The night started out simple enough and became a fun-filled adventure
A bunch of us went to Mars 2112 (1633 Broadway) for some $2.00 beer and/or $5.00 drinks. It’s their special for Wednesday and Thursday Happy Hour. You can either get into the bar/restaurant by paying an extra $2.00 and sitting in a theme-park style ride that makes you feel like you’re flying in space. Or you can take what used to be called the Warp Speed entrance which is a hallway that bypasses the ride and the extra charge.
Last night I noticed that they changed the name to ‘Zip Passage’. How lame is that? I’m convinced they were recently sued by Paramount since Warp Speed is such a Star Trek thing and we are in the Paramount Building. I could be wrong. Anyway, thankfully all of the beer was cheap so I ordered a Murphy’s Stout. It still amazes me that one of the best stouts is being served here. This faux red planet decor is not one you’d expect to find Murphy’s but I didn’t complain.
I was talking to Mitch about the drama that was going on at one of my magazines. The Publisher who’d been here for thirty years left to go to a competitor. And for some reason the Creative Director was let go. Other turmoil would follow the next day including the second promotion of a man who has no talent or clue but somehow manages to make the corporate heads think he does. I guess … that is his talent.
We also discussed our dubious at best technology. Not that it’s bad … it just seems to be held together with paperclips and band-aids. There are a few really talented programmers who could get our system up to par in no time. However, due to the red tape of any large corporation, this has yet to happen and may never.
We moved on to Tonic (727 7th Ave) to meet a few other coworkers. Tonic is a giant, three-story cavern of modern design with a volume level to match. I never really liked this place but my friends are here and I’ll have fun. Plus I got to meet a handful of new people whose names (of course) escape me now.
Mitch and I talked more about technology and how I need to up the ante on my own website. I’ve been looking into getting a Content Management System of my own. He said that he’d be interested in building one and, since we both know what does and doesn’t work, we could build a killer system. Mike, who is a designer I’ve worked with came by. In my head I’m picturing a new business venture here. We’ll have to discuss this further without so much whiskey and beer.
At one point Ronny was trying to round folks up for some Karaoke. Everyone was all into it. But in the few minutes it took me to finish my last beer, they all copped out. Alli, who works for Elle Magazine, was at the bar and said she had a birthday celebration to get to. She asked if anyone wanted to tag along. I said I did and we were off.
We walked over to Grand Central Station to a bar but we never went in. So I don’t remember its name. Instead we met a friend of hers outside and we walked thru Grand Central to another bar. This was the first time I ever walked thru the main part of Grand Central. A fact which I found hard to believe as did my friend Heather who was on the phone with me at the time. It is a very impressive building indeed. I felt like a tourist staring up at the zodiac ceiling. Did you know that it was painted backwards in error? Oh the things you learn from public television.
OK to be fair, I am not going to try and remember any of the names of the people I met at this point. I was already pretty toasted and I’m sure I’ll mess it all up. So let me just say that I met an interesting array of Alli’s friends. There was the birthday boy and his soon to be ex-girlfriend who was from Poland. Yes I said soon to be ex … apparently they had dated for a few years and just decided recently to not live together anymore. They still looked fairly lovey-dovey to me though. Anyway, she could whistle louder than me … and that is pretty damn loud. There was the boy who they called doctor studying to be a veterinarian. And I met a real live Radio City Rockette.
I met them all at a place called Whiskey River (575 2nd Avenue). It’s a place that looks just as it’s name sounds; like a large fishing cabin made of logs, complete with a fire place, makeshift beer pong table and one really wet barstool. I had the distinct displeasure of sitting on that stool. Still everyone was so upbeat that a bit of wet trouser was not going to spoil my night.
After several more drinks there, we went off to Banc Cafe (431 Third Ave) for what I was hoping would be some food. I was concerned when I looked at the menu and only saw booze. Thankfully the food was simply on a page I had missed. I ordered a burger and switched to water as my beverage of choice. This is a posh little place and the food was good. I was really enjoying the company too.
Alas, it was time to go. I’m hoping to hook up with these folks again and when I do … names will be named (or at least remembered). For now it was time to walk over to 33rd and 6th to get the PATH home where another adventure sprouted.
As I sat on the train, two girls and a guy get on and sit by me. The guy and one girl sat to my left, the other girl to my right. We start chatting and the one girl asks what I do. What I said was, “I manage websites for a bunch of boring magazines.” What they heard was, “I manage websites for a bunch of porn magazines.”
“Porn!”
“Yes,” I said playing along, “Porn. All sorts. Kinky, animal …”
“Like Donkeys?” interrupted the girl to my right.
“Oh yeah”
“That’s sick!” quipped the girl to my left.
“We don’t have donkeys where I’m from.” said the girl to my right.
“Where are you from?”
“California.”
“Oh I don’t know … I’ve met a few jackasses in L.A.”
“Oh shit! I’m gonna cut you!” threatened the girl to my left.
“You’d better watch out. She’s a hairdresser and probably has something to cut you with,” warned the girl to my right.
We laughed and upon leaving the train and getting into separate cabs I yelled, “Goodnight kids!” To which one of them replied, “Goodnight crazy man!”
And this night that was to be an early one came to a close at 3:00 AM.
See Also:
Mars 2112
Tonic
Whiskey River
