Hello lovely friends, sorry for delay in updating you but been a wee bit busy as you will read!

I am a Hudson River cycle-path - thanks to Purple Bella (on loan but I may have to adopt her!). I love the Westside Highway ride uptown by the river. I ride up there almost every day now and stop on the way back to grab a coffee, sit by the river, write my journal and take in the wonderful view of the Hudson way up on the Westside.

A trip down memory lane with Rancid - punk rock gig @ Irving Plaza with F, Dr D & M. They must have played about 40 songs before we decided we’d had enough of listening to the same 3 chords over and over! Actually, they are pretty good……shades of Discharge, The Clash, GBH……you get the picture. Lots of punching the air and jumping up and down like the old days (and that was just F! ;) )

Went to see Patti Smith’s 'A Dream of Life' biopic @ The Film Forum. It’s a beautiful film that should be seen – even if you are not a PS fan. Its raw, real, pulls at the heart-strings at times and is wonderfully shot in B&W. Then low and bloody-behold, she pops in afterwards to do a Q&A session with the director, Steven Sebring! Weird to see her standing there so close.....this mega-rock idol from my past! She's tiny and looks great!

Drinking Guiness @ The White Horse Tavern on Hudson with great friends from London (and a few knew ones fron nyc) last weekend then went onto MoMA’s PS1 over in Queens. Wasn’t too keen on the ‘making boxes’ music but the art was interesting and thought-provoking – Iraq and Vietnam. Similarities abound.

Went sunbathing and picnicking with Dr D and Mel on the 10th St Pier - watching the pretty boys preening for the boys. Lots of oiled up, buffed up, sexed-up bodies adorned the pier!

Cycled on the Hudson last Sunday with F and then went for a pint @ the Ear Inn (where all the bar men looked like they were about to have apoplectic fits – way too much grog me thinks!!) and met two wonderful New Yorkers. Y had actually travelled in Europe in the early 70’s after having been denied her mandatory conscription which she really wanted to do (her sisters had got in first so they wanted no more of her family!). She had worked for a short while at the Black Lion on Kilburn High Road which I know very well! We then ended up cycling in convoy through the night-time streets of nyc, dodging the traffic (E a 51 year old and the partner of Y on his low-ride bicycle taking no prisoners and F riding his bike like the old skate-boarder that he is!!), over to Budha Bouda in China Town for delicious food and then onto Diablo on Bleeker Street – yet another (Mexican – go figure!) bar owned by Brits. Can’t get away from them!!

Receiving excellent compilation from my lovely thoughtful friend, N, in the post. What a lovely surprise and some cracking tracks on there, N! Thanks sweets!

Beers @ MiLady's dive bar on Prince St & Sullivan on Friday then up mid-west for taking silly photo’s and dancing round the living room to Dirty Dancing soundtrack with Damien!

Strolled through the Saturday market on Bleeker....shades of Portobello (made me a little home-sick actually. BUT, not enough to make me want to come back yet!! ;) )

On the F train over to DuMBo in Brooklyn yesterday to check out the books in PowerHouse Books and then onto J & V’s for a Barb-b-Que's. F excelled at Mojito’s. Home movies involving a certain gentleman with a paper bag on his head doing a rather salacious dance (naming no names but it begins with F!)! More new frineds were made that evening – not sure if it was to do with the dancing or the Suriname rum-fuelled mojito’s!