the june roundup

june 2004

Ah, summer time in New York City. Here's 98 photos from the lovely month of June that didn't make it into larger entries. Thursday, June 3rd Somewhere on Thursday night I ran into the Julia and Nina. Julia had to get up for work and couldn't stay out late but I managed to drag Nina over to... ...Sid and Buddy karaoke to meet up with Chris the Greek and Grant. Which was suprisingly empty. Sometimes you want a packed karaoke joint, but other times less-crowded is better because it means you get to monopolize the stage. And to practive your aerial manuevers. And your air guitar. Hahahaha. Grant executes a new move. Chris on the mic. I rocked out so hard I broke the fucking mic stand. But it's ok, I just ended up playing it off like all I really wanted was an Alice Cooperesque cane to point at people with. Chris enlightened the lingering audience members by accompanying Grant's last somg with some "traditional" Greek dance moves. Sunday, June 6th On Sunday morning, I met up with the Tinnz, Karen, Emily and Sarah at Kate's for brunch. J.Lo's on NUMBER THREE but there's only one gal for me. (Awwwww.) After brunch we went back to Karen's apartment to watch the entire first season of The Office. Oh, and to play with a Karen's wigs. Hahahah. Who? We tried a few different camera techiniques but failed to duplicate the "golden coronosphere" lighting effect around the edges of the wig. Sunday night I went to the Bowery Ballroom and say the Braid re-union tour (Braid was on of my most favoritest bands in early college). Monday, June 7th On Monday evening Sarah called me and asked if I wanted to go with to the nightclub Crobar. When I asked her if she was out of her mind, she clarified: "No, I'm asking because Vince Neil (formerly of a small rock outfit called Motley Crue for those of you who didn't grow up in New Jersey in the 80s) is playing there tonight and I have to go for work and interview him after the show." Suddenly, even Crobar seemed tolerable. Vince was supposed to play around 9ish so we got there around 8:30 - which we figured would be just enough time to warm up with a few free cocktails in the fancy VIP section that Sarah's rokk credentials scored us. Here's Sarah overlooking the unwashed (and please note that at a Vince Neil concert I'm using that adjective un-ironically) masses down below. We were standing at the top of the backstage stairs next to a bunch of magazine photographers. Everytime someone would come up the stairs, they'd all go crazy and take a million pictures. We didn't recognize any of the "celebrities" they kept freaking out about so Sarah and I decided we were going to try to see if we could trick the paparazzi into thinking I was someone "picture worthy." I gave her my fancy-looking camera, went across the venue and went downstairs using a different set of stairs, then came back across and came up the "photo opp" steps. When I got to the top, Sarah screamed my name and started snapping pictures of my like crazy while I made "Hollywood faces" like the one you see above. Needless to say, none of the other photographers even budged. A few minutes later we ran into Hal and Jason (and Sarah cupped her boobie yet again). There was something really sad about the fact that Vince Neil's big comeback show was sponsored by Endurance RX. The "Daily Sex Performance Booster" for men that's devilvered in a tasty chocolate chew. (Which according to their website "Makes muscle contractions more forceful by promoting release from the nerve at the neuromuscular junction." Ew.) This picture was taken around 10:30 and Vince still hadn't even arrived at the venue. We went and spoke to the organizers and they told us he was running a few hours late. Hours? They told us to try coming back a little after midnight. So to kill time we went to a nearby dinner and had coffee and pie and ice cream. We got back a little after midnight and Vince had just gone on. He sounded amazing, but he just didn't look like himself. We tried watching the show from the balcony, but it was really hard to see. We went down to the floor, but ended up staying in the back because we didn't feel like fighting our way up through the sweaty mob o' dudes. Even using the zoom on my lens, I couldn't believe that it was really Vince Neil. So when I got the pictures on my computer, I decided to load them into Photoshop and do a little investigative work... ...I took the above picture of "Vince" from the show, zoomed in on his face and then used the "sharpen focus" tool and look what I discovered... Vince Neil is really just Jon Lovitz in a blonde wig. Sarah's still trying to come to grips with my disturbing discovery. (Postscript - All kidding aside, Sarah was there to interview Vince/Jon for her Spin column...after she waited around for over 5 hours, he left right after the show and totally skipped out on her interview. (Which led to her calling him out as a "fat bitch" in print. Hahahahahah.) Tuesday, June 8th On Tuesday night, I was apparently at Meredith's apartment. This photo of her Olympia Gyros poster is the only evidence. Thursday, June 10th Thursday night I went to karaoke and found Carol in rare, ultra-fiesty form. There was this dude there who had slathered himself in that awful bronzer skin dye that makes you look tan. He kept going up to Sid and Buddy every five minutes and saying stuff like "Yo dudes, am I going to be up anytime soon? I'm going to be a famous singer someday and it might be in your best interest to treat me right." He tried that nonsense for 90 minutes and finally growing discouraged, bribed them with $40 and was instantly put on stage. Hahaha. He started singing some awful Justin Timberlake song while gyrating and air-humping. This prompted Carol to bum-rush the stage and sexily unbutton his shirt while he sang. He thought she was into him, but everytime he looked away from her, she'd pull faces like this... ...HAHAHAHAHA. Hooooo-leeeeeeeeee fugging shit. I almost pissed myself. What's that? You'd like a close up? Yeah, me too. So amazing. (PS - Check out the tanner caked into his forehead creases. Barf.) Carol Gonzales, I love you. Friday, June 11th Friday morning I stopped by David and Miye's for coffee (David's in the background demonstrating his "I'm down wit' black people" hand gestures. That's "Soooo money!" which is an expression David told me "the blacks" are keen on saying). Later that night I met up with Vin. We walked around town and drank a few Sparks before heading up towards Union Square to attend... ...a bday barbeque thrown by the MisShapes kids at Gregg's apartment. Here's Gregg, Leigh (aka - The Tinny) and Geordan. Saturday, June 12th On Saturday afternoon I went up to max and relax in the Sheep's Meadow in Central Park with Vin, Grant and the Fatty and we ended up running into Meredith and a few of her friends. This is her friend Sari's brand new puppy, Pumpkin. (Go ahead, say "awwwwwwwwwww." You know you want to.) Sari and Pumpkin. Vin and (squinty) me. Meredith (the pirate). Shortly after this photo was taken, everyone left except for the Fatty and I. We ended up staying in the park and playing ultimate frisbee with a bunch of high school kids for over 3 hours. (Which resulted in my being more sore than I've ever been in my life. I could barely walk for the next three days). Sunday, June 13th On Sunday afternoon, I went to a backyard BBQ and Sarah's place. (Seen here cheering for boobies). More evidence of Sparks being consumed. Monday, June 14th I must've gotten into a fight or something late on Sunday night...imagine my dismay when I woke up Monday morning and realized that I'd been punched right in the neck. Really badly. Remember how Fatty and I played frisbee in the park on Sunday? Well, we ended up befriending two Italians that were visiting from Milan. They'd been in town for a few weeks, but were staying in Astoria and told us that they'd been disappointed with the NYC nightlife they'd seen. I gave them my cell number and assured them I'd take them out and show them a good time. So on Monday night we met up and I took them on the rounds. We started off with a few drinks at the Fish. And then late night headed over to the basement at Lit to find a full-on dance party in effect. Here's Gianguido (yep, that's really his name!) making with a lovely lady from London that he met. Later on that night we met up with the Tins and her roommate Jessica. Even a broken arm wasn't going to get in the way of giving NYC on a Monday the thumbs up. Shortly after 4am, the boys returned to Queens with smiles. Tuesday, June 15th On Tuesday night I went to somebody's (I have no idea who!) birthday party down in the basement of Number One Chinese. Me and Tins. Leigh and Crazy Amber (looking decidedly un-crazy in this photo). Well, ok. That's a little better. Wednesday, June 16th Late Wednesday night I was being a hermit and staying at home (working on this site, actually) when I got a call from Grant. "I'm around the corner from your place on Elizabeth and Canal. Come here now. Bring your camera." I got there to find a fire hydrant open full-blast gushing water all over Canal Street. Rachel and Grant were trying to get close to the hydrant, but the pressure was so great neither of them managed to within 20 feet before being knocked over or pushed back. I wish I'd brought a tripod. The street was really dark and I was shooting with a slow lens and no flash. "The water smooshed my face!" Thursday, June 17th Meredith needed to learn HTML for her job so on Thursday evening she came over and I played teacher for the first of a series of HTML lessons - skills she's since begun using to do her very own photo diary! (PS - Despite her obvious interest in computers, I'm convinced it was all a ploy to get in my pants). Making the rounds late that night I ran into Lauren and we got to talking about how much we both loved... ...asses! Rimriffic! Friday, June 18th Friday evening I went uptown to celebrate Bev Chase's birthday! Max and Christina (who have since gotten engaged - congrats!) Emily and me. After dinner the staff surprised Bev with a creme brulee with a giant, shooting sparkler stuck into it. Hahahah. So excited! After dessert, Bev taught me how to fold my cloth napkin into a rabbit hand puppet! Look out high society, here we come! After dinner I went back downtown to check out the Fireworks Go Up record release party at Lit. Grant was wearing an orange muscle-T and pointed to the stage while doing a flex down every chance he got. "Yes, we'll be playing <FLEX> OVER THERE ON THE STAGE </FLEX> in a few minutes." Hahaha. The show was really good, but Grant got in trouble for jumping around on stage too much (seriously) and so this was unfortunately his last show as rhythm guitarist in the band. Amanda dissaproves of her bandmates cheating on her. Amy White and me. Lorelei and Nina. Hey, it's Jim! This (fugging) guy and a few of his friends were in town from all over the place (Toronto, Boston and London if I remember correctly). He read about the show on my site and they all decided to swing by and check the band out! So rad! JimmyK and Nat. Grant flirting with my future wife, Natalie (psst...Natalie, I want to make babies with you. If you're not interested in that maybe we could just practice making them. Email if you ever see this.) Bonus points to Jim for continuing to make the "get of load of this fugging guy" face. Hahaha. JimmyK with Mr & Mrs Battjer. When Laura lamented missing out on the orange muscle-tee up close (Grant was sweaty and changed shirts after the show), he gave her a special admission ticket...to the GUN SHOW! Sunny Dees with yet another of her "this guy's THE ONE!" boyfriends that each last about six weeks. (This is the one she brought to my birthday party who got in a fight with the door guy and got his face stamped. Hahaha. Coming soon!) Carol, Rachel, Lorelei, Emma and Nina. Later on that night outside of Lit, the Tins busied herself making new friends. (She kept asking this guy to teach her some of his magick spells). And kept asking this dude if she could "play with his staff." Hahaha. Hey, it's Mark Holy! Saturday, June 19th On Saturday afternoon we were going to go to the beach but then it got cloudy. So instead, we just took pictures of my roommate's "beach hat" that Leigh had planned on borrowing for the day. So. Fucking. Tough. Then Leigh tried on my rabbit fur hat (which, being a vegan, caused her to make a face like this). Who's a good sport? Wednesday, June 30th Clodagh and Meghan! These girls live up in Boston and came to NYC to celebrate Clodagh moving back to Ireland. They emailed me and told me they were going to be in town, and I met up with them for drinks at Lit. I love meeting strangers! Speaking of strangers, this dude (who I think was from somewhere in the UK) came over and tried to get on the girls by showing off his tongue. Impressive, but it got him precisely...nowhere. I heart you, June.  (added on 01.03.2005)

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