Wednesday, May 18, 2005

THIRD AND LONG: #1 TOURIST DESTINATION???

It seems that lately we've been getting our share of more and more tourists. When I say tourists, i'm not talking the kind from say, Pine Bluff, Arkansas; I'm talking more of the international variety (Scotland, Japan, Norway and yes, the darling Brits). I'm not sure if we are on someone's travel agency agenda of places to visit, but the numbers are definately noticable. For example, last night we got a visit from a couple of affable blokes from Australia. These guys were probably in their mid-thirties; they had the 80's look down to a tee- from the high and tight haircut/ baby mullet, to the tightly tucked in button-down shirts w/the sleeves rolled up to show off their pipes, to the skin-tight acid washed jeans. Reminded me of a bad MTV video, back in the days of Duran Duran, Flock of Seagulls, and Peter Gabriel... you know, MTV B.R.T. (Before Reality Tv). In any case, while their fashion sense was a bit out of date, they definately made their presence known. They made it a point to start conversations with EVERYONE at the bar, going from person to person, buying beers, taking photos, etc. Apparently they were hanging out at the BLACK SHEEP and when they ordered their first round of beer and it cost them $13, they figured that was a bit steep for their tastes. They walked by THIRD AND LONG and came upon our Dollar Draft special and thought they'd died and went to heaven. In any case, they seemed to be a hit w/the crowd and funny as hell to look at, that's for sure.

It seems that our barback extrordinaire has aquired a fan. I'll call her the Lady in Black. She's fairly new to the neighborhood, a semi-regular to the bar. Rather nice young lady who (for reasons even she can't comprehend) thinks that our barback extrordinaire is just the "cutest little thing".... to watch our barback blush and gush when she's around is rather funny to watch, heh heh heh....

Also saw an interesting altercation/encounter during the afternoon. Apparently a bike messenger was trying to make his way across East 35th Street when he was almost hit by a taxi cab. The driver jumped out of the cab and began shouting at the bike messenger, who in turn, began arguing back. The banter between the two escalated with the two challenging each other and berating each other's manhood. Not sure who had the right of way, but you could hear shouts of "BE A MAN, APOLOGIZE!" from all the way across the street. This went on for about 20 minutes and by this situation taking place near the intersection, it was starting to cause a bit of a traffic gridlock. Of course, our merry Men in Blue cruised right by the situation without stopping to deal with it. Eventually the bike messenger rode off in a huff and cooler heads prevailed. Pure entertainment for a Tuesday afternoon. Of course, NYPD finally got a clue and showed up minutes after everything ended...

Last night was relatively tame for Dollar Draft standards; you could actually walk without knocking over someone's beer. The female/male ratio was rather good if you were a male (for a change). Striped Shirt count was below average, however, the Pastel Polo Shirt Index indicated a sharp rise from the week before. We will be watching this trend closely. And are we seeing enough Kelly Green outfits? Enough already!!!!!

$3 HEINEKEN/AMSETL LIGHTS all night tonite; Yankees vs Mets this weekend (we'll have all the games if you don't have tickets)! Will update more later....

NUFF SAID