01/20-01/21 - Back in NYC - Dive Headfirst into your party

The Chelsea kit shirt (named for the London footballer team), L.O.G.G. cargo pants and the usual accouterments and we were ready to go. Russ was wearing his Arsenal Jersey for player Henry. After Russ and the Jimmy finished playing backgammon and we piled into the Explorer and headed into the city. A quick hello to Ty and then right to the parking space on 20th and waiting. I played Tetris on the DS until 11:45 and then it was time to head inside.

A quick hello to Derek and we were inside Roxy and ready to hang. I ran into Eddie who had not been out since I hung with him and TJ at Crobar. Erica and TJ showed up shortly after and we had our drinks and got the party started. Russ ordered the Jimmy and I a shot but I made sure we did not get any more besides the regular drinks. In short order we said hello to Rick, Pat, Shawn, Rob, Octavio, Tres and Dwayne and even took pictures. The party name was "Maneater" (hence the picture) for the Nelly Furtado song and even though she did not show up before I left I definitely did not feel cheated. DJ Peter Rauhofer kept the music and mood very good. Due to talking and hanging near the bar I did not start to really get my dance on until after 1am but I once I did it was all good all the time. An unexpected turn of Wonderbox and "Turn Me Over" along with hits by Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake and Beyonce. I did my final dance on the speaker near the door then stepped down and left feeling very good at almost 5am. Both magazines and coat in hand it was out into the night.

Sunday was recovery but despite a standing invite to the office buds to watch the HD, Russ and I ended up journeying down to the East Village and watching the end of the Bears/Saints game and the beginning of the Colts/Patriots game at a local pub. The wait was bad and the crowd was drunk but once we were seated we were happy with the appetizer chicken wings but the hamburger afterwards was raw in the center and not as good as the scarily shiny bun first suggested. After dinner was over it was good night to the boys and the drunk people and back to BK.

At least once I was home I got to see the end of the Colts/Patriots game and see the Colts finally jump that hump. Yes it will finally be Peyton in the Superbowl. See the teams in February.

So,
its back into NY for the party and boys are all right.

Until the next one...

London - 01/12-01/15

London (Yay)

Do's and Don'ts

Do get your Gatwick Express ticket at the Money Exchange counter to avoid the line at the ticket counter.

Don't expect to get through customs in time for a connecting flight unless you tell the staff to rush you through the line.

Do get something to drink outside of the terminal (the drinks in the terminal are twice as expensive as water or soda on the street).

Don't try and throw out any trash in the airport or on the train (there are no trash bins anywhere).

Do verify the street signs immediately upon leaving the Underground (tube) station to find your way to your hotel.

Don't use directions (left or right) for street directions as the streets merge and cross in twos, threes and fours.

Do get out and try the food that the locals have to offer (authentic English cuisine).

Don't order the hamburger unless you are a fan of the school lunch burger (premade patty microwaved and dry and tasteless).

Do get out and walk around and see the sights

Don't spend all day recovering from the 5 hour time difference and give in to the effects of Jet lag (Don't just sleep, get out and see stuff).

12/30-1/01/07 - Happy Happy New Year

Saturday Night

2 cans of Enviga and it was out into the night, riding into the city in the rented Mazda. (No Murano this week, the regular car returning soon) and arrival at the club just after 12 midnight and onto the short line at the cashier window. Once past the ticketing and coat check it was on into the party. Russ was not staying too late and I still had to look forward to another night of party on New Years Eve. I still came in on a really great party at Roxy with DJs Offer Nissim and Peter Rauhofer set to put on a marathon set for the people and get the crowd going. DJ James Anderson had the warm-up set before 1am when Offer Nissim took to the booth and the crowd was already in a high energy mood and the music was already great. However the crowd knew who they were there to see and when Offer appeared in the booth there was a surge or people onto the stage in front of the DJ booth and at first I was concerned for some sort of imminent collapse but knew the crew of the place had made a lot of changes since the last time to make sure no drama of that sort could occur. I had seen my friends on the dancefloor and joined into the vibe of the party, enjoying new mixes of "One Night Only" and all of the hits we associate with her remixes plus enjoyed the movement of the crowd and great beats. Everyone was friendly and I enjoyed myself immensely. Despite drama in the bathroom (too much pushing and not enough urinals) I enjoyed myself all the way till the end. Peter Rauhofer did not come onto the stage until around 5am and despite the desire to hear the newest remixes and stuff I had not heard, as well as the great mixing that Peter does in the late hours I knew I had to go before it was too late as I had even more partying to look forward to in less than 16 hours. Another quick visit to the bathroom before I headed out into the night (as quick as possible as something bad happened in there, something so horrible the smell still brings tears to my eyes and curse words to my lips as I wanted to grab the person responsible and bring them to security, but I digress). I left the club shortly after, got my ipod nano out and listened to workout music as I quickly flagged down a taxi and headed home to Bklyn.

Sunday
Could not stay asleep too long (those doggone Red Bulls) and was up for delivery breakfast and endeavoured to stay hydrated and healthy for the rest of the afternoon. Football and HD programming for the afternoon before it was time for dinner. Since I had skipped the chicken caesar the day before I was looking forward to the chicken salad for Sunday night dinner. Of course I still had a few hours to go before going out so it was time to clean up, get dressed and get ready to head into the city. Since we could not schedule a pick up we called at 8:40pm for a car at night and got a car right away. At 8:45 pm we were dowstairs and heading into the city at high speed with one of my usual car service drivers. We got to 28th street in just over 16 minutes and after a stop in the corner store it was over to the line wait in front of the bar. In spite of the mean words from the doorman about dressing up for the evening (my sneakers cost twice as much as the ones he was wearing) we were waved inside and checked over by security before we got our tickets and headed inside. The place was open in both rooms and Mike was on duty at the main bar and we were all good. Of course I did have to head back outside twice, once for Gary and again for Nathan but then once the whole squad was inside the party was really underway. Despite my stomach trauma I still had a good time,took great pictures and watched the boys talk to a whole lot of girls. DJs Chus and Ceballos took to the decks around 1am and the mood of the party got even higher as the dancefloor got more and more crowded. Russ decided he was leaving the party around 2:30am and then texted me from outside that it was raining. I stayed on at the party a little longer and after taking more pics and not being able to find anyone else and feeling the finality of party time of the weekend coming to a close I stopped by the mens room (no telling how long till I got home) and then picked up my coat at coat check and headed out.

Of course the rain was plenty cold and it wasn't easy to wave down a taxi outside at all. All the way over to 9th street, then down to 23rd then over to 7th avenue there were no taxis to be had and so almost half an hour after I had left the club I was down into the F Train station and getting a single ride ticket headed to Brooklyn. The train came pretty soon and I got back to Brooklyn pretty easy. Waiting for the R train in Brooklyn though meant I had to deal with the wind in the tunnels while wearing my rain soaked Columbia. I was cold. Once I got to my street it was a run through the streets to my house and a quick strip of all of the wet clothes. Russ was still awake but went to bed soon after my arrival. After a nice Airborne Hot toddy I was ready to go to bed myself. New Years celebrations over it was time to take a day to recuperate. I'm looking forward to it.

Sorry I've been slow to post..

I have still been doing fun stuff but have been distracted by shopping, the closing and re-opening of Roxy for the month of November, and of course real life. For the month of November I did go to Splash for the first and second Saturday of November and then Crobar. The second time we went to Crobar also went with Nathan and Gary.

The weekends were fun but a little less than my usual high standards of fun. I like going to Rox because I have fun with the widest selection of friends, have friends on the staff and also get the best music. While I did have good times at Splash and Crobar and danced on speaker at the former and the steps to the VIP in the latter it still wasn't to the extent of my dancing for the past 3 weeks. Peter Rauhofer, Roland Belmares, and then Peter Rauhofer again was plenty of reason to hang with friends, dance, dance and dance some more. My friends have been there hanging out as well. And thankfully I was able to dodge the colds and flu symptoms of the season (until today, Tues 12/19) and now staying home on a personal day that they job did owe me I decided to finally update my blog before it got any more out of hand with the silence.

I think the blog needs some more funny stuff to go along with the fun stuff so I will try to put some of that on here too.

Keep having fun guys. I'll be doing the same.

10/27 - 10/29 - Some Hallowed Evening , 2 Times.

Friday
After work I had originally intended to just rest up for my weekend but Russ and the Jimmy wanted to hang out and meet up with Jonathan at Gym bar around 9pm so after getting myself all freshened up and haircut I headed out and met up with them at 9:15 PM. A few drinks later and after hanging for a bit with DJ Smoky we headed out to the car and made our way over to Splash. We decided not to stay too long but had a good time all the way up till 2 am when Russ and I said goodnight to the Jimmy and Jonathan. Despite the rain we got a taxi on 6th ave fairly quickly and made our way back to BK.


Saturday
Went to the gym after delivery breakfast and worked out the muscles before taking part in weekend Wendy's. The guys had frescetta sandwiches while I had the grilled chicken. After lunch it was back to BK so that I could rest up for the night. Or so I thought. My phone went off and reminded me that I had a farewell dinner to attend in NJ. So it was a quick shower and change and rush out to the train and then the PATH. I checked with Saroj to make sure I had the place and time right and then I got there 30 minutes early so I wandered through the mall and picked up something for myself at Spencer gifts (magnetic). I then headed over to Dorians and met up with Doris and pretty soon Bruce and then the rest of the crowd piled in. The dinner was good if a little overpriced (expensive appetizers) and then we had the dinner payment drama. It too us like 20 minutes to finally count up all of the money even with the tip automatically included. Those damn pushy waiters trying to make us drink too much. Anyway I got a ride backm to the city with Terry and Marilyn and got dropped off at the train at Canal street and arrived back at home after midnight.

After a quick shower and cleanup I was ready to really start my night. My cop outfit was fully assembled from the new pants, new shirt and new NYPD baseball cap. Russ did the Army outfit and we got in the Murano and headed into the city. Parked in the lot and then after a quick hello to Derek I was inside to the crowded house that was Roxy. The line was packed and I stupidly forgot to use my JB card but still got inside and checked my coat and checked out the decor. They used those blowing cloth flame lamps over the dancefloor so the place had that fresh from the fire feel and the vibe over the place was nice and dark red. After I verified with Cathy that the time rollback would occur at 2am I split my time between the front bar with Jose and the back bar with Aisha. At the back I said hello to Paulina and she told me she liked me outfit. Back inside I said hello to Rob and Tres and took pictures with the blond twins. I also ran into Brett and gave him the BlackIce 3 CD and the Ultramix Fourplay CD since I had not seen him since the springtime. The place filled up early and the crowd shifted from front to back and then back again. I said hello for the first time to the Wonder Woman who I would again meet the following night and spotted many interesting outfits waiting for the judging and contest by Alan T. DJ Peter Rauhofer was on point from my arrival at 1am and on with tunes such as "Nosferatu" and "Spin Spin Sugar" along with his own mixes of "SexyBack" and "Jump". Jonathan rolled in and found us at the front bar and we crossed paths with him several times throughout the night. I even got Russ onto the dancefloor a few times and we danced with all of our friends from the front of the dancefloor to the back. I had a very good time and we stayed until 4:45 (with the rollback it was actually 5:45). Another great night with a packed house.

Sunday I woke up around noon, enjoyed delivery breakfast and watched some football. I did my part to re-hydrate and prepare myself for the night by DVR ing all of the programs I might miss later on. We picked up dinner at KFC around 7pm and around 8pm I cleaned up and then got the outfit ready. Since my attempts at fitting in the teeth on my canines was a failure I instead just made up my face and painted the teeth on (makeup is a cool thing) but of course this meant that my makeup on the lips was very fragile and would not last through a few drinks. Anyway the whiteface went over well and after making sure Russ got the photographic evidence I texted Rob and Tres to check on their whereabouts. They picked me up after 9:30 and we rode in the Mini-cooper into the city and up the west side. After circling the neighborhood we found a parking spot on 11th ave and headed inside of Crobar and the Alegria party. Security pondered my lights for a second but let me inside unscathed and we said hello to Pat once inside. He said the place was kinda empty (for starting at 8pm) but that just seemed because everybody decided to come out at 11pm. It also meant we got in quickly, checked our coats and were on the dancefloor fairly quickly. The music started old school club beats and the segued into the tribal beats we come to expect from DJ Abel. From songs like "Real Love" and then getting on the box in front of the terrace for "That Feeling" I was in a good mood from the very beginning. Of course I tore one of my lights so I made a mental note to reinforce them before my next event (clear tape). But I still had the other 3 lights so later on in the night I took to the terrace and danced to "Lola's Theme" before heading back to the dancefloor with the boys. As the dancefloor got crowded and hot they blasted us with jets of cold smoke and we huddled together to stay warm. Around 3am they did the costume contest with successive trips onto the stage with the contestants until finally the Wonder Woman won the top prize and danced in her stars and stripes cape for the crowds applause. Later on the crypt doors opened on the stage and the dancers stepped out of the caskets in their skeleton costumes with their endowments lit up with fiber optic and danced for crowds applause before another cold blast obscured the stage and the made their way offstage as the music continued. I was very happy I went in between conversations with Pat and Rob and even saying hello to Erik Rhodes and Liz Ligouri as she was taking pictures of the costume contest. I finally said goodnight to the guys at 5am and made my way to my cape and coat and then outside. A walk over to 9th ave and I was able to get a taxi home after waiting through just one traffic light change. The driver was fast and I got home in no time at all and woke Russ up to tell him I had a good time before finally getting tired enough to go to sleep myself.

Of course I could not stay asleep that long so I decided to call into work that I was coming in late and then actually went to work. Of course the fatigue caught up with me on Tuesday and I did not go to the gym until Wednesday but it was an all good weekend and I would do it again in a heartbeat. No reason to actually go out on Halloween Tuesday as I had partied down ahead of time and got that bug out of my system before the next week of work. At least I did not have to wake up as early as last week with school.

10/20 - 10/22 - The cold comes in the Night and so does Party Time

Friday after work I carried the bag I had bought at Kohl's and made my way back into the city. Russ was hanging with Nathan and Gary over at the Tribeca Grand Hotel. The weather had turned cold but my Nike jacket was warm enough to get me there but definitely not as warm as I wanted to be. I could not get a taxi but it wasn't too far to walk from the PATH station, just a long 15 minute walk up the street. After I found the guys at the bar we hung out for a bit, ordered some very simple veggie appetizers before finally deciding we needed to go out to dinner and go some place else to get it. We headed around the corner to Walker's and got a table right near the front door and had the very friendly wait staff keep us happy with drinks and good food. The hamburger was just as good as advertised and we all had a very good meal. After dinner we said goodnight to the guys and then Russ and I headed over to the Ave to flag down a taxi to take us over to the parking garage where the Murano waited to take us back to Brooklyn. Battling trucks and buses we got back to Brooklyn in short order and headed upstairs for a quick clean up and then time for sleep.

Saturday morning I woke up to delivery breakfast and watching TV. Russ was going to meet Nathan at the gym so I decided I would go too and we headed into the city to go to the NYSC near City Hall. Nathan arrived a short while later and we continued through the work out before we finished up and headed over to Wendy's for lunch. I got a Grilled chicken sandwich myself and the guys got Frescatta sandwiches which they said were quite good. After we said bye to Nathan it was back to Brooklyn to chill out for a while as afternoon drew to a close and the night settled in. I watched DVR programming and woke Russ up when it was time to order dinner and get the dinner delivery before it was time to clean up and get ready to head out. Russ decided he was going to stay home for a bye week so I was going to head out alone for the evening.

I was able get a car at the car service and headed into the city. No real traffic and I was able to get to the city pretty easily. Dropped off at the corner of 18th Street I walked over to the front of Roxy and after saying hi to Derek I headed inside. The rest of the month was 21 and over to enter and the party so the crowd took a while to pile in. I think part of the problem was that no one knew what to expect from DJ Merritt. On some nights he goes electro way too soon and sometimes loses the crowd part way through the night. I've enjoyed Merritt at Roxy from back when he used to open for Peter and even more-so after Peter was gone and he opened for himself. He seemed to be in a much better mood on this night however and the music was on point from the very beginning. We heard hits from Madonna "Jump" and "Nobody Knows Me" along with "Boost Your Metabolism", "Sexyback", "Let the Music Use You Up" and a whole lot of music that I thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately although the crowd enjoyed the music (the area around the bar was emptied out and the floor was full), there were other parties (Evolve with Victor Calderone) that some people were looking forward to and my friends Rob and Tres had invited me but I decided to stay at Roxy. After they left and took some of the entourage with them the dance floor developed quite a few empty spaces. The music was still good though and I myself stayed at the party until 5am before finally heading out to pick up my coat before heading out into the night. A short walk over to 9th Avenue and I found my car ride home and headed back to Bklyn for my well deserved rest.

Sunday I stayed in. No going outside for me. We had already picked up dinner fixings so I made Lasagna (which turned out most excellent by the way) but after dinner I did not feel like leaving the house so Russ picked up dessert at Baskin Robbins and brought it back. Since there was no "Wire" to watch on HBO due to the World Series we watched DVR programming and then the news and then it was time to shutdown the weekend and prepare for my week of school in Midtown. I so deplore waking up early multiple days in a row.