RULE NUMBER 15

Adam's brekkie @ Cafe Angelina - Eggs Benedict

Gem's brekkie @ Cafe Angelina - some kind of french toast sculpture

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Apollo Theatre, Harlem

Harlem

Backpack with spray can compartments

Harlem

Harlem building

Us at Oceana Grill

Bourbon Street, New Orleans

Bourbon Street chaos

Hill-billy band, Bourbon Street

RULE NUMBER 15

So...we've departed New York and arrived in New Orleans. Two very different places in both the atmosphere and the temperature! Let's backtrack to the weekend.

Friday night was great fun. We met up with one of Adam's friends, Eric, from the editing course and his girlfriend Crystal for some dinner and drinks. Starting at Lil Frankie's, an italian joint, in the East Village...we sat at the bustling bar and waited for a table. It was super busy. Once seated, we ordered a couple of wood-fired pizzas and pasta to share. Food was delicious...as usual. Seeing as I can't drink, I ordered a home-made chocolate mud cake for dessert. It was totally worth it! Next we moved onto a bar down the road right near our apartment (can't remember the name) and had a few more drinks. I couldn't believe it but we ended up leaving at 1am...I was really surprised I lasted that long! Eric and Crystal were great company and it was cool to hang out with some locals and make new friends.

Saturday we made our way out to Harlem to take some photos and check out the area again. We really enjoyed it last time we visited. We wandered up 125th Street (the main strip), grabbed a bite to eat and browsed some of the shops etc. Adam bought a pair of sneakers - was there any doubt he'd buy a pair up there? - and a t-shirt from a cool street vendor. Harlem has a great feel about it, plenty of characters and lots of soul. We headed on home after a couple of hours, ordered up our favourite thai food and settled in for the night....we had a lot of packing to do.

Sunday...our final day in New York. We were ready to leave the big city and experience some new places BUT we'll definitely miss it as well. After a trip to the gym, we grabbed a big breakfast at Cafe Angelina down the road from our apartment. Why didn't we discover this place earlier? Both our meals were delicious (photos above) and huge. Didn't need lunch after that! We packed up the last of our things, said goodbye to East Village and set off to the airport.

After a 3.5 hour flight, we landed in New Orleans. Apart from the airline losing our tripod (it's now been returned to us), it was nice to arrive in a new location. We got outside and stripped off our jackets and jumpers...it was beautiful, warm and balmy. Just how I like it! We waited in line for the taxi and heard the familiar aussie accent in front of us and the phrase "crikey". Adam and I smiled to each other...it's actually kind of odd hearing our accent amongst all of the american. We arrived at the hotel which is located in the French Quarter and just around the corner from Bourbon St. Feeling pretty tired, we ordered some room service and watched the Oscars from the comfort of a BIG king size bed. Joy!

This morning, we walked down to a place in the CBD called the Ruby Slipper and enjoyed a yummy breakfast. It was an overcast, cloudy day with spots of rain here and there but it felt so good to be walking outside in thongs, jeans and t-shirts. After polishing off some eggs and fresh OJ, we wandered through the French Quarter and admired a lot of the architecture and cafe's/restaurants. It's Mardi Gras next weekend so the shops are filled with feather boas, beads, costume stuff...bright colours everywhere.

After a restful afternoon, it was time to check out Bourbon Street. What a crazy place...hard to find the words really. It's an assault on all the senses. Music and smells coming from every bar and restaurant, neon signs everywhere and people of all sorts. It doesn't matter what night of the week it is, this place is a non-stop party. People fall out of one bar and into the next and you can drink on the street.

After a recommendation from the concierge, we tried a place called "Oceana Grill" for dinner. Again, we weren't disappointed. A starter of crab cakes followed by Chicken Aldredo pasta for Adam and Redfish and vegies for me. Adam also tried the local New Orleans drink called a 'hurricane' - white rum, dark rum and tropical juice. It went down a treat. Time to check out more of Bourbon Street and see what else we could find. Each bar has music blaring out of it...jazz, pop, blues etc. We then came across a great hill-billy band playing - an American version of The Kill Devil Hills! We stopped in for a drink and enjoyed the music. Then what happens? Of course, I get picked out of the crowd to take part in some kind of a routine that goes along with a song they play. I am not drinking and I am not keen...BUT....someone called Adam makes me go up there! I'm handed a rowing paddle and the music starts up. One of the band members grabs a few more people from the crowd and then we proceed to dance around the bar in a 'conga' style line while I do rowing moves with the paddle....oh..my..gosh. Haha! At first, I didn't realise it was a paddle and I had no idea what to do with this stick in my hand!? I eventually worked it out, got some rhythm and rowed my way around the place for the whole song with about 10 people following me. At first I was very embarrassed and then I got into it! Adam just sat back with the camera and had a laugh. Fun times and good memories.

Tomorrow we're hiring a car and heading out to visit the Katrina affected areas, the garden district and other parts of New Orleans.

Goodnight people...hope all is well back home. We'll update again for San Antonio :)

Lots of love

Gem and Ads xxx

RULE NUMBER 14

Sephora - Gem's favourite store

Art at MOMA

Foyer at MOMA

Starry Starry Night - one of Gem's favourites

Our street - East Village

Adam at B&H - like a kid in a candy store

Shake Shack....drool

Gem enjoying the best milkshake. ever.

Blue Moon Beer! Yum.

Ed Sullivan Theatre - Late Show With David Letterman

Rockefeller Ice Rink

Rockefeller building

Radio City Hall

That Championship Season

Chris Noth (Big) & Jason Patric

Keifer Sutherland

Adam with one of our AWESOME new lenses - Times Square

Times Square

Times Square

RULE NUMBER 14

Only a few days in NYC left.

Heya,

well, we have been having a good time this week.

On Monday we went to Saks 5th Ave and some other ritzy stores to buy some smells and random bits and pieces. Scent is very important to me...dont tell anyone but i actually dig shopping for aftershave. Ended up buying a CREED scent which you cant get back home and cost about $1,000,000 per ml. Its like Sex Panther from Anchorman...made from bits of actual panther. Anyway, Gem also bought some girlie version of Sex Panther...unfortunately its not called Sex Kitten.

We then hit MOMA for some modern art. Something happened to my knee whilst walking around and the MOMA experience was kinda ruined. We saw a few highlights and then had to catch a cab home for some serious pain killers. I was a little depressed for a while after that...my legs are not what they used to be.

Tuesday we went to a place called B&H. Its the largest pro video / photography / audio store in the USA. Picture a place the size of Harvey Norman full of turn key edit suites, film grip gear, lenses, computers, cameras, broadcast cameras, lighting....ahhhh.... Anyway, the place is amazing and has about 20 checkouts that receive all of the goods you buy via a maze of conveyer belts that come from every service counter. We had done some research and buying this kind of gear in the states is cheaper than back home so we cracked open the work credit card and dropped $3500 on two very, very good lenses for our DSLR. Despite spending that much we actually saved just over $1000 which is incredible. The place is run by Jewish people...y'know the ones with the top hats and curly sideburns...so there was no way i could haggle them down in price but it was still a major win for us.

From B&H we went to SHAKE SHACK to gobble down more of the best burgers and shakes known to mankind. The place is so busy you have to fight for a seat. If Tony and Josh are reading this (i doubt it) then i strongly suggest buying a franchise of this place...mmmmmmmm....shake shack. We then rolled (literally) down to the famous Ed Sullivan theatre to go see David Letterman. Gem applied online when we first got to NYC so we got the call back last week. Anyway, after queuing up for an hour in the freezing cold (just to pick up tix) we ended up impressing the young staff enough to get bumped up to VIP status...basically means we get in early and sit in the first two rows. I will say this, the show is funny...there are all these young females, who must be stand up comics themselves, running around giving the rules of the taping and revving you up, then you get the warm up comic and a video presentation that is hilarious (presented by a very dry Alec Baldwin). Special guests for our show was the very funny Amy Poehler and Dusty the Klepto Cat (you MUST watch the video at that link). Overall is was a very cool experience...being that close to the action and seeing behind the scenes was very cool....BUT our hands and faces were sore from all of the fake clapping and laughing they force you to do.

Wednesday was yesterday. Correct. What did we do?

Oh yeah, we slept in a bit and then went for a walk down to Economy Candy to buy some gifts. We wondered about a bit and then chilled out back a home. That evening we trained uptown to see our second play of the trip - The Championship Season. It stars Keifer Sutherland, Jason Patric, Chris Noth and Brian Cox....and some other guy we dont care about. We had great seats for this one...front row mezzanine so we could see the spit fly out of their mouths without the risk of getting wet. Twas a good play (written by the dude who played the priest in The Exorcist if anyone cares) and the cast were great. Especially Mr Big (I HATE sex and the city but i know who Chris Noth is), Sutherland and Brian Cox. Got some cool video of them all leaving the theatre.

Before that we went to 30 Rock to get some video of the iceskating and the cityscape. It was a clear...cold...night out and everywhere was buzzing. We also grabbed a feed at a well known steakhouse called Frankie & Johnny's...an old speak easy that apparently is a celeb hangout - but not on our night. The food was delish - HUGE juicy well cooked steaks with tasty sides such as potato pancakes, broccoli trees and steak sauce (cross between chutney and bbq). We washed it down with a nice Pinot Noir and enjoyed the fine dining service from the old classy gents who ran the floor. Old skool dining in the theatre district of NYC. Good night.

Last night i had some strange dreams. I was at this large party in a house in Woodlands or something and everyone was there. An old girlfriend rocked up and introduced herself to Gemma...who proceeded to slap her hard on the butt. End scene. Then i was outside at what looked like Sue and Johns house and Jonny O'Brien and I were pushed into the pool and Jonny wee'd what looked like meters of underwater gold silly string through his pants...i got out in disgust. End Scene. Was this a premonition maybe??? Or just something i should keep to myself next time??? You decide.

Yes, i am over tired. Yes, i am in a silly mood. Yes, i am going to be a parent soon. Yes, Gemma is talking me out of keeping that last paragraph.

On a positive - non weird - note...my work at the recent course has generated some positive feedback from the top dog at @RADICAL MEDIA. For those who are worried about that statement, don't be. We will be back in P-Town in a month...but it is encouraging.

Next up we are going to head up to Harlem for a snoop around and we are hitting Williamsburg (Brooklyn) for drinks and dinner with friends from the course.

NYC CHECKLIST:

Edit Course - DONE

Shopping - DONE

Photos - DONE

Make Contacts - DONE

Eat Far Too Much - DONE and DONE

Sightsee - DONE

Celeb Spotting - DONE

Check Out Some Live Music - DONE

Not Blow the Budget - *cough*

Ok peeps, we are off. Next broadcast will be from New Orleans.

Love Ads and Gem.

RULE NUMBER 13.

Gem's meal - Beef Stroganoff and potato pancake

Adam's meal - Ukrainian meatballs and mash potato

Veselka kitchen

Veselka restaurant

Hot subway man

Bedford Ave - Williamsburg (Brooklyn)

Street art in Williamsburg

Bakery which we walked past every day on the way to the gym

RULE NUMBER 13

Time to buy many t-shirt...teen

heya,

well....time for another quick update on our adventures. This week has been fairly busy with work stuff. I completed my rather intensive course on Friday so most of the week was spent working my butt off getting all of my pieces done...the result was pretty encouraging.

So, lets start with Gem, who spent some time in little Italy, Chinatown and some more of the Lwr East Side and the East Village. Despite battling some headaches and the odd baby related pains she continued to churn through her spending money on bargain after bargain...i think she has now bought about 20 things which is quite impressive considering i only gave her $50. Sometimes i come home from work and there are a few items laid out on the bed which is pretty funny...it is even cuter when those items are for our little bun cookin in her tum.

Work for me was cool. It was good to complete the course and it was great to spend some time 'working' in NYC. I finished off with 7 final pieces including 4 film trailers, a BMW commercial (which i created out of the raw footage from a book promotional trailer!) and two separate scenes from feature films...on top of the standard course workload. Other dudes in the class had maybe 4 or 5 so it was nice to get a few more under my belt. Looking at the other works people did i reckon mine came up well and i feel encouraged and inspired by the experience.

During the week we also had round two of our artist in residence...the same chick from last week Bobbie O'Steen came in and we worked through the films Bodyheat and Gosford Park. On Friday we were taken out to lunch at Saigon Market, a cool eatery in a fairly ritzy part of town. We talked extensively about future plans for everyone and got plenty of great feedback and advice on those next steps. Following that (and a couple of drinks) we ventured out to one of my fave post production facilities - OUTPOST DIGITAL. Well, Outpost was bought out by one of my fave places @RADICAL MEDIA but you get the gist. We were privileged enough to have had a few hours with the dude who started Outpost at aged 26 from his apartment. Now, at age 32, he is well and truly minted and is at the pointy end of one of the most respected agencies in the industry. He is freakishly driven, loud and has that NY swagger...and is very very funny.

@RADICAL MEDIA works on feature films, feature and short form documentary (including SOME KIND OF MONSTER), music videos (80 a year including JAY Z and Kanye), web content, apps for ipad etc and has produced about 1500 hours of TV (including setting up MAD MEN!!). We got the full tour of the facility, which was like walking through Willy Wonka's factory for me, and met some cool worker bees...one guy was the talented young gent who did the full sound mix on the recent award winning flick, BLUE VALENTINE. Overall, i was in my element and felt even more inspired.

After that a few work mates and i hit a cool bar down the street in the West Village. A few beers later it was time to bid adieu to my friends from the Manhattan Edit Workshop. I will definitely keep in touch with some of these guys.

Saturday i woke up a little tired after dreaming about @RADICAL. Reality then kicked in and i got to work on Matt Sharp's wedding invite and putting together my own showreel website. Ended up just chilling out before taking my pregnant hot mama out for a feast of the Ukrainian style. Veselka is a hot spot recommended again by Anthony Bourdain - that guy's tips never fail. Let me just say that food was AWESOME and LARGE. Unflattering photos above. Feeling a little guilty after our gluttony we decided to walk home...but someone....someone who is little....someone who is little and kinda roundish wanted some doughnut action. Enter a walk by Dunkin Donuts for a 6 pack. Times have changed....i remember getting a 6 pack of something else on the way home!!

Today we slept in and then made our way to Brooklyn for lunch at 5 Leaves (ledger's inspired joint) and some shopping. Turns out 5 Leaves was full of 'too cool for skool' types and they had stopped serving our fave sandwich...because we were 10 mins late!! We ditched that place in a hurry and grabbed a coffee and a muffin down the street. Spent the next couple of hours browsing the shops and checking out all of the cool people and models that now frequent this part of town. I got my spend on with 4 t-shirts, a cap and a pair of pricy vintage sunglasses. Now i am too cool for skool.

Well that is it. We are currently watching the NBA All-Star game live (awesome) and digesting one of the best pasta meals ever, courtesy of Supper down the street.

Tomorrow, we will begin an action packed final week in NYC. Galleries, photos, shops, Harlem, Jersey, Broadway and Dave Letterman.

Chat next weekend before we hit New Orleans.

Take care all.

love, Ads and Gem and ? xx

RULE NUMBER 12.

Brooklyn Heights

Brooklyn Heights

Brooklyn Heights

View of Brooklyn Bridge from Dumbo

View from Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge

Live Hip Hop

Inside 'Please Don't Tell' bar

Amie entering the hidden bar

Amie entering the hidden bar

Hot Dog shop where the hidden bar is located

Panna II Indian restaurant

Lads

the beer menu at D.B.A with my mysterious silhouette

Cool coffee shop in Tribeca

Amie and Steve in da subway

Katz Diner

Amie and Gem @ Pink Pony, Lwr East Side

East Village

RULE NUMBER 12

Tears, laughs, raps and headaches.

Hello,

Last night i received a text from a close friend informing me that her father had passed away. Our hearts sank to learn that Rachel Cresswell's dad had succombed to a very aggressive form of cancer. I will remember Don Griffiths as a good example of what a father figure should be and i was always impressed by his ability to be the 'invisible' glue in a family of strong willed women. Definitely a sad day and I feel terrible that I will not be able to pay my respects in person.

Inhale. Exhale.

Well, i have been a little flat today and only managed half a day's work before walking out. I reckon its a good idea to blog about some good things we have been fortunate enough to experience over here in the last few days.

We had my sister Amie and her hubby Steve over here from Thursday until Monday morning so it was an adventurous weekend. Thursday night they arrived in time to have a late dinner at Il Bagatto - our fave Italian joint down the street. No celebs this time but the food, wine and service did not let us down.

i had to hit work on Friday so Gem took the guests through lower east side to the candy shop, to Soho for lunch and a wander around Greenwich Village. I was a wee bit exhausted after a very difficult week at work so a wake-up drink was in order before dinner. Enter the Double Down Saloon...a rock n roller joint around the corner that is...ummm...well...different. I doubt anybody we know will be 100% comfortable in this place but i reckon half of our friends would be at least...kind of...at home here (i am looking at you Humphries and Kapiteyn). Its dark, covered in graffiti and has signs like "SHUT UP AND DRINK" and "YOU PUKE YOU CLEAN". The staff are friendly...for the most part...and they show interesting *cough* things on the TV's. I know our parents are reading this so i will stop there but if you want to know what was on the TV then feel free to ask us later. Despite all of this, the place is always busy - filled with Wall St types as well as rock and roll types. Strange. Intriguing. Disturbing.

Why did we go in to the DD Saloon i hear you asking? Well, it was the sign out front that said "$5 BEER AND SHOT"...mmmm....classy. Turns out the shot of the day (and everyday) is called ASS JUICE. Yep, you read that correctly. Despite the name it was quite tasty and the beer hit the spot. Ok, enough about that. After a couple of beers we wandered down to Mary O's for that famous shepherds pie. Nice.

Saturday was a quiet one. I hit the gym in the morning and put my back out ("i am too old for this sh#t"). Spent the day chilling out with my girl and her belly. Amie and Steve went uptown to check out 30 Rock and go iceskating. They ended up having a huge night on their own (they have that ability) while Gem nursed me back to full health.

Was feeling better Sunday morning so we planned to train down to the financial district and the 9/11 memorial. Before that, i had to put in a couple of hours at work ahead of meeting up with the gang at Katz's Diner for session two of the meatfest sandwiches. There was a queue this time...for a sandwich!!

9/11 site was a mission to get to but impressive to see. The new construction is well under way but it must be a few more years away yet. Following that we wandered through Tribeca and grabbed a coffee before heading back home for a cat nap.

Sunday night was great (Monday morning was not). We walked up to a bar called D.B.A for a pint and then continued up the street to the most bizarro Indian restaurant i have seen...and i have been to India. There are basically three restaurants in a cluster - two upstairs and one downstairs - that look exactly the same. They all have thousands of little Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling which is very difficult for tall people. Apparently, the one we went to (recommended by Anthony Bourdain) was the first to do the light thing and then the two other joints basically copied then. They each have someone outside fighting over your dollar and the is no shortage of trash talking between businesses. Food was great and we polished off two bottles of Spanish wine that we picked up on the way up.

Following the meal we went to a hidden bar (an old prohibition bar) called 'Please Don't Tell' - a small bar that is hidden behind a wall in a hotdog joint. You basically walk into the hotdog place, open the door to the public phone booth, pick up the phone and dial 1...and then wait to be let in via the false wall. Think Maxwell Smart. Very cool and the cocktails were tasty....including the tailor made alcohol free one for the babymama.

Time to go home. But wait, there is more...as we walked home we came across a bar that had a bunch of black dudes out the front and some serious beats coming from within. We cant remember the name of the bar but it was pretty cool and worthy of a couple of beers. As it turns out it was an open mic hip hop night and we were pretty much the only white peeps in there! I was almost talked into dropping some freestyle raps (think Eminem in 8 MILE) but Gemma talked me down off the ledge....thank goodness. Overall the talent was of a high standard and the beats were very cool.

Ok...its definitely time for bed now.

Monday started with a bang...until i realised it was just a pin dropping from the other room...ouch my head! Said goodbye to the little sis and her hubby and then went to work - like the diligent student i am. Needless to say that i didnt get a heap done but it was the right thing to do. I was grumpy that night. Gem spent the day cruising around downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Dumbo and then over the Brooklyn Bridge.

Celebrity Watch: Gem and the gang saw Chris Hemsworth (the buff dude playing THOR in the new movie titled......THOR). Gem also saw Jennifer Carpenter (DEXTER) twice and Henry Rollins walked past us while we were digging into some Japanese near work. We also bought tix to see another play in our last week here, this time starring Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric and Brian Cox (with a few other familiar faces).

Baby Watch: the highlight of the week for me was feeling my first kick! Apparently you don't usually feel kicks on the outside for a couple more weeks so it was a great surprise. I fell in love with this baby for the second time.

Work wise, things are ticking along fairly well. Last week was a tough one and this week has been a bit disrupted but overall its going well. Last Friday was day one of our 'artist in residence'. Her name is Bobbie O'Steen and she has worked in a few different areas of the film industry. She started as a story editor before moving onto screen writing and then editing. She is now a noted educator at NYU and author. Her husband (who died in 2000) was Sam O'Steen who edited...wait for it...COOL HAND LUKE; THE GRADUATE; ROSEMARY'S BABY; CHINATOWN; FRANTIC; SILKWOOD and WORKING GIRL amongst other classic titles. She brought in the actual line script for The Graduate and we worked through certain scenes and the decision making process that went on behind those scenes. Was very informative and she was great fun. Before the end of the day she viewed some of our work and gave a critique...gulp...fortunately she really dug my piece - a film trailer for DOWN TO THE BONE starring Vera Farmiga (THE DEPARTED and Clooney's love interest in UP IN THE AIR).

Overall, i am ready to stop studying. This 6 weeks has been very challenging and i am looking forward to relaxing in NYC with my bride before our final tour around the south of the great U.S and A.

ummm....thats it.

Will chat again on Sunday.

love Ads and Gem x