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So I went to New York this past weekend for the first time since October of last year. Had an absolute blast the whole time. Caught a ride down with Bogie on a gorgeous day. We co-DJed and made great time. I was to stay with cousin Nick in Park Slope-Brooklyn, and arrived Friday at dusk to find him and friends in Prospect Park which surprisingly smelled like grass and flowering trees, Spring has arrived ahead of Boston it seems. We promptly went out for some BYOW(ine) dinner in the Village, at an Indian Restaurant named Gandhi, which was excellent. We found wine at a amazing wine store called Astor Wine and Spirits, on Lafayette @ 4th St. Having been asked to give a tutorial on how to choose a wine for the food we were aiming for (originally Ethiopian) I explained that for spicy food like that I would probably go with either a sweet wine like a Riesling or a big spicy red like a Shiraz, then to test both the store and my theory I asked a clerk who promptly brought me to the resident Chef (!) who then proceeded not only to say exactly what I had said for wine, but then took me on a tour to find which exact bottles. The store was brand new and offered a huge selection of wines, many of which I recognized and most seemed competitively priced. I cannot offer enough praise for the Chef (Gregory) who helped me. He was approachable, very knowledgeable, and cheerfully efficient. We ended up with a few bottles of dry Riesling and a few bottles of d’Arenberg ‘Footbolt’ Shiraz, a favorite of mine and it did not disappoint. I was delighted with the store and will certainly remember to head back when I next have wine needs in the city. After dinner we went to the Knitting Room for a show by somebody a friend of Nick’s GF knew, who was mediocre as was the act before. Cool venue though, and they have Boddingtons. Nick and I had discussed walking over the Brooklyn Bridge earlier and decided to do so on the way home. A very impressive walk on the sort of wooden boardwalk across in the middle. Recently workers found a forgotten bomb shelter (complete with food stores) in the bridge and I had this in mind which made the experience all the more historically fascinating, albeit long and carbon monoxide-y.

The next morning Nick and I hit the Dumbo area for brunch at a giant ceiling-ed place called Bubby’s. The food was wonderful and we were probably the only people there who were not either pregnant or recently unpregnant. On the way there we walked by what seemed to be a very large pro-immigrant protest staging area for a march across the Brooklyn Bridge probably on to city hall. We had ridden the subway with a lot of Hispanic people, mostly families I’m happy to say, now obviously on their way to this protest. Later after brunch we went to a park between the bridges and I watched the march some more. I’ve worked with a lot of illegals over the years in restaurants and have always thought very highly of their work ethic and their sacrifice coming somewhere alone so far away only to send most of their earnings home to their families. Seem like fellow citizens I’d like to have. And frankly hearing people with accents chanting U-S-A is really something special. America felt pretty great about then, and my heart was proud for my fellow humans, their struggles, and their dreams. It was already a beautiful day, weather and otherwise.

Now the reason I was in NYC was to audition (with Bogie/Cooley) for a game show regarding Pop Culture on VH1. Now this is a weird thing for me to do since I constantly harass my Dad to end his subscription to People Magazine (Peephole as The Simpsons deadpanned) and I hate VH1, a network which started by playing music videos too lame for MTV (when MTV was still a tiny bit cool) and now their programming consists of countdowns of Top Something lists, with luke-clever commentary by C list celebrities and never-were comedians. A nuisance to all intelligence and good humor in the universe. So here I am, with Bogie and Cooley in a seminar room at the Hilton in Manhattan, praying we don’t advance past the written test so we can have the rest of the weekend to ourselves. All I can say was it was a good vehicle to get back to NYC, and who on Earth remembers or wants to remember what Dr. Huxtable’s high school track and field nickname was. Bogie didn’t know what alien hunt 80’s movie Jesse Ventura carried a Gatlin gun in, thus ending our friendship. We didn’t advance. I’ll wait for the World Series of ABC’s TGIF Lineup game show which I will shamefully win and then kill myself. The (suddenly) hilarious Bob Saget will no doubt turn this into some twisted joke to tell college audiences.

So after VH1’s Not-So-Paris Hilton Experience, 2006 Oscar Winner George Clooney tried to kill me. You see we emerged the hotel lobby to find a movie set(up) had suddenly appeared. Tourists with cameras were waiting anxiously for something to photograph, and we hung around amused trying to see what was going on. Out of nowhere a cab with some kind camera/light apparatus attached to its back right window pulled through the hotel carport and a chorus of squealing and flashbulbs resulted. We were on the sidewalk in front of the hotel, so we had to wait for the taxi to pull back around onto the street to peer in and see George and his sparkling smile talking to who must have been the director. We lingered a bit before I remarked “Let’s not be people who hang around staring at a celebrity” and we started up the street to find lunch. At this point I can only guess that George must have heard me because he emerged from the cab, quite irate and dropping F-Bombs all over the place. Now there were kids around getting hit with them and this made me very upset myself so I started walking towards Clooney, yelling at Bogie/Cooley to “HOLD ME BACK! HOLD ME BACK!” And then, actually this never happened… we just walked up the street, me out in front trying to remember where Carnegie Hall was to go back to Le Pain Quotidien. 4-5 blocks up I cross the rather wide street having waited for and gotten the white lit walk signal. I get 2/3s of the way across the crosswalk and a cab comes up fast from my right side and stops a foot off my leg. I raise my right arm and point at my walk signal and say annoyed “ I HAVE A WALK SIGNAL” and proceed on across the rest of the crosswalk. On the other side I turn around to see Bogie and Cooley in the middle of the crosswalk doubled over laughing. They tell me it was George and I look to my right and sure enough there is the camera equipped cab speeding away. We shall meet again Clooney. We shall meet again. (actually we did, last night, and I’d recommend it to everyone)

That night I hung out with Bogie up until his Dream Theater concert (how many 30+ yr old guys in all black dream theater t-shirts (DON’T BE THAT GUY) have you ever seen outside Radio City Music Hall? I even overheard a security guard telling a well to do couple passing by that it was “Some band called Dream Theater, I guess they are pretty popular but I’ve never heard of them”) (I also won a skirmish with a scalper to sell Bogie’s extra ticket) After that I went to see Sweeney Todd, a Soundheim serial killer musical I’d never seen, and supposively a brilliant minimalist production. It was very very good. The actors actually play the instruments while they are acting/singing. This was done in very clever often hilarious ways, and the whole cast carried the show very well. I had a wonderful time and the ovation at the end even seemed to embarrass the actors who sort of laughed and looked at each other. Hooked up with Nick back in Brooklyn and on his suggestion went to The Chocolate Room for some incredible dessert and digestiv. The staff was funny and inviting, and the molten chocolate cake was much much better than the “signature” one at Finale on my birthday. The owner is even from Springfield, MA.

The next day Nick and I hit Tex-Mex brunch in Brooklyn, then worked the website you currently see. Nick is a (vastly underappreciated) teacher in real life and was very good at explaining how to “float” pictures like you’ve seen here and some other html basics. I left him to meet up with Bogie to do some record shopping in the Village. Another gorgeous day for walking around NYC, and we hit Rebel Yell and another shop, did some people watching, and then grabbed a quick bite at Sushi Samba (where the hostess doesn’t need to thank you as you leave apparently). Then, inspired by the hilarious SNL Lazy Sunday digital short, we tracked down a Magnolia’s for some cupcakes. We had to wait for 20-30 mins probably, but we were downwind of the cupcake aroma and talked the time away.

Inside was a self serve cupcake zone with different cake/frosting combos. I had intended to get 4. I got 6. Then in line we had to walk by a tray of the day’s “Special Cupcake” : Devils Food with Cream Cheese Icing. Now I had 9, a full large box which cost me $16.25. I made it back to Brooklyn, got some nice New York bagels and met Nick and his GF Megan who both couldn’t believe I hadn’t even had one cupcake yet. I ended up giving them one and they devoured it like very friendly wild dogs. Nick and I then hit Song for dinner, a sister restaurant to the amazing Joya, also in Brooklyn, which is probably the best Thai restaurant I’ve ever been to. Song was just as good and equally hip and cheap. (they actually have identical menus) Then it was time for goodbye and I hit the subway to meet Bogie at the Knitting Room where he was seeing a concert and we left from there making it home by 2:30am. Amazing weekend. Get’s the gears turning about moving there at some point in the future. The energy and depth of soul in that city are unrivaled in this country. Also, I think it’s probably a worthy challenge of my urban-centric life view.

Ironically, the next morning I woke up excited to dig into my imported New York bagel. Cut into it, through it, and through a bit of my thumb. A good deal of blood, 2 hours, and $15 later I had 3 stitches in my very numb left thumb. Oops.

But at least the Red Sox won their first game.

Ahh baseball….