Monday, July 11, 2005

Back on the Bevvy

On the drinking front I’ve been a good boy lately but now that my training is coming to an end I am starting to explore the pubs in my new ‘hood.

Around the corner, across from Morgans a.k.a The Worst Deli in the world, stands the “Reade Street Pub”. I was surprised to find this place as it is a regular bar hidden among the millionaires condos and fancy restaurants that make up Tribeca. Indeed, the first time I was in The Reade Street, a limo pulled up at the restaurant across the road and some bald guy in a cowboy hat got out pursued by paparazzi and fans, I think it was Bruce Willis but I really could care less……….

The bar was being minded by an old Irish guy named Mike who bore a resemblance to the actor Robert Duvall. He seemed sweet enough and was pretty chatty. Another helicopter had just crashed into the East River (the second in a week, only in NYC is this not seen as a sign of the impending apocalypse) so we shot the breeze on that for a bit and I ordered the house beer “The Reade Street Ale”.

At $3.25 a pint it was cheapest beer I’d had in a while and to my surprise, it was dark, fruity and strong. I liked it.

“Do you brew it yourselves?” I asked Mike.

He explained that one of the local breweries churns this shit out unnamed and then sells the kegs of so you can name it whatever you like.

“Gimmie one’a those Dogshite Ales!”.

I’m slightly flabbergasted by this revelation as I always order house specialty beers when I hit a new pub. Does this mean I’ve been drinking the same shit all along without realizing it? It’s like finding out you cat is actually a dog in a cat suit!

Not for the first time in my life, I feel like I'm being lied to!

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Steamheads

Getting back into Manhattan has opened up other doors that have been shut to me for the last five years because I was always too tired after 10 hour days and 2 hour commutes. I’m getting to go to concerts and movies again on work nights and I have a lot more pubs at my disposal again - in Staten Island the only bar near my work was called “Mugshots” and was in a strip-mall, the regulars were… how can I be polite? Rednecks… Hicks… Ignorant Fucks… Hey! White Americans! Yeah! There ye go……….

Anyway so last week we are up in Central Park to see David Byrne playing a show and I have to say, it was one of the best shows I’ve seen in years! The weather sucked for an outdoor show but sometimes music just transcends these problems.

I got there early as a light drizzle was coming down but as soon as I got my spot in the field the clouds opened and God’s piss poured from the heavens. It was one of those rain storms that there is no point in trying to make it to shelter. 30 seconds later and everyone in the park was drenched.

I remember seeing a Samurai movie where the protagonist talks about advice he was given when he was stuck in a rainstorm: you can fight every drop and lose in frustration or you can just accept it and get wet happily. I have no idea why I was thinking of Samurai movies at this point but it seemed like good advice to me so I accepted it and got drenched happily. I even managed to remark to the barmaid at the beer tent: “Hey, is this shit watered down?”.

20 minutes later when the rain stopped, the park turned into a huge sauna and steam was rising off the heads of the crowd, I’m glad I don’t do hallucinogenics anymore as images like this can really fuck with your mind!

Anyway, pretty soon the steamheads are shaking and moving like a giant piston-engine and David Byrne is rocking on the stage as only he can. Go back and watch “Stop Making Sense”, it might be 25 years ago but physically He hasn’t changed much. He has white hair now but every one of his limbs move as if they are independent of each other and as a white guy with no sense of rhythm (Me that is, not him), David Byrne makes you feel like it is okay to dance without too much embarrassment.

He plays a great mixture of his new stuff and old Talking Heads tunes. I got goose bumps when I heard “Naive Melody (this must be the place” blasting out accompanied by him doing a kind of Michael Jackson-like moonwalk that ended with him falling on his arse over some guitar pedals. It would never have happened to Jackson but when it happens to Byrne it somehow adds to his charm that he is just really out there enjoying this as much as we are. It’s a great thing to see.

Friday, July 01, 2005

9 - 5

On my first few weeks in Manhattan I have been working 9-5 until I'm trained up, this means I have been able to ride to work with the regular commuters - something I haven't done in 10 years.

My first revelation was just how many suits there really are! Granted, my train passes through the Wall Street area (world renowned for suit spotting) but how many people do we need that crunch numbers for a living? I look around and all these people are doing last minute work on the way into the office; poring over contracts and typing away on laptops. Can't you wait another 20 minutes until you get to the office, you're gonna get fucked by the boss anyway, might as well actually deserve it!

Does the world really need this amount of phoneheads? Do we really need that amount of sharpened pencils?

The other funny thing to see is the couples who obviously hooked up as part of an office romance. They get on at the same stop, they dress the same, and they get off at the same stop. Human beings are interesting and strange creatures - we are more like pack animals than we would like to believe.

Everyone looks miserable, I might be basking in the glow of a new position but, God these people look miserable! Another 45 minute commute to go to a job I hate for too little money! Well, forgive me but I just gave up a 2 and sometimes 3 hour commute everyday, on buses, in freezing and boiling temperatures... I can make 45 minutes disappear in the blink of an eye.