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Nightlife
Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon in Austin, Texas plays a scatological version of Bingo every Sunday where "a hard-working chicken is summoned into the bar, popped into a cage full of feed, and is intently watched until it defecates onto a bingo square. The patron with the corresponding ticket number wins cash." Coming soon to a Williamsburg near you!
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Last Saturday was a blast. First I met up with an old classmate, Kevin at 'inoteca. Saw Pacey from Dawson's Creek there. Then we walked over to the Doughnut Plant for awesome donuts, where I ate like a pig a peanut butter and jelly donut as well as a creme brulee one. Afterwards, I met up with Nnamdi at Boss Tweed for some beer pong, an aggressive activity when the sun is still out. After watching a basketball game at Nnam's apartment, the party finally began. A few photos from the night:
We went to his coworker's karaoke birthday party. Here she is singing with Nnamdi. Or rather doing a solo while Nnamdi utters the occasional lyric. Happy Birthday Megan! You are a good singer!
Duet!
Shukat! He showed up, knocked back a Patron, and immediately went strong on the mike.
We then headed to a clubbbbb for a drink and a two step. Caroline and her friend!
Shukat!
Unhappily sober Nnamdi and Shukat!
Red bull!
The hourly burlesque performance. I support this fully.
This dude brought some HD camera flavor to make sure he doesn't miss any of the show's details.
I don't think there are any songs about sleepin' in a club, but if there was I'd quote that right now. This dude was OUT.
Hahaha.
The End.
Last Saturday, I went to the Knicks game then Namik's birthday party.
Watching the pregame shoot around.
Andy and I noticed the worst media buy ever. Who ever looks up UNDER the scoreboard? Advertising FAIL.
We arrived to the party and found an exciting game of left center right in progress. I had never played this game before and well by the end of the night, I fell in love with it.
Silly string punishment for the winner!
KG goes in big with...his beer.
Who's the big winner? Mary is the big winner.
Mun taking the house cut.
Hahaha.
Stairway dancing!
Afterwards we decided to swing by the Heights, a familiar bar for anyone who attended Columbia or Barnard. Note the drunk girl in the back who wanted to get in on the picture.
Drunk girl's man trying to manage her. Haha
Note Pooja's empty plastic drink cup. "Hey Pooja, lets have a drinking contest." "OKAY!"
The End.
A bit old, but here's the recap from Stephanie's housewarming party in early February. Happy belated congrats on the new apartment, Steph!
Party phones.
Praerna giving the "get a load of this person" expression as Ayesha possessively writes her name on her Spring Break-ish party cup.
Ta-da!
Nnamdi and his entourage.
Relatedly, Chris, KG, and Ayo curse Nnamdi.
Jameson is very popular at our parties.
We left Steph's party to go to a club uptown. Not having success with finding a cab, we hailed a passing limo where a reasonable fare was negotiated. In case you're wondering, this is what happens to limo drivers during a recession: they're left to picking up random and cheap drunks like us.
I like how KG left the party with a beer, which wasn't a bad idea actually...
You're on a boat? We in a limo!
Chris double phone fisting while KG yells at him. "DON'T TOUCH THE WINE GLASSES!!!"
Later at the club:
This is one of my favorite photos of 2009 so far: John pwning Nnamdi. Haha.
The End.
There's some fine print attached (like minimum number of people in the party) and some of the locations are meh (Southern Hospitality), but here's a list of places where the birthday boy or girl can drink for free on their special day.
Stanton Public: They promise you will forget how much fun you had on your birthday. Bring in 10 friends, they'll stamp you and let you swill anything sub-$10. But if they catch you handing off freebies, they'll kick yer booty out, birthday kid. 17 Stanton Street, Lower East Side (b/n Bowery and Chrystie Streets; map); 212-677-5555; stantonpublic.com
Cheap Shots: Plain and simple. If today's your birthday, you drink for free. You don't even need to have friends. 140 First Avenue, East Village (b/n St. Marks Place and 9th Street; map); 212-254-6631
View rest here.
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A while ago a friend of mine who shall go nameless ended up passing out while we were all watching a movie and began sleeping very aggressively. Turn volume up and hit play below. [vimeo=http://vimeo.com/3301981]
Sadly this is the only photo from this night, but last week I had a reunion with my old coworkers from my first job out of college in New York City. We were legal assistants at a boutique real estate law firm. While I dealt with some of the absolute worst people ever--alright, just one person--I also worked alongside some of the greatest guys ever. For every recollection of of screaming attorneys, I have dozens of memories of the following awesome things that happened during my period with this firm:
Anyway, here's our group reunion photo:
I went to Jonathan's sweet apartment for a Super Bowl party the day after my birthday brunch. At this point, my body was breaking down and I could barely speak.
Party.
Ayo trying to flip Jon. Hahah.
I wanted no part of this.
Pickens excited after the Cardinals scored.
The morning after my birthday party my friends took me out to an all your can drink brunch in Chelsea.
Munira holding up the souvenir from the bar that I discovered that morning in my jacket pocket.
Hilarious discussion among the men about grey hairs. Here, Cyrus is trying to locate the couple insurgent greys on Nnamdi's head.
We also had to educate and inform Cy that once you snipped off a grey hair it would not in fact go away. As Nnamdi pointed out to him, if that was the case, then men with grey hairs would just get a haircut to get rid of them.
Cyrus was extremely disappointed with his order of ravioli which arrived with just....five pieces of ravioli. One, who orders this at brunch? Two, how did he not know that this is exactly the reason why you never order ravioli in restaurants!
And then for a complete surprise, a birthday dessert. Aw, thanks guys!!!
(Pooja messed up the settings on my camera.) Nnamdi defending a controversial stance to Munira.
Cyrus yet again finding himself defending a controversial stance. Hahaha. Umbreen looks unconvinced.
Tic tacs!
Walking to Pooja's or rather, for some, being carried to Pooja's.
And then much hilarity such as wrestling and everyone trying to bring their feet to their nose occurred before we decided to settle down and watch Bad Boys.
Two minutes in to the movie...we hear snore, snore, snore.
Booty shaking!
After returning from Sundance I celebrated my birthday. I didn't want to do anything stressful or extravagant for a party this year. In fact I originally planned on doing nothing at all but after being harassed by friends to do something, I decided to host a shindig at my favorite dive bar.
Staceyann brought me (delicious) cupcakes!
Jonathan!
Two of my favorite people, Kaizar and Cyrus.
Cyrus and Cristina!
Dr. Stan showed up. Another member of the MRod inner circle.
Nishta.
Yay! A highlight of my 2008 was the inclusion of these fantastic people in my life, or rather their inclusion of me in their social life.
Evidence that I'm not the only one with a bad habit of pulling out this offensive gesture when imbibing.
At this point my camera got hijacked by different people so I did not personally snap the next following photos. As Murkami once wrote, "There were the inevitable gaps and elisions, some of which themselves had their own special significance. My task now, as a narrator, is to gather--ever so carefully--all these elements into a whole."
Munibhen and Nnamdi.
Mun, Nishta and me.
Pooja stumbled in finally from an earlier party. She'll find this recap as new as people who weren't at the party.
Mun showing love for her cuz.
Kaizar and ladies.
Nnamdi putting Pooja in time out.
Stay!
Haha. Dancing time.
I like how Pooja cut herself off from liquor as evidenced by her drink in this photo.
I'm not sure how I survived the night through all the shots that were handed to me, like this one. My buddy Nick told me later that him and others kept trying to buy me a shot but someone would get there first. When they finally saw me vulnerable they headed towards me. Just right before they got to me, someone handed me a shot to their frustration.
Steph and Ayo. Glad that Stephanie took the time to walk the half block from her apartment to this bar!
Cyrus, Cris, Chloe, Me, and Nishta.
"Start-ups, start-ups, start-ups," says Kaizar. "Law, law, law," replies Cyrus. "I'M DRUNK!! RAWRRRR!!" says Pooja.
Chris!
Munira and friends.
Auteur Chloe, Cyrus, and Kaizar.
What is Chloe pointing to? I have no idea what's going on in this photo.
Me, Cristina, and Stan!
Middle finger vs. fist.
Nnamdi showing his perfectly manicured nails?
Hahaha.
I like the "WTF" expression on the girl in the right.
Roberto wants to get in on all this love.
Cris and Chloe, BFFs.
Jonathan and his special lady friend. [Thanks for coming Jon!!!]
Praerna fixing my scarf thingy or so I thought...
Nope, it's so she could choke me!!! I'm NOT into that sorta play, so don't get it twisted.
Memo to self: Should probably wash that scarf...
Haha.
And this was the last photo taken that night except for some videos recorded at Subways across the street afterwards. However, I was told that I couldn't post them...
Thanks to everyone who made it out and for making my party a fun one!
Back in early January, Pooja had a party at her apartment's event space after her lengthy visit to India.
Cyrus and I (poorly) playing a game of pool.
This was my last shot: I was solids and needed to get that 8 ball in the pocket. And I was victorious.
Ayo came back with his gross looking drink. KG wasn't a fan of it either.
Pooja and Namik!
Nick!
Mun!
Ben!
Cyrus enjoying Pooja's vegetarian chicken nuggets.
Later on, we all got booted from the event room and relocated to Pooja's apartment (SHOES OFF CYRUS!) where girls lined up to get flipped by Ayo.
Tom Chiarella writing for Esquire explains his $20 theory of the universe, where a twenty "...placed in the right hand at the right moment, makes things happen. It gets you past the rope, beyond the door, into the secret files." Airports
On the plane, I approached the woman in seat 1A and held out a twenty. She asked if I was serious. I said yes. She took it and ran to 9B like her pants were on fire.
Cabstands
I could have stood in line at the airport cabstand for fifteen minutes like every other mook in the world, freezing my balls off, but such is not the way of the twenty-dollar millionaire. I walked straight to the front of the line and offered a woman twenty bucks for her spot. She took it with a shrug. Behind her, people crackled. "Hey! Ho!" they shouted.
Hotels
I always grease Bobby H., the bellman at my hotel, and on my first night, within minutes of the pass, he suggested that I might request a room upgrade. He even gave me a room number to ask for. Another twenty at the desk and I was out of two queens, snug in my one king. The next day, we ran the same drill, and wham, I was in the minisuite. The twenty after that, I was in a full suite with a view of Times Square.
Cafes
In my favorite midtown coffee shop, the Cafe Edison, they maintain VIP seating for a-holes like Neil Simon and August Wilson who supposedly come here to write. They keep the area roped off and generally empty, even at noon while a line stretches out the door. This has always pissed me off. So when I entered at noon one day, I folded a twenty, slipped it to the old lady at the counter, and she waved me into the VIP like she was whacking me with the back of her hand.
Bodegas
At 3:00 that very morning, I had called an Eighth Avenue bodega and told them I'd give them twenty dollars for a pint of milk and a Hustler magazine. The guy who answered the phone had a thick Arabic accent. "You are crazy," he said. ...Twenty minutes later, the guy was at my door with a quart of 2 percent and a shrink-wrapped valu-pack of three Hustlers. He sighed and smiled when I gave him the twenty.
Photoshops
"What do you wanna see?"
"You know," I said. "I want to see the file."
He picked up the twenty with two fingers and tucked it in his pocket. "I'll show you what I've got." He pulled a manila envelope from beneath the counter and took out four snapshots. The first three were simple bare asses--in a shower, at a kitchen sink, faceup on a couch. Beneath that was an enlargement of a cat licking a woman's nipple. Pretty cool, but hardly what I expected.
"That's it?" I said.
The guy pursed his lips. "That's all I've got this week. That stuff doesn't stay around here long. The master file would cost a lot more than twenty dollars."
Master file! Damn. Clearly, I had priced myself out of the good stuff by coming forward with the twenty too fast.
Etc
I bought my way into a good table at a Les Paul show with a twenty. I got an usher at NBC to hold a front-row seat for Busta Rhymes on the Carson Daly show. I got a seat at Dos Caminos, Manhattan's jumpingest Mexican restaurant, in five minutes despite the two-hour wait. I cut to the head of the line at the half-price Broadway ticket booth in Times Square. I got my shoes resoled in twenty minutes instead of two weeks. I got a little love by shoving a twenty into a homeless guy's coffee cup.
I imagine this tactic is even more influential in today's economic times.
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Fuzzily remembered recap from my new year's eve. Went to a couple "PH" parties. Some of the photos below are jacked from Praerna's camera.
Nnamdi and Gaelle at Stephanie's party!
Party people! Yup, I decided to increase the temperature with a bow tie (and it ain't one of them pre-tied Men's Warehouse bow ties). Look at how composed and civilized everyone is in this photo.
Ayo, me and Stephanie the party host.
What was suppose to be a quick shot between Ayo and I became a shot of Jameson for every single person at the party. I was also impressed with the precision exit the entire party made after the shots to head downtown to ring in the new year at this amazing penthouse. Note the Jameson cap that Ayo is holding onto, because it'll be making a surprise appearance later.
Cabbie: I can only take four people.
Us: But we have five.
...
Cabbie: Fine, but BIG TIP?
Us: YES!
Then we arrived at the penthouse and it quickly degenerated into hazy messiness where red cups were replaced by bottles, like the one Nnamdi is swinging around.
Cyrus and Hanna.
Some blackmail worthy photos were taken by this camera.
"Ayo, where the hell did you get the hats?"
Praerna!
Party people.
Haha! It looks like Cyrus is trying to protect Hanna from Ayo's celebration.
HAPPY NEW YEARRRR!!!!
"Camera's up there."
Hey bow tie!
HAHA.
And at some point I stumbled home.
The End.
Some highlight events and people from MRod's life in 2008.
On Saturday night, along with the rest of the City it seems, my lovely roommates Kate and Sarah and I decided to throw a holiday party. Theme: Ugly festive sweaters in honor of the Cosby Show. I unfortunately did not take too many photos other than a few below. I may update this later if Kate hooks me up with some pictures she took.
Beforehand I stopped by Melissa's beautiful apartment for her holiday party. Had a few Jack on the rocks then jumped into a cab to head to my party. I had a hilarious conversation with the cabbie and his lady on the side who was yelling at the two of us via his cell phone speaker. He also let me bum a rare cigarette from him.
Will's AMAZING sweater. The fact that it's short sleeve really pushes up this sweater to another level.
Me and Kate!
Hector!
One of Kate's friends brought her this wine as a present. We plan on drinking it on inauguration day!
On Saturday night I went to a friend's annual Thanksgiving potluck party at her apartment's event space. There was also a birthday party that was taking place there at the same time, which we ultimately ended up kind of crashing.
Mary, Pooja, and Munira eating.
Our friend eventually decided to relocate everyone to their apartment downstairs just around the same time that the other party's DJ started blasting some music. A few of us stayed to get this other party's dance started (so typical of us it seems, haha), including Pam here with a new friend.
Nishta acting like she wasn't into the music (the DJ played nothing but house techno, hahaa).
The heels come off.
These kids helped us get the dance party started.
Middle finger and Coors! Classic combo.
ZOMG! It's Mike! (Previously.)
Pam and Nishta!
Party people congratulating the birthday boy.
The party group for the night!
On our way out, we passed the building's gym where of course we needed to get our late night work out on.
Of course there's some video action:
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/2329154] I think it's funny that all four of them were running at totally varying speeds, with Munira busting out the treadmill running man in the end.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/2329243] Mike running at FULL speed. LOL.
I have bad knees so I have to use the elliptical machines with the other ladies.
Munira wanted to balance the cardio with some lightweight high-rep lifting.
LOL. I don't know what you are thinking but it isn't whatever it is you are thinking.
Haha. I don't know what the hell is going on here.
Any one who knows me or has been reading my blog for awhile knows that if you hang with me I am eventually going to demand some jumps. "Pam! JUMP!" "OKAY!"
"Again!" "OKAY!"
"Pam! Mun! JUMP!" "OKAY!" This picture kind of captures their personality well I think.
Mike then decides to climb the apartment. It seemed like a really good idea at the time.
Munira wanted to try too. Hey kids: Lets not climb buildings when we're out. Ask Kaizar what happened the last time I climbed a building.
And then we hopped in a cab to head downtown to Boucarou.
Jet lagged Mike taking a nap in the cab.
On the cab ride back to Morningside Heights.
So vulgar. I apologize.
Pam's friend and one of the owners or something of the club.
Free drinks! W00t!
It seems like every club has a drum guy nowadays...
I was hungry so Munira and I headed to St Marks for some Japanese food. On the way there I spotted these orange canisters. Thought it looked cool or something I dunno.
The Japanese restaurant (it's my fave on this street and I'm sure most of you have been here already) has a cotton candy machine outside that you can use with the sugar powder they give you after you pay your bill.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/2329252] And here's the video of the process.
Ta-da! Cotton candy!
The End.
On Friday night I went to Bowlmor for some bowling, and then Beauty Bar.
Stan, Sam, and Eileen (who unsuccessfully tried to hide from the all seeing camera)!
Roberto's balls. Yes, this joke never gets old. Never.
Hah! Yup, this doesn't get old either.
Improv with bowling balls! I'm...uhm, pregnant!
Stan looking kind of pensive here. Haha.
Strike! Any one who got a strike had to do a little dance.
We played two games. I finished last in the first round and won the second round with a stunning score of 111. Man, we are terrible at bowling. But it was a lot of fun!
Bowling shoes!
And then we walked over to Beauty Bar where a happenin' dance party was occurring in the back.
Stan! Me!
The girls.
My twin brother ruining this photo with a crude gesture. I apologize on his behalf.
Final photo of an extremely fun night.
The End.
While doing some hard drive house cleaning on my computer I found this priceless photo from circa 2005 (I think?) of Cyrus getting molested on the dance floor. Never seen a grown man cry in a club before. I don't think we've been back to this place since then.
