What ho, world. Blessay or blissertation number three coming up in a moment. It has taken me a little longer than I had hoped to furnish the site with its third upload. There are reasons and I shall go through them quickly.
Why So Late? My first blog entry, Devices and Desires (see below) went some way towards expressing my extreme passion for things digital. It resulted in a very charming enquiry from the Guardian newspaper in London. Would I be interested in providing a weekly column on the subject of the gadget, the electronic doo-dad and the world of the gismoidal? I thought about this longish and hardish.
I wrote newspaper columns through much of the eighties and nineties, and enjoyed it greatly. But for all kinds of reasons I was more than happy to retire. Feeling stale, tiring of the deadlines, hating myself for manufacturing cheap, easy rants – the line of least resistance when you rack your brains for weekly copy is to think of something you hate. That way lies the death of the soul IM(not so)HO. All those feature columns with titles like J’Accuse, Bile, Spleen and so on. Nasty. Won’t Do. It all came to a head when an editor called me up and asked if I could do a “1200 word hate piece on Christmas”. Not a blush, not a murmur of apology. Time to reach for my hat and streak for the horizon, I felt. Plus, by this time I was pretty deeply into … ah, but wait, that’s for the main body of the blessay.
Anyway, the upshot of my longish and hardish thinking the other day was to reply with a ‘yes’. Five hundred or so words a week for the Saturday Guardian on the subject of geeky dorky toys, digital advances, lordly overviews of the online scene – just my bag. The ‘lead times’ for these magazines are bizarrely long, so I’ve had to provide a longer introductory article and the first two columns proper in advance. The writing of them has kept me from my blog table.
At the same time I have finished shooting the second series of Kingdom and now find myself in the United States of America on Day One of a great adventure: filming in every state of the union for a BBC documentary. My mode of transport of choice is a black London cab.
American Sunrise I was possibly the first person in America to see the sun this morning.
There’s a proud boast. I was standing on the harbour wall at Eastport, Maine staring out across the bay at a beautiful, beautiful sunrise. Eastport, Maine styles itself the easternmost city in America. The Lowestoft of the USA, if you will. There didn’t seem to be anyone else around so I allowed myself to believe that I was indeed the first to see the sun rise in America that day.
I took a picture to commemorate the event.
The land you see on the horizon there is actually Canada, where she twists round the topmost corner of Maine at Passamaquoddy Bay, so the picture is taken from as far east as you can go in the USA. Actually, that’s a moot point. Part of Alaskan territory (now water rather than ice) actually crosses the dateline or Antimeridian so in theory Alaska can be called the easternmost and westernmost state in America which is rather naughty of it, but there you are.
Meanwhile, back in Maine on the first day of my documentary filming, the Motel East, where the crew and I are staying, may be out of range of cellular phones but, mirabile dictu, it has wi-fi, so I am able to send this to my site. We start the actual filming this afternoon. I shall be hauling in lobster pots and looking stylish in a sou’wester. That’s the idea anyway. Probably heaving my guts up over the taff-rail, if they have such a thing.
I really enjoy making documentaries. Fearsome hard work, but deeply satisfying. After Manic Depression, HIV/AIDS and the life and work of Gutenberg (yet to be shown on BBC4 some time later in the year I think) a jaunt around every state of America may seem rather trivial or self-indulgent, but I hope that won’t be how it comes across. America is important. We have seen perhaps a little too much of British people going over to sneer at rednecks, laugh at freaks and wring their hands at nutters. The America I’ve visited (and I’ve crossed it before in traditional fashion; shiny red Mustang convertible, diner to diner, motel to motel. Very Bruce Dern) have always seemed to me to be more than ordinarily kind, friendly, hospitable, polite, thoughtful and honourable. Well, I’m visiting with an open mind but that has been my experience thus far. Maine for four nights, then New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York… you get the idea.
Thanks for taking the time to write another wonderful blog / blessay / essog. I look forward to your series on America; I want to find out more about this country rather than just take the lazy approach of believing everything I see in the media. You’re right, us Brits do take this kind of superior attitude when talking about the USA, as if they’re our embarrassing younger cousin, but I suspect most states are so different from each other as to seem like separate countries in themselves. I’ve only ever been to New York, but on the whole I found it to be much the same as London (albeit architecturally more interesting). Again, like London, people were hideously rude during rush hour, but scratch beneath the surface and you could have some really interesting conversations and some even better nights out. At the risk of sounding twee, people are just people with their own hang- ups, concerns and stories to tell, some more interesting than others.
With regards to addictions, I wonder if your speculation needs to be investigated further; perhaps a documentary on it (just kidding, although most of us here would watch you reading the phone book, so it’d get viewers to be sure). I’ve nothing comparable to your addictions. However, when I’m bored, or anxious I overload on caffiene; i’m sure you know all about how the brain works, how action and association cause us to behave in the manner of Pavlov’s dogs and how serotonin levels respond to learned behaviour, but I wonder if therein lies your problem; namely, when you’re bored, or concentrating, or even alone, you reach for something to put in your mouth (stop that filthy thought right there). I don’t know if you should dismiss CBT wholly in favour of drugs, as one low point could undo what’s been done. But, therein lies the rub, I don’t know you; I hope you realise that I’m trying to be helpful here, even though I’m probably coming across as superflous and facetious (not entirely the correct use of the word, but I like it, so there it stays). Interestingly though I read somewhere that nicotine is even more addictive than heroin, so there’s no wonder you’ve been thwarted in your attempts to quit before.
In the absence of any addiction stories, I do have a wryly amusing quitting smoking story; my ex tried to quit his prolific roll-up habit (considering he was schizophrenic and on medication for this also, it was quite an achievement). After two months on patches and a cigarette replacement, he was doing really well, that is until I received a phonecall to say he’d been admitted to hospital for a collapsed lung; apparently this was nothing to do with his previous habit. He took the view that life was bad enough without removing one of his main sources of pleasure, so he resumed the habit soon after getting well.
Incidents of spectacular bad luck aside, I wish you well in your endeavours Stephen. I hope you don’t feel that you’re cutting off your nose to spite your face, or other such cliches. Just think, you’ll always have the humble cup of tea … if I should give up everything else in the world, this (also) pointless addiction keeps me going. You can probably die from overdosing on tea, but what a way to go eh?
Btw, I liked your “smoke like Sheffield in the 1850s” image; we still emit the heady scent of industry round here. So, if I ever meet you, you’ll know from whence I hail. Happy travels.
Lovely essay, appreciate the honesty that goes into these personal revelations, although I suspect that you’re one of those folks who finds self-aware honesty relatively painless to put down on paper. But hey, enjoy the awed appreciation of those of us who think it’s difficult!
Truth is beauty, even when it’s about mundane things like sweets & tobacco.
I have quit smoking three times. For a while I managed to convince myself that cigarettes are “smelly and noxious”, and I do firmly believe they are, but that “bliss, that hit of heaven” I really cannot do without.
I can be off ciggies for days, weeks even – and I am pretty good at it – but then something happens and it feels like out of all the things in the whole world, a simple, pointless and harmless cigarette retains the beginning and the end of a moment which would otherwise be lost.
Of course this is utter bollocks. Cigarettes don’t retain anything other than smell, and I sound pathetic in my attempt to give them any kind of romantic connotations. But what can you do? Didn’t Somebody say that the best way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it?
Very best wishes.
As you did go to the trouble of writing a third (a non related trilogy?) blessay, the least I can do is thank you and read it.
Ok, I read it.
Your a man of many talents Mr Fry. Not least the singular, and if might say, unfairly distributed, owner of a large vocabulary and aserbic wit. You are forgiven many of the blunders made in life by possession of these abilities.
I hope. as life exposes foibles small and large in our wounded psyche, you will continue to strive in the putting asunder of known weakness, and document the journey for us who walk unknown and unrecognized beside you. Your story is our story. Your words become our own.
Inspiration comes from unknown quarters. Im off to grow Turnips.
Seems my comment to you yesterday morning was eaten by your server. Ah well, nevermind. My comment was written from the heart so perhaps it is just as well. The only important part of the lost comment was that this new blog post of yours was a delight to read. Thank you for the free entertainment.
Thank you. This post has dragged me out of a fit of pique and made me smile. And no, I am not giving up cigarettes or anything else. I am, however, tempted to take it up and then quit once I am well and truly hooked, just so I have an excuse for my bad moods.
I Am Hugely Looking Forward To The Documentary!
I Shall Keep My Eyes Peeled For It
Most Enjoyable Blog, Keep ‘Um Coming!
Best Wishes!
Hello Stephen. Lovely, lovely, lovely to see you in the Blogosphere. I’d like you to know that there are many in Deep Dark Borneo (where I am) who know and love you for your work; and also that there are parts of Borneo (Sarawak, anyway) that are more English than English muffin (no, I am not English. Yes, born and bred in Sarawak am I). I look very much forward to your blessays, blessafication and blessayness. Keep up the wonderful effort.
Stephen,
We heard that you were in nearby Eastport Maine (you met an acquaintance of ours). Probably before you left you were told that in order to *really* be the first to see the sun rise, you’d need to be at Quoddy Head outside of nearby Lubec. Still, close enough for rock and roll! And you certainly hit some gorgeous weather….
Going to Eastport (vs. the much better known Portland or Bar Harbor) is an interesting choice and bodes well for the rest of the series. I hope your blog will let us know — albeit after the fact — where else you’re headed. By the way, are you actually doing the driving between locations, or is the taxi shipped from place to place?
And finally, are there plans for the series to air in the U.S. — perhaps on PBS (for those of us who, given our location, can’t get cable and can’t afford satellite)?
Best wishes,
Dear Mr Fry
No point in trying to be witty or clever – I don’t have it in me…but I do so enjoy your writing. Thanks for another great blessay which struck a chord in me…another so-called addictive personality.
Ahhhhh, Mr Fry ……….
Just when my cynical self had me convinced that Nostalgia Ain’t What It Used To Be – you drop in that wonderful blessed blessay. Scooting me all the way back to 1969 and Sherbet Dips and red liquorice and Toffos and Bazooka bubblegum and Fudge chocolate bars stashed in the glovebox of my mother’s gorgeous Ford Anglia to keep me content on the arduous trip home from school each day. And come the weekend, the Shilling pocket-money, and the agony of indecision to make that bob serve both my addictions – sweets and Airfix kits.
What a luscious tear down memory lane – thanks, pet!
Anyway, a quick “POSTCARD FROM HOMEâ€â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦..
It’s a chilly day just pushing 12 Degrees in Olde London Town, bracing us with that cold hard sunlight that makes the nipples erect and the varicose veins throb. (If only every other part of me responded to cold hard sunlight with the enthusiasm of the varicose vein!)…..
…..The BBC News reports that “the UK population will soar to 65 million by 2016†–
where are we all gonna go? – I mean, it’s like my brother says…you can’t have everything – where would you put it!!!…..
…..“Eurotunnel halves the cost of taking rail freight through the Channel Tunnel to try to win more business†–
ahhhh – so that’s where we’re all gonna go! I’d better learn French…..
…..“A young Harry Potter fan has had to be cut free from a traffic cone which got stuck on his headâ€â€¦..
he thought it was a wizard’s hat apparently – clearly the child needs to be advised that you only wear traffic cones when deep within the influence of LSD…..
…..and your new employer reports “Ministers are planning a U-turn on Britain’s pledges to combat climate change that “effectively abolishes” its targets to rapidly expand the use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power†–
well colour me surprised – New Labour backing out of a promise!!!!…..
Otherwise not much has changed – Tottenham Court Rd is exactly where you left it, black cabs continue to harangue every hard-working lorry with contemptuous conceit (ahum), the delightful and worryingly misinterpreted Martin Amis is still in trouble for something contentious he said, the Thames flows chilly and dirty, Dartford Crossing is outrageously expensive, the M25 crawls like a lazy slug, hedgehogs remain endangered and Jeremy Kyle persists in being a twat.
We’ll keep it all in place for when you get back, old fellah.
As regards your “addiction†theme:
You have a couple of months and a handful of days seniority on me – so we’re both of the same Time-zone. But where your life swung a hard right and took you from foolish misdemeanours to success and fortune, mine swung a hard-left (I’m left-handed) and took me to rejection letters and furious disappointment. So here’s MY autobiog.
(And I write this for your benefit – hopefully.)
At 10 my mother caught me with a stolen cigarette burning away on my bedside table. I claimed it was not that I was smoking the damn thing, but rather it was a “chemistry experiment as part of my school homeworkâ€.
She beat the crap out of me and I jumped from the bedroom window and ran away from home on a twisted ankle. Smirking.
At 12 I crawled, like a commando, the carpet of my parents’ bedroom floor in the dead of night, stole an Embassy and a Ronson lighter, and snuck down to the kitchen for a surreptitious smoke. My father’s footsteps thumped down the stairs and I had no choice but to dispose of the cig, hold out my arms like an android, close my eyes and pretend that I had been sleep-walking.
Dad beat the crap out of me and I went to bed dizzy, sick, sore, and smirking.
At 14 I forged a hand-written note declaring that my mother requested of the local off-licence that I fetch her 10 Embassy and a box of Swan Vestas.
There was more beating-of-the-crap-out of me …… but I got my smoke and smirked.
At 16 my doctor told me that, given my asthma, should I continue smoking I would be in a wheelchair by age 25.
I continued smoking and smirked in his face on my 26th birthday.
At 28 I was singing and playing guitar on the north-east workingmens’ clubs – and a fellow performer with whom I had shared the stage that night said, “You’ve not got a bad voice mate – but you need to quit the smokes or you’ll lose it.â€
Four years later I got chased with broken bottles from the stage of a South Shields Miners’ club for being “rubbishâ€. I got away unscathed. And did more of the smirking thing.
At 49-and-one-quarter I was diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease – it comes sugar-coated in ‘Terminal’ and wrapped up with a limited life-expectancy.
At 49-and-three-quarters I realised – finally – what a damned idiot I was.
And I lost my smirk.
So god-forbid you should cave to the craving in future times now that you have quit.
Because my forfeit for being a smirking idiot is not going to rob the world of anything it might miss. Whereas losing your talent and thoroughly annoying goodness would indeed cheat the world of something it needs.
Look after yourself. And stay away from the dreaded smokes.
Please.
Regards
Gareth
Fire in Eastport!!!
Hi Stephen,
If you see this I thought you might like to know along with the rest of the crew that The Happy Crab burned the night of the day you all departed. Jeff & Leslie just got out in time. Kitchen is gone and everything in the front melted including the big screen that we watched the World Cup on. A real mess. But they are rebuilding and we are all helping clean-up. jeff and Leslie are living for the moment at the Motel East cottage. You are Missed! Here is a story from the local papers:
EASTPORT
NEWS
For Immediate Release
EASTPORT INVADED BY BRITISH FOR THE SECOND TIME IN TWO HUNDRED YEARS
In 1814, during The War of 1812, a flotilla of British War Ships sailed into the harbor of the island city of Eastport and captured the town. British officers required inhabitants of Eastport and other towns to take an oath of loyalty to King George III and formally incorporated the easternmost settlements into the British Empire. They occupied Eastport and Moose Island for the next 4 years and claimed it for the King of England.
Over the past week the British invaded once again… not for Her Majesty, but for The BBC and its viewers. This time they arrived not by the thousands on 11 War Ships, but in a real authentic London Cab. In place of thousands of British Troops it was a crew of a dozen BBC photographers, cameramen, sound people, producers and directors. This second invasion is lead by British television and film star Stephen Fry… best known here in America for his roles in the BBC comedy series Black Adder, Wooster & Jeeves, and the movie A Fish Called Wanda. Fry has starred in over 40 films, a score of television series and documentaries, numerous radio shows, a cornucopia of voice-overs and written a half-dozen books. Stephen Fry is “A True National Treasure†in the UK, according to most Brits… and to many Eastporters as well.
The BBC crew was in Eastport to begin shooting a five hour travel documentary on all fifty states. The series hosted and produced by Fry, will air next year on the BBC. The BBC is in negotiations with PBS for the series to air here in the USA.
Stephen Fry chose Eastport and The Passamaquoddy to represent the best of Maine. “The people of Eastport are so real… very hard working and honest,†says Fry. “The beauty of each day on this island is breathtaking…I’m an early riser and it has been incredible to get up for my morning walk and watch the sun come up from behind Campobello Island and have all of the village people that are up at that hour greet me with a nod, a wave or most sincere Good Morning.â€
The BBC crew spent five days shooting in and around Eastport and Moose Island. From land, sea and by air in a helicopter they captured the beauty, the history, humanity and commerce of America’s most eastern city.
Fry and his crew also went into the woods with members of the Passamaquoody Tribe… they had hoped to see a moose. Unfortunately, they did not. They did however have an opportunity to get an introduction into what it means to be Passamaquoddy and the entire BBC entourage was deeply moved.
A prop in the series is a real London Cab. “I actually own one and drive it around London where I live,†says Fry. “We will use it for the opening and closing shots for each State…. I will drive in and then drive off.â€
Many of the local island residents will appear in the series including fellow Brits and now Eastport business owners Jeff and Leslie Starling, restaurant owner Bob Del Papa, Lobsterman Angus McPhail, and John Miller, a former television news anchor and producer that lives in Eastport.
“Stephen Fry and his crew really shared in life on Moose Island for the past week,†says Bob Del Papa. They were absolutely gracious and became quite smitten with our little island community… and our island community became quite smitten with them. It’s a great honor and it speaks so highly for Eastport that Stephen Fry and the BBC chose Eastport to represent the best of Maine… they all want to return and I am sure they will.â€
“Considering the amount of time they devoted to Eastport and the Passamaquoody, compared to time allotted for other states, I would guess that the opening show will dedicate a great deal of time to our island community,†says John Miller. “With the British Pound and the Euro so strong it could bring a third British Invasion to Eastport… this time tourists. â€
They are off to Nantucket Island for a day, Providence for a day, New York and Washington, DC, then New Hampshire. In all, they will do all fifty states and The District of Columbia between now and April of next year. “
Mr Fabulous Stephen Fry,
Firstly thank you for your ongoing blog posts, they are a bright lovely surprise when they appear (the erratic timing is definitely part of the charm – a regular but uninspiring blog will never be as inviting as the occasional but brilliant blog) and they offer me a rare wordy break from my daily geek grunt munging cataloguing data.
Secondly I’m going to both totally agree and disagree with your comment about self-indulgence partly because I also occasionally blog and am on a perpetual mission to convince my Mrs that this is a worthwhile and therapeutic activity no matter how navel-gazey or widely read and partly because I share your addiction to sugar.
I managed to pretty much give up that quick thrill refined sugar a few years back after years of sweaty hovering in the confectionery aisle deciding between all those tempting options. Then in an effort to stop feeling unhealthy and single I was, for a few years, extremely neurotic about food and positively born again about exercise and subsequently managed to lose lots of weight and find myself a lovely wife. Unfortunately she is quite an excellent baker and neurosis isn’t so sexy so I started to reacquaint myself with the sweet stuff. And that was sort of ok until a bundle of other factors killed off my activity: my belly dance teacher moved to egypt; my mrs grew bored of my favourite swimming pool and I of hers leaving us in a pool selection deadlock; and then, the killer, I recently moved offices to one only 9 minutes walk from my house, with a lift, everything within 3 feet of my desk and where the only decent lunchtime entertainment is the tescos downstairs which has about two aisles of sugar to every aisle of more sensible savoury food, dogfood, clingfilm etc. Now that I’ve plumped up like the stupidest of lab rats I’m trying to put myself straight again but it is tough to get rid of those sugar highs and lows as they do make life quite exciting. And it will mean cutting out some of my daily ritual like the hazelnut syrup in my morning mocha which will be traumatic as all the baristas at my neighbourhood cafe have my order so well memorized that it will confuse us all. Having kicked the sugar before though I’m sure it’s not going to be too dull and too plateau-like on the other side. I’ve just forgotten how I ever had the will power to get there… So, good luck to us both!
Have fun in America, keep blogging, and if you find yourself in Northern California as part of your cross country route may I recommend the all you can eat sushi restaurant (queue early to avoid disappointment), the farmers market, the hippie tastic co-op and the Newsbeat magazine shop, purveyor of such obscure periodicals as Hollywood Dog. It’s a lovely town and is an oasis of liberal common sense in what can be a wonderful but sometimes a surprisingly old fashioned nation. In nearby San Francisco I can also recommend We Be Sushi partly because they make an excellent lunch and partly because it may be the only restaurant in the world to offer “Drinks Like Mom Used to Mix” (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eurovision_nicola/1438780715/).
Much love of whatever type is appropriate to someone you think of as a close personal friend without actually ever knowing them…
Nicola.
Lovely Mr. Fry, thank you very much (and welcome to the states!) It’s so strange, I just read an article recently on the link between depression and refined sugars. I just found a similar article linking depression and caffeine:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine-and-depression/AN01700
Not exactly unequivocal, but there you are. Hopefully there isn’t a grain of truth to it, if I have to give up alcohol, refined sugars, nicotine, and caffeine, I really will be depressed! Take care Mr. Fry, hopefully I’ll spot the cab when you pass through Ohio
“…….a simple, pointless and harmless cigarette retains the beginning and the end of a moment which would otherwise be lost……”
No no no – they’re NOT harmless, lol, bless ya cotton socks.
They kill people who really shouldn’t die just yet.
Sill, I do know what you mean, Sphinx – about the temptation thing.
Hi Stephen,
The Happy Crab Burned… Jeff and Leslie are OK… but missed death by just minutes. We are all down there helping clean-up and they plan to be re-opened by January. They are living at the cottage at Motel East.
Your Blog is great and reflects your brilliant and beautiful mind…but not as much fun as sitting with you and talking here on the island.
Eastport News follows.
Cheers my Friend, John
EASTPORT
NEWS
For Immediate Release
EASTPORT INVADED BY BRITISH FOR THE SECOND TIME IN TWO HUNDRED YEARS
In 1814, during The War of 1812, a flotilla of British War Ships sailed into the harbor of the island city of Eastport and captured the town. British officers required inhabitants of Eastport and other towns to take an oath of loyalty to King George III and formally incorporated the easternmost settlements into the British Empire. They occupied Eastport and Moose Island for the next 4 years and claimed it for the King of England.
Over the past week the British invaded once again… not for Her Majesty, but for The BBC and its viewers. This time they arrived not by the thousands on 11 War Ships, but in a real authentic London Cab. In place of thousands of British Troops it was a crew of a dozen BBC photographers, cameramen, sound people, producers and directors. This second invasion is lead by British television and film star Stephen Fry… best known here in America for his roles in the BBC comedy series Black Adder, Wooster & Jeeves, and the movie A Fish Called Wanda. Fry has starred in over 40 films, a score of television series and documentaries, numerous radio shows, a cornucopia of voice-overs and written a half-dozen books. Stephen Fry is “A True National Treasure†in the UK, according to most Brits… and to many Eastporters as well.
The BBC crew was in Eastport to begin shooting a five hour travel documentary on all fifty states. The series hosted and produced by Fry, will air next year on the BBC. The BBC is in negotiations with PBS for the series to air here in the USA.
Stephen Fry chose Eastport and The Passamaquoddy to represent the best of Maine. “The people of Eastport are so real… very hard working and honest,†says Fry. “The beauty of each day on this island is breathtaking…I’m an early riser and it has been incredible to get up for my morning walk and watch the sun come up from behind Campobello Island and have all of the village people that are up at that hour greet me with a nod, a wave or most sincere Good Morning.â€
The BBC crew spent five days shooting in and around Eastport and Moose Island. From land, sea and by air in a helicopter they captured the beauty, the history, humanity and commerce of America’s most eastern city.
Fry and his crew also went into the woods with members of the Passamaquoody Tribe… they had hoped to see a moose. Unfortunately, they did not. They did however have an opportunity to get an introduction into what it means to be Passamaquoddy and the entire BBC entourage was deeply moved.
A prop in the series is a real London Cab. “I actually own one and drive it around London where I live,†says Fry. “We will use it for the opening and closing shots for each State…. I will drive in and then drive off.â€
Many of the local island residents will appear in the series including fellow Brits and now Eastport business owners Jeff and Leslie Starling, restaurant owner Bob Del Papa, Lobsterman Angus McPhail, and John Miller, a former television news anchor and producer that lives in Eastport.
“Stephen Fry and his crew really shared in life on Moose Island for the past week,†says Bob Del Papa. They were absolutely gracious and became quite smitten with our little island community… and our island community became quite smitten with them. It’s a great honor and it speaks so highly for Eastport that Stephen Fry and the BBC chose Eastport to represent the best of Maine… they all want to return and I am sure they will.â€
“Considering the amount of time they devoted to Eastport and the Passamaquoody, compared to time allotted for other states, I would guess that the opening show will dedicate a great deal of time to our island community,†says John Miller. “With the British Pound and the Euro so strong it could bring a third British Invasion to Eastport… this time tourists. â€
They are off to Nantucket Island for a day, Providence for a day, New York and Washington, DC, then New Hampshire. In all, they will do all fifty states and The District of Columbia between now and April of next year. “
Sehr Geehrter Stephen Fry!
Thank goodness I came across your correspondence so fortuitously contempore with the beginning of your peregrinations in our parts. I regret that I lack some of your experiences with the awful vices of the partial combustion of nicotiana and the perinasal insufflation of the refined products of the Andean coca leaf, but I will observe that we share a common (too common, and yet too maligned) addiction to the pleasures of the table.
I imagine that your itinerairy has been thoroughly mapped and preplotted, but I beg you to make time to visit two of the finest eateries presently established within the borders of our Empire and Garden States.
The first is a lunch canteen in the basement of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, specializing in dhosas, uttapams, and the distinctive tiffins of South India. The repast to be found there is so surpassingly excellent as to justify any detour of reasonable or immoderate length. It is also quite cheap, and will more than recompense any tolls you incur.
Hindu Temple Society of North America,
143-09 Holly Avenue (Bowne Street),
Flushing, Queens; (718) 460-8493.
Flushing, NY is a polyglot commonwealth teeming with the ways of all nations and I am sure will provide excellent material for your television series.
Dino’s, the second eatery, no less distinguished in its culinary excellence than the first, is a specialist sandwich shop located in Margate, New Jersey (a city of late famous for its four story pantomime elephant with the moniker Lucy, and infamous for its close association with that den of gambling and vice, Atlantic City). At Dino’s, you may find the most perfect expression of the cheesesteak in this mortal plane, succulent, moister, richer, by far and further than far than any other sandwich by that name made by any other trencherman’s pusher between the briny blue and the Continental Divide.
Dino’s Pizza and Sub Shop
8016 Ventnor Avenue
Margate, NJ 08402 (609) 822-6602
Now I’m dying to know how long you will be in each state, and whether or not you have visited my state, Connecticut. I will be keeping my eyes open for you, and I highly recommend a visit to Manchester, CT, to an old fashioned soda fountain called Shady Glen. Very American.
The rest of the blessay – I come from a long line of alcoholics, but that particular demon is not mine. My demon is certainly food. And I offer you my kudos for kicking habits like coke and cigarettes. I never tried coke – never had access to it. The first time I smoked a cigarette, it was simply because I was in a play and the character I was playing was supposed to be a chain smoker. The first time I inhaled, I immediate had to run to the ladies room. I wondered how anyone ever acquired the taste for cigs after that.
But not only should you be proud of yourself for kicking those habits, you should feel grateful for the years you spent succumbed to them, because surely, you were gaining pleasure out of snorting coke and smoking, and at least you reveled in it. As someone who works hard to resist temptation, I envy you.
alright Mr Fry,
absorbing read,
cheers
Come to Knoxville, TN and go to Dollywood. Perhaps Dolly Parton will be there to meet and great.
Does this mean you have given up the pipe as well? There are so few of us left. How will we survive the great smoking purge? And, what if, like carbs, we find that smoking is good for us? Oh, you laugh (well, maybe not) but it could happen.
I really look forward to these blogs, Stephen. Terrified I might meet you and run fowl (or fish) of your rules, but then again … it seems unlikely so I’ll risk it and go about my daily business with only the usual fear.
I live in Houston, TX (not — repeat NOT — pronounced as General Zod would have it, “hooston” … ) and wonder how you are arranging your trip through America. Generally people are nice, but the city is an urban sprawl, so you may find it hard to characterize.
BTW – the Mental Health special was extreemly good. A lot of people suffer from it in varying states of functionality. I think just seeing famous people admit that they suffer from this illness was inspirational enough to … well, I was going to say put Bono to shame, but that might be overkill. I’m not manic, just a downer. The Omega-3 and B-12 seem to be doing the trick for my “blahs.”
Anyway, love QI … Hope we get to see in on tv and not just the computer
My friend Sarah had a wonderful line about quitting smoking: They say you live longer if you quit smoking, but truthfully, it only feels longer.
Regarding the perception of Americans abroad -
I’ve never quite understood why people who are normally so personable individually become so insular and aggressively xenophobic en masse.
To readers in the USofA, I’m afraid that it’s not your freedoms they hate, it’s your foreign policy.
Still, returning to the subject in hand or nostril; as my friend once wisely said, moderate excess is better than excess moderation.
Then again, William Blake said that the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.
So one of them must be lying…
DrFrigmundPseud:
A lot of Americans share your distate for American foreign policy! Between the apathetic American and the aggressive far-right American, not enough of us, but I think our numbers increase with each passing day.
I adore reading your blog!
Congratulations on the cigarettes. I can’t write without cigarettes either. I have to find some sort of glamour in my squalid little life, and the sitting-here-with-a-cigarette-writing-in-my-North-London-bedsit is about the best I can muster.
Enjoy yourself,
Seaneen
Well said, maurinsky. After Bush was re-elected, I briefly considered moving to Canada, until I realized America need more citizens like us to tip the scales. For years I’ve wondered how so many Americans can be so clueless. Have they never traveled overseas? Do they believe everything they see on Fox news? These days it seems are our “freedoms” are more threatened by the Patriot Act then by the “terrorists.”
Dear Mr. Fry,
I know that everyone will be inviting you to visit while you perambulate (I looked that word up just to impress you. Four syllables!) around the U.S. of A. Please, please come and visit mi familia and me. We are old Florida stock (very rare I can assure you) and we will make you feel right at home. I will cook you something edible. And we can check out the local oddities. (I’ll have to find out what they are first. )
So really, really please do come. We know poly-syllabic words and everthing! And we are not addicted to anything except hitting other people lightly on the head with parsnips. When they are in season.
Yay! (Happily thinking about this outrageous fantasy.)
Ciao, and call me!
Davanna Kilgore
Welcome to the US!
I have a recurring daydream (daymare?) in which I run into you on the street here in Portland, OR and get so flustered and nervous that I say something incredibly stupid or, worse, vomit. I once said something very stupid to Terry Pratchett, so the first option is not terribly unlikely.
I’m sure that I’m not the first person to make the offer but I really would be very, very pleased to meet you when you come to Oregon and I’d love to show you some of the fun and interesting bits of Portland. Perhaps my company will have a show running and you could come to a performance? I promise that I will not vomit on you. As for saying something stupid, I think I’ve already gotten that out of the way by mentioning the word “vomit” 3 times while asking to meet you. Alas.
I hope you have a wonderful tour of the States!
Kelly Linss
Davanna,
how might one tell if people are ‘in season’ so that we can fully utilize the parsnip ?
“Is that it?”. Christ, that really hit home. Have given up smoking but found drinking accelerated to fill the “its time for a treat” spaces in my life.
Bryson’s friend in A Walk In The Woods whose bleak future without alcohol is a Hungry Man tv dinner also came to mind.
What a wonderful blog/essay/collection of words. Thank you Stephen.
Hello, I do hope this comment, where I say what a marvellous delight it is to have read this excellent blessary, gives you a minute rush of pleasure. Indeed, if it does, does 800 or so comments here on your blog add up to something that might help out with replacements for the bursts you miss.
Interesting insight, and a lovely, humorous read as always.
I too am a sugar addict. I have never smoked or taken any illegal drugs, or had the slightest, fleeting interest in doing either. I can take or leave alcohol, and have a sensible in-built mechanism that seems to tell me when I have too much (on the rare occasions I indulge.) Not so with the sugar…I could eat sweets and chocolate ’til the proverbial cows come home. Given a choice of sex or Cadbury’s Dairy Milk…well, I’d be greedy and have both, but sadly the chocolate would win. I’m consciously trying to cut down on it now, before I settle into a lifetime addiction and the inevitable weight gain The chocolate that is, not the sex
I enjoyed your latest blessay Stephen and I’m looking forward to watching you careening around the States in your Black Cab! Great photo of sunrise by the way – I’m impressed!
As ever, watching your progs, reading your books or articles etc. makes me giggle at your wit, marvel at your wisdom and generally give me a good feeling inside like something is right with the world when you are in it – maybe I’m addicted to you!
I thought the article was interesting though a bit squirmishly and uncomfortably familiar (though none of it your fault) – I don’t think I will ever conquer the choccy habit but I know what you mean … when you’ve given up everything that’s bad for you but is sooo much fun – what’s left in life? I think people need some excitement every now and then – and doing something which we KNOW is really bad for us (for whatever reason) gives us a little thrill besides the effect of the “drug” of choice.
If you get a chance, please could you include a link to your Guardian articles in your next posting?
Many thanks for a great read.
I too tried to give up the cigarettes on my 30th birthday. It worked so well that I have given up three times since then!
It has been eight days now since I last gave in to temptation and I feel i am doing well, however experiences teaches me that this will not be my final attempt to rid myself once and for all of its noxious grip.
Maybe I will give the Champix a go when things next get tough. Thanks for the insights
As always, what an absolutely delightful read. I’m fortunate that neither alcohol or nicotine has any big draw for me over the years, but Cadbury’s Dairy Milk is another matter entirely. Unfortunately, here in the USA it’s not as good as the original British version because it’s made by Hersheys over here. Not bad, but just not as solidly satisfying. With my trip back to Blighty coming up in November, huge slabs of *real* Dairy Milk will be an absolute must for my suitcase.
Please, please, please keep the ultra-long posts coming. I’m sure they take a whole lot of thought and time, so I’m not expecting to see them very often, but then that’s the beauty of RSS isn’t it? They’ll come to me when they’re posted.
I enjoy practically everything you do, and I’m currently busy with the DVDs of Jeeves and Wooster and your novel “Revenge” in ebook form (see below). Keep up the good work, enjoy your trip around the USA, and try and get Hugh back from Fox to make some new Jeeves and Wooster Christmas specials.
P.S. Oh, and for everybody whose complaining about Stephen’s blog layout, may I HEARTILY recommend getting hold of a Sony Reader PRS-505. It’s my latest Device and Desire, and I’m LOVING IT. I copied and pasted the content of Stephen’s blog to Microsoft Word, and than dropped the docs onto the Reader through the Library software on the PC. It only took a couple of minutes to do and it has allowed me to read the blessays and comments in absolute comfort without any eye-strain or green vision. Check out the pictures I posted to PicasaWeb….
http://picasaweb.google.com/anotherchancetosee/SonyReaderPRS505
Hi Stephen,
I hope you make it to Nashville to see the nekkid statues dancing at the end of Music Row. Lots of people with low self esteem are saying how nice it is that Nashville finally is appealing to high-end artsy types, rather than toothless people from the Midwest.
Those of us who have been here awhile are wondering if the Vatican would like some nekkid statues of Johnny Cash, Waylon, and Patsy Cline.
But no matter; if you drop by Demombreun in the winter you’ll see body parts looking suitably shriveled in the parky winter breezes. Fascinating.
Have a wonderful trip! And if you need directions to the funkiest barbeque pits, don’t hestitate to ask…
Best, etc. etc.
Stephen, have you considered doing a daily Podcast whilst on your American travels? A couple of minutes here & there would whet the fluffy appetites & we all know the response would be immense! Take care & don’t forget to get insured against alien abductions whilst you’re there.
Stephen, have you considered posting a daily Podcast whilst on your American travels? A couple of cheeky minutes here & there would whet appetites & be immensely enjoyed by all! What iPod fun we would have! Don’t forget the alien abduction insurance now.
Hi.
I was so thrilled to hear of your work concerning bipolar disorder. I was diagnosed as bipolar about a year ago, and I’ve been taking Lamictal (for the mood swings) and Zyprexa (for the paranoia). It is wonderful to know that someone is working towards making this disorder more understandable.
I understand, too, about the feeling of needing to smoke to write. I am a writer (or at least, I hope to be) and it is harder to find inspiration without a cigarette. It can be done, but it’s tough.
I have been a fan of yours since I saw Peter’s Friends when I was thirteen, and even more of a fan when I watched (repeatedly) Jeeves and Wooster. It thrills me to know that you are both tremendously creative and emotionally contemplative. Thank you for giving other artists and bipolar people an example to follow.
My friends and I went to dinner at “The Happy Crab” (oxymoron?) on Saturday evening, October 20th. It was our last day in Maine on vacation. We were NOT traveling in a London cab, but in a rented mini van that for a non-mini van person seemed more like a long school bus. My husband and I had the pleasure of riding in the back seat of said bus and suffered greatly from car sickness brought on by the twisty, turny back roads of Maine. The Happy Crab was the last place we expected to have dinner, since we had tried to eat at a couple of other places, which closed at 8pm, Maine not being exactly a booming metropolis of nightlife. We walked into The Happy Crab, sat down at a booth, and my husband said, “don’t look now, but I think the guy at the next table is one of the actors on that BBC channel you watch.” I looked over, and lo and behold, there you were in all your glory. I pointed you out to the couple we were with (they had their backs to you) and they also recognized you. No offense, but we couldn’t figure out who you were or exactly where we’d seen you. I have to say, you were somewhat like a king holding court sitting at the head of the table with an odd assortment of characters around you. Looked like 2 cameramen, 3 young women who went over some plans with you, and 2 other guys. My husband said one of them was Canadian. At one point you said, during a story, “I told him to fuck off” and my husband said you made even that sound classy with the english accent. You also mentioned “BBC” and my husband said, “did you hear that, he said ‘BBC’” and I said, “no dear, he didn’t say ‘BBC’, he said ‘BayBayCee’” (imagine horrible imitation of a british accent). Apparently he said you overheard me and glanced over. If you remember, sorry for making fun of you! The waitress was falling over herself serving your table and at one point she shoved my friend’s husband out of the way while clearing dishes. When I got home, I was watching “Bones” and remembered that’s where I saw you make a guest appearance, so I googled that show, found your name and eventually found this blog page. My husband and the other couple are very psyched that we remembered who you are. It was an extremely surreal experience walking into a little seafood place in pretty much the middle of nowhere and seeing a celebrity. I think it was Mexican Night at the seafood restaurant, which is pretty surreal as well. Good luck from all of us with your documentary. If your cab passes through my tiny state of Rhode Island (blink and you’ll miss it) I will give you a wave and a “Cheerio!” Okay, maybe I’ll just stick to the wave.
)
Mr. Fry, as you’ll never get this far through your comments, I’ll be brief.
You are NOT bipolar. You suffer from regular depression.
I’m just glad the Scientologists haven’t hooked you yet.
Life might feel shit, but we just exaggerate the negative.
Now sing in the shower.
Linger longer.
As far as I can see, the best way of coping with any acute attacks of general addiction withdrawal syndrome would be to get you addicted to expect people’s reactions to your blog posts. Nota bene: Expect, not necessarily receive them. Nota ceterum melius: “FADE IN: INT.” would be a perfectly ordinary blog post, considering the existence of blogs that document people’s progress in knitting scarves, growing radish or standing on streets. If even a “FADE IN: INT.” appears difficult to produce, just fill the blog with pictures of your cab.
Sadly, I will not be able to join the the great cabspotting competition myself. My ophtalmologist refuses to prescribe me glasses that might overcome my inability to look beyond the horizon and overcome Earth’s curvature. Since a substantial part of my family (brothers, sister, brother-in-law) is visiting the US of A at the moment, they will receive instruction to wave fiercely and merrily should they happen to spot your cab and recognize it.
Hope that the fun while filming the documentary outweighs the laborious bits.
PS Agree with AxmxZ about the quality of Finn Crisps. Sugarless gums are an alternative. The moment when they actually begin dissolving themselves into a strange friable mass the viscosity of which reminds of gauze tartar or a stew at my university’s cafeteria is rather unpredictable – average chewing time may vary between 5 minutes and 6 hours.
Any other significant writing habits? Do you listen to music while writing? (I don’t because I can’t – music requires and absorbs too much attention.)
Dearest twinkliest Stephenest, I fear I had to stop reading your inviting blessay to quickly protest:
LEFT-HAND DRIVE IN A LONDON CAB? WTF
It looks deformed. Where’s the allure, the flavor, the Englishness of this venture? Is some US Highway Manifesto to blame for the conversion?
P.S. The “Fry” sign is adorable.
Fryphile: imagine if Fry *was* driving a RHD cab in the States. Now imagine him trying to overtake someone. On the left. While speeding. His next television appearance would either be on “Cops” or the local evening news.
Canzonett – re: Finn Crisps – you know, I’ve found that Finns tend to make really addictive things. Crisps, gadgets, music… if they ever set their sights on world domination, we’re all doomed. -]
(What on earth is “nota ceterum melius”?)
Le quote:
“It’s possible I will live longer (but so possible too that I’ll keel over or be run over or stabbed or poisoned anyway and then what will have been the point of living the joyless life?)”
The point being that you would still have brought joy to so many. And I’m so excited to officially hear that you have stopped smoking. BRAVO!
AxmxZ: *imagines Stephen on the run from “Cops”, legging it through backyards, tumbling over fences, being unceremoniously GLOMPED by strong, rugged policemen, handcuffed, sweaty, dirty, panting, hot.
Now I need a cigarette.
Fryphile, you insensitive, *insensitive* boy.
He’s just quit cigarettes, and here you are flaunting your indulgence. -}
Glad you’re enjoying yourself in Maine, O Stephen. I just want to ask – when you do your tour of New York, might you consider coming to Syracuse? It’s a good example of a small rust-belt city, and it is the perfect place to learn about an American oddity, the upstate-downstate rivalry. There are many students at the university (including myself) who come from the New York metropolitan area, quite unaware that this is only a small part of the state. But I wouldn’t be asking you to come to Syracuse for my own personal benefit. Oh no. How dare you accuse me of that. I would never. (ahem)
Well, we all know what Fryphile’s addiction is … My Finnish favourites are the more melancholy of Tove Jansson’s Moomin books (especially “Moominpappa at Sea”) and Toivo Kuula’s “Auringon noustessa” – http://vokalisten.ch/vocal/mp3/Toivo%20Kuula%20Auringon%20noustessa%20mp3%20P.mp3 . A sunrise sung by a choir.
“Ncm” – my weak and embarrassing attempt of imitating Cato the Elder in comparative mode.