Black Hand Productions

This past weekend several gentlemen gathered in New York for my bachelor party.  With everyone arriving at various times and coming from various points throughout the nation the airline gods for once shined upon us.  James and I started the trip at the Waldorf Astoria drinking Manhattans and mingling with the Pharmaceutical Industry sans James Cameron.  We ended the trip four days later watching an awkward teenager continually fall in a dramatic manner on the ice rink at Rockefeller Center.  The basic plan was as follows:

Rendezvous on Thursday night, grab some drinks, then on Friday get to Blondies in enough time to snag a table for the remainder of the day and hold our ground until Josh and Luke arrived later in the evening.  We then headed to a couple of bars before ending up at McAleer’s Pub for the Ohio State – UC Santa Barbara game and an epic arm wrestling match.  On Saturday Rob and Dom arrived and we made our way to the Brooklyn Brewery (turns out our cab driver knew his way around Brooklyn as well as I do, which is to say he didn’t).  Jim managed to score a table and some free wooden beer tickets from some ‘contacts’. By far the high point of the brewery, outside of the beer, would have to be seeing Chester B. Arthur and this guy.  After the Brewery we marched on to Barcade for some vintage video game action before continuing on our Judgment Night-like march through Brooklyn. There were doubts but we did arrive at Peter Luger Steak House on time and James used his persuasive skills to get us seated.  After dinner we headed to McSorley’s Old Ale House and used our chocalate golden coins as currency.  Our night began to wind down at Spitzer’s Corner before eventually heading back to the hotel/german bar next door.

Mc Aleer’s Pub:

It took us a couple of tries to find the basketball game but when we did it was at McAleer’s.  As you can see in the photograph there was a dispute that could only be settled by gentlemen.  I’m pretty sure Josh let me win but then again Luke’s facial expression during my fist pump lets me believe it was a legitimate victory.  The truth is probably somewhere in between.

Brooklyn Brewery:

Hanging out at the Brooklyn Brewery very well might have been the highlight of the trip for me.  We had a large table which was key, the beer was great and most of it was free due to Jim’s contact who got us the table.  The setup was much different than any of us expected, a large warehouse like room with picnik tables.  We decided to skip the tour to make room for Barcade and make the most of our table while we had it.

Barcade and Walking Brooklyn:

Getting to Barcade and walking to Peter Luger’s was interesting enough.  The walk included some of the props seen below. Barcade also has a great beer selection and we might have ordered some of the best pizza on the planet from Carmine’s Pizza.  The games were probably better than the beer selection and that’s saying alot.  I had some cast ale that Josh insisted on and it was great.

Peter Luger Steak House:

As Jim would say, James ‘out lawyered them’ and managed to get us into Peter Luger’s when there were some doubts about our reservation.  In a word it was amazing.  We probably ordered too much food but that would serve Josh and Nick well in the morning.  The shrimp was the largest I’ve ever seen. Probably one of the most impressive feats of the weekend was Rob carring a bag of prime meat around New York for the next 5 hours.

McSorley’s Old Ale House:

McSorley’s being one of the older bars in the country is my kind of place.  We scored a table in the back room via our Peter Luger chocolate coins and held our own for a good portion of the evening.  I made sure to take care of Mikey as he ‘likes the sweets’.  There were no speeches and the whole place was pretty cordial except for the girl who was holding a clinic on how to drink six beers simultaneously.

Spitzer’s Corner:

On both Thursday and Saturday night we ended up at Spitzer’s Corner since it was close to our hotel and had an extensive beer list.  If I recall correctly we had the same waitress both nights but she cared much less for our humor the second time around.

Misc:

In summary, I’d say we all had a good time.  Clearly we weren’t shooting for your average bachelor party hence the walking tour of Brooklyn and the near uncanniness of being in so many bars during March Madness without televisions.  As all trips to New York go we saw some baffling things which will never make sense and we overheard some intense conversations/domestic disputes.

Thanks to everyone who attended.

Side Note:

* The complete set of photographs are here.
**There is no reason for there to be such a thing as ‘seafood sausage’.

This weekend Julie and I ventured out to New York for the Mets – Phillies at Citi Field.  This was my first trip to the stadium (Julie went earlier in the week) and our first opportunity to see our brick.  The game of course didn’t end well after the starting pitcher was removed for an arbitrary stat… pitch counts. Besides that the stadium was really great.  There’s a ton of space, lots of quality food and great views from throughout the park.

Side Note:

* Saturday night I met up with Jim at the Blue Moon Cafe where we spent the better part of night discussing the finer points of the Stanley Cup Finals.  We spent the next day at the Shark Bar (which is really the Spring Lounge and not this Shark Bar) then we headed to McSorley’s before bailing on our reservations at the Ninja Restaurant.  I am nearly positive we each have a team of Ninja Assassins who will enact revenge on our disrespect some time in the future.  I will probably get mine via a blow dart when I least expect it.  If you’re wonder about the Ninja Restaurant this choice quote from the NY Times should do it justice:

You are greeted there by servers in black costumes who ceaselessly bow, regularly yelp and ever so occasionally tumble, and you are asked to choose between two routes to your table.

The first is described by a ninja escort as simple and direct. The second is “dark, dangerous and narrow,” involving a long tunnel and a drawbridge that descends only when your escort intones a special command, which he later implores you to keep secret.

I recommend a third path: right back out the door.

** This car was outside Citi Field:

As many of you know I never thought this day would come.  For the past 5 years or so I’ve mocked the very existence of this album.  Well today I stand corrected.  Chinese Democracy is actually in the hands of consumers and the Republic of China has yet to see Democracy.

I highly recommend you checkout The New York Times Chinese Democracy Timeline.

After another shitty experience with American Airlines I made my 12 hour journey to New York on Friday.  I feel like I acomplished a lot:

1. Pastries from Gian & Piero Bakery in Astoria.
2. Multiple rounds of beer at McSorley’s.
3. A burger at Ted’s.
4. Wings at Croxley’s.
5. Picked up a Wii Fit at the Nintendo World Store.

Friday evening I met up with Josh & Emily at the Nintendo Wold Store and then we headed down to McSorley’s where waited for the infamous Jim Wallis to arrive.  Things were a little more low key this time around at McSorley’s but then again everyone’s a year older.  We moved on to the Telephone Bar and then called it a night.

*Side Note:  For those wondering Jim’s black eye did not occur at McSorley’s.

This past weekend Julie and I headed to the East Coast to see Pearl Jam in Hartford and the Mets – Yankee’s game at Shea Stadium.  Of course the temperature the entire weekend hovered around double-asshole so most of the time we were covered in sweat.

We managed to hit four airports (Midway, Bradley, LaGuardia, & O’Hare) with only one 2 hour delay, see Pearl Jam and then the Mets play the Yankee’s and then have wings at Blondie’s and lasagna at Dee’s.  In other words it was a very successful weekend.  Thanks to those who let us sleep on their pullout couches without you we’d been at the Belnord.

The Pearl Jam show in Hartford was especially hot and steamy.  Ted Leo and the Pharmacists were the opener and were really good.  Our seats were under the pavilion but towards the back.  I wasn’t really that impressed with the show but I chalk that up to three things:

1. Pearl Jam had just completed back to back shows at Madison Square Garden.
2. I’m comparing this show to their Lollapalooza set last year.
3. It was Double-Asshole.

It wasn’t that it was a bad show, it just wasn’t nearly as good as the last three times I’ve seen them.

It was equally hot at Shea Stadium for the final Subway Series but there was a 45 minute torrential down pour that cooled the air.  I must say I was highly impressed by the ground crew.  The field was completely dry within 15 minutes of them rolling up the tarp.  Now I do find it rather amusing that the entire team took 15 minutes to ‘warm up’ before coming out to play again but that’s another story.

* Side Note:

And of course there were Horse Cops.  I know what you’re thinking, who’s going to clean this shit up?

Well, the rain of course.

I got to see the Steelers play the Jets at Giant Stadium on Sunday for only my second NFL game. The tailgating was pretty awesome, the weather was pretty cold, and Steelers offense was pretty bad. Jim Wallis managed to get us hooked up with Sports Vacations who arranged a bus from the hotel the Steelers were staying at to the stadium. We managed to run into Chris Hoke in the elevator (I asked him where the ATM was), see Dick LeBeau in the lobby, and watch Hines Ward get off the elevator on the wrong floor.

The Tailgate.

This past weekend I was in New York to hang out with the legendary Jim Wallis and for the Steelers – Jets game. As one would expect my flight was delayed and it was well over 10pm before I caught up with Jim in Hoboken to head into the city. After checking out Iggy’s Keltic Lounge and The Johnson’s and finding them both way too packed we moved on to Boss Tweed’s Saloon. We managed to grab a table and besides the indoor pool smell from the rec team next to us it was a good setup. We settled into a series of pitchers of Bass and the next thing I know Jim is in some kind of argument with this girl that had the thickest Jersey accent I’ve ever heard. And of course her shirt read “New York Fucking City”.

Below is photographic documentation of the dispute.

We’ve been packing for our move to Chicago for the last two weeks but yesterday we decided to step it up and get the truck a day earlier. I’m not excatly a Teamster but the plan is for me to drive us out of the city. We shall see.

The rest of the photograhps are on Flickr.

Last night Julie and I had our ‘Going Away Party’ at Galway Hooker with several friends. There was a good turnout and we had most of the upstairs bar to ourselves. There were a couple shots, a lot of talk about football, and a lot of strategizing about how to pack a large truck (the only common thread is to fill the truck up to the top).

Thanks to everyone for coming out. I’m sure we will see many of you soon enough, be it here or in Chicago. Thanks for the good times.

*Side Note:

Our Move will be thoroughly documented in the coming days, as I write this I’m completely surrounded by cardboard boxes stacked 4 feet tall. Wish us luck.

The rest of the photograhps are on Flickr.

Previous Going Away Parties: Number 1, Number 2.

Julie and I went with a couple of her former coworkers to the Mets game on Saturday. No sooner did we begin talking about the giant apple in the top hat in the outfield and its purpose than the Met’s started hitting home runs. This was our last Mets game until we see them in Chicago against the Cubs at Wrigleyfield in August.

More Photographs on Flickr.