Took a trip out to Central Park this morning to visit the Gates installation. I could post a picture in this entry, I could post a link explaining it, but I'm not going to do it. It was an interesting way to spend my morning. I may go again some time next week to see how it all looks at night.

If you are in New York City, you should take two hours to walk around the park this month. It will be gone in 15 days, I believe.

I went to a book signing today. It was a good line.



Thanks to my friend Emily for holding the camera.

Memorial Day is somewhat strange for me. I wouldn't be here today if one of my grandfather's hadn't been a submarine captain and the other not been a contentious objector to the war digging ditches in Colorado or something. I never tried to get all the details, but my basic impression boils down to that contrast. So personally it feels like a mixed bag. Even though I now live in DC. I skipped out on the whole dedication of the WWII memorial, both due to the spilt in my family regarding the idea of military action and general laziness. But my not going also increased the enjoyment for those who did go by reducing congestion, so that's what I'm going to tell myself. I have no great opinion to offer, so I'll stop boring you with it now. All I know is that if you ask me what I've seen, I can tell you that hate is all I've seen.

On to more important news, as this is the place .0020% of the world gets all of its news-- My friend Hillary knows how to throw a party! It suggests that perhaps everyone at W&M learned some basic life skill that we missed at UVA. Sure, it may have been a 20 minute drive (as if any of my friends in high school lived closer), but it was totally worth it. When she originally invited me to a "barbecue", I did not expect chicken, shrimp, and fancy dip to be involved. But there it was, plain as day. It literally blew me away! The rain didn't seem to dampen (bam!) anyone's spirits. (I've never eaten so much in my life, and I'm from Canada!) I am sorry that it rained a little, but the weather is currently beyond my control. Anyway, in summary the food was great and I spent 90% of my time just hovering around the kitchen. If you are really interested in knowing more, you are probably out of luck unless Lyle or Praveen fills you in on things. It was just a genuine dinner party with friends. Eat that

Broadly, it turns out that there is a really swank part of the DC suburbs much farther out. Hillary is apparently my first friend to live in a gated community. I was wrong to think that having a doorman gave people the impression of a secure fortress. Having a gate is better than anything NYC offers. Having a gate is probably second only to having a moat. . . with alligators. So when you go to visit Hillary, don't plan on doing anything that involves armed invasion. She has an impenitrable fortress AND access to weapons that most of us only touch in video games.

As you can guess, we made it in. We found parking in the green zone, ate food, made friends and then drove home in the drizzle. We didn't stay for desert, but it was a great three hour dinner. (We had to get home because we have work tomorrow). I will say that it was a little hot in the kitehen, but I could stand the heat. Incidentially, Lyle had to borrow a second shirt to drive home, if you catch my meaning. (I am trying to mislead you) Further, somehow he made an embarrassing comment about breaking down a door. But what do I know? I post things on the internet. I can't be trusted.

What makes a man? Is it being prepared to do the right thing, whatever the cost? ...isn't that what makes a man?

Today I was faced with a choice. I could have done the prudent thing. I could have continued to sit in the bowels of the Moot Court Office, studying straight through lunch as the time between 'now' and Monday slowly shrank before my very eyes. There in the jail of my own mind I might have found comfort in my fellow classmates, similarly bound to their laptops by an unquenchable thirst for the holy grail of law school-- the A-. The cool wind and overcast skies made it know that the elements were on the side of responsibility and dedication. Who was I to question the compelling argument that I was making an investment in my future?

I am only one man, after all. Who was I to subvert the dominant paradigm? Who was I to claim I knew what it meant to be Free? Was I prepared to do the right thing? *Ring Ring* What? Is that the phone? Hello? What's that? It's destiny calling? What do you mean, 'Will I accept the charges?'

I emerged from the Moot Court office at around 12:30, thirty minutes after the scheduled game of PacManhattan had been scheduled to begin. My original plan to observe the game had momentarily slipped my mind, but I told myself that the game a) probably hadn't started exactly on time and b) given the size of the field, it was unlikely to already be over. Once I remembered, I quickly sprang into action by walking up some steps and opening a door. I was grabbing lunch with my friend Chuckie at 1:00, so I had to move quickly if I was going to make the most of the precious few minutes I had left.

I went to Washington Square Park, hoping that the crowds and low-lying brush would both be thin enough to allow me to spot a 'ghost' or the Pac-Man® himself. At first, I saw nothing. Being only one person, I feared that I would just end up constantly walking up and down the streets, forever missing the action by a single block. But then I saw her, a woman with a professional camera, slowly jogging through the park. And it was when I saw the focused look on her face I knew that we shared a similar goal. We wanted to take a picture of a dude in a yellow shirt running through the street.

This photographer was quickly moving towards the eastern edge of the park, her gaze both resolute and fixated on something in the distance. As I began to calculate her projected path, I saw a flash of pink coming down Washington Square East. It was Pinky. She was on the hunt, and I was on my way. It was going to be a good day.

I won't bore you with the details of the game, since you can read about that on your own. I managed to discover each of the four ghosts as I wandered around the area, trying to find Pac-Man. The ghosts were mainly confused, trying to spot him themselves. One of the ghosts actually had a headset on, allowing her to move more quickly while communicating her location. I tried to pick out which ghost I thought would be most likely to catch the prize, since I wanted to be there when it all fell down.

The hunt went on past 12:50 and my friend Chuckie called about lunch. I told him to come meet me in the playing field. I hadn't seen Pac-man yet, but something told me that I was going to see yellow before the day was up. Eh, I'm tired of the dramatic story telling now. You will just have to imagine me walking around with my digital camera, taking pictures of the ghosts as they jogged up and down the streets, laughing when I saw the guy holding up the cherry for points. When I finally came across Pac-man, he was being chased into a trap by the Blue Ghost (Inky, for the savvy). The Pink Ghost (Pinky) was hiding around a corner on Washington Square East as the blue ghost herded our hero methodically. I wasn't on the right side of the corner when the tagging happened, but I was happy to see that Pac-Man hadn't dissolved completely. I took a few more pictures, then Chuckie and I went down to Chinatown.

All in all, I have already said too much, but I needed to fill up enough space to justify the graphic. I've always thought that being able to create amazing collages is what makes a man. That an a pair of testicles, at least.

I used to play Tetris so much that I could see the pieces when I closed my eyes. If I got bored at movies, I could play it on the ceiling of the theater. That said, I always imagined playing it on the sides of office buildings. Tetris is a game that will realistically always be easier to play virtually. You really would have problems setting up a system where blocks could appear and disappear in real time. Also, there are no real values there. Tetris is ultimately a cold and calculating game of probabilities and speed. We cannot anthropomorphize the blocks easily. They appear, they fall, and they go away. Clean, efficient and totally without feeling. I guess that's why I love it so.

But what about Pac-man? Could your dream of being the yellow mouth come true in real life? And what about the ghosts? Why wasn't their story ever told? Have we idolized Pac-man for too long without asking ourselves "why have these ghosts spent their entire lives trying to catch and kill him?" We do not demonize Hamlet's father for driving his son mad in order to kill his userper, do we? Well, perhaps we do. But we *understand* his motives. Why are pac-man's ghosts evil? Perhaps we should run a mile in their shoes.

Normally, a rant like that wouldn't get you very far. I mean, other than a mental exercise in piss-poor philosophy. But I live in New York City Now. And so, I present to you the official description of "Pac-Manhattan"

Pac-Manhattan is a large-scale urban game that utilizes the New York City grid to recreate the 1980's video game sensation Pac-Man. This analog version of Pac-man is being developed in NYU's Interactive Telecommunications graduate program, in order to explore what happens when games are removed from their "little world" of tabletops, televisions and computers and placed in the larger "real world" of street corners, and cities. A player dressed as Pac-man will run around the Washington square park area of Manhattan while attempting to collect all of the virtual "dots" that run the length of the streets. Four players dressed as the ghosts Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde will attempt to catch Pac-man before all of the dots are collected. Using cell-phone contact, Wi-Fi internet connections, and custom software designed by the Pac-Manhattan team, Pac-man and the ghosts will be tracked from a central location and their progress will be broadcast over the internet for viewers from around the world.

Finally! A video game that gets kids out running! Who would have thought that cardiovascular fitness was a big part of the video game industry. Lame points aside, you can read more about their process and see some videos on their website. NYU loves making news these days. This group was obviously prepared for media exposure. Not only did they register a website, they put together a FAQ!

I liked looking at the images. One of the photos has Pac-Man standing in front of Judson Memorial Church. For those of you in the know, you can also see part of my law school in this picture. I wish I had stumbled across this in real life first, but at least I found out about it before it hit the main stream press. So that's all the info I have at this point. It's all from one website. So if you are from out of town, you might as well go there. Staying here is pointless.

To get to the secondary point of this post, and as you can see from my slightly modified map image, I am very close to the action. If you are my friend, then that means YOU are also very close to the action. They are planning on another performance on Saturday, May 8th. I have an exam that I have to turn in on that day. But I will be there to at least take one picture, I can promise you that. If you want to get involved, I suggest you get on their mailing list very soon. Or at least talk to me. I'm sure I'll have details.

Not that I am going to sign up for their mailing list. I am too cool for something like that. But yeah, I'll see you all on Saturday!

A word of warning to Steven Stanzak: Don't use your new dorm for a drug distribution ring! Hang in there and keep making your money the old fashioned way! By working four jobs!

Anyway, this is from the NY Post. (the most levelheaded news organization in the world!). Today we learn that some students at NYU decide that instead of living in a library, they would just start their own "home business." I wonder if this is one of the people that Bush Co. counted as self employed? Read on...

NYU GAL'S DORM A DRUG SHOP: COPS Cops escort freshman Julia Diaco from 10th Precinct station house last night after she was nabbed for allegedly dealing drugs. April 28, 2004 -- An 18-year-old NYU freshman was busted yesterday for allegedly dealing drugs out of her dorm room, as well as in and around Washington Square Park and near a local elementary school, police said. Julia Diaco, who lives in the well-to-do town of Rumson, N.J., was arrested as she walked near St. Marks Place on her way to a pre-arranged drug transaction with an undercover cop, according to Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. She had several ounces of high-grade pot and a scale with her at the time, he said. Diaco, who allegedly used her dorm room in Hayden Hall as her base of operations, is charged with selling illegal drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogenic mushrooms and...

Always a tough time here in the naked city. It turns out she was dealing on wednesday at West 4th Street near 6th Avenue. That's at my law school, basically. I wonder if I passed her when I went to the ACE.

NYC version of living in a tent

This is insane! And apparently all true.

Ousted Bobst Boy Gets Dorm Steve Stanzak has been evicted from Bobst Library. After nearly eight months of secretly living in the building's underground A-level, Stanzak, a College of Arts and Science sophomore, was relocated by NYU officials Tuesday when they discovered his LiveJournal weblog, which details his subterranean life. NYU has provided him with free housing at Lafayette Street residence hall for the rest of the semester but has not guaranteed anything for the future.

Washington Square News Story.
Steve Stanzak's Live Journal.
Steve Stanzak's Website.
Metafilter's Comments.
Minn. Star Tribute's Story

Toured the city like a champ with Don, Mike and Jon.



That's enough for now. I hope that rat doesn't eat them. Or do I?

Last night, after failing to obtain the Ben Kweller Ticket from the box office at Irving Plaza, I dropped into Cosmic Cantina to drown my sorrows in a giant burrito. It improved my mood, but also made me a little lethargic. But I had a mission: Do something awesome. So scanned the nonsense mailing list, realized that people are still crazy, and threw a dart at my computer screen. It left a scratch next to the description of a puppet show. So, after recovering from the burrito, I grabbed my coat, gloves, camera, and umbrella and went down to drag Jeff off to see what promised to be a saucy puppet show.

From the email (Also on the Jollyship website):
- - - - - - - - - -
Jollyship the Whiz-Bang Presents:
The Plunder of Party Island

A special performance of underwater musical cabaret. Featuring the wayward Black Sea magic of Magic Brian, the chameleon-like, wind-burned comedy skin of Chris Rozzi, those favorites of fish and squid, the Randy Brothers, the hilarious enigma that is Jed Clarke, all hosted by and featuring new material from the pirates of Jollyship the Whiz-Bang. Including the songs Monitor vs. Merrimack, H.O.N.O.R., and the first part of our short film project Greenland: My Wind Doth Fail Wherewith I Burst My Gall, and more! And whatever! A night of plunder and mayhem! A fantastic way to shake off the horror of the work week, and act inappropriate appropriately!
- - - - - - - - - -

As you can imagine, it was strange. I saw a man escape from a straight jacket, some crazy piratical songs, and William Shakespeare. Below you will see a time delayed picture of the lead singer/puppeteer, the pirate band rocking out with an accordian (but this isn't a musical entry, it's too cultural!), William Shakespeare lecturing the puppets about why education is important, the girl helping the man into his straight jacket, and finally the potato soliloquy. All of it touched my heart and made me laugh.



Overall, I'd give it a 5.4 out of 7. It's a must see, but you probably do not need to see it twice. The comic timing was good, but it was sometimes hard to hear all the jokes in the movie and during the songs. I blame two things, the acoustics and the amount of nervous laughter from those in the audience who weren't sure if they had just missed a joke. The stuff was good though, and I would say that it is worth seven bucks. If you don't laugh at the absurd, you may get less out of this show.

As a side note, last night's show was somewhat different than previous shows, from what I have gathered from the website. (Go click the link I provided earlier. They have some better pictures if what you you want is close-up nude puppet shots!) Normally, the shows actually advance a plot about a small clown puppet that was rescued from a slave ship and is now starting to grow into a man. Tonight was sort of a variety show with puppet interludes that did not advance the overarching plot of the series. They did show the first clip from their upcoming DVD, so it looks like the entire story will eventually be available to the public. I think I might have enjoyed the more focused pirate story more, but I do now have a 80 second video of a man escaping a straight jacket on my computer and one really bad knock knock joke in my head. Also, I will plan on purchasing the DVD if I remember all this in a month or year.

(Knock Knock - Who's there? Marble? Marble who? Marble-ous to see you, do you want to get lunch?)

So as I mentioned back in November, I stumbled upon a studio filming a commercial in NYC. My friend Judson and I had awoken early that day to go see the Statute of Liberty, the former site of World Trade Center, and other tourist destinations downtown. We got off the train near Wall Street, and as we passed the NYSE building we could hear bagpipe music. So we diverted from our original path and ended up on a side street, staring at this fake parade. We were told we could not cross the street, nor could we walk down the sidewalk in either direction. They obviously weren't filming yet but this guy liked enforcing his rule even when enforcement would not serve the principle the rule was created for in the first place. Or maybe the guy just didn't want us sneaking into the fake crowd shot. You probably need to be a SAG member to show up in the back of a commercial.

So having been rebuffed from physically passing through the commercial, the security dude also refused to tell us what company was making the commercial. Actually, he claimed he didn't know. He had been there all day, but he didn't know. Oh, he was willing to tell us he couldn't let us pass. But he wasn't willing to tell us that he couldn't tell us the name. Must be such a big secret, we thought. So we went back down the street we came down, took two rights and ended up back on the sidewalk of the commercial, minus one jerk. There was a nice woman in the same vest letting people cross the street at the time. We spoke with her briefly, and she revealed it was a Sierra Mist commercial. Obviously she hadn't been told that such information was classified. Or at least the other man assumed he could be a jerk to people because they would have no reference point with which to compare and contrast his behavior. He was wrong on that count. Also, I still hate him.

But for those of you who have kept reading this story, the fake parade was probably a very expensive proposition. Look below. There are hundreds of actors (a fake high school band, some fake cheerleaders and other stereotypes not shown here), Wall Street itself is closed down (so there must have been permits and city officials to bribe, even though it is a weekend in a business district), and then there are security people employed to crush my human spirit.



Beyond all those, they have three giant generic balloon characters. Who is that back there in the image? It ain't Captain America.



But it is close enough that I would say there was some fan of the Captain at Sierra Mist. Creating generic-stereotype balloon characters has to be a big expense. One time use. When is the next time someone is going to want to use that balloon? Do you guess never? I think you win. I would personally love to be the guy at Pepsi Co who took that baby home. Sort of like the way I got to take home display pieces while I worked at Books-a-Million. There is a mid-level engineer for Pepsi-Co who has a giant Captain Star fully inflated in his back yard hovering over his porch.

We took up a position on the sidewalk, stared at them, and they didn't film anything. After like fifteen minutes, we then walked off. So that's the end of the story. I'll check with Judson tomorrow to see if he took any pictures of the event and get his permission to post one here. So that's the best part of the Superbowl. Second would be the 85 yard pass. Third would be the iTunes commercial with the new Green Day cover of I Fought the Law (You Need iTunes for that link to work, I think). I would go out and buy a Pepsi, but I'm sure the local grocery store doesn't have the new ones yet. But if I do ever win a free download, that will be the first song I take. So from Papas Fritas to Green Day (I know Sonny Curtis has writing credits for that 1958 much-covered song). Commercials, the fabric of our lives. Or is that cotton?

Update: Shards O' Glass Pops needs to be mentioned. Take that Big Tobacco! Also the 85 yard catch may drop to number three since it didn't help Carolina do much other than beat the spread. Take that team that beat the Cowboys!

As you can see, my predictions were just as close as anyone else's. I feel proud for taking the risk of simply choosing which poll I liked the most. Good luck to all the people who are still in the running.

As you may have known, I was at some kind of "Watch the Primary Results" party this evening with the law student democrats. I got three slices of pizza, so I think that my time was well spent. My friend Leslie and some of her friends all hung out for the majority of the event, which was key, because otherwise I would have just been sitting alone surfing the web in the back of the room. Here we all are hanging out in the new Wachtell Lipton® Lounge at our law school (To steal an observation from a guy named Peter, we are genuinely only one building away from naming the toilet paper dispensers after contributors).



Pretty fun. Someone accused me of being this troll on the mailing list, but I quickly pointed out that I was the one who had called the troll out for his general troll-ness. I think it was because I was surfing the blogs, looking for exit poll results (which I found, as you can see from my previous blog entry). The LawDems elected to watch the results on CNN, although some drunk guy and I both argued that the best coverage was obviously on Fox. I guess the leadership of the club didn't want to be Fair and Balanced. But seriously, what candidate doesn't watch Fox to learn their weaknesses? If you are running a campaign that Fox isn't bashing, something is rotten in the state of Denmark. You don't want to surround yourself with yes-men at this point anyway.

Again, free food and drinks, so it was time well spent. There is no chance I will get to do it again in Law School, and I hope to not have the opportunity to do it again until 2012. The pictures were not that great, but that is probably because it was a very relaxed affair. Talk about nerdy, we even had a straw poll! Kerry won, but Sharpton got some actual votes. Looks like we lean to the left here in the Democrats. "Joementum" was nowhere to be seen. I guess you shouldn't make up words to gain traction with law students.

Although, it worked for Bush...hmm. Adam-tastic, anyone?

After about 40% of the real NH votes were in and Kerry had accepted his victory through oratory, I left to go watch trivia across the street. There were actually three law school teams. It was like an embarrassment of riches, except in team form instead of gold. I couldn't choose which to join, so I didn't join anyone. Indecision 2004 indeed! As a solution, I just took pictures, save for one moment of weakness. Desiring to show my comprehensive pop music knowlege, I correctly identified the name of the Gorillaz's single "Clint Eastwood" for the eventual world champion team. If they had won by only half a point, I would have brought this up a lot sooner in the post. But they dominated the competition to such an extent that the final scores were not even close. You could call them the Kerry of the evening. Actually, second place went to another law school team. The second team had ten members, so they greatly outspent the competition but didn't have the finishing power. You can call them the Dean of the evening. Either way, it was a great showing for the law school. You could call NYU Law School the "Anti-Bush" law school.

You might get lucky and find out what the host thought of the evening on Caren Lissner's Blog. She writes about things that happen in her life, and she's a PROFESSIONAL. So don't just take all your news from me, go pester her to get the inside scoop.

What's that? Huh? You want pictures from my evening? Okay, I can do that. Try to pick which of the teams pictured below was the aforementioned world champions and which lacked the Joementum going into the final round. HINT: There may be 'clues' in the actual image!



So, there are a lot of people in those pictures that I do not know, but that didn't slow me down. When you have a camera, you are a king of the world. Random people in the club wanted to know if I was there for a special reason. I didn't have a good response, but next time, I will claim that I was working for the Village Voice. The teams celebrated their wins and went off to some place involving Belgium. I said my goodbyes and then I walked home in the snow. It was quite snowy. The end.

I traveled to the lower east side this afternoon to go on the Tenement Museum 's daily "Getting By" tour. I'll let you check out the website if you really want to know more about the refurbished tenement on Orchard (in the Bargain District, one block away from Piano's that hosts Tinkle). The Tour link explains how the Getting By Tour differs from other tours that also run through the tenament rooms. Here is the outside of the Tenement. Pictures were not allowed inside. A room from the 1930 looked a lot nicer than a room set up to look like it was 1870. Probably due to electricity or something equally taken for granted.



After the tour, I went into the Crate and Barrel with Hadley to check out how far our country has come at providing dishes and other things for homes. Except that people living in a tenement would not be shopping at such a store. These houses were not great and yet the apartment rent would cost around one third of the monthly salary. Glad I'm not poor.

Also, my classes start tomorrow, so I should figure out when and where I will officially start the second half of law school.

If anyone wants to see the Old 97's on Sunday the 24th of January, they should go and get a ticket. I got mine.
If anyone wants to see Bishop Allen on the 14th at the Mercury Lounge for $8, let me know, I will just buy mine at the door.

I woke up around 9:00 AM today and proceeded to do basically nothing save the bare minimum of chores necessary to sustain my life until 4:00 PM. I checked the mail, I went shopping for some groceries, and generally pretended that I had nothing to do (which was not true). There is little hope that tomorrow will be any different. Experts predict the highlight will be watching the rerun of Celebrity Poker on Bravo in preparation for the Final Round taking place Tuesday night.

Around 4:15 PM I changed into my suit and traveled up thirty-nine blocks to Grand Central Station. I was without overcoat, having decided that the cost of my five minute exposure to the elements would pale in comparison to the benefit of not having an extra article of clothing once I got to the Yale Club. Had it been ten degrees cooler, I would have been wrong. Since it is supposed to get colder, most future trips in January and February will involve a winter jacket and possibly gloves.

As you didn't know, the Yale Club was having it's New Year's Party today. They do it late so that people will actually have nothing better to do than come to the clubhouse outside of Grand Central Station, I think. Anyway, it had an open bar and free food, so I was all over it having enjoyed myself with Lisa last year. The great tasting sushi and appetizers were okay, but the awesome desserts and drinks were great. Lisa joined me again, and we quickly ran out of things to say, as you can see by the following picture.



The party filled most of the main lounge and bar. There were tons of people I didn't know, mostly old but some young. I did meet one of the members of the UVa Club's board thanks to Audrey. Audrey was several hours late, and will probably never make that mistake again. Lisa and I performed like champs (mainly because she had to leave by 7:30 to make a play) and dominated the food and drink tables. I lack pictures of all that because it all happened so fast.

After the party ended and Lisa left, I sat with other UVa grads in the grille room and talked about things. The night ended with everyone sharing their worst car crashes. I did not have anything to add, but it was great to ring in the new year with a reflection on how fragile the human body really is once you are traveling over 50 miles an hour. But it wasn't really all that bad, mainly because I still lack a car crash story to share. Lots of hands were shaken, and I made it back to my apartment around midnight. I was not expecting to spent seven hours in the Yale Club, but I did. The experts factored this into their analysis, which is probably why they expect little to be done tomorrow. Maybe I will beat their expectations if I just want to win more than the other team. Or not.

Oh, law school starts soon. I suppose I should purchase my books. I should probably also post something in the law related category. It has really been lying fallow since exams ended. Perhaps I needed a total break from school related thoughts (and I probably still need more time, but that time is unavailable at the moment). Insert witty closing here.

Picture stolen from Ed Barnes' SantaCon 2003 West Village Collection. He has many others in his slide show, so go check them out.

I subscribed to Nonsense NYC about four months ago sometime after the flashmob craze alerted me to its existence. It is actually a collection of all sorts of oddball things happening around the city. It has advertised street parties, loft parties, guerilla theater that moves through the streets, strange concerts, and the "Art of Gwar" open house (which sadly, closed tonight). Basically, a fun list. Up until tonight, I have basically avoided taking advantage of its offerings. But at 6:50 pm on December 13, 2003, I managed to take advantage of two events simultaneously.

So, in the words of the email, I present you with Unsilent Night and SantaCon 2003.

--------------------------
Unsilent Night

Every year since 1992, I've presented Unsilent Night, an outdoor ambient music event for an infinite number of boomboxes. It's like a Christmas carolling party except that we don't sing, but rather carry boom boxes, each playing a separate tape or CD that is part of the piece. In effect, we become a city block-long stereo system.

It would be really cool if you could join us and bring a boom box. The more tapes we run, the bigger and more amazing the sound will be. Last year we've had over 100 boomboxes and over 500 people total, not to mention a really great time. This year I will also make cd dubs for folks who bring CD boomboxes, and if you want to play one of those it is especially important that you let me know. If you'd
like to do it but don't have a boombox, I have several dozen and you can reserve one, and if you want to come and just listen, that's cool, too. Help us make a big (and joyful) noise. Meet at the Arch in Washington Square 6:45p; $free

Santacon

A not-for-profit, nonpolitical, non-religious demented Santa Clause convention. We do it for no reason. SantaCon happens in major cities all over the world.

This year, Santas will busting out some new tricks, so hold onto your hats and let it ride, cause there's snow on the ground already. We may visit some of the traditional Santa haunts. Expect to start in the morning, around 11a. A hotline number will also be available if you want to try to catch up with the Santas in mid rampage. Santa highly recommends spending the whole day until at midnight you are delirious and exhausted and you are shouting at strangers or mumbling to yourself and the whole thing gets blurry and you wake up the next day in Tijuana. This tradition is almost a decade old, and makes flash mobs look like sitting at home watching Martha Stewart. Definitely bring some money and ID. It's not uncommon for a spontaneous chant of "Santa Needs a Beer!" to initiate a bar invasion. Other times, Santa needs sophisticated adult entertainment. Also, a bottle of water and some snacks is a good idea; so are comfortable boots and warm clothing.

Bring your holiday spirit as you understand it, which is to say Santas are encouraged to let loose, be obnoxious, make a mockery of the holiday, or act in a confusing and disorienting manner to holiday shoppers. Be surly. Yell. Sing naughty carols. Experiment with interpretive dance in front of traffic. Bring gifts you can give out, naughty for grown ups, nice for kids. You must wear a Santa suit to get on this train. No spectators. A Santa hat will not cut it. You can buy a cheap suit at Gem stores for $10.
--------------------------

So both groups met at Washington Square park at 6:45 pm. The Santas had been making a day of their SantaCon. (If I find pictures later this month, I'll post one or two with a link to whatever brave soul took them and was willing to admit he was there.) The Unsilent Night crowd appeared to be a little bit older. There was one couple that must have been in their fifties. It took me aback to think that people my parents' ages would be as nerdy as me. So while the santas has been showing up at various places together all day, I and the Unsilent Night people showed up at 6:50 having never seen each other. Probably for the best, we were not the most attractive bunch. Long term contact probably would have hurt everyone's self-esteem. My walk over was pleasant enough, having seen random Santas wandering the village, confirming that they obviously worked with a hive mentality. Basically, if I had a borg joke, this is where I would make it. The wind was angry tonight my friend, like an old man trying to send back soup at a deli. I stood around with my hood pulled tightly around my head, realizing that it was probably for the best that I hadn't forced anyone to come with me nor forced myself to purchase a boom-box or santa costume. I really liked the picture I had seen advertising this SantaCon though.



The two groups were not standing next to each other. The Santas had already bonded during the day. My research had indicated that last year's SantaCon had involved trips to most landmarks around the city AND had involved a Uptown vs. Downtown Dodge-ball game.

Anyway, the tapes were distributed to the noise people and everyone did a lap around the fountain. The music was crystal-esque and slight variations on ambient noise. No words or anything. There were people moving through the crowd with hi-tech recording devices, so if I ever find an audio file, you will be the first to know and possible have fun experiencing a strange mix of music and "ho ho ho's" Okay, so we wandered around. It was interesting. People acted crazy, other people stared at the antics.

I would estimate that our pack was about two city streets long at its peak. There were probably 75 boomboxes, 200 people like me with nothing, and 180 Santas. I tried to count the Santas at one point, but stopped around 90 when I realized that I didn't really want to know. So, in conclusion, I walked around and then went to McDonalds after the two groups split up. The SantaCon people wanted to go into a bar, the Unsilent Night people kept walking around with their music. I needed dinner and to get back to reading about corporations. I just thought you'd like to know about this.

Next year I will either purchase a boombox or a santa suit. Probably the boombox, I don't have the time commitment for the Santa Day.

The Wet Hot American Summer mailing list alerted me to some awesome things happening on Monday. Sadly, I do not think I will have the money to go, but I will post them here for posterity. Now, sure, I may someday end up voting for Dean, but this post's focus is on how, if I had 1250 to 1500 extra dollars, I would have plans for monday even no matter who was involved in these events. So, I am posting them as a public service to you, in case you have that kind of money. Oh, should I mention that today is my birthday? No, really. I'm not just saying that to get a couple thousand bucks... Well, without further ado, here is some text straight from the Dean website:

Please join Governor Howard Dean, M.D., Democratic Candidate for President of the United States for a full day of events in New York City on December 8, 2003!

Roast of New York's Favorite Son - Howard Dean
Hosted by Rob Reiner
and special guests former Headmaster Archer Harmon, Brother Jim Dean, college roomate Ralph Dawson, and Vermont State Senator Peter Welch
7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., VIP Reception 7:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.
The Metropolitan Pavilion
125 W. 18th Street
$1,000 per individual, $2,000 VIP Reception

Lunch in Queens
Noon until 1:30 p.m.
Long Island City
$250 per individual, $1,000 VIP Reception

Coffee, Dessert and Comedy
with Janeane Garofalo, David Cross, and the cast of Queer as Folk (Michelle Clunie, Robert Gant, Gale Harold, Scott Lowell, and Peter Paige)
8:00 p.m ~ 10:00 p.m
$500 per couple, $250 per individual

Downtown Dean Series
With Sandra Bernhard, John Leguizamo, Andrea Martin and more to come. 
At Times Square
9:00 p.m. until Midnight!
$100 General Admission, $350 Balcony Seating

I realize that I have never posted a review of my experience seeing the Off-Off Broadway production of Road House: The Stage Play. Perhaps you thought that it wasn't very good, and I was embarrassed that I had tried to recruit so many people into being my activity partner. Nothing could be further from the truth. The show was hilarious and totally worth the $19.89 (the year of the movie release). But, much like the matrix, you cannot be told what the play is, you must experience it for yourself.

It was about an hour and thirty minutes from start to finish. It involves audio-visual special effects involving at one point a monster truck and another with a polar bear. It involves a giant cardboard window labeled window. Oh, and lots of fighting and kicking and punching. All I can say is that when the final kickboxing fight scene requires the two main characters to be attached to ropes in order to allow any flight backwards after a kick to be 'augmented' by substantial tugs from the backstage crew it is a fight scene you have to see to believe.

"But Adam!", you say, "Didn't you go to the closing night's show? (pause) Wouldn't that mean that it is now impossible for me to see this show?"

Jane, you ignorant slut.

"After it’s sold-out 4-week engagement at La Tea, Road House: The Stage Version Of The Cinema Classic That Starred Patrick Swayze, Except This One Stars Taimak From The 80’s Cult Classic “The Last Dragon” Wearing A Blonde Mullet Wig (or Road House: The Stage Play) is reopening at Off-Broadway’s Barrow Street Theatre (located at The Greenwich House - 27 Barrow Street at 7th Avenue) beginning previews Tuesday, December 9th, press performances beginning December 12th, opening December 14th and closing February 8th. Performances will be Wednesdays - Fridays at 8 PM, Saturdays at 5:30 and 9:30 PM and Sundays at 3 PM. Tickets are $19.89 (the year of the film) - $40 and can be purchased by calling SmartTix at 212.868.4444 or by going to www.smarttix.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the Barrow Street Theatre box office 2-hours prior to performances. For more information please call 212.243.6262 or go to www.roadhousetheplay.com"

That's right. From Off-Off Broadway to Off-Broadway. Looks like the public agrees with me. This is a must see play.

In summary. If you are going to be in NY during that time and you want to see it, you should see it. It's worth 20 bucks if you thought the movie was stupid. Did you notice how it was SOLD OUT? The little theater was packed! This play goes over the top and trust me, you will laugh as I did when the villain's small enforcer tells our hero that he "used to f*ck guys like you in prison." Oh, and for all of you out there who didn't go and still wonder who was foolish enough to go with me, it was my dad. And he was willing to pay for his own ticket.

Can you tell them apart?

From NY Theater dot com:

Producers Timothy Haskell, Tanya Bershadsky and Michael Voyer in association with Andrea Ciannavei are proud to present the unlikeliest of films to be made into a stage play--Road House: The Stage Version of The Cinema Classic That Starred Patrick Swayze, Except This One Stars Taimak From The 80s Cult Classic The Last Dragon Wearing a Blonde Mullet Wig (can be reduced, if you must, to Road House: The Stage Play). Road House, the stage version, is a deconstructed, and comical, version  of this modern-day western B-movie from 1989. It's about an internationally revered bouncer hired to clean up a small-town dive, only to get sucked into the local politics, biting off more than he can chew... or has he? This will be a completely kinetic production using cinematic techniques: miniature sets, foley artists, and breathtaking action sequences and bar room brawls unlike anything ever seen in the live theatre. This heightened style is designed to highlight the underlying misogyny, violence, and homophobia/eroticism of films of the genre... as well as to blow the lid off the place. "I have no intention of camping this up. The film on stage, trust me, will be enough. Although there will be some distinct stylistic choices, this is not a musical (we're calling it a 'brawlsical'--everywhere there is typically some camp musical number we have a fight), tongue-in-cheek (overtly), or a drama (certainly not). Trust me, I know what kind of film this is,' says director Timothy Haskell. 'I want to get to the bottom of why so many seemingly smart people can quote lines from this film."

Highlights of the evening at a leftist protest about "the media's" failings:

Man cutting himself on the arm and bleeding as news reporters talk about stupid things. +3
Tom Tomorrow showing off his cartoon for next week (Hint, he has Ambassador Wilson as Batman). +3
Onion Editor acting a little like Hunter S. Thompson while presenting headlines. +2
Janeane Garofalo arriving at the entrance two seconds after me, and the giving money to the church. +5
Daily Show clip that I had already seen on TV. +0
Other various clips about the media and how it is probably more related to entertainment than to objective reporting. +1
Getting to tell everyone about the dude who cut himself for art. +1
Having enough to talk about to complete another journal entry. +1

Goodnight!

Gone to see this.