Okay, I realize the posts haven’t been so substantial lately, but it’s been rough trying to do this and having family in town. Yesterday was my niece Casie’s wedding to Anthony. I just wanted to hang out with my family yesterday and enjoy the day, so there’s just two photos. Everyone’s coming back to New York tonight, so this blog will start getting back to normal soon.
Here's my mom and dad with the bride and groom, Casie and Anthony Candarini.
After the wedding and reception I had a final beer in my parents hotel room. Upon leaving I saw this. Aaaahhhh!
Okay, not much time to blog today, my niece Casie is getting married at 3pm today and I have to get ready to go. Here’s a couple shots from yesterday in Brooklyn. Have a great weekend everyone!
It's a little rainy outside today.
And here we are at dinner. Clockwise: Yours Fooly, my brother-in-law Phil, my nephew Greg, my sister Terry, my niece Mary Beth, Dad and Mom.
And here's my ride home. I think somebody put something in my drink! Goodnight everybody and we'll see you tomorrow from Casie's wedding!
Gene sent in this frightening photo from Washington, DC. Another Cardboard Box Man Sighting! He details his encounter below the photo. Be very frightened everyone!
I got a chuckle out of this—I got off the train today in DC, and I strolled past this, sort of like CBBM sending me a message! It was exactly like this, I did not find him and pit him in this pose, this was exactly what I stumbled upon!
As I wrote yesterday, my family’s in town for my niece Casie’s wedding in Brooklyn this Saturday. I have a long weekend off from work and here’s a few snapshots of my travelings to Brooklyn.
And we're off, we're taking the R train to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
Looks like it rained today. I missed it, that's what happens when you sleep until three in the afternoon. But to my credit, I was up drinking beer and watching movies until six in the morning after my horrible night of work.
Bongo drums in Union Square Park.
Oh my god, check it out...
Someone actually reading a book and not texting or yammering away on a cell phone. Amazing!
And it's down into the bowels of the subway we go. It'll be nice to get out of this brightness.
Geez, look at the crowd. This is why I hate traveling around in "normal people hours."
At least there's not a long wait, here's the train. All aboard!
The car is crowded, but I managed to snag a seat.
Check out the Justin Bieber look-a-like. Do you know I've never heard a Justin Bieber song? And I may just keep it that way.
This guy's hypnotized by his cell phone.
So's this guy. Zombie meet Zombie. Ugh.
And through the magic of the internet you're spared a 47 minute ride to Bay Ridge watching people stare at cell phones and other texting devices.
And here's my mom and dad and my brother Tom, who's the father of the bride. Later we met my sister Terry, my brother-in-law Phil and Greg and Mary Beth, my nephew and niece. But I didn't bring my camera, so you'll have to take my word for it. You'll be seeing pictures of them in the next few days.
I took a car service back to Manhattan.
A shot of the Manhattan skyline as I head homeward bound. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
New York Memories I mentioned in yesterday’s post that today was my 18th anniversary of moving to New York and for the next couple of days while documenting my nieces upcoming wedding in Brooklyn, I thought I’d write some New York memories of when I first moved out here.
At the time I decided to move to New York, it was kind of a crazy thing to do. I found out I could cash in my pension plan from my job I had worked in Peoria, Illinois for 13 years and get over twenty thousand bucks which would help me get to New York City and live on freelance writing fees until I found a full time writing gig or a night time job. So I decided to say, “Fuck it,” and I cashed out my retirement fund and moved out here. The first persons I told of this madcap plan were my parents.
I was afraid they would think I was nuts and wanted to break the news to them first. I remember having dinner with them on a Wednesday evening, don’t ask me why I remember that it was a Wednesday, I just do, I’m weird that way. After dinner I told them I had cashed in my pension plan and was going to move to New York City and try to find a place for myself as a writer. After a brief pause my mom said, “Well if you don’t do it now, you may regret it years later.” My dad chimed in with, “And if things don’t work out, you can always move back here and start all over.” I have the coolest parents in the world and I always wonder why an asshole like me got lucky enough to have them. Thanks, Mom and Dad. You’re the best parents ever. It was nice to hang out with them in Brooklyn. More pictures tomorrow.
Okay, this is going to be a quickity blickity blog for today. It's after three in the morning and I just got home after working 13 hours. And twelve of those hours were filled with stress, anxiety, things going wrong, running out of material and work that just kept pouring in. The last hour I was too fucking tired to give a fuck anymore, but the only place I felt like going was home. I'm going to drink a shitload of beer and sleep in tomorrow.
The very good news is I'm off work tomorrow through the following Monday! My niece Casie is getting married in Brooklyn and my whole family is coming in for the celebration! There'll be photos and more about that in the next coming days. So I'm going to post a picture of Gumby, a Warren Zevon Nightcap and that's going to be all she wrote. There's beer to be drunk and a horrible day at work to try and forget.
Oh, and it's officially July 7th. 18 years ago on this day I moved to New York and wondered if I would last a full year. Hard to believe it's been 18 of them already! I have a short story I'm going to write about that, maybe it'll be up tomorrow. As Bongo once said, "Tomorrow never knows."
A shot of Gumby watching me toil at work. He feels my pain. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
MAD commenter, friend and former co-worker, Jason Hwang moved to France this week. His wife, Zioum Zioum sent in the following two photos along with this message: "Jason is ok! I put him in his cage with some beer!! hahahahhahaha!" Thanks Zioum Zioum, i'm glad he made it there safely! Uh, ask him to put some pants on next time!
Anybody who’s followed this blog for any amount of time is familiar with the fact that from time to time I whine, piss and moan about my night job and here I go again! Tonight really sucked puckered ass, and again I’m not going to blog about my job, but my head feels like it’s been squeezed in a vice for 10 hours while someone poured Tabasco sauce in my eyeballs till I cried out, "Uncle Charlie." I was tempted to go to one of my Fortress of Solitudes and sulk, but since I goofed off last night, I figured I should go out and do my duty.
Since it’s Tuesday, it’s the one night of the week I go to a bar and search for the elusive swizzle stick, in addition to getting some shots of the place, one of the bartender and maybe a few shots of the patrons in there. Since I had to work late, I thought I’d hit a bar nearby and then I remembered a bar from last year’s bar crawl that kind of got the short end of the stick last year. I had had a night even worse than tonight and was in no mood to do my bar crawl routine and so I didn’t. The bar is Mustang Harry’s and while it’s not the type of bar I would normally hang out at, I really didn’t give them much of a chance a year ago. I just slammed three beers, took a couple photos and went home. I got some shit in the comments for being such an asshole (although it was kind of tongue in cheek) and I promised I’d go back and document it a little better. So I thought that’s where I’d go for the swizzle stick bar night. Plus it’s just about two minutes away.
See, I told you it was close by, but the bad news is they close at midnight. They informed me they had already had their last call when I went in. Motherfucker, some nights you just can't win. Time to take that lonesome walk.
Luckily, just two blocks away is Mustang Sally's, whom I guess is Mustang Harry's second cousin or something. The good news is that they're still open. Let's get this shit over with. Let the night begin!
Here's bartender Mike serving me up my double gin and tonic in a tall glass and sadly there is no swizzle stick.
There's the dreaded straw as a swizzle stick. But to be honest, the way the night has gone, I expected something like this. Let's take a look around Mustang Sally's.
Here's a longshot of the wooden bar. It's kind of empty in here tonight seeing that it's Tuesday and the night after a holiday.
Large booths line the wall opposite the bar.
Here's the view from my seat at the bar.
One complaint I have is there's too many TV sets in here.
A gang ebony and ivory shot!
The bar does get points for the tin ceiling hanging above.
There's tables up front for dining.
Some of the Happy Hour specials.
I love the McSorley's coaster at the bar.
But I really hate baseball and there's no escape from it in this bar...
So I take one glance out the window and head out for home. See you tomorrow after dark.
Mustang Sally’s Mustang Sally’s isn’t a horrible bar, it’s just some place I wouldn’t normally hang out at. The crowd is usually equal parts tourist and bridge and tunnel people. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just that I’d rather be at the Mars Bar or the International Bar any old day of the week. They do have a large selection of draft and bottled beer and a menu that includes: Black Angus Sirloin Steak; Shepherds Pie; Rigatoni Bolognese with garlic bread and a Reuben On Rye. There’s booths opposite the bar and a spacious dining area in the back. It’s just a couple blocks from Madison Square Garden, so if you’re going to a game or concert, it’s a decent place to throw back a few drinks before or after your game or show. It’s not a bad bar, but you won’t find me in there too often, and that might be a selling point that Mustang Sally’s would want to advertise! Cheers.
The first thing I did at work last night was to staple something. Check out the bottom of the stapler, there's no escape, I think he hexed the entire day and night. Aaaahh!
Okay, since it’s the 4th of July and a holiday, I thought I’d stay home and just relax and cook a nice holiday dinner. It’s going to be a little bit of what I like to call a “quickity blickity blog.” So let’s get this party started!
I'll warn you in advance, this isn't going to be the most exciting MAD post ever. Okay, on with the holiday dinner. I'm starting off by cooking a sliced red potato in my electric skillet.
Next I'll pop this ear of corn into the microwave.
And here's the main course, a T-bone steak! I just realized tonight I've never cooked a steak in this apartment.
And here goes. Will my tiny little toaster oven be capable of cooking this? I think so, it'll just take some time.
And while everything's cooking, time to take a snack break with Chicken in a Biskit and Sleazy Cheese.
Sleazy Cheese always has a somewhat nuclear look to it, but it's delicious and probably horrible for you. Which makes it even better.
And here's my 4th of July feast. It was delicious!
And now for dessert! Tomorrow's blog will have a little more substance to it, I promise! I hope you all had a great 4th of July, but now the party's over. Sob! See you all tomorrow after dark.
Okay, tonight I’m having drinks and a Sunday dinner with my friend, Paul Scanlon. I met Paul via last year’s bar crawl and you can read that right here: Paul and Marty on the Bar Crawl. Okay, let’s head off to Mumbles bar and start the Sunday off with a few drinks.
We're starting out a little early tonight, so it's still light out, but it will be dark by the end of the evening.
On my way to Mumbles I catch a glimpse of that god-awful T.G.I. Fridays across from Union Square Park How sad that it's still in business. Eat at local places, people!
And here we are at Mumbles Restaurant and Bar.
There's the bar and I see a couple familiar faces right off the bat.
There's Paul with a swizzle stick offering for the MAD swizzle stick collection. It's from the legendary Tadich Grill in San Francisco. Thanks, Paul!
And here's Hal the friendly bartender with an ice cold bottle of Budweiser. We can officially start the Sunday evening now.
A pile of Sunday papers sit at the bar.
Hal in action behind the bar.
A few drinks later and the lovely Sarah takes over behind the bar. In addition to bartending duties, Sarah sings and plays guitar in not one, but two bands here in New York. The band's are System Noise and the other is The Sometime Boys. System Noise are playing next Saturday, July 9th at the Parkside Lounge. Sarah told me they're scheduled to go on around 10pm. Go and check them out, I know I'll be there!
We decided to have dinner at Old Town Bar, a familiar stop here at MAD. Shit, it's still light out!
Usually it's crowded in here on Sunday nights, but since it's a holiday weekend, there's plenty of seats at the bar. Nice!
Booths line the wall opposite the bar.
They have a well stocked bar, here at Old Town.
I love vintage cash registers and this one's a classic.
The tin ceiling's are high in here and illuminated by antique chandeliers. A real slice of old school New York.
And Sunday dinner has arrived! I got the bacon grilled cheese and I think it's the best grilled cheese sandwich in New York!
Paul got the burger and fries and you can't go wrong with the burger in here.
And of course I have to take a shot of the massive urinals, which leads to...
Obligatory bathroom mirror shot!
And finally, it's dark outside. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
------------------------------- Bonus Cardboard Box Man Photo From Kari! MAD commenter and Leaf Girl Blogger, Kari, sent in the Cardboard Box Man sighting on the streets of Salt Lake City. He’s everywhere...aaaaaahhh!
Live from New York, it’s Cheeseburger Saturday Night! Tonight’s host is the Waverly Diner and featuring the Ready for Prime Beef Player, Marty Wombacher. Ladies and Gentlemen all the way from the West Village in New York City, please welcome the Waverly Diner!
And it's off we go, the Waverly Diner is about 10 blocks from where I live. It's straight down 6th Avenue.
We're getting close, I can see the neon in the distance.
And here we are at the Waverly Diner.
There's booths on the left side of the diner, note the obssessive texter!
But I prefer the counter, Jose shows me a seat...
And Bobby hands me a menu. Before the meal arrives, let's take a little tour of the place.
Here's the view from my perch at the counter.
The infamous OJ machine that Biff mentioned a few posts ago.
There's slices of wrapped pound cake and brownies on display up at the counter.
My patented ebony and ivory salt and pepper shot.
Cookies!
"This store is monitored." Yikes, can you say, "Big Brother?" I knew that you could!
Here's a view from the back of the diner.
Here's a picture of the Waverly inside of the Waverly. I call this photo, "Waverly Squared."
And of course the walls are lined with signed black and white photos.
Three words come to mind as I gaze at this signed photo of Pete Turbiville and those words are: "Public Access Channel." (Actually I Googled him and he's a known voice-over guy.)
Okay, enough of the tour, let's eat! We'll start off with a cold beer, served up by Freddy.
And here comes the main course. Instead of the standard cheeseburger, I switched things up and got the Waverly Melt.
It comes with cole slaw and a pickle. Delicious!
Burp.
And this jackass is still texting away. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
My Meal I had the Waverly Melt and it was delicious. Perfectly cooked and served piping hot with grilled onions and American cheese on white toast. For an appetizer I got the buffalo wings and they were deep fried and delicious and came with blue cheese and barbecue dipping sauces. I sat at the counter, but there’s red vinyl padded booths in the back and tables up front to dine at. The walls are dark wood and covered with old photos and images of New York and autographed black and white photos of actors and actresses of varying degrees of success. A classic old school diner.
The menu at the Waverly is very extensive and probably has the largest breakfast selection in New York. The fact that they offer a variety of 60 kinds of omelettes should be a good clue that if you’re a fan of breakfast food, you should definitely try the Waverly. In addition to the standard, Steak, Chop and Burger offerings that all diners serve, some of the entrees at the Waverly include: Pork Souvlaki served on a bed of rice; Meatloaf Parmigiana; Roumanian Steak and Two Stuffed Shrimp and Homemade Pastichio which is, baked macaroni with sauteed ground beef, topped with béchamel sauce. And if you’ve got a sweet tooth, there’s over 25 desserts to choose from including: Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake; Banana Cream Pie Apple Turnover and a Brownie Sundae.
Cheeseburger Rating Three Wimpys—The Waverly Melt is great and highly recommended! Waverly Diner 385 Sixth Ave. (@Waverly Place) 212-675-3181
Bonus Photo From Lex! My friend and sometimes MAD guest star Lex is vacationing in Switzerland and she sent in this photo dedicated to Tiki Bar Susie with a caption. Thanks Lex and have a great vacation! Sami & Robert and yours truly at Kon Tiki Bar in Zurich (Swiss Bars rock - they were hopping at 10am!).
Okay, I realize the posts haven’t been so substantial lately, but it’s been rough trying to do this and having family in town. Yesterday was my niece Casie’s wedding to Anthony. I just wanted to hang out with my family yesterday and enjoy the day, so there’s just two photos. Everyone’s coming back to New York tonight, so this blog will start getting back to normal soon.
Here's my mom and dad with the bride and groom, Casie and Anthony Candarini.
After the wedding and reception I had a final beer in my parents hotel room. Upon leaving I saw this. Aaaahhhh!
Four Wedding Movies
The Wedding Singer
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