it's your birthday party. happy birthday darling

just excited is all. i'd been wanting to go to helsinki for my birthday and we're going now and maybe a mini cruise over to stolkholm if liz can overcome her fear of traveling in steerage and guess who's coming for the fun.

three days after the fact but i'll still be there. pretty pretty pretty happy.



sara said "why dont people ever come to St. Petersburg?" well sara, not entirely true. MC Hammer was just here. We were in Estonia. And Sigor Ros showed their face. We were in the retirement home for orientation.
and we saw xiu xiu. and it kinda sucked. yea, when you put all the cards out it kinda sucked. the club you played was pretty nice and we saw the waiters bringing you imported beers and sandwhiches and letting them hang out in a nice VIP room. and we saw you not even start until an hour late. and play with your heads down and not look at the audience once. they said "thank you this is our last song." so it wasnt their fault that no one in the audience understood that it was their last song (one of my favorites). and then here comes the diva encore charade. they're packing up their instruments and everyone's kinda staring at them waiting for another song. there was light applause but they didnt get it. and the band just disappears without saying thanks or something. and they're gone for a minute. and then the Russians get it. and someone bold shouts "play more." and people take a second and then "yea, more." and finally, a stiring of "more" and a "pluz" or two. and Xiu Xiu opens the door and everyone shuts up. and Xiu Xiu waves very bored and shuts the door. one minute of silence. and then someone bold shouts "more." and we give up; crawl to the back and get near the stairs. and then they come out and people clap and they play a 3 minute thing and they're gone again. and a tray of cocktails follows them. cocktails in glasses. not gin in a can or plastic bottles. and they're gone for good. and the australians we've just now befriended boo them. and call them bastards. and i can't really tell them no. totally divaZ.
p.s. i didnt detail that i was shoved in someones armpit and had the firmest assgrab of my life. and i didnt mention that the tickets we're 700 rubles=30 USDs. and that they only played for probably under 30 minutes. totally divaZ.