Dublin Survived, Ice Skating, and an Exciting Tie

Hello,

It's John. I had my office holiday party already. Thanksgiving day my office flew everyone to Dublin. Nice huh? Not only that, we partied on the roof of the Guiness Storehouse (the home of Guiness) in the Gravity Bar. The Gravity bar is an oval shaped glass enclosure with a 360 degree view of Dublin - very beautiful.

I got everyone dancing shortly after the steak buffet. We danced all night until they closed the bar at 1 am. The Guiness flowed freely and for free! I busted some mad shapes on the floor and had a fantastic time.

When I finally arrived at the hotel, I was a bit hungry. I know, you must be surprised that John Ramsburg was hungry. I mentioned this to those around me in the lobby of the hotel -I forgot to mention that the lobby was turned into an impromptu Cohn & Wolfe party palace - ie bottles of wine and pints in abundance from the hotel bar that was kicking out everyone.

I was accompanied to the nearest open burger "palace" - Not McDonalds, Wendy's, or Burger King BTW- by a nice lass who suggested purchasing cheeseburgers for everyone. Guess what I got to ask a cashier at 2:30 AM?

"We would like to purchase 55 Euro worth of cheeseburgers. Can you make that happen?"

Luckily for us, the manager realized the benefit of thawing out 25 meat patties. We got a veggy burger, chicken burger, and two cokes thrown in for free.

According to those still sentient in the lobby, we were like Santa arriving on Angel's wings. A little bit of heaven wrapped up in cheeseburger form. One could argue the state of contemporary society based on the messianic reception we received. Please don't. I just brough cheeseburgers to the masses - St. Johnny R would acceptable..

We were flown back the next afternoon. Unfortunately I didn't have time to actually explore Dublin, but that was more than made up by having my first (2nd, 3rd, and 4th) Irish Guiness in a gastropub off of O'Connell street during lunch the first day.

Friday night Jamie and I went to the Natural History Museum to their Christmas shopping fair. We did some shopping and went ice skating. I haven't gone ice skating since I was sixteen, and Jamie had only gone once. Did you know rental skates now have hard boots like ski boots? WOW! What a difference 13 years makes! Aside from major advances in rental skate technology, it also removes your ability to skate. Jamie and I spent our hour session in the kiddie training rink - we think we'll be ready for the big rink next time. It was very romantic, and I am very proud of Jamie - she picked it right up!

We then celebrated our sixth anniversary on Saturday in our traditional fashion of watching our wedding video, eating pizza, and drinking beer. It was great.

Today (Sunday) we did some more shopping and then watched the biggest Football (Soccer) game of the season (Man U. vs Chelsea)! It ended in a draw - which was fantastic, as it means the Gunners have chance of getting back into fourth sometime before June.

Exciting news - a new free TV station now shows American sports. If we stay up all night, we can watch the Eagles play at 1 am. I look forward to reading all about it tomorrow morning.

Off to bed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jamie here. John wanted to write, but he is in Dublin today for his company Christmas party and I thought you deserved an update. So- here it is!

Our show went very well. It was an absurd short play and we had less than a week to rehearse, but we pulled it together in the end. The cast was John, Mariesa from Actors Studio, and Emma, an actress who did one of the showcases I directed. They did a great job with a difficult script. John, of course, was fantastic and it forced him to go beyond his comfort zone- which is always a good thing for an actor. The show was part of a festival called Bite Sized. Ten plays. Ten minutes each. All by new writers and directed by young directors. I was lucky to be a part of it, because 8 of the other 9 directors all go to school together. They've started a company focusing on producing new works. And they've asked me if I'd be interested in working with them again. It was definitely a worthwhile experience.

On Friday we answered phones for two hours for the BBC Children in Need Telethon. That was cool. We spoke to a lot of different people from all over England. We couldn't understand a lot of them and many of them couldn't understand us- but we managed to get their money for a good cause. I have one story to share: There was a little boy- 7 years old maybe- who got a 14 out of 14 on his spelling test. His mom gave him 5 pounds as a reward. He called to donate that 5 pounds to Children in Need. That is just one example- there were so many children who called. It was very touching.

Sunday was our Thanksgiving. Andy, Lindsey, Myke, Drew and Steve came over and we had a full Thanksgiving Dinner. I even managed to successfully make a turkey!!! Thanks to A LOT of help from my mom via skype and telephone. We had a lovely time. It was Andy and Steve's first Thanksgivings and I think they'll be coming back next year!

I am heading to work in a minute. It's weird working on Thanksgiving, but here it's just another Thursday. John is in Dublin and I'm sure he will have great stories to tell you when he returns.

Friday we are going Chistmas shopping and ice skating at the Natural History Museum- which should be interesting since I've only been once before and I was knocked over by a kid! They have a Christmas Market outside and since it's Black Friday (not here of course) I HAVE to buy something!

Saturday is our anniversary. So we will be partaking in the annual pizza and wedding video tradition- after my day of rehearsals for my November Showcase.

Should be a nice relaxing weekend.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! And for those of you who will be shopping tomorrow- HAVE A BLAST!!

Thank you

We want to thank everyone in the US who voted with their hearts on Tuesday and helped to create change and force Rumsfeld out of office. I (Jamie) have been jumping around the house in glee since hearing he is leaving! Now- if only we can take Virginia...

Systems Are Down

Jamie here. I'm temping at the moment, but our systems are down. So I thought I'd share three quick things with you.

1- I am a clumsy fool! I managed to cut my eye open last night. Now I look like a boxer. It's kind of cool actually, because I look quite tough. I'll take a picture tonight and post it.

2- John and I are going to see Fireworks tonight in honor of Guy Fawkes day. Remember remember the 5th of November. It's going to be a weekend full of bonfires and fireworks. I'm so excited!

3- We are doing another play!!!! I will be directing a short play in a festival called "Bite Sized" at Theatre 503 and John will be acting in it. I just got the play Wednesday and it goes up the 12-14. Nothing like being under the gun! It's a great script and I'm very excited. You can check out more on the festival at the website. Click Here

That's all for now. Have a great weekend!