It’s “Sixpack Monday” which means it’s the night of the week where I go out to a certain area in New York, take six photos and then match them up with songs that I think reflect the photograph for whatever reason. I’m still working a combination dayshift and nightshift and it was a rough day today, so I’m pretty fried. Even though it’s Monday, it’s Fried Day for me. Oof, I’m so tired I’m reduced to writing bad jokes like that. Anyway, just like last week, instead of going to a certain part of the city, I’m just going to take shots on my way home and see what I get. And you’re welcome to come along.
---------------------------------- Bonus Photo From Gidget and A Link To East Village Corner! The coolest DJ in the world, Gidget from Woody Radio sent in this photo of a mutant relative of Cardboard Box Man, he’s everywhere! Be sure to check out Gidget on Woody Radio and don’t miss her and “Boris’s” show, The Secret Weapon. And speaking of CBBM, Melanie from the blog, East Village Corner had her own Cardboard Box Man sighting, check it out here. Thanks, Gidget and Melanie!
Chain stores and restaurants continue to overtake Manhattan. One of the reasons I wanted to live here was to escape places like 7-11, T.G.I. Fridays, Bed, Bath and Beyond and Trader Joe’s, but now you can spit in any direction and hit one of those generic stores. One of the latest places to invade the city is an IHOP on 14th street. So far, I’ve avoided walking by the place and was pretending it wasn’t there, but I’ve been inspired by the movement on Wall Street and I knew one thing had to be done: Occupy IHOP! And I’m not going there alone. This whole thing was suggested by fellow EV Grieve commenter and blogger, Lux Living and I’m meeting him and his partner in front of the Blarney Cove for pre IHOP drinks, so let’s be on our way.
And we're off, it's a straight shot down 14th Street to the Blarney Cove. A path I've walked many times in my life.
And here we are at the Blarney Cove. I met Lux and his partner in front, but they didn't want to be photographed because: A. They're camera shy. B. They’re wanted by the law. C. All of the above. D. None of the above. E. Nobody told me there was going to be a pop quiz here today, this sucks!
They don't like you taking pictures in here, but I snuck this shot. The bar was pretty empty since it was Sunday night.
After a few drinks we made our way to IHOP. As you can see, they're not shy about signage on the block.
Inside the dining room has a brightly lit, interrogation room/shiny abortion feel to it.
And here's the booth we chose to occupy, Gumby is the first to take hold of the booth.
And the protest begins!
Corporate pancakes suck! Telling it to the man!
Huh?
Aaaahhhh!
As long as we were occupying the booth, we decided we may as well look at the menu. Yikes, someone get this stack of pancakes a Tampon before they bleed all over the eggs!
Lux ordered the Philly Cheesteak sandwich and onion rings, which we guessed is nothing more than a well-decked sandwich made up of Steak Umms and processed cheese. I do want to take a moment here and note that our waitress, April and all of the people that work here are super nice and friendly. It doesn't make up for the food or the fact that an abortion like IHOP is here, but whatever gods are out there, please have mercy on the staff of people that have to work here. I ordered a pancake...
Live, from New York, it's Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Tonight's host is Neptune in the East Village with special guests, The Duncester, Sarah, Doug and Corrine and featuring the Ready for Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. Ladies and gentleman, please welcome, Neptune!
Man in kilt alert!
Man in kilt alert two! There must be a convention in town or something. Nobody ever tells me anything!
And here we are at the Neptune restaurant. I'm meeting some people here tonight, but I'm about a forty minutes early so I can take some pictures before they get here. I've learned that when you socialize, it's easy to forget about pictures and the blog can suffer, so I'm here early to give you a pre-dinner tour of the place.
Here's some of the specials of the night. I think I'll pass on the pigs knuckles, I had them for breakfast.
Here's the front dining room.
And here's the longer dining area off to the side.
And there's a nice counter area in the back, where I thought I'd have a beer and relax before everybody shows up.
And just like magic, the lovely Evalina pours me a beer.
I got a bottle of Zywiec beer. It's a Polish beer and it's delicious and loaded with alcohol. Perfect for a Saturday night! I decided right then and there to have several more.
Signs for take-out specials and juices hang on the wall behind the counter.
This man is grilling onions on the griddle and I have to admit, I'm very entertained watching this.
And poof, like magic, it's dinner time. From left, Doug, Yours Fooly and The Duncester, who's made a couple of appearances on MAD in the past. It was a great dinner and the conversation topics ran from Paul Revere and the Raiders, to the Fugs, to Ballet, to jail and everything in between. Thanks to the Duncester for orchestrating the get together. Sarah and Corrine chose to stay out of this picture. Look at those three mugs, can you blame them? Thanks to everyone for meeting up for dinner, I had a great time!
Oh, I almost forgot, it's Cheeseburger Saturday Night, so I need to show my weekly burger. I got the turkey burger with cheddar cheese and it was delicious, read the review below. Goodnight everyone and see you tomorrow after dark.
My Meal I got the turkey burger and it was delcious. It was topped with cheddar cheese and I always say that the bun can make or break a burger and this one was bakery fresh. A great burger for sure.
In addition to the turkey burger, there’s over a dozen varieties of burgers to be had at the Neptune including: a bacon cheeseburger; mushroom burger; feta burger and a vegetarian burger. Some of the entrees on the menu include: Beef Goulash; Breaded Pork Chops; Honey Dipped Chicken and Fresh Brisket. Staying true to their Polish roots, Neptune offers Handmade Pierogi, Fresh Blintzes, Potato Pancakes and a Polish Sampler plate which includes three pierogies, stuffed cabbage or stuffed pepper and Polish kielbasa.
Bonus Photos From Occupy Amsterdam! Mad pal and commenter Ruben Dutch sent in these photos from Occupy Amsterdam. Nice to see the movement going international. Thanks for the photos, Ruben, love the last one, especially!
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Bonus Kilt Photos From Jaws!
Jaws sent in a couple of men in kilt photos he found on the internet. Thanks Jaws...I think.
I’ve always been a big fan of David Letterman. When he had his morning talk show I used to call in sick to work just to watch it, because there was nothing else like it on TV at the time. One thing I used to love (and sadly, it’s something he stopped doing) is when he’d film segments of him just fucking around on the street. I was thinking about this today and thought of one of my favorite on the street segments he did. I went to YouTube and sure as shit on a shiny shingle, there it was. And I found out that both of the places he went to are still here in New York. Even though they’ll both be closed by the time I get there, I thought it would be fun to recreate the bit on MAD. Afterwards I’ll post the original clip. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Late NIght With MAD!
Okay, we're here on the Upper East Side and the name of this store is Just Bulbs. I'm curious as to what else they sell besides just bulbs.
Wow, that is one bright window. I just burned out half of the retina in my left eye after staring at it for seven seconds. Put on your safety glasses and let's go take a look at what they sell here.
Well, so far it appears that all they sell is...
Just bulbs.
How many Just Bulb employees does it take to change a bulb in your home or office? Call them and find out, I'd ask, but they're closed for the evening.
Hey look, is this Halloween candy? Oh, no, it's...
Just bulbs. Wouldn't you think a place that sold light bulbs would also sell shades? I guess if you want shades you need to find a store called...
Just Shades.
And they live up to their name. The front window is filled with shades.
Here's a look inside the store through the window. I thought that maybe they'd offer a variety of items, but it appears that they only sell...
Just shades.
And a glimpse of the side window confirms it. All you can get here is...
Just shades.
Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
UPDATE: I just got an email from former Late Night writer, Merrill Markoe, I asked her if she wrote this bit and she did! I encourage all of you to buy her upcoming book, Cool, Calm and Contentious via Amazon.
Here’s the original clip from the old David Letterman show. It’s within a compilation of street scenes, look for it at 1:41 minutes into the clip.
------------------------------------- Bonus Photo From CSP! MAD commenter csp found this disturbing image on top of a coffee cup. He’s back and he’s caffeinated...aaaahhhh!
Once again I was going to do something different tonight, but then I heard news that Mayor Bloomberg is ordering the protesters at Occupy Wall Street out of the park tomorrow so they can clean it. They are going to be allowed back in, but this time they are being told you can’t bring back tents, camping gear, sleeping bags, tarps or coolers. Another, “new” rule is that you can’t lay down in the park. The park is owned by Brookfield Properties and they claim they’ve received complaints that the park is now unsanitary.I was there a week ago and it seemed pretty clean and orderly to me, but let’s go check it out tonight and see what’s happening and just how unsanitary it really is.
It's a misty night with light rain falling down as I head downtown to check out Occupy Wall Street.
And here we are, there's a big crowd in the park tonight, as I expected.
The park is overflowing with people in support of Occupy Wall Street.
Some are peacefully sitting and discussing what to do if the city and cops try to empty the park tomorrow to clean it.
Others are taking action and cleaning the park, so they can stay.
Tarps are being folded and stacked for the night.
This is cleaning gear that was donated. The protesters have been scrubbing the park all day and into the night.
Here's someone mopping the grounds. Let's go say hi.
His name is Andrew and he said he wasn't going to leave tomorrow. He then returned to cleaning the park. I told him to be safe.
It doesn't look unsanitary to me.
Gumby joins the movement! An historic moment!
Here's Gene who was flying the flag and taking a break on the steps. He said cops would have to drag him out of the park, but he would be non-violent about it.
Dear Abbie. Steal this sign.
No one's dancing with the glow in the dark hula hoop tonight. Maybe tomorrow. One can only hope.
Update: I just woke up and they’ve postponed the cleaning of the park. Bloomberg and the powers that be have blinked in this staring contest. Chalk one up for the people.The 99%.To be continued.
Just like Monty Python, I was going to do something completely different tonight. But just like the other week, when I got outside it was rainy and cold as well. I didn’t wear a jacket to work and I was freezing. Plus I’m feeling really burned out tonight. A guy I work with is on vacation so I’ve been going in early and working about twelve hours a day. I’m actually getting out early tonight and now that it’s so rotten out, I just feel like going home, which I did and it’s where I’m at right now. I haven’t screened a movie on here in a long time, so I thought that’s what we’d do tonight.
One of my favorite movies of all time is the documentary by D.A. Pennebaker called “Don’t Look Back.” In the film, D.A. Pennebaker follows Bob Dylan on a 1965 tour of England. Also featured in the film are Joan Baez, Bob Neuwirth, Dylan’s manager, Albert Grossman, Donovan and Alan Price, a keyboardist who had just quit the English band, The Animals.
It’s actually kind of like the first reality show as Dylan is filmed onstage and off constantly. Throughout the film it shows Dylan writing, hanging out in his hotel room, playing shows, traveling and playing mind games and putting people on, like in this interview with a writer from Time magazine.
This is a scene with Bob Dylan’s manager, Albert Grossman telling off the hotel manager, he’s quite the crabby appleton!
Here’s a hotel scene of Dylan meeting some rich family and then hanging out before the show with Alan Price.
Within the movie, they shot one of the first music videos for the song, “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” This video has D.A. Pennebaker and Bob Neuwirth discussing it.
And here’s some shots I took while watching the film for the 19,796th time. Don’t Look Back, just look at the photos. Don’t think twice, it’s alright.
It’s Tuesday and that means it’s time for the weekly hunt for a bar that uses swizzle sticks in it’s mixed drinks. Tonight I’ve chosen a bar up on the Upper West Side called Hi-Life Bar and Grill. I kept meaning to go there on my 365 Bar Crawl and never made it, so that’s tonight swizzle destination.
It's another really nice night out, I really like this time of year.
And here we are, The Hi-Life Bar & Grill. I love their neon sign. It looks pretty packed out here, I hope there's room inside at the bar.
Shit, it's really crowded in here. There's no seats at the bar and it would be tough to take any photos in here. Looks like it's time to take that lonely walk.
Let's see what we can find down the road.
This place doesn't look too bad, let's check it out inside.
Wow, the entire bar is open, let's snag a seat and get a drink. Could a swizzle stick be in our future?
We'll see in a moment. Here's friendly bartender Caesar mixing the drink up.
No swizzle tonight! They just use a straw. But it's friendly in here and I like the bar, let's take a look around.
Some of the lit up bottles behind the bar.
There's stools in front of the bar that look out onto Amsterdam Avenue.
Here's Lars who was seated at the front of the bar. He's from Oslo, Norway and is visiting New York to attend the Comic Con this week. Cheers, Lars!
Some of the beers on draft.
There's tables and chairs in the front corner of the bar with wall to wall windows overlooking the Upper West Side. Nice view in here.
And speaking of nice views, here's Elena who's just joined Caesar behind the bar. I told them I was going to title this photo, "The Beauty and the Beast," and Caesar was a good sport about it and told me to go ahead. So here you have it, "The Beauty and the Beast."
And an obligatory mirror shot and I'm out of here. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
Swizzle Stick? No swizzle stick tonight. Price of double gin and tonic: Fourteen bucks.
420 Bar & Lounge 420 Amsterdam Ave. (@ W. 80th St.) 212-579-8450
Mad commenter, Ragin' RR sent in this link about Google memorializing Gumby and the man who created him, Art Clokey on what would have been Clokey's 90th birthday. Biff also acknowledged it in yesterday's comments. Here's the link: Gumby!
It’s Monday and that means it’s the night where I go out and shoot a sixpack of photos and then match them up with a song that I think reflects the photo. I’ve been here at work for close to 12 hours, so I’m just going to wander around my work neighborhood for the photos.
It's really a nice night out. The perfect temperature and it's kind of quiet out around here. Time to start snapping.
After seeing my hot chili pepper photo from Sunday's visit to Sammy's Noodle Shop, EV Grieve and MAD reader Tom sent in this photo of a bowl of nuclear-looking red hot chili pepper soup he had in China. Below the photo and his explanation of what happened. Thanks, Tom!
I loved your post today about Sammy's, especially the part about the Sour Chili Pepper Soup. Seeing this, I'd thought you might appreciate a picture of a Chili Pepper Offal and Noodle Soup I unwittingly got four years ago in Nanjing, China. As I think you can see from the picture, "very spicy!" would understate how unbelievably hot this soup was. Four years later, I'm still recovering. ;)
It’s “Sixpack Monday” which means it’s the night of the week where I go out to a certain area in New York, take six photos and then match them up with songs that I think reflect the photograph for whatever reason. I’m still working a combination dayshift and nightshift and it was a rough day today, so I’m pretty fried. Even though it’s Monday, it’s Fried Day for me. Oof, I’m so tired I’m reduced to writing bad jokes like that. Anyway, just like last week, instead of going to a certain part of the city, I’m just going to take shots on my way home and see what I get. And you’re welcome to come along.
The hand of fate is on me now,
Whenever I'm dressed cool,
Get up, (get on up)
The coolest DJ in the world, Gidget from Woody Radio sent in this photo of a mutant relative of Cardboard Box Man, he’s everywhere! Be sure to check out Gidget on Woody Radio and don’t miss her and “Boris’s” show, The Secret Weapon. And speaking of CBBM, Melanie from the blog, East Village Corner had her own Cardboard Box Man sighting, check it out here. Thanks, Gidget and Melanie!
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