John In New York

[Tom Roche]

In advance of John's trip to NYC I rang him up Friday with New York Times in hand, suggesting some gigs and things to do. I also wanted to remind him that the latest stats show flying to be 44 times safer than driving, etc etc.  Turns out Sheila waited till the last minute to tell him the flight was going to be a regular BA flight and not the Concorde. Sounds like a sly, wise trick to keep him from backing out! 

He said he was to stay at The Waldorf-Astoria, and was that a good hotel? Ha-ha, its about the best in town, $400++ a night or so. Way to go, Radio Times.

You'll recall he even said on air he and Pig were "scared" of the impending trip. I spoke to John today Tuesday and he made it across fine and has been enjoyably surprised by New York and New York's citizens. He's presently headed to Central Park for a country concert and yesterday rode the trains and walked a lot around Greenwich Village, checking out Blecker Bob's - longtime vinyl collector's shop.

Mainly he couldnt stop talking about the cheerfulness of New Yorkers (I suggested he had to get off of Manhattan where the livin aint so easy if he wanted to hear some complaining.) 

All it would take is one NY weirdo, jerk, or pickpocket to spoil it all, so I'm relieved he has encountered none of this. None of the expected gunfire or axe murders either. There is a huge July 4 "tall ships" parade up the Hudson today, the largest gathering of vintage ships there in some time. Plus of course todays New York Times reporting Americans will celebrate democracy and freedom tonight by setting off some of the $122.4 million spent here each year on fireworks made in China.

The QE2 leaves tomorrow for a 5 day crossing back to the UK. Flattered to hear a future visit might include Atlanta.

tom