gave directions to a couple in the street, then gave a lady a quarter for the newspaper box (I have to introduce those in the UK...). "The significance of both?," I hear you ask. It's

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1065041995671487872003-10-01T15:59:00.000-05:002003-10-01T15:59:55.833-05:00

The World is a surprising place. One day you can be in the depths of the doldrums with now explanation and seemingly no remedy. The next – and through no apparent alterations on your own part – the world becomes responsive again, providing opportunities and chances. What is it? What makes the difference between one day and the next? Today is a responsive day, and I’m glad of it. I

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5848763.post-1064294457480866242003-09-23T00:18:00.000-05:002003-09-23T00:20:57.343-05:00

So, I'm finally succumbing to the world of Blog. great word that. and I hereby smash my bottle of (Californian) bubbly against the bows of the great blog 'My Kinda Town' - for the ignorami amongst you, that's Chicago... but then, you all knew that already. right? drop by occasionally, I might have cause to write a thing or two.

JJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11146817829546854344noreply@blogger.com0