>>djpaulette
>>postcard
archive
[back
to postcard archive menu]
August 2002:
Postcards about feeling the fear and doing it anyway
I don't know how you are with phobias
but I have held onto mine for so long I wasn't sure I would ever be able
to function without them but you know what? Intense Aversion therapy really
is the way forward. What am I talking about? Well, for the longest time
I've been terrified of rats and mice and now thanks to my cool, calm (and
thankfully totally insane) Parisian friends, Christina, Jodie, Laurent,
Marco and the lovely NORBERT (that's Mr. Ratty himself), I am now besotted
to the point of considering buying a rat as a pet. If you don't believe
me - I have pictures . . . .
Mind you, this is not to say that all rats are as sexy (yes way)! and cute as Norbert - he's a movie star for a start. No lie. And what that clever little fella can do with a McDonalds straw is something to see. Not that mine was an easy conversion. There were some embarrassingly high camp moments with much twitching involuntarily and much running screaming across the room, cringing every time he made a move to settle anywhere me. But you know what, if you sit with your fear and face it down, sooner or later you'll realise that it's a) smaller than you b) actually quite familiar and friendly c) nothing to be afraid of and d) the eventual reversal of feeling is one to enjoy, celebrate and bore all your family and friends rigid with for the next lifetime. So, aside from having another great party at Le Queen in Paris in July and the unforgettable experience of the marvellous 287 after-hours party, my burgeoning love affair with Norbert was the highlight of this wonderful trip. Now will someone please stop singing Michael Jackson's 'Ben' ! I'm trying to concentrate :O)
In my last postcard (OK thesis) I laid out my plans for
my long-haul season and I am pleased to say that so far, every mission
has been accomplished. July and The Ministry Of Sound Bangkok experience
was really something else - thousands of people (mainly local) jammed
the floor and bugged out to a
selection of tunes ranging from Punk's 'The Rock' to Bob Sinclar's 'The
Beat Goes On' well into the early hours. Result!
Culturally, the vibe of the city is such that it's easy to lose all track of time. Bartering the hours away in Pat Pong became an obsession: Rolexs were tagged at around 650 Baht. But if you think that's expensive, you can think again. At an exchange rate of 65 baht to the pound they are priced at a healthy £10 each. All totally fake of course. Thus, entering fully into the spirit of free trade, I purr-chased two Rados for about a fiver each and an Omega Constellation for £7. Damn, I shouldn't have told you that though, because now you'll know that I'm not really as rich / flash / stupid as to spend £2500 on an Omega watch (don't be silly - remember my last nice watch was stolen). As for the elephants - how weird do they look and feel up close? I thoroughly enjoyed feeding them in the street despite being fleeced by the banana sellers. And judging by the appendage growing beneath my elephant whilst I was feeding it, I knew my presence was thoroughly welcomed! Later, I snatched a couple of hours to myself and relaxed with an amazing Thai massage at The King and I (Sukhumvit Plaza) - which left me feeling bent, broken and bashed but in the best way. And the highlight of this trip? Visiting the Jade / Golden Buddha in the ornate and mind-blowingly beautiful King's Palace.
August and Montreal was frustrating, fun, funny and fabulous: getting bumped from the early morning flight onto the 3.30pm run simply bought out the shopaholic in me and a sexy white Pringle halter-top and sultry black mirrored Dior sunnies managed to find their way into my carry-on. 12 mega-dehydrated, single-screened hours of Air Canada's shocking in-flight entertainment later, I found I was five hours behind with the maple-tree lined soul of Centreville at my feet. Or at least Room 1010 at the Chateau-Versailles was, since my good friend Claudia Cusetta was annoyingly grounded for the evening by a freak storm over at JFK, so I ate and then slid face-first down the brick work of the jet-lag wall.
Sightseeing with Claudia around the Old Town on Saturday took care of the hours after sound-check and before The Twist party. We snacked and drank the most glorious Cosmopolitans at the ultra-trendy Verse Bar, gawped open-mouthed at the fountain and Notre Dame (no, not just because it was closed), got burned to a crisp in the shade-free dock area and lit a candle for my sick elder sister Elizabeth at the smaller, but equally beautiful, chapel of Notre Dame. Dinner at the La Maitresse was surreal - after 40 minutes our bottled water order materialised as two glasses of warm tap water despite their displaying two shelves of speciality bottled waters behind the bar. Then there was the loud, live piano jazz that you can sit right next to if you're really - and I mean REALLY lucky. Thankfully the Twist party more than compensated.
Firstly, organisers David and Caroline at BBCM turned it out for this mammoth session. Having fans of my radio show in the crowd (Jean Francois - thanks for the maple leaf pins)! was an even bigger buzz than I imagined and it totally lit my touch paper. I took full advantage of the staging and worked the crowd with my impromptu dance moves (now who said that DJs couldn't dance :O) Let's just say that my high kicks are now legendary. After closing with Blaze's 'Do You Remember House' I celebrated this successful six hour set at the infamous Stereo. I'm now determined to play there before I die! The booth is unbelievable, as are the staff and I met the coolest new friends (hi Joanna, Annik, Stephane and Mat)! your fierceness is always welcome!
Sunday and Gay Pride was another Montreal moment to savour. Aside from lunching at Jacques Villeneuve's 'Newtown', being stopped all over town by people who had enjoyed my set at Twist the night before and then hanging out with Twisted Records' head honcho Rob Di Stefano, the street parties were off the chain and the tune of the day / evening? Oscar G and Ralph Falcon's twisted and chunky 'Slave To The Dark Beat': I - and you - need that record. NOW!!!
The weather here has been really rather good, so I have enjoyed wearing sunglasses and some very short skirts, venturing to nights at Sundaysonic, Atelier, Tribalism (Murk playing 'Slave To The Dark Beat' twice had me bouncing around like a superball) and Mr Scruff's set at Gilles Peterson's 'That's How It Is Night' at Bar Rumba was another hangover I can still feel at the front of my head as I write. And BTW - I'm teaching again on Thursday, so wish me luck!
Before I go, it's Awards time again and already the nominations for this year's Muzik Magazine Awards have been deemed a little suspect. Sponsored this year by tabloid The News Of The World, nominations favour recent cover stars, whilst other categories include people / shops / labels/ releases which on closer inspection do not stand up to scrutiny. Ralph, I understand but am not totally convinced by your niche-carving argument and like I said at your launch party I do not envy you your job in answering your critics about this for the rest of the year. Will Talent ever win out over Hype ? You decide! you have a vote. Use it.
Anyways... Be gentle with yourself. Me? I'm out of here like I stole somethin'!
[click here] for the Postcard
archives