Career Update and Other News

I know you are all dying to know what I've been up to lately- well, the wait is over! I finished my last showcase for the season last week. It was a good show with the best turn-out of the season. I was happy! Now, I get a little summer break from showcases. But don't worry- I don't plan on resting on my laurels- I will be directing my first full-length London play in July! It's called The Brother and it is a fantastic new piece of writing by a new playwright. The show will be at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town the 4th -21st of July. Dan and Jim will be in town after it opens and will get a chance to see it before we head to Wales. I am very excited. We are in the middle of casting as I type and it's looking good. In September, I will have two showcases- one each in Manchester and London- and then it's off to Cornwall for 4 weeks where I will be directing True West at a theatre in Liskeard! That's what I've got at the moment, but there are a few other projects in the works as well. Will keep you posted....

In other news- Myke and Drew's leaving do was Friday night. It was a great party in spite of its sad purpose. I would post a picture or two (I took 250) but I'm not really sure how to do it. So, you'll just have to take my word for it. This whole build-up to them leaving is quite depressing. They were our first London friends and they introduced us to fun things like: Waitangi Day, cribbage, Greenwich Park and Greenwich Market, absinthe and (THE most important) Crispy Duck! London will be strange without them. Their last night in town is tomorrow, so after Perros del diablo play their first two games in the new league, we will be heading out for one last London hoorah with the gang.

Enough sappiness!

FYI: I will be heading home to PA for two weeks on Monday. John will be joining me for our God-daughter's Christening May 4th-7th, but he might be lonely the rest of the time. If you haven't talked to him in a while, it would be a great time to call or email!

Perros Del Diablo have been Promoted

My football team has been promoted to the next division after devastating our current division. More specifically, we won 9 out of 10 for 27 points and had a goal difference of +37. So hopefully our next division will be more challenging.

Since there was actually no way we couldn't get promoted last night, I was allowed to come out of goal and play! It was friggen awesome! I only played out for 10 minutes, then went back into goal. Which was good because I could barely stand up after 10 minutes. I thought I was in ok shape with my regular leisurely runs around the common and my gym visits. I'm not. Not by a long shot.

Speaking of long shots - I did get a shot on goal. I pulled it wide and to the right, but what the heck! I also learned that I'm good at challenging the ball. I guess because I lack finesse I just run right in front of the guy and kick at the ball until something happens. Reviewing the videos Jamie took on our camera, I resemble more of a shuffling chimp than a proper footballer. The best videos are the ones where Jamie is talking "Nice!" or my favorite - "OH JOHN!!"

Team Photo (one of us used to play pro):


We then went to the pub (of course) to celebrate our promotion. We sat outside and enjoyed the unseasonably warm night air (45 degrees) and regaled each other with stories of how awesome we were. We were joined by some more friends and were having a nice relaxing evening. Then our bicycle wine merchants rolled up.

I call them the bicycle wine merchants because they rolled up on A (pronounced "AH" for those of you who don't even own A gun which would necessitate A gun rack) bicycle and proceeded to pull bottles of wine out from down their pants. They wanted 10 pounds a bottle. I thought, "What a bargain! I know guys who would pay 100 pounds for wine that touched your junk." I then stared at them until they left.

Of course, I wasn't enough of a threat to overcome the lure of the beautiful sirens at our table, so I gave in and started messing with them, a favorite Ramsburg family bar game. I was a plumber to them, and they called me Mario.

They really enjoyed chatting up the ladies, and told one of the guys on the team that his cooking was shit. Apparently he looked like a chef from the pizza joint next door. They were funny the first 3 times they rolled by, but the fourth was pushing it.

Here's a picture of them:


On a sadder note, our great friends Myke and Drew are moving back to the States next week. We're going to their leaving-do tomorrow night - it seems like it will be a great party. We're going to the Living Room just off of Regent Street - fancy! Now we know how everyone felt when we left NYC to come to this great city. It's an odd thing to have a hole in your heart that is barely plugged by knowing you'll always be friends. That and the stories, and Absinthe.

Catch you later.

4 Day Weekend!

Jamie and I are relaxing on our last day of our 4 day weekend. We just spent a couple of hours outside enjoying the sun on the Common. We have forced ourselves to do next to nothing so we can fully appreciate our free time. We just finished up disc 1 in my Time Team - A History of Britian DVD collection Jamie gave me for my birthday.

Gosh - lots has happened - Jeff and Rae had a blast while they were here. Jamie and I got to play tour guides and show them just about everything in London. One of these days I think we'll open our own tour group. We also found a great little Indian place before seeing Wicked.

My birthday party was amazing. We started out by going down to the pub to watch Arsenal (who lost) and then sitting outside enjoying the warm(ish) weather. We then moved on to China Town to Crispy Duck for dinner - Crispy Duck couldn't sit all of us, so a nice waiter walked us down the street to Crispy Duck II. I had no idea that there was such a demand for Crispy Duck that they needed two buildings! Then we sang our hearts out at K-Box before retiring to our flat to enjoy champagne (thanks Mom & Dad!) with our friends. If you want to see the pictures, email me and I'll send out the links.

Here's a picture from dinner:


Perros Del Diablo lost our first match of the season on Wednesday - 2-3. Only two of us from the regular team could make it to the game. Unfortunately it took us too long to find our rhythm with the guys filling in. However, we did get on the ball and tore apart our opponents 6-2 in our second match of the evening. I also tore apart my gloves sliding on the astroturf after one of the balls that made it past our defense. Here's that picture of me missing a penalty from March 21st -


Friday we went to the Zoo with Andy and Lindsey to see the new gorilla exhibit. The zoo was pretty cool, and the gorillas were impressive. The best part was the canal trip to Little Venice and finding a great pub for dinner. We got a backyard view of some of the larger mansions in the area as well see some really cool houseboats from the canal.

Easter Sunday was spent at Myke and Drew's with Steve, Andy, and Lindsey - they cooked a fantastic dinner for all of us. It was a great night.