Three things I have learnt about New York City..

1. It's very much like England except..
2. People like to get excited
3. The chocolate gives me a sore throat

It's obviously time for a major update, I'm sure you've all been waiting with baited breath to hear that we're in exactly the same place we were a week ago. Last Monday's performance at Sidewalk was weird to say the least. In theory what happened was ridiculously cool in an unplanned happening kind of way. And I did essentially complete the project in the sense that I formed a band, whilst playing a gig, whilst recording it. It was probably a mistake to not define any particular parameters of quality to fulfill, but I certainly wasn't expecting the kind of ramshackle debut that I inflicted on the nightflys at Sidewalk. I also failed, however, to define any particular parameters of authenticity, or any parameters of failure. I've said from the get-go that the ultimate aim was failure, but how to define failure within the context that I'm investigating is an important question. This isn't England, or more specifically, Birmingham, where we drink failure with our toast. The American stereotype is one of success-or-die, though it's true that I've deliberately chosen a subculture to investigate which, through it's postmodern leanings, would at least appear on the surface to be more receptive to the ambition-to-fail paradox. Whether this turns out to be true, and the subculture in fact nurtures us young failure-hungry untrepeneneurs, or whether it is a reflection of the culture en-masse remains to be seen. One thing that can be said is that we failed in any common sense of artistic achievement. But maybe it's time to start defining our idea of authenticity - if spontaneity is authentic, then we certainly achieved that, the same can be said for DIY attitude and 'rawness', we were raw as shit. It would be fair to say that we created a spectacle too, and the idea of the spectacle seems to be essential to something being considered 'authentic' ("That's authenticity right there" - Maggie, in response to a couple arguing on the street). So in a sense, by actually achieving something authentic, we failed in our ambition to fail, and thus achieved. Thus all is well.

Oliver