July 2-4 - Welcome to the Boys of Summer... Let's Hang Out...

Was a thankfully short work week (3 days) and then a 3 day weekend. Was looking forward to hanging with friends and seeing some new ones from all over. Headed into the city on Friday night and made an appearance at Splash. The crowds had receded from last weekend (Pride) and the boys were inside enjoying the sounds of DJ Brett Henrichsen. I Hung out with Pais, Rickey and our girl friend Grace who went up to meet the DJ and we all got to say hi. I even told the DJ that I met him last year on our Atlantis cruise. Bartender Brett kept the drinks flowing as we grooved to a continuous mix of vocal house and hard dance beats. The night went by nicely but we couldn't stay out too late. Had to be ready to run to the fields and see the boys of softball.

The Playing for Life Tournament in Central Park had our team on the field and ready to go at Noon. The BASL sponsored event was cool as we got to meet boys from Tampa, Boston, Virginia and a few other states that brought the boys into town to swing some bats. In between games we hung out, journeyed to the bathroom over the hill, shot some hoops on the court, and paid $2 for bottled water from the rip off hot dog carts. Our team played 3 games on Saturday, won 2 and lost 1 but it was all fun (until poor Chris had to get stitches after a third base collision) but we still had a good time and left later afternoon to finally have dinner at Dallas BBQ on Eighth Ave. We finally headed home and got some rest. Pais had to stay in so he could be on the field the next day at 11am but I decided to go out and see the Boys at The Rox and see what the boys would be doing over the long weekend. Despite the boys outside who drove by the corner of 19th St chanting "Go to Spirit!" I ignored all attempts at distraction and headed to the only party that I knew I was going to have a good time. It was the premiere of Steve Travolta in the large space and I was wondering what he was planning to do with the crowd. At first I was as clueless as the next guy as the evening started with a mix of old-school house and dark but catchy dance rhythms. At first I was wandering the place alone but then let myself get lost in the crowd and by the time my friends Steve and Rickey (and a few friends of Pais) showed up I was well on my way to having another great night out. As the place filled up gradually the mood built into a great House Dance Party with the lights synched with the music most excellently as the boys ate it up like candy. By 2:30 am the crowd was hanging on every beat and the mood was definitely a great energetic pulse beat. Definitely a 4 out of 5. I broke out of the party to get home sooner than usual around 3:45am but I was very happy that I came out and saw and was seen by happy club crowd.

Sunday was spent hanging and waiting for the afternoon. Got out and went shopping for some house stuff and prepared to have friends in for The Fourth. Cooked up some taco salad, made sure we had plenty of Heineken and Molson Canadian. As the friends came over, Phil and Kev, the boys from the Isle of Manhat as well as Gary and Mina we hung out watching VH1 Classics and then headed upstairs to view the show at the Seaport and the Statue of Liberty. The display started at 9:25 and continued until 9:50. The climax was not as much of a buildup as last year but the show was still good and poor Steve arrived before the finale and got to see what the view was all about. Afterwards our little party broke up and we all headed out for our own little plans. Myself, Pais and Steve headed into Avalon and met up with Rickey and saw the boys from the BASL hanging at the afterparty for the Tournament Closing ceremonies. We wandered through the place trying to pick up on the vibe of the place and while there appeared to be a healthy crowd because of the day off for Monday the Debut of DJ Scott Thomson was not "all that" as far as I was concerned. We wandered from room to room, even venturing up to the newly opened Spider Room but failed to find anything to enjoy or want to move with. When both second rooms are playing Rap music (Rapper's Delite and Jay-Z) and the main room is playing Euro Dance and Rave music mixed in with remixed 80s Dance music you know the night is going no where. I thought it rated a 2 out of 5. All of us ended up leaving at 3am and calling the night a bust. But thinking back and seeing that in all of the nights that I have gotten to go out and only having one night where I should have went somewhere else I guess it was bound to happen sometime. Until next time out with the guys. Keep it moving. And look out for the quiet ones that are always trying to walk up on you and squeeze your buns when you are not looking. Guess somebody's gotta do it.