Sep 17-19 A Play in the Rain and Then We Dance

Arrived at home Friday Night at 9:10 and warmed myself up for a night out. A new set of black and blue kicks, a new outfit, a steak and spinach dinner and a quick cleanup and we were ready to start the night out. The Jimmy showed at 10:30 in the BK and we soon headed out after catching the final scores on some late baseball games. The journey into the city was more traffic ridden than usual as the last gasps of summer night were enjoyed by the downtown NY populace. The backstreet traffic cleared out around Houston street and we arrived in club vicinity about 11:50. My mission to say hello to Brett was begun. I walked in the place got my hand stamped and spotted too many bartenders at the front bar. It was interesting but eventually the extra bartender cleared out but poor barman Brett still had to share a register. Of course, he loved the new mix CD especially, the tracks by Shapeshifters, DJ Paolo, and David Morales. After my first drink, a Surfer on Acid I knew was ready to take on the rest of my night. Splash had as DJ Susan Morabito for what seems to be turning into a monthly residency. The DJs mix of off all over the place tribal beats, snatches of once-upon-a-time hit songs, and endless tempo changes usually leaves me feeling empty so I determined to try and see if I could find someplace else to try and find a party I could get a good dance too. Heaven of course is full of lesbi-ladies and Discotheque is cute but small and early night Junior is not usually my cup of tea anyway. So after some earlier planning and checking what other parties were in the neighborhood, I walked up the block to see if I could check out what Krash was like. I remember visiting the place out in Queens and remember a decent sized space, loud music and a lot of people in the space dancing to Hip Hop and Salsa music. After I determining that I had reached my quota of merengue that night I decided I was not going to journey out to Queens to party anytime soon. Recently the Krash party has taken over Club Deep and seem to be doing their best to fill up the three level space. When I got to the block there was a line that massed 4 people across and went a third of the way up the street. After verifying with the line security guy that I was in fact looking at the right space I determined that instead of waiting on line with a whole lot of girls (genetic girls not the "You go girl kind") I decided I would go to the party I knew instead of the great unknown. After making my way back to Splash I came back inside and said hi to everyone all over again and decided to make a go of it. After a while I determined that in order to enjoy the party I just had to give up and just be drunk enough and guess what... after awhile the drinks kicked in and I started dancing like all of the other boys in the place after just deciding to be in the moment and just have fun. We finally left around 2:30 and got a cab outside rather quickly. Gave the driver directions and arrived home safe and sound.

Woke up the next day at 8am with a thunderstorm rolling through soaking the streets. Of course this was far too early to wake up on a Saturday so I went back to bed. I finally made it out of the bed around 11am and found that the rain had stopped and we were going to be going out to a ball game. The final game in the in the league division The Titans were in still needed to be finished for the playoffs to be complete. The date had arrived and the fields were waiting so we got dressed and went out to Randalls Island. Despite the many accidents on the road and random flooding all over the city we made our way up the east side and got out to the fields.

The whole team was in attendance with a few arriving later and we said hi to all of our friends on the team while commenting on the field looking like China beach. The river running close by gave us a sense of scale while the dreary skies and rather cold day (62 degrees) made us wish we had came out to the field with long pants. We did not feel the full force of the wind and light rain until we arrived out on the field but the game must go on so I pulled out my directors chair, found a nice spot to watch from and watched the boys go at it. The game started right were it left off and was good right from the beginning. It stayed pretty close all the way till the end even as the rain got harder and harder but at the end the Cruisers beat the Titans by one point with a home run at the end.

Some of the many highlights of the game were:

• A catch at right center by Rob with a fall and back roll catch that surprised the runner at 2nd base by keeping ahold of the ball for the final out of the inning.

• 2 tag out plays at home plate by Demetrius

• Back to Back Home runs by Jeff and Chris (who almost died rounding the bases at 2nd)

• A triple from Kevin even after he ran back to 1st base to tag, after a missed catch in right field.

• A bunch of dramatic ball fumbles to keep several people safe at 1st, 2nd and 3rd and keep the game close.

• 2 great come backs in the last inning by both teams to wrap up an exciting game.
  

Despite the weather I was glad I was there to see it. The whole game definitely entertained and had some really great plays by players on both teams. But after it was over we hightailed it back to the car and closed the doors and we were very happy we were out of the rain. It got kind of shocking cold there at the end. We got to back into BK and picked up a nice lunch at Quiznos. Got back home and chilled out. I did the weekly haircut, rehydrated, rested and watched some early evening television and filled up on some feel good visuals (cartoons and Itunes visualizations) and took myself some megaman vitamins to help the metabolism snap back. By 11pm we were ready to go out and hit the town once again.

This time we were going to hit up the Roxy and rock with DJ Peter Rauhofer and all the grooving boys of the city. Of course when we first arrived Peter did not appear to be in attendance but I felt we were still in good hands with DJ James Anderson who kept up a nice groove for the boys with a hip uptempo groove and a few new songs we had not heard before but still appreciated the cool beats. Barman Barker had us from the very beginning and made sure we had the drinks going good and the water and gatorade too. The party fun kept rising as the night progressed and I even saw my SBNY friend Grace in attendance sporting a nice leather showoff top and a cute baby blue fan flag to dance on the stage with the boys. I lit up the stage for a few songs but truly lifted when my man Pais brought me back my last drink of the night just when I was about to go to the bar myself, along with a bottle of water for the road and the moment of 3:45am hit and Peter threw on Shapeshifters at full throttle that I got truly happy and threw myself into the dance. We hung tough until around 4:30am and proceeded to make our way out the place without too much trouble and caught a car back to BK after walking over one block to the next downtown traffic avenue. Another night in the city worked out and done for.

Sunday was spent just chilling at home. Had a nice brunch at the Greek diner down the block. Picked up a new cable for the Cable box and discovered the prob appears to be the box and not the cable wire (maybe). We also shopped for dinner and enjoyed a quiet time watching 60 Minutes and then watching the season premiere of The Wire. Seems like it is shaping up to be a cool season on one our favorite HBO series. The first episode of Family Bonds was cool too with some pretty interesting people out there, both criminal and the ones bailing them out. Another weekend completed and a cool time had by all. Till next time... Same days... same friends... even more fun.

Sept 10-12 - Return of the Pack... and Dancing Too.

Another week of work, blah blah blah. Too much stuff to do and never enough time. I try and try and its like a hill that never peaks. But enough about that. Now it is time for the weekend and all that comes with. Loud sounds, bright lights, driving over bridges and moving too fast to be believed. I popped the newest CD (Sneaker Peak) into the car stereo and listened to the fast beats on the way into the city with Pais. After being apart for one weekend it was beaucoup fun to have my number one party partner back. Found a spot on the Old Navy block and walked through the lot across the street to the place. Said hello to the doorman and doorwoman (very nice lady) and made my way inside. The place was dark but jumping and the music was nice and loud. I'm not sure where Splash is going with the be all things to all people vibe but I guess it keeps the boys coming back to see whats next. The DJ for the evening was Joe Gauthreaux. He is supposed to be a circuit fave at different events but I think he tried too hard at this party. The music was too much, too high strung and sustained a kind of twisted, dark quality. The drinks were good and there were plenty of spaces to dance but there were too many songs that went no where and the mood was too tweaker for me to truly relax into it and have fun. We said hi to a few people, I finally met the famous stalker "Just Jack" and took up my bathroom directing duties once again. The lower level renovations are still underway and the boys are still getting used to the new layout but I think I see where its going. We stayed until 3:05 when I knew the party just wasn't getting any better and decided to hit the high road. Got home and got some well needed beauty rest.

I woke up well rested and happy and of course, hungry. I went down the street and breakfasted at the Greek diner on 5th Ave just a block away from my house. The bacon and egg on a roll was good but then it was back to the place to rest up for my gym workout. As usual the energy was not as up as when I do the workouts at night but it was still a good workout. The Harbor Fitness keeps me fit and the routine works well. Now if only I could do the workout more on the regular with my crazy work schedule then I would get to see some real results. Not that I got the softies bad or anything I just need to be my best coming into the end of the party season. Afterwards a delivery of chicken in garlic sauce and some late afternoon cartoons and it was into the evening for me. The night was started with a dinner for the evening of brick oven pizza for which I thought it was early enough that the two slices I ate would be long gone (digested) before my night out. But of course little did I know. I tend to forget that large amounts of bread tend to sit and percolate before an evening out but I was feeling alright by 11pm and after the arrival of the Jimmy we prepared to go out. For some reason the city was extremely crowded with disparate elements of a post 9 Eleven crowd and everybody seemed to have some place to go. There was traffic on the the Brooklyn Bridge, traffic on Chambers Street and traffic on 14th Street. The meatpacking district was really hopping. I had not been through the area at night recently but was surprised with the crowds of people. It reminded me of some of the club neighborhoods I have visited in other cities like Boston and Miami Beach but with even more people. After turning onto 10th avenue we found someone pulling out so we got the miracle parking space (across from the Mobil station) once again. The walk up to the Rox was uneventful but still plenty of people waiting outside The Park. I will have to go there one Sunday to see what its like. Anyway the line moved quickly into the place, said hi to Doorman Derek and the handstamp/armband guys and made my way inside to the party. The Jimmy got his comp once again and our boy Steve met us at the door with two drinks and the night was underway. The DJ for the evening was Chad Jack who immediately immersed us with some rapid fire beats and feel good music. The Roxy prides itself on a pretty diverse selection of guys who frequent the place and the place was full of all kinds nice and early. I visited with my barman Barker at the back bar and proceeded to the dancefloor to jump into the party with both feet. The groove kind of snuck up on me but I was well into the night and during my conversation with Troy and Steve when I decided to light up the walking light on my leg. I was feeling good and the party was happy (except for the silly drink arguments) but as the night progressed my drinks (and the ones I failed to give away) crept up on me. Around 3:30 am I (yes I) ceased to enjoy the party to my fullest faculties but with the help of my friends I stayed in there till it was time to go. I even decided to dance on a speaker box in my highly inebriated state. Thankfully I didn't fall off and disgrace myself any further (with the help of my friendly ground crew). Eventually I was corralled up and led out and had a nice trip back to BK. After making sure to expel the remains of my doughy pizza dinner I had a nice rock sleep and woke up tasting Stoli and Red Bull. At least it wasn't the taste of corona which is absolutely the worst taste to wake up to. By the time I worked my way out of the house it was time for lunch so with a nice double Bacon Melt at Wendys I was well on my way to recovery. After a quick 30 minute shop at Pathmark it was into the city and our favorite downtown movie theater to catch the 4:50 showing of Resident Evil Apocalypse. The movie kept my interest and showed the requisite shocking moments but I thought the editing was too choppy and steadicam in some parts to be recognizable. The movie tried to hard to be stylish in some parts and then scary at other times that it ended up being kind of messy. And it left the watcher with even more questions left over than the last movie. Oh well, I was entertained and left the theater knowing I'll probably see the next one too. Anyway, great previews at least. We picked up some chicken cutlets on the way home and I was able to whip up some Chicken Parmesan and spaghettini as we watched Lawrence Taylor on 60 minutes crying and then watched the season finale of Six Feet Under. Some shocking stuff with the guy killing himself after confessing to killing the lady who died last season. The noise made me jump. Was just as bad as the guy who died in the elevator. But at least there was the pool guy eyecandy with the tattoo on his back. Another weekend comes to a close but at least there are plenty more where that came from and hopefully some more new friends to bring out and see the bright lights in the big city.

Until next time, and next weekend stay tuned...

Sept. 3-5 - Not So Hard Labor and Three Days of Fun

The first weekend in September and it is still warm outside. I left work and got home fairly quickly. A dinner of Chinese food fried chicken and fried rice was enough to get dinner out of the way. Then I finished up my new mix CD playlist for my peak-hour mix. I was able to get all of the songs down and ready to mix and then I finished off evening preparations with a haircut and a shower. I then called up the car service and got my ride into the city. I arrived at
Splash around 12:10am and made my way past the doorman and into the club. My barman Brett had been moved but I did not know yet so I had two drinks at the front bar before I found him serving drinks at the second bar. I then moved my base of operations to the back bar and proceeded to dance on the dancefloor and hang with friends. DJ Alex Lauterstein kept the boys moving to some hard tribal beats well into the night and I stayed there dancing and having a grand old time until around 4am. I got home safely and slept in Saturday morning.

I woke up late and proceeded to finalize my Peak Hour dance mix CD and watched some of the programs I had saved on my DVR. I left late in the afternoon to take advantage to one of the final days of Tax-Free week. I went down to Bay Ridge Brooklyn to complete some shopping for both clothes and hit up the Vitamin Shoppe for some supplements. I made my way back home and finished my dinner while listening to the finalized mix placed on CD. Finally the stir -crazy built up enough I decided to leave the house and head into the city. I could not easily locate club G so I instead went to SBNY first. The place was ridiculously dark and the mood was there to match. A lot of boys standing around and some dancing on the dance floor waiting for something to happen. After speaking with my friends on the phone I decided I had waited long enough and made my way over to the Roxy. It was around 11:30pm and the open bar was still underway. I decided to wait until I was going to get my normal drink and just chill out listening to DJ Peter Rauhofer get the crowd into the evening. Once 12:01 hit I made my way up to the front bar and said hello to barman Barker. I ordered up my normal cocktail of Stoli Orange and Red Bull and proceeded to get my dance evening underway. I noticed that some of the more enterprising party goers had stockpiled free drinks on the rear speaker but wrote them off as amateurs as anyone more ready to party would either be taking something so they would not have to stockpile those bottom shelf free drinks to continue to drink all night. I may not be ready to pay for Grey Goose and Cranberry all night but I can deal with a Stoli and since I got there early enough I did not have to pay the full price that people pay coming in later. With plenty of drinks served up in a timely fashion, I was able to hang with my friends all over the place and not have to worry about my good time or that of my friends. Rickey did his part to keep the party going by saving a large group of people from certain injury when the stage separated and began to sway back and forth towards the middle of the dance floor. Due to his timely warning and a quick motion to the security we were able to clear the stage and have a crew in to fix the faulty stage before anyone got hurt. Later on the night it was all well and good to have more people dancing on it once again. I even met friends (from yesterday), Mageara and Matt and right before 4am and managed to buy them a drink before the cut-off. I then put down my final drink of the evening and proceeded to dance in lounge area. At 4:20 the DJ proceeded to play "Lola's Theme"by Shapeshifters the remix by Victor Calderone. I proceeded to find the widest spot, light up both my hands and put on a full-speed floorshow for 5 solid minutes. That Saturday night was one of my all out highest level danceathons having danced with my own asian backup dancers in the asian section, having danced on the stage with the crowd screaming for the DJs attention, danced on the dancefloor in front of the stage and in the middle of the dancefloor and even saw the spitting image of Fresh Prince era Will Smith dressed in a skirt and a pale blue dashiki. I made my way out of the club around 4:45 and caught a taxi home fairly easy. Even though I had to argue my taxi route with the taxi driver that I had to go over the Manhattan Bridge and not the Brooklyn Bridge, the ride was uneventful and speedy and I was able to give the driver a nice tip because of it.

Sunday was a day spent resting up and just hanging out at home. I wandered out the house once to buy food but realized I had brought the wrong wallet and ended up with just enough money to buy a bottle of soda. I was too tired to go back out and buy something to eat so I settled for a meal of hot dogs on bread and a dessert of popcorn. I went out at around 11:30 and arrived in the city around midnight. I decided to stop in on my barman Brett and drop off a copy of my new mix cd. The party that night was with DJ Frankie Knuckles and the place was packed. I had never been to a Sunday party at Splash that was so well attended and the door-woman stated that all of the parties for Frankie Knuckles were usually well attended and this one was good because it was a holiday weekend as well. I ended up staying at the party until 4am and left after dancing on the stage to David Morales "How Would You Feel".

Despite being very tired and bleary eyed after my 3 days of hanging out I was very happy with my weekend and hope that the coming weeks bring a party and a vibe that are at least almost as entertaining if not more so.

Hope all the boys don't burn themselves out and the new kids keep coming as the parties seem to be just getting better after such a long lull in the vibe. Gotta go to work in the meantime but until next time. Keep the party bumpin.

Back in NYC, Back in the Mix, Back on Track

We had a great time on vacation but we had to come home sometime and it was back to work on Monday. Still nursing a touch of laryngitis but things are slowly returning to normal as time passes. I could not wait for the weekend. Once again worked far too late on Friday to make it to the gym but promised myself to workout on Saturday and fixed myself up to make my way out on Friday Night. Just finished my latest retro mix and listened to some classic tunes on my way into town (Mel C, Book of Love, Destiny's Child, etc.) Stopped in to say hi to Bruce and the babies. Kept the conversation down to a whisper so the little ones did not get antsy and then made out way out into the night and headed over to Splash to hang with our waiting friends Steve and Rickey. Gave a gift CD to Barman Brett and listened to the hyper kick sounds of DJ Billy Carroll. Despite his huge booth entourage for the evening the tunes were definitely kicking and he kept us all happy with a lift from some of the hottest tunes from Victor Calderone "Lola's Theme", Ofra Haza "Love Story" and even Veronica "Someone To Hold". We stayed in the place until 3:30 and made our way home happy and whole once again.

Saturday we went out for breakfast and then rested up for a great Saturday workout at the gym. Afterwards a nice lunch at Quizno's made another new shared experience for myself and Pais, since neither of us had ever eaten there before. The turkey sandwich was excellent and despite the heat the afternoon was a great one to rest up and await the coming of the night. The Jimmy was unable to hang this eve but did stop by to say hi before we headed out and took car service into the city. Despite it being 11:30 and kind of early there was still a line in front of Roxy but doorman Derek got us in quickly and after a quick hi to the door staff and the wristband girl we made our way inside to hear the sounds of DJ Peter Rauhofer (or did we?).

The party was going good for such an early start and we were listening to a wide selection of Peter classics and recent remixes. However the energy did not seem to be there and after a wander over to the stage to dance on the box right in front of the booth I turned around to see... No Peter. Instead the light guy was there with a few other stand ins but the reason for the lack of true Peter feel (as evidenced by recent parties) was made evident. It kind of reminded me of Peter from last year when he was just starting to get his own groove. By the end of the night DJ James Andersen stepped in and was manning the tables and keeping it live but the fact that there was no notice in the lobby kind of killed the mood for me and kept it from being the truly interesting night for me that I was hoping and expecting. Maybe Peter will be here for next weekend but who knows. I still had fun (when I was not looking at the booth) and enjoyed myself. Barman Barker kept the drinks flowing and our posse of friends circulated the place until the wee hours of the morning. After the early start we were ready to go around 4am.

Sunday woke up and headed out to Quiznos once again but this time had a club hero sandwich. After lunch we hit off the Footlocker and helped them clear out some stock before Tax free week and the back to school rush. When the shopping was done we headed into the city to the Loews Theater to see Collateral with Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise. The movie was good, kind of sudden ending when it was over but was a nice character study just the same. Nice action too.

After we got back into Bklyn we barbecued dinner and then watched Six Feet Under. I DVRd the MTV Video Awards and planned to watch on Monday night.

All in all a good weekend back in NYC. Nice to have a holiday weekend to look forward to next weekend. See you soon boys. Nice and easy now..

Aug 16-22 - NY Boys down in TX and Then We All Went South

A quick pack of the suitcase. Pack the Powerbook and some DVDs, a good book and then its off to the airport. A flight at 3:15pm. Slept a little and then watched The Italian Job on DVD. An arrival at 6:30 in DFW and its on the way into the heart of Texas. With some Yahoo Maps instructions and the names of some of the citys attractions in hand we headed into town. We stayed at the pretty nice Crowne Plaza Hotel right next to Love Field Airport.

After catching up with our friends in town we headed over to the NAGAAA Softball World Series opening ceremonies at Lee Park. After some nice live entertainment, some Bud lights and hanging with some cool friends and nice bartenders we headed back towards the hotel. After a wait on the shuttle bus at the other host hotel, the Sheraton, we ended up heading to the street of bars, Cedar Springs Road. I am sure they have never had a crowd on Monday night like this, especially for Alternative Music Mondays. A few drinks later and we proceeded to hang out for a while watching the boys play pool and watching music videos until it was time to step out. We left our boy Chris behind (reminded him of the name of our hotel) and headed back to sleep for the next days festivities.


Tuesday's round robin games started far too early for me so I stayed in while Pais headed out to the games. The team won their games easily, as I watched ESPN and worked out in the hotel gym. I was also happy I brought the Powerbook so I could play Icewind Dale in the room waiting for the guys to return. A nice breakfast downstairs with the team and then it was off on a whirwind tour of the city. We saw the sights that were there to be seen, admiring the architecture, the plethora of highways and main streets and ended the day out with a lunch at Denny's. The boys were getting together at club Roundup so after a quick nap and then some warm-up drinking, we headed out to hang with the boys at club Roundup and packed house with the boys at the big country western bar. After some more drinking and hanging with our team the boys decided to turn in so we could get to the games awake the next day. We caught a taxi back to the hotel and welcomed Larry and Donnie at the hotel with an in-room hang out and a quick wrap up of the days events. We all turned in soon enough to our separate rooms and rested up for our next day and an early start for the game at noon.


On Wednesday the team played well and won once again so we were able to get out of the round robin before the actual series with a 3-0 record. This happened despite the fact that poor Donnie injured his ankle running into second base. A quick shift of all of the players and we were able to finish out the game successfully. Since we had the afternoon off, we decided to grab some lunch and then hang out. We hit off another Denny's and then hung out at the hotel for the afternoon. We decided to head out for dinner before it was too late and ended up at Hunky's on Cedar Street having a burger and fries. It was a good burger and the staff was very friendly but it was a late dinner so after a quick hi to some of the local boys outside we headed back to the hotel and turned in back at the hotel. Thank goodness for the laptop, the internet connection and the video game so I was able to find something interesting to do. The weather report for the next day was not looking good but we had to go through the time machine of going to bed before we would know for sure.

The weather report was true and the Thursday was not going to turn out to be a day when the team could play. After calling the hotline and going downstairs and checking with the other players we found that the rain delays would push the games back for hours. We searched out the IHOP up the road and waited around to get ourselves a breakfast. I guess they were not expecting such a big crowd in the middle of the week but then if they couldn't handle the rush they did not let on until after we sat down. The manager came to our table personally and apologized for the wait and we ended up having a pretty good brunch. After our meal was over we were told we received a 10% discount because of the inconvenience of the wait. After that we decided to go shopping and after some directions from the front desk we ended up heading over to the Irving Mall. The mall was just average but the boys found some stuff to buy anyway from socks and shoes to shirts and hats. Despite the rain we were able to at least get around and drive some while seeing different parts of the city. We saw the m4m personals sign on Lemmon Ave (in Dallas no less) but after a while we tired of bouncing around in the SUV and headed back to the hotel. The team met for dinner at a steakhouse in the restaurant district and had a great dinner. A very peppery steak and some interesting appetizers and the team had a good time. Jimmy was even presented with a 3rd base coach shirt and he vowed to wear it the next day under his team jersey. We made our way back to the host hotel for the talent show but after some bad reviews some of us decided to wait outside and have some drinks outside the event at the bar. While there we witnessed some drama between the door security and someone who watched the first few acts of the show. We also picked up a card for the 2006 Gay Games that the FGG has awarded to Chicago. Seems there is some drama between Montreal and the FGG as to the venue and how much it was supposed to cost and how it was to be hosted. The team ended up hanging out by the pool and had some drinks while we watched the gg's (genetic girls) having fun playing different drinking games. We were also aware of the biting insects so prevalent in TX so we called it a night and prepared for the next day of games.

Friday, Oh Friday. The team won their first game in dramatic fashion staying tied up until the 4th inning and then putting up some runs near the end a nice 14-9 win. The team had a break then so we left to eat lunch and then return but the long wait before he next game appeared to work against the team and the Titans lost their first game to a team that ended up finishing 6th overall. After being knocked into the loser bracket the team was going to have its work cut out for it to win enough games to be back against the winners the next day. The team rallied back to beat the next team but another long wait before the next game worked against them so that when faced with a four-foot older lady in yellow bloomers for a pitcher (who had the fast arc pitch down pat) the team was unable to score more than one run and with some dropped balls and some injuries the team was not able to come back in the end to win the game. After that loss the team gathered up all of their stuff and went back to their individual places. After different discussions as to where to go to we decided to go to TMC a dance club behind JRs and we watched the boys dancing on the boxes and got a few drinks before the 2 am cutoff. The rest of the boys from the team showed up and we all danced on the dancefloor until Ed egged me on to dance on a speaker. Everyone was having a cool time (and some of us have the pictures to prove it) This despite the rifts that were tearing into the team even then. Pais and Jimmy ended up leaving before I did so I stayed with the boys until 3:40 when we decided to make a break from the place before the mad rush at 4. Frank took Chris, myself , Mike F. and Vinny back to the Sheraton while Ed and Mike S. found a taxi to go back. We hung out next to the pool talking about what was and could have been and along with some beers, some pool time by Ed and Vinny, some on again off again speed dating by Mike S., and some plain old dating by Chris we called it a night at around 5:45am and myself and Mike F. made our way back to the Crowne Plaza by cutting across the lot of the abandoned high rise building on the corner.

Saturday. The team was no longer playing any softball games but with the weather back into the upper digits of heat we were glad for the AC and the time to hang with the boys. I went with Larry and Chris, Jimmy and Pais and checked out the Black Eyed Pea. Despite the decent service we were not impressed with the food. After a mess up at the cash register when we were trying to pay for our food I likened the place to what I could have had from a Stouffer's dinner at the super market. I would definitely have been more satisfied to go back to Denny's. But anyway we hung out the rest of the afternoon waiting for the closing ceremony back in the Cedar Springs Road area. On one of my trips to the Tom Thumb supermarket I stepped across a small patch of grass for just 3 steps and by the time I had left and came back to the party I ended up having 2 bites on my legs. Those chiggers that Chris had already found out about had struck again and I had to go back to the supermarket and buy some itch suppressant before rejoining the guys at the party. Some more drama that we did not see coming happened with some others playing on teams from Boston. But all of that aside after Pais and Jimmy decided to go back to the hotel I stayed with the rest of the team and went with the others to hang out in JRs. After a few drinks, Chris bought us some shots and I went back to the supermarket one more time to buy some Robitussin. After some chatting and hanging out some of us went next door to TMCs and danced some more. The place was much more crowded for a Saturday night and despite having too much to drink on the part of several persons and parties we were able to have some fun and leave in one piece to go home and rest for our trip back to New York.



Once we got to the airport I learned to never wear Armani Exchange through the security checkpoint. The metal loop belt and all of the metal snaps meant that I was singled out for a secondary search and had a wand waved over my whole self while my CK waistband was visible to all of the security staff and others passing through. I chalked it up to an experience, giggled the whole time and we made our way into the terminal. After a quick BK lunch we were able to chill out and wait while our 3:15 flight was delayed by almost an hour but in the end the trip home was fast and uneventful. I was even able to watch Pirates of the Caribbean on the Powerbook. Waited for the airport shuttle, picked up the car at Avistar and despite the traffic at the red light before the Holland Tunnel was able to get home in just over an hour from Newark Liberty Airport.

Now I learned a lot on this trip down to Dallas. Both with new friends and same friends, from hanging in the hotels and hanging in the clubs to hanging on the fields and at the softball parties. I liked the shuttles to and from the hotel to the different events and parties but was not happy about the untreated grass that had little bugs waiting to jump up and bite. I liked the interesting neighborhood that had all of the g clubs in one 2 block space but was not happy with the 2 am drink cut off, the false advertising regarding some of the clubs and parties and the police in the clubs looking for people doing bad things but not looking on the street for people looking to do bad things like mug and rob.


Also was it just me or did the Transportation Security Agency search my luggage for no reason. I understand that heightened security is a good thing but besides making me take off my shoes and wand me with a handheld when my pants went off in the metal detector, the fact that they searched through my checked bags (left a nice note saying sorry but your bag was searched). I guess it was the fact that 2 guys were traveling together from a city that had just hosted a rather large gay sports event. But even when I traveled internationally I never had that level of security enacted upon myself.

Also the team seems ready to crumble into nothingness after such a strong beginning. We saw how teams that did not have a deep bench ended up having to fly talent in from NYC on an emergency basis after an injury forced out a shortstop. We also saw that basing the batting order on batting averages only did not sit well with some and hurt a lot of feelings. We also saw how hitting safely, so that runners can be advanced was sometimes confused with just hitting which is not scored as a hit in any league. Everyone has their own opinions and these needed to be shared with the entire team when issues arise and not when they boil over later in an overly dramatic fashion. We had several injuries on the team which called upon some emergency substitutions and moving around of players but at least we did have players waiting to be moved in. I am sure that in the professional leagues the best team is always on the field and not on the bench watching. We also know that professional teams don't get to have pickups and other players brought in just for the world series.

All of these issues would not be such a big deal if the team had gone farther and placed in the standings with a trophy or some other prize. Players on other teams that won were happy just have come down and been on a team that won.

Regardless of all of the drama I had a great time with friends I just met and friends I had hung out with before and was happy we got to hang out in a cool city together. However nothing else is like New York and I can't wait to hang with my buds at Roxy and other NY clubs soon.

Until we hang again. Keep it hot, stay safe, and watch out for those aggressive panhandlers.


Much love guys,
T

Heard over the course of the week:

"I'm sweating out every beer I ever drank"

"I see you baby, shaking that ass.. shaking that ass."

heard performed during the talent show "Cause your Drunk, and you're ugly, and you bore me to tears, and this bar and got enough... beer"

heard in an argument outside the talent show "we gave you your money back now go!" response: "Its not enough! Its just not enough"

"For our limited dinner menu we have... Turkey Croissants"

"But ,.. He has no teeth!"

Aug 13-15 - Waiting for the night, and the boat and other summer stories

What is a weekend with no Friday hangout, no Saturday club arrival and no huge hall full of adoring friends and favorites.

Well we still hung out on Friday, just not in the usual places. Left work a little early so I could pack my bags and get ready to go. Then after the arrival of Steve and the Jimmy, we were able to all head out in the car for a quick drive out onto the island and with Pais at the wheel we were able to get out there fairly quickly. We were staying in Ocean Beach, that college town out on Fire Island. The ferry arrived at 10:40 and we headed out across the water to that narrow strip of beach and houses. After noticing the trash thieving deer and passing by all of the young kids at the ferry slip bars, we headed into our room at the hotel. Nice rustic look place with wood walls, Dish Network Television. Stand up showers in one corner of the room and a separate bathroom in each room. All of us stayed in two connecting rooms so we had plenty of bathroom and shower space. We grabbed some pizza and after finding out the water taxi schedule we headed over to The Pines and the party happening at the Pavilion. We caught up with Larry Bullock in his new job as a director at the place and got some nice drinks at the bar while we danced with the boys in the two level club. The room wasn't that big but the long island boys don't need much. I am not sure who the DJ was but once I heard Ofra Haza "Love Song" (DJ Paulo Mix) I knew I was having a great time. Between the lights, the fan dancers and the great music we partied hearty until the drinks were cut off and the place let out at 4am. And then then the horror... We found out that no, you could not just call an hour ahead for a water taxi. We found out that we would have to wait a little longer. Then we found out it was a lot longer. The next water taxi would not arrive until 9am. So we ended up staying outside on a nice summer night in The Pines on a park bench like a homeless. Taking turns falling asleep until the sun came up. Then we went over to the boat slip, picked up a few fixings for lunch and headed back over to Ocean Bay. After a nice sleep in a nice bed and a great shower, we barbecued some hot dogs and burgers and enjoyed a nice lunch. We even had macaroni salad and potato salad along with the very fresh off the grill hot food. Even fighting off two Irish setters and a sheep dog we were still able to keep enough of our food to ourselves to enjoy a great meal. The everywhere Wi-Fi networking that we were able to sign up for was a great thing as we were able to go onto the internet with my new Apple Powerbook no matter where we were inside and outside. However the weather was not going to cooperate with us for the whole weekend. After showing another of the hotel tenants that she could check her Ebay account and view sales of her genuine Olympic baseball caps, we checked on the weather. It turned into a true washout out as we ended up rained in and having to just stay inside and watch television while the rain came down. Turns out that the remnants of Hurricane Charley had worked its way up the coast and had some energy to pour some water down on the New York area beaches. After sleeping in and then quick cleanup we were able to get out and away well before noon and arrived back in the environs of BK. A haircut, some television and watching Six Feet Under I determined that I had been shortchanged with my weekend and decided to go out and hang on Sunday Night. I was going to be on vacation the following week so what the heck.
I arrived in the city at 12:15 and along with a nice size crowd for a Sunday night I was greeted with porn on the screens and live pornstars on the stage as Aaron Tanner hosted the Pitch Black party at SBNY. Along with some extremely not tall performers and some cheesy poses the shows were decent if not just for the fact you could see the whole thing up close. The giveaways left something to be desired but otherwise the music of DJ Max Rodriguez was definitely a fun and great dance vibe. I even got to do an impromptu danceoff with 3 other boys while listening to Britney "Me Against the Music" the Rauhofer mix. The night out was a good one and the week of vacation had only just begun. Now with a takeoff from Newark Airport and a great weekend away ahead, what's not to like? Coming up... Out West with the boys from the East.