88 - 3rd Avenue Street Festival

3rd Avenue Street Festival
Bay Ridge
28 September 2008

I have been to a handful of street fairs this summer and I know what you are thinking... It is New York in the summer, everyone has been to a handful of street fairs and festivals. Bay Ridge's 3rd Ave Street Festival wasn't any ordinary street fair though. Between 69th street and 94th street, the streets were taken over by shops, bars, restaurants, dance troupes, street vendors, tarot readers, cocktail-mixing zodiac specialists, massage tables, at least six bands, a raw bar, an FDNY roving training center, every politician in the neighborhood, the New York Blood Center's mobile collection truck, rides and ponies for the kiddies, clowns, a semi-pro wrestling demonstration, prayer stations and everyone's favorite borough President, Marty Markowitz. So, while I was strolling the 25 blocks of street festival bliss I watched at least four bands, ate fried zucchini flowers, donated a pint of blood, bought an ugly necklace, toured a gallery, got a little too close to the wrestling demonstration, observed a cocktail-mixing zodiac specialist give someone a reading, salivated at the FDNY, discovered a new gourmet market, almost stepped in pony poop, learned about the potential development of the Bay Ridge food co-op, joined a prayer circle, and found out about the Bay Ridge Historical Society and the Narrows Botanical Garden.

100 in 6 incidentals budget: $553 + one pint of blood

87 - Lucky 13 Saloon's All Male Revue

Lucky 13 Saloon's All Male Revue
Lucky 13 Saloon
26 September 2008, 0200

On any given weekend, you can walk into Lucky 13 Saloon and be greeted by barely-clad, barely-legal go-go dancers gracing the bar's stripper pole. If you are into the pale, tattoo-sporting sort then Lucky 13's dancers are perfect for you. On this particular evening though, Lucky's was featuring a different sort of go-go dancing. Taking volunteers from the audience, Lucky 13 Saloon's All Male Revue was on! Six brave souls took turns trying to impress the judges and their peers by taking it off...taking it ALL off in a few cases with some help from the grabby judges in the front row. There were stunts, theatrics, acrobatics, and costuming. After many rounds of applause (and laughter), the semi-finalists were chosen. A dance-off ensued, a judge was tackled to the ground, and finally, at long last, a winner was chosen. Congratulations, El Sucio.

86 - Taste For Hope

Taste For Hope
Westside Loft
25 September 2008, 1900

Taste For Hope is a fundraiser that supports the New York City Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. For a very reasonable donation of $100, patrons were invited to ascend to the 6th floor of the Westside Loft, a lovely open space on West 37th Street that can be rented for fundraising events, trade shows and holiday parties, and enjoy an evening of sampling delicacies from New York's finest. Taste For Hope benefits everyone involved. The MS society invites restaurants and beverage producers and distributors to set up tables in the loft and hand out samples of their wares. For those showcasing, the evening is a great means of publicity and the donation of their time and treats is for a great cause. For the attendees, nibbling and sipping the evening away makes the $100 donation worth every penny and, if I didn't already mention, it is for a great cause.

I attended Taste For Hope as a volunteer for Stout's sister-restaurant, F.A.T.S. (my homes away from home). Lucky for me when traffic around the table was slow, I was able to wander the loft and sample some wonderful goodies myself provided by Penn Brewery, Tommy Bahama Rum, Zipang Sparkling Sake, Becco, Stand, The Indian Bread Company, Hard Rock Cafe, and Terra Medi, to name a few. Definitely a delicious, wonderful, and inspiring evening.

85 - Unscene

Unscene
Spoon Theatre
23 September 2008, 1900

Unscene is a play in five scenes. Each scene takes place in a different apartment within the same apartment building and allows the audience to peer into the lives of everyday New Yorkers. The first scene involves an awkwardly adorable man professing his love for a clearly uninterested woman while an apartment party goes on in the adjacent room. The second scene shows us two brothers, one of which has just confessed to killing his girlfriend and who is having mixed feelings of anger and remorse over his actions. In a complete 180 degree turn, the next act portrays a set of very comical female roommates, one a functional alcoholic and the other a compulsive eater, discussing their lives and pitfalls with men. The fourth and fifth scenes involve two couples. The first, a couple breaking up and each blaming the other for forcing a strain on the relationship. The second, a married couple who get into a discussion about sex and insecurities after an innocent analogy goes awry. So basically, Unscene was like watching five mini-plays! I would say to go and see it, but tonight was the last night that it was showing. I found out about the play from my cousin. He did a smashing job portraying the brother in the second act who killed his girlfriend. Way to go, cousin, and good luck with the next endeavor!

100 in 6 budget: $1154

84 - The New York Burlesque Festival

The New York Burlesque Festival
Le Poisson Rouge
20 September 2008, 1900

Wow!
Beautiful.
Gorgeous.
Sexy.
Provocative.
Too many beautiful women...I have lost my ability to think.

83 - The Architecture of Flavour: A Whisky Blending Experience

Whisky Blending Class
Astor Center
18 September 2008, 1830

"Anyone can bottle a single cask, the real skill in Scotch whisky is demonstrated by the blender." - Peat

Astor Center is a foodie haven. From cooking classes to wine tastings, green market tours to sake pairing classes, Astor Center has it all including the ultimate course for Highland and Speyside lovers alike, a scotch whisky blending class. The class was presented by John Glaser a former employee of Johnnie Walker. Glaser separated from Johnnie Walker after spending years honing his tasting and blending skills in Scotland and England. He took his knowledge from Johnnie Walker and founded his own whisky company, Compass Box.

The Architecture of Flavour: A Whisky Blending Experience was held in The Study at Astor Center. The Study was set up more like a laboratory for mad whisky-blending scientists than a classroom. Two rows of 'desks' were equipped with graduated cylinders, tasting glasses filled with various scotch whiskies, bread, cheese and a carafe of filtered water. We started by going through some misconceptions about whiskies such as the most common that a single malt whisky is made only from a single cask. Wrong! A single malt just means that it is a pure malt whisky from a single distillery, but comes from multiple casks within that distillery. Since every cask is different, each cask will flavor the whisky differently. In order for the distilleries to keep a consistent flavor for their single malts, they blend together several malt whiskies of various ages from different casks in the distillery. Another misconception is that the age on a bottle of single malt is the number of years that it has been sitting inside the cask. Wrong! The age on the bottle is the age of the youngest scotch whisky that was involved in making the blend. Enough with the definitions though...on to the blending!

The eager students were instructed on how to smell and dissect the flavours in the whisky. After tasting several scotches with different base notes and top notes, we were given a lesson in how to blend. And blend we did! Each student left with a flask of his/her own scotch whisky, a bit of a buzz, and a better appreciation for scotch. I love you, scotch whisky. I love you.

100 in 6 budget: $1119

82 - Rockin' Blue

Rockin' Blue
Elevated Acre
17 September 2008

What is better than partying with your mom? Partying with your mom and her rockin' coworkers while the boss is jamming 60s and 70s rock ballads on the Elevated Acre in the Financial District! Read that last bit again... and yes, I am serious. My mom works for a rock star, well, a rock star of the construction maintenance world who happens to be involved with a fun cover band called Rockin' Blue. If you enjoy classic rock as much as I do then you will enjoy Rockin' Blue. The boys put on quite a show too despite some technical difficulties from a faulty amplifier. Now I know what you are thinking, so put it out of your head. Just because the band is composed of contractors and construction bigwigs from Jersey does not mean that their equipment fell off the back of a truck. Seriously though, Rockin' Blue helped usher in the first really crisp evening of the upcoming fall season at a fantastic venue, which I think is one of the Financial Districts best kept secrets. The Elevated Acre at 55 Water Street is hidden from the hustle and bustle of Wall Street behind the HIP building, two stories up from the street via escalators that appear to lead to nowhere and sandwiched between the Police Museum and the skyscraper that is 55 Water Street. Once you follow the escalators to nowhere, you enter a one acre enclave that includes trees, shrubs and a large patch of grass that allows for a perfect spot to watch a concert. The Elevated Acre looks out over the FDR drive and is a stones throw from the East River, so the views of the county of Kings are spectacular. Thank you Rockin' Blue!






The Boss: