The Northside Flyer

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-09T21:26:00.000-05:00

special thanks to harrison budd for getting us into the studio and photographing us for the card.

best ad ever

2007-09-03T21:12:00.000-04:00

i saw this in baltimore on saturday. two baltimore icons together at last. although, it doesn't look good for mr. boh. that utz girl looks more interested in her chips than that rock he's holding out.

reefer madness

2007-08-05T15:05:00.000-04:00

this is one of my favorite pieces of graffiti i have ever seen in the city. it appears at the high street subway station in brooklyn heights, on the A/C line. sure, it's a pretty simple joke. the simplest pun imaginable for the word high, and i love stupid pun jokes. but that's only half the reason i like it so much. this tile appears on the other side of the tracks from the platform, and that's what makes it so good. someone risked their life, facing the possibility of electrocution or being hit by a train, to make a stupid stoner joke. and it was so worth it.

two great tastes that taste great together

2007-08-01T20:44:00.000-04:00

this past sunday adri and i were riding the G, finishing up our car-train-subway ride home from upstate. at the greenpoint ave stop this guy steps on pulling a cart full of soft coolers, like the ones you get free at baseball games. on top of the coolers is an almost empty crate box with two pint containers visible. of course adri and i perk up immediately trying to determine the contents through the fogged plastic covering. the guy instantly asks, "do you guys like wine?". "yes!" adrianne replies eagerly. "do you like sorbet?", he asks. "of course." i say. "are you close to home?" "we're the next stop." finally, he reaches into the box and pulls out a pint of sangria sorbet and hands it to us telling us all about this new dessert. it's wine, that's a sorbet! it tastes just like wine, only cold, ice cold. it's very refreshing! look for it and try some.

winecellarsorbets.com

man...this blog is boring

2007-07-25T22:40:00.000-04:00

sorry you guys (all three of you). moving into a new place is hellish. it seems there's never time to relax and when there is i'm certainly not doing anything worth writing about. so sorry again. i hope this picture of harrison and i rocking on this air guitar at daniel's party last weekend will help you forgive me.

things should be settling down now so hopefully, if you're still there, i can give you something to read between fresh gawker posts.

olympic logo

2007-06-06T13:31:00.001-04:00

the london olympic organizing committee released the official logo for the 2012 olympics today. when somebody in my office showed it to me i thought, "i can do better than that." so i created my own logo.

the logo is based on the map of the london subway system. the overall shape represents the bouquet the winners receive with their medals during the medal ceremony. london is placed at the bottom as a label for the stop where all the lines, representing the people of the world, come together, just as everyone will come together for the olympic games. i chose a type face that uses a circular "O" to reflect the shape of the symbol representing where lines and people intersect.

tell me what you think.

rock, rock, rockaway beach

2007-06-03T17:19:00.001-04:00

saturday morning adrianne, harrison, iliana and i hitched a ride with andy down to rockaway beach. it took a little while to wind our way through queens but we got there and quickly set up our spot on the beach. we brought along plenty to entertain ourselves with. while the girls read, harrison and i threw a football, imitated pitchers, juggled, played one-man badminton and watched crazy drunk girls run around the beach; all the things one hopes to do on the beach. andy, in the meantime, was on a conference call. eventually andy joined us with enough time for some touch football.

it was a lot of fun. was it better than long beach? hard to say, but i was glad to get out there, if only for the new york experience and as an excuse to endlessly listen to the ramones' song.

sun's out, time to do stuff

2007-04-22T15:55:00.000-04:00

now that the clouds have parted and the sun is streaming down, it's safe (not bone chilling) to venture out and see the city. starting on thursday night adrianne and i joined the rest of the pasquarelli pack for a night at the opera to see "la traviata". before entering we enjoyed the first outdoor meal of the season at a small cafe across the street from lincoln center. as we made our way in the sunset was reflecting into the lobby (the picture above). as we were seated i was able to snap a picture of the stage before the usher advised me against it. the performace was very enjoyable. with verdi productions there is always one noticeable tune and the singing was phenomenal.

the following day adri and i were joined by harrison and mary for the mets-braves match-up at shea stadium. the seats were high but we had a great view of the field as well as the jets flying out of laguardia. unfortunately the mets put up a listless effort. after hotdogs and beers and several braves runs, we left in the eighth inning. a special thanks to ed pasquarelli for trading a pint of his blood for the tickets.

the weekend itself was filled with outdoor escapades including walking through the city, whiffleball and frisbee in central park, working on and riding bikes and drinking milkshakes in greenpoint. sorry, no pics. we were too busy having fun, finally.

designs from work

2007-03-29T14:30:00.000-04:00

killing time is a great way to get the creative juices flowing. a couple weeks ago i made that drawing of the manhattan bridge and today i just created this logo thing. i don't know what it's suppose to be, just cool looking i guess.

i got the idea after i saw a sticker on the street that had city names listed at the bottom like on ads for retail chains saying where they have stores. the names stuck out though because they weren't typical city names like london, miami, or tokyo. the cities included milan, brunei, and gstaad, a skiing town in switzerland. i thought that was pretty ridiculous so i wanted to make a logo with equally ridiculous cities. and i did.

meet the mets (field)

2007-03-26T21:24:00.000-04:00

last week, adrianne achieved the unthinkable. she secured an assignment no other reporter at her paper had ever secured. she ventured out to shea stadium for an interview with the head groundskeeper for the new york mets. this has been her greatest triumph to date in writing her column on cool new york city jobs - "gotham gigs". as some of you may recall her past subjects include the light operator at the empire state building, puppet doctor for "the lion king" and head research librarian at the new york public library. while at shea she was able to charm her way onto the field where she took the above photograph, for you, my loyal readers (all one of you, dad).

ed. note: written with generous contributions from adrianne

white bike

2007-03-26T21:18:00.000-04:00

hey! check out my new bike. i hope to ride it down to work today.

manhattan bridge

2007-03-13T11:11:00.000-04:00

i drew a picture of the manhattan bridge during my down time at work. this is the view from the corner of front street and washington street in DUMBO. the empire state building actually does line up perfectly in the east tower of the bridge.

jealous?

2007-02-21T20:33:00.000-05:00

the company i work for just moved offices from park slope to DUMBO. this is the view from my desk now. that's the manhattan bridge front and center. a lot better than the ivy covered wall of a brownstone i had before, no?

harrison and the doppelgang

2007-02-13T21:40:00.000-05:00

last saturday we celebrated harrison's birthday down at enid's. sara* had the genius idea to take it up a notch by getting everyone to dress in our man's signature style. this style involves, from head to toe: bandana, white tee-shirt, jeans, ass-pocket of whiskey and boots. harrison, who generally prefers modest celebrations of his birthday, was surprised and delighted by the turn out of look-a-likes.

ps we're gangsters, yo.

news! ...from greenpoint, USA

2007-02-08T15:01:00.000-05:00

there is good news for the residents of greenpoint, brooklyn: the new york attorney general, andrew cuomo, is finally filing suit against exxonmobile and other companies who operated along newtown creek decades ago. during the course of their business on the creek they leaked approximately 17 million gallons into the ground and adjacent creek, creating one of the world's largest oil spills, bigger than the widely known exxon valdez tanker spill.

the spill has contaminated ground water and soil in the northern part of my neighborhood so much that there are now toxic vapors emanating from the ground. while the suit will do nothing to stop this immediately, it should quicken the pace of the clean-up and extract large sums of money from exxonmobile.

there was a weak agreement made between the state and the oil companies in 1990 but there were no penalties leveed against the companies and no deadline for clean-up. cynically, it would seem now that greenpoint is the focus of major development and there's the possibility that rich people will be living in the neighborhood, the state has finally come around to forcing the oil companies' hand.

further reading:
cuomo sues exxonmobile: Crain's NY Business
history of the spill: Riverkeeper
image source: Greenpoint v. Exxon

here's my card

2007-02-01T13:44:00.000-05:00

it's my first business card. shoot me an email. we'll do lunch.

things i hate...

2007-02-01T13:25:00.000-05:00

living in new york, you inevitably have to touch things many other people have touched, anything on the subway being the big one. since moving here i have become accustomed to this and have developed a hand washing routine that borders on obsessive-compulsive, so i don't really mind it anymore. i just try not to touch my face with my "subway hand", the hand i use to hold onto polls on the train. so i've gotten used to touching all these things. but one thing still creeps me out and i'm afraid always will: a warm toilet seat. i don't care if it's a private or public toilet just the fact that it's warm. just knowing that someone was shitting in the exact same spot minutes or seconds ago always makes me wince. and there's no way to wash my buns the same way i can wash my hands.

yeah, everybody poops. i just don't want to share their butt heat.

new old booze

2007-01-18T15:46:00.000-05:00

a highlight of the poor dining experience in lake placid was accidentally discovering a great hot drink: hot buttered rum. after ordering irish coffee with lunch i received a mystery drink that contained neither whiskey nor coffee. inquiring about the drink, the waitress said it was hot buttered rum. when the coffee did arrive i was disappointed not to have the rum. so to reconcile that, before dinner i ordered a hot buttered rum. it was delicious. so good that when i got home last night i bought a pint of rum and made one myself. it's a great winter drink: hot, boozy and easy to make. there are a number of variations but i used a simple recipe that took only as long as it takes to boil water.

first boil a cup of water. in a mug mix about a tablespoon of brown sugar with a little less than a tablespoon of butter, as much rum as you want (i used a generous shot of dark rum) and a little boiling water. when that's well mixed add the rest of the water. many recipes i found add whip cream, ice cream, cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves. go ahead, try one tonight.

movie night: Ace in the Hole

2007-01-17T16:01:00.000-05:00

adrianne and i went to film forum last night to see a special screening of Ace in the Hole. this is one of my favorite movies by one of my favorite directors, billy wilder. the story centers around a former big-city newspaper-man stuck at a small new mexico paper when he stumbles on a man stuck deep inside an ancient indian cliff dwelling. knowing how to spin a human-interest story able to hook readers, chuck tatum, played by kirk douglas, stages all the elements of the man’s rescue for maximum drama. the movie takes a cynical look at media exploitation and the schadenfreude of the american public. it even makes you question the motivation of random acts of kindness. kirk douglas is fantastic as the ambitious ringleader, i hesitate to say journalist, with a sharp mind and sharper tongue. billy wilder’s direction, as always, is compact and straight-forward. it’s a rarely recognized gem of the director’s extensive filmography. it's not available on netflix so you may have to work to find this movie, but it's worth it.

image from CinemaCom

greetings from...

2007-01-16T13:33:00.000-05:00

adrianne and i took advantage of the long weekend by making it extra long (we took friday off, suckas) and setting off for lake placid. we didn't have too much planned except relaxing, getting room service and bobsledding.

the first went off without a hitch. we had a cozy room at hotel saranac with a king-sized bed and quiet neighbors. (there was a christian retreat at the hotel.) we also enjoyed the feeling of space provided by long views over frozen lakes.

our second objective was less fulfilling. neither of us had gotten room service before so we were excited to have breakfast delivered to our room saturday morning. our excitement quickly faded after receiving our meal. the plates arrived on a tray covered in plastic bowls instead of on the cart under silver covers we imagined from watching too many movies. unfortunately the food was even worse than the presentation and the bad food ended up being a theme of the trip.

the third item on our itinerary was a major success, bobsledding was awesome. when we got up to the starting point we were quickly given helmets and placed in a sled. before we knew it we were gently gliding down the course. two turns later and we were whipping through the curves. left, right, left, right, done. it was over. when i looked back adrianne had a dizzied look in her eyes, but she pulled herself together for the victory photo.

the snow that greeted us when we awoke on sunday made for a lovely, if sometimes tense, drive through the hills back to the interstate. it was a great trip and i'll try to add some more photos later.

update: we set a course record!
adrianne on the medal stand
me on the medal stand

it's a mustache new year

2007-01-01T17:36:00.000-05:00

this year marked the second attempt at a mustache new year's party. this time we got near full participation, as you can see. some of us were man enough to grow there own, for the rest of us we had bandits, smartys and scoundrels. not only did they mustaches add a distinguished air to our personas, they also made the festivities that much more festive.

guess who's mustache.

christmas eve 2006

2007-01-01T17:12:00.000-05:00

every year on christmas eve the knott family joins the hughes and skaggs family for dinner. this is one of my favorite traditions and we always have a great time. i've uploaded the individual family photos for the enjoyment of the growing number of people participating in this event.

the hughes family
the knott family
the skaggs family

Update: the bigger pics are up on the links.

sneakers of 11 spring

2006-12-18T21:05:00.000-05:00

#18
Originally uploaded by jordan_knott.
over the weekend a graffiti/street art exhibit opened at 11 spring street in soho. the show was only open for three days. adrianne and i went on the last day, sunday. when we got in line we were almost three blocks away from the entrance. after about an hour in line someone with the exhibit instructed that everyone after a point about 50 feet in front of us in line was unlikely to get in. since i wouldn't be able to photograph the art inside the building, i chose to document some of the many cool sneakers worn by those in line. i hope you enjoy the set.

sneakers of 11 spring photo set

holiday bon soiree

2006-12-11T22:37:00.000-05:00

look at us! we are adorable when we get all cleaned up and ready to attend the holiday bash of the season. then, of course, we get our grubby little hands on the gingerbread men/stars of david and chocolate chip cookies and things get a little silly.

then we get our hands on the eggnog, manhattans, and coors king cans...and things get a little messy.

wow. what a party. thanks go to adrianne for the delicious gingerbread men, and a big thanks go to mark and sara for hosting.

party crash!

2006-12-08T11:15:00.000-05:00

adrianne scored two tickets to cablevision's "holiday rock & roll bash 6" last night. this was the cablevision company holiday party and they go all out for their party. and adrianne and i were glad to take advantage of james dolan's largesse.

upon entering the b.b. king blues club in times square we checked our coats and immediately hit the open bar for beers and glenlivet. hell yeah free glenlivet! we then walked over to get our picture taken with a couple of rockettes (above), awesome. we got in line for the dinner buffet and piled our plates with mac and cheese, salmon, and fillet. after finishing dinner a group of 14 rockettes walked out and performed a short routine with high kicks and all. rad!

we then started through the crowd in front of the stage when i saw isiah thomas! i got a picture of him and me that will be uploaded later. we continued through the party, hit the bar again, got a second picture with the rockettes, ran into james dolan and got a picture with him and his wife. then it was off to the dessert buffet where we helped ourselves to a variety of treats.

after deciding it was time to go we headed off to the coat check where we were given gift bags that included a shoulder bag and insulated coffee cup. hell yeah swag! what a great night. thanks, adri.

Update: here's that photo of me and isiah.

greenpoint of view

2006-11-03T12:35:00.000-05:00

there has been some recent webpress on a "satirical" essay that appeared in a haverford college alumni newsletter. the essay, by a haverford alum who resides in greenpoint is about gentrification, specifically in greenpoint, a prodominantly polish neighborhood and the place i call home. the author makes a series of bad polish jokes mixed with lame prose that, if one was not sure of his intent, makes his essay appear more bigoted than satirical.

now, i live in greenpoint and am aware that i am a "gentrifier". this is something that i have felt conflicted about since i moved here almost 2 years ago. i love the neighborhood, but many of the things it has to offer aren't for me. for instance, there are about five 99-cent stores in a four-block range on Manhattan Ave. 99-cent stores don't have merchandise i want to spend my money on. so i would be glad if, say, a few of those closed and other businesses took their place.

i think that someone who is commited to a neighborhood and wants to see that neighborhood thrive should support businesses in that neighborhood, but only those that provide goods or services of good value in close proximity. for example, the best donuts i have had in the city are made at Peter Pan Bakery. this place is definity polish owned. you can get a huge, hot cinnamon bun for a buck, but their coffee, while cheap, kinda sucks. so if i want a lattee (i know, the icon of lame whiteness) i go a few blocks away, to Cafe Grumpy, to get a lattee that tastes great, is bigger than and costs less than a small at Starbucks. but Grumpy is definitely owned by people who moved to the neighborhood. and that "Franklin Street 'coffee shop'" the author talks about was not opened by native greenpointians. i don't go there either, not because they don't serve "Venti Caramel Macchiato", but because it's further away than Grumpy and the food and coffee aren't very good.

it's a struggle to be a gentrifier and avoid gentrifying your neighborhood. i know the line between neighborhood revitalization and gentrification is thin if it exists at all, but this conflict will probably be rendered moot in a couple years when the waterfront is developed with condo high-rises. oh well. i, for one, welcome our corporate overlords!

Moved to Speak: "The Black Squirrel's Burden" (original essay)
Gawker: "Polaks Protest Haverford Alum's 'Satire'"
Gothamist: "Satire or Stupid to Slam Greenpoint"
The Onion: "Sometimes I Feel Like I'm The Only One Trying To Gentrify This Neighborhood"

this is halloween, this is halloween...

2006-10-29T15:03:00.000-05:00

another year has gone by and halloween is here again. i love halloween. besides being a great excuse to eat a bunch of candy, i like the whole process of putting together a costume. adrianne and i came up with the idea for our costume back in may when we took a peter pan bus home from maryland. after scouring the city for cheap costume parts over the past few weeks, we put everything together on thursday night. then last night the day finally came to show off our costumes. as you can see, harrison is a businessman, adrianne is tinkerbell and i'm peter pan. i think we did a pretty good job. we all went down to mark and sara*'s to watch a hell of a zombie movie. after that we all headed to the levee where we saw the channel 4 news team, american gladiators, and a set of dominoes all hanging out, drinking beers like it ain't no thing. like i said, i love halloween.

a dream come true

2006-10-24T15:33:00.000-04:00

i finally own a pair of air jordans.

for as long as i can remember i have wanted to own a pair of these shoes. i watched michael jordan play, just to see a close-up of his shoes. i browsed through youtube and watched the old mars blackmon commercials. i have books dedicated to sneakers highlighting these hi-tops and i can identify by sight all 21 iterations of this signature sneaker. but for too long a lack of money and a wealth of thriftyness have keep me from getting them. that all ended with a whim, a sale and encouragement from the most consummate shopper i know.

so now, for the first time, i am the proud owner of a pair of air jordan 5s in silver, green bean and flint grey. they may only be my second favorite version of the shoe, my favorite is the jordan 11, but they're still f'in' rad and i love 'em.

empty subway train!

2006-10-22T15:14:00.000-04:00

adrianne, harrison and i took the G last night for a short trip to southside williamsburg. much to our delight we had a whole train car to ourselves (almost). so, of course, we took the opportunity to use the car as our own personal jungle gym. we also had plenty of space to lounge for the remainder of our quick ride.

i guess the train was so empty because of the hour we took the train and the fact that the G is running with eight cars on weekends now. regardless, i have always liked the idea of having a car to myself because it seems impossible that in a city the size of New York and on a transit system as widely used as the MTA one would never be alone on a train. in a town where there's always someone around, it would be nice to have the time and space to yourself.

in reality, we weren't the only one's on the car. right before the doors closed an older lady walked on. but she sat at the very end so we were able to create the necessary illusion of having the train to ourselves. oh well. maybe another time.

who wants some candy?

2006-10-18T09:28:00.000-04:00

the hightlight of saturday morning was suppose to be brunch. brunch was nice but the real jewel of that lovely day was economy candy on rivington and essex in the LES. adrianne and i first went in while walking around the neighborhood before brunch. the first thing you notice is the store smells exactly like the hollow plastic pumpkin filled with candy after a night of fleecing neighbors for their candy on halloween. after browsing through a selection of the world's candy, ranging from rich swiss chocolate to cheap candy dots, i bought some candy cigarettes, which i hadn't had since i was a kid, buying them for a quarter from hinkle's.

after brunch, we returned. adrianne said she saw a wonka bar. i've never had a wonka bar. the association with gene wilder's willy wonka was temptation enough for me to buy it. secretly, i was hoping for a golden ticket. alas, there was none. only a sugary chocolate bar with graham cracker pieces and "wonka" emblazoned in three inch letters across the face of the bar. the bar was too much to eat all at once, but i couldn't resist the bar sitting in my jacket pocket. i ate half, sitting on a curb in the sun. but after only a half an hour, and a stray shot of jager, i finished the bar. a smile on my face.

fright night

2006-10-10T22:49:00.000-04:00

adrianne and i went upstate last weekend to attend the world renowned headless horseman haunted hayride and houses. that's right, i said houses, plural. there's three of those bad boys.

at first i was a little skeptical and cynical with the bad teenage actors trolling the grounds as witches and the undead. but once we started the hayride i was a believer. from the start there were all manner of goblins, zombies, and ghosts jumping out of the dark woods scaring the crap out of everyone on board. the appearance of the eponymous horseman was great. because of the cool temperatures and the low, bright full moon the first thing i saw was the clouds of breath from the black horse's nostrils. i was an awesome image. sorry i couldn't capture it, no cameras allowed.

after the hayride there was a path to follow through a cornfield. this stage started with what felt like 50 yards but was probably more like 10 in total darkness. the whole time adrianne is holding on to me for dear life.

after the maze we made our way through each of the houses, each one ratcheting up the screams. the final house was great because of the way the ghouls would distract us until one of their comrades would come up behind us and scare the living daylights out of our group. it was a great production.

the image above is after we completed our harrowing journey. see how close we are? nothing brings people closer than ghosts and goblins jumping out of dark shadows in the cool autumn night.

twins?

2006-10-09T20:03:00.000-04:00

thanks to sara*'s latest web adventure, adrianne and i decided to match our visages against the online celebrity database at my heritage. strangely, the program determined that both adrianne and i resemble grace kelly, as you can see from the image above.

they say that if you spend enough time together you start to look like one another. if that's true, then i guess this is my future.

blue man group

2006-10-04T23:25:00.000-04:00

why don't we just all wear blue?

i swear this was an accident.

magic man

2006-09-25T21:11:00.000-04:00

time for typing

2006-09-25T20:57:00.000-04:00

let's go to the fair!

2006-08-28T20:48:00.000-04:00

the dutchess county fair! it's the biggest fair in the state!

since the beach was a bust, adrianne and i were stuck inside. that is, until harrison called saying he, andy and jon were going to the dutchess county fair. adrianne, who is from dutchess county, and i burst into action and were out the door headed to brooklyn to catch a ride upstate. we made it into the fair in a flash, thanks to andy's driving, and we were on to the midway. there was food, livestock, and, of course, rides. i convinced adrianne to join me on the cliff hanger. look at us. we're flying!

after gorging on a smorgasbord of fair food, including corndogs, french fries, roasted corn dipped in a vat of butter, caramel apples, hot roast beef sandwiches, and apple crisp sundaes, we made our way to the shopping tents. there, andy bought a sharp brown vest and the rest of the boys tried on cowboy hats. "hey there, buck-a-roo."

after the fair, we all visited the pasquarelli compound where we enjoyed some rousing games of scrabble and scategories. the next morning, adrianne's dad made some delicious eggs for breakfast and we were out the door headed back to the city.

we're going to the beach, beach, beach...

2006-08-24T14:51:00.000-04:00

adrianne and i are going to long beach on saturday. who's in?

update: it was cold and rainy on saturday so instead of going to the beach we went to the dutchess county fair with andy, harrison, and jon. see next post for details.

boredom leads to creativity...cont.

2006-08-22T11:16:00.000-04:00

my sister is an optometrist. if she ever decides to open her own eye-care business, maybe she could use this as her logo.

check out my photos

2006-08-18T14:27:00.000-04:00

off
Originally uploaded by jordan_knott.

i started a flickr account to use as an online photo portfolio. if you want to check out my images in the future you can use the link available to the right, in the "links" field. enjoy!

boredom leads to creativity

2006-08-17T16:45:00.000-04:00

i made a logo for a...color mode? whatever, it looks cool. and i'm sure you, readers, will enjoy this more than that lousy "love train" image i used on the last post.

next stop...

2006-08-09T10:08:00.000-04:00

overheard in grand central:
(15 minutes before departure)
adrianne: we'd better go. i want to make sure i get a good seat.
jordan: it's 8:30 and you're going to poughkeepsie.
adrianne: it's a popular destination.
jordan: you're a destination.
adrianne: ...on the love train.

eeennd scene!

movie night at bryant park

2006-08-01T13:14:00.000-04:00

a panarama and extreme close-up of the scene at bryant park last night. the park was showing a shot in the dark, the first inspector clouseau film.

ps. this is before the "dooshbag" spanish family of four squeezed into the two feet of space behind us with 2 newly purchased hugo boss cashmere blankets.

Tuesday: I have an air conditioner!

2006-08-01T12:35:00.000-04:00

the temperature is supposed to hit triple digits in the city and remain there for the next few days. as a result i plan on doing nothing but this for that same time period.

for you other new yorkers who are concerned i may be causing the next black-out i want to let you know i am following con ed's instructions and keeping the thermostat at a polar 78 degrees. brrrr!

Sunday: I have a hungover girlfriend!

2006-07-30T15:12:00.000-04:00

as you can see, she's not happy. we went to a birthday bash last night and she had, emmm, "many" drinks. i suppose these things happen when you team her up with these party girls.

Saturday: I have short shorts!

2006-07-30T14:56:00.000-04:00

this marks the first anniversary of my blog. hooray! this time last year i was writing a post about preparing for mark's (s. gary's) birthday celebration. well another year has passed and it is time for another birthday bash in his honor. this year's party started at the water taxi beach in long island city which is basically a ton of imported sand spread out on the banks of the east river. the beach features a $2 shaefer special which everyone at the party was taking advantage of, including the out-of-town guests of honor, mr. and mrs. big mark.

after suffering through the 90 degree heat long enough i returned home to meet adrianne. we went out to dinner then met everyone at east river bar for act two of the nights festivities. as usual there were drinks downed, pictures taken and fights avoided. luckily i was able to miss act three at the levee where i hear everyone finally dropped off the ledge of reasonable drunk behavior.

bon anniversaire!

Friday: I have fun at the library!

2006-07-29T14:33:00.000-04:00

so, when you're in the New York Public Library you don't necessarily feel comfortable taking a picture of yourself grinning like an idiot giving thumbs-up. as soon as you set the camera up everyone is looking at you wondering why the hell you're taking a picture of yourself in the periodicals room and why you're giving the thumbs-up. and there's no way you can ask someone else to take the picture. so i had to set the camera on the table in order to execute the pose i wanted to pull off. since i was in the library i thought it would be clever to add the "shhh" sign with the thumb. so not only am i going to affect this look taking my photo in the library put i'm going to have to hold this pose for ten seconds because i have to use the camera's timer release. my shame really allowed only one shot at it. unfortunately all of these factors conspired to me taking a photograph that looks like i'm picking my nose in the library. awesome.

Thursday: I have a slurpee!

2006-07-29T14:22:00.000-04:00

it was hot on thursday. adrianne and i were walking down to madison square park to attend a reading of breakfast at tiffany's. when we passed the only 7-11 i know of in the city, i wanted to "cool off!" i walked straight to the back where i saw they had eight flavors of slurpees. i think the most spouts i've ever seen in a 7-11 are four with only two ever working. of course i had cherry and of course i put the top on my cup and filled it all the way up. i haven't had a slurpee in forever. this was so good. i seem to recall always finishing the flavor before the ice but that didn't happen this time. i was able to savor the sweet cherry goodness all the way through the shoe-shopping tangent and the entire reading. (it was only about 20 minutes.)

oh, if you want a slurpee now, the 7-11 is on 23rd and park.

Wednesday: I have a resume!

2006-07-26T12:47:00.000-04:00

as you can see i'm back to the job hunt. luckily, i can use someone else's internet connection so i can look for jobs, write cover letters, and send in resumes all from the comfort of my own apartment. and i never have to get dressed. check out those rad blue undies!

Tuesday: I have a job interview!

2006-07-25T16:31:00.000-04:00

i received a phone call last week from kristy at Redux Pictures about the resume i emailed her on thursday. she wanted to schedule an interview for tuesday at 11:30 am. i dressed nicely in my seersucker suit and headed off to the company's 12th floor offices in union square. i think the interview went well. i was shown a quick review of the photoshop work i would be doing there if hired. it all seemed straightforward. i should hear back from them next week.

after the interview i met adrianne at grand central market. we bought some items from a couple of vendors and we enjoyed a wonderful little lunch at her apartment.

Monday: I have an endoscopy!

2006-07-25T15:48:00.000-04:00

i was having some stomach problems so i scheduled an appointment with a gastroenterologist. he of course scheduled an endoscopy. this occurred monday afternoon. adrianne accompanied me and took the photographs. i suppose everything went well. i don't remember much as i was under the influence of general anesthesia. i got home safely thanks to my lovely girlfriend who then nursed me back to health.

up on the roof...

2006-06-29T10:34:00.000-04:00

a view from my roof at sunset yesterday. enjoy.

dice and ice

2006-05-31T20:12:00.000-04:00

memorial day weekend just finished up and just between you and me, it was fuckin' awesome. adrianne and i continued our burger tour at burger joint. for those of you who don't know this place is in the corner of the lobby at the le parker meridian hotel. yes, the same hotel where guests of "live! with regis and kelly" stay. as you can see the burgers look like they were made on the side of the road, but they taste like the burgers you make in your dreams. the right amount of grease, right amount of cheese, right amount of everything else, and that's it. absolutely no filler. these guys don't mess around. delicious.

on sunday adrianne and i went to the park for a little picnic. we had a beautiful day laying out in the sun, drinking lemonade, playing kissy-face. later, everyone joined us for more sun and to throw a frisbee. hey, it's the sheep meadow. they all but hand you a frisbee on the way in.

finally on monday, to honor the troops, andy held a barbecue in his back yard. in this case a back yard consists of a patio, some picnic tables, and a fake cactus. ed brought a grab-bag of meet. everyone else filled in the gaps. by gaps i mean vegetables and beer. man can't live on beef alone, otherwise this happens. beside causing ourselves gastrointestinal stress, there was also some entertainment. for those of us with any money left in our pockets by that point in the weekend, there was some dice to be thrown. along with it came some delightful frozen treats. perfect to enjoy in the first evening shower of the summer. it was a fantastic way to finish off the weekend.

cheers to everyone on a well executed weekend. and apologies to mark and sara for giving deuce all that people food. i'm sure he lived up to his name that night...sorry.

ill-adelphia

2006-04-26T22:28:00.000-04:00

i went to philly last weekend...this happened. that's about all i can piece together.

check in on my brother

2006-03-18T20:54:00.000-05:00

hey everybody. my brother isn't doing so hot. he had an appendectomy about two weeks ago and things didn't go so well. he's been in the hospital ICU since. my sister started a blog to keep tabs on his progress. my dad and my brother's girlfriend, corina, update the site, called the budge update, daily. check in on his progress and maybe you could stop being a jerk and write a get-well message in the comments section of his site. thanks everybody.

sara's house

2006-03-18T20:36:00.000-05:00

hey look, sara made a house. this is what happens when you start drinking at 4 in the afternoon, which, evidently, isn't unlikely when the thermometer reaches 70º the first week in march. i personally made it to 2am that night. sara, em and daniel made it much later. when i talked to an old friend of mine the next day she seemed to think it was a matter of course. as if getting wasted on the first warm day is a rite of spring. i thought about it and i recall, however blury the memories, that when it does finally get warm i usually hit a number of bars with my friends. man, drinking is fun!

super pork

2006-02-08T22:42:00.000-05:00

superbowl sunday has come to mean one thing for me the last couple years...pork. oh there's still nachos and beer and, oh yeah, football but really, thanks to jon and harrison, it's about pork. this year they outdid themselves. i think they put in 10 to 12 hours in preparing their lovely cuts of pig. however long they spent it was worth it. those sandwiches were freakin' delicious. if it wasn't for all the other food there i would have eaten three or four of them.

the party itself was just as great a success. there were crazy girls, dudes being dudes, gambling, and, of course, the party dude. special thanks go to andy for hosting, ed and sara for the big board, europe for "final countdown", sex, and of course jon and harrison for delicious ass pulled-pork sandwiches. bravo, gang.

fun at work

2006-02-06T18:04:00.000-05:00

this is what happens when you work with photo equipment all day.

metal night in williamsburg

2006-01-30T23:20:00.000-05:00

saturday night's alright for metal...no, that sounds lame. it was the type of night that get's people in trouble...wrong again. one more time...it was time to rock!...wow, that really fell short. i don't think words can really sum up saturday night. all you need to know about saturday is nicely collected in the photo above. of course, this photo says a lot too.

won't you take me to...niketown!

2006-01-21T09:46:00.000-05:00

so. it's been a little while, i know. to be honest i've spent most of my free time playing kissy-face with my new, ahh, woman-friend. also, i was getting tired of posts without illustration. but now i got a new canon sd400 and i'm ready to document my adventures through the city then tell you, my dear readers, about it.

the inaugural night out with my camera led s.gary, sara*, and i uptown, near the park, to the new niketown on 57th street for the unveiling of the new nike air max 360 (above). to be honest the shoes aren't that hot, but seeing all the older model air max was freakin' awesome. (notice in that picture the air soles the shoes are displayed on. the floor around the display also had air-sole tile around it. s.gary, sara*, and i were standing on those for extended periods of time because our own shoes provided so little cushioning.) mostly the three of us cruised the five-story store, checking out the shoes, the apparel, and the wall-sized photos decorating the store walls. all in all it was a rad time. oh, and big tigga and bernie williams were there.

words on the phone

2005-12-29T08:44:00.000-05:00

text messaging has been a hot topic over the last couple weeks. the topic began at "the roebling tea room", of course, when some friends and i noticed three people sitting together and all of them had their t-mobile sidekicks out. sara* then mentioned that she liked the full qwerty keyboard and that, if she could, she would get a "text only" cellphone plan. it then continued into this past weekend while talking with my dad about my phone use. he pays for a family plan so he gets the bill. he mentioned to me that i sent and received 99 text messages last month. i knew i used the feature often but never thought that frequently. now the news has picked up on the hottest way to communicate, all the kids are doing it. here is an article from the washington post. it merely covers the popularity of text-messaging and waxes slightly poetic about, the short messages can be compared to haiku, but it certifies that most everyone is having text.

best weekend ever, man

2005-12-06T20:27:00.000-05:00

really quickly, i just want to get this out there between all the shit i have to do tonight. (laundry and eating a burrito) this past weekend was raa-had. friday i met a friend of mine for drinks in st. mark's. found out s.gary was in union square so the two of us met him and his friend, saran. evidently saran is loaded (money, not booze, although come to think of it at the time i met him he was both) so he continued to by rounds for everyone. sara* made an appearance, but only briefly. she came from seeing "rent" and looked like she had been hit by a bus. so take that as a warning. stay away from the movie. after the * left, the four us took the train down to the village for a party at a new asian, ultra-modern bar. we said hello to the guest of honor, slugged his scotch and ordered another round. we left when we finished the beers. i found out later we didn't pay anybody for them. yes! after that it's a blur, but i think tater-tots at trash happened. maybe a PBR to wash those down, either way great way to start the weekend.

saturday dawns and there are plans to be set in motion. i can't devulge too much, people are reading this. let's just say dudes were being dudes, with dudes using digital sensors to capture all the shenanigans. i know that sounds gay, but it was. except nobody touched brown. after we broke down the set, s. gary and i cruised back to his place. sara* looked a million times better than the previous night and was ready to go out. s.gary had an engagement in midtown so i had the pleasure of squiring sara* about town. we tried to go to 7B but it was packed. so we picked the next best thing, 7A. alphabet city bars are lazy. they all have the street letter in their name. we had a few drinks, even more yawns and headed back to the 'burg rather early. besides we had a brunch in the morning.

now sunday. starts off with a marathon mom brunch. both em and a.chef brought their moms to brunch, but not at the same time. we were there for 3 hours, no joke. i had two black eye chai lattes and em and tm had at least 3 cups of coffee. we were wired. finally around 2 i got the call from miss anna that she was ready to go down to red hook. we planned a trip down to a bar called "sonny's" that right on the water for a book reading. book readings are boring. you can't order a beer while people are reading and they use lame jokes to fill out tired extended metaphors. but one the reading stopped it was a great place. the bar was packed during the reading and totally empty once the final book closed. it was me and three of my friends, and the 3 people working there plus the owner. so we talked with him about his place and all the great stuff on the wall. he returned our quizitiveness with free wild turkey. we finally decided it was too late for another whisky, and we came back to williamsburg for a delicious sunday dinner at union picnic.

whew! i am worn out. what an awesome weekend.

thank you for leaving town

2005-11-29T23:59:00.000-05:00

i stayed in the borough for thanksgiving. that was rad. i avoided the anxiety of travel, didn't miss work, and still got to see my family and friends. my sister hosted a small but delicious dinner after my family and i went to the parade. then we all headed to s.gary and sara*'s apartment for mad dog and turkey carcass tossing. everyone was full of cheer. although i noticed something peculiar walking down bedford the night before thanksgiving: the neighborhood was empty. i saw maybe 10 people where i would usually be sidestepping jerks the whole 12 blocks down to grand. not only was no one around but bars and restaurants closed too, for the whole four day weekend. i was embarrassed to live here. as s.gary said, "proof again that williamsburg is a college town." regardless of the desolate population, everyone that stayed here had a great time in BK, without all those clowns. hope yours was equally enjoyable, wherever you were. cheers.

i'm back

2005-11-29T23:46:00.000-05:00

hi everybody! i know it's been a long time. i have a job now. what did you expect, more frequent posts? to be honest the party dude hit his peak in summer. i'm not sure why or how just that summer was rad for me. this was affirmed last saturday. i saw the girl from the saturday night's alright...for doin' it post at a bar. i didn't know how to react. every scenario i could think of seemed like it would lead to embarrassment for both of us. so i didn't say anything to her, even though i exited right past her. when i woke up on sunday i, appropriately, felt like a jerk. but how did you expect me to react, she was my first one-night stand. i'm still learning how to be a party dude.

ahoy employed

2005-11-13T23:23:00.000-05:00

i got a job, grouches. i'll be your internet sales representative at alkit photo. that means i'll be photographing and writing descriptions for used equipment that will go on the company's ebay store. regardless, i'm gainfully employed.

brunch gang

2005-11-13T23:01:00.000-05:00

i had another delightful brunch on sunday with sara*, em, and s. gary. i love the meal and the company for sure, but this brunch thing is getting out of control. last week it was reservations in manhattan. this week it's checking out the brunch offerings from brand new restaurants. sara*, s. gary, and i walked by a space that the two of them had scoped for weeks before. they knew it was going to be a restaurant and yesterday was the first time they noticed that it was open. it is called the roebling tea room. we saw the door was open so we walked in to check it out. the first thing we noticed was the warm, comforting smell, which we decided consisted of baked ham and fresh bread. then we browsed the space like we were looking for an apartment and decided we couldn't leave without trying one of their 60 different tea flavors. we also noticed they have a brunch menu. at that point it was immediately decided that we should indulge our brunch fix there the very next day.

the tea was delicious. the meal was dicey. i didn't respond very well to the mint, scallion and feta frittata. i suppose i should remain suspicious of cafe-style egg dish service. by that i mean the frittata was prepared and displayed then simply reheated before being served. regardless, i am prepared to spend more time at this establishment as an afternoon meeting place for imbibing wonderfully aromatic beverages. plus they offer a small selection of wine and beer. perfect for that transition from caffination to intoxication. cheers, mates!

catch the fever

2005-11-07T09:59:00.000-05:00

the virus is spreading. i was infected by sara*'s diary and now my sister has the parasite. she just published her first blog. it's named Brooklyn Gal For A Year. check it out. i have also added it to my links on the right so you'll always be able to find it and check out what she's been up to.

marathon sunday

2005-11-07T00:20:00.000-05:00

today began with the bleary realization that someone not too far away was performing a terrible rendition of "are you gonna be my girl" by jet. dj and i decided to investigate, so i put on my jogging costume: running shoes, bobo socks, sweatpants, track jacket, and headband, and we took to the streets. it didn't take long to find the source of the noise. there was a band, oso, playing around the corner. sadly, the poster draped behind them, with a stylized image of their name, appeared to say "so so." once we cruised manhattan ave. we found that there was a band playing on every corner. i thought, "marathon day is party day."

as we continued down the street and as the main pack of runners came along i enjoyed a number of sights: italian runners' faces lighting up when a woman waving an italian flag shouts, "italia! italia!" in support; the older couples hanging out of their windows watching the runners pass; a gentleman in a polish soccer shirt running along with a polish runner, offering his support; the response i receive when i shout, "go dave!" to a middle-aged runner with "dave" written on his shirt. surprisingly there were also a number of "joke runners", runners in costume. i saw a man in a cow costume, two as the blues brothers in full, matching suits and hats, and a couple as the cheerleaders from saturday night live.

after the race had wound down, with only a few racers on the empty streets, dj and i walked the route back to our apartment. we passed by the park where i see a group of young hasidic men playing baseball in kippas and wool trousers...i love this city.

marathon day was the brightest, most up-beat, i had ever seen the neighborhood. but this is new york and that classic new york charm wasn't far away. near the end of our trip we passed a group of young women cheering on the straglers in the race. i glance to see who is still patiently watching these last runners. as i turn away one of them casually declares, "we're not cheering for you. you're a poseur." at first i was surprised she would say that, despite her accuracy. then i thought about how glad i was to be the recipient of probably one of the few discouraging remarks on the course all day.

they can't help themselves

2005-11-01T14:21:00.000-05:00

killer queen

2005-10-30T01:31:00.000-05:00

halloween is the greatest holiday known to mankind. you can wear tight-ass white jeans and a mustache and exude awesome through the help of freddy mercury's ghost. and dressing like a gay dude is a great way to meet chicks and get into their beds.

back in time...

2005-10-28T01:24:00.000-04:00

i went to a costume party at one of my favorite bars, capone's, last night. i didn't have time to put together the real costume i'm wearing this year (you'll see that later) so i threw together an old stand-by based on what i have in my closet. based on the picture, who do you think i dressed as? if you have any doubts, see this picture and this picture. i think i'm pretty much a dead ringer for ol' marty mcfly but apparently the '80s are so back in the 'burg that one can dress like this and no one assumes you're in costume. what a terrible time. i'm going back to the future.

tricky trailers

2005-10-18T15:01:00.000-04:00

you may have heard recently about a re-edited trailer for the shining by robert ryang that makes the film appear to be a feel-good story, not the slasher flick it really is. i only learned about it yesterday but immediately set my nerd skills to use and not only found the shining trailer, but re-edited trailers for west side story and eternal sunshine of the spotless mind as well. enjoy.

one thing i noticed after watching these is how important a good narrator is for a trailer. all of these are well edited to create the desired mood but the ones that have a narrator are lacking. what they're lacking is "the movie guy" voice. the shining trailer seems amateurish with the whiny voice of the narrator. i was amazed by how much more professional and legitimate a film seems with "that guy's" voice. so if you decide to create a trailer may i suggest finding a deep barritone, and excluding any pussy tenors or altos.

did you know...

2005-10-17T14:05:00.000-04:00

"...that a strap-on dildo may be used by heterosexual couples for pegging?" wow. now we know.

that quote is taken directly from today's wikipedia home page. i'd like to see world book or encyclopaedia britannica include such a kinky entry.

philadelphia story

2005-10-17T12:45:00.000-04:00

partydude took his show on the road this past weekend with his travel to philadelphia. while i was no c.k. dexter haven, i performed in a manner that would make mr. grant proud. i defended two ladies' honor by confronting a bum who was harassing them. i dipped and twirled women on the dance floor. and all of this was conducted with a drink in my hand. while that may be more characteristic of william powell, i think of cary grant as a man who never saw a cocktail he didn't like.
unlike cary grant, however, i didn't get the lady at the end of the night.

i had the pleasure of partying with the cutest girl in the room. we talked about movies, danced on ottomans and watched a fight break out. and the best part was she lives in manhattan. i might have a chance of seeing her again, which, as my readers know, is in contrast to my recent romantic escapades. all of this began to feel a little suspect. and i was right. she has a "boyfriend." what a disappointment.

there have been other grant impersonators in the past and they too got the girl before the lights came up. so maybe this isn't the end of the film, but simply the intermission.

finding the northside

2005-10-13T12:52:00.000-04:00

it's official. sara* is the queen of the blogosphere. i know this because when googling "northside flyer," the results include only 6 links. none of them are this site. the last, however, is "this is the diary of sara*..."

even google likes her blog more than mine.

inside sara

2005-10-12T05:23:00.000-04:00

my god. look at all of the things inside sara.

coffee anon.

2005-10-12T03:37:00.000-04:00

drinking coffee after a late supper is a bad idea. drinking unintentionally strong coffee is even worse. that's what i did last night. now i'm paying the price. if you'll notice the time of this post, around 4am, it's rather late. i thought i could avoid this problem. i had plenty to eat before hand, i did the new york magazine crossword and i read some online news. i even read boring articles about the new iraqi constitution compromise and cathartic blogging. i turned in around 2:30, shut my eyes but nothing happened. when i tried the eye lid test and my eyes stayed open i knew i was not falling asleep. the eye lid test basically involves placing your eye lids in the desired position, closed if you want to sleep, open if you want to wake, and seeing if they stay put. if you want to sleep and your eye lids gradually open you're awake, and vice versa. so now i'm awake and left to toil through cyberspace searching for the name of the shoes the fab five wore (nike air force max b) and the difference between rickeys and gimlets (the former has soda, the latter has sugar). oh, and of course to pawn my boredom onto my readers. good night and sweet dreams...i hope.

motor city madness

2005-10-10T00:20:00.000-04:00

friday night didn't look right. it was raining and the party dude was sitting at home deciding if going to bed at 9:30 was a good idea. it turned out to be a bad one. after lying in bed for an eternally long, depressing hour i got myself out of bed and placed a call to dj who was watching a baseball game in the city. he was headed down to motorcity, a quaint little tavern in the LES with just a slight case of muscle-car madness. (ie ripped off car emblems adorn the whole damn place. from fairlanes to mustangs, there's auto imagery everywhere.) so i get myself together, plan my trip down there and take off. (i went with the G to JMZ double-fare maneuver. risky, yes, but it paid off. i got there in 25 minutes.) as a further aside, as i was walking in the rain under the JMZ to the hewes st. station with some blinking street lights and police cars racing by with full sirens i thought, "it's a good night to get murdered." seriously, the setting was straight out of a bad '70s cop movie. so i got to motorcity and i noticed the other signature attribute of this saloon. there's a 2 foot by 8 foot raised bench in a window that is occupied by a provocatively clad young lady with an ample bosom dancing up a storm to songs by great dance acts like the misfits and iron maiden. it's quite a show. the two women who danced while i was there actually made some money shaking there fannies in satin bikinis. so i had an idea...perhaps i could make some money doing the same thing. so when the "stage" was clear i jump on, pull my shirt up and start shaking it. i turn around and show everyone what my momma gave me and lo-and-behold a dollar bill is slipped down my trousers. astonishing! as i turn around to face the crowd i'm greeted by the 6'4" bouncer who simply says, "down." that quickly ended my escapade as an exotic dancer. later in the evening, while reflecting on the night as a whole i realized what a journey it had been, from the lowest low to party dude's top form. it's good to be back.

showdown

2005-10-04T13:28:00.000-04:00

northside party dude lost this mustache competition. well played old man.

mr. yuk

2005-09-29T13:10:00.000-04:00

i'm sorry to have a piggy-back post, but since i was a part of the original conversation i feel that i can freely speak on this subject.

i went to wikipedia to do a little research on our green friend and here's what i found. it turns out his name does not include a C. he was originally the mascot for the poison center at the children's hospital of pittsburgh. and my favorite bit of information was that he replaced the jolly roger as the sticker of choice to identify poisonous materials in the house. according to wikipedia, the reason is that the jolly roger was too closely associated with pirates, so kids wanted to eat the poisons. it makes sense. what kid doesn't want to be like a pirate. finally, it turns out mr. yuk also has a theme song. he protects kids, he plunder's pirate territory, and he has a theme song. he's the complete man. except, the whole missing body thing. bleaah!

bowie in the park

2005-09-16T09:52:00.000-04:00

last night s.gary, sara*, em and myself set off for central park and the arcade fire concert. sitting in traffic on the FDR last night i was worried we would be too late to see the band. we finally break loose and get to the venue. only now we're running through the darkness trying to find the entrance. meanwhile "in the back seat" is playing. we find the will call tent get our tickets and get in. "neighborhood #3 (power out)" begins playing. when the song ends the front man, win butler, declares that the audience has been great tonight. damnit! bands only say that at the end of their set. not all is lost. the opening strains of "rebellion (lies)" erupt from the speakers. well, if we missed the show at least i heard my favorite song. the song finishes, the band exits, the crowd applauds. after a brief repose the band returns to the stage, only now they're accompanied by a man in a white suit and straw hat. mr. butler then informs the crowd that this is a song by david bowie called "queen bitch". awesome! that's one of my favorite bowie songs. wait! the guy in the white suit is singing. he kind of sounds like bowie, too. holy shit! it is bowie. david f'in bowie. awesome! i'm watching david bowie play "queen bitch". everyone there was beside themselves. i don't think i've ever seen s.gary that excited for anything. arcade fire finishes the set with "wake up", another of my favorites from their album. everyone reluctantly stands idly by, hoping for another encore. but the house lights come up and we know it's over.

when the band first left the stage i was a little disappointed i only saw two and half songs performed. but as we're exitting i have a smile on my face. i may have only heard five songs but two of them were my favorite arcade fire songs and one, one was an amazing rock song performed by a legend. good show.

tequila

2005-08-24T14:27:00.000-04:00

one thing i've noticed since i bought a pair of white bucs a few years ago is that people inevitably make pee-wee herman comparisons. the only similarity is the color of the shoes. if you recall he had these wood soled platform monstrosities. because of this i usually react with a complimentary grin and a few steps from the "tequila" dance number from "pee-wee's big adventure." i don't know if this was planned or if the dj played a cruel joke but the song started only a few minutes after the dance floor opened at the wedding i attended this past weekend. i obligingly started the dance only to notice that the few people on the floor were quickly clearing out. being that i was a "couple" drinks into the evening and love having a dance floor and audience to myself, i continued to perform the two steps involved in the dance. i quickly realized, however, that the dj had no intention of cutting the song short. at this point i knew this was going to get boring for me and everyone else in a hurry if i had to continue the repetitive dance alone for the four-minute entirety of the song. mercifully i persuaded my friend dan out on to the floor. once he got out there we quickly got in synch with each other. it wasn't long before we started performing variations on the step, trying to trip each other up. from there it just turned into nonsense. just look how much fun we're having. thank you, dan. you can be my cowboy curtis anytime.

california!

2005-08-22T12:55:00.000-04:00

mustache party!

bathing beauty

hotelroombedshadesandbikinidancing

planes, trains, and automobiles

2005-08-18T14:16:00.000-04:00

more precisely it's jet blue, the L, the A, and a hyundai. that's luxury, baby. anyway, i'm off to california. there is a major drought of awesome and they're bringing in the big guns. the bag of mustaches should help.

robots are our future

2005-08-16T17:04:00.000-04:00

everyone knows the future will be full of robots. from rosie in "the jetsons" to bishop in "aliens," we have seen how robots can help or harm us. i recently saw a variation on this argument through music videos. check out the videos for daft punk's "technologic" (directed by daft punk) and bjork's "all is full of love" (directed by chris cunningham) and decide which robots you want in your future.

personally i'd like all robots to look like thomas bangalter.

i'm sorry, saturday

2005-08-16T13:58:00.000-04:00

i'd like to start off by apologizing to you, saturday. i neglected you last week. you've always been there for me and last week i just dismissed you. i couldn't have been more rude if i had spit in your face. i want to admit right now that i was, in fact, with another woman last week. i couldn't help myself. her name is carmen and her tutti-frutti technicolor hat was too tempting. but, i'm over her now. it was a one time thing. it was simply an audio-visual attraction. it's over. please don't let this come between us. i think we're really good together, with your 24 hours of free time and my ability to rock throughout them. i hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me. i need you, baby.

digital, dance, love

2005-08-14T21:07:00.000-04:00

i love to rock! tonight i'm jamming with my yamaha pss-470 keyboard (above) and yamaha fg-470s acoustic guitar. (weird. i had no idea they were in the same series.) since i don't really know how to play anything i play notes until i'm reminded of a tune. for instance i figured out the tune for "i'm so lonesome i could cry" by hank williams on the guitar after plucking high e and a couple g's and "frere jacques" on the keyboard when i got the c-d-e-c motive. the keyboard also has a bitchin' synth-beat control with polka beats, disco beats, and rock beats. this is where the fun kicks in. i like to crank the beats while i tickle the keys. usually i come up with something catchy and play it over and over. tonight i produced this daft punk-style number and wrote a few lyrics about dancing and kissing on the dance floor. it's pretty killer. if i can flesh it out i'll take the gear down to capone's for open-mic night. so watch out. it's gonna be digitally awesome.

bringing the party

2005-08-11T01:05:00.000-04:00

my roommate, D.J., is leaving for the city of san diego today. awaiting him are luscious babes and hot parties on the beach. i myself am going to california next weekend. what awaits me is the red roof inn at the ontario, ca airport. i know what you're thinking, "isn't ontario in canada?" i thought the same thing until i received the one thing that makes you go to such a place...a wedding invitation. as i'm writing this i realize where three weddings this summer will take me: iowa city, ia; guasti, ca; and andover, nj. i'm spending a butt load of money to go to these places too. these must be the greastest people in the world. i must really love these people. and i do love them but, really, couldn't they get married someplace a little more fun. i know i'll have a good time, an awesome time, but it will take a lot of effort. i know these people, they are my friends. and most of them don't like to get "crazy," like some people. (i'm looking at you b-neck.) this is where the effort comes in, because if the people around you aren't ready to "party hardy" then ultimately the party dude, me, simply becomes a spectacle to behold, not the instigator of fun times. you really need the supporting cast. it's like an inverted pyramid. the whole party gets into it only after the small group of people really put a charge into the party. but the whole thing is resting on the singularity of the party dude.

look out ontario, ca, where ever you are. you're about to get hit by a party typhoon. a party typhoon named r. boddington manchester.

she gave me a fake number

2005-08-10T12:53:00.000-04:00

saturday night's alright...for doin' it

2005-08-08T11:58:00.000-04:00

another saturday, another birthday. this time however there were less mustaches and less car bombs but equal parts short-shorts. the afternoon included bread smashing, tandem bikes, and fish corpses. (if you ever get into a fight with a loaf of bread i suggest squeezing it from both ends. otherwise the loaf will continue to rise against your blows like an inflated punching doll.) after we were considerably inebriated russel decided the two of us needed to fight. unfortunately for me my sneakers got the worst of it. unfortunately for him he took a shot to the balls. afterwards i left and returned in said short-shorts. at "zabloski's" the sidewalk was full of scooters and the bar was full of pastel wife-beaters. i left the bar after several toasts to daniel and one ill-advised marlboro red. i made my way over to "union pool" and proceded to get myself thrown out. walking home, i stopped at "royal oak" and hit the dance floor. on the parquet i met a PYT and we danced the night away. together she and i staggered home through drunk bums in the park and drunk pols in the streets. once we arrived at the "gentlemen's lounge" i put on t. rex's self-titled release and proceded to "get it on." halfway through the album "the slider" starts and i realize, "i'm fucking to t. rex!" a dream has been fulfilled. when i woke up last sunday i thought i just had the best saturday ever. seven days later i was thinkin' the same thing. look out saturday, here i come.

weblog doesn't recognize itself

2005-08-04T12:31:00.000-04:00

in by last post i used the interface's spell check feature to make sure i spelled "inebriated" correctly. in checking the entire post the program stopped at all instances of the word "blog." odd that a weblog spelling dictionary doesn't contain it's own name.

drunk 'bloging

2005-08-04T12:23:00.000-04:00

i'm here to apologize to all who may have been affected by my recent actions. i have fallen into the new and uniquely internet-based affliction known as drunk 'bloging. it's sad. not only is communication when extremely inebriated pathetic in a telephonic medium but drunk 'bloging raises the bar by insinuating that one doesn't have anyone to call. so i'm going to pull myself onto the wagon and stop this behavior immediately. or at least until i get home from the bar tonight.

(not a.l. webber's) cats

2005-08-02T20:24:00.000-04:00

inspired by sara* and her "adorable" posting i've decided to let everyone know about a site i mentioned first in a comment to her weblog. the site is InfiniteCat. it's simply pictures of cats staring at screenshots of cats. i like the images of these cats absolutly mesmorized by pictures of cats. as if they are confused how these cats got inside the computers. and it's really addicting to start at a more recent posting and choose the "previous cat" so you get further into the image as you go back. i also like the ads below the pictures for what i guess are litterboxes shaped like everything from football stadiums to egyptian pyramids. i don't even like cats and i find this amusing.

party dudes!

2005-08-02T16:10:00.000-04:00

maybe i'm a little biased but i have to say my roommate, dignan james, left, and i are just about the biggest party dudes in the northside. not only was i partying so hard saturday night that i was hosed down by the bartender at "the pub," but i was also asked to put a shirt on at "union pool." the whole time dignan is pumping his fist and pourin' beer on his face beside me. damnit! we rock!

war of the worlds

2005-08-01T16:49:00.000-04:00

not being employed has its benefits: no alarm clocks, no schedule, no pants. it also allows me to watch a movie while i eat lunch. usually i'll pick one from my library but since it isn't that big i've seen all the films a number of times. so today i went to the web for entertainment. inspired by the last film in my collection, "citizen kane," i searched for welles' famous radio broadcast of "war of the worlds." it's really good. from the beginning welles states that the following is a production by his mercury theater but through a series of "break-in" news bulletins and "format" changes, welles quickly confuses the listener as to the ficticious nature of the radio show. from there the production increases the tension until the climax of the attack on new york city. then the show stops for station and broadcast identification. welles clearly knew the impact this production would have for him to stop and remind everyone that the story is fiction. from there the show returns to what i guess is classic radio-play format. in one of my favorite moves welles finishes the broadcast by announcing the show was a halloween prank. i can picture him in front of the microphone then, flashing that famous grin we see in "the third man" eleven years later. other productions by orson welles include these films: "citizen kane", "touch of evil", "the trial", "lady from shanghai", "the magnificent ambersons", and "the stranger." they are all quite enjoyable.

magnum party

2005-07-28T19:39:00.000-04:00

there is a party saturday night that may turn out to be one of the greatest. originally it was entitled "Night of 1000 Magnums." for whatever reason the planners scaled back on that goal. i'm not sure what the theme is now but it involves magnum characters, cartoons, and hipsters. it's kind of broad. regardless i will attend as if the original theme were still in place. i'm going as one thomas magnum, private investigator. i've got the hawaiian shirt, the topsiders, the sunglasses, the short shorts and the piece de resistance, the mustache.

i picked that up today, which is the impetus for this story. as i was browsing the costume shop a comely shopgirl asked if i needed assistance. i responded, asking if the store had any "magnum mustaches." she gave me a look like i was crazy. now there are maybe four styles of mustaches: the handlebar, the "clark gable", the "hitler", and the "magnum". that's it. this girl had never heard of magnum, p.i. not magnum. not higgins. not rick. not t.c. not ferrari drivin' private investigator. nothin'. maybe she was too young. (which blows 'cause it means i'm too old.) maybe her mother didn't have a thing for mustachioed men like my mother did. maybe her dad is tom selleck and she's blocked out the character from embarrassment. whatever the reason i left the store feeling as if the world was slightly off balance. there are people in this city who don't know about magnum. hopefully i inspired her to go home and search "magnum" in wikipedia and after reading the entry feel compelled to buy the dvds and after watching she'll throw her own magnum party. or maybe i'm a nerd who'll be dressed ridiculously for a killer party.

trying new stuff on a weblog

2005-07-28T17:42:00.000-04:00

here is a picture of myself, rather of my ficticious self. i'm trying to get this photo up so that i may have a photo for my profile. bon chance!

Dateline: July 27, 2005

2005-07-27T21:17:00.000-04:00

take two. i'm just getting started in the "blogosphere" and i'm having a bit of a hard time. my first entry was just deleted on account of my misunderstanding the interface. the gist of it was simply that this is my first attempt at weblogs and i'm not sure what to include. i would like to thank sara* and joel achenbach for their inspiration in starting this weblog. let's hope this gets posted. i'm sick of writing out what a neophyte i am.