New York City

[Phoenix]

May I also say that first few rounds are on me for all that make the trip! Zabka has my contact information.

[RaTix]

Well might not be able to make it thurs. Perhaps saturday. I dunno, apparently my job has an issue with me coming late and missing work lately. There gonna be pretty pissed as it is when i dont go in tonight b/c I got an interview to go to. Unless I can manage to break out early, we'll see what happens.

[Zabka]

Phoenix, I should be done around 5-5:30. I will call you then. Anybody else here who can make it Thurs evening, post here soon or PM us. I have Ratix's and Phoenix's number.

[Taco_assassin]

i can prolly make saturday in NY. I'm havin a halloween party that night as well. I'm down for chillin with some DSA!!! Also welcome to come drink at mi casa. Booze, beers, b****es and beats!!!!

[CHRIST]

P-I-M-P popcorn playa

[RaTix]

Zabka, My cell is disc, thinking of switching companies. but anyway, I can be around saturday for whatever.

[Zabka]

Ratix--discovered your cell was disconnected when we tried to call you last night.

Phoenix--good time hanging out. I am paying for it now, though. Interesting night in terms of scenery, huh? bartenders and waitresses, professionals, Michael Eisner (former CEO of Disney during its heday), and Hugh Lurie (actor who plays House MD). I was in rough shape at the end there.

[RaTix]

So whats the deal with tomorrow guys. Where we drinking and who's buying me drinks. lol.

[norm]

i hear you guys make salsa in new york city

[Zabka]

But we wished we made Pace picante sauce.

It was funny--after all that talk about live bands, hole in the wall pubs, etc...I just took Phoenix to a couple of places that are a bit more NY--where the waitresses are unreal, where some of the women at the bar are for sale, and where billionaires mix with us mere mortals. Oh--and where Russian mobsters give you dirty looks for drunkenly looking at their "dates".

Ratix---I am out for tomorrow. still a little banged up now to be honest. Phoenix and Taco were both looking to pull something off--but nobody was stepping forth with a plan--and since Iwasn't going to be a part of it, I didn't try to be the coordinator there.

I got Phoenix's cell (and Taco's too) if you want to try to hook something up. PM me and I can forward them to you.

[Phoenix]

New York is my new favorite city.

Here is what I learned from my NY trip.

1. Stop saying "I got this round" in the Midtown bars. Save the round buying for Little Italy.

2. Never, never look at a Russian guy's "date". No matter what.

3. Never ask someone on the subway "how you doin'?". It turns out that you really don't want an answer to that question.

4. Never say to someone that works at a NY Starbucks, "Just how many f-ing Starbucks are in this f-ing town?"

5. Never, never jokingly tell someone wearuing Yankees gear that you live on Lime street in Boston. (Apparently, he didn't think it was as funny as I did)

6. Never yell "Freebird" at a Broadway show.

7. Never say to an officer with a bomb-sniffing dog in Grand Central Station, "Don't worry, he just smells my dog!"

Sorry, to everyone that I missed on the trip. I didn't have anyone else's number and no internet access so I will have to catch you all this Spring. I plan on coming back in May with my wife for more plentiful partying.

[Zabka]

Pos rep for a very true post.

You forgot the rule about not picking a fight with Michael Eisner since he could buy you and your family to be his personal servants.

[Tomahawk]

OK now I want to know how many of these actually happened? LOL. Did you honestly pick a fight with Michael Eisner and check out Russian mobsters girls?

[Kamui]

New York is a crazy place Tomahawk where all walks of life live in.From the Ghetto to etc.I have never heard of that stuff about New York,but it is credible enough to believe.

[Zabka]

Tomahawk and Kamui--

I met up with Phoenix and had a buddy of mine who used to play some sc2 with JLA in the past (and may join us for some sc3 as well) meet us at a midtown bar I used to frequent. It was a typical corporate post work place, with lots of dudes in suits, a handful of women, and UNREAL bartenders, waitresses and hostesses. These women know how to get tips. After a few rounds there, we walked uptown to a restaurant that used to be REALLY hot, but now has lost buzz but is still very hard to get a table at. The bar area at this restaurant is also a bit of scene...less corporate, more nightlifey. There are often times high class call girls at the bar--and you wouldn't know it until you talk to them and they tell you. We had two sitting at the bar next to us---but I couldn't tell if they guy with them might be their "manager" or a customer.

This place is next door to the Four Seasons hotel which has a bit of a power scene bar/lounge area. We did not pick a fight with Eisner, but he was at the table next to us and bumped into my buddy as he was getting up from his seat. He was very courteous and said, excuse me--to which my friend said "no problem, Mike". Eisner did a double take because he was so quickly recognized, and his smile kind of melted. He then sat down and talked to his companions (I think his wife) and friends. We were talking about how that was Mike Eisner and how my buddy should have shown him what's what---al within earshot. Then when they got up to leave, we talked (out of earshot) about the likelihood that he was taking his wife up to their room and then coming back down to scope. No gruff took place...but it was fun screwing around. To be fair, he was a complete gentleman and a lot taller than I thought. If I were him, I might have throttled us.

The russian mobster thing was a result of the end of the night drunkeness where we saw this unbelievably hot brunette walking in and we all just stared as she sat down at a table about two away from us. Right next to a pretty big, older dude who looked like he was straight out of some movie as the russian mob boss. Then we took another look and the woman was clearly eastern european, had some work done on her face, but was quite striking nonetheless. The guy was either bald or shaved headed, older, thick necked, well dressed. Money for sure. As we discussed the dangers of us sitting and staring at this girl with her clearly dangerous boyfriend (father? pimp? husband?) next to her---the dude looked square over at us and stared. That's when my buddy and I said we had to stop looking if we didn't want trouble--and Phoenix wasn't sure if we were kidding or not. The look the guy gave us was serious---and we weren't kidding. You see enough gangsters of all sorts in NY at some point that you just don't even want to screw with the chance.

At one point, I went out for a quick smoke with my buddy so Phoenix missed the celeb sighting. Hugh Laurie was hosting SNL this weekend (it was actually a good episode). we saw him coming into the hotel, pausing to take pictures with the doormen and then posing for about 4 or 5 paparazzi. We commented on the oddity of paparazzi being out at this time of night for him to come home to his hotel---while saying things like "House is in the hizzy!"

So all of these things refer to things that happened---but certainly had embellishment for entertainment's sake.

By the way---in all of these scenes we hit, I can probably bet you that we were the only people in any of these places talking about video games at all.