Three In A Row

Thursday – May 30th

Ever since my friend Caitlin showed me pictures and video from The Django jazz bar/club I have been wanting to go check it out. This past Thursday, as I was walking home from the subway it was pouring and I got soaked. After changing my clothes I was really not interested in going back out into the rain. But, when the rain stopped and I was just sat watching Netflix, I decided to go.

I’ve walked past The Roxy Hotel several times but I’d never been inside. As the name would imply, it is 1920s themed and has a really cool prohibition era vibe with exposed brick walls. In addition to having a movie theatre in the basement, they also have The Django. The Django is, I believe, named for the gypsie jazz musician Django Reinhardt and pays homage to Le Caveau de la Huchette in Paris.

The Django at The Roxy Hotel

Having been to both, I’d say that I personally like Le Caveau better as it’s more cramped and feels more legit. One of the things that I loved about Le Caveau when I was there was that everyone danced. I was hoping/expecting that would be the vibe here, but I was wrong. I don’t know if it was the fact that it was a Thursday night, (and not a Friday or a Saturday) or that the band didn’t play many dancing tunes, but no one danced.

I really wanted to, and made it my mission to dance with someone before the night was over. Early on, I spotted what I would later find out to be a bachelorette party, sitting on the other end of the club. There was one woman in the group who I saw “dancing” at the table earlier in the evening. So, when I eventually walked over towards the end of the night, she was my target.

“Excuse me for interrupting ladies,” I said “but you look like you might wanna dance.” I looked straight at curly hair and, with the egging on of the rest of the table, she danced with me. I was glad that they didn’t make a big deal out of it. So many times women in groups will look at you like you’re crazy for asking them to dance. I get it if you just don’t want to, but what else are you here to do? We’re not getting married, we’re just dancing.

In any case, in our short dance together I found out that curly hair and her friends were from San Diego and that they were in town for a bachelorette party. She told me their plans for the weekend and that was it. I was glad I didn’t hesitate too long for them to leave or just plain chicken out.

Beer at Django – $12

Friday – May 31st

Every time I have a day off, a “weekend” day, I try to make the most out of it that I can. I’m always torn between doing something I should be doing, like applying for more jobs so I can quit the one I have, and doing something fun. Usually, I’ve been leaning towards fun since the weather has been consistently nicer.

I have been needing to do a food shopping for a while but being that I have a small trip coming up, I didn’t want to get a lot of stuff that might just go bad in the time that I’m away. So, betraying all my instincts, I went to my local Key Food to get the bare essentials. I dislike Key Food as it is small, the aisles are narrow, the selection is poor and the prices are high.

However, it is so much closer than Stop and Shop and much less of a hassle as I don’t need to take the train. That said, I didn’t need much, so I grit my teeth and got what little food shopping I needed to get done.

Grocery Shopping ~ $60

Next, I made my way into Manhattan to visit the Toyota dealership. I am far from in need of a car, however, after seeing so many videos and magazine articles on the new Supra, I went down to see if they had one on sight. Upon my arrival, I found out that they will not be getting them in until the end of the year. Just as well, all I was going to do was look at it, sit in it and maybe take some pictures of it.

After that I crossed the street to the Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealership. Again, I had been seeing articles and videos on the Jeep Gladiator, so I wanted to try and see one in person. Sure enough there were two in the showroom so I sat in and explored them both. I really hope that either Jeep or a third party has plans to make a cap for the bed. I would love to see a “Chevy Tahoe” looking Jeep driving around. Though it’s essentially just a Wrangler with a truck bed, I love the look of the extended wheel base.

Once all of my tire kicking was done, I made my way down to 14th Street then across town to Union Square. Once there I walked the short distance to my favorite comic book shop, Forbidden Planet. I was in search of a comic I’d read about on Hypebeast called The Magic Order. In the article, they mentioned that the series had been put out by Netflix, weirdly enough, and that they were now working on turning it into a show.

I made my way to the back of the store and instantly found two other things that caught my eye, a Stranger Things comic book (weirdly another Netflix property) and Spider-Man Noir. I had been looking for Spider-Man Noir ever since finding out about it’s existence in college when my roommate was playing the Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions video game. Here it was, a compendium of those individual comic books in graphic novel form.

Just as I was about to pick it up I was interrupted by an employee who was diligently doing his job. “Can I help you find anything?” he asked. “I don’t know if you’ll even have this,” I said, remembering that the article I’d read about The Magic Order made it sound rare, “but do you have any of The Magic Order comic books?”

He walked me around the corner to the next aisle over and immediately found exactly what I was looking for. “Oh wow, thanks.” I said. “No problem.” he said, and like a superhero who’s power was to help others find comic books, he was off to help the next patron.

I held it in my hand and leafed through it. I then gathered the other two in my hands. At ~$20 each, did I really want to spend $60 on impulse comics that I really didn’t need? I hate making frivolous purchases. I claim to be a minimalist but I am not immune to the transitory pleasure that comes from getting something new. I decided against them… for now.

Moving on, I made my way north to 23rd Street and west to The Lego Store. On the same website where I had come across the comic book, I had been informed of a new Lego set that I wanted to check out. It was the Byer house from Stranger Things (there it is again). I knew it wasn’t set to release in stores until June 1st, the next day, but I figured I’d enquire about it anyway.

When I arrived in the store, I was amazed to find that not only did they already have it, but they had several of it. I fully expected that if they were getting any, it would be out of stock. In the time I spent in the store, I did see one get purchased but it was still crazy that they had any at all. Possibly one of the coolest and most creative Lego sets they’ve come out with, I was intrigued and consider spending the $200 for the set.

Then, in the corner of the same shelf, I found another set that I thought would have sold out already, the James Bond Aston Martin DB5. I love the idea of Legos and enjoy building them, but essentially they are just expensive dust collectors, so I saved myself the $150.

I headed back to Union Square and took the (6) train down to Spring Street. Side note, phase one of the OMNY contactless Metro Card System was up and running which was cool to see. In any case, from Spring, I made my way over to the Chrome Industries store on Mulberry. I have been thinking about getting a new backpack for a while, ever since the zipper on my current bag started to fail.

There were three requirements I was looking for, a working zipper, a place to hold my bike lock and for the bag to be waterproof. The guy who helped me, Max, read my brain, finding something light, simple and on sale.

I inspected it and thought about it but again decided to hold off since I didn’t really need it and, though my current backpack is 7 years old, there really isn’t enough wrong with it to justify the purchase. Before leaving however, I told him that my birthday was coming up and that I’d have to see what, if anything came my way.*

On the way back to the (6) train I passed a beautiful old Porsche street parked. It was clean and in excellent condition so I admired it for a bit and got a few pics before continuing on my way.

Porsche 356A 1600

*When I got home from my excursion, I checked the mail and found a letter from my Grandpa. In it was an envelope with a check for about half the cost of the backpack I was looking at. It basically sealed the deal.

Saturday – June 1st

The next morning I decided to do a small load of laundry since the downpour from Thursday had soaked my hoodie and pants. Despite laying them out to dry, they were still damp… and smelly. Since I was out of change, I had to use the ATM at the laundromat to take out $10 so I could get quarters from the machine.

Laundry – $10

After I was done, I headed into Manhattan with the intention of getting the Chrome bag partially with the money I had recently come into. I wanted to cash the check that I had received but the bank that said it was supposed to be open until 3pm wasn’t actually open.

I think you can cash checks at the ATM but I don’t trust that sorcery. Being that I needed to fill my unquenched craving to buy something, I decided to just go into the city and buy it with my debit card so I could “pay myself back for half” once the check has been deposited into my checking account.

Chrome Backpack** – $113; ($50 from Grandpa, $63 from my own pocket)

After hastily making my purchase, and feeling badly about it, (in fact, as I write this I still feel bad about it) I made my way northwest to the Houston Street Station and took the (1) train north to 23rd Street.

There I made my way over to Poster House on 23rd between 6th and 7th. I have known about PH for at lease a year, maybe even more and have been anxiously awaiting its opening. Somehow I found out about “Community Day,” a day where PH would be open to the public for free before its grand opening on the 21st.

Upon entering, I was greeted and one of the women working there explained the space to me and what what was currently showing. I strolled in through the first main gallery space and took in the Art Nouveau posters on display. It was nice and quiet, seemingly few people knew about the soft opening.

Art Nouveau poster by Mucha at Poster House

I then made my way downstairs to the basement level gallery and slowly walked through the small space. After that it was back upstairs to the one other room I hadn’t checked out before I was done. I’m not sure if perhaps there are more galleries that I missed, but if not it is a very small museum and I’m glad that I didn’t have to pay to check it out.

I’m hoping that I perhaps missed an entire section of the museum. Additionally, unless they do an exhibit on vintage travel posters or advertisements from the 20s through the 70s, I don’t necessarily plan on spending the $12 admission anytime soon.

I walked back to the 23rd street station where I was pleasantly surprised to find a (2) train on the local track and took it back to Brooklyn. I chilled at home for a bit and had a light dinner before heading back out, this time by bike, to the new (literally had opened the day before) Time Out Market in Dumbo.

Jordan’s Friend and Jordan on the rooftop patio at Time Out Market

There I met up with my buddy Jordan and his friend from college (whose name I forget, sorry). I grabbed tacos and a beer and we sat and ate and drank on the ground floor of the market. After chatting and drinking for a bit, we made our way up to the 5th floor where there are a few more food venders and another bar.

College friend and I grabbed drinks while Jordan waited for the food they ordered. The service at the bar was super slow and yes it was kind of busy, but this was ridiculous. Eventually we got our drinks and drank them out on the patio which overlooked the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridge. It was a beautiful night. The weather was perfect and we just had a low key fun time.

Tacos – ($14), Beer – ($10), a round of drinks – ($30)

At around 9:45pm we made our way towards the Clark Street Station. Jordan and his friend were going for pizza. Along the way we passed some restaurant in Brooklyn Heights where we saw Adam Scott and Paul Rudd having dinner which was kinda cool.

Once at the Clark Street station we split up. It was 10pm and I needed to get home to get to bed so I could work the next day. On the ride home, while heading through Carrol Gardens I passed an old Mustang.

Street parked Mustang

It looked like a Boss, however it didn’t have the louvers over the rear windshield nor did it have the correct stripes. I only know the old Boss to have come in the 302 and 449 variants; this one said 351 which perplexed me. Either way it looked cool and I grabbed a few crappy shots before continuing on my way home.

**I have since return this backpack as it was a hasty purchase, was difficult to zip shut and didn’t have enough pockets.

Birdman Excursion

My excursions had been a little stagnant as of late and so yesterday I decided to go on a solid one to make up for lost time. My plan was to start in SoHo and work my way up towards midtown before heading into Queens. This plan however was foiled by the fact that I zoned out on the train and got off at Union Square instead of getting off at Canal Street. As it turned out (and is typically the case), the unplanned adventures are often the most fun.

The Chrysler Building upon exiting Grand Central Station (we’ll get to this part of the story later).

I crossed over to Broadway and made my way south towards my original plan. Along the way however I was sidetracked by a comic book shop called Forbidden Planet. Being that it was on a main street it was one of the nicest comic book shops I’d ever been in. Though I rarely buy anything, I typically enjoy stopping in to see what sort of stuff they have for sale. The window display had a life size Terminator and ET that I assume were for sale.

The door pulls were each half of Captain America’s Shield and were connected to large wooden doors. Everything was neat and organized, nothing seemed to be dusty or hiding in a corner. It was a place you wouldn’t feel ashamed to bring your girlfriend, but let’s face it if you had one, you wouldn’t need the comic book shop.

After that I made my way to a few other places; Lids (I was in search of a hat I don’t need), John Varvatos (similar but not the same as the one on Bowery), The Hundreds, and a couple of art galleries on W Broadway. I was going to take the train to Grand Central (where the rest of my adventure was to take place) but decided to walk back up Broadway. I had passed a store that I had, for whatever reason, decided not to take the time to go in. Knowing that a) I need to “smell the roses” more rather than just rush through experiences and b) that I would want to come back at a later date to check it out anyway, I decided to go back to check it out.

The store in question, Flight Club, is a sneakerhead mecca. The walls were filled with -mostly Nike- limited editions. The prices varied, but most of the ones I picked up were between $150 and $275. Each sneaker was shrink wrapped to ensure no potential buyers scuffed them up. There were two that stood out to me but Nike’s aren’t really my type of sneaker, I’m more of a skate shoe type of guy. Plus, I really don’t have the money to justify a purchase like that.

Moving on, I made my way back to Union Square and hopped a 4 train to Grand Central station. It seems like whenever I go there I never exit from the same place. This time I got out at Lexington Ave and was immediately staggered by a huge building in front of me. Not knowing what it was, I took its picture. It wasn’t until later when I got further away that I realized  it was The Chrysler Building (see 1st pic in the post).

(Left) The Helmsley Building seen from one block away, notice the “tunnel” entrance/exit at the bottom; (Right) looking right up at the building from the base; (Bottom) a better view of the Park Ave Viaduct entrance/exit.

I went up to 46th and Park Ave -along the way stopping in at Midtown Comics- because I had a special mission. After seeing Birdman, which [I didn’t take the time to review but] was excellent by the way, I was reminded of an area of the city  that I’d never been to before. It is also featured in Lord of War (another great film) when Nick Cage is trying to evade a helicopter that is following his limo. The area in question is the Park Ave Viaduct that elevates and splits around Grand Central station before dropping back down to street level while exiting through the base of the The Helmsley Building.

As you know I am easily amused by visual stimuli and this was no different. It was really cool to see and to finally know where it was in the city. It reminded me of the Admiralty Arch or the gateway that leads traffic in to Trafalgar Square in London. After taking a few pics I then went stumbling around midtown. Initially I was just going to walk down to The UN but then I saw the Chrysler Building. I hadn’t realized until this point that that was the building I had seen upon exiting Grand Central Station.

In search of a good view of The Chrysler Building

I tried to make my way towards it but as I got closer, I lost sight of it due to other closer buildings getting in the way of my vantage point. Eventually, when I did get to the base of the building I realized that the view really wasn’t that good and it is better appreciated from a distance. Thus, I made my way East down 42nd Street until I got to the stairs that led to Tudor City Place. Being that I am guided by the spirit of adventure, I made my way up the stairs and turned around to see this…

The Chrysler Building as seen from Tudor City Place

…a cool view of the Chrysler Building. After admiring it for a short while, I made my way around the block and down to the United Nations. I don’t know if I was just in the wrong area or if you simply can’t just go in anymore (maybe you have to be part of a tour) but the area I was at required a pass for entry. I know I went into the UN when my family went to New York in 1998 but I was too young to really appreciate it and I certainly don’t remember if we signed up for a tour or were able to walk right in.

I was going to walk around the outside but I was freezing and my feet were hurting and I was hungry. Luckily in my wanderings I had passed two 99 cent per slice pizza places. I found one of them and got a couple slices before heading back to Grand Central. I was about to get on the subway and head in to Queens to finish the last couple of things on my “to do” list, when I remembered I wanted to get up close to the MetLife Building (formerly the Pan Am building).

Cut to another montage of me walking around for a good view/to try and get to the bottom; a sidewalk entrance from which I could stare straight up at it. All this was foiled when I realized it is basically on top of or appears to be growing out of Grand Central Station. Thus, one cannot simply walk to its base and look up. Instead I was able to get this pretty cool shot of this uh, art thing in the lobby.

Art/sculpture(?) in the lobby of the MetLife Building; thin wires that converge to look like beams of light.

I then made my way back to Grand Central to board the 7 train into Queens. Cut to a montage of me freezing my ass off looking for 5 Pointz (legendary graffiti area) that I knew was closed but I still just wanted to see it; eventually finding it, being disappointed and walking back to the train for the long ride back to Crown Heights.

Salem Adventure

I’ve been to Salem a lot lately. I was there on Monday to meet up with a cousin I hadn’t seen in a while. While there, my sister and I agreed that we wanted to come back the next day to do more exploring. So, I was there again on Tuesday. However, I felt a little dissatisfied with the trip and thus, on Thursday, I went back.

At roughly 10am I started my biking adventure. I knew almost 100% of the route already because when I went on my Nahant Adventure I had accidentally stayed on Route 107 and began to make my way in to Salem. The rest of the route was only a few miles more than I had gone before and at 11:15am I arived in downtown Salem. It was a 12.7 mile ride.

I locked up my bike and went into the comic book shop on Essex Street. Great shop, (I’d been in there before) although they made me leave my back pack behind the front counter. Lame. I get that they think it’d be easier for me to steal, but still, lame. Regardless, the shop is one of the best comic book shops I’ve been to. Pretty big store and there is a huge selection.

Next I went into The Urbane Cyclist bike shop to talk to them about the next bike I want to get. This is key as it will be ironic [coincidental?] later in the story. After that I just walked around the city. I really like Salem. It’s quaint and cool. The brick and cobblestone paths combined with the colonial houses make for a rad vibe. The last time I’d been to Salem (before these more recent and frequent visits) was for Halloween my sophomore year [at Fitchburg State] back in 2008. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I remembered my way around. To be fair, Salem is pretty small, like a spread out North End. But still, passing the same shops and seeing the waterfront it all just brought me right back to that night. One of my most memorable Halloweens.

In any case, after walking around for a few hours, I decided it was time I head home. I left the city at around 1:35. I got a mile away from where I had parked when all of a sudden, Pfyewf, my rear tire goes flat. I had ran over an exposed nail that had been lying  in the road. I then turned around and began walking my bike back towards the city.

As I walked, I pondered the best course of action. I could spend $20 or so to get a new tube and tire, or I could take the commuter rail home. The nail had not only taken the air out of my tire, but it had also taken the wind out of my sails. I was in no mood to wait and get my tire fixed and I didn’t want to spend that much money. So, to the train station I went.

I had no idea when the next train was coming, so I began to try and figure out the schedule when all of a sudden, a bus pulled up. The bus was headed for Downtown Crossing. I wasn’t sure if I had enough money on my Charlie Card. The bus driver told me it was $2.80 to get to Downtown Crossing and I only had $2.55. A guy (about my age or a little older) waiting for a different bus offered to tap his card for me. I thanked him, but declined. I decided to not be a cheap bastard and take the last dollar I had on me to make up the difference.

The bus driver, who had been standing outside the bus, saw me struggling with the bike rack and instructed me on how to get it down and how to secure my bike (I’d never used one before). He had also overheard my story about my flat tire that I had told the young guy (the one that offered me a tap of his Charlie Card)* and knew that I was a bit short for the bus fare and so he made it so I only had to pay the senior rate. It’s thanks to people like this -the bus driver and the helpful other guy- that I haven’t lost all faith in humanity.

—-

So began my ride on the 439 Bus** from Salem to Boston. The ride was very slow, stopping at all the lights and picking up an dropping off countless passengers along the way. We made our way in to Lynn and I began to get familiar with the area. I started thinking that if the bus got to a place I recognized as being closer to my house where I could get picked up by my mom, rather than ride the bus al the way in to Boston, that I’d get off there.

Eventually the bus made it’s way in to Revere. It stopped just before the rotary on Squire Road (the rotary that has a Dunkin Donuts on both the Northbound and Southbound side). This was my chance to get off. I could walk my bike down Squire Road and have my mom meet me at Northgate. Unfortunately, I hesitated and the bus began moving again. It stopped a short while later and I pondered if the walk back to the rotary was worth it or if I should just go the distence in to Boston. However, before I could decided my lack of action decided for me and the bus bagan to move again. The next stop it made was at Bell Circle and that was going to be too much of a hike. I was officially in for the long haul.

The bus made it’s way to Logan. Then into the Ted Williams tunnel, which at 3:30 on a weekday was a shit show.*** The tunnel was the worst part of the ride. It took so long to get through because no one knows how to merge properly. Finally, I quite literally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. We were near the waterfront and a few stops later we were at Downtown Crossing. I then walked my bike to Downtown Crossing and descended the stairs to the station.

Because I had to fiddle with my backpack while holding up my bike to get to my Charlie Card, I missed the train that had just pulled into the station. I then waited and boarded the crowed next one. Eventually I arrived at Oak Grove where my mom was waiting for me. We arrived at our house at 4:28, two and a half hours or so after I had left Salem.

When I left that morning I had said to my mom, “[I’ll] be back in four hours.” What an understatement that turned out to be.

–end–

*The offering of some form of money reminded me of this song

**having the “9” in common and that fact that both are in reference to a public bus reminded me of this song

***this phrase reminded me of this song; specifically right here at 1:24 minutes in, the line, “The bottleneck is a shit show”