Saved By The Bell House 7.24.10

Themed parties are almost always a good time if there's enough support and a good build (theme decor, good venue, willing participants). Even bad theme parties are kind of funny/depressing in their own way. The idea is that if you are willing to devote a night (or a weekend, or possibly weeks) to something you didn't create/nostalgia/embarrassment/letting loose, you should look out for more theme parties, especially among hipsters. Because they love a good, ironic time.

Yesterday was a Full House of activity, going to beach, getting burned, going to a great barbeque in Ozone Park, seeing a friend get harassed by two men on children's bikes, and wonton love of a show that for all intensive purposes was just cheesy (save a few moments) and had no sense of what high school was actually like: Saved By The Bell.

Don't get my wrong; I enjoy SBTB a lot. I liked it growing up, and I still enjoy watching it in the morning before work. I don't own the series like Pat Craig does, but that's ok.

The Bell House being an amazing venue was the perfect place for a Saved By The Bell dance, where 3 dollars for every ticket went to oil relief. By the time the main part of the dance was over and The Bayside Tigers wrapped up their set, there was a real dance party in the front lounge. Everything is just set up well.

I was wearing my Malibu Sands shirt thinking 8 other people would be wearing it but I was dead wrong. Half the people didn't dress up, the other half were a mix of 3 really dressed up people and 100 semi-dressed up people. Leotards, skinny suspenders, light jeans, I couldn't help but wonder if this was 1994, or people just thought it was an 80s party. Because there has to be a difference right? Reagan vs. Clinton? Shit I should have worn my chain wallet. And brought like a copy of Swingers. Or something. Empire Records by the way is one of the top 10 worst movies ever. I stand by that wholeheartedly.

Folks who bought a ticket received one free vodka lemonade drink ticket and a view of strobe lights and a huge Bayside logo where you could take your picture and feel like a has been actor. "Man in the Mirror" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and other tunes got the dance floor slightly going but everything was surprisingly pretty chill (the dance party in the front was way more solid, Union Pool-ish in a way). The Bayside Tigers played all 90s alt-rock hits; I called 3 of them (Blur, Harvey Danger, and Lit) and we sung most of them throughout. At least they played Bosstones and Blink 182 right?

There were some crazy ladies, some drunk ladies, and a wider age range than usual, probably 21 to 36. Everything was just a lot of fun, it didn't sell out, there was room to dance, I actually listened to suburban 90s alt-rock (except for godamn 3 doors down, god they suck, rembrandts, suck, gin blossoms, double suck for being catchy, eve 6, suck, all played by these bands), and you had just enough characters (yes you lady in the flower top just going batshit crazy, it's a band covering Oasis, not actually Oasis) to make the people watching interesting. When they started playing 3 Doors Down, I kid you not half the people went to go get a drink. People have spoken.

A young woman seemed to twist or land on her ankle the wrong way and I helped get her to the comfortable couch by the side of the stage. There was also a group who came up to me and asked for my picture because I looked EXACTLY (their word) like their friend from LA. I guess I'm not the only Asian with a normal haircut.

The bar moved quick, everyone was having fun, there were cupcakes out front from Robicelli's where you can find all over west Brooklyn and a couple of other locations including the new dessert shop Farmacy on Henry Street in Carroll Gardens.

All in all, a very fun experience and worth it. And btdubs, there are several other clubs in the area. And I still want to go to Canal Bar on 3rd Avenue. They are really trying to turn Gowanus into like a Brooklynized meatpacking aren't they?

Speaking of slightly cracked out neighborhoods:

Vegetarian Dim Sum For Chinese New Year

Valentine's Day (the film and the day) seemed to have overshadowed Chinese New Year this year with both falling on the same day. Except if you're in Chinatown, where you're either closing up shop for the day, part of a clan or a club complete with some woefully off rhythm drumming and confused dragons, or a tourist taking many a crazy photo of children shooting off pressurized confetti.

This year there were a couple of organized events (concerts/speeches in Roosevelt Park, sponsored by Verizon of course) but the real fun of Chinese New Year is the whole running around the nooks and crannies of East Broadway, Grand, and Mott street hoping to purchase something of value or something completely worthless (Canto pop music for instance?). After running around for 3 hours you sort of get the picture, and I sat down to some vegetarian dim sum over on Pell. We got some annoying treatment ("Sir would you like to sit in the basement?" - "What's in the basement haha...I guess nobody found that funny") and our food didn't come out for about half an hour. Which was fine, but this table that sat down way after we ordered got almost all of their food immedietely. I was pretty peeved at that. Don't you hate when you get your food after tables who have already sat down had gotten their food, and some of the same items no less? That should be a rule or something.

The dragons were a bit off this year; I blame the drumming, some of these kids just aren't very good at keeping the beat. You always want that slightly chubby, 40-something Chinese guy to keep the beat, he won't let you down. The 18 year old scrawny kid? Fail.

Anywho, I ate so much that I went to bed by 9pm and after 12 hours of sleep I was pretty good to go. We brought home leftovers from last night, but I forgot to put them in the fridge.

Girlfriend: Vic, you forgot to put the leftovers in the fridge!
Me: Oh, hmm I was too focused on getting the frozen dumplings in the freezer and I forgot. Different bags, I must have put it down and forgot.
Girlfriend: Barely different bags, I feel bad because you were going to have them today for breakfast.
Me: ....I'll still eat them, what the hell. It's vegetables so I should be good.
Girlfriend: If I wasn't here you totally wouldn't have given it a second thought would you.
Me: Definitely not.

So I ate the leftovers and my stomach felt like a bottle of Penzoil. Worth it? Yes.

With the Chinese New Year, I celebrate with Swordsman II, one of my favorite kung fu movies and favorite movies in general:

Not Doing Anything Tonight? Draw Back Your Bow: The Old Folks Party Pancakin'

Tuesday nights in the summer are pretty fantastic. Real Housewives of whatever city. Tacos. Great night to go out and not have it be a shit show.

Just like that Lovin' Spoonful song "Summer In The City", you're going to want to go out and feel up for anything.



I'm a huge fan of oldies and Motown and old soul music, doo wop, etc. That's why if you're in the mood for some dancin', you get on to Lolita and get in a real deep groove with DJ Chris Fuller, who will have a slate of old school like you've never seen tonight from 9pm to 2am. We're talking harmonies and clap-along rhythms. We're talking in-sync with yourself. We're talking courtship. We're talking passionate, deep-bellied crooning and piercing, fat toned brass sections. We're talking romance. I know, it's a smallish space, but you're going to be doing one of those closing-your-eyes-taking-in-the-music-like-a-bong-hit-bopping-your-head manuevers.

Get moving people, if you're into the following:

The Powerstrip Circus Launch Party on Thursday June 4th: Be There, Or Be Lame

The friends at Powerstrip Circus, New York's premiere underground dance/hip hop/electro/awesomeness collective is finally giving themselves due props with an official launch party on June 4th (Thursdays in the summer are so bangin'). The place? Coco 66 in Greenpoint. How much? 5 bucks and a pristine mind to be blown.

All the details can be found at their site and on Facebook, but the real kicker is seeing the whole PSC mindtap in action. These guys hit a groove and just keep pinching it; even if you're not dancing, you automatically look cooler if you have people like KRTS at your back.

It's a great way to kick off summer and push the hotness to 11.


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Body Movin' We Be Body Movin': Slouch and KRTS with others at Public Assembly Friday March 6th

Everyone's favorites, Slouch and KRTS are back in the mix with a full lineup at Public Assembly, which is respecting the old Galapagos name and filling the bills with some great beats. Should be a great show, starts at 10pm and it's only 10 bucks. Get to their websites for more info:
Slouch
KRTS

For the whole story, go to Powerstrip Circus article. Also see the flyer below.

Dancing Doesn't Cost Anything

How many people missed their train due to spontaneous dancing? I dunno, but Perez Hilton has linked to a great YouTube video (a T Mobile) commercial filmed at a Liverpool station. Kind of reminds me of Improv Anywhere based right here in New York (no pants day, Frozen Grand Central, etc.). There's a lot of joy in this one, I'm stoked already for the work day. From the folks at Improv Britain, here's some dancing. More than some, more like lots.

Slouch and KRTS @ Karma Lounge 11/13/08

Now while I do not have the background or know-how to put the music that Slouch and KRTS throw down in context, I do know a groove when I feel it, and both these guys have it in spades, as evidenced by the trip I took for an hour or so at Karma on Thursday (see video below of krts, horrible phone pictures to come soon). Karma's hookahs being longstanding and flavorful, I was in for a really cool show, and it certainly took the sting off of watching the Pats loose a heartbreaker to the Jets at the Hairy Monk...

There's something to be said for music that seamlessly weaves into life's nightlife soundtrack, especially in this city. I showed up a couple minutes into KRTS's show (I apologize for not being able to review the early sets on the bill), and he was already pumping into full swing with echoing old school breakdowns and pings here and there to get people's brains flowing. Several younger cougars were weaving their hips in and out of these landscapes but krts wasn't there to play nice. His LP Posing Flower has a more laid back collage of melodies and connected dots, but his set this time around pushed the barrier a little more, there was more force and sweatier funk to it. Once he found the groove he stuck to it, and it's a great formula: take a hip hop beat and throw expiremental electronica over it, making the listener work at it but at the same time keeping the mid-tempo bumpin' going. It's like going to a soul funk show but decidedly weirder as he builds you up and brings you back down and up again but with the noises of a machine and production rather than blaring horns and higher-power vocals. The beats were huge. By the end of Slouch's set, everything overheated and the speaker connection blew. The great thing is KRTS is also a showman when performing; sure musicians get into their work, but it's like he's attacking his set up like a hawk lasering in on the prey, it's pretty infectious.



And then I noticed something else, with Karma's vibe in terms of it's lighting and low-ceiling basement, coupled with Mr. Teoh's self-developed editing software to fully get the attention of my eyes with the VJ'ing (besides the girl across from me who was wearing pajama pants and a fanny pack, I guess we call that unique?), it felt like the brothel scene in Roger Dodger a little.

KRTS transitioned into DJ Slouch's set with no breaks and it was cool to see the change of pace but keeping a similar groove down. Slouch looks like a serious technician, a little less light and more somber than the KRTS set but no more or less for it. The music slowed down just a touch and pierced the show with a kind of cleanliness almost; if KRTS was the rambunctious kid who got everyone riled up, Slouch was the cool older brother who brought a different brand of funk. Should I pull out the Matt Dillon Mickey Rourke analogy in Rumble Fish? I dunno, but that's the second Mickey Rourke reference I've made in the past 24 hours. Slouch was a smooth operator with a sip occasionally from what looked like a whiskey on the rocks. Unfortunately for him, as I stated earlier, the connection was fried for half his set but he came back for the last minute strong. If you were dancing to his set, it's like you shouldn't be breaking a sweat because there's a constant flow that restrained and focused. Cool stuff.

Catch Slouch at Karma often, it's a great fit. You'll want to check out his E.P. Labor and his Travels. Find out more about him:
Slouch on MySpace
Slouch Official Site

For KRTS, to learn more visit his official site or MySpace or on YouTube.

And here they are, really nice guys, KRTS is saying, "here's my hand, take it" :