MY SECOND WEEK

SUNDAY 6TH DEC Well got up about 10am and just hung out in my room for a while as I had been invited by Tom to go over to his place on Long Island and hang out for a while then go to his friends place. I walked down to 34th St to catch the LIRR (Long Island Rail Road) train out to Douglaston on Long Island. The train, even though it's only about a 30 min trip, is like an interstate with armchair like seats and each carriage has restrooms. The further out you go the ritzier and the bigger the houses become. Eventually I arrived at my destination to be met by Tom. We went to his friends house ..what a house!!! A tudor mansion probably worth in the vicinity of 5 to 6 mil I was told. The way the houses are lit here for Christmas is really enchanting and quite often done by professional firms who specialise in this sort of thing for Christmas..so you can imagine!! We went from there to meet Tom's sailing buddies and their wives and they were a really down to earth friendly bunch. After several drinks I decided it was time to get the LIRR back to Penn Station and head home. With all the best intentions to get an early night I still stayed up till 3 am watching Cable TV and great late night movies.

MONDAY 7TH: Try as I might I couldn't sleep in so I was up about 8.30am and headed off to catch the downtown subway to the business district to see Ground Zero. After eventually working out how to get there I arrived to find a very sombre and respectful atmosphere there. It's hard to explain how it makes you feel but overwhelmed and very sad is probably closest to telling you how I felt. They are now building One World Trade Centre using the same foundation footprints as the Twin Towers with a memorial at the base.

I then rushed back to go to see The Late Show with David Letterman being taped. You have to go through all sorts of security screening (much the same as any airport) but the vibe was great.

Once in the Ed Sullivan Theatre the warmup guy comes out and does 15 mins then the band came out and did a couple of numbers to warm up and also to get the audience revved up. Then lo and behold Dave came out and did about 10 mins of standup right before the show starts taping... He is quite a different guy when not on camera..much warmer and much friendlier than he comes across on air..the guests were Ray Romano and Tom Hanks and some chick who starred opposite George Clooney in their new film. I had a great seat about half way back down the bottom on the aisle so had a great view of it all unfolding. I was very lucky to get a seat as they turn away thousands every day.

TUESDAY 8TH: Met up with great mate Di Hughes (ANATS State President) and her daughter and 2 friends of theirs at about 11am to get the open topped double decker bus tour through New York taking in all the sights and landmarks..Sitting up top in the bus was freakin' freezing I gotta tell you..Numbness set in after about 20 mins so we got off to find a Starbucks and warm up. We then went to the shopping district where all the fake merchandise is sold..you know..the Rolexes, Louis Vuittons etc, but unfortunately for us there was a raid by the cops only a few mins before so all the shops had a cop posted outside and piles and piles of fake Louis Vuitton and Chanel bags piled 8 feet high in the street to be gathered to be used in evidence.

WEDNESDAY 9TH: Made a last minute decision to go to see "HAIR" the musical..(the one where all the cast get naked on stage for the last song of the 1st half..Interesting with all the cast standing in line nude..bit of a penis and vagina catalogue I thought..haha.. Anyway the show and the cast was fantastic and at the end where the final song of the show for the finale is "Let the Sun Shine In" one of the cast members came downstage and grabbed me out of the audience to get up on stage and sing and dance the finale song. Crazy huh??? Only been in New York 9 days and already been on the Broadway Stage...Lucky ol' me!!! I've got to tell you the New York audiences are great. They are sooo into theatre..it's wonderful to witness it.

THURSDAY 10TH: Went up to the Apple Store on 5th Ave to check it out...Amazing...and sooo much cheaper than home. The staff there also fill you in on all the latest cool apps so that was great.. Back in my room now getting my act together and preparing for my flight to Nashville Tennessee tomorrow morning...So much crap to pack...Take care and talk soon