LoserPlatz
METRO MOMENTS

Feb.21, 2006 - Anyway, last night I went to Zinc Bar on Houston Street to see Ron Affif and Claudia Acuna trot through some standards and torch songs. Firstly, Zinc Bar's door was slightly more than subway fare - quite a bargain. And I had never heard Affif or Acuna before. Acuna is very a warm, generous singer, with a geat voice and nice scatability. Affif is a great accompanist and plays some great, simple but strong, solos. The bassist was really great, too, but unfortunately I didn't catch his name. This was a good set, but I had to cut out after the first set because it was a school night and I am a good little boy.

July 8, 2005 - Walked past Ethan Hawke while bumming aroung the Barnes & Noble / Bed Bath & Beyond / 26th St. Flea Triumvirate. He looked tall, scruffy, lanky & well worn in.

July 4, 2005 - After returning from my cousin's wedding in Washongton DC, my sister, her bf and I are walking down 9th Ave. in the 40s. We meet Joey, of mafia and Fulton Fish market fame (see earlier entry). He apparently knows them, and immediately launches into a discussion of his twelve step program (which is meant to be confidential). Sis's bf later confirms Joey was a mafia cog 'that's some of his issues' and cites the Javits Convention Center, adding to Joey's resume.

Mid-June 2005 - Neighbor John has had a badly needed bit part in the Dennis Leary cable drama Rescue Me. He says Dennis is an asshole, but is very happy about the part. And good luck to him.

Apr 22, 2005 - Went to Harlem House Partay held by Meg/Sara, and also saw Sonia, who leads a wiccan coven in Queens. Sonia and her husband, who is also wiccan, strongly recommended I return to the Catholic church. She is doing well, but I sort of neglected Sara to catch up with Sonia, whom I have also not seen in decades. Rather rude & churlish, and I thusly owe sara lunch & beers.

Mar 19, 2005 - OK, have lost touch with Andrew again, but have seen Meg a couple of times, once at The Ginger Man, a bar I highly reccommend. She looks well, and is as fun as I remember. Definetly had to get over initial freak-out over the decades-long absence.
Meanwhile, back at teh ranch, my cousins have asked me, and made me, trustee of some trust or other. Basically it sounds like a vehicle to lessen taxes in the event of a terrible plane crash, or something.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, the Film Forum has been having this classic Westerns series - a great series, with lots of John Wayne, Gary Cooper, etc. Saw Matthew Modine in line for the men's room, that was my most recent brush with greatness. I highly reccommend the series - I believe it is going on through March. I bumped into Matthew Modine in the Men's Room line - latest brush with greatness

Jul 26, 2004 - WHAT IS IT WITH VOLUPTOUS LATINA DANCERS WITH VIRTUALLY NO CLOTHING? There I was yesterday attending a street fair on 14th street, and on the stage is this hot latin woman, wearing a tiny triangle underneath an complete sheer skin-tight pair of tights. And famblies were gathered arund to watrch her. What is this, I do not understand?

Jan 3, 2004 - HAPPY NEW YEAR! OK, I was exhausted & a bit sick, so I stayed in - boring. But the people I was going ot meet up with, I met up with last night, and we went to Shelley's on 57th St. - highly recommended, tho a tad pricey, and of course, ha-ha, Shelley's has a great oyster bar, ha-ha. Thier old friend Planet Janet looks and seems more like Cher every year.
Then we went to the Russian Vodka Room, obviously a play on the Russian Tea Room, a nice little place devoted entirely to vodka. They have every brand, of course, and also vodkas infused with ginger, cranberry, pear, apple, etc. Really quite lovely.
XMAS was actually quite nice, with no freakishness (only a little).

Thought this would entertain you ...

Oct 28, 2001 - Maybe 2-3 times a year the local church has some sort of festival, which must be Bolivian or Peruvian or Andean of some sort. There is a brass band, and all these short guys in wool ponchos carry this huge heavy statue down 8th avenue - la virgen del macaroni or some local saint. It is a long, slow procession with the band playing the whole time, and the cops gather round to prevent the busses, cars and trucks from hitting them. There are people barbequing on the sidewalks, and they sell this big fluffy cake, together with this very sugary chocolate. They are playing outside my window right now. Not doing anything else right now, so I think I'll actually leave my apartment (!?!?) to take a look.

Sep 24, 2001 - Yesterday, wandering the city, running errands, I went into Macy's to visit the men's room. Turning the corner of the fourth floor, I came upon an entire floor full of black dresses. And no people on the floor. 'Twas a bit much.

Sep 16, 2001 - This evening, there came a timid knock on my door, I open it, and behold a comely lovely. No, I don't know her. Some story about sub-letting, and losing her key, and can she just get out to the balcony so she can get into her apartment? I think, hottie, and cat-burglar! And I let a complete stranger walk through my apartment and climb out on the fire escape.

Aug 16, 2001 - PASSED BY GYNETH PALTROW on the street this evening, on sixth avenue in the village. Very nicely kept.

Aug 7, 2001 - HOT!! 99*f in New York, but finally a hot summer after a few years of bland weather. This is how I remember summer! Just walking down the street was like putting your face in a hot oven.

Aug 6, 2001 - DO NOT GO TO NY SKYRIDE in the Empire State Building. I went as more fambly activities - oh it is so lame, and insulting. But you knew that, right? Anything titled NY SKYRIDE has got to be stupid.

Aug 5, 2001 - WENT TO CONEY ISLAND with my niece and parents, lots of fun. Took her on the Cyclone, the classic, though simple, wooden coaster, and almost lost my glasses. Spent a few hours on the beach. And the drive back to Staten Isl. was quick & easy, much better than the transit to Jones Beach / Robert Moses. Who'da thunk all these years?

Mar 21, 2001 - TODAY, people have been strange. First, getting off the subway, going through the crowded turnstiles, a women directly in front of me trying to brook the tide of people starts waving her arms and announces that she has GOT to get through!!, and tries to shove two other people and myself. Then, all through this morning and most of this afternoon, I have phone conversations with people where I answer questions, which they repeat, which I answer again, to which they respond by repeating my answer to me as if I'm the one asking. I swear this is not just me, it's like a bad dream.
YESTERDAY EVENING was a true Hell's Kitchen moment. I trot out to the bodega for groceries, and a pimp is in there with his two hoes. And if they are working so hard for him, how come he only buys them Ring-Dings & donuts? The counter guy starts teasing them about how much can he get for $10. For a brief moment, just a bunch of neighbors running their errands

A few years ago, I walk into my favorite local watering hole, and at the end of the bar is a large guy drinking cheap cider after cheap cider, talking loudly to the manager & bartender, asking if they need help with security, making loud passes at the bartender, etc., let's call him Joey. I get taking with him, and he confides he used to work at the Fulton Fish Market, until it mysteriously burned down (allegedly torched by the Genovese crime family to prevent authorities from accessing delicate records), and has since been at loose ends. Joey then proceeds to tell me he used to break heads with baseball bats, but had to stop because "it gets addictive, You know?". I see him a few months later harassing the grocery store about Martin Luther King's Day. The grocery store burns down. The bar does not.