519-521 - Weekend at Ernie's and The Sudden Dropoff

Friday Night I just came home from work, had dinner and after watching NBA Playoffs I went into the DVR programming. Technology and time shifting is a good thing. I went to bed around 3am and got the good rest after a long week I craved.

Saturday I awoke around 10am for some reason wake up with or without the alarm clock around 9am so I had to go back to sleep to get my daily allowance. When I finally got out of bed I started off with the fiber regimen (last weekend yay!) pills and then the shake and then hung around for a bit before breakfast. Delivery breakfast and then a little clean up and then we got the sched for the afternoon set. We were not heading out to LI until around 5pm so I had plenty of time to kill. I started off browsing music on Beatport until after 1hr I always get tired and I took a nap. I woke up around 3:30 and got myself dressed and ready. Gift CDs already made up I browsed more music until it was time to go. We headed down to the Murano and then drove over past Flatbush and stopped by Phil and Kevins place. Kevin wasn't back yet so we went upstairs, toured the new roofdeck and admired the new TV viewiing area (now enlarged for better entertaining). The TV was familiar (same as I see at home) and we chatted for a bit before Kevin came in, changed and we were all off to LI. The shortest way was the best way so we headed down Atlantic Avenue to the conduit onto the Belt Pkwy and then onto the overlong Sunrise Highway heading out to Freeport. We turned off on the correct street but passed the house (admiring the scenery overmuch). We walked in spread our hellos all around to the family and friends and ate finger food before the barbecue was ready. We all had Margaritas and plenty of barbecue with pasta salads before the night settled into cool conversation and karaoke. My first silly moment came when one of the guests came up to me and told me he had talked to me at the gym. Since I try to get through my workouts as quickly as possible and don't talk to anybody besides Russ and his friends, I told him I did not know what he was talking about. Finally he stated that it was at The Gym Bar and not the workout gym and we all had a good laugh as at that point I did recognize him from a conversation we had in the bar the 2 seasons ago. After that we passed the time both indoors and outside and admired the new fixtures and Ernies model development from work and after plenty of drinks 10:30 rolled around and it was time to head back to BK. After we said our goodnights and I gave Ernie his CD (the card we gave was really Phil and Kevin's second choice that we got by default) we headed back home. After giving the boys a "Diva Spring" CD we said our goodnights and then I showed Russ the now familiar way to get back via Vanderbilt to Prospect Park West and we got home fairly easily.

After I got back home it was a quick clean up then costume change and it was out into the night and down the street. Russ was still recovering from his elbow injury and needed another night of rest. I was down at the taxi stand and waiting just a few minutes before one of my familiar cabbies arrived to take me into the city. We were surprised that the traffic had died down so quickly after midnight and I was able to get across the bridge to the west side very quickly. Funny how without even prompting my ipod Nano played "Rise" from the Ghost in the Shell soundtrack. I always like that song when I am going out and especially when I am going out alone or to a big even. Not like going to the Roxy alone is not a big event but it is so regular for me I usually don't need to be pumped up. The driver dropped me off on the corner and I walked on down 18th street to the front and the line. One of the new security actually stopped me and asked me if I had a card but I gestured at the doorman and waited patiently. When Derek noticed me he waved me on in and I said hello to the ID checking security before heading inside. Armbanded, cashiered and coat checked I said hello to the girl who took my jacket and then headed on inside the club. The crowd was still filteriing in at 12:35 but was coming along nicely and I found my bartender Louis in the usual spot on the front. Hello and cup in hand I made a circuit of the place. After I returned to the front for a Gatorade I spotted Sean and Rick across the bar and made my way over. We exchanged hellos and I gifted them with the final gift CD of the day, my promised "DivaSpring." They thanked me profusely and promised me a Madonna Mix the following week. After chatting with them a bit about music and work and of all things running in marathons and Larry's shoe store (New Balance) I told them to go and enjoy the music and I went out into the crowd to see what was doing. DJ Brett Heinrichsen got the crowd into it early with Rihanna (SOS), MJB (Be Without You) and Offer Nissim Mix of "Fascinated". I got my speaker time in and stayed hydrated between text msgs to Russ and then talking on the phone to let him know I was having a cool time. After my final stage appearance around 2:15 am for "Stroke" it all seemed to go downhill. No sudden music cuts, or silent moments this week but after the initial hits he was playing nothing worth writing home about. I kept on waiting for another song to cut loose on and just finally climbed onto the speaker near the door and danced to whatever he was playing. Finally after 2 songs I gave up on it and went to stand on the side behind the couches facing the DJ booth. The floor was DEAD. People were leaving in droves and even the most hardcore clubbers were giving up on the night and calling it. I waited until 5:15 (5:15!!!) for another peak to happen and the only recognizable song in the mix was a 5am playing of Aubrey and "Stand Still" If I wanted to hear music from 8 years ago I would be home playing one of my retro mixes. I could see a true show stopper song from Destiny's Child, Madonna, Whitney or JLo but I was totally disgusted with how the DJ just seemed to run out of gas. Maybe he is tired of coming to the Roxy, I don't know, but everyone wasn't just leaving to go hear Victor Calderone at his "Evolve" party. The music was just sucking. I retrieved my jacket and walked out into the night to pick up a taxi. At least I was able to get both of the magazines but still the dawning light put me in a bad mood as I walked over to 9th ave and caught myself a taxi ride home after a few minutes of waiting with my hand up. The driver took me home with no issues and I pulled in front of my house and paid before heading upstairs. Some water, a quick clean up and it was off to bed.

Sunday I woke up in the early afternoon and Russ said he wanted to go to the bagel place for breakfast. I suggested a we go instead of receive delivery since it would get us up and out of the house sooner. We drove down the hill and around the corner and ate our breakfast custom made for us at one of the tables in the place. They burnt my first bagel but the second one was fine and I eat the dry yet good egg and bacon bagel before we got back in the car and headed for Red Hook. We turned before the tunnel instead of after and found our way through the neighborhood better than the last time and drove up to the packed to the gills parking lot for Fairway. We circled to the back of the lot and waited for a car to leave and got our spot. The shopping cart was picked up on the way in and then we were inundated with the food showcase that is Fairway. The place was packed and the food tourists clogged up the isles for multiple traffic jams as we tried to just keep moving through the place and find what we were looking for. The place seems designed more for chefs than shoppers with plenty of imported foods and add-ons for any palate and the most discriminating shopper. We ended up getting salad, steaks, barbecue sauce with apples and spices and some very cheap half gallons of 1% milk. A few more condiments and we were ready to go. I found it much easier to navigate the isles after leaving Russ at the check out while i picked up another milk and some more salad. The reading items on the wall were funny talking about word origins in the middle ages for things like "threshold" and "raining cats and dogs" Of course behind me the ghetto denizens were in residence as the guy behind me was just buying a can of Pringles. At first I was not impressed and just thought of the place as a fancy supermarket. In the end it was a fun time and I ended up being something of a food tourist myself. Now that I know the lay of the land I can get on with some serious shopping for my next visit. Perfect place to pick up the fixings for a blowout cookout or chef event. We got back home and watched some more TV for a bit before heading up to the roof with all of the fixings and starting our steak barbecue. We brought the CD player up to the roof for some tunes while I cooked but I had to move the grill to the far side as the wind was too much on the city side. With the new cell phone installations on our roof Phil and Kevin definitely had a more upscale roof setup but you can't beat that NYC view as you barbecue. We set on the upper deck and lounged in the two-seater folding chair drinking soda in the 30 minutes it took for everything to be done. In the end I probably erred on the side of caution and overcooked the steak but it was still juicy, tender and oh so good. We brought all the food back down to the house to eat in comfort and out of the wind. The Simpsons was cool but then the season finale of Family guy ended up being the movie that we had bought over the winter, total rip off of programming. Thankfully we didn't find that out until later as we watched The Sopranos at 9pm. The episode was good but we were sorry to see the fat guy go as he was finally killed by his own brother in law in the NY gang. No closure with his family or his boyfriend in NH but at least his last picture was with a smile for an ad that he had shot with a hotel guest. At least Tony finally locked down on AJ and made him get a job in construction to pay for himself and stop just freeloading. After that episode was all over we headed down to Mickey D's and picked up some Mcflurries to nosh on as we watched the news and let the night cool down. After Russ called it a night I curled up on the couch with a bowl of Rice Krispies and watched my cartoons and DVR programming. Bedtime on Sunday night always comes too soon but is necessary to be rested up for another week at work. And then it begins again.

I was truly disappointed in the falloff on Saturday night but realize everyone has a bad night every once in a while. But Peter, Manny and even Chad do much better at keeping the crowd involved way into the night and I have written Brett out of my top 5 Roxy DJs. I think he is better on the road because he doesn't have the pressure to get people interested too early. Roxy is all come to play or go home. I have become a tough customer myself and expect better for my Sat Night entertainment. We shall see how the summer shapes up. Here's to good friends, good drinks and special times all around.

0512-0514 - Softball Days, Barbecue Nights and Dancing after Midnight

Friday was as usual nice end to the week. With a full day of Saturday planned I stayed in for Friday Night and after dinner and NBA Finals just watched DVR programming. All of those Charmed episodes and Adult Swim Cartoon Network saved meant I had plenty of stuff to watch. I even made sure to pack my change of clothes and the rest of my stuff in my PC bag before bedtime. I was finally tired enough and ready to turn in at 3am and await the coming of daylight.

Softball and Barbecue
Saturday morning I awoke around 10am, ate delivery breakfast and we saw on the TV the accident at the NJ side of the Lincoln Tunnel which meant our normal path to the Jersey fields was cut off. We left the house before 11am and ran into traffic as soon as we came out of the Battery Tunnel. After it took us almost 10 minutes to go 2 blocks we headed over to Church street and dodged all of the drivers who were taking the Holland Tunnel as the Lincoln alternate. Larry called on the phone to let us know that the GWB bridge was the way to go and after calling back Glenn to make sure of our connections and pulling out the laptop to verify the directions on the Route 66 Map software and I knew we had to go from GWB to Local exits to Route 80, past Hackensack and onto the Garden State Pkwy. Once we were on the Garden State the trip was just as fast as if we had come through the tunnel. We pulled up to the park and found the municipal lot spot to park the car and then we headed into the park. After I stopped with Hal to put money in the meeter for the Jimmy (Hal got a broken meter) I took a trip down to the check cashing place to pick up some change. I put money in the Murano meter and Donnie's meter I then said hello to Larry and headed back to the check cashing place to pick up quarters for Larry's car. Since the check cashing lady had been so nice I bought her a cup of coffee. Back at the field I ate my Milky Way bar and Russ had one also before the games started. The first two BASL softball games were between the Buddies and the Expos. After getting left behind at first the team did the Buddies did the come from behind win and made sure to pull it out and get the runs to win the game. The second game was also close but was a matter of making sure the Expos did not catch up after building the lead. I ran out to the cars and filled up 4 parking meters before heading back to see the games. The double header over, we moved onto the game against the Titans. The other team built an early lead but then at the end the team came together and made a nice run to catch up and pass the other team. So the Buddies were able to go up 3 wins for the day. Thanks to stringing together some hits and great fielding by Barbara and our outfielders our team was still in first place. After all of our re-shuffling we carpooled and grouped to head back to Larry's for our backyard barbecue. After Donnie passed us we decided he was the best person to follow to Larry's but he was not the the best person to drive behind especially going onto the Garden State Pkwy but we made it with no fireball crashes and pulled onto route 3 and onto Larry's. All parked and inside everyone took their turns starting the chill-out and some taking showers in one of the two available showers. I stayed well hydrated myself between soda and juice and enjoyed a great meal of ribs, pasta salad and cole slaw. Members on the team enjoyed the food, the music from the cable radio 80's station, and the hot tub, which was enjoyed both with shorts and without. I also had great conversations with Hal, Jonah, Donnie and Dave's other half. Later on in the night after filling off two different bottles of Grey Goose Donnie and I made a run down to Shop Rite to pick up a bottle of Ketel One. After I got back home I showered and changed clothes myself and then hung out for a bit before 11:20pm rolled around. After saying all of our goodbyes it was off the road and onto the highway heading back to Route 3 and then the Lincoln Tunnel. After listening to the pop CD par tway home I switched over to the R&B Rap CD before getting dropped off by Russ at 18th Street and making my way down the street.

In Da Club
I walked down the one block and made my way over to the line and said hello to Derek and headed inside. After armband, cashier and coat check it was inside to see the Midori sponsored Babylon Party at Roxy. The decor was city skyline and the crowd was definitely coming in to hear the beats and spin of DJ Manny Lehman. I did not find any of my friends at first but found Dwayne and his friends and headed to the bar before making my way back to the dance floor. Later on I hung out with Keith and his friends and gave him a copy of my "DivaSpring" CD. Manny once again kept the crowd in the music with the Offer Nissim mix of "Fascinated", Donna Summer "Power of Love" and MJB "Be Without You". But I had to overcome a little fatigue at the beginning of the night before I was fully into the groove and dancing on boxes starting at the back across from the stage and the box next to the stage and the stage itself. I also had to get used to new hand lights I had just received in the mail. They were nice and bright but one was not as stable as I would like so I switched to the backup of the old lights so had one old and one new and proceeded to dance like I usually did. I will say that I did enjoy the night but despite some nice drinks from bartender Louis I still would not rate the night as high as Manny's last visit but still better than most and the crowd was definitely there with me till the end of my night. I danced on the speaker near the door and finally called it a night at 4:30am and after retrieving my jacket I picked up a magazine and walked over to 10th ave and walked right into the taxi that could take me home to Bklyn. The driver took directions well and I was back home with no problems. Nice busy Saturday and a nice cap off of a Saturday night. I guess it ended up friend heavy at the beginning of the day and afternoon and night and after midnight just the bartender and 2 friends at the end. Not much but it was enough for me.

Sunday was all about the recovery.
I watched TV and DVR programming while Russ did some work and pretty much stayed in. Delivery Breakfast to start with and then Russ brought home the pick up Dinner from The Good Fork. The bun on the hamburger was different yet again but it was still a good burger and Russ made sure to get a side of onion rings as they are so good the little bit we usually got with the burger was not enough. The Sopranos was good but we are looking forward to a more dramatic show next week as everything seems to be coming to a head. After Russ went to bed I watched some more DVR programming and ate a bowl of Rice Krispies before turning in to go to bed myself.

I think back to the party at Larry's and was very glad I went not just because I had been missed for the previous two weeks but also for the great conversations I did have talking about relationships, hanging out and plans for the summer. I felt that a lot of people were glad I was there and I even got to take pictures with Barbaras camera since mine does not seem to want to take daytime pictures anymore. Again, if I can help just one person to have a better time and to make my friends happy then that is what I plan on doing. I don't want to be the drag on the party but the firestarter and the life that is. Until Next Time. Keep it poppin.

Friday Night I got home and enjoyed delivery dinner from Friends Cafe, Russ decided on the Steak, I had the Pot Roast myself. Nice juicy chunks of meat, not too greasy or undercooked. I would dip them in the mashed potatoes and enjoyed my dinner nicely. Afterwards I finished up setting up my CDs to give out later that night and moved on to cleanup. After the haircut and shower were over I checked to see if Russ was ready and after finishing up the last CD printout we headed down to the Murano and took off for the city. The night was particularly balmy with no jacket required. We headed up Hudson street and dodged all of the Cinco de Mayo revelers and made our way up to eight ave. Russ found a spot just 2 blocks up from the club and we parked and made our way over to the bar. Gym was nice and full with plenty of people watching the NBA playoffs, MLB games for NY teams and UFC cage match playback on the screen in the rear. I said hello to the bartender in the front and moved through the crowd inside before saying hello to a few friends inside. Ernesto even stopped by briefly and said hello before him and his posse headed back out to Long Island. I made my way to the back and said hello to DJ Smoky and gave him the "Lighter Dayze" lounge mix along with the "Pop and Ride". Ty wasn't working tonight so one or our other friends got a gift CD of R&B/Rap music. We stayed until around 1:20am and after telling everyone good night we headed back to BK to rest up for the next day.

I had to wake up early, just before 8am so I could be out of the house and arrive at my bus over in Flatbush, BK on time. Russ had a late afternoon game so he was able to sleep in a little longer. I walked down to the taxi stand and was directed right back outside so that I could get into a white livery car that the driver had just finished getting cleaned. I had printed out directions just in case but after telling the driver the cross streets he had a pretty good idea. He brought me over by way of Atlantic Ave but he had driven down too many streets and had to come back like 4 blocks after turning onto the right street. We pulled over not too far from where the bus was and I said hello to Shamika's Aunts and a few others shortly before Shamika arrived herself. We took a short trip to the store to pick up some orange juice before we all boarded the bus and waited a few minutes before Lynda arrived. After all of the supplies were packed into the bus overheads and the front seats and everyone was on board we were on our way. We drove through Flatbush and then Borough Park and I watched all of the Jewish men and women walking out in the streets in their black finery. Before the speed of the bus picked up too much they handed out food and juice to all on board and everyone got their breakfast underway before we were even on the highway. We made good time until we got onto the BQE before the Manhattan Bridge and drove in moderate traffic until we passed the Battery Tunnel which put us into a nice little plug of cars that all appeared to be heading out towards Staten Island. After we got to Staten Island we made pretty good time and headed over the Outerbridge Crossing and into NJ and then the Garden State Pkwy before heading down the road deep into NJ and the shore points. The in bus movie for the trip down was "Madea's Family Reunion" The movie was good despite the DVD being a bootleg which had its own laugh track and people getting up and walking in front of the screen. I liked the movie and it put me in a good mood before we arrived in Atlantic City. We arrived and disembarked from the bus at 12:25pm and I met up with Shamika, her cousins and friend and the five of us headed over towards the outdoor mall and shopping strip not too far away. The shopping jaunt ended up being not as fun as we originally had expected as none of us found too much to get excited over and did not buy too much (which might be a good thing, but anyway). We all did like the guess store and I ended up picking up a T-Shirt to wear the following weekend. With all of us with bags in hand from the various shoe stores, Sephora and Guess we headed over to Ruby Tuesday to have ourselves a nice sit down lunch. After a 20 minute wait for a table we ordered our food and waited another 20 minutes before it arrived. When it did come the food was actually very good and we were all happy with our meals. We commented on the oddities in the various pictures as well as the fact the bill was automatically split up by seat so we did not all have to guess what we needed to pay. The meal was not that expensive and was a nice size for the individual dishes we had ordered (I had a bacon cheeseburger that was very good). From salads to chicken everyone enjoyed what they ordered. After that was over we headed back to the Sands casino and after some problems with using our cards we gambled away our various $20 in different machines. I won $13 at first but quickly spent it back in the machine. After that was over I found a seat to sit outside for a bit and then went to the CVS and picked up a Milky Way candy bar to eat when I got back on the bus. I then waited for a bit with the old people in the lounge before our bus finally came up. Everyone piled in pretty easily and we were underway after a much shorter wait then when we started out and we were rolling out and on the way back to NYC. The on bus movie on the way back was "Scarface" which was quite a change from the movie on the way down but since no one else complained I guess it was OK. The movie was a little loud though so I kept on waking up when someone was shot or a particularly loud argument broke out on screen. After the movie was over we sat in traffic in Staten Island for a bit heading into the city and then we were in Brooklyn and quickly back to the neighborhood we started in. After we all got off of the bus the 5 of us in our little shopping clique walked down to the corner and waited for a bus for a bit before the first bus came the one girl riding by bus home said goodnight and headed home. The rest of us flagged down a taxi in the sudden night chill to take us over to Shamika's neighborhood several blocks away. The ride was not too smooshed despite the 5 people in the car and we had a nice cab driver. After Shamika and the girls got out and said good night I asked the driver to take me back over to Park Slope, He drove down Vanderbilt and then over to Grand Army Plaza and down Prospect Park West to get over to my neck of the woods but we made good time and I was out of the car and saying thanks after just a $15 dollar cab ride. I was upstairs and in the house by 10:15. Russ was resting but I cleaned myself and re-outfitted as he called and made sure that the Jimmy was also going out and we hung out for a bit before Jimmy came around 10:45pm. We headed out at 11:10pm and made our way into the city.

No Nintendo DS for me this night as I had killed the battery in all of my Tetris play earlier in the day. The ride wasn't that bad and we found a parking spot over on 20th St. and after some backing up into another spot we were ready to head out.

I walked down to the Roxy and waited a brief moment on the short line before heading inside. I said hello to doorman Derek and then headed inside to the cashier and coatcheck. I gave the girl at coatcheck my latest "Listen 2 The Street" R&B mix and took the rest of the CDs inside to be handed out shortly. I did not want to have to carry them all night so I walked up to the DJ booth and got Mitch Amtrak's attention and he came down and opened the door. I told him the top CD was a gift for him and the other 3 were for DJ Chad Jack. He seemed a little reluctant at first like I was handing out devil music CDs but he said thanks and took them back inside the booth and I headed to the back bar with barman Louis. We exhanged hellos and talked for a bit before I brough back Russ and the Jimmy to get their drinks. We started the eve with the same mood as always with a lot of expectation and I liked the energy and familiarity of the beats as we heard the very familiar "The Lover That You Are" which had been out 10 yrs ago but was still appropriate with the right beat behind it. The music moved on and we moved around the club. I stopped and talked with Sean and Rick for a while and discussed where they were from and how long they had been in NYC before telling the same about myself. I decided not to monopolize their time before heading to the front and bumping into T.J. at the front bar. He picked up a bottle water for me and I went out to dance with the crowd. I was on the dance floor for a bit with Russ, the Jimmy the rest of the dancefloor crowd before I danced on the stage for "Dibiza". As usual Chad did some great preparations and gave us a very good set and kept the crowd dancing and feeling the groove. The electro heavy beats were held together than the last few sets by Merritt and had enough familiar tunes thrown in that we were happy and I stayed until 4:30am and danced my last dance on the box near the front bar to "Someone to Hold". The extended version was unnecessary as it has a long slow interlude in the middle but I hoped my gift CDs give him some new musical ideas for the next time he visited. I even had given out my new business cards with my email address on them and not just the phone #s and blog address. We said goodnight to the Jimmy and I picked up my coat at coat check and headed out into the night. Having picked up the magazines the previous night at Gym Bar I was able to just head out, pick up random flyers from the glad hand guys and get Russ to flag us down a taxi on 10th Ave. The ride home was quick and uneventful. Goodnight Saturday Night.

Sunday I woke up around 12pm and got my delivery breakfast and began to clean house. Rug vacuumed and bathroom cleaned I sat down and watched some tv and web surfed. Russ and I watched NBA Playoff games before we got our call from Cherie telling us she would be over soon. Cherie arrived around 3:30 and we hugged hello and then sat on the couch and talked about all the stuff we needed to catch up on since we had seen her last. She was looking nice and big entering her 7th Month of baby carrying but she was looking nice and maternal and looking forward to July when it would be over. We headed out for dinner around 5;30 and Russ called ahead before we picked up our dinner at The Good Fork. I stuck with the burger while he picked up something else. Cherie wanted chinese food so we stopped at Uncle Liao's on the way home. Once back inside we all chowed down and Cherie enjoyed the first good chinese food she's had since she moved to her new neighborhood. She took the leftovers home with her along with the food we had picked up at Pathmark and we said our good nights before she left and headed back home. I chilled out for a bit and took a short nap before watching the Sopranos. The episode was good but not great and afterwards Russ cleaned up some more before heading to bed. I watched DVR programming and had a nice big bowl of rice krispies watching TV before turning in myself before it got too late. Always hate starting off the week in a sleep deficit.

I was able to hangout and meet some nice new people while with Shamika. Had fun telling jokes and seeing the sights while in AC. I also was able to navigate my way back home afterwards and had plenty of energy to hang out and do the usual do. I am feeling a little more upbeat despite the struggles with allergy season and have big plans for the rest of the year. Stresses at work mean that I am really going to have to get serious on either writing my novel or starting up my DJ gig. What to do, what to do. Anyway keep up the good work and do something serious though not work related every day. All is as it should be. But not as good as it could be. We'll see.

Another full weekend to look forward to next week and a good time will be had by all.

4/28-4/30 - Friday Night at Standard, Saturday Night at Roxy, and Always With Friends in the Place II

The Friday end finally arrived. The last day at work for Rene and Donzel and the tearful send offs were all in place. I thought they would do the last hang late in the day but they both left before it got too late and were gone midafternoon. I was still preparing myself for the afterwork hang with Mitzi downstairs at Ole and was very happy to see many had stayed until 7pm and got a few drinks with the guys and girls before I headed back upstairs grabbed my Target bag and headed home. I had finally remembered my full allergy set of not just generic Claritin but also Sudafed which when taken together with the antihistamine calms down my rampant seasonal tree allergies. It only took me two weeks of nose stress and headaches to remember this. Anyway once home I at leftover chicken Caesar salad for dinner and watched DVR programming of "Charmed" before Russ returned from his gym workout and ordered ! his own dinner from Jack's. We watched basketball playoffs and mostly chilled out before Russ went to bed to rest up for his triple header on Saturday. I decided that since I was not planning on being trapped out on the Randalls Island for 3 straight games I would spend the evening getting sufficiently tired out that I could sleep late on Saturday morning. I finished cutting my hair around midnight, took a shower and got my clothes changed and stepped out in the Tommy Hilfiger cargo pants and the G-Unit heavy tee. Address firmly in mind I walked over to the taxi stand and was picked up by a waiting driver on the street who was more than happy to take me into the city at 1:30 am. I arrived at Bassline at Standard around 2am no trouble finding Van Dam at all. (The driver actually knew where the street was and even knew which street to approach to avoid the one-way). I got on line, showed my ID and was inside. The place seemed sm! all at first but I got my drink at the bar and then headed up the spir al staircase and was immediately engulfed in the mass of people populating the upstairs room. Even though there seemed to be no where you could really get out of the direct press of bodies or the line of sight of the speakers the music was not at earbleed levels so anyplace you went you could hear the beats and feel the crowds energy. The place was very packed but I made my way over to the alcove near the DJ booth next to the bar and struck up conversations with Billy Carroll and Chad Jack, two of my favorite DJs to move a crowd. They were both very friendly and Chad even got my email address so he could send me a remix. I split my time between upstairs and downstairs at the bar and got nice and toasty dancing with the crowd but without any real peaks that would wear one out. The crowd was a nice mix of a cross section of Soho types, gay boys, hipster girls and people who thought they were entourage enough to be someplace hip. I only glimp! sed DJ Junior Vasquez on the decks in passing but the beats sounded like him and the crowd was living for it so it was good enough for most. I decided to leave around 4:30 since I was light on alcohol and still had plans for the next night. I was glad I had checked out the space but missed the fact that besides the DJs I did not really see anyone that I knew. I was able to get my coat from coatcheck rather easily and then walked just one block downtown to the next corner and with relative ease I flagged down a taxi that agreed to take me back to BK. The driver was friendly, the ride was quick and cheaper than usual (not as far uptown) and I got home around 5am. Another night on the town handled and I made it back safe and still engaged (in my surroundings).

Saturday I woke up briefly as Russ left the house to go to his games and I caught a few more winks before getting out of bed around noon to hang out in the livingroom and check out what was on the tube. A bowl of breakfast and I was happy to chill out,, watch some DVR programming and then do some shopping on iTunes and watch some Logo programming on travel to Dublin and to Thailand. I also received a call from Amy and fielded a call myself and left a message with Cherie letting her know that I had not heard from her in a while and hoped she was doing well. Russ finally called back late afternoon to tell me the team had one all 3 games. Two come from behind victories and the team was on a high place and very happy. We decided to get burgers at The Good Fork and after printing out directions to Red Hook I ran downstairs hopped into the Murano and we trekked over. I directed right instead of left but then af! ter we turned around we found the hidden section of Red Hook that housed the people eating out and the spot we were looking for. The place was small and for Fridays and Saturdays they require reservations but because we were taking our order to go we just took seats at the bar and waited for the cook up. The burgers were done in short order diner speed and we took our bags and left for home. The burgers were just as good as we expected and we marked it up as worth the trip. The bread was doughy like a fresh baked yeast roll and the burger was juicy and flavorful. We were also happy to have gotten the last ones coming off of the grill due to a developing smoke ventilation issue they had in the restaurant kitchen. Dinner out of the way we relaxed and spent the rest of the evening messing with music CDs and watching basketball highlights. Russ was too tired and too stiff to head out with me so I was going out alone.

I just missed the train and waited at the taxi stand for 20 minutes before a driver pulled up and took me into the city. We discussed gas prices and other current events and I got to the city with no issues as he let me off on the corner of 10th ave and 18th street.

There was a line in front of ROXY but I was able to step over past the main line to the second line and get waved in by Derek. I got my ID checked and then dug in my pocket and picked out a "Spring Storm X" mix CD and enjoyed his look of surprise and a Thank You before I turned and headed inside. After I had my armband and ticket from the cashier I was inside and waited a moment for my coat check friend to return since I knew she was in. She was nice enough to take my coat for me and I headed inside to check out the crowd. One of my friends commented that his friends thought the place was kind of empty but they never had arrived at Roxy so early before so I told them this was the usual and pointed out the crowd around the front bar and behind the couches and at the back bar. I found my bartender Louis at the front bar and even though for some reason he was taking longer to get through his crowd than usual I waited until he was free and said hello. With drink in hand (Absolut Mandarin and Red Bull) I said hello to Erica who had thoroughly enjoyed my "Lighter Dayze" lounge mix CD and I then gifted her with the "DivaSpring" CD. I also said hello to Duane who was also happy to hang and told me he appreciated my intermittent company as we hung out behind the couches for a bit before I went to dance in on the speaker in the asian section. We met up again and wandered back to the front bar to pick up drinks and I spent the rest of the eve trying to move with the maddening crowd and yet not quite give myself over to it. On my way back to the front I ran into Brett and his crowd even though I suspected from friend sitings earlier that he was in fact in attendance. He decided to wait until later for me to get his own copy of the "Spring Storm X" CD and so I did not have to rush out to the coat check just yet. DJ Peter Rauhofer was celebrating his birthday with us this eve but besides snatches of "How Do You Say" and a few other familiar beats such as Wonderbox (Turn Me Over) I did not find the music even close to what he had done for us when he plays in other cities and very reminiscent of the wall of sound approach he did at the Black Party but without the good song selection. Around 2am I also made sure to give Cathy her very own copy of "DivaSpring" when she had a moment between drinking customers and she Thanked me as well. I will have to say that I found a pretty good spot near the stage in the back to watch the performance by Maya (the Offer Nissim vocalist and songwriter) but her songs were a big slowdown from the rest of the beats of the night and she should have just stuck to 2 songs instead of 3 as it seemed to go on for too long. I left the stage area in the middle of the last song (and missed the CD giveaways) but knew I had most of the songs from Star 69 Records that I wanted from that 2-CD anyway. I watched over the crowd for a long while and then headed out to the coatcheck to get Brett's CD and held it in the cargo pocket and went ahead and danced some more. I said hello to promoter Lisa and stepped up onto the box near the door and waited for the music to get better. When I figured out that the music was not going to peak and play anything beyond random snatches of familiar beats but no real vocals I let myself enjoy it anyway and finally lit my hands and danced over the crowd for a bit before finally calling it a night around 5:30 am. Brett had walked up around 5am and said that he was leaving and he was able to walk out with his gift CD then but I tried and waited for the music a little bit more and finally had to give up and go home. After retrieving my coat from the coat check and saying good night to my friend there I went outside and walked over to 10th Ave. The cab pulled up and waited in front of me so I asked him if he was taking passengers and could he go to Brooklyn. I then climbed in and rode all the way home with no stress and fairly quickly. It was already starting to be light out but I really didn't need the sunglasses yet. I got into the house, cleaned up and went to bed. Another Saturday Night all wrapped up.

Sunday Morning I awoke but decided it was too early and slept until after 1pm. I definitely needed the rest after my long weekend but after digging into my delivery breakfast. After that I got dressed up and we piled into the Murano to drive up to Bronx. Russ was visiting with his family for a bit so I tagged along for the ride and to listen to my new Pop CD in the car "Pop and Ride" The tunes were good and except for some pacing at the end I had finalized the playlist for that CD. After the ride up I read the end of my Simon Greene novel and then played Tetris on my DS. On the way back we listened to the CD again and got off of the highway in a crush of traffic (fire near the exit at a fire house) and drive through the neighborhood for a bit before heading over to Dallas BBQ and picking up dinner. The food came pretty quickly and I was back out and headed for home in short order. We watched Fox programming for a bit before catching the Sopranos. After that was over Russ did some work in the office so I watched the movie "Final Fantasy: Advent Children" which was a great CG film that I definitely enjoyed. The movie was well done and I can definitely see some more films by Square to show off animation power that they are. After that was over I settled in to watch DVR programming before finally slowing down my weekend and head to bed. Another weekend through but so much seen and done.

No real down parts with plenty of introspection and involvement with my friends. I look forward to next week with my trip to AC and a long Saturday ahead of me. Like the continued thought on being a force for good in my own sphere of influence. Also am looking to get more serious in my non-work related pursuits. At least one thing finished every day that doesn't have to do with work and everything to a life outside of work. I can waste hours online and doing nothing or I can work to do things that will improve my chances of being among the content and happy in the near future. Keep up the good work.